In wake of our finishing Amharic language school, we are still posting blogs about our favorite traditional stories we learned in class. If you saw the earlier blog about driving (“Traveling Heavy” from September), you remember seeing the video with all the people and animals on the side of the road/highway. Well, this story comes from that context:
This story is told about why certain animals behave differently around cars. Apparently, one day, a donkey, a dog and a goat all got onto the taxi minibus. In every taxi there is a driver and a money collector/destination yeller. This later chap is called the “Redat” (which just means helper). When the Redat asked money from the donkey, the respectable donkey gave him the correct amount (1.90 birr = 15 US cents) and continued sitting in his seat nicely. The dog, however, did not have correct change so he gave the Redat a 5 birr bill and waited for change (which doesn’t always come right away). The Redat finally came to the goat, but just then they arrived at the final destination. The goat jumped out of the taxi and ran away as fast as he could. The donkey calmly exited the vehicle and continued his journey on foot (or hoof). The dog stepped out of the vehicle and turned around to ask the Redat for his change, but just then the taxi sped off. So this explains everything. When a donkey sees a car coming, he does nothing, knowing that he paid his fare. The goat, stricken with fear at the sight of the car, bolts whatever direction he can, thinking that the taxi is returning to get its money. And the dog, just like in the States, immediately chases after the car, of course trying to get his change back from that nasty Redat.
Is there a moral to this story? Or is it just an explanation of reality?
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