PUBLICATIONS OF THE
PRINCETON EXPEDITION TO ABYSSINIA
BY
ENNO LITTMANN
VOLUME II
TALKS, CUSTOMS, NAMES AND DIRGKS OF THE TIGRE TRIBES:
ENGLISH TRANSLATION.
ifornia
mal
Lty
LATE E. J. BRILL LTD.
PUBLISHERS AND PRINTERS
LEYDEN — 1910.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE
PRINCETON EXPEDITION TO ABYSSINIA
PUBLICATIONS OF THE
PRINCETON EXPEDITION TO ABYSSINIA
BY
ENNO LITTMANN
VOLUME II
TALES, CUSTOMS, NAMES AND DIRGES OF THE TIGRE TRIBES:
ENGLISH TRANSLATION.
LATE E. J. BRILL LTD.
PUBLISHERS AND PRINTERS
LEYDEN - - 1910.
PRINTED BY E. J. BRILL, LEYDEN (HOLLAND).
£55
L5
TO
ROBERT GARRETT
CONTENTS.
Page
Preface xi
1. The Tale of the two Donkey-Owners I
2. The Tale of the Ox, the Sheep, the Chicken and the Donkey . . i
3. The Tale of the Boar, the Fox and the Man 4
4. The Tale of the Man, the Serpent and the Fox 5
5. The Tale of the Council of the Mice 6
6. The Tale of the Boar and the Elephants 7
7. The Tale of all the Wild Animals, Eatable and Uneatable .... 7
8. The Tale of the Guenon, the Baboon and the Lion 8
9. The Tale of the Lion, the Hyaena and the Fox 9
10. The Tale of the Lion and the Fox II
11. The Tale of the Fox, the White Kite and the Raven 12
12. The Tale of the Scholar and the Guenon 13
13. The Tale of how the Fox followed the Elephant 14
14. The Tale of a Hen 18
15. The Tale of the Pure-Hearted One and the One with the Black Soul 18
1 6. The Tale of Beiho, of the People of Old 19
17. The Tale of a Woman and her Husband 25
1 8. The Tale of the Elephant and the Leopard and his Son . . . . 27
19. The Tale of the Leopard and the Fox 27
20. The Tale of the Ape and the Gazel 28
21. The Tale of the Hyaena and her Herdsman 29
22. The Tale of the Hyaena 30
23. The Tale of the Hyaena and a Moslem Prophet 31
24. A Tale of Abunawas 32
25. The Tale of the Man who made a Bet 34
26. A Tale of Abunawas 37
27. The Tale of the Parting of the Brothers 38
28. A Tale Resembling a Riddle in Figures 39
29. A Tale Resembling a Riddle . 40
30. A Tale Resembling a Riddle 40
31. The Story of the cAd Takles 41
32. The Story of the Fight at Balqat 42
33. The Story of the Fight of Sangera 44
VI11 CONTENTS
Page
34. The Story of Kantebay Sallim and of CAH wad Maco 47
35. The Story of Kamel wad Gabay and Gahad wad cAggaba .... 51
36. The Proverb that Gahsd wad cAggaba made 52
37. The Story of Gendefli 52
38. The Story of Dannas and his Slave . 53
39. The Proverb that DAdeg wad Fedel made 54
40. The Proverb that the People of cAd Takles made 54
41. The Legend of the Three Marys 55
42. The Legend of the Prophet Moses and the Prophet Mahammad . . 58
43. The Stars that Have Names 58
44. The Story of the Great Star 60
45. The Story of Kema and her Son 61
46. The Story of the True Seven and Gah and the Qeren 61
47. A Song of cAli-Gange wad Hemmad-Derar 63
48. About the Stars, again, he Sang thus 64
49. Of what is Told about the Stars 64
50. Of what Happens at the Rise of the New-Moon ~ 65
51. The Names of the Months of the Year . 67
52. Of what is Believed about the Death of the Moon 69
53- Of the Computation of Constellations 70
54. Of the Bird Called DAdhaD or Dah 74
55. DEdns wad Sawer Sang this Song 75
56. The Tale of the Leopard in his Old Age . . " 76
57. Of what they Tell about the Chameleon 77
58. Of the Debbi * 77
59. Of the Wolf 79
60. Of the Lizards 80
61. Of the Bird Qerqer and her Son Hamed 80
62. Of the Guinea-Hen and the Partridge 81
63. Of the Serpent Called Heway 82
64. Of a Certain Bird and his Wife 83
65. Of the Bird Called Suksuk 83
66. Of the Bird Called Masmeraye-mi-tSdarrara 84
67. The Pace of the Hyaena 84
68. The Race of the Fox 85
69. The Legend of the Monkey, the Beetle, the Wasp, the Fly, the
Lizard, the Frog and the Sayat-Tree 85
70. A Song of Hamad-Lul wad cEgel of Marya 87
71. Keffal wad Bakit of Habab Sang this Song 88
72. The Legend of God and the Human Race 89
73. The Legend of the Rom, the Giant People 89
74. Of how the Rom Came to an End 93
75. Of how God Takes Care of the Children 94
76. The Tale of a Man who Knew the Language of all the Animals . 95
CONTENTS IX
Page
77. The Tale of Mount Gadam 96
78. The Tale of a Man and his Wife 97
79. Of a Man who Took an Oath about Four Things 98
80. The Tale of Jacob and Joseph 100
81. Of the Mansac Country 101
82. Of the Rites and Customs that are Practised from the Time of
Pregnancy until the Time of Childbirth 106
83. Of the Customs that are Practised from the Betrothal until the
Wedding 121
84. Of the Rite of Circumcision in the Tigre Country ...... 147
85. Of the Rite of Baptism with the Mansac Bet-DAbrehe 148
86. Names of Persons in the Tigre Country 149
87. Of the Way in which the Dervishes united 194
88. The Way in which Factions United 196
89. Tunes of the Harp 197
90. War-Cries 198
91. Of the Highwaymen 201
92. The Names of Swords 204
93. Species of Swords 205
94. The Wered or Ordeal 207
95. Of the Years of Camels 209
96. Names of She-Camels 210
97. The Years of Cattle 211
98. Races of Cattle 211
99. The Colours of Cattle 213
100. The Names of Cattle with the Tigre People 215
101. The Making of Beverages in the Tigre Country 227
102. The Making of Unleavened Bread in the Tigre Country .... 229
103. The Years and the Time which the Bet-3AbrShe Know 232
104. The Taboos or Forbidden Food of the Tigre People 236
105. The Greeting of the Tigre People 240
106. Of the Keeping of Festivals of the Mansac BeVAbrShe .... 243
107. Of the Rite of Sacrifice in the Tigre Country 246
108. Of the Customs and Rites Observed by the Tigre People from
the Time of Disease until Burial 247
109. Of what is Thrown for the Dead and of the Milk-Sacrifice . . . 270
no. Dirges Sung by Women for the Men 271
in. Of the Belief which they Have about the People of Below . . . 306
112. Of the Can (the Bird of the Soul) 308
113. Of what they Call Seher (Sorcerer) and Bozza 309
114. Of the Demon called Waddegennl 310
115. Of the Beliefs about Hair 312
116. Unlucky Hair 313
117. Of what is Believed about Nails 315
X CONTENTS
Page
118. Of what is Believed about Teeth 315
119. Of what is Believed about the Body of Man and about his Bones 316
1 20. Of Some Beliefs about the Digging of Clay 317
121. The Tale of a Man whose Cattle had been Seized by a She-Demon 318
122. Of Omens 320
123. Of the Curse of Trees 325
124. Cursing of Men 326
125. The Tribes that Know the Tigre Language and their Way of
Living 335
PREFACE.
The present volume contains an English translation of the
Tigre text which appeared in Volume I of these Publications ;
a few notes and explanatory remarks have been added here.
How the material presented in these two volumes was gathered
has been explained in the Preface to Volume I. It will suf-
fice, therefore, to offer here a few general remarks on the
literature which is made known for the first time in these
pages.
As the title says, the reader will find translations of tales,
customs, names and dirges of the Tigre tribes. A great many
of the tales refer, like those of the other Abyssinian tribes,
to animals. Some of them may have come from countries
farther east, lastly from India; but I believe that most of
them are indigenous to the Abyssinian soil. Similar stories
are found all over the world wherever primitive people living
in close contact with nature begin to reflect about the life
of animals and to ascribe their own feelings and thoughts
to them. It would be an interesting task to compare the
stories published here with those published from other parts
of Abyssinia by Professors REINISCH and GuiDI and by
Drs. CONTI ROSSINI, MITTWOCH and others, and, again,
with those of other peoples. The "Tale of a Hen" (No. 14,
p. 1 8), e. g., is very widely spread. But this lay beyond
the scope of my own work and beyond the limits of the
time which I could devote to it. Although the Abyssinians
are very fond of telling and hearing stories and, as I often
witnessed myself, pass many a lonely night at their camp-
fires doing so, they are by no means great story-tellers. The
dramatic power, the creative imagination, which lend the
Persian-Arabian stories their undying charm, are not met
with here. These tales are simple, often indeed quite primitive
and naive. But sometimes we find them set in a touching
psychological background. This is illustrated by several tales.
In No. i the two donkeys ask each other whether the strong
.donkey who is to free them from the tyranny of men has
not yet returned from God; and the narrator concludes:
"By this tale it is seen that every creature longs for liberty."
In No. 1 8 (p. 27) the leopard kills the goats in order to
avenge his son who had been crushed by the elephant; and
towards the end of the story it is said: "And until the
present day it is like this: if a man is wronged by some
one who is stronger than he, and he finds no means to
overpower him, he rises against him who is weaker than
he." Again, in No. 20 (p. 28) the gazel and the ape compare
each other's way of living: the gazel says: "My drink is the
breeze and the stormy wind," while the ape cannot live in
the desert where there is no spring nor water-pit; there-
fore, "for everybody his own . way of living is the best."
And it is surprising to find a man like Gendefli (No. 37,
p. 52), who prefers living lonely on a high mountain to being
with his tribe, and who sings: "A chief is Gendefli, high is
the top of his mountain-throne: its wood is never cut, its
paths are never trod upon!", but "his children went down
from the mountain, and they united with another family."
In the animal stories the "fox" plays, of course, an im-
portant role. But it must be observed that in Abyssinia
PREFACE
where the European fox is not found his place is taken by
the jackal. I have rendered the Tigre word hasil "jackal"
always by "fox," in order that his doings and the ideas of
the stories may be more easily understood. The "fox" 'is the
cleverest of all animals here also, and primitive people as well
as children among the more highly developed nations always
take great delight in hearing how others have been cheated ;
and they are glad and satisfied because they know that they
are not so stupid as those people in the stories. The same idea
is found in the tale of Beiho (No. 16, pp. 19 seqq.) and in
the tales of Abunawas (Nos. 24 — 26, pp. 32 seqq.), parallels
to which occur in Arabic popular literature; Abunawas him-
self is, of course, the same as the hero of so many Arabic
stories, and his occurring in Abyssinia is an instructive
example of the migration of stories. With the tale of Beiho
may, e. g., be compared a tale published by Weissbach in
his Beitrdge zur Kunde des Irak-Arabischen (Leipzig, 1908)
pp. 1 20 seqq., and the jest, on which the first tale of Abu-
nawas (No. 24) is based, is found in the last (No. 35) of my
Modern Arabic Tales (Leyden, 1905).
The tales and beliefs about the stars (Nos. 43 — 53, pp. 58
seqq.) are quite important since they furnish interesting
material for comparison with similar tales and beliefs of the
other Semitic peoples ; of these questions I have treated a
little more fully in the Archiv fur Religionszvissenschaft, XI,
pp. 298 seqq.
None of these stories represents a high type of literature.
To judge justly of the literary qualities of the Northern
Abyssinians one must turn to their poetry; and there one
will indeed find a great deal of passionate power of expres-
sion, vivid descriptions of battle-scenes, of the life of the
wild animals and of the great events of nature, and, some-
XIV PREFACE
times, reflections of the tender feelings of human nature.
The descriptions of the customs of the Tigre tribes, from
the time of the conception of the child until the burial of
the man, the accounts of their superstitious beliefs and the
like (pp. 101 seqq.) may be considered as a new contribution
to Semitic folklore. A great many parallels might be drawn
between these and the customs of the Hebrews and the
Arabs. But here, again, I have refrained from going into
details, since everybody reading these pages will be able to
draw his conclusions from them. I considered it my duty
only to give such notes as were indispensable for the un-
derstanding of the text, and which contained information that
I had myself gathered in the country or obtained from my
assistant Naffac cEtman.
The translation and interpretation of the Tigre Names
(pp. 149 — 193) has been one of the most difficult and most
tedious tasks connected with the work on this volume.
Their arrangement may not be perfect either, such as it is ;
others would have arranged otherwise. Moreover, it is quite
likely that a few more names will be explained and inter-
preted by others, or that some of the interpretations which
I have given on the ground of what I was told by Naffac
will prove to be erroneous. Any addition or correction will,
of course, be gladly accepted. However, I trust that my
collection of Tigre names will be received as a new addition
to our knowledge of Semitic nomenclature and of the every
day speech and thought of the semi-nomads in Northern
Abyssinia. In nearly half a dozen of cases I have added an
N. after the explanation of a name; this refers to sugges-
tions which Professor NOLDEKE kindly communicated to me.
The dirges published on pp. 271 — 306 will be of interest
when compared with the funerary poetry of the Hebrews
PREFACE XV
and the Arabs; see, e. g., my Neuarabische Volkspoesie
(Berlin 1902) p. 90. The metre in which they are composed
is the same as that of the Hebrew qlna; the only difference
is, that in Tigre the verses have a — rather imperfect —
rhyme. The sarur ("dirge") of the Tigre tribes is sung only
by women, like the qlna of the Hebrews, the marthiya of
the Arabs, the $pyvo$ of the Greeks. It was, therefore, quite
difficult for Naffac to collect the specimens given here, be-
cause the dirges are generally not repeated nor handed
down by men. He had, therefore, access only to those which
had been composed by the women of his own family or that
were known to them. Some of them were very suspicious
and thought he wished to mock at their grief; others wept
when they sang the dirges to him, remembering their own
sorrow and the losses which had given rise to their lamen-
tation. Indeed, a number of these dirges show a true feeling,
and the outburst of the mourners' emotion is often very
touching: many a time we find here the fruitless attempt
to break through the laws of nature, born of the vain
wish to recall the dead to life. In No. no, 36 (p. 295)
a young mother whose husband had died addresses her little
son, saying: "Let us go now, cEsman, let us implore thy
father ! For thee he loves, he will not refuse thy prayer."
Another example of the simplicity of expression and the
depth of feeling is No. 110, 47 (p. 302) sung by a woman
who had been a slave-girl, but had been freed after having
borne a son to her master; when this son died, a son, whom
she loved so much that she wondered: "How could a man
beget him? And how a woman conceive him?", she became
more wretched than she had been as a slave.
As all Semitic poetry even these dirges cannot be under-
stood without a commentary. I have added, therefore, brief
XVI
comments to every dirge; but one may easily imagine that
it often took a long while before I arrived at a satisfactory
understanding. The obscure expressions, the abrupt way of
speaking, the mention of persons and places unknown to us
mar, as it were, the poetical effect on Western readers. But
he who is willing to read the dirges first with the explana-
tory remarks, and then a second time without them, will
find that many of them are worth reading.
At the end of the book there is a list of all the tribes
that speak the Tigre language; most of them will be found
on the map published in Munzinger's Ostafrikanische Sttidien
(Schaffhausen, 1864) or on the maps in the more modern
box>ks of the Italians on their Colonia Eritrea. But I hope
to give a map of the Tigre country, based on the very
minute maps of the Italian Military Institute, with Volume
IV of these Publications.
I apologize to the reader for some inconsistencies in spelling
and punctuation. I have used italics for Tigre and other
foreign names and words; but sometimes, when they occurred
repeatedly, they are printed in italics only where they
occur for the first time. The ending - a in Tigre words and
names is anceps; but, for the sake of simplicity, I have
generally spelled this — a without any mark. A few times
when an - a has been printed, it should be changed to
-am conformity with the other cases. About this ending
also the remarks in the Preface to Volume I (p. XIV) may
be compared. Every Tigre word beginning with a vowel
has before this vowel the glottal catch, which is usually
represented by the spiritus lenis (3). This sign has been
omitted in a few cases; but the reader will easily put it in
its ,place. Of the pronunciation of all the various consonants,
especially the so-called "emphatic" sounds, some of which
PREFACE XVII
actually resemble a "click" (like q and £), I shall have to
speak in my Grammar of the Tigre Language.
Words, that are not found in the original, but are needed
in the translation are enclosed in brackets [ ] ; words that
are in the original, but should better be omitted in the
translation, or explanatory remarks of my own, are placed
in parentheses ( ).
My thanks are due, above all, to Mr. Robert Garrett who
enabled me to undertake my expedition to Abyssinia and
to publish the results of it, furthermore to Dr. W. H. Worrell
of Ann Arbor, who revised the English of my translation,
and also to George D. Cavalcanty of Jerusalem who accom-
panied me through Abyssinia, as he had done through
Syria, and who was in charge of the photographic work.
ENNO LITTMANN.
Strassburg i. E., January 1910.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
1. The "Resting Place of the Light and the Dark" 19
2. The "House of Mary" (Native Church) at Galab 55
3. The "Stone of Sehul" 56
4. The Rock-Church of Dabre-Sma 57
5. Cemetery and Convent at Dabre-Sina 57
6 — IO. Hairdresses 70
11. A "Tomb of the Rom" 94
12. "Tabernacles" under a Sycamore-Tree 128
13. "Making of Unleavened Break" 230
14. "Baking of Unleavened Bread in the Ashes" 231
15 — 19. Tombs 261
20. Sycamore-Tree at Galab 325
21. Ruins of the Church at Haygat 335
22. General View of Galab 335
23. Qesasatat "Huts" 336
24. Seqlo "Round House" in Building 336
25. Saqalllt "Round Houses'' and Macadam "Square House" 336
CORRIGENDA.
P. 53, 1. 15, read: DannaS.
P. 70, 1. 2 from below, read : tanakkel (braids on the temples or on the
occiput).
P. 95, 11. 5 and 4 from below, read: What have I done? Hast thou perhaps
smiled at me ?
P. 213, No. 37, read: Dagga.
P. 261, 1. 16 and note 2: Instead of "pyramid" it would be better to say
"pointed tumulus".
THE TALE OF THE TWO DONKEY-OWNERS.
Two men met each other on the road; and each of them
had a donkey. Then the men greeted each other: the donkeys,
also, putting their mouths together sniffed at each other.
And the one man asked his fellow saying : a We have greeted
each other. Why have the donkeys also put their heads
together?" The other man answered him: "Doest thou not
know this? The donkeys have sent a strong donkey to the
Lord to enter their plaint before him, that is to say, that
the Lord should free them from under [the tyranny] of men.
Now they ask each other saying: 'Has the messenger-donkey
returned or not'?" And it is said that all donkeys ask each
other about this matter putting their mouths together. —
By this tale it is seen that every creature longs for liberty.
2.
THE TALE OF THE OX, THE SHEEP, THE
CHICKEN AND THE DONKEY.
These four, the ox, the sheep, the chicken and the donkey
were living together by themselves on a mountain. And
while they were living there, the mountain became waste p. 2.
(unto them). And they sent the donkey that he should spy
out for them a place of water and grass. He went and found
a place of water and grass. Then after he had eaten and
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. I
TALES
drunk by himself, he returned, when it grew evening: but
what he had found he hid from them. And they asked him:
"Hast thou perhaps found something for us?" The donkey
answered: "I have not found anything." The chicken, how-
ever, said unto him: "Show us thy mouth, please!" And
when he showed it to them [opening his lips], they saw the
traces of the grass that he had eaten. Then the chicken said
to him: "How thou hast betrayed us!" But the donkey said:
"I found a little bit of 'grass when I was going back to you .
and put it into my mouth; but I did not find [a place]."
And the second time they sent the ox that he should spy
out for them a place of water and grass. When the ox had
found water and grass he ate and drank and returned to his
company, and said to them: "I have found water and grass;
come, let us go there." And they went there and lived
together. The donkey became fat and spry; and he said
unto his company: "Allow me to bray one single time!"
But they answered: "No, be silent, lest hearing thy bray
our enemies come and destroy us!" The donkey, however,
entreated them much, and because he importuned them,
they said to him: "Well then, bray once, [but] softly!"
The donkey, however, brayed with a loud voice. Now the
fox and the leopard were together; and when the fox heard
the bray, he said to the leopard: "I have heard the bray
of a donkey." But the leopard answered: "In this desert
thou hast not heard the voice of an animal, thou liest." Again
the donkey having asked his company brayed another time.
Then the fox and the leopard both of them heard the bray
of the donkey. The leopard said to the fox: "Thou art
P. 3. right." And the fox and the leopard went towards them.
When they were near them, the fox said to the leopard :
"There they are"; but the fox fled himself. When the four
THE TALE OF THE OX, THE SHEEP, THE CHICKEN AND THE DONKEY 3
animals saw the leopard they were much frightened. But
the chicken advised them: "If now the leopard jumps for-
ward to kill us, I shall fly and pick out his 'two eyes; thou,
ox, pierce him [with thy horns]; and thou, sheep, knock
him with thy head; and thou, donkey, trample him down."
The leopard jumped upon them, but they all acting accord-
ing to the advice of the chicken killed the leopard. And
they skinned him and took his hide; then they spread out
his hide. Now the fox led the elephants to them. The four
animals, however, were frightened, when they saw the ele-
phants. But the chicken thinking "the elephants shall them-
selves destroy each other", said to the elephants: "The
greatest of you shall sit upon this leopard's skin!" The ele-
phants said: "I shall sit upon it." "No, I shall sit upon it",
and they killed each other with [the words] "I am greater."
The fox, then, led the hyaenas to them thinking: "Now
they shall perish." When the hyaenas came to the four ani-
mals they said unto the chicken: "Come to us, that we may
hold a council!" But the chicken answered: "Let one hyaena
with a load of grass upon his back come to me that I may
ride upon him and come to you!" And then he said to his
company: "After I shall have mounted the hyaena loaded
with grass, when I say to you: 'Give me a whip', then
give me a burning piece of wood!" And when they had
brought him, the chicken mounted the hyaena loaded with
grass. And he said to his company: 'Give me a whip'; and
they gave him the burning wood. And he flew away after
having put the kindling wood into the grass. The hyaena,
when the grass upon his back took fire, ran to his company; p. 4,
but his company fled from him. In this way all the hyaenas
fled from them. Thereupon the chicken said to his company :
"Let us go home! The ox shall join the cattle, the sheep
the sheep, the donkey the donkeys: let each one of you
thus join his company. But I shall gather the droppings of
roast corn in my Kabasa 1)." And for this reason the chickens
became plentiful in the land of Kabasa and live there until
the present day. [This is what] they say.
THE TALE OF THE BOAR, THE FOX
AND THE MAN.
A man ploughed a field, and after his field had become
very fine, he made a hedge around it, lest the boar should
enter it. The boar then came to the field, but he did not
find any way in which he might enter it. Thereupon he
went to the fox and said to him: "Advise me! At what
place shall I enter this field, doest thou think? The hedge
has kept me out." The fox gave him this advise: "In the
evening the owner of the field goes to the place of his
meal and he leaves the way on which he goes from his field
[open] without closing the door: there enter and eat!"
When it grew evening, the owner of the field went out from
it to go to the place of his meal; but he left the door
through which he went out [open] without closing it. And
according to the advice which the fox had given him the
boar entered the field through the door and spent the evening
eating. And when the man returned, he found the boar in
the field, and he pierced the boar with his spear. And the
l) Kabasa (Habasa), the word from which Abyssinia took its name, is the
region of the old Aksumitic kingdom, i. e. the northern part of the present
Abyssinia and the southern part of the Colonia Eritrea. The settled population
there keep chickens, whereas the Tigre speaking semi-nomads of the north
have few or none.
THE TALE OF THE MAN, THE SERPENT AND THE FOX 5
boar went away roaring, and said to the fox: "Thou hast
given me bad advice; I am dead!" But the fox said unto
him: "Thy father has eaten in thy stead. What shall I do
unto thee?" That is to say: "It is the sin of thy father for P. 5.
which thou hast paid." And now they say as a proverb:
"Thy father has eaten for thee, said the fox J)."
THE TALE OF THE MAN, THE SERPENT
AND THE FOX.
Once when a man was gathering brush-wood at the bank
of a river, a serpent jumped upon him. And beginning at
his feet he coiled himself around him up to his head. The
man, then, said to the serpent: "Go down from me!" But
the serpent refused. Then the man sought to kill him, but
he found no means of killing him. And while they were in
this state, the fox came to them; and the man said to the
fox: "This serpent has coiled himself around me, and when
I told him to go down he refused, and he wishes to kill
me." The fox said to the serpent: "Go down from him; be
friends!" And the serpent unrolling himself went down from
him to his feet. Then the fox said to the man in a proverb:
"Thy serpent is [now] under thee,
Thy staff is in thy hand [now, see!]."
That is to say, he told him by this hint: "With the staff
in thy hand kill him, after he has got under thy feet." And
the man taking the hint killed the serpent with his staff.
Thereupon said the man to the fox: "Thou hast done a
good thing to me; I shall also reward thee with a good
i) Cf. below No. 19.
turn. Wait for me in this place, that I bring thee a kid".
But the man took a dog with whom to kill the fox, and
he hid him under his garment; and when he came to the
fox, he sent him against him. And the dog ran after the
fox; but when the fox saw him, he fled and saved his life.
6. After the fox had escaped, he said, because the man had
requited him with a bad turn instead of a good one: "Keep
the short-ear down ')."
And now there are two proverbs that have come from
this tale: "Thy serpent is [now] under thee — thy staff is
in thy hand [now, see]"; and also: "Keep the short-ear down,
said the fox." [This is what] they say.
5-
THE TALE OF THE COUNCIL .OF THE MICE.
The old enemy of the mice is the cat. Therefore, once
upon a time, the mice held a council. When they all were
together, they deliberated in this manner: "We perish through
the cat. What shall we do ?" And some of them answered :
"Let us tie a bell on the cat. And when she comes to kill
us, we shall hear the sound of her bell and escape from
her." And all the mice said: "This plan is a good one;
let us do this that we escape from her!" And after they
had thus finished their council, they went home. The grand-
father of the mice had stayed at home; now he asked
them: "My children, what have you resolved?" And they
said to him: "We all have resolved to tie a bell on the
cat, and when she comes near us, to escape from her, because
i) Literally: press him, whose ear short is. Man is called "short-eared";
the donkey "long-eared."
THE TALE UK ALL THE WILD ANIMALS 7
we shall hear the bell." And he said to them: "Ye have
planned well, my children ; but which then of you is it that
will tie the bell on the cat?" And all the mice were frigh-
tened and said: "That is true! Who is to catch her for •
us?" Thus their council came to naught. And men say as
a proverb about a council that comes to naught: "It has
become like the council of the mice."
6. P. 7-
THE TALE OF THE BOAR AND THE
ELEPHANTS.
Once upon a time a boar, who had got into the midst of
a herd of elephants, dug into the ground and ate. And
there came to the elephants a hunter, and he pointed his
gun at one [of the] male[s]. When he shot, the bullet missed
the elephant, but struck the boar. And the elephants said
to him: "Art thou struck, boar!" He said: "If it were not
an accident why should, of all these, [the bullet] have struck
met" The herd fled, but the boar died on the spot. And
men say as a proverb when they encounter something [evil]
while in the midst of many [companions]: "It is an accident,
said the boar; in the midst of a herd of elephants he was
.struck."
7-
THE TALE OF ALL THE WILD ANIMALS,
EATABLE AND UNEATABLE.
Once upon a time the eatable and the uneatable animals
came all together. And after having killed [some] barren
cows they ate and drank and rejoiced together. At last there
was a piece of steak-meat left; but they said: "He who is
8 TALES
the oldest, shall take it!" And each one of them saying:
"I am the oldest", told, when he was born. Now, in the
end they said to the guenon (cercopithecus): "When wast
thou born?" And he said to them: "Look at [my] gray
hair!" And they all said: "That is true; the guenon has
gray hair, he is the oldest. Give him the steak!" But the
fox said: "Oho, I am older. I know the day when the guenon
was born. When they said to us: 'Some one is born with
gray hair', we were very much astonished and we tied
P. 8. threads [around our wrists] ')." And in this way the fox
took the tribute from all of them, by cleverness and astu-
teness. And men say as a proverb: "See [my] gray hair,
said the guenon." [This is what] they say.
THE TALE OF THE GUENON, THE BABOON
AND THE LION.
The guenon and the baboon had a fight. But since the
guenon could not overpower the baboon, he thought to
cause his death by craft. Then the guenon went to the lion,
and saw the cave of the lion. So he said to the lion: "Why
doest thou not sew together this crack of this thy cave,
so that the rain may not wet thee?" The lion answered:
"How can this be sewed?" But the guenon Said: "I shall
sew it if thou bringest me the sewing-thread." The lion
then said to him: "I shall bring [it] to thee; with what is
it to be sewed?" And the guenon said: "Kill the baboon
i) Threads (of wool, or of palm-leaves, or of bast made of the bark of
Adansonia digitata) are tied around the wrists to avert evil. When a mis-
shaped child is born, the people use these threads in order not to have a
child like it; see below, end of 82, B.
THE TALE OF THE LION, THE HYAENA AND THE FOX 9
and bring me the sinew of his back; with that I shall sew
it up." Now the lion, who did not know the ruse of the
guenon, went and killed the baboon, took the sinew of his
back and brought it to the guenon. And he said to him :
"Take [it]; now sew it up for me!" The guenon deliberated
in his heart: "I can not sew up the stone, and if I do not
do it, the lion will kill me." Therefore he thought of a ruse
to kill the lion also. Thus he spoke to the lion: "Wind the
sinew around thy neck until it becomes dry, and wait for
me; I shall gather some fruit of the algen tree!"; then he
went away from him. And when they had been away from
each other a little while, the lion called the guenon and
said to him: "Come down now from the algen-tvze; the
sinew is dry." The guenon said to him: "Very well, now
let the sinew get very dry!" When the sinew on the neck
of the lion became [very] dry, it choked him. So again P. 9.
he said to the guenon: "Come at once, now it is [very] dry,
and it chokes me; take it off from me and sew with it!"
The guenon said to him: "I refuse." And the sinew dried
on the neck of the lion, and he did .not find anybody to
take it off from him; so he died. In this way the guenon
killed the baboon in his revenge, and he killed the lion by
craft in order to escape from him. [This is what] is said.
THE TALE OF THE LION, THE HYAENA
AND THE FOX.
The lion and the hyaena travelled together, and on their
way the lion found a bull, and the hyaena a cow far ad-
vanced in pregnancy. And they put the bull and the cow
together; and the hyaena tended them. But afterwards when
10
it was time for the cow to bring forth, the lion said to the
hyaena: "To-day stay thou at home; I shall tend them."
The hyaena knew that his cow was about to bring forth,
but being afraid he stayed at home. And when the lion
had gone away with them to the pasture, the cow of the
hyaena brought forth a cow-calf. And the lion wishing to
take the calf for himself, took the placenta of the cow and
stuck it into the anus of his bull. Furthermore he let the
calf suck milk from its mother in the field so that after-
wards the hyaena should not see the calf sucking. And in
the evening when he came home, he said to the hyaena:
"My bull has brought forth a cow-calf, and this is his
placenta." The other said to him: "Does a bull bring forth
a calf like a cow?" The lion said to him angrily: "Yes,
certainly he brings forth!", and he sought to kill him. But
he was afraid of him and sat down crying. The next morning
the lion took the calf and his bull and the cow and went
P. io. away with them; and the hyaena stayed crying at home.
And while he was crying the fox came to him, and said to
him: "What has happened to thee, hyaena?" He said: "My
cow brought forth a cow-calf, and the lion said to me: 'My
bull brought it forth; thy cow did not calve', and he took
it from me." And the fox said to him: "Be silent, do not cry;
to-morrow I shall make [him] give it to thee." And the next
day when the lion and the hyaena were together, the fox
carrying a skin-vessel passed by them. When they saw him,
the lion said to him: "Where art thou going, cAmer, son of the
fox?" He answered him: "Last night my father brought forth
a boy, and I am going to ask for the milk of his child-bed."
The lion asked him: "Does a man bring forth like a woman?"
And cAmer, the son of the fox, said to him: "If a man
does not bring forth like a woman, give the hyaena his
THE TALE OF THE LION AND THE FOX 1 1
calf." The lion jumped upon him to kill him; but the fox
ran swiftly away from him into a certain place. Now the
lion hid himself in the hole of the fox to kill him by craft.
Then, when it grew evening, the fox came to his hole, but
he saw the tracks of the lion at the mouth of his hole and
said [to himself]: "Perhaps the lion is hidden here in my
hole", and he said standing at the mouth of his hole: "[O]
my house, good evening to thee!" But the lion kept silent.
Again the fox repeated: "[O] my house, good evening to
thee! Before thou usedst to answer me 'May his evening
be good!', I know." The lion thinking that his house had
formerly talked to him, said to him with a disguised voice:
"May his evening be good!" And the fox said: "My house,
my house art thou not; really, thou art the lion", and he
fled from him. The lion sought to kill him; but as he did
not find him, he returned to the hyaena, and he gave him
his calf. In this, way the fox made, by his craft, the lion
give the hyaena his calf. And men say as a proverb: "Give P. n.
the hyaena her calf, said the fox."
10.
THE TALE OF THE LION AND THE FOX.
And the lion wished to take revenge upon the fox, be-
cause he had spoken to him about the calf of the hyaena.
But as he did not find means by which to kill him, he sent
a messenger to him saying: "Let us now be friends!" And
after they had made friendship, the lion thought: "Now I
am going to catch him", and he sent a messenger to him
saying: "Tell him: the lion speaks unto thee: 'I am sick,
visit me!'" And when the fox heard [this], he said: "Well,
I shall come to him." And taking a long staff he went to
12 • TALES
the house of the lion and said to him: "Good day! How
art thou, lion?" And the lion said to him: "Welcome, cAmer,
come in, enter here!" But the fox said: "I am in a hurry."
The lion, however, replied: "Touch me, I have much fever,
only enter!" But the other put the staff through the door
toward the lion and laid it on him, and he said to him:
"Thou art right. The fever burns even me through the staff."
When the lion saw that he refused to be cheated, he jumped
upon him to kill him. But the fox fled and went away from
him. And by his astuteness knowing the ruse of the lion
he saved himself. [This is what] is said.
n.
THE TALE OF THE FOX, THE WHITE KITE
AND THE RAVEN.
The white kite built her nest on a certain tree and lived
there; and she had (also) young ones. Thereupon the fox,
P. 12. who had an axe of clay, took this and went to the white
kite. And he said to her: "With this my axe I shall cut
down this thy tree, unless thou givest me one of thy young."
And she said to him: "Do not cut it down. Lest thou
destroyest us all in this way, I shall give thee [one]." Speak-
ing thus, she gave him one. And by telling her the same
each day he ate up her young (away from her). Now the
white kite had one of her young left, and she wept over
her young that had died (away from her). Thereupon the
raven came to her and asked her saying: "Why doest thou
weep?" And she said to him: "The fox said: 'This tree of
thy nest I shall cut down with this my axe and eat thy
young, unless thou givest me thy young, one after the other
that I may eat them'; and he has finished them (away from
THE TALE OF THE SCHOLAR AND THE GUENON 13
me), and now even this one that is left he is going to eat
(away from me)." And the raven said to her: "When he
comes, tell him: 'I shall not give [it] to thee, cut [the tree],
cut it'. His axe is of clay, it does not cut, but it breaks."
And the fox came to her as before, and he said to her:
"Give me the one that is left, lest I cut down this thy
tree with this my axe!" And she said to him: "Cut, cut!
That is nothing but an axe of clay!" When he struck the
tree with his axe, his axe crumbled. And the fox said to
her: "Who told thee that my axe was of clay? Tell me the
truth lest I cut thy tree (away from thee) with an axe of
iron!" And she said to him: "The raven told me." Now
the fox thought of revenge upon the raven, and sought to
kill him. Thus one day the fox threw himself down upon
a flat rock, let his tongue hang out and looked as if he were
dead. When the raven saw him, he believed that he was
dead, and he went down to eat him. And while he pecked
at him, the fox snatched at him and was about to kill him. P. 13.
But the raven asked him saying: "Do not kill me in this
way; but make a large fire and when the wood chars, throw
me on it; it is better for me to die in the fire." The fox
said: "Very well", and did accordingly, and threw him into
the fire. But the raven without touching the fire took wing
and flew away. And the raven escaped from the fox in this
way. And now they say as a proverb of something that is
not durable: "It is an axe of clay."
12.
THE TALE OF THE SCHOLAR AND THE
GUENON.
A scholar was writing in a solitary place, and all the
mistakes that he made, he scratched out with his knife.
14 TALKS
And while he was writing in this way, a guenon looked at
him. And the scholar arose a little for some reason. But
the guenon came down from his place and trying to write
like the scholar, smeared what the scholar had written.
Thereupon when the scholar returned he found his book
smeared, and he was very sad. But he said to the guenon :
"All right, if thou doest the same that I do." And he took
the knife and whetted it well. And when it had become
sharp, he rubbed the blunt [back], while the guenon was
looking, against his throat, put the knife into its place and
went away as before. Thereupon came the guenon; and tak-
ing the knife and wishing to do the same as the scholar
had done, he rubbed the sharp edge against his throat, cut
P. 14. his throat and died. In this way the guenon met [his] fate,
wishing to do the same as the scholar. [This is what] they say.
— This is told by the people of Kabasa l). -
13-
THE TALE OF HOW THE FOX FOLLOWED
THE ELEPHANT.
The fox and the elephant were together. When they
started, the elephant said to the fox: "Where art thou going,
fox?" The fox answered him: "I am going with thee." The
elephant, however, said to him: "Stay here, thou canst not
endure hunger and thirst." But the fox said to him: "I can
endure [it]; I shall not say unto thee that I am hungry or
thirsty." And the elephant said to him: "Very well, then."
And they went together about a day's journey. Then the
fox said to the elephant: "Uncle, I am thirsty." But the
i) Cf. above p. 4, ann. I.
THE TALE OF HOW THE FOX FOLLOWED THE ELEPHANT 15
elephant replied: "Didst thou not tell me, thou wouldst not
be thirsty? How is this now?" And the fox said to him:
"When did I think that we should go through such a dry
country?" The elephant said: "Go then, drink from that
water-pit there and come back!" And the fox went, and after
having drunk he filled up the pit and returned to the ele-
phant. And the elephant asked him: "Hast thou drunk?",
but he replied: "No, I found [the pit] filled up." Thereupon
after they had marched a while, the fox said to him : " Uncle,
I am thirsty!" The elephant: "Go then, drink from such
and such a well; then come." He went, drank and filled
up the well and said: "I found not[hing] in it, it was filled
up." And again after they had marched on a while, he said
to him: "Uncle, I am thirsty." He said to him: "Go then
and drink from such and * such a well; then come!" And
that one also he covered up and said: "I found not[hing]."
While the fox spoke thus and the elephant showed him
every well, they came into a country which the elephant p. 15.
did not know. The fox said to him: "Uncle, I am thirsty."
He answered: "I do not know the wells of this country.
But enter here in my anus, and when thou hast drunk,
come back without turning right or left. There is water
within my belly." So he entered into the anus of the ele-
phant, drank from that water and came back in his tracks.
Afterwards when they had marched on from there, he said
to him: "Uncle, I am thirsty!" And the elephant replied:
"Enter into me as before, and when thou hast drunk, come
back!" The fox entered into him, and when he had drunk,
on his return he saw the fat in the belly of the elephant
swinging; and tearing a bite off from the fat he ate. The
elephant said to him: "Fox, mayest thou be betrayed! How
couldst thou betray me?" But the fox sat there, in order
1 6 TALES
\
to eat from the fat. The elephant: "Why doest thou not
come out from me?" The fox: "Where then shall I go out
from thee?" He replied: "Where thou hast come in, there
go out!" The fox: "That thy dung may soil me?" The
elephant: "Come out through my mouth!" The fox: "Well,
uncle, that thou mayest break me into pieces with thy tusks ?"
"Come out through me foot!" "If then thou squashest me?"
"Come out then through my ear!" "That the wax of thy ear
may soil me?" "Come out through my trunk!" "If then thou
catchest me with it?" And through whatsoever he told him,
he refused to go out. The elephant said to him: "Now then,
after thou hast refused to come out, I shall throw myself
with thee down from this precipice." But the fox said to
him: "What do I care? Throw thyself down!" And the
elephant intending to perish together with the fox, jumped
from the precipice and all his bones broke into pieces. But
the fox went out through his anus, when he began to jump
down. Thereupon he took out the entrails, and while un-
P. 16. rolling them and dragging them along he was met by tra-
veling merchants. And he recognized his cousin among the
merchants, and they greeted each other. Said his cousin to
him: "From where hast thou come, fox?" And he told him
his adventures and said to him: "To my luck and thy luck,
I have found an elephant fallen down." So his cousin in-
formed his company, and they asked him: "Where is he,
fox?" He answered: "These his entrails will guide you; just
follow them!" "But who will stay with our things for us?n
said they. He replied: "I shall stay with them." And after
they had gone to the elephant, the fox opened their skins
and drank the melted butter ') that was in them; then he
i) The Tigre speaking people eat no hard butter (zebdat\ but take it only
boiled and melted (h> ias)\ to eat hard butter is an abomination.
THE TALE OF HOW THE FOX FOLLOWED THE ELEPHANT I?
filled the skins with excrement. But from the skin of his
cousin he kept away. And when they returned, they said
to him: "Thou hast stayed [here] for us, fox; thou hast done
well." And they said: "Make a meal for him!" And when
they had made [the meal] for him, he asked them: "Make
me butter-sauce out of the skin of my cousin ; my aunt's
butter I know beforehand, it is good." So they made a sauce
of it for him. And after he had eaten, he went away from
them. When the merchants entered the town, they opened
their skins in order to sell the butter; but they found nothing
but excrement in their skins ; only the skin of the cousin of
the fox was good. The merchants said: "The fox has done
this to us," and went to seek him. But the fox had mixed with
his friends, so [that] they did not recognize him. Then the
merchants gathered all the foxes, planted a spear for them
and said to them : "Jump over it." The other foxes jumped
over it, but the fox who had drunk their melted butter could
not jump. The merchants said: "It is he; because, he has
drunk our butter he is now unable to jump," and they seized
it
him. And after they had tied him to a tree, they went P. 17.
away with the words: "Let us fetch switches with which to
scourge him !" While he was thus tied, the jackal came to
him with his few goats. He said to him: "Fox, what has
happened to thee? Why art thou thus tied." He replied:
"My family told me to become their chief, but I refused
the chieftainship." "Does he whom they tell to become chief
[ever] refuse the chieftainship?" "If thou wishest it, untie
me that I give it to thee. Then I shall tie thee in my place.
And when they lash thee with switches, speak to them:
'I will be chief!" The jackal untied him, and after that the
fox tied him to the tree. Then he went away taking from
him his few goats and also the harp which he had had.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 2
Now when the merchants returned and lashed the jackal
with the switches, he said to them: "I will be chief; let me
alone!" When they recognized him they asked him: "Who
art thou ? And who told thee to become chief?" He ans-
wered: "I am the jackal; and the fox has betrayed me and
told me : 'My family told me to become chief and I refused
the chieftainship.' When I asked him: 'Does he whom they
tell to become chief [ever] refuse the chieftainship ?', he said
to me : 'Untie me that I place thee in my stead. And when
they lash thee, speak to them : 'I will become chief; let me
alone!' And he took my few goats and my harp and went
away." Then they said: "This traitor has escaped us," and
they untied him. And in this way the fox escaped from
them. [This is what] they say.
14.
THE TALE OF A HEN.
A family had a chicken. Now [once], when guests came to
them, they wished to kill the chicken, that is to say, in
order to give a meal to the guests. But they did not find
P. 1 8. the knife with which to kill it; then they set the chicken
free. WThen the chicken was free, it scratched the ground
with its feet, and unearthed the knife. When its masters
saw the knife, they killed the chicken with the knife which
it had found itself, and they gave a meal to their guests.
And they say as a proverb: "The chicken scraped out the
instrument that killed it."
15-
THE TALE OF THE PURE-HEARTED ONE AND
THE ONE WITH THE BLACK SOUL.
Two men, who were called "light" and "dark", were on
Fig. I. The "Resting- Place of the Light and the Dark" (p. 19).
THE TALE OF BEIHO 19
the road together; and when it grew evening, they spent
the night at the same place. The dark one thought in his
heart: "If I sleep in a good place and the light one on the
edge [of the road], if then the lion comes, he will take him,
but I shall be safe." And the dark one slept in a good place,
as he had planned ; but the light one slept on the side next
to the road. And when they were sleeping, the lion came
to them: the lion took the dark one and killed him; then
he ate [him]. But the light one woke up safe in the morning.
And until the present day the place is called "the resting
place of the light and the dark." And men say as a proverb :
"Be pure-hearted and sleep on the road!"
According to another version the place is called: "the resting place of the
wise and the stupid" (labeb -wa-gelul)^ and the proverb: "God protects the
stupid" (?egel lagelul rabbi ^aqqebbfi). — The place is on the direct road from
Galab to Asmara, between Comarat and Qeruh, a large bowlder of granit on
the left of the road, as one travels southward (see fig. l).
1 6.
THE TALE OF BEIHO, OF THE PEOPLE OF OLD.
It is not known who Beiho was; some say he was a human being, others
say he was an animal, perhaps of the family of the jackal (baihof).
When Beiho was in his mother's womb, his mother went
down to the water. And when she had filled her water-skin,
she had nobody to load [it on] her [back]. So he came out
of his mother's womb and loaded [it on] her [back] ; and having
done so he returned into his mother's womb. And after she
had gone home, she travailed to bring forth. And when the P. 19.
women came to assist her in childbirth, he said to them :
"I shall be born by myself; do not go near my mother;"
and he was born by himself. And when Beiho became older,
he had a quarrel with the wives of his uncles. And one
day, when his uncles came into the house of his mother,
2O TALES
he filled an oesophagus with blood, fastened both its ends
together and tied it around his mother's neck ; but his uncles
had not seen what he did. And he said to his mother:
"Make quickly a meal for my uncles!" But then he said:
"Thou art slow," and in rage against her, he laid her on the
ground '), and it seemed as if he was killing her: he took
the knife and put it against his mother's throat; then he cut
the oesophagus with it and the blood of the oesophagus
spread over her neck. And his uncles said: "Thou hast done
us evil, thou hast killed our sister", and on the spot they
were very much afraid. But he said to them: "If one does
not treat women in this way, they will not finish [anything]
quickly. And if ye do not do this to your wives -- that will
be the reason why they will not make a meal quickly for your
guest." And after that again he said to them: "We have
and know a remedy for her" 2). And he spoke to his mother :
sdria mdria, sdria mdria, sdria mdria 3) ; thereupon he made
her stand up. When his uncles saw [this], they asked him :
"If we kill our wives in this way, will they rise for us again?"
He said to them : "Just kill them, I warrant you." And when
they returned home, each one of them killed his wife. Then
they said to them : sdria mdria, but they were unable to
rise. The [uncles], however, said to Beiho: "When we had
killed our wives, they were unable to rise." He replied: "Ye
have cut through the vein of their lives, ye have killed them
[too] much. How could I make them rise for you?" And
they buried their wives. But they thought of reyenge upon
1 ) Like an animal that is to be killed; it is laid on the side, but the face
is turned upward.
2) Literally : Her remedy is with us and in us.
3) I. e. a magical formula used in healing the diseased, probably meaning :
"Cure her, Mary!"
THE T^LE OF BEIHO 21
Beiho and intended to kill him. And they made a plan
saying: "When he sleeps at night in his house, let us burn P. 20.
his house and him." But Beiho heard of their plan and took
his things out and slept in another house. And they set fire
to his house at night that it should burn down, thinking he
was in it. But he put the ashes of his house into two leather-
bags, and when he went along carrying it, he met them on
the road. And they asked him saying: "What is this?" He
answered: "These are the ashes of my house; they have
said that they can be sold in such and such a country." And
marching on he came to the village of a rich man. There
he said to the people: "Put these my things for me in a
good [and safe] place ; they are very costly." They told him
to put them in the place of their money and their treasure.
After that he came to them at night and said to them:
"Give me my things that I may go!" But they replied:
"Enter thyself and take them from where thou hast placed
them !" And he left his ashes, but of their money and precious
garments he took as much as he could and came out; then
he went away. And when he came to his village, his uncles
asked him: "Beiho, whence hast thou found this?" He
answered them: "I have sold the ashes of my house for it."
They asked him [again]: "Can ashes be sold?" And he re-
plied: "If a man burns down his house with all its belongings,
they are very much coveted in the country of the tribe so-and-
so." Now they burned down their houses, filled their vessels
with the ashes and went to the country which he had named
to them. And there they hawked them crying: "Ashes, ashes!"
And whosoever heard them, laughed at them. And they said
to them: "Ashes, how is that? May ye turn to ashes! Can
ashes be sold ?" So they knew that Beiho had cheated them.
Arid when they returned they held a council saying: "What
22 TALES
shall we do and how shall we deal with this Beiho?" There-
P. 21. upon they resolved to kill his cattle, and they killed his
cattle. And Beiho took the hides of his cattle and ate their
meat, but the hides he dried in the sun. And when they
were dry, he took them and went to a hill-side along a
road. While he was sitting there, he saw travelling merchants,
camel-drivers, coming. Thereupon, when they were near, he
made the hides slide down to them. And the merchants
thought that an army had taken them raiding : so they left
their camels with their loads and fled. But he came down
from the hill-side, took the camels with their loads and
returned to his country. His uncles asked him: "Whence
didst thou find these camels with their loads?" He replied:
"For the hides of my cattle I bought them." They asked
him: "Are hides so highly valued?" And after he had said
'yes' to them, they went, killed their cattle, and left to sell
their hides. Thereupon they hawked them crying: "Hides,
hides!" But when the people heard them they were angry
with them saying: "Hides, how is that? May ye turn to
hides! Take them away! Why should an owner of living
cattle buy hides ') ?" And they returned sadly to their village.
But against Beiho they planned [now] to throw him into a
large pond. Then they seized him and binding him they
set him on a beast of burden. And while they were going
along with him, they turned aside on some business. And
to Beiho, while on the back of the beast of burden, there
came a cow-driver; he asked him: "Who bound thee ?"
"My family told me to become chief; and because I refused
to be chief they are going with me now to make me chief
l) Many hides would indicate that the cattle died or were killed on account
of some disease. Therefore the other people do not wish to have hides of
diseased animals near their own stock.
THE TALE OF BEIHO 23
by force," said he. But the man said: nWho refuses the
chieftainship? Now then, place me in thy stead, and I
will give thee my cattle!" Beiho said: „ Untie me!", and
tied the man in his stead. And that they should not re- P. 22.
cognize him he clothed him with a large garment and added :
"Be silent, while they go with thee, until they make thee
chief." And taking the cattle he went away on another
road. And the people who had turned aside came back;
taking the man who was on the animal they went on and
threw him into the pond. With the words: "Now then, we
have got rid of him," they returned to their village. But
Beiho met them with his cattle. They asked him: "How
didst thou find these cattle?" He replied: "From the pond
into which ye threw me I have got them; but because I
was alone, I took [only] these cattle. [The pond,] however,
is full of cattle." When they heard this, they took their
children, their wives whom they had married afterwards and
all their relatives and went down into the pond, and they
were drowned in it, thinking they would become very rich.
And after Beiho had done thus, he coveted and desired
the daughter of a village-chief, because she was very beau-
tiful. And he was planning how he might gain her. She was
living alone in a loft, and her brother let no men come near
her. Now Beiho made his plan, went to his mother and said
to her: "Braid my hair like [that of] a girl." And she braided
his hair like [that of] a girl and clothed him with the gar-
ment of a girl. And when he had been made to look like
a girl, he went to the son of the village-chief, and said to
him: "My brother Beiho speaks to thee: 'Let this my sister
be with thy sister in the loft. I am afraid for her sake;
people will not leave her alone'." But he answered him
saying: "This is not possible for me." [Beiho] went back,
24 TALES
waited a little while, and then returned to him again: "My
brother Beiho speaks to thee : ' Wilst thou not do this for
me? If thou wishest money, I shall myself give it to thee'."
He replied: "Be a companion to her, talk with her, be with
her. Go up then !" And while they were together, Beiho
23. rendered the daughter of the village-chief pregnant. But when
the family of the daughter of the village-chief decided upon
her wedding day they noticed her pregnancy. And they
wondered how she had become with child. Thereupon they
resolved to marry the sister of Beiho in her stead. And when
the nuptial cortege came to them, they gave them Beiho's
sister. They took their bride and went away. When the bride
arrived at the village of her father-in-law, she was in a bad
state. So her father-in-law asked her saying: "What has hap-
pened to thee, my daughter, and what doest thou wish that
we do for thee?" She answered: "I have not received my
due." Her father-in-law: "What is thy due?" She answered:
"My due is a Dongola-steed ') full of gold and silver and silk.
Let me ride on his back that I pass on him through every
open space of the village." And her father-in-law said to her :
"This is easy; we shall do it for thee." The next morning
they clothed the horse according to what she wished, and let
her ride on him. But after she had gone about a little in the
village, she found a wide open place; and there she made
[the horse] gallop and disappeared towards her country.
When Beiho came to his mother, he said to her: "Unbraid
my hair !" ; and he left the hair on the top of his head and
on the hind part and was braided like a man. He hid his
I) The Dongola (Djengelay) horse is the full-bred (Arab) horse reared in
the low lands, especially by the Mln cAmer; the half-bred of the mountainous
districts of Abyssinia is called MakSda, a name which by the Kunama is used
for the people of Christian Abyssinia.
THE TALE OF A WOMAN AND HER HUSBAND 2$
treasure and his horse ; then he went to the son of the
village-chief, and said to him: "Give me my sister!" The
son of the village-chief replied: "Our sister became with
child, and the family of her [future] father-in-law requested
the wedding. And we gave them thy sister in marriage,
counting thee as our kinsman." Beiho said to him: "Ye
have done well. My sister is your sister. Now then, give me
your sister who is with child. What shall I do ? I must marry
her." And the other was glad and gave him his sister. So
he married his wife and went away with her. But those
people who had married their son, said : "They have be-
trayed us and given us a man in marriage." Therefore they
went to war and destroyed each other, and made each other
cease to be known. [This is what] is told.
17. P. 24.
THE TALE OF A WOMAN AND HER HUSBAND
WHO, AT THE TIME OF A FAMINE,
CHEATED THEIR NEIGHBOURS.
Once upon a time, so they say, there was a famine; and
there were two neighbouring families. Now one man had
many cattle ; but the other man was poor. Said the rich
man to the poor one: "Come, lett us kill a cow out of these
my cattle !" And they did thus. And for about three days
they ate together the stomach and the entrails and all the
interior parts. But the good meat they cut, boiled and dried '),
and the owner of the cow took the dried pieces. But the
family of the poor man spent three evenings fasting. There-
upon the woman said to the man: "Let us now do this.
i) fassa = to cut the meat in stripes, boil them, chop them and dry them
in the sun.
26 TALES
Do thou get angry and, calling me 'son of a gun' '), beat
my leather skirt; and I shall cry." And the man did as she
had told him. Their neighbours, however, who had formerly
kept them away from the good meat, came to make peace
between them. But the man said: "If this woman does not
go out of this house, I shall not rest to-day without doing
something to her." Thereupon said her neighbour to her:
"Go, come into our house!" And the other woman stayed
with her husband to pacify the man. The wife of the angry
man now went into the house of her neighbour. There she
took the net-basket, in which the dried meat was [kept],
down from the place where it was hanging. But as she did
not find anything with which to open it, she spoke to her
husband mysteriously in order that he might show her the
place of the knife, saying: "Now what wouldst thou do
unto me ? And with what wouldst thou kill me ?" And he
answered her: "With the knife that lies on the edge of the
25. bed I would kill thee." She took the knife, from the edge
of the bed, cut the net-basket open, and took of the dried
meat; but the people of the house were with the husband
calming him. And when the angry man believed that his
wife was ready, he said to them: "Now, for your sake, may
she return then to her house; but I would have driven her
away!" And taking the dried meat which she had stolen
she returned to her house; and she and her husband ate it
together. But when the other [two] entered their house, they
found that their dried meat was stolen. And in this way
[the woman and her husband] got the upper hand of their
neighbours. [This is what] they say.
i) In cursing, a man is called a woman, and a woman a man. The Tigre
original here means "son of a beat;" it is, of course, a euphemism for
something worse, in the same way as "son of a gun."
THE TALE OF THE LEOPARD 2?
1 8.
THE TALE OF THE ELEPHANT AND THE
LEOPARD AND HIS SON.
The leopard had left his son in a certain place. And to
the son of the leopard there came the elephant: he trod on
him with his foot, crushed him and killed him. And a
lamenter informed the leopard saying: "Thy son is dead!"
The leopard asked the lamenter saying: "Who has killed
my son?" He replied: "The elephant has killed thy son."
The leopard, however, said: "The elephant has not killed
my son, the goats have killed him." The messenger replied:
"No, the elephant has killed thy son." The leopard: nNo,
no, no ! It is nobody but the goats who killed my son.
This is the deed of the goats." Then the leopard went and
made a slaughter among the goats in order to avenge his
son. Although the leopard knew that the elephant had killed
his son, he took, — because he was not so strong as the
elephant, -- the goats as a pretext for his revenge and killed
them. And until the present day it is like this : if a man is
wronged by some one who is stronger than he, and he finds
no means to overpower him, he rises against him who is P. 26.
weaker than he. And they say as a proverb: "The goats do
this, said the leopard."
19.
THE TALE OF THE LEOPARD (HEMMADAY,
SON OF CAMER) AND THE FOX.
The leopard and the fox were together. Now the leopard
saw [some] goats, but he was afraid of the sin of killing any
of them. Thereupon he asked the fox: "For what reason do
28 TALES
people fear sin, fox?" The fox replied: "They fear it on
account of their posterity." The leopard said: "My posterity
is a matter by itself," and ran after the goats. And while
he was jumping upon a goat, he fell on a ragged stump,
and it cut him. And when the leopard was cut, he said to
the fox: "Didst thou not tell me, that they fear sin on
account of [their] posterity ? Why have I now been killed
by it?" The fox answered and said to him: "Thy father has
eaten for thee." After that the leopard died. And from this
tale two proverbs have risen. They say: "The sin is for
posterity, said the fox." And they say also: "Thy father
has eaten for thee." J)
20.
THE TALE OF THE APE AND THE GAZEL.
The ape and the gazel disparaged each other's way of
life. Now the gazel went to the ape in order to see his way
of life, and she lived with him. And when she became
thirsty she said to the ape: "Where is thy water? From
where shall I drink ?" And he showed her the water in a
P. 27. pit in the rock and said to her: "Drink from this!" But she
refused to drink it. As she did not drink this water of the
pit, he said [to himself]: "Perhaps she dislikes it," and he
led her to a mountain-spring. But even from this water she
did not drink. The gazel does not drink water, her drink is
the air, and in the country of the ape she found no draught
of air, because it was in the narrow valleys. 2) And the gazel
said to him: als this all that throu drinkest, or hast thou
1) Cf. above p. 5, 1. 6.
2) The gazel is usually found in the dry desert far from water-places, and
therefore it is said that the gazel drinks no water but only air.
THE TALE OF THE HYAENA AND HER HERDSMAN 2Q
something else?" The ape answered: "This is all". Then the
gazel spoke thus to him:
"May thy drink be bad, o Ab-Gaharu! ')
My drink is the breeze, the stormy wind, too."
Now the ape said to her: "Let me see thy drink also!",
and he went with her. And the gazel went down into the
plain with him; and taking him to a high sand-hill, when
the breeze blew around them, she said to him: "This is my
drink." But Ab-Gaharu, when the sun of her land became
too hot for him and the breeze could not quench his thirst,
said to the gazel :
"May thy drink be bad, o little gazel!
My drink is the spring, the pit [and the well]."
And after he had said this, when the heat had penetrated
into his heart, he died. Now for everybody his own way
of living is the best. [This is what] is said.
21.
THE TALE OF THE HYAENA AND HER HERDSMAN.
They say that cattle formerly belonged to the hyaena,
and that a man was his shepherd and tended his cattle.
But the hyaena used to pass the day at home and sleep
during the day in his cattle-pen. Now the shepherd came,
when he returned at night, carrying a tree-trunk for the fire
for the cattle, and he flung the trunk into the yard. And
the hyaena woke up and fled. And after this he used to do p. 28.
the same every day. The shepherd said to him: "Thou art
safe, daughter of Moses!" But the hyaena said: "I thought
i) Ab-Gaharu is the name of the ape; perhaps it means "father of the
cleft", from geher "cleft in the rock."
3O TALES
it was an array," and returned. And every time, whenever
he flung the trunk, the hyaena fled from him. When [then]
the man said : "It is all right," he returned. As the herds-
man noticed his faintheartedness, he planned in his heart :
"To no purpose I am tending the cattle of this gap-toothed
[beast], that is scared out of his wits." So he decided to
chase him away and to take the cattle for himself. The
shepherd then, after he had passed the day tending the
cattle as before, returning at night, carried a trunk for the
fire and entered the pen with it and flung it alongside the
hyaena, while he was sleeping. He woke up terrified and
fled. And the man ran after him and hurled his stick after
him. The hyaena after having fled returned and knew that
it was his shepherd who had chased him. So he said to
him: "Why doest thou drive me away from my cattle?"
Saying: "I have done it!" he ran after him and drove him
away. The hyaena was afraid of him and went away, but
he said to him: ttl shall eat from thee the udders and the
haunches of the cows." The man said: "What does that
concern me? The remainder is enough for me. I shall my-
self guard them frorr^ thee !" In this way the cattle was
turned over from the hyaena to man ; and until the present
day the hyaena is fainthearted. And for this reason the
hyaena until the present day always rends the udders and
the haunches of the cows. [This is what] they say.
22.
THE TALE OF THE HYAENA.
They say the hyaena is a Moslem. And for this reason
P. 29. the Christians do not eat or touch the meat of any animal
which the hyaena has wounded or killed. On the contrary,
THE TALE OF THE HYAENA AND A MOSLEM PROPHET 3!
they swear by what he has left, saying: "That we shall not
do this or that, may it be unto us [like] what the hyaena
has killed and left !" But the Moslems say the hyaena is a
Moslem, and if what he has wounded is not dead yet, they
kill and eat it.
In former times there were people who knew how to
interpret the howl of the hyaenas. Whenever they heard the
howl of the hyaena, they knew what he said. And they
said that the hyaenas when they howl at each other talk
with each other. But they did not teach anybody else the
language of the hyaenas: but only after much entreaty they
interpreted a little of it at a time. And they said their inter-
pretation was true. Once upon a time a hyaena said to his
companion: "Come, let us go to such and such a place:
there is a tribe there that has been plundered; let us eat
from the bodies of the dead." And the interpreter told his
company, because they entreated him much, what the hyaena
had said to his companion. And the next morning there came
a messenger that the tribe of which the hyaena had spoken
had been plundered. And the others believed that there
were really people who know the language of the hyaenas.
23-
THE TALE OF THE HYAENA AND A
MOSLEM PROPHET.
A Moslem prophet said to the hyaena: "Pronounce the
creed and make a vow to eat only what thou hast killed
thyself!" And the hyaena made a vow [to refrain] from all
carrion. And the prophet set out to go away and mounted
his camel, and he let the hyaena ride behind him on the
camel. And while they were travelling, everybody that saw
32 TALES
P. 3°- him being with the prophet, was very much astonished,
because he had taken the vow and become a pupil of the
prophet. And while they were thus travelling with each
other, they met a carcass on the road. And the hyaena
sniffed the smell of the carcass. Said the prophet to him:
"Daughter of Moses, do not sniff at this now after thou hast
taken the vow [to refrain] from it!" But he sniffed again
at the carcass and said to the prophet: "May we not even
sniff at it?" He replied: "No!" And after a little while the
hyaena got off from his place behind [the prophet], and
saying: "[This is] the food of my mother and my father!",
he jumped at the carcass. And the prophet was sorry be-
cause the hyaena had broken his vow, and (then) went his
way. And now they say, as a proverb, to people who do
not keep their oath or their vow: "Thy vow has become
like that of the hyaena."
"Daughter of Moses" is a name of the hyaena; the word hyaena is used as
a feminine in Tigre. The belief that the hyaena is a hermaphrodite is also
found among the Tigre speaking people. It is known that the hyaena, especially
the hyaena striata^ is an unusually cowardly animal (cf. the tale above p. 29),
and that during the day-time he generally hides himself sleeping (cf. the same
tale). Sometimes little children are killed and carried away, and single per-
sons, especially women, or persons sleeping are attacked by the hyaenas,
more by the h. crocuta^ than by the A. striata. Both are found in Northern
Abyssinia; the A. crocuta is called the chief (b(£al gas or suiul~) of the hyaenas.
24.
A TALE OF ABUNAWAS. ')
Abunawas had a well and also a young goat. And around
his well he had stuck goat's horns in the ground; but the
l) I. e. the Arabic Aba Nuwas. He was a famous poet in the second half
of the 8th century A. D. In later Arabic popular literature he plays the role
of a jester and buffoon.
A TALE OF ABUNAWAS 33
points of the horns were above ground. Now there was a
man travelling who was leading a loaded camel, and he
turned aside to the well of Abunawas to drink water. When
Abunawas saw the man coming to him with his camel, he
put the goat in the well. And when the camel-driver arrived,
he and Abunawas greeted each other. Thereupon said the
stranger to Abunawas: "Let me drink!" Abunawas said: "Very
well," and went down into the well to draw water. And first
he pulled up the goat and brought it out ; after that he let
the stranger drink. When the stranger had drunk, he asked
Abunawas: "This goat which thou hast brought out of
the well, where hast thou found it?" Abunawas replied:?. 31
"These horns which thou seest around the well, are goats all
of them. And every day, if I pull out two of them, a goat
comes out of this well." And the man was very much
astonished, and he entreated Abunawas saying: "Give me
this thy well, and thou take this my camel with his "load."
Abunawas answered him: "This is my place which is of
great profit to me ; but for thy sake, — what shall I do ?
Take it then!" And the man said to Abunawas: "What is
thy name?" And Abunawas answered: "My name is Nargus-
fen." ') Thereupon said Abunawas to the man: "Now then,
of these horns pull out two every day, and at once a goat
will come out to thee. To-day, however, do not pull out
any of them; [for] I have pulled out [two] of them before
and brought out this goat." And the man said: "All right."
Abunawas. taking the loaded camel went to his village. And
the next morning the man pulled out two of the horns, but
the horns came out (to him) by themselves. Nor looking
into the well did he find anything. And saying: "What is
i) The words are Arabic and mean: Where shall we dance? This meaning
is also given in Tigre in the text.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 3
34 TALKS
this ?" he pondered a great deal. And every day he said :
„ To-day, even to-day I shall find [it]," and he pulled out
all the horns. Thereupon he thought in his heart: "Nargus-
fen has cheated me. And now it would be better to go and
seek him." So he set out to seek Nargus-fen. And when
he came to a village he asked [the people]: "Do you know
Nargus-fen (where we shall dance)?" And the people of the
village replied: "Dance here!" And gathering around him
they clapped their hands for him. But the man was very
much afraid and terrified, because they made fun of him.
And again, when he went into another village and inquired,
P. 32. these other people also did the same to him as the first;
and the man was about ^to go crazy. But afterwards the
chief of the village asked him by himself saying: "What
kind of a man art thou ? And what doest thou wish to say ?"
And the man told him of all that had happened to him.
The chief sent word and asked: "Who is it that cheated
this man?" But all the people said: "We do not know."
Thereupon the chief took an oath saying: "I shall give some
money to him who has done thus, if he says to me: 'It is
F." And Abunawas said to him: "It is I who have done
thus." So the chief gave him money, but the camel with his
load he turned over from him to his owner. And all the
people were astonished at the doings of Abunawas. [This
is what] they say.
25.
THE TALE OF THE MEN WHO MADE A BET.
Two men betted in this way. The one said to his com-
panion: "If thou passest one night in the midst of the sea,
I shall give thee these my cattle. But if thou doest not do
it, thou shalt give me thy cattle." And his companion said
35
to him: "All right," and they agreed to this. But afterwards
he who had said he would pass the night in the midst of
the water was afraid he would die; and he did not wish to
give up passing the night in the water in order not to pa)' what
they had agreed upon. Thereupon he asked an old hag : "What
seems [best] to thee that I shall do ? I have made such and such
a bet." And the hag said to the man: "On the shore of the
sea in which thou art to pass the night, one of thy relatives
shall kindle a fire and he shall keep it burning all night
without letting it burn low. And do thou look always into
the flame of the fire; then thou wilt not die, but be warm
all night." The man said: "Very well," and in the night for
which they had betted, he went down into the sea. But his P. 33.
mother made a fire on the shore opposite him, and she kept
it burning .all the night long. And her son having his head
above the water passed the night looking at the fire. And
in order that he should not come out of the water, there
were watchmen standing near him on the land all night.
