For this simple post, I just want to share a few lines from a memorable scene in the Life of the famous Ethiopian saint Täklä Haymanot (ተክለ፡ ሃይማኖት፡; BHO 1128-1134). It comes from the Däbrä Libanos version, as published by Budge (1906); for more details on this and the other versions, see Denis Nosnitsin in Enc. Aeth. 4: 831-834. For the setting: the people of a “high mountain” called Wifat (ዊፋት፡) are responding to the saint’s question of how they know when their god is coming to them.
ወይቤልዎ ፡ ይመጽአ ፡ እንዘ ፡ ያንጐደጕድ ፡ ከመ ፡ ነጐድጓደ ፡ ክረምት ፡ለቢሶ ፡ እሳት። ወተፅዒኖ ፡ ዝዕበ ፡ ወብዙኃን ፡ መስተፅዕናነ ፡ አዝዕብት ፡ እምለፌ ፡ ወእምለፌ ፡ የዐውድዎ ፡ ወኵሎሙ ፡ ያበኵሁ ፡ እሳተ ፡ እምአፉሆሙ።
f. 67ra-67rb (text in Budge, vol. 2, p. 39)
My translation (for Budge’s, see vol. 1, p. 97):
And they said to him, “He comes thundering like the thunder of the rainy season, clothed in fire, riding on a jackal, and many jackal-riders surround him on each side, all of the [mounts] blowing fire out of their mouths.
Notes:
- ክረምት፡ the rainy season is June/July-September
- ዝእብ፡ (pl. አዝእብት፡) jackal; hyena; wolf. Specific possibilities include:
- Egyptian jackal (Canis lupus lupaster), really a wolf
- Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis)
- Golden jackal (Canis aureus), really a wolf
- Some kind of hyena
- Some kind of jackal
- Budge’s text mistakenly has መስተፅናነ፡ for the correct reading መስተፅዕናነ፡.
- The text could mean that the jackal-riders are breathing out fire, but the image in the manuscript (BL Or. 728; see Budge’s pl. 38) obviously takes that predicate as referring to the jackals themselves.
Pl. 38 from Budge, Life of Takla Haymanot, vol. 1
hmmlorientalia 