Kooma

Overview

Kooma leaves to seek a husband with other maidens, young men and a herd. At a bog the escorts send the maidens ahead, strip and smear themselves with mud. They catch up and repeatedly threaten to eat them. Kooma supplies oxen to postpone the attack until only one remains. She then changes into a clay pot, according to the opening description, and all the girls and the remaining ox enter it. It rolls away and hides in a bush, leaving the attackers unable to find them.

The pot travels to a white-stoned mountain. The companions and ox emerge; when they strike its horn, bread and meat come out. They reach Masilo’s cattle post and hide again. The pot has no visible opening, but at noon the girls come out to plaster huts, grind corn and cook. Their work alerts Masilo’s companions; a watcher sees the girls emerge. Masilo later hides nearby, and his companion conceals the pot while the girls fetch water. Masilo catches Kooma on her return and tells her he has broken it.

He keeps her apart in a hut, brings her home after dark and presents her at a feast. Later they have a child named Bulane, and the other girls also have children. The husbands journey with cattle to Kooma’s family, where her mother recognizes her after accidentally giving the grandchild burning-hot porridge. The women’s marriages are then concluded, and they return to the husbands’ village. The tale states that all the original escorts were killed, without specifying how or by whom.

The collector observes that later passages treat Kooma as coming out of a separate pot, despite earlier statements that she becomes the pot. This inconsistency remains part of the witness. Her sheltering pot and the food-producing ox are distinct elements; the account does not establish a consistent permanent ceramic body.

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.

1. 01

   The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, vol. I

   Édouard Jacottet, collector and translator; J. C. Smith, English text assistance · 1908

   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.

2. 02

   The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, volume I

   Unnamed Sesotho narrative contributor; Édouard Jacottet, editor and translator; J. C. Smith, English text correction · 1908

   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; English pp.238/240/242/244/246 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.

References

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

1. Collected Se-Suto text with English translation and notesJacottet — complete selected bilingual taleResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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