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. A folk tale always starts with the teller saying "Teret Teret" and the kids saying "YeLam Beret".
THE FOOLISH SERVANTS
There names were Joseph and Abebe. Each of them had a foolish servant. The servants made the men angry.
One day Joseph and Abebe met in the market. They talked about their crops, their families, and the weather. Finally they talked about their foolish servants.
Joseph said, "My servant is so foolish that every morning he buries some chicken bones in the ground. He thinks that birds crying in the trees cause rain."
They argued about which servant was more foolish. They argued for two hours. Finally they decided to test their servants.
Joseph said, "Here is how we will solve the problem. Tomorrow at two o'clock, bring our servant to my house. We will each give our servants a silly job. The one who does his job is more foolish."
The next day, the two men met in Joseph's house. As soon as they arrived, Abebe said to his servant, "Run home and see if I'am there. I want to talk to myself."
When Abebe's servant left, Joseph said to his own servant, "Here is one dollar. Go and buy me a new car." The second servant took the money and went out to do the job.
A few hours later the two servants met on the road. Both of them were very angry. Joseph's servant said, "My foolish master told me to buy him a new car, and he gave me some money. I can't buy it. He didn't tell me what color he wanted."
Abebe's servant said, "My master is more foolish. He told me to go to his house and see if he is there. Why didn't he telephone and find out quickly?"
Then both servants went home.
Abebe and Joseph met a few days later. They agreed that both servants were equally foolish.