And when it grew morning, the man came out of the water
living. And he said to him with whom he had made the
bet: "Now then, give me thy cattle! I have been in the
midst of the sea all night until the morning." But the other
man answered: "I shall not give thee my cattle. Thou hast
looked at the fire all night; for this reason thou hast come
out of it safe." But he who had passed the night in the
water said: "When did I warm myself at the fire? Its heat
was too far from me to reach me. I have fulfilled our bet."
The other "replied: "I shall not give thee [anything], because
thou hast passed the night looking at the fire." And also
the people around them said all of them: "That is true.
After thou hast seen the fire he need not give thee [anything]."
And even when they brought their cause before the judge,
36 TALES
he said the same to them. So the man who had passed the
night in the water went home sad. But afterwards he went
to Abunawas, and saying: "Such happened to me," he told
him all. Abunawas said to him: "Go on, for this thing I
have a remedy for thee, thou shalt find it !" Now Abunawas
sent a message J) into all the land of his tribe, saying: "On
such and such a day I shall have a feast, I invite you to
it." And on the day which he had named, he had cattle
and goats killed and also rice boiled. And to the servants
at table he said: "Without my giving orders to you, do not
pass even a gland ! And all that you have boiled hang up be-
fore the eyes of the people." Thereupon all the people gathered
and seated themselves around the house of Abunawas. But
Abunawas sat in his house, keeping silent. And the servants
P. 34, hung up the meats that were cooked in front of the people ;
and the people were glad and said: "Abunawas has good
meats prepared for us." But when it was dinner-time, they
did not bring [it] near them. So all the people became
hungry, but they waited saying: "Now, even now Abunawas
will come out and have the meal given to us." When the
day waned and all the people complained of hunger, they
said to a friend of Abunawas, who was with them: "Go in
for us to thy friend and tell him : 'They speak unto thee :
'What have we done unto thee? Why hast thou done this
to us'?" The friend went in to him and spoke thus to him.
And Abunawas answered and said to him: "Tell them:
'He speaks unto you: 'Are ye not satisfied by all these
meats that ye have smelled while they were cooked and
that are now hanging in front of you'?" The friend of
l) The messenger usually plays the flute or blows the trumpet before
riving his message.
giving, his message.
A TALE OK ABUNAWAS
Abunawas returned to his company and reported to them
what Abunawas was telling them. And they all said: "How
do people become satisfied by sight? And what they have
not eaten, in what way does it reach than ?" Then Abunawas
came out to them and said to them: "If ye know that men
do not become satisfied by sight only, why have ye kept
back !) from the man who passed the night in the water the
cattle of his bet, saying: 'Thou hast seen the fire'?" And
all the people said : "That is right. There is nobody that
becomes satisfied by sight, nor warm;" and they had the
cattle given to the man who had passed the night in the
sea. Thereupon Abunawas had the meal given to them. And
after they had eaten, they went each to his family. [In this
way] Abunawas, by means of cleverness, made justice to
be done to the man. [This is what] they say.
26. P. 35.
A TALE OF ABUNAWAS.
Abunawas was very clever. And when the chief of his
country heard of his cleverness, he sent messengers to him
saying: "Tell him: 'The chief speaks thus to thee : 'Come
to me quickly [arid] in a hurry. But do not come to me
when the sun shines; nor come to me when there is shadow.
Again do not come to me walking with thy feet; nor come
to me riding on a beast. If thou comest to me in one of
these ways, fear for thy life!" And the messengers brought
this word to Abunawas. [Then] Abunawas took a large net-
bag, and he sat in it and tied it up. And he said: "Fasten
the net-bag, in which I am sitting tied up, loosely with a
l) Literally "made to be kept back.
38 TALES
rope to the neck of a camel !" When they had fastened it he
went to the chief swinging on the camel's neck. And the chief
was astonished at his cleverness. [This is what] they say.
27.
THE TALE OF THE PARTING OF THE BROTHERS.
Two brothers were living together, and they had all their
property in common. But all the time the brothers quarrelled
with each other. Now the people of old did not know dividing
and parting, so that they. did not separate from each other.
Once upon a time, the one of them took his weapons in
order to kill his brother and went to his brother. But he
did not find him; and on his way back he saw a wild olive-
tree [that was] forked. After he had returned, he took his
weapons another time in order to kill his brother. And he
came to the place of the tree which he had seen before.
P. 36. Now looking closely at the tree he saw that each of the
two branches, although separated from the other, was growing
on its own side. The man thought: "Instead of my killing
my brother, it will be better, if we, I and he, part from
each other like these two branches of the tree, and each one
of us live on his side. Thereupon when he came to his
brother, he said to him: "Let us part, and divide all our
property." So they divided their property, and each of them
was living safely on his side. And they say that from that
time on parting was know to them. And the two branches
of the tree are growing and sprouting each on its side until
the present day. And the place of the forked tree was called
"the parting of the brothers." !)
i) This tree is found on the road from Galab to Asmara, not far from
the stone mentioned on p. 19.
A TALE RESEMBLING A RIDDLE IN FIGURES 39
28.
A TALE [KNOWN TO] THE TIGRE AND TIGRINA
[SPEAKING] PEOPLES, TO ALL THE LAND
OF HABAS '), RESEMBLING A RIDDLE IN FIGURES.
When way-farers are travelling and divert themselves at
their resting-place, they form two parties and ask each other;
that is to say, (it is) when they pass the night out of doors,
(that) they divert themselves in this way. In the village,
however, the men do not tell the like. 2) Now one party
asks the other about the explanation of this tale.
"There was a man who had married three wives. And he
went to the market-place in order to buy cloth for them. And
he had taken with him nine camels on which to load the cloth.
And after he had bought the cloth he loaded the camels:
on the first camel he put one load of cloth, on the second
camel two loads of cloth. Doing thus he put on each one
of them as many loads of cloth as his number [indicated];
and he returned with his camels to his village. Now then, P. 37.
if he wants to divide the nine camels with their loads,
without unloading them, among his three wives in equal
parts, what shall he do? And how much falls to the share
of each wife? And all the loads, how many are they?"
The interpreter explains in this way: "His first wife receives
the first camel with his one load, and the sixth with his
six, and the eighth with his eight. And his second wife
receives the second camel with his two loads, and the
fourth with his four, and the ninth with his nine. And his
third wife receives the third camel with his three loads, and
the fifth with his five, and the seventh with his seven.
1) Cf. above p. 4. ann. I.
2) In the village only women and children amuse themselves with riddles.
4° TALES
And there falls to the share of every one of them: three
camels each and fifteen loads each. And all the loads of
cloth that were carried by them are fourty-five."
And his companion says to him: "Thou art right; thou
hast guessed it."
29.
A TALE RESEMBLING A RIDDLE.
Another one asks his companion in this way: "There was
a man with a boat, who had a leopard, a goat and a leaf.
And he wanted to ferry them over from the shore where
he was to the other shore. But his boat was small, and it
carried, at one crossing, [only] him and one of the three
[things] that he had. And he could not ferry them over
singly: for if the leopard stayed with the goat, he would
P. 38. kill and eat it (away from him); and if he left the goat with the
leaf, the goat would eat the leaf (away from him). Now then,
how doest thou think that he was able to cross with them?"
The other one explains in this way: "The owner of the
boat crosses first taking the goat. Then he returns, takes the
leopard and crosses again ; and he* leaves him there. But
with the goat he returns and leaves it on the shore. Now
he takes the leaf and goes over to the other shore. There-
upon he leaves the leaf with the leopard. [Finally] he goes
back, takes the goat and crosses. In this way he ferries all
of them over."
And his companion says to him : "Well, thou hast guessed it."
30-
A TALE RESEMBLING A RIDDLE.
The first one asks the other about the explanation of
this [tale]:
THE STORY OF THE CAD TAKLES 41
"There were on a shore three men with their three wives.
And they wanted to cross from the shore where they were
to the other shore. They had one boat, and it carried only
two [persons]. And the men did not trust each other that
they would not commit adultery with each other's wives.
And each one of them could not cross with his wife [and
stay] : for there was nobody to return the boat to his com-
panions. And none of them wished to leave his wife with
his companion. Now then, how doest thou think that they
were able to cross?"
The other one explains in this way:
"First two women cross in the boat; and one of them P. 39.
remains on the other shore, whereas one returns in the boat.
The latter takes the third woman with her and crosses. And
one of the three women returns in the boat to the men.
Now two of the men, those whose wives have crossed be-
fore, cross in the boat to their wives. Thereupon one of them
returns with his wife in the boat to their companions who
have stayed behind. And when they have crossed back, the
two women stay there. And the man crosses with his com-
panion who has stayed behind. After that the woman who
is with the men returns in the boat and ferries the two
women over, one by one. And in this way no one of them
leaves his wife with another man, [yet] they all cross in safety."
And his companion says to him: "Thou art right. In no
other way but this would they have been able to cross."
THE STORY OF THE CAD TAKLES.
THEIR BRANCHES:
The branch of cAd (jemec wad Galaydos (formerly they kept
the chieftainship).
42 TALES
The branch of cAd Nauraddln wad Galaydos.
„ ,, „ °Ad Derar wad Galaydos.
„ „ „ cAd Hakm wad Galaydos.
„ „ „ cAd Temaryam wad Galaydos.
„ „ • „ cAd Kantebay Naseh.
P. 4°-' „ „ „ cAd Elos wad Galaydos.
„ „ „ cAd Nasraddln wad Galaydos.
These seven branches are the sons of Galaydos. .But the
eighth branch is that of cAd Kantebay Naseh ; and the branch
of Kantebay Nas"eh is connected with these branches by
common ancestors, and they are brothers. Although the
branches of the °Ad Takles are brothers in this way, they
always split into parties and warred against each other ; they
used to be divided into two sides and quarrel and destroy
each other. And sometimes again they united and robbed
other tribes and became their enemies. But most of all they
lived in enmity and war with the Habab. And although the
°Ad Takles are the smallest in number of the "Three
Marias" x), they are . brave and warlike. Few as they are,
they excel all of them in war.
32.
THE STORY OF THE FIGHT AT BALQAT.
Once the cAd Takles were enemies with the Habab. The
head of the Habab party was Kantebay 6aweg wad Fekak ;
and the head of the cAd Takles party was Fekak wad
Nauraddln. At first, the GAd- T.akles had killed a man of the
Habab. And the Habab, mourning for their man, had ceased
to shave 2), until they should destroy each other. Now the
l) I. e. Habab, cAd Takles and cAd Temaryam, the descendants of Manas
wad Asgade; cf. below No. 125, 3. 2) I. e. upper lip and pubes.
THE STORY OF THE FIGHT AT BALQAT 43
armour-bearer of Fekak wad Nauraddin was in the country
of the Habab; and Kantebay (jaweg was asking him every
day about the ways of Fekak wad Nauraddm. And the
armour-bearer of Fekak said: "The ways of the son of Nau-
raddln are hard, who can resist him ? When he fights he is
valiant; when he jumps, he is a falcon." And Kantebay P. 41-
(jaweg said to him: "How doest thou think that he can be
reached?" The armour-bearer of Fekak replied: "There is
no way to reach him, unless he be reached in one single
way: He has two wives, and they [sometimes] quarrel with
[the words] : 'Make thou his meal for him.' Now he is an
obstinate man, and then refuses the meal and does not take
it for three days. At that time when he, after having fasted,
jumps, the strap of his sandal being long may make him
stumble." When Fekak wad Nauraddm was playing fersit ')
i) Fersit is a gambling game. It is played in the following way: Each
player has a die of bone; the side where the marrow (^enge^o) has been, and
which is dark, is called gas "front"; the other, white side is called gera "back."
Besides this a larger die is needed, which also has front and back; the larger,
common die is called 'em "mother", the smaller are called uuelad "children."
Each player knows his die by its somewhat different shape. If the stake is
money or property, pebbles (hashes) are used while playing ; in the play they
are called qelat. If the stake is grain, the piles of grain are taken and won
during the play. Thus, each player has an equal number of pebbles or a pile
of grain before him. The stakes are put up, and some one takes all the dice
in his hand and shakes them a little; then he drops them on the ground.
If the "mother" die falls on its back, all the other dice that fall in the same
way, have lost (rnotau "are dead"j; those which fall the other way, have won,
and vice versa. Those who have won receive a stake each. If all the dice
fall differently from the "mother" die, nobody wins (dahdn-tu "all is safe").
The first stage of the game lasts until all stakes are won ; those who have
won nothing are out of the game. The rest play on; each one puts about
five pebbles up as a stake. When there are only two winners left, they play
for the whole. He who has all the pebbles wins what is played for ; the
others pay in equal parts. — I was told that now the Mansac do not gamble
so much as they used to do. Formerly they are said to have gambled a great
deal and often to have lost their houses, their cattle and much other property.
44 TALES
at Balqat near the frontier of the cAd Takles country, the
Habab party invaded it. And one of the players seeing the
army of the Habab said to Fekak: nWe are robbed! An army
has come." But Fekak said : "It is they who are robbed; what
are they but an army of men with pubes!" Then he planted
his staff in the midst of the pebbles of the game, so that
they should not be mixed up with each other; for he said
when he had driven the army back, he was to continue the
game. He swung his sword high up so that its scabbard flew
off; and a hawk thinking the scabbard was a piece of meat,
plunged down upon it. And Fekak struck three men of the
Habab army, and when he jumped up intending to strike
[others], the strap of his sandal made him stumble because
he had been fasting, and he fell. The Habab army killed
him; and at this place the cAd Takles and the Habab destroyed
each other. And until the present day their tombs are seen
there; and the place has been called "the fight of Balqat."
33-
THE STORY OF THE FIGHT OF SANGERA.
/ Another time again the cAd Takles and the Habab were
at enmity with each other. That Mahammad, the son of
42. Kantebay (jaweg, after his father's death, was to take ven-
geance for the death of his father, this it was which for . a
second time caused enmity between the Habab and the cAd
Takles. And with the GAd Takles there were the sons of
Nauraddm, the brothers of Fekak: Eshaq, Hebtes-Sangab,
Hadambas, and Sawes; the head of the cAd Takles party was
Eshaq wad Nauraddm. And the head of the Habab party
was Mahammad, the son of Kantebay 6aweg. And these two
parties met at a place between the cAd Takles country and
THE STORY OF THE FIGHT OF SANGERA 45
the Habab country, called Sangera: there they fought and
wrought havoc with each other. And Eshaq wad Nauraddm
said to a slave named Hamad-Nor, son. of (jamllay, of the
cAd cAmdoy branch, but a slave of the Habab: "Come hither,
thou slave!" But Hamad-Nor replied: "Do not call me slave,
cArmasis '), but call me brave ! 2) Formerly their slave,
to-day their brave !" Then he and Eshaq broke through the
lines making for each other. Eshaq struck him with the
sword and cut his side open. But Hamad-Nor with his lungs
hanging out of his body cut off both legs of Eshaq, and
Eshaq died on the spot. And even after that Hamad-Nor
killed Hadambas wad Nauraddm. And again, the warriors
of the cAd Takles pierced Hamad-Nor, with the spear. But
even pierced as he was he killed many people; for he was
brave and a clever fighter. And finally he died on the spot. —
For this reason do many of the bards in their songs say
"like Hamad-Nor of Sangera." And even until the present
day they speak of a brave and strong man "like Hamad-
Nor of Sangera." — And these two parties destroyed each
other: there were more dead on the Habab side, but the
cAd Takles had lost their leaders. And until the present day
their tombs are in this place. Thereupon when the two par- p ,
ties had returned home, the Habab said: "It is the cAd
Takles who have wronged us, and therefore we have become
enemies." Temaryam wad Gerub, a man of cAd Takles, sang
when he heard of the talk of the Habab, the following
little song:
"Are they of guilt afraid or not afraid, the Bet-Asgade 3)
of their guilt?
1) The surname of Eshaq.
2) In Tigre : do not call me slave (gaber\ but mountain (daber).
3) Here = Habab ; all the 3 Mafias are, properly speaking Bet Asgade.
46 TALES
Upon us have they put [the blame for] all the blod-shed
of Sangera.
Since they have, killed our brothers, since we have seen
their blood,
There is no one to give us milk, when we [now] enter
their village. ')
The noble ones are no more our brothers, nor are the
bondmen our bondmen.
Our beast of burden is our shoulder, [we carry] a small
measure 2) journey after journey.
Of [all] the camels no camel is ours, of [all] the donkeys
[no] donkey 3) :
We and the Bet Asgade have become like a cleft rook."
Besides this, the cAd Takles used always to split up into
parties among themselves and to ruin each other with sword
and spear. Once they split and were divided into two par-
ties : the party of (jemec wad Derar was the one ; and the
other was the party of Galaydos wad Ezaz. And these two
parties met at a place of their country called Laba; and
there they wrought havoc with each other. And at another
time they destroyed each other's cattle at Cacamur. And
again at another time two parties of them destroyed each
other at Ede-Atba. And again at Habaro two parties of them
destroyed each other. Therefore they were always food for
the sword and the spear, and everywhere they slaughtered
each other. Since the [establishment of the] rule of Egypt, how-
ever, they have become people that are safe from each other
and have also made peace with all [others].
1) Gargls or degge Gargls is the name of the main village with the 3 Maflas.
2) An cebela equals about 2'/2 kilograms.
3) heleta is the mature male donkey.
THE STORY OF KANTEHAY SALLIM AND OF CAL1 WAD MACO 47
34- P. 44-
THE STORY OF KANTEBAY SALLIM AND OF
CALI WAD MACO.
A man named Kantebay Sallim with his family had built
his village on the top of»a mountain. And another [man]
named CAH wad Maco was abiding with his village in Daset.1)
And Kantebay Sallim betrothed his son to the daughter of
CAH wad Maco. Thereupon when the "constellation" 2) was near,
Kantebay Sallim requested the wedding of CA1I wad Maco.
And CAH wad Maco replied: "Marry then, I have granted
[thy request], come to me !" But in his village he sent a
message about speaking thus: "Now the nuptial cortege of
Kantebay Sallim is on the way towards us. Give them no
wood, and even when the [people of the] cortege wish to
gather wood themselves tell them: "It is forbidden; the
wood of Daset is not to be burned ; do not break any of
it 3)." And all of them accepted his plan. Thereupon the
nuptial cortege of Kantebay Sallim arrived in the evening and
halted at the nuptial bower. And the people of the village
greeted the cortege and gave them mats. CA1I wad Maco
brought barren cows for the cortege and said to them: "These
are your dinner." So the people of the cortege accepted the
cows from him, killed them, skinned them and prepared
them [for the meal]. Thereupon they asked water and wood
and fire from the people of the village. They said to them :
"Water and wood and fire, all of this we shall not give [to
you]. Take water and fire only! For wood is forbidden; the
1) Daset or Dasit is a district north of Moncullo {Emkuttu).
2) Cf. below, No. 53.
3) Literally: away from it, i.e. the Daset country.
48 TALES
wood of Daset is not to be burned." And even when the
people of the cortege wished to gather [it] themselves; they
said to them: "It is forbidden; the wood of Daset is not to
be burned. Do .not break a piece of its wood!" Then the
people of the cortege said to Kantebay Salllm: "What shall
we do? They have refused us wood. We have found nothing
P. 45. wherewith to cook the meat." He said to all the people of
the cortege: "Take the points of your spears and cook the
meat with the shafts, then eat your meal. And he who has
a saddle, let him break it, then have your meal with it!"
And after they had done thus, they ate their meal. And the
next morning they took their bride and went to their village.
And when they had entered the village, they found at once
that the bride was pregnant with a bastard. Kantebay Salllm
heard that his son's wife was with child; and he returned
the dowery that had come with the bride and the bride
mounting her on a beast, to her father. And after this Kan-
tebay Salllm rose in a storm with all those of his men that
were good for work, to overrun and plunder Daset, the village
of CAH wad Maco. But at that time CAU wad Maco was not
at home; for he used to pass little time at home being a
restless wanderer. Then Kantebay Salllm attacked the village
of Daset with his army swarming on all sides, and destroyed
its people and its cattle. And his men pierced the bride,
the daughter of CA1I wad Maco with a broad pointed lance,
so that her embryo and her kidneys became visible. And
Kantebay Salllm having destroyed what he destroyed and
having taken what he had gathered together returned to his
village. When CAH wad Maco after his walking about came
to his village he found his village totally desintegrated and
forsaken, and his daughter only met him with her embryo
almost outside of her body. Then she told him that Kantebay
THE STORY OF KANTKBAY SALLlM AND OF CAU WAD MACO 49
Sallim had annihilated them ; thereupon her soul left [her].
When CAH was looking at his daughter's body he sang thus:
"Fatna, thy father's plan has wronged thee,
That he would not have a piece of wood broken of all Daset.
[Now] the embryo is moving out of the open flank ') :
Between me and thee is [only] the afternoon of this day." 2) P. 46-
When CAH saw the destruction of his village and the cruel
death of his daughter, fire began to burn within him. For
all this had come to pass through his own decision: first he
had ordered that the wood be refused to the people of the
cortege; then he had married his daughter knowing that she
was with child ; therefore he felt a most poignant grief. He
had left his weapons in his house, and the robbers had taken
them ; now as he sought some weapon he did not find [any].
But afterwards he found an Arabian razor: that he took,
made a cut in his calf and hid the razor in it. Then he
went to the village of Kantebay Sallim. When he arrived
there, he went straightway to the council-place. The men
of the council said to each other by themselves: "This new-
comer resembles CA1I wad Maco." But some of them said :
"Is CA1I wad Maco not dead and his village destroyed?"
However, when they saw that he was without arms, they
said: "Even if it is he, what [are we to fear] that he might
do? This one here is a man without arms." And when CA1I
came to them he greeted them: "Peace be upon you!" And
they answered him: "Welcome!" And CAH said to Kantebay
Sallim: "Kantebay, rise [and come] to me; we have some
1) Literally : under the side, i. e. the side part of the chest.
2) Literally: evening, which begins after noon. The meaning is: To-night
there shall be nothing between us; either we shall both be dead, or I shall
have avenged thee.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 4
50 TALES
business apart." And Kantebay Sallim rose [and came] toward
him, but the people of the council said to him : "Do not go
to him!" But Kantebay Sallim replied to them: "What wea-
pons has he wherewith to kill me? And if he bites me, ye
will help me." And he went to him, and after they had
gone a little beyond the council-place, they sat down. CAH t
said to Kantebay Sallim: "What is there that thou hast done
and I have not done? I am the guilty one. And now allow
me to live in this your country under your rule !" He spoke
P. 47- thus to him deceitfully. Kantebay Sallim was very fat and his
beard was long. Now °Ali seized him by his beard and taking
his razor out of his calf he cut him with it and made his
entrails to come out. And when the people of the council
saw their wrestling, they stood up and sprang upon them.
But they found that Kantebay Sallim had given up the ghost.
Saying: "With what has he cut him?", they looked closely,
and afterwards they saw the razor. Then they said: "Since
he has killed the Kantebay, with what and in what way shall
we kill him?", and they took council about him. Thereupon
they decided, in the same way as he had done to the Kan-
tebay, to cut his belly and to make his entrails come out.
And then when they had cut him open, fire came out of
his inside, and it burnt those that had cut him; and after-
wards it spread all over the village and burnt down every-
thing. And in this way, at first Kantebay Sallim destroyed
the village of cAll wad Maco; and then, on the other hand,
the fire that came out from CA1I wad Maco ruined the village
of Kantebay Sallim : and they both died in each other's
presence. And the mountain on which the village of Kantebay
Sallim had been is called "Kantebay Sallim" or "Mount
Kantebay Sallim ;" and on the top of the mountain there are,
as they tell, until the present day the ruins of the walls of
THE STORY OF KAMEL AND GAHAD 51
the village. And in the village of CA1I wad Maco, in Daset,
there are the tombs of those who died. And those who left
the village fleeing, are called Dagdage, and they are [now]
to be found everywhere.
35-
THE STORY OF KAMEL WAD GABAY AND GAHAD
WAD CAGGABA, OF MANSAC BET-ABREHE.
Kamel wad Gabay and Gahad wad cAggaba were both
courageous. Once they were wayfaring with their companions,
and on their way they met a herd of elephants. And out p. 48.
of the herd one she-elephant sprang upon them, and all of
them fled from her. But Kamel drew his sword and attacked
her: and he cut her trunk off with his sword. The elephant
fell down on the spot, and then the herd shied and fled.
And the people of Gahad returned to their companion. And
while they were travelling together, Kamel turned aside in
order to urinate. Now, Gahad sent out of their party two of
his yeomen, and to the one he said: "Go down to Samhar ')
and tell to him who greets thee and asks thee what thou
hast to report: 'Gahad and Kamel when travelling together
were met by a herd of elephants, and Kamel fled, but Gahad
killed one of the elephants'." And the other one he sent to
the Habab country telling him to speak likewise. And the
messengers went, and as they told this to every one that
greeted them, the news spread everywhere. And whosoever
heard [it], wondered and said: "Kamel has fled !" Afterwards
Kamel came back to his companions, but he did not know
of the messengers of Gahad. And when they all had entered
i) I. e. the plain at the coast.
52 TALES
their villages, Kamel heard of the message which 6ahad had
sent. And Kamel sang:
"This drum here sounds [and] keeps us at night from sleeping:
(jahad kept all Haygat ') down, the son of cAggaba, after
he had become haughty;
After Gaffe 2) went to the Habab and after Galam -) went
down to Samhar."
36.
THE PROVERB THAT 6AHAD WAD CAGGABA MADE.
6ahad was wayfaring with his company. And while they
were travelling, one of the men stumbled and fell down.
And the others said to him: "Conquer!"3) But 6ahad said
P. 49. to them: "Do ye not say unto him: 'Rise, that thou mayest
not die'? Is he perhaps a conqueror?" That is to say, the
man who had fallen down was not brave and courageous.
"It is impossible that he conquers", this is what he meant
when he spoke thus. And this has become a proverb until
the present day: "Do ye not say unto him: 'Rise' that he
may not die? Is he perhaps a conqueror? said (jahad Ab-
Bafta." [This is what] they say.
37-
THE STORY OF GENDEFLI.
Gendefll quarrelled with his family. Thereupon he took all
his property and his wife and migrated. And on the top of
a high mountain he took his abode. There, forming a family
1) The whole Mansac tribe.
2) The two messengers of (jahad.
3) This is 'often said in order to avert evil.
THE STORY OF DANNAS AND HIS SLAVE 53
by himself, he lived with his wife. Afterwards they had
children, and the children grew up. And when Gendefli had
grown old of age, he advised his children to live on the
mountain and to be a family by themselves. But the children
insulted their father and said to him: "What doest thou
possess?" And Gendefli said to them:
"A chief is Gendefli, high is the top of his [mountain-] throne:
Its wood is never cut, its paths are never trod upon !
Pshaw, ye children, ye will [not] become like him."
After he had said this, he died. And his children went
down from the mountain, and they united with another
family. But the mountain on which Gendefli had been abiding
is called "Gendefli" until the present day.
38.
THE STORY OF DANNAS AND HIS SLAVE,
OF THE CAD TE MAR YAM.
Dannas was with his slave at a place called cAyde. And
while he was travelling with his slave, he drew his sword, p. 50.
When the slave saw that his master had drawn, he too
drew his sword. Dannas asked his slave: "Why hast thou
drawn?" And the slave replied: "Because my master has
drawn, I have drawn." Now Dannas thought he would
frighten him, and he lifted up his sword against him [without
striking]. But the slave said to himself: "He is going to kill
me, but I shall anticipate him;" so he cut his master's throat.
In this way Dannas intending to try [his slave] brought
death upon himself. And now they say as a proverb : " 'Be-
cause my master has drawn, I have drawn,' said the slave."
54 TALES
39-
THE PROVERB THAT ADEG WAD FEDEL,
A MAN FROM BELEN, MADE.
Adeg wad Fedel fell sick; and in his sickness he grew
very thin. Being weak he had no desire for food, but he
used to swallow milk with difficulty. And one day [he wished]
to drink milk [and] asked for it. But his attendants said to
him: "To-day thy son drank it: there is no milk. He went
to the Barka country; and thinking that he had a long
journey before him we gave it to him." Said Adeg: "Is the
journey on which I am starting not longer?" And this has
become a proverb until the present day: "'Is the journey
on which I am starting not longer', said Adeg wad Fedel."
[This is what] they say.
40.
THE PROVERB THAT THE PEOPLE OF
CAD TAKLES MADE.
Once some people of °Ad Takles came as strangers into
the Belen country. And Adeg wad Fedel received them and
P. 51. entertained them well. Afterwards when they were joking
with each other, the people of cAd Takles said to Adeg
wad Fedel: "O son of Fedel, how is it that thou being a
prominent and honoured man hast been called by this name
Adeg (i. e. donkey) ?" And he answered and said to them :
"My mother was losing [her children] by death; thereupon
when I was born she called me Adeg lest I should die
(away from her)." Said they: "And does not the disease of
animals attack the donkey?" And they all laughed together.
And now they say as a proverb: "'And does not the disease
of animals attack the donkey?', said the cAd Takles."
Fig. 2. The "House of Mary" (Native Church) at Galab (p. 55).
THE LEGEND OF THE THREE MARYS 55
41.
THE LEGEND OF THE THREE MARYS.
These three Marys, Mary of Sion and Mary of Berlrl and
Mary of Dabre-Slna (Mount Sinai) rose from Hagare-Nagram ')
and came to the country of the Mansac Bet-Abrehe. Mary
«
of Sion abode on the hill-country of the Bet-cArbay 2), and
she became their Mary. But afterwards the Mansac Bet-
Abrehe destroyed the Bet-cArbay and took their Mary. They
built a church for her in their village at Haygat, and she
remained with them. And after that, when the village mi-
grated, she abode at Galab. And they built a house for this
Mary in the midst of the village. But the place where they
built was the field of a man of Bet-Abbaza. And the man
said to them: "Do not build the house of Mary on my field
lest it be ruined for me by the tombs!" But then, when
they refused, he said to them: "May ye be heavy .upon
it!" 3) And by his curse the land around the house of Mary
was filled with tombs. The house of Mary stands until the p. 52.
present day; for whenever it grows old they renew it; and
it is called the "House of Mary" (Fig. 2). The names of the
priests of Mary are the following. The first one was Priest
Belenay ; he had been the pupil of a monk called Priest Wad
Beda, and Wad Beda was the Priest of the Bet-£ahaqan.
He begat afterwards Priest Haile-Gargls ; and Priest Haile-
Gargls begat Priest cAddemkel. Priest cAddemkel could not
read; but he learned a little by hearing; and at a festival
or a sacrifice for the dead he recited this. And he begat
1) A ruined city in the north of the present Colonia Eritrea, not far from
the English frontier.
2) About 3 hours n. w. of Galab.
3) I. e. "may many of you die that the ground be heavy with your tombs!"
56 TALES
Priest Haile-Gargis who is living until now. But neither does
he up to ^the present know how to read. Now the whole
service has stopped and the tabot ') is lost; but the name
cAd-Qas (Family of the Priest) still exists, and they receive
their tribute as before. Mary of Sion is the greatest of all
the Marys; and until the present day she lives at the place
of her house as an invisible spirit. But they say that because
her service has stopped and her tabot is lost she does not
appear to men. Some say, too: "She has left the place alto-
gether, she is not [there any more]." - And Mary of BenrI
and Mary of Dabre-Slna abode on the plateau of the Mansac
Bet-Abrehe, at Agcaro, 2) at a dwelling-place ailed Asrah 2)
together with their priests. Their priests had come formerly
with them- from Hagare-Nagram. And their priests made a
wager among themselves. One of them said: „! shall plough
to-day, and to-morrow I shall let you eat the ears of corn."
And the second said: "I shall cut a [wooden] pillar for the
house of Mary, and I shall throw it [like a lance] from
Massabbar3) to Amba."4) And the third said: "And I shall
throw the pillar from Amba to Afluq." 3) Again the fourth
P. 53. said: "And I shall, from Afluq, make it reach Asrah,6) our
dwelling-place." And each one of them went away saying
to his companion: "Pshaw, thou canst [not] do this!" And
after the monks had gone away, the Marys escaped and
went over toward Dabre-Slna. But the monks returned after
1) A chest or a carved plate of wood thought to be the abode of the deity.
2) About 5 hours to the west of Galab.
3) About 3 hours n. e. of Galab. Cf. CONTI ROSSINI, Tradizionl storiche
dci Mensa^ p. 51, 1. 4-, and Orientalische SttiJicn {Noldcke-Festschrift\ p. 952-
The stone -of Sehul at Gabru Gabana is shown in Fig. 3.
4) About 1/2 hour west of Massabbar.
5) About 2 hours west of Amba.
6) About an hour west of Afluq.
THK LEGEND OK THE THREE MARYS 57
each one of them had carried out what he had said. When
they did not find the Marys, they were very much afraid
and sought them. And following the tracks they came to
the height of Qal-Hasay. Now the Marys had placed their
lamp over the cave in which they were, for them, that they
might see them. Then when the monks saw the lamp they
went over toward them ; and they stayed together. Mary of
Berlrl and Mary of Dabre-Sma were sisters. But afterwards
they separated from that place : Mary of Berlrl stayed at
the place with her priest. And her priest used to burn incense
for her every day about two gabata's. !) But afterWards
making the incense less every day, he [finally] made it for
her as little as one keffalo. 2) Then she grew angry with her
priest ; and [once] at the time of the offering, when he
entered her house in order to burn incense, she said to
the mat that served as a curtain: "Turn to stone and close
me up." And the mat was turned to stone, and it closed
the entrance of the house of Mary. And after she had shut
up the priest, his voice was heard for fourty days; but
after that he died. And of the place of the door of the
house of Mary the outlines are to be seen until the present
day. And in this way, they say, Mary of Berlrl keeps her
house closed until now. - - And Mary of Dabre-Sma abode
in a large cave, and she is there up to this day. Now
there is a convent ; and many monks have made their abode
there (Figs. 4 and 5). And at the time of her festival many
Mohammedans and Christians make the pilgrimage to her.
1) One gtibata equals about 1 8 kilograms.
2) One kejfalo equals about '/2 kilogram.
58 TALES
P. 54- 42.
THE LEGEND OF THE PROPHET MOSES AND
THE PROPHET MAHAMMAD.
The prophet Moses and the prophet Mahammad set out
together. And they travelled together unto the Lord, that
each one of them might tell him about his affair. And when
they arrived at the house of the Lord, the prophet Ma-
hammad said to the prophet Moses: "Now I shall go in
first; and when I have paid my visit and carried out my
business, I shall come [back] to thee. Hold these my shoes
for me!" The prophet Moses said: "Very well", and took
the shoes from him. Then the prophet Mahammad went in
to the house of the Lord. Thereupon when he had carried
out his business, he went out by another door and broke
his word to the prophet Moses. And until the present day
he has not returned to him. The prophet Moses stands at
the door of the house of the Lord; for it has become his
trust not to leave the shoes of the prophet Mahammad out-
side; and it is his duty not to take them with him into the
house of the Lord. Since he considers his trust an impor-
tant one, he waits for the prophet Mahammad at the door
holding the shoes up to this day. And in this way, the
prophet Mahammad by the breaking of his word has tired
out the prophet Moses through [obliging him to remain]
standing. [This is what] is told.
43-
THE STARS THAT HAVE NAMES. ')
The stars which are great and which are known in the
i) Cf. my article Sternensagen und Astrologisches aus Nordabessinien in
Archiv fur Religionsivissenschaft, XI, pp. 298 seqq.
THE STARS THAT HAVE NAMES 59
Tigre country and by which they reckon the times, and
about some of which there are tales — these are the following:
The moon. ¥• 55-
The Great Star or Heart. ') - - It is one.
Geret. - They are near the Great Star; they are many.
cAraqqeb (the Scorpions). - They are near the Great
Star; they are many.
The Great eArgab. - One.
The Little cArgab. 2) - One.
Saulatat. 3) - They are many and near each other.
Sacad al-Mascud. 4) - Two.
Sa°ad al-Kebra. - Two.
Sacad al-cAyim. 5) - Two.
Selman. °) - One.
The Witness of Selman. 7) - One.
Kema. 8) — Only seven of them are to be seen.
The Son of Kema. 9) — His name is CAH or Edrls. — One.
The Goats of Kema and her Son. I0) — They are many stars.
The Clear One, or Taraq, or Badus. ") — One.
Gaharat. 12) - - One.
Aslam 13). - - They are many stars and resemble the figure
of a man.
The Son of Aslam, or Merzem. H) - - One.
The [true] Seven. l5) — Seven.
The [false] Seven. IG). — Seven.
i) I.e. Antares, x Scorpionis. — 2) This and the preceding stars seem to
be all of the Scorpion. — 3) Probably A and v Scorpionis. — 4) Probably =
scfd as-sifud^ i. e. (3 Aquarii and $ Capricorni (or /3 and | Aquarii). — 5) The
stars called scfd are all in Aquarius and Capricorn. — 6) I. e. probably Arcturus,
x Bootis. — 7) Probably = »f Bootis. — 8) I. e. the Pleiads. — 9) I. e. Alde-
baran, x Tauri. — 10) I. e. the Hyads. — n) I.e. the planet Jupiter. -
12) I.e. the planet Venus. — 13) I.e. Orion. — 14) I.e. Sirius. — 15) I.e.
Ursa maior. -r- 1 6) I.e. Ursa minor (?).
60 TALES
The Mansac know only the Greater Bear whom they call "Sabcat" (Seven) 5
a man from °Ad-Takles distinguished between tne "true" and the "false" Seven.
Gah. ') - One.
Qeren. 2) — Two.
The Heavy Jaw. 3) — One.
The Thin Jaw. 4) - One.
The Antilope. 5) - One.
p. 56. Hawit. — One.
The Daughter of Hawlt.c) -- One. She rises at the rainy
season, and then the rain grows heavy.
Sehel. 7) - One.
Emholec. 8) - - They are many stars, and they wind from
north to south and also from east to west and in other
directions.
44.
THE STORY OF THE GREAT STAR.
The Great Star is the leader of the stars. His colour is
red, and there are many stars around him ; the names of a
few of [the latter] are written above after his name, but
most of them have no names. Now all those that are near
him are like his army or his armour-bearers. And he is the
chief of all the stars and before him they plead. And men
also honour the Great Star highly, and they do not look at
him more than twice; for they say: "He is honoured and
we must not look at him much." And the newly wed man,
when the Great Star has risen in the sky, does not leave
his house, in order not to see his splendour; to the newly
i) I. e.. the Pole Star. — 2) Probably x and A Draconis. — 3) Probably
Spica, « Virginis. — 4) Probably « Librae. — 5) Probably Capricorn. —
6) Perhaps Fomalhaut, * Piscis australis. — 7) I. e. Canopus. — 8) I. e. the
Galaxy.
THE STORY OF THE TRUE SEVEN AND GAH AND THE QEREN 6 1
wed man the light of the others stars also is tabooed. -
The Great Stear is the son-in-law of Kema (the Pleiads);
therefore they hide from each other: when he rises, Kema
does not rise. And again when she rises, and he wishes to
rise [also], she sets quickly. And this is because they have
become related by marriage. A man always hides from the
woman whose daughter he has married ; and she too hides
from him generally. And according to this law the Great P. 57.
Star and Kema hide from each other. [This is what] they say.
45-
THE STORY OF KEMA AND HER SON.
Kema and her son CAH had goats. Then these their goats
were stolen from them. Some say, the Qeren were the rob-
bers, and others say, the Aslam (Orion) stole them from
them. And the son of Kema, CA1I, went to bring them back,
and he made the robbers give up the goats. And behind
his mother he drives them. And the stars between Kema
and her son are the goats. [This is what] they say.
46.
THE STORY OF THE TRUE SEVEN AND GAH
AND THE QEREN.
The true Seven are brothers. Now Gah came and killed
the seventh one of them. Then he fled and went to the
Qeren and said to them: "I am your client! I have inad-
vertently killed a brother of the Seven ; and now they are
going to kill me to avenge their brother." The Qeren said
to him: "Be God's client! We shall die for our client and
62 TALES
kill." Thereupon they drew their swords and began the war-
dance and the war-cry; and they brought him back to his
former place. But they migrated from their place and abode
between Gah and the Seven, that they might keep the
family of the Seven away from (jah; for he had become
their client. And they keep the Seven away, so that they
cannot reach (jah. And the life of (jah is safe until the
present day, because he has taken his refuge with the Qeren.
58. And until the present day he rises in his former place; and
the Qeren rise between the Seven and (jah, and wherever
these turn, they turn with them. And in this way the revenge
of the Seven is delayed. The Seven said when their seventh
brother had died: "We shall not bury his body until we fulfil
his revenge," and they put his body on the bier. And three
[of them] in front carry the front part, and the three [others]
behind cany the hind part and follow them. And all the
time they wish to kill (jah. And therefore he who is in
their midst is their dead brother, and for this reason his
light is weak. The other stars said to the family of the
Seven: "Bury this body of your brother; and even after ye
have buried it, why should you not fulfil [the revenge] ?"
And the family of the Seven swore saying: "Before we ful-
fil [the revenge], we shall riot bury him!" And until the
present day they are on the war-path carrying the body ;
for they loved their dead brother very much. [This is what]
they say.'
After (jah had killed the brother of the Seven, he sang
this song, thinking that if they should wish peace he would
make peace with them, and again if they desired war he
would war with them. Thinking thus he sang:
"If ye make me your brother, your brother am I.
And if ye make me your kinsman, a kinsman am I.
63
And if ye make me a guest, a guest am I.
And if ye make me a foreigner, a foreigner am I.
And if ye make me a robber, a robber am I.
Of one of the Seven [Brothers] the murderer am I.
And on the heavenly firmament prominent am I."
47. P. 59-
A SONG OF CALI-GANGE WAD HEMMAD-DERAR,
OF HABAB.
He sang on account of his own revenge [a song] about
the stars. And he reviled the great stars because they did
not reconcile Gah and the family of the Seven. And of the
revenge of the Seven he thought that it was strong and
unyielding. And the Qeren he praised because they guarded
Gah, their client. And Gah, on the other hand, he declared
a hero, because he kept firmly in his place. Thinking of all
this he sang thus:
"My revenge like that of the Seven hangs in the cAbqat
heaven. ')
The Seven were haughty toward the Lord: the body de-
served interment.
After they had buried [it and killed Gah]. it would not have
been said that they did not avenge.
Now they have abstained from their wives, they have taken
an oath and sworn.
The great ones we revile, Heart and Moon, Kema and the 5
Morning-Star.
But the Qeren have not been bribed [to turn] against their
client, nor have they said [even] in sport: ["Kill him"];
i) -I. e. the second heaven.
64 TALES
•
They have kept them away by the war-dance and war-cry,
drawing their swords. —
Endurance is that which is with 6ah: [others] would not
have been able [to stay at] one place."
48.
ABOUT THE STARS, AGAIN, HE SANG THUS:
"The family of the Seven be cursed! Do they love this their
brother ?
Three go in front of him; and three follow behind him.
A wounded man is attended and taken into the house ;
A dead man is buried and put into his pit:
A body deserves interment; even the rude do this.
P. 60. A german brother was sought before for these reasons:
To inherit one's wife and to rear his children,
To fulfil his vengeance and to keep his memorial feast.
Woe to the grave of him who has no relatives! Him the
vultures follow. -
The Qeren counsel their client with true sincerity. -
Endurance is that which is with (jah : at the same place we
see him always."
49.
OF WHAT IS TOLD ABOUT THE STARS.
The stars wander and migrate and change their places,
and sometimes one or the other even falls upon the earth.
And a star that has fallen loses its splendour, and it be-
comes a little animal, whose height is a little less than that
of a cat. Its colour is grayish and resembles that of the
thistle ("the star of the donkeys"). And when men find it
OF WHAT HAPPENS AT THE RISE OF THE NEW-MOON 6$
after it has fallen in this way, and if its finders are clever,
they take it and put it in their money-pouch or their leather-
bag. Then the money or the grain [in the bag] is blessed
and is never finished, if the "star" does not die and does
not escape. But men who do not know its secret power do
not heed it although they find it. And if a star falls, in the
region where it falls the people perish. And men who see
a star fall say: "Fall into the country of our enemy!"
Men also know some signs by she stars, that is to say
whether a village or a herd is to be sacked. And they know
the sign in this way: when the stars look as if they were
shooting at each other from all sides or being thrown at
each other, and become or look as if they were dropped
down in groups upon the earth, and this continues without P. 61.
ceasing; and when afterwards it happens that some of the
stars, or even the nebula become round like a hedge and
leave at one side a space open for the door. And when men
see this sign, a village or a herd is to be sacked, they say}
from that country in whose direction the door of the stars
or the mist points. And after that it happens at once like
this. [This is what] they say.
50.
OF WHAT HAPPENS AT THE RISE OF THE
NEW-MOON.
When the new-moon is risen, the night that men see her,
they send word to each other saying: "The new-moon has
risen." And all men are glad, and pointing at her they do
thus: they say to her: "Arro l) (or Helal)2), [may we be]
1) The meaning of ^arro is not known ; shepherds shout ^arro when they
separate the flocks.
2) Helal is considered to be a name for the new-moon; gecez helal.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 5
66 TALES
blessed!" and then they say [lifting the right arm]: "This
is my right arm," and [lifting the left arm]: "This is my
left arm." And they all ask to be blessed by her; but the
women who are at home ask their blessing by knocking at
their doorposts. And they say thus: "The moon brings so
much luck ! — Be thou to us a messenger of happiness and
of luck ! Let our fate be better through thee : may our dis-
tressed ones be eased ; our strangers arrive [safely] ; our
people at home be [safe] in the morning; our pregnant ones
bring forth ; our women in childbed see [their children] creep
[until they walk] ; our little ones grow up ; our adults subsist ;
our pasturing flocks return at night; our flocks at home be
[safe] in the morning, through thee! — O Lord, the evil of
Balla and Kalla ') ; the evil of the envious ; the evil of [the
robber] who does not spare himself, and who does not wish
that we have property; the evil of him who is girded [to
war against us] and who is still sitting [but planning to do
so] — keep away from us! From bad things deliver us:
from the rumbling in the sky, from the creeping on the
earth ; from the wrong of the strong, from the curse of the
P. 62. weak — deliver us! The evil of him who does not fear nor~
love, who does not spare nor do well; the evil of what the
eye sees and the heart fears — or, of what the heart fears
and the ear hears — keep away from us. By thy good for-
tune make us to praise thee ! We shall praise thee for our
property and our people. With luck and good fortune rise
for us !" With all this and the like they ask for blessing.
And when they have finished the prayer, the women pick
up a few grains of salt and drop them into the fire upon
i) Balla and Kalla are probably Balau and Kalau, Hamitic tribes, who
formerly must have been considered dangerous enemies of the Mansac.
THE NAMES OF THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR 67
their hearth. And when the grains of salt fly up bursting
and hissing, they say: "May he who envies our property and
our people burst in this way!" And the boys and girls pluck
out some succulent grass and bring it and give to the men
and women, each one to his people and his neighbours, two
blades of the grass, saying: "Take, [this is the] new-moon!"
And the men and the women, whosoever has received a
grass-blade, say to the boy or the girl who has brought it:
" May the grass of the family of thy father and of the family
of thy mother be succulent !"
THE NAMES OF THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR.
The two Mansac (i. e. Bet-Abrehe and Bet-£ahaqan), and
the Bet-(juk and some of the Bogos have their own names
for the months. But the other Tigre people, that is to say
those who speak the Tigre language only, have different names.
Their new-year is at the same time as that of [Christian]
Abyssinia [i. e. 29. August].
Now the two Mansac and the Bet-(juk and some of the
Bogos count thus:
Yahannes ; i. e. September, after the feast of John, on its first day.
Masqal ; i- e- October, after the feast of the Cross, masqal^ which is the
second great festival of the year, but which falls in September.
MekkeDel-qaim ; i.e. November. The meaning is "Michael of the autumn."
•
GabreDel or Tahasas; i. e. December. Tahsas in the old Abyssinian name.
AstarDiyo ; i. e. January. Named after "Epiphany."
Som ; i. e. February. The month of "fasting."
Kefla; i.e. March. Kefla means "its half;" this month begins the second p. 63.
half of the year. The name seems to indicate that the year which
began in the spring must have been known to the Abyssinians also
at some period.
68 TALES
Fazaga ; i. e. April. The month of Easter.
Gembot ; i. e. May. Genbot is the old Abyssinian name.
MekkeDel-hagay ; i. e. June. The meaning is "Michael of the summer.3'
Hamle ; i. e. July. Hamle is the old Abyssinian name.
Maryam ; i. e. August. Named after the feast of Mary.
The people of the Tigre country who have become Mo-
hammedans, all of them name and count the months in
this way:
Ragab Second Heg (or Macasura).
Maddagen Safar.
Ramadan (or Som) First Rabec.
First Fater l) Second Rabec.
Second Fater First Gemad.
First Heg Second (jemad.
In the months of Ragab, Maddagen, Ramadan and Safar
they do not marry nor give in marriage. 2) However, if a man
is in haste, those who have no brothers and sisters may
marry in them. But those who have brothers and sisters do
not marry in them. For always in the "Two Afatter" and
the "Two Hagag" and the "Two Arebbacat" and the "Two
Agemdat" they marry and give in marriage, and they call
them by these names. The Tigre people count [the months]
by the disappearance and the appearance of the moon. And
when she disappears after twenty-nine days, they say: "She
has nined." The month has always thirty days, except the
time of [the moon's] "nining."
1) I. e. Breaking of the fast.
2) This is because these four months are single; the marriages take place
in the other months, since they are in couples.
OF THE DEATH OF THE MOON 69
52.
OF WHAT IS BELIEVED ABOUT THE DEATH
OF THE MOON.
The moon dies sometimes, and her death happens in this
way. Her colour becomes red like blood and her light be-
comes weak. But after a short time she rises again. And P. 64.
when men see her death nobody sleeps in his house until
she rises. And all men pray for mercy: those who happen
to be Christians say: "O Lord have mercy upon us, Christ!"
but the Mohammedans say: "O God, o Forgiver (?), forgive
us!" And they ask for mercy with such expressions; and
they look at the moon, and then they say: "She is alive,
and her soul returns." And when she has come back to her
former size, they say: "She has become alive," and they are
very glad. But at the time of the death of the moon, even
he who is on his way to the king with his company, inter-
rupts his journey until she becomes alive [again], and he
asks for mercy together with his people. And when the
moon revives, all men wonder, and they say: "God has
revived her quickly; and when God wishes, he revives
[everything] just as quickly." And they ask to be blessed
by her, saying: "After thee may it be better for us, become
thou lucky and a messenger of good fortune for us." At the
time of her death, however, all men, and especially the
chiefs and the well-known people are sad. The reason for
that is this: every time the moon dies, a chief, or a great
man who is known in his family or in his tribe, or a man
who is known for [his] religion as a leader of the priests,
must die. And therefore they say: "Let it be one whom
we do not know!", that is to say, the man who must die.
And this sign comes true at once after the death of the moon.
7O TALES
53-
OF THE COMPUTATION OF CONSTELLATIONS.
In all the Tigre country they compute the [rising of the]
P. 65. "constellation," the lucky time, by the revolution of the
stars. The computers are well-known people, and they abide
especially among the cAd Takles and the Habab; and they
are called "the people of the dumb," ') or "the computers
of the constellation." And by their computing the stars they
know the time of the [rising of the] constellations, and all
people ask them [about it]. And they give this information
a month or two months before that month in which the
constellation is to come ; 2) and the message is heard in
every place, at which time the constellation is to come.
And they all prepare themselves for the time of the con-
stellation. The time of the constellation is like a time blessed
by God. Thus during the constellation they marry, give in
marriage, betroth, pronounce a person to be of age, circum-
cise their sons and daughters, go down to the low-lands,
come up to the high-lands, change their abode, and generally
at that time they put on a new garment. [And the children's
hair is dressed :] the boys have gessat (tuft on the top of
the head), or gessat and debbokat (tuft on the occiput), or
herora (crest) and cadaddeq (tufts on the sides over the ears),
or gessat and debbokat and cadaddeq, or dabablk (young men's
hair-dress, i. e. tuft on top and braids on the occiput) ; the girls
have gessat or gessat and harit (tuft in the neck), or gessat
and tanakkel (braids on the temples), or herora (short braids on
the whole head), or [the boy's] herora and cadaddeq (¥\gs. 6-10).
1) I. e. perhaps of the stars who do not speak.
2) Literally: "they inform in advance that in the coming month the
constellation is to come."
ffi «
o „
-
2 is
*> o
bfl
£
OF THE COMPUTATION OF CONSTELLATIONS 71
Before that time the hair is prepared for braiding. And they
pierce the ears of their boys, but especially those of their
daughters. They begin to build a new house ; and everything
whatever it may be they begin at that time that they may
find much blessing. Cattle and camels and goats and sheep
are separated: those who are without milk are sent farther
away, and those who are in milk are kept near the village;
they change their places, brand them and cut their ears.
All this may be done outside of the constellation, but
generally it is done at that time. And in the midst of the
constellation there are a few days that are called ^veiul,
we^ll, or 'araggeb; those are the ones during which the moon
in her revolution lingers near certain stars. During these
[days] they do none of the things mentioned above. And
some of these are known even to the elephants: then they
do not wander about, but stay at one place until the [days]
have passed by. [This is what] they say. The elephants rest P. 66.
at one place on Sundays also. ')
If men do anything during these caragge&-da.ys, their work
does not succeed, but brings a curse upon them. Now the
computation of the constellations takes place in this way.
The first way to compute a constellation.
The Great Star rises in the east, and it stands still in its
place where it has risen looking towards the sea; that time
is a true constellation. But on the other hand, if the Great
Star rises and turns toward the west, that time the constel-
lation perishes, there is no constellation, they say. And this
they observe at the time of its rise.
The second way to compute a constellation.
In another way, again, they compute thus: The moon
l) It is believed that even the tide rests on Sundays.
7* TALES
rises in the west and then enters into Kema (the Pleiads)
and her son CAH (Aldebaran). That time is a constellation.
And it takes the moon three days until she leaves Kema
and her son. All the three are a constellation. The constel-
lation is called tabanya.
The third way to compute a constellation.
They compute also in this way. When the moon has left
Kema and her son, she enters Aslam (Orion) and his son
(Sirius). And she remains four days until she leaves them.
And all the four are ^araggeb (we^ul). But when these days
are over, the moon leaves Aslam and his son. And at that
time a constellation begins for seven days, during all the
P. 67. seven, and this constellation is [called] "the Seven Short
Ones" ; its days are short (i. e. because they come in the
fall). And after this the moon goes on.
The fourth way to compute a constellation.
The moon reaches in her revolution the "Thin Jaw"
(probably Libra), and after that she passes into the "Great
Star" and passes by it also. Now the moon remains four
days until she passes by the "Thin Jaw" and the "Great
Star", and these [days] are wecul ^araggeb ; even the elephants
do not roam about during them. And when she has passed
by them, the moon turns towards the east, and the „ Great
Star" turns toward the west. And that time is a true con-
stellation for seven days, and it is [called] "the Seven Wide
Ones," its days are long (i. e. because they come in the
spring or summer); or it is called the constellation of "the
Seven Great Ones."
The fifth way to compute a constellation.
The moon, again, on her migration enters Capricorn, and
OF THE COMPUTATION OF CONSTELLATIONS 73
it takes her three days before she leaves it. And these are
called "the White Houses", and [during] all [this time]
[there] is a constellation.
The first way in which a constellation perishes is this:
If the moon and the stars by which they compute do not
go according to the turn described above, or if other stars
unite with them, and they become all mixed up with each
other so that their computation cannot be distinguished, at
that time the stars are fighting each other, and there is no
constellation, they say, until each one of them returns to
his place.
The second way in which a constellation perishes is this:
Even if the constellation is found according to the revo-
lution of the stars, but the days of the constellation begin
on a Sunday, then the constellation perishes; for the wedding. P. 68.
however, this is sometimes not taken into account, but
[marrying] is allowed. The Sunday must come in the middle
or at the end of the days of the constellation, and if it does
not come like this the constellation perishes. — Again [an-
other way] in which a constellation perishes, is this : even .
if according to the computation of the stars there is a con-
stellation, but it falls in the month of-Ragab, Maddagen,
Ramadan or Safar, the co'nstellation perishes. And at the
time of the fall and the disappearance of the moon, there
is no constellation, but only when the new moon rises and
is crescent.
When the moon is thirty days old she disappears. But
sometimes she becomes only twenty-nine days old ; and
then they say "she has nined." And during the days of
her end, on one day she rises with the sun, but on her
74 TALES
last day she is entirely invisible. - - Every month has four
weeks. ') The first two weeks are those of her light (i. e.
crescent) ; and the last two weeks are those of her darkness
(i. e. waning). But some say of the month that it has only
three weeks and six days; and this is right.
Now this computation of the "constellations" is known to
many and they call it "Constellation of Tegrat" (i. e. of the
"skin-bucket", or the "people of the skin-bucket", viz. the
shepherds). But there are also other ways to compute "con-
stellations;" and these are known to few people only.
54-
OF THE [BIRD] CALLED ADHAD OR DAH.
Dah is an animal of the kind that flies with its wings.
The camels were formerly his property or his animals. And
afterwards men robbed him of his camels. And after they
P. 69. had taken them from him, he wished to tell them the
remedies [for] their [diseases]. And he told them this: "The
remedy for scab is the juice of the [tree called] " Short caqba" ,
i. e. tar, [which ye must put on] after ye have rubbed it
[viz. the scabby spots] with stones. And the remedy for the
ged'o disease 2) at the hill of taga, 3) on the side which is
in the shade in the morning, there is a remedy . . . ." while
he was speaking thus to tell them [the remedy], the raven
came to him and beat him with his wings on his cheek
saying: "After they have robbed thee, what hast thou to
do with them ? And why doest thou tell them the remedies ?
1) The week in Tigre is called samen which means "eight days." To
harmonize this number with the seven days' week, Sunday is counted twice.
2) I. e. a certain contagious disease of the camels.
3) In the $fe& (Sceb), south of the Mansac territory.
OF THE BIRD CALLED DAH 75
May thy brother die !" Then Dah became silent without
telling them all the remedy. The reason why the raven
advised Dah thus is this. [He said to himself]: "If men do
not know the remedy [for the diseases] of their camels, these
will die; and I shall get my food from their bodies or from
the place where they are killed;" thus he thought, giving
advice in his own interest. And by means of this his advice,
when the camels die (away from men) of the gecFo disease,
he gets his food, until the present day, from the place where
they are killed or from their bodies. Dah has [the vision of]
his camels ever before his eyes, and every night he passes
crying *err Do/zoD Do/*(f *ess. ') And when the camels have the
scab, men do as Dah has advised them : they rub them with
stones and then smear them with tar. But the remedy for
ged'o men have not learned, because when Dah was to tell
them the raven beat him on the cheek, so that he became
silent. And until this day [the camels] die of the ged'd disease.
And now they say, as a proverb, of a man who in the
midst of some thought suddenly interrupts the speaker (of
the thought): "Thou hast become like the raven."
55. P. 70.
Thinking of how the camels had been the property of
Dah and of how they belong now mostly to the Saraf2)
among men, Edrls wad Sawer of Habab sang this song:
"Derhoyit 3) and I were tripping and trailing.
The cattle are ours, but the camels belong to Dah and to
the Saraf.
i) The shout of the camel-drivers.
2~) I. e. the descendants of the prophet Mohammed.
3) The name of his cow.
76 TALES
For the lean ones among them we cut grass, and we do
not give them away rashly.
When their limbs are broken, we attend them and let them
pasture slowly.
The army that comes to raid them we await, and our wrinkly
shields are cut [by the enemy].
When they are thirsty at the river, we borrow blood from
our company." ')
56.
THE TALE OF THE LEOPARD IN HIS OLD AGE.
When the leopard grew old he became gap-toothed; and
he had no means of killing the wild animals nor the goats.
So he shrivelled up with hunger; and while he was cowering,
shrunk up in this way, he saw goats roaming about near
him. But he had no teeth to kill them with since old age
had come upon him ; and he remembered the meat which
formerly when being of young age he used to eat after
killing the goats, and in his sadness he sang this song:
"Woe is me! O dark Nail!2)
I am too old for the meat of the goat:
The two kidneys, the two arm-muscles;
The heart and the dark liver;
A bunch of entrails spread on the rock!"
P. 71. And the goats were mocking at him. And when he had
sung this, his soul left him. Now they say as a proverb:
"When the leopard grows old, the goats mock at him."
1) I. e., we fight in order to have our cattle drink first, and we kill some
of the others, so that we "owe them blood" in the feud.
2) The name of a goat.
OF THE DEBBI 77
57-
OF WHAT THEY TELL ABOUT THE CHAMELEON.
Of the chameleon some medicine is obtained. This [animal]
changes its colour all the time. And a man who is smitten
with head-ache sits down and wraps himself up in his cloak ;
then [others] catch a chameleon and put it on his head.
And when creeping on him it has changed its colour, it
has taken away the disease of his head, they say. There-
upon they take it from him and throw it away. And in
this way the head-ache leaves him, they say. — But the
[chameleon] is poisonous, and camels that eat it with the
foliage die; and then [men] say: "They ate chameleon[s],
so they died."
58.
OF THE DEBBl. ')
The so-called debbl is a wild animal; its height is less
than that of a dog. They say that it frightens all the wild
animals. Once upon a time a man went down to a lonely
river to fetch water. But at the river he found all the eatable
and uneatable animals drinking. So the man hid himself in
a certain place until all the animals had drunk and gone
away. But while the man was hiding thus he observed all
the animals. And after all had drunk, each went to its place.
And the elephants were romping together, and the lions
together, and the hyaenas together. And they all were P. 72.
i) I have not been able to identify this animal; following the etymology
of its name one is led to assume that it might be some small variety of the
bear family; the common large bear (Ursus arctoi) does, of course, not occur
in Abyssinia.
78 TALES
scuffling each with its kind. Now while they were in this
state, the debbi came down to the river. And when it came,
all the animals became wildly excited and fled instantly;
and all left the river-bed. The man was very much astonished
and exclaimed: "Thy wonder, God! What is this?" There-
upon the debbi came down to the well, and after it had
drunk it went up; then it wallowed at a certain spot, and
went out by the way in which it had come down. Now,
when all had gone away from the river-bed, the man rose
from his hiding place wondering that all the eatable and
uneatable animals had fled from the little one. He drew
water from the well and started on his -way. But then he
thought: "I had better [try to] find out exactly of what
sort that is which has put them all to flight." And he came
to the place where it had weltered, and there he found a
hair. Then the man took the hair and tied it up with a
knot in the corner of his cloak. Afterwards when he entered
a village, all the people of the village fled from him. But
the man did not know for what reason they fled from him.
And he went to another village; but that village also fled
from him. And the man was frightened and said [to him-
self]: "What have I become that all flee from me as from
a madman?" But of the people of the village a brave and
courageous man stood before him and shouted at him saying :
"Thou man, what hast thou with thee by which thou puttest
us to flight?" The other replied: "I have no weapons; on
the contrary ye flee from me by yourselves!" Again the
man said to him: "No! Hast thou perhaps some root with
thee ?" Then he thought of the hair and answered him :
"I have no root; but I went down to a river-bed, and be-
cause I found there all the wild animals I hid myself until
they made room for me. And from my hiding place I
OF THE WOLF1 79
observed this: a little hairy one smaller than a dog came P. 73.
down to the river; and when the animals saw it, they all
fled from it, even the elephants. And after it had drunk
from the well and gone up, it wallowed at a certain spot.
Thereupon, wondering very much, I took a hair from its
wallowing place, and it has been in the end of my cloak
until now." And the other man bought the hair from him
with money. Then he sewed it up in a leather-case, and it
became a talisman unto him ; and he hung it around his
neck. And the people of every village and tribe were afraid
of him. Whatever he took raiding he brought in; and when
his village was raided he made [the raiders] give up [their
booty]. And there was nobody who could stand before him
in a fight. But afterwards when he lost the talisman with
the hair, warriors killed him, they say. And now men say
of a man who has something frightful about him: "He
has probably a hair of the debbl with him." — This debbl
is only seen at times; and then everybody, be it man or
animal, flees from it. But he who finds some of its hair
fallen [on the ground] and carries it on his body, is feared
by all men. And the abiding-place of the debbl is generally
[the region of] the Barka; but it is not often seen.
59-
OF THE WOLF. ')
There are wolves in the Tigre country. And sometimes
[one of them] kills a goat, or when they are many, they
kill a cow. And men make them give up what they kill;
but they do not take and throw a weapon or a stick or a
stone at them, but they throw only pebbles at them. If the P. 74.
i) I. e. probably Lycaon pictus.
8o TALES
wolves do not heed them, but refuse to give up what they
have killed, and eat it, [men] do not wound them with iron
or wood or stones for this reason : when the wolf is wounded
he sheds blood, and then* he dips his tail in the blood and
flirts it at him who wounded him. And that man dies if the
blood touches him. For this reason they do not throw at
the wolves anything but pebbles, because they are afraid of
their blood. And so far nobody has ever killed a wolf. And
the wolves do not kill men either; but they threaten to
kill them. The wolves live in packs, or [sometimes] they go
singly. They are of all colours, and their height is like that
of a dog. Men say as a proverb: "My blood is the blood
of a wolf," [i. e. it kills him who sheds it].
60.
OF THE LIZARDS.
The lizard called sellehetat (Seps chalcidica?) belongs to
the boys ; and the lizard called gaf (Lacerta agilis ?) belongs
to the girls. Now, sellehetat says: "May the boys be many
and the girls be few!" Gac, however, says, because it belongs
to the girls: "May the girls be many and the boys be few!"
And the boys, because the gcf has cursed them, throw
stones at it whenever they see it, and kill it. And every
boy when he has killed one says to his companion: "This
is thy bondsman." And the other kills another gc£ in order
to avenge his bondsman. Acting in this way they kill many
of them.
P. 75- 61.
OF THE BIRD QERQER AND HER SON HAMED.
There is a bird called Qerqer. And she had a son called
Hamed ; and Hamed wad Qerqer was killed by the bee-
OF THE GUINEA-HEN AND THE PARTRIDGE 8 1
And because the bee has killed her son, Qerqer goes to
work to take revenge for him; in order to destroy the bee
and her children, she does thus: when she sees the bee enter
the hollow of a tree or a hole in a rock or a hanging nest
[in a tree], she leads men thither. Thus, when she sees a
man passing, she flies around the man without ceasing and
calls until the man follows her leading. And if the passer-by
understands her call, he says: "Good luck, mother of Hamed !
My son is Hamed. Let us avenge my son and thy son, if
God allows it." And while in this way he calls her and she
constantly calling leads him to the place of the bee, she
flies forward and backward until the man sees it. There-
upon when the man has seen it, she goes away. And the
man kindles a fire, intoxicates, [as it were,] the bees with
the smoke and takes out their honey. And Qerqer leading
men in this way shows all the places of bees that she sees.
And many of the bees and of their children die because of
the fire of the honey-gatherers. And in this way Qerqer
avenges her son, and until the present day she shows the
way. But sometimes she cheats and leads to beasts of prey
or to serpents.
62. P. 76.
OF THE GUINEA-HEN AND THE PARTRIDGE.
They say that the guinea-hen is a Christian; her colour
even resembles [that of] the cord of the Christians, ') it is
dark[-blue]. — And the partridge is a Mohammedan; for it
cries at the time of the Mohammedan prayer, that is to
l) The Abyssinian Christians always wear a dark-blue cord around the
neck; on this cord they usually hang a cross, an ear-spoon and a thorn -
extractor.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 6
82 TALES
say, in the morning, at noon, after noon, at sunset, and
sometimes even at the time of the evening-prayer. Then it
prays, for it is a Mohammedan, they say.
63-
OF THE SERPENT CALLED HEWAY.
Among the serpents there is large snake called heway.
His colour is white, and his eyes are big. Now this heway
kills by [his] leer, be it a man or an animal. But if men,
before heway looks at them, notice him first and run away
closing their eyes tight, they are saved from him. If, on
the other hand, heway sees them first, be it a man or an
animal, they die suddenly on the spot. But he is not seen
very often. They say that in the days of old some people
died of his glance. Once upon a time heivay drank water
from a well. And after him cow-herds came down there and
drew water for their cattle out of the well into the trough. ')
And when the first division of the cattle had tasted the
water, they fell dead. The herdsmen went with the rest of
P. 77. their cattle to another well and watered [them] from it. And
the first well they called "the Well of Heway", as it is told;
but they did not see heway, it may have been merely an
imagination.2) And men say cursing: "Drink [from the Well
of] Heway !" And again of a man with the evil eye they
say: "His face is [like that of] heway \ it is disagreeable."
It is very likely that this legend of the snake he-way is the last survival of
an old Semitic serpent myth, the same that found its way into the Hebrew
legend of Paradise. The name heway is of special interest; it reminds us at
once of the Hebrew name of Eve. Here, in the Tigre legend Eve and the
1) The trough is excavated in the ground near a well and plastered with
mud or clay.
2) Literally : it was with [the words] 'perhaps it is he'.
OF THE BIRD CALLED SUKSUK 83'
serpent would be identical ; this has been suggested for the Hebrew legend
also; cf. Gressmann, in Archiv fur Religionswisscnschaft^ X, pp. 358 sqq.
It may be added, that the name heway in Tigre has no explanation and, there-
fore, seems to be either a foreign word or rather a petrified remnant of an
older period of the language.
OF A CERTAIN BIRD AND" HIS WIFE.
