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[[1]]

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REYNARD THE FOX IN SOUTH AFRICA;

OR,

HOTTENTOT FABLES AND TALES. [[3]]

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REYNARD THE FOX
IN
SOUTH AFRICA;

OR,
Hottentot Fables and Tales.

CHIEFLY TRANSLATED FROM ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS
IN THE
LIBRARY
OF
HIS EXCELLENCY SIR GEORGE GREY, K.C.B.

W. H. I. BLEEK, Ph.D.

LONDON:
TRÜBNER AND CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1864.
[The Right of Translation is reserved.]

[[4]]

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LONDON:

WILLIAM STEVENS, PRINTER, 37, BELL YARD,
TEMPLE BAR. [[5]]

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THIS BOOK BELONGS TO

CHILDREN IN SOUTH AFRICA AND ELSEWHERE,

AND TO THEIR FRIEND

SIR GEORGE GREY, K.C.B.,

NOW IN NEW ZEALAND. [[7]]

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CONTENTS.

I. [Jackal Fables].

II. [Tortoise Fables].

[[8]]

III. [Baboon Fables].

IV. [Lion Fables].

V. [Various Fables].

VI. [Sun and Moon Fables].

VII. [Heitsi Eibip and other Legends].

VIII. [Household Tales].

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PREFACE.

My dear Sir George,

In inscribing to you this little book, I do no more than offer that which is your due, as its appearance is mainly owing to you. It was by your desire that I wrote, in 1861, to different Missionaries in South Africa, requesting them to make collections of Native Literature, similar in nature to those which, through your instrumentality, had been so abundantly rescued from oblivion in New Zealand. I then wrote, among others, to the Rev. G. Krönlein, Rhenish Missionary at Beerseba, Great Namaqualand; but it was not till after you had left us, on a new mission of honour and duty, that I received from him (at five different periods) the original manuscripts from which most of the Fables given here are translated. He sent us, altogether, twenty-four [[12]]Fables, Tales, and Legends, besides twelve Songs of Praise, thirty-two Proverbs, and twelve Riddles; all in Hottentot (as taken down by him from the mouth of the Natives) and German, partly accompanied by explanatory notes, including fragments of the ǀNūsa[1] Bushman language. Mr. Krönlein’s manuscripts fill sixty-five pages, mostly in quarto, with double columns.

You are aware that the existence of Fables among the Hottentots was already known to us through Sir James Alexander’s “Expedition of Discovery into the Interior of Africa” (8vo., two vols., London, 1838), and that some interesting specimens of their literature had been given by him in that work; but that Fables form so extensive a mass of traditionary Native literature amongst the Namaqua, has first been brought to light by Mr. Krönlein’s communications. The fact of such a literary capacity existing among a nation whose mental qualifications it has been usual to estimate at the lowest standard, is of the greatest importance; and that their literary activity (in contradistinction to the general character [[13]]of Native literature among Negro nations) has been employed almost in the same direction as that which had been taken by our own earliest literature, is in itself of great significance.

Some questions of no trifling importance and interest are raised by the appearance of such an unlooked-for mine of literary lore, particularly as to the originality of these Fables. Whether they are indeed the real offspring of the desert, and can be considered as truly indigenous Native literature, or whether they have been either purloined from the superior white race, or at least brought into existence by the stimulus which contact with the latter gave to the Native mind (like that resulting in the invention of the Tshiroki and Vei alphabets) may be matters of dispute for some time to come, and it may require as much research as was expended upon the solving of the riddle of the originality of the Ossianic poems.

But whatever may be the ultimate result of such inquiries, whether it will confirm our idea of the originality and antiquity of the main portion of these Hottentot Fables, and consequently stamp them with the character of the oldest and most primitive literary remains of the old mother tongue of the Sexdenoting [[14]]nations, or whether they have only sprung up recently among the Hottentots from foreign seed—in either case the disposition of the Hottentots to the enjoyment of such Fables, and their easy growth on this arid soil, be it their native or adopted one—shows a much greater congeniality between the Hottentot and European mind than we find between the latter and any of the black races of Africa.

This similarity in the disposition of nations can in itself indeed hardly be considered as a valid proof of common ancestry; but if there be other grounds to make us believe that the nations in question, or at least their languages, are of common origin, it may render us more inclined to assume that such a similarity in their literary taste is derived also from the same source.

The great ethnological difference between the Hottentots and the black nations of South Africa has been a marked fact from almost the earliest acquaintance of Europeans with these parts, and occasional stray guesses (for example, in R. Moffat’s “Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa,” 1842, p. 6), have already for some time pointed to a North African origin for the Hottentots.

It is, however, only within the last dozen years [[15]]that this has been established as a proved, and, I believe to most observers, an, at first, astonishing fact. I well remember still the feeling of most curious interest with which I regarded Knudsen’s translation of Luke’s Gospel (vol. i., No. 15 of your Library), when, in April 1850, it was sent me by the then Inspector of the Rhenish Mission House, the Rev J. C. Wallmann, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the language was in any way akin to those of the surrounding black nations, and whether, on that account, an already acquired acquaintance with any of the Hottentot dialects would render it easier for a Missionary to master one of the Negro or Kafir tongues.[2] [[16]]

I had, however, at that time not the least idea of the results to which a knowledge of this language [[17]]would lead me; and being then mostly occupied with the study of the Setshuâna and kindred languages—which seemed to me of paramount interest for comparative philology—I did not at first give undivided attention to the perusal of this curious volume. I remarked very soon, however, a striking similarity between the Hottentot signs of gender and those of the Coptic language; but for some time I considered it as purely accidental, which may be seen from a letter of mine regarding this subject, published by Mr. Wallmann, in “Berichten der Rheinischen Missions-Gesellschaft” [[18]](Reports of the Rhenish Missionary Society, 1850, No. 24, if I am not mistaken in the number).

