Tale
Reynard the Fox in South Africa
Wilhelm Bleek · 1864
Synopsis
Nama fables and tales translated into English, arranged in eight groups: fables of the jackal, who defeats the lion, shares his hunt or looks for a bride; fables of the tortoise against the elephant and the ostrich; fables of the baboon judge and of the lion who thought himself wiser than his mother; fables of the sun and the moon, including several versions of the origin of death; legends of the hero Heitsi Eibip; domestic tales. The title likens the cunning jackal to the European Reynard.
Context
The book appeared in London from Trübner in 1864 and is dedicated to the children of South Africa. It was translated for the most part from the manuscripts that the Reverend G. Krönlein, a Rhenish missionary at Beersheba in Great Namaqualand, had noted down from the mouths of the Nama, in Khoekhoe and German: twenty-four fables, tales and legends, with praise songs, proverbs and riddles. These manuscripts had been collected at the request of Sir George Grey, to whom the preface is addressed in the form of a letter.
Who it is for
Short fables in English, easy to read; the text is freely available online.
Prizes and reception
Auctioneers see in it an early document on the oral traditions of the Khoikhoi, and the text has been digitised.
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