Notebooks
Story: Stars and death
Title
Stars and death
Collection
Summary
Death. The stars know the time at which a Bushman dies, and the fall of one announces, to those who are not aware of it, that something bad has happened. When, after this, a 'Hammerkop' (Scopus umbretta), flies, calling out over the Bushmen, the people know that someone belonging to them has died. Girls who have been killed by lightning are changed into stars. Girls who have been taken away by the water become like a beautiful water–flower, which will not allow itself to be plucked, and disappears when approached. Such flowers must be let alone. The place in the sky in which lightning appears should be looked at, so that the lightning may not kill us by stealth. In the Katkop dialect, by Díä!kwãin (L V.-22. 5776-5809).
Comments
1) p.5776v: when a person dies the heart falls over like something which has been standing upright that then falls to one side, 2) p.5779v: the Hamerkop, called by Dutch farmers the Hammer-bir-kop, Latin name Scopus umbretta, |xam name !hin; the |xam name for its cry, which it repeats twice, 3) pp.5794v & 5795v: what Dia!kwain's mother's (≠kamme-an) mother (|abbe-ttu) told her about the flowers growing at the water's edge, 4) See also Falling stars, 5) This story is found in Book V-22
Contributors
Date
2 – 3 January 1876
Categories
Custom and daily life, The Rain and Rain's water, New maidens, Plants and animals, Portention
Keywords
stars (falling) , stars (and death) , stars (and new maidens) , stars (new maidens become) , stars (and falling hearts) , stars (falling stars foretell death) , stars (live in water) , stars (and the rain) , stars (live in the water) , stars (know the time of people's deaths) , stars (tell news of death) , stars (resemble falling hearts) , stars (tell of evil) , stars (tell what happens at another place) , stars (bring bad news) , stars (and the actions of the Hamerkop bird) , Hamerkop bird (and death) , Hamerkop bird (and stars and death) , Hamerkop bird (Scopus umbretta) , Hamerkop bird (and the actions of the stars) , Hamerkop bird (what it means to hear it) , Hamerkop bird (sees the dead in the water) , Hamerkop bird (foretells death) , Hamerkop bird (takes stories to people) , Hamerkop bird (takes stories into the water) , Hamerkop bird (its names) , Hamerkop bird (brings news of death) , Hamerkop bird (its cry) , Hamerkop bird (what people say about) , Hamerkop bird (and falling stars) , Hamerkop bird (tells the truth) , Hamerkop bird (knows things) , Hamerkop bird (is water's thing) , Hamerkop bird (lives at the water) , hearts (fall at death) , hearts (and falling stars) , hearts (and stars and death) , hearts (stars resemble falling) , falling stars (and death) , falling stars (falling hearts resemble) , rain (and stars and death) , rain (smells people's scent) , rain (the place where it 'lightens' and kills) , rain (its stones) , rain (protecting against) , rain (is frightening) , rain (its actions when angry) , rain (respecting and fearing) , rain (and new maidens) , rain (carries off girls) , rain (transforms maidens into flowers and stars) , rain (and flowers) , rain (and stars) , rain (and thunder and lightning) , rain (respects a person's 'eye') , new maidens (and stars and death) , new maidens (are Water's wives) , new maidens (prohibitions regarding) , new maidens (and the rain) , new maidens (killed by lightning) , new maidens (are transformed by the rain) , new maidens (become flowers) , new maidens (become stars) , new maidens (grow at the water's edge) , new maidens (stand in water) , new maidens (and the actions of the angry rain) , new maidens (are carried away by the rain) , new maidens (must fear the rain) , flowers (and stars and death) , flowers (water-) , flowers (are girls the rain has taken away) , flowers (maidens become) , flowers (and new maidens) , flowers (must be left alone) , flowers (prohibitions regarding) , transformation (of maidens into flowers at the water) , transformation (by the rain) , transformation (and stars and death) , transformation (of maidens into stars) , death (and stars) , death (and falling stars) , death (and flowers) , death (of new maidens) , death (foretelling) , death (Hamerkop tells news of) , death (can be seen in water) , death (presentiments of) , death (and falling hearts) , death (things that foretell) , water (and stars and death) , water (seeing the dead in) , water (the dead man walks passing) , water (things in the sky also live in) , water (seeing the stars in) , water (we see all things in) , water (and foretelling things) , water (stories go into) , water (stars stand in) , water (of the Orange River) , water (and the Hamerkop bird) , water (and the rain) , water (and the new maidens transformed into flowers) , water (the flowers that grow at) , water (knows things) , bird (called the Hamerkop tells news of death) , bird (the Hamerkop or Scopus umbretta) , bird (and stars and death) , foretell (the Hamerkop tells news of death) , foretell (death can be seen in water) , foretell (and stars and death) , foretell (water knows things) , name (of a bird which foretells death: the Hamerkop) , name (and stars and death) , name (of flowers that grow at water) , respect (for the rain) , respect (and stars and death) , lightning (maidens killed by transformed into flowers) , lightning (and stars and death) , lightning (the place where the rain 'lightens' and kills)
Story Pages
5776-5809
