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21
THE STORY OF GENDEFLI.
Gendefli 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 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.
22
THE STORY OF DANNAS AND HIS SLAVE, OF THE 'AD TEMARYAM.
Dannash was with his slave at a place called 'Ayde. And while he wa s travelling with his slave, he drew his
sword. When the slave saw that his master had drawn, he too drew his sword. Dannash asked his slave: 'Why
hast thou drawn?" And the slave replied: 'Because my master has drawn, 1 have drawn." Now Dannash 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: "Because my master has drawn, I have
drawn,' said the slave."
23
THE PROVERB THAT ADEG WAD FEDEL, A MAN FROM BELEN, MADE.
Adeg wad Fedél felll sick; and in his sickness he grew very thin. Being weak he had no desire for, food, but he
usbd 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 whicli I am starting not longer?" And this
has be'come a proverb until the present day: ' 'Is the journey on which I am starting not.longer', said Adeg wad
Fcdul." [This is what] they say.
24
THE LEGEND OF THE THREE MARYS.
These three Marys, Mary of Sion and Mary of Beriri and Mary of Dabre-Sina (Mount Sinai) rose from Hagare-
Nagram (1) and came to the country of the Mänsa' Bet-Abrehe. Mary of Sion abode on the hill-country of the Bet-
'Arbay (2), and she became their Mary. But afterwards the Mänsa' Bet-Abrehe destroyed the Bet-'Arbäy 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 migrated, she abode at Gäläb. 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 present day; for whenever it grows old they renew it4; 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 Bedä was the Priest of the Bet-Sahaqen. He begat afterwards Priest Haile-
Gergis; and Priest HaileGärgis begat Priest 'Addemkel. Priest 'Addemkel 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 Priest Haile-Gärgis 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 (4) is lost; I but the name 'Ad-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 altogether, she is not [there any more)." - And Mary of Beriri and Mary
of Dabre-Sina abode on the plateau of the Mänsa' Bet-Abrehe, at Ag'arö, (5) at a dwelling-place alled Asrah (5)
together with their priests. Their priests had come forme rly with them from Hagare-Nagram. And their priests
made a wager among themselves. One of them said: "I 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 Massabbär (6) to Amba." (7) And the third said – "And I shall throw the pillar from Amba to Afluq." (8)
Again the fourth said: "And I shall, from Afluq, make it reach Asrah" (9) 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-Sina. But the monks returned after 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 foll
owing the tracks they came to the height of Qäl-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 Beriri and Mary of Dabre-Sina were sisters. But afterwards they separated
from that place: Mary of Beriri stayed at the place with her priest. And her priest used to burn incense for her every
day, about two gäbätas (10). But afterwards making the incense less every day, he [finally] made for her as little as
one keffalö. (11) 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 Beriri keeps her house
closed until now. And Mary of Dabre Sina 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) A ruined city in the north of the present Colonia Eritrea, not far from the English frontier.
2) About 3 hours n. w. of Gäläb.
3) i.e. "may many of you die that the ground be heavy with your tombs!"
4) a chest or a carved plate of wood thought to be the abode of the deity.
5) About 5 hours to the west of Gäläb.
6) about 3 hours n. e. of Gäläb. Cf. CONTI ROSSINI, Tradizioni Storiche dei Mensa, P- 5I, I. 4; and Orientalische
Studien (Nöldeke-Festschrift), P. 952. The stone of Sehul at Gabru Gabana is shown in Fig- 3.
7) about ½ an hour west of Massabbar.
8) About 2 hours West of Amba.
9) About an hour west of Afluq.
10) One Gebata equals about 18 kilograins.
11) One keffalo equals abotit ½ kilogram
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