4.3 Traditional Sotho intertexts in MSP
4.3.1 Rites of Passage and Other Rituals
4.3.1.3 Burial Rites
Every society has its own traditional beliefs and practices as well as perceptions regarding the issue of death. The Basotho are no exception. Among the Sotho, death is very much feared and the dead are treated with the utmost respect. Echoing these sentiments, Matsela (1990: 90) observes that:
25 Ho thethesa bohali – negotiations between the bride’s and groom’s families over the lobola.
26 Selelekela - two heads of cattle, male and female, which are driven ahead of the rest of the bohali cattle to be presented to the father and mother of the bride. The male one is called seholoholo (lower back) and the female one letsoele (breast) [Segoete, 1987:53).
27 Ho khaoha ha bohali – the final moment of the bohali negotiations when the two sides, the boy and the girl’s, come to an agreement regarding the number of lobola cattle.
28 Setsiba – ten sheep that accompany the bohali herds of cattle referred to as the bride’s father’s tšea (short drawers).
168 | P a g e Basotho ba entse maele a mangata malebana le ketsahalo ena ea qetello ea bophelo ba batho, e le bopaki kapa tholoana ea boinahano ba bona ka ketsahalo ena e sitang kutloisiso ea motho, e tšosang ‘me e ferekanyang bao e ba ammeng.
‘Basotho have composed numerous proverbs about this final moment in human life as evidence or a consequence of their perception on this event that is not only beyond human understanding but also scary and mystifying to those affected by it’.
This is one of the many proverbs that can be cited in this regard “Lefu ha le na morena, ha le mo tsebe” ‘Death has no respect for a king, it does not know him’
interpreted as “In death we are all equal, death is the leveller,” (Mokitimi, 1997: 3).
It is against the above understanding that Basotho perform certain rites and rituals during and after losing one of their own through death. One of the rituals is “ho tšela mobu29”, originating from what Matšela (1990: 98) describes when he proposes thus:
“Eka ke mosoang oa eona [khomo ea mohoha30] oo ho neng ho pharoa lebitla ka oona ‘me ha o akheloa joalo ke bohle bang-ka-mofu ho thoe: ‘U re roballe’” ‘It is said that with the chyme of the slaughtered beast the relatives of the deceased would besmear the grave saying: “Have eternal sleep.”’ This, as the final words imply, was a way of saying farewell to the deceased and wishing him / her eternal sleep. The same rite is performed by those whom for various reasons, did not get a chance of
“ho tsela mobu”. However, this time they visit the grave yard either in the morning or afternoon accompanied by an elderly person. On their way to their relative’s resting place, each one of them picks a small stone. Upon arrival, they spit a little saliva on their stones and all at once place them on the grave repeating the same words as above. This is called ho beha lejoe and the purpose is the same.
In manifesting the reciprocal relationship between the text which is MSP in this case, and the precursor texts, as Miller (1979:225) describes them, which are the traditional beliefs and practices, section 3 in Bereng (1931:5–25) titled Lithothokiso
29 Ho tšela mobu – the practice of throwing pinches of soil into the grave by members of the family of the deceased, starting with the most senior in terms of families within the clan; after the deceased has been lowered into the grave and saying “U re roballe” (have eternal rest) as a sign of farewell to the deceased.
30 Mohoha - beast slaughtered for the burial of the deceased, usually a male cow if the deceased is a female and vise versa.
169 | P a g e tsa lefu la Morena Moshoeshoe ‘Elegies on King Moshoeshoe’ and the poem titled Lesotho in Khaketla (1985: 59) evoke the practice of ho tšela mobu performed in two different occasions under different circumstances.
