Imaala Namicha Gamnaa:  Oduu Durii Baratoota Afaan Ingliffaaf

(The Journey of a Wise Man:  A Fable for English Learners)

¹  Yeroo durii,namni gamni tokko biyya gaara qabeessa tokko keessa jirata ture. Biyyittiin baay'ee baredudha. Garuu,yeroo hunda nyaata garii argachuun rakkisaa dha.

    ¹ A long time ago, there was a wise man living in a mountain country. The country was beautiful. But it was always difficult to find enough food.

²  Namootni biyyittii kanaa gara biyyoota gaara dhabeessaatti deemuuf murteessani. Yeroo cabbiin baquu jalqabu,qabeenya isaanii mara hunda borsaa isaanitti naqatu. Hamilee gadaan makameen Namtichu gamnaa fi olootni isaa bakkee kana gadhiisanii ka'ani.

    ² The people of the High Country decided that they would travel together to the Low Country. When the snow began to melt, they packed all they owned into their wagons. With anticipation mixed with sadness, the wise man and his neighbors left their High Country homes.

 ³  Namtich gamni kun akkuma manaa bahaniin waan tokko hubate. Guyyadha guyyatti osuma deemaa jeranii,irreen isaa inni mirgaa isa burkutaa'e. Akka fagaachaa deemaniin dadhabaa dhufan. Waan sadii namticha gamna kana dinqsiisani. Tokkoffaa,yeroo mandara keessa dhaabatu hunda dandhabiin irreesaa itti dhaga'ama. Lamaffaa,yeroo imaaltonni biyya kana irraa deeman galgala galgala abida birratti walga'anii odeessan irreen isaa jaabaachuu isaa hubate.

    ³ The wise man noticed something strange taking place soon after they began their journey. As they traveled day after day, his right arm began to feel stiff. The further they traveled from the High Country, the weaker it became. Three things puzzled him. First, his arm always felt the weakest whenever they stopped in a village. Secondly, he noticed that when the travelers from the High Country gathered around a fire at night to talk among themselves, his arm became strong again.

⁴  Kalqi isaa inni sadaffan immoo bayee isa dinqsiise. Yeroo irree isaa dugada isaa duuba godhatu,dhukubnii fi ofjibinsi tokko illee itti hin dhaga'amu.

    ⁴ His third discovery puzzled him the most. When he put his arm behind his back, it no longer felt stiff and useless.

⁵  Guyyaa tokko namtichu gamni kun ni jeeqame. Akkuma borsaan isaa dadachaasee karaa gaaraa kanarra deemaa jiruun oloota isaa borsaa qabatanii fuuldura isaa jiran arge. Namootni kaanis irree isaanii duuba isaanitti gargalchuun akka deemaa jiran hubate. Akkuma itti hiiqaa dhufeen,namoota duloomaniif akkasuma irree isaanii finyoodhaan hidhataniiran arge.

    ⁵ One day the wise man was startled. As his wagon rounded a bend in a high mountain road, he looked down on his neighbors' wagons ahead of him. He realized that many others were also holding an arm behind their back. As he looked more closely, he saw that some older people had even tied their arm in place with a rope.

⁶  Maaliif akkas godhataniiru? Jedhee ajaa'ibame.

    ⁶ Why, he wondered, was this happening?

⁷  Dhumaratti biyyoota gaareen hin qabne kanra gahanii. Qileensi isaa qorraa ture. Dacheen ishee midhaan, bosonni ishee immoo xaawulaa manaaf ta'an oomishitti. Jireenyi kan hamilee qabdu fakkaatti. Abdatan,irreen isaanii burkutaa'uu irraa kan hafe. Dhabbii cimaa kana kan fide qileensa biyya gaara dhabeesaa kan irraan kan ka'e dha oduun jettu ni jirti. Namootni tokko tokkomaa biyya kan keessa turuuf, akkamittiin akka jiraatan barachuu qabu jedhu.

    ⁷ At last they reached the Low Country. The weather was warm. The fields would produce grain and the forests would supply lumber for their houses. Life looked promising. Promising, that is, except for their weak arms. It was rumored that the Low Country's air caused this strange weakness. Some of the people even said they must learn to live with this weakness if they wanted to stay in the Low Country.

⁸  Namootni duloomanii fi ijooleen hojechuu qabu. Lafa qulquleesan,midhaan facaasan fi muka mana haaraa ijaaruuf qopheessan. Namni biyya gaara qabeessa keessaa wayyaa hodhu tokko kootii irree butute kana iddooti deebsu hodhe. Akkasumas kootii gogaa irraa hojetame kootii kana irra darrabuun ba'a ulfaataan akka hin qooqne godhe. Garuu kootii haraadhuma kanaanuu hojiin akka garaatti hajetamuu hin dandeenye waan harka tokko qofaa fayyadamaniif.

    ⁸ The adults and children set to work. They cleared the land, planted crops, and prepared lumber to build their new homes. A High Country tailor sewed a new kind of coat that would hold the useless arm in place. He also put leather on the coat so the shoulder could push heavy loads. Even with the new coat, however, work was slow because everyone used only one arm.

