Characters

ጎበዜ ደርሶ / Gobezé Derso:

“በህግ ከሄደች በቅሎዬ ያለ ህግ የሄደች ጭብጦዬ”

ጎበዜ

ከሲታ፣ ጠይም የቆሎ ተማሪ፣ ደበሎውን እንደለበሰ፣ በትሩን አጥብቆ ይዞ አኩፋዳውን በእጁ አንጠልጥሎ፣ በረባዳማው ሰርጥ በአእዋፋት ድምፅ ተከቦ የልጅነት ፍቅሩን አለሜን ለሰባት ዓመታት ይፈልጋታል፣

ምነው የበላሽ ጅብ አልጮህ  አለ?

 Gobezé is a poor, peace-loving, young man of 25, a brilliant student who dedicated his whole life to Sem ina Werq riddles (literally translated to “Wax and Gold riddles”, which are riddles with dual meaning). He was betrothed to Alemé at a young age, and lived with and served her family as a shepherd. But the love of his life.

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አለሜ እሸቱ/ Aleme Eshete

ጋሻዬ ይዘኸኝ ጥፋ!

ተሜ!

አለሜ  - የደም ገንቦ፣ አይን አፋርና ለግላጋ የቤት እመቤት፣ ያደፈ ቀሚስ ለብሳ፣ ወገቧን በመቀነት አስራ “አንቺ ዶሮ ባልሽ ማነው” የልጅነት ዜማዋን እያንጎራጎረች፣ ደጅ ደጁን ታያቸች፣ ተሜን እየጠበቀች፡፡

ምነው ምነው ልቤ ካንተው ነው!

Alemé is a wise, beautiful, shy but courageous 23-year-old woman who is a victim of the tradition of abduction marriages. Although she lives with her abductor for seven years, her heart always longs for Gobezé.

“አንቺ ዶሮ ባልሽ ማነው፣
     አውራ ዶሮ፣
          ምን ሊያበላሽ፣
                  ተበድሮ፣
                      ምን ሊከፍል፣
                            መሬት ጭሮ፣
                                   መሬት ሲጭር፣
                                         እዛው ፍንችር
                                                 የፍንጥሩ
                                                    ቅቤ ንጥር”

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ጎንጤ ጥጋቡ/ Gobeze Tigabu

ጎንጤ ደልዳላ ሰውነት ያለው ቁጡ ጭቃ ሹም ገበሬ፣ ከሚሽቱ አለሜ ጋር የተኛውን የቆሎ ተማሪ ሊፋለምና ቆለጡን ሊያስቀጠቅጥ ምሎ ተገዝቶ አድብቶበታል፡፡ “የተማሪ አባይ የደበሎ ተባይ ቢገላጥጡት አይታይ፣ አንት የደብተራ አስመሳይ”

Gobezé is a 45-year-old local judge, rich farmer and landlord who abducts the young girl, Alemé. He is invincible court debater, aloof but well-respected. He is filled with pride and with eagerness to get Gobezé punished in the royal court after he catches Gobezé in bed with his wife.

ንግስተ ነገስታት ዘውዲቱ ምንሊክ/ Queen of Kings, Zewditu Minilik:

ልዕልት ዘውዲቱ ምንሊክ፡-  ጠይም፣ 40ዎቹ መጀመሪያ ላይ ያለች፣ አጭር፣ ሞላ ያለ ፊትና ገራገር አይኖች ያሏት፣ያለፍላጎቷ ከዙፋን የተቆራኘች፣ ከባለቤቷ ራስ ጉግሳ ወሌ ተለይታ በሃሳብ የምትዋትት፣ በጎበዜና አለሜ ፍቅር የራሷን ጉዳት የተመለከተች፣ ቅን ፈራጅ፣

 “በንፁህ ላይ ሲፈርዱ፣ ከበድ ላም ሲያርዱ ሆድ መርበድበዱ…ዘውዲቱ ትሙት”

King Minilik’s daughter. She was enthroned against her will in order to continue her father’s legacy. Her passions are spiritual dedication and social justice. She likes church songs and “Sem ina Werq”  riddles. In the midst of a silent political struggle, her husband is kidnapped; Queen Zewditu understands that she may never see him again and is afraid that he is already dead. She is separated from her husband and is enchained to an ostentatious lifestyle that she doesn’t care about. Not long after his disappearance, the mourning queen presides over the student and the farmer’s trial as part of her royal service to the community. She is eager to know the outcome of the debate, especially as it makes her think of her husband. She wants to be a nun in the futur
 

አፈንጉስ ታረቀኝ/ Afenigus Tarekegn

አፈንጉስ ታረቀኝ:- በጥሩ እጀ ጠባብና ካባ የተሽቀረቀሩ፣ ባለግርማ፣ደልዳላ፣ የቀይ ዳማ፣ ፍንጭታም ኮስተር ያለ ግንባር ያላቸው መሰሪ መኳንንት፡፡ በችሎት ከጎበዜ ይልቅ ለጭቃ ሹሙ ጎንጤ የሚያደሉ ጥቅመኛ ፡፡

“ጉፋያ ብቻ ነው ትረታዋለህ፣ ሙግት አያውቅም፣ ደጋግመህ ልታስቀጣው ትችል ነበር”

Afenigus Taregkegn is a royal judge in his 50’s  of the queen's royal judge, well versed in the law as well as the rules of royal debates. He is famous for terrible deeds such as receiving bribes from both debating parties but judging in favor of the party that pays him more. The queen challenges him when he is about to give the wrong verdict in Gonté and Gobezé’s case.

 

መሪጌታ በእውቀቱ ቦጋለ/ Priest Bewketu Bogalé:

መሪጌታ በእውቀቱ ቦጋለ፣ መጣጣና ጠይም ፊታቸው፣  ከራሳቸው ላይ የተቆለለው ትልቅ የክህነት ጥምጣም፣ ሰውነታቸው ላይ የደረቡት የሰፋቸው ጥቁር ካባቸው ይበልጥ ከሲታ አድርጎአቸው ተማሪዎቻቸው ፊት ቆመው ቅኔ ያስተምራሉ፣ ጎበዜ ትጉህ ነገር ግን አመፀኛ ተማሪያቸው ነው፡፡

“ጎበዜ የቅኔ ወኔህን አሳየን፣ 
ዕጣነ ሞገርህን አሰማን፣ 
ሁላችን ቅኔ ስትዘርፍ መስማት እንሻለን…
የፍቅር ቅኔ፣ 
የፍትህ ቅኔ” 


 He is a dedicated teacher who trains Gobezé in the church school. He has had a special interest in Gobezé since he realized Gobezé’s special talent for Sem ina Werq riddles and church songs. Priest Temesgen hides his past life as an infidel, selling sacred items from the church for survival. Regretting his misdeeds, he tries to make amends by fasting and with prayer. 

ሸፍታው አረሩ/ Areru the Bandit:

አያ አረሩ፡- የንግስት ዘውዲቱ ባለሟል፣ ደልዳላ፣ ጥቁርና ቁጡ የፊት ገፅታ ያለው፣ ሸፍቶ ፍትሁን ለመፈለግ ሞክሮ የፍትህን መንገድ ከጎበዜ የተማረ፣

“ህልጊዜ አዋቂዎች ብልጥ እናንተ ብቻ፣ እኛ መች አጣነው ባዶውን ኮርቻ”

Areru is a bandit and a wild man, although he is initially against Gobezé trusting the justice system, he is encouraged enough by Gobezé’s determination to get justice that he decides to stand before the royal court and defend Gobeze.