These children stories have been collected over the past few years for future publication. The stories tell something about the values, beliefs and attitude to life of Eritrea’s nine ethnic groups. We shall start with Tigre children stories.


No Reply from the Sky

Do you know what two donkeys do when they meet? First they sniff at each other as if to say “How are you? How do you do? It’s been a long time.
And then they, at the same time, look up in the sky. A little while and they part company a little bit disappointed.
According to Tigre folktales, the reason is as follows:
Once upon a time, the donkeys of the world gathered together to do something about their suffering. Some said:
“We are treated very badly by our masters. We are forced to carry very heavy burden and if we complain about the load, we are beaten mercilessly with a stick. Our backs are full of wounds and scars. While the horse is given golden hay to eat, we are forced to eat empty wheat husks.”
Others said:
“If nobody is going to listen to us, we have only to send a message to God in the sky and ask him to help us.”
So they chose an old donkey and sent him to God with a message. The old donkey took the message and some grass along on his way to God.
The meeting was ended and everybody went home, braying: Hi Ho Hi Ho
Days passed. The donkeys waited for reply from God. They waited for one week, one month, one year. But the old donkey who took the message to God did not return. They waited for ten years. Still no sight of the old donkey with a reply from God.
“What is going on,” said the donkeys. Isn’t the Good Lord going to help us?

They waited with no result.
The donkeys are still waiting.

That’s why when one donkey meets another donkey, one says to the other:
“So brother, what about the reply?”
“Sorry, no reply yet.”
And both look upward to see if the old donkey is on his way back to earth.
Alas! No donkey is coming this way from the sky.
Disappointed, the donkeys part company saying:
“Let us give him another chance.”

The Smart Woman
Once upon a time, a very poor husband and his wife lived in a small house next to a rich family.
The poor family rarely ate in the morning and skipped lunch and had dried bread and water for dinner.
The rich family, however, ate meat every day, drank milk every morning and bought new clothes every holiday.
The poor husband’s wife stopped fetching water and firewood. She was too weak to walk. But her husband could do nothing.
One day the woman could stand it no more. She told her husband of a secret. If the plan worked they would have plenty to eat.
The plan went like this:
The husband was to beat his wife and she was supposed to cry loud until the neighbors gathered and took the husband away………..

The next day, the husband took a stick and started beating (softly) his wife who yelled and screamed until the neighbors gathered, broke the door open and took the husband away and locked him inside the nearest house. Fortunately, the nearest house was the rich family’s house. The neighbors told the husband to remain there till he cooled down.
“I will cut her to pieces with a carving knife!’ shouted the husband from inside the rich family’s house.
“The knife is on the widow sill. Do it quickly if you are a man!” shouted back the wife.
So the husband looked around and found a knife on the window sill where housewives usually kept their knives. He took the knife and tore open a sack full of dried meat and filled his pockets with it.
“Get me out of here, I feel sorry for what I have done to my wife!” He shouted from inside the rich family’s house.
“Let’s get him out. It seems that the devil has left him now,” said the neighbors.
So they let him out and took him to his house where he met his wife and asked her to forgive him.
“Okay, I forgive you, just get in and remain calm,” she told him.
When the crowd finally dispersed and everything was calm, the husband took out the dried meat from his pockets and gave it to his wife.
The poor husband and his wife enjoyed wonderful meals of qunata for a week or two and their house was filled with laughter.

The Kind Dove
Once upon a time a certain girl was living with her married brother. Unfortunately, her sister-in-law did not like her. She wanted her to go away.
One day, the sister-in-law took the tooth brush of the girl (a twig with a silver handle and branched at the end ) and dipped it into a camel’s milk. The girl had never tasted camel’s milk all her life, and after using the twig for some time to brush her teeth, she became pregnant.
Her brother became furious:
“How can you do such a shameless thing?” he roared, and took her away from the house and after a long walk, left her in a lonely place without water and food.
“Good riddance!” said the sister-in-law. “Now, I am free and happy.”
The girl wept and did not know what to do. She was very tired and lay on the ground and went to sleep.
She woke up the next day and saw a beautiful cottage nearby. She went inside and found all kinds of food and drinks.
In the evening, while she was busy cooking food, wild animals living in the area came one by one to pay her a visit.
“What is your problem? Do you need help?” They asked.
The girl told them her story and how she got pregnant.
“Now, I want someone to help me after I give birth to a child” she told the animals.
The hyena was very happy to know that the girl was soon to give birth to a child.
“Okay, I will help you,” he said. “But, afterwards you have to give me the child for dinner.”
The girl became very sad at the hyena’s reply and told him that she did not want his help if he was going to eat her baby in the end.
The leopard came and said the same thing as the hyena.
All the remaining wild animals said the same thing. They wanted to eat the baby after helping out the girl in the house.
The dove was the last to speak. It said:
“I will help you in the house and I will tell your parents about your problems.”
The next day the dove helped the girl in cooking lunch. When the child was born, the dove played with the child and the next day it flew to the house of the brother of the girl and told him everything about his sister.
The brother became very sad and went over to the house where his sister was staying. He asked her to forgive him and then took her back home.
And they lived happily ever after.