A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Masilonyane explores abandoned ruins while his brother Masilo stays outside. When he finally raises an enormous overturned pot, an old woman appears with a small mill for grinding red ochre. She calls him her grandchild and attaches herself to his back before he can lift her. She will not permit the brother to take over carrying her.

Masilonyane twice persuades her to descend while he pursues game, claiming he will obtain a skin for carrying her. She traces his footprints and finds his hiding place, climbing back onto him after the first escape. The second time his dogs kill her, leaving the great toe at his direction. That toe is described as as large as a man’s leg. When he cuts it, many cattle emerge, ending with a fine cow coloured like a guinea fowl.

The story continues through the brothers’ quarrel over this wealth, Masilo’s murder of Masilonyane and the victim’s heart-bird testimony. It never restores the pot-woman. Comparative notes describe another old woman yielding cattle from a tree and another figure yielding people from a toe; those are not powers or endings assigned to this particular woman.

Lives beneath overturned potRed-ochre millClings to one carrierFollows footprintsToe as large as a man’s legCattle emerge from toe
01

Origins & earliest records

Jacottet’s complete bilingual IX and notes compare Casalis, a Bechuana variant and Callaway. These comparisons are not silently combined with this specific giant-toe and heart-bird sequence. No individual teller is named in the inspected tale.

02

Records & interpretation

IX, Masilo and Masilonyane, complete bilingual pp. 56–63; English pp. 56, 58, 60, 62. Pot-woman, clinging pursuit and cattle toe pp. 56–58; heart-bird and restored testimony pp. 60–62. Comparative notes distinguish other pot-woman and revealing-bird stories.

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

    IX, Masilo and Masilonyane, complete bilingual pp. 56–63; English pp. 56, 58, 60, 62. Pot-woman, clinging pursuit and cattle toe pp. 56–58; heart-bird and restored testimony pp. 60–62. Comparative notes distinguish other pot-woman and revealing-bird stories.

  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 IX, Masilo and Masilonyane, complete bilingual pp.56–63; English pp.56/58/60/62 and explanatory notes independently read; 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.

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. Preface and introduction xxii previously independently read. Complete selected IX, Masilo and Masilonyane, complete bilingual pp.56–63; English pp.56/58/60/62 and explanatory notes independently read; facing Sesotho placement inspected, not independently translated.

  1. An old woman released from a pot clings to the younger hunter; her surviving toe releases cattle.

    IX, Masilo and Masilonyane, complete bilingual pp.56–63; English pp.56/58/60/62 and explanatory notes

Grandmother and grandchild are forms of address here, not demonstrated biological kinship. The toe is compared to a man’s leg in size, not a basis for an invented general anatomy. Other variants yield cattle from a tree, have a man emerging from the pot or people emerging from a toe; these remain the editor’s comparisons. Specific narrator not inferred from volume-level contributor list; English correction credited to J. C. Smith.

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 Masilo/Masilonyane IXResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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