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Overview
Lilahloane is the daughter of Thakane and Masilo in Kumonngoe’s composite tale. Her father’s household sends newborn girls to his human-eating father, but her mother refuses. An old woman from a reedy pool takes the baby into an underwater refuge and brings her out for visits. The girl grows into a maiden within one year and completes initiation there.
Her father eventually sees her secretly and asks for her return, promising not to have her eaten. After a thousand cattle are brought as payment, she emerges: the sun darkens while she comes out and shines again when she stands outside. The later return journey brings her, her parents and younger sibling into the swallowing rock that is her maternal grandfather. A young man already inside cuts an opening, the rock dies, and living captives and cattle emerge. Her family finally reaches her maternal grandmother’s village. This later rescue distinguishes the full ending from a story stopping at her emergence from the pool.
Origins & earliest records
Jacottet prints parallel Se-Suto and English texts and adds comparative commentary. No individual contributor is identified in this inspected tale; proposed relationships to other stories remain editorial comparisons.
Records & interpretation
XVII, Kumonngoe, complete bilingual pp. 112–125; English pp. 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124. Milk tree pp. 112–114; pool upbringing pp. 118–122; father-rock and release pp. 122–124.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, vol. I
XVII, Kumonngoe, complete bilingual pp. 112–125; English pp. 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124. Milk tree pp. 112–114; pool upbringing pp. 118–122; father-rock and release pp. 122–124.
- 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. Full preface and introduction xxii collection statement read; complete XVI–XVII, bilingual pp.108–125, English narratives and all explanatory notes independently read. Facing Sesotho placement inspected without independent translation.
Family, evolution & connections
Rahlabakoane’s daughter and her two children — XVII
The complete Kumonngoe account, English pp. 112–124.
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- Rahlabakoane and Mahlabakoane (Thakane’s parents)
- Thakane; married to Masilo (XVII)
- Unnamed younger child (sex unstated)
Named joint parents, their daughter, and her explicitly stated children with Masilo. The younger child has no name or specified sex and is not identified with the rescue boy. The pool guardian is a caregiver, not a biological ancestor. Masilo’s unnamed cannibal father is distinct from Rahlabakoane. Recurring Thakane and Masilo names are not merged with other tales. The rock is a narrative transformation, not geological evolution.
Thakane (Kumonngoe XVII)
Thakane bears the girl, names her Lilahloane when visiting the pool, and remains her mother while another woman raises her. This Thakane is not automatically the separately recorded Nanabolele heroine.
Masilo (Kumonngoe XVII)
Masilo marries Thakane and repeatedly acknowledges Lilahloane as his child. The recurring name Masilo does not identify him with another tale’s zebra or every same-named character.
Unnamed younger child of Thakane and Masilo (XVII)
The ending identifies the couple’s two children as Lilahloane and a younger one. Its name and sex are unspecified. The already imprisoned boy who cuts the rock open is not identified as that younger child.
Pool Guardian of Lilahloane
Thakane entrusts her daughter to the unnamed pool woman, who raises and initiates her. The main account’s woman is distinct from the crocodile mentioned only as an alternative version in a note.
Rahlabakoane’s Swallowing Rock
Rahlabakoane is the father of Lilahloane’s mother Thakane. He is distinct from Masilo’s unnamed cannibal father, who consumes him earlier in the narrative.
Masilo’s unnamed cannibal father (XVII)
The father of Masilo is the cannibal to whom newborn girls are sent. He is not Rahlabakoane, the mother’s father who later becomes a swallowing rock.
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. Full preface and introduction xxii collection statement read; complete XVI–XVII, bilingual pp.108–125, English narratives and all explanatory notes independently read. Facing Sesotho placement inspected without independent translation.
- A girl concealed from her cannibal grandfather grows rapidly underwater and rejoins her parents.
XVII, Kumonngoe, complete bilingual pp.112–125; English pp.118/120/122/124 with notes
No motherhood relation to the pool guardian inferred. The younger sibling remains unnamed. Rapid growth and sunlight change are narrative events, not a universal species trait or real astronomical report. Earlier decayed victims do not all revive in the escape ending. Specific teller not assigned from volume-level credits; J. C. Smith’s English correction remains credited.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Collected Se-Suto text with English translation and notesJacottet — LilahloaneResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.