Myth and Folklore

Revenge of the Sandfly (A Prolouge to  How Nzambi Won and Lost Her Daughter) Nzambi, the Divine Mother, dwells on Earth with her daughter while Nzambi Mpungu - a supreme diety, a creator god - sits in the heavens.  It was a warm day when Nzambi awoke to unusual silence.  Her ears strained for the sound of her child's laughter, but she did not hear the joyful noise.  Startled, Nzambi strode into wakefulness and looked around.  There was a mess about their den and the dirt was peppered with unfamiliar prints.  Breathing deep, Nzambi called to the spirits of the Earth to guide her to the lost child. Along the way, Nzambi stumbled upon a tortiose turned upon his back.  His short legs pedaled in the air, for the sound of the lion's paws spurred fear into the creature even more so than his current predictiament did.  But he was soon to realize that the predator who stalked through the tall grass was not like the other beasts who roamed about....

How The Spider Won and Lost Nzambi's Daughter This story has the same element of the trickster that I saw in How Gazelle Got Married from Reading Notes: Congo Unit, Part A .  It is interesting to see this kind of repetition in stories that both contain the quest to obtain a certain bride.  It is a cool trend that seems to be important to most of the Congo stories, and I think it definitely has interesting possibilities.  I have two ideas on how I might change this story, adapt it into my own thoughts words. This kind of story would probably not be very popular if it was written in today's cultural climate, but I think it would be interesting to put a modern spin on this type of story. I would rather have the bride herself making the demands, although perhaps her mother/father/parents consult in the object need/task completed in order to marry their daughter. Another cool idea would be to switch the role of parent and groom-to-be. Instead of offering their daughte...

How Nsassi (gazelle) Got Married Nenpetro had two wives who each had a beautiful daughter.  They named them Lunga and Lenga.  Instead of having a man give presents in exchange for their hands in marriage, he would have to guess their names.  First the antelope tries to marry them but he cannot guess their names. Then Nsassi comes with his dog to visit them.  He leaves after being told the conditions of marriage to the daughters, frustrated with how he could ever find out their names.  He forgot his dog at Nenpetro's place, and the dog stays for a while.  He overhears Nenpetro call for his two daughters and thus learns their names.  After some trails where they all keep forgetting the names of the girls, the dog eventually is able to tell Nsassi.  Nsassi is able to marry the two girls as he calls them each by their name. It all seemed to me like the dog and Nsassi were tricksters.  It felt like the Rumpelstiltskin story to me,...