Why the Hare Has a Split Lip (The Hare and the Moon's Message)
Sesotho folktale · ditšomo
Kwesukasukela... In the beginning the Moon wished to send a message of comfort to humankind. She chose the Hare as her messenger and told him: 'Go to the people and say that as I, the Moon, die and rise again, so shall they die and be reborn; death shall not be the end.' The Hare ran off, but being foolish and forgetful, he muddled the words. He told the people instead: 'As the Moon dies and does not return in the same body, so shall you die and not rise again.' When the Hare returned and reported what he had said, the Moon was furious that he had reversed her gift of hope into a sentence of final death. In her anger she struck the Hare across the mouth, splitting his lip; and the Hare, in turn, scratched the Moon's face, which is why dark marks can still be seen upon her. Because of the Hare's blundered message, the tale says, human beings die and do not return as the Moon does. This origin tale, shared widely across southern Africa, explains the Hare's cleft lip, the shadows on the Moon, and the coming of death. Cosu cosu iyaphela.
The lesson: A careless messenger can turn a blessing into a curse; words must be carried faithfully, for they shape destiny.