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

Overview

Mphotanyane repeatedly descends from a mountain into the cattle enclosure of an abandoned village. Hare, Rabbit and Springbuck are staying there and treating their dung as food. Their unexplained opening flight followed a sudden noise and Hare’s report that animals had dropped dead and only a crooked stick remained. The collector’s informant could not explain that stick. The later raider is not identified as the maker of the noise or given a power to kill by sound.

The companions return from pasture to find their food gone and set successive guards. Mphotanyane comes down announcing his own identity and purpose. Springbuck tries to kick him, receives a severe beating and pretends to be dead. Mphotanyane finishes the food and attempts to obtain more from the motionless guard before returning home. Rabbit next receives the watch under a threat of death if the supplies disappear. It also tries to kick the intruder and survives by feigning death. On hearing its account, the other companions do not carry out their threatened punishment.

Hare then takes the watch and offers Mphotanyane a deceptive reciprocal lesson in medicine. The visitor accepts and treats the exchange as agreed, but Hare does not reciprocate that restraint and kills him. Hare cooks the dead raider and uses the smell to attract the returning companions. Rather than divide the food, it carries everything onto a ledge and eats it alone. When it comes down, the others pursue it, but Hare escapes. Mphotanyane’s defeat therefore does not conclude with a harmonious shared feast: the selfish victor survives the final chase.

Jacottet’s notes compare a dung-eater called Pinyane in Sekese’s version and nkida-bulongo in a Gazaland account; another comparison concerns the fat-eating Inkalimeva. Different names, foods and guard-deceiving methods are retained as comparative witnesses, not interchangeable aliases or imported anatomy. The selected main account describes the raider’s mountain approach, speech, strength and feeding, without providing a precise species or a detailed body. A tail hidden by Hare belongs to the summarized Pinyane version, not the main Mphotanyane ending.

Mountain dwellingRaids stored foodOverpowers animal guardsDeceived by Little HareKilled in failed exchange
01

Origins & earliest records

Jacottet’s bilingual III and its explanatory notes retain unnamed-informant uncertainties. Comparative Sekese, Gazaland and Theal stories are identified as parallels, not newly verified variants or direct source identities.

02

Records & interpretation

III, The Mphotanyane, complete bilingual pp. 26–31; English pp. 26, 28, 30. Mountain raider and two guards pp. 26–28; Hare’s fatal deception and final flight p. 30; unresolved crooked-stick and comparative variant notes pp. 26–31.

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

    III, The Mphotanyane, complete bilingual pp. 26–31; English pp. 26, 28, 30. Mountain raider and two guards pp. 26–28; Hare’s fatal deception and final flight p. 30; unresolved crooked-stick and comparative variant notes pp. 26–31.

  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 III, The Mphotanyane, complete bilingual pp.26–31; English pp.26/28/30 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 III, The Mphotanyane, complete bilingual pp.26–31; English pp.26/28/30 and explanatory notes independently read; facing Sesotho placement inspected, not independently translated.

  1. A mountain visitor eats the animals’ dung, defeats two guards and is killed through the hare’s deception.

    III, The Mphotanyane, complete bilingual pp.26–31; English pp.26/28/30 and explanatory notes

The unexplained crooked stick in the opening is not identified as the Mphotanyane. The narrator could not explain it. Variant names Pinyane, nkida-bulongo and inkalimeva belong to the editor’s cited comparisons, not additional names uncritically assigned to this creature. No song or deceptive medical procedure copied. 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 Mphotanyane taleResearch 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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