A certain bird had a wife called em-kaleb. And she be-
came sick and was near unto death. Her husband said to
her: "Now when thou art dead, shall I kill the funeral
victim for thee, or shall I hold up thy name by saying
wherever I go, all the time "my wife em-kaleb" V She re-
plied: "Hold up my name!" Thereupon she died; and ever
since the day of her death until this day he says all the
time: "essue1) ^ em-kaleb", and his call sounds like this. And
his name is ^esslce ^em-kaleb. And men say as a proverb of
a man who makes but one word to dwell in his mouth :
"But that is really ^essice, ^em-kaleb.
. 65-
OF THE BIRD CALLED §UK§UK.
This bird was once a human being, and she was a bride.
Her father-in-law and mother-in-law sent her down to water
the donkeys. And when she went down and was watering
[the donkeys], a band of robbers attacked her and killed her,
and they went away driving the donkeys. When the bride P. 78.
was dead, her soul became a bird and remains a bird until
now. And all the time when she calls she says: "My father-
in-law, my mother-in-law told me to water the donkeys,
i) I. e. "my wife."
84 TALES
suk-suk-mk" ') And her call sounds like this. And all the
time she calls like this at lonely places or near a river-bed.
And from her sound her name has been called suksuk. [This
is what] they say. •
66.
OF THE BIRD CALLED MASMERAYE-Ml-
TEDARRARA.
This bird and her son were human beings. And her son
was called Masmeraye (Masmar). 2) He went on a journey
and then spent the night at a village. But the people killed
him at once without giving him a mealr His mother died
in sadness and grief over her son, and her soul became a
bird. Now until this day she passes night after night until
the morning calling: " Masmer 'aye-mi- tedarrar a" [i.e. what
meal has had Masmeraye?]. And her voice is heard like this.
And for this reason her name is called masmeraye-ml-tedarrara.
67.
THE RACE OF THE HYAENA.
The hyaena is of the race of a certain tribe called Aglemba.
The tribe of Aglemba lives everywhere. Now the hyaena
was created out of this race. The names of the hyaena are
thus: Aglembayit; the Stupid One; the Clever One; £ablec; 3)
Em-somec;4) the Driveler; Sullet. 5)
1) This is used to make the donkeys drink while watering.
2) Masmar is a man's name. The form masmeraye is a hypocoristic chosen
to imitate the bird's call.
3) §ablec ist a surname (seqraf) used by the Aglemba for their daughters.
4) "Mother of Some0"; §omec is probably a seqrat for the sons of the Aglemba.
5) Fern, of sulill, a name of the Hyaena trocuta.
• THE RACE OF THE FOX 85
68. P. 79-
THE RACE OF THE FOX.
The (name of the) fox is sometimes also called °Amer.
His race is, as they say, of the Regbat; and cAmer the Fox
is a Regbay. The tribe of the Regbat is everywhere. Now
they are no longer a tribe by themselves, but being counted
as Tigre they are scattered all over the country. And they
are strong and courageous even now. Why it is that they
call the fox the brother of the Regbat nobody knows; but
until this day they call him Regbay. Once I heard a certain
story, and it is like this. Two men were soldiers with the
Italians; and one of them was a Regbay, but the other one
was of another tribe. The latter killed a fox with his gun.
Thereupon he said to his companion, the Regbay: "I have
killed thy brother, the fox." The Regbay replied: "It is not
my brother whom thou hast killed; it is a wild fox." The
other: "No, it is thy brother whom I have killed." The
Regbay: "Now, if it is my brother whom thou hast killed,
my brother shall be avenged !" He spoke and killed him
with his gun. - - Now those animals of whom they tell that
they were of some tribes of men, are not really of human
race; only they tell thus in the tales of old.
The Abyssinian "fox" is, as I have said in the Preface, the jackal. Now
in Arabic the hyaena is called 3u»itu ''Amir "the mother of cAmir". Since the
hyaena and the jackal are often seen together and since the former is the
stronger one of the two, it is not strange that the hyaena should have been
called the mother of the jackal.
69.
THE LEGEND OF THE MONKEY, THE BEETLE,
THE WASP, THE FLY, THE LIZARD, THE
FROG, AND THE SAYAT-TREE.
All these were human beings. The monkey's tribe was
86 TALES
P. 80. that of the Nabab; and the tribe of Nabab lives until now
among men. The beetle was an Asfaday; and his family
exists until this day. The fly's tribe again was that of
Aytama; Aytama is a [human] family. Now the others were
men also but, their families are not known.
These, then, the monkey, the beetle, the fly, the lizard,
the wasp, the frog and the sayat-tree were together. There-
upon they went to war together, and they found the camels
of a prophet. Out of the camels they took a she-camel called
Arbal; and after they had gone away with her they killed
her at a den. ') The monkey was wearing a red calf-skin, tied
around his waist, and the wasp was girded with the sheath
of the dagger with which he skinned, and they were skinning
the she-camel together. And the beetle was disemboweling
[it of] the stomachs and the intestines. The fly was rubbing
his head with fat. The lizard they had made a look-out on
a high place; and the frog they had sent with a water-skin.
And the sayat was cooking the meat which they prepared.
Thereupon the people of the prophet who went to bring
back the camel came to them following the tracks and made
them give up the meat. And the prophet with his people
cursed them, so that they were changed from human beings
to wild animals. The red calf-skin which the monkey was
wearing was attached to his body; and this is the red [spot]
that is now seen on the buttocks of the monkey, for it was
changed into a part of his body. And the beetle, in the
same way as he was then disemboweling at the den, is now
always at the rubbish-places. The wasp again, because he was
[then] girded with the sheath of the dagger, has a thin waist
until now. And the fly who was at that time rubbing his
l) I. e., a hidden place where robbers kill and eat their booty.
A SONG OF HAMAO-LUL WAD CEGEL OF MARYA 87
head, has got this habil forever and rubs his head with his
hands. And the lizard just as he was then a look-out watch P. 81.
on a high place, is now always to be found on the tops of
rocks, lifting and putting down his head. And in the same
way as the frog had been going to the water, his work and
his life have come to be always in the water. And sayat
the cook was changed into a tree, and has become a sayat
tree from which everybody cuts or breaks [something]. ')
And by this curse they were all changed. And the prophet
and his people said even to the meat of the camel: "Be-
come stone;" and it became a stone* resembling a camel.
And the stone is there until this day. And the whole place
was cursed, and until now it brings forth no grass. And the
name of the place was called Meherad-Arbal [i. e. "the place
where Arbal' was killed;" it is in cAd-Takles].
70.
A SONG OF HAMAD-LUL WAD CE(^EL OF MARYA.
Wondering about the tribes of the wild animals and also
about their creation he sang thus:
"My Lord created the lion and the elephant; the leopard he
created and the hyaena.
It is he who created this beetle, the stubborn Asfaday.
He created this ant and this fly of the Aytama tribe.
Even this butterfly that moves along trembling.
He created this three-worm, that builds its house of wood.
Do not believe that I forgot thee, o jackal of the Regbat tribe.
The white kite of the Weqen tribe, and this monkey of the
Nabab.
i) The sayat tree has no edible fruit and may be cut at any time; its wood
is not much good either. Sometimes a worthless woman is also called sayat.
88 TALES
It is he who created this lizard, and this hyaena of Aglemba.
He created the rhinoceros and the buffalo ; the antilope l)
he create'd and heway. 2)
This ostrich he created, that with its young hurries like a
peal of rain.
P. 82 He created the was 3)-bird, the Regbo, 4) and this bull-
antilope. 3)
The wasp he created and the bee; the bug he created and
the gnat.
I praise thee, my Lord, the creator who makest all."
71-
sang this song about the wild animals in answer to Hamad-Lul.
"Man does not know it; for these wild animals are hard
[to understand].
The brownish wild-goat c) fills the milk-pail and keeps back
some.
The frog swells in pregnancy, [as] they told us ; and the lower
part of his body hangs down.
The dwarf-antilope 7) is the chosen one among her relatives ;
we disguise her with dung. 8)
The -lizard and the turtle who put their heads in and out.
The long-toothed cow of the Christians [i. e. the wild boar],
who lost her udder by the habel disease. 9)
i) Oryx leucoryx. 2) See above, p. 82. 3) A. small brown bird
with white breast; cf. No. 122, i. 4) Seqrat of the Regbat for
their daughters. 5) Strepsiceros capensis. 6) Oreotragus saltator.
7) Cephalophus Hemprichii (?) 8) So that a man wo has the choice of
the flock does not take her, but leaves her to us. 9) Cattle-disease, by
which the udder grows small and the teats close up.
THE LEGEND OF THE ROM, THE GIANT PEOPLE 89
The wide-eared cow-antilope, J) stalking slowly with her
dry cows.
There is nobody to milk her; she becomes dry and she keeps
back some.
Protect me, my Lord; for men lie purposely.
We have not seen this with our eyes, nor heard it as a message."
The poet does not pretend to have seen or heard this, but he protests not
to lie purposely, and he asks God not to count it as a sin, if it should prove
not to be true; what he tells about the animals is from his own imagination,
it may be true or not.
72.
THE LEGEND OF GOD AND THE HUMAN RACE.
God said to men: "Multiply on earth and bring forth and
become families!" And the human race multiplied very much.
But they revolted against God. Then God said to men again :
"Well then, man, bring forth and bury, that thou be ill and
grieved !" And by this curse the human race brings forth P. 83.
and buries until this day. [This is what] they say.
73-
THE LEGEND OF THE ROM, THE GIANT PEOPLE.
The people of the Rom were living with their cattle every-
where. And the wells from which the Rom watered their
cows were very deep, about of the length of a packing-
rope. 2) And every Rom man when watering his cows used
to draw [the water] putting his one foot in the well and the
other in the trough ; and his water-vessel was the entire hide
of a bull. When he ate he was never satisfied ; and he milked
1) Literally: matela^ i. e. name of a cow; cf. below No. 96, 6 and No. loo,
41. Here the female Strepsiceros capensis is meant.
2) The rope used for mule-loads is 10 — 12 m. long, the one for donkey-
loads 7 — 8 m.
9O TALES
his cattle into [a vessel made of] an elephants's skin and
drank it; and he killed one cow for every meal, and without
cutting her into pieces, he roasted her on a wood-fire and
glutted her down. And when he gathered wood for his fire,
he tore the caqba tree ') out with its roots and shoved it into
the fire. — And at a certain place there was living a man
with his wife, [both] of the now living mankind. Now the
wife abused the man and said to him: "What [power] hast
thou ? Thou canst not raid the cattle of the Rom !" The
man replied: "Now if I do note take some of them and come
back [with them], I shall be a weakling according to thy
word !" And the man went to the Rom, and came to a
Rom man, a cattle-owner. And Jie sat down near his cattle.
When the giant saw him, he went straightway to him and
greeted him and asked him: "From where art thou?" The
human manikin answered : "I am from such and such a place."
Thereupon the giant tore out the caqba trees and put them
together [like the spokes of a wheel] for a fire. Then taking
the elephant's skin he milked all his cows. When the visitor
P. 84. saw his doings he was frightened and said [to himself] :
"Who can raid this man's cattle ?" The giant having milked
[his cows] said to the man: "Take [and] drink!" But the
man was not able to receive [and hold] the skin and the
milk. Thereupon the giant seized it and gave him to drink.
But when the man had drunk a little, he said: "I am satis-
fied now!" The giant said: "Drink! How canst thou be
satisfied not having [even] begun?" The man said: "I am
satisfied; this is my limit." And the giant went away with
his milk saying: "What sort of a manikin art thou? Thou
hast no belly!", and he drank it himself. Thereupon he
i) I. e. Acacia spirocarpa.
THE LEGEND OF THE ROM, THE GIANT PEOPLE QJ
killed a cow and roasted her; and for his visitor he tore off
a hind-quarter and gave [it] to him. And after the man had
eaten a little of it, he said to him: "I am satisfied." But
the other glutted all the meat of the cow. Thereupon belching
he said: "Praise be to God! This little locust has made us
belch." And when the man saw all this he said all night:
"Thy wonder, o God !" The next morning the giant asked
him saying: "Why art thou come and what doest thou
wish?" The man replied: "I have become poor, and I am
come to tend this thy cattle." But the other said: "What
power hast thou to tend my cattle? Thou canst not water
them nor carry the skin into which they are milked. But
live from these cows!" And he gave him a few cows. The
man returned with the cows to his wife and said to her :
"I have taken away the giant's cows." And when they were
living together, the wife said to her husband: "Now since
thou art courageous, take [again] the giant's cattle away !" And
the man went to the giant. Said the giant to him: "Why art
thou come ? Have I not given thee cows to live from ?" The
man answered: "Those cows have perished. Now make me
thy herdsman; I can tend thy cattle." The giant said: "Very
well then ! We shall see whether thou canst." Then he said : P. 85.
"Drive the cattle!" and giving him the bull-skin he added:
"Take it down and water them from my well! But this my
daughter shall go down with the-e to hold back the cattle
[while they are not drinking]. Do not let her draw the water
of the well: descend thyself into the well and water [them]!"
The man with the giant's daughter driving the cattle went
down to the river-bed. Thereupon when he saw the depth
of the well, he did not know what to do: if he went down
he would find nobody to take [the water] from him; and if
he went up, he could not reach the water. Then he let down
92 TALES
the bucket of the bull-skin into the water, but when it was
wetted and he wanted to lift it, he could not [do so]. And the
cattle grew very thirsty. Thereupon the girl said to him: "I
shall water the cattle the way my father waters them. Then
wipe the sand of the well thoroughly off from me, lest my father
see it and kill thee !" The man said to her: "I shall thoroughly
wipe it off from thee." Now the girl descended into the
well, and she put her one foot into the water and the other
into the trough, and drawing [the bucket] she watered the
cattle. After she had come up from the well, the man wiped
the sand off from her. When they came home toward even-
ing the giant asked: "Have the cattle- drunk?" The man
replied: "Yes, I have watered them myself." But the giant
said to him: "How couldst thou thyself? Probably thou hast
made my daughter draw [the water]." The man: "I have
watered them myself; she has only kept back the cattle for
me." Now the giant looked for sand on the body of his
daughter, and searching her, he found some grains of sand
in her ear. And he said to the man: "Thou hast made my
daughter draw; is this not sand?", and he sprang upon him
to kill him. The man fled and came to another giant and
asked for his protection ; that giant was ploughing. The other
giant running after him came to kill him. But the giant
P. 86. who was ploughing said: "He is my client, I shall not give
him to thee !" And when he refused him to the other, the
giant tore up a baobab tree to kill his brother, and came
toward him. But the other put his client into the fold of
* his cloak at his waist and went straightway against the other
with his ploughing instruments. And they struck each other
and wounded each other. Thereupon their friends came and
reconciled them. The other returned home, and the plough-
man stayed with his client. Then, in his anger he prepared
OF HOW THE ROM CAME TO AN END 93
his pipe and smoked; he opened his belt and took the man ,
out of the fold. But he had been crushed and was dead now.
Then [the giant] was frightened, but afterwards he said :
"Be like fencic, J) thou manikin! For thy sake I have been
fighting in vain, since thy soul is as weak as this!" - The
tribe of the Rom used to migrate everywhere and to pasture
their flocks. One giant once when migrating from his camping
place sang thus:
"But treasure was left at Af-Meseb,2)
At thy right hand under the protruding rock :
Gable-beam and cross-bars and eight poles!"'
For he had hidden his belongings at a certain place. The
Rom people are said to have been great singers.
The giant-poet speaks of his square house which he had been obliged to
take down when leaving Af-Meseb 5 such a house is a great treasure. Its wood
he hid at a secret place; this wood consists of the beam in the gable the
crossbars in the upper past of the wall and the carrying poles in the lower part.
74-
OF HOW THE ROM CAME TO AN END.
While the giants were living on and on, the time of their
end was ripe. And God gave the tribe of the giants the
choice of one of these two ways: "Shall I now make you p. 87.
perish by a blessing or by a curse? Which do ye wish?"
And the tribe of the giants said to God: "Now then, since
thou art to destroy us, let us perish by a blessing!" And
God said to them: "Perish by a blessing then. Your wives
shall bring forth male children unto you; your cows, how-
ever, shall all bring forth female calves unto you !" And all
came to pass as God had spoken. Their wives brought forth
only male children; and when they grew up they found no
l) A small bitter herb. 2) A locality in Bet-Sahaqan.
94 TALES
wives to marry, for their whole tribe had begotten male
children only. And all their cows brought forth female
calves; and when they grew up they found no bull to cover
them, and they died, weak from old age. Then the tribe of
the giants assembled to hold a council: "What shall we do
now? Our sons have found no wives to marry and they
shrivel up in old age, and our offspring has diminished. Our
cows have found no bull to cover them ; they have had no
milk nor covering." Thereupon they decided thus: "Let
every one dig his grave and put the stones of his tomb
together like a hut ') over it, but let him leave a door in
it. Then let him enter through the door with all his property
and close the door!" And every one went to his place to
do thus. And they did thus. Every one of them dug his
grave and built up the stones of his tomb like a hut over
it, and left a door to enter by it; and taking whatever he
owned and his cows he entered his grave and closed it. And
in this way they all perished at the same time. And their
tombs are to be found until this day everywhere, those that
have heavy and large stones (Fig. n). But they have left no
known village or settlement, because they were uncivilized
and roaming herdsmen only. And now they say as a proverb
when the rain grows plentiful beyond measure: "O Lord, do
P. 88. not let us perish by blessing like the giants!" And again as
a proyerb they say: "Does a man dig his tomb like the
giants? On the contrary, his people bury him."
75-
OF HOW GOD TAKES CARE OF THE CHILDREN.
When God created the little children he gave them the
i) The "huts" have the form of a cone or a round pyramid.
Fig. ii. A "Tomb of the Rom" (p. 94).
THE TALE OF A MAN WHO KNEW THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANIMALS 95
choice [of one] of two gifts: "Shall I sew every morning a
[ new] cloth and give it to you, or [make you] to rule over
your father[s] and mother[sj?" And the little children chose
to rule over their parents. And for this reason the children
when they are little rule their parents and cry to them and
try to get their will whatever it be. And the parents are
under their rule ; and they obey them and whenever anything
happens to them, they are grieved about them. And they
say as a proverb: "He who begets loses."
76.
THE TALE OF A MAN WHO KNEW THE
LANGUAGE OF ALL THE ANIMALS.
God gave a man knowledge of the language of [all] the
wild and domestic animals. But he said to him: "Whatever
thou mayest hear of the language of all the animals, do not
tell it to men; when thou hast heard it thyself keep silent;
if thou teilest it, then thou shalt die." And the man said :
"Very well." And the man knew the language of all the
animals, domestic and wild; and whenever he heard it,
although he knew the meaning, he kept silent. Then, one
day, the man said to his wife: "Let us lie down that we
may rest a little !" And when they had lain down two kids
that where in the house said to each other: "Let us lie
down, too; our masters are also lying down." When the P. 89.
man heard their talk he smiled. And his wife said to him:
"Why doest thou smile? What hast thou perhaps done unto
me that thou hast smiled?" He answered: "I have smiled
at myself, not at thee." His wife said: "Tell me then why
thou hast smiled." Now the man feared death if he should
tell her; so he said to her: "I have smiled for nothing."
96 TALES
t
But his wife continued: "Either tell me about what thou
hast laughed, or leave me !" The man, however, did not
know divorce, and he wanted to tell her. But he said to
her: "Wait that I tell it to thee!" Then he prepared him-
self for his death: he shaved and bathed; and he brought
the cows for his funeral sacrifice and tied them. But one
cow of them he killed, that he might himself taste the meat
of the cows of his funeral. And when the cow was skinned,
the dog of the man took a piece of the vertebrae and ran
with it into the side-room to gnaw it. Thereupon another
dog came to that dog to gnaw the vertebrae with him. But
the dog drove him off from the bone and snarled at him
to scare him away. And the other dog said to him: "Of
[all] the masters thy master is most despicable who ties the
cows of his funeral sacrifice instead of divorcing his wife.
And of [all] the dogs thou art most despicable, who keepest
away thy brother from the bone !" And after he had spoken
thus, he went off. The man heard the words which the dog
said, and he knew that it was easier for him to divorce his
wife than to die; before that, he had not known much of
divorce and had chosen death instead. So the man divorced
his wife and was saved from death. And from this time
onward divorce became customary. [This is what] they say.
P. 90. 77-
THE TALE OF MOUNT GADAM. ')
Once upon a time all the mountains held a council saying:
"Let us go down to the low-lands!" And when they rose
to go down, mount Gadam was the first to set out, and
i) Near Massaua, a solitary mountain on the coast.
THE TALE OF A MAN AND HIS WIFE 97
going onward his one end was planted in the sea without
his knowing it. Now the sea was upon him so that he could
not march on ; and his one end was firm in the ground so
that he could not return. So he shouted and said to his
company: "Let every one of you stand still at his place!"
And all the mountains back of Mount Gadam stood each
in its place, and they are there until this day. And for this
reason Mount Gadam is ahead of all the other mountains
on the sea-shore. And they say as a proverb: "Do not make
a mistake, let each one stand in its place, said Mount Gadam."
And as another proverb they say: "We have been mistaken
like [Mount] Gadam."
The people of the Motacat district [north-west of Massaua]
tell other stories Mount Gadam.
78.
THE TALE OF A MAN AND HIS WIFE.
A man was living with his wife ; and they had a dark-
coloured she-camel. They used to tie her fore-legs ') near
their door, and there she used to spend the night. And the
wife of the man became with child. And she bore a boy
but the boy's colour was dark, while his father and mother
were red. Said the man to his wife: "This is not my son.
Thou hast probably born him by some one else, so that his p. 91,
colour has become dark. Since we are red, he would not
have become dark; but a dark man has begotten him by
thee." And the wife replied: "He is thy son. I do not know
any other man!" But he insisted; "[He is] not my son," and
rejected him. The wife said: "He is thy son only, rear him!"
l) Shank and thigh of the camel's fore-legs are when folded tied together,
each side by itself, so that the camel cannot rise and run away.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 7
98 TALES
They quarrelled and went to the judge and said to him :
"We have begotten this boy; and we are red, but he has
become dark." The man said: "I have said, because he has
not turned out [to be] of our colour, he is not my son."
The woman said: "I have told him: 'He is thy son; I do
not know any other man'; but he rejected him." After the
chief had heard the talk of both of them, he said to them :
"Have ye a dark relative?" They replied: "No." He con-
tinued: "Among the animals what dark beast do ye possess?",
and he enumerated them all to them. They said: "We have
a dark she-camel." Again he asked: "Where does this your
camel stay?" They answered: "She stays with us. Every
evening we tie her fore-legs near the door-post of our house,
and then she passes the night." The judge said: "And be-
fore all [other things] ye look upon her when ye have risen ?"
They answered: "Yes." Thereupon the judge said to them:
"Because ye have looked every morning upon the she-camel,
your son has become dark on that account. And the boy is
thy son, take him," said he to the man. And the man
received his son, and he and his wife, were reconciled and
reared their son together. [This is what] they say.
79-
OF A MAN WHO TOOK AN OATH ABOUT
FOUR THINGS TO CARRY THEM OUT.
A man swore he would carry out these four things : not
P. 92. to refuse [a request] ; not to lie ; not to be jealous ; not to
flee [from danger]. And after he had taken the oath about
them, his father-in-law, the father of his wife, tempted him
in all of them. In order to make him break his vow not to
refuse, he sent every stranger to him whosoever it was, so
OF A MAN WHO TOOK AN OATH ABOUT FOUR THINGS 99
that his property should be exhausted. But he entertained
every stranger that came to him, and finally when his pro-
perty was exhausted, he killed his saddle-camel for them.
After that he became stripped of everything, and he had
reached rock-bottom. But he had carried out his vow and
given away all his property. Now his father-in-law having been
foiled in this, tried him in his vow about lying: he sheared a
young camel on one side and said [to his servants]: "Pass by
him turning the shorn side towards him !" And after them, he
sent messengers to him, and they asked him: "Have they
passed by here with a shorn young camel?" But he answered
them: "That side which was turned towards me was shorn;
but the other side of it God knows, I have not seen it." And
another time he had butter smeared on the outside of a
wooden bowl and sent [people] to pass by him with it, while
it was closed [with a cover]. Thereupon he sent a messenger
to him asking him: "Has a man passed by here carrying
his polenta with its butter?" He answered: "The outside of
the bowl was smeared with butter, but what was in it, God
knows/' His father-in-law thought: "Now I shall try him
about jealousy," and said to him: "Come, let us play wad-
arbaf." ') And after they had sat down opposite each other
to play wad-arbc£ together, he went and took a woman and
said to her: "Sit down near us and kiss me all the time so
that this man may grow jealous." And the woman kissed
him all the time, but the man did not grow jealous; and
after they had finished the game they parted from each
other. Now his father-in-law thought he would try him with p. 93.
regard to fleeing [from danger]. Their villages were distant
i) I. e. the manqale of the Arabs; cf. LANE, Manners and Customs of the
Modern Egyptians, Vol. II, London 1846, p. 51 seqq.
from each other about as far as a horse runs. He sent a
messenger to him saying: "I have fallen sick, and my remedy
is with thee : boil coffee in thy house, pour it at night into
a cup, and come to me [with it] !" And on the road he
made some men to lie in ambush for him and said to them :
"Treat him so that he may become like one who flees!" The
other after having prepared the coffee poured from it into
a cup, and when, armed and holding the cup of coffee in
his hand, he was on his way to the house of his wife's
father, he met the ambushed people on the road. And when
they sprang upon him in order to make him flee, he put
the cup firmly on the ground, drew his sword against them
and put them to flight. Then he took his cup and brought
it to his wife's father. And his father-in-law saw that he had
carried out all his vows, and knew that he had sworn nothing
in rashness. Then he wished to make him a gift and said :
"Wish, what shall I do for thee?" The man said to him:
"I wish [that thou mayest] take thy daughter from me,
sending a beast of burden and people [to take her]!" And
in this way he divorced his wife in -his rage because her
father had tried him in all these things and had intended
to make him a liar.
80.
THE TALE OF JACOB AND JOSEPH.
These two were brothers; and the one was living in the
eastland, and the other in the westland. But before they
had thus become separated, they had been living together.
And after their separation they had passed a long while
" without seeing each other. Thereupon they longed for each
P. 94. other, and in order to see each other each left his country
OF THE MANSAC COUNTRY IOI
thinking: "I shall visit my brother." And while they were
on the way without knowing each other's condition, and
while the one was coming from the east, the other from the
west, they suddenly came upon each other. And since it
was night each one of them took the other to be an enemy,
and drawing their swords the one struck shouting: "I am
Jacob," and the other struck shouting: "I am Joseph." But
between them there was a stone, and the strokes fell upon
it. After this, they recognised each other and fell upon each
other's necks and kissed each other; and they parted safely.
And the rock of the sword-strokes is seen there until this
day. And one stroke is seen on the east-side, the other on
the west-side. And it is called the "Stone of Jacob and Joseph."
And they say as a proverb, when two suddenly meet each
other: "We have become Jacob and Joseph."
. Jacob and Joseph are, of course, Biblical reminiscences. The tale of the
two brothers who suddenly meet without knowing each other, is known in
the Mansac tradition as well as in that of many other countries 5 cf. CONTI
POSSINI, Tradizioni storiche del Mensa^ p. 34, and my Specimens of the Po-
pular Literature of Modern Abyssinia^ in the Journal of the American
Oriental Society^ 1902, p. 53- The "Stone of Jacob and Joseph" is in the
Ma'nsa0 territory, about two hours north-west of Ga'la'b.
Si.
OF THE MANSAC COUNTRY.
It is also called Haygat. Haygat is a better country than
others; for it has the winter-rains and the highlands [with
their summer-rains]. That is to say, the Mansac country has
every year two ploughing seasons during which it rains.
And for this reason they harvest twice, and cattle thrive
very well there, and the cows calve twice a year, and their
owners drink their milk. And they praise the country for
being a very good pasture for cattle. They say: "The abode
P- 95- of cattle is Haygat as well as cAygat." - cAygat is the country
of the Bet-Macala, *) and it is also very good pasture — .
The Mansac begin ploughing in the highlands in this way :
in the middle of the month of Mekke'el-hagay (i. e. June)
or towards its end they prepare their oxen, their ploughing
implements and their seeds. And then, a certain man, who
is a son of the tribe and who has good luck and whose
plough-stick is lucky, or some-one of the Bet-Abbaza 2) be-
girfs to plough on a Monday or a Wednesday before all
others; and after he has begun, everybody gets ready his
plough and oxen on his field, and they plough. And every
man sows dura according to his ability. And after this they
sow also barley and wheat; and when they have finished
all, they lay down the plough-stick [and] rest until the time
of weeding. Thereupon when the time of the weeding of the
field has come, they begin the work of weeding. And he
who himself does not wish to weed, leaves his field to a
man who weeds it for a quarter of its revenue. If the summer-
rains are scanty and if the crops on the fields begin to parch
a little, at that time everyone of the women roasts a little
dura and scatters some of the grains at the door of her
house ; then she takes what is left and with it a palm-twig,
and all the women going to a hill and swinging the palm-
twigs pray with these words:
"O Lord, have mercy upon us, Christ !
Say to the Pure One [that] we have gone.
I have a Lord who does not deceive
Nor betray His covenant nor make [us] grieve !
1) In the north of the Colonia Eritrea, near the English frontier.
2) The Bet-Abbaza were the former owners of Galab and of the surrounding
territory (cf. above p. 55), and being the aborigines in the country they are
considered to bring good luck. They still own a large part of the territory,
but their number has decreased considerably.
OF THE MANSA0 COUNTRY IO3
Forgive our ill ; we have gone to the hill.
To the Bountiful Pure One say [that] we have gone."
Singing this prayer and the like they swing the palm- P. 96.
twigs and scatter the roasted grains on the spot; and they
beat the drum and clap their hands while praying. There-
i
upon they go to the sycamore called Caggarit ') — in which,
as they say, a saint or a Mary lives — and pray and dance.
After that they go down to a river-bed 2) and wet their
faces with the water. Then they return to their houses, and
they fix the palm-twig[s] with which they have prayed at the
door-posts of their houses. And they do the same several
days until it rains. - - The men, however, when the rains
are late, take a dark cow and go with her three times around
the Church of Mary or around the whole village saying:
"O Lord, have mercy upon us, Christ!" Thereupon the chief
or the priest kills her and says: "Be thou an offering of our
goods and our men;" and they all say the same and add
various prayers for blessing. If, however, the rain is scanty
at one part of the ploughed fields, the owners of this part
kill a goat or a kid. — But if the crops grow wormy, or
if mildew (?) is feared for them, the people send a man to
the place of Abbay 3) and he brings sand. Then each man
ties a little of the sand up with a knot in a rag and ties
1) In the north-western part of Galab.
2) From Galaj) they go to Gabana, a spring to the east of it.
3) Also called ^Abbay-nidyfatn " Abbay of the Dead," near the eastern end
of the Aybaba district ; it is a pile of stones built up like a large sarcopha-
gus and is said to be a saint's tomb. Pieces of wood are offered to him that
he may make a fire to cook his meal. Another Abbay (or AbQna Takla Ilay-
manot) is in the lowlands worshipped by both Christians and Mohammedans.
The sand and the water of the place are holy and are considered to have
healing power. Many gifts, votive offerings of all sort, even pieces of silver,
and guns, are piled up there.
104 TALES
it on a stalk of his field, and [the crops] are rendered safe
by this means. And to the man who brings the sand they
give a certain small measure ') of grain from every threshing-
floor. Or they kill a kid or a goat; and each man brings a
leaf of the stalks of his field and dips it in the blood of the
goat or the kid and afterwards ties it in his field. - - And
when [the crops in] the ploughed fields are ripe, everyone
makes the threshing-floor of his field ready and hardens it
with water and cow-dung. And first that part is entered
which has been ploughed first. And on the threshing-floor,
in the little round hole [on its lee-side] 2) they burn some
97- incense, and they put some SffmfJPfit9)_4a water that has
been first taken out of a full vessel and sprinkle it on- the
floor; thereupon they leave the semf&at with their imple-
ments there. And when they mow, they take about a sheaf
and thresh it [each by itself, beating it with sticks]. And of
the grain they pour about an arket on the edge of the floor,
and this is like a gift to God, and they call it zdri ezgo
[seed belonging to the Lord]. And they sift the shells out
of the beaten sheaf and put them on one side, and the grain
they pile up near the little hole, and they put some iron
in its midst. And in order that the grain may be blessed
and that the demons take nothing from it, they make a
polenta and butter-sauce with it, and three times taking a
little with the tips of their thumbs and their fingers, they
throw it saying: "This we give unto you." Thereupon the
1) Literally : "a sellf'd or an * arket. " Both of them are very small measures.
2) This hole is excavated in the ground, 15 — 20 cm. deep, and has a
diameter of from 31 — 40 cm. It has a certain magic power, and its name
aud occurs in magic literature ; it corresponds therefore to the 'magic circle'
which binds the evil spirits. It is made on the lee-side of the floor because
in this way the wind carries the chaff off the floor while the grain is winnowed.
3) I. e. Lepidium sativum I,.
OF THE MANSAC COUNTRY 10$
men on the threshing-floor eat the polenta. And one of the
men, who is of a firm character and succeeds in everything,
winnows the grain. At that time again they bum incense
and do not allow other people or animals on the floor. Nor
do they talk much or pronounce the word camel, horse,
mule, donkey, goat ') or monkey 2) lest their grain be ex-
hausted rapidly. And when it is winnowed, the winnower
wraps himself up in his cloak, and a woman comes to him
with the vessels in which the grain is put and holds them
before him: and the man takes the grain hurriedly up with
his scooping plate in silence. And when they have taken it
up they measure the grain of the sheaf. And if it is much,
they say: "The floor is lucky and has been blessed;" and
if it is little, they say : "The floor has devoured it and bad
luck has snatched it away." And he whose grain is not ripe
yet, borrows from him who has cut first. And doing thus
they cut the whole crop, and carry it in to the village. P. 98-
And their second ploughing, in the winter-months, occurs
in this way. In the midst or towards the end of the month
of Mekke'el-qayim it rains in the lowlands. And the herds-
men go down and the ploughers descend in order to plough.
And at first they plough Faras-Kayidda, 3) [a very flat district]
in Seceb. The customs connected with the ploughing are the
same. And [the crops] here are harvested in three months.
Thereupon they plough the land called ^Acebar where the
crops are a little later. 4) And after this again they plough
the [fields on the] mountain-sides. And the customs with
1) These animals tear their food quickly with their teeth and do not chew
slowly like cattle and sheep.
2) The monkey is a symbol of unsteadiness.
3) The name means "a horse can run on it."
4) They ripen in about four months.
106 CUSTOMS
regard to mildew, sun and worms are the same as in the
highlands. But at the time of mowing, they generally, in-
stead of [eating] polenta, kill a victim at the little hole.
They kill a young buck or a goat and, at the time of their
winnowing, they put the bones in the fire that their smell
may keep off the evil spirits. Or else they take beer, sprinkle
[some of] it on the floor and drink the rest. And doing thus
they mow their whole crop. Of the grain of the lowlands and
of 'the highlands they give a large plate full to the priest
and to the man who cuts the uvulae, ') and also a plate full
to the musicians. 2) But there is no obligation to make it
entirely full; if they do not want, they give them less. But
their harvest does not always come in, when there are too
many locusts or to much sun or mildew.
82.
OF THE RITES AND CUSTOMS THAT ARE
PRACTISED FROM THE TIME OF PREGNANCY
UNTIL THE TIME OF CHILDBIRTH IN
THE TIGRE COUNTRIES.
\
A. What happens during the time of pregnancy.
i
While women are with child every one of them must
p. 99. observe the following taboos lest what is born from her be
miscarried. The woman who is with child [must observe
1) Among several of the tribes of Northern Abyssinia the uvulae of little
children are cut off, because certain diseasps are believed to be caused by
them. This custom is in general practice among the Mansac, ftogos and Bet-
Guk; I have also heard of it among the Tigrifia speaking people. Cf. below
No. 82, C, towards the end.
2) I. e. the men who play the flute, the violin, the trombone and the
harpe for money. Among the nomads and semi-nomads generally only the
flute is played.
FROM THE TIME OF PREGNANCY UNTIL THE TIME OF CHILDBIRTH lO^
this:] i) There is a cattle-tribe called sengutt. ') She must not
drink the milk of this cattle nor eat their meat nor spread
their hide nor tread upon their dung or urine. Nor must she
look at them: they are taboo for her. But she who wishes
to break this taboo takes a little round piece of red clay 2)
and some spices and sends them in a small vessel to the
cow-herds. And when the cow-herds receive it, they, again,
put some of the [butter-] milk of cattle and some butter in
the vessel of the woman and send it to her. The woman
drinks the milk and smears the butter on her head and
asks a blessing. And in this way the taboo ceases for her ;
but if a woman breaks the taboo of senguli except in this
manner, her child is miscarried. 2) Another taboo: There is
a kind of cattle whose colour is called zelala (i. e. dark-
brown with black specks); she must not look at them, last
the colour of her child become like that of the cattle.
3) Some women do not eat the meat of cattle that have a
deadly disease nor that of eatable wild animals. 3) 4) For a
woman with child the thunder is also taboo. When she hears
its sound she puts some soot on her forehead [i. e. for her-
self] and upon her navel [i. e. for the child to be born].
5) The husband of the woman with child when going to a
funeral does not bury that his wife's child may not escape
[prematurely]. 6) A stranger who comes from a far country
does not at once enter the house of a woman with child.
At first he rests at the entrance and takes off his shoes;
if he is thirsty, however, he drinks water, and after that he
enters with his weapons. 4) They do thus lest she miscarry.
1) See below the cattle-tribes, No. 98, 12.
2) These pieces are made in Arabia and sold at Massaua.
3) I. e. gazels, antilopes etc.
4) I. e., he is now allowed to come in and to bring in all that he carries
with him.
108 CUSTOMS
7) The water-skin of a woman with child must be filled
without interruption. But at a well where there is very little
water at a time, [viz. not more than can be taken with the
scooping plate], only its portion [viz. as much as there is
at a time] falls to its share. And when they open it on the
P. ioo. road they do not drink from it lest its contents be short.
And in order that nothing is drunk from it on the road the
carrier says: "It is the water-skin of a woman with child!"
And this taboo, too, they observe lest the child escape.
8) If a woman with child asks for meat or for some fresh
meal which she has not with her, they do not refuse it,
[but] give it to her; for they say: "She is two souls; let her
not be frightened." — Also if they put grain in a vessel
[borrowed] from a woman who has born and than take [the
grain] out of it they do not return it empty to her, but
leave a little rest in it, lest her bearing be interrupted. -
9) If a woman is in the fifth or sixth or seventh month of
her pregnancy, the women of her father-in-law's family come
to her, and she gives them about two keffalo ') of grain or
more. And the women measure the grain off and grind it, and
then after they have made two polentas of it, it is cooked
in her house. Thereupon those women who are the first
wives [of their husbands] eat the one polenta together with
the pregnant woman on her wooden couch; and those who
are not first wives eat the other on the floor. And with
the milk which they use as a sauce they mix a little semf&at 2)
ground. When they have eaten the woman with child takes
up the plate from which she has eaten with her company
and puts its against her two knees and her two elbows and
her two elbows and her forehead and kisses it. Thereupon
i) Cf. above p. 57^ ann. 2. 2~) Cf. above p. 104, ann. 3.
FROM THE TIME OF PREGNANCY UNTIL THE TIME OF CHILDBIRTH ICQ
she passes it on to her companions towards the right.
And they pass it on among themselves: and each one of
them takes off [one] of her trinkets or jewels and puts it
upon it. And on its way around it comes [back] to the
woman with child. She takes the trinkets from the plate
and beginning at the right she gives each piece back to its
owner. Thereupon they put a little semffat on a small plate
and after moving it in a circle three times over the head
of the pregnant woman they throw it backwards. And all p- I01-
the women shout ') up to seven times. This polenta is called
^ekkaldt seinfc? (i. e. the polenta of Lapidium sativum).
Finally they wish her good luck and go -home each to her
house. This is done lest the child escape from the pregnant
woman. 10) Again they sacrifice a young buck or a goat
for the woman with child. The husband of the pregnant
woman offers this sacrifice at the door of his house ; and
while killing the victim he has some one hold a staff and
a stirring stick near him [i. e. that the unborn child be a
participant of the sacrifice ; the staff is meant for a boy, the
stirring stick for a girl]. And, after the sacrifice, without
putting the staff and the stirring stick on the ground they
make the pregnant woman hold them : she takes the staff
in her right hand and the stirring stick in her left hand.
And this sacrifice, .too, is [offered] that the child may not
escape [prematurely].
B. What happens from travail until childbirth.
When the month of the woman with child has come, the
travail begins. Then the women of her father-in-law's family
or the women of her father's family or rather her mother
and her neighbours come to her and call the midwife for
i) I.e. give the trilling cry of joy, corresponding to the Arabic zagrule.
her. And they all when entering her house pray thus: "May
God who is go^pd Himself give ease to thee ! [Even if] she
does not give ease, [God] give thou her ease ! May Mary
free thee ! May she love thee ! May He give thee a ready
Mary ! May He give thee a Mary whose clemency appears !
May He open for thee the 'rope of heaven' ! ') Make haste,
[let the child be] healthy, separate 2) and straight ; like a
bag of taf*} exactly, and on his right way; cool and cold
[without pain] ! If God wills, his mother will nurse him and
his father shave him ; bring forth ! Say, mylady : 'My mother
Mary' !" 4) Then they grind some grain, make 'a polenta and
eat it; it is called 'ekkaldt hurhur ('the_ polenta of haste').
For the woman in labour they hang up a thong in the
house, fastening its two ends [to the roof] so that its middle
part hangs down swinging, and the woman holds this; and
P. 102. this is called "the rope of heaven." 5) And the woman says:
"Atatatat, o my mother Mary, hear me! Do not send thy
servant nor the son of thy handmaid, [but] gird thyself and
help me ! Give me a [child] quick[ly] and smooth[ly] ! I am
under thy protection, thy client!" And she labours until she
brings forth. And if her bringing forth is belated and her
travail is bitter, the women beat the drum and clap their
hands, praying thus:
[One half:] "Mary of BerTrl and Mary of Dabre-Sina,
Help each other!"
[The other half:] "Mary of Sion and Mary of Dabre-Slna,
Love ye [this woman]!"
i) See below, ann. 5. 2) I. e. from the mother.
3) Eragrostis Abessinica, of light weight.
4) Mary is considered the protectress of women in labour; the Abyssinian
Eileithyia.
5) It seems that in this way the woman in labour is believed to have a
hold upon heaven, i. e. God or Mary.
FROM THE TIME OF PREGNANCY UNTIL THE TIME OF CHILDBIRTH 1 1 I
And they sing this prayer repeatedly. And if she does
not bring forth frightened by this, suddenly without giving
notice to her they shoot off a gun behind her house; or
they draw a sword and make it glitter to her face. And
the reason why they do this unto her is that she may be
frightened and bring forth. Or they bring the shoes of a
God fearing man and tap her with them. And the husband
of the woman goes down to a river and bathes. - - When
she has brought forth, and if what is born is a boy, the
women give the trilling shout of good news; and thereupon
they repeat the shout seven times, one after the other. But
if he is born during the night, the next morning seven first
wives rise quickly and shout seven times. And if he is born
on an unlucky day, ') viz. a Wednesday or a Friday, they
do not shout, but they shout for him afterwards on a lucky
day. A boy who is born on the last Wednesday in the last
quarter of the moon, 2) becomes of bad luck, so that- they
fear his family may perish in his time; and it is said that
the Bogos even kill him. Furthermore, if a boy-babe is horn p. 103
his feet first, and if the people hear this, his father offers
a sacrifice, and they are afraid for his family and say: "He
has been born with his lower part [first]." A boy born on
a Thursday is called Edrls; for they call the Thursday
"Mother of Edris." And a boy born on a Friday is called
6emec and a girl (jamec. And after this the women straighten
the babe that has been born, and its navel-string is cut:
that of a girl is cut on the shoes of her mother, but that
of a boy on the shoes of his father. And of a boy the father
says: "I give him such or such of my animals as his 'navel-
1) Literally: "day that is not bright."
2) Literally : "on a Wednesday which does not return during the fall of
the moon."
CUSTOMS
gift'," and this is counted as the boy's own property. And
the women, again, make a concoction: tfyey mix some aloe
and asa foetida with water and touch with it the babe's
mouth and the breast of the woman in childbed. This con-
coction is [made for protection] against the3a&-canjg&r disease. ')
Moreover, they crush a spider and rub it on the babe; this
is [done] in order that the spiders may not bite the babe
afterwards. And in the same way they rub fleas and bugs
on it. And they wash the babe and wrap it up in a small
cloth. And everybody that hears the shouts says: "May
lucky hair be born unto us!2) May he bring us good luck,
may we be better off through him! May we thank him for
our animals and our children ! May his father and mother
bring him up !" But for a daughter they do not shout, and
they do not rejoice very much either, because she does not
inherit her father's heritage. Now there are other customs
too that are omitted for a girl. They do not think about a
lucky or unlucky day of her birth. - - When the boy-babe
is born, the women who are in the house or who come upon
hearing the shouts, or even those who stay at home, all
say: "Good luck, thou art safe from the thunder of Mary. 3)
P. 104. Her neighbour has not heard [any bad news] about her;
and she has straightened herself. Good luck, she has become
two souls. She rests [now] with a boy. Her luck which the
eye has seen, — may the body taste [it] ! May he be the first
of seven, [a boy who] grows up and sucks! May the joy
he brings be excelled by his success ! May he be for thee
1) The name means "father of whining." It corresponds to the "snake" of
the grown-up people, a severe stomach-ache which contracts the bowels ; the
people believe that a snake is in their interior.
2) I.e. "may the hair of the babe be lucky;" cf. below No. 116.
3) I. e. a women's expression for "labour."
FROM THE TIME OF PREGNANCY UNTIL THE TIME OF CHILDBIRTH 113
[a boy that] leaves [in safety] those who are, and adds those
who are to come ; that, being new, grows old among the old ;
through whom the young grow old and the grown-up subsist;
through whom those who are born in the same month with
him become of age. May a lucky child be born unto us, who
makes us participant of his blessing; through whom they gain
and become better off. May our animals and our children ')
be many through him ! May he remain in the yard, stay with
[his] father and fore-fathers, and follow after them. 2) May
he be the leader of a flourishing family; may a throng of
animals surround him !" - — If, however, what is born, is a
girl they pray in this way: "Good luck, thou hast straightened
thyself, [dear] sister ! May [thy daughter] bring thee luck !
A daughter draws boys after her; for the womb is opened
well ! Good luck, thou hast put her on thy bosom. Be thou
better off through her and gain through her! May she be
[a girl that] leaves [in safety] those who are and adds those
who are to come ! May female calves and male children
follow her!" — The midwife takes up the babe and says to
the woman in childbed : "Take thy son — or, thy daughter — !'»
And she says to her: "Give me my son — or, my daughter — !"
They say this to each other three times; thereupon, the
mother takes her babe. And for the midwife they cook a
polenta, and she eats; the same [they do] for the woman
in childbed, if she desires [it]. But whatever the woman in
childbed eats or drinks, every time the midwife or the
attendant woman tastes of it first. And also for the assem-
bled women they make a meal that they may eat. After
this all friends and relatives visit the woman lying in and
1) Literally : "the hair of our animals . . . ;" "a hair" is sometimes used as
in English "head."
2) Literally: "grasp the tail-end of their cloaks."
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 8
114 CUSTOMS
say to her: "May he be a lucky boy — may she be a lucky
girl — !" And the mother of the babe replies: "Mayest thou
P. 105. have luck!" And also to the father of the child all his friends
and relatives whom he meets say: "May he be a lucky boy
— may she be a lucky girl — !" And he replies : "May ye have
juck!" But if a child when it is born lacks one of its limbs
or has no eyes or mouth, or again has two heads, the women
kill it at once, and it is buried in another country; and they
pray for mercy. And all people tie threads of palm-leaves
or of bast or of wool [around their wrists] lest the like
" happen often, }) and they say: "A monster has been born."
Furthermore they kill a bastard whose father is not known
with his mother.
C. What happens from childbirth until the time
of purification.
The woman in childbed ties threads of palm-leaves around
her forehead, her neck and her wrists. And around the
child's wrists they tie threads of palm-leaves, and cords
braided of sheep-wool they tie around its neck and its hips.
Furthermore, with a cord of wool and with bast they tie
outside of the house to the right [as one goes out] a palm-
branch on a peg made of the caqba or the wild olive-tree
and drive [the peg] in the ground. And this palm-branch is
called rayat. They also cut two twigs of the caqba tree, and
put one of them at the side of the palm-branch, and the
other on the roof of the house ; but it is the son of a first
wife who cuts them. And the men go out and bring some
trunks of the qaras tree ; they put them together for a fire
near the door of the house and keep it burning every evening
until the purification, and some people sleep near it. Again they
i) Cf. above, p. 8, ann. i.
FROM THE TIME OF PREGNANCY UNTIL THE TIME OF CHILDBIRTH 11$
tie a pack-needle to the root of a palm-branch with a thread
of bast and a braided cord : this is called the rattle because
the woman lying in rattles with it. And the woman does P. 106.
not descend from her couch until her time is over, except
to take a vapour-bath ; when she descends to take a vapour-
bath she rattles with the palm-branch, and when she goes
back, [she does] the same. And they tie a little bell to a
carrying-pole [of the couch] on the side next to the door,
and at day-break, at noon, in the afternoon and at sunset
they ring it in the house of the woman lying in. They cut
also a little twig of Grewia pilosa for a knocker; and the
woman in childbed knocks with it. And every [day at] day-
break, at noon, in the afternoon and at sunset she knocks
with the knocker and rattles with the rattle and rings the
bell. Again when she hears a thunder-clap or an ass's bray
or loud voices; or when they bring milk or grain, butter or
water or wood into her house; or when women and girls
and small children enter into it: [then] she knocks or rattles
or rings the bell. And whenever whatever it be enters her
house she does this until the time of her childbed is over.
And the attendant woman or the midwife takes a few grains
of salt with the tips of her fingers and moves them, three
times seven, in a circle around over the head of the woman
in childbed while she sits with her face covered; the same
she does to the child, and then she drops the salt into the
fire-place, and when they fly up bursting and hissing, she
says: "May he who envies us burst in this way!" And this
she does every morning and evening; it is called naqif
["bursting"]. They do not leave the woman in childbed
alone in the house: the attendant stays always with her,
and when she wishes to go outside, she leaves other people
with the woman in childbed. Furthermore they stick a piece
Il6 CUSTOMS
P. 107. of iron, a knife or a razor or a pack-needle or an awl in
one of the carrying poles of the couch on the side next to
the entry. Into the house of a woman lying in men and
young men must not enter until her time is over. And when
they are about to enter, without knowing, the woman rings
the bell or knocks: then they know and go back. When
the child is three days old, the midwife or some woman
who knows [the art], sticks a needle into a piece of wood
and heats it in the fire, and she cauterises the breast and
the back of the boy [drawing a short line] downward at the
place where the ribs part. This [line] is called the mark:
for it is a sign that he is a legitimate .child ; and this is
done by the two Mansac, the Bet-(juk and the Bogos. —
They bring some leaves of a tree called hasasito and then
mix them with some red clay; and whatever the woman in
childbed eats or drinks or whatever vessel she seizes they
touch [with this mixture]. And in some cases, when she is
to touch a thing, she first puts ashes on her hand. ') But
whenever she is to taste anything, first the attendant tastes
it for her. Furthermore, they do not take fire out of her
house, nor must the fire of her house ever go out. Those
who know the woman in childbed and her relatives bring
milk to her; and when the milk comes in a pail of palm-
leaves, they bring it closed. And if she has no milk from
her own cattle, they go to those who abide near her and
ask for milk saying: ["It is] for a woman in childbed;" and
the others give [it] to them. And the woman takes a vapour-
bath every evening except on those days which are taboo.
And after all this the time of her childbed is over: the
l) All this is done, of course, to cleanse her hands, as long as she is
ritually unclean.
FROM THE TIME OF PREGNANCY UNTIL THE TIME OE CHILDBIRTH llj
mother of a boy stays forty days in the house of her child-
bed ; the mother of a girl, however, remains thirty or twenty-
seven days. And when these days are over, her purification P. 108.
is perfect, [as] it is said. And [of] the mother of a boy [it
is said that she] 'has the hair-dress of full age made' ; and
[of] the mother of a girl [that she] 'makes to shave'. [What
happens, is the following:] On the last day all the clothes
of the woman who has been lying in and also the clothes
of the child and the threads of palm-leaves and of wool
with which they had been tied, and all the [other] palm-
leaves are taken by the midwife down to a river-bed; and
she washes [the clothes], and when they are thoroughly
clean she spreads them out that they may dry. All the
palm-leaves, however, and the threads she throws in the place
of the river, so that they stay behind. On that day the
woman who has been lying in bathes. Futhermore they call
little children and tell them to hold their hands, [the inside
of the palms up], over the fire; and they pour water on
them. And the children say: "May the fire go out and the
boy succeed !" When the fire is extinct they put the ashes
and the charcoal and the rubbish of the whole house on
plates and have the children carry them ; and the son of a
first wife leads them — or a girl when it is for a girl —
and they tell them not to turn their faces backward, and
going away they drop it on an caqba tree. When they return,
they give each one of them both hands full of grain. And
a babe is called until this time cenddy. And also in the house
of the woman who has been lying in they take a great deal
of grain and make a thick soup. Then when the midwife
enters with the clothes of the woman, the latter puts on
her clothes and descends from her couch and goes out of
the door. And they place a little kindling wood in front
Il8 CUSTOMS
of her, and it burns: then embracing her child she treads
on it and passes three times over it. After this she sits down
wrapping up her head. And of the women who are near
her some one says to her: "Woman who hast been lying in,
from where doest thou come?" She answers: "From the
door of Aksum! J) That I may open corn and udder; that
the young may grow up and the grown-up subsist; that the
spear may enter [and stay at home], and the tusk 2) grow
blunt; that the stranger may arrive [safely] and the people
P. 109. at home stay [in safety], that the pasturing flocks return at
night, the flocks at home be [safe] in the morning; that the
pregnant woman bring forth and the woman in childbed
bring up; that he who is hated shall be loved, and he who
is refused, be given ; that he who is far, may draw near —
[for this] am I come." And they respond each other in this
way seven times. Then they bring out a razor for the babe
and make the son of a first wife hold it, and while they
guide his hand he shaves a little spot of the head of the
babe. Thereupon a man shaves the babe; but according to
the custom of his family he leaves the gessat or the herora
or the debbokat and the gessat or the cadaddeq 3) on his head. —
The tribe of the Agdub, however, have the custom not to
shave their children until they are well grown. — Then they
say to a boy: "Go away closing thine eyes!" And when
he is hidden they pluck two grass-blades and give each one
of them a name. Now they call the boy who has closed his
eyes and say to him: "Put one of these grass-blades on
him !" And when he has put one of them on him, his name
becomes such and such; and they say: "May it be lucky
1) The woman represents now the Virgin Mary, whose chief sanctuary is
at Aksum.
2) I. e. of lion, leopard, hyaena and sntke. 3) Cf. above p. 70.
FROM THE TIME OF PREGNANCY UNTIL THE TIME OF CHILDBIRTH Ilg
for him, may he hold it up !" And the little children call him
by this name and say to him: "Come, let us play!" And
they give him the name of his grandfather — a girl that of
her grandmother or of her father's sister — , or of his father's
brother, if he has died without descendants: they take the
names of those [relatives] who are not [among the] living;
or they choose a name appropriate to what has happened
to them. And the thick soup which they have made they
distribute among their neighbours [in the same] row of
houses to the right and to the left. And those receiving the
soup say: "May the crop of the family of his mother and
of his father grow — or, of the family of her mother and of '
her father — !" And this soup is called "soup of the crop."
And the mother of the boy calls him by a surname ; the
same do the women of his family. Now the husband of the
woman and other men may enter the house. Thereupon they P. no.
put the boy in the arms of his father and his father's
brothers, of his grandfathers and of his mother's brothers
and they make him a little present consisting of some animal
or some money. To the midwife they give some grain: if
she has assisted at the birth of a boy, five keffalS; for a
girl four keffalo. But they give her the grain in small quan-
tities at a time; the reason why they do not give it to her
all at once, is that they fear their children might become
few; every time a woman brings forth, they pay up [the
rest which is owed to the midwife] for the preceding [birth].
If the mother of the babe has formerly lost children by
death, she bites — lest this child die too — a little piece
off the rim of his ear-shell and taking it with a little curdled
cooked butter she swallows it; [in this case] a boy is called
Cerrum or Qetum, a girl £erremet or Qetmet (i. e. "bitten").
Or else she calls him with an ugly name or surname. And
I2O CUSTOMS
when the child cries much they say: "The father of whin-
ing (i. e. the snake of the belly) l) has seized him;" and
his mother chews a little bit of salt or of asa foetida or a
grain of pepper and spits it on him; and at once the
disease leaves him and he is silent. After half a year the
boy's uvula is cut2): the uvula-man comes and cuts a little
piece off the uvula of the boy; then they give the man his
midday-meal and the drink to which he is accustomed (i. e.
coffee or tobacco). And when the child is a year old, they
mix grains of dura, wheat and barley and roast them : then
they let the child stand upon a [leopard's or a cow's]
skin — to a boy they give a staff in his hand, to a girl,
however, a stirring stick — and they pour a little of the
roasted grain on its head ; the rest they distribute among
their neighbours. This is the "roast grain of its year;" and
they say "the roast grain if its year" has been poured in such
and such a year. Thereupon they bless the child saying:
"May He let us see growth and health, long life and much
luck, the time when thou becomest of age!" And if at the
time of its birth or of the "roast grain of its year" a great
P. in. man who is known to all dies, or if some sign [is. seen] or
if there is a war, the parents of the child count after this
the year of the birth of their child, and they say; "It was
born in such and such a year." And the parents bring up
their child taking good care of it and watching it well; and
when it falls sick, they give it a drink of domestic and wild
bitter herbs, or anoint it, or cauterise it, or cup it. And
that it may become accostumed to speech, they ask it
questions and tell it stories. And when [the boy] is grown
up a little they make him learn the family of his father and
i) Cf. above p. 112, ann. I. 2) Cf. above p. 106, ann. i.
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 121
of his mother and the names of his ancestors. And by his
imitation of work in his play they see whether he is stupid
or clever. — Not all these rites and customs are performed
when a daughter is born. What is omitted is this: they do
not give the trilling shouts; they do not take into account
a lucky [or unlucky] day; if she is born feet first, it does
not matter; the rayat and the caqba twigs are not put up;
they do not make a fire; they do not hang up a bell; they
do not give her the "navel-gift" nor the small gift on the
day of purification. Now here ends [the description of] the
customs connected with childbirth.
83-
OF THE CUSTOMS THAT ARE PRACTISED FROM
THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING IN
THE TIGRE COUNTRIES.
[All] the Tigre people used to have formerly the same
customs with regard to betrothal and to wedding. But now
since Islam has come, their nuptial gifts and their wedding
has become somewhat varying : some of them wed according
to Mohammedan law, others according to what has come
down to them of old from their ancestors. However, even
if their ways are somewhat varying, their rites resemble
each other. Those who have the same rites are the following :
the Mansac Bet-Abrehe and Bet-Sahaqan ; the two Marya P. 112.
[i.e. the Red and the Black]; the Bet-(juk; the Bogos [or
Belen, or Sanhlt]. Although they differ somewhat from each
other as to the amount of the gift, for the rest they have
all the same customs. And their Mohammedans and their
Christians do all the same.
It is through the parents that betrothal and wedding are
122 CUSTOMS
arranged; and they begin in this way the betrothal and
afterwards the wedding. They betroth their children in many
different ways. The [future] father of a boy and the [future]
father of a girl, if they like each other and wish to be
related to each other, [arrange] while their wives are with
child saying to each other: "If one of them brings forth a
boy and the other a girl, let us betroth the boy and the
girl to each other." Thereupon they betroth them accordingly.
Or, if a boy is born and if his father is wealthy, the latter
at once betrothes to him a girl of his age or a little younger
out of the people of his country or of another tribe. Or,
again, if some people owe each other blood or revenge, the
family of the murderer give to the people from whom they
have killed, "house ') and cattle;" then the relatives of the
dead person accept the girl and betroth her to a son of
theirs or to [one of] themselves; and this way they are
reconciled, and the revenge is fulfilled. Or, again, the father
of a girl having met some difficulty says: "To him who
makes this matter a success for me. I shall give my daughter."
And the father of the boy or the boy himself makes it to
succeed for him and betrothes his daughter. Or, finally, con-
sidering each other's family and wealth they arrange a be-
trothal among themselves.
Now then, if the father of the boy intends .to betroth a
girl to his son, he says to some clever men versed in speech,
who are his friends or his relatives: "Seek for me the daugh-
ter of such and such that I may betroth her to my son !"
They go to the father of the girl, and after they have
greeted each other they grasp his hand saying: "We are
113- seeking your daughter and your blessing." The father of the
i) I. e. a girl in marriage and household furniture.
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 123
girl asks them: "Which daughter of mine?" They say to
him: "It is such and such; and we seek her for the son of
such and such." The father of the girl does not at once
agree to them, but refuses under pretexts ; and he says to
them: "But my daughter is betrothed long since; if ye come
for her and if it is the son of such and such for whom ye
seek her, why should I have refused her?" The seekers en-
treat him much, and if he [still] refuses, they say to him:
"Thus far we are under your blessing: we have no hope nor
do we despair," and they go away from him. Afterwards they
return to him a second time and ask her from him. And
if the father of the girl does not wish to give her to them,
he refuses her to them and takes all their hope, so that they
now desist from each other. But if he intends to give her
to them he says to them: "Seek her from the family of her
father and the family of her mother!" And they go and
say to every man: "We have asked the daughter of such
and such for the son of such and such; and her father has
directed us to ask her from thee. And now we ask her from
thee." And if he agrees, he says: "For my part, may she be
given unto you !", and they shake hands with him and go
away. Then the relatives of the girl having held a council
say to them: "May she be given unto you!" They return
to the father of the boy and say to him: "They have now
given us the girl." He replies: "Ye have done well; before,
we had hoped this and we have troubled you !" Thereupon
the parents-in-law, the father of the boy and the father of
the girl, decide upon the constellation during which they
are to celebrate the betrothal. And when the constellation
has drawn near, each one of them sends to his family and
his relatives that they may come. And the family of the
father and the mother of the girl assemble and wait; the
1 24 CUSTOMS
father of the girl, too, keeps milk or beer ready. And the
father of the boy with his family and his relatives and again
the family of the mother of the boy set out from their
P. 114. village; and they take some money and a piece of new
cloth with them. When they are near the village of the girl
they send to them saying: "We have come." The father of
the girl with his company goes out to [meet] them. Then
they all together move a little away from the houses and
sit down in a circle. And the father of the boy places the
piece of cloth which he has brought, in the midst; or else,
if he does not bring a piece of cloth, he places a leaf in
its stead. Thereupon the family of the boy says to the family
of the girl: "Now then, what is the amount of your nuptial
gift, and how much do ye take from us?" The family of
the girl replies: "All know our nuptial gift before this: its
amount is so and so much." With regard to the nuptial gift
each one names the amount known to him from his ancestor,
there is no generally accepted way. However, most of the
free nobility name eleven cows and eight thalers from the
mother, two thalers from the grandfather and a rug and a
cloak. The bondsmen, on the other hand, take seven thalers
from the mother and one thaler from the grandfather and
a rug and a cloak; of cattle, however, three cows or, in
some cases, two, or even one cow. The cattle of the nuptial
gift are taken by some in money, by others living. If it is
in money, the estimate of cattle is of old the following: a
cow pregnant for the first time is [worth] seven thalers ; a
heifer, that has four teeth, four thalers ; a heifer that has
two teeth, two ; a calf that has no second teeth as yet, the
same. And when they have agreed with regard to the nuptial
gift, .they say to a man that is prominent and of mild
character, a friend of the family of the boy: "Such and
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 12$
such, conclude the covenant for us!" Then he takes off his
shoes, and they all, too, take off their shoes. And the man
asks the father of the daughter three times: "Thou, such
and such, son of such and such, shall this such and such,
thy daughter, be the wife of this such and such, the son of
such and such?" And he replies three times, saying: "She P. "5-
shall be !" Thereupon he asks also the father of the boy
three times, saying: "Thou, such and such, son of such and
such, shall this such and such, thy son, be the husband (or,
the betrothed) of this such and such, daughter of such and
such?" And he replies three times, saying: "He shall be!"
And the man who concludes the covenant speaks to every
one of them three times: "Let this be a covenant of God
unto thee lest thou betrayest!" And every one of them
replies three times, saying: "Let it be!" Thereupon they
call a boy, the son of a first wife. To him the father of the
boy gives one grass-blade and the father of the girl another.
Then he takes one of them in his right hand and the other
in his left hand and passes along the people with them ;
and they make tff on them [as if they were spitting]. Now
the boy gives one of them to the father of the boy and the
other to the father of the girl, and they put them on their
heads. Then the man who concludes the covenant says the
blessing speaking thus: "The covenant is a covenant of God.
If God wills the two shall be united ; ') may He let us see
their wedding. May He unite you, you and them ! May God
fulfil your wish ! May this covenant bring good luck to him
for whom it is and to him who sees it and hears it, may'
we be better off through it ! And may God unite us at their
wedding!" And all the people say the same blessing; and
l) Literally: 'reach each other's breast'.
126 CUSTOMS
the father of the boy shakes hands with the people greeting
them and says 'Amen'. After this the father of the boy hands
over the money of the nuptial gift and the clothes to the
family of the girl; of the cattle, however, he gives them
those which are to be given living, later on, but those which
are estimated in money, he gives to them now. Thereupon
the family of the boy say to the family of the girl: "Which
is the kind of gift that ye prefer?" And if they say: "It is
P. n6. zekran" '), the father of the boy gives to each member of
the family of the girl three cubits of cloth, i. e. he gives
them the zekran; and later on, everybody that has received
the piece of cloth, gives him a heifer or a_ bullock, on the day
when they give the nuptial gift. But if they say: "The kind
of gift we prefer is money," he gives each one of them one
thaler, and later on, on the day of the wedding, they give
him the double amount, or else a heifer or a bullock if they
prefer. After this,, the father of the girl speaks to all the
people: "Now then, let us go to the village that ye may
taste the crop !" 2) And they all rise with him and go to
his village. He gives them beer or milk to drink and has a
meal prepared for them; and when they have eaten they
part in peace. The mother of the betrothed girl twists a
thin cord out of ' [some threads of] "the cloak of the
blessing" 3) and ties it around her [neck]. From this time
of the blessing onward the girl who is betrothed hides from
the boy who is betrothed to her and from his family and
the women of his family, especially from him, his father,
1) I. e. clothes at the betrothal, for which animals are paid back when the
whole gift is handed over.
2) I. e. the beer which is made of the grain, or else milk into which some
grains are put for good luck.
3) I. e. the one brought by the father of the boy.
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 127
his mother and those who are his close relatives, and she
is not seen by them. But if she is seen by some one of the
family of her betrothed, not minding them, the boy to whom
she appears beats her and, then, puts some piece of cloth
on her and goes away; afterwards she hides herself from
him. - The girl has her ear pierced and a piece of wood
put in the hole until it grows larger and the wound heals
(for her). And in the same way she has her nose pierced
on the right side and a piece of wood put in it until the
time of her wedding. Then they put a nose-ring of gold or
silver in it ; and in her ear, too, they put rings of different
shapes ') of gold or of silver. The families of the betrothed
boy and girl honour each other and double each other's
names [i. e., they say 'ye' instead of 'thou']. And the pa-
rents-in-law and relations keep away from each other: those
of the boy and the boy do not eat with those of the girl P. 117.
nor do they drink after each other from the same skin.
Again the betrothed boy hides from his female relatives-
in-law and does not go near their houses. The father of
the boy or the betrothed boy [himself] gives presents of all
kinds to the family of the betrothed girl. And later on, on
the day of the wedding, the family of the girl, anybody that
has received a present or a favour, give two thalers or a
heifer to the family of the boy. If the boy's mother-in-law
has her village in another country, and if he comes to that
village as a stranger, and if his mother-in-law hears of his
coming, she makes a good meal for him and sends it to
the house of his host. And when the boy has eaten the
meal with his company or with his hosts, *he puts in the
i) The nose-ring has, at the place of its opening, always round points ;
the ear-ring either round of flattened ends.
128 CUSTOMS
vessel of his mother-in-law one or two thalers and sends the
vessel back. At the time of the autumn, a week before the
festival of Michael, the mother of the betrothed girl makes
a thick soup of about an cebela of grain, and when the soup
has become thoroughly mellow, she pours it into a large
wooden bowl and makes a butter-sauce with it, and then
sends it to the family who has betrothed her daughter.
When the soup comes to them, they eat it with their family,
and then they put a thaler in the bowl and return it. This
happens in the first year after the betrothal, and this is
called "the soup of fruit." And from now on every year at
the festival of Michael in the fall, or a .week before it, the
mother of the girl makes the mdrwa ') bread and sends it
to the family of the boy. And the betrothed boy touches
the bread against his two elbows, his two knees, his fore-
head and his mouth and breaks it on his right knee. Then
he sends, or his people send, about two Cebela of grain to the
mother of the betrothed girl. But if the betrothing people
P. 118. iive in two tribes distant from each other, these customs of
the soup and the bread are omitted.
