Week 7 Story: Twin Brothers

Good vs. Evil

(Photo by Wikimedia Commons)

There were twin brothers and their names were Luemba and Mavunga. While physically they were identical their personalities were different. Both brothers were extremely handsome and strong however, Mavunga was loved by many while Luemba kept to himself and wasn’t as talented. Mavunga was ambitious and charming, Leumba was always jealous of his brother.

Word spread that a man by the name of Nzambi had a daughter who was ready for marriage. She was also said to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Mavunga, immediately knew he had to meet this woman so he set out on a journey to win her hand in marriage.

He met Nzambi who explained to him that he is letting his daughter choose who she will marry. He went out to meet her and she immediately saw how handsome Mavunga was. She wanted to marry him and so her father gave them his blessing.

The two were married and Mavunga moved in. He saw paintings on the walls and asked why one was covered up. His new wife told him that the place was dangerous and no one could see it because it was so beautiful that men could not deny it, but no one ever survived.

He saw the painting and knew he had to go. He was confident he would survive. His new wife cried and begged him to stay, but being as ambitious and adventurous as he was, he knew he had to go. He left the next morning, his wife still in tears.

Mavunga set off and found the land that was in the painting. He saw an old woman that asked for his help. She told him to tie his horse up so it doesn’t get lost and he did so and went on to help her. The old woman tried to kill Mavunga and as he tried to get to his horse he couldn’t free the horse in time. The old woman murdered him and his horse.

Word spread that Mavunga had not survived just like the others. Luemba heard of his brother’s death and set off to find his brother’s wife. When he got to the land the wife ran into his arms. She kissed him and told him how much she loved him. She was so happy to see him.

Luemba was about to tell her who he really was, but when he saw the people of the village welcoming him with gifts and celebrating him he changed his mind. The village threw a big party for his return because he was the first person to every survive the journey and come back.  He felt his brother deserved to die because he was warned and chose to go on anyway. He was tired of his brother always being more successful and more loved.

Luemba spent the rest of his life pretending to be his brother Mavunga and no one ever found out the truth. His wife never noticed because she had only known Mavunga for a few days before they got married. Luemba lived happily with his brother’s wife. They had many children.

Authors note: I chose to keep most of it the same. There were twin brothers and one was better than the other and Mavunga went off to marry a beautiful woman. He set off on the journey that killed him. However, in the real tale Leumba goes after Mavunga and finds his bones and Luemba's horse brings his brother back to life. I chose instead to make Leumba, the anti-social/underdog brother more evil and I liked the idea of him resuming his brother's life more entertaining. 

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort. Translated by R.E. Dennett. Source.

Reading Notes: Congo Unit, Part B

Known as a fetish in congo.

(Photo by R. McCoy)

Part B focuses more on animal tales rather than human. For example, the titles “The Antelope and the Leopard, How the Spider Won, The Gazelle and the Leopard, The Rabbit and the Antelope.” These stories personify animals and give them human traits, for example the ability to communicate and even feel certain emotions that their brains wouldn’t allow in real life. Most of the stories end in death and if it does not end in death, someone or something dies eventually. Family relations and values are not present in these tales. Brothers, wives, and sisters turn against each other out of jealousy often. Not many of the characters grieve over blood relatives’ deaths. Greed is also a common theme in these tales.

Big themes in these tales are competition and there is no winner unless the competition is killed. There is also a theme of punishment. These folktales usually end with people getting what they deserve if they break promises or do something wrong. For example, in “How the Fetish Sunga Punished my Great-Uncle’s Twin Brother, Basa.” Basa was a fisher who caught many fish and lied about it. Because he kept lying Sunga took away Basa’s ability to speak so he could lie no more.  He also ordered Basa to leave the town.

“The Rabbit and the Antelope” is also a tale of breaking a promise or a deal. The rabbit and Antelope were once friends, but the antelope figured out the rabbit had been lying and stealing his food. So they parted ways and the antelope banned the rabbit from drinking from his well. He found out that the rabbit had not been listening so he set up a trap with bird-lime (stuff that acts like glue). The rabbit came to the well as usually and got into an altercation with the trap thinking it was an animal. He hit it and got stuck to it but never learned his lesson. So he hit it again, then kicked it, then again, and hit his head on it. He was completely stuck at this point and the antelope approached him. He begged to be free but the antelope had no mercy and ate him.