Soon, however, what were at first mere isolated facts, became links, in a chain of evidence, showing that all those Sexdenoting Languages which were then known to us in Africa, Asia, and Europe, are members of one large family, of which the primitive type has, in most respects, been best preserved to us in the Hottentot language.

It was even as early as the end of 1850 that I could write to Mr. Wallmann—“This language (the Hottentot) is to me at this moment of greater interest than any other. The facts, of which once before I have given you some account, have now so increased upon me, and offer such strong analogies, that there is no further doubt in my own mind that not only the Coptic but also the Semitic, and all other languages of Africa (as Berber, the Galla dialect, &c., &c.) in which the distinction of the masculine and feminine gender pervades the whole grammar, are of common origin.”

Part of the result of these researches was then published in my dissertation, “De Nominum Generibus Linguarum Africæ, Australis, Copticæ, Semiticarum [[19]]aliarumque Sexualium” (8vo., Bonn, 6th August, 1851, vol. i., No. 1 of your Library).

I was at that time not aware—nor has it come to my knowledge till within the last few weeks—that on the 10th June, 1851, Dr. J. C. Adamson, in communicating to the Syro-Egyptian Society some observations on the analysis of languages, with a special reference to those of South Africa, had stated “That the signs of gender were almost identical in the Namaqua and the Egyptian, and the feminine affix might be considered as being the same in all three”[3] (Namaqua, Galla, and Old Egyptian).

Another curious agreement on this point, by an apparently independent observer (Mr. J. R. Logan),[4] [[20]]was pointed out to me by your Excellency. You also suggested this name of “Sexdenoting Languages.” But it is superfluous for me to say any thing of what you have done for the advancement of African, as well as Australian and Polynesian, philology.

It has been justly remarked by our learned friend, Mr. Justice Watermeyer, that the natural propensities of animals in all parts of the world being so much alike, Fables intended to portray them must also be expected to resemble each other greatly, even to their very details.

But we may well ask why it is that, so far as we know, the Kafir imagination seems not at all inclined to the formation of this class of fictitious tales, though they have otherwise a prolific Native literature of a more or less historic and legendary character. This contrast to what we find among the Hottentots appears not to be accidental, but merely a natural consequence of that difference of structure which distinguishes these two classes of languages, embracing respectively the dialects of the Hottentots on the one [[21]]hand, and those of the Kafirs and their kindred nations on the other; in the former (the Hottentot), as in all other really Sexdenoting Languages, the grammatical divisions of the nouns into genders, which do not tally exactly with any distinction observed in nature, has been brought into a certain reference to the difference of sex; and on that account this distinction of sex seems in some way to extend even to inanimate beings, whereby a tendency to the personification of impersonal objects is produced, which in itself is likely to lead the mind towards ascribing reason and other human attributes to irrational beings. This is the real origin of almost all those poetical conceptions which we call Fables and Myths. Both are based on the personification of impersonal beings—the former by ascribing speech and reason to the lower animals, whilst the latter substitute human-like agencies in explanation of celestial and other elementary phenomena in place of their real cause.

Mythology is, in its origin, most generally either a mere figure of speech or a poetical explanation suggested by the grammatical form or etymological meaning of words, indicating certain striking natural phenomena. In the primary stage of their production, [[22]]Myths may be supposed to have been always understood in their true original character; and it is only when in the course of generations their real origin has been obscured, and they have become merely the petrified excrescences of a traditionary creed, that their apparent absurdity makes them at first sight almost inexplicable, particularly when found among nations of a high intelligence.

The humbler sisters of the Myths, the Fables based on the natural propensities of animals, are not obscured in their real character so easily as the former, and have, on that account, more generally retained their simple usefulness as moral teachers; so, though they may have preceded even Myths as to the date of their first conception, they yet outlive them as real and salutary elements of the best national literatures: not that Myths had not their own beneficial sphere in the education of mankind, as leading them on to higher abstract ideas, and even deeper religious thoughts, but their very power of exerting a much deeper influence on the destinies of our race, made it essential that they should have a more transitory existence in the civilizing process of the Sexdenoting nations—who have to give up mythologies so soon as through them they have gained higher religious ideas—while [[23]]Fables, which never claim so high a place among the elements of furthering the eliminating process of our species, remain always welcome to most classes of readers at certain periods of their intellectual development.

Children, and also simple-minded grown-up people, whose taste has not been spoiled by the poison of over-exciting reading, will always be amused by the quaintly expressed moral lessons which they receive through every good Fable; and the more thorough student of literature will also regard with pleasure these first innocent plays of awakening human imagination. To all these the Hottentot Fables offered here may not be unwelcome as a fresh store of original compositions, or even as old acquaintances who gain a new interest in different clothing and scenery.

To make these Hottentot Fables readable for the general public, a few slight omissions and alterations of what would otherwise have been too naked for the English eye were necessary, but they do not in any essential way affect the spirit of the Fables. Otherwise, the translation is faithful to the original, though not exactly literal.

It would of course be presumptuous to believe that [[24]]we could here discuss fully the originality or date of composition of these Fables, and all the many questions involved therein.

The modern origin of some of the Fables, as, for instance, that of The Cock (12), Fish-Stealing (8), The Judgment of the Baboon (17), and The Curse of the Horse (30), is very evident; others, e.g., The White Man and the Snake (5 & 6), indicate clearly a European origin. Others, however, have strong claims to be regarded not merely as genuine products of the Hottentot mind, but even as portions of a traditionary Native literature, anterior in its origin to the advent of Europeans.

That the latter is a true view of the subject becomes perhaps the more conclusive by the intimate relations in which, among the Hottentots, Myths still stand to Fables; in fact, a true mythology can hardly be said to exist among them; for Myths (as that of The Origin of Death) are in reality as much Fables as Myths; but we may consider these as analogous to the first germs whence sprung those splendid mythologies which have filled with deep devotional feelings the hearts of many millions among the most intelligent races of the earth. [[25]]

This higher flight of the imaginative faculty which the Sexdenoting nations possess (through the stimulus of this personification of impersonal things, consequent upon the grammatical structure of their languages), and what it had been to them, becomes the more evident if we compare their literature with that of the Kafirs and other black tribes of South Africa.

