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Tigri folk-tales (Digm)
Some Nuer and Fur folk stories were published in Sudan Notes and Records, Vol. XXIII, Part II, I940.

The following were told by a Sheikh of the Beni Amer, a nomadic Hamitic tribe, who graze their cattle,

sheep and goats on the hill mass south of Tokar to the east of Khor Baraka. The bulk of the
tribe lives in Eritrea, but the Sudan Contingent, about a third of the whole, migrates between Tokar and

 Kassala and between the Karora and Eritrean hills. The leaders of the tribe are trilingual in that they speak
Arabic, Beja and Tigri, but of the ordinary people some speak only Beja, while others, the majority, speak

only Tigri-a language they share with other north Eritrean tribes such as the Habab. Tigri is the tongue of the
Beni Amer cowherds and goat keepers, whose status is one of semi-serfdom in that they herd, but nevertheless

 have certain rights over, the animals of the Nabtab aristocrats. The original Tigri version of the stories is given
because this is the first written record of the narrative of the language in  the Sudan.
 

ሓየት ዎ ካራይ ዎ ሓሺል

ሓየት ዎ ካራይ ዎ ሃሺል ጸር ዓላዉ፤ እንደ ምስል ገይሶ ዓላዉ አድግ ዎ ኣራብ ዎ መንተሌ ቃትለዉ፤

ሓረ ላሓየት እግላ ካረይ "ንስኢ እሊ ክፈሊና ምኑ" ቤላያ፤ ካራይ ህታ ትቤ "ከፍላ እሊ ሰኒ ኣምራ - እንታ

ላአድግ ዎ አና ላአራብ ዎ ሓሺል ላመንተሌ ልንሳእ" ትቤ፤ ሓየት ቃጻባ ካእባ እደሁ ዘብጣያ ከሞተት፡

ሓረ ሓሺል ላካ ካክፈል ቤላዩ' ሓሺል ቤላ "ላአድግ እግል ጸብሕካ'ቱ ዎ አራበ እግል ድራረካ'ቱ ዎ መንተሌ

አፉካ ማስስ እባ" ሓየት በዞሕ ፋካራ እት እላ ክፍላ ዎ እተራእሳ ሓሬ ሓየት ቤላ "ያሃ ሓሺል መን እላ

ክፍላ ኣተማሃሬካ? ሓሺል ቤላ "ሎሂ ራአሳ ካራይ ኣትማሃሬኒታ"

The Lion, the Hyena and the Fox
The Lion, Hyena and Fox were friends. When they went out hunting together,
they killed a donkey, an ariel and a hare. Then the Lion said to the Hyena,
? Come, this kill, divide it among us.? The Hyena said ? I know all about
dividing a kill; you take the donkey, I will take the ariel and the Fox can
have the hare.? The Lion was angry and struck the Hyena so hard with his paw
that she died. Then he called the Fox and said to him, " Divide the kill."
The Fox said, " The donkey will do for your lunch, the ariel for your dinner
and you can wipe your mouth with the hare." The Lion pondered long, was very
pleased and said, " 0 Fox, who taught you this division ? The Fox replied,
" The fate of the Hyena taught me."
 

ሕጻን ዎ ዓርቀብ

ሓተ ዮም ኦሮ ሕጻን ዓንባጣ ቃትል ዓላ ካ'ዓርቃብ ራኣ ካ'ዓመባጠጣት ኣምሳላያ ከ'እደሁ መዳ

እግል ልንሳእ፤ ሓር ራአያ ከ'እብ እበን ላካፋያ ህታ ህየ ቤልቱ "አብ አዴካ ጻብጥየ ምንጋብእ

ቅታል ዓመባታ ዎ'አዛምካ ምኑ"

The Boy and the Scorpion
One day a boy was killing locusts and, seeing a scorpion and mistaking it
for a locust, he stretched out his hand to grasp it; but he saw what it was
in time and hit it with a stone. The scorpion said, "If you had seized me
with your hand, you would have soon stopped killing locusts."

