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| Cassava Tree Root |
How The Wives Restored Their Husband To Life
Interestingly it is the final paragraph of outsiders who contribute their wisdom to the story and perhaps provide the best answer to the problem presented. In this story a husband has three insatiably hungry wives. After the husband is killed following his killing an ox, the Dreamer wife dreams about the husband, the Guide wife guides the three wives to find him, and the Raiser of the Dead wife raises the husband from the dead. While arguing whose shimbec he would enter first, the wives decide to cook three meals and see which meal the husband chooses first. Two wives cook a dish with foul and the third cooks with pig. The husband chose the pig pot exclaiming that the first wife just dreamt that he was dead and did not give him food because he wasn’t found. The second wife showed the path to find him, but he was unfit to eat. The third gave him life and he was then able to eat the pig she made him. Many people agreed with his decision. However, women said that he should have poured all the pots together and eaten the food mixed. I agree, it took all wives to contribute to his being reborn.
How Gazelle Got Married
A silly tale of the two daughters from the two wives of Nenpetro. Nenpetro and his wives decided to be nontraditional and give their daughters in marriage to the one that could find out their names. The first suitor was the antelope and he was not able to know their names. Next was Nsassi, a prince from a neighboring town. His dog was the star of this tale and after overhearing Nenpetro say his name, he attempted to return to Nsassi and tell him. However, the dog had a horrible memory and finally gets to Nsassi and is paid with a pig. Nsassi says the names and then take the girls in marriage. He fights antelope and eventually kills and eats him.
The Jealous Wife
Indeed this is a very cruel and sad story. Two wives of the same husband each had a child. The Elder wife was jealous of the Younger wife’s brighter child. When the husband left for six months to trade, the two women tended to the home. The elder wife caught fish while the younger wife watched the children. Later they traded duties for the two day affair. The elder wife took advantage of the younger wife’s departure and at night killed the child. At daybreak the elder wife realized that she had killed her own son. She took the body and ran into the forest. She was found shaking and nursing the dead child. Believing that she was too ill for recovery, she was given casca and died.
The Wicked Husband
The stories in this unit are the most graphic in terms of death so far. After an argument with his wife about her using all the palm nuts, he drags her into the jungle and cuts off her arms and legs. She sings a song about wishing she had not married him. A hunter finds the wife singing and eventually the Prince finds out. The wife is brought back to the town and dies at arrival. Her body is placed on the grill to smoke (not certain if this is for eating or burial) and the husband's body is place as fuel under hers.
How Kengi Lost Her Child
A tongue in cheek tale about two wives. One was a portion of land and the other cultivates another portion. When one woman took beans from the other’s plantation, the wife became angry and the two came to an agreement that whatever was born on a plantation would be that plantation owners and the same was true for the other plantation. Well when the wife, who had made the rule came, uninvited to the others land, she had a baby. According to the rules, the wife who owned the plantation where the baby was born would be the baby’s owner. The prince and his men agreed.
The Younger Brother Who Knew More Than The Elder
Two brothers never got along for the younger thought he was smarter than the elder. The younger and his wife left the town in frustration and found a new town with a few huts to live. The man in charge of the town had the younger brother help him dig a hole in which to catch wild game for food. The man asked the younger brother rather he wanted the males or the females. The younger brother chose the males and from then on all the males caught in the trap were his. Luck was on his side and he accumulated lots of meat of which he chose to share none of it with the others. One night the younger brother’s wife was missing. When morning came she was discovered in the hole. The elder brother happened to be hunting in the area and heard the commotion. He heard the arguments of the men and said that the wife was a female and was therefore the man’s to have. The man jumped in the hole to kill the wife and then the younger brother figured out the elder brother’s wisdom and when he declared that the man in the hole was a male. The younger brother jumped in the hole and killed the man and the elder brother, younger brother and his wife left.
Bibliography: Stories from the Congo, Dennett, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/myth-folklore-unit-stories-from-congo.html
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