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Specimens of Bushman Folklore, by W.H.I. Bleek and L.C. Lloyd, [1911], at sacred-texts.com


THE SONG OF THE BUSTARD.

My younger brother-in-law,
Put my head in the fire.[1]
My younger brother-in-law,
My younger brother-in-law,
Put my head in the fire.

When we startle it up, it flies away; it (cries): "Wara ||khau, wara ||khau, wara ||khau, ||khau ||khau, ||khau, wara ||khau, wara ||khau, wara ||khau, ||khau ||khau, ||khau!"

When it stands on the ground, it says: "A wa,a wa, a wa, a wa!" when it stands on the ground.

[1. When the "Knorhaan Brandkop" was still a man, his head was thrust into the fire by his brother-in-law, in order to punish him for having surreptitiously married a sister. Since then he is only a bustard.]

 


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