⁹  Namtichi gamni kun ammas waa haaraa tokko hubate. Tokkoffaa,akkam isaan dhukubu ille ijooleen ammas irree isaanitti fayadamuun hojii jalqabuu isaanii hubate. Lammafaa,namtichu gamni kun kan inni hubate,yeroo namootni biyya gaara qabeessa kana irraa dhufan mana tokko keessatti walga'an,akkasumas balbala isaanii fi foddaa isaanii yeroo cufatan dadhabiin hunda irraa,namoota dulooman irraarree,ni bada. "Dhuguma" jedhu namootni baayeen,"kuni qileensi biyyi gaara dhaabeessaa rakkina tokko qabaachuu isaa agarsiisa." Namootni baayeen furmaatni kanaa manoota qilleensa hin gashine biyya gaara dhabeessa kana keessatti ijaarudha yaada jedhu irratti walii galani. Garuu,namtichi gamini kun baayee aja'ibame yeroo ijooleen dadhabanii turan ala yeroo taphatanii fi hojjetan jabaachaa dhufuu isaanii yeroo argu.

    ⁹ Again, the wise man noticed a strange thing. First, he noticed that--even though it caused them pain--the children soon began using their weak arm again. Secondly, the wise man noticed that whenever the High Country people met together in their first buildings, if they shut all the doors and windows, strength returned to the arms of even the oldest men and women. "Surely," most said, "this proves that the Low Country air is at fault." Most agreed that the only solution was to build houses so strong that all Low Country air could be kept outside. But the wise man was puzzled most because the children seemed to become stronger while playing and working outside in the Low Country air.

¹⁰  Namtichi gamni kun namoota olaa isaa biyya gaara qabeessa irraa dhufan osoo irree tokkitiin mana ijaarachuuf yaalani arge. Namootni kuni haala kanaan rakkachuu isaanii soda guddaan itti dhaga'ame. Kootich haaraan harkuma tokkoon dafa dafanii akka hojetan isaan gargaare. Garuu bonni dhufaa jiraatu illee manas ta'e midhaan kan isaaniif xumuraamaa jiru hin jiru haala ammaan yoo itti fufan.

    ¹⁰ The wise man watched his High Country neighbors trying to build their houses while using only one arm. He became fearful for his people's welfare. The new coat helped them work faster with one arm. But winter was coming and neither the houses nor the crops would be ready if everyone continued to work with one arm behind their back.

¹¹  Namtichi gamni kun ijjoolle arge sana irraa waan tokko barate. Isaa dhukubaa jiraatu illee irraa isaa jabeefachuu kan danda'u yoo hojii cimaa ittiin hojete qofaadha. Bonni waan dhufaa jiruuf mana isaa hojjetachuu akka qabu hubate. Garuu,mana isaa osoo ganni hin dhufiin fixuu kan danda'u yoo harka isaa lamma fayyadame qofaa akka ta'e beeka. Namtichi gamni kun mana isaa dafee fixuuf guyyaati yeroo ta'e irree isaa jabeessu irratti akka dabarsuu qabu murteesse.

    ¹¹ The wise man learned a lesson from the children. He realized that--even though it was painful--using his weak arm for hard work was the only way to make it strong again. Because winter was coming, he knew that he could not stop working on his house in order to spend all his time trying to make his arm strong. But he also knew that he could not finish his house before winter unless he used both arms. The wise man decided that if he was to finish his house before winter, he must spend some time each day strengthening his arm so that he could finish his house more quickly.

¹²  Akkuma jedhee namtichi gamni kun irra isaa jabeessuu fi mana isaa hojeechuu itti fufe. Osoo ganni hin dhufiin mana isaa fixate.

    ¹² The wise man spent time each day both strengthening his arm and working on his house. He finished his house before winter.

¹³  Namootni biyya gaara qabeessa sana irraa dhufan garii osoo midhaan hin ga'iinii fi osoo mana isaanii hin fixatiin waan cabbiin itti bu'eef ni dhumani. Waan hojichi nu jalaa dhaabbata jedhanii yaadaniif suuta hojjetaa turani.

    ¹³ Some High Country people perished that winter because the snow came before their crops were harvested and their houses finished. They had worked slowly every day because they were afraid to stop working on their houses long enough to strengthen their weak arm.

¹⁴  Yoo biyya United States keessa jiraachaa Afaan Ingliffa sirritti hin beektu taate,ati harki kee tokko duubatti hidhamee jiraachaa jirta. Maatii kee gargaaruuf hojjechuu qabda. Garuu Afaan Ingliffa barachuuf hin yaaltu yoo ta'e, jireenyikee fulduraa murtaa'aa ta'a. Spoken English Learned Quickly barumsi jedhamu kan laatamu akka ati manatti qo'atuu fi ammas hojii argatuuf. Yoo Ingliffa yeroo dhaa yerootti ji'a ja'aa hanga waggaa tokkootii qo'atte dandeettiin Ingliffaa kee ni foyyeffatta. Akka miindaa guddaa argattu si godha,uummata kee keessatti jireenya gaarii jiraatta,akkasumas ijoolleen kee mana barumsaa galanii yemmu baratan waliin odeessuuf si gargaara.

    ¹⁴ If you live in the United States and cannot speak English well, you are living as though one arm was tied behind your back. You must work to support your family. But if you do not spend time each day learning English, you will be limited for the rest of your life. Spoken English Learned Quickly was written so that you can study at home and still hold a job. If you will regularly study English each day for six months to a year, your English will greatly improve. You will be more able to earn higher wages, live more effectively in your community, and talk with your children as they learn English in school.