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እታ ቤተይ ገዲፈ ንከተማ ዝወጻኹላ ዕለት The day I left home for the city

Written by Lesley Koyi, Ursula Nafula

Illustrated by Brian Wambi

Translated by Daniel Berhane Habte

Language Tigrinya

Level Level 3

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እታ ኣብ ዓድና ዘላ ንእሽቶ መዕረፍ ኣውቶቡሳት ብህዝብን ልዕሊ ዓቕመን ብዝጸዓና ኣውቶቡሳትን ኣዕለቕሊቓ ነበረት። ዋላ ኣብ ባይታ ኻኣ ዝጸዓን ተወሳኺ ንብረት ነበረ። ተመትቲ ኣስማት ናይቲ ኣውቶቡሳቶም ዝኸድኦ ቦታታት ይጭድሩ ነበሩ።

The small bus stop in my village was busy with people and overloaded buses. On the ground were even more things to load. Touts were shouting the names where their buses were going.


ከተማ! ከታማ! ናብ ምዕራብ! ኢሉ ሓደ ተማቲ ክጭድር ሰማዕክዎ። ንሳ እያ እታ ክወስዳ ዝደለኹ ኣውቶቡስ።

“City! City! Going west!” I heard a tout shouting. That was the bus I needed to catch.


እታ ኣውቶቡስ ከተማ ዳርጋ መሊኣ እያ ኔራ፡ ግን ጌና ተወሰኽቲ ሰባት ንኽኣትዉ ይደፋፍኡ ነበሩ። ገሊኣቶም ንብረቶም ኣብ ትሕቲ እታ ኣውቶቡስ ጸዓንዎ። ካልኦት ድማ ኣብቲ ኣብ ውሽጢ ዘሎ መጸፍጸፊ ኣእተውዎ።

The city bus was almost full, but more people were still pushing to get on. Some packed their luggage under the bus. Others put theirs on the racks inside.


ሓደስቲ ተሳፈርቲ ትኬቶም ተኾልኪሎም ኣብታ ጭቕጭቕ ዝበለት ኣውቶቡስ ኮፍ መበሊ ይደልዩ ነበሩ። ናኣሽቱ ቆልዑ ዝነበርወን ኣዴታት ንቆልዑተን ነቲ ነዊሕ ጕዕዞ ኣመሻሽኣሎም።

New passengers clutched their tickets as they looked for somewhere to sit in the crowded bus. Women with young children made them comfortable for the long journey.


ኣነ ኣብ ጥቓ መስኮት ተጨባቢጠ ኮፍ በልኩ። ኣብ ጐነይ ኮፍ ዝበለ ሰብ ሓንቲ ቀጠልያ ሳንጣ ቀጠው ኣቢሉ ሒዙ ነበረ። ብላይ ሳንደል ሳእንን ዝኣረገ ካቦትን’ዩ ወድዩ፡ ዝተጨነቐ ድማ ይመስል ነበረ።

I squeezed in next to a window. The person sitting next to me was holding tightly to a green plastic bag. He wore old sandals, a worn out coat, and he looked nervous.


ካብታ ኣውቶቡስ ናብ ግዳም ጠመትኩ’ሞ ዓደይ፡ እታ ዝዓበኹላ ቦታ ሓዲገያ ይኸይድ ምህላወይ ተረድኣኒ። ናብታ ዓባይ ከተማ እየ ዝኸይድ ኔረ።

I looked outside the bus and realised that I was leaving my village, the place where I had grown up. I was going to the big city.


እቲ ምጽዓን ተወዲኡ እዩ ኵሉ ተሳፋራይ ድማ ኮፍ በለ። እናዞሩ ኣቕሑ ዝሸጡ ሰባት ንብረቶም ናብ ተሳፈርቲ ንምሻጥ ጌና ናብታ ኣውቶቡስ ተዳፍኡ። ነፍስወከፎም ስም እቲ ንመሸጣ ዝቐረብዎ ንብረት እናጠቐሱ ይጭድሩ ነበሩ። እቲ ቃላት ንዓይ ኣስሒቑኒ።

The loading was completed and all passengers were seated. Hawkers still pushed their way into the bus to sell their goods to the passengers. Everyone was shouting the names of what was available for sale. The words sounded funny to me.


