A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
When the speaking horse decides to rescue the imprisoned Djiwaô, it asks him to bring a mouse. The mouse and the dog travel to the house occupied by his former wife and her new companion. The dog hides it in nearby vegetation and shares the food provided by the woman, allowing the small helper to remain concealed until night.
The mouse searches the house unsuccessfully on its first visit. The next night it discovers that the woman keeps the ring in her mouth while asleep. It blows against her face until she opens her mouth, slips its tail through the ring and lifts it out. The helpers leave together with the recovered object. At the water crossing, the dog offers to carry it in its teeth; the mouse refuses and keeps it on its tail. Although it believes the weight still hangs there, the ring slips away and a fish swallows it.
Both helpers discover the loss after reaching shore and sit in distress, afraid to return empty-handed. The dog’s inspection of the fishing boats eventually locates the fish with the ring. The mouse accompanies the successful return to Djiwaô, whose riches are restored. Its ingenuity therefore includes a genuine error and shared recovery, rather than an uninterrupted sequence of perfect advice. The later sea retrieval of another ring belongs to Djiwaô and the horse’s guidance, not a second mouse expedition.
Origins & earliest records
The closing note states that mature women living at Nhlanguène near Lourenço-Marques narrated Djiwaô’s adventures to Titus. Junod publishes that mediated contribution in his section of tales with external elements. Portuguese-derived names and colonial town institutions are part of this narrative’s mixed setting; Junod’s racial generalizations are not adopted.
Records & interpretation
Junod (1897), XXV Les aventures de Djiwaô, complete pp. 276–292; many-headed captor pp. 279–281, human-in-horse-form p. 281, ring-house and warning pp. 282–284, animal retrieval pp. 285–287, sea tasks pp. 287–290, heat survival and final departure pp. 290–292; Titus and Nhlanguène women note p. 292.
In the literature
“elle la passa dans l’anneau”
XXV Les aventures de Djiwaô, printed p.286 · Henri-Alexandre Junod (French)
At the horse’s direction Djiwaô supplies a mouse, which travels with the dog to his estranged wife’s distant house. The dog feeds it from food received there. Its first nocturnal search fails; on the second night it finds the ring in the sleeping woman’s mouth. It breathes against her face to make her open her mouth, passes its tail through the ring and extracts it. At the water crossing it insists on carrying the ring on its tail rather than letting the dog hold it between its teeth. The ring falls into the water and a fish swallows it unnoticed. Both animals fear returning empty-handed, but the dog subsequently locates the fish, recovers the ring and returns with the mouse.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa
Junod (1897), XXV Les aventures de Djiwaô, complete pp. 276–292; many-headed captor pp. 279–281, human-in-horse-form p. 281, ring-house and warning pp. 282–284, animal retrieval pp. 285–287, sea tasks pp. 287–290, heat survival and final departure pp. 290–292; Titus and Nhlanguène women note p. 292.
- 02
Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa — XXV Les aventures de Djiwaô
Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa, Lausanne: Georges Bridel,1897. Complete XXV Les aventures de Djiwaô, parts I–VI, printed276–292, including closing narrator note292, read. Original279/281/286/287/291/292 visually checked. No claim of whole volume review.
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.
Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa
Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa, Lausanne: Georges Bridel,1897. Complete XXV Les aventures de Djiwaô, parts I–VI, printed276–292, including closing narrator note292, read. Original279/281/286/287/291/292 visually checked. No claim of whole volume review.
- At the horse’s direction Djiwaô supplies a mouse, which travels with the dog to his estranged wife’s distant house. The dog feeds it from food received there. Its first nocturnal search fails; on the second night it finds the ring in the sleeping woman’s mouth. It breathes against her face to make her open her mouth, passes its tail through the ring and extracts it. At the water crossing it insists on carrying the ring on its tail rather than letting the dog hold it between its teeth. The ring falls into the water and a fish swallows it unnoticed. Both animals fear returning empty-handed, but the dog subsequently locates the fish, recovers the ring and returns with the mouse.
XXV Les aventures de Djiwaô, complete parts I–VI, printed pp.276–292; narrator note292
The tail is the referent of the quoted la. The mouse’s extraction succeeds, but its crossing loses the ring; the dog completes recovery from the fish. This is not the later separate episode of the Mozambican woman’s ring. No full independent history or mouse species supplied.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Attributed oral account in French collected primary editionJunod — Ring-Retrieving Mouse of DjiwaôResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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