The father of the boy with his family prepares food and
drink, tobacco and coffee and goats, which are to be killed,
and sends word to the family of the girl saying: "On a day
of a constellation 2) in such and such a month come to me in
order to choose and take the cows of your nuptial gift that
ye have named !" And they go to him with their relatives, on
the day of the constellation. Then when they have arrived,
he leads them into a tabernacle (Fig. 12), and after they have
greeted each other, he gives them the drink and the drinking-
1) A large cake of dura bread made only for a festival.
2) Cf. above p. 70.
Fig. 12. "Tabernacles" under a Sycamore-Tree (p. 128).
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 1 29
horns, the tobacco, the coffee and the goats, and then he
has a meal prepared for them. And they pass the night
eating and drinking. The next morning the father of the boy
brings his cattle and says to the family of the girl: "Take
your nuptial gift; there is the cattle!" And the family of
the girl take out those which are of their own choice, themr
selves, but those which he selects for them, are given to
them by him: [thus] they take their amount. Thereupon, if
they are modest, they say to the family of the boy: "This
is a present for such and such, and this is a present for
such and such," and they leave [almost] all the cattle or
half of it, but they keep some of it for their daughter. If,
on the other hand, they are not modest, they take the cattle
of their nuptial gift and go away with them, and return to
their village. — If a girl dies while she is betrothed and if
the family of the betrothed boy live near, they take a shroud
and the funeral cow and go to her village, and they say to
her father and her male relatives. "Give us another girl in
her stead ; if ye do not do that, we shall not let the corpse
be buried !" If they have a daughter, they say to them :
"We give you such and such, the daughter of such and
such, in her stead." But if they have no daughter, they say:
"Wait then for us; when we shall have begotten another
daughter, ye shall take [her]." And they wait for each other p.
up to four generations and even longer than that. But if the
betrothers live far from each other, they come with the
funeral cow [only] and seek compensation. If, however, they
do not come when their betrothed girl dies, the others do
not give them any compensation: they give them their money
back and do not become related to each other. But if the
betrothed boy dies, his brother inherits his betrothed ; and
if he has no brother, the next relative in his family inherits
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 9
1 30 CUSTOMS
her. — The father of the girl with his family and every
one of his relatives that has received a zekran sends word
to the family of the boy: "Come to me at such and such
a constellation that ye take your zekran !';' After they have
arrived, he makes a meal for them, and then, he and every
one of his family that has received three cubits of cloth
give a heifer or a bullock. And the father of the girl be-
sides choosing himself [and giving some cattle] says to therri :
"Enter [and choose] among the cattle yourselves!", and he
gives them the choice of one cow; and this cow is called
sis or by at. Thereupon when they have received their [part
of] the nuptial gift, they return to their village.
Afterwards when the family of the boy have decided to
marry their son, his father goes with some people to the
family of the betrothed girl. And "when they have arrived,
they greet each other, and the [others] make a meal for them
and give [it] to them. But the father of the boy says, to-
gether with his company: "We have come asking for the
wedding; and before ye have granted us the wedding, we
shall not eat," and they refuse to eat. The family of the
girl reply: "Our daughter is young; and we are not ready!"
But if then they refuse food and water, the others say to
them, [naming] the time which suits them: "Then we shall
give [her] unto you ; have your constellation computed !"
Now the guests eat their meal and afterwards return to
P. 120. their village. And all of them get ready for the appointed
time. The mother of the girl receives the eight thalers of
the nuptial gift and adding of her own money she endows
her daughter: she buys furniture of leather, of wood, of hemp,
of bast and of palm-fibre, beads and other trinkets. Those
who are married may be young or old; there is no definite
time according to their age. They marry their children when
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING
they are' nine or ten years old, and more generally when
they are older than that; this is according to the wish of
the parents. After this when the constellation is near they
decide again and if nothing unforeseen happens to one of,
them that hinders [him], they confirm their word according
to what has been agreed to before. And after the wedding
has been determined, those who marry and those who give
in marriage, each one in his precinct, .begin the wedding:
dance a week before the constellation. And during the dance
the father and the male relatives of his generation, and the
grandfather and his male generation and [the betrothed] them-
selves are praised. The girl and the boy drink both bitter .
drinks of laxative effect and do not eat very much : they rest
and beautify their bodies. After this when only two days are
left before the constellation they both undergo the ceremony
of samid. ') The boy enters the night before the morning on
which he celebrates the samld, into the house of a first wife
and passes the night in the house. The next; morning the .
woman rises before the birds begin to warble and puts the
clothes on him in which he celebrates and slides a bracelet
on his right wrist, and around his neck a string of white and
black beads and a silver necklace or a string of white beads.
And the boy dresses in a new robe and breeches with lace-
trimming or a white skirt with red stripes; he puts shoes on
his feet and dresses in a waistcoat of silk or of spun thread.
And from now until his fourty days are over he carries a P. 121.
sword and a whip and puts a ring with a stone and a simple
ring on his hand; furthermore, from this time on, he paints
his eyes every day with antimony and rubs celtam2) or henna*}
1) I. e. what follows, viz. putting on trinkets and bathing.
2) Initiations tinctoria. 3) Lawsonia inermis.
132 CUSTOMS ;
on his finger[-nails]. And from this time until his fourty days
are over, his best friend ') stays with him and they have their
meals together. And his other friends come and they go
together down to a river, and the bridegroom bathes. More-
over, they unbraid his hair-dress for him, and he is combed ;
or if he has no braided hair he is combed [only]. In this
way he goes down to the river and bathes until the day of
[his] wedding, and he is called a bridegroom.
On the other hand, the girl who is to be married passes
that night in the house of a first wife also. And the first wife
rises with the dawn before the birds begin to warble, and
she dresses the girl who performs the samid in the cloth of
the dowry which the people of her father-in-law have brought
to her. And in the morning the girl puts on her trinkets :
on her wrists she slides bracelets of silver, of beads, of leather
and of hairat, 2) and over her elbows she puts bracelets
of various beads and rings of a horny material. Further-
more, she puts on her neck necklaces of beads and of
agate (?), of various kinds. And on the fingers of her hands,
except the two middle-fingers, she slides rings [of all kinds] :
simple silver rings with a stone, rings with ornamental kno-
blets, thin rings of silver, rings made of cattle-hoofs, rings
of stone. On the toes of her feet she places rings of iron,
and over the ankles she places anklets of beads and of silver,
if she has silver anklets. And in her nose she places rings
of gold and of silver. If her ears have not been adorned yet
1) Boys (and sometimes girls) conclude friendship by giving each other a
small pebble or a grain of dura and swallowing it. These are friends for
ever; everybody has his "best friend" (niazay). If one of them breaks the
friendship, the pebble or the grain is believed to come up his throat and
choake him.
2) This word was interpreted to me "a bracelet of glossy black material,
made in Arabia." DOZY, Supplement^ s. v., mentions "a mine of hairl glass."
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 133
with ear-rings, she receives ear-rings of silver or gold and
puts on ear-drops. To the curls of her temples she ties
silver chains and around her forehead she binds a frontlet. %
On her ears she puts also thin silver plates. After this she
goes around with her friends to the wives of the families of
her father and of her mother and says to them: "Bless me P. 122.
and hand me a gift!" And they bless her [saying]: "May He
give thee long life and much luck, fame and favour and good
fortune ! May thy womb be open and [the animals at] thy
door bring forth female young — or: may thy womb bring
forth male children and thy door female young — . Through
thy womb become a mother of many, ') be happy, be well
known and often visited. May He preserve thee thy house
and thy youth ! Be a mother of seven that have no scars
nor are cauterized." Thereupon they bring out some of their
trinkets and hand her the gift. After this she goes with her
friends down to the river and bathes; also they unbraid her
hair, and they dance beating the barrel-drum and praise the
bride and [continue to] do thus until the day on which the
nuptial procession arrives.
Now during the days of the samid the people of the boy, or
the people of the girl, — if they have a drum — each one
of them beats his drum before the birds sing. Moreover, the
musicians play the flute at the door of every one of them,
and all the women of the village give the shout of joy. And
the father of the boy invites his family and whosoever is
his relation, saying to them: "I am marrying my son; come
with us!" And in the same way the father of the girl in-
vites his relatives. And near the village of the girl a man
i) Literally: grow plentiful.
134 CUSTOMS
of the Zen tribe ') cuts wood and builds a nuptial hut (Fig. 12).
And the people of the boy have long thin branches cut, further-
more the wooden supports [for the beds], bark of trees and
cross-pieces [that are placed on the supports] ; [this is] for the
bridal hut of their son. And the groom says to every one of
his friends: "Thou such-and-such, [my] friend art thou, thus go
in the procession for me." "And the people of the girl prepare
beverages [mead and beer] for the nuptial procession that
comes to them; meals, however, are prepared for them by
the whole village after a common council. But for people
P. 123. of the vow2) they hold ready, instead of the mead and
beer, honey-water or milk. And; in the same way the people
of the boy make preparation for the nuptial procession that
sets out and for the invited guests. Thereupon, if the people
of the boy go in procession to afnother] tribe, the people of
his village make an account in common, and make a propor-
tional division for each procession; 3) and they precede with
those that follow them and with their relatives. And the best
friend of the groom rides with him on the same mule and
holds a shield over his head. And their handmaids — if they
have such — gird themselves and precede with them. If they
have a drum, they procede with it and march beating it.
Furthermore, musicians march with them playing the flute
— or the violin — or the trombone and the harp. And the
people of the procession sing the hoyra.
1) The Zen tribe who came from Hamasen — where they are still quite strong
in °Azzen — once fought with the Mansac and were conquered. Since many
of them were killed, the Mansac agreed to give certain privileges to the Zen
in order to avoid blood-feud. — This applies, therefore, only to the Mansac.
2) I. e. those ot the Abyssinian Mohammedans who do not take alcoholic
drinks.
3) Because there are usually several weddings at the same time (cf. above
P- 70).
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING
The leader: i) wahay galo wego, wahay galo wego.
The chorus : yaho galo wego.
2] haymara lefo, haymara lefo.
yaho haimara lefo.
3) wasomaye some, wasomaye some.
yaho some.
4) cebelbdl geme, cebelbdla geme.
cebelbdl geme.
5) hembobelle rado, hembobelle rado.
hembobelle rado.
6) haygdmel caldmale, wahay gdmel ca!dmale.
yaho ho haigdmel caldmale.
7) sebo waylega sebo.
hdha^ waylega sebo.
8) hasausawa hasau sawarelle.
hasausawa hasau sawarelle.
9) haffaye zabole, haffaye zabole. P. 124.
haffaye zabole, haffaye zabole.
10) ^agok ndbi.
mahammdd.
The people do not understand the meaning of these songs. Several of the
words seem to be corrupted Tigrina words and it is not impossible that most
of the songs came from the Tigrina country, and while they were handed
down without being understood were altered considerably. Only No. 10 is
from the Arabic and is easily understood: "They have come to thee, o pro-
phet" — Chorus: "Mohammed." No. 9 may mean: "He who has a sharp
[sword]," No. 5 : "Go down to Hembobelle," the latter being perhaps the
name of some formerly renowned place or river.
And while the leader and the chorus sing this hoyra, they
dance [alternately] in small parties. And in the evening be-
fore the 'lucky day' ') they come to the village from which
they marry. And when the procession is seen, the girls
l) Cf. above p. 70.
136 CUSTOMS
come to meet them beating the barrel-drum. And all the
people of the village come out of their houses and look on,
and the women give the shout of joy, and if the people of
the girl have a drum, they beat their drum; and the men
of the procession dance. Thereupon the men of the village
say to them: "Enter now!" And the procession cut through
to the nuptial hut shouting their hoyra. And after faiey have
marched three times around the hut they sit down. [Then]
the bridegroom or his best man enters into the hut with his
friends. And the people of the village come and greet the pro-
cession. And when they have greeted each other, the people
of the village bring them mats or carpets .and bedsteads that
suffice for them. Furthermore they place for them wood-fires
around the hut; and they give them tobacco and coffee and
water. Thereupon they bring beer for them, and they drink
from it until they are satisfied. After this the men of the
village take the weapons of the men of the procession and
count them, and by this they know the number of [the men
of] the procession. ') And after they have decided according
to the number of the men, they cook polentas with butter
and milk, and they divide the people into parties and give
them their dinner. Of the polenta, however, the musician,
the man who cuts the uvula, and the man of the Zen tribe
receive each one portion. And when they have dined, the
young men dance with the girls of the village, and they
P. 125. praise the father of the girl. But the older men of the pro-
cession pass the night with the men of the village in the
hut drinking mead. And the women of the village pass the
night dancing in the house of the family that gives in mar-
riage, and they praise the "fathers" 2) and the ancestors of
1) It would, of course, be impolite to count the men themselves.
2) I. e. the father and his brothers.
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 137
the girl. And on the other hand, if they reproach [the men
of] the procession [behind their back], they sing mocking
songs about them. On the next day the people of the girl
say to the people of the boy, i.e. the procession: "How
much have ye given, in money and clothes?" And the
people of the procession count whatever they have given
and in what they have supported [the people of the girl]
and what they have donated expecting a return. And what
the people of the girl deny or do not acknowledge, about
this they call witnesses, and he in whose favor the witness
is borne wins. And whatever they have given, the people
of the girl return twofold or return to them by giving ani-
mals. ') After this the father of the girl [divides among] the
"fathers" and the ancestors of the bridegroom and him also
and the handmaids and the drum[mer] and the musician
and the noble ones among the procession that came; saying
"This is the gift for such and such," he gives to each one
of them a heifer or a bullock or two thalers. And when the
people of the girl have finished all their gifts, the father of
the boy says to them: "May God requite you!" The mother
of the bride cooks a meal and makes a good sauce of butter
and sends it to the bridegroom. The bridegroom eats a little
of it with his company and returns it. And when they bring
the rest back the boys take it away and eat it. This is
called "the meal of the covenant." [Then] they wrap the
clothes that have come as the nuptial gift from the family
of her father-in-law in the leathern skirt of the bride and
make a boy, the son of a first wife, carry it, and he goes
with it to and fro three times from the house of the mother
of the girl as far as the tabernacle, without turning aside,
i) Cf. above p. 126.
138 CUSTOMS
looking straight forward, and the people make tff on it.
The rug and the cloak which they have asked and taken
at the time of the betrothal from the family of the bride-
P. 126. groom, is now worn for the first time by the bride, going
away. The family of the bridegroom bring the he-goat or
the bullock of the mendeg-sacrifice. And this the friends of
the groom take, and at the door of the mother of the bride,
at the side of a hole that has been dug before, they kill it
according to the religious rite of the marrying people; and
then, they put [the head of the animal which has been cut
off but not entirely severed from the body] down in the hole.
But the windpipe they cut and throw to the women that
are in the house. — The Belen, however, throw the hoof — .
And this is called [the] mendeg[-sa.crifice]. Then the family
of the girl eat the meat, but half of it they give to the
friends of the groom. — Moreover, the musician receives a
fore-leg and the head — . ') Thereupon they gather all the
bones of the mendeq and bury them in the hole where it
was killed, in order that this may be [a symbol of] rest
and happiness for their daughter. The mother of the girl
makes the best friend of the groom count the things which
she sends with her daughter. But of the leather things she
gives the musician a sack or a bag. After this the women
fill the palm-leaf bowl of the bride with water and put
some casal*) and sprouting corn into it. Then they let the
bride sit on the ground upon a bridle or upon a chair: 3) she
undresses herself, and they pour the water on her. And this
is called the "casal- water." And they put fragrant herbs on
1) Only with the Mansac.
2) A certain odoriferous herb.
3) This is to indicate symbolically that she should "bridle" her tongue and
stay in her own house as a wife.
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 139
her head, and also her clothes they fumigate with incense,
'sandal-wood and sweet resin. After this they dress her in new
[clothes], viz. shirt, drawers, and cloak. Thereupon the families
of the father and of the mother of the bride sit down at the
door of the house in which the bride is. — And one of the
women takes the box of the bride, and having put butter
into it she goes out and smears a little each on the center of
the heads of the men. — l) After this the men enter one by P. 127.
one to the bride and greet her and bless her and give her
trinkets, saying to her: "May thy face be of good luck for
the family of thy father-in-law, and thy back for us ; rest
and repose!" And the friends of the bridegroom come
dancing, and after having entered the house they lift up the
bride; and they take also all the things that her mother
has given her. And they bring the bride into the tabernacle
and put her down at the side of the groom. As soon as
they have lifted her up, the women put a little polenta into
a wooden bowl and go out behind the bride; this the boys
take away and eat it. After this the people of the procession
and the family of the girl sit down at the door of the taber-
nacle as before, facing each other. And the father of the
groom, or the groom himself, rises and shakes hands with
the male relatives of his bride, saying: "Bless me!" And
they bless him.
And the friends of the groom lift up the bride and the
dowry and some of it they put on mules; and singing the
hoyra they depart. The friends of the bride accompany her
playing the barrel-drum and dancing, and they speak thus:
*Sanoy, my friend, fare thou well! Thou art a girl, a girl,
whose mother is friendship (?). Thou art a girl of the whip(?)
i) With the Mansac only.
140 CUSTOMS
of Sero." ') Finally they kiss her and go back. And when the
procession has departed from the village, they mount the bride
on a mule, and the best friend of her [groom] rides with
her and holds her. But she is entirely wrapped up and keeps
silent. And if on their journey the evening overtakes them,
they pass the night at some village. And they let the bride
and the groom, each one of them, pass the night in the house
of a first wife. The bride does not eat or drink on the way,
she refuses haughtily. The best friend, on the other hand,
says: aBy herself she shall not be thirsty and hungry!",
P. 128. and he refuses like her to eat and to drink. When the pro-
cession has come near the village of the jgroom, they dance
and sing the hoyra. And the girls of their village come to
meet them beating the barrel-drum and clapping their hands
and dancing to this song:
"Our luck, the bride, has come to us.
Our luck, the ornament, has come to us.
Thus God has given thee to enter the village of these people.
Their village is a village of gold; their hair-arrow is of
silver." 2)
The women give the shout of joy, and all the people look
on. Thereupon they lead the bride into the bridal taber-
nacle, which has been built, and they put the leather skirt
down for her. And if the procession arrives before the day
has turned, 3) on the [same] day, otherwise on the next day,
they make the groom to sit on a chair at the door of his
bridal tabernacle, furthermore they make a boy, the son of
1) This is mostly in Tigrifia and partly corrupted. Sanoy and Sero could
not be explained; the translation of the other words is somewhat uncertain.
2) Also these verses are mostly in Tigrina and partly corrupted.
3) I. e. before noon.
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 14!
a first wife, sit near him on the ground. Then they put
sprouting corn and casal in the palm-leaf bowl of the bride
and fill it with water. And the groom and the boy take off
their clothes and put them down. Thereupon they pour the
water on them; and they dress the groom in the cloak that
has come with the bride, and having wrapped himself in it
he stays in his place. The water is called the casat-water ;
and the boy is the wad-sembel. ') — If the groom is a Christian,
the priest comes and cuts, with a knife from the family of
the groom, some hair of the center of his head and puts it
into the water, and then, he pours the c#.fo/-water on the
groom. And the priest receives the knife and the old cloak
of the groom. — And whosoever is a relative of the groom
comes to him, and he shakes hands with them. They bless
him and present a gift to him, cattle or goats, or money, P. 129.
or else fields. After this the groom enters into his bridal
tabernacle. And a first wife changes the clothes of the bride
and braids her hair. Thereupon her nurse2) brings her water
and food; and she tastes a little without taking much, and
continues in this way until her fortieth day. And they give
to all those that have gone in the procession beverages to
drink, and even to those that have stayed at home they
give to drink.
The bride lies down, and two friends [of the groom] seize
each other's hands over her neck. Then the groom stepping
upon their hands passes over her three times and says: "May
.thy neck be soft and may my neck be hard." Afterwards
the groom kills a young he-goat or a young ram as a
sacrifice. — For a Mohammedan the shekh offers the sacri-
1) I. e. "the son of the wedding-gift."
2) Literally "the woman who feeds her."
142 CUSTOMS
fice. — And in the evening the family of the groom cook
a large meal of an *ebela of corn and make a sauce of
butter and curds with its spices. The friends of the groom
eat this, and what they leave over, they return to the house
of the mother of the groom. And when they have eaten,
they say kesse ') and shout. Moreover, before the meal they
drink a keg of beer. They eat and drink in this way until
the fifth day, in the evening and in the morning, from the
family of the groom. Now those who owe the family some
return gift help them and make the meal and the keg [of
beer] for them. But if any one of the friends, before entering
the bridal tabernacle, sees that the food is cooked in another
place or while it is carried, he abstains from it, saying: "I
have seen it in another place." The bride is always wrapped
up and hidden behind the curtain and is not seen by any-
body else except the best friend [of the groom] and the
P. 130. nurse. The groom and his best friend and the wad-sembel
eat together. The groom goes on the same day, after the
casal, wrapped up with his friends down to a river, while
his friends sing the hoyra and the musician leads them playing
the flute. Then they make the groom to sit at one place,
and the wad-sembel seats himself at his feet. And they take
off their clothes, and the friends dip water with the palm-
leaf bowl and pour it on them seven times. Thereupon
they dress them in their clothes. This is called the first
casur. And again, the groom and the wad-sembel go down
to the water three times. The second time they go down
after twenty days: the friends pour water on them with the
bowl twice seven, and this is called the second casur. The
third time when they go down, after thirty days, they pour
i) Perhaps "it was good."
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 143
[water] three times seven: this is called the third casur. And
at the fourth trip, after fourty days, they pour [water] on
them seven times seven : this is called ^arbtfa ') or the fourth
casur. And this is his last time, with which he finishes. At
the first trip they braid the hair of the groom and anoint
him with butter from the box of the bride which they have
taken down with them. While the groom and his friends
are gone, the women make a larger bridal tabernacle and
adorn it : they build it at the right side 2) of the house of
his mother and put branches of the tasas 3) tree on it. After
that the groom and his friends go out singing the hoyra as
before; and they eat and drink as before. But when the
day pf their departure, [viz.] the fifth day, has come, on
that day they take an early midday-meal and go out [to
bring] fumigating wood of the sarob tree for the bride. And
each one of them cuts a stem and carries it, and singing P. 131.
the hoyra they return. And when they have put it down,
each one of them chops his stem, and they pile [the pieces]
up in the house of the bride: this is for her fumigation
every evening, and she makes her vapour-bath from it. On
the [same] day [they take] the leather that has come with
the bride, and they cut one or two goat-skins, according to
the number of the friends, into stripes for the sandal-straps
of the friends: then they give each friend a strap. And
when they have dined, the friends present their ^essarat : 4)
each one of them gives a thaler in money or its value [in
kind] to the groom. This is called ^essarat. Thereupon each
1) I. e. "[the] fortieth day]."
2) I. e. as you leave the house.
3) A certain tree of medium hight, not to be found in SCHWEINFURTH,
Abyssinische Pflanzennamen.
4) I.e. the present given at this time; literally "Angebinde."
144 CUSTOMS
one says: "I go out with so and so!" '), and they leave the
house and go away. The best friend, however, kills a cow
or a goat for his two best friends, [the groom and the bride],
and after having prepared the meat he gives it to them in
small portions; and he gives nothing of it to anybody else.
But if he has no animal that he might kill, he gives [a little]
more money as an ^essarat. Some of the friends sleep with
the family of the groom before they leave, but finally they
all go away. The wad-sembel, however, and the best friend
eat with the groom; and they pass the nights together until
the fortieth day comes.
The groom does not leave his house when the sun has
set, lest he see the stars or they see him. 2) Moreover, if he
goes away he does not pass the night at another place,
except in case of need. And if the groom has risen when
*
there is an alarm, he does not go on a robbing excursion ;
nor does he go to bring back what has been captured. He
does no work. He does not sit in council in order not to
hear a wrong judgment or an oath. He does not go with a
funeral. If he goes about the wad-sembel follows him always:
he does not go by himself. When his fortieth day has
come, the groom has his clothes washed at his last trip to
the water.
P. 132. On [t]his last day he rises with the dawn before the birds
begin to warble, and he takes off the sword, the whip, the
beads, the silver necklace, the bracelet and puts them on
the bedstead. Then he goes out and sits down at the council-
place. — The groom and the bride do not speak to each
other for a long time. But when they finally talk to each
1) Everybody makes a new friend at a wedding.
2) Cf. above p. 60 — 61.
FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING 145
other for the first time, it is called felenne. ') And the people
ask the groom about his telenne threatening him. 2)
On that day, if the family of the bride lives near, her
"mothers," i. e. the women in her father's and her mother's
family, take a meal or corn and visit her. Her mother, how-
ever, prepares a polenta and having cooked it and made a
good butter-sauce, she brings [it]. And this is eaten by the
husband of her daughter together with the family of his
father, and it is called "the polenta of the fortieth day]."
And the women who are with the bride return after having
received a meal from the family. The women of her father-
in-law's family [take] on that day a small ring of palm-
panicles — or a ring of lead or a finger-ring of silver — [and]
put it on [her head] instead of her silver hair-ring until her
[first] year is over. And on the same day the bride gives to
the wad-sembel and to the boys of her father-in-law's family
long neck-chains of beads, to the girls, however, bracelets of
different kinds of beads and necklaces [consisting of two
strings of alternating long and short beads]. Again on the
same day the [women] put gloves on the hands of the bride,
in order that her nails may grow long. And she lives in
retirement without work for a year, and she does not go
down from her bedstead except at the time of the vapour-
bath. She talks in a whisper and she calls by knocking.
Moreover, the bride does not pronounce the names of her
husband, her older brothers-in-law [i. e. brothers of her hus-
1) I. e. probably "she spoke to me."
2) They say e. g. "If thou sayest the truth, thou shall find happiness;
if thou sayest a lie, thou shall find misery" or "Thy qeblat (direction
of prayer) shall be such and such," i. e. thy religion shall be changed. The
Mohammedan direction of prayer is north, the Christian south ; but the latter
used to be east.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 10
146 CUSTOMS
band] or of her older sisters-in-law [i. e. sisters of her husband].
Nor does she pronounce the names of her fathers-in-law and
mothers-in-law, those of the present and those of former
generations. But she calls them after the names of their
P- i33- children *) or by their surnames addressing them in the
plural. 2) But most times she does not talk to them at all and
is not seen by them. Furthermore, if somebody else is called
by the same name as one of them, this [name] is forbidden
to her: she addresses [that person] by his surname or after
his [first] child or "meksa" 3) And to her husband she says,
after the name of the wadwaldo (i. e. an adorned head-
, support given by the mother-in-law, and called by a proper
name), "father of so and so." But afterwards, when they
have a child, she says to him "father of such and such"
(viz. name of a boy or a girl), and he says to her "mother
of such and such." — The bride does not do any [hard]
work as long as she is in retirement. But she does handi-
work on her bedstead : she sews palm-mats, she does patch-
work, she sews clothes, she spins, she twists, and she strings
pearls. After a year she "turns": the women gather and
braid her hair and put a beautiful silver-ring in it with a
chain of beads and a silver tube and plates, and they adorn
her with a frontlet which her husband has had made for
her. Thereupon the women boil dura corn and eat it, and
this is called fere. 4) After this the bride lives in retirement
for another year, if she has a woman that works for her.
But if she has not, she begins the entire work of her house-
hold on that day, and it is said "She has seized herself."
1) I. e. "father of N. N." or "mother of N. N."
2) She says "ye" instead of "thou."
3) Literally "surname," used if one does not want to say the real name.
4) I. e. fruit.
OF THE RITE OF CIRCUMCISION 147
Later, after two or three years, her husband has beve-
rages and food prepared and says to the family of his father-
in-law: "Come to your daughter!" And the families of her
father and of her mother come to him : they pass the day
drinking of the beverages and eating the meal, and they
greet their daughter. Then they give to the family of her
father-in-law presents, ') to each one of them one or two
thalers, or a bullock each, or a heifer each, or a goat each.
And after having greeted each other they return to their
village. This is called "the present ') of the entering" or
"of the appearing." However, if her family belongs to [an- P. 134.
other] tribe, the "present of the entering" is not given to
her. But if somebody of her family visits her, he gives her
at his first visit the "present of her appearing." — Thus
end the wedding customs.
84.
OF THE RITE OF CIRCUMCISION IN THE
TIGRE COUNTRY.
The Tigre people observe strictly the covenant of circum-
cision, in the same way as all the people of Abyssinia.
They count him that has not been circumcised as a slave ;
and they revile him saying "uncircumcised slave." They cir-
cumcise all male children while they are small. And even
the girls they circumcise, and by the circumcision they tell
their inviolated virginity; and if she is not circumcised they
count her as a slave. Thus all their offspring are circumcised
while they are young. And when a boy has been circumcised,
they tell him at the door of his mother to give a shout of
i) Literally : "property.1'
148 CUSTOMS
challenge, and he gives this shout. Then he pierces with a
lance a net [suspended] in the door and his mother gives the
shout of joy. And his father gives him the "circumcision
present," [i. e.] a head of cattle or of goats, and this is
counted as the property of the boy. And it is said: "He
has received the circumcision present." Besides he receives
on that day presents from his other relatives; he dresses in
a white cloak. The boy is circumcised by a man; but the
girl by a woman.
The age at which the children are circumcised varies from one to six years.
Circumcisio puellarum fit hunc in modum. Pars clitoridis absciditur, et duo
labia in ea parte quae ante vaginam est inciduntur; ea pars quae ante urethram
est non inciditur. Postea femora puellae colligantur, et in lecto recumbit
donee vulnus sanatur et vagina clauditur. In nuptiis femina quaedam puellam
cultro aperit, neque ante diem quadragesimum coniux ei appropinquat.
The "shout of challenge" is e.g. "[I am] a bull, a bull;" or U[I am] a good
mark's man, a good mark's man." Cf. below No. 90.
OF THE RITE OF BAPTISM WITH THE
MANSAC BET-ABREHE.
Formerly when their first priest, the priest Haile-GargTs,
the son of the priest Belenay, was living, there was baptism.
p. 135. In the month of Gabre'el, after Christmas about two weeks, on
that day the priest used to place the tabot of Mary ofSion J)
on his head, and all the people followed after him, saying:
"Lord, have mercy upon us, Christ!" And while the priest was
leading them, they marched around the house of Mary three
times. Then they stood at the door of the house of Mary.
The priest with the tabot on his head stood before them,
and he said to them: "Say: we have sinned!" And all the
people kneeled down, and facing the priest they replied:
i) See above p. 55 seqq.
NAMES OF PERSONS 149
"We have sinned." Thereupon the priest said to them:
"Say: we are sanctified." And they stood up and said: "We
are sanctified." And this they used to repeat three times.
Then they went all down to a river while the priest led
them with his tabot and his incense. Thereupon the priest
placed the tabot on the edge of the river, and saying:
"Holy!" he dipped his hand in the water. The people took
off their clothes and went into the river saying: "Holy, holy,
holy !" and bathed. Then, when they had left the river they
greeted *) the house of Mary. After this everybody went to
his house. On that day the priest spread a palm-mat near
the house of Mary, and the people poured corn on it as a
gift 2) for Mary. Afterwards the priest took it. This was their
baptism; and they did it every year, and were baptized
anew. They said: "It is the baptism of John." But later on
the tabot was lost, and the priests grew weak; and the rite
of baptism ceased. However, the sign of the house of Mary
exists until this day. 3) And the family that used to be priests
have this name until to-day. And also the tribute they receive
until to-day. Of those who had been Christians some became
Mohammedans; those, however, who are Christians until P. 136.
to-day have became nominal 4) Christians that have no ser-
vice whatsoever.
86.
NAMES OF PERSONS IN THE TIGRE COUNTRY.
Every boy and every girl receives a name when the time
of the mother's childbed is over. They call the boy after
1) I. e. touched it, kissed it, and prostrated themselves before it.
2) Literally: "saying." 3) See above p. 55 (Fig. 2").
4) Literally: "of the mouth."
I5O NAMES
the name of his grandfather: only, if his grandfather is still
alive, they call him after his great-grandfather, or they name
him after (the name of) his father's brother, if he has died
without leaving any offspring; or else, after what has happened
to them at that time. And if a former child has died, they
give [the new child] an ugly name fearing he might also
die. The same [happens] to the girl. They name her after her
grandmother(s) or after her aunt(s) from the father's side or
after what has happened to them at that time. And each
one of them has a second name, a surname. Again the
men [sometimes] receive a nickname according to their pe-
culiarities; and this becomes by and by their [usual] name.
And for this reason the names of men are plentiful ').
p. 137. RELATIONSHIP.
The Tigre words denoting relationship in its different degrees are the
following. With every word its deminutive or hypocoristic form is given in
brackets.
^ab ^abutay] father.
Plural: *abac "fathers," i.e.
male relatives of the father's
generation.
hu ^ab (hu ^abutay] "brother of
the father," i. e. uncle.
cammat ^.ammatlt) "aunt" from
the father's side.
*em ^emmetat, ^emmatit] "mo-
ther." Plural: ^emmat "mo-
thers," female relatives of
the mother's generation.
hal (kdletay) "uncle," from the
mother's side.
hal (haltetat] "aunt" from the
mother's side.
*ab*eb fatfebetayY grandfather" .
, .. } the same.
abot ( abotat) "grandmother
•
i) In the following list the number of the names of women is much
smaller than that of men. This is chiefly due to the fact that the names of
married Women are not kpown to other men; cf. below chap. 1 10, introduction.
Naffac could write, therefore, only the names of girls whom he knew.
RELATIONSHIP
"atfeb qadam "great-grandfather"
qadamlt "great-grandmother"
the same.
wad *ab (wad ^abutay] "son of
the father" i. e. cousin from
the father's side.
wad cammat (wad cammatlt)
"son of the aunt from the
father's side."
wad^atfeb (wad^aFebetay] "son
of the grandfather," i. e.
cousin of the father.
wad ^abot (wad^abotaf) "son of
the grandmother,'
sin of the father.
i. e. cou-
zama (zametay] " brother-in-
law," viz. the brother (or
the brothers) of the wife in
relation the husband, his
brothers and his sisters.
ham (kamutay] i) father-in-law;
2) son-in-law; 3) the male
relatives of the parents' ge-
neration of the wife or of the
husband in relation to each
other, or those of the wife
in relation to the husband,
or those of the husband in
relation to the wife.
talakem (tala&emetay^brother-
in-law," viz. the brothers of
the husband in relation to
the wife.
wad hal (wad hatetay] " cousin, "
i. e. son of the mother's
brother.
wad hal(wad haltetat) "cousin,"
i. e. son of the mother's
sister.
wad ^atfeb (wad ^atfebetay]
"son of the grandfather,"
i. e. cousin of the mother.
wad ^abot (wad ^abotat] "son
of the grandmother," i. e.
cousin of the mother.
zamayit (zamayifit} "sister-in-
law," viz. the sister (or the
sisters) of the wife in rela-
tion to the husband, his
brothers and his sisters.
hamat (hametat) i) mother-in-
law; 2) the female relatives
of the parents' generation of
the wife or of the husband
in relation to each other, or
those of the wife in relation
to husband, or those of the
husband in relation to the
wife. — There is no special
word for daughter-in-law.
nacal (na^altafif) " sister-in-law,"
viz. the sisters of the hus-
band in relation to the wife.
NAMES
hanno(hannotay} "the husbands
of sisters in relation to each
other."
selef (selfatit) "the wifes of
brothers in relation to each
other."
samar (samar atit] "wifes of the
same husband in relation to
each other."
(P. 138- NAMES OF MEN IN THE TIGRE COUNTRY.
156.)
Names referring to the deity or to the saints.
God or the saints give the child: \. Hebte-le^ul "gift of the
High One;" 2. Hebtes "gift of Jesus;" 3. Hebsellase "gift of
the Trinity;" 4. Temaryam "gift of Mary;" 5. Temekkfel "gift
of St. Michael;" 6. Hebte-Gargis "gift of St. George" (also
'E6te. ..); 7. Hiyabu «his gift;" 8. Hebtu "his gift;" 9. Hebet
"gift;" 10. Hebtan "their gift," i.e. a gift for his "mothers;"
ii. Hebtdy "the giver," i.e. "God is the giver;" 12. Saggay
"bounteous," i.e. "God is bounteous, since He gave us this
child." 12*. ^Akkasa "He has thrown [the child on his parents]."
God or the saints plant the child: 13. Takles "plant of
Jesus;" 14. Taksellase "plant of the Trinity;" 15. Taklay.
15*. Takate. 16. Taqlecon "plant of Sion."
God is to be praised: 17. Hamde-rabbi "praise of God;"
18. Hamde "praise;" 19. Hammeddo "I praise Him." Cf. also
the Arabic names Hamad etc., No. 575 seqq.
God or the saints are powerful: 20. Hayles "power of
Jesus;" 21. Haile-Gargls *• power of St. George;" 22. Hayimkel
"power of St. Michael." Cf. also Bahaylay, below, No. 237.
God or the saints are the patrons of their clients:
23. Hasab-ba^alu "the client of his master." 24. Hasabu
"His client." Cf. the Arabic Hasab-annabl, No. 582. 25. Heder-
Maryam "the client of Mary." 253. Hedres "the client of Jesus."
NAMES OF MEN 1 53
26. ^Eqba-"ezgl "the client of the Lord;" 27. cEqba-rdbbi "the (I'.isS—
client of God;" 28. ^Eqbes "the client of Jesus;" 29. "Eqba-
ktos "the client of Christ;" 30. "Eqba-Hannes "the client
of St. John;" 31. "Eqba-Gargis "the client of St. George;"
32. cEqba-mkel "the client of St. Michael;" 33. ^Eqba-leddat
"the client of Christmas;" 34. cEqba-Tedros "the client of
Theodore," i. e. probably the Theodore who is to come at
the end of time and to rule in peace over all Abyssinia;
cf. BASSET, Fekkare lyasous, Paris, 1909, p. 4 seqq. 34*. ^Eqbdy
is an abbreviated form. See also below No. 138.
God is merciful: 35. Mahdri "merciful" (in Tigrina =
rehemay in Tigre):
God gives success: 36. Marke "who makes succeed;"
37. Raka "he succeeded" (said of the child). 38. Rdkl "who
succeeds."
God helps: 39. Rad^i "help" (especially in bringing back
booty).
God pleases: 40. Samara; 41. Samra; 42. Mesmar;
43. Semur; 44. Samara-riul (i.e. — lecul}. However, these
names may be interpreted from the Tigrina where samara
means "he has made to agree" and semur -"one who agrees."
In Tigre these names are of foreign origine.
God heals: 45. Sara "he has healed;" 46. Sefaf* healing,"
*
i. e. "God has formerly afflicted me and now healed me by
the birth of my child."
God assists: 47. Qalafi "one who assists a friend in
trouble." Cf. below Nos. 220 — 222. The Tigrina word qalatd
means the same as the Tigre yabbata,
God or the saints are the hope: 48. Tasfa-le'ul "hope
of the High One;" 49. Tasfds and 50. Tasfes "hope of
Jesus;" 51. Tasfa-Gargis "hope of St. George;" 52. Tasfa-
Hannes "hope of St. John;" 53. Tasfdmkel "hope of St. Mi-
I$4 NAMES
(P.I38— chael;" 54. Tasfacpn "hope of Sion." Abbreviated forms:
1560 55. Tasfay; 56. Tasfoy.
God is awful: 57. Gemra-le^ul (for Germa — ) "awe of
the High One."
God prepares: 58. " Addala "He has prepared," i.e. an
heir for the parents.
God hears: 59. 3 Asme^e (Tna) "he, i.e. the father, has
made [God] to hear [his prayers]."
God illuminates: 60. ^Abrehe (Tna) " He has illuminated,' '
i. e. the house where the boy was born.
God makes to flow His mercy: 61. ^Anhaza "He has
made to flow," i. e. His mercy like rain.
God preserves: 62. ^Aifala "He has preserved," and
63*. ^Aifalom "He has preserved them," i. e. the parents from
dying without an heir.
God accustoms: 63. ^Almada "He has accustomed," and
63*. ^Almadom "He has accustomed them," i. e. the parents
to His mercy. Cf. also below No. 243.
God gives rest: 64. ^Askaba "He has given rest," i.e.
to the parents; 65. ^Askabu, i.e. probably for ancient ^askabo
"He gave him rest."
God returns or answers: 66. ^Ezgi-malas (Tna) "the
Lord has returned" or "answered [the prayer]."
God gives health: 67. cAfa "He has given health,"
i. e. to the mother of the child. But this may also be said
of the boy himself; cf. No. 943.
God makes to grow: 68. ^Abiyo "make him (i.e. the
child) to grow !"
God adds: 69. Wassaka "He has added."
God or the saints support: 70. cAnsellase and 71. Basel-
lase (both for ' '' Amda-sellase] "column of the Trinity;"
72. "Amdes "column of Jesus;" 73. "Addemkel "column of
NAMES OF MEN 1 55
St. Michael." Abbreviated: 74. ' ''Anted and 75. cAmdoy. (P.iaS—
The saints are the parents: 76. Walda-Gaber "son of
Gaber," i. e. the famous Gabra Manfas Qeddus ; 77. Walda-
Gargis "son of St. Georg." Cf. below the names derived from
zarf "seed," Nos. 500 — 503.
God gives victory: 78. Deles "victory of Jesus."
God reconciles: 79. Dakala "He has reconciled."
God repairs: 80. (Jabber "He repairs;" 81. Gabara "He
has much repaired."
God remembers: 82. Feqqad "remembrance."
God or the saints are masters, man is their servant:
83. Gaber-rabbi "servant of God; 84. Gabres "servant of
Jesus;" 85. Gaber-ketQs "servant of Christ;" 86. Gar-Maryam
"servant of Mary;" 87. Gabremkel "servant of St. Michael."
Abbreviated: 88. Gaber ; 89. Gabru; 90. Gabrdy ; probably
also 91. Gaber and 92. Gaberay, though these two may have
been derived from Gaber, the name of the famous saint;
Here may be added 92*. Rabbi-bu "he has a god."
Man is a part of the saint: 93. Kefle-Gargls "part of
St. George." The other names containing the word "part"
are to be found below Nos. 324 — 332; cf. also Nos. 225, 226.
Few names are abbreviated by omitting the first part of
the composite name containing a substantive or a common
noun: 94. Madken "the Saviour," for "servant of...." or
some similar word. 94a. ^Anndbi "the prophet." Perhaps also
Gargis (iO5a) is an abbreviated form; cf. No. 77. 95. Mekal,
which may stand for Mika^el "St. Michael."
Other names referring to the Deity and to religion are
96. Nawa-ezgl "behold, the Lord!"; 97. Bahaymanot, and
97. Be^emnat "by faith;" 99. Din "religion" with its deriva-
tive 100. Dinay.
Of uncertain derivation is 101. Maqa-^ezgi which may pos-
1 56 NAMES
(P.I38— sibly be the "threshold of God," if maqa is taken to be the
156.) .
Amhanc maqan.
Ancient names taken from the Hebrew and from the Greek.
102. ^lyasu, i. e. Joshua; 102*. Ya~aqob i. e. Jacob;
103. Yahannes, i. e. the Greek 'luavvyq influenced by the He-
brew Yohanan; in old Ethiopic Yokannes; 104. Galaydos, i.e.
KA#y5/o<: (Claudius); 105. Tedros, i.e. ®sd$upo<;; iO5a. Giirgis,
i. e. TsMpyioc.
Names referring to animals.
These names originated in different ways, and the reasons why they are
given are in most cases well known. A. Those that refer to strong animals,
e. g. lion, camel, bull, express the wish that the children might become like
them. B. Those that signify despised or unimportant animals, e. g. pig, donkey,
monkey, are given because the parents wish that the deity may consider the
children as men consider these animals, viz. not pay any attention to them
and consequently not kill them. C. Some names of small animals are given
as nicknames and then continue to be used. But there are some the origin
of which is not altogether certain. Moreover it must be said that in certain
cases in which the name of a tribe denotes an animal, this tribe may originally
have considered the animal as its totem 5 cf. above p. 85 seqq. But among
the present names I have found none about which any totemistic idea was
given to me.
A. Names of strong and swift animals: 106. Hayal^addeha
"the lion of noontide;" the lion is generally not seen during
the day, but if he then appears, he is very ferocious and
dangerous. io6a. Hadambas, probably an abbreviation of
hadge ^ambasa "offspring of the lion." 107. ^Asham, i. e. a
surname of the lion and other animals that devour every-
thing; 108. Kereb, i.e. surname of the elephant, originally
meaning a knot on a branch, given because the elephant
has a knotted skin; 109. *Ewal "young of the elephant;"
no. Haris "rhinoceros" with its derivatives; in. Harsoy
and 112 Harslt; 113. Gamal "camel;" 114. Gumu/i "[bull]
with clipped horns," i. e. a bull whose horns are shortened
NAMES OF MEN 1 57
at the top because of his ferocity; 115. "Arab "antilope."
i I5a. : "Ararat, plural of the preceding. Cf. also Deruy (No. 5 19).
B. Names of despised and unimportant animals: 116. Habay
"monkey;" lift *Adeg "donkey" with its derivative 118.
^Adgoy; 119. Helela "young donkey" that has begun to cover
(hallel}; 1 20. Gumum "[donkey] with clipped ears;" the ears
of dogs and goats are also clipped sometimes, but generally
gumum refers to the ass. 121. Kaleb "dog," with its deriva-
tives 122. Kalbay and 123. Kalboy ; 124. ^Enker "whelp
(of a dog);" 125. Harauya and 126. Maflas "wild boar;"
127. Hasama "pig;" i2/a. Cerum "an animal whose ears have
been marked;" i. e. "we count the child as a piece of cattle."
Cf. also Kardy "fiyaena" in Hasan-karay, below No. 701.
C. Names of animals given as nicknames. 128. cAnsay
"mouse;" . 129. Qer^ob (Tna) "frog;" 130. Qenqen "wood-
fretter, weevil;" 131. Nehebay "bee," said of a man that
talks and hums much; 132. Selentay, derived from selen
"black ant." Here may be added 133. Seber, which means
the "hind-quarter" of an animal, a nickname probably given
to a man who was very fond of eating this part.
D. Animal names of uncertain origin.
134. Sareray "bird;" 135. Tofanay, probably derived from
Tna tafantl "bullock;" 136. Sekurray, probably derived from
sekurruk "a certain kind of pigeon or turtle-dove;" 137. Ha-
malay, probably from hamdle "a short-haired sheep which
is not shorn."
The name 138. Hewar-sek "the young ass of the Shekh
(i. e. the Mohammedan priest)" is given in order that the
child be under the protection of the Shekh.
Cf. also Hemmad-'akd (No. 697) and Mahammad-war^e
(No. 705).
158 NAMES
(P. 138— Names referring to trees and plants.
156.)
139. Leman. "lemon" (otherwise lemln in Tigre); 140. Hab-
habay "fruit of Adansonia digitata;" 141. Senrayo, derived
from senray "wheat;" 142. Qadadqy, from qadad "a certain
kind of a thorn-bush," given as a nickname to a "thorny"
man; 143. Temmara "her (i.e. the mother's) temmdr fruit."
144. Kerdad "weed," the mother says: "The child is a
weed and of no use, therefore God will not kill it." 145. cAqbay
and 146. ^Aqbetay, derived from ^aqba "Acacia spirocarpa,"
the mother says: "May the child have thorns, so that others
will not tread upon him;" 147. Gablb "grape," i.e. sweet;
148. Gangutay, derived from the gangu-teQe. (perhaps = Pit-
tosporum abyssinicum); 149. Sahatay, i. e. Terminalia Brownei;
the mother says: "The child is a tree, he is not my son;
therefore God and the demons will not harm him." Here
may be added 150. Fere "fruit," the parents say: "He is
our fruit."
Of uncertain origin are.
• 151. Garab, which may be derived from the Tigrina word
garab "tree;" 152. Gemrit, a name used among the cAd
Takles, pronounced Germit by the Mansac, which may be
derived from germi "large split thorn."
Names referring to victuals.
153. Sekkar "sugar," i. e. sweet; 154. Derar "dinner,"
i. e. "The child will be our support;" 155. Ceway, derived
from cewa "salt," i. e. "The child shall be our salt and make
our life 'savoury';" 156. Sarbe "he makes soup," a nickname
given to a man who does women's work, or is likened to
such a man. — Cf. also Seber, above No. 133.
NAMES OF MEN 1 59
Names referring to objects and utensils. (P- 138—
156.)
157. Haivat "water-skin," a nickname given to a man that
drinks much; 158. Harbit, probably derived from hareb,
which is a little larger than the hawat, and therefore meaning
the same as the preceding; however, hareb means also "war"
as in Arabic; 159. Hesal "camel's bridle," cf. Hasala, below
No. 334; 160. Legam and i6oa. Legam "horses' or mules'
bridle," i. e. "May the child be a bridle for his enemies!";
161. Masmar "nail," i. e. "May the child be straight as a
nail and pierce his enemies!"; 162. Mahagam "cupping-glass,"
i.e. "May he drink the blood of his enemies!"; 163. Malase
"knife" and 164. Sotalay "dagger," i. e. "May he kill his
enemies!"; 165. Sandaq (Tfia) "banner;" 166. Salab "crane,
derrick;" 167. Qadeh "wooden bowl;" 168. Baduna "earthen
pot," a nickname given to a short and fat man; 169. Tebun
"piece of fifty centesimi," a nickname for a small man of
little value; 170. ^Ebbanay "stone," a nickname for a very
niggardly miser; 171. ^Ebray, derived from ^ebrat "needle,"
a nickname for a thin and short man (the deminutive of
^ebrat should be ^ebratlt, but here the masculine form is used
because it refers to a man); 171*. ^Absomit "father of the
bead necklace;" 172. Kelalu "his hair-arrow," i. e. his father's
ornament; 173. Zemam '"nose-ring," i. e. for his enemies;
174. Dare* "coat of mail;" 175. Gangar "fetter," cf. 160,
173; 176. Gambat "saddle-cloth," i.e. "The child is to be a
carpet for his mother;" 177. Gambata "her saddle-cloth;"
178. Gedbay, derived from gedeb "axe;" 179. Gefel "leather-
bag;" 1 80. Tabanga "revolver, pistol." Here may be added
181. Megda "camp-fire," i. e. "May the child bring warmth
and light into the house," and 182. Keres "button," contained
in the name of the family *Ad Keres, of uncertain origin.
l6o NAMES
(P. 138— Names referring to measures and numbers.
156.)
183. Scfd "ninety;" 184. Miya (Arabic) "hundred;" 185. Sdhd
derived from seh "thousand;" \%6.^Alef "thousand." Saca,
Sdhd and *Alef were brothers. The names meaning "thousand"
probably contain the wish that the child might be the an-
cestor of many people. Cf. Dar-sek (No. 516).
187. Sader "span," and 188. Mesdar "pace" seem to be
nicknames given to short persons.
Names referring to stars.
189. SeJiel, i.e. Canopus; but sehel is also used of a tall
man. 190. SerTiy i. e. Jupiter, the "bright star." Here may
be added 191. Bareq "flash of lightning," expressing the wish
that the child might become like it.
Names referring to months, days, seasons and festivals.
These names are, of course, given because the child was born at that time.
A. Months: 192. Yahannes "September;" 193. Masqat "Oc-
tober;" 194. Mekkfel "November, or June;" 195. Tahasas
"December)" 196. Somanay, derived from som "February;"
197. Fazaga "April;" 198. Ramadan, i.e. the Mohammedan
month of fasting. The name Keflay (below No. 329) may be
connected with Kefla "March," but it is more likely that it
belongs to the same class as the other names derived from
the same root. Among the Tigrina speaking people the name
Gabriel "December" is frequently given to boys aud girls
born in that month. Cf. below *Abib (No. 766)
B. Days of the week: 199. Sambatay, from sambat "Satur-
day," or "Sunday" (in this name the "small sabbath" and
NAMES OF MEN l6l
the "great sabbath" are not distinguished); 200. Gemff* "Fri- (P. 138—
day." Children born on Thursday are called ^Edris (below
No. 648).
C. Seasons: 201. ^Awlay, from ^awel "spring;" 2O2.:>Awel-
ker "spring of blessing;" 203. ^Aivel-lahab "may He give a
[goodj spring!"; 204. Kariim-bazzeh "the winter (i.e. the
rain) grows strong."
D. Festivals: 205. Tensfeti (from the Amharic tensafeu, or
the Tigrina tensa^u] nhis resurrection," name of a child born
at Easter-time ; 206. cArafa, i. e. the Mohammedan festival
of cArafat ; 207. Darhannes was interpreted to me in this
way: "The child is a dar (property) and was born at the
festival of St. John."
Here may be added : 208. cEdardt "thin rain," i. e. it was
raining when the boy was born; 209. Fafil "twisting," i. e-
probably, the child was born at the time when ropes were
being twisted.
Names referring to events and circumstances.
If a child is born after the death of his father or if the
mother of the child dies in childbirth, the following names
are given: 210. Hawe "he has fever," i. e. "he is in trouble;"
211. Nacabl "who tears asunder;" 212. cAggaba "he (viz.
the child) has wronged," i. e. his mother or his father;
213. cEggub "wronged," viz. the child by God; 214. ^Aytama
"He has rendered an orphan;" 215. *Ada "he (i. e. the child)
has done harm;" 216. cAdab "pain," viz. for the mother;
217. tiarbanne "He tempts me;" 217*. Seray'^who is not
nourished by his mother."
If a child is born after other children of the parents have
died, he receives (i) either an ugly name, or a name denoting
some unimportant object etc., in order to avoid the envy
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 1 1
162 NAMES
(P. 1 38— of the higher powers, (2) or a. name derived from a root that
signifies "to compensate" or "to assist in trouble," or "to
assist somebody after the death of a relative." Thus we have
218. Halafa and 219. Takke'e (Tna) both meaning "He has
compensated." - From the root yabbata "to assist in trouble
or after the loss of some property" the following names are
formed: 220. Yabat\ 221. Yibbafit; 222. Maybatot. Cf. above
Qalaft, No. 47. — From the root dabbasa "to assist some-
body after the death of a relative" we have the names:
223. Dabbas and 224. Dabasay. Of a similar meaning is
225. Karami "leaving over," i. e. God leaves this child to his
parents after He has taken the others; 226. Gebbul "booty
gathered," i. e. the dead children were Gbd's booty, this one
is to be the booty of the parents. Again, the names mean-
ing "share" or "He has shared" (see below Nos. 324 — 332),
may contain the idea that God has had His share, killing
the former children, and that the new child is to be the
share of the parents as distinct from the dead ones.
Names referring to other events or circumstances are the
following.
227. ^Atgawha "he came at dawn," i. e. he was born be-
fore sunrise, between five and six o'clock; 228. ^Asannay
"Welcome!"; 229. ^Ayim "fallow-ground," i. e. either the
father had laid up his field, or the child was born on a
fallow; 230. Kabin "gathering," i. e. either the child was
born when there was a gathering, or the name implies the
wish the child might become a father of many; 231. Wad-
gabay "son of the road," i.e. born on a journey; 232. Darir,
derived from darra, which is said of a cow that unexpectedly
gives more milk; the name was explained to me: "God gave
more than we expected; we did not hope it," i.e. that we
should have a son. 233. Gannad "who draws the limit," i. e.
NAMES OF MEN 163
formerly girls were born, now a boy has put an end to it. (P.isS—
234. Guguy "gone astray," viz. from the road on which his
brothers were, i. e. the parents wish this child might become
stronger or cleverer than others born to them. 235. Gdyid
whastening," i. e. born before his time was completed;
236. Far "lucky accident ;" cf. No. 232. 236*. Beddeho "an object
found by accident," a name given to a child which is born
after his parents have been waiting for a child a long while.
Another name was explained to me in a way that would
put it in this class, viz. 237. Bahaylay (Tna) "by my power,"
i.e. the father says: "I have begotten this son by my power,
although I am young;" and it is possible that some inter-
pret it in this manner. But it is likely that Bahaylay is an
abbreviated form of an ancient composite name as e. g.
Bahayla-Miktfel "By the power of St. Michael."
Names referring to tribes, countries, places and the like.
"Geographical" names are quite frequent among the Tigre people. Their
origin, however, is often uncertain, though a number of them were interpreted
to me in a way that left no doubt as to their meaning. There are chiefly three
ideas connected with these names. A. The origin of a "geographical" name is
most naturally explained if its first bearer came from another country or
tribe : he was always called after his original home, and his true name was
forgotten. Then the new name continued to be used in his family. B. The
names of certain renowned cities or other places are given to children with
the implied wish that they might become as renowned as those. C. Strange
names are often given with the intention of averting evil. The naively super-
stitious idea of the people is as follows: If we call our child a stranger and
thus declare that he is not our child and that his death would not grieve
us, the higher powers will not recognize him and, therefore, spare him. —
In the following list the origin of these "geographical" names has been
explained, wherever it was possible.
238. Nattabay, derived from Nattab, i. e. the noblemen
among the Mm cAmer, a tribe in the Barka low-lands, given
as a "name of honour;" 239. Nabaray, from Nabara, a tribe
south of the Mansa0: "the child is a stranger;" 240. Nabbay,
164 NAMES
(P. 1 38— from Nabab, a tribe dispersed among the Tigre people;
241. ^Amharay, from * Am/tar a, a large province of Abys-
sinia: either "the child is a stranger," or "he is as strong
and brave as an Amharan ;" 242. ^Asfaddy, from ^Asfada,
a tribe living with the Habab; 243. ^Atmaday, from *Almadat
the name of the ancestor of the Sawra tribe ; cf. about the
meaning of this above, No. 63; 244. ^Asusay, from *Asus
which is equivalent to Kabasa, i.e. the highlands of Northern
Abyssinia, south of the Tigre country: its first bearer must
have come from there; 245. ^Algadenay, from DAlgaden the
name of a tribe near Agordat; 246. Durbus, "derwish;"
247. Damotay from Damot, a province south of the Tana
Lake ; 248. Sanqellay, from Sanqella, a negro tribe in Western
Abyssinia; 249. Bdyrdy, from Barya, a negro tribe in North-
western Abyssinia; 250. Takruray, from Takrur, north of
the Sanqella; 251. Terkl (used with the Mohammedans,
Arabic turkl], and 252. Terkdy (used with Christians and
Mohammedans) "Turk;" 253. Gerdefdn, i.e. Kordofan. The
names from 245 — 253 imply all that "the child is considered
a stranger." 254. Dob&ay, from Dob^at, a tribe in both
Tigrina and Tigre countries; cf. also CONTI ROSSINI, Nomi
propri p. 24, s. v. 255. Gciddm, name of a mountain near
Massaua, cf. below No. 819. 256. Gar^antd, probably from
Garcalta, a province in Abyssinia, S. of Adua; 257. Ganddr,
i. e. Gondar, formerly the capital of Abyssinia, implying the
wish that the child might become great and well known ;
258. Giisay, perhaps derived from the river Gash; 259. Fungdy,
from Fung, a negro tribe, west of Abyssinia, known to be
very brave; 260. Mdyrdy, from Marya, two. tribes north of
Cheren and Agordat, called the Black and the Red Marya;
261. Ragadldy, from Ragadle, a tribe dispersed among the
Tigre people; 26ia. ^Agdnbay, from ^Agdub, a tribe dispersed
NAMES OF MEN 165
among the Tigre people and believed to be special friends of (P 138—
the deity; 262. Sennar, i.e. Sennar near Chartum, name for
boys and girls (cf. 878); 263. Balwdy^ from Balau, the name
of an ancient tribe that has now almost altogether disappeared
(cf. above p. 66, ann.); 264. Barkay, derived from Barka;
265. Bdse^ay, i. e. from Massaua; 266. Bargallay, from Bar-
galle, a tribe dispersed among the Tigre people ; 266*. Bcfal-
Icfalit, from Sab-lc£atit, "the people from the highland," a
dispersed tribe; 267. Hamagay, "bondsman," equivalent to
Tigre; 268. Baynani, from Banyan, i, e. Indian merchant:
"the child shall become rich like one of them." The two
names 269. Hawasabay and 270. Hebaba seem to refer to
geographical names, but their explanation is not certain ; the
former may be connected with Hawa, said to be a place or
a district west of the Tigre country, the latter with the
Habab tribe.
Here may be added a few names taken from common
nouns denoting houses, villages and the like. 271. Ddr
"house and property:" "the child shall be a house for us;"
272. Mandar (Amharic) "village;" 272*. Manderdy, deminutive
of the preceding; 273. Qlsotdy "small village;" 274. Daber
"mountain," and its derivatives 275. Dabrdy and 276. Dabru
"his mountain," i. e. "The child shall be like a mountain and
the enemies shall not overpower him;" 277. Seldl "winding
mountain-path;" 278. Gdro "stable" (Tigrina, cf. Bibliotheca
Abessinica, I, p. 8, ann. 2); 279. Gdyim "river-side," im-
plying the wish that the child might be high up in a safe
place at times of danger.
Names referring to a calling or occupation.
280. Ma^allem (Arabic) "master," chiefly used of masons;
281. Haggdrl (Arabic) "stone-cutter;" 282. Meqlem (Arabic),
1 66 NAMES
(P. 138— interpreted as equivalent to Tigre maqalmdy "ink-maker;"
283. Berkatl, equivalent to mabarketdy "man who makes the
berketta bread; 284. Nagds (Mohammedan) and 285. Nagasi
(Christian) "ruler;" 285*. Talay ."shepherd," given as a nick-
name; 286. "A&karay "belonging to the army;" 287. cAggar,
now name of a tribe; their ancestor was said to have been
an caggartdy, i.e. hunter of elephants; 288. Gebbetan "cap-
tain," a name taken from the Arabic, not from the Italian ;
289. Sabdt-harmaz "seizer of the elephant," name of a family
whose ancestor received this name when he killed an ele-
phant; 290. Dar^ay "maker of coats of mail;" 291. Deglal,
i. e. the official name of the chief of the Mm cAmer;
292. Tablb "blacksmith," originally a nickname taken from the
man's calling; blacksmiths are despised and feared in Abyssinia.
Some of the Arabic names, like Seltdn (No. 607) and
Naggdr (No. 633) may be compared with this class.
Names referring to relationship.
293. Mantdy "twin;" 294. ^lydy, from ^aydy "relative"
or perhaps from the Tigrina word ^ayd "older brother;"
295. ^lydydt, derived from the preceding; 296. Walati, from
walat "daughter, girl," a nickname given to a man who
does not carry the staff and the lance.
Names referring to parts of the body.
297. Hemberra "navel;" 298. Hembur "having a protruding
navel;" 299. ^Attdb; the same as 298; 300. cEqbit, from ceqeb
"leg;" 3QI- Karof "man with a caved-in face," given as a
nickname; 302. Magdbu "his thigh," i.e. of his father: "he
shall become a support for his father;" 303. Hacir^edayu
"short-handed;" 304. Maco is an ancient name and now ob-
solete; it is probably to be connected with ^am^lt (Tigre) or
NAMES OF MEN 1 67
*anfut (Tigrina) "bowels." Cf. the story of "c All wad Maco, (P.isS—
above p. 47 — 51. — A few other names referring to physical
peculiarities are included among those given in the next
division.
Names referring to qualities in general and to colours
or implying various wishes.
305. Hazam "assailant;" 306. Hangala, "he carried a
burden;" 307. Haruray from harur, "heat of the sun," nick-
name given to a man who "burns" all others; y&.^Hawasay,
from tdhawasa "he played;" 309. Hemar "meagerness," i.e.
he renders all others meager; 310. Hamarabdy, i. e. hamara
^abdy "he rendered the enemy meager; 311. Haris, from
harrasa, "he broke to pieces;" 312. Hadama (Tigrina) "he
put to flight;" 313. Habat from had, "heat of the fire;" cf.
No. 307. 314. Hedad "alarm, gathering of an army," i.e.
"may he be like a strong army for his father!" 315. Labasl
"one who clothes [his parents]," i. e. brings good luck;
316. Laggag and 317. Malaggag "obstinate;" 318. Legag nob-
stinacy." This is said of strong horses, and the name implies
the wish that the boy might become like them. 319. Laway
"going aside," i. e. probably from the way of death.
320. Lebab and its deminutive 321. Lebebay "wisdom;"
322. Hafarom "he was in awe of them, i.e. of his parents;"
323. Haraba, probably derived from harraba "he gave a meal
to a stranger;" 324. Hazot; 325. Garza; 326. Keffdl "share,"
and the other derivatives of this root: 327. Kafal; 328. Kd-
fala ; 3 29. Kefldy ; 3 30. Kefloy ; 331. Kef.it ; ' 3 3 1 a. Kafalit ;
332. Keflom. All these names (324 — 332) imply that the boy
is "the share" of his parents; cf. above the remarks fol-
lowing No. 226. 333. Hankil "crook-legged." 334. Hasala,
derived from has la "he bridled the camel." 335. Haddr-
1 68 NAMES
(P.I38— *alabu "he has no host," i. e. he is a poor stranger;
336. Hagas (Tna hagos) "joy;" 337. Harabata "he fell prone."
338. Handada "he hated;" cf. below Hamad-^abay, No. 691;
339. Hasamfir "capable of everything;" 340. Harrdnay
"stubborn," said of a camel or a mule that does not want to
move even if his load has been taken off. 341. Hawdy "dark-
yellow with white stripes;" 34ia. Haweway, probably derived
from the preceding; 342. Hashasa, cf. hasas beta "he rustled,"
probably a nickname; 343. Hasura "her (i.e. his mother's)
thorn- hedge;" 344. Hardbso "blister;" 345. Hela "was strong,
was impossible to do;" 346. Henlt, probably derived from
hana "he turned aside by force;" 347. Hemruga "one who
has disturbed her" (his mother?), or "it;" the origin of this
name is uncertain; 348. Henquq "who does not do manual
labour," like kings and princes; 349. Herat "thorny thicket;"
350. Helwuy "white with cream-coloured stripes," considered
to be very beautiful; 351. Hemez "poison," nickname;
352. Hedur "possessed," nickname; 353. Mahanret "spry arid
wanton," said of a donkey that grows fat, runs away from
the herd and brays; 354. Madannas "lucky ;" 355. Mannaqmu,
for man naqqemmo "who may address him?", i.e. he is so
full of awe; 356. Man-qabberro "who will bury him?", a nick-
name given to a miser who only thought of himself and
therefore would not find anybody to bury him ; 357. Mafarrek
"gladdening;" 358. Maghallb "valiant," used in poetry of a
hero that drinks much; 359. Muduy "burned, boiled;" this
name was interpreted in this manner: "The father was burned,
i. e. afHicted, already ; may God not afflict him again !" But
it may also be the active participle of the following name.
360. Mdda "he burned," i.e. his enemies; 361. Mdweq (Ti-
grina) "hot;" 362. Mesmdy "naming;" i.e. "may the child
bring name and fame!" 362a. Merkdb "a gain;" 363. Rakeb,
NAMES OF MEN 1 69
equivalent to segub "rich;" 364. Meqesscf "poisonous;" (P.isS—
156.)
365. Raide, from rada "he wished, agreed;" 366. Sdrrom
"their half," i. e. of the parents; cf. above 324 — 332 ; 367. Satari
"who keeps secrets;" 368. Salade, from saled "a little, a
small part [has been given by God];" 369. Saraqe (Tigrina)
"has risen," viz. sun or moon; 370. Sanadar, from sana
dar "the house became beautiful," i. e. has an heir now;
371. Sehul "sharpened;" 372. Sembub, from sambaba "[the
wound] became worse;" this is an ugly name given to avert
evil. 373. Sabeh "to be fat;" 374. Sateway, from salau beta
"he was light and nimble;" 375. Sangab, and 376. Sangabdy
"left-handed;" cf. Saraqe-sangab, below, No. 708. 377. Sagge
"he stands firm;" 378. Saremay, from serum "slit-lipped;"
379. Sagray "yellow;" 380. Sakkdn "club-foot;" 381. Sar-
dalleb "he trades bad luck," i. e. brings it from another
place; a nickname; 382. Salsal "having thick and long hair;"
383. Sum-hallab "the chief of the shepherds," literally "those
who milk;" 384. Sabitay, from sabit "troop of foragers;"
385. Saker "intoxicated," if derived from the Tigre; it would
have the same meaning as the Arabic name Sakran "in-
toxicated [by the blood of the enemies]." But this name
may also be derived from the Arabic Sdkir "thanking."
386. Senen, probably from sanan beta "he stood in silence;"
387. Sengul "of age;" 388. Seruf "gap-toothed;" 389. Qardy
"mutilated," i. e. if one hand is cut off, or if one or more
fingers are stiff and undeveloped; 390. Qayek-qarnu "red-
horned," said of a bull whose horns are always bloody.
