Daughter of the Ostrich’s Egg

Overview

Seetetelane is a bachelor who lives on field mice and wears their skins as a cloak and loin covering. While hunting he finds an egg, takes it home and places it beneath his hut’s roof, intending to eat it at a later occasion. Instead, returning from further outings, he repeatedly finds bread prepared and a large quantity of beer brewed. He questions who could have supplied these provisions for a man who left home alone, but eats and drinks them. One day a woman emerges from the egg. She warns that however drunk he becomes, he must never identify her aloud as the daughter of an ostrich’s egg.

The woman subsequently asks whether he wants people around him. On receiving agreement, she goes to thrash upon the refuse heap. The following morning he hears a large community: adults, children and even dogs greet him as chief, and cattle bellow throughout the new village. His clothing has changed from mouse skins to a jackal-fur kaross, and a mat supplies comfortable bedding. These concrete changes turn an isolated subsistence life into chiefly status. The source gives her action at the refuse heap but does not describe each person or animal being individually formed.

While very drunk, Seetetelane utters the forbidden identification. She questions whether he really said it, and he repeats it. They still sleep comfortably that night, but morning reveals the withdrawal: he lies cold on bare ground in a mouse-skin covering too short for his feet. The woman, people and jackal skins are gone. He feels for her unsuccessfully and recalls what he said. He returns to bachelorhood, grows old eating field mice and finally dies. The ending supplies lasting loss rather than another reconciliation; the narrative does not follow the departed woman to a new home.

Origins & earliest records

Jacottet prints parallel Se-Suto and English texts and adds comparative commentary. No individual contributor is identified in this inspected tale; proposed relationships to other stories remain editorial comparisons.

Records & interpretation

XVI, Seetetelane, complete bilingual pp. 108–111; English story beginning p. 108 and continuation with full ending p. 110. Comparative notes pp. 108–109 are distinct from the narrative.

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

   XVI, Seetetelane, complete bilingual pp. 108–111; English story beginning p. 108 and continuation with full ending p. 110. Comparative notes pp. 108–109 are distinct from the narrative.

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 introduction xxii collection statement read; complete XVI–XVII, bilingual pp.108–125, English narratives and all explanatory notes independently read. Facing Sesotho placement inspected without independent translation.

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.

References

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

1. Collected Se-Suto text with English translation and notesJacottet — Daughter of the Ostrich’s EggResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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