A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
This ox is the single animal left after Kooma has repeatedly handed members of her herd to the threatening Mahelethumas. It enters the clay pot with all the maidens. The mobile shelter rolls away and hides them in a bush; when the pursuers fail to find the party, the pot continues to a mountain covered with white flat stones.
The ox and maidens come out there. They strike the animal’s horn, and bread and meat emerge for the company to eat. This is its concrete extraordinary act. The party then goes on foot to Masilo’s cattle post. The later household and marriage episodes do not identify a final fate for this particular ox, and no speaking power or further horn produce is asserted beyond the located feeding scene.
Origins & earliest records
Jacottet’s complete bilingual XXXV supplies this episode. The narrator is not individually identified in the inspected tale. Notes explicitly acknowledge uncertainties in the attackers’ classification and Kooma’s pot transformation.
Records & interpretation
XXXV, Kooma, complete bilingual pp. 238–247; English pp. 238, 240, 242, 244, 246. Mud-smeared escort and food horn p. 240; pot/body inconsistency p. 242 note; final family visit, marriages and escorts’ deaths p. 246.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, vol. I
XXXV, Kooma, complete bilingual pp. 238–247; English pp. 238, 240, 242, 244, 246. Mud-smeared escort and food horn p. 240; pot/body inconsistency p. 242 note; final family visit, marriages and escorts’ deaths p. 246.
- 02
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, volume I
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, volume I, Morija: Sesuto Book Depot; London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1908, actual title-page OCR. Preface and introduction xxii previously independently read. Complete selected XXXV, Kooma, complete bilingual pp.238–247; food-producing horn p.240 independently read with explanatory notes; facing Sesotho placement inspected, not independently translated.
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.
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, vol. I
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, volume I, Morija: Sesuto Book Depot; London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1908, actual title-page OCR. Preface and introduction xxii previously independently read. Complete selected XXXV, Kooma, complete bilingual pp.238–247; food-producing horn p.240 independently read with explanatory notes; facing Sesotho placement inspected, not independently translated.
- The last ox escapes inside Kooma’s pot and supplies bread and meat from its horn.
XXXV, Kooma, complete bilingual pp.238–247; food-producing horn p.240
Only the located feeding act establishes this horn’s extraordinary power. No speaking faculty, origin, pedigree, repeated later feeding or final fate is inferred from the subsequent human narrative. Specific narrator not inferred from the volume-level list; J. C. Smith English correction credited.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Collected Se-Suto text with English translation and notesJacottet — complete selected bilingual taleResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.