391. Qalatten (ancient name), probably equivalent to mat-
qizlten "changing one's colours;" 392. Qadade (Tna) "he tore ;"
393. Qedud "torn to pieces;" 394. Qaiyi "he spits;" a nick-
name; 395. Qayeh "red;" 396. Qam, from qam beta "he be-
came old;" 397. Qetum "of whose ear a small piece has been
1 7° NAMES
(P.I38— pinched off in order to avert evil;" 398. Qemmi "having
clipped ears;" 399. Qerad, from qarda "he rejoiced;"
400. Qentef, from qantafa "he plucked leaves;" 401. Qencub
"thin and short;" 402. Qerrus "shorn;" 403. Baklt "happy;"
404. Bc£al-gad "man of good fortune ;" cf. Gad-bu (No. 472) and
"Abdal-gad (No. 725). 405. Earth "shining light;" 4O5a. Barih
"shining;" 406. Bardadha, cf. bardadah bela "he staggered,
stumbled;" 406*. Bardada, from bardada "to cool off;"
407. Bahalebbi (Tigrina) "joy of the heart;" 408. Ballasa "he
turned back," viz. the enemies; 409. Balcf-^ambata "locust-
eater;" 4lQ.Balef-add&tn "man-eater," i.e. killer; ^n.Balcf-
qabbat "eater of a stuffed goat's stomach;" 412. Balaf-^idu
"eater of his funeral meal;" 413. Balcf-garsa "acorn-eater;"
414. Balcf-fiiras "horse-eater." All the names from 409 — 414
are nicknames. The name "locust-eater" was given to a
Christian, because he ate these animals in spite of his Christi-
anity; the Mohammedans are allowed to eat them. To eat horse-
meat is not allowed with either Christians or Mohammedans.
415. Bator "ugly;" 416. Bazay, from baza "a certain tune
of the flute played at games;" 417. Basuwar "without wea-
pons;" 418. Biydn "immune;" 419. Beluh "sharp, pointed;"
420. Berga^, from bargtifa "he slapped somebody's face;"
421. Tambal, and 422. Tamballe, derived from tambal bela
"he travelled all about," perhaps both nicknames; 423. Taule
"ambidexterous;" 424. Tayib "bold, brave;" 425. Temrietu
"his wish," i. e. his father's; 426. Nafec, and 427. Naffa^
"useful;" 428. Nadal from nadla "he pierced;" 429. *Endul
"who has somebody pierced ;" both names refer to the piercing
of enemies; 430. Naccu (Amharic) "white;" 431. Nagat "a
pause [between calamities] ;" 432. Nayir, probably the Arabic
ntfir "shining," used in Tigre of a "true" or "perfect" con-
stellation (see above p. 71). 433. *Aftay "one who makes
NAMES OF MEN
to love;" 434. ^Asgade (Tna) "he prostrate'd ;" 435. ''Asgadom
(Tna) "he prostrated them." DAsgade is the ancestor of the
Habab ; this name is not used now, whereas DAsgadom
is very common among both Tigre and Tigrina tribes.
436. ^Albasa "her clothes," viz. of his mother; ^j.^Ab-salab,
"father of making booty;" 438. ^Ab-sater "father of him who
dilacerates;" 439. ^Ab-radeha, from radelia "he trod down;"
cf. No. 473. 440. ^Ab-barih "father of the shining one;"
441. "Ab-cabba" "father of the long-fingered ;" cf. below No. 556.
442. ^Azzdzl "the commander;" 442*. ^Ezdz ^command;"
442b. ^Ezzuz "obedient." 443. ^Aray "booty," viz. for his
parents. 444. ^Af-gahar "coal-mouth," a nickname given to
a man whose words burn. 445. ^Abbara "he grew old;"
446. ^Asbarlt, from ^asbara "he caused to break;" 447. ^As-
bar, id.; 448. ^Asbaray, id.; 449. ' 'Abdy-kestdn "enemy of the
Christians," a nickname given to a Christian who fights against
Christians ; Ras Alula was given this name, although he himself
said, he was not their enemy; ^o.^Agdada, either "he grew
fat" or "he made threads;" 451. ^Agrara, and 452. ^Agraray,
from the Gecez word ^agrara "he subdued;" 453. ~~ ' Antata
"he took down" (something high up), a nickname given to
a tall man(?); 454. ^Ukuy "causing quarrels," a nickname;
455- ^Igamnie, "he does not take counsel," i. e. he acts impul-
sively and rashly; 456. ^Faqqel "he is not wise," a nickname;
457. ^Ilessallak "his hair is not plaited," a nickname. 458. *Ifar-
reh "he does not rejoice;" 459. ^Ileddafckal "he cannot be
persuaded," viz. to give up his plans. 460. ^Ibarred "he does
not cool off," viz. from his anger or from his eager for killing;
Afi\^Iharreb "he does not flee;" 462. 3Irassec "he does not
forget," viz. his revenge; 463. ^Akel "sufficing," i. e. he has
no brothers, but he is worth as much as many brothers;
464. ^Eman "confidence," i.e. now his parents are confident and
1 72 - NAMES
(P.I38— do not grieve; 465. : ' Ekkub "collected," i.e. in good health;
156.)
466. Kabiru (Tna) "he was honoured;" 467 '. Kdddnay "outsider,"
a nickname given to a man who lives outside; 468. Karrar
"revenge," i. e. the boy is to carry out the revenge of his
parents; 469. Kahal "Be firm!", said to the boy; 470. Ker-
bu "he has good luck; 471. Kerdy, derived from the pre-
ceding; 472. Gad-bu "he has good luck;" cf. Bc£al-gad
(No. 404) and "Abdal-gad (No. 725); 473. Kede (Tna), i.e.
keda "he trod down," viz. his enemies; cf. No. 439.
474. Kewdl "escort," i. e. that part of the army which escorts
the booty; 475. Kertut "twisted, broken;" 476. Kerkur
"crook-backed," a nickname; 477. Kebrom "their honour,
pride," viz. of his parents; 478. Kullu "all," i.e. possessor
of all ; the boy is to inherit all ; 479. Keros, equivalent to
Tigre karras "big-bellied;" 480. Kebud "heavy," i.e. clumsy,
dull; 481. Kef if "ugly," given in order to avert evil;
482. Kerbenndy, from karbana "he tied firmly;" the child shall
be a "binder," i. e. a chief; 483. Kemb&us "like an angry
man," a nickname; 484. Koddy "weak of power," from kod
in had kodu "according his power; 485. Ware^-sab "holy-
water" or "ornament of men;" 486. cAbbe "he grows up,"
i.e. "may he grow up!" 487. Bcfal-qedit "owner of spices"
or "of fragrant plants;" 488. *Agol, equivalent to Tigre ^eggul
"round;" 489. cAgag, from ^agag bela "he talked like an
idiot," a nickname; 490. cAtul, from ^attala "he acted vio-
lently and forcibly;" 49Oa. *Etel, and 49Ob. ^Attuldy are pro-
bably other derivatives of the same stem; ^gi.cUrur "black
and white;" 492. cAyldy "a stranger;" 493. cArbdy "cutter,"
said of a sword; 494. CEI "stupid," a nickname; 495. cEdabdy
"speckled black and white; 496. cEddel, from ^addala "he
adjusted, brought good luck;" ^^.cEr1t "peace;" 498. cEwur
"blind," a nickname; 498*. cElliim "good mark's man;"
NAMES OF MEN 173
499. cErrud "fortified;" 500. Zar? "seed;" 501. ZaSu "his (P. 138—
156.)
seed,;" 502. Zar^dy, 503. Zar'at and 503*. Zar^lt, derived from
the former. These four names seem to refer originally to
the deity or to the saints and to imply that the child was
"sown" by them ; but now in Tigre they are perhaps more
generally understood us "seed, i. e. descendant" of his parents;
504. Zelamu tthis rain," i. e. his blessing; 505. Zamat "robber;"
506. Zayid "increasing;" 507. Gar-*alabu "he is of no im-
portance," given either to avert the envy of the deity or to
indicate that the former pain and sorrow is disregarded now.
508. Damsas "destroyer;" 509. Darmas, 5O9a. Darmas, and
510. Dardmasa, from darmasa "he cut his way through the
multitude;" 511. Dannas "tottering," a nickname; cf. danas
danas beta "he walked tottering;" 512. Daricu (Tna) "he mixed
all up;" 513. Dam-sammem "he drinks (lit. wrings out) blood;"
514. Darner "one who does not wander about;" possibly
this name may also be connected with the place Ed-damer
situated at the junction of the Nile and the Atbara;
515. Dar-salleh "he makes the house to prosper;" 516. Dar-
seh "house of a thousand," i. e. either "his father's family is
numerous," or "may his own family be numerous;" cf. above
Nos. 183 seqq. 517. Dawray robber, vagabond," a nickname;
518. Deganay "persecutor;" 519. Deruy "dark-coloured,"
often said of the lion; 520. Uennay "possessed by a demon,
acting indeliberately," a nickname; 521. Gehreb "dirty,"
given in order to avert evil; 522. Gamy a "liberal, bounteous;"
523. Gasal, equivalent to Danas, cf. No. 511. 524. Gafdgafa
"he swallowed, devoured," a nickname; 525. Gadln and its
plural 526. Gad&yin, "giving no milk," a nickname given
to a miser; 527. Garba "he hastened, walked rapidly," pro-
bably a nickname; 528. Ga/iaduopen, manifest;" 529. Gadlom
"their effort," given to a boy whose parents have prayed
1 74 NAMES
(P. 1 38— much for a child; 530. Gabbah "broad-fronted;" 531. Gabil
"tribe," i.e. "may he be the father of a tribe!" 532. Gatid
"hard beating, flaying;" 533. Galam, from galma "he broke
a piece from the bread;" 534. Giddy "whose ears are grown
together," a nickname; 535. Gah "crash;" 536. Garat "works,
things," i. e. "may he do great things!" 537. Ganana "he
whined;" 538. Gdlec "one who brings out secret things;"
539. Gamat "beater;" 540. Gedar "near," i. e. "the child
shall be near us;" 541. Gelhoy, from geluh "bald on the front
of the head;" 542. Genana, from ganna "he was arbitrary;"
543. Gerges "fight," the root gargasa means "he tanned;"
544. Gobdy "striped black and white;" 545. Geduf "thrown
away, valueless," given in order to avert evil; 546. Gedul,
either (Tfia) "incomplete" or (Tigre) "plaited;" 547. Gengdr
"scratching;" 548. Gerub "one whose hand or leg has been
cut off," a nickname for short people. Cf. below Nos. 726, 727.
549. Gera "spotted black and white;" 550. Telluq "set free,"
i.e. "he does as he pleases;" 551. Taldq "setting free;"
552. Telul "moist," i. e. "he has money, is not dry;" 553. Teffe-
cetat "spittle," a nickname; 554. Cagglr "hairy, woolly;"
/ ^<
555- Cacar "shrieking," a nickname; 556. CaA&a "long-fin-
gered;" cf. above No. 441. 557. Cadddq "having long side-
curls;" 558. Cabaray (Tna) "speckled black and white," said
of mules and horses; 559. Cemaru "his weapons," from camra
"he carried lance and sword;" 559a. Saffdr "having long
fingernails;" 560. Safcf "slap in the face," i.e. "he shall slap
his enemies!" 561. Sdwra "her carrier," viz. his mother's;
562. Sdwrdy "carrier," viz. for his parents; 563. Sdma "re-
ward for trouble;" 564. Saber "weaned;" 565. Faze? "watch-
full;" 566. Faccel "he pours out for the guests;" 567. Fa-
laga "disobedient," i. e. brave. 568. Fdndk "courageous;"
568*. Fekdk "width, happiness," homfakka "he opened, made
NAMES OF MEN
175
wide;" 569. Fayid "increasing;" 570. Fager "parting," i. e. (P. 138—
156.)
different from the others, prominent; 571. Felfel "sprout;"
572. Feles "thoughtful, clever;" 572*. Feza "ransom," a Tigre
word taken from the Arabic fida; 573. Feqrlt, probably
from the Tna word feqrl "love;" in Tigre feqer means "craft."
Names derived from the Arabic.
A number of Arabic names are used by the Tigre tribes, especially the
Mohammedans, and in or near Massaua where the Arabic influence is strongest.
These names are sometimes slightly changed according to the phonetic laws
of the Tigre language. Their meaning is often not known to those who use
them. Some characteristic cases, however, in which the meaning of the Arabic
name seems to have been known, because the corresponding common nouns
are used in Tigre also, are given above; cf. e. g. Nos. 94a, 184, 280 — 282, 288.
574. Haron; i.e. Harun.
575. Hamad; i.e. ''Ahmad.
576. Hemmad; probably de-
rived from Muhammad.
577. Hammad; id. in Arabic.
578. Hemeda; i. e. Humaida.
579. Hemmaday; a Tigre de-
rivative of Hemmad.
580. Named; i. e. Hamid.
581. Hdmdan; i.e. a deriva-
tive of Hamid.
582. Hasab-anniibl; id. in
Arabic.
583. Hasan; id. in Arabic.
584. Hesen; i.e. Husain.
585. Hasanen; "the two. Ha-
san ;" i.e. Hasan and Husain.
586. Habib; id. in Arabic.
587. Hag; „ „
588. Haggi; id. in Arabic.
589. Haggagl; „ „
590. Malek; i.e. Malik.
591. Mahammad; i.e. Mu-
hammad.
592. Mahamud; i. e. Mahmud.
593. Mahagub; i.e. Mahgub.
594. Margub, dissimilated for
mar glim.
595. Musa; id. in Arabic.
596. Masallam ; i.e. Musallam.
597. MaFud; i. e. Mas^ud.
598. Ma'amin; dissimilated for
ma'mun.
599. Matalamln; i. e. probably
Abu Talib.
600. Madln; id. in Arabic.
60 1. Saleh; i.e. Salih.
602. Salem ; i. e. Salim.
(P.I38— 603.
604.
605.
606.
607.
608.
609.
610.
611.
6 1 2.
613.
614.
615.
Salim; id. in Arabic.
Salman ; i. e. a derivative
of Salem.
Selman; i.e. Salman.
Seleman ; i. e. Sulaiman.
Seltan ; i. e. Sultan.
Se^ld; i. e. Sa^ld.
Sahaqan; i.e. a deriva-
tive of ^Ishaq.
Saraf; id. in Arabic.
Sabll; i. e. Sabll.
. e.
Sekay\ i. e. a derivative
of the preceding.
Sekaddin-. i. e. Jvzz'// «^-
6 1 6. Sawes\ i.e. the Turkish
617. Qarab; this is the name
of a tribe between Agor-
dat and Kassala which
pretends to be of Arabic
origin.
6 1 8. Bula\ i.e. probably the
Coptic from of Paulus.
619. Bayad; \. e. probably
baiyad uhe has made
white," i. e. glad [the face
of his parents].
620. Bagel; i. e. probably
Baftil.
62 1 . Terag, in Massaua Serag ;
i. e. Sirag.
622. Tegdr; i.e. Tugar.
623. Nor; i.e. Nur.
624. Noray; i. e. a Tigre deri-
vative of the preceding.
625. Nor-annabi; i.e. nur an-
nabi.
626. Nessur; i. e. probably
Nassur.
627. Naser; i.e. Nasir.
628. Nassar; i.e. Nassar.
629. Nasraddln ; i. e. Nasr ad-
dln. . .
630. Naseh ; i. e. Nasih.
631. Nauraddin; i. e.
632.
633-
634.
635.
636.
637.
638.
639.
640
641
642
643
Nayib; id. in Arabic.
Naggar; „ „ „
^Emam ; i.e. ^Imam.
; id. in Arabic.
^Eshaq ; i.e. * I shag.
^Esma^il; i. e. *Ismah,L
* Esmale^ll, derived from
the preceding, perhaps in-
fluenced by Tigre -lecul
"the High One".
^Abrehem; derivatives of
o ,, ,,_ the Biblical
Abreham ; > Abraham and
3 A i. «/- the Arabic
/-/ fJ W0 rl t -M7 •
4 ±i/ f &fi'ljtft' • D 7-7 — » -
Ibrahim.
^Abu-bakar\ id. in Arabic.
NAMES OF MEN
177
644. ^Abbakar, derived from
the preceding.
645. ^Abderheman; i.e. cAbd
ar-Rahman.
646. *Adam ; ) derivatives of
647. *Adem ; ( ''Adam.
648. *Edr7is, i. e. ^Idrls. Cf.
above No. 200.
648^. ^Edrlsay, the Tigre de-
minutiveof the preceding.
649. Kamel; i. e. Kdmil.
650. Kernel; i. e. KumaiL
651. cAll; id. in Arabic.
652. c£mar; i.e. C0mar.
65 2». cAmer; i. e. cAmir.
653. cAmmar; id. in Arabic.
654. ^Emran ; i. e. ^Imran.
655. cAmbardy; i. e. ^Ambar
with the Tigre ending.
656. c/f#; id. in Arabic.
657. cEsman; i. e. C0thman;
cf. No. 663.
658. 'Abdalla; i.e. cAbdalldh.
659. ^Abdalsek; the Arabic form
would be "v^d1 as-saih.
660. 'Abdalqader; i. e. "Abdal-
Qadir
66 1. cAbdu; id. in Arabic.
66 1 a. ^Abdal ) abbreviated forms
662. '£&&/ i of 658, 659 or 660.
663. cEtman; i. e. C0t/tman;
cf. No. 657.
664. cEttuq; i. e. probably (P-isS—
Arabic "Attuq.
cAz1z; id. in Arabic.
"Egel; i. e. cUgail.
'Agib; id. in Arabic.
665.
666.
667.
668.
669. ^Aggat; i. e. probably
670.
671.
672.
Taleb ; i. e. Talib.
Farag; id. in Arabic.
Fedel; i. e. Fudail.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 12
674.
675.
676.
677.
678.
679.
680.
68r.
682.
683.
684.
685.
686,
687.
688.
Zamzcimi; derived from
Zamzam.
Zakkdrl; an abbreviated
form of Zakariyd (?)
Zed ; i. e. Zaid.
Zeddn ; i.e. Zaiddn.
Yagin ; i. e. Yaqm.
Gahdd; i. e. probably
Gahhdd.
Garnll; i. e. GamiL
Gawiildy, i. e. the preced-
ing with the Tigre ending.
tiebbul; i.e. Gabbul^).
Gdber ; i.e. Gdbir.
Ga^afar ; i. e. Gacfar.
&aweg; probably -for
Ddwed, i. e. Dawud.
Ddwed; i. e. Dawud.
Dewed; i. e. Duwaid.
Ddyir; id. in Arabic.
178 NAMES
(P. 1 38 — Double names.
156.)
Some Tigre names are composed of two elements each of which might be
a name by itself. This is done especially if the first name is used a great
deal: in this case the second part is added as a discriminative element. Other
possibilities are that the second name is added as a nickname, or in order
to avert the envy of the deity, or because the bearer of the first name came
from a certain place, or finally that some well known man was always called
by his own and his father's name, e. g. Musa-rior (Musa son of Nor), and
that children of other people were named after him. But sometimes two names
seem to have been combined without special reason, only in imitation of those
which were given with a pronounced intention.
689. Hamad-haris "Hamad of the breaking," cf. No. 311.
690. Hamad-lul "Hamad of the pearls;" 691. Hamad- abay
"H. the enemy," a nickname, because he was hated by
everybody; 692. Hamad-ker "H. of good luck;" 693. Hamad-
dare* "H. of the coat of mail;" 694. Hemmad-lul "H. of the
pearls;" 695. Hemmad-lll, id.; 696. Hemmad-rior "H. the
light," or rather composed of Nos. 576 and 623; 697. Hem-
mad- aha "H. of the cows," implying the wish that he might
have many cattle; 698. Hemmad-esatat "H. of the fires;"
699. Hamed-nor, cf. 580 and 623. 700. Hamed-^ellum "H. the
good marksman," cf. 580 and 498. 701. Hasan-karay "H.
the hyaena;" cf. above after No. 127. 702. Mahammad-qatilay
"M. the very light one," a nickname; 703. Mahammad-^esman,
cf. 591 and 657. 704. Mahammad-^eyun "M. the crazy one,"
a nickname; 705. Mahammad-warce "M. of the mountain-
goats;" 706. Mahamud-ker "M. of good luck;" 707. Musa-
nor, cf. 595 and 623. 708. Saraqe-sangab "S. the left-handed,"
cf. 369 and 375. 709. Se^d-qayeh "S. the red; 710. Se^id-
saltim "S. the black;" 711. ^Edris-^aray "E. the booty ;" i. e.
"this E. is our booty;" 712. cAli-sek "CA. of the shekh (i.e.
the priest);" 713. cAll-qeduy "CA. the fragrant;" 714. CAH-
barra "CA. who denied," or "CA. who flew;" 715. cAll-bakll
"CA. the lucky:" 716. cAll-nor, cf. 651 and 623. 717. CAH-
NAMES OF MEN
179
ker "CA. of good luck;" 718. ""All-emmu "CA. of his mother;"
719. cAll'gange "CA. of Gange," i. e. probably the name of a
place; 720. cAl~i-sacada "CA. the white;" 721. * All-fatal "CA.
of the omens;" j22.^Ellum-qayeh "CE. the red;" rj2"$.cAmer-
rabto "CA. of Rabto," i. e. a village not far from Cheren.
724. cEmar-tecum "CE. the sweet;" 725. "Abdal-gad, probably
"cAbdal of good luck." This name seems to have been
formed after the analogy of Bacal-gad, (No. 404). 726. Gerub-
qayeh "G. the red;" 727. Gerub-sallim "G. the black;" cf.
above No. 548.
Names of uncertain origin and meaning.
Of many of their names the people do not know the origin ; such names
are either foreign or handed down by tradition and changed, or they are
names of tribes which generally are of doubtful meaning. I give here a list
of names which could not be explained to me. Even if we are able to un-
derstand some of them better than the natives, it is of interest to see how
many names are used now without -special reference to their meaning. It may
be added that of course in a number of cases tribal names are interpreted
by "popular etymology" in the same way as in the Old Testament.
728. Hasen, tribal name.
728*. Hereb, ancient name.
729. Hakln (used much with
the Bogos).
730. Haggir.
731. Herbala^ name of a priest
family.
732. Henosem (used much with
the Bogos).
733. Hansab.
734. Hawace, name of an an-
cestor of the Mansac.
735. Mallelu (Bogos).
736. Maryu or Mayru, ances-
tor of the Marya tribe.
737. Muse, perhaps Musa,
Gecez Muse.
738. Mansu, ancestor of the
Mansac tribe.
739. Mdnsac, tribal name.
740. Macala, tribal name.
741. Ma-was.
742. Sala.
743. Sellay.
744. Sciabur, name of a tribe.
745. Sekota.
I So
NAMES
(P. 1 38- 746. Selo.
' 747. Sulka.
748. Soso.
749. Sabelay ; perhaps a hypo-
coristic form, cf. No. 612.
750. Sedam.
751. Qedras; perhaps through
the Arabic from the
Turkish qadras, qardas.
752. Bahadur, a tribe near
Kassala; i. e. Bahadur,
who came from Central
Asia (N.).
753. Berqellay.
754. Basik; probably the Ara-
bic basiq "sparrow-hawk,
bussard."
755. BFelJaK.
756. Bademmay,
757. Tar os, ancient name, fre-
quently used (homTadros?}.
758. Tokelle.
759. Takus, ancestor of the
Bet-Bacasso, a tribe in the
north.
760. Takkaz; perhaps from
takkaza (Gecez, Amharic)
"he was sad."
761." Nawed, perhaps from
Na'od, the name of an
Abyssinian king, who
reigned from 1494-1508.
Nawed was a famous man
among the Habab and
the name is considered
a dignified one.
763. *Elat.
764. *Arabi, mythical ancestor
of the Mansac, probably
^arabl, "Arabian," because
the Mansac pretend to
have come from Arabia.
765. ^Asakkeh, perhaps from
the Tigrina ^asakkahCi "he
deterred."
766. ^Ablb, a name used by the
Tigrina and Tigre people,
probably taken from the
Coptic- Arabic month "abib
"July," cf. above Nos. 192
seqq.
767. ^Abbaza.
768. ^ Abbaza-* ezgi. In these
two names ^abbaza stands
probably for the Amharic
^abazza "he has increas-
ed." Thus 768 "the Lord
has increased."
769. ^Ab-dela. It seems that
Dela was a proper name
(No. 1016) and that the
father of the child lost his
original proper name and
NAMES OF MEN
181
was always called "father
of Dela." Then others
were named after him.
This name cannot be the
Arabic cAbdallah, since
the / is not double.
770. ^Abgalay, name of a tribe.
771. "Ato, probably the Am-
haric word ^ato "master."
Or is it abbreviated from
^ato-berhan in its Tna
meaning?
Tj2.^Ato-berhant i.e. probably
the preceding combined
with berhan "light." It
was interpreted to me
from the Tna: "a light
has come."
773. *Atlel, name of a tribe.
774. "Enslk, probably the Ara-
bic nusih.
775. *Ened.
776. ^Endlr, hardly the Arabic
nudlr "we turn."
777. ^Endlkna.
778. ^Enfarl; perhaps naynu-
fari.
779. "Akte (used with the
Bogos).
780. ^Eked, perhaps from wak-
kada "he lingered, stayed
for a long time."
781. ^Awali, mythical ancestor (P.I38—
of the Mansac, i.e. Arabic
^auwali "the first."
782. ^Awad, either from *awada
"he owed," viz. revenge
or the like, or from the
Arabic ^Awad (N.).
783. ^Aglemba, name of a tribe.
784. Kelenkel.
785. Kabbe, name of a family,
perhaps from kabba "he
gathered, drove a herd."
786. Kabasay ; perhaps a con-
tamination of Kabasay
and Habasay "from Ka-
basa;" cL^Asusay, above
No. 244.
787. Kotan.
788. Kenriri, name of a family
that came from the He-
darab (Bega and Ha-
dendoa).
789. Kekya, name of the chief
family of the cAd Nayib.
790. Weqen, name of a tribe ;
perhaps Arabic wuqain.
791. cEmbus; i. e. perhaps
Arabic ^unbus.
792. cArfega, name of a tribe
west of Agordat.
793. cAbaka.
794. cAndaloy.
1 82
(P.I38— 795. cAndar, perhaps fromcan-
dara "he played the flute."
796. cAnga; cf. p. 192, No. 60.
797. ^Ewdba.
798. Derql, perhaps from Tna
daraqa "he was dry."
799. Dlrac, probably a deri-
vative of darsa, cf. above
No. 512.
800. Dasit, either from das
(Tna) "joy," or from daset,
which means "island" and
is also the name of a place.
80 1. Daso, name of a family.
802. Debloy, perhaps from the
Tna word dabbala "he
made the war-dance."
803. Deweda,fromDewed(68^
804. Ddfla; perhaps dafla =
difla, ZaQvtt "oleander" (N.)
805. Gehendy ; probably from
the Arabic gahin.
806. Gembago, name of a fa-
mily in Massaua.
807. &dnu (used with the Bo-
gos and in Kabasa).
808. Gankara (Bogos).
809. Gawe; perhaps the Ara-
bic gdwl.
810. Gateway, same root per-
haps as in ^Abgaldy.
8-1 1 . Garabm.
8 1 2. Gerenat, perhaps from
geran "bracelet."
These names are pro-
bably derived from the
Bilin root gab "to
hold;" gait means in
Bilin "he became of
age;" cf. Reinisch,
Worterbuch der Bilin-
813. Gabs a
814. Gabds
815. Gebet
Sprache^ s. v.
8 1 6. Ganna, either from the
Krzbicgannaf" Paradise"
or from the Tigre root
ganna "he was arbitrary,"
cf. above No. 542.
8 1 7. Ganec ; probably the Ara-
bic qdnf.
8 1 8. Gfdad (Tigrina).
819. Gdddm-sega, name of a
tribe, southeast of the
Mansac; perhaps "Gadam
(cf. above 255) of the
meat," or "a mountain of
meat." N. suggests that
this might be a corrupted
Christian name referring
to the incarnation of
Christ (tasagewo, tesgut,
segdwe).
820. Geffa, either from gaff a
"he took all," or from
geffat "a large bag of
palm texture."
821. Cengahal; in gahal per-
haps the root tegahala "he
sneaked about," is to be
found.
NAMES OF WOMEN 183
NAMES OF WOMEN IN THE TIGRE COUNTRY. (P.is*—
161.)
Names referring to the deity or to the saints.
God is merciful: 822. Meherat "mercy;" cf. No. 35.
God satisfies: 823. ^Arwa "He has quenched," viz. the
thirst of the parents, i. e. benefited them.
God or the saints are masters, man is their servant,
cf. above Nos. 83 seqq.: 824. ^Amata-Marydm "handmaid
of Mary." 825. Amatd-Mkel "handmaid of St. Michael."
826. ^Amata-Gaber "handmaid of Gaber (i. e. Gabra Manfas
Qeddus). Abbreviated : 827. ^Amatu " His handmaid." 828. ^Amat
"handmaid." Here may be added 828*. Gabrat "she served,"
i. e. may she serve God. 828K Rabbi-ba "she has a god."
829. Gebru "His tribute" or perhaps rather "His work;"
for the latter cf. above Nos. i seqq. 829*. Dabrat "may she
be accustomed," viz. to doing the will of God or her parents.
Ancient name taken from the Greek.
830. 3Elenl, i. e. Helene. This name became famous in
Abyssinia on account of St. Helena, the finder of the cross.
Names referring to animals (cf. above p. 156).
%3i.*Edget, "she-ass," fern, of No. 117. 832. Kalbat "bitch,"
fern, of No. 121. 833. "Enkerrat "young bitch," fern, of
No. 124. 834. Ceremet, fern, of No. 1273.
The last four names are, of course, given for the same
reasons as their corresponding masculine forms. The following
three names, however, refer to the beauty and value of the
ostrich-feathers, in Tigre rls, with the nomen unitatis risat.
835. Risat. 836. Riso. 837. Risayit "the feathery one."
184 NAMES
(P. 156— Names referring to trees and plants.
161.)
838. "Aqbetat, fern, of No. 146, q. v. 839. Gablbat, fem. of
No. 147, q. v. 840. Maqdo, red edible fruit of a climbing
parasitic plant. 841. Feretdt "fruit," fem. of No. 150.
Names referring to objects, utensils, wearing apparel.
842. Hekal "talisman," i. e. a small sewn up leather case
containing a magic scroll or a piece of the magic root, worn
just above the elbow, to avert evil or for decoration. The
parents say: "She is to protect us from evil or to be our
ornament." 843. Hiyar "bracelets," pi. of hayriit. 844. Ma-
mat "tithe," i. e. what is given to the _princes and kings.
The name implies the wish that the girl may become worthy
of being desired by princes or kings; cf. below, Chap. 91,
(p. 204, 1. 13). 845. Bafta "white calico," i. e. beautiful
and white. 846. Gukat "purple cloth." 847. Gemds "velvet."
847a. Qemasat, from the same Arabic word. 847b. Tekkat
"silver bracelet." 848. Kaymat "tent." 849. Kayma, i. e. the
same. 850. Dahaba, explained as "her (viz. her mother's) gold."
Cf. also the Arabic Fedda "silver," below No. 1001. The
meaning is known in Tigre also. 851. Donek "sail-boat" (junk).
852. Gaudl (from Tna zaudi) "crown." — Somewhat un-
certain are
853. Butat, i.e. probably futat "coloured cloth." 854. Fa-
tdyil "twisted threads" or plural of Fatil, cf. above No. 209.
Names referring to stars.
855. Kema "the Pleiads," cf. above p. 59. 856. Gakar&t,
and 856*. Zahara, both meaning the planet Venus.
Names referring to dates.
857. Masqala, explained as "Masqat (i. e. October, cf.
NAMES OF WOMEN 1 85
No. 193) of her mother." 858. Game*, and 859. Genfa "Fri- (P. 156—
161.)
day, cf. No. 200. 859*. ^Arafat, cf. No. 206. Here as m
some other cases two different Arabic forms are taken and
used for the differentiation of masculine and feminine names.
Names referring to events and circumstances.
860. Hayatlt "acting strongly, overpowering," i. e. the child
overpowered her mother, caused her death. 86 1. cEggebet,
fern, of No. 213, q. v. 862. Rahaya "her (viz. her mother's)
relief." 863. ^Arhet "she brought relief," i. e. from the tra-
vails. 864. Megbayit "the middle one," i. e. the girl was born
between two boys and received this surname. 865. ^Akkel
"enough." The father said "enough!" when the third or •
fourth girl was born. 866. Sdnnet, explained as "that is good !",
a name given to a girl that was born after several boys.
867. * Ay mat, fern, of No. 229, q. v. 868. Beddehotdt, fern, of
No. 2363, q. v.
Names referring to tribes, countries, places and the like.
869. Haygat, name of the former capital of the Mansac,
cf. below Chap. 125, I, i. 870. Hawa, cf. No. 269. 87 1 . Madmat,
and 872. Madlna, both referring, of course, to el- Medina in Ara-
bia. 873. Madayin, i. e. Massaua and surroundings. 874. Ma-
tammat, and 875. Matamma, name of the place in Western
Abyssinia, that became famous because of the battle between
King John and the Dervishes. 876. Mary ay it "a girl of the
Marya;" cf. No. 260. 877. Rahayl, name of a district inha-
bitated by the Marya. 878. Sennar, cf. above No. 262.
879. Sanqellayit, fern, of No. 248. 880. Balwayit, fern, of
No. 263. 88 1. Barkayit, fern, of No.' 264. 882. Bayrayit, fern,
of No. 249. 883. Takrurdyit, fern, of No. 250. 884. Noba,
i. e. the Nuba tribe. 885. ^Amharayit, fem. of No, 241.
1 86 NAMES
(P. 1 56— 886. ^Agdubayit, fern, of No. 261 a. 887. Kasala, i. e. Kassala.
888. ^Adawa, i. e. Adua. 889. cAydeb, i. e. the ancient cAidhab,
north of Suakin, formerly a famous harbour. 889. Dakano,
i. e. the other name of Herglgo, generally called Arkiko,
south of Massaua. 890. Gedda, i. e. Djidda in Arabia.
891. Tewalat, the island between Massaua and the continent,
called Taulud by the Italians. 892. Fungayit, fem. of No. 259.
893. Wawit is the surname (seqraf) given by the Bet-Guk
and the Habab to their daughters, and also used as name
among the other tribes. It may possibly be derived from
the Arabic wawi "jackal."
Names taken from common nouns used in geography are
the following.
894. Leggiit "whirl-pool, abyss." 895. Rosan "loft," i.e.
may the girl be higher and more prominent than others.
896. Sakat "a water-pool dug in the sand near the river-
bed," where the water is better than in the river itself.
897. ^Etmiit "mountain-spring." 898. &ebat "meadow."
899. Kedrcit, *greens, herbs;" cf. khudrat in Arabic.
900. "Adaga "market-place." 901. Darat "court-yard sur-
rounded by a hedge or a wall." 902. Dekkan "store, maga-
zine." 903. Gazlrat "island," and its plural 904. Gazayir
imply the wish that the girl might be strong and unap-
proachable. 905. Gebldt "south," may indicate either that the
girl's family is from trie south, or that her family is Christian,
whose "kibla" is the south; for in killing the Christians of
Northern Abyssinia turn the animal towards the south, pro-
bably because Aksum lies south of them.
•
Name referring to a calling.
906. "Askarayit, fem. of No. 286.
NAMES OF WOMEN 187
Names referring to relationship. _(P.i56—
1 6 1.)
907. Mantayit "twin-sister," fern, of No. 293. 908. ''Asia
"her (i. e. her mother's) offspring." 909. ''lyayat, fern, of No. 294.
Names referring to parts of the body.
910. Gessat "tuft on the top of the head," and its plural
911. Gesas.
Names referring to qualities in general and to colours,
or implying various wishes.
912. Lebabat fern, of No. 320. 913. Mahayawlt "quicken-
ing" or "healing." 914. Rad^ite "my help" (from the Tigrina).
915. Susdt "awe." 916. Settom "their lady" (from the Arabic
sitt). 917. Sem-^alabd "she has no name," given in order to
avert evil: the parents pretend, on the one hand, not to
care for this child ; on' the other, the demons will not know
the child's name and, therefore, not be able to harm it.
918. Suma explained as "her (viz. her mother's) chief."
919. Semit "good and well known," fern, of semuy. 920. Qate-
mdt, and 921. Qetmet, cf. No. 397. 922. Barhat "shining,"
and its derivative 923. Berreho, cf. No. 405. 923*. Baqiilat
"sprout." 924. Baklta "happy," fern, of Baklt, No. 403.
9243. Babat "door," i. e. the parents have found an open
road now (the deminutive of bab should be bebay, but babat
is used, because it is the name of a girl; cf. above No. 171).
925. Tauded (Amharic) "may she bring love!" 926. Tesrie-
V/a "may she be good to her," viz. to her mother. 927. Tem-
nit "desired." 928. Nadale (Tfia, equivalent to Tigre nadla]
"he pierced," probably referring to the piercing of the ear
or the nose for the rings. 929. Nesrit, derived either from
the ward nasra "he was satisfied, became rich" or from Arabic
names like those above Nos. 626 seqq. 930. Niyardt "right-
1 88 NAMES
(P.i 56— ness, favour." 931. ^Amayir, plur. of ^atriir, i.e. "may she
bring forth emirs!" 932. ^Algag "making obstinate," cf.
Nos. 316 — 318. ^^ Asgadu "they prostrated," cf. Nos.434sq.
934. ^Akyar, plur. of ker "good luck." 935. Ker-ba "she has
good luck;" cf. Nos. 470 sqq. 936. * Ekkebet, fem. of No. 465.
937. ''Addalet "she has prepared;" cf. No. 58. 938. Kahalit
"firm," cf. the adjective kahdl, kahdtlt, and No. 469. 939. Kella
"all," fem. of No. 478. 940. *Abet "she grew up;" cf. No. 486.
941. ^Agab "wonder." Q^Z.^Agayib, plur. of c#^; cf. No. 667.
943. cAfet "she gave good health," cf. above No. 913.
944. ^Elicit "fame, praise." 945. Zaydat, fem. of No. 506.
946. Zelamat "her rain," i. e. "her blessing," cf. No. 504.
947. Zebit "bought," or "sold;" i.e. "she is not ours, we do
not care for her, therefore the higher powers will not harm
her.". 948. Yemdm "counsel." 949. Dafffat "quiet, confident."
950. Gabayil "tribes," plur. of No. 531. 951. Gad-ba "she
has good luck;" cf. Nos. 470 sqq., 93-4 sq. 952. Gaddit,
derived from the preceding. 953. Gar-alaba, fem. of No. 507.
954. Gediddn "[she is] their all," i.e. of her female relatives.
955. Tellet, and 956. Talulat "moist;" cf. No. 552. 957. Cag-
garit "hairy;" fem. of No. 554. 958. Fakkdt, and 959. Fekd-
kdt, cf. No. 568*. 960. Falfalot "blooming, sprouting," cf.
No. 571. 961. Fayddt, fem. of No. 569. 962. Fdgrat, fem.
of No. 570.
Names derived from the Arabic (cf. p. 175).
963. Hawilat.
964. Hagwa.
965. Halima; id. in Arabic.
966. Hamida; „ „ „
967. Hasina; „ „ „
968. Hawa; i. e. probably the
Christian-Arabic Haw-
wd" (N.).
969. Haga ; i. e. Hagga.
970. Heggat; i. e. Higgat.
NAMES OF WOMEN
189
97 1 . Heggayit; a Tigre deriva-
tive of the preceding.
972. Malka ; i. e. Malika.
972^. Malika ; id. in Arabic.
973. Malkat; i.e. Malikat.
974. Malgamat; i. e. Malqa-
mat (?).
975. Mafuda\ i.e. Mascuda.
976. Medan ; i. e. Maidan.
977. Magbulat; i. e. Maqbulat.
978. Rukat; i.e. perhaps raukat.
979. Rayat; id. in Arabic.
980. Settal, perhaps «'// #/, cf.
cAbdal (No. 66 1 a.)
981. Se^ida; i.e. Scfida.
982. Safadya.
983. Sdmat; id. in Arabic.
984. Sabllat; fem. of No. 612.
985. Sekayit; fem. of. 614.
986. Baraka; id. in Arabic.
987. Bargam; i. e. Maryam. (P-i56—
988. Nasra ; fem. of No. 627.
989. Nafca ; fem. of No. 426.
990. ^Amna.
991. 'Amwa; id. in Arabic.
992. * Emmannaser \ i.eSUmm
an-nasr.
993. Kasayil\ i. e. Hasayil.
994. Kagiga, i. e. Hadlga.
995. cAlaga; id. in Arabic.
996. cAfo ; i. e. cA:>tsa.
996a. cAztza; id. in Arabic.
997. cA/tf/#; B „ „
997a. Ztfayir ; i. e. from the
Arabic zcfayir "fur-tippets."
998. Glnab\ i.e. Zainab,
999. Far ago, ; fem. of No. 687.
1000. Fergcit; i.e. Fur gat.
1001. Fedda; i.e. Fidda.
1002. Fatna ; i. e. Fatima.
Names of uncertain origin and meaning.
1003. Mallelu; cf. No. 735.
1004. Mallela; „ „ „
1005. Medeggat; perhaps the
Arabic midaqqat.
1006. Meqrafat.
1007. Sanabat; perhaps =
sanbat.
1008. Senkehayit.
1009. Takka.
10 10.
101 1. *Araylt ; perhaps derived
from 3^r«j, No. 443.
1012. ^e/t/.
1013. Kessa; perhaps the Ara-
bic Hussc?.
1014. Kessat; these two names
are common among the
Mm cAmer.
i go
NAMES
1015. ^Agiga, name used with
Christians and Mohamme-
dans ; probably = Arabic
*Aziza\ cf. No. 996*.
1016. Dela; may be derived
from the Amharic "her
victory;" "her" would,
then, refer to the mother
of the girl.
1017: Dalka\ may be derived
from delek "a species of
dura," or from dallaka
"he vexed," or from the
Arabic.
10 1 8. D ask abiit.
1019. Genas,
1 020. Tauslliit.
SEQRAT NAMES.
P 161 Besides his real name which is used by men only, every boy receives a
"second name" (seqrat) which is used by the women of his family. These
seqrat names are sometimes the same as real names, sometimes they are taken
from nicknames or from war-cries, ') but a number of them are used as seqrat
only. In several cases a certain seqrat is always given in combination with
a certain real name : the reason for this usage is that boys are called some-
times after the name and seqrat of a certain famous man after both had come
to be used in combination. I give here an alphabetical list of seqrat names;
translations are given only in case the seqrat does not occur as a real name
or as a war-cry.
1. Haris, generally given with
cEtman (p. 177, No. 663);
also name of a man, No. 311.
2. Hendarib (Henrarib); cf.
war-cry No. 6.
3. Hamasenay ; cf. war-cry 14.
4. Harsoy ; cf. name in.
5. Haraba; cf. name 323.
6. Harran "stubborn"; cf.
name 340.
7. Heriit; cf. name 346.
8. Hege-sarru; cf. war-cry 22.
9. Mahagger "a man that
stains red," literally "that
crushes the hegrat-" the
latter is a kind of red stone,
which is used as a powder
for healing purposes.
10. Marke; cf. name 36. It is
given with the name Fe-
kak (568*).
1 1. Marked "who causes trem-
. bling."
12. Masarsar "who draws
i) See below Chap. 90.
SEQRAT NAMES
191
blood from the nose," i. e.
originally: from the nose
of a man in order to cure
eye-diseases.
13. Mansur, Arabic Mansur,
given as a seqrat to indi-
cate that its bearer is ge-
nerous.
14. Mcfalleg "putting the bur-
den on others."
15. Mcfaggeb "wronging;" cf.
the names 212, 213. It is
given with Mahamud($C)2).
1 6. Mada; cf. name 360.
17. Madhen; cf. name 94.
1 8. Magandel "swinging his
stick smartly," i.e. "fashio-
nable."
P. 162. 19- Masbf "warrior." This is
a seqrat used by the Reg-
bat tribe.
20. Ranil "wandering far and
swift." literally "throwing
[his legs]."
21. Sa^aroy, from scfara "he
deposed [a ruler]."
22. Sagway ; not explained.
23. Salad; cf. name 166. It is
given with Mahammad
(591).
24. Seram "haughty."
25. Saref "breaker," i.e. "kil-
ler;" from sarfa "he broke
the bread."
26. Sakkan, cf. name 380.
27. Saggag "proud, hard to
be satisfied."
28. Bayray ; cf. name 249.
29. Begay "man of the Bega
people." It is used with
Gtnif* (200).
30. Bafadlb ; not explained.
Perhaps = "father of bold-
ness," if standing ior^abba
fadlb.
31. Tarab-caddu "providing
for his people." This sur-
name was given to a man
who at the time of a fa-
mine provided food for his
whole village (Gdldb] ; af-
terwards this name was
used as a seqrat.
32. Noray; cf. name 624.
33. Nattabay; cf. name 238.
34. ^Ambara "he made to live,"
given to indicate that its
bearer is generous.
35- ^Asbar "he caused to
break."
36. ^Asbarlt, derived from the
preceding.
37. ^Asgar, i. e. probably the
Arabic asqar "red-haired."
192
(P. 162.) 38. *Ab-har~is "father of the
rhinoceros," i. e. father of
strong children.
39. "Ab-salab; cf. name 437,
war-cry 49.
40. ^Ab-setaba; not explained
with certainty : setaba,
however, was given to me
as probably akin iosawata
"he beat." Perhaps setaba
was the name of a sword ;
cf. the Arabic satba.
41. ^Ab-kereb "father of the
elephant;" cf. name 108,
war-cry 57.
42. ^Abaya "refusing," viz. to
flee.
43. *Itemhek\ cf. war-cry 51.
44. *Atgawkd\ cf. name 227.
45. ^Idolu "not his time," i. e.
"may he not die yet!"
46. ^Addag "tarrying," viz. in
fleeing, given to indicate
that its bearer is a brave
man.
47. ^fgamme; cf. name 455,
war-cry 54.
48. : 'Af-taraflit. "mouth of the
edge, "i.e. "jaws of danger,
of death." Its bearer is a
bold man and always near
the jaws of death.
49. Karam-^agat; cf. war-cry
56.
50. Kurub; cf. war-cry 58.
5 I. Kabus; not explained. Pro-
bably the Arabic Kabus
"night-mare." It is given
generally with "Abib (766).
52. Kaboy; not explained. It
is given generally with
Hasala (334).
53. Kafallt; cf. name 33 ia.
54. Wad-^awaled "son of the
girls." Its meaning is not
certain; it may indicate
either tenderness or, again,
bravery for the sake of the
girls. It is generally given
with Kdmel (649).
5 5 . ^Ellum ; cf. name 498*, war-
cry 70. It is given with
^Edrls (648), or to indicate
that its bearer is clever.
56. ^Elalat; cf. war-cry 69.
57. ^Armasis* destroyer," from
"aramasa "he destroyed."
It is given with ' ' Eshaq^j}.
58. cArmat "very strong, able
to destroy everything."
59. cAsara "he counted much."
It is given generally with
Hebfes (2).
60. ~Anga ; cf. name 796, war-
t
SEQRAT NAMES
193
cry 77. It is given gene-
rally with Hdmed (580).
61. cAute "victory."
62. cEdarcit; cf. name 208.
63. cAgardt "much and good
talking."
64. Zamat; cf. name 505. It
is given generally with
Hemmad (5 76).
65. Dnnnas; cf. name 511.
66. Gennay; cf. name 520;
war-cry 87.
67. Gendi; cf. war-cry 88. It
is given to indicate that
its bearer is brave.
68. Gaddal "the man who
fastens the necks with iron
chains." It is given with
Gaweg (681).
69. Gaga ; cf. war-cry 89.
70. Gamya; cf. name 522. It
is given to indicate that
its bearer is generous.
p. 163. 71. Gera; cf. name 549.
72. Gar bit I, or Giirbiin; cf. war-
cry 92.
73. Gasmarit; not explained.
74. Gabarit "doing, working"
(fern.) The feminine form
probably refers to a col-
lective noun, like tribe or
army.
Princeton University Expedition to
75. Gabsa\ cf. name 813. It is
generally given with cAfi
(651).
76. Gandil "smartness;" cf.
above Magandel (No. 18).
77. Tarqoy. This seqrat is used
with the Zen tribe (cf.above
p. 1 34, ann. i). The ancestor
of the Zen is said to have
been a solitary man who
despised men. He lived in
a secret place and talked
with men only through a
hole in the rock : therefore
he was called Tarqoy (from
tarqa "he cut a hole").
This rock with its hole is
still to be seen in Agcaro,
west of Galab.
78. Cafcf. Its meaning is un-
certain : it may be either
the same as Safac (name
560), or be derived from
cafe' "cow's dung."
79. Saber \ cf. name 564.
80. Farcun "mild, tender." A
cow is called farcun if she,
after the death of her calf,
gives milk seeing the hide
of the dead animal.
8 1. Fungay; cf. name 259.
82. Fager ; cf. name 570.
Abyssinia, Vol. II. 13
194 CUSTOMS
87.
OF THE WAY IN WHICH THE DERVISHES UNITED.
The Dervishes rose in order to destroy everything that
they should find. And they desired that all should become
Dervishes and leave their houses and possessions and follow
them. And [indeed] many followed them. Once upon a time,
an emir of the Dervishes came with thirty men into the
lowlands of the Habab. And he said to all whom he met:
"Take the vow with me, that we may destroy the infidels."
And many of the three Maflas !) went with him. Then he
came to the three Motacat, 2) and to them also he said :
"Follow me, we are going to war with the infidels." And all
the people of Mota°at rose with him. And all the people
that followed the Dervishes shaved their heads and put on
the turbans. Each one of them seized the hand of the emir,
and the latter said to him: "Take the vow; say: 'victory to
Allah and the prophet'!" Moreover he asked them: "[Doest
thou declare:] 'My soul and my property is at the disposal
of the Mahdi and of the treasury and of the prophet' ?" And
each one of them answered: "The vow of victory to Allah
and the prophet! My soul and my property is at the dis-
P. 164. posal of the Mahdi and of the treasury and of the prophet."
And every time whenever they shouted the war-cry at [the
sound of] the drum, they said: "Victory to Allah and the
prophet." And whenever anybody put on a new garment,
his companions said to him: "May it be they shroud!", and
he said: "Amen!" The emir and the shekhs said to their
followers: "Now let us destroy all Christians; and at first,
1) I. e. Habab, cAd Takles and cAd Temaryam, the descendants of Mafias.
2) I. e. the three villages cAylat, cAsus, Gemhot, west of Massaua.
OF THE WAY IN WHICH THE DERVISHES UNITED 1 95
when Ras Alula comes, we shall make his army like trees, ')
and what they throw shall fall to the ground, but what we
throw shall hit their bodies!"
But when Ras Alula 2) heard of the arrival of the Dervishes
and of the rebellion of his subjects, he rose with his army
in order to fight with the Dervishes. The soldiers, however,
had heard the news that the Dervishes did not die, and also,
that they were able to make them like trees; and therefore
they were very much afraid. When Ras Alula had come
down to the lowlands, he passed the night in Motacat, and
the next day he reached a river called Qensal. And while
they were camping after having alighted from their mounts,
the army of the Dervishes came down on the road of
DEde-ceqqet, in order to attack the army of Ras Alula. And
a man -of the camp of Ras Alula who was gathering wood
saw the attacking Dervishes. And he shouted to the camp :
"An army has come !" When the Ras heard [this], he said :
"Mount and attack, [soldiers] !" And when they began to fight
with each other, the [Christian] soldiers shot from under
trees, in order that the Dervishes might not make them like
trees. At the first attack a division of the Dervishes fell:
[then] the soldiers entered upon [the enemy] shouting: "Yea,
he is dying." And they mowed them down with their sabres, P. 165.
and those who were too far from them, with rifles. But the
emir of the Dervishes, when the bullets were hot upon him,
made his steed to run and fled in haste. And the army of
Ras Alula joined those who fled on their horses and killed
them, but those who attacked them died on the spot. All
the shekhs and the men who had followed the Dervishes
1) I. e. so that they cannot move.
2) In Tigrifia Elula or Alia.
1 96 CUSTOMS
perished, and nobody was saved except a very few men.
Thereupon Ras Alula subdued those of 'his subjects that
were left and returned to his land. And until now that time
is called "the year in which the Dervishes were cut down."
88.
THE WAY IN WHICH FACTIONS UNITED.
The people of a tribe used to form factions on account
of the chieftainship or of some other cause upon which they
disagreed; and they were divided into two sides. They used
to take an oath that nobody should betray his company.
Each one of them used to make his fellow swear [in this
manner]. He said to him three times: "In whom doest thou
believe?" The other answered to each question: "I believe
in God." The first said: "If thou betrayest such and such,
shall God betray thee?" The other replied: "Amen." The
first dontinued: "If thou betrayest such and such, shall thy
days be dark?" The other: "Amen." "If thou betrayest such
and such, wilt thou die by thy own sword ?" The other :
"Amen." "If thou betrayest such and such, wilt thou become
like dew upon which the sun shines?" ') The other: "Amen."
"Wilt thou become like a cake of dry elephant's dung into
P. 166. which [burning] charcoal has been thrown?"2) The other:
"Amen." "Shall God seek thee on the earth and the earth
[seek thee] with God?"3) The other: "Amen." Thereupon
he made his fellow swear the same. And in this way they
concluded a covenant. And their covenant was a strong one;
1) I. e. perish like it.
2) I. e. be burned like it.
3) I. e. be nowhere and be rejected by everybody.
TUNES OF THE HARP 1 97
and they were afraid that the treason against which they
had taken the oath should not come upon their own heads.
And they were true and firm to each other until their cause
was finished.
89.
TUNES OF THE HARP.
The harp has tunes according to which they play on it:
and every one of its tunes has a name. And when it is
played, they say: "This is the tune of such and such [a
tribe]," and they recognize it. And it has tunes of grief and
tunes of sporting joy. And every tribe knows its tune on
the harp. And when it is played, each one shouts his war-cry.
The names of the tunes are the following:
sabab is that of the Nattab, i. e. the noblemen of the
Mm cAmer.
mandar is that of the Habab, [who are also called] cAd
Hebtes [after the name of their ancestor Hebtes wad
Mafias].
"ab-sarah is that of the cAd-Takles.
beles is that of the cAd-Temaryam.
besfray is that of all [other Tigre tribes] that drink camel's
milk; [i. e. the Mohammedan Tigre tribes with the ex-
ception of the above named].
And everybody has a war-cry which he shouts, be it at
[the playing of] his tune or on any other occasion. J) How-
ever, the Mln-cAmer (or Bln-°Amer), the Habab, the cAd-
Takles, and the cAd-Nayib use mostly the war-cry fares
(i.e. "brave"); and [again] every brave and courageous man
uses the war-cry fares.
i) Literally: "as often as he utters the war-cry.
CUSTOMS
The musical instruments used by the Tigre people are flute, harp, trombone
and drum ; the violin (ctra) is heard only occasionally played by people from
the Tigrina country.
The flute is in use with the Mansac (Bet- AbrShe and Bet-Sahaqan), the
Bogos, the Bet-Guk and the two Marya (Black and Red).
The harp is played with all Tigre people except the two Mansac, the
Bogos, and the Bet-Guk.
The trombone is known to the three Mafias (Habab, cAd-Takles, cAd-
Temaryam), the Bogos and the two Marya.
The drum is the emblem of chieftainship and is, therefore, found only
with tribes and families whose members have been chieftains (kantebay).
90.
WAR-CRIES.
Everybody has a war-cry which he -shouts, be it in a
battle or at some other occasion or at any time. And the
P. 167. cry which they utter is chosen according to the person's
qualities or taken from the one used by his family or from
[the name of] the race of his cattle. The following are all
the cries which they shout.
1. "Leopard of the neck;"
i. e. who bites the neck.
2. "Humming of the tribe;"
i. e. the whole tribe hums
and talks about him.
3. " Hereb ') the man-eater."
4. Habram • name of a race
of cattle.
5. "It (viz. the shield) has no
feet, and I do not leave it."
6. "He-camel."
6a. "He-camel running loose."
7. •'Running away."
8. "Trampling."
9. Libe\ name of a race of
cattle.
10. Le^e; the same as the pre-
ceding.
11. "Drowning whirlpool."
12. "Black whirlpool."
13. "He disturbed."
14. Hamasenay • surname of a
family among the Mansac.
Cf. above p. 190, No. 3.
i) Hereb was a famous man among the Habab. The word for "man-eater"
means a wild animal that is accustomed to killing, also a biting dog, etc.
WAR-CRIES
199
15. Hera; name of a race of
cattle.
1 6. "Wounded, elephant."
17. "Boasting before the girls."
i /a. u Boasting before the boys. ' '
1 8. "Four year old lion."
19. "Man-eating lion."
20. Hedakwat; name of a race
of cattle.
21. "Protection of his fel-
lows." ')
22. "Protection of his com-
pany." Cf. p. 190, No. 8.
23. Merzem, i. e. Sirius.
24. "Nail of the party;" i.e.
stronghold.
25. Matela; name of a race of
cattle.
26. "Liberal."
27. "Fire on the ground."
28. "Sharp-horned bullock."
29. "Bullock running loose."
30. "She tormented;" the fe-
minine form refers to a
collective noun, like army.
31. "Spark of blood."
32. Seber \ names of races
I
33. Sabarit ) of cattle.
34. "Drinker of blood."
44-
45-
46.
47-
48.
49-
50-
52.
53-
54-
"Haughty."
"Bold."
"Eater of babe[s]."
"Hot powder."
"Man of confidence."
"Man of revenge." 2)
"Man of the fate."
"Man of blood."
"Staying behind," viz.
when others flee.
"Broken bullock," i. e. used
to war as the broken
bullock to the plough.
"A nattdbay 3) in his qua-
lities."
"She-elephant with her
young."
"Father of the party."
"Devils."
"Maker of booty;" cf.
above p. 171, No. 437, and
p. 192, No. 39.
"Hater of goodness."
"Does not spare" (p. 192)
No. 43).
"Of bad temper."
"Tarrying," viz. when
others flee.
"Does not take counsel,"
p. 1 68.
1) Literally "those that are of his age."
2) Literally "of a chronical disease."
3) Cf. above p. 163, No. 238.
cf. above p. 171, No. 455,
and p. 192, No. 47.
55. "Footman," i. e. goes and
runs everywhere, even
through the thicket and
on roads where a rider
cannot go.
56. "Cutting (running) through
elephants."
57. "Elephant;" cf. above p.
156, No. 108.
58. "Brother of the girl, ready
for war."
59. "Christian tyrant."
60. "Bull of his fellows."
61. "Bull without cows;" i.e.
"I am a strong bull al-
though I have no cows."
62. "Out-of-door bull."
63. "Bull before the boys."
64. "Bull of the village."
65. "Bull of the tribe."
66. "Bull running loose." l)
67. Wdrl; name of a race of
cattle.
68. "Man-eating wild animal."
69. "Challengings."
70. "Good marksman;" cf.
above p. 172, No. 498*, and
p. 192, No. 55.
71. "Good marksman, man of
blood."
72. "Good marksman with his
hands."
73. "Good marksman, fearful
rebel."
74. "Arab, son of an Arab."
75. ^Arba \ names of races
76. ^Arba-dali ) of cattle.
77. "Impetuous rebel."
78. "He-elephant with his
young."
79. "Shield of rhinoceros-hide."
80. "Male buffalo."
8 1. "Robber of the tribe."
82. Zareda; name of a race of
cattle.
83. "Boaster."
84. Derara, 2) son of Derara?}
85. "Food of the vultures."
86. "Sitting debfa" 3)
87. "Impetuous, indeliberate;"
cf. above p. 173, No. 520,
and p. 193, No. 66.
88. "Soldier;" cf. above p. 193,
No. 67.
1) The "bull" in these war-cries (28, 29, 60 — 66) reminds, of course, of
the "royal bull" in ancient Egypt.
2) I. e. "her food," viz. of the army.
3) Cf. above p. 77 — 79.
OF THE HIGHWAYMEN
89. "Bowlder," "rolling rock;"
cf. above p. 193, No. 69.
90. "Lioness."
91. "Lioness with her young."
92. Gdrb'dl or Garabm; not
explained ; cf. above p. 1 93,
No. 72.
93. "Man-eater."
P. 169. 94. "Falling corpse."
95. "Red-lanced," viz. having
a lance red of blood.
96. "Red at noon;" i.e. red-
dens all with blood.
97. "Snorting of elephants."
98. "Darkness [as frightful as (P. 169.)
a wild] animal with her
young."
99. "Feared darkness."
100. "Drawer of his limit;"
i. e. unapproachable.
101. "Feared frightener."
102. "Bold."
103. "Bold one of the foot-
men." - - "Bold of reli-
gion" [is sometimes said
by priests of themselves,
but is no war-cry].
104. "Scattered [armies]."
91.
OF THE HIGHWAYMEN.
The highwaymen or the members of a robbing excursion,
in former times, were certain bold and daring men. They
rose from their village and stole the property of their en-
emies and of strangers and ate their meat, or having taken
it away, they came back with it and divided it among them-
selves. And even people from other places who had no work
at home came and followed the robbing excursion or the high-
waymen. Now the people of the robbing excursion and the
highwaymen resemble each other; but the robbing excursion
rose only at certain times and returned after having looted
their enemy, whereas the highwaymen lived all the time out
of doors, ate nothing but meat, and came only a few times,
when they had found many cattle, into the village to divide
their booty. - When the highwaymen left their village
every one of them used to pray: "O God, give us the
property of old weak men, the property of the blind and
limping, the property of orphans and women, the property
of him who has no power and who does not remember, the
property of him, who curses [but does not act], — [all this]
give 'us! I am an unkempt orphan; hoping in thee, I have
risen." Thereupon, when they were at some distance from
the village, they killed the cattle which they had taken for
P. 170. their provisions. They cut the meat in small pieces for
drying: the white meat, i. e. the two sides and sausages
made of light meat, by itself; and the dark meat, i. e. the
two hind-quarters and the fore-legs and the back, by itself.
But the choice meat, i. e. the filet, the tongue, the two
manka, ') the two geleb, 2) the two callamo 3) and the tail-
piece, was eaten fresh on the spot. And when the cut meat
was dried, they put it into the goat-skins. And the stomach
was dried after they had blown it up; then it became a
vessel for them, and they filled it also with pieces of dried
meat. And they called [the upper part] which adjoins the
opening of the stomach karrot (generally = small basket),
but the lower part gere* (generally = flat, wide, neck). One
of them was always the man of the kettle, and he cooked
for them, and generally he carried also the kettle. And an-
other was the cutter, and he always cut the pieces for drying
or the portions of meat equally. Also he divided the rations
for them. And one was the outlook -- [with the Mansac he
was] a member of the Weqen family, -- every day that they
were in their den. The dried meat of the highwaymen used
to be in larger pieces than that of the village-people. And
1) I. e. small pieces of meat inside of the haunches.
2) I. e. small pieces between the thighs and the haunches.
3) T. e. the meat on the points of the shoulder-blades.
OF THE HIGHWAYMEN 2O3
one of them who knew how to calculate said to the cutter:
"So and so, give thy company so and so many pieces for
dinner or for the midday-meal," viz. of the dried meat. The
number, however, according to which he told him to divide
the rations, was a secret. When he said to him: "Give thy
company a ration of ten," it meant "one each." And "a
ration of twenty" meant "two each." "A ration of thirty"
meant "three each." "A ration of forty" meant "four each."
"A ration of fifty" meant "five each." "A ration of sixty"
meant "six each." More than this they did not allot. Their
chief ate a portion larger than that of the others, and later
on he protected them against the bold men of the village
which they looted. When the dried meat fell on the ground,
after the ropes or straps of its vessel had been cut, or when
its carrier stumbled and fell down with it, they ate it on 1J. 171-
the spot: it was taboo for them to take it up and go on
with it. And they sent out spies or a small detachment to
seek what they might steal or take raiding. The larger part of
them stayed at a place behind. And when the spies or the
detachment returned to their company, they said to them:
"The people say it;" J) and they answered: "Its answer." ')
Thereupon they said to them: "Good finds?" The other: "It is
plenty." This was their greeting as often as they met each
other. The place where they had made their appointment
to meet was called by them "Place of our laughing." When
they were in their den, the outlook used to give them
signals if he saw people. They made signals of all kinds:
the cry of a raven, or of an ostrich, or again of an owl, or
the whistle of some small bird, or the call of the gazel or
of the jackal. With one of these they gave signals to each
i) I.e. thieves' slang for the ordinary greeting formula and its response.
204 CUSTOMS
other, and the outlook also gave them a signal like this.
And later on, if they had found much spoil, they returned
with it to their village. However, when they came near the
village, they killed one cow of the cattle of the booty and
ate her on the spot; and they left her hide and whatever
they left over, on the spot : this was called margus and
counted as a sacrifice. And if, while they were entering with
their spoil, a prominent man received them, he said to
them: "Give me the sette^it," i.e. a portion [as tribute]. And
if they refused [it] to him, he fought with them; but they
gave the tribute to him, if they were afraid of him. And
what they gave him was called sette^lt; the people of the
three Mafias, however, called it sawda. ~ Of the spoil they
gave a tenth to the chief; and this was called mamdt. !)
Again, if the musician received them, they gave him also a
cow. — If the spoil was made by the Bet-Abrehe, they gave
of it a cow to the priest also. — And after this they divided
P. 172. in equal parts; but to their leader they gave a heifer as an
additional present, and to the outlook they gave a heifer in
addition ; also a heifer to the cutter and to the man of the
kettle. And what was left in the middle [i. e. after the
division was made], was the "putting down of the staff:" 2)
the man who divided received it. — All this used to be
done by the highwaymen and by the members of a robbing
excursion.
92.
THE NAMES OF SWORDS.
The [swords] that were renowned and had a name and
were inherited as heirlooms always by the first born sons,
1) Cf. above p. 184, No. 844.
2) The man who divided and pointed at the different portions with his
staff put down his staff upon the remainder.
SPECIES OF SWORDS
are the following. They did not carry them, however; but
they kept them as precious heirlooms.
[Those that have a name among. the Bet-Abrehe are the
following].
i. Black [of Gabres]. 2. ^Eldy, and 3. Lebteb (probably
from lablaba "he hurt"), [belonging to Hasala son of Tas-
faconj. 4. Narrow [of Harsoy]. 5. Black-white [of Bula],
[Among the Habab is known:] 6. Narrow [of 6aweg].
[Among the cAd Takles are known :]
7. ^Albenay [of Naseh]. 8. Handmaids-worth, [belonging to
the cAd 6emec]. 9. Half-silver [belonging to the cAd Derar].
10. Black, and n. KabUlay [belonging to the cAd Nauraddln].
12. Cutter [belonging to the GAd Tedros].
[Among the cAd Temaryam:]
13. Quick [of Sekkar]. 14. Shed [ofDEshaq]. 15. All-killer !)
[of CAH son of Gabres]. 16. Black [of Be3emnat]. 17. Black
[of 3Ezaz son of Gerenat]. 18. Cutter [of Fekak].
[Among the (jemmegan, in Tigrina Dembezan, i. e. the
region between cAd Taklezan and Wara:] 19. Piercer.
20. Soldier. 21. White.2)
The names of some other swords [not owned by a known
family or man] are the following:
22. Marrow-eater. 23. Shearing. 24. Hurting. 25. Goats-
worth. 26. Dark-speckled. 27. Handmaids-worth. 28. Cutter.
29. Erring.
93- p- 173-
SPECIES OF WORDS.
The swords are judged by their marks, and are called
"valuable" or "of little value." And .each species has a name.
1) Literally: Father of it all.
2) Cf. also the "Black" of Hakin wad Madln, Vol. Ill and IV, No. 672, 1. 13.
2O6 CUSTOMS
A.'Afren/i; B. MaJiawt; C. Kdr ; D. ^Abutfes; E. Bonkay.
Their marks are the following.
A. The ^Afrengl species.
1. The ^^Afrtngi from Sennar" is valuable. Its marks are:
above the pommel ') four lines along side each other, a span
long. And this is called the " DAfrengI with four streams."
2. But if together with the four lines there is a drum or
a lion or a serpent or a fly [carvedj on it, it is called
"•^Afrengl Selemanl;" and this is more valuable than the
foregoing.
3. The "Black DAfrengI" is from Kabasa. Its mark is: a
broad line, a span long, above the pommel, and there is a
fly on it. It is the "Black ^Afrengi" and is also valuable;
and they are all [three] costly.
B. The Mahawl species.
1. The "Rhinoceros-hoof Mahawl" is valuable. Its marks
are: three lines, a span long, above its pommel, and two
crescents with their openings facing each other, and also
the hoof of a rhinoceros. It is costly.
2. The "Running-stream Mahawl" however, has the lines
reaching to its point; it is cheap. Or, again, if one of the
P. 174. lines is a little longer, and the two others are shorter, and
if the crescents face outward, it is [also] called the "Running-
stream Mahawl, and it is of little value, too.
C. The Kar species.
i. The "Closed Kar" has the following marks: it is "closed"
(i. e. without carving) from the pommel upward for a span,
and after that there is a broad line on it; or, again, together
with the closed space below, it is "closed" also above, be-
ginning from the point; for a span, and the broad line is in
i) In these descriptions the sword is always imagined point up.
THE WERED OR ORDEAL 2C»7
the middle, and half of it is ornamented with small irregular
lines: it is valuable. Its price is like [that of], the ^Afrengl.
And it is called the "Closed Kar" or the "Erring."
2. But if the Kar is carved with a broad line up to the
point, it is of little value; and it is the sword of the high-
waymen only.
D. The ^Abut/'es species.
The ^Abute^es has under its pommel ') a square ornamented
with little irregular lines; and above the pommel it has a
broad line, a span long. It is of little value. And when it
is used in striking, it has sometimes a "dark day."
E. The Bonkay species is also of little value. 2)
94.
THE WERED OR ORDEAL.
The wered is an oath. If a man has been accused of
blood[-shedj; or if he has called a free man "slave," but
denies it, and there are no witnesses to be found against
him ; or again, if a man has- a dispute about fields, - - in
case they do not believe him they take an oath from him. p. 175.
