1710_BIOR_2008/5-6_03_Tekst 30-01-2009 10:55 Pagina 696 797 BIBLIOTHECA ORIENTALIS LXV N° 5-6, september-december 2008 798 AETHIOPICA COLIN, G. — La gloire des rois (Kebra Nagast). Epopée nationale de l’Éthiopie. (Cahiers d’Orientalisme XXIII). Patrick Cramer Éditeur, Genève 2002. (30 cm, 117). At last we have a new elegant translation of an important Ethiopian literary work into an important European language. Gérard Colin and the editor of the Series “Cahiers d’Orien- talisme”, Enzo Lucchesi, have to be congratulated for this French translation, which entirely supersedes the previous and partial one by H. Le Roux, Chez la Reine de Saba, Paris 1914 (repr. 2001). It must be said from the beginning that this translation is really a pleasure to read, frequently even more agreeable than the sometimes a little boring original. The present reviewer is about to complete the first Italian translation of this work from the original Geez,1) and he has to confess that in most cases he has found nothing better in his own language than an equivalent to the French rendering by Colin. The mistakes, almost unavoidable in a work of these pro- portions, are not numerous nor serious. In the first 60 chap- ters (out of 117, so a little more than a half of the entire text), the present reviewer has found the following: Ch. 8 text p. 4 'arÌawa ÌawaÌ¢wa samay wawarada ’asraba ’ayÌ: transl. p. 17 Il ouvrit les portes du ciel et les cataractes du ciel descendirent, with of heaven (du ciel) instead of of the flood in the final part; Ch. 10 text p. 5 wa'iy¢Ìessu zawa∂'a ’¢m'afuya: transl. p. 18 je (…) ne ferai mentir ce qui est sorti de ma bouche, instead of it will not lie what came out from my mouth; Ch. 17 text p. 10, transl. p. 21: if qanadila (accus.) is translated with lampes, the maÌat¢wa which follows should be translated with a different word, maybe lampes à feu; same place 'a'yaga (sic) wa'abÌ¢rta maybe basins and bowls instead of étangs et lacs (cp. Bezold Teichen und Seen), because it is a list of objects; same place dabra maqdasu is probably not sa montagne sainte, but the mount of his sanctu- ary; Ch. 23 text p. 14 zakama baÒÌa hagara y¢huda ’iyarusalem: transl. p. 24 comment il était arrivé dans le pays de Juda, à Jérusalem (cp. Bezold wie er nach dem Lande Juda, nach Jerusalem (…) gekommen sei), maybe better to the cap- ital of Judah, (that is) Jerusalem; Ch. 29 text p. 24 ba'¢nta f¢qr: transl. p. 29 par amitié (pour moi?) (Bezold in Liebe). The present reviewer proposes with pleasure, as an equivalent of baf¢qr (D. 1359: amanter, benevole, libenter); Ch. 30 text p. 24 wy¢belo laÌ¢∂an Ì¢∂¢b maqal¢da waday ÒaÌba may ’¢nza t¢re'i n¢g¢st: transl. p. 30 (Le roi) dit à un jeune servi- teur, la reine voyant (cela): “Lave une coupe et place (à coté) une cruche d’eau”, thus misunderstanding the meaning of '¢nza t¢re'i n¢g¢st (the queen must see that there is water, not that Solomon was speaking to the servant) and waday (imper- ative of wadaya, not a substantive); the correct translation 1) Italian is the only important European language which still does not possess a translation of the KN. The recent translation by L. Mazzoni, Kebra Nagast. La Bibbia segreta dei Rastafari, Coniglio Editore, Roma 2007, is made from the English of Budge and other European versions (p. 11). 1710_BIOR_2008/5-6_03_Tekst 30-01-2009 10:55 Pagina 697 799 BOEKBESPREKINGEN — AETHIOPICA 800 should be he said to a young servant: “Rinse a vessel and Bezold p. 47), not a 3rd person feminine referring to Sion (as pour a jug of water [in it], when the queen is looking”; same in transl. p. 48); Ch. 54 text p. 59 bam¢Òn¢yatni wabaqalayat Chapter, text p. 25, transl. p. 30: the word salive (as in Bezold is probably non sur la terre ferme et dans les abîmes (transl. Speichel) does not exist in the text, and †al is not humidité (as p. 48; cp. Bezold p. 48 auf festem Boden und in den Abgrün- in Bezold Feuchtigkeit), but drop; accordingly, a simpler trans- den), but in the firmament (D. 1293) and in the abyss, because lation could be she sought in her mouth, but could not find here the passage is based on the concepts of high and low; Ch. [even] a drop; Ch. 32 text p. 27 wanabara rather than et s’as- 55 text p. 62 talahya labaÌr trad. p. 50 le gonflement de la sit (?) as in the transl. p. 31 (cp. Bezold