Unit: Stories from Congo. These stories are from Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by R. E. Dennett.
-"fetishes" (in these stories) are both supernatural spirits and also the power of those spirits embodied in a physical object of some kind.
-many themes in these stories: human drama and family conflict (rivalry among wives or brothers), as well as animal stories
-Nzambi Mpungu is the supreme god
(For these readings, I want to focus on the most important points in each story)
Congo: How the Wives Restored Their Husband To Life
-A man was killed by an ox while hunting for food to feed his three wives
-One wife dreamed that her husband was killed, the second led the wives to his body, and the last obtained the herbs to bring him back to life.
-The wives were jealous and each prepared a meal for their husband to eat once he woke so that he would choose only one of them
-He chose one wife, but many others believed that he should have mixed the ingredients for his meals (thus meaning that he would choose all three women instead of just one)
How Gazelle Got Married
-Nenpetro had 2 wives, and when the wives both had one daughter, they determined not to take a gift from anyone in exchange for their daughters' hands in marriage
-For someone to marry the daughters (Lunga and Lenga), he would have to guess the daughters' names correctly.
-Once the prince and his dog were able to remember and call out the names, the antelope got angry and fought the prince. The prince killed the antelope and then ate it
-The marriage story ended so abruptly - a good idea for the ending of a story
Democratic Republic Congo, Africa. Web source
-"fetishes" (in these stories) are both supernatural spirits and also the power of those spirits embodied in a physical object of some kind.
-many themes in these stories: human drama and family conflict (rivalry among wives or brothers), as well as animal stories
-Nzambi Mpungu is the supreme god
(For these readings, I want to focus on the most important points in each story)
Congo: How the Wives Restored Their Husband To Life
-A man was killed by an ox while hunting for food to feed his three wives
-One wife dreamed that her husband was killed, the second led the wives to his body, and the last obtained the herbs to bring him back to life.
-The wives were jealous and each prepared a meal for their husband to eat once he woke so that he would choose only one of them
-He chose one wife, but many others believed that he should have mixed the ingredients for his meals (thus meaning that he would choose all three women instead of just one)
How Gazelle Got Married
-Nenpetro had 2 wives, and when the wives both had one daughter, they determined not to take a gift from anyone in exchange for their daughters' hands in marriage
-For someone to marry the daughters (Lunga and Lenga), he would have to guess the daughters' names correctly.
-Once the prince and his dog were able to remember and call out the names, the antelope got angry and fought the prince. The prince killed the antelope and then ate it
-The marriage story ended so abruptly - a good idea for the ending of a story
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