The defendant 3) comes with his family to the chieftain. And
the accuser 3) also comes with his family. And the man who
exacts the oath counts of the family of the man who is to
swear and whom he has accused, fifty men and five women
saying: "So-and-so, and So-and-so shall swear!" But if there
are people among those counted for whom it is impossible
1) I. e. on that part of the sword which is covered by the pommel; but
since there is a small opening between the pommel and the sword the orna-
ment can be seen.
2) I was unable to secure more detailed information about this species.
3) I have translated "defendant" and "accuser", where the original reads
"the man who swears" and "the man who makes to swear."
208 CUSTOMS
to come, [because they are] sick and old, they carry them
and bring them [to the place], if the accuser does not
name others of their family. And if they say: "So-and-so is
in such a condition that we cannot bring him," then the
accuser says to them: "Now then, confess to truth!" And
for this reason all men and women that are named must
needs come. And if the accuser, when all is ready for the
oath, releases them from it, they return to their village.
But if he does not release them from it, he makes the fifty
men and five women to swear, [and] leading them he goes
with them to a ruined tomb — or the house of Mary — . And
the accuser goes strewing ashes on their way. ') And when
they have reached the tomb, the accuser stands at the side
of the tomb and says to them: "Mount!"2) But he leaves
out one of them: the others mount all of them. And the
accuser makes the guardian of the oath to mount with them
in order that he listen whether they say "Amen" or "Defy."
And the guardian of the oath also takes one of those that
swear and leaves him out. When all have mounted, with
the exception of the two that they have left out, the accuser
speaks to them: "If ye have done such and such, will ye
become ashes?" And they say "Amen." He continues:
"Will ye be ruined, and will ye loose [every one] of [your]
men that eats 3) a corn and [every one] of [your] animals
P. 176. that bites off grass, if ye have done such and such?" And
they say "Amen." After this they go to their villages, and
they become free of what they have been accused of.
If, however, the inheritance of fields [is in question], an
1) I. e. he indicates by this that they will become ashes if they commit
perjury.
2) A single tomb often covers a large area.
3) Literally "breaks."
OF THE YEARS OF CAMELS 2O9
oath is required of seven men ; they mount on the tomb,
and the[ir] oath is the same.
This ordeal exists until now for a cause in which there
are no witnesses. But in former times they required an ordeal
from each other not accepting any witness even if they
were found, in cases of bloodshed and of the insult of slavery
and of inheritance of fields. And they say as a proverb:
"I saw thee killing thy brother, but I believed thee when
thou gavest me the ordeal."
The ordeal is very much feared. And if a guilty man has denied his guilt,
he will not say "Amen" when the accuser pronounces the curse, but murmur
bari^ i. e. "defy," or "naught" with low voice. The accuser who stands at the
side of the tomb will perhaps not be able to distinguish what is said : this
is the reason why the "guardian" of the oath mounts with those who swear.
95-
OF THE YEARS OF CAMELS.
Nabul means a she-camel that has foaled.
hewar is said of her young.
laqthat means "she has been covered," i. e. has conceived.
cesar means a she-camel whose milk is about to dry up.
wad cesar means a young that is weaned.
wad nabul means a foal two years old.
cayro means a foal three years old ; the young she-camels
are then covered.
fag^atlb means a camel four years old.
medres means a camel five years old.
rabac raqlq or mafrud means a he-camel six years old.
rabac raqqaq or mafrudat means a she-camel six years old. l*. 177-
After this the male are called sacab, and the female Baudot;
or gamal and na'at.
Maqray means the same as megda with the cattle, i.e. "herd."
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 14
CUSTOMS
96.
NAMES OF SHE-CAMELS.
1. Heletat, from hele, a spe-
cies of dura.
2. Haldyit "singer", i. e.
groans much.
3. Her to "of short and heavy
figure."
4. Haccar "short."
5. Mesra "sipping milk."
6. Matela, i. e. also the name
of her race.
7. Menkeb "elbow."
8. Me^eser "round box."
9. Rehe, i. e. "give room !"
10. Saber, i. e. the race of
camels of the Asfada
(among the Habab).
1 1 . Samal " breeze."
12. Sagru, from sagray "yel-
low."
13. Qattdn "thin."
14. Bar hat "bright."
15. Tor a, perhaps from (or a
"he espied" (?).
1 6. Nawidat "kid"; this is also
the name of the race of
camels of the cAd-Shek-
Hamed.
17. ^Adddglt "tarrying."
1 8. Kerker probably from
tekarkara "to be bent."
19. Kabbdri "giving notice."
20. Kebud-^aula "high-priced."
21. 'Abat "cloak."
22. *Awel- albas "clothes-
worth."
23. *Awel-g'dmal "a he-camel
worth;" the she-camel is
more valuable and costs
more than a he-camel; this
name, however, may have
been given to a she-camel
that had been bought for
a he-camel.
24. ^ Aw el- far as "a horse
worth."
2 5 . GeJierl " having good front-
teeth" (?), probably from
gaharat "front-tooth."
26. Gabarat, i. e. a cloak of
coloured cloth (black, white
red) with fringes; it comes
from Kassala and Sennar.
27. Gemso, from gammesay
"hairy."
28. Gadud "barren" or "fat"
29. C<fariit "model," or "bot-
tom of a large leather-
vessel."
RACES OF CATTLE
30. Ccfayit "thorn-bush."
31. Seray, cf. above, p. 161,
No. 2 I /a.
32. Fiitlt, from futa "cloth;"
this is the name of the P. 178.
race of camels of the
MlncAmer, and their she-
camels are not ridden.
97-
THE YEARS OF CATTLE.
Both male and female calves are called when they are
born ^asktfdlala; and after two months they are called
*egal (calf) only.
When they are one year old, they are called taricaf.
When they are two years old, they are called gadcf,
A three year old calf is called bcfal-kePe "owning two."
At that time the first teeth are lost, and at first they cut
two new teeth.
When the calf is four years old, it has four teeth; after
this it is called rabaf.
But from the end of the first year onward until she has
her first calf, a cow-calf is called fellt (heifer) ; and the male
calves are called laga (bullock), until they are well broken.
When they have had a calf, the female are called wtfat
(cow), and the male be^eray ; the young ones among them
[are called] ^eggot (f.) and tastay (m.).
98.
RACES OF CATTLE.
They cut marks on the ears of all cows according to their
race ; and in this way they are distinguished from each
other. And it is said: "Such and such is the race of such-
and-such a tribe." And everybody prizes his race highly,
and does not wish that it go over to another tribe. The
names of the races are the following.
CUSTOMS
P- 179- i. Habram (this word means
"brave" in Tigrina). Their
milk is not drunk by wo-
men during their periods.
2. Llbe. Their milk is not
drunk by women during
their periods. Cf. p. 198,
No. 9.
3. Lece. Cf. p. 198, No. 10.
4. Hambok.
5. Hera. Cf. p. 199, No. 15.
6. Hedakivat. Cf. p. 199,
No. 20.
7. Hag.
8. Mahadarit.
9. Mans&ayit.
10. Seber. [The cows of this
race are] also [called] ha-
rayim. Their milk is not
made into butter, and it
is milked into a herum,
i. e. a vessel used only for
this purpose, being taboo
for any other.
11. Sabarit. Its members are
numerous among the Ha-
bab. Cf. p. 199, Nos. 32, 33.
12. Senguli. Their milk is not
drunk by women with
child or in childbed.
13. Sok. Its members are nu-
merous among the Habab.
14. Qalanga.
15. Qalaf.
1 6. Belle.
17. Balas.
1 8. Baqal.
19. Begayit. These are the
camels of the Mm cAmer.
Cf. p. 191, No. 29, and
p. 220, No. 1 10.
Beged.
Tor a; cf. p. 210, No. 15.
*Arra.
' ' Erari.
*Asa. This race has no
mark on the ear.
Kebset. These are also
harayim ; they are milked
only in a herum ; cf. above
No. 10.
Walak, also called Matela,
cf. above p. 199 (war-
cry No. 25) and p. 210,
No. 6.
27. Wari. Cf. p. 200, No. 67.
28. Wekab. They are also
called harayim, and they
are milked into a herum ;
see above Nos. loand 25.
29. ^Erab.
30. * Arba-haselay . Their mem-
bers are numerous among
the cAd Takles.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
COLOURS OF CATTLE
213
P. 180. 31. "Arba-dah. Their members
are numerous among the
Marya. Cf. the war-cry
No. 76, above p. 200.
32. cAkke; cf. p. 224, No. 198.
33. Dal. Its members are nu-
merous among the Bet-
Abrehe.
34. Dambo.
35- Der.
36. Dobe". Cf. above p. 164, (P. 180.;
No. 254.
37. Degga.
38. Degge-ifarhdt. Its mem-
bers are numerous among
the cAd Temaryam.
39. Gala.
40. GTdayit.
4 1 . Tabas.
42. Fareq.
99-
THE COLOURS OF CATTLE.
The Tigre herdsmen have a great many words denoting different shades
of colour. The majority of them are given on pp. 180 — 182 of the Tigre text.
Although the translation of them belongs rather to the dictionary I have
rendered them here into English as well as I have been able to understand
them, since the study of these expressions will be of interest also to those that
are not to use the Tigre dictionary. The numbers are, of course, the same as
in the Tigre text; the order is that of the Tigre alphabet.
1. Sorrel (like a horse).
2. Brownish-yellow (like a
camel).
3. Dark-gray.
4. Black and yellow spotted
(large spots).
5. 6. Yellow with a white
breast.
7. Red with a white breast.
Cream-coloured
white breast.
with
9. Light-yellow with a white
breast.
10. Black and white spotted
(large spots).
11. Red (or black) with some
white spots in different
places.
12. Yellow.
13. Yellow with some white
spots.
14. Yellow with some red
spots.
15. Yellow
with some red
spots of a light bronze
colour.
214
1 6. White with spots of dif-
ferent colours (general
term for 17, 18).
17. Shining white with red
spots.
1 8. Shining white with black
spots.
19. White.
20. White with red mouth,
nose, horns and hoofs.
21. White with some dark
hairs scattered over the
whole body.
22. White with yellowish-red
hairs scattered over the
whole body.
23. White with a few yellow
hairs.
24. White with a black tail
and dark horns.
25. White with black knees.
26. Having a blaze (general
term for 27 — 32).
P. 181. 27. Yellow with a white breast
and a blaze.
28. Yellow with a blaze.
29. Red-brown with a blaze.
30. Gray with a blaze.
31. Red with a blaze.
32. Black with a blaze.
33. Freckled, black and white,
or red and white. (The
expression is taken from
the coat of mail where the
dark spots of the iron alter-
nate with the white of the
dress or the brown-red of
the body shining through
the small holes in the coat).
34. Red-brown.
35. Red-brown, resembling
liquid brown butter.
36. Red-brown with black
hairs scattered over the
body (so that the general
colour resembles dark-
brown).
37. Red-brown resembling [the
colour of] the milt.
38. Red-brown with cream-
coloured ears.
39. Freckled dark and light
(like a leopard).
40. [Freckled dark and shining
white.] - - [Blue]. ')
41. Spotted (in large spots).
42. Spotted black and white.
43. Spotted red and white.
44. Speckled.
45. Speckled gray and white.
i) These two expressions are not used of cattle.
NAMES OF CATTLE
215
46. Speckled red and white.
47. Speckled black and white.
48. Freckled (like the co/
which is said to be a large
species of leopard).
49. Freckled red and white.
50. Freckled black and white.
51. Ugly gray with dark spots
(rare).
52. Yellow (like the yellow of
the leopard).
53. Dark.
54. Light black.
55. Dark black.
56. Gray.
57. Gray inclining towards
dark-yellow.
58. Gray like dry cow's dung.
59. Dark gray.
60. Having large spots.
61. Having large spots red
and white.
62. Having large spots black
and white.
63. Yellowish-brown.
64. (A shade of the preceding,
not specified to me).
65. Having a white back.
66. Red with a white back.
67. Black with a white back.
68. Red.
69. Light red.
70. Reddish (like the mede'
fruit).
71. Red (like the ^algen fruit}.
72. Red with white fore-
quarters.
7 3. Red like [the kernel of] the
qasse fruit (i. e. tamarind).
74. Red with black shoulders.
75. Black (= 53).
76. White (= 19).
77. Freckled.
78. Freckled black and white. P. 182:
79. Freckled red and white.
Also the herd has a name: [this] name is given to it
according to the race or rather to the colour. And the
cattle which the herdsmen drives has a name according to
their race or their colour.
100.
THE NAMES OF CATTLE WITH THE TIGRE PEOPLE.
Whenever a cow has had her first calf, her shepherd or
2l6
her owner gives her a name. They give her the name after
her mother or the race of her maternal ancestors, after her
colour or after her use and her qualities, or according the
reason for which they have reared her. And every cow has
her name. And she knows her name : when they call her
by her name, she lows and comes to the man that calls
her. Now these are the names of cows. ')
1. HarPat "tender, soft."
2. Habram "brave, strong;"
cf. race-name No. i.
3. Hazaz "shaking," said of
the long teats of the udder
that shake when the cow
walks.
4. Lemlemnie "sprouting lea-
ves," i. e. the cow is tender
and beautiful.
5. Lomam "sneak," referring
to the walk of the cow.
6. Llbe, name of a race, No. 2.
7. Labab "front strap of a
mule's saddle."
8. Labbata "their fore-quar-
ter," i. e. "the cow is a
fore-quarter" for the other
cattle, is good and well
liked.
9. Lengiiy "shepherd's boy,"
i. e. docile, follows the
herdsmen.
to. Le*e, name of a race, No. 3.
11. Helqata "her blaze," used
of cows with a blaze on
their fore-head, but given
also to other cows.
12. Halangl "whip," i. e. with
a long and thin tail(?).
13. Halangdy "hair-dress of
grown up men."
14. Hamalmdl "brown."
15. Hamar "sorrel."
1 6. Hamas "dirty gray," i. e.
the colour of camels.
17. Hambaldy "whitish" (with
a slight admixture of dark).
1 8. Hemberra "navel," said of
a cow with a long navel.
19. Hambdrlt "long-naveled,"
cf. No. 147.
20. Hambok, i. e. name of a
small bush; cf. race-name 4.
21. Hera, name of A race,
No. 5 ; the name may be
i) The names furnish at the same time many exemples of metaphorical
language in Tigre.
NAMES OF CATTLE
217
derived from her "frigh-
tening."
22. Harirat "silk," i. e. silk-
haired.
P. 183. 23. Hebub, i. e. probably from
Hebub, a district on the
Ansaba river, between
Cheren and Halhal.
24. Hengerrat, (f.) and
25. Hengurdy(m.}u' little wasp."
26. Heddkwdt, name of a race
of cattle, No. 6.
27. Hogab "brow," i.e. having
dark brows.
28. Hag, name of a race of
cattle, No. 7.
29. Hatamat "she trod down,
broke the hurdle down,"
referring to the strength.
30. Hattat "firm" (f.)
31. Haccdr "short" (f.).
32. Hafana either "her hand-
fuls" or "her warming;"
the latter would refer to
the good qualities of the
cow.
33. Maharot "girdle, belt,"
i. e. the cow is like a girdle
for her owner, ties him and
makes him strong.
34. Mehebdl "resting-place of
the wanderer," i. e. the
cow gives rest and help to (P. 183.)
her owner by her milk and
her young.
35. Mahadarit "a means for
halting and resting;" also
name of a race, No. 8.
36. Mamat "tithe;" the name
implies that the cow was
given among the tithe.
Cf. personal name No. 844.
37. Markab "ship, steamer,"
referring to a large and
heavy cow.
38. Malawi "bridegroom,"
referring to the youthful
beauty of a cow.
39. Mashadde "disobedient, of
stubborn character."
40. Maqrdyit "dirty gray with
dark spots on the head."
41. Matela "slit-eared;" cf. p.
199, No. 25 and p. 2io,No.6.
42. Metwdy "shower," refer-
ring to swiftness.
43. Mansecayit, from the Man-
sac tribe; cf. name of race
No. 9.
44. Mbkela "bristly hair," viz.
the hair of the young man
that has been declared of
age and lets his hair grow ;
the name refers to a cow
218
CUSTOMS
183.) that has short upright
horns.
45. Makrabit "drawers" (of
women); used of a cow
whose hind legs have a
colour different from that
of the rest of the body so
that she appears to have
drawers, but also a general
name.
46. Me^eser "box," i. e. pretty
and dark like a box made
of blackened wood.
47. Me\ta "slender and beau-
tiful."
48. Mcfafayit "mirror," i. e.
having a blaze on the
forehead.
49. Magaba "their thigh," i. e.
support of her family.
50. Rudy "ostrich-feather," cf.
the personal names 835 —
837-
.51. Rcias qewcf "raven-head,"
i. e. having a black head
and a body of different
colour.
52. Raas berdm "tick-head,"
i. e. having a red head
and a body of different
colour.
^^.Ra'as terkay" Turk's head,"
i. e. the same as 52, be-
cause the Turk has a red
turban on his head.
54. Raas derho "chicken-
head," i. e. the same as
52 and 53.
55. Ra?as gab "vulture-head,"
i. e. having a long neck and
a head of the same colour
as a vulture.
56. Raydm "long."
57. Ragazlt "goring."
58. Sekel "long, high."
59. Seldma "their hump," i. e.
she is prominent among
the cattle like a hump on
a cow.
60. Somdyit "like a lace of
beads," i.e. dark and white.
61. Serwdn "drawers" (of men);
this name is to be inter-
preted like No. 45.
62. Seruglt "decorated."
63. Seber "breaking."
64. Sabdrit "a breaking one ;''
both are also names of
races, cf. No. 10, 11.
65. Sagan "ostrich," i. e. swift.
66. Selehit "garrulous, causing
quarrel," said of a cow that
is much prized by her
owner and on whose ac-
NAMES OF CATTLE
219
count he has had much
trouble.
67. Salam "drowsy-eyed."
68. Sallallt "carrying much."
69. Sahatat.
v
70. Samal "gentle breeze," i.e.
the cow refreshes by her
milk.
71. Samla "soft-haired."
72. Silmtet "polished, shiny."
73. Saref "gap-toothed."
74. Senrdy "wheat," i. e. of a
golden yellow colour.
P. 184. 75. Sengull, name of a race of
cattle, No. 12.
76. Sengul-takel "substitute
sengul;" sengul is a young
man of age, and if a cow
has his name, she is only
a substitute.
77. Sangab "left," i. e. having
a different colour on the
left fore-leg.
78. Seka "valley, plain," i. e.
having a broad back.
79. Sole "thorn," i. e. having
pointed horns; cf. race-
name No. 13.
80. Sokdn "gazel," i. e. slender
and swift.
8 1. Sakandb "wild pumpkin,"
which is used for making
bowls; the cow is pretty, (P. 184.)
yellow and smooth like
such a bowl.
82. Se'lrM "barley," referring
to the colour.
83. Sagrdyit "yellow."
84. Qalanga "having pointed,
short and thin horns."
85. Qalaf "thin, delicate, fra-
gile."
86. Qemmi "having clipped
ears;" cf. personal name
No. 398.
87. Qemasat "shirt, garment."
88. Qarota "their groin," i. e.
she is a hidden place for
them, viz. the other cows,
she hides them so that
they are not seen, she
alone is prominent.
89. Qisotdy "small village ;" cf.
personal name No. 273.
90. Qandeldt "candle," i. e.
bright.
91. Qenneget "coquettish."
92. Qayehrtfasa "red-headed."
93. Qayehqarna "red-horned."
94. Qayeh ^ezdna "red-eared."
95. Qeto "chair with a back,"
i. e. giving rest.
96. Qasdfa "their shank," i. e.
support of her family.
CUSTOMS
(P. 184.) 97. Belle, name of a race of
cattle, cf. No. 16.
98. Bizlds "cactus-fig," i. e.
giving milk sweet like a
cactus-fig.
99. Ballfit "eater."
100. Balac "shining, glitter-
ing."
lOi.Barhat "shining, bright."
102. Buray "long-necked."
103. Baskok "merciless, re-
gardless," said of a cow
that stays by herself,
away from others.
104. Bosay "necklace," con-
sisting af two rows of al-
ternating long and short
beads; the name indicates
that the cow is much
valued by her owner, like
the necklace by the girls.
105. Baqal "mule;" also name
of a race, No. 18.
106. Be^ezza "Beiza antilope."
107. Baynanl "Banyan, Indian
merchant;" i. e. rich,
giving much milk.
1 08. Badddla, "light-coloured,
white."
109. Bedar "born before her
time," and therefore small
and undeveloped.
1 10. Begayit, name of a race,
No. 19; cf. the Bega in
the Aksumitic inscrip-
tions, in Arabic Bega.
in. Beged, name of a race of
cattle, No. 20.
112. Bafela, not explained;
perhaps from battala "to
cease."
1 1 3. Bafta "linen ;" i. e. white.
1 14. Tora, name of a race,
No. 21.
115. Nehebdt "bee," i.e. lows
much and is given to
butting.
1 1 6. Nalat "she-antilope,"
Strepsiceros capensis; cf.
Garwa (No. 252).
117. Ndldy "fat."
118. Nabel "bird of prey;"
i. e. running about and
spying food.
1 19. N'faSo "small."
1 20. Nasfb-'eld "they spread
out for her sake," i. e.
the stranger halts seeing
her and is given a bed.
121. ^Algenat "fruit of the
^algen tree," i. e. Mimu-
sops Schimperi, according
to Schweinfurth; the
name is perhaps given
NAMES OF CATTLE
221
because the taste of the
milk of the cow resem-
bles that of the fruit.
122. ^Em-kenrcf "mother of a
hollow-backed calf."
123. ^Ambarhagat "ibex."
124. ^Embdw. This name is
probably the Arabic
*umm" bauwin ; " mother
of a fauM," i.e. the stuffed
skin of a young one (in
Tigre *eb"eb}; cf. JACOB,
Altarabisches Beduinen-
leben, p. 65. In Tigre *em-
bd beta means "to low."
125. "Amdt "servant girl;" the
cow is a servant to her
owner.
126. ^Amegge "a species of
dura," a little larger than
the ordinary kind and of
a somewhat different co-
lour ; the cow is large and
light-coloured.
P. 185. 127. ^Arra "milt;" the origin
of this name was not ex-
plained to me: it pro-
bably refers to the colour ;
cf. above p. 214, No. 37.
128. *Erar1, from ^erara,
"watch-tower;" i.e. lite-
rally a raised stand in the
fields from where the corn (P. 185.)
is watched and from where
the birds are killed by
means of slings; the name
refers to the height of the
cow. Cf. p. 214, No. 23.
129. ^Arab "antilope."
1 30. ^ Erab "kinship, kinsfolk,"
i. e. the cow is like a
relative to her owner.
131. ^Arebay "small antilope."
132. ^Erwat "she-elephant."
133. ^Arragit "long-toothed,"
generally said only of the
wild boar.
134. ^Ashalat "dragon, giant
serpent," referring to the
largeness of the cow.
135. ^Asmata "her flanks," re-
ferring to her fat flanks.
136. ^Esurdt "black rosary."
137. ^Esuray, the same as the
preceding.
138. ^Asa, name of a race,
No. 24; this race has no
slit in the ears.
139. *Esbay\ not explained.
140. ^Asgar "sorrel," i. e. the
Arabic ^asqar.
141. ^Et-heldl "in spots," i.e.
having white spots in her
face.
222
(P. 185.) 142. ^Et-lafikit "long-horned,"
literally "in long."
143. 3£/-Dtf>b;2tfw" having strong
joints;" literally "in
joints."
144. ^Ed-dabab "under a ca-
nopy;" i. e. perhaps "un-
der its protection."
145. "Et-galwat "in the thi-
ckets; i. e. probably "she
penetrates everywhere."
146. *It(e)maiiet "she has no
form," i.e. is crooked and
ugly.
147. ^Attabit "long-naveled;"
cf. above Nos. 18, 19.
148. ^Atwacat "small lights."
149. ^Etiye "princess."
1 50. :>It(e)gamme "she does not
take council," i. e. fool-
hardy, runs impetously;
cf. personal name No.455.
151. ^Inaqquma "they do not
address her," i. e. she
walks by herself.
152. ^Izzarre^ "she does not
tire."
153. ^Azzanit "long-eared."
154. ''Eday-kaleb "dog-footed;"
i. e. having light-coloured
fore-feet, as dogs often
have them.
T55- ^Egar-qasab "brushwood-
legged," i. e. having thin
legs.
156. ^Egdr- alaba "she has no
legs," i. e. cannot walk.
157. * Egar-carat " bed-legged"
i. e. has a broad body, but
thin legs like a bed.
i^&^Aggeray "strong walker;"
cf. p. 200, No. 55.
159. Kef ota "her kidneys,"
i. e. having thick kidneys,
viz. fl"anks.
1 60. Kehelet "anointed with
antimony," i. e. having
dark brows.
161. Kem-lebba* after her [own]
heart," i. e. headstrong.
1 62. Kemugen " dreary, sorrow-
ful," said of somebody
that mourns for a dead
friend.
163. Kurebet "short and squat."
164. Kabel "thin, small."
165. Kabrdt, "prized, valu-
able."
1 66. Kebset "turned up."
167. Kabetat" cup-holder, cup-
case," i. e. she covers or
protects the others.
1 68. Ketdr u obedient, docile."
169. Kewal "protecting par-
NAMES OF CATTLE
223
ty," that guards the booty.
170. Kaymat "tent;" i.e. white.
171. Keyus "large, double gar-
ment."
172. Walamdt "she kept no
secret," i. e. she lows
much.
173. Wdldk, name of a race,
No. 26.
174. Wahaftt "devourer."
175. Wdrl, name of a race,
No. 27.
176. Wareza "bachelor," or
"vassal;" i. e. probably
"may the cow give milk
as easily as the bachelor
spends money."
177. Was-alaba "she has no
omen," i. e. is not afraid.
178. Waqiyiit "useful."
P. 1 86. 179. Wenneset "fickle, easily
roused."
180. Wdnglr "leech," i. e. she
drinks much.
181. Wekdb, name of a race,
No. 28.
182. Wcfaga "guenon," i.e.
of gray-white colour.
183. "Olelle "small hut," which
is built and taken down
while travelling; i. e. the
cow travels with the
herdsman like such a hut. (P- 186.)
184. cEllam "whitish-yellow,"
like the colour produced
on the nails by the ^ellam
plant, soon after it has
been put on.
185. cEldg "restlessness, trou-
ble;" i. e. the cow runs
about and lows always.
1 86. ^Ermedde "cross-beam,"
referring to a cow with
long legs.
187. ^Arasit "tanned skin, "i.e. •
"having a long dewlap."
1 88. cArba, name of a race,
Nos. 30, 31.
189. cErdb, the same ; cf. No. 29.
190. cAsa "fish;" i. e. the cows
plays among the cattle as
the fish in the water.
191. ^Esser "modest, good-
natured," i. e. the cow
does not butt, gives up
all her milk without keep-
ing any for herself.
192. ^Aqdba "their legs," i. e.
support of her family.
193. "Obellat "[beautiful like
the]" cobul tree, i. e. ta-
marisk.
194. cAbbadlt, i. e. probably
"servant," if derived from
224
CUSTOMS
(P. 186.) the Arabic ; in Tigre it
could only mean "crazy."
195. ^Etot "small wild edible
animal," like small anti-
lopes etc.
196. "Engdra "peevish, spoil-
ed."
197. "Anig "beautiful."
198. cAkke "fruit of the palm-
tree," i.e. hard like it;
cakke means also "fat,"
but it is only used of
• killed animals, not of
living ones, in order to
avoid the evil eye.
199. cEklt "saddle-camel," i. e.
swift.
200. cEwal "young elephant"
or "young camel."
20 1. cAyin "he spies," i. e. the
owner of the cow received
her as reward for spying.
202. cEddel "allotted portion;"
the origin of this name
*
is the same as that of the
personal names 324-332.
203. ^Adalwayit "spotted,"
black and white, or red
and white; cf. above p.
214, No. 41—43- •
204. "Edab "speckled;" cf.
above p. 214, No. 44.
205. ^Agamdt "c#£w;z-berry,"
Carissa edulis ; i. e. black.
206. cAggebdy "stem of the
dura," i. e. high.
207. Zareda "long-tailed."
208. Zannablt, the same as 207.
209. Dal, name of a race,
No. 33.
210. Dambo "bowl made of
palm-leaves," i. e. broad
and heavy; also name of
a race, No. 34.
211. Dambalel" wide and beau-
tiful."
212. Dambar "wing," i.e. swift.
213. Dambara "her (their)
wing;" i.e. either refer-
ring to the cow and im-
plying that she has a
special colour on both
sides, or, referring to the
other cows and implying
that she is a wing, viz.
leader and protector for
them.
214. Dambar-sagan "ostrich
wing," i. e. white on the
side.
215. Dambar-was " wing of the
was bird," i. e. dark-
coloured.
2 1 6. Der, name of a race, No. 3 5 .
NAMES OF CATTLE
225
217. Derhoyit "yellow," like
the yellow of the leopard.
218. Dermeset "mixed," i.e.
the cow joins her com-
panions quickly.
219. Darbus "hornless" or
"lucky."
2 20. Derubat, from derub "a
species of dura, thick and
light-coloured."
221. Dar^at, derived from
dare* "coat of mail."
222. Derre^et "dressed in a
coat of mail." These two
names indicate that the
cow is speckled in light
and dark colours.
223. Ddbrar "of beautiful and
perfect form."
224. Dobe', name of a race,
No. 36.
225. Dlno "skin of the black
leopard," i. e. dark-co-
loured.
226. Dangat, from danga," mat
of palm branches ;" these
branches are of a dark
colour.
227. Donek "sail-boat, ship,"
i. e. useful.
228. Daggct, name of a race,
No. 37.
229. Degge-ifdrhat "she did
not fear the village," i. e.
she is strong and brave.
230. Dagus "the Eleusine
plant," called after the
colour.
231. Degenne, perhaps "perse- p. 187.
cution;" uncertain.
232. Gaharat "[the planet]
Venus," i. e. very bright.
233. Galbat "boat," i. e. use-
ful; cf. No. 227.
234 Galwat "resin," i.e. dark-
coloured like resin.
235. Gamcat "she gathered,"
i. e. "may this cow have
many calves!"
236. (jamme^it "gatherer;" cf.
the preceding.
237. Gergdt "cock's crest,"
i. e. red.
238. Gabbalit "having a large
dewlap ;" cf. above No. 1 87.
239. Gabiirat "motley gar-
ment," i. e. the cow is
motley and much valued.
240. Gengaldy "full bred hor-
se," i. e. runner.
241. Gelhdyit "hornless."
242. Gellet "stupid," i.e. fool-
hardy, or good-natured,
giving up all her milk.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II.
226
243- Gulayit "having narrow
ears."
244. Gamus "cow of European
origin," or "ring made of
a hoof," i. e. prized like
a ring.
245. Gammamit "long-haired."
246. Gammanne "lioness," i. e.
goring.
247. Garo "stable;" cf. per-
sonal name No. 278.
248. Gersa "beautiful."
249. Gerbata "their end," i. e.
the last of them, viz. after
the others have died or
have been stolen.
250. Gerana "her bracelet,"
i. e. the cow has a spot
of different colour around
the knee.
251. Garanday "staying by
herself."
252. Garwa "he-antilope"
(Strepsiceros capensis),
i. e. having long horns,
whereas Nalat (above
No. 1 1 6) refers to the
colour.
253. Gergenridt "pretty babe."
254. Gargamat "devourer."
255. Gasas "trailing," viz. the
tail.
256. Gobayit "having a white
back and black sides and
shoulders."
257. Ganrieday "drawing the
limit," cf. the personal
name 233; i.e. the cow
is the protecting line of
the others.
258. Gedgeddat "species of a
small beetle," i. e. black.
259. Gedgedday, the same.
260. Gas-kema " Pleiads face,"
i. e. having a blaze on the
forehead.
261. 7tf&z.y"comingsuddenly."
262. Caremdt "slit-eared."
263. fcuremet, the same.
264. Sama "reward;" cf. the
personal name No. 563.
265. Sembel* wedding present,"
cf. above p. 141.
266. Samassem "dense forest."
267. Senubel "having white
stripes."
268. Seray "not nourished by
her own mother," cf. per-
sonal name No. 217*.
269. Falangag "peevish."
270. Fere-saber "aloe-blos-
som," i. e. yellowish-red.
271. Fora "their garment,"
i. e. of her family.
THE MAKING OF BEVERAGES
227
272. Faras "horse," i. e. good
runner.
273. Feras "carpet," i. e. red,
since carpets are gene-
rally red.
274. Permit "fearless."
275. Farcun "mild, clement,"
i. e. giving milk without
having a calf.
276. Faraga "her release."
277. Foqay "shoulder," i. e.
having a shoulder of dif-
ferent colour.
278. Fakkat (cf. personal name
No. 958) here either
"necklace," or "she open-
ed" viz. her womb.
279. Fazazit "staring, large-
eyed."
101. p. 188.
THE MAKING OF BEVERAGES IN THE TIGRE
COUNTRY.
i. The "burying" or "mixing" of mead.
The mead is made of honey, in this way. They put water
into a large jar until it is nearly full. Then they stir honey
with it until the water becomes thoroughly sweet and a
little thick. They also dig out the roots of the caddo tree, !)
bark them and dry the bark, and [the latter] is kept in a
pile in the house. Of the bark they grind a large handful
or two handfuls; and this is mixed with the honey-water in
the jar. And a quantity of sprouting dura grains, 2) corres-
ponding to a third of the caddo, are pounded into two pieces
each and [then] also mixed with the honey-water in the jar.
Thereupon they cover the jar with its honey-water and
wrap it up well; and they paste mud around it or clay,
viz. clay that is made soft, with water. And they bury it
1) Rhamnus Deflersii or Rhamnus Staddo.
2) These grains are made to sprout by being laid in water.
228 CUSTOMS
near the fire-place; or else they put it in some [other] place
and cover it well with pieces of cloth in order that it may
become warm. After this, some open the jar of the mead
after four days. And they strain the mead into another jar,
and then it is drunk. Now this [mead] does not intoxicate :
it is for daily use. But if they make the mead for some
occasion for which they invite many people, [then,] in order
that the mead be strong, and that the people do not drink
too much at their expense, ') that it suffice for all, and that
it may intoxicate, they leave the mead seven days without
uncovering it. And on the seventh day they uncover it,
and it is strained. And this mead is strong.
If they do not find the caddo for the mead, they dry
P. 189. instead of it leaves of the glso 2) tree and take a quantity
somewhat larger than that of the caddo. But they pulverize
the glso leaves to a certain degree and put them [in the
honey-water]. Now the making of the mead, with the ex-
ception of the sprouting grains, is all done by men. But
sometimes also women that are clever make it. Most of it
is drunk by men.
2. The making or the brewing of beer.
They make the beer of dura and of barley; mostly, how-
ever, of dura. In the Tigrina country, on the other hand,
they make it mostly of dagus. 3) When the women intend
to make beer, they put dura or barley, according to what
they think [of making], unground in the water in some vessel.
And when it has softened, they take the grains from the
water [and put them] into another vessel. And they spread
1) Literally : away from them.
2) Rhamnus prinoides 1'Her.
3) EZetisine in different species.
THE MAKING OF UNLEAVENED BREAD 229
the leaves of the gele* ') over the grains ; then they put
stones over them. And these [grains] begin to sprout after
three days. And they dry the grains in the sun. And they
grind coarsely as much dura as they intend to make beer;
then they soak it in water in a jar. And when it has be-
come salty, they grind it a second time. Thereupon it is
baked, being stirred. Now they take a quantity of sprouting
grains corresponding to a quarter or a fifth of the baked
dough and pulverize them. And they sprinkle water on this
and on the dough and knead them together. And they put
it by lumps into, the jar in which they brew it. They cover
the jar well up and after a week they uncover it and strain
it into another jar in water. It is covered again for half a
day until it is ready, and after this it is drunk. But if they
want it to become masa, they put honey into the sifted
beer until it becomes sweet. Then it stays covered up for
half a day, and after that it is drunk. All the making of the P. 190.
beer is done by women; but most of it is drunk by men.
IO2.
THE MAKING OF UNLEAVENED BREAD IN
THE TIGRE COUNTRY.
Every man when he goes on a journey or when he
wishes to go to a place of ploughing where there is no
village, or the people who stay out with the pasturing cattle
that are without milk, when they set out together from
their village, take flour of wheat or of barley or of dura as
their provisions; and also a water-skin that they may drink
from it. Then when they come to the place where there is
l) Ricinus communis.
230 CUSTOMS
no village, they place branches together in a circle [like the
spokes of a wheel] and kindle a fire, and pile much wood
upon it, in order that it may char. And they put a stone
about as large as one's fist into the fire. But if there are
many people they take more stones: every stone is for
one [loaf of] bread. One [loaf of] bread is enough for one
man as his midday-meal, or his evening-meal. And the
baker goes to a rock with a smooth hollow surface taking
water and flour with him. But the place is near the fire.
He washes the hollow place on the rock well with water,
and he washes also his hands. And of the flour he kneads
as much as he thinks [of using], with water; and if there
is no salt mixed with the flour, he pulverizes salt and strews
it on it: but somebody else drips the water for him. But,
if there is no good rock for the kneading, he kneads it on
a clean leather-apron, or on a clean sheep-skin or again on
a new canvass-bag. Often, however, the people who stay on
the sleeping' place of the field or with the cattle that are
P. 191. without milk cut a kneading plate of wood, and this is
called gabbara; or they even knead in a wooden bowl. And
after he has kneaded, a friend of his measures [the dough]
for the loaves, or the kneader himself measures it. The
measuring is done in this way: he divides the kneaded
dough into round lumps; then he places the lower ends of
his two palms together and takes the lump of dough between
his two palms, and over the dough he makes his two middle-
fingers touch each other, without pressing the dough. Doing
the same to all loaves he measures them. And the man who
bakes the bread takes each loaf that has been measured off
and makes a hole in the middle of it, fetches a stone of those
put in the fire and places it in the hole; then he closes
up the opening of the hole (Fig. 13). And he takes some
Fig. 13. "Making of Unleavened Bread" (p. 230).
Fig. 14. "Baking of Unleavened Bread in the Ashes" (p. 231).
THE MAKING OF UNLEAVENED BREAD 23!
charcoal out of the fire next to the flame and puts the loaf
that is in his hand into it. Then he turns it around on all
sides. Doing the same to every loaf he bakes them (Fig. 14).
But they leave over a little of every loaf pinching it off
while they measure it. Then, when the measuring of the
loaves is done, they put together the pieces of dough which
they have pinched off and left over of every one, and knead
them. Thereupon they make the piece of dough flat like the
palm of the hand or like a tongue and bake it on the char-
coal. And this is called sellase ') or Sek ^lyob. And when
all is baked, they give the sellfise to the leader of the party
and saying: "Triune Trinity, at home a protector, abroad
a friend be unto us, Sek ^lyob !" he breaks the Sek ^lyob
into as many equal pieces as there are men in the party.
And he gives [them] to somebody who passes [them] on.
And the one who passes [them] on receives them with both
hands. From his hands he gives everybody his piece be- p. 192.
ginning with the breaker of the bread, and saying sellase.
And every one that receives [it] says: "May the Trinity
give us and give thee !" Finally also the man who passes
[them] on eats his piece. When all have eaten this, one man
passes to every one of them his loaf. And everybody breaks
his own loaf saying: "Bread, bring bliss,2) be traded in
load[s] 3) and in bag[s] !" And when they begin to eat, the
Moslem says "Mesmella",*} the Christian "Besbtfan",*} and
they put their hands on the food. And those who eat to-
gether sit near each other in a circle. And he who has milk,
1) I. e. "trinity."
2) Play upon the words bread (berketta) and bliss (barakaf).
3) Literally "strap," used for tying loads on mules, asses and oxen.
4) For bismillah "in the name of Allah !"
5) For Besma W' "in the name of the father."
232 CUSTOMS
chews it with milk; who has meat, with it. He who has
butter, breaks [the loaf] in small pieces, softens it in it and
eats. He who has nothing to eat with it, eats it dry. And
if they are thirsty while eating, they say to somebody who
is the youngest of all: ttN. N., give us to drink being a
man!", or: "N. N., may thy enemy be a messenger, !) give
us to drink !" And taking the water-skin, he makes the round
to all of them; he gives them to drink holding [the skin]
for them. Then every one of them gives a small piece of
his loaf to the water-bringer. And this small piece is called
the fessotat of the water-bririger ; — for it is of the same size
as a fessotdt, i. e. piece of dried meat. - - When they have
eaten and have done with it, every one of them says:
"Praise be unto God! Make it to be healing and light for
us! Let us eat and drink together! And after thou hast
given us this, do not keep from us [thy gifts in] the future!"
Or they say: "Praise be unto God! Make [us] find it and
do not withhold it [from us] ! Let us eat and drink from
plenty !" This is the use of unleavened bread all the time.
P. 193- I03-
THE YEARS AND THE TIME WHICH THE
BET-3ABREHE KNOW.
In the country of the Mansac Bet-3Abrehe they know the
years an'd the periods in which some great wonders and
signs have happened. Or rather they tell about the times at
which those happened, and they reckon the birth of their
children according to them. Also they reckon the birth of
iheir children from the death of a well known man or from
l) This is to prevent him from saying: "I do not wish to be a messenger.'
THE YEARS AND THE TIME WHICH THE BET-^ABREHE KNOW 233
[the times of] their robbing or their being robbed. Now the
great years that are very well known and about which they
tell much are the following.
i. The "year of stagnations."
In the "year of stagnations" rain disappeared from the
earth, and famine came over men and over beasts. And they
fed the animals with leaves stripping the trees. And when
the leaves were burned they went with all their animals to
the lowlands near the sea; and there they 'found locusts for
them and fed them on them. And the milk of the animals
resembled the colour of the locusts. And those that were
born in this year have died as old people long ago, they say.
2. The year of the first 3Obe [1844].
When Dagac DObe l) had begun to reign he made a robbing
excursion against the country of the Bet-'Abrehe and the
Bogos. At first Dagac DObe had said to the BeVAbrehe: •
"Give me tribute." But the Bet-DAbrehe had not known of
tribute up to that time; thus, they refused [it] to him. And
for this reason he made a raid upon them. The flocks fled
from him, he found little, but he killed many people. Those P. 194.
that were born in this year have died as old people not
long ago.
3. The year of Degge-Tasasa or of the second 3Obe [1849].
Dagac DObe made a second time a raid upon the Bet-
DAbrehe, when their village was in Tasasa. 2) And he took
many animals from them. And those that were born in this
year are living yet approaching old age.
1) I. e. Dagac Ubie who reigned in Northern Abyssinia about the middle
of the 19th century and who was vanquished by King Theodore in the year 1855.
2) I. e. between Galab and Laba.
234 CUSTOMS
4. The time of Emperor Theodore. ')
5. The year of the small-pox.
Even before that year they had known the small-pox, but
up to that year it had not come in all its strength. And in
that year there died of the Bet-3Abrehe about seven hundred
people, old and young. And they vaccinated the people from
the matter of each other. Those that were born in this
year, are living in the prime of life.
6. The year of the denial.
In this year there was a great denial. At that time there
was the malaria in the country of the Bet-'Abrehe, and many
people died of it. And the denial was about death : for the
old people buried the youths. 2) Those that were born in it
are living as young men.
7. The year of the pulmonary disease.
The Bet-DAbrehe had not known cattle-diseases up to that
time. And in that year a pulmonary disease came over their
P. 195. cattle: every cow began to cough and died after a short
sickness. And when they skinned her they found that her
lung was swollen and that there was in her abdominal cavity
something spun like a spider-web. And they called the
disease sambii (lung). They vaccinated the cattle from the
blood of each other. And this year of the pulmonary disease
is known in all the Tigre country. And only one or the
other cow escaped from the disease. Those that were born
in this year are also living as young men.
1) I.e. 1855—1868.
2) The youths denied their duty toward the old people: the opposite of
what ought to have happened.
THE YEARS AND THE TIME WHICH THE BET-^ABREHE KNOW 235
8. The time of Emperor John and of Ras Alula. ')
9. The year of the earth-quake.
In this year there was an earth-quake in the whole Tigre-
country. About noon-time the earth was torn asunder and
trembled much; and on the mountains fires were kindled.2)
And many large bowlders that are now in the plain fell
down from the mountains at that time, they say. And by
the[se] stones that fell down some people were wounded in
the country of the Mansac Bet-3Abrehe. And in the clefts of
the earth also fire was seen, they say. And there are [people]
who have seen a cow swallowed by the earth. And the
earth-quake stopped after a short while. And also the fires
were soon exstinguished. Even those that were born in that
year are living as young men. And this time is very well
known.
10. The year of Wad-Qedras.
In this year the Bet-DAbrehe quarrelled among themselves,
and they were divided into three factions. Now Wad-Qedras
was a follower of the party of Kantebay Be3emnat. And he
insulted a man calling him "sorcerer" without any reason.
And the man that had been insulted had Wad-Qedras killed P. 196.
for this word. 3) But afterwards he payed the weregelt and
gave also "house and cattle" 4) to the son of the dead.
n. The year of Gerdefan.
f
Gerdefan was a man of the cAd Takles. And the Bet-
DAbrehe made a raid upon his flocks and killed him there.
And they came with his cattle and divided it.
1) I.e. about 1870 — 1890. Emperor John died in 1889, Ras Alnla in 1898.
2) A proof that there are volcanoes in Abyssinia.
3) Literally "lip."
4) I. e. he married his daughter to him without pay and gave her a dowry.
236 CUSTOMS
12. The year of DAzzazi.
The Bet-3Abr6he were once split into parties. And 3Azzazi,
the son of Hebtes, sided with the one party. And when the
two parties fought, 'Azzazi killed a prominent man of the
other party, and afterwards he died there also. Those that
were born in this year are living as youths.
13. The time of Egyptian rule or the time of
Mestenger-Basa. ')
14. The year of the Turks and the Amhara.
In this year the Turks fought with Emperor John at Gerac
(Gura) and at Kesad-cEqqa, and Emperor John was victorious. 2)
15. The year of the murrain.
In this year a disease came over the cattle. And it made
them sick: it made their hair look singed, their ears hang
down, their eyes water, and their mouths drivel. Finally
they died of it. And that was the end of their abundance
of cattle. And because it did not leave over [anything], they
called it gelhay, i. e. the shaved (bald) one.
1 6. The year of DEntI-cewu. 3)
P. 197. 104.
THE TABOOS OR FORBIDDEN [FOOD] OF THE
TIGRE PEOPLE.
•
Each family has a taboo of its own. And a man who
eats his taboo grows warts on his body, or his teeth fall
out, or he grows blind, or some part of his [body] is crippled,
1) I.e. Munzinger Pasha: the time is about 1870 — 1880.
2) I. e. the war between the Egyptians and Emperor John in 1876.
3) I.e. 1896; the battle of Adua is meant. General Baratieri moved from
Entiscio to Adua.
TABOOS 237
they say. But if a man has eaten his taboo without knowing
it and afterwards when he has eaten notices it, he is purified
with the sahat. l) And everybody takes great care not to
eat the taboo of his family and not to look at it nor to touch
it. And these are the names of all that they taboo.
There are people that do not look at the heart [of animals]
nor at the hare nor eat them.
There are people that taboo the dwarf-antilope and do
not look at it nor eat it.
There are people again that taboo the Trigonella foenum
graecum and do not put it in the sauce with butter and
milk nor touch it.
Others again taboo the tongue" and do not eat it.
Some do not eat the lung; they taboo it.
Some do not touch the bladder.
Some taboo the unborn calf2) and do not eat it nor
look at it.
Some taboo the skin of the sausage, but they eat the stuffing.
And their daughters swear by it; they say [for instance]
"That I do not such and such, be it my dwarf-antilope," or
the like.
The taboo of the Hedarab.
They taboo the hare and the heart. The reason why they
taboo the hare is the following, they say. The ancestor of
this tribe was staying with his family at Tablengl. And
while he was sitting on his council-place a hare pursued by p. I9g.
a wild animal came to him and sat on his lap and kept
silent. When the wild animal saw the man, it went back
and left the hare. 3) And when the wild animal had gone,
1) I. e. probably Terminalia Brownel Fres.
2) Viz. if a cow very near her time is killed.
3) Literally "it went back from after it."
238 CUSTOMS
the man took the hare down from his lap. And he said :
"After thou hast become my client, be thou a taboo for
me and for my offspring!" And for this reason all his tribe
tabooed the hare up to now, and do not look at it nor eat it.
The taboo of the Regbdt.
The Regbat, on the other hand, taboo the tongue and do
not eat it. The reason why they taboo it is the following.
The ancestor of this tribe had agreed with somebody about
some matter. But afterwards his friend changed his word ')
against him. And he said to the tongue: "Be thou forbidden
unto me and unto my offspring!" And now his offspring
taboos for this reason the tongue until this day.
[The difference] between Christians and Moslems
in [Northern] Abyssinia.
What the Christians and Mohammedans in Abyssinia do
in order to distinguish their religion from each other is
the following. The Christians tie the macatab (i. e. a cord
of dark-blue silk) around their neck and pray towards the
south 2) and turned in this direction they kill the animals
whose meat they eat. Moreover they do not eat the meat
of animals which the Moslems have killed, nor do they eat
camels or drink their milk nor eat locusts. The Moslems,
however, tie a rosary around their neck and turned towards
the north 3) they perform the salat (i. e. ritual prayer). And
they kill the animals whose meat they eat placing them
i) Literally "the lip."
2~) This may perhaps be ancient tradition 5 cf. the Egyptian direction of
orientation. But it is more likely that they chose the southern direction
a) because Aksum, the Sacred City, lies to the south of them, and b) because
it is the opposite of the Mohammedan direction.
3) Because Mekka lies to the north of them.
TABOOS t 239
on the side in a northerly direction ; moreover they do not
eat the meat of the wild-boar or of the pig. But rather the
important reason for which they differ from each other is
(on account of) Christ and Mohammed.
Domestic animals ivhose meat the people in Abyssinia eat. P. 199.
Cattle ; sheep ; goats ; chickens. — Camels are eaten only
by the Moslems — .
(The eatable) wild animals whose meat they eat
are the following.
— Elephant and giraffe are eaten only by the Moslems — .
Buffalo; beisa; kudoo; Soemmering antilope; gazelle; wild goat;
— in the Tigrina country also the antilope called denkueld — ;
madoqua antilope; klipspringer; dwarf-antilope. — The hare
is eaten only by the Moslems. — Wild boar and pig are
eaten only by those Christians that do not fast — .
Of those that fly on their wings they eat the following.
Guinea-fowl ; partridge ; quail ; doves ; sekurruk [a species
of dove]. — Locusts are eaten only by the Moslems — .
The animals that are in the water which they eat.
Only the fish.
Food which they taboo.
Brain; blood; carcasses; fresh butter; food of which dogs
or cats have eaten.
Domestic animals whose meat they do not eat.
Horse; mule; donkey; dog; cat.
(Not eatable) wild animals whose meat they do not eat.
Rhinoceros; lion; lynx; hyaena; leopard; wild cat; the
"corpse-digger;" wolf; jackal; bay hot [a species of fox or
240 CUSTOMS
jackal]; baboon; guenon ; hyrax; squirrel; mungoose \1ier-
pestes gracilis} ; mouse ; turtle ; geres [a reptile, perhaps the
land monitor] ; serpents.
P. 200. Of those that fly on their wings they do not eat [the following}.
Eagle ; horn-raven ; ostrich ; owl ; white kite ; falcon ; hawk ;
raven ; owl ; stork ; dob [kind of magpie ?] ; ^abbeklkl [lapwing ?] ;
kettu; ') *eqod\ ') ^ambalat; ') "cattle-bird" (a kind of wagtail);
qamar ; ') cenrac; ') was; ') cisa; ') ^esslce ^em-kaleb; ') -} tal-
leq ; ') yorar; ') bat; ^eduwdn; ') sabasabo; J) masmeraye mi-
ddarrara; ') 3) suksuk; ') 4) bala ') meclw !) and all the like.
Of the animals that are in the water they do not
eat [the following}. -
Crocodile; water-fowl; frog; crab.
105.
THE GREETING OF THE TIGRE PEOPLE, CHIEFLY
OF THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH.
The greeting which a man says when he comes from a
long journey to another village or to some people that are
sitting, and what they answer him.
The stranger says: "Peace be unto you!"
The* people of the village say: "Unto you also be peace!
From where [art thou] ?"
A: "I am originally from my village, and now I come from
this [place which lies] behind us."
B: "What do you report to us?"
A: "Nothing but good [things]."
1) Small birds which I cannot determine zoologically; some of them seem
to be finches or sparrows. Descriptions of them as to size, colour and other
peculiarities will be given in the dictionary.
2) Cf. above p. 83. 3) Cf. above p. 84. 4) Cf. above p. 83.
THE GREETING OF THE TIGRE PEOPLE 24!
B: "May the good [things] be plenty, if God wills! What
is reported about the land from which you come ?"
A: "There is no trouble at all."
B: "What do you see and hear from [other] sides?"
A: "Only good things. There is nothing that troubles the
others. And what do you report unto us?"
B: "All is well: there is no calamity."
A: "Wat news do you see and hear?"
B: "Good [things] and peace only.
And are the land from which you have come and its P. 201.
people and its property in good state?"
A: "There is nothing better than they."
B: "Are you well yourself?"
A: "May we see their (i.e. your) well-being! You, are you
well [yourselves]?"
B: "Praise be to God! May we see your well-being ! Are
you in good health ?"
A: "May we see your good health! Are you well?"
B: "May we see your well-being! Are you the same?"
A : "We thank and praise Him. Yourselves, what are you like ?"
B: "We thank God. Is your family well?"
A: "There is nothing better than they. May He add to their
well-being! Are your property and your people in
good state ?"
"There is no harm at all. What are young and old like?"
"All is well, we thank God."
"When have you left your country ?"
"It is now our third [day]."
- The greeting chiefly in the Mansac country [partly]
following the Sillabario della lingua Tigre, (p. 72).
A: "Hast thou passed the day well?"
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 16
242 CUSTOMS
B: "May thy day be well! Welcome to thee!"
A: "Mayest thou stay well!"
B: "From where art thou?"
A: "I am from Karan."
B: "What doest thou tell?"
A: "Nothing but good [things]."
B: "May the good [things] be plenty, if God wills! Art
thou well?"
A: "May I see thy well-being!"
B: "Art thou in good health?"
A: "Praise be to God, I am well."
B: "How are thy family and thy property?"
A : "Praise be to God, they are all well. How is it with thee ?" ')
B: "I have no trouble at all, praise be to God! Art thou
also well?"
A : "I have nothing to complain of. May I see thy well-being !"
B: "Is all well there from where thou hast come?"
P.202. A: "All is well."
B: "May it be more so, if God wills! What doest thou tell?
What doest thou see and hear from [other] sides?
What news is told in the country?"
A: "Nothing but good things."
B: "May they give thee good things! Does it rain in the
cAnsaba country and are the crops growing [well] ?"
A: "It is raining, and there is nothing better than its crops.
May He make it continue to be well!"
B: "Say, Father of cEmar, what is the news about the
government?"
A: "It has said: 'Do not harm the trees!' Everything else
is well; there is nothing [bad] that I have heard."
i) Literally: "thou, what art thou like?"
THE KEEPING OF FESTIVALS 243
I O6.
OF THE KEEPING OF FESTIVALS OF THE
MANSAC BET-DABREHE.
They used to celebrate the festivals in the time of old ;
some of them they know and keep in honour up to this
time. On the day of the festival they rest from the work
on the fields and at home. And on some of them even their
women do not do the house work. This is kept by Moslems
and Christians together, although now it is dying out gra-
dually. The festivals which they know and keep are the
following: the two sabbaths; Christmas; the festival of cir-
cumcision; the festival of baptism; Palm-Sunday; Easter;
the festival of Mary; the festival of St. John; the festival of
Stephanos; the festival of the cross; the festival of St. Michael
of the autumn and of the summer. And besides these they
celebrate all [the days] of which they hear from the Convent
of Dabre-Sma that they are festivals. Excepting the two
sabbaths, the priest rings the phonoliths on the evenings
before the other festivals. At Easter and on the festival of
St. John, in the evening in which the festival begins, the
musicians stand, playing the flutes, in front of every house p. 203.
and praise the master of the house by [singing about] his
good qualities and about his family. And on the next
morning the people of every house give a loaf to each of
the musicians. - - And on some of the festivals the Christians
perform some ceremonies: they are the following. On Palm-
Sunday every [member of the] family ties a piece of a palm-
leaf around his wrist. At Easter, however, on the evening
on which the festival begins, the girls sing, beating the
drum and clapping their hands, thus [in two responding
parties].
244 CUSTOMS
A: "It has come, it has come, our Easter, has come."
B: (the same).
A: "It has come, it has come, our Resurrection, has come."
B : (the same).
A: "And who has brought a beautiful maiden?"
B: "Hosanna, medriso" ')
A: "And while they resemble the holy shrine —
B: "They do not eat, nor do they drink."
A: "Ahoye, say, fellow."
B: "Silk 'and of dignified countenance."
A: 'Ahoye, I am cido." 2)
B: (the same).
Speaking thus they play for a week.
And in the evening before the festival they make candles
ready. Thereupon, about midnight, all the family rises: then
every male member of it seizes a candle. And having lit
the candle they stay outside until it is burned out and they
say: "O Lord, have mercy upon us, Christ!" Afterwards
they pray for blessing with the words: "Oh God, make it
to be a festival of our good fortune and of our well-being!
P. 204. Let us have another threshing-floor and another year, if
thou wilt! Mayest thou come and may we stay!" Thereupon
they lie down and pass the night. Early the next morning
they bathe their whole body. And this is called 'the water
of the festival.' Furthermore they kill goats on that day
and give beer to drink.
On the festival of St. John, in the eve of it, after sunset,
each male [member of the family] kindles three sticks of
.euphorbia wood and throws the burning billets one after the
1) The origin of this expression is not certain; it may be derived from
' darsa to sing.
2) This is the name of the young girls during the Easter festival.
THE KEEPING OF FESTIVALS 24$
other down in the field. And the boys play in the eve
seizing pieces of euphorbia wood or of qecam. l) And early
the next morning they bathe in the 'w^ater of the festival'
and pray for blessing. And they kill goats and give beer to
drink; and this is the 'festival of the year.' 2) On the
festival of the cross 3) the boys play the same as they do
on the festival of St. John. — Now before the festival of
St. John there are 5 or 6 days epagomenes. In these days
they do not move from their halting place, nor do they
drive their cattle about ; they do not make the cattle urinate
into a vessel, 4) and they do not churn their milk, but drink
it sweet, and they do not send it away. And in these days
they do not look either on their fields, lest they be burned [by
the sun and be lost] for them. Thereupon when these days
are over they purify their cows [with holy water], and on •
the day of their purification they milk them "for the church"
and give [the milk] to the priest. This they used always to
do in the time of old: and even now they keep some of
these [practices].
On the festivals of St. Michael, in the autumn and in
the summer, they do the following. They leaven a dough
and wait [until it is baked, putting it in a clay vessel
and covering it with leaves, on which they place the char-
coal] : on the day of the festival of St. Michael, early in
the morning, they make of the leaven a 'thick loaf of the
leaves' for each male. And every one of them touches with p. 205.
the loaf his two elbows and his two knees; then he holds
it also against his forehead, kisses it, breaks it over his right
1) Leucas Neuflizeana^ Comb.
2) I.e. new-year, Ist day of Maskarram (nth of September).
3) On the 27th of September.
4) The urine of cattle is used in tanning.
246 CUSTOMS
knee and eats it. These leaves are called marawit; ') they
make them on the festival of St. Michael in the autumn
and in the summer.
' 107.
OF THE RITE OF SACRIFICE IN THE
TIGRE COUNTRY.
When they see the dead — or the people of below — in a
dream and when the dead try to take the man to whom
they appear with them, or tell him to go with them, —
then, the man that has had such a dream offers a sacrifice
that it may free him from the people of below. Or at the
time of a disease, or even when sudden deaths [by lightning
or epidemic] take place, or when God frees them from some
danger; o.r, again, when their sins have become numerous, —
whenever they think the time fit, they offer a sacrifice, be
it of animals or of corn. Of the animals they sacrifice goats
or sheep, chiefly the males of them, or also a cow or an
ox. The family that sacrifices, i. e. its males, gather in front
of the house, and they place the animal which they sacrifice
on the ground according to [the laws of] their religion.
And if some member of the family is not at home, [another
member] holds [his] stick for him. And the father of the
family kills the sacrifice with a curved knife, and his sons,
standing at his right and at his left, seize the sacrifice.
Then all of them go beyond the sacrifice [a little] farther
away. But during the killing they say: "Be a sacrifice for
our property and our people !" Thereupon when they have
P. 206. returned, they skin [the animal] which they have killed.
And when it is cooked, they eat by themselves and give
l) Plural of marwa.
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 247
also some to their neighbours. But if they are many people,
and if they sacrifice a cow or an ox, they divide the meat
while it is raw and each one of them cooks it in his house.
And the stick which they hold for him who was not with
them is hung up on the roof without having touched the
ground. And afterwards when the man for whom they have
held it comes they let him take it.
The sacrifice of corn is [offered] in the same way: they
make a thick loaf of unleavened bread and sacrifice it, i.e.
they cut it with a curved knife.
The sacrifice is generally offered at the time at which they
think that their sins have become numerous. And they say
that the sin passes on to the sacrifice. Moslems and Christians
sacrifice in the same way, all of them.
108.
OF THE CUSTOMS AND RITES [OBSERVED] BY
THE TIGRE PEOPLE FROM [THE TIME OF]
DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL.
First Chapter.
The visit to the sick person. A person falls sick on
account of some disease. Now, if the disease lasts for several
days, they say: "He is dying" or "his body is killing him."
And when his relatives have heard of his disease, they come
to visit him, men and women ; even those that do not belong
to the family visit him to fulfil the duty of custom. And
when they have entered the house of the sick person, they
say to the sick one: "Oh N. N., may God have mercy upon
thee ! How art thou ? What has happened to thee ?" And
the sick person, if he is able to speak, says to each of
them: "Mayest thou not meet with any evil!" Thereupon P. 207.
248 CUSTOMS
he tells them what has happened to him. But if the sick
cannot speak having become worse, his nurse tells how and
when he has been caught [by the disease] and how he is
at present. And the visitors offer consolation saying: "There
is no harm. The one who does not fall sick is the Devil,
and the one who does not die is God. Many are relieved
after having been in such distress. Do not be troubled!"
And they feel his body and say: "He is fevered; may God
have mercy upon him." Thereupon the visitors tell [of their
experience]: "I was sick in such and such a way, and I
have become well by such and such a remedy. And when
N. N. was sick, they made such and such a remedy for him
and he recovered." And they say to the family of the sick
person: "Make such and such a remedy for him." And what-
ever remedy they know they bring to them. Finally the
visitors say at their departure: "N. N., good-bye; we have
left good health for thee." And the sick person or his nurse
says: "Fare ye well! Amen, if God wills." Now the family
of the sick treat him with the remedies which they know
themselves and which the people have told them ; they
sacrifice [also] for him a young goat, or a lamb, or a bullock,
or a kid, or a thick loaf of dura bread. Or, again, they move
around his head a kid or a chicken or semfa ') and corn, chiefly
for him whom the people of below have seized. And they
fumigate him by [burning] roots and leaves. Moreover they
look at the hair of his cattle, and they kill that one of them
which has bad hair. They do not leave the sick one alone by
himself. Under his bed they stick some piece of iron in the
ground. -) When the sick is not cured by all this, and when he
1) Lepidium sativum; cf. above p. 104.
2) I. e. a knife, or a needle, or a point of a lance, in order to protect him
against the demons. *
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 249
is near death, it is said of him: "N. N. is weak." And they
who hear this say: "May He open '(or, untie) the string of
[his] shroud for him !" Then they send to his sons or his
brothers and sisters and those that are closely related to P. 208.
him and they say to them: "N. N. is weak. Do not miss
being present ') at [the last words of] his mouth or his
throes!" And they all come and bring also the cattle for
his funeral sacrifice near. And they make ready the cloth
.for his shroud and put it in another house lest the sick see
it. Then the close relatives of the sick man stay alone with
him, whereas the other people leave him. And they say:
"N. N., now declare thy will; what is owed to thee and
what doest thou owe? Nobody dies by speaking his will.
If thou art cured, may He preserve thee thy soul; and if
thou diest, it is the way that everybody goes." And the
sick man says: "This is true," and declares his will, and he
tells them of the money which is owed to him and which he
owes. Moreover he speaks his will to them about his ven-
geance that they may fulfil it; but he says also: "The
people of N. N. claim vengeance from us; beware of them!"
But chiefly in order that he may have his own vengeance
fulfilled or that they finish what he intended to do and that
they make his gan !) rest, he grasps their hands. And they
say to him: "Do not worry about this; it is upon us!" And
he divides his property saying: "This is for N. N., and this
is for N. N." Now if there is no secret in his will, and if
what is owed to him is money, he declares his will about
it before witnesses. Then he declares his will about his tomb
saying: "Place me at the higher end of my field or at the
side of the tomb of N. N." And they dig his grave at the
i) Literally "skip." 2) See below, Chap. 112.
250 CUSTOMS
place which he has named, and they put a tree-trunk into
it until he dies. And later on, if the sick man is cured,
they bury the trunk in it. As long as the sick man is as
weak as this, many people watch him, and at night they
make a fire on the floor and talk and tell tales, without
sleeping. And the people who are experts measure the waning
of his soul by [feeling] his pulse. ')
p. 209. Second Chapter.
As soon as his soul has departed they place the shroud
upon him. At that time one of his close relatives attends
to the corpse : he closes his eyes and his mouth, he stretches
both his arms and places his hands on his abdomen and
extends his legs. After he has thus attended to him — a
women, however, is attended to by a woman — , and if the
dead man was the owner of a drum, they beat it for him
first of all. And the musicians play flutes and praise him
for his good qualities. After this the women begin the
wailing and throw themselves down upon the ground. And
the female close relatives of the dead man tear their hair,
take off their trinkets and dress in rags. Furthermore, the
wife of the dead man takes off her head-band, her nose-ring
and her ear-rings. And in the house of the dead they tear
out the curtains and pull down the bedstead. And they send
a howler everywhere. And when the howler has reached
the village to which they sent him, he shouts yewn. And
the people of the village shout at him: "What has happened
to thee?" He answers: "N. N. son of N. N. has died !" And
all people come together.
Thereupon some of the people go to the place of the
grave and make it ready — when there is no grave yet,
i) Literally "veins."
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 2$ I
they dig it — ; and they pile up large flat stones and other
stones. Some, however, stay with the body. The people
[continue to] pile up stones until the body has been put
into the grave. They do not carry two stones at a time,
lest the family of the dead be cut down in twos. And the
women lament in front of and in the house of the dead.
Those who do not mourn weep covering up their faces.
Furthermore, beating the drum in front of the house, they
sing funeral songs and dance. Now the funeral songs differ
with every dead person, according to his youth or strength,
or wealth; or courage, or old age. But in the general lamen- P. 210.
tation the women shout ^au^by or ^aff&by for a nobleman
and wuyi wuyi for a bondsman. Funeral songs, chiefly of
the Bet-DAbrehe, are the following.
I.
For those who die young, a lamentable age.
a) i (The leaders) : Yea, say something for him, ye mourners ! /:/
2 (The responders) : [Of] the breaking of the young camel,
b) i
c) i
d) i
2
0
ye mourners ! /;/
The young, young one, the young!
The young, young camel, the young!
The young, and young one, the young!
The young, young camel of the dancing age !
The boy of the resting-places in the field /:/
And of dancing and of music. /.-/
He, whose scarf hung down on the ground /:/
He whose sense of honour was high. /:/
His ball, and his stick - - /:/
He at the age of the wooden lance ! /:/
^Aulele say unto him, ye mourners - - /:/
Be it a rescue for him, ye mourners! /:/
252
h) I : And a bridegroom of woe ! /:/
2 : And a willing [shrouder] covers him up. /:/
i) I : We saw N. N. son of N. N. being broken.
2 : May his foe be broken ! But broken we saw him.
P. 211. 2.
a) i
2
b) i
c) i
d) i
For a brave man, again, they sing in this manner.
Not fastidious is his sword : /:/
Three kinds of meat it eats. /.-/
Fresh cut meat and dried pieces /:/
And human flesh it eats. /.-/
A coat of mail — his dress: /:/
[Thus] he may make a raid. /:/
Making shoes of untanned leather. ') /:/
He brings much booty down from the highlands.
b) I
2
C) I
2
d) I
2
e) i
What they sing at the funeral of a nobleman.
From the top of Haygat 2) /:/ .
Came down a heavy thunder. /:/
Segli and Sabara /:/
And Karer 3) were settled. /:/
A bowlder he, he leads Amhara /:/
He, having laid his many traps. /.•/
The hilt was shining brightly /:/
[Adorned] with its jewels.' /:/
The sky from one end to the other — /:/
[He was] its rope, its line, [and held it]. /.-/
1) I. e. being in a hurry and going on a raid suddenly.
2) See above p. 101.
3) Large district of the northern Mansac territory, of which Segli and
Sahara are subdivisions.
c)
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL
4-
What they sing at the funeral of a chief,
i A mighty mount is fallen, /:/
2
b) I
b) I
2
Its hillocks are left over. /:/ P. 212.
