South African Legends
Wednesday, 6. September 2006, 11:59:18
I've always been intrigued by legends, myths and tales that have been passed on from generation to generation.
Every country, land and all kinds of people have their own stories to tell.
Sometimes these stories transcend geographical, ethnical and cultural barriers.
Some of these stories have travelled across the globe by explorers who share them by means of word or writing.
These stories are sometimes taken from real events or simply just plain myths.
Still...
We should take pride in these stories and share them with others, so that, they are never forgotten and always remain a part of who we are, what we know and where we come from.
I'd like to share two of my favorite South African Legends.
The first one, Van Hunks and the Devil, I've always found amusing; and the second, The Witch of The Hex River Valley, has always intrigued me.
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~ Van Hunks and the Devil ~
As the story goes Jan van Hunks, a Dutch pirate in the early 18th century, retired from his eventful life at sea to live on the slopes of Devil's Peak, South Africa.
To escape from his wife's sharp tongue he often walked up the mountain where he
settled down to smoke his pipe.
One day a mysterious stranger approached him and asked the retired pirate to borrow some tobacco.
After a bit of bragging, a smoking contest ensued, with the winner's prize a ship full of gold. After several days, Van Hunks finally defeated the stranger, who unfortunately turned out to be the devil.
Suddenly, thunder rolled, the clouds closed in and Van Hunks disappeared, leaving behind only a scorched patch of ground.
Legend has it that the cloud of tobacco smoke they left became the "table-cloth" - the famous white cloud that spills over Table Mountain when the south-easter blows in summer. When that happens, it is said that Van Hunks and the Devil are at it again.
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~The Witch of The Hex River Valley ~
The Hex Valley is surrounded by high mountains. The highest peak is Matroosberg, where, on the lower crags a lovely young woman makes her appearance on certain moonlit nights, crying and wringing her hands. But she has been dead for many long years.
She was Eliza Meiring, daughter of a farmer whose homestead was not far from the foothills where Matroosberg rises from the vineyards. She lived in the middle years of the 19th century.
She had many suitors because she was very beautiful. But she was also a bit spoilt and self-centred.
She fell in love with a young man (some say his name was Frans but no more is known about him). To satisfy her pride she demanded that, to marry her, Frans must first go and pick her a red disa in the kloofs of the Matroosberg.
The disa is a beautiful flower, but unfortunately it grows only in the most inaccessible places: against steep, mossy cliffs in shady ravines and gorges.
So to pick a disa is an almost impossible task without mountaineering equipment, which did not exist in those days.
Frans promised to bring her a red disa, for he loved Eliza with all his heart too.
He went into the Groothoek kloof alone, saw the disas where they glowed in their beauty against a wet and mossy cliff, and tried to reach it. But as he reached for a precious flower he slipped and fell to his death.
When they brought Eliza the news that her lover had fallen to his death with a disa in his hand, she was beside herself with grief and remorse. In fact, she was so overcome because she had caused the death of her only love with her demand that she became mentally ill, and her parents kept her locked in her bedroom to watch over her. She scratched her name on the wooden windowsill: "Eliza. 1868".
But one moonlit night she broke out and escaped. Wearing only her long white nightgown, she went into the foothills and then up the trail Frans had taken.
There, somewhere on a rocky outcrop, she sat down and sobbed. But the outcrop crumbled beneath her and she, too, fell to her death.
Now Eliza still wanders the crags of the Matroosberg when the moon is full: a pale ghost in her long white dress. She is known in Afrikaans as the "Heks van Hexrivier" (witch of the Hex River). A few decades ago the old farmstead was demolished. Eliza's name and the date were still on one of the windowsills.
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The importance of these legends are that we should always try and find the meaning or teaching behind them.
For example, The tale of "Van Hunks and The Devil" reminds us never to brag or we might just find ourselves the victims of our own boastful attitude.
And the legend of "The Witch of the Hex River Valley" warns us that we should never think so much of ourselves that we let worthwile things pass us by. By demanding too much, we might just be the true losers in the end. Our own worth should be counted by how we treat others.
By following this link, you can read some more South African Myths and Legends.
If you have any that you would like to share...
