Page:George McCall Theal, Ethnography and condition of South Africa before A.D. 1505 (2nd ed, 1919).djvu/97

Rh cut up this hartebeest. Its flesh moves, its flesh snatches itself out of our hand. If of itself places itself nicely.”

They take up the flesh of the mantis; they say to the child: “Carry the hartebeest's head, that father may put it to roast for you.” The child slung on the hartebeest's head, she called to her sisters: “Taking hold, help me up ; this hartebeest's head is not light.” Her sisters taking hold of her help her up.

They go away, they return (home). The hartebeest's head slips downwards, because the mantis's head wishes to stand on the ground. The child lifts it up (with her shoulders), the hartebeest's head (by turning a little) removes the thong from the hartebeest's eye. The hartebeest's head was whispering, it whispering said to the child: “O child! the thong is standing in front of my eye. Take away for me the thong; the thong is shutting my eye.” The child looked behind her; the mantis winked at the child. The child whimpered; her elder sister looked back at her. Her elder sister called to her: “Come forward quickly ; we return (home).”

The child exclaimed : “This hartebeest's head is able to speak.” Her elder sister scolded her: “Lying come forward; we go. Art thou not coming deceiving (us) about the hartebeest's head?”

The child said to her elder sister: “The hartebeest has winked at me with the hartebeest's eye; the hartebeest desired that I should take away the thong from his eye. Thus it was that the hartebeest's head lay looking behind my back.” The child looked back at the hartebeest's head, the hartebeest opened and shut its eyes. The child said to her elder sister: “The hartebeest's head must be alive, for it is opening and shutting its eyes.”

The child, walking on, unloosened the thong; the child let fall the hartebeest's head. The mantis scolded the child, he complained about his head. He scolded the child: “Oh! oh! my head! Oh! bad little person! hurting me in my head.”

Her sisters let fall the flesh of the mantis. The flesh of the mantis sprang together, it quickly joined itself to the lower part of the mantis's back. The head of the mantis quickly joined (itself) upon the top of the neck of the mantis. The