DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0047
THE FOLK-LITERATURE OF THE GALLA
31
of the buttd feast. Tufa says (v. 81-83) he should have obtained the maldd, if it had not
been for the circumstance that the judge in the computation of the victims was the king.
Perhaps the king of Guma would have granted the maldd to Tufa, if Tufa had paid the
tribute to the smiths (v. 82). The smiths exacted a special tax on the honors granted
at the buttd. Verses 81-83 allude also to the favoritism of the dynasty ruling in Guma
toward the lower castes of the population (see Appendix).
With verse 85, the song comes back to the accusation of adultery, and Tufa tries to per-
suade the jealous husband, Abba Digga, that he (Tufa) has no love for strange women.
The women in Gabba, Hanna, and Libqa used to gird themselves with the gurdd (v. 84).
The gurdd is a sash of jet and hair which is wound round the body, its pointed ends dangling
to the knees. The Galla think that the gurdd is the best remedy against the evil-eye.1 On
the contrary, in the other Macpa countries as Guma, Gfmma, etc., not the women but
the men wear this sash. To Tufa, born in Hanna, a woman without a gurdd (who appears
to him as a cow without an ox) is very undesirable; therefore he did not court G^nne
Qanatu.
Verses 97-100 scoff at the Guma. They used to plant round the courtyards of their
huts a thorny shrub which is called by them iero (in Tulama dialect, wallensu’, in Somali,
walenso = erithryna melanachanto). The land of Guma is not rich in corn, but in woods
and natural vegetation; therefore, the cultivation of corn necessitates keeping it free
from the grass that smothers it. The Guma used to spade up the soil many times before
sowing and remove carefully all the roots of the extraneous vegetation (v. 95-96).
As I have already said, in Guma the low caste of the Wdttd had certain privileges.
Is this fact connected with the Galla legend of the origin of the Adamite dynasty (see
Prose, I) ? Or has the legend been occasioned by this partiality of Adam’s descendants for
the Wdttd (v. 99-100) ?
Verses 104-111 recall the predictions and the counsels of Abba Sanga. Abba Sanga
(a war-name which means “ lord of the castrated horse ”) was an Abba Mora, i.e. a sooth-
sayer, reading the future in the entrails (mora) of the sacrificed victims (sheep or
cows). In verse 8 of this song, the word gdlla meaning “errant,” “wandering,” is
especially noteworthy. The word is probably connected with the Somali root gdl meaning
“stranger” and afterwards, “non-Moslem.” Reinisch2 has already suggested connecting the
Somali word with the national name of the Galla. The fact that this word is still used
today by the Galla is a veritable proof of Reinisch’s hypothesis. Of. the etymology of Ge‘ ez,
the national name of the Ethiopians, from the root Ga ‘aza, “to emigrate”; and the etymol-
ogy of Sidama, which is derived, according to Reinisch,3 from the root sid, “ to emigrate.”
1 Antoine d’Abbadie, Dictionnaire de la langue Amarinna, Paris 1881, very inaccurately translates gurdd as “tr&s
petite ceinture, souvent une corde et portee sur la peau, ce mot oromo n’est usite que chez les Amara melanges avec
les Oroma. Ceux-ci attribuent au gurdd la dignite d’une institution,” Cf. Ignazio Guidi, Vocabolario amarico-italiano,
Roma, 1901, p, 729.
2 Leo Reinisch, Somali Worterbuch, Wien, 1902, sub voce gdl.
3 Leo Reinisch, Die Kaffa Sprache in Nord Ost Afrika, Wien, 1888, vol. 1, p. 15, vol. 2, p. 79.
31
of the buttd feast. Tufa says (v. 81-83) he should have obtained the maldd, if it had not
been for the circumstance that the judge in the computation of the victims was the king.
Perhaps the king of Guma would have granted the maldd to Tufa, if Tufa had paid the
tribute to the smiths (v. 82). The smiths exacted a special tax on the honors granted
at the buttd. Verses 81-83 allude also to the favoritism of the dynasty ruling in Guma
toward the lower castes of the population (see Appendix).
With verse 85, the song comes back to the accusation of adultery, and Tufa tries to per-
suade the jealous husband, Abba Digga, that he (Tufa) has no love for strange women.
The women in Gabba, Hanna, and Libqa used to gird themselves with the gurdd (v. 84).
The gurdd is a sash of jet and hair which is wound round the body, its pointed ends dangling
to the knees. The Galla think that the gurdd is the best remedy against the evil-eye.1 On
the contrary, in the other Macpa countries as Guma, Gfmma, etc., not the women but
the men wear this sash. To Tufa, born in Hanna, a woman without a gurdd (who appears
to him as a cow without an ox) is very undesirable; therefore he did not court G^nne
Qanatu.
Verses 97-100 scoff at the Guma. They used to plant round the courtyards of their
huts a thorny shrub which is called by them iero (in Tulama dialect, wallensu’, in Somali,
walenso = erithryna melanachanto). The land of Guma is not rich in corn, but in woods
and natural vegetation; therefore, the cultivation of corn necessitates keeping it free
from the grass that smothers it. The Guma used to spade up the soil many times before
sowing and remove carefully all the roots of the extraneous vegetation (v. 95-96).
As I have already said, in Guma the low caste of the Wdttd had certain privileges.
Is this fact connected with the Galla legend of the origin of the Adamite dynasty (see
Prose, I) ? Or has the legend been occasioned by this partiality of Adam’s descendants for
the Wdttd (v. 99-100) ?
Verses 104-111 recall the predictions and the counsels of Abba Sanga. Abba Sanga
(a war-name which means “ lord of the castrated horse ”) was an Abba Mora, i.e. a sooth-
sayer, reading the future in the entrails (mora) of the sacrificed victims (sheep or
cows). In verse 8 of this song, the word gdlla meaning “errant,” “wandering,” is
especially noteworthy. The word is probably connected with the Somali root gdl meaning
“stranger” and afterwards, “non-Moslem.” Reinisch2 has already suggested connecting the
Somali word with the national name of the Galla. The fact that this word is still used
today by the Galla is a veritable proof of Reinisch’s hypothesis. Of. the etymology of Ge‘ ez,
the national name of the Ethiopians, from the root Ga ‘aza, “to emigrate”; and the etymol-
ogy of Sidama, which is derived, according to Reinisch,3 from the root sid, “ to emigrate.”
1 Antoine d’Abbadie, Dictionnaire de la langue Amarinna, Paris 1881, very inaccurately translates gurdd as “tr&s
petite ceinture, souvent une corde et portee sur la peau, ce mot oromo n’est usite que chez les Amara melanges avec
les Oroma. Ceux-ci attribuent au gurdd la dignite d’une institution,” Cf. Ignazio Guidi, Vocabolario amarico-italiano,
Roma, 1901, p, 729.
2 Leo Reinisch, Somali Worterbuch, Wien, 1902, sub voce gdl.
3 Leo Reinisch, Die Kaffa Sprache in Nord Ost Afrika, Wien, 1888, vol. 1, p. 15, vol. 2, p. 79.