As the grammatical structure of languages spoken by the latter does not in itself suggest personification, these nations are almost, as a matter of course, destitute of Myths as well as Fables. Their literary efforts are, as a general rule, restricted to narrating the doings of men in a more or less historical manner—whence we have a number of household tales, and portions of a fabulous history of these tribes and nations; or their ancestor worship and belief in the supernatural give rise to horrible ghost stories and tales of witchcraft, which would be exciting if they were not generally told in such a long-winded, prosy manner, as must make the best story lose its interest.

Of course for the comparative philologist, and for any one who takes an interest in observing the working of the human mind in its most primitive stages, [[26]]these pieces of Kafir and Negro native literature will also have their own interest; it is therefore to be hoped that time and circumstances may soon allow us to publish also the other portions of South African native literature extant in manuscript in your library.

Among these we have principally to mention, as new contributions (received after your departure), twenty-three pieces in o Tyi-hereró, or the Damara language, as written down by natives themselves, copied by the Rev. J. Rath (Rhenish Missionary, formerly in Damara Land, now at Sarepta Knils River), and accompanied with a German translation by him.[5] [[27]]

Among these pieces there are seven ghost stories, four accounts of transformation of men or animals, eleven other household tales, one legend, and one fable. This last piece (No. 11, pp. 27, 29) is probably of Hottentot origin. I have therefore thought it best to give it a place in this little book (No. 14), where it precedes that Hottentot Fable, to which its concluding [[28]]portions bear such a striking resemblance. It is not unlikely that the beginning of this Hottentot Fable of The Giraffe and the Tortoise is missing. It may have been similar to the beginning of the corresponding one in Damara. As far as it goes the Hottentot Fable is however evidently more original than the o Tyi-hereró text. As a specimen of o Tyi-hereró household tales, I have given Rath’s fifteenth piece, the story of The Unreasonable Child to whom the Dog gave its Deserts.

You will also approve of my having added the Zulu legend of the Origin of Death, which in its mixture of Fable and Myth, and even in several details of its composition, shows a great analogy to the Hottentot treatment of the same subject, of which I am able to give here four different versions.

A second version of two or three other fables, and of one legend, has also been given from one of the two important manuscripts in German, regarding the Hottentots and their language, prepared for you by Mr. Knudsen.[6] The same manuscript [[29]]supplied also a legend of The Origin of Difference in Modes of Life between Hottentots and Bushmen, which we do not yet possess in the Hottentot language.

To make our available stock of Nama Hottentot literature quite complete, three fables and four tales [[30]]have been taken from Sir James Alexander’s “Expedition,” &c., and inserted here, with only few insignificant verbal alterations.

The “Songs of Praise,” given as notes to some of the Fables in this volume, are merely intended as specimens of Hottentot poetry. They can hardly be expected to amuse or interest the general reader—at least, not in the form in which they appear here, though a Longfellow might be able to render some of them in a way that would make them attractive.

In the same manner the materials contained in these Hottentot Fables might be worked out similarly to Goethe’s “Reinecke Fuchs;” and we should hereby probably gain an epical composition, which, though not ranking so high as the latter poem, would yet, as regards the interest of its subject-matter, far exceed Longfellow’s “Hiawatha” in adaptation to the general taste.

How much Native productions gain when represented skilfully and properly, your admirable work on “Polynesian Mythology” has shown. But you had sterner and more important work on hand, and so I have had to do this without you. That it does not appear in a still more imperfect form, I owe [[31]]mainly to the help of one who naturally takes the greatest interest in all my pursuits.

In writing the last lines of this Preface, the interest which I feel for these Hottentot Fables is almost fading away before those rich treasures of your library which have just arrived from England; and as all our present efforts are of course given to the proper settling of these jewels of our library, I can merely send, with grateful acknowledgments, our most fervent wishes for your well-doing, and our sincere hope of seeing you, at no distant day, again in the midst of us.

Believe me,
My dear Sir George,
Yours most faithfully,
W. H. I. BLEEK.

Capetown, April, 1863. [[33]]

[1] Cisgariepian, from the Nama point of view, i.e., to the North of the Orange River. [↑]

[2] I give here some extracts from Mr. Wallmann’s letter, dated Barmen, 13th April, 1850, which was the only help of a grammatical or lexical nature then available for me in my study of this Nama translation of Luke’s Gospel:—

“I transmit hereby Luke’s Gospel in Namaqua, … which I can lend you, however, only for four weeks, as I have already previously promised it to some one else.

“Should your labours permit it, I wish to request you to make a little trial whether the Namaqua is somewhat related to the South African family of Languages. For the present a mere negative decision on this point is all that is wanted, and I should like to have very soon the opinion of some good philologist regarding it. Moffat [[16]]states that when he gave specimens of Namaqua to a Syrian who came from Egypt, he was told that he (the Syrian) had seen slaves in the market of Cairo who were of lighter colour than other Africans, and whose language resembled that of the Namaqua. Moffat also says that some ancient authors have mentioned a nation in the interior of Africa who were very similar to the Hottentots. Moffat seems himself, however, to ascribe little value to these accounts, for his guesses fall at once upon the Chinese. According to communications from our Missionary Knudsen, the Namaqua language seems well formed. He mentions as personal pronouns:—

Tita I saaz thou (sāts) χyb he (ǁẽip) sada we sako you χyku they (ǁĕiku)

but to show the modifications which the pronouns undergo according to the gender, and whether the person (spoken to) is included or excluded (in the first person plural), the following examples of inclusive or exclusive forms are given:—

“We are captains.”

