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

Overview

The warning bird arrives at the brothers’ home early the morning after the elder has abandoned the younger below a precipice. It repeatedly announces that their child has been put into the water. The listeners compare its call with the honey-bird’s guidance to honey and decide to follow. Both parents accompany it as it continues giving the warning, until it descends to the drinking place and calls from below.

The father sees the living younger son and hears how the brother left him after receiving the livestock. A second rope allows people to pull him up while his mother stays and lowers the food they brought for the journey. The bird is the speaking guide that exposes the lie and makes rescue possible, not the rescuer physically lifting the boy. Callaway compares a Basotho narrative whose bird is the murdered brother’s heart; this main account neither kills the boy nor identifies its bird as his transformed heart.

Announces child left in waterParents follow its callDescends to precipice bottom
01

Origins & earliest records

The bilingual tale closes with Ukofana Dhladhla. Callaway’s note 62 identifies the contributor as Amakuza and comments on the language style; the separate Basotho comparison is editorial evidence, not the contributor’s main episode.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete Izelamani (The Two Brothers), printed pp. 217–220; pot woman pp. 217–218, warning bird and living-son rescue pp. 219–220.

In the literature

“The father and mother followed it.”
Ukofana Dhladhla · Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus
Izelamani (The Two Brothers), printed p.219 · Henry Callaway

The warning bird guides both parents to their living child.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus

    Ukofana Dhladhla, named contributor; Henry Callaway, translator and annotator · 1868

    Izelamani (The Two Brothers), complete pp. 217–220; note 57 contrasts Casalis’s Basotho account and note 62 identifies contributor context.

  2. 02

    Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus — Izelamani (The Two Brothers)

    Ukofana Dhladhla; Henry Callaway, translator/editor · 1868

    HenryCallaway, Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus, VolumeI, Springvale,Natal:JohnA.Blair1868; bilingual Princeton scan. Complete Izelamani217–220 and notes57–62 read. Original pages217/220 visually inspected; UkofanaDhladhla closing signature belongs to Izelamani, while Lydia’s earlier217 signature closes the preceding Umkxakaza tale.

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.

Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus

HenryCallaway, Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus, VolumeI, Springvale,Natal:JohnA.Blair1868; bilingual Princeton scan. Complete Izelamani217–220 and notes57–62 read. Original pages217/220 visually inspected; UkofanaDhladhla closing signature belongs to Izelamani, while Lydia’s earlier217 signature closes the preceding Umkxakaza tale.

  1. After the elder brother abandons the younger below a precipice, a bird arrives at their home announcing that the child is in the water. People compare its guidance with a honey-bird and both parents follow it. It leads them to the drinking place and calls from below. The still-living boy explains the cattle gift and betrayal; an additional rope and other helpers bring him up while his mother remains and feeds him. The elder has fled by their return.

    Izelamani, complete printed pp.217–220, notes57–62 and contributor signature

The source compares the call with a honey-bird rather than scientifically identifying a species. The bird guides rather than physically pulls the child up. A transformed murdered heart belongs only to Callaway’s separately quoted Casalis comparison.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Digitized bilingual primary collected narrativeCallaway — Izelamani (The Two Brothers)Research 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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