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In the days of King Solomon, three thousand years ago, there lived in Ethiopia a
dynasty of queens, who reigned with great wisdom. One queen, the Malika
Habashiya or Abyssinian Queen of old legends, had a dream in which she held a kid
in her lap. On waking up she found herself pregnant and in due course she gave
birth to a baby daughter. But alas! The child had one goat's foot. When the queen
died, Princess Goat's Foot succeeded her, since she had no other children. One day
she heard of King Solomon and his great wisdom, so she wrote him a letter
announcing her arrival at his court. She was hoping that his great knowledge might
enable him to cure her foot but she did not mention that. The King, however,
always knew in advance what was going to happen, so, in front of his new palace
he had a large pool dug, so that all his visitors had to rinse their feet before
arriving. When the Queen of Abyssinia arrived, she had to raise her skirt before
wading through the pond, so that the King could see her legs, one normal and one
caprine. In the pond was a piece of ironwood which was placed there on the King's
orders. When the Queen's cloven foot hit it, she was cured. When she stepped out
of the water, she noticed that she had two human feet. She was now a very
attractive woman and Solomon fell in love with her. She wanted to go home, having
achieved her purpose, but Solomon persuaded her to stay. He proposed marriage,
but she refused. However, Solomon knew the answer to that too. He gave some
orders to his servants and an hour later the cook served a very spicy meal. That
night the Queen felt very thirsty but there was no water in the palace. The pond
had been drained and the servants told her that only the King had water, so she
had
to
go
and
beg
Solomon
for
water
in
his
bedroom.
There is a version of the tale which says that she had agreed to marry King
Solomon only if she took something vital from him. She therefore stole into his
bedroom like a thief, hoping to find water without waking him. However, Solomon
was wide awake like every man in love. As she was drinking from his water jar, she
felt his hand holding hers in the dark, while the King's voice asked: 'Is water not
vital, my dear Queen?' She had to agree to marry him there and then, but the next
day she insisted on going home. Solomon gave her a ring, saying: 'When you have
a son, send him to me when he is grown up, and I will give him half my kingdom.'
The Queen of Ethiopia took the ring and travelled back by boat along the Red Sea.
In due course she gave birth to a son whom she called David, after his father's
father. When he came of age, his mother sent him to King Solomon, with numerous
presents. When David entered Solomon's court, he noticed an empty chair next to
the King's and sat down on it. Solomon asked him: 'What have you come for,
handsome young man?' He replied: 'I am David of Ethiopia I have come to ask you
for half of your kingdom, and here is the ring which you gave my mother.' Solomon
embraced him when he recognized his ring, and spoke: 'So be it. I will give you
Africa, which is half my kingdom.' According to the legend, the King was in his right
to do so for God had given him the whole world as his realm. No one knew at that
time how big Africa really was.
sa kaniya: 'Ano ay may dumating sa iyo para sa, guwapong binata?' Siya ay sumagot: 'Ako si David ng
Ethiopia ako pumarito upang magtanong sa iyo para sa kalahati ng iyong kaharian, at dito ay ang
singsing na ibinigay mo sa aking ina.' Niyakap Solomon sa kanya kapag siya ay nakilala sa kanyang
ring, at nagsalita: 'Siya nawa. Ibibigay ko sa iyo Africa, na kung saan ay kalahati ng aking kaharian. '
Ayon sa alamat, ang Hari ay sa kanyang karapatan na gawin ito para sa ibinigay na siya ng Diyos ng
buong mundo bilang kanyang kaharian. Walang alam sa oras na iyon kung gaano kalaki ang Africa ay
tunay.