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THE FOLK-LITERATURE OF THE GALLA

161

is attributed by the chronicle to Onco Gilca and the second, on the other hand (forcing
the ambassadors to grind corn), is attributed to Gawe Onco. The mistake of the Amharic
historian is clear when he confounds Onco and Gawe under their common war name,
Abba Balo. Loransiyos knows the account of the treacherous slaying of Tullu Gangf, king
of Gibra, carried out by Onco Gilca, a tale which appears in the Storia dei Mecca. He cor-
rects the distich incorrectly related by the Amharic writer of the History thus:
malli Abba Bald gard kiessa gird
matd Tullu Gangl kard gubbd gird
1 The cunning of Abba Balo is in his mind.1 2 The head of Tullu Gangi is on the road.
As to the name Azza Balo Kadana,2 Guidi thinks it probable that Azza Balo is a slip
for dzangito: in that case, in my opinion, kadana should be read kadda-nna, and the phrase
would mean azangito kadda-nna, “ unexpectedly betrayed.” La Storia dei Mecca then
concludes: “ After him (Abba Balo) his son Onco reigned and at present he is the king of
Guma, Gilca Abba Balo Onco Gilca Abba Dula.” In reality (observe that the manuscript
of the Storia is extremely inaccurate), the last names are names of two kings and not of
one alone: Gilca (personal name), Abba Balo (war name); Onco (personal name), Gilca
(name of the father), Abba Dula (title). However, the chronicle is confirmed by these
names.
Since in the chronicle the duration of the reign of each king is not indicated, the chronol-
ogy of the events related in it remains doubtful. Some indication in regard to the more recent
part, however, may be secured from other sources; first of all from D’Abbadie.3 When
compared with what I have said above, one makes out that in 1841 Gawe Onco was ruling
in Guma. This makes one think that the king of Guma, who in the Storia dei Mecca is
called Onco and is said to be “ at present reigning,” is in reality Gawe Onco (according to
the usual custom of the name of the father being borne also by the son), because the Storia
dei Mecca is a chapter of an unedited compendium of Abyssinian history which goes as far
as the first years of the reign of Theodore II, who ascended the throne in 1852. Then,
from Cecchi,4 one secures the precise date of the death of Gawe Onco (called by Cecchi
Abba Dulla, father of Abba Giubir or Abba Giubri), which took place June 26, 1879. As
it is a case of events taking place under his eyes (the mourning of the court of Gibra at the
news of the death), Cecchi is a sure source. On the other hand, the date for the accession
to the throne of the father of Abba Gubir (1854),5 which Cecchi himself suggests, from
information which he had gathered, is surely erroneous. We have seen how in 1841,
D’Abbadie gathered the information that at Guma there reigned “ the father of Abba
Gubir.” Not even the date of the end of the kingdom of Guma can be fixed exactly. The
last king, Abba Foggf, had a very short reign (about two years, according to Loransiyos).

1 Cf. Song 17, n.
2 Storia dei MeQQa, op. cit., p. 181, 1. 17.
3 Op. cit., p. 21.

4 Op. cit., vol. 2, p. 417.
6 Ibid., p. 542.
 
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