Notebooks
Story: The Mantis and the Great Tortoise
Title
The Mantis and the Great Tortoise
Collection
Summary
|kaggen (the Mantis) strokes the neck of the Great Tortoise and she pulls her head into her neck hole, so his arms get stuck and decay. |kaggen tells a lizard (the !khauw) to rub the Great Tortoise's neck and the Great Tortoise pulls her head in again (story continues largely untranslated). |kaggen flies into the water (as a vulture) where the water washes off his 'arms' feathers' and he becomes a man again and returns home (see 859v) where he is counselled by the Ichneumon. Thereafter is an account of how he dreams and gets 'understanding's thoughts' and becomes an 'understanding's person'. ... a story describing how the Mantis is tricked by the Great Tortoise (L II.-5. 565-624, 8. 811-882). This is followed by a discourse upon the degrees of understanding possessed by various animals (L II.-8. 822-892).
Comments
1) Dates on p.572: 11 October; p.811: 15 November; p.870: 20 November, 2) p.598v: |kaggen is stupid on his one side but clever on his other (the Dutch word schelm is used), 3) p.815v: a red poison, 4) p.816v: |kaggen's stealing of another man's things, 5) p.859v: the |xam and Dutch names for the korhaan and vulture, 6) p.862v: notes on the 'angry man' and the 'bow man' (|kaggen) who cannot deceive others and who then gets thoughts in his dreams, 7) p.863v: snakes and the mouse eaten by this person (the 'angry' or 'bow' man, or |kaggen), 8) p.864v: an animal that makes its house from bushes and whose back hair and front teeth are like the dassie's; types of mice and snakes, 9) p.865v: the place in the throat where thoughts are found, 10) p.868v: the person who does not 'understand' or 'get thoughts' (|kaggen); the |ni (the Ichneumon) does 'understand' a lot, 11) This story is found in Books II-5 and II-8
Contributors
Date
October – November 1871
Categories
Keywords
|kaggen (the Mantis) , |kaggen (his arm's feathers) , |kaggen (goes in water) , |kaggen (is a vulture) , |kaggen (is a man) , |kaggen (old man) , |kaggen (his arms decay) , |kaggen (lies) , |kaggen (steals things) , |kaggen (is stupid) , |kaggen (dreams) , |kaggen (understands) , |kaggen (gets 'understanding's thoughts') , |kaggen (deceives) , |kaggen (and Lizard) , |kaggen (and Great Tortoise) , |kaggen (tricked by Tortoise) , |kaggen (and !khauw) , |kaggen (is trapped in Tortoise's shell) , |kaggen (his things) , |kaggen (his things cannot speak) , things (|kaggen's) , things ('hartebeest children') , things (and |kaggen and Great Tortoise) , Hartebeest children (|kaggen's things) , Hartebeest children (and |kaggen and Great Tortoise) , Tortoise (Great) , Tortoise (old woman) , Tortoise (deceives) , Tortoise (is great) , Tortoise (feigns illness) , Tortoise (bleeds) , Tortoise (tricks |kaggen) , Tortoise (and Lizard) , Lizard (!khauw) , Lizard (!khau) , Lizard (deceived by |kaggen) , Lizard (and |kaggen and Great Tortoise) , Ichneumon (|ni) , Ichneumon (counsels |kaggen) , Ichneumon (and |kaggen and Great Tortoise) , bow man (and |kaggen and Great Tortoise) , angry man (and |kaggen and Great Tortoise) , thoughts (dreams) , thoughts (|kaggen gets 'understanding's') , thoughts (and |kaggen and Great Tortoise) , feathers (|kaggen's arm's feathers) , feathers (and |kaggen and Great Tortoise) , understanding (–'s thoughts) , understanding (–'s person) , understanding (and |kaggen's dream) , dream (|kaggen's) , dream (and |kaggen and Great Tortoise)
Story Pages
565-624, 811-882