Feel free to leave a comment or a link. I'd love reading it
Every country, land and all kinds of people have their own stories to tell.
Sometimes these stories transcend geographical, ethnical and cultural barriers.
Some of these stories have travelled across the globe by explorers who share them by means of word or writing.
These stories are sometimes taken from real events or simply just plain myths.
Still...
We should take pride in these stories and share them with others, so that, they are never forgotten and always remain a part of who we are, what we know and where we come from.
I'd like to share two of my favorite South African Legends.
The first one, Van Hunks and the Devil, I've always found amusing; and the second, The Witch of The Hex River Valley, has always intrigued me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~ Van Hunks and the Devil ~
As the story goes Jan van Hunks, a Dutch pirate in the early 18th century, retired from his eventful life at sea to live on the slopes of Devil's Peak, South Africa.
To escape from his wife's sharp tongue he often walked up the mountain where he
settled down to smoke his pipe.
One day a mysterious stranger approached him and asked the retired pirate to borrow some tobacco.
After a bit of bragging, a smoking contest ensued, with the winner's prize a ship full of gold. After several days, Van Hunks finally defeated the stranger, who unfortunately turned out to be the devil.
Suddenly, thunder rolled, the clouds closed in and Van Hunks disappeared, leaving behind only a scorched patch of ground.
Legend has it that the cloud of tobacco smoke they left became the "table-cloth" - the famous white cloud that spills over Table Mountain when the south-easter blows in summer. When that happens, it is said that Van Hunks and the Devil are at it again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~The Witch of The Hex River Valley ~
The Hex Valley is surrounded by high mountains. The highest peak is Matroosberg, where, on the lower crags a lovely young woman makes her appearance on certain moonlit nights, crying and wringing her hands. But she has been dead for many long years.
She was Eliza Meiring, daughter of a farmer whose homestead was not far from the foothills where Matroosberg rises from the vineyards. She lived in the middle years of the 19th century.
She had many suitors because she was very beautiful. But she was also a bit spoilt and self-centred.
She fell in love with a young man (some say his name was Frans but no more is known about him). To satisfy her pride she demanded that, to marry her, Frans must first go and pick her a red disa in the kloofs of the Matroosberg.
The disa is a beautiful flower, but unfortunately it grows only in the most inaccessible places: against steep, mossy cliffs in shady ravines and gorges.
So to pick a disa is an almost impossible task without mountaineering equipment, which did not exist in those days.
Frans promised to bring her a red disa, for he loved Eliza with all his heart too.
He went into the Groothoek kloof alone, saw the disas where they glowed in their beauty against a wet and mossy cliff, and tried to reach it. But as he reached for a precious flower he slipped and fell to his death.
When they brought Eliza the news that her lover had fallen to his death with a disa in his hand, she was beside herself with grief and remorse. In fact, she was so overcome because she had caused the death of her only love with her demand that she became mentally ill, and her parents kept her locked in her bedroom to watch over her. She scratched her name on the wooden windowsill: "Eliza. 1868".
But one moonlit night she broke out and escaped. Wearing only her long white nightgown, she went into the foothills and then up the trail Frans had taken.
There, somewhere on a rocky outcrop, she sat down and sobbed. But the outcrop crumbled beneath her and she, too, fell to her death.
Now Eliza still wanders the crags of the Matroosberg when the moon is full: a pale ghost in her long white dress. She is known in Afrikaans as the "Heks van Hexrivier" (witch of the Hex River). A few decades ago the old farmstead was demolished. Eliza's name and the date were still on one of the windowsills.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The importance of these legends are that we should always try and find the meaning or teaching behind them.
For example, The tale of "Van Hunks and The Devil" reminds us never to brag or we might just find ourselves the victims of our own boastful attitude.
And the legend of "The Witch of the Hex River Valley" warns us that we should never think so much of ourselves that we let worthwile things pass us by. By demanding too much, we might just be the true losers in the end. Our own worth should be counted by how we treat others.
By following this link, you can read some more South African Myths and Legends.
If you have any that you would like to share...
Feel free to leave a comment or a link. I'd love reading it
WIDGETIZE