(incl.)	Sake ke kauauke		mascul.
(excl.)	Sike ke kauauke
(incl.)	Sase ke kautase		fem.
(excl.)	Sise ke kautase
(incl.)	Sada ke tana-khoida		com.
(excl.)	Sida ke tana-khoida
(incl.)	Sakhom ke kauaukhoma		dual. mascul.
(excl.)	Sikhom ke kauaukhoma[[17]]
(incl.)	Saam he kautama		dual. fem.
(excl.)	Siim ke kautama
(incl.)	Saam ke tana-khoima		dual. com.
(excl.)	Siim ke tana-khoima

“The second person of the plural is said to have not more than half as many distinctions; and the third person plural has only the following:—

• χyku ke kauauga—mascul.
• χyte ke kautate—fem.
• χyn ke tana-khoina—com.
• χykha ke kauaukha—dual. mascul.
• χyra ke kautara—dual. fem.
• χyra ke tana-khoira—dual. com.

“You will therefore oblige me by looking into the Namaqua Luke, and by having the kindness to write me your opinion regarding it.” [↑]

[3] Report of the Correspondence and Paper read at the General Meeting of the Syro-Egyptian Society, Session of 1851 and 1852. Read at the Anniversary Meeting, held April 20th, 1852, 8vo. pp. 6, 8. [↑]

[4] “Ethnology of the Indo-Pacific Islands.” By J. R. Logan, Esq., Hon. Fellow of the Ethnological Society. Language, Part ii. “The Races and Languages of S.E. Asia, considered in relation to those of the Indo-Pacific Islands,” Chapter v., sections i. to vi. [From the Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, June and December, 1853, to December, 1854.] Singapore: Printed by Jakob Baptist, 8vo., pp. 229, 294, sec. 6. The Semitico-African [[20]]Languages, viz.:—1. General Characters, p. 229; 2. Egyptian, p. 248; 3. Hottentot, p. 248; 4. Shemo-Hamitic, or Assyro-Berber, p. 259. [↑]

[5] Mr. Rath’s Manuscript consists of sixty-one pages, with double columns, foolscap folio. It contains the following pieces:—

• 1. The Spectre Sweethearts, pp. 1, 2.
• 2. The Lion Husbands, pp. 2, 5.
• 3. Tenacity of a Loving Mother’s Care, pp. 5, 6.
• 4. The Girl who ran after her Father’s Bird, pp. 6, 12.
• 5. The Handsome Girl, pp. 12, 15.
• 6. The Little Bushman Woman, pp. 17, 18.
• 7. Punishment of Imposition, pp. 19, 21.
• 8. The Spectre who Fell in Love with his Son’s Wife, pp. 22, 23.
• 9. The Lunatic, p. 23. [[27]]
• 10. The Girls who Escaped from the Hill Damaras, pp. 24, 26.
• 11. The Elephant and the Tortoise, pp. 27, 29.
• 12. The Two Wives, pp. 29, 33.
• 13. The Lion who took different Shapes, pp. 34, 35.
• 14. The Little Girl left in the Well by her wicked Companions, pp. 35, 38.
• 15. The Unreasonable Child to whom the Dog gave its Deserts, pp. 39, 43
• 16. Rutanga, p. 44.
• 17. The Ghost of the Man who was Killed by a Rhinoceros in consequence of his Father’s Curse, pp. 45, 47.
• 18. The Trials of Hambeka, a Spirit risen from the Dead, pp. 47, 50.
• 19. The Little Girl who was teased by an Insect, p. 51.
• 20. The same as 16 (Rutanga) p. 52.
• 21. Conjugal Love after Death, p. 53.
• 22. The Bad Katjungu and the Good Kahavundye, pp. 54, 57.
• 23. The Wife who went after her Husband, pp. 57, 59.
• 24. The Little Girl Murdered by the Hill Damara, pp. 59, 61.

[6] The title of Mr. Knudsen’s first Manuscript is, “Südafrica: Das Hottentot-Volk; Notizzen (Manuscript) H. C. Knudsen.” 4to., p. 12. Its contents are, Bushman Land, [[29]]p. 3; the different kinds of Rain, p. 3; Bethany (in Great Namaqualand), p. 3; the Damara, p. 4; the Grassy Plain, p. 4; the Diseases, pp. 4, 5; Birdsnests, p. 5; Marriage and Wedding among the Namaqua, p. 5; Extent of Authority among the Namaqua, p. 5; Similarity with the Jewish manner of Thinking, Counting, Eating, Drinking, Praying, Mode of Speech, and manner of Reckoning Relationship, p. 6; Heitsi Eibip or Kabip, p. 7; Origin of the Modes of Life of the Namaqua and Bushmen, pp. 7, 8; Coming of Age among the Hottentots, p. 8; Names of Hottentot Tribes and their probable Etymology, pp. 8, 9; Are the Hottentots of Egyptian or Phœnician Origin? p. 9; Are the Hottentots of Jewish or Moabitic Origin? pp. 9, 10; Appendix, pp. 11, 12.

Mr. Knudsen’s second Manuscript has the following title, “Stoff zu einer Grammatik in der Namaquasprache (Manuscript), H. C. Knudsen.” 4to. pp. 29. After a few general introductory remarks, and a short explanation of the Hottentot Alphabet, Mr. Knudsen treats of the different Parts of Speech:—I. Nouns, pp. 3, 4; II. Adjectives, pp. 4, 5; III. Pronouns, pp. 5, 10; IV. Numerals, p. 11; V. Verbs, pp. 12, 24; Interrogative Sentences, pp. 25, 26; Concluding Remarks, pp. 26, 29. [↑]

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I.

JACKAL FABLES.

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1. THE LION’S DEFEAT.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, pp. 19, 20.)

The wild animals, it is said, were once assembled at the Lion’s. When the Lion was asleep, the Jackal persuaded the little Fox[1] to twist a rope of ostrich sinews, in order to play the Lion a trick. They took ostrich sinews, twisted them, and fastened the rope to the Lion’s tail, and the other end of the rope they tied to a shrub. When the Lion awoke, and saw that he was tied up, he became angry, and called the animals together. When they had assembled, he said (using this form of conjuration)— [[34]]

“What child of his mother and father’s love,

Whose mother and father’s love has tied me?”