The town's head has been turned, /:/
Its eye has grown blind without disease. /:/ ')
The valley grew motley /:/
With treasures only. /:/ 2)
Dagger and fetters /:/
Came out of his houses. /:/
Always the taxes /:/
[Came] from his bondsmen. /:/
Son of the man who drinks dewan 3) milk /.-/
From all the animals [that are] here. /:/
5-
What they sing for old people.
The manifold trouble /:/
Was taken off their necks. /;/
Who knows him perhaps? /:/
His fellows know him. /:/
He dashed against them, the dark-coloured lion /.-/
And he killed amongst them at the gaps [of the wall]. /.-/
6.
What they sing in a certain tribe.4)
a) i : Son of him who does not roam, /:/
1) Because the chief is dead.
2) I. e. the treasures of the chief are spread out.
3) I. e. the milk which the herdsmen must give as a tribute to a king or
a chief when he passes them or when they pasture near his property.
4) I. e. the Hedarab living among the Mansac.
254
CUSTOMS
p. 213.
Although [his] land be in distress. /:/
Behold, they lead a caravan, /:/
They halt [there] with thy ancestor. /:/
That caravan is halting, /.-/
Its fires kindle [brightly]. /:/
Son of him who broke the edict, /:/
Thy family settled in 3Ascab. /.-/
This refers to an ancestor of the Hedarab who, when a herald came with
an edict not to go down to the lowlands, paid the fine and went there with
his people, whereas the others stayed at home in the highlands.
e) i At the lower end of thy village /:/
2 He [the chief] planted the flag. /:/
f) i Son of him who feeds the strangers ') /:/
2 [All] his pots are on the fire. /:/
g) I Mead and hydromel 2) /:/
2 Are drunk in [many] a horn. /:/
7-
What they sing for bondsmen that have no known
funeral-song.
a) i "My master !" said thy cows [that thou] /:/
2 [Givest them] their water and their rest. /:/
b) i Ready are the loads, /:/
The shepherd's boys are singing. /.-/
In a) and b) it is said that all are ready and waiting for their master who
is now no more.
2
d) I
2
His heifers are [so] white and bright. /:/
His heifers pasture on the slope. /:/
Along-side of their masters — /:/
Are they newcomer-bondsmen? /:/
1) Literally "the flock [of birds]", to which the people not belonging to the
family are likened. n
2) Literally : "masa beverages," cf. above p. 229.
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 255
The meaning is, of course, that these bondsmen (Tigre) are not new-
comers, but have been a part of the tribe since the days of old.
8. P. 214.
What is sung for betrothed — or girls of marrigeable age — .
a) i .- O bride, say unto me: UI am safe, /:/
2: "I am in the sun [not in the shade of death]!" /:/
b) i : From under the curtain, O thou mourner /.-/
2 : She wished [to go] out, woe to her, O thou mourner. /:/
One lamenting woman is addressing the other and says : "The poor girl
was safe behind the curtain, but now she has gone out to the grave-yard."
c) i : From the wide and narrow mats, O thou mourner /:/
2 : She wished [to go to] soil and dust, O thou mourner /:/
d) i : Like [those of] her mothers-in-law ') /.-/
2 : Her [dowry-] loads are heavy /:/
e) i : The mirror shining bright, /:/ .
2 : The wave may they not bury. /:/
I. e. the girl is likened to a bright mirror and to a wave glittering in the
sunshine.
f) i : Yea, say "rescue" for her, O ye mourners /:/
2 : That some [help] come to her, O ye mourners /.-/
What is sung for the noble-women.
a) I : A well in the midst of the village : /:/
2 : The thirsty drink of it. 2) /:/
b) i : [As precious as] gold are her loads /.-/
2 : Like those of her mothers-in-law. ') /:/
c) i : Since her grandmother's and mother's [time], O thou
mourner /:/
1) Cf. above p. 151 under haniat.
2) I.e. she was wealthy and liberal.
256
CUSTOMS
2 : Black slave-girls have been serving her, O thou
mourner.
d) i
I.e.
P. 215. e) i
f) I
Without kindling the fire, /:/
Her house fed thousands. /:/
food enough for thousands was always ready in her house.
The wife of the nobleman /:/
Is wealthy and causes no need. ') /:/
Halt the boat! /.-/
Who knows its riches? /:/
The woman is likened to a boat full of merchandise; therefore "halt her,
viz-, that she may not die !
10.
a)
What is sung for the bondwomen.
i : The wife of the rich bondman, /:/
2 : She was spinning and weaving. /:/
b) i: Her 'house refused to be moved: /:/
2 : They cramped elephants' noses for her. /:/
I. e. she had so much furniture that at the time of moving from one camp
to the other it was almost impossible to mount them on the pack-animals,
and, therefore, they put rings in the noses of oxen that were as strong as
elephants, in order to use them as pack-animals.
c) i Her fields of corn 2) are behind her house. /:/
2
d)
e) i
Her milch cows are in front of Mt. /:/
Heavy is her store-room /:/
[With] her barley and her wheat. /:/
Doors 3) are in the back of her houses. /.•/
Her butter-sieves are dripping. /:/
When she visits her village, /:/
She [brings home and] divides black cattle. 4) /.-/
i) I. e. she added always to the wealth. 2) Literally "ear of corn."
3) I. e. through which she visits her neighbours.
4) I. e. which her relatives give her.
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL
Now there are many different funeral songs besides these,
and they are sung for each dead person about his own or
his father's good qualities; but some of those that are
generally sung are the ones which we have seen. Those of
the women who know [the art] compose them and adapt
them to the tunes. Then the women divide into two parties
of which one leads and the other responds. And some rise p. 216.
in the midst of their company and dance. And in this way
they sing and dance to different tunes. And the musicians
sitting near them play their tunes for them at intervals.
In the Habab country the women who sing the funeral
songs go around in the whole country with their kettle-
drums until the time of wailing for the dead man is over,
and they wail and sing always the funeral songs. But this
is done only for some great person, and it is called hebdl.
The women that mourn wish to throw themselves on the
ground and to tear their hair and also to strew dust on their
heads all the time, and they do so ; but the other women keep
them back. And some relative of the dead man shaves his
pubes and his [upper] lip : moreover, he undoes his hair [if
it is dressed] and takes off the trinkets that are on his body.
And he goes to fetch the 'water of the dead' in a skin
from some waterplace; he fills it from a perennial water-
place. From a mountain-gulley [that flows only in the rainy
season] or from rain-water they do not take the 'water of the
dead', lest the rain should perish with the dead person. The
water-fetcher is a Christian for the body of a Christian, but
for the body of a Moslem, a Moslem fetches the water.
And for the body of a woman, a woman fetches the water, .
according to her religion. Thereupon when the water-fetcher
has come back, the shrouder slides his hand into a small
bag of cloth, washes the corpse with the 'water of the dead'
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 17
2$8 CUSTOMS
and rubs the whole body. Then he places the body in the
shroud in the same position in which it was before. ') And he
wraps the shroud around it from head to foot; but he tears
off a piece which he leaves over. Then he sprinkles some
P. 217. spiced water on the body and also burns some frankincense
near it on a dish of clay. And taking a needle the shrouder
sews the shroud together. Then he tears the piece which
he has left over into strips, and ties them over the shroud
around the neck, the waist and the feet of the body. This
is done lest the shroud be undone. Later on, however,
when the body has been put into the grave they untie the
strips. — The Moslems, however, make of the shroud drawers
and shirt and turban for the dead and dress him therein — .
The shroud for rich and prominent persons is made of fine
linen; for the others they make it of any new white cloth.
The shrouder of a man is a man, and that of a woman is
a woman, and every one of them is [chosen] according to
his religion. For the body of a betrothed youth, however,
a bridal tabernacle is built as [they do] at the time of his
wedding, 2) and from this it goes forth. And they bring for
the body a purple cloth from the house of the priest and place
this over it as a cover. On the body of a Moslem, however,
they place the dress which he wore in his life-time. Of the
piece of the shroud which is left over, the wife of the dead
makes a turban and ties [it around her head] every day
until the time of mourning is finished. — The women of the
family of the dead [make] of the piece which is left over,
strips [which] they tie on their forehead up to the day of
his funeral sacrifice; then they take it off — . When the
men who have gone to the grave have finished it and have
i) Cf. above p. 250. 2) See above p. 128.
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 259
piled up the stones, some of them go to the village to fetch
the body, and some of them stay at the grave. — If the
digging of the grave is difficult for them, they say: "The
dead man used to be a niggard" — . Then they place the P. 218.
body on the bed; the children of the dead, however, are
made to sit down behind the body in order that they may
stay behind it [and not die]. And the bed on which they
carry the body is turned upside down. And four men carry
the body, one at each of the four [corners where the] legs
of the bed [are]. And the priest, the musician and the chief
conduct the body to the tomb. — With the Moslems a shekh
leads instead of the priest — . And the musician plays his flute.
And other men take turns with the pall-bearers. And many
people walk behind the body. And women walk behind
them beating the drum and shouting the general lamentation.
Furthermore they burn frankincense on a dish which is borne
by the priest. Ah;o they take with them the water which is
left over from the washing of the body. On the road they rest
three times with the body, and this is called the 'notifying of
the body;' for they say that the body says: "My house [has
perished] !" Thereupon, when they have come with the body
to the grave, the people who are sitting [there] rise and
receive them. And they place the bed with the body on
the ground. The women shouting the cry of lamentation
stay at the side of the tomb until the body is buried. — If
it is the body of a Moslem, the shekh acting as imam, while
all the Moslems stand behind the body, says the 'prayer
of the funeral.' Then they place the body near the edge of
the grave, and some of the people — Christians [with a
Christian], and Moslems with a Moslem — go down into the
grave. Those who are above raise the body and hand it to
them. The purple cloth or the dress which was on top of it
260 CUSTOMS
before, is taken from it and is held over the opening of the
grave until the body is [laid in its hole and] covered with
219. slabs. The body of a Christian is laid on its right side : the
head facing west, and the face turned towards the south,
and the feet facing east. And at the place where his head
lies they put a small stone for him as a pillow. The body
of a Moslem, however, is laid on its right side, the head
facing east, the face north, and the feet facing west. There-
upon they close the [smaller] hole [within the grave] with
the slabs of stone. And with the water which is left over
from the washing of the body they mix some sand of the
tomb, and with [this] dirt-mortar [the_ joints between] the
slabs are filled. Then they take the dress or the purple cloth
away and lay it [on the ground]. And they throw the sand
back into the grave: but they take great care that a blade
of fresh grass is not buried with the sand ; this is, because
they say that if fresh grass is buried with the sand, the
dew will perish with the dead man. And they call the cows
and bring them; and after they have led them around the
grave three times, they seize one of them. This one is killed
by the relatives of the dead man with a lance, ') according
to the religion of the dead. And she is called 'the cow of
the ants.' 2) Thereupon each [member] of the family of the
dead man shouts his war-cry over the tomb swinging his
lance or his sword. And they say: "We shall take thy place
and do more than that, if God wills it. We are still alive :
the friend shall not be grieved, nor shall the foe rejoice !"
After this the women sit down at the side of the tomb;
1) I. e. they cut the throat of the animal with the edge of the lance-head.
2) The origin of this name is uncertain. I was told that this name was
chosen in order that the ants should not eat the body.
o>
«
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 26 1
and they weep and dance and sing funeral songs for the
dead in all tunes. Then some men that are skilled pile
stones up on the tomb in a circle and the others hand them
on. But the chief, old persons, the priest or the shekh, the
musicians and the husband of a woman with child do not
bury: they sit near the tomb and converse. And any rela- P. 220.
live of the dead man or anybody who exchanges presents
with him calls his cows and comes [with them]: and he leads
them around the tomb three times calling them with a shrill
voice. Thereupon he cuts off the hind legs of one or two of
them with the sword. - - The three Mafias, however, tie red
ribbons with shells around the necks of the cows of the dead
man, and calling them with shrill voices they drive them to
the slaughtering place of the cattle, and there the [cows]
bellow. ') -- If it is the tomb of a prominent man or woman,
they make a "pyramid-tomb" (Figs. 15, 22) 2) or a "village-
tomb" 3) with its "bed" 4) (Figs. 16, 17). If he is not of
the like, however, they make a "bed" for him in the pre-
cinct of some "village-tomb" or a "flat tomb." 5) — The
Bet-3Abrehe, again, used to place [the dead] formerly in the
"Cave" of Haygat and to close it; and if they buried them
near the church they made small tombs even for the great
persons — . The people of the Samhar °) and those near it,
however, bury near the tomb of a great shekh in small
tombs and .call them all gamca ; 7) they do not kill many
cattle either. — [Cf. also Figs. 18, 19.]
1) This is done in order that even the cows may be grieved and lament.
2) A pile of stones in the form of a round pyramid.
3) An enclosure formed by a stone hedge.
4) A pile of stones in the form of a sarcophagus.
5) A rectangular or circular pile of stones with a flat surface.
6) I. e. the region of Massaua. 7) I. e. gathering.
, 262 CUSTOMS
The meat [of the cows] which they have killed is partly
left for the wake in the evening, partly it is cooked on the
spot. — First of all, however, before it is boiled, the musi-
cian takes the hind part of te back, the man who cuts the
uvula takes the middle back piece, the Weqen man ') the heart,
the priest the shoulder; and if it is a Moslem, the shekh takes
the breast. — The cows are killed partly by a Moslem,
partly by a Christian. And when the meat is cooked, it is
cut into small pieces of equal size. Thereupon the distributers
pass them to the people : they give two pieces to the chief
and two pieces to his wife, and also to the former chief who
has been deposed they give two pieces. Furthermore to the
priest and to his wife two [pieces] ea'ch, and also to a
P. 221. mother of twins they give two. To the others, however, they
give one piece at each round. Of the cows that are killed
they do not break the bones that are generally broken, in
order that the bones of the dead be not broken, i. e. they
fear that the relatives 2) of the dead might die. When the
tomb is ready, pieces of quartz are put on it; if it is not
ready they finish it the next day. But on the tomb of a
man who has been killed by an iron [weapon] they do not
put the quartz until they take revenge for him. On the tomb
of an old woman or of a small boy they do not put the
quartz, without a special reason. The tomb of a young man
or a youth who has left his house to heirs [without having
children of his own] is made motley, i. e. they put lines of
black stones on top of the layer of quartz in four places. 3)
1) Cf. above p. 202, near the bottom.
2) The relatives are the "bones" of a man; cf. also my Arabische Bedninen-
erzahlungen, p. 17, 1. 16; Translation, p. 19.
3) I. e. four radii, which are not quite complete and do not join in
the centre.
FROM THE TIME OK DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 263
Furthermore the things of which the dead person was very
fond, as e. g. the glass, the mead-bottle, his stick, his pillow
— or, if it is a woman, her wooden box and her bag of
palm leaves — , besides the dish of the frankincense and the
spade, are broken on top of the tomb and left. With the
tomb of a Moslem they make a small mihrab ') on the north
side. And if they find them they plant large slabs around
the "bed." — If the dead man was brave, they plant as
many stones around his tomb as he has killed persons, and
these are called "witnesses." - And they shake hands with
[each] relative of the dead man and say to him: "Mayest
thou fare better after this!" And he answers them: "May
evil pass by you!" The bed on which the body has been
taken out is made to be carried before the people and then
to be brought in[to the house] ; and after it has been purified
with holy water it is put in its place. After this the people
enter the village. And the women shouting the cry of
lamentation enter after them. Thereupon some of them sit
down with the wife of the deceased and console her. The
others go to their houses. And each one of them [stops]
beside her hedge saying: "Give me water!"; [then] she P. 222.
sprinkles [it on] her face and enters her house. Also with
the male relatives of the deceased some people remain to
console them. On that day, in the evening, the women make
a polenta in the house of the dead ; then they make a
sauce for it, take a little of it, dip it in the sauce and
saying: "For N. N !" they throw [a little] three times towards
the place of his bed. Thereupon the men eat the polenta
which is made for a [dead] man, and the women eat that
which is made for a [dead] woman. And this is called the
l) I. e. imitation of a niche of prayer.
264 CUSTOMS
"polenta of the repast." Moreover, on that evening, they make
fires within the hedge of the dead man and spread mats.
And the men sit there, be they foreigners or people of the
village. And each family has a meal brought into the court-
yard of the deceased; then, all of them, foreigners and
villagers, eat of the meal. Besides, they cook and eat the
meat which has been left over from before. And they con-
verse and talk to the relatives of the deceased in order to
console them. And they smoke tobacco and drink coffee,
and they sing songs all night long; and the others listen to
them. The women come together and perform the dance for
the dead : they dance to all tunes and sing funeral songs for
the deceased. And they weep covering up their faces; and
the dirge-singers sing dirges, be it for the dead man or the
dirge for somebody else ; each woman [sings] that which she has
composed herself. Of the hide of the cattle that have been
killed they [make skins and] fasten [them] tight on [wooden
bowls in order to make] kettle-drums. Like this they do
every night until [the time of] the wake is over. Each day
the women perform the dance for the dead : and if the
deceased is a woman they dance with her trinkets; but if
the deceased is a man they take any piece of his treasure
and his weapons with them to the dance and dance with
them. Furthermore, if he was the owner of a drum, it is
beaten also at the funeral dance for him. Again, if the
deceased was a man, and if his relatives are very much
P. 223. grieved on his account, the men shave their heads or leave
only a tuft [like that of the boys] or they braid the temple-
locks of their dressed hair so that they stay behind the ears ;
and also the sons of the deceased are shaved. And com-
forters, those that were not early enough for the funeral,
come from all places : the women weep in the house of the
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 265
deceased with his wife; but the men say: "May ye fare
better after [this]!"
Later on, when they decide to kill the cow of his funeral
sacrifice they send word to their relatives: "On such and
such a day we are to have a wake and the next day we
shall kill the funeral sacrifice." Thereupon, on that evening,
the people come together from all places bringing their
provisions of flour, milk, butter and wood. And the family
of the deceased and all the village spread mats ') in the
courtyard of the deceased and make fires. And all the people
sit there; and in the evening, again, they kill one or two
cows: such a [cow] is called "the cow of the repast." And
the people of the whole village have meals prepared, and
also they have the provisions of flour which have come from
[other] directions] cooked. Thereupon the villagers and the
foreigners eat the meal. The meat of the cow which they
kill is [divided and] eaten in the same way as they did be-
fore. 2) And in small parties they [sit] around the fires [and]
drink coffee and smoke tobacco; and they sing and tell
tales as they did before. The women, however, perform the
funeral dance and weep and sing dirges. And at the time
of the first dawn they tie the tongue of the sacrificial cow
to her chin. And all the people rise and proceed a little
from the place of their wake. The women shout the cry of
lamentation, and the musicians play the flutes. And a rela-
tive of the deceased, or the priest, kills the cow with a
lance, 3) according to the religion in which she is killed.
Thereupon every [male member] of the family of the deceased
draws the sword, or shakes the lance or the stick and shouts
1) From this the "wake" is called nessaf "mat."
2) See above p. 262. 3) See above p. 260, ann. I.
266 CUSTOMS
his war-cry. And besides, they say: "If God wills it, we
P. 224. shall take thy place and do more than that. The friend
shall not be grieved, nor shall the foe rejoice. Is he not
wrong who says : 'The family of N. N. has perished' ?" And
they pledge themselves by striking each other's hands. In
this manner they pose two or three times. — If they kill a
second cow, she is called "the cow of the forty" with the
Christians, and the priests receives of her the hind-quarters,
the fore-quarters and the rib-pieces — . Thereupon all the
people sit down. The. killing is done near the tomb if it is
not far away; but if it is far away, they kill [her] near the
place of the wake. Now the cow is skinned, and after the
meat has been cut and her skin been taken up, all the
people disperse wherever they wish to go. The close rela-
tives of the deceased, however, receive from the man with
whom they exchange presents, from their father-in-law ') and
from any other relative a thaler of 'support in case of death' ;
and they also support them in return when their day comes.
Of the cow which is killed the women take the inner parts
and cook them in the house of the deceased. They eat them
themselves and send some of them to their friends that have
not come to the house. Of the sacrificial cow of a Christian
the priest receives one half2) and her hide. And all the
people who receive a stated portion take what is allotted to
them of the meat; and the shrouder receives one part of the
back-piece, the man who measured the grave takes the
other. — Of the sacrificial cow of a Moslem the shekh takes
the hide and the breast-piece. — The tongue and the
1) I. e. the father of a boy or of a girl that is married to one of them.
2) I. e. of the eatable portions, excepting the inner parts. The musician
etc. receive their usual portions, and for each that they receive he takes
something else so that he receives the half of the whole.
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 267
"spoon" ') are always given as a tribute to his advocate.
The visits of condolence may be made during a [whole]
year: this does not matter.
The Moslems have also the [prayers and celebrations
called] maulud, dares, and yasin [after the funeral sacrifice],
and [at that time] the funeral dance (for him) ceases. From
this time onward they celebrate every year for him [the
memorial festival called] cld in the month of Ramadan. If
his wife or the women of his family are very much grieved
on his account, they mourn for a year: they do not take P. 225.
the vapor-bath nor do they wear their trinkets. — In the
Samhar, however, the wife of the deceased enters the house
of mourning, and one woman stays with her to assist her.
This house is always dark. And the wife of the deceased
does not leave it once until she finishes the time of her
mourning. And when she has finished it, all the people
assemble : the family of the deceased give a meal and
beverages to the people, and the last of their mourning is
then finished.
For a Christian who has died his people make beer for
the tenth day after his death. On the eve of the day which
is his tenth they spread mats, and all the people gather,
and a funeral dance is performed for him. And the wake
passes in the same manner as at the time of the funeral
sacrifice. And in that night the women sieve the beer in the
house of the deceased. Now they make a horn-tumbler full
of thick beer, dig a small hole under his bed, and pour this
[beer] out saying: "For N. N." Of the other beer they give
some to the men, and they drink it during the night. And
the next morning, the men disperse and everybody goes to
i) I. e. a piece of meat near the hind-quarters.
268 CUSTOMS
his work. The women, however, pass the day with the funeral
dance. And before the end of it has drawn near, they have
put the beer which is left over a little way off from the
place where they dance. Now some of them rise in order
to pour the beer [into horns] and to pass [them] on. Then,
when they have risen, the drummer-woman beats the drum
for them once. And they proceed saying: "The son of the
Amharan has died" and singing funeral songs ; they reach
the place of the beer going on for a few steps and sitting
down alternately. Of the beer they pour a little on the
ground as before. Thereupon they pour it [into horns] and
hand them to their fellows. • And to every one they pass
P. 226. around two hornfuls, and they drink. After this they enter
the house of the deceased shouting the cry of lamentation ;
and then they disperse. This is called the "beer of his tenth
[day]." In the same way they make the beer on the thirtieth
day after his death. And they use the same rites as before.
Only the women drink [this time] three hornfuls each : this
is called the "beer of his thirtieth [day]," or "of his second
tenth [day]." And after forty days again, the "beer of his
fortieth [day]" is made. Of this the women drink four hornfuls
each. Furthermore, after six months they make the "beer of
his half-year." Then, when a year is over, they make for him
the "beer of his year," in the same way as before. And they
say "the beer of his year has been poured out."
After this the time of the funeral dance for him is over,
and the skin is taken off from the kettle-drum. His wife
takes off her turban and puts on her trinkets. The son or
the heir of the dead [Christian] has the [memorial festival
called] taskar made for him every year in the month in
which he died; i. e. he has beer made for him, and the
siever pours out some of it from a horn-tumbler or a horn
FROM THE TIME OF DISEASE UNTIL BURIAL 269
saying: "For N. N." And then they invite men and give
them the beer to drink. When the men have drunk the beer
they say: "Make it [always] out of plenty, if God wills!
Make thou it now; in future thy offspring will make it. May
He make thee keep up his ') name — or his l) memorial
feast — ! To him for whom it is done [be it] a source of
rest, to him who has done it be it a source of prosperity !"
The man who celebrates [the taskar\ says: "Amen, if God
wills." And when they have finished their blessing in this
manner they go away.
The wife of the deceased is married by his heir; but if
she does not find an heir to marry her, she marries a man
of another family.
For Christians that have died, their children or their heirs
make the matatter — or, leavened loaves — a week before
the festivals] of St. Michael. And [taking] each one of the P. 227.
matatter loaves they pinch off a little from its edge three
times, and naming the name of him for whom it is made,
and saying: "For N. N.", they throw it away. And this is
called matatter or "that of the sleeping." They do so for
them each year at this time.
Now what is not done for women and for circumcised
girls and for boys that are circumcised 2) but have not
become of age, is the following. They do not put on the
turban of mourning nor the strips around the head. They do
not beat the drum for them. The musician does not praise
them. The bed-stead is not pulled down, nor are the curtains
torn out for them. They do not make the kettle-drums, but
[beat] only a barrel-drum, and they do not shout the war-cry
1) I. e. of thy father.
2) For children that are not circumcised there is no celebration.
37O CUSTOMS
for them. — They do not tie the red ribbons with the shells
around [the necks of] their cows — . They do not shave their
heads, nor leave the tuft for them. - - They do not kill for
them the cow of the fortieth day — . They do not make
beer for them : in its stead they make a polenta, but without
performing the funeral dance. Also instead of the beer of
the taskdr they make a polenta for them. Finally, they do
not make the matatter loaves for them.
109.
OF WHAT IS THROWN FOR THE DEAD AND,
OF THE MILK-SACRIFJCE.
Whenever people see the dead in their dreams, or on their
journeys pass a cemetery, or when there are tombs on a
new camping ground on which they sojourn, then, at the
time of their supper, the woman takes three times a little
of the food, dips it in the sauce and throws it away for him
for whom they tell her to throw it or whose name she
knows herself, saying: "For N. N." But for those people of
the tombs whose names they do not know she throws saying:
"For those that are our relatives and those that are strangers
P. 228. to us!" Thereupon she says: "We have given you this from
our blood and our entrails : now, sleep ye and rest !" Of the
milk, however, they pour some drops for them. — As to
the milk-sacrifice, when traveling about with their cows
they sojourn at a camping place where their relatives are
buried, they take a pail, and calling the name of the dead
man with the words: "For N. N.", they milk several cows.
Thereupon they pour some drops of the milk on the ground j
and all the [rest of the] milk is drunk by the children. In
this way they milk one cow [for each relative] until their
DIRGES SUNG BY WOMEN 27!
number is complete. However, if the number of their dead
relatives is great, they divide them into groups and milk
saying: "For N. N. and his company!" And for those dead •
whose names they do not know they milk saying: "For those
that are our relatives and those that are strangers to us!"
And all that is milked for the sacrifice is drunk by the
children. And thus they use to do always when they sojourn
on a camping place where there are the tombs of their
relatives, on the first day.
no.
DIRGES SUNG BY WOMEN FOR THE MEN.
When men die that are brave or well known or rich, and
that have prominent qualities, their wives or their female
relatives sing dirges for them. However, even if the men
are prominent, but if their wives do not know how to
compose dirges and their [female] relatives do not know
either, there is nobody that sings dirges for them. The
women that know dirges are few: they sing for their
husbands and their sons or for their relatives about their
[doings and qualities]. Every dirge is sung only for him for
whom it is composed; and every woman sings only her own
dirges which she has composed. And when they sing they p. 229.
cover up their faces, and they sing with a loud voice and
weeping. And all the men listen to them.*
These dirges are almost all of them in a metre which is closely related
to that of the Hebrew dirges : each verse consists of two halves of unequal
length. Either the first half is longer than the second, or vice versa. I have
tried to imitate this in my translation. The authoresses are called by the
names of their husbands, because their own names are not known ; only if
they are slaves their names are given.
272 DIRGES
DIRGES SUNG BY WOMEN OF THE MANSAC BET-DABREHE.
I.
Dirge by the wife of Gedar, son of Seteman
for her husband.
He died of a disease. And she remembering his love for
his cattle sang for him in this way.
i His hair was beautiful; black spices were its ointment.
Anointed with spices — this word be upon thine own head!
He used but the girth, day and night watching for her.
Did she not wrong him ? Be hanged Matela's daughter !
5 He fed her with grass; he gave her to drink springwater.
She went down first, as soon as the flashes were
gleaming,
That sarra and samarur, the grass of *Aber, might bring
her luck.
In 1. 2 the singer addresses herself and calls herself to account for what
she said in 1. I. — In 1. 3 she says that the dead did not care for ointments,
but thought only of watching his cattle. But the cattle — the daughters of
the Matela tribe (see above p. 212, No. 26) — did not requite him: they allowed
him to die (1. 4). Yet, he took them down to the lowlands, as soon as the
rainy season began with lightning. Sarra and samarur are two species of
grass. ^Aber is a district in the lowlands near the border between the Ma'nsa0
and the cAd Temaryam.
2.
Dirges of the wife of Gebbetan, son of Samard-re^ul
for her sons.
Because her two sons had died of smallpox she sang of
them in this way.
i Mayest thou be lead, small-pox, with unlucky hair !
It has taken my son DAdeg, whose wedding was fixed.
L. I is a curse; the unlucky hair (cf. below, Chap, n 6) is here the bristly hair.
OF THE MANSAQ BET- ABREHE 273
The boy with the golden ear- the boy with the pretty hair-
ring, arrow.
Three are the sons of cErit, the tied leopardesses.
* *
•
5 Last night we slept not, I and the mother of Gazayir.
I on account of my sons, my treasure, milch-cows near
the village.
She on account of her sons, who used to cut the bodies
of men.
My treasured boys appeared like unto the barley. — P. 230.
suddenly,
This is not weeping, it is a prayer for granting.
I0 They all are afraid of them, the village and the tribes.
L. 3 : The hair-arrow is made of the horn of the kudoo and is ornamented
by tying black hair around it. — L. 4 : cErit was the man whose three sons
died at the same time ; they are likened to tied leopardesses that are mighty
in their rage. — L. 5 : °Em-Gazayir was the mother of the three that died. —
L. 8: The children were quick like the barley that grows and ripens fast. —
L. 9: The wailing mother says that she does not weep, but pray that her
sons might return.
3-
The dirges which she sang for her husband.
When his cattle were taken by raiders Gebbetan went to
recover them. But he fell sick on the way and died. And
his wife sang of him in this way:
May the daughter of Matela Do animals enrage so much?
be cursed !
He is the equal of Mekal, the [who lived] on the top of the
son of 3AbIb, highland.
L. I : I. e., the cattle should not enrage a man so much as to make him
die. — L. 2.: Mekal was a hero of the Bogos living in the mountains of
Halhal.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 18
274
DIRGES
He is the equal of 3Ezaz, the to whom the weary came.
son of Garnil,
If, angry, he has passed the in the morn he makes corpses.
night,
L. 3 : DEzaz was a hero of the °Ad Takles, who brought home many cattle
weary from his raids. — L. 4: I. e., he killed the enemies. In 11. 2 — 4 she
speaks, of course, of Gebbetan.
i The son of God should not die, nor come down from Heaven!
This is our own mourning, and we use our hair-arrow. —
The knight, the lord of the wearing cuirass and helmet;
knights, .-"
He is the son of the lord of that are hurdled without a
herds, hatchet.
5 The lord of the red and the the lord of the dark and the
black, brown.
Gamya keeps fasting,
Thirsty he goes away
He eats no meat,
Its killer and its master
he broke it not.
from the spring,
even cooked,
he knows not.
10 Gamya is the son of princes', a knight, son of knights.
Why should he not find a burier ? full is the land of DAgcaro :
L. I : The mourner likens her husband to the son of God on account of
his strenght; even as the latter should not have come down from Heaven in
order to die, Gebbetan should not have died. — L. 2 : She says haughtily
that her mourning is her own affair; "to use one's own hair-arrow" = to mind
one's own business. — L. 4 : A. hurdle need not be made for his herds : for
he has houses all around that are as "thick" as a hurdle. — L. 5 : I. e. the
lord of many slave-girls. — L. 6 — 9 : Gamya (i. e. the seqrat of Gebbetan)
is so proud that he does not show hunger or thirst; cf. the Arabic qasida of
ash-Shan far a", vv. 21 foil. — L. n: He will certainly find people that bury
him : for at DAgcaro, west of Galab, where he died, there are many of his bondmen.
OF THE MANSA BET- ABREHE 275
He, the master of wide spread the master of marked cattle,
bondsmen,
p. 231.
A dirge by the wife of Mahamud, the son of Naseh,
for Samara-re^ul, the son of Ge^edad.
Into the yard of Samara-recul, the son of Gecedad, a lion
entered about noon; ') then he went into a bush~ And
Samara-recul insulted2) the lion; and after the latter had
come out, he pierced him with a lance. When the lion was
struck he was enraged and wounded Samara-recul badly. The
lion died on the spot. Samara-recul died also, after he had
been treated for a short time, of his wound. And the wife
of his best friend sang of him in this way.
i The one did not endure the that his yard was trodden.
shame
The other did not endure the he came out of his bush.
insult:
Who does not endure all this, how can he return safe ?
* *
*
Sit still, lion, risk not thine own life !
5 His heart is strong, and his throw misses not.
He is hot like unto the linseed;
And he is bitter, like the red pepper of Massaua.
LI. 6 and 7 refer, of course, to the strenght and courage of the hero who
hurts and kills. The linseed (linum usitatissimuni) is eaten and makes a hot
dish; the red pepper (bar bare) of Massaua is especially hot.
1) If a lion leaves his den at this time he is very hungry and dangerous.
2) It is said that a lion becomes very angry if he is called "weakling"
or "hyaena."
276 DIRGES
6.
A dirge by the wife of *Ab-salab, the son of &agln, for
her brother-in-law Tasfamkel, the son of ^
A young ass hit him, the hero who tears down villages.
Ahead of suppliants he goes about and ravages.
They say to him "Stop", but he does all the more wrong.
Who might seize his horn ? And who might touch his dew-lap ?
L. I refers to the fact that the strong man, while unconscious of danger,
was killed by a weak wretch. — L. 4 calls him a "bull;" cf. above p. 200, n. I.
P. 232. 7.
Kalbdt, the daughter of Hemeda, [sang\ of Tasfamkel,
the son of ^Aftay.
She was the slave of Tasfamkel, the son of DAftay; and
she sang of him in this way. «
i The lord' of the cAd Beluh the lord of Kalbat and of her
sister,
What he raids he brings in, even three hundred and fifty.
They talked artfully, it is said, to Gasmant.
[He died] leaving three of [his] garments.
- 5 He used to carry booty from the highlands.
* *
*
He died, the friend of the Turks and of the Amhara;
The Fug asked his counsel and the cArcara. -
They talked artfully, it is said, to Gasmara.
L. I : cAd Beluh is the name of the slave family owned by Tasfamkel. —
L. 3: I.e., they killed him trapping him by tricky words; Gasmarit (or Gas-
mara, 1. 8) is the seqrat of Tasfamkel. — L. 4 refers to his rich clothing. —
L. 6 : He was a mighty man, friend of the Egyptians and of the Abyssinian
king. - - L. 7 : Even the Fug (Fung), a strong negro people near Chartum,
asked his counsel; lArcara is also the name of a people (?).
OF THE MANSAC BET-^ABREHE 277
Others submitted to him, he submitted not.
10 He was invested with chieftainship from the sea:
His kind are in Hodeida and in Kasala.
The son of the proud man died, when he became proud.
L. 10: He was not actual chief, but a prominent man; the "chieftainship
from the sea" is the one granted by the Egyptians who, then, were ruling
over Massaua.
8.
A dirge by the daughter of ^Af-Leqeb.
The daughter of 3Af-Leqeb was a slave of the Hedarab
[and belonged] to Naffa0, the son of CAH. Later on Samara
begat Mandar upon her. And because Mandar was brave, his
father set him free by paying sixty heifers. Once Mandar
with his company robbed the cAd Temaryam, but the rescuers
killed him. And his mother sang of him in this way.
i My good son, prominent among his fellows,
Like an antilope is lost in the desert.
Like a falcon he spreads the wings. p. 233.
* *
*
My good son went away from his fellows ;
5 Like an antilope was lost in the desert.
The dark son of the lioness under the thicket,
The serpent makes him rise when he departs.
Like Gamya nobody ever was born.
Ll. I — 5: Mandar attacked the enemies first, before his fellows, but he was
killed and died in the desert. Ll. I and 4, 2 and 5 are almost alike: 11. I
and 2, however, use the words in a metaphorical meaning, 11. 4 and 5 in their
literal sense. L. 3 refers to his swiftness. — L. 7 : The Abyssinians believe
that sometimes a serpent enters into a man's body and makes him sick; here
he makes him rise and adds to his strenght. — I,. 8 : Gamya is the seqrat
of Mandar.
278
DIRGES
The dirge of a woman called Mantayit.
Hebtes, the son of Takles, died [struck] by an iron weapon
when trying to recover the booty he fought the army [of
the enemy]. And she sang of him in this way.
i Hebtes on the day of Merawuq keeps his place against the
hosts.
Their rifles are one close to the their shields are ready.
other,
Untimely he came back to thee, O thou, spoiled by coddling.
* *
•
He is the son of Gebbetan his tributes are put in groups.
wad Tedros;
5 He is the son of Tasfamkel the son of the dark owner of
wad Gabres,
the bay horse.
Even the raiders said of him : "He is a leopard and jumps
up to Heaven."
He went down to Barabber, the elephant, shouting;
The man of "Nothing keeps the man of the strong neck.
me,"
Why forsook ye him, bondsmen, infamous people ?
L. i : MerawUq is a district on the border between Bet-DAbrghe and Bet-
Sahaqan near the lowlands. On that day Hebtes did not die, but came back
to his wife who is addressed in 1. 3 : it would have been better for him to
die then. — L. 4 : Gebbetan was the chief of the family of Hebtes' mother ;
thus Hebtes is one of his descendants ; the cows which he receives as tributes
are divided into groups according to their colour. — LJ. 5 • Tasfamkel, the
dark owner of the bay horse, was the father of Hebtes' father: H. is of noble
descent from both his mother's and his father's side. — L- 7 seqq. : H. was
killed at Barabber, north-west of Galab, after all his bondsmen had forsaken him.
OF THE MANSAC BET-5ABREHE 279
10.
A dirge by the wife of Yibbatlt, the son of Takles,
for her husband.
Yibbatlt died of a disease. He was a clever and brave
man. And she sang of him in this way.
i Master of Raka and his fellows, master of Baklta and her mate, p. 234.
The word is thine own, nobility [is] from thy father.
Even if thou sayest "well", they do not believe thee ;
When they leave thee, O themselves they return to
Kafal, thee.
» *
*
5 Lion, son of lions, son of the roaring sea:
No weakling is he, no wretch ; having sworn he breaks not
his word.
* *
*
Lion, son of lions, elephant, son of the torrent:
He does not betray his friend, he does not disown his brother.
L. I : Raka and others were his slaves, Bakita and her mate his slave-
girls. - - L. 2 : I. e., thou keepest thy word, and this is the merit of thy
own character; thy noble rank thou hast inherited from thy father. -
L. 3: I.e., thy thoughts and plans are deep and hidden. The meaning of 11. 2
and 3 is "he does not betray" : he keeps his word, but he keeps also silence
about his plans. — L. 4 : Kafal is the seqrat of Yibbatlt. Even if they leave
him after a quarrel, they return on their own account because they are help-
less without him. — LI. 5 and 7: The "roaring sea," the "rapid torrent" is
his father, i. e. he was a strong, violent man.
II.
The dirges of Mantayit [which s/te sang] of *Elos,
the son of ^Edr'is.
DElos was fighting against the army of Kabasa, mounted
on a mule; at that time his sword slipped from the scabbard
280 DIRGES
and cut the thick of his thigh. And the army of Kabasa
came and killed him. Mantayit was the slave of the son of
his brother; and she sang of him in this way.
i The consort of Nor's daughter, the husband of the daughter
of DAb-cAlI:
In thunderstorms roars the and in morning-showers.
son of DEdrIs,
Garo is bountiful like unto God,
He has a hundred slaves on his floors.
* *
•
5 Who is it, if not Garo, that went his own ways of glory ?
His cattle was never tithed, his silver never measured.
Strong were by your strength, even your followers:
They did not eat from small nor sew cheap night-gowns,
plates,
L. I : Nor, the father of cAli, was the father of the wife of DElos, whose
seqrat was Garo (11. 3, 5), the son of DEdris (1. 2) : the latter was of noble
descent from his mother's side also. — I,. 2: He roars, viz. shouts his war-cry,
at all times: the thunderstorms come generally in the afternoon, seldom in
the morning. — L. 4 : His slave-girls go about on his floors and do the
house-work. — L. 6 : He was very rich, but did not pay taxes, like a rebel. —
L. 7 — 8: -On his account even the slave-girls, who were his clients, were
honoured and received from him plenty of food and of clothing.
12.
i His sword is a flash of lightning, [striking like] miracles.
P. 235. He has a thousand soldiers, praying on his floor.
He has a thousand robbers, from whom he takes tribute.
He has a thousand slave-girls, carrying scores of children.
L. 3: Literally "from whom he arranges the tribute[-cattle] according to
colours ;" see above p. 204. — L. 4 : The slave-girls carry the children on
their backs.
OF THE MANSAC BET-^ABREHE
281
A dirge by the wife of Nor, the son of Gabil,
for her husband.
Nor died of a disease. And the people. accused his wife
saying: "She did not sing a dirge for him." But saying:
"Even if I sing a dirge for him, does he return?", she
sang of him in this way.
•
i Did ye not see him that day, the strong man passing?
The suppliant brings him not that he may sit under his
back, acacia.
The mourner brings him not even if her throat sings beauti-
back,
The untamed lion has died,
ful songs !
upon whom village and town
put their hope.
he was the shepherd of all
the town.
Woe to his family after his We know not what they will
5 But not only a lion,
death !
do.
L. i: "Passing" refers to his last journey, viz. when he went to his tomb. —
L. 2 : The acacia overshadowed his seat on the council-place.
14.
The dirges \sung\ by the wife of ^Ablb, the son of
Temaryam, for her husband.
3Abib died struck by an iron weapon; and he was a
brave man. And even all his family died fighting struck by
the iron. And the wife of DAbib sang a dirge of her husband
and of his family at the same time.
282 DIRGES
i Be cursed Gabana! It said not: "My master's son!"
All the people of Bet-Mahasel, their nature is bravery.
BeDemnat,the father of Kaymat, killed a horse and his master.
Yea, Macaggeb, the son of shouted "My cattle !" and fell,
(jaddal,
poured into pails;
he cut her thighs;
ripe and unripe ;
5 cAb-DEzaz gives milk,
DAb-DEzaz gives a fat cow;
P. 236. 3Ab-DEzaz gives corn,
3Ab-:)Ezaz gives clothes,
woven with golden thread. —
He said : "I do not go away"; he said "Dabrat" and gave his
war-cry.
Only 1. i and 1. 9 refer to DAbib ; the rest to his. family. — L. i : Gabana,
the watering-place of Galab, did not say : "He is my master's son, and I
must protect him." — L. 2 : Bet-Mahasel is the seqrat of DAbib's family. —
L. 4: Both names are seqrat\ Macaggeb generally of Mahamud, Gaddal of
Gaweg. — L. 5 sqq. : DAb-DEzaz is the same as Macaggeb. — L. 9 : Dabrat was a
name of a girl whom the enemies tried to steal at Gabana. ^Abib shouted her
name and his war-cry, fought and fell.
i If noble rank protects a man, it would have saved thee now.
He is the son of GAylay wad whose mead is plenty.
cAndaloy,
He is the son of 3Eshaq wad who dwell at DAdhara.
Kantebay,
He is a son of Sum-DAbbaza, whose floors are winnowed.
5 Like his ancestor, the man of and like his ancestor, the man
Firuq, of Laba;
L. 2 : °Aylay is a subtribe of the Miinsac; 3Abib was a member of it. —
L. 3 : JEshaq is a subtribe of the Habab ; 3Ab!b was related to it by his
mother or grandmother; DAdhara is a wadi in the Habab country. — L. 4:
§um-DAbbaza is a division of the Bet-DAbbaza among the Mansac; their an-
cestor was a sum "chief." — L. 5 : Ancestors of ^Abib fell at Firuq, east of
Galab, and near the Laba river.
OK THE MANSAC liET-^AHREHE 283
He drove the herd with the cattle know it themselves.
branches,
Now, of bravery no one thinks any longer.
May the Sehe people rest ! May they grow tired of their
sleep !
L. 7: Literally "the last thought of bravery has perished." — L. 8: The
"Sehe people" are the cAd Temaryam ; they may sleep safely now since DAbib died.
1 6.
i Rayat, thy father's bowels, when would ^aday move them?
What he thinks in his heart, he carries out swiftly.
* »
*
Thou and thy fellows, ye are of different nature :
Sometimes Marced's son leads sometimes he is a spy;
the van,
5 They go on the [safe] road, thou on the edge.
* *
#
The truly strong one died, the master of the herd.
Many people come to him, villagers and robbers;
Some wish to be saved, and some wish counsel.
L. I : Rayat is the daughter of DAbIb and of the singing woman. ^
is a strong laxative, Salvadora persica (according to Schweinfurth). The
meaning is u:>Abib's bowels of compassion cannot be moved at all." —
L. 4 : Marced is the seqrat of 3Abib's father. — L. 5 : On the edge, viz.
exposed to danger.
i Woe, my sleep is gone ! Whoever wakes up, is roused
by me. -
When they call "Shield, shield," give it to 3Ab-Mahammad ! p. 237.
L. i : I. e., I do not sleep, and others are waked up on account of my
wailing. — L. 2: DAb-Mahammad is 3AbIb; he is also called DAb-Rayat
(cf. 16, 1. I).
284 DIRGES
The shield he carries ahead of he stays with it to the end.
all,
The Sehe cattle had no first with us we made them bring
calves, forth their first calves.
5 Strong is the daughter of 3Ed- strong is her mother and her
dabab grandmother.
L. 4 : ^Abib used to rob the cAd-Temaryam of their heifers ; and when they
had been driven to the Mansac country they calved. — L. 5 : ^Ed-dabab is
the name of a cow, cf. above p. 222, No. 144. DAbib used to take strong and
valuable cattle.
18.
A dirge by the wife of Fekak, the son Be^emnat,
for her father-in-law Be^emnat.
BeDemnat fought, together with his son Terag, at DEt-
hemmarat, against DObe (see above p. 233). And they killed
many of the army of DObe. Then he and his son died there.
And the wife of his son sang of him in this way.
i The Mansac were beaten : they returned to their children.
But my father refused : he entered the shower of bullets.
•& •&
*
The Mansac were beaten : they returned to their seat.
But my father refused : [he dared] to risk his life.
«- *
#
5 The Mansa0 were beaten: they returned to their council-
place.
But my father refused : he endured the storm of bullets ;
He was like Hesal wad whose mother was Hasala's daugh-
Samara, ter.
L. 7 : Hesal, the son of Samara and of the daughter of Hasala, was a
famous hero of the Bet-Sahaqan, about 1850; Hasala was a well known hero
of the Mansac.
OF THE MANSAC BET-DABREHE 285
Be burnt, O ^andaldt tree; now try to fetch something!
Mayest thou perish far away, and follow thine Amhara!
* *
•
10 Let Mangur go thither to TaflenSyit;
Let him show there herds and heifers!
This shield of Mangur is brave and boasting.
L. 8 : An ca«afo/-tree (Capparis persicifolia R.) is at the council-place of
the cAd-Bula at Galab ; there Be^emnat used to sit. The singer curses the tree
and says to it: "Go, and try to find somebody else, but thou wilt not find
any 5 therefore, follow thine Amhara, i. e. the man who killed BeDemnat, and
die alone!" — L. 10: Mangur was the seqrat of BeDemnat. Taflenayit is a
hill north-east of Galab.
19. P. 238.
Dirges by the wife of BeDemnat, the son of &ahad,
for her husband. ')
Be'emnat, the son of Gahad, fled with his cattle from'Obe,
and he came to a camping-place called Garawlt. 2) And there
the army of DObe overtook him. When the companion of
Be'emnat saw the army of DObe, he said to BeDemnat: "Run
away, Be'emn.at ! DObe has come." But Be'emnat answered :
"Thou, run away, and announce good news!" Now the man
fled and went away. BeDemnat, however, shouted the war-
cry and plunged into the army: he killed two footmen and
one horseman. But then the army killed him. And his wife
sang of him in this way.
i Foolhardy is 3Ab-Kayma : he attacks DObe !
He rose against the Karsim, having no news of them.
L. i : DAb-Kayma is, of course, BeDemnat. — L. 2 : Karsim is the same as
Karnessim in Tigriiia, i. e. a district in Hamasen, north of DAsmara.
1) Nos. 19 — 32 were written down by Naffac after the dictation of the
singers themselves.
2) North of Galab, near the cAd-Temaryam.
286
DIRGES
He scorns the footmen, and chooses the horsemen in-
stead.
He spurns the horses, and fights against the rifles.
5 Erstwhile they said of thee: "He disdains the doors of others."
Foolhardy is 3Ab-Kayma:
He scorned the footmen,
He spurned the horses,
This thy deed may be done
he attacked 3Obe!
and chose the horsemen instead ;
and fought against the rifles,
by the famous heroes forever!
20.
What she sang of her husband and of her brother-
in-law when they died one after the other.
i DAb-Kayma and 3Ab-cEzaz, ye denied us a timely death !-
Their garment is the marrenl, woven with silk threads ;
Their beverage is red mead, fermenting in jars ;
Their house is the shrine of to which the pious journey,
the prophet,
L. I : Literally "the death in turns," i. e. ye died at the same time instead
of dying each at his turn. — L. 2 : The marrenl is a garment of fine silk
and is much prized. — L. 4 : I. e., many people come to their house in order
to ask counsel.
P. 239.
21.
The dirges of the wife of Gamya, the son of Harsit.
For her husband.
Gamya, the son of Harsit, was very wealthy in cattle.
Then he died of a disease; and also his cattle perished of
the lung-disease. And his wife sang of him in this way.
OF THE MANSAC BET-^ABREHE
287
i Perhaps he went down there, on the cAgab-road in Setta:
Even if the road is narrow, he widens it by the hoofs of
herds.
The well of your father is who might water there ?
dangerous :
Do not go near the ambidex- when his cows are thirsty;
terous man;
5 For the well is by nature his and ye fear his poisonous
property ; anger.
L. i : The mourner pictures a scene of his life : he is not seen now, so
perhaps he went with his herds on the cAgab-road, a narrow path near Galab —
perhaps she alludes also to the meaning of ^agab "the wrong" — . L. 5 : The
literal translation would be : "If relationship is counted, on account of natural
condition (viz. do not go near him); and if ye fear him, on account of their
poison." In the second half "their" refers to the cattle, but their owner is
meant; the expression is chosen in the original on account of the rhyme.
22.
i Were yesterday the daughters satisfied, o left-handed man ?
of cArba
On the borderland he stayed may they meet friend or foe.
with them,
His heart dodges not the beasts, passing the night at Gadmay
And his heart dodges not the even if they trample heavily.
elephants,
5 His heart dodges not the tor- that sweep down rapidly,
rents.
L. i: The daughters of cArba, i.e. cows; cf. above p. 212, Nos. 30,31. —
L. 2 : He is not afraid and passes the nights near the border exposing himself
to danger. — L. 3 — 5: Gadmay is a valley on the border between Bet-3AbrShe
and Bet-Sahaqan: there is a river-bed, and there used to be lions on account
of the dense bushes and elephants on account of the water.
288 DIRGES
23-
i O ambidexterous man, were satisfied or not?
the daughters of Arba
The ambidexterous man [went] the strong one [went] to the
to spy for them, camping-place.
Fifty young calves, yearlings, are not counted with our cattle.
[Now] was milked with knifes the milk of the brownish cows.
L. 3 : I. e., we had so many cattle that we even did not count the calves. —
L. 4: I.e., the cows fell sick, were killed and skinned.
24.
i Perhaps he went with them it is his father's place of old.
to Gad may:
Or he went with them to Kaluq is the place of the son
°Agcar6 : of (jagln.
P. 240. Erstwhile the white cows pas- with their courageous master.
tured there
But the ground was too light he found no rest nor repose.
for him:
* *
*
5 The youth was out of his wits when the low-lands grew ver-
dant.
Gacabat and DEgel are beautiful, all the hillocks there.
The cattle took away their who was strong and brave.
good master,
* *
*
Behold, there is the border of Come back from it, thou fool !
the land !
L. 2 : Kaluq lies in DAgcaro, west of Galab 5 there Yahannes, son of Gagm,
used to pasture his herds. — L. 4: I. e., he left the land, he died. —
L. 5 : The youth, i. e. Gamya, was eager to go down to the lowlands, as soon
as the verdure began to sprout there. — L. 6: Gacabat and DEgel are places
in the lowlands. — L. 7 : I. e., he died on account of the cattle.
OF THE MANSAC BET-^ABREHE 289
Son of Kaleb wad Taksellase, son of the master of vagous Lece,
10 Son of Sum-^Abbaza is he; his village is settled and round.
L. 9 : Kaleb wad Taksellase is a well known Bogos family to whom he
was related by his mother; Lece is a race of cattle, cf. above p. 212, No. 3. —
L. 10 : Sum^Abbaza see above p. 282, No. 15, 1. 4; it is a sign of higher
rank to have a settled village.
25.
i This is a night of .the left- He would not sleep all night.
handed man !
He who makes three camping- watching his many cattle. —
places,
Welcome, cows of the land, that are in herds one after
the other !
This is a night of the left- the ambidexterous one sleeps
handed man, not at all.
5 Now, I am seeking my house, if then I do find my house.
26.
i This is a night of the left- His sleep is not heavy !
handed man.
They slandered him, the left- for his mind and his goods.
handed man,
They praised him, the left- when his tribute counted
handed man, thousands.
His mothers brought forth a good, even if they shouted
good son, to him.
L. 2: I.e., they said, he had a niggardly mind. — L. 4: I.e., his maternal
aunts, grandmother etc. had a good offspring, and when they gave the shout
of joy at his birth, they did it not in vain.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 19
290
DIRGES
27.
What she sang of the family of her father-in-law.
i Bet-3Abbaza and their cattle claim mutuality from each
other. -
A crowd, the people of Saber, perished holding close toge-
ther.
Hedres and his son fell in company on their ac-
. ^count.
A crowd [fell] at Saber; ^Ab^Iyay is in the river-land.
L. I : I. e., the men claim profit, the cattle protection. — L. 2 : Saber lies
east of Galab, half a day's journey. — L. 3 : On their account, i. e. of the
cattle. — L. 4: DAb-:>Iyay is fallen and buried in a lower land.
P. 241. 28.
What she sang of Samara, the son of Hela.
. i In the valley of Galab, Samara wandered about everywhere.
The centre of his fellows, welcome to him, the hand-
some man !
He is the son of ^um-^Abbaza, the son of the wide village.
He is the son of Tasfamkel the master of all the bonds-
wad Gabres, men.
* *
*
5 The centre of his fellows died, he, who made play and laugh.
To other heirs were left his fields at Qaracatat.
Thick-haired one, well met, from the cAnsaba-country !
There used to be large gather- on the hill of Qaracatat.
ings,
Who could measure it out? His property was large in the
river-land.
L. i: Samara was a relative of Gamya. — L. 2: I.e., all his fellows used
to gather around him. — L. 4 : His mother was of the cAd-Gabres. —
L. 6 : The Qaracatat are situated in the lowlands. — L. 7 : Samara was killed
n the cAnsaba country : he comes back from there now, and the singer greets him.
OF THE MANSAC BET-DABREHE 29 1
29.
What she sang of the people of ^'Ag'aro.
At some time the village of the Mansac was at 3Agcaro.
And the cAd Temaryam, taking the army of Bahata, raided
them, and they killed some of them there. And the wife
[of Gamya] sang of all of them that died in the village, in
this way.
i How could it find more than the village, of its true men ?
these,
Hebtegargis in DAgcaro, his name and fame was good.
Gebbetan, the son of Hakin, all heard his war-cry.
Mahammad, the son of cAm- the true son of the village !
mar,
5 I extol Mahammad, the youth faithful and true.
He made the horse loose, from the place where it was
tied.
L. I : I. e., so many brave men died that scarcely any are left. — I,. 2 :
Literally "his smell and his fragrance were good." — L. 6 : Mahammad untied
the horse of the chief to keep it from being stolen : in that moment he was killed.
30.
What she sang of Hiyabu, the son of 6 agin.
i Show him the road of Karer ! Hiyabu wishes to go down.
He is food for their lances; the strangers he gives to eat. p. 242.
By the sword of the son of by its heat, many grew hot.
Gagln,
L. I : Karer lies in the Mansac lowlands ; Hiyabu used to go there. —
L. 2: The suffix meaning "their" is in the feminine; this refers mostly to the
women or the girls of the tribe who are to be protected by the lances. Here
the tribe of the enemy is meant whom the hero attacks sacrificing his own
life. — L. 3 : By the strenght of his sword many others grew strong.
2Q2 DIRGES
Saying: "He will not forsake O that I had not seen this!
me" —
5 Of what he ploughed, I ate, of what he milked I drank.
Why did I not die, ere I saw this?
31-
What she sang of Hebtegdrgis, the son of &ahad.
i Salab captured the herd : we saw the helpers return.
For him whom my master loved, he was a marching camel.
Him whom my master hated, he persecuted beyond the
abyss.
Taking his sword with him, he wished to destroy the farm.
L. i : Salab was the seqrat of Hebtegargis. When he captured the herd, we
saw the men that tried to recover it go back with empty 'hands. — L. 2 : 1. e.,
he carried him and protected him. — L. 3 : I. e., he persecuted him to the
very end. — L. 4 : Literally "hiding his sword for it," i. e., putting his sword
into the scabbard and setting out for the farm.
32.
What she sang of Keflegargls, the son of &ahad.
i How could DAb-Malka from Sakkan, be driven away?
his farm,
In his farm there are noblemen and bondsmen.
The lance of 3Ab-Gesas was formerly satisfied with blood.
* *
DAb-Malka is angry, irreconcilable.
5 Now is the river dried out, its fill should not deminish !
Implore him, ye, his bondsmen, the lion shaking his head.
L. i : Keflegargls was the father of Malka ; his seqrat was Sakkan. —
L. 3 : DAb-Gesas, a brave man, whose lance was often blood-coloured, fell
together with Keflegargls. - - L. 4 : I. e., he is dead and does not come
back. — L. 5 : Implore him, scil. that he might return to us.
OF THE MANSAC BET-DABREH2 2<)3
33-
A dirge by the wife of ^Eniar, the son of Hemeda,
for her husband.
When her husband had died, she sang, because he who
was his friend did not visit them, in this way.
i We shall accuse, o DAb-NesrIt, after we have seen thee.
Samra has stayed away; DAb-Balwayit has betrayed.
He was in Gerec-Gamari, while I was in Hulum. P. 243.
It is good to visit a friend, [asking:] "How did he pass
night and day?"
5 His visitor spurns him, after a man has fallen sick.
L. I : DAb-Nesrit came from the village of the disloyal friend ; the woman
addresses him here wishing that he might report afterwards. — L. 2 : Samra
is the father of Balwayit ; he is the one whom she accuses. — L. 3 : Gerec-
Gamarl and Hulum are places near each other in the Mansac lowlands; in
spite of this he did not come. — L. 5 : Often people say of a man : "He is
sick; so we will not bother with him."
34-
A dirge by the wife of ^Adeg, the son of ^Egel.
Which she sang in the "year of the crowd" *) of Hasala
and Yahannes and Keflegargis.
i Why do ye not say: Kaboy! Kaboy, who enters to the
prince?
The son of the cutter of thighs, who brings his own life into
danger;
L. i : Kaboy is the $eqrat of Hasala ; he is prominent and a friend even
of the Abyssinian governor. — L. 2 : He cuts off the thighs in fighting. -
i) I. e. the year in which many were killed.
294 DIRGES
Have ye not seen the with the shining grease in his hair?
troop of Kaboy,
Harm and danger is drunk [by him] like spiced water.
* #
*
5 Why do ye not say: DAb- The bullock that breaks the
Gesas ! yokes,
The leopard in the plains, that tears asunder the necks.
* * N
•X-
The son of him whose water the (jendl throwing his gar-
is mead, -ment;
He would never try to flee, when his yard is trod upon.
L. 3: In the battle Kaboy with his head shining -on account of the grease
could be seen as a prominent figure. — L. 4: Spiced water is drunk before
a battle in order that, if a man is killed, his body may not bloat nor decay
rapidly ; our hero "drinks" harm and danger as if they were such water. —
L. 5 : DAb Gesas is Yahannes. — L. 6 : The leopard that leaves his den and
comes out in the plain is fierce and dangerous. — L. 7 : Gend! means soldier,
but is also a scqrUt^ here of Keflegargls. His father drank nothing but mead.
The large garment is thrown off before the battle.
35-
A dirge by the wife of Hayles, the son of *Iyay,
for her husband.
i Lion, son of lions, elephant, son of the elephant ;
Below he cuts the thigh, above he tears the neck.
Thy family, o Henit, what will they do now?
Will they be as of old, or will they seek a leader? —
5 Alas, thou art burnt, weep by thyself ! Thy house is silent.
When the mead was sieved in it, •• the glasses used to clink.
L. 3 : Henit is the seqrat of Hayles. — L. 4 : I. e., will they be like as they
were before thou wast born, or will they have a new leader after thy death ? —
L. 5 : The singer addresses and curses herself. — L. 6 : The glasses clank
when being washed or put down 5 the Tigre people do not know of touching
glasses while drinking.
OF THE MANSAC BET-SAHAQAN 295
36. P- 244-
i Let us go now, °Esman, let us implore thy; father!
[For] thee he loves, he will not refuse thy prayer. —
Henit gathers much booty, he divides the gifts brought to
him.
When he puts aside his por- he turns also to other portions.
tion,
5 His mouth shouts at the he moves about both arms.
council,
His sword like flashes breaks [even] the mossy rocks.
L. I — 2: The mother addresses her little son: his father might come back
to life, if the little one implores him ! — L. 4 : He is so strong that he also
takes the portions of others. — L. 5 : He shouts at the people : "Ye are
weaklings, I am brave!" — L. 6: Old rocks covered with lichen are hard
to break.
x
DIRGES OF THE WOMEN OF BET-SAHAQAN.
37-
The dirges sung by the wife of Galdydos, the son of
Tedros, for her brother-in-law Naseh.
Naseh, the son of Tedros, was in discord with his family.
Then his family caused the Assaorta to make a raid against
him. And when he was fighting the Assaorta they killed
him. Naseh, however, had a friend, called Gannad, the son
of cAmer, a man from Ailet. When the howler for his friend
Naseh had come to him, Gannad went to recover [the
booty]. And when he had reached the army, he said to
them; "Show me the killer of Naseh, that ye may return
safely to your country!" And the man who killed Naseh
said: "Here am I!" And they attacked each other; and
Gannad killed him. Thereupon he also recovered the cattle
296 DIRGES
from all the raiders. And when he had returned he gave
the cattle to the family of Naseh. And the wife of the
brother of Naseh sang of him this dirge, praising also his
friend Gannad.
i The friend of Gannad wad is not a friend of goat-herds.
cAmer
He went out from Motacat, to fulfil the revenge.
His legs were thrown rapidly, his brave heart burnt hotter
than they.
p. 245. Why do the Bet-Sahaqan say: "DAb-Dafla did not attack"?
* *
•
5 The friend of Gannad wad is not a forsaken friend.
cAmer
The strong one went out from to fulfil the revenge.
Motacat
Observe him well, standing in front of him,
Whether he falls himself, or conquers the raiders !
The rhinoceros blocks the ri- the people stay away eight
vers ; days.
10 Of the shields give him the him, the manly rebel,
strongest,
L. 4: The Bet-Sahaqan say: "Naseh DAb-Dafla did not attack, he was killed
fleeing;" but this is not true.
38.
Because the woman was singing all the time of Naseh,
his family, who had caused Naseh to be killed, said to
her: "Thou hast driven us out of our senses! Be silent!
We mourn for him with our hearts ; mourn thou for him
with thy heart." The woman, however, sang his dirge again,
in this way.
OF THE MANSAC BET-SAHAQAN 2Q7
1 Why should he have died, having so many friends?
They used to drink milk from and to eat from his barley,
his cows
Not for a husband? A woman mourns for a belt of beads!
For bewailing a husband nobody has been killed that I know.
5 But lest I wail, I fear DAb-Daskabat and his fellows.
L. I : The original has here the phtralis majestatis. The second half reads
"if they acquired so many;" the verb is ordinarily used of acquiring animals,
but here the men are meant who now say that they were Naseh's friends. -
L. 2 : The second half literally "and a large polenta of his roasted barley." —
L. 3 : If women deplore a lost belt of beads, should they not all the more
bewail a lost husband? — L. 4: Literally "I have not heard that they have
killed for this [reason, viz.] 'thou hast bewailed thy husband'." — L. 5 : DAb-
Daskabat was one of them who tried to keep her from wailing.
39-
The dirges of the wife of ^Asfaday.
What she sang of her husband.
i O son of cEllama, hot fire, man watching his border !
Who calls thee 'hot fire', — may he have a valiant son ! —
He passed by 3Aburatat, holding two lances together.
He dashed against them with his horse although it was weak.
* *
*
5 The sons of the people of Laba, — their eyes pierce every-
thing.
°Andom said: "I refuse," he made [a rock] his pillow. P. 246.
Thy brother's wound breathes, yet his feet speed like a horse.
L. I : cEllama is the. seqrat of his father. The second half, literally "man
severing his border," i.e. nobody dares to come near him. — L. 3: DAburatat
are two pools in the lowlands of the Bet-Sahaqan, near Motacat. — L. 5 : The
region of the Laba borders on the country of the Bet-Sahaqan. — L. 6: cAn-
dom was one of the warriors 5 he decided to stay and made a pillow for
himself to show this; he was a friend, a "brother," of DAsfaday. — L. 7 :
Literally "thy brother's door," i. e. the open wound.
298 DIRGES
Nobody said: "Let us flee!" the youths [said] only: "Let
us fight"
40.
i Thy father grew used to Karer: and Karer is always full of
danger.
Didst thou not see the Segli At day-break they were seen
folk? to be [attacked],
When their asses were braying, and theirchildrenwereplaying.
When Kefel went to recover his ribs were crushed.
the herds,
5 Didst thou not see Heder- They took two of his cows.
Maryam ?
L. I : The woman addresses her daughter. Karer is a dangerous region in
the Mansac country, near the border of cAd Temaryam and Habab. DAsfaday
liked such a place. — L. 2 : Segli is a part of Karer. The raiders attack at
day-break, in the same way as the Arabs. — L. 4 — 5 : Kefel and Heder-
Maryam were Mansac that were attacked there. The whole dirge serves to
describe the danger of the place where DAsfaday used to go.
41.
i Son of thick-haired Der, white, and black over the front
bones,
Oh that thy master had stayed! He would have made the
wounds breathe
Of those that were with him, and of those that were in front
* of him.
He does not neglect their his revenge need not stay
death : awake.
L. i refers to a young bull, the son of Der (cf. above p. 213, No. 35), who
was captured after his master, DAsfaday, was killed. — L. 2 — 3 : If DAsfaday
had not been killed he would have caused severe fighting, and many would
have been wounded on both sides. — L. 4: If his friends had been killed, he
would have avenged them 5 then his revenge would "rest," i. e. be fulfilled.
OF THE MANSAC BET-SAHAQAN 299
42.
What she sang of her brother Giddy.
i Who shows me Gulay and Bawasa?
The widow returns not with an empty basket;
His corn is dealt out by handfuls up to the evening.
Christians come to him and Kabasa-people.
L. i : Bawasa is the name of the field of Gulay. — L. 2 : Poor women did
not ask help from him in vain. — L. 4: The meaning is "people from all
sides," Christians from the Bogos and Mansac as well as from Kabasa.
43-
A dirge by the ivife of Hesal, the son of Samra,
for her husband.
\ The table-land is wrapped in like as a groom is covered [in
fog, his garment].
The son of Samra goes down he, Hesal, the destroyer.
to it,
Hesal does not fear the banner, [nor] drums and towns;
He takes pistol and rifle, he harnesses the horse with a
blaze.
5 Gad-ba in cElela was like a shoulder-blade lying
in blood.
L. I : The table-land is here that of the lower country to which the Bet-
Sahaqan go down from their villages like Qeruh and Mehelab. The simile
refers to a groom that goes down to the water-place all wrapped up ; cf.
above p. 142. — L. 2: "The destroyer," literally "he who treads down." —
L. 5: Gad-ba (cf. above p. 188, No. 951) was his slave-girl. In his life-time
nobody dared to touch her, she was like a "shoulder-blade is blood," that is
left untouched until the blood is gone for fear of touching the blood (cf. above
p. 239, 1. 22); but now she is without protection. cElela is a place in the
Bet-Sahaqan country.
300 DIRGES
P. 247. 44-
Dirges by tJie wife of Garza, the son of Hebsellase,
for her husband.
i Say: "It was much visited," the qogdt tree of DAb-Gadba.
He made the wanderer halt, Sacaroy, giving him to eat.
He is a sieve with its flour, a water-skin filled to the brim.
Why stayed he away from me, the bard who came to him ?
