Reading Notes: Congo, Unit A

"Sunrise on the Congo River."
Source: Wikipedia Commons.

This week, I explored these dark and magical tales from the depths of the Congo. Some of these stories were quite disturbing, but I really enjoyed most of them. Here are a few of my favorites:

How Gazelle Got Married

This story is interesting and whimsical, but I wasn't quite satisfied by the ending. It seemed like there was no real rivalry between the antelope and the prince until the very end of the story, when it's told in one sentence. I'd like to retell this story so the antelope actually wins the promise the princesses' hands while the prince and his dog are distracted, then the prince and antelope go to war. The ending could even feature the princesses marrying someone else entirely while the antelope and prince feud.

The Jealous Wife 

This tale is quite dark and sad, but I did think it was interesting. I generally liked the plot and characters despite the overall melancholy tone, but was thinking about switching the location. Maybe the characters are all stuck together on a spaceship, and the lack of  space and abundance of time together fosters jealousy. And maybe instead of the village killing the wife, she just withers away from grief and they scatter her ashes in space. 

How Kengi Lost her Child

This story is a little tragic, but the ending is somewhat fitting. One thing I thought about changing was the narrator/timeframe this story uses. The story could be from the point of view of Kengi's child in the future, asking Gunga (who he would know as his mother) about his complicated backstory and learning the truth. I don't want to lose the heart of the story, but I think this could reframe things in an interesting way.

Bibliography:  Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). Web source.