DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0164
148
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
hurri yd hurri
5 qardba^rkd qaba
gurrd sitti murd
yard ydbi yd hurri
yard ydbi yd hurri
abbdn fardd dufe
bokku harkd qabd
bokku sitti cabsd
1 0 mist! 0 mist! 2 The horseman has come. 3 He has a stick in his hands. 4 With the
stick he will crush thee! 5 He has a knife in his hands; 6 he will cut off thy ears! 7 Go
up on the mountain, 0 mist! 8 Go up on the mountain, 0 mist!
Notes. A playful song of the shepherds in misty weather.
abbd fardd colhe
gababd botollze
bogito naditd
bogite galtd
5 sombd guddd gala bai
bode dind dura bai
mie ddwaccisi
1 O master of the swift courser, 2 short, little, 3 thou eatest sprouts, bogito. 4 Thou
wilt return a prisoner! 5 Come forth under the great sycamore! 6 Come forth before the
lances of the enemies! 7 Come, gallop!
Notes. This is a song of contempt of the shepherds for the horsemen who gallop pass-
ing near the flocks. Bogito (v. 3) is a green vegetable similar to the sprouts, also a food of
the poor.
PROSE
Introduction. I had begun the collection of various kinds of Galla popular literature
in prose, and, as may be seen, had succeeded in gathering a number of texts, when by the
order of the Italian military authorities, my assistant, Loransiyos Walda Yasus (see Intro-
duction to this article), was sent back to his country, or rather, sent to his last residence at
Keren in Eritrea. This sudden return of Loransiyos to his country not only prevented my
completing the collection of prose texts, but left me without explanation, or at least without
all the necessary explanation, of some texts which I had already gathered; for instance,
several songs, the remainder of the Chronicle of Guma, and another long historical text
relating to the cruelty of King Faysa Lamu.
I. Prose Works on Historical Subjects
1. The Oral Chronicle of the Kingdom of Guma.
As among all primitive people historical and genealogical traditions abound, so in the
independent Galla kingdoms such traditions assume the form of genuine chronicles. Since
writing does not exist, these chronicles are handed down orally from father to son. Their
existence has been hitherto unknown. Yet they are not without importance for the special
history of the kingdom with which they deal, and for the general history of Ethiopia, as
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
hurri yd hurri
5 qardba^rkd qaba
gurrd sitti murd
yard ydbi yd hurri
yard ydbi yd hurri
abbdn fardd dufe
bokku harkd qabd
bokku sitti cabsd
1 0 mist! 0 mist! 2 The horseman has come. 3 He has a stick in his hands. 4 With the
stick he will crush thee! 5 He has a knife in his hands; 6 he will cut off thy ears! 7 Go
up on the mountain, 0 mist! 8 Go up on the mountain, 0 mist!
Notes. A playful song of the shepherds in misty weather.
abbd fardd colhe
gababd botollze
bogito naditd
bogite galtd
5 sombd guddd gala bai
bode dind dura bai
mie ddwaccisi
1 O master of the swift courser, 2 short, little, 3 thou eatest sprouts, bogito. 4 Thou
wilt return a prisoner! 5 Come forth under the great sycamore! 6 Come forth before the
lances of the enemies! 7 Come, gallop!
Notes. This is a song of contempt of the shepherds for the horsemen who gallop pass-
ing near the flocks. Bogito (v. 3) is a green vegetable similar to the sprouts, also a food of
the poor.
PROSE
Introduction. I had begun the collection of various kinds of Galla popular literature
in prose, and, as may be seen, had succeeded in gathering a number of texts, when by the
order of the Italian military authorities, my assistant, Loransiyos Walda Yasus (see Intro-
duction to this article), was sent back to his country, or rather, sent to his last residence at
Keren in Eritrea. This sudden return of Loransiyos to his country not only prevented my
completing the collection of prose texts, but left me without explanation, or at least without
all the necessary explanation, of some texts which I had already gathered; for instance,
several songs, the remainder of the Chronicle of Guma, and another long historical text
relating to the cruelty of King Faysa Lamu.
I. Prose Works on Historical Subjects
1. The Oral Chronicle of the Kingdom of Guma.
As among all primitive people historical and genealogical traditions abound, so in the
independent Galla kingdoms such traditions assume the form of genuine chronicles. Since
writing does not exist, these chronicles are handed down orally from father to son. Their
existence has been hitherto unknown. Yet they are not without importance for the special
history of the kingdom with which they deal, and for the general history of Ethiopia, as