DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0132
116
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
Kue yd "da Dienta
barcummd san kiesa
dornbl sagdl kiAesa
Kue lafd tiesa
5 wdcltti san kiesa
tuwe sag al kiesa
nadde qufa daben
else "rrlba dabe
du ’e mdl nd Qgda
109
10 wdllu Kue Guma
kdn fdqiccl duge
Adisa Qaqdi
bolla si qotdni
omdtt "a gatdni
15 way a st bitdni
and "namardni
at "afi dagai
dn accln kakal
1 O Kue, mother of Dienta, 2 between five chairs, 3 between nine stools, 4 0 Kue, I
sit down on the ground. 5 Between five plates, 6 between nine cups, 7 I have eaten and
I am not satiated. 8 I have stretched and I have not slept. 9 I am dead. Why do you
await me? 10 The clothes of Kue (native) of Guma 11 have been tanned by the tanner
12 of Adisa Qaqa. 13 They have dug for you a hole; 14 let them throw me in! 15 They
have bought the shroud for you; 16 let them roll me in it! 17 As for you, remain and hear!
18 As for me, place me there!
Notes. The song laments for Kue, native of Guma, mother of Fitawrari Sima (see songs
4-6) and Dienta. The Galla Spelling Book has placed this among the love-songs, perhaps
because it seems to have been composed by a lover of Kue. The first verses (v. 1-9) ex-
press the pain of the singer who cannot calm himself; verses 10-18 state that the singer
desires to die in place of Kue. Adisa Qaqa (v. 12) is a village in Nonnb land.
gufu yd gufu guddd
gufu gall koticcd
md dufu dufu diddd
Gif dr itt "of giesitte
5 Dulan of qittiesitte
garri lamdn moticcd
nu lamdntu sogiddd
110
dumbuld"kka gibiccd
gungumd "kka ginniccd
10 kdn iggl bobe baddd
kdn narl gimmd corqie
kdn konkonni fon muru
kdn morml "rkottl bulu
dafurd"lmd"bba guddd
1 O stumbling, O great stumbling! 2 O stumbling (as if) the pavement were pitch! 3
Why do you refuse to come, to come? 4 Have you made yourself equal to Gifar? 5 Have
you become like Dula ? 6 They are two kings; 7 we are two (bits of) salt! 8 Ingenuous as
a calf, 9 murmuring like a spirit. 10 Her eyes are like the white sorghum of the plateau;
11 her eye-brows are like gimmd not yet ripe; 12 her cheeks are like pieces of pierced flesh;
13 her neck is a support to pass the night. 14 Sons of nobles go mad for her.
Notes. Verses 4-5 refer to Abba Gifar, the king of Gimma, and to the Abba Dula,
i.e. the king of Guma, who had this title, (see Prose, text 1, note 14). Verse 7 alludes to
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
Kue yd "da Dienta
barcummd san kiesa
dornbl sagdl kiAesa
Kue lafd tiesa
5 wdcltti san kiesa
tuwe sag al kiesa
nadde qufa daben
else "rrlba dabe
du ’e mdl nd Qgda
109
10 wdllu Kue Guma
kdn fdqiccl duge
Adisa Qaqdi
bolla si qotdni
omdtt "a gatdni
15 way a st bitdni
and "namardni
at "afi dagai
dn accln kakal
1 O Kue, mother of Dienta, 2 between five chairs, 3 between nine stools, 4 0 Kue, I
sit down on the ground. 5 Between five plates, 6 between nine cups, 7 I have eaten and
I am not satiated. 8 I have stretched and I have not slept. 9 I am dead. Why do you
await me? 10 The clothes of Kue (native) of Guma 11 have been tanned by the tanner
12 of Adisa Qaqa. 13 They have dug for you a hole; 14 let them throw me in! 15 They
have bought the shroud for you; 16 let them roll me in it! 17 As for you, remain and hear!
18 As for me, place me there!
Notes. The song laments for Kue, native of Guma, mother of Fitawrari Sima (see songs
4-6) and Dienta. The Galla Spelling Book has placed this among the love-songs, perhaps
because it seems to have been composed by a lover of Kue. The first verses (v. 1-9) ex-
press the pain of the singer who cannot calm himself; verses 10-18 state that the singer
desires to die in place of Kue. Adisa Qaqa (v. 12) is a village in Nonnb land.
gufu yd gufu guddd
gufu gall koticcd
md dufu dufu diddd
Gif dr itt "of giesitte
5 Dulan of qittiesitte
garri lamdn moticcd
nu lamdntu sogiddd
110
dumbuld"kka gibiccd
gungumd "kka ginniccd
10 kdn iggl bobe baddd
kdn narl gimmd corqie
kdn konkonni fon muru
kdn morml "rkottl bulu
dafurd"lmd"bba guddd
1 O stumbling, O great stumbling! 2 O stumbling (as if) the pavement were pitch! 3
Why do you refuse to come, to come? 4 Have you made yourself equal to Gifar? 5 Have
you become like Dula ? 6 They are two kings; 7 we are two (bits of) salt! 8 Ingenuous as
a calf, 9 murmuring like a spirit. 10 Her eyes are like the white sorghum of the plateau;
11 her eye-brows are like gimmd not yet ripe; 12 her cheeks are like pieces of pierced flesh;
13 her neck is a support to pass the night. 14 Sons of nobles go mad for her.
Notes. Verses 4-5 refer to Abba Gifar, the king of Gimma, and to the Abba Dula,
i.e. the king of Guma, who had this title, (see Prose, text 1, note 14). Verse 7 alludes to