ክልኤ ድሙ ዎ ሃባይ

ክልአ ድሙ ጅብነት ገለያ ከ'ዲብ ሃባይ ጌሳያ እባ እግል ልካፍል ካክልኦት ከፍላ

ዋዳያ ኦሮቶም ምና ማላሃዩ ዓበ ካእት ሜዛኑ ካራዩም ካላዓቢ ዜዳ፤ ህቱ እባ ኣንጃቡ

ጋምሻ ምኑ አክላ ንኡሽ ግልደዩ፤ ላክን እላ ንስኣ ምን ባዝሓት ላንኡሽ ላዓላ ዜዳ ከ'ክምሰልላ

 መላሃዩ ዋዳያ፤ ሓረ ላዉዲት ላ'ላሃይ ዋዳ አስክ ላጅብነት ዲብ ምዉሓይ ገርበት፤ ላ'ክልአ ድሙ

ቤለያሁ 'ሕና ዲብ እላ ክፍለት ራዴና ጅብናትና ሃባና' ህቱ ቤላ "እንትን ምን ራድያ ላሓቅ ኢረደ"

ካምን'ላ ክፍላትላ ዛይደት እንደ ጋምሽ ላጅብነት ካላሰት፤ ላክልአ ድሙ እብ ቃጺብ ዎ እብ ትዕሰ

አቅባላያ እትልብላ "አዘ እንታ ላዘንብካ እደ ረቢ ማልኣ ዎ ጤልማይ ላቱ ጤልማይ ራክቡ"

Two cats and a baboon

Two cats stole some cheese and took it to a baboon to divide for them.

He divided it into two pieces-one larger than the other-and put them on the
scales. The bigger portion weighed down one scale and he nibbled a bit off
it to make it the same weight as the smaller, but he bit off so much that
the smaller piece became the heavier. Then he repeated his nibbling and
went on alternating his bites until the cheese was nearly finished, The two
cats said, " W agree to that dvision, give us our cheese," He replied " Who
are you to agree? An exact division shall not be wanting,? and proceeded
with his nibbling until both pieces were finished.. The two cats went home
angry and disappointed saying, " Now you have filled the hand of God and the
oppressor will meet with oppression."

ሆባይ ዎ መንተሌ

ሆባይ እግል መንተሌ "ንትባደር" ትቤ፤ ካትራዳያ ላክራያ ብድራ ራአስ ደብር ራዪም ካራያሁ እግል ቀደም መለሃያ

ላትበጸሕ ህታ ትንስኡ፤ ሆባይ ሰኒ ሒላታ እት መጋይስ በትከት ዎ መንተሌ ዲብ መጋይሰ ኢታሓሳራት እግላ ላቱ ላቃድማ

ከም ኢሃላ ታምር ዓለት፤ ካላዋቃያ ዲብ ትልህያ ኣብዴቱ ኣስክ ላ ሆባይ ዲባ ደብር ቃርበት ከመንተሌ ሰዔት እግል ቀደምላ

 ሆባይ ትብጻሕ ካኢዓሬታ ዎ ሆባይ በጽሓት ምን ኣሴራራ እንደ ኢትካረ፤ መንተሌ ዲባ ሃመሎታ ታዕሰት ዎ ላታዕሳ ኢናፍዓታ።

The Kite and the Hare

The Kite said to the Hare, " Let us run a race." They agreed to put the prize for the race on the

 peak of a distant hill and for the one who reached it first to take it. The Kite put all her energy into

walking, but the Hare did not put forth the least effort, knowing she was the faster she lost time

playing about until the Kite was close to the hill. Then the Hare ran to reach the hill before the Kite,

but could not overtake her. Thus the Kite arrived first by not slackening in her walk and the Hare

was defeated by her own negligence, which profited her nothing.

እግል ልተላሌ'ቱ.......

Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love,

        the things you are, the things you never want to lose  .......   Kevin Arnold