The Leopard Tortoise, page37, historical printed text witness; documentary source-page facsimile
Primary text witness to The Leopard Tortoise, page37 in the 1911 edition. Documentary text facsimile, not creature artwork; historical terminology and collector interpretations belong to the original publication.
Overview
The Leopard Tortoise occupies a hut while the people are out hunting. A hunter approaches, and she asks him to rub her painful neck with fat. When he puts his hands in, she draws in her neck and holds them fast. The narrator’s explanatory note describes the loss of flesh, skin and nails, leaving the bones. Her apparent illness thus brings the visitor close enough for the retracting neck to become a trap.
When another hunter arrives, the first man hides his damaged hands behind him. He encourages the newcomer to attend to their supposed elder sister, describing her illness as continuing while one moon has died and another appeared. The second man obeys and places his hands inside her neck. The tortoise draws in her head and catches him too. He repeatedly strikes her against the ground, hoping to break her, but she retains her grip. The first man now displays his own hands and tells the second that he is experiencing the same suffering.
The first hunter returns home while the second is still struggling. His companions ask where he has been and rebuke him for neglecting what his parents taught: the tortoise repeatedly looks near death while deceiving them. The narrative stops without releasing the second victim or killing the tortoise. Its explanatory material identifies the men as members of the Early Race and gives Testudo pardalis as the historical animal gloss. The speaker is !weiten ta ||ken, dictating in the Katkop dialect in 1875 from her mother #kamme-an’s account; this family transmission is distinct from the collectors’ additional discussion of the moon.
Origins & earliest records
Selected tale in Bleek and Lloyd’s bilingual collection, edited from recorded narratives and explanatory notes. London: George Allen & Co., 1911. Dictated in 1875 in the Katkop dialect by !weiten ta ||ken, learned from her mother #kamme-an; printed heading p. 36.
Records & interpretation
Complete Leopard Tortoise chapter and explanatory notes: concealed hands, two successive neck traps, failed attempt to break the tortoise and returning hunter’s rebuke. Printed heading p. 36 credits !weiten ta ||ken, 1875, Katkop dialect, from #kamme-an; heading independently inspected by the literature researcher.
In the literature
“The man's hands altogether decayed away in it.”
I.7, The Story of the Leopard Tortoise, pp. 36–41; Complete deceptive healing encounter · W. H. I. Bleek and Lucy C. Lloyd
The tortoise feigns illness and asks hunters to rub her neck with fat; she traps their hands, and the first victim encourages another hunter to repeat the act before his parents explain her habitual deception.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Specimens of Bushman Folklore
Complete Leopard Tortoise chapter and explanatory notes: concealed hands, two successive neck traps, failed attempt to break the tortoise and returning hunter’s rebuke. Printed heading p. 36 credits !weiten ta ||ken, 1875, Katkop dialect, from #kamme-an; heading independently inspected by the literature researcher.
- 02
Specimens of Bushman Folklore — I.7, The Story of the Leopard Tortoise, pp. 36–41
London: George Allen & Co., 1911. Dictated in 1875 in the Katkop dialect by !weiten ta ||ken, learned from her mother #kamme-an; printed heading p. 36.
Family, evolution & connections
Leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis)
The recorded |Xam tale’s editorial footnote identifies its leopard tortoise as Testudo pardalis, a historical name listed under Stigmochelys pardalis by the Reptile Database. This supplies a defensible animal identity behind the English title. The character’s dangerous encounter with people belongs to the narrated story and should not be presented as observed behavior of the living reptile.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Specimens of Bushman Folklore
George Allen & Co., London, 1911. Dictated in 1875 in the Katkop dialect by !weiten ta ||ken, learned from her mother #kamme-an; printed heading p. 36.
- The tortoise feigns illness and asks hunters to rub her neck with fat; she traps their hands, and the first victim encourages another hunter to repeat the act before his parents explain her habitual deception.
I.7, The Story of the Leopard Tortoise, pp. 36–41; Complete deceptive healing encounter
The evidence excerpt supports one clause; the complete chapter was read for the full episode. This historical translation is a mediated witness, not an exhaustive account of present community beliefs.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Collected oral narrative in translationThe Story of the Leopard TortoiseResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical text facsimileThe Leopard Tortoise, page37, historical printed text witness; documentary source-page facsimile
Primary text witness to The Leopard Tortoise, page37 in the 1911 edition. Documentary text facsimile, not creature artwork; historical terminology and collector interpretations belong to the original publication.
