Page:George McCall Theal, Ethnography and condition of South Africa before A.D. 1505 (2nd ed, 1919).djvu/96

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The Mantis is one who cheated the children, by becoming a hartebeest, by resembling a dead hartebeest. He feigning death lay in front of the children, when the children went to seek plants, because he thought (wished) that the children should cut him up with a stone knife, as these children did not possess metal knives.

The children perceived him, when he had laid himself stretched out, while his horns were turned backwards. The children then said to each other: “It is a hartebeest that yonder lies; it is dead.” The children jumped for joy (saying): “Our hartebeest! we shall eat great meat.” They broke off stone knives by striking, they skinned the Mantis. The skin of the Mantis snatched itself quickly out of the children's hands. They say to each other : “Hold thou strongly fast for me the hartebeest skin!” Another child said: “The hartebeest skin pulled at me.”

Her elder sister said: “It does seem that the hartebeest has not a wound from the people who shot it, for the hartebeest appears to have died of itself. Although the hartebeest is fat, the hartebeest has no shooting wound.”

Her elder sister cut off a shoulder of the hartebeest, and put it down (on a bush). The hartebeest's shoulder arose by itself, it sat down nicely (on the other side of the bush) while it placed itself nicely. She (then) cut off a thigh of the hartebeest, and put it down (on a bush); it placed itself nicely on the bush. She cut off another shoulder of the hartebeest, and put it upon (another) bush. It arose, and sat upon a soft (portion of the) bush; as it felt that the bush (upon which the child had laid it) pricked it.

Another elder sister cut off the other thigh of the hartebeest. They spoke thus: “This hartebeest's flesh does move; that must be why it shrinks away.”

They arrange their burdens; one says to the other: “Cut and break off the hartebeest's neck, so that thy younger sister may carry the hartebeest's head, for (thy) yonder sitting elder sister, she shall carry the hartebeest's back, she who is a big girl. For we must carrying return (home), for we came (and)