Mantis

These stories about Mantis come from the San ("Foragers," also called Bushmen) of southern Africa; you can read more about the San peoples at Wikipedia. Unlike Hare, Spider, and Tortoise, this trickster is more deeply connected to ancient mythical traditions, where the trickster is also a supernatural being of great power, especially creative power. Yet even these mythical tricksters can act foolishly, often because of greed. The stories below are about when Mantis acts foolishly because he is greedy. Each story is in two parts: in the first part, Mantis gets into trouble, and in the second part he must seek help from someone who is younger, and also wiser, than he is.

To learn about Mantis in his other mythical roles, you can read Dorothea Bleek's amazing book The Mantis and His Friends online (this book just recently entered the public domain!).

In this first story, Mantis meets a strange man out in the desert, and he will have to turn to his son-in-law, who is called "Rainbow" (Kwammanga), for help.

Mantis and the Mysterious Man

Mantis was once lost in the desert. Then he saw smoke from a fire. He approached. A man was sitting there, roasting meat.

Mantis saw the heap of roasted meat. The meat looked so good! It smelled so good!

Then Mantis noticed something strange: this man had no eyes.

"It will be easy to steal from this man," Mantis thought to himself. He crept up silently and reached for the meat.

"I see you!" shouted the man. He grabbed Mantis and beat him. He broke Mantis's skull!

Mantis put on feathers and flew away home, barely escaping with his life.

The Man's Secret

Mantis told his son-in-law, Rainbow, what had happened. "That man beat me badly!" Mantis complained. "How did he see me when he had no eyes?"

"Stay away from that man!" Rainbow said. "His name is Eyes-on-his-Feet. He has eyes between his big toe and the next toe."

Mantis then went looking for Eyes-on-his-Feet and found him again roasting meat. Mantis crept up silently and threw dust on the man's feet. Now the man couldn't see anything.

"I knew about your eyes last time!" Mantis shouted. "I just wanted to test your strength."

Then Mantis grabbed the meat and ran home.

This story is about Mantis and an animal called proteles, or aardwolf. The aardwolf is a member of the hyena family and lives in southern and eastern Africa. You can read more about the aardwolf at Wikipedia.

Rainbow Visits Mother Aardwolf

"I am going to go see Mother Aardwolf," said Rainbow.

"I'm coming too!" Mantis insisted.

"No," said Rainbow. "You always behave badly. You cannot go."

So Rainbow went to see Mother Aardwolf, but Mantis followed him, hiding in the bushes so that Rainbow would not see him.

He watched Rainbow kindle a fire. Then Rainbow shouted, "Great Mother Aardwolf, please feed me!"

Mother Aardwolf held out a young aardwolf which Rainbow took and roasted on the fire. Then Rainbow put out the fire and packed the meat in a bag to take home to his family.

Mantis saw it all.

Mantis Visits Mother Aardwolf

Mantis wanted to eat an aardwolf too. He waited until Rainbow left, and then Mantis also kindled a fire.

"Mother Aardwolf!" Mantis shouted. "Feed me!"

Mother Aardwolf held out a young aardwolf. Mantis reached out to take it, but then Mother Aardwolf grabbed Mantis and threw him into the fire.

The fire burned Mantis all over. He screamed and flew away, plunging himself into some nearby water to extinguish the flames.

When Mantis got home, Rainbow saw he was burned. "You most show respect for Mother Aardwolf," Rainbow told him. "Now you know how she punishes anyone who is greedy."

In this story, you will see that Mantis hunts with a bow and arrow, along with a carrying-net. He also has a drinking-bush; instead of cups, the San people used brushes made of animal hair that they used for drinking. This time when Mantis gets into trouble, he will get help from his grandson, Mongoose.

Mantis and the Magic Ostrich

Mantis was hunting and saw a big ostrich. He shot an arrow at the bird, but the arrow bounced off. How strange!

Mantis approached the ostrich. "Will you give me an egg?" he asked.

"You may take one egg," she said, showing him her nest.

But Mantis was greedy. He shoved all the eggs into his carrying-net and ran.

Mantis then stopped to eat one of the eggs, but it stuck in his mouth. He grabbed his drinking-brush; it stuck to his hand. His carrying-net stuck to his back. So did his bow and his arrows. Everything stuck to him!

What Mongoose Said

Mantis ran home, and his family laughed.

"You look so funny!" said Mongoose.

Then Mongoose saw the egg in Mantis's mouth, and he saw the eggs in the carrying-net. "This happened because you were greedy!" he said. "Go back to the ostrich and do what she says."

Mantis went back. When he got near the nest, the eggs fell down and rolled into the nest, and then the other things fell off too.

"You may take one egg," said the ostrich. "Share it with your family!"

Mantis did what the ostrich said, and his family feasted on the ostrich egg.

Back to Hare

Back to Tortoise

Back to Spider

Author's Note.

The ogre known as Eyes-on-his-Feet supposedly "roams around the veld and kindles a big fire at night to attract people who have lost their way. Then he fries and eats them" J. T. Hahn wrote in 1901, cited by Schmidt in South African |Xam Bushman Traditions, p. 53.

The "Mother Aardwolf" is a nature guardian; Schmidt notes that there were many of these guardians who presided over natural resources such as animals, plants, and minerals.

Schmidt also cites many other stories of this type where Mantis behaves badly and gets into trouble, and then his son-in-law or his grandson tries to teach him the proper way to behave. She identifies twelve different examples of this story type where Mantis interacts with other animals, birds, insects, and supernatural beings. Over and over again, Mantis is beaten, escapes, and then returns, armed with knowledge that he has gotten from someone who is both younger and wiser than he is, although he often boasts that he really knew everything from the start (as in the first story here). With his bad behavior and boasting, Mantis is a fool but he is not wicked, and he is even rather lovable. Schmidt compares him to a child that has to be educated: "This focus on the childlike side of Mantis in this complex of trickster tales distinguishes Mantis from the other tricksters" (Schmidt, p. 73).

Bibliography.

Schmidt, Sigrid. South African |Xam Bushman Traditions:
3b2 Mantis and Eyes-on-his-Feet. See the version in Mantis and his Friends (where Bleek calls the ogre "Will-o-the-Wisp").
3b7 Mantis and Mother Proteles. See also the version in Mantis and his Friends.
3b8 Mantis and the Magic Bird. See also the version in Mantis and his Friends.

Banner image from Pixabay.
Kalahari desert by Charles Sharp.
Rainbow in Namibia by Mara.
Aardwolf by Spencer Wright.
Mantis from Pixnio.
Ostrich by Clive Reid.
Mongoose from Pixabay.

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