Ethiopian Folk Tale - The Clever Son

For generations, Ethiopian stories such as this, with their perceptive wit and useful lessons, have been used to entertain and instruct young children.

I am sharing these folk-tales from the collection of stories by author Shlomo Bachrach, 1967. 

Enjoy. Senait Mareligne

THE CLEVER SON

A long time ago an old man lived in the region of Gondar. He had three sons. The old man was sick and he called his sons to him. He wanted to find out which son was the cleverest.

The old man told his sons, ‘I will reward the most clever one. There is some money on the table. Each one take twenty-five cents, and buy something to fill my room.’

Each boy took twenty-five cents and went out to buy something to fill his father’s room.

The oldest boy went out. He said to himself, ‘This is easy. There are many things I can buy in the market.’ He went to the market and bought some straw.

The second son thought to himself, ‘is there anything that fills a room?’ Then he went to the market and looked in all the shops. At last he bought some feathers.

The youngest son thought for a long time. ‘What is there in the market that costs twenty-five cents and fills a room?’ He thought for many hours. Then he went to a small shop and bought a candle and a match.

The next day the three sons returned to their father. They entered his room. Each one brought what he had to fill the old man’s room. The oldest son brought his straw. The second son brought his feathers. The youngest son brought his match and his candle.

The oldest son showed his father the straw. It filled only a small corner of the room. ‘Only one corner of the room is full, ‘said the old man.

The second son showed his feathers. They filled only two corners of the room.

Isn’t there anything that will fill the room?’ asked the old man.

The youngest son took the match and lit the candle. The light from one small candle filled the dark room. The old man was very happy. He rewarded the youngest son. He gave him all of his land and money.

Next Folk Tale....The Thief and the Chair