und setzte sich). The mer, but probably the bumping of the sea (cp. Bezold p. 49 die present reviewer would rather suggest and he waited (also in Brandung des Meeres); same Chapter and page of the text not view of the following waka¨¢ba was¢lsa y¢ssa'ala; Ch. 33 text ils sortirent de la mer (?), but they went out to sea (and cp. p. 28 transl. p. 32 convenable à sa richesse et à sa gloire (of Bezold ibid. sie kamen an’s Meer heraus); Ch. 57 text p. 63 the merchant Tamrin), but the suffix is plural (-omu), so (as in wagassaso l¢bbo wa'anfo ’¢mma y¢rakk¢b m¢wuqa ’¢st¢nfas Bezold) their richness and their glory (referring to the people balaclehu transl. p. 51 et le palpa au coeur et au nez - peut- of the expedition); Ch. 34 text p. 30: in the quotation of 1 être (le) trouverait-il (encore) chaud du souffle qui était en lui, Corinthians 1:20-21 both Colin (transl. p. 33) and Bezold (p. but rather he palpated him to his breast and to his nose, if he 24) make the text of the New Testament too short, because in ever found in him any warm breathing (Bezold p. 51 ob (…) fact zamakara ba†¢babu of the KN here is not immediately an ihm finde); Ch. 60 text 'abawina not mes pères as in transl. referring to Solomon, but (in the form of ba†¢babihomu p. 52, but our fathers (like Bezold p. 54): same Chapter and makara’¢”) is still part of the New Testamental passage; in pages of text and translation dabra maqdas¢ka not la montagne the same Chapter and page of the text baq¢dmehu in the sen- de ta sainteté, but the mountain of your sanctuary (like Bezold tence wawahabo ’¢” mogasa baq¢dmehu ladawit gabru is not p. 51 Berg deines Heiligtums). devant lui (transl. p. 33; cp. Bezold p. 25 bei ihm (Gott)), but before him, earlier than him; Ch. 37 text p. 35 '¢nza ’anta The book intentionally avoids going into details, and, in t¢d¢Ì¢ranni is not toi me bénissant as in transl. p. 36, but with the Introduction, it is satisfied in giving some basic informa- your permission (cp. Bezold p. 29 mit deinem Segenswün- tion, for the utility of a not strictly specialist reader. Here schen); same Chapter text p. 36 [wam¢sla] Òad¢qan daqiqomu some notes follow, in order to place the work in a possibly not as in transl. p. 36 et tous leurs enfants, but their righteous more general perspective; they are intended only to give to children as in Bezold p. 29 (mit ihren gerechten Kindern); the kind of reader just mentioned some suggestions which, I same Chapter and page of text wat¢re'¢yanni ’ana d¢kum diba repeat, were not in the intentions of the author. manbaronu la ’abawiya is not as in transl. same p. 36 Tu me vois, moi le faible, sur le thrône de mes pères, but you see that The Kebra Nagast (KN) is surely one of the most complex I am weak on the throne of my fathers (cp. Bezold p. 29 Nun and difficult works of the Ethiopian literature, and as such it siehst du mich Schwachen (d.h. meine Wenigkeit) auf dem presents several historical and literary problems. Thron meiner Väter); Ch. 39 text p. 38 y¢babe is here rather Already the precise scope, the time and place of its com- rejoicing (it is coordinated to t¢fs¢Ìt) than transl. p. 37 excla- position are difficult to disentangle. The traditional view, mations d’allégresse (and cp. Bezold p. 31 Jubel); Ch. 40 title according to which the KN was composed to sustain ideo- (text p. 38) not as in the transl. p. 38 Où le prêtre Sadoq obéit logically the recent ruling dynasty,2) must perhaps be revised, au roi David, but the reverse, more or less Where the priest according to the theory of Savir Chernetsov.3) Sadok gave king David an order (the verb is 'azzaza, not ta'az- No doubt one of the major problems king cAmda ∑¢yon zaza; cp. Bezold p. 31 woselbst der Priester Sadoq dem König David Befehl erteilt); Ch. 41 text p. 41 tacaggassa lamacat had to face, after the wars against Tigre, Damot and Hadiya, wad¢Ìra tastafess¢Ìakka is not Abstiens-toi de la colère: was that of the Enderta, which was developing a strong ensuite (Dieu) te réjouira, but Abstain from wrath, and after- autonomist tendency;4) this state of affairs is clearly revealed wards it (the [lack of] wrath) will make you happy (3d person by the documents in the Golden Gospel of Dabra Libanos, fs; cp. Bezold p. 34 Erdulde den Zorn, und er wird dich später those in the Liber Axumae (doc.