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Overview
On a journey to his wife’s family, the husband repeatedly runs ahead, becomes a lion and waits in a bush to frighten her. She recognizes him and says so. He resumes their companionship, laughing that she is unafraid. When they lack water, the text declares him dead of thirst, then has him run ahead and become a pool. The woman drinks from it. Men she meets afterwards threaten to kill her for refusing their marriage proposal. Her husband’s voice answers from inside her body, asking why they trouble his wife; the men are ashamed. Jacottet interprets the voice through the water she has swallowed and notes that the ensuing journey implies his re-emergence.
Later the husband again changes into a lion and waits ahead. This time the woman is frightened; he seizes, kills and eats her, then returns home alone. When her younger brother visits, he claims she left to see her family and suggests lions may have attacked her. The brother searches their camping places and finds her bones and head. Reporting that lions ate her, he brings the husband to the place. The husband weeps and repeats that story while gathering and burying the remains. Both men return home. The ending gives neither exposure of his deception nor revival of the wife.
Origins & earliest records
Jacottet’s 1901 Textes Louyi publishes the original-language tale and French translation. The introduction distinguishes Kaboukou, Akaende and Maroumo; the selected tale’s individual contributor assignment is not confirmed from its inspected heading.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected episode and surrounding notes read. Outcomes and unexplained transitions are preserved; neighbouring rescue stories do not replace this tale’s final events.
In the literature
“se changea en lion”
XXIX, printed85, opening transformation · Édouard Jacottet, French
The opening describes an actual transformation within the tale, distinct from the wife’s recognition.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Études sur les langues du Haut-Zambèze, III: Textes Louyi
XXIX, Histoire d’un homme et de sa femme, pp. 85–86, complete changing forms, killing and deceptive burial, with interpretive notes.
- 02
Jacottet Textes Louyi: The Lion-and-Water Husband
Édouard Jacottet, Études sur les langues du Haut-Zambèze, third part: Textes Louyi, Paris: Ernest Leroux,1901. Title and complete introduction independently read; misleading catalogue1869 date rejected. French translation with Louyi originals. Introduction names Kaboukou(1895), Akaende and Maroumo(1900), but retained contents omit promised tale-level initials, so individual attribution for these selections remains unresolved.
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.
Études sur les langues du Haut-Zambèze, III: Textes Louyi
Édouard Jacottet, Études sur les langues du Haut-Zambèze, third part: Textes Louyi, Paris: Ernest Leroux,1901. Title and complete introduction independently read; misleading catalogue1869 date rejected. French translation with Louyi originals. Introduction names Kaboukou(1895), Akaende and Maroumo(1900), but retained contents omit promised tale-level initials, so individual attribution for these selections remains unresolved.
- A husband repeatedly becomes a lion to frighten his wife, who initially recognizes him without fear. The text next reports thirst-death and his transformation into a pond. His wife drinks and later hears him speak from within her when other men threaten her. A note explains ingestion and acknowledges that his emergence is not narrated. Continuing together, he again becomes a lion; she is frightened and he kills and eats her. Her younger brother finds her remains, accepting the husband’s story that lions killed her. The husband pretends mourning and buries the bones. The note suggests fear enables harm, rather than establishing a universally stated rule.
French historical translation inspected; Louyi original not independently translated. Full volume, religious practices and other comparative works not claimed completely inspected. Individual narrator attribution held unresolved because detailed contents promised by preface are absent from retained table.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Digitized primary collected textJacottet — Louyi leopard marriageResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.