Snapshots of a Wedding is one of a collection of stories by Bessie Head about life in Botswana. This story, set in a tiny tribal village, begins at dawn and ends later the same day. An impartial narrator describes the heat rising in shimmering vertical waves from the arid plain. Semi-nomads, whose herds of precious cattle mow the grass low and dust the nearby mud-and-dung huts with a sandy mix, inhabit the isolated area. Among the few villagers stirring at this hour are four relatives of Kegoletile, the bridegroom.

The four relatives herd an ox into the yard of MmaKhudu, where the bride, Neo, lives. The ox will provide meat for the evening's wedding feast, and women in the yard, who ululate and perform a wedding dance, greet the animal's arrival. Although these age-old rituals seem to indicate a respect for tradition, one of the...