Tigre stories                                               

Mensa stories, Sundstrom

Collected by the Swedish missionary Richard Sundstrom

I found this printed form in the Sundström book, He has left a vast number of writings in Tigre about Tigre peoples history, customs, poems and more.

It was originally much larger but the library told me they do not have the rest, but that I should ask private owners. None have it so far. But it gives a good glimpse of our history. Most of Sundstrom's writings are in Tigre, a few in Tigrina, some in Swedish and English, from various sources with different handwritings.

Names of villages and clans are unfamiliar these days. He has written many names of clans though. His collection comprises of several hundred pages, a vast source of our history. Richard Sundström 1893-1913 was a Swedish missionary who lived in Gheleb years 1893-1913. He died in Keren.

(J is used in Swedish pronounced as y)

History of the Mänsa people

1. The Story of the Takars.

There was a people called Takar, and its village, with its property and its folk, all together, was situated on Chagga, (so) they say. And when it was there, some of its men took their asses and went to Samhar to sell their boiled butter. (1)

And while they were going, the king of Kabasa, behind their back (2), plundered their village. And when they (the village folk) saw the advance guard, advancing and coming towards them, they said among themselves: "ls it ostriches? (3) Is it their young ones?» While they are saying: »No, it is ostriches», horses and foot-soldiers surrounded the village. And the whole villlge was plundered, its people perished shockingly and its property was carried off; it was altogether to ashes.

Afterwards, when the few men, who had gone to Samhar, had returned to their village with their asses, only ruins and corpses remained for them. And when they had seen their village plundered and razed, they were distressed, lamented and mourned greatly. When their fright then had passed away, they said: »How shall we do?, And they made their decision thus: Each one of us may go where his ass leads him. And each one of them urged forward his ass. And in the direction his ass went, thither he went and they were scattered hither and thither.

Footnote

(1) In order to preserve the butter for a longer time it is boiled together with various spices. This is called hesas, and is preserved in bags made of leather. Unboiled butter, zébdat, is used only for hairdressing. It would be loathful to them to eat this.

(2)i. e. during their absence.

(3) This may possibly refer to a herd of that kind of cows which are called »ostriclies.»

But the probability is that the reference concerns a flock of actual ostriches, from which

the conclusion may then be drawn that, at the time of the incident related, the ostrich

existed in the coastal regions by the Red Sea, whereas,now, it is completely extirpated in

that place and is found only in the lowland of Barka, that is, in the interior desert lands

between Akordet and Kassala and northwards.

2. The Story of the Barja woman.

At Endertaj was a village belonging to the Barjas. And the people in this village had

either by moving away from the place or through God,(1) disappeared. In the village remained one woman, and she owned goats. And moreover there grew of itself on the plain every kind of grain, which had been left remaining in the village. And, furthermore, the villagers had formerly put in bees in every cask, and afterwards, when the village had become a ruin, the bees had gone in even into the houses and every earthen jar. The woman harvested the grain as she liked. And of the honey she also put in every one of her vessels (2), and ate and drank as she liked. And her goats also inereased greatly for her. And there she lived, alone. A people, the Takar, had lived in Sehel in a place which is called Chagga. And the Takars had taken counsel, and through this counsel they decided: that everyone, having loaded his ass, might go (with it). And as his ass led him, (so) he went. And the Takars, through this, were entirely separated from each other. One rnan's ass, however, with which they formerly used to go on business journeys to Endertaj, went on and on and came with the man to Endertaj. When it had come there, it stopped, ind the man now took off the load from it. And the woman received him and entertained him.

When he had stayed there some days, she asked him: »Where hast thou come from, and what sort of a fellow art thou?» And he told her about all his -wanderings, and said to her: »Where our asses stopped, there we had decided to dwell. And now having loaded my ass on Chagga's hill, I departed therefrom, and have followed it, and, showing me the way, it has come here with me». He dwelt there with her, and after they had agreed, they married and had a boy.

When the boy was grown up, the woman said to her husband: »With honey, load this ass, and go to Amba-Zawel, to Chief Zawel, and give him it, and unload in silence and come (back)».

Footnotes

(1) Through the punishment of God.

(2) Various kinds of »Ieather bags» are to be understood. Whether the Barja people were at the same stage of cultural development then as now, is uncertain.

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And he went, and when he had come to the chieftain, he give it to him. When he had thus been carrying to him uninterruptedly for about a year, his wife said to him: »Now then, if the chieftain saith to thee: What shall I give thee? say to him: Give me thy daughter (for my son).» And Chief Zawel then said to him: »Indeed, thy hand is heavy upon us(1), because thou hast brought us this honey; say thou, what I shall give thee". And according to his wife's advice the man said to him: »Give me thy daughter (for my son)». »Thou mayest have her», Zawel said to him. And having deterrmined on a day on which they should bless', they separated.

When the man came (back) to his wife, he said to her: »Yea, the chieftain gave me his

daughter and will come here; prepare thou and await him». And she prepared much beer, meat and bread. And when she had done all, the man went to Chief Zawel and said to him: »Come ye now to us»; and the chieftain with his father's house followed him. And when they had, come to his home, be gave them all (3) the beer, meat and bread. And they stayed one week at his home.

But the house of Chief Zawel's father sought to induce him to change his mind, saying: »Why has thou given thy daughter to this solitary (4) man?» He only answered: » I do not break mycovenant !» And the man, and his wife asked the chieftain for the wedding. And he said to them: »Let them marry». Then chief Zawel with his father's house returned to his village. After the man had counted for the constellation,(5) he went on his wretched ass to them, but to his wife he said: »Prepare all». And the chieftain (6) celebrated the wedding. Thereupon he let a proclamation be made, saying: »Let this our daughter be accompanied by asses, horses and footmen».

In this manner they brught her to the man's home

Footnotes

(1) i- e. »Thou hast obtained a certain claim on us».

(2) Betroth them. Concerning betrothal customs, see Littmann, Publications of the Princeton expedition to Abyssinia, Leyden 1910, Vol.11, p. 121 etc.

(3) Whatever is offered a guest at his reception, is regarded as a gift to him, of which he may, in his turn, invite others to partake.

(4) i. e. this man destitute of relatives.

(5)i. e. wlien the stellar combinations evince favourable tokens.

(6) Ham, father-in-law, is said both between the fathers of the betrothed and between the engaged parties and their fathers.

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And the wife of the man offered them all that she had prepared. After two days Zawel's

people returned to their village. The son of the man and his wife had a son, and his uncle, Chief Zawel, gave him a tract of land, and that tract whieh he gave him, is called Takara and belongs even now to the Takars. (1)

Footnote

(1) These descendants of the ancient Takar people inhabit Mehlab and have amalgamated with the Bet-Shahkan.