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: We have gtected
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.
THE TALE OF THE BOAR AND THE
ELEPHANTS.
Once upon a time a boar, who had
got into the middle 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 bulletl have struck me?" 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 Iconipanions]: "It is an
accident, said the boar; in the midst of a herd of elephants he was
struck."
THE TALE OF THE SCHOLAR AND
THE I GUENON.
. A scholar was writing in a
solitary place, and all the mistakes that he made, he scratched out
with his knife. 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 taking the knife and wishing to do
the same as the scholar had done, he rubbed the sharp edge against
his throat, cut 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
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 the knife with which to kill it; then they set the chicken
free. When the chicken was free, it scratched the ground with its
feet, and uncarthed 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."
THE TALE OF THE PURE-HEARTED
ONE AND THE ONE WITH THE BLACK SOUL.
Two men, who, were called
"light" and 'dark", were on 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-geul)and the proverb: "God protects the stupid"
('egel agelul räbbi 'aqqebbo).
The place is on the direct road from Gäläb to Asmara, between
Comarat and Qeruh, a large bowlder of granit on the left of the
road, as one travels southward (see fig. i).
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: No, 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
weaker than he. And they say as a proverb: 'The goats do this, said
the,leopard."
