DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0053
THE FOLK-LITERATURE OF THE GALLA
37
9 Oh my one girl, 10 take the drum and the dwarf! 11 I will send you that, 12 if I have
found it. 13 These Nole Kabba, 14 an enemy whose language is unknown! 15 Seven days
do you wait? 16 I shall have killed seventeen (enemies). 17 As the horse (literally, the
halter) has refused the burden (of the spoils), 18 I have sent to you the spoils by the way
of the Bard. 19 “ Where is the way? ” he said. 20 Where the monkeys do not descend!
21 The precipice is of the Diddiessa. 22 Weeping is for the poor! 23 The Guma perished
utterly. 24 Why have the Lfmmu been distressed (for them) ? 25 We are born from
kindred lineages. 25 0 country of Abba Bagibd! 27 You descend, we descend into Giedo!
28 Ligdf is born, 29 a man like thunder. 30 (Whoever) you have taken (into your com-
pany), you cause him to kill (i.e. to fight bravely). 31 The thunder, AbbaRiebu. 32 One
Oromo (i.e. pagan) 33 against ten Mussulmen! 34 Go out, let us descend to the plain! 35
They came into our house. 36 They will not return from there with empty hands! 37
“Hursa is no (longer) Lfmmu. 38 Today it is Hanna,” you said. 39 When the spring has
broken forth, 40 when the dirt has become dry, 41 the Nonno will tell wonderful tales.
42 The Lfmmu afterwards will weep! 43 The pagans have agreed. 43 It is not there. What
can you do ? 44 As soon as he comes here, 46 Gamba Ragga, the wonderful, 47 brave by
night and by day, 48 he will trench, he 49 the short (warrior) of Fingillie, 50 he (the son)
of Lieqa has decided. 51 When (the son) of Lieqa has decided, 52 as to war, he is not too
short for it! 53 The house of Qfmma does not perish. 54 (jfmma descends to Garo. 55
What can Lfmmu do? 56 The pagans have taken counsel. 57 And you, what can you
do? 58 Send not coffee as tribute, because we will not take it. 60 Hoard gold! 61 Our
women (only) 62 carry pumpkins. 63 Do your servant-maids do the work of men? 64
Question (about it) all 65 your men and your women! 66 We do not know the night. 67
Then await us, 68 (when) the Cross holiday has been celebrated (literally, burnt). 69 Give
food to your horses. 70 Then await us! 71 Even if you confederate with the seven Gudru
(literally, if you should take in your company the seven Gudru), 72 and with the six
Gimma, 73 and then look for us, 74 we will await you!
Notes. In the verses 5-18, the victorious warrior tells his sweetheart that he intended to
send her the captured spoils, but on account of their great quantity and the ruggedness of
the country where the horse had refused so heavy a burden, he has flung them into the
Baro (perhaps in a stream flowing into the Baro), tributary of the Saint Bon (Upeno).
Dwarfs (v. 10) were most appreciated as buffoons by these Galla populations (see Prose,
text 13). The Nole Kabba (v. 13) were followed during this expedition by a group of
Affillo, a Sidama tribe living on the banks of the Upend. The Affillo speak a Sidama dia-
lect very similar to the Kaffa language. They were “an enemy whose language is unknown”,
to the Galla of Guma. Loransiyos affirms that the king of the Affillo is born of the same
line as the Busasib who reign in Kaffa. The verses 19-20 point out the ruggedness of the
Giedo country. They are very similar to verse 2 of song 19. Then the singer wonders why
Lfmmu has intervened in the war just when Gfmma was in a bad condition (v. 21-24).
37
9 Oh my one girl, 10 take the drum and the dwarf! 11 I will send you that, 12 if I have
found it. 13 These Nole Kabba, 14 an enemy whose language is unknown! 15 Seven days
do you wait? 16 I shall have killed seventeen (enemies). 17 As the horse (literally, the
halter) has refused the burden (of the spoils), 18 I have sent to you the spoils by the way
of the Bard. 19 “ Where is the way? ” he said. 20 Where the monkeys do not descend!
21 The precipice is of the Diddiessa. 22 Weeping is for the poor! 23 The Guma perished
utterly. 24 Why have the Lfmmu been distressed (for them) ? 25 We are born from
kindred lineages. 25 0 country of Abba Bagibd! 27 You descend, we descend into Giedo!
28 Ligdf is born, 29 a man like thunder. 30 (Whoever) you have taken (into your com-
pany), you cause him to kill (i.e. to fight bravely). 31 The thunder, AbbaRiebu. 32 One
Oromo (i.e. pagan) 33 against ten Mussulmen! 34 Go out, let us descend to the plain! 35
They came into our house. 36 They will not return from there with empty hands! 37
“Hursa is no (longer) Lfmmu. 38 Today it is Hanna,” you said. 39 When the spring has
broken forth, 40 when the dirt has become dry, 41 the Nonno will tell wonderful tales.
42 The Lfmmu afterwards will weep! 43 The pagans have agreed. 43 It is not there. What
can you do ? 44 As soon as he comes here, 46 Gamba Ragga, the wonderful, 47 brave by
night and by day, 48 he will trench, he 49 the short (warrior) of Fingillie, 50 he (the son)
of Lieqa has decided. 51 When (the son) of Lieqa has decided, 52 as to war, he is not too
short for it! 53 The house of Qfmma does not perish. 54 (jfmma descends to Garo. 55
What can Lfmmu do? 56 The pagans have taken counsel. 57 And you, what can you
do? 58 Send not coffee as tribute, because we will not take it. 60 Hoard gold! 61 Our
women (only) 62 carry pumpkins. 63 Do your servant-maids do the work of men? 64
Question (about it) all 65 your men and your women! 66 We do not know the night. 67
Then await us, 68 (when) the Cross holiday has been celebrated (literally, burnt). 69 Give
food to your horses. 70 Then await us! 71 Even if you confederate with the seven Gudru
(literally, if you should take in your company the seven Gudru), 72 and with the six
Gimma, 73 and then look for us, 74 we will await you!
Notes. In the verses 5-18, the victorious warrior tells his sweetheart that he intended to
send her the captured spoils, but on account of their great quantity and the ruggedness of
the country where the horse had refused so heavy a burden, he has flung them into the
Baro (perhaps in a stream flowing into the Baro), tributary of the Saint Bon (Upeno).
Dwarfs (v. 10) were most appreciated as buffoons by these Galla populations (see Prose,
text 13). The Nole Kabba (v. 13) were followed during this expedition by a group of
Affillo, a Sidama tribe living on the banks of the Upend. The Affillo speak a Sidama dia-
lect very similar to the Kaffa language. They were “an enemy whose language is unknown”,
to the Galla of Guma. Loransiyos affirms that the king of the Affillo is born of the same
line as the Busasib who reign in Kaffa. The verses 19-20 point out the ruggedness of the
Giedo country. They are very similar to verse 2 of song 19. Then the singer wonders why
Lfmmu has intervened in the war just when Gfmma was in a bad condition (v. 21-24).