Lion That Demanded the Tear-Licked Hunter

Overview

A lion finds a young hunter of the early race sleeping on a hill and carries him away. Awakened in its grip, the man feigns death because he fears that movement will provoke a killing bite. The thirsty lion intends to drink before eating him. It lodges him at the bottom of a tree called zwart-storm, pressing his head between the stems while leaving his legs outside. A broken stick hurts the back of his head; he weeps quietly, and the lion licks his tears. Each slight movement makes the animal reposition him and scrutinize whether he is really dead. The narrator describes the tree as large, yellow-flowered and without thorns, rather than giving a secure botanical identification.

The lion repeatedly looks back, even peeping over the hill after seeming to leave. Only after waiting does the hunter escape. He tries to confuse his track and scent, reaches his people and is concealed in mats and hartebeest skins. His mother urges them to kill the pursuing lion before it enters their settlement. Their arrows fail to kill it. An old woman proposes giving it a child, but the animal answers that it wants the particular person whose tears it has licked. It ignores the children offered to it; a later attempt to substitute a girl also fails.

The people surround the lion, shooting, throwing spears and stabbing it. It continues seeking the hunter and breaks apart their huts, without turning upon those attacking it. Its resistance and refusal of other prey lead speakers within the story to call it a sorcerer. This is their interpretation of its conduct, rather than a separately narrated revelation of a human identity. By late afternoon, after a day of unsuccessful attacks, they ask the hunter’s mother to surrender him. Although she loves him, she agrees on the condition that the lion be killed upon her son, rather than allowed to eat him and depart.

They unwrap the hunter and hand him over. As the lion bites him to death, the people continue shooting and stabbing. The animal announces that it can now die because it has obtained the man it sought; both lie dead at the conclusion. The ending fulfils the mother’s demand for the lion’s death but does not rescue her son. A separate editorial note attributes the hunter’s unusual initial sleepiness to the lion in another version supplied by |kweiten ta ||ken. That other version is referenced, not reproduced in full here, and its explanation remains distinct from the main account’s events.

Origins & earliest records

Bleek and Lloyd, Specimens of Bushman Folklore (1911), V.—37, The Young Man of the Ancient Race, Who Was Carried Off by a Lion, When Asleep in the Field, complete pp. 174–191. Heading credits Dia!kwain’s 1875 Katkop dictation, received from his mother #kamme-an.

Records & interpretation

Complete narrative and accompanying notes read through the joint death on p. 191. The main contributor, his maternal source and the separately cited |kweiten ta ||ken variant are distinguished. Weapon resistance, speech, rejected substitutes and the mother’s condition are explicit episode evidence; the descriptive profile title is editorial, not an attested personal name.

In the literature

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Specimens of Bushman Folklore

   W. H. I. Bleek and Lucy C. Lloyd, collectors/editors · 1911

   V.—37, complete pp. 174–191, including narrator/maternal attribution, tree description, separate sleepiness variant note and both deaths.

2. 02

   Specimens of Bushman Folklore — V.—37, The Young Man of the Ancient Race, Who Was Carried Off by a Lion, When Asleep in the Field; complete pp.174–191/all notes

   W. H. I. Bleek and Lucy C. Lloyd; Dia!kwain narrative witness · 1911

   London: George Allen & Company,1911; original bilingual edition. Complete selected English account(s) and all notes read; original contributor/heading, excerpt and ending pages visually checked.

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. Primary collected narrative with explanatory and comparative notesOriginal 1911 bilingual edition: Young Man Carried Off by a LionResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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