A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
After escaping the Man with the Great Cutlass, Maçingué’s ten daughters fear that daylight will expose them on the road. They ask a frog to hide them in its belly. It agrees, swallows all ten and eats some botsétsé vegetable afterward. When the pursuing host asks about the missing girls, the frog denies seeing them. He questions its conspicuous fullness, and it explains that it has eaten vegetables, spitting out a little to substantiate the claim.
Once the pursuer leaves, the frog sends a bird to tell Maçingué that his daughters are safe. The villagers initially take the bird’s announcement as mockery and throw stones, but it moves to the father’s roof and continues communicating. Meanwhile the frog releases the girls, washes them, rubs them with oil and dresses them in the cloth taken from their dangerous host. Their father sees the approaching party and celebrates with a slaughtered ox in the frog’s honour.
The youngest sister, whose vigilance enabled the escape, receives especially fine clothes and is carried by her affectionate older sisters. The frog’s swelling body is the physical basis of its concealment, but swallowing here protects rather than consumes its human guests. Junod gives an editorial animal identification in a footnote; the improbable capacity and speech belong to the narrated helper, and the text does not turn that suggestion into evidence for a real animal’s abilities.
Origins & earliest records
Junod’s note attached to the tale’s closing formula names Timoteo Mandlati, who wrote the account as transmitted by his ancestors. The note is printed on p. 151 alongside the opening of the following story; that placement does not make it the following tale’s credit. Comparative footnotes remain Junod’s commentary.
Records & interpretation
Junod (1897), VIII L’Homme-au-grand-Coutelas, complete pp. 144–150; lure and reception pp. 144–145, nocturnal attempts and substituted tusks pp. 146–148, frog shelter and reunion pp. 149–150. Timoteo Mandlati written-contribution note p. 151, attached to the closing formula.
In the literature
“Celle-ci y consentit et les avala toutes.”
VIII L’Homme-au-grand-Coutelas, printed p.149 · Henri-Alexandre Junod (French)
The frog voluntarily shelters all the fleeing daughters.
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), VIII L’Homme-au-grand-Coutelas, complete pp. 144–150; lure and reception pp. 144–145, nocturnal attempts and substituted tusks pp. 146–148, frog shelter and reunion pp. 149–150. Timoteo Mandlati written-contribution note p. 151, attached to the closing formula.
- 02
Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa — VIII L’Homme-au-grand-Coutelas
Henri-AlexandreJunod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa, Lausanne:GeorgesBridel1897. CompleteVIII144–150 plus151 conclusion/commentary andIX151–158 read. Original148–151/157/158 checked visually. ClosingVIII151 superscript1 names TimoteoMandlati as writer of inherited tale; separateIX158 superscript1 identifies Camilla. Songs and closing formula not excerpted.
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
Henri-AlexandreJunod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa, Lausanne:GeorgesBridel1897. CompleteVIII144–150 plus151 conclusion/commentary andIX151–158 read. Original148–151/157/158 checked visually. ClosingVIII151 superscript1 names TimoteoMandlati as writer of inherited tale; separateIX158 superscript1 identifies Camilla. Songs and closing formula not excerpted.
- Ten daughters of Maçingué follow a singing bird despite their youngest, skin-afflicted sister’s objections. They take the broad road against her advice. The wealthy cutlass-bearing host welcomes them among his ivory and cloth, but repeatedly sharpens a blade at night. The waking youngest delays him, warns her sisters and helps them substitute ivory under coverings. He hacks the substituted bed and calls for a cooking pot, believing the girls killed. They flee until dawn, when a frog agrees to swallow and conceal all ten beneath swallowed vegetables. The pursuer is deceived and leaves. The frog sends a bird messenger, then releases, washes and adorns the girls for return. Their father rewards the frog with an ox; the sisters honour and carry the youngest rescuer.
VIII L’Homme-au-grand-Coutelas, complete printed pp.144–150, conclusion and contributor note151
Swallowing is protective and followed by release; the frog does not digest or kill the girls. Junod’s Chinana/breviceps mossambicensis gloss149 is a historical natural comparison, not proof that a real frog performs supernatural swallowing. The named written contributor is Timoteo Mandlati at151; illustration149 viewed but artist rights unresolved and not reused.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Attributed oral account in French collected primary editionJunod — Sheltering Frog of Maçingué’s DaughtersResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.