Tale
Contes populaires des Bassoutos
Not translated into English
Édouard Jacottet · 1895
Synopsis
About twenty tales from Lesotho, translated from Sesotho, followed by proverbs. During a drought, the animals dig a well that the jackal had refused to dig, and he tries to bribe the guards; the little hare, the tortoise, the dove and the panther have their own stories. Senképeng, sister of the chief Masilo, refuses to marry, finds herself stuck at the edge of a river in flood and becomes the wife of Monyohé, an invisible serpent-like being; we also follow Tsélané, Mosélantja, Koumongoé and the bird that gives milk.
Context
The collection was published in Paris by Ernest Leroux, as the twentieth volume of the Collection de contes et chansons populaires, in two hundred and ninety-two pages, in French only. Jacottet then published The Treasury of Ba-Suto Lore in 1908, in which the original Sesotho texts, printed as the storytellers had told them, are accompanied by a literal English translation, and then, from 1911, Litsomo tsa Basotho, two volumes in Sesotho printed at Morija. Several tales, such as that of the jackal and the spring, are found elsewhere in Southern Africa.
Who it is for
Short tales in French, accompanied by proverbs; the 1908 and 1911 editions give the Sesotho texts.
Prizes and reception
The tales in this collection still serve as a reference for entries on Sotho stories, such as those of the jackal or of Monyohé.
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The pages consulted to check this page.