In section 3, it is at the burial of King Moshoeshoe and as a custom, the ritual of ho tšela mobu has to be performed after the body has been placed into the grave. The custom requires that the eldest male person in terms of seniority in the Bakoena clan and Moshaoeshoe’s family respectively be the first ho tšela mobu. However, in King Moshoeshoe’s case, in order to show Moshoeshoe’s social and political status as not only a great King, brave warrior and diplomat, the poem interrogates the issue of who should lead the ho tšela mobu ritual between his eldest son Mohato, King Chaka, King Sekonyela and Basotho nation. This is illustrated in these lines.
276. Role la sethatho le akheloa ke mang?
277. Le akheloa ke Mohato,
………
380. Che e seng ho Thesele.
………
386. H’a shoela bara.
387. O shoetse sechaba.
………
399. Role la sethatho le akheloa ke Chaka;
………
415. Role la sethatho le akheloa ke Sekonyela. (Bereng, 1931: 15 – 16).
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276. Who throws in the first dust?
277. It is Mohato,
………
380. No, not with Thesele.
………
386. He died not for his sons.
387. He died for the nation.
………
399. The first dust is thrown by Chaka;
………..
414. The first dust is thrown by Sekonyela.
The deviation in the ho tšela mobu ritual, as expressed in these lines, is not meant to dilute the cultural tradition but to portray and drive home the point of Moshoeshoe’s greatness, the greatness that spills way over the family and national boundaries.
Consequently, as lines 386, 399 and 415 suggest, neither his family alone nor the nation mourn his death but even great kings like Chaka and Sekonyela who were known to be his great adversaries mourn the loss. Lines 372 – 378 state that it is
170 | P a g e through the never forgotten ones, those through whom Moshoeshoe did great things, and so achieved greatness who can burry him by being the first in the ho tšela mobu ritual.
The second face of ho tšela mobu comes through what is called ho beha lejoe as explained above. Aligning itself with Miller’s view in Bloom (1986:225) on intertextuality, the poem entitled Lesotho in Khaketla (1985: 59) has inhabited itself with a chain of parasitical presence, echoing and making allusions to and feeding upon the quest which is this old traditional practice of ho phara lebitla ka mosoang.
In the subsequent lines Moshoeshoe is described performing the ritual on a live grave of the cannibals of Rakotsoane who ate his grand father Peete:
49. Lepoqo ke thapisi oa thapisa.
50. O thapisitse bitla la rr’ae-moholo; (Khaketla, 1985: 59) ______________________________
49. Lepoqo is a rehabilitator he rehabilitates, 50. He has rehabilitated his grandfather’s grave;
This example is a special case for three reasons. Firstly, the ritual in question is being performed on human beings who in this case are regarded as Peete’s grave.
Secondly, it is also the act of rehabilitation and cleansing as it is said that Lepoqo is a rehabilitator because he has rehabilitated his grandfather’s grave. Thirdly, it is based on a historical event involving King Moshoeshoe, his grandfather Peete and the cannibals who killed and ate him “on the occasion of the retreat of the Bamokoteli from Botha-Buthe in 1824” (Ellenberger, 1912: 227).
Ellenberger (ibid) has it that after Rakotsoane and his cannibals had been summoned to appear at Thaba-Bosiu, Mokhachane and others demanded that they be killed. But Moshoeshoe was of a different mind, for in his observation, killing the cannibals would be tantamount to recalling Peete from his grave. On the other hand, killing Rakotsoane and his cannibals would be demolishing his grandfather’s grave and so dishonouring a sacred place, the grave or the graveyard that is given very high respect in the Sotho culture. It is against this background, therefore, as Ellenberger (1912: 227) states, to Moshoeshoe’s mind, the better plan was “to rub
171 | P a g e the purification offal over them all since to all intents and purpose they were the tomb of the departed.”
As Ellenberger (1912: 228) states, Moshoeshoe’s view over the matter prevailed and as per his orders the following morning an ox was slaughtered and the cannibals who were treated as a grave had their stomachs smeared with mosoang (chyme) while at the same time saying “U re roballe” ‘Have eternal sleep’. This is what the lines cited above allude to as a pre-text from which MSP, as parasite, has drawn for its literary survival.