A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Sekholomi is travelling to marry Takalasi when he reaches a marsh without a visible passage. The next morning a rat offers to cut a path and allows him through. It then calls him back, gives instructions and fastens a gall bladder around his neck, telling him to listen to it. The rat explains its kindness: other travellers drive cattle into the reeds and trample or kill its children, whereas Sekholomi has done them no harm.
The gift repeatedly alerts Sekholomi to a lion at Takalasi’s household and later directs his survival during the confrontation. It also warns the travellers to retain some food for their mysterious host and eventually to depart before the waiting cannibals attack. These later warnings are spoken by the gall bladder; the story does not say that the rat itself physically accompanies the party.
After escaping the cannibals, Sekholomi returns to the reed thicket, greets the rat and thanks it. He promises a reward after he reaches home, then continues and raids cattle on his route. The narrative closes with his arrival carrying them; it never shows the promised reward being delivered. Jacottet compares other helpful rodents, including Maliane’s rat, but those distinct encounters are not merged into this particular reciprocal marsh meeting.
Origins & earliest records
Jacottet’s complete bilingual narrative and notes supply this located account. No individual teller is named in the inspected episode. Compared stories remain separate witnesses rather than additional attributes of this being.
Records & interpretation
XXXII, Sekholomi and Takalasi, complete bilingual pp. 214–221; English pp. 214, 216, 218, 220. Rat’s aid pp. 214–216; speaking lion pp. 216–218; bee form, mountain and return p. 220.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, vol. I
XXXII, Sekholomi and Takalasi, complete bilingual pp. 214–221; English pp. 214, 216, 218, 220. Rat’s aid pp. 214–216; speaking lion pp. 216–218; bee form, mountain and return p. 220.
- 02
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, volume I
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, volume I, Morija/London, 1908, actual title-page OCR. Full preface and introduction xxii method statement read; complete XXXI–XXXII, bilingual pp.208–221, 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.
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, vol. I
The Treasury of Ba-suto Lore, volume I, Morija/London, 1908, actual title-page OCR. Full preface and introduction xxii method statement read; complete XXXI–XXXII, bilingual pp.208–221, English narratives and all explanatory notes independently read. Facing Sesotho placement inspected without independent translation.
- A rat cuts a path for Sekholomi and gives him a warning object because he has spared its children.
The promised reward is not shown delivered. A rat is this translator’s animal identification without scientific species. No implicit killing of the helper or borrowing of another version’s mouse-skin talisman. The gall-bladder object is a fictional warning aid, not a copied medical practice. No specific storyteller assigned from the volume-level contributor list; J. C. Smith’s English correction credited.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- 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.