Notebooks

Story: Day's Heart

Title

Day's Heart

Collection

Summary

The “Dawn’s Heart” (the star Jupiter) has a daughter, who is identified with some neighbouring star preceding Jupiter (at the time when we asked, it was Regulus or Alpha Leonis). Her name is the “Dawn’s–Heart–child,” and her relation to her father is somewhat mysterious. He calls her “my heart,” he swallows her, then walks alone as the only Dawn’s–Heart Star, and, when she is grown up, he spits her out again. She then herself becomes another (female) Dawn’s–Heart, and spits out another Dawn’s–Heart–child, which follows the male and female Dawn’s Heart. The mother of the latter, the first–mentioned Dawn’s–Heart’s wife, was the Lynx, who was then a beautiful woman, with a younger sister who carried her digging–stick after her. The Dawn’s–Heart hid his child under the leaves of an edible root (!küissi), where he thought that his wife would come and find it. Other animals and the birds arrived first, and each proposed herself to the Dawn’s-Heart-child as its mother; but they were mocked at by the child, until at last it recognized its own mother. Among the insulted animals were the Jackal and the Hyena, who, to revenge themselves, bewitched the mother (Lynx) with some poisoned “Bushman rice” (so–called “ants’ eggs), by which means she was transformed into a lioness. In the dark, the Hyena tried to take her (the Lynx’s) place in the hut, on the return of the Dawn’s–Heart; but the imposture was made known to him by his sister–in–law. The Dawn’s–Heart tried to stab the Hyena with his assegai, but missed her. She fled, putting her foot into the fire, and burning it severely. The bewitched wife was enticed out of the reeds by her younger sister, and then caught by her brothers, who pulled off the lion skin, so that she became a fair woman again. But in consequence of having been bewitched by “Bushman rice”, she could no longer eat that, and was changed into a lynx who ate meat. This myth, which contains many minor, and some beautiful incidents, is partly given in the form of a narrative, and partly in discourses addressed by the Dawn’s–Heart to his daughter, as well as in speeches made by the Hyena and her parents, after her flight home...In [this] piece, a longer narrative (of about 72 columns) is followed by very long conversations between the fugitive hyena and the burnt foot, and her mother and father, in which the mother hyena gives good advice respecting suitable marriages; and in which other things of interest to hyenas are discussed. (B V. 645–676, VI. 680–749, VII. 751–822, VIII. 823–894, IX. 895–920, 931–964, X.965–997)

Comments

1) This story takes the form of long conversations: see Conversation of the Hyenas (pp.751-822), 2) |han≠kass'o takes over the story in Book 10 (X), 3) p.792v: the |xam word 'kkumm' means a story or a tale, 4) p.814v: the |xam word for a lunar rainbow (a phenomenon caused by dust), 5) p.821v: notes on the krieboom from which bows are made, and on a watering hole, 6) p.832v: notes on the hunting-ground and the Brinkkop region, 7) p.846v: notes on the Brinkop dialect spoken by the |xam, 8) p.908v: the names of |xam 'who went with Mr Anthing to Cape [illegible] in 1863 (?)'. Details about the men are given and the names, given in |xam and Dutch, include 'Haard Klaas' and 'Isaac Bastard', 9) p.958v: a note about moths that burn themselves in the people's fires and foretell the killing of springbok the following day; about the method of cooking springbok flesh in a pot on the fire and the pouring in of water, 10) p.965v: there is a note by 'KJ' or |han≠kass'o dated 20 October 1879, 11) p.975v: a |xam word meaning a man who is a coward, or a poor shot (a bad hunter), 12) See also The Day's Heart star and More about the Day's Heart star: what he says to his daughter and The story of !ko'-g !nuin-tara or !ko'-g !nuin-tara and the Day's Heart star (in Lloyd's notebooks), 13) This story is found in Book V, Book VI, Book VII, Book VIII, Book IX and Book X