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

Overview

Pōlō’s mother leaves for her parents’ home before the birth because the other wife has repeatedly killed her children. The newborn is placed inside an animal skin and receives a larger one as she grows. She remains with her grandparents through adolescence and initiation. Jacottet’s translation calls the covering an iguana skin, while its accompanying explanation calls the animal a water snake; the note acknowledges the confused identification. The narrative’s protective covering is therefore retained without assigning a modern species.

Pōlō and Khoahlakhubelu travel in separate companies to Masilo. The larger company refuses to walk with the supposed serpent and mocks Masilo for taking snuff from her hand and eating with her. He has already watched her attendants remove the skin when she bathes, revealing a beautiful human girl. He insists that she too is a chief’s daughter and gives her company substantial food and accommodation.

When he asks for the covering to be removed, her attendants first say that it is her body or the skin in which she was born. Eventually they comply. He tears and burns the skin instead of allowing them to replace it. At her public emergence the sun darkens; striking a brass collar against the ground restores its light. Men join shields above her so that sunlight will not burn her, and they keep this shade while travelling to her parents.

Her mother initially laments that her serpent has been killed, but Pōlō arrives alive. Masilo provides marriage cattle for both her and Khoahlakhubelu, and the marriages are celebrated before their return. The final sentence reverses their previous precedence: Khoahlakhubelu becomes Pōlō’s subordinate. The tale keeps a tension between an applied skin and a covering treated as bodily, rather than explicitly narrating Pōlō’s transformation into a living snake.

Raised in successively larger skinsHuman form visible when covering removedSkin destroyed by bridegroomSolar darkening and shield shadePublic human recognition
01

Origins & earliest records

Complete Jacottet XXXVI and its notes supply a particular skin-clad bride narrative. No individual teller is named in the inspected account. Comparison with Callaway’s skin-enclosed male characters does not establish that those are Pōlō’s identity or biology.

02

Records & interpretation

XXXVI, Pōlō and Khoahlakhubelu, complete bilingual pp. 246–255; English pp. 246, 248, 250, 252, 254. Skin upbringing pp. 246–248; skin removal and burning p. 252; marriage and altered status p. 254. Zoological and alternate-name comments in pp. 246–247 notes.

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

    XXXVI, Pōlō and Khoahlakhubelu, complete bilingual pp. 246–255; English pp. 246, 248, 250, 252, 254. Skin upbringing pp. 246–248; skin removal and burning p. 252; marriage and altered status p. 254. Zoological and alternate-name comments in pp. 246–247 notes.

  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 XXXVI, Pōlō and Khoahlakhubelu, complete bilingual pp.246–255; English pp.246/248/250/252/254 and notes independently read with explanatory notes; 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 XXXVI, Pōlō and Khoahlakhubelu, complete bilingual pp.246–255; English pp.246/248/250/252/254 and notes independently read with explanatory notes; facing Sesotho placement inspected, not independently translated.

  1. A human bride raised inside changing animal skins is publicly revealed after her covering is destroyed.

    XXXVI, Pōlō and Khoahlakhubelu, complete bilingual pp.246–255; English pp.246/248/250/252/254 and notes

Iguana and water-snake descriptions conflict and the note admits uncertain zoological identification; no modern species assigned. An applied covering is also spoken of as bodily or birth skin, retained as narrative tension. Sun protection persists rather than becoming Seilatsatsi’s distinct daylight cure. No ritual or song quotation added. Specific narrator not inferred from the volume-level list; J. C. Smith English correction credited.

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 selected bilingual 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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