A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

The chief tells Lungile that Maginde transformed all his people into bucks because he envied their prosperity and strength. Their release depends on the chief becoming human again. Some first emerge from the ogre’s crown: when the restored chief throws its animal eyes to the ground, they become living bucks and follow his movements. The account then brings in a much larger community from the surrounding mountains.

Lungile gathers spinach at sunrise and sings the chief’s song asking bucks to become young men. Each day more animals arrive, including does and young ones; after seven days many thousands have assembled in the forest. On a subsequent morning they change together into men, women and children. The families regain their social identity and the chief his people. This is one enchanted community profile, preserving the distinction between the initial eye-crown release and the later collective human transformation.

Human subjects changed into bucksEye-crown releaseDoes and young includedGathering over seven daysCollective human restoration
01

Origins & earliest records

Sarah F. Bourhill and Beatrice L. Drake collected and arranged the English tale for children. The publication does not name an individual contributor for this episode; its literary dialogue is not treated as a verbatim field transcription.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete XVIII. The Enchanted Buck, printed pp. 212–223, read through the final resolution.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Fairy Tales from South Africa

    Sarah F. Bourhill and Beatrice L. Drake, collectors and arrangers · 1908

    XVIII. The Enchanted Buck, pp. 212–223; complete English arrangement, unnamed individual contributor.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Primary source witness

Sarah F. Bourhill (Mrs. E. J. Bourhill) and Beatrice L. Drake (Mrs. J. B. Drake), Fairy Tales from South Africa, London: Macmillan, 1908; selected original title page and complete headed tales in PG75833. Arranged for children; introduction pp.v–xi attributes principally Swazi, also Zulu and border-region contributions, with Shining Princess attributed to Mapoch. Individual narrators for these selected tales unnamed. Historical colonial framing is not current community consensus.

  1. The slain ogre’s crown yields living bucks, and the restored chief identifies his subjects as people whom Maginde had also cursed into bucks. The text links his recovered animal followers with that subject population but does not give individual crown-to-subject identities.

    XVIII, pp.221–222; two linked releases

  2. Over seven days Lungile’s singing and gathering bring many bucks, does and young into the forest. They become men, women and children together. This is a whole transformed community, not only adult male warriors; biological herd terminology alone does not yield a named genealogy.

    XVIII, pp.222–223; assembled households

Selected historical arrangement, not unmediated original-language oral testimony. Individual contributor not named; no separate manuscript inspected. Original facsimile not visually inspected in this batch.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Collected historical tale in an English literary retellingBourhill and Drake — XVIII. The Enchanted BuckResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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