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The Beeswax-Born Daughter, a MythSource painting
Bwile

The Beeswax-Born Daughter

01Identity

The Beeswax-Born Daughter in Bwile tradition

This editorial label identifies the girl in Timothy Kachela’s Bwile Storytelling 5; the performance gives her no personal name. A woman who has not conceived goes to people gathering honey, asks for beeswax, and stores it in an empty clay pot. A girl appears from the wax. The woman raises her, and when the daughter reaches maturity a suitor seeks her hand. The mother first says the girl should remain with her, then later agrees to the marriage.

The mother’s condition is that the husband, not the new wife, open and close the door. She also brings warm water for him to bathe each morning. One morning, the husband pretends to sleep and the girl touches the door herself. She gradually melts into a puddle, and her husband runs away as her mother approaches with a stick.

SourceStorytelling in Northern Zambia (Robert Cancel, 2013): Chapter VI, Bwile Storytelling 5, told by Timothy Kachela, pp. 229–231

  • Girl born from beeswax in one recorded Bwile tale; no personal name is given in the source. (Storytelling in Northern Zambia (Robert Cancel, 2013))
Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of The Beeswax-Born Daughter

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

The Beeswax-Born Daughter and the Forbidden Door

In Timothy Kachela’s Bwile Storytelling 5, a woman who has not conceived asks people gathering honey for beeswax. She carries it home and puts it in an empty clay pot. One day she looks inside and finds a girl who has emerged from the wax. The woman raises the child, who grows up and attracts a suitor. Though the mother at first says her daughter should stay with her, she later accepts the marriage arrangement and bride price.

The mother tells the groom that he must open and close the door; his wife must not touch it. Each morning, the mother also brings warm water for her son-in-law to bathe. One day, when she knocks, the husband pretends to remain asleep. The girl answers and tries to go to her mother. She touches the door and begins to melt, gradually disappearing into a puddle of wax. Her mother approaches with a stick, but the husband runs away. The recorded tale ends with the girl gone and the mother left behind.

The Beeswax-Born Daughter and the Forbidden Door, a MythSource painting of the scene

4 sources· checked 2026-10-02

  1. 1Storytelling in Northern Zambia (Robert Cancel, 2013)T1
  2. 2Storytelling in Northern Zambia (Robert Cancel, 2013)T1
  3. 3Storytelling in Northern Zambia (Robert Cancel, 2013)T1
  4. 4Storytelling in Northern Zambia (Robert Cancel, 2013)T1