Then answered the animal to whom the question was first put—

“I, child of my mother and father’s love,

I, mother and father’s love, I have not done it.”

All answered the same; but when he asked the little Fox, the little Fox said—

“I, child of my mother and father’s love,

I, mother and father’s love, have tied thee!”

Then the Lion tore the rope made of sinews, and ran after the little Fox. But the Jackal said—

“My boy, thou son of the lean Mrs. Fox, thou wilt never be caught.”

Truly the Lion was thus beaten in running by the little Fox. [[35]]

[[Contents]]

2. THE HUNT OF THE LION AND JACKAL.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, pp. 18, 19.)

The Lion and the Jackal, it is said, were one day lying in wait for elands. The Lion shot (with the bow) and missed, but the Jackal hit and sang out, “Hah! Hah!” The Lion said, “No, you did not shoot anything. It was I who hit.” The Jackal answered, “Yea, my father, thou hast hit.” Then they went home in order to return when the eland was dead, and cut it up. The Jackal, however, turned back, unknown to the Lion, hit his nose so that the blood ran on the spoor of the elands, and followed their track thus, in order to cheat the Lion. When he had gone some distance, he returned by another way to the dead eland, and creeping into its carcase, cut out all the fat.

Meanwhile the Lion followed the bloodstained spoor of the Jackal, thinking that it was elands’ blood, and only when he had gone some distance did he find out that he had been deceived. He then returned on the [[36]]Jackal’s spoor, and reached the dead eland, where, finding the Jackal in its carcase, he seized him by his tail and drew him out with a swing.

The Lion upbraided the Jackal with these words: “Why do you cheat me?” The Jackal answered: “No, my father, I do not cheat you; you may know it, I think. I prepared this fat for you, father.” The Lion said: “Then take the fat and bring it to your mother” (the Lioness); and he gave him the lungs to take to his own wife and children.

When the Jackal arrived, he did not give the fat to the Lion’s wife, but to his own wife and children; he gave, however, the lungs to the Lion’s wife, and he pelted the Lion’s little children with the lungs, saying:

“You children of the big-pawed one!

You big-pawed ones!”

He said to the Lioness, “I go to help my father” (the Lion); but he went quite away with his wife and children. [[37]]

[[Contents]]

3. THE LION’S SHARE.

(From a German original Manuscript in Sir G. Grey’s Library, viz., H. C. Knudsen’s “Notes on the Hottentots,” pp. 11, 12.)

The Lion and the Jackal went together a-hunting. They shot with arrows. The Lion shot first, but his arrow fell short of its aim; but the Jackal hit the game, and joyfully cried out, “It has hit.” The Lion looked at him with his two large eyes; the Jackal, however, did not lose his countenance, but said, “No, Uncle, I mean to say that you have hit.” Then they followed the game, and the Jackal passed the arrow of the Lion without drawing the latter’s attention to it. When they arrived at a cross-way, the Jackal said, “Dear Uncle, you are old and tired; stay here.” The Jackal went then on a wrong track, beat his nose, and, in returning, let the blood drop from it like traces of game. “I could not find anything,” he said, “but I met with traces of blood. You had better go yourself to look for it. In the meantime I shall go this other way.” The Jackal soon found the killed animal, crept inside of it, and devoured the best portion; [[38]]but his tail remained outside, and when the Lion arrived, he got hold of it, pulled the Jackal out, and threw him on the ground with these words: “You rascal!” The Jackal rose quickly again, complained of the rough handling, and asked, “What have I then now done, dear Uncle? I was busy cutting out the best part.” “Now let us go and fetch our wives,” said the Lion; but the Jackal entreated his dear Uncle to remain at the place because he was old. The Jackal went then away, taking with him two portions of the flesh, one for his own wife, but the best part for the wife of the Lion. When the Jackal arrived with the flesh, the children of the Lion saw him, began to jump, and clapping their hands, cried out, “There comes Uncle with flesh!” The Jackal threw, grumbling, the worst portion to them, and said, “There, you brood of the big-eyed one!” Then he went to his own house and told his wife immediately to break up the house, and to go where the killed game was. The Lioness wished to do the same, but he forbade her, and said that the Lion would himself come to fetch her.

When the Jackal, with his wife and children, had arrived in the neighbourhood of the killed animal, he ran into a thorn bush, scratched his face so that it bled, and thus made his appearance before the Lion, [[39]]to whom he said, “Ah! what a wife you have got. Look here, how she scratched my face when I told her that she should come with us. You must fetch her yourself; I cannot bring her.” The Lion went home very angry. Then the Jackal said, “Quick, let us build a tower.” They heaped stone upon stone, stone upon stone, stone upon stone; and when it was high enough, everything was carried to the top of it. When the Jackal saw the Lion approaching with his wife and children, he cried out to him, “Uncle, whilst you were away we have built a tower, in order to be better able to see game.” “All right,” said the Lion; “but let me come up to you.” “Certainly, dear Uncle; but how will you manage to come up? We must let down a thong for you.” The Lion ties himself to the thong, and is drawn up; but when he is nearly at the top the thong is cut by the Jackal, who exclaims, as if frightened, “Oh, how heavy you are, Uncle! Go, wife, fetch me a new thong.” (“An old one,” he said aside to her.) The Lion is again drawn up, but comes of course down in the same manner. “No,” said the Jackal, “that will never do; you must, however, manage to come up high enough, so that you may get a mouthful at least.” Then aloud he orders his wife to prepare a good piece, but aside he tells her to make a [[40]]stone hot, and to cover it with fat. Then he drew up the Lion once more, and, complaining that he is very heavy to hold, he tells him to open his mouth, whereupon he throws the hot stone down his throat. When the Lion has devoured it, he entreats and requests him to run as quickly as possible to the water. [[41]]

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4. THE JACKAL’S BRIDE.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, pp. 7, 8.)

