Nama people who told of the Moon and the Hare
storyteller · Namaqualand · before the 19th century
The Nama of Namaqualand, in south-western Africa. The missionary Krönlein took their tales down in Nama, and the linguist Wilhelm Bleek translated them into English and published them in 1864. The tellers are not named.
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before the 19th century · The opening of the tale. The Nama original is not printed in the book. "Hottentot" in the title is what Europeans then called these people; the word is no longer used.
The Moon, it is said, sent once an Insect to Men, saying, “Go thou to Men, and tell them, ‘As I die, and dying live, so ye shall also die, and dying live.’”W. H. I. Bleek, Reynard the Fox in South Africa; or, Hottentot Fables and Tales (1864) · "The Origin of Death" · in place of the original: the English translation by Wilhelm Bleek (1864)
before the 19th century · What the Hare, who ran ahead of the slow Insect, told mankind. The Moon, in anger, struck him on the nose with a piece of wood, and the tale ends: since that day the Hare's nose is slit.
I am sent by the Moon to tell you, ‘As I die, and dying perish, in the same manner ye shall also die and come wholly to an end.’W. H. I. Bleek, Reynard the Fox in South Africa; or, Hottentot Fables and Tales (1864) · "The Origin of Death" · in place of the original: the English translation by Wilhelm Bleek (1864)
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