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Overview
The young male figure called the hare mourns his mother in the selected |Xam death account. He insists that he will not stop crying, because she has died and will not come back alive. The Moon tells him that she is not altogether dead and will return, but he refuses to accept this reassurance. The narrator’s explanation is important to his form: this figure was formerly a person, and becoming a hare follows the Moon’s curse.
The angry Moon hits his mouth with a fist, splitting it and declaring that he will retain its scar after his transformation. The announced animal fate includes springing away, doubling back, pursuit by dogs and final death when caught. The Moon extends the consequence beyond the individual mourner: people will no longer return alive after death as the Moon does. The tale attributes that change to the contradiction, rather than describing the hare as deliberately carrying a false message to humans.
The narrative also connects the transformed figure with later reported observations. Its last passage says that the Moon assigns the hare a bare resting place and vermin that make it shake its head when it springs up. Earlier explanatory material reports mothers teaching that a particular piece of hare flesh remained human from its former condition. The edition notes uncertainty about the precise anatomical term, then prints a later correspondent’s proposed identification. Those source discussions remain reported explanations; they do not establish a biological human component or a securely identified hare species.
Origins & earliest records
Bleek and Lloyd, Specimens of Bushman Folklore (1911), II.—22, The Origin of Death, pp. 56–65. Original p. 56 heading credits Dia!kwain’s 1875 dictation in the Katkop dialect. The account refers to what mothers taught; the heading does not name one individual maternal source.
Records & interpretation
Complete narrative and surrounding notes, pp. 56–65, read. Actual p. 56 scan visually verifies Dia!kwain, 1875 and Katkop dialect. Former human, fist blow, transformation, mortality and final bare-ground/vermin consequences are explicit. The edition says it selected this version from several; no universal variant identity is inferred.
In the literature
“Therefore, he would cry greatly for his mother.”
II.—22, The Origin of Death; complete prose narrative pp.59–65 and all notes; contributor heading p.56, opening prayer excluded from derivation; exact prose excerpt p.59 · Bleek–Lloyd original English translation; Lucy C. Lloyd, editor. B./L. are prior report designations, not by themselves independent collector proof (Preface x).
A bereaved man insists that his mother is completely dead despite the Moon’s promise of renewed life. The Moon cleaves his mouth and curses him to become a young male hare. The resulting scar, pursuit by dogs, bare resting ground and head-shaking vermin are explained. His contradiction also leads to the human death sentence; the mother is not shown revived.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Specimens of Bushman Folklore
II.—22, The Origin of Death, complete pp. 56–65, including contributor heading and explanatory notes. Opening prayer read as context but not reproduced.
- 02
Specimens of Bushman Folklore — II.—22, The Origin of Death; complete prose narrative pp.59–65 and all notes; contributor heading p.56, opening prayer excluded from derivation
London: George Allen & Company,1911; original bilingual edition. Selected printed pages 47/55/56/59/63 visually checked; English narrative/notes read in original OCR. Marginal manuscript numbers, printed pages and access-image indices distinguished.
Family, evolution & connections
The mourning man’s mother — Dia!kwain’s account
II.—22, the prose account pp.59–65, dictated in 1875; the opening prayer is excluded.
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- Unnamed mother
Repeated literal mother designation and explicit former-man identification. The mother has no personal name and no father is supplied. The promised restoration to life is not performed in the account. Transformation into a hare does not create a separate son or establish natural zoological descent.
His unnamed mother in Dia!kwain’s account
The mourning figure repeatedly identifies the deceased woman as his mother. The Moon promises her return to life, but this account does not narrate a performed resurrection or name a father.
The same formerly human mourner, transformed into a hare
The explanatory note and prose identify the hare as a former man changed by the Moon’s curse. This is the selected account’s transformation, not a biological ancestry claim about real hares.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Specimens of Bushman Folklore
London: George Allen & Company,1911; original bilingual edition. Selected printed pages 47/55/56/59/63 visually checked; English narrative/notes read in original OCR. Marginal manuscript numbers, printed pages and access-image indices distinguished.
- A bereaved man insists that his mother is completely dead despite the Moon’s promise of renewed life. The Moon cleaves his mouth and curses him to become a young male hare. The resulting scar, pursuit by dogs, bare resting ground and head-shaking vermin are explained. His contradiction also leads to the human death sentence; the mother is not shown revived.
No entire volume, original performance/manuscript archive or unprinted second Sun version read. No independent |Xam translation. No ritual/prayer/food-protocol derivation.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary collected narrative and original page scanOriginal 1911 bilingual edition: The Origin of DeathResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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