The Jackal, it is said, married the Hyena, and carried off a cow belonging to ants, to slaughter her for the wedding; and when he had slaughtered her, he put the cow-skin over his bride; and when he had fixed a pole (on which to hang the flesh), he placed on the top of the pole (which was forked) the hearth for cooking, in order to cook upon it all sorts of delicious food. There came also the Lion to the spot, and wished to go up. The Jackal, therefore, asked his little daughter for a thong with which he could pull the Lion up, and he began to pull him up; and when his face came near to the cooking-pot, he cut the thong in two, so that the Lion tumbled down. Then the Jackal upbraided his little daughter with these words: “Why do you give me such an old thong?” And he added, “Give me a fresh thong.” She gave him a new thong, and he pulled the Lion up again, and when his face came near the pot, which stood on [[42]]the fire, he said, “Open your mouth.” Then he put into his mouth a hot piece of quartz which had been boiled together with the fat, and the stone went down, burning his throat. Thus died the Lion.

There came also the ants running after the cow, and when the Jackal saw them he fled. Then they beat the bride in her brookaross dress. The Hyena, believing that it was the Jackal, said—

“You tawny rogue! have you not played at beating long enough?

Have you no more loving game than this?”

But when she had bitten a hole through the cow-skin, she saw that they were other people; then she fled, falling here and there, yet she made her escape. [[43]]

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5. THE WHITE MAN AND THE SNAKE.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, pp. 5, 6.)

A White Man, it is said, met a Snake upon whom a large stone had fallen and covered her, so that she could not rise. The White Man lifted the stone off the Snake, but when he had done so, she wanted to bite him. The White Man said, “Stop! let us both go first to some wise people.” They went to the Hyena, and the White Man asked him, “Is it right that the Snake should want to bite me, though I helped her, when she lay under a stone and could not rise?”

The Hyena (who thought he would get his share of the White Man’s body) said: “If you were bitten what would it matter?”

Then the Snake wanted to bite him, but the White Man said again: “Wait a little, and let us go to other wise people, that I may hear whether this is right.”

They went and met the Jackal. The White Man said to the Jackal: “Is it right that the Snake wants [[44]]to bite me, though I lifted up the stone which lay upon her?”

The Jackal replied: “I do not believe that the Snake could be covered by a stone and could not rise. Unless I saw it with my two eyes, I would not believe it. Therefore, come let us go and see at the place where you say it happened whether it can be true.”

They went, and arrived at the place where it had happened. The Jackal said: “Snake, lie down, and let thyself be covered.”

The Snake did so, and the White Man covered her with the stone; but although she exerted herself very much, she could not rise. Then the White Man wanted again to release the Snake, but the Jackal interfered, and said: “Do not lift the stone. She wanted to bite you; therefore she may rise by herself.”

Then they both went away and left the Snake under the stone. [[45]]

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6. ANOTHER VERSION OF THE SAME FABLE.

(From a German original Manuscript in Sir G. Grey’s Library, H. C. Knudsen’s “Notes on the Hottentots,” p. 11.)

A Dutchman was walking by himself, and saw a Snake lying under a large stone. The Snake implored his help; but when she had become free, she said, “Now I shall eat you.”

The Man answered, “That is not right. Let us first go to the Hare.”

When the Hare had heard the affair, he said, “It is right.” “No,” said the Man, “let us ask the Hyena.”

The Hyena declared the same, saying, “It is right.”

“Now let us at last ask the Jackal,” said the Man in his despair.

The Jackal answered very slowly and considerately, doubting the whole affair, and demanding to see first the place, and whether the Man was able to lift the stone. The Snake lay down, and the Man, to prove the truth of his account, put the stone again over her.

When she was fast, the Jackal said, “Now let her lie there.” [[46]]

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7. CLOUD-EATING.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, pp. 30, 31.)

THE HYENA.

Thou who makest thy escape from the tumult!

Thou wide, roomy tree!

Thou who gettest thy share (though with trouble!)

Thou cow who art strained at the hocks![2]

Thou who hast a plump round knee!

Thou the nape of whose neck is clothed with hair!

Thou with the skin dripping as if half-tanned!

Thou who hast a round, distended neck!

Thou eater of the Namaqua,

Thou big-toothed one!

The Jackal and the Hyena were together, it is said, when a white cloud rose. The Jackal ascended upon it, and ate of the cloud as if it were fat.

When he wanted to come down, he said to the Hyena, “My sister, as I am going to divide with [[47]]thee, catch me well.” So she caught him, and broke his fall. Then she also went up and ate there, high up on the top of the cloud.

When she was satisfied, she said, “My greyish brother, now catch me well.” The greyish rogue said to his friend, “My sister, I shall catch thee well. Come therefore down.”

He held up his hands, and she came down from the cloud, and when she was near, the Jackal cried out (painfully jumping to one side), “My sister, do not take it ill. Oh me! oh me! A thorn has pricked me, and sticks in me.” Thus she fell down from above, and was sadly hurt.

Since that day, it is said, that the Hyena’s left hind foot is shorter and smaller than the right one. [[48]]

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8. FISH-STEALING.

(From Sir James E. Alexander’s “Expedition of Discovery into the Interior of Africa,” vol. ii. pp. 246, 247.)

THE HYENA.

(Addressing her young ones, on her return from a marauding expedition, with regard to the perils she had encountered).

The fire threatens,

The stone threatens,

The assegais threaten,

The guns threaten,

Yet you seek food from me.

My children,

Do I get anything easily?

Once upon a time a Jackal, who lived on the borders of the colony, saw a waggon returning from the seaside laden with fish. He tried to get into the waggon from behind, but he could not; he then ran on before, and lay in the road as if dead. The waggon came up to him, and the leader cried to the driver, “Here is a fine kaross for your wife!” [[49]]

“Throw it into the waggon,” said the driver, and the Jackal was thrown in.

The waggon travelled on through a moonlight night, and all the while the Jackal was throwing the fish out into the road; he then jumped out himself, and secured a great prize. But a stupid old Hyena coming by, ate more than her share, for which the Jackal owed her a grudge; so he said to her, “You can get plenty of fish, too, if you lie in the way of a waggon as I did, and keep quite still whatever happens.”

