Reading Notes: Stories from Congo, A

Reading Notes:

This week I read through Stories From Congo and found a few stories that I could retell this week. The stories include How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life, and Another Vanishing Wife.

How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life

In the original story of How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life, three wives each had a gift. The gifts were to dream, to guide, and the bring back to life. When the husband was killed hunting the dreamer dreamed of his death, the guide found a way to his body, and the life giver brought him back to life. I feel as though if I were to retell this story I could switch the husband to a woman and perhaps make the women gifted sisters.  The new addition would have the gift of being a skilled huntress. Instead of choosing a best gift, in my version I could put an emphasis on the importance of each gift and how they worked together.

Another Vanishing Wife

In the original story of Another Vanishing Wife a scrawny young man was tired of being put second to his strong older brother and being mistreated by his family. In response to this he ran away and found a magic canoe that led him to  magical tree in which he pulled a leaf off and it turned into a beautiful woman. The woman changed his appearance and awarded him with wealth and love. The man went against her warning and went to show off to his family. When he did this he lost the wife and his wealth. If I were to retell this story I would put an emphasis on the moral of the story; it is not necessary to impress people who do not care for you. It would be interesting to tell this story from the perspective of the man and to describe how he felt like he had something to prove.

(The Magic Canoe, link)

Bibliography

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort, Richard Edward Dennett (1898). Link