ሒደት ተሳፈርቲ ዝስተ ገዚኦም፡ ካልኦት ቀንጠመምንጢ ጣዓሞት ዓዲጎም ክሕይኹ ጀሚሮም። እቶም ገንዘብ ዘይነበረና፡ በዓል ኣነ፡ ሱቕ ኢልና ተዓዘብና።

A few passengers bought drinks, others bought small snacks and began to chew. Those who did not have any money, like me, just watched.


እዚ ንጥፈታት በቲ ክንብገስ ምዃ’ና ዘአንፍት ድምጺ ጥሩምባ ናይታ ኣውቶቡስ ተቛረጸ። እቲ ተማቲ ነቶም ሸያጦ ንኽወጹ ኣዕበርበረሎም።

These activities were interrupted by the hooting of the bus, a sign that we were ready to leave. The tout yelled at the hawkers to get out.


ሸያጦ ካብታ ኣውቶቡስ ንምውራድ ንሓድሕዶም ተደፋፍኡ። ገሊኦም ነቶም ተሳፈርቲ ማልስ ሂቦሞም። ካልኦት ድማ ተወሳኺ ነገራት ንምሻጥ ናይ መወዳእታ ፈተነ ኣካየዱ።

Hawkers pushed each other to make their way out of the bus. Some gave back change to the travellers. Others made last minute attempts to sell more items.


እታ ኣውቶቡስ ነቲ መቖም ኣውቶቡስ ገዲፋቶ ክትከይድ ከላ በቲ መስኮት ንግዳም ጠመትኩ። ዳግም ናብ ዓደይ ክምለስ’ዶ ይኸውን እናበልኩ ተደነቕኩ።

As the bus left the bus stop, I stared out of the window. I wondered if I would ever go back to my village again.


ኣብ ጕዕዞና ምስገስገስና፡ እቲ ውሽጢ ኣውቶቡስ ኣዝዩ መቘ። ክድቅስ እናተተስፈኹ ዓይነይ ዓመትኩ።

As the journey progressed, the inside of the bus got very hot. I closed my eyes hoping to sleep.


ኣእምሮይ ግና ናብ ቤተይ ተመሊሱ ሃውተተ። ኣደይ ብደሓን’ዶ ትጸንሕ? ማንቲለይ ገንዘብ የእትዋ’ዶ ይኾና? ሓወይ’ከ ነቲ ፈልሰይ ማይ ምስታይ ይዝክሮ’ዶ ይኸውን?

But my mind drifted back home. Will my mother be safe? Will my rabbits fetch any money? Will my brother remember to water my tree seedlings?


ኣብ መንገደይ፡ ስም ናይቲ ኣኮይ ዝነብረሉ ኣብቲ ዓቢ ኸተማ ዘሎ ቦታ ሸምደድክዎ። ጌና ደቂሰ ከለኹ ነቲ ስም ብትሕቲ መልሓሰይ ይደጋግሞ ነበርኩ።

On the way, I memorised the name of the place where my uncle lived in the big city. I was still mumbling it when I fell asleep.


ድሕሪ ትሽዓተ ሰዓታት፡ በቲ ዓው ዝበለ ገም ገምን ጻውዒት ናብ ዓድና ክምለሱ ዝደለዩ ተሳፈርትን ተበራበርኩ። ንእሽቶ ሳንጣይ ኣልዒለ ካብታ ኣውቶቡስ ዘሊለ ወረድኩ።

Nine hours later, I woke up with loud banging and calling for passengers going back to my village. I grabbed my small bag and jumped out of the bus.


እታ ኣውቶቡስ ንኽትምለስ ብቕልጡፍ ትመልእ ነበረት። ብተሎ ናብ ምብራቕ ክትምለስ እያ። ሕጂ እምበኣር እቲ ንዓይ ኣዝዩ ዘገድሰኒ ነገር፡ እንዳ ኣኮይ ሃሰው ክብል ምጅማር እዩ።

The return bus was filling up quickly. Soon it would make its way back east. The most important thing for me now, was to start looking for my uncle’s house.


Written by: Lesley Koyi, Ursula Nafula
Illustrated by: Brian Wambi
Translated by: Daniel Berhane Habte
Language: Tigrinya
Level: Level 3
Source: The day I left home for the city from African Storybook
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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