“So!” mumbled the Hyena.

Accordingly, when the next waggon came from the sea, the Hyena stretched herself out in the road.

“What ugly thing is this?” cried the leader, and kicked the Hyena. He then took a stick and thrashed her within an inch of her life. The Hyena, according to the directions of the Jackal, lay quiet as long as she could; she then got up and hobbled off to tell her misfortune to the Jackal, who pretended to comfort her.

“What a pity,” said the Hyena, “that I have not such a handsome skin as you!” [[50]]

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9. WHICH WAS THE THIEF?

(From Sir James E. Alexander’s “Expedition of Discovery into the Interior of Africa,” vol. ii. p. 250.)

A Jackal and a Hyena went and hired themselves to a man to be his servants. In the middle of the night the Jackal rose and smeared the Hyena’s tail with some fat, and then ate all the rest of it which was in the house. In the morning the man missed his fat, and he immediately accused the Jackal of having eaten it.

“Look at the Hyena’s tail,” said the rogue, “and you will see who is the thief.” The man did so, and then thrashed the Hyena till she was nearly dead. [[51]]

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10. THE LION’S ILLNESS.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, pp. 29, 30.)

The Lion, it is said, was ill, and they all went to see him in his suffering. But the Jackal did not go, because the traces of the people who went to see him did not turn back. Thereupon, he was accused by the Hyena, who said, “Though I go to look, yet the Jackal does not want to come and look at the man’s sufferings.”

Then the Lion let the Hyena go, in order that she might catch the Jackal; and she did so, and brought him.

The Lion asked the Jackal: “Why did you not come here to see me?” The Jackal said, “Oh no! when I heard that my uncle was so very ill, I went to the witch (doctor), to consult him, whether and what medicine would be good for my uncle against the pain. The doctor said to me, ‘Go and tell your uncle to take hold of the Hyena and draw off her skin, and put it on while it is still warm. Then he [[52]]will recover.’ The Hyena is one who does not care for my uncle’s sufferings.”

The Lion followed his advice, got hold of the Hyena, drew the skin over her ears, whilst she howled with all her might, and put it on. [[53]]

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11. THE DOVE AND THE HERON.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, pp. 13, 14.)

The Jackal, it is said, came once to the Dove, who lived on the top of a rock, and said, “Give me one of your little children.” The Dove answered: “I shall not do anything of the kind.” The Jackal said, “Give it me at once! Otherwise, I shall fly up to you.” Then she threw one down to him.

He came back another day, and demanded another little child, and she gave it to him. After the Jackal had gone, the Heron came, and asked, “Dove, why do you cry?” The dove answered him: “The Jackal has taken away my little children; it is for this that I cry.” He asked her, “In what manner can he take them?” She answered him: “When he asked me I refused him; but when he said, ‘I shall at once fly up, therefore give it me,’ I threw it down to him.” The Heron said, “Are you such a fool as to give your children to the Jackals, who cannot fly?” Then, with the admonition to give no more, he went away. [[54]]

The Jackal came again, and said, “Dove, give me a little child.” The Dove refused, and told him that the Heron had told her that he could not fly up. The Jackal said, “I shall catch him.”

So when the Heron came to the banks of the water, the Jackal asked him: “Brother Heron, when the wind comes from this side, how will you stand?” He turned his neck towards him and said, “I stand thus, bending my neck on one side.” The Jackal asked him again, “When a storm comes and when it rains, how do you stand?” He said to him: “I stand thus, indeed, bending my neck down.”

Then the Jackal beat him on his neck, and broke his neck in the middle.

Since that day the Heron’s neck is bent. [[55]]

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12. THE COCK.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, p. 29.)

The Cock, it is said, was once overtaken by the Jackal and caught. The Cock said to the Jackal, “Please, pray first (before you kill me) as the white man does.” The Jackal asked, “In what manner does he pray? Tell me.” “He folds his hands in praying,” said the Cock. The Jackal folded his hands and prayed. Then the Cock spoke again: “You ought not to look about you as you do. You had better shut your eyes.” He did so; and the Cock flew away, upbraiding at the same time the Jackal with these words: “You rogue! do you also pray?”

There sat the Jackal, speechless, because he had been outdone. [[56]]

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13. THE LEOPARD AND THE RAM.

(From Sir James E. Alexander’s “Expedition of Discovery into the Interior of Africa,” vol. ii. pp. 247, 250.)

A Leopard was returning home from hunting on one occasion, when he lighted on the kraal of a Ram. Now the Leopard had never seen a Ram before, and accordingly, approaching submissively, he said, “Good day, friend! what may your name be?”

The other, in his gruff voice, and striking his breast with his forefoot, said, “I am a Ram. Who are you?”

“A Leopard,” answered the other, more dead than alive; and then, taking leave of the Ram, he ran home as fast as he could.

A Jackal lived at the same place as the Leopard did, and the latter going to him, said, “Friend Jackal, I am quite out of breath, and am half dead with fright, for I have just seen a terrible-looking fellow, with a large and thick head, and, on my asking him what his name was, he answered roughly, “I am a Ram!”

“What a foolish Leopard you are!” cried the [[57]]Jackal, to let such a nice piece of flesh stand! “Why did you do so? But we shall go to-morrow and eat it together!”

Next day the two set off for the kraal of the Ram, and as they appeared over a hill, the Ram, who had turned out to look about him, and was calculating where he should that day crop a tender salad, saw them, and he immediately went to his wife, and said, “I fear this is our last day, for the Jackal and Leopard are both coming against us. What shall we do?”

“Don’t be afraid,” said the wife, “but take up the child in your arms; go out with it, and pinch it to make it cry as if it were hungry.” The Ram did so as the confederates came on.

