My Ancestry - by Hénock Gugsa

My Ancestry 
(as told to me by my father, Gugsa Asta!)

- by Hénock Gugsa -

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Legend has it that a tribesman traveled from Zula, an ancestral town in eastern Eritrea, to a place called Adi-Abo which was located in the southwest, in the region known as Tigray.  When he got there, he settled down, got married, and began to prosper.  Soon he became quite wealthy, and achieved a respectable status in the community.  However, he and his wife were childless, and so he was not as content with his life as could be expected.

As it happened, there lived in that town a sorcerer who was quite reputable in his wisdom and extra-sensory powers.  So, the wealthy but childless man decided to go and consult with him for a solution to his problem.

"Why can I not have any children?  Can you give me some medicine to help me and my wife be fruitful?" He begged.

The sorcerer replied, "You must understand that your destiny is unique.  The only offspring you will have is from a lioness."

"But a lioness is a mighty ferocious, and wild creature.  How is it even possible to approach a lioness, let alone procreate with her?"

"Follow my instructions to the letter, and you will succeed in this mission, fear not!"  The sorcerer commanded.

He then told the man where he would find the particular lioness that was destined to give him offspring.  The lioness had a favorite watering spot at a little clearing near a hillside from whence a stream flowed.  The man was to go to that place when the lioness wasn't there, and he was to build a dam and divert the stream in another direction.  Then at the exact spot where the lioness drank, he was to place a large vat filled with mead.  When the lioness came to the spot as usual, she would not find water there ... and because she would be mightily thirsty, she would be forced to drink the potent mead.  When sated, she would head back to her lair for her evening siesta.  The mead was bound to overcome her, and she would fall into a deep slumber.  That would be the time for the man to show his intrepid side, and give her his seed. 

Then would come a waiting period when the man would have to stalk the lioness from a distance and see how she was progressing along.  Not too long after she had given birth to a daughter and three sons as predicted by the sorcerer, the proud father was to repeat the same crafty deception with the mead and get the lioness intoxicated again.  He would then kidnap the four infants with the help of an assistant that the sorcerer had provided.  Additionally, the sorcerer emphasized that they should make sure they stayed downwind from the lioness at all times during their escape.  That way, her eventual search and pursuit of the kidnappers and her babies would be thwarted.

Following the successful daredevil deed, the man and his offspring left Adi-Abo and returned to Eritrea.  The man stopped and settled in Hatsenna in order to raise his children.  When the children were grown, he first saw to it that his daughter got married and made her home there.  When that was accomplished, the man and his three sons were off and on the road again. 

At long last, the man finally made his home in the place we now call Asmara.  One of his sons, Asmael, stayed there with his father, and they both settled down for good.  Asmael became the patriarch of all the people that lived in that region.  And in time, the town, Asmara, was named after him.

As for the other two sons, they left their father and brother behind and headed east toward Zula.  But midway, the second son whose name was Jenn-Alle decided to veer a little bit to the south toward Adi Keyh (the Red Land).  When he reached Berhenet-Arett, he stopped and this became his home.  Jenn-Alle is our ancestor, and his blood still runs in our family!

Tekle-Semaat, the third son, continued on to Zula.  He settled there and had many offspring.  We believe his descendants, our cousins,  are still there.
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