L. i: The qogdt is probably Osyris abyssinica H.; under such a tree Garza
used to sit on the council-place, and there many people came to him. —
L. 2 : Sacaroy is the seqrat of Garza. — L. 3 : I. e., he gives away everything,
and he has enough for everybody. — L. 4: Second half literally "the bard
of his tribe," or "his bard from [another] tribe," i. e. the wayfaring bard who
used to come and praise him.
45- .
His mother did not bear a nor his wive marry.
weakling.
He, the hero espies what may he dashes into the rear-guard.
be killed,
On the day of Gabres wad he came home with spoils.
Gandar,
Your father is generous. How were the seven gasist
- The servant is never idle, his wife does never rest.
• i
L. i: Literally: May his mother not bring forth "blood." Parents say: "We
have brought forth blood," if their child is a weakling. — L. 3: Gabres was
a man of Bet-Sahaqan; on the day on which he fell, Garza came home with
spoils. — L. 4 : The singer addresses her children. The gasis is a large po-
lenta. — L. 5 : I. e., all the time meals are prepared for the guests.
DIRGES BY THE WOMEN OF THE CAD TAKLES.
46.
A dirge by the wife of ^Abrahim, the son of ^Edris.
'Abraham, the son of DEdrIs, was a man of the °Ad Takles ;
but he was living in the country of the Mansac Bet-DAbre'he.
OF THE CAD TAKLES 30!
Now, at one time, Nayib Hasan came [from Massaua] with
his soldiers to Galab. And he bound the Kantebay Tedros
and took him with him. And the Bet-'Abrehe went out to
recover their Kantebay from Nayib Hasan. They reached
them at DEt-Hemmarat. But when the soldiers of the Nayib
saw the Bet-DAbrehe, they began firing rapidly upon them.
When the fire had become [too] hot for the BeVAbrehe they
were beaten and fled. But DAbrahim wad DEdris and three
others continued to attack, and the soldiers killed them.
And there came even a fifth man who was wounded. Those p. 248.
who died, were 3AbrahIm wad DEdrIs, Hankzl wad Dayir,
Mandar wad Hamed, and a man called Gamal; and the
wounded man was cAgol. And the Bet-'Abrehe, after the Nayib
had left them with his army, returned and having taken
their bodies, they went home. And the wife of 3AbrahIm
wad cEdris sang of her husband in this way.
i Towards evening he rose high in the afternoon.
He said: "I return not to the daughters of Galab."
He let it hang down, his garment's trail ;
He put it down, his shield [and stayed].
* *
•
5 Nobody called his name except Hankll, the son of Dayir:
They made common cause, the men of quickly resolute
words.
Nobody called his name, except Mandar, the son of
Hamed :
This is the law of friendship], the law of the attacked and of
the raider.
L. I — 4 refer to DAbrahim: to .show that he intended to stay in the battle
he let his sash, formed by the end of his garment, hang down, put his shield
on the ground and his sword on top of it 5 then he took them up again and
fought. — I.. 5 : 'Called his name', i. e. 'ran to his assistance calling his
name'. — L. 6 : Second half, literally 'the men of short lips', i. e. 'words'. —
302
Nobody called his name,
10 He is our DAgdubay,
except Gamal alone:
a man of experience.
If thou sayest Fares!- Fares is thine and of thy father:
Son of the owner of the harp, of which each cord rings;
Son of the owner of the drum, which is beat by its master.
L. 10: DAgdub is the name of a tribe members of which live with the Mansac 5
Gamal belonged to it ; he is an 'expert' in fighting. — L. 1 1 : Fares is the
war-cry of the cAd Takles; see above p. 197. — L. 12: With regard to the
harp see above p. 197. — L. 13: 'Master' literally 'pilot' or 'captain', i.e. a
man who knows his business.
47-
What she sang for her son.
Her son was called 3Abu-Bakar; he died of smallpox.
i Erstwhile like a happy one I bore a son to my master.
And out of my folk I became a daughter of Dafla :
And of my uncleanness I was washed with sea-water.
P. 249. My son has three traits of love and bravery and kind-
character: > ness.
5 How could a man beget him ? And how a woman conceive
rfim?
But now I have become in their power, without hope,
wretched,
L. i — 3: She had been a slave-girl; but when she had borne a son to her
master she was freed and was counted with the cAd Dafla. She calls her
serfdom "uncleanness," of which she was washed with sea-water, i. e. thoroughly
so that all dirt was taken away. — L. 5: Second half, literally "I have be-
come cold in their hands," i. e. I have lost all hope, and I am in the power
of other men.
OF THE 1AD TAKLES
303
48.
A dirge by the wife of Sara, the son of cEtel,
for her husband.
Sara died fighting an army, by an iron weapon. And his
wife sang of his bravery and of the value of his sword
this dirge.
i Although it is a sword for left-handed men carry it [now].
right hands,
It was the sword of Fungay the sword of the chief of
in Sennar, cAydeb.
It was the sword of two chiefs, the sword of two Kantebays.
It was the sword of Naseh those whom he killed were
wad Tedros, counted.
5 The sword of him whose meal stained with the blood of men.
was flesh,
If they fight thee — the tribe perishes of fear:
DAgrac and Naro, DAf-cabad and Gadem-haraddeb.
L. 2 — 3 : The sword had first belonged to a hero of the Fung in Sennar,
then to two chiefs (deglal) of the Min-cAmer at cAydeb, near Suakin, then to
two chiefs {Kantebay} of the cAd Takles, viz. her father-in-law arid her hus-
band. — L. 4: Naseh was an ancestor of her husband: he killed prominent
men who were "counted," not any random people. — L. 5 : Of a man who
kills enemies it is said: "Flesh is his meal;" cf. above p. 252, No. 2, a, b.
The second half "reads literally "it was never satisfied with blood." —
L. 7 : DAgrac is a place in the Habab country, Naro in that of the cAd Sek,
cAf cabad in the cAd Temaryam, Gadem-haraddeb in the cAd Takles : the sword
was used in the battles at these places.
49.
Dirges by the wife of Samara-recul, the son of
Kantebay, for her husband.
I have become like rain-water that dries up in sandy places. -
304 DIRGES
A young camel carries me not; a foal, a first-born son:
Nay, only a strong he-camel, that breaks stones and trees.
^ ^ • rl ' . $ %
«
He was strong and enduring; revenge was hid in his belt.
5 Who could take it from him? it stayed with him to the death.
* *
*
Such was the revenge of the violent man who forsook
Gamya: it not.
Revenge is a treasure to the to him who makes it to stay.
hero:
L. 2 — 3: She means that only a strong man, not a weakly youth can be
her husband. — L. 4: "enduring," i. e. a man who has self-controle and does
not betray his passions. — L. 5: Second half, literally "that there, viz. revenge,
died with him." — L. 6 : Gamya is the seqrat of her husband.
50.
When Kantebay (jaweg, the son of Fekak, heard this
P. 250. dirge, he said: "The 'strong and enduring' should be due
to me." Then his bard sang:
"The 'strong and enduring one' say ye of (jaweg!
He is a chief that has a throne, he is a leader that holds
the *rod."
When the wife of Samara-recul heard that the bard of
(jaweg had praised his master changing the dirge of her
husband into a song, she sang another dirge in this way.
i May the lion take thee coming out of the thicket !
May he eat thy flesh, may thy bones not be found !
May (jaweg beat thee, when he is angry!
May God protect me ! How can a dirge be stolen ?
L. 4: Second half, literally 'how can weeping be stolen'. This dirge is also
found among the songs published in Voll. Ill and IV of these Publications ;
cf. No. 496 and 497.
THE SONG OF TAUDED 30$
A dirge by a woman of the * Algaden — or of the
Sabdarat ') — which she sang for her husband.
Her husband died when trying to recover the booty.
i I looked longing his way, and the curtain bruised my
forehead.
My tears were dripping slowly: for they were tired of flowing.
His foot is small, but his step is like that of a
steed.
The Algaden make a shoe the Halanga. make the straps
for it, for it.
5 May the shepherd find no Why did he not hide the news
rest ! of the raid ?
May the camel fall sick ! Why were its legs not broken ?
L. I : The woman is in the house and looks out from under the curtain •
the curtain rests with its lower end on her forehead and bruises it in the
length of time. — L. 3: 'Small', literally 'like goats' ears'. — L. 4: The
Algaden and the Halanga are tribes near Kasala : they are known to make
good sandals and straps for them. — L. 5 : The shepherd heard the news
that the cattle was taken and told it to her husband; than the latter went
to recover it and was killed. Now she curses the shepherd because he was
the cause of her husband's death. — L. 6 : If the legs of the camel had been
broken, her husband would not have been able to reach the enemy and
would not have been killed.
52.
The song of Tauded.
There is no god but Allah: He is God.
Mahammad, Allah's messenger: he is prophet.
i) This dirge is known to have come from the west; Naffac was not certain
whether it was sung by a woman of the D Algaden or of the Sabdarat.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 20
306 BELIEFS
He that intercedes for you: it is CA1I.
Man himself cuts his own throat :
To-morrow he will sell his son and his wife.
This is no dirge; it is added here on account of its metre which is the
same as that of the preceding. However, it may be called a 'dirge for human
nature'. Tauded was a woman of one the northern tribes, and this song of
hers became well known and was widely spread. In 1. 4 she says that man
by sinning condemns himself to death; in 1. 5, that even if he sells his son
and his wife, it will not help him.
P. 251. III.
OF THE BELIEF WHICH THEY HAVE ABOUT
THE PEOPLE OF BELOW.
All the dead are called the 'people of below'. They think
much about them, and they say that they find the same
conditions of life below as they used to live in on earth.
The one who was rich is rich; the poor one again is poor;
the ploughman ploughs, and the shepherd tends cattle. He
who was honoured is honoured, -and he who was humble is
humble. Everybody finds the same that he had on earth.
And they say: "That this is true we have seen, dreaming."
And those who do not celebrate for the dead the ceremony
of the taskar or cid, ') are reproached on earth by their
friends. And the people of below drag away or choke him
who does not celebrate the taskar or fid nor offer that
which is thrown, 2) and he dies. And of some that die they
say: "The people of below have taken N. N.", or "have
choked him," or "have dragged him to death." And when-
ever they see the people of below angry in their dreams, or
whenever they appear to them, they offer sacrifices and offer
i) See above pp. 267 seqq. 2) See above p. 270.
ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF BELOW 307
that which is thrown for them. ') Again, the people of below
talk in dreams to him that is a stranger to them, saying: "Our
relative has not celebrated the taskar — or the ^id — for us,
nor has he thrown anything for us nor called our name, and for
this reason we shall take him." And when the man to whom
the people of below have spoken wakes up he reports to
the relatives of the dead. And he says to them: "Your
relatives have told me such and such : now sacrifice or throw,
and do not omit their taskar and their ^id." And they do for
them all that which they have left undone. Sometimes, how-
ever, they say: "We have seen the people of below openly P. 252.
with their cattle at night; and they were calling and milking
their cows. And we have also seen their houses and their
fire; and we have heard their voices near their tombs, and
they were singing and telling tales." And they tell that the
people of below often do thus; but when they hear the
voices of the men of above or see their forms they hide
at 'once rapidly.
At a certain place a man once saw a kudoo; and the whole
back of the kudoo was covered with sweat, and on his belly
there were the traces of a saddle-girth. And the man knew
that the kudoo had been mounted. However, he pierced it
with a lance, and the kudoo fell on the spot. And she who
had been riding the kudoo was a woman of the people of
below. And the woman of the kudoo said to the man:
"Thou hast cut me short; mayest thou be cut short!"
Thereupon, the man called his fellows and showed them the
kudoo. Also he reported to them what the woman had said
to him. But they did not see the form of the woman. And
his fellows saw that the kudoo had been mounted, from the
i) See above p. 270.
308 BELIEFS
traces of the spots where the girth was tightened and from
the round place where the saddle-cloth had been. And they
skinned it and ate it. But the killer of the kudoo was at
once seized by a disease and died without passing another
day or night. And they say that all that the people of below
do is true : but there is the day of resurrection, and all rise
from the death, and God accounts with them. And the pa-
radise is [given by] grace : God gives it to whom he chooses.
But above all the brave and the generous man gains it.
And the bad man receives the bad, and the good one
receives the good. [This it what] they say.
112.
OF THE CAN (THE BIRD OF THE SOUL).
The kind of the gdn belong to the animals that fly on
p. 253. their wings. ') But it is no wild beast: it is the soul of a
dead man that becomes a gdn. And generally it hoots in
the cemeteries. Now this is the way in which the dead
person becomes a gdn. If people during their life on earth
[have] a thing which they coveted or wished to do, espe-
cially, for exemple, blood-revenge, but die without attaining
it; and if they do not find anybody that does it for them
after their death ; or if the dead man has died without
leaving any offspring and if his property is inherited [by
others]; or if he leaves orphans that have nobody to rear
them, — [in short] the ghost of a man who has left anything
unfinished and has not found a man who finishes it for him,
does not rest : it becomes a gdn and passes the whole night
groaning. And his gdn never rests, he mourns all the time.
I ) It is a kind of owl.
OF SEHER AND BOZZA 309
But if afterwards the thing on account of which he was
groaning is carried out for him by his children when they
are grown up, or by one of his relatives, his gan rests and
is silent. And if the dead man has found somebody that
does thus for him after his death, the people say: "The
gan of N. N. has gone to rest and to sleep," or "now his
gan rests and sleeps." But the gan of a man that leaves no
offspring or whose offspring is weak, never rests. And if he
finds nobody that acts in his place after his death, the
people say: "The gan of N. N. does not rest" or "has not
gone to rest." And be it a male child or be it a girl -
everybody's gan groans on the top of his tomb. And also
if the dead people see that after their death some misfor-
tune happens to their relatives, they mourn, and their gan
groans. And even the face of the gan resembles that of a
man. And they say that it is really the soul of dead people.
113. p. 254.
OF WHAT THEY CALL SEHER (SORCERER)
AND BOZZA,
Of the blacksmith or of somebody else of whom they be-
lieve that he is a sehertay or a bozzay they say: "He is a
sorcerer." The sehertay is not quite so bad as the bozzay.
The bozzay is very strong and does not give back what he
has taken. The sehertay or bozzay, if there are brave or
beautiful people, possesses one of them, viz. of these people.
And the sehertay and the bozzay keep health back from the
man whom they possess in order that he may die soon ;
then he falls sick and comes near death. But if the relatives
of that man know that the sehertay or the bozzay has possessed
3IO BELIEFS
him, they go to people that know the root of that disease
and receive the root from them. And without giving notice
to the sick person they mix red pepper with that root, and
they tell the sick man to sit down. And they put charcoal
into a pan and drop the root with the red pepper into
it. And they place it underneath the sick man, hold his
hands and his feet and wrap him up in his garment. And
when the smoke chokes him, they say to him: "Who art
thou? Go out from him!" And the sehertay says: al am
N. N., and my country is the camping-place of N. N. ; I have
met this man at such and such a place and have possessed
him!" And they say unto him: "Now then, go out from
him!" And he says: "I have gone out from him through
his little finger." And then the sick person recovers. But if
it is a bozzay that has possessed him they do not know his
language: he possesses him, but he does not answer; and
the one whom he has possessed dies. Or again, if they do
not know the disease of him that has fallen sick of the
P. 255. disease of the setter, and if the latter does not utter speech,
the [sick man] dies of it. And when he has been buried the
bozzay or the sehertay go to his grave and pull the body
out and go away. Thereupon, they make a vessel or an
animal of the body, and it stays in his house while he has
the use of it. The bozzay is worse than the sehertay. And
they say of a man who has got into a very bad state: "It
is a bozzay" or "a bozzay that does not answer."
114.
OF THE DEMON CALLED WADDEGENNL
Waddegenm enters into young women and into girls in an
unknown way. And she into whom he enters falls very sick.
OF THE DEMON CALLED WADDEGENNI 311
But if it is not known that her disease is caused by Waddegenm
and if she becomes very sick, she dies of it. However, if the
relatives of the sick one find out that her disease is caused
by Waddegenm, they bring a drum, and they beat the drum
and clap hands. At that time Waddegenm possesses the
tongue of the woman and talks, saying: "In such and such
a place I have come upon her; and now make me dance
so and so many days, and play such and such a tune for
me!" And they make him dance as many days as he says,
all of them. And on the last day they make an appoint-
ment with him after how many days he is to return. And
he says: "I shall return after two or three years." And they
make him swear that he will not come before that time,
saying: "If thou doest wrong, not keeping this term and
coming before it, mayest thou not reach thy people and
mayest thou be wronged, die by thy own weapon !" And
he says: "Amen!" And then they prepare roasted corn and
red pepper for him as his viaticum. And after he has eaten
a little of it, he dances a little and falls down. Thereupon P. 256.
they rub the neck of the woman with the back of some
iron weapon. And having led her to her house they make
her enter. The woman recovers at once, and they say :
" Waddegenm has left her." But in the year about which they
have agreed with him he returns and dances a second time,
and they play for him the tune which he wishes. And if he
wishes a violin or a flute, they play it also for him. And
they put the trinkets which he desires on the woman. But
some die through him, if they do not find anybody to make
him dance for them. And afterwards, if the woman has died,
Waddegenm takes her body and makes her work for him
or sells her to the demons. [This is what] they say.
312 BELIEFS
OF THE BELIEFS ABOUT HAIR.
Everybody gathers his hair when it has been shaved off
and buries it under a green tree or hides it in a secret
place. For a small [boy] the parents take it until he grows
up. But when he has arrived at the age of discretion, they
say to him: "Gather thy hair!" And he himself like the
grown up people puts his hair in a secret place. If the wind
carries the hair away, or if a man treads upon it, or, again,
if an animal eats it, they say, it is not good, and they are
afraid. And some say that if a man has not hid his hair,
God will account with him in the other world, saying:
"Why hast thou not gathered thy hair?" Others say that
if a man does not hide his hair, the growth of his hair will
be scanty, or that he will loose his reason. Others again say
that, if the wind scatters the hair of a man, his family will
be scattered all around ; or that if an animal eats it and is
P. 257. choked by it, the responsibility for the animal will be upon
the owner of the hair. And because they are afraid of all
this, everybody hides his hair.
When little children are shaved they kiss first the hands
of their parents; then they kiss also the hands of their
neighbours. And their parents and their neighbours bless
them; and to boys they speak thus: "Grow up, be success-
ful, may thy life be long and thy luck be much ! May He
make thee [like] a strong sinew! Be [like] melted butter in
water, !) like a point on a hard lance ! 2) May the moon shine
on thy front and the sun upon the back of thy head ! May
He give thee fame at home and good luck abroad ! Mayest
1) I. e., be always by thyself, and do not be submerged.
2) Literally a[a lance of] the temniarat tree" whose wood is hard.
UNLUCKY HAIR 313
thou be [much] named and visited ! May He let us see [the
day] when thou becomest of age ! May thy loins beget male
children and thy animals ') have female young: seize the
lance!" And a girl they bless in this way: "Grow up, be
successful ! May thy life be long and thy luck be much ! May
He let us see thy wedding ! May thy womb bring forth
male children and thy animals ') have female young. Mayest
thou be [much] named and visited ! Be a mother of seven !"
116.
UNLUCKY HAIR.
They say that there is unlucky hair on men and on cattle.
And a man who has unlucky hair looses his property and
his people, a part or all of them. And if somebody meets
with one calamity after another, people say of him: "He is
a man with unlucky hair." About the hair of man there
is not much interpreting; they say on account of what
happens to him that he is a man with unlucky hair, or that
he is wretched without luck, and they say only: "He has
had bad luck," when the bad luck has struck him. And of
a man who has always good luck it is said that he is a
man with lucky hair. Or they say of him who has good luck:
"He has a lucky forehead;" and of him who has bad luck:
"He has an unlucky forehead." But concerning the hair of
cattle there are interpretations, when they grow very sick; or, p. 258.
again, when a calf is born, its hair is examined at once. And
if [a neat] has unlucky hair, there is danger that its owner
may die on account of it. And if they have learned that it
has unlucky hair, it is killed. Generally the bad hair of the
cattle is found on the male cattle. And some of the bad
i) Literally "the place in front of thy house," where the animals are kept.
314 BELIEFS
hair causes, among the owners of the cattle, the death of a
grown up person, others that of a child, others again make
their mothers perish. Some make their owner have no large
produce, viz. [some] of the cattle that have bad hair. The
names of the [kinds of] hair and the spots where the bad
hair is found on the cattle are the following.
Unlucky hair which is found on cattle,
Hayakkel [talismans]: it is found above the knees of the
forelegs; and a male calf which has it is killed.
Harauya [pig]: it is found an the right side of the dewlap;
and if its like, called matkal, is not found on the, left
side, the male calf is killed on account of it.
Hanaqlt [strangling]: it is found on the throat; the male
calf is killed on account of it.
Mattar*as [head-support] : it is found on the right side be-
tween the ear and the horn; and if its like, called "left
mattar*as" is not found on the left side, the male calf
is killed on account of it.
Sabablt (looking out) : it is found on the head between the
two horns, the male calf is killed on account of it.
^Ebbal: it is found in the right groin; and if opposite to it,
in the left groin, the [hair] called "left VW«/,fl is not found,
the male calf is killed on account of it.
Kababit [surrounding]: it is found on the thick part of the
tail; the male calf is killed on account of it.
P. 259. Ceggarat selam [hair of the hump] : if this is found on a cow
and if her first calf grows up, it is all right; but if it
dies, it is better to remove her from the house. With
regard to the male it does not matter.
Ceggarat sarba [hair of the soup(?)]: if it is found on the
place above the hoof, it does not matter. But if it is
ABOUT TEETH 315
found higher up, the male calf is killed on account of it.
Salv-tesatter [dividing the hind part of the back, i. e. the
middle of the hind part of the back]: the male calf is
killed on account of it.
Fafrit: it is found on the breast, on the right side; and the
male calf is killed on account of it.
With a female calf or a cow they do not observe the hair;
but if they have observed it, they kill her also on account
of it. Or they sell [such] male and female calves instead of
killing [them].
117.
OF WHAT IS BELIEVED ABOUT NAILS.
Men take great care that the nails of their fingers and the
nails of their toes are not lost. And everybody, at the time
when he cuts his nails or when the nail is broken off by
itself, takes great care that they do not slip away from him; and
he wraps his nails in a rag and buries this in the ground.
Or even if he buries them without a rag, it does not matter.
And all of them bury their nails doing thus. But if anybody
does not pay attention to gathering his nails, he is asked
about them on the day of resurrection, and it is said to
him: "Where hast thou put thy nails?" And he is told to
seek them, but he does not find them. And they say that
in this way his account grows heavier, or else, that his body P. 260.
becomes deficient. And because they fear this, they all keep
their nails.
118.
OF WHAT IS BELIEVED ABOUT TEETH.
If the milk-teeth of little children break away, the parents
say to every one of them: "Thou^ wert born in such and
3l6 BELIEFS
such a country, and now that lies in this direction, turn
thither and throw thy toothlet!" And the little one takes
a small piece of quartz and [another of] charcoal with his
toothlet. Then he turns in the direction which they have told
him and says: "Howling hyaena, this my pretty toothlet I
give thee; give thou me thy ugly tooth!" And he throws his
toothlet with the other pieces. But later on when his man's
incisors are shed again or if they are broken by force, l) he
gathers them and also all his molar teeth. Then, when he
is buried they are buried with him, and his body is con-
sidered complete. But those who do not know it, do not
pay attention to this nor gather them.
119.
OF WHAT IS BELIEVED ABOUT THE BODY
OF MAN AND ABOUT HIS BONES.
If the bones of any man's body are broken and, having
been severed from his body, are outside of it, and if his
hand or his leg are cut off or if any part of a bone of his
body is splintered, the man gathers his bones until the end
of his life; and then they are buried with him and his
body is considered complete. But if men do not pay atten-
tion to this and throw or bury their bones everywhere,
P. 261. much is feared for them. And they say that the following
happens. First, God accounts with them about this in the
other world. The second [thing] which they fear is this:
if the bone falls on the ground, it is soon eaten by termites;
and he whose bones are eaten' by termites dies at once, they
say. And the third [thing] which they fear is this: "If a
i) If a man breaks a tooth of somebody else (or knocks out his eye"), he
has to pay half of the weregelt, i. e. 61 thalers. It is said in Tigre la-nib
(la-cen) sdr nafes-ta "the incisor (the eye) is half of the soul."
ABOUT THE DIGGING OF CLAY 317
man has lost his bones and then, when he dies, wishes to
unite with the people of below, they drive him away, and
saying: "Why art thou buried at every place?", they refuse
him all, and he is exiled by himself. And the living people
see in their dreams that this is true. And they say: "We
have seen that N. N. after his death was driven away by
the people of below, because his bones were not buried with
him." And they all gather their bones lest this happen to
them; and then they are buried with them.
Sometimes women say whenever hot water is spilled.
"People of below, flee! People of below, flee!" Or they say:
"I did not spill it on you." That is to say, when the hot
water is spilled, it is absorbed in the ground, and it reaches
the people of below and scalds them. And they speak to
them in this way in order that they be not unprepared and
that they flee from it.
120.
OF SOME BELIEFS ABOUT THE DIGGING OF CLAY.
People do not go alone by themselves to dig clay, espe-
cially if it is near a cemetery. And the man who goes to
dig clay takes a companion with him. And while one of
them digs the other sits above him and watches him. But
a man who has no companion and is without help, goes
and digs alone; and he puts above himself a small imple-
ment of iron. And what they fear for a man that digs by p. 262.
himself, is this: demons come to him and do him some
harm. Or he becomes deaf or dumb. And because this is
feared nobody goes alone to dig clay.
Clay is usually dug from the side of a hill or rising ground; therefore the
watcher is 'above' the digger. Such places where no grass grows are con-
sidered to be haunted by ghosts; the same was believed about the elves in
Northern Germany.
3l8 BELIEFS
121.
THE TALE OF A MAN WHOSE CATTLE HAD
BEEN SEIZED BY A SHE-DEMON.
A man had cattle. But he had a bad life with these cattle ;
that is to say, he did not drink the milk of his cows nor
eat the butter from them in his sauce, when he was hungry
he did not kill any of them, nor did he sell any of them
or trade with them ') : he did nothing else but guard and
gather them. One day he left his village and went to another
place to do some business. And while he was walking he met
on the road a lost boy, the son of the prince of the ghosts.
And the boy said to him: "Thou, man, take me up [and
carry me] to my village." The man said: "Very well!" and
carried him; but he said unto him: "Which way shall I go
with thee?" The boy answered: "Go with me wherever thou
pleasest! All are the roads to my village." And the man
carrying him on his shoulder went on and on with him till
they came near the village of the boy. And the boy said
to the man: "Now, this [place] near which we are is my
village. My father is the prince of the ghosts; his clothes
are of gold : take me straightway to him. He will say to
thee when thou hast come to him carrying me : 'Wish, what
shall I give thee ?' And thou, say to him : 'I wish my cattle,
make them free for me !' For a she-demon has seized thy
cattle and, therefore, thou hast got into distress." The
man said to him: "Are my cattle not mine own? If he
is a good man. let him give me something else !" And
the boy answered: "Thy cattle have not been thine own
i) Literally "give and take;" similar expressions are well known in other
Semitic languages.
THE TALE OF A MAN 319
thus far. A she-demon has seized them. Thou hast only been P. 263.
tending them like a herder. If they now are made free for
thee, thou wilt trade with them and lead a comfortable life.
But if my father says unto thee : 'Wish something else',
persist therein only. And if he asks thee : 'Who told thee
that thy cattle are obsessed ?', do not say to him : 'Thy
son has told me', but saying that thou hast known it thyself,
persist therein." The man said: "Very well then, after this
has happened." And when they had entered the village,
the man followed the direction and took the boy straight-
way to the chief of the ghosts and placed him on his lap.
And he said to him: "This is your son; I found him on the
road." The prince of the ghosts said to the man: "Since
thou hast come to me bringing my son, wish, what shall I
do for thee, or what shall I give thee ?" The man answered :
"I wish my cattle; make it free for me!" And the chief of
the ghosts said to him: "Who has told thee such words?
Change them and ask something else from me!" The man
replied: "I have known it myself, and I do not wish anything
but this from thee;" and he persisted therein. As the man
refused to change [his words], the prince of the ghosts said :
"Call the she-demon who has seized the property of the
man!" And when she had come, he said to her: "This man
whose cattle thou hast seized, has found my son and brought
him to me. And when I said to him: 'Wish, what shall I
give thee?', he said to me: 'Make my cattle free for me';
and now, do thou leave them !" When the she-demon had
heard this, she became very angry and behaved frantically.
But the prince of the ghosts said to her: "I shall make
thee to seize, instead of the cattle, another man who has
a thousand thalers or two thousand." Thereupon, when he
entreated her much, she left them. And . the chief of the
32O BELIEFS
ghosts said to the man : " Now go away, thy cattle are free
P. 264. for thee. Drink their milk and eat their meat and trade
with them !" And the man rose and returned to his village.
And he had a better life with his cattle: he gave to those
with whom he exchanged presents, and he did with them
whatever he liked.
And in this way they say: "The property is the property
of a demon." And if the demons have seized it, many people
are niggardly ; they have no good life with it, they have
no compassion with others: they do nothing but gather it.
They have no advantage from it, nothing but trouble. And
it is said of such people who are seized [and kept] from their
property: "A demon has seized the property of N. N."
122.
OF OMENS.
There are omens of many kinds which they observe. And
they see, or know, by them whether good luck or bad luck
is coming to them. But the omens are not interpreted
according to one method : on the contrary, everybody [in-
terprets them] according to what he believes.
i. Omen of the was bird.
There is a bird called was, and its origin is of the Regbat
tribe. ') If people go on a journey it sees what is going to
happen to them on the journey. And it tells them by its
whistling, that they may be preserved from ill luck, and
that they may go rejoicing in good luck.
When the wanderer has started and hears the whistling
of the was, he says: "Thou hast prophesied good luck," or
i) See above p. 85.
OMENS 321
"Regbo ') has spoken well." If the was whistles from behind,
it is metkel (firm) or tarqoba (heel). This is a sign that the
wanderer will return safely to the' place from which he
started, and they believe it. On the other hand, if the was P. 265.
whistles on the right side, the wanderer is to have property
and safety. If, however, the was whistles on his left side,
he is to have no property, and his plan is not to succeed.
And he returns and goes another time ; and if he goes
heedless [of it], he fares as is said. Again if a man is on
the way back to his village, and if the was whistles on his
left side, he is to enter his village with the property that
he has with him. If, however, it whistles on his right side,
his property is to be taken away from him. But if the was
whistles in front of the man who starts on a journey, it has
seen his end : this is the peg of his breast. 2) And he goes
back and goes another time, if the bird does not keep him
back again : but if he goes not paying any attention to it
in spite of its keeping him back, his life is at its end, and
he dies on the road. But if he is on the way back to his
village, and the bird speaks in front of him, all is well.
And they say that this sign is true, and " Was has whistled
on such and such a side, and this we have found, and [this]
has happened to us/'
2. Omen of the clsa bird.
There is a bird called cua. And it also sees what is to
happen to a wanderer. And in the same way, as the was
prophesies, it also prophesies to the wanderer by its whist-
ling. And when the wanderer has heard its whistling he says:
"Thou hast prophesied good luck," or "cEllum has pro-
1) Seqrat of the Regbat for their daughters.
2) T. e. the man falls on it.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II.
322 BELIEFS
phesied." — cEHum is its seqrat — . Its signs are like those of
the was. But sometimes it deceives by its whistling. And they
say: "The omen has kept us back," or ^isa has sent us back."
P. 266. 3. Omen of the braying of the ass.
If a wanderer has started on his journey, and if he hears
the braying of an ass on those sides on which the was and
the clsa keep him back, it is an omen. The sides on which
he brays are the same as those of the was and of the ctsa.
And they say: "The omen has thus spoken to us and such
and such has happened to us," or "The ass of the right
side, and the ass of the left side, and the ass of the front,
and the ass of behind has thus spokerr to us" or "spoken
to him." And they believe all his signs. And whenever they
start to go, they listen while they go, they who call it omens.
4. The omen of the right nostril and of the left nostril.
[Sometimes] the right nostril, [i. e.] the right side of the
nose above the hole, itches a little ; and even if they rub it
a little, it itches again. And he who feels this says: "My
right nostril has told me tha such and such is going to
happen." And it is the same with the left nostril: [i.e.] that
hole of the nose which is on the left side itches on the
outside. And this is called "the right nostril and the left
nostril." But what everybody believes about them varies.
Some people see from the right nostril good luck and what-
ever brings them joy: from their left nostril, however, they
see bad luck and whatever brings them sorrow. Some again
see bad luck from their right nostril and whatever frightens
them: and, on the other hand, from their left nostril they
see what makes them rejoice and exult. And everybody has
his own different [belief]. And what his right nostril or his
OMENS 323
left nostril has told him he relates to his friends. And he
says: "My right nostril, or my left nostril, is speaking to
me; such is to happen to us, or to me." And if what it has P. 267.
said happens, also his friends believe, but especially he him-
self believes it the most. And he is all the time led in this
manner. And they call it "the right nostril" and "the left
nostril." This is called deleb; but it is counted as a/a/ (omen).
5. The omen of the twitching of the right and
the left eye-lid.
If a man's right or left eye-lid twitches, he says: "My
eye-lid twitches; I am to see such and such." And it tells
him whether it is good or ill luck which he is to have. But
by which eye good luck and by which bad luck is coming
[is not generally known :] everybody has [about it] his own
knowledge and belief. It is the same as in the ease of the
right nostril and the left nostril. But when his eye twitches,
he says to his friends: "Such and such is to happen; my
eye-lid is twitching." And when it has come out as he has
said, he believes [it] himself and is always led in this
manner. And he makes also his friends believe it.
6. The omen of detention and of the howling
of wild animals.
Again if a man who has started on a journey hears the
howling of any wild animal, especially in front of him, it is
also counted as an omen, and he returns saying: "The omen
keeps me back." Or else, if a wild animal happens to be on
the road in front of a wanderer and blocks the passage, it
is also an omen, and the man returns on its account. But
if he goes, he goes hesitating.
Again if a tribe gets ready, saying: "To-morrow we will
324 BELIEFS
move on," and if in the evening-twilight a jackal or a hyaena
howls, it is also an omen. And they say: "It keeps as from
moving." And the next morning they do not move.
P. 268. Again they observe an omen of good or bad luck also by
speech, in this way. If some people talking with each other
about some matter say: "Such and such will succeed;" and
if somebody else that has not heard their plan says of his
own account talking with his friend : "This will not succeed" —
[then] the others having heard this word give up their plan,
saying: "The omen has said, it will not succeed." But if
they hear: "It will succeed," they hasten to do it, saying:
"Even the omen has said, it will succeed well."
Again if, talking about any matter", be it good or bad,
they hear a sneeze, they say: "It is true talk: a witness
has come out for it."
7. The omen by rubbing the hands.
If women wish to know about some matter whether it is
true or false, or again, whether it will come true or not,
they blow on their two hands, as if they were spitting.
And each woman says to her hand: "I make my steam-
bath with thee, I braid my hair with thee, and I anoint my
head with thee; God tells thee, and thou [tell] me!" Then
she rubs her- hands against each other, and she says: "Is
such and such to happen or not ?" If, then, her rubbing is
done fast and with ease, it is a sign of success. But if it
does not .go on quickly, it is a sign of non-success. And if
what they understand by this sign comes out true, they be-
lieve it thoroughly and are always led by it. And this practice
is called messe or messo, or messe-messo. And it is always
done by women. And this also is counted as an omen.
. H."
Fig. 20. Sycamore-Tree at Giilab (p. 325).
OF THE CURSE OF TREES 325
123. P. 269.
OF THE CURSE OF TREES.
If a man cuts green trees that produce fruit, especially
large and honoured ones, a curse from God comes upon
him. Or the three which is cut curses its cutter in this
manner : when it falls the tree cracks, and this is its curse.
And if the cutter hears its curse he says to it: "May thy
curse be upon thee !" Or else, he says: "I have not felled
thee nor broken thee; rhinoceros and elephant have made
thee fall." In order that its curse may not be upon him, but
upon the rhinoceros and elephant, he- always speaks like this.
And in some large sycamore and giant fig-trees (Fig. 20)
there dwell the saints and the "Marys." And night after night
they pass in their tops ringing bells. And these honoured
and large ones are revered, and nothing is cut off from them ;
they are not climbed, and nothing ') is thrown into them,
lest their curse come upon those [who do so]. But if some
people climb them and fall down from them; or again, if
they cut them, and if their hatchet slips off and cuts them
in some place, they say: "The curse has come upon him."
There is a certain tree called carob -} which grows on the
precipices: and in the top of it there are demons dwelling.
And if people intend to cut some of it, they go to it being
more than two together. And when they have reached the
place of the tree, every one of them takes up stones and P. 270.
throws them in rapid succession upon the carob trees shouting.
Now the demons are there unwary, and, being scared, they
flee. Then the men cut hurriedly as much as they wish and
1) I. e. no stick or piece of wood in order to make the fruit fall down.
2) Perhaps errub = Indigofera Hochstetteri Bak., according to Schweinfurth.
326 CURSING OF MEN
\
go away. And if they are not compelled to do so, they do
not go near it at all.
124.
CURSING OF MEN. ')
i. Meet the enemy unexpectedly! — 2. May He make
thee sought by the enemy! — 3. Babble incessantly! —
4. May a sudden calamity seize thee! — 5. Babble inces-
santly! — 6. Babble without rest! — 7. Go coughing! —
8. Be full of scars and scabs ! - - 9. May the wailing begin
over thee! — 10. May thy hands and feet be crippled! —
ii. May the leopard carry thee off, or: seize. thee, or: drink
thy blood! - - 12. May thy mourning come from thyself! —
13. Be insatiable! — 14. Be thoughtless! — 15. May the
kite, or: the vulture (literally, another kind of kite), carry
thee off!
1 6. Be dumb! - 17. Be trampled upon! — 18. May a
thunderbolt hit thee, or: strike thee! — 19 and 20. Be
bound! i.e. "in straits." — 21. May the kite carry thee off,
or: snatch thee away! — 22. Be bound! (= 20). — 23. May
thy night be rent, or : be bad ! — 24. May thy form perish ! —
25. Be my ransom!, i. e. die in my stead ! Cf. No. 145 and 401.
26. Eat dust ! 2) — 27. May a disease destroy thy
hair! - - 28. (Be of) a short life and (of) little luck! -
29. May the lion carry thee off, or: take thee away! —
30. Be torn in pieces! — 31. May fever boil thee, or: en-
1) A number of curses are collected here to illustrate one phase of the
every day speech and thought of the Tigre people. In the original they
follow as a rule the order of the alphabet : I have numbered them in order
to facilitate the comparison of the original with the translation. No attempt
has been made to classify the curses according to the ideas expressed in them.
2) Cf. Genes. 3 14, and below No. 360.
CURSING OF MEN 327
feeble thee ! — 32. Be not alive and strenuous! — 33. Sin
and wrong fall upon thee! - - 34. Be out of thy wits! — P- 271.
35. May syphilis rot thy limbs! - - 36. Be sad! - - 37, 38
and 39. Be stung by nettles! I.e. be pained! Cf. 154. -
40. Seek, [and] be not sought for! I. e. be poor so that
thou must ask others, but nobody asks anything from thee. —
41. Be poor! — 42. Drink heway \ ') - - 43 and 44. Get
little! — 45. Little be enough for thee! -- 46. Be burnt
with thy root! — 47. Be poor! — 48. Be perplexed!
49. Go to Macat ! 2) - - 50. God's wrath fall upon thee! —
51. Do not find much! — 52. Mayest thou step upon dung!
i. e. fall sick! — 53. May bad news come to thee! -
54. May that not be found which escapes from thee! I.e.
loose everything! — 55. Load not thy mule! — 56. Be
marked!3) — 57. Be no village and no nail! I.e. have no
large family and no hold. 4). - 58. May hate and shame
seize thee! 59. Find no place for rest or sleep! —
60. May thy end be bad! — 61. Lose fortune and family ! —
62. Be a fire ! I. e. be burnt. — 63. May thy property and
family be washed away ! — 64. Be [like] water and power-
less! — 65. Be stripped! — 66. May a lance pierce thee!-
67. May thy day be dark! — 68. If thou begettest, do not
rear; if thou hast cattle, do not keep. — 69. Drink not
[even] of a borrowed cow ! — 70. Be not visited or named ! —
71. Have little offspring! -- 72. Eat poison! -- 73. Thy bed
be afar from thy board ! I. e. loose thy property. — 74. May
the place where thou diest be not known! — 75. Fall with
that which falls!, cf. 76. 76. Fall with the sun! —
77. May a millstone strike thee ! — 78. Be a peg plucked
1) Cf. above p. 82.
2) Interpreted as name of a far country, beyond the Habab.
3) Cf. Genes. 4 16. 4) Cf. Isa. 22 23—24.
328 CURSING OF MEN*
out! — 79. When thou talkest, be not heard; when thou
throwest, do not hit! — 80. When thou givest, be not praised;
when thou fightest, be not strong! — Si. May thy family
be washed away with hot water! — 82. May thy country
be not weighed down by thee ! I. e. do not stay in it. ')
P. 272. 83. Be a man whom God hates and whom men thrust
away! — 84. Be like ashes! -- 85. Be hid in the ground! —
86. Be sooty ! I. e. change thy colour on account of disease
or pain. — 87. Step in ashes, or: rake [ashes]! -- 88. May
[every] curse come upon thee, and everything which is thrown
hit thee! — 89. Be cursed! — 90. Find no rest! — 91. May
the enemy burn thee! • - 92. Be not rich! -- 93. Be not
honoured! — 94. May thy wealth be small! --95. May
thy loins 2) be a millstone and the place at thy door be a
hairless skin! I. e. have no offspring and no cattle. — 96. May
• thy loins 2) dry out ! — 97. Find not [even] a small rem-
nant! — 98. Have not [even] a small remnant!
99. Be broken! — 100. Be my sacrifice! — 101. Be not
well off, neither in this nor in the other world! — 102. May
nothing be left to thee!3) — 103. Be poor! — 104. May a
spark hit thee ! -- 105. Be in trouble ! — 106. Be banished ! —
107. [Die and] be robbed! - 108. May longing consume
thee! — 109 and no. May strife meet thee! — in. Be
wholly crippled! — 112. Be torn in pieces! — 113. May
thy name be forgotten! — 114. Reach not thy goal! -
115. Eat poison! — 116. Do not find fame or health!
117. Perish altogether! — 118. Drown! -- 119. Perish! —
1 20. Do not accomplish thy purpose! — 121. Be ground to
% pieces! — 122. Be in the shroud when thou art grown! —
1) Cf. above, p. 288, dirge 24, 1. 4.
2) Literally Uw6mb:', but used of a man.
3) Literally: "May that which springs not go out from thee!"
CURSING OF MEN 329
123. A storm take thee away, or: swallow thee ! — 124. A
thorn pierce thee and a sharp stump tear thee ! Cf. below
No. 238. - - 125. Take not thy portion!
126. Be burnt! - - 127. Be cut off! — 128. Do not see -
or smell l) — [a baby] with red feet! -- 129. Be broken! —
130. Be sad! — 131. Do not [grow up to] grasp a spear! —
132. Be buried! — 133. Do not go on, or: find a place
before thee! I. e. do not grow up. — 134. May thy leg
slide! I.e. may thy leg be cut or crippled. - - 135. May a
thunderbolt fall upon thee! — 136. May a flash hit thee,
or: strike thee! -- 137. Be minced! — 138. Be roasted [like] P. 273.
corn! • 139. May thy root perish, or: be torn out! —
140. Be cut to pieces!
141. Abide alone, or: be alone altogether! — 142. Be full
of wounds!2) 143. May thy wounds2) be open! —
144. Have no growth or dew!, i.e. corn or milk. — 145. Be
my ransom! Cf. Nos. 25 and 401. — 146. May thy goods
be seized! - - 147. Do not reach thy house! I.e. I. do not
enter thy house, or 2, die before thou art married. — 148. Do
not [live to] eat much! — 149. Do not get much! — 150. May
He not give thee much! — 151. Tell not of finds! i.e.
make none. - 152. Be not immune!, viz. to a disease. —
153. Be not sharp!, i.e. strong.
154. Have pain! Cf. 37 — 39. — 155. Drink leeches! —
156. Be ruined ! -- 157. Make no smoke ! I. e. be not known. -
158. May smoke come out of thee! I.e. be burned. -
159. Be without offspring! -- 160. Be without anything! 3) —
161. Be torn to many pieces! - - 162. Be without cattle! -
163. Find no smoke nor smell! I.e. be not seen nor talked
1) Taken from the animals: the mother licks her young and smells at it.
2) Literally "of doors." 3) Literally "remnant."
33° CURSING OF MEN
about. — 164. Go to pieces! - - 165. Be extinguished! -
166. Be bare-footed! — 167. Be torn up! - 168. Be in
distress! - 169. Be possessed! — 170. May the wailing
women enter thy house! — 171. Die suddenly! -- 172. May
all fall upon thee! — 173. Be blind! — 174. May thy off-
spring not remain on earth ! - - 175. Be torn off! — 176. May
a trap catch thee! *) - - 177. May thy offspring perish!
178. Be without opportunity! — 179. Be destitute! -
1 80. Be cut asunder! — 181. Be torn out! - - 182. Be torn
off! — 183. Be torn out! — 184. Be thrust away! — 185. Be
shaken off! — 186. Be removed from thy place ! I. e. perish. —
187. May thy light be extinguished!
1 88. May scab and insatiability be thy share! — 189. May-
tertiary syphilis rot thy limbs! — 190. May a serpent eat
thee! — 191. May the enemy meet thee suddenly! —
P. 274. 192. Be without truth! — 193. May thy door be dark!2) -
194. May thy life be short! — 195. May unknown [calamity]
tear thee out! — 196. Do not [live to] be old! - - 197. Be
never content! — 198. Do not [live to] be of age ! — 199. Be
not steady! — 200. Do not live until the morning! -
20 1. Do not visit [others]! I.e. be not seen. — 202. Find
no release ! — 203. Be without plenty and multitude ! —
204. May thy confidence be destroyed! — 205. Find no
confidence nor compassion ! — 206. Mayest thou see the
distress of thy soul ! — 207. Mayest thou see the ruin of thy
property and of thy family ! — 208. See the ruin of him who
is thine! — 209. Fall upon an upright [lance]! — 210. Fall
upon [a lance] lying on a support! -- 211. Do not find rest
through thy offspring! — 212. Go in distress! — 213. Be broken
1) Literally : 'be in thy way'.
2) I. e. the place before thy house without a fire..
CURSING OF MEN 331
in thy youth ! — 214. May thy mother weep whenever she sees
those of thy age! — 215. Slide with thy crippled [legs] ! -
216. Be torn out with thy root! -- 217. May thy veins not
cool off. ') -- 218. May thy family be small! — 219. Stretch
out thy hand [begging] to thy cousin 1 — 220. Meet with
distress! — 221. Put thy head on thy right arm! I.e. lie
in the tomb. 222. Eat no corn ! I. e. die soon. —
223. Wear out iron shoes tending flocks! I.e. be a herds-
man all thy life. — 224. May (the hole of) the tomb put
an end to thy labour ! I. e. labour until death without suc-
cess. - - 225. If God wills bear pain! — 226. Be seized by
the throat! - - 227. Be seized by the neck! — 228. Wrestle
with thy plans !, i. e, do not carry them out.
229. May a hyaena take thee away! — 230. May a hyaena
carry thee off! — 231. Beg alms! — 232. Be dry leather!
I.e. have no children. — 233. Be finished! — 234. Be crook-
backed. — 235. Be alone! — 236. May a viper suck thy
blood! — 237. May vipers drink thy blood! -- 238. May a
sharp stump tear thee! Cf. above No. 124. — 239. Be with-
out remnant [left to thee]! -- 240. Be destitute! — 241. Die
immediately! — 242. Have crippled arms!
243. Thy wrong against me be always upon thee! - - P. 275.
244. May a wild beast kill thee! — 245. May [thy] habits
and faults cause thee hurt! — 246. Beget and bury! -
247. Beget but do not rear! - 248. Do not send thy
children to work !, i. e. have none. — 249. Would thou
werest not born! -- 250. Be not steady!
251. May wrong come upon thee! — 252. Be without
kindred and riches! - - 253. May pain be thy share! —
254. Be without luck and opportunity! - - 255. May famine
i) I. e. Be not refreshed or released.
332 CURSING OF MEN
be in thy way! - - 256. Be [cursed like] a bullet! ') -
257. May malaria make thee fall! -- 258. Go to the land
of Aden!, i.e. far away. — 259. Be not strong! -- 260. Be
crippled! — 261. Be not sound and safe! - - 262. May thy
well go dry ! — 263. Mayest thou celebrate no memorial of
thy kindred ! I. e. die soon. — 264. Be without kindred ! -
265. Be without health! - - 266. Be [like] first fruits! I.e.
be eaten first, die first. — 267. May thy back *) not be
strong! — 268. Be without back!2) -- 269. May the end be
near thee ! - - 270. May thy life be short and thy luck be
small! — 271. May thy time be short! - - 272. May the
[evil] eye devour thee! — 273. May the [evil] eye swallow3)
thee ! — 274. May thy eye not be satisfied nor thy stomach ! —
275. Be without milk! — 276. Be possessed and crazy! —
277. May disease smite thee ! — 278. May disease break
thee to pieces! — 279. May thy leg depart, or: be broken ! —
280. Die, but do not kill! (Literally: find none whom thou
embracest in battle). — 281. May thy end hasten ! — 282. May
thy habits be bad! — 283. Do not take thy share!
284. Thy times be bad! — 285. Be insatiable! -- 286. May
[thy blood] be shed ! — 287. May [thy limbs] be scattered ! -
288. May [thy body] swell up ! — 289. Lose seed and milk ! *) —
290. Be wronged! - - 291. Be exhausted and stand still! -
292. Become not rich! — 293. Be ruined! — 294. May strife
come to thee! — 295. May strife take hold of thee! —
P. 276. 296. Be without news ! — 297. May thy offspring be few ! —
298. May thy offspring not prosper! 299. Take not
[thy father's] scarf! I. e. do not become like unto him. -
1) Cf. above p. 272, dirge 2, 1. I.
2) I.e. family 5 cf. above, p. 262, ann. 2.
3) Literally "drink." 4) Literally "udder."
CURSING OF MEN 333
300. Do no [live to] have a scarf! l) - - 301. Be misshapen!
302. Be without engagements ! — 303. Do not [live to]
keep thy appointment ! — 304. Do not carry out thy plan ! —
305. Be dry !
306. Be dull! — 307. Be cast down! - - 308. May [thy
body] swell up! — 309. Be struck by the evil eye! —
310. Be crushed! — 311. Be maimed! — 312. Live not
thine [allotted] time! — 313. Never rest! — 314. May He
not give thee religion or property ! — 315. Perish altogether ! —
316. May another inherit thy property! — 317. Never rest!
Cf. No. 313. - • 318. Be wholly ruined! - 319. Tie no
cord ! viz. around the necks of cattle when bought. —
320. Live not to fulfill --or: reach not — thine [allotted]
time! - - 321. Be blind!
322. Suffer pain! — 323. Be on the brink [of ruin]! —
324. May a bowlder fall upon thee! — 325. Be torn up! —
326. May thy chin and cheeks sink in! I. e. fall sick. —
327. Be without beauty or perfection! - - 328. May the
muscles of thy neck be cut! — 329. Be without praise and
delight! — 330. May a demon slap thy face! — 331. Be
wretched !
332. Miss — or : take not — thy share ! — 333. Be broken ! —
334. Be seized by force! — 335. May [thy] wantonness break
thee! — 336. May something quick snatch thee away! —
337. Decrease! - - 338. Be captured! - - 339. Rot away! —
340. Be dry seaweed ! — 341. Be bald ! I. e. lose everything. —
342. Be sad ! — 343. Have a lingering disease ! - - 344. Be
cut to pieces! - - 345. May thy gan *) not rest! - - 346. Be
a thin gan pulled out [of the tomb] ! - - 347. May the small-
pox scald thee! — 348. Be struck! • 349. Be ugly! —
I) I. e. to be a bridegroom. 2) Cf. above p. 308.
334 CURSING OF MEN
350. May thy body be without health, or: be boiled! —
351. Be without a neighbour! -- 352. Be pained by sorrow!
P. 277. 353. Be burnt! — 354. Be lost! — 355. Be not [like] a
strong sinew! — 356. May the skin be fastened on thy kettle-
drum! ') — 357. Be neither good nor brave! — 358. Lose
property and family! — 359. Be struck by frightful grief!
360. Take — or: eat -- ashes! Cf. above No. 26. — 361
and 362. Lose everything! — 363 and 364. Become ashes ! —
365. Be crushed !
366. Be dark! — 367. Have a lasting disease! — 368. Tell
of distress ! — 369. Be planed ! I. e. loose thy money. —
370. Become hot ashes! - - 371. Be felled! -- 372. May thy
blood be drunk ! — 373. Be possessed ! - - 374. Be on the
brink [of ruin]! — 375. Be without friends! — 376. Be wiped
off! — 377. Be swept away! - - 378. May thy reward be
bad ! — 379. Be smitten by calamity ! — 380. May thy repu-
tation be bad! — 381. Be without reputation! - - 382. May
wrong fall upon thee ! — 383. May no meal nor [even] crums
be left to thee ! -- 384. Wait through dark days and nights ! -
385. Plant an unlucky post! I. e. have a bad house, or a bad
wife. — 386. Be dirty! -- 387. Do not see the band around
thy forehead ! i. e. the herds at the door of thy house, which
are likened to a bandeau. - 388. Be without fasting and
prayer ! i. e. without religion. — 389. Thy lot be not good ! —
390 and 391. -Be bitter like fen etc I*) — 392. Be con-
quered ! — 393. Be driven from thy place ! - - 394. Be ab-
horred! — 395. May thy omen and thy repute be bad! —
396. Be without bliss ! — 397. Be not rich and wealthy ! —
398. Leave no will! — 399. Perish! — 400. May thy pas-
turing flocks not come in, and those that have come in not
i) Cf. above pp. 257 sqq. 2) I.e. a bitter herb.
Fig. 22. General View of Galab : in the Centre "Tumulus-Tombs,"
in the Distance the Mountains of :Afluq (p. 335)-
MANSAC BET- ABREHE AND MANSA BET-SAHAQAN 335
see the morning. -- 401. Be my ransom! Cf. above Nos. 25
and 145. - - 402. Die first of all! -- 403. Be ruined and
destroyed ! — 404. Be driven from thy place ! Cf. No. 393. —
405. Be without eloquence and pride! - - 406. Carry on
thine own shoulder ! I. e. have no beast of burden.
125. p. 278.
THE TRIBES THAT KNOW THE TIGRE LANGUAGE
AND THEIR WAY OF LIVING.
I. These are the tribes whose fathers spoke Tigre.
i. Mansac Bet-DAbrehe and Mansac Bet-Sahaqan.
These two were brothers, but they parted from each other.
And now they have become two tribes ; and they are called
the two Mansac, or the two Haygat. Their language is Tigre
only. Their living is from live stock [viz. cows and goats],
and from tilling the soil. But nowadays they have not much
cattle, and they live by ploughing. Their religion was for-
merly Christianity, and each had a church and priests. But
later on their (last) priests did not know how to read. Then
the Mohammedans came to their country and converted
them to Islam. And the 'majority of them became Moham-
medans: a few, however, are Christians up to this day. Each
of them has a village as its living place; and this village
is not moved [like the camps of the nomads]. But sometimes
they change the place of their villages. The village of the
BeVAbrehe was formerly at Haygat (Fig. 21). And later on
it [was] moved from Haygat to Galab (Fig. 22). And the
village went down from Galab twice: the first time it was
located at Tasasa. The second time, however, it went down
to Laba; and Laba is still called Deman-degge (i.e. ruins of
336 TIGRE TRIBES
the village). On the other hand, it went [up] to DAgcaro
once. And later on it moved from there to Dangura. After
this it returned to Galab, and there it is up to this day.
The houses of the village [which] they build [are] qesasa
(huts, Fig. 23) and seqlo (round houses, Figs. 24, 25); and
within they make a small interior house of mats. When
they move about they put their loads on oxen and mules
and donkeys.
r. 279. The village of the Bet-bahaqan, however, was in former
days at Hamhem. Then it moved to the bushes of Mehelab,
and there it is up to this day. Their houses and their pack-
animals are like those of the Bet-DAbrehe. But now the
village of Mehelab is shifting gradually to another place
because the water is now far from them.
2. The Red Marya and the Black Marya.
. The Red Marya and the Black Marya are brothers. And
the ancestors of the two Marya and of the two Mansac were
brothers: they were called Maryu and Mansu. Later on they
parted from each other, and each one of them grew into
two divisions. Thus the Red Marya and the Black Marya
were separated from each other; and each one of them
lived in its [own] village and in its '[own] country. And now
they are called the two Marya, or the Red and the Black
Marya. Their language is Tigre only. Their living is from
cattle; but they plough a little also. Their religion was
formerly, in their ancestors' time, Christianity. But afterwards
they were converted to Islam, and they are all Moham-
medans now. They have their dwelling places each on his
field. And they live together by twos and threes; that is to
say, those whose lands are near each other live together. In
this way their villages are scattered, and each one of them
Fig. 23. Qcsasatat "Huts" (p. 336).
Is
B
THE THREE MAFLAS 337
lives near his land. And they build huts (qesasa). Their
beasts of burden are oxen, donkeys and a few mules.
3. The Three Mafias : Habab, cAd Temaryam
and cAd Takles.
The ancestor of these three was DAsgade. DAsgade came
down from the highland of Kabasa. Some say, 3Asgade
started from the Tigray ') country, and on his way to this p. 280.
[our] country he halted in the country of Bet-Tosem (Dacchi-
Toscim) at cAd Nefas. Later on he left °Ad Nefas and went
down to this region where his descendants live now. But
the brother of DAsgade stayed at cAd Nefas. And for this
reason the ancestor of the Three Maflas and the ancestor of
cAd Nefas are brothers. And the descendants of the people of
3Asgade and of his brother who stayed in the Tigray country
are there up to this day: they are called the sons of DAsgade.
But some say : the country of 'Asgade is cAd Nefas, and
from there DAsgade came down, and his brothers stayed there.
And later on 3Asgade begat Maflas. And Maflas begat
Hebtes and Takles and 3AbIb. The descendants of Hebtes
are the Habab : a part of the Habab live on this side of
the frontier [between the English territory and the Italian
colony], and another part beyond. The descendants of Takles
are the cAd Takles. DAbib was the father of the cAd Te-
maryam. And cAd Hebtes - - or Habab — and cAd Takles
and cAd Temaryam are together called the Three Maflas,
and also the Three Habab. The language of all of them is
Tigre ; the religion of all of them was originally Christianity.
For even the cAd Hebtes used to have a church and a
tabot and priests. Then Kantebay (jaweg; was converted to
i) I. e. the province generally known by its Amharic name Tigre.
Princeton University Expedition to Abyssinia, Vol. II. 22
338 TIGRE TRIBES
Islam, and he said to the priest: "Break the tabot" And the
priest said: "I dare not break the tabot of Mary." And
Kantebay (jaweg took the tabot himself and chopped it with
an ax. Then even the priests became Mohammedans, and
all their descendants are up to this day sheks of the tribe.
P. 281. And all the people of the Three Marias embraced Islam,
and they are all now Mohammedans.
Their living is from live stock, camels, goats and sheep.
Their houses are of mats; but in their villages they also
put branches with leaves on their huts. Their villages
move to the lowlands and to the highlands; and their
animals pasture at a place that is as far as day's journey
distant from them. And men bring the milk from the herds
and flocks to the village; or else, each one keeps some of
his animals that give milk near the village. When they move,
they put their loads on camels and oxen and donkeys, and
sometimes mules. But before their villages move they send
first their furniture ahead to the place where they are to
go. And their villages are located [always] at the same place
in the highlands, and again in the lowlands. The village of
the cAd Hebtes is located at Naqfa, when it is in the high-
lands, and at DAlgena or Wad-Gan, when it is in the low-
lands. The village of the cAd Takles [, however,] has no
certain places; but generally it is located at DEde-DAtba,
when it is in the highlands, and at Habaro, when it is in
the lowlands. And the village of the cAd Temaryam is located
at DAf-cAbad, when it is in the highlands, and at 3Akat,
when it is in the lowlands. The people of the Three Mafias
do not know how to plough. But a few of the bondsmen of
, the cAd Temaryam do plough a little. And the Three Mafias
buy the corn from the Two Mansac, from the Bet-(jiik and
from the Belen. Or else, they buy corn and rice from Massaua.
NABARA AND GADAM-SEGA 339
4. The Bet-6uk, or Bet-6arlbruk.
Their ancestor came down from Kabasa. And some say
that the ancestor of the Bet-6uk was a relative of 3Asgade ;
and for this reason the Bet-6uk and the Three Mafias are P. 282.
akin to each other. Some again say that the ancestor of
the Bet-(juk, Kantebay 6arlbruk - - Zar'I-Beruk — , came
down from Wakki, ') and that the descendants of his brothers
are there up to this day. The language of the Bet-Guk is
Tigre. Their religion was formerly Christianity, but now they
have embraced Islam. Their living is from ploughing and
from live stock [cows and some goats]; but now they have
not much cattle : they live by ploughing. Their village is
Wazentat: their houses are qesasa. Their beasts of burden
are oxen and donkeys and some mules.
$. The Three Motecat: cAsus, Gemhot and cAylat.
The language of these three is Tigre only. The people of
the Mawattec are of different origins: some of them are of
Balau origin ; and some of them are DAsraf. 2) And besides
these that are named there are found a few others. The
religion of all of them is Islam. Their living is from camels,
cattle, goats and sheep; a few of them, however, plough.
Their houses are mafddani [i. e. square houses of wood and
branches, Fig. 25] and qesasa. These three do not move about.
Their beasts of burden are camels, oxen, donkeys and a few
mules. The place where they buy and purchase everything
is Massaua.
6. Nabara and Gadam-Sega.
The language of these people also is Tigre. But the Tigre
1) In Hamasen.
2) I. e. Arabs that came from the Barka country.
34O T1GRE TRIBES
of the Nabara is not pure : it is between Tigre and Tigrina.
They used to be counted formerly with the Motecat; but
now they are by themselves. Their living is from cattle and
goats, and from ploughing. Their houses are of mats and
of branches. Their beasts of burden are oxen and mules and
donkeys. They live in the Motecat country; their religion
is Islam.
P. 283. 7. Mashalit.
Their language is Tigre. They say that they are originally
related to the Assaorta. The living of the Mashalit — from
sahel [i. e. the coast] — is from cattle, goats, sheep and a
few camels; they work also at Massaua. They have no
village : they are nomads and roam about, following their
herds. Most of the time they live in the plain. The religion
of all of them is Islam. Their houses are of mats. When
they move they put their loads on oxen, donkeys, mules
and camels. The only corn they eat is bought: they do not
plough. Their only country is Waqiro [in the plain, x/2 day's
journey westward of Hetemlo].
8. The people of Medun.
Those who live at DEmkullu, Hetemlo, at Massaua, at
Dakano - - or Herglgo [i. e. Archico] — all speak the Tigre
language. But most of them have also learned Arabic. They
are all Mohammedans. They are of different origins, but their
leaders are mostly of Balau origin. Their living is from
trading. Their houses are mcfadanl, qesasa and merabbcf
[i. e. stone-houses].
9. cAd Suma and cAd 3Aha and GAd cAskar.
Their language is Tigre only. They are all Mohammedans.
They are of different origins, and they used to be counted
SAURA AND CAD MACALLEM AND DASFADA 341
with the Motecat people. The cAd £uma, however, are related
among themselves. The ancestor of the °Ad £uma had mar-
ried a woman called Suma; then he begat a few sons of
her and died. And Suma reared her children, and she was
very brave and well known. And afterwards, when her children
had their own houses, they were called °Ad Suma. And they
are called up to this day GAd Suma after the name of their P. 284.
ancestress. The only corn they eat is bought. Their houses
are of mats. And they roam about following their herds
everywhere. Their beasts of burden are oxen and mules
and donkeys.
10. Wayra and DAflanda.
The language of these [peoples] is Tigre. They are all
Mohammedans. The ancestor of the DAflanda came as a
Mohammedan from the sea on the road of the Gash river. ')
And some of his descendants live in the Barka country;
some in the Habab country, some in the country of the Two
Mansac; some, again, live at Suakin — or Kar [near Suakin] — .
The Wayra live in the Motecat country, everywhere. The
living of these people is from cattle, camels, sheep and goats.
And they roam about everywhere following their herds.
Their houses are of mats. And their beasts of burden are
camels, oxen, donkeys and mules. And they eat the corn
which they buy from everywhere. «
n. Saura and cAd Macallem and 'Asfada.
The language of all of them is Tigre. They are all Mo-
hammedans. The Saura and the cAd Macallem used to be
counted with the °Ad Temaryam : but now they are counted
by themselves, and each of them has its own village. The
i) Perhaps Suakin-Chartum-Kassala.
342 TIGRE TRIBES
3Asfada used to be counted with the Habab, but now they
are separated from them [and live] by themselves. All these
[three tribes] call their village zaga. And the zagas of the
Saura and the cAd Macallem go up and down in the country
of the cAd Temaryam. And even the 3Asfada live there with
P. 285. their zaga and go up and down. The houses of the zagas
are of mats. Their beasts of burden are camels, oxen,
donkeys and a few mules. Their living is from camels and
cattle. And they buy corn from other countries.
12. The cAd Sek.
Their language is Tigre. And they are_ all Mohammedans.
Their living is from camels, cattle, sheep and goats. Their
country is between the Habab and the cAd Temaryam. And
their village is called Zaga cAd Sek. They go down to the
lowlands and up to the highlands; their beasts of burden
are camels and oxen and donkeys. And the houses of the
zaga are of mats. And the only corn which they get is that
which they buy.
They are sometimes called also by the name of their chief, e. g. cAd Sek-
DAlamIn formerly, and now GAd §ek-cAmar.
13. The Bet-Macala, Ganlfra and Bet-Bacasso.
The language of all of them is Tigre. They are all Mo-
hammedans. Their ancestors came from the sea at Suakin.
And each one of them used to live as a tribe by itself.
But later on the Ganlfra and the Bet-Bacasso decreased in
number, and they united with the Bet-Macala. And now
they are counted with the Bet-Macala. Their living is from
camels, cattle, goats and sheep. Their houses are of mats.
And they go up and down following their herds. Their
beasts of burden are camels, oxen and donkeys.
BELEN 343
14. DAlgaden and Sabdarat.
Their language is Tigre. And their ancestors came as
Mohammedans from the sea; and the descendants of them
are Mohammedans up to this day. Their living is from
ploughing and from cattle. But I do not know much about P. 286.
their villages and their beasts of burden. It is said, how-
ever, that they have horses.
15. The cAd Haserl.
Their language is Tigre; but they know also the language
of the Hedarab, or Mm-cAmer. They are all Mohammedans.
Their living is from camels, cattle, goats and sheep. Their
houses are of mats. And their village is called zaga\ and
they go down to the lowlands and up to the highlands.
Their beasts of burden are camels, oxen and donkeys. Of
the cAd Haserl some live on this side of the frontier and
some beyond.
II. These are the tribes that know the Tigre language,
but whose fathers had another language. These tribes have
a different language of their own country, but they have
learned the Tigre language, and some of them speak it well.
i. Belen. ')
All the people of the Belen country have a language of
their own ; but, on the other hand, all of them know the
Tigre language also. The Belen were originally all Christians,
but now' half of them have become Mohammedans. Their
living is from ploughing and from cattle and goats. Their
villages stay each at its place: they do not move. Their
l) I. e. Bilin or Bogos.
344 TIGRK TRIBES
houses are [of the] qesasa kind. Their beasts of burden are
oxen and donkeys and mules.
2. The Mm-°Amer.
Their language is Hedarab; but most of them know also
the Tigre language. They are all Mohammedans. Their living
is from camels and cattle and goats. Their villages are called
zaga. And sometimes they move. The houses of the villages
P. 287. are of mats. Their beasts of burden are camels and a few
donkeys and oxen. They ride also on camels and even
on horses.
3. Kabasa.
Their language is Tigrifia. But the Tigrina and the Tigre
resemble each other, and their people understand each other
to a certain degree. On the other hand, many of the Kabasa
people know the Tigre language, and there are also Tigre
people that know the Tigrina language. But of the people
of Gemmagan - - or Dembazan — [those who live] in the
village of Wara. at Bet-Mahare — or Daqql Mahare — , and
at Gurltat, know the Tigre language well.
4. Sauho or 3Asawerta (Saho or Assaorta).
Their language is different; but many of them know the
Tigre language. Their religion is Islam. Their living is from
cattle, camels, goats and sheep. And some of them trade
along the coast of the bay of Gemez. ') Their houses are of
the mcftidarii and qesasa kind. Their villages do not move
about. Their beasts of burden are camels, donkeys and mules.
i) I. e. the bay of Adulis.
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Bibliotheca Abessinica. Studies concerning the languages,
literature and history of Abyssinia edited by Dr. E.
LlTTMANN :
I. The Legend of the Queen of Sheba in the Tradition
of Axum by the Editor. 1904. 8° ... $ — .40
II. The Text of the Ethiopic Version of the Octateuch,
with Special Reference to the Age and Value of the
Haverford Manuscript by Dr. J. OSCAR BOYD 1905.
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Genesis. 1909. 8° „ 1.90
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