No sooner did the Leopard cast his eyes on the Ram, than fear again took possession of him, and he wished to turn back. The Jackal had provided against this, and made the Leopard fast to himself with a leathern thong, and said, “Come on!” when the Ram cried in a loud voice, and pinching his child at the same time, “You have done well, friend Jackal, to have brought us the Leopard to eat, for you hear how my child is crying for food!”

On hearing these dreadful words, the Leopard, notwithstanding the entreaties of the Jackal to let him loose, set off in the greatest alarm, dragging the [[58]]Jackal after him over hill and valley, through bushes and over rocks, and never stopped to look behind him till he brought back himself and the half-dead Jackal to his place again. And so the Ram escaped. [[59]]

[1] The little Fox, in Nama the ǃKamap, a small kind of Jackal, who is a swift runner. The Jackal’s name is ǀGirip. (The ǀ is the dental and the ǃ the cerebral click; vide Notes to Fables 23 and 27, pp. 47, 62.) [↑]

[2] “When the Hyena first starts, it appears to be lame on the hind legs, or gone in the loins, as one would say of a horse.”—L. Layard. [↑]

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II.

TORTOISE FABLES.

THE SPRINGBOK (GAZELLE).

Woe is me! He is one who goes

Where his mother would not let him!

Who rolls off (the rocks),

Rolling himself together like a book.

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14. THE ELEPHANT AND THE TORTOISE.

(The original, in the o Tyi-hereró or Damara language, is in the Library of Sir G. Grey, J. Rath’s Manuscript, pp. 27, 29.)

Two things, the Elephant and the Rain, had a dispute. The Elephant said, “If you say that you nourish me, in what way is it that you do so?” The Rain answered, “If you say that I do not nourish you, when I go away, will you not die?” And the Rain then departed.

The Elephant said, “Vulture! cast lots to make [[60]]rain for me?” The Vulture said, “I will not cast lots.”

Then the Elephant said to the Crow, “Cast lots!” who answered, “Give the things with which I may cast lots.” The Crow cast lots and rain fell. It rained at the lagoons, but they dried up, and only one lagoon remained.

The Elephant went a-hunting. There was, however, the Tortoise, to whom the Elephant said, “Tortoise, remain at the water!” Thus the Tortoise was left behind when the Elephant went a-hunting.

There came the Giraffe, and said to the Tortoise, “Give me water!” The Tortoise answered, “The water belongs to the Elephant.”

There came the Zebra, who said to the Tortoise, “Give me water!” The Tortoise answered, “The water belongs to the Elephant.”

There came the Gemsbok, and said to the Tortoise, “Give me water!” The Tortoise answered, “The water belongs to the Elephant.”

There came the Wildebeest, and said, “Give me water!” The Tortoise said, “The water belongs to the Elephant.”

There came the Roodebok, and said to the Tortoise, “Give me water!” The Tortoise answered, “The water belongs to the Elephant.” [[61]]

There came the Springbok, and said to the Tortoise, “Give me water!” The Tortoise said, “The water belongs to the Elephant.”

There came the Jackal, and said to the Tortoise, “Give me water!” The Tortoise said, “The water belongs to the Elephant.”

There came the Lion, and said, “Little Tortoise, give me water!” When the little Tortoise was about to say something, the Lion got hold of it and beat it; the Lion drank of the water, and since then the animals drink water.

When the Elephant came back from the hunting, he said, “Little Tortoise, is there water?” The Tortoise answered, “The animals have drunk the water.” The Elephant asked, “Little Tortoise, shall I chew you or swallow you down?” The little Tortoise said, “Swallow me, if you please;” and the Elephant swallowed it whole.

After the Elephant had swallowed the little Tortoise, and it had entered his body, it tore off his liver, heart, and kidneys. The Elephant said, “Little Tortoise, you kill me.”

So the Elephant died; but the little Tortoise came out of his dead body, and went wherever it liked. [[62]]

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15. THE GIRAFFE AND THE TORTOISE.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, p. 5.)

THE GIRAFFE.

Thou who descendest river by river,

Thou burnt thornbush (ǂaro)!

Thou blue one,[1]

Who appearest like a distant thornhill full of people sitting down.

The Giraffe and the Tortoise, they say, met one day. The Giraffe said to the Tortoise, “At once I could trample you to death.” The Tortoise, being afraid, remained silent. Then the Giraffe said, “At once I could swallow you.” The Tortoise said, in answer to this, “Well, I just belong to the family of those whom it has always been customary to swallow.” Then the Giraffe swallowed the Tortoise; but when the latter was being gulped down, it stuck in the Giraffe’s throat, [[63]]and as the latter could not get it down, he was choked to death.

When the Giraffe was dead, the Tortoise crawled out and went to the Crab (who is considered as the mother of the Tortoise), and told her what had happened. Then the Crab said—

“The little Crab! I could sprinkle it under its arm with boochoo,[2]

The crooked-legged little one, I could sprinkle under its arm.”

The Tortoise answered its mother and said—

“Have you not always sprinkled me,

That you want to sprinkle me now?”

Then they went and fed for a whole year on the remains of the Giraffe. [[64]]

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16. THE TORTOISES HUNTING THE OSTRICHES.

(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, p. 8.)

One day, it is said, the Tortoises held a council how they might hunt Ostriches, and they said, “Let us, on both sides, stand in rows near each other, and let one go to hunt the Ostriches, so that they must flee along through the midst of us.” They did so, and as they were many, the Ostriches were obliged to run along through the midst of them. During this they did not move, but, remaining always in the same places, called each to the other, “Are you there?” and each one answered, “I am here.” The Ostriches hearing this, ran so tremendously that they quite exhausted their strength, and fell down. Then the Tortoises assembled by-and-by at the place where the Ostriches had fallen, and devoured them. [[65]]

[1] “Because the Giraffe is said to give blue ashes when burnt.”—Krönlein. [↑]

[2] In token of approval, according to a Hottentot custom. [↑]

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III.

BABOON FABLES.

Heretse!

Heretse!

Thou thin-armed one,

Who hast thin hands!