Sometimes, the competition both loses and an outside party wins. In “The Leopard and the Crocodile,” the leopard and crocodile fight for food. They mainly request a dog from a human after giving them gifts. The leopard and crocodile end up in a fight but they both end up killing each other and dying. The man then takes both the leopard and crocodile for their meat.

There are also tales that explain instances. In “Why the Crocodile does not eat the Hen,” it explains just what the title says. A hen goes to the water everyday to drink and every time the crocodile tries to eat her she throws him off and calls him brother.  He doesn’t like it and and complains to a lizard about it. The lizard calls him and idiot and explains to him that they all lay eggs to have children so in someway, they are all related. Because of this the crocodile felt changed and now the crocodile does not eat hen.

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort. Translated by R.E. Dennett. Source.

Reading Notes, Congo Unit: Part A

Palm tree

(Photo from Dennett) 

The Congo unit consists of many folk tales. Here’s part A:

How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life

A man had three wives, one could dream things, the other could guide and the other could bring back the dead. The man went hunting one day for his wives and was killed by an ox. The dreamer saw this, the guide took them to his body and the last one brought him back to life. He deemed the one that brought him back most important, though most people think he shouldn’t have picked favorites.

How Nsassi Got Married

Two wives of the same husband each had a daughter. Anyone that wanted to marry the daughters had to guess their names. The antelope failed, but the gazelle, Nsassi succeeded with the help of his dog.

The Vanishing Wife

There were two brothers, one had everything and the other nothing. The one with nothing left one day and found space and built himself a home. One day a woman appeared and so did a beautiful house. Her only request was that he go catch fish and cut the heads off because she couldn’t bare to look at them. One day he was too lazy and didn’t and everything disappeared and he went back to being alone.

Another Vanishing Wife

This story was similar to the one before. His wife had specific instructions and he didn’t follow. She told him not to speak of her and when his family asked he was able to resist at first. After a few visits he told them everything and she disappeared. He was too interested in pleasing his family, who were his enemies and betrayed his wife who stood by him.

The Jealous Wife

The elder wife was jealous of the younger wife because her child was smarter. One night when the kids were asleep and the younger wife was out getting food, the elder wife decided to kill the smarter child. She realized the next morning she had killed her own and ran away. The husband returned, hunted her down, found out about the child and killed her as well.

Ngomba’s Balloon

A sister was covered in sores and fell behind from her sisters. She was found by a murderer who cured her and fell in love with her. She tried to escape but couldn’t. Her sister, disguised as a cricket and saved her. The family pretended to thank the murderer and tricked him. He fell into a hole and they poured boiling water on him.

The Wicked Husband

A man killed his own wife by chopping off her limbs. A hunter finds her and takes her to his wife and tells her not to tell anyone. The prince finds out and they hunt down the husband. They have to dry her body by smoking it and they placed the husband in the fire under her.

How Kengi Lost her Child

Two wives were given land from their husband. They got in a fight and so they agreed that whatever was born on the land belonged to them. One wife went to the others to ask for help because she was sick and had a baby. The other wife deemed that the child was hers because it was born on her land. The prince and all the people agreed.

The Twin Brothers

The eldest set out to marry a woman. She fell in love with him immediately. He was then convinced he needed to go to this place but people warned he wouldn’t return. He left any ways and was killed. His younger twin came looking for him. The wife mistook him for her husband and he went looking for his brother. He found his brother’s bones and brought him to life but the eldest brother betrayed him and killed him. The horse brought the younger brother back to then sought his older brother and killed him.

These stories consist of mostly the same characters but difference instances. Sometimes they’re twins, sometimes not. Polygamy is also popular in this tales. Also, animals and humans seem to interact as one.

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort. Translated by R.E. Dennett. Source.