DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0137
THE FOLK-LITERATURE OF THE GALLA
121
1 0 sorghum which Giedo cuts! 2 0 the son-in-law who does not drink the kosso!
3 Does not your family hoard it (the kosso) for you? 4 Do you not catch it with your hand
and drink it? 5 Knock him down with the gun! 6 “ I have slaughtered! ” you have said.
7 0 ugly son-in-law, 8 where is the skin? 9 “I am a fine young man! ” you have said.
10 0 ugly son-in-law, 11 where is the flesh of the cheeks ? 12 I have driven in (the ground)
the wood of homi. 13 I have ruined his mother. 14 I have suspended the dress. 15 Stop
on the other side! 16 Jump on this side! 17 0 ugly son-in-law! 18 He has thought that
they were pebbles! 19 He has passed, trampling upon it! 20 The spinster has become old;
21 she has covered her mother. 22 As to me, 23 0 ugly son-in-law, 24 eat the people’s
flesh! 25 Then you have reached (middle age). 26 How many times have you gone into the
forest ? 27 The forest of Handaq is your terror! 28 Eat your bride, 29 your leather bag!
30 The husband is angry. 31 This is a sorcerer; 32 he will eat you (0 girl)!
Notes. Verses 1-5 deride the husband, who, according to the singer, has a tapeworm
and does not drink kosso (brayera antielminthica), the usual remedy for worms. Verses
6-11 mean: The husband says that he has slaughtered the ox for the rdko, but where
is the skin of the victim, proof of the sacrifice ? Likewise, he says untruthfully that he is
a fine young man, but he has such a weak face! Verses 12-21 mention a ceremony which
must be gone through by the husband before entering the house of his father-in-law. The
friends of the bride suspend a woman’s dress on the peg of wood of homi, placed by the
bride (see introduction to the song), and two of them hold in their hands the two outer
edges of this dress. The husband, before going into the house, must jump over this
obstacle, and must not trample upon it with his feet. Verses 20-24 abuse the husband’s
sister who has not found a husband, and say to the husband, “Marry her whom you
desire! Ruin her whom you desire! ” The song ends by again mocking the “ugly son-in-
law ” of the bride’s father. The forest of Handaq is between Lieqa and Wallaga.1
hinnddun soba
doksen kutddda
durbe ydSrydko
sNnyddun soba
5 doksen gubddda
hzendn (ndmaboliT)
Inend gabbinkde ndtue
siendn (damaboli ?)
szend qabbinkie rdsue
10 mandyokieti kzesisa bgka
mandyo allo kiesisa foqd
mdndyokveti dadabsa nannd
mandyo allo cacabd nannd
mdna'llo qarqa
15 qarqa yabdddu
yabdddu bu
allon gdlzesa
dau Nlalzesa
ga "qabi bull
1 He does not eat; it is a lie! 2 He cuts secretly! 3 O girl, my friend, 4 he does not think
of you; it is a lie! 5 He is enamoured secretly! 6 The passion 2 ... 7 The passion has
ruined your calf! 8 The thought 2 ... 9 the thought has moved your heart! 10 Your
1 Cf. Jean Duchesne-Fournet, Mission en Ethiopie, Paris, 1909, vol. 1, p. 236, map 3.
2 Loransiyos does not understand the word namdboli of The Galla Spelling Book, nor the word damaboli.
121
1 0 sorghum which Giedo cuts! 2 0 the son-in-law who does not drink the kosso!
3 Does not your family hoard it (the kosso) for you? 4 Do you not catch it with your hand
and drink it? 5 Knock him down with the gun! 6 “ I have slaughtered! ” you have said.
7 0 ugly son-in-law, 8 where is the skin? 9 “I am a fine young man! ” you have said.
10 0 ugly son-in-law, 11 where is the flesh of the cheeks ? 12 I have driven in (the ground)
the wood of homi. 13 I have ruined his mother. 14 I have suspended the dress. 15 Stop
on the other side! 16 Jump on this side! 17 0 ugly son-in-law! 18 He has thought that
they were pebbles! 19 He has passed, trampling upon it! 20 The spinster has become old;
21 she has covered her mother. 22 As to me, 23 0 ugly son-in-law, 24 eat the people’s
flesh! 25 Then you have reached (middle age). 26 How many times have you gone into the
forest ? 27 The forest of Handaq is your terror! 28 Eat your bride, 29 your leather bag!
30 The husband is angry. 31 This is a sorcerer; 32 he will eat you (0 girl)!
Notes. Verses 1-5 deride the husband, who, according to the singer, has a tapeworm
and does not drink kosso (brayera antielminthica), the usual remedy for worms. Verses
6-11 mean: The husband says that he has slaughtered the ox for the rdko, but where
is the skin of the victim, proof of the sacrifice ? Likewise, he says untruthfully that he is
a fine young man, but he has such a weak face! Verses 12-21 mention a ceremony which
must be gone through by the husband before entering the house of his father-in-law. The
friends of the bride suspend a woman’s dress on the peg of wood of homi, placed by the
bride (see introduction to the song), and two of them hold in their hands the two outer
edges of this dress. The husband, before going into the house, must jump over this
obstacle, and must not trample upon it with his feet. Verses 20-24 abuse the husband’s
sister who has not found a husband, and say to the husband, “Marry her whom you
desire! Ruin her whom you desire! ” The song ends by again mocking the “ugly son-in-
law ” of the bride’s father. The forest of Handaq is between Lieqa and Wallaga.1
hinnddun soba
doksen kutddda
durbe ydSrydko
sNnyddun soba
5 doksen gubddda
hzendn (ndmaboliT)
Inend gabbinkde ndtue
siendn (damaboli ?)
szend qabbinkie rdsue
10 mandyokieti kzesisa bgka
mandyo allo kiesisa foqd
mdndyokveti dadabsa nannd
mandyo allo cacabd nannd
mdna'llo qarqa
15 qarqa yabdddu
yabdddu bu
allon gdlzesa
dau Nlalzesa
ga "qabi bull
1 He does not eat; it is a lie! 2 He cuts secretly! 3 O girl, my friend, 4 he does not think
of you; it is a lie! 5 He is enamoured secretly! 6 The passion 2 ... 7 The passion has
ruined your calf! 8 The thought 2 ... 9 the thought has moved your heart! 10 Your
1 Cf. Jean Duchesne-Fournet, Mission en Ethiopie, Paris, 1909, vol. 1, p. 236, map 3.
2 Loransiyos does not understand the word namdboli of The Galla Spelling Book, nor the word damaboli.