The story of the Mantis and the Ostrich who talks (|kaggen and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui)
Metadata
Title
The story of the Mantis and the Ostrich who talks (|kaggen and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui)
Collection
Lucy Lloyd |xam notebooks
Contributor
||kabbo (Jantje) (II)
Summary
<i>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) </i>|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<i> The Mantis and !kaken-!kaka-!k'aui (another version)</i>, 4) This story is found in Books II-6 and II-7
Contributions