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A spider standing in front of a clay pot.

አናንሲና ጥበብ Anansi and Wisdom Anansi et la sagesse

Written by Ghanaian folktale

Illustrated by Wiehan de Jager

Translated by Mezemir Girma

Read by Abenezer Chane

Language Amharic

Level Level 3

Narrate full story

Reading speed

Autoplay story


A god in the sky holding a clay pot and four people looking confused.

በድሮ ዘመን ሰዎች ምንም አያውቁም ነበር። ሰብል እንዴት እንደሚዘራ፣ ሽመናም ሆነ የአንጥረኝነት ስራ እንዴት እንደሚሰራ ምንም ሃሳብ አልነበራቸውም። በሰማይ ያለው ንያሜ የተባለው አምላክ ግን የዓለምን ሁሉ ጥበብ ይዞ ነበር። በአንድ ገንቦም ውስጥ በጥንቃቄ አስቀምጦት ነበር።

Long long ago people didn’t know anything. They didn’t know how to plant crops, or how to weave cloth, or how to make iron tools. The god Nyame up in the sky had all the wisdom of the world. He kept it safe in a clay pot.

Il y a longtemps, les gens ne savaient rien. Ils ne savaient pas comment ensemmencer et cultiver leurs champs, ou comment tisser, ou comment fabriquer des outils de fer. Le dieu Nyame dans le ciel avait toute la sagesse du monde. Il la gardait en sécurité dans un pot en argile.


A spider standing in front of a clay pot.

ከዕለታት አንድ ቀን ንያሜ ይህን የዕውቀት ገምቦ ለአናንሲ ለመስጠት ወሰነ። አናንሲ የሸክላውን ገንቦ ባየ ቁጥር አንድ አዲስ ነገር ያገኝ ነበር። ያስደስት ነበር!

One day, Nyame decided that he would give the pot of wisdom to Anansi. Every time Anansi looked in the clay pot, he learned something new. It was so exciting!

Un jour, Nyame décida qu’il donnerait le pot de la sagesse à Anansi. Chaque fois qu’Anansi regardait dans le pot en argile, il apprenait quelque chose de nouveau. C’était tellement excitant !


A spider climbing a tall tree with a clay pot tied to its stomach and a boy standing at the bottom of the tree.

ገብጋባው አናንሲ ‹‹ይህን ገንቦ በአንድ ትልቅ ዛፍ ጫፍ በጥንቃቄ አስቀምጠዋለሁ። ከዚያም ሁሉም የኔው ይሆንልኛል!›› ሲል አሰበ። አንድ ረጅም ክርም ገምዶ በሸክላው ገንቦ ዙሪያ አሰረ፤ ከዚያም በሆዱ ዙሪያ ጠመጠመ። ዛፉንም መውጣት ጀመረ። ገንቦው አሁንም አሁንም ጉልበት ጉልበቱን እየመታው ዛፍ መውጣቱ ከበደው።

Greedy Anansi thought, “I’ll keep the pot safe at the top of a tall tree. Then I can have it all to myself!” He spun a long thread, wound it round the clay pot, and tied it to his stomach. He began to climb the tree. But it was hard climbing the tree with the pot bumping him in the knees all the time.

Anansi, l’avide, pensa: « Je vais garder le pot en sécurité en haut d’un grand arbre. Comme ça je pourrai l’avoir à moi seul ! » Il fila un fil long, l’enroula autour du pot en argile et l’attacha à son estomac. Il commença à grimper à l’arbre. Mais c’était difficile de grimper à l’arbre avec le pot qui lui cognait les genoux tout le temps.


A spider climbing a tall tree with a clay pot tied to its back and a boy standing at the bottom of the tree.

ይህን ሁሉ ጊዜም የአናንሲ ትንሽ ልጅ ከዛፉ ስር ቆሞ እየተከታተለው ነበር። እሱም ‹‹አዝለኸው ብትወጣ አይሻልም ወይ?›› አለው። አናንሲ ጥበብ የያዘውን የሸክላ ገንቦ ከጀርባው ለማሰር ሞከረ፤ እውነትም አመቺ ነበር።

All the time Anansi’s young son had been standing at the bottom of the tree watching. He said, “Wouldn’t it be easier to climb if you tied the pot to your back instead?” Anansi tried tying the clay pot full of wisdom to his back, and it really was a lot easier.

Pendant tout ce temps, le jeune fils d’Anansi était debout en bas de l’arbre en train de regarder. « Au lieu de faire ceci, ne serait-il pas plus facile d’attacher le pot à ton dos ? » Anansi essaya d’attacher le pot rempli de sagesse à son dos et ce fut vraiment plus facile.


A spider at the top of a tree throwing a clay pot down.

ባጭር ጊዜም ከዛፉ ጫፍ ደረሰ። እዚያም ቆም አለና ‹‹ይህ ሁሉ ዕውቀት የኔ እንዲሆን ነው የተፈለገው፤ ግን ይሄው ልጄ ከኔ የበለጠ ብልህ ሆነ!›› በማለት አሰበ። አናንሲ በዚህ በጣም ተናዶ ያንን የሸክላ ገንቦ ከዛፉ ላይ ወደ ታች ወረወረው።

In no time he reached the top of the tree. But then he stopped and thought, “I’m supposed to be the one with all the wisdom, and here my son was cleverer than me!” Anansi was so angry about this that he threw the clay pot down out of the tree.

En peu de temps il atteignit le sommet de l’arbre. Mais il arrêta et pensa, « Je suis censé être celui qui a toute la sagesse et voici que mon fils est plus sage que moi ! » Anansi était tellement fâché à propos de ceci qu’il lança le pot en argile en bas de l’arbre.


Pieces of clay and wisdom scattered on the ground.

መሬትም ላይ ወድቆ ፍርክስክሱ ወጣ። ጥበብም ለማንኛውም ሰው በእኩል ተዳረሰ። በዚህም ምክንያት ነበር ሰዎች እርሻ፣ ሽመና፣ አንጥረኝነትና ሌሎችንም ሰዎች መስራት የሚችሏቸውን ነገሮች ሁሉ የተማሩት።

It smashed into pieces on the ground. The wisdom was free for everyone to share. And that is how people learned to farm, to weave cloth, to make iron tools, and all the other things that people know how to do.

Le pot se cassa en mille morceaux sur le sol. La sagesse fut accessible à tous. Et c’est ainsi que les gens apprirent à cultiver, tisser, fabriquer des outils de fer, et toutes les autres choses que les gens savent faire.


Written by: Ghanaian folktale
Illustrated by: Wiehan de Jager
Translated by: Mezemir Girma
Read by: Abenezer Chane
Language: Amharic
Level: Level 3
Source: Anansi and Wisdom from African Storybook
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 International License.
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