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Overview

During a famine, ’Maliepetsane gathers food called moseeka while Limo watches from a mountain ridge. Her answer to his questioning angers him and brings a sudden pursuit. She outruns him and disappears into the hole where she habitually lives; his size prevents him entering. He kills an animal and stretches its skin across the opening, but she breaks through it when fleeing him again. A further attempt uses a stronger skin that she cannot penetrate. This captures her. The translation’s remark about calves’ dung is explained in a note as an expression for misfortune or distress, rather than an additional magical weapon.

Limo takes her to his dark hut, orders his mother to kill and cook her, then departs. The captive strangles the old woman instead, cooks her and dresses in her clothes and cap. Limo and his child receive the meal. The child observes that a hand and finger resemble the grandmother’s; ’Maliepetsane angrily dismisses these observations while speaking as though they concern her own fingers. When Limo goes to the men’s court, she changes disguises again, putting on his war clothes and brandishing his spears. She openly declares her identity and the fact that he has eaten his mother, then dances before him.

Limo reacts with furious renewed pursuit. ’Maliepetsane reaches a full river she cannot cross and changes herself into a little stone. Unable to find her, Limo picks it up while imagining that he could hit her even on the other bank. His throw transports the transformed woman across the river. After it lands, she celebrates his accidental help. Her first two disguises depend upon clothes and misleading speech, whereas the final escape explicitly changes her bodily form. The episode ends at the successful crossing, without narrating a separate return to human form. Jacottet attributes this text to A. Sekese’s book, so its located transmission differs from a newly identified field interview.

Narrow-hole refugeTwo disguisesTransformation into small stoneEscape across flooded river
01

Origins & earliest records

Jacottet explicitly says this tale was taken from A. Sekese’s book, p. 192. It is a printed textual transmission with Jacottet’s parallel translation, not an individually identified oral interview conducted by him. His name note derives Limo from lelimo, a cannibal term also used as a proper name in other tales.

02

Records & interpretation

XXXVIII, Limo and ’Maliepetsane, complete bilingual pp. 258–263; English pp. 258, 260, 262. Sekese attribution and name note pp. 258–259; capture, disguised escape and transformation p. 260; successful river crossing p. 262.

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

    XXXVIII, Limo and ’Maliepetsane, complete bilingual pp. 258–263; English pp. 258, 260, 262. Sekese attribution and name note pp. 258–259; capture, disguised escape and transformation p. 260; successful river crossing p. 262.

  2. 02

    The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, volume I

    A. Sekese, cited textual source; Édouard Jacottet, editor and translator; J. C. Smith, English 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. Full preface and method statement introduction xxii read; complete chapters XXXVII–XXXIX, bilingual printed pp.254–265, English narrative and full explanatory notes independently read. Sesotho placement inspected without an independent-translation claim.

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. Full preface and method statement introduction xxii read; complete chapters XXXVII–XXXIX, bilingual printed pp.254–265, English narrative and full explanatory notes independently read. Sesotho placement inspected without an independent-translation claim.

  1. The captive changes into a little stone and is thrown across the flooded river by her pursuer.

    XXXVIII, Limo and Maliepetsane, complete bilingual pp.258–263; capture and substitution English p.260, river escape pp.260–262

A. Sekese is explicitly credited as the chapter’s textual source, not silently converted to a directly recorded unnamed storyteller. No return transformation or subsequent homecoming is added beyond the printed escape ending. Comparative Hlakanyana and other incidents are bibliography leads, not independently read variants. English corrector credited; no source-wide rights conclusion inferred from public access.

References

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

  1. Collected Se-Suto text with English translation and notesJacottet — ’MaliepetsaneResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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