Notebooks
Story: The story of the Mantis and the Ostrich who talks (|kaggen and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui)
Title
The story of the Mantis and the Ostrich who talks (|kaggen and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui)
Collection
Summary
The account of the Mantis when he takes away the eggs of a certain fabulous bird, named !káken!káka káuï, is very curious. This bird has the power of making one of its eggs (and also the brush-spoon with which the egg is eaten) adhere, in the most comical manner, to the mouth of the Mantis, as well as the whole load of eggs to his back, whence they cannot be removed until all the eggs are humbly carried back by the robber to the magic bird’s nest. Of this story we have two versions, a shorter one (L II.-6. 677-715, 7. 716-737), the end of which (where the Mantis brings home real ostrich eggs) is prolonged into an account of 'Ostriches and Bushmen', and a longer one, which //kábbo had from his mother, !kwí-añ; and which includes another discourse from the Ichneumon (L II.-22. 1965-2042, 23. 2043-2134, 24. 2135-2212) |kaggen (the Mantis) shoots at an Ostrich sitting on its eggs, but the arrow comes back to him. The Ostrich tells |kaggen to take an egg from the outside of the nest, but |kaggen takes all of them and they stick to him. |kaggen shakes off the eggs that are stuck to him and drinks the little outside egg and then goes to the real ostrich, who runs away. He takes its eggs and the Ichneumon tells many things about the hunting of real ostriches.
Comments
1) p.677v: the Ostrich who talks like a person (!kaken-!kaka-!k'aui), 2) p.689v: the location of the thinking strings in the front of the throat on two sides; another name for the Ostrich of the story; names for parts of the throat, 3) See also The Mantis and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui (another version), 4) This story is found in Books II-6 and II-7
Contributors
Date
23-27 October 1871
Categories
Keywords
|kaggen (the Mantis) , |kaggen (his 'thinking strings') , |kaggen (dreams) , |kaggen (and Ostrich who talks or !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui) , |kaggen (and real ostrich) , |kaggen (his arrow misses) , |kaggen (advised by Ichneumon) , |kaggen (hunts ostrich) , |kaggen (and ostrich eggs) , |kaggen (eggs stick to him) , Ichneumon (discourse of) , Ichneumon (|ni) , Ichneumon (advises |kaggen) , Ichneumon (tells |kaggen about hunting real ostriches) , Ichneumon (and |kaggen and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui) , dreams (|kaggen's) , dreams (|kaggen and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui) , arrow (|kaggen's comes back at him) , Ostrich (who is different) , Ostrich (and real ostriches) , Ostrich (!kaken-!kaka-!k'aui) , Ostrich (|kaggen and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui) , Ostrich (its eggs) , Ostrich (who is magic) , Ostrich (who talks) , ostrich eggs (methods of drinking) , ostrich eggs (hunting for) , ostrich eggs (stick to |kaggen) , ostrich eggs (implements for drinking) , hunting (real ostriches) , food (finding and drinking ostrich eggs) , food (and |kaggen and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui) , hunting (real ostrich) , hunting (what Ichneumon tells |kaggen about ostriches) , hunting (|kaggen and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui)
Story Pages
677-715, 716-737
