Monyohe

Overview

Jacottet places four related serpent-husband accounts together. In XVIII, Senkepeng is stranded when a flooded river repeatedly rejects her crossing. Monyohe’s mother finds her sheltering in river debris and brings her home as a bride. Vast quantities of meat, bread, milk and beer disappear from the husband’s hut, although she cannot see the eater. Monyohe lives beneath the roof and touches her with his tail before dawn. Exhausted by the endless cooking, she leaves. A strong wind accompanies his emergence and he pursues her as a serpent, while her repeated singing delays him long enough to warn her village.

The village prepares an armed cattle passage, where the tired pursuer is killed. His mother gathers the body, burns it in an ox hide and carries the ashes to a pool. He emerges as a handsome man, marries Senkepeng and obtains cattle for her marriage payment. XIX changes both transformation and ending: forbidden smoke exposes the roof-dweller and starts his wife’s flight; his mother reduces him to ashes and encloses them beneath a pot until it opens itself and reveals a young man. A later dispute over their child’s weaning leads him to strike his wife. Her escort kills him in the open country, then kills his mother when she comes for him.

XX, Maliane, follows another route. The heroine reaches his village after helpful encounters and accepts him even when a thick mist clears to reveal the coiled serpent. He permits her visit home with gifts. Her younger sister ignores warnings, offends the helpers and is violently driven back. Monyohe enters the village fountain, stopping its water. The physician who originally put him into the serpent skin draws him out as a man; the discarded skin remains in the fountain, the injured sister is healed and water returns. He departs with both sisters as wives.

In XXI, a water-dwelling chief refuses cattle and women from thirsty hunters until Masilo promises his sister Senkepeng. The pool’s water then becomes drinkable. Two years later a red dust cloud heralds an immensely long serpent that comes to claim her. Her maternal uncle’s bulls trample it while it bites them, and it dies. Senkepeng recovers from severe fright; her father has Masilo killed after learning of the bargain. This ending contains no human restoration. The differing roof-dwellers, fountain power, transformed men and final dead serpent are presented as related versions rather than one continuous biography.

Origins & earliest records

Jacottet prints these related contributions as separate numbered tales in Se-Suto with literal English translations. Introduction xxii distinguishes dictation, friends’ collections and a few Sekese texts, but no individual narrator is assigned in these inspected episodes. His theories of ancient common origins remain editorial comparisons rather than first attestation dates.

Records & interpretation

Jacottet (1908), complete XVIII Monyohe pp. 126–135; XIX Monyohe pp. 134–139; XX Maliane pp. 140–147; XXI Monyohe pp. 148–153. English text on even pages, with facing Se-Suto and explanatory notes; introduction xxii on collection and translation.

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 literal translator; J. C. Smith, English text assistance · 1908

   Jacottet (1908), complete XVIII Monyohe pp. 126–135; XIX Monyohe pp. 134–139; XX Maliane pp. 140–147; XXI Monyohe pp. 148–153. English text on even pages, with facing Se-Suto and explanatory notes; introduction xxii on collection and translation.

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. Full preface and collection/translation statement introductionxxii independently read, alongside complete complete chaptersXVIII–XXIpp126–153 and notes; selected historical witness only.

Family, evolution & connections

Mamonyohe, Monyohe and the unnamed child — XIX

XIX only, English pp. 134–138.

Explicit mother–son link, followed by the son’s stated child with Senkepeng. Monyohe’s father and the baby’s name and sex are unstated. XIX’s later deaths remain separate from XVIII’s marriage ending. XVIII’s song has an uncertain translation; its apparent “child of my sister” address is not used as an aunt–nephew pedigree. No original-version claim from the collector’s comparative notes is adopted.

Maliane and her younger sister — XX

XX only, English pp. 140–146.

Sister grouping, with each named as a wife of the same husband. The grouping root is not an ancestor. Maliane’s chief father and mother are explicit, but the younger sister’s parentage is not separately narrated, so common biological parents are not added. Monyohe is their husband, not a sibling. No children are supplied; XIX’s baby is not imported into XX.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

References

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

1. Collected Se-Suto texts with literal English translation and notesJacottet — complete Monyohe and Maliane accountsResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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