By Mohamed Abdillahi Hajji Hussein Omar Hashi (Big Moh)

With a population of 5-7 million people living in many parts of Somalia and Somaliland, Somali people are starting to share their stories and folk tales. The Somali people, their culture and heritage are full of interesting stories that have been passed down from generation to generation. These stories are full of fascinating stories that have helped children learn lessons in many ways.

As a Somali who was born outside of Somaliland and raised in the Western world, I have not heard or read any of our rich historical folk stories that have been passed down from our forefathers. I am on a mission to translate as many of these stories with the help of the students at my school in Hargeysa. Some of the advanced students at the Toronto Language and Computer Academy in Hargeisa Somaliland have translated three popular stories. Here are the first of a series that we will be translating into the English Language. These groups of students are all graduates from the University of Hargeysa who have enrolled at the school to enhance their English language skills. They are all professionals working in Somaliland, who were all born and raised here in Hargeysa.

Ina Hagadere and his Sheep

Once upon a time in a small village in Northern Somalia there lived a man called Ina Hagadere. He was rich and he owned a large number of sheep. One day his sheep began dying mysteriously, and he was quite puzzled. He started blaming the deaths on God, and said “God is the reason my sheep are all dying, he is slaughtering them all”.
He thought long and hard and came up with a wonderful idea. He split his sheep into two flocks. He kept one of the flocks for himself and he gave one of the flocks to God to use. He was firm in his belief that by doing so his flock would be safe. He looked up to the heavens and he said “that is your half do to them as you wish, but don’t touch these ones because they belong to me.”

As the weeks and months went by his sheep were dying again and God’s sheep were left alive and safe. One morning he woke up and saw that some of his sheep died over night. He ran into his hut and grabbed his favorite hunting spear; he raised his spear and ran towards God’s flock. He ran his spear into one of the sheep, as the sheep bleated out loud in agony “MAAAH MAAAH” He yelled at the heavens and said “Isn’t it hard to lose one of your sheep”

A few days later Ina Hagadere was at his well quenching his thirst with a cold cup of water. As he was drinking he noticed that a stone got stuck to his tongue and would not go away or fall off. He immediately realized that the reason for this was that he was constantly angry at God and that he needed to stop cursing and blaspheming.
His sheep continued dying as time went by, and poor little Ina Hagadere did not know what to do. Ina Hagadere said “If I curse another stone will stick to my tongue and if I stay quiet my sheep will continue to die.”

By: Abdalla Said Ismail

Fuad Abdi Obsiye

Egal Shilaad and his Enemy

Once upon a time in a tiny little village in Olden Somalia, there was a man called Egal Shilaad. One day while he was taking his afternoon nap his wife was at the market and she heard that some men from the neighboring village were planning on attacking their village. She quickly ran home to warn her husband. Egal didn’t believe his wife and he accused her of always making stories up so that she can frighten him.

His wife replied by telling him that she didn’t make it up but that she heard it in town, and that all the women and children in town were talking about this. She told him that all the other men were gathering in the market square and were planning on defending their village. She got angry and told him that he was the man of this house and that he should defend the household.

While they were arguing the enemy from the other town arrived and the villagers all started screaming and running around in fear. Egal wondered what he should do in this situation and then admitted to his wife that he was wrong and that there was no time for them to escape. He knew that the enemy fighters would kill all the men, so he told his wife to roll him in a rug and to mourn for him in-front of their house.

His wife did as she was told and started weeping in-front of the house “Oh, my husband is dead” she screamed. Egal thought that he would be found and killed for sure. He yelled at her to cry louder and to make sure that actual tears came out of her eyes.

While his wife was crying some of the enemy fighters came to her hut and asked her why she was crying. She told them that she was crying over the death of her husband. The fighters then asked her when he died. As she was about to reply a voice came out of the rug and said “Say that he died yesterday”

The fighters were all shocked at first, but all laughed and said that “This is not a real man. He is such a coward and he cannot hurt any of us, let him live with the women and children.”

By: Ahmed Mohamed Hussein

Idil Mohamoud & Mohamed Ismail Abdi

The Hyena and the Fox

Once upon a time near the town of Sheikh in Northern Somalia. A cunning fox became a problem to a family of nomadic sheep herders. The fox attacked and ate more sheep than the people could afford to lose. One night the fox got away with their prized lamb, and the farmers decided to set a trap for the fox and get rid of it for good. The fox fell for the trap that the farmers set for it. After a day or so the farmers got back to the fox and tied him to a tree. They all decided on digging a deep hole and then setting the fox on fire, so that they could finally be free of its troublesome ways.

The farmers dug a deep hole and were all satisfied with the punishment that the fox would receive for his crime against their animals. As the farmers went out to go and get firewood for the fire, a lonely and hungry hyena came to see the fox tied to the tree. The hyena asked the fox why he was tied to the tree and the fox replied to him saying “My uncle tied me here. My uncle really loves me so much that when he saw the state of my appearance that he ran out to go get me a sheep so he could cook in this fire over here. I am not hungry because I’ve been eating a lot lately. Every time I escape my uncle ties me to this tree and makes me eat more meat, and I always get a severe stomach ache. I am afraid that he will feed me to death.

The hyena opened its mouth very wide because sheep’s meat was its favorite food. The fox asked the hyena to untie him so that he could tie the hyena on the rope, so that his uncle could feed him. Without a hesitation the hyena started untying the fox and tying itself onto the tree. The fox ran off into the nearby mountains and as the hyena waited for his meal.

When the people returned to set the fire they noticed the hyena and asked it where the fox was. The hyena told the farmers that the fox wasn’t hungry and that they could feed the meat to him instead.

The farmers threw the greedy and foolish hyena into the fire instead.

By: Abdirasaq Yusuf Hassan

Ishaaq Abdirahman Muhumed

I hope you enjoyed these stories.

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