Reading Notes: Congo; Part A

I enjoyed the inclusion of three different powers for the three different wives, sort of like a niche/role that they must work with together to fulfill the goal of finding and reviving the husband

This can be something that I can incorporate into my story regarding groups of people, with each having a different power. Each one of these powers would be important in one or more aspects of the adventure themselves. When combined, it would surely be enough to fulfill the goals of the group (or not).

The inclusion of such powers in connection with ordinary lives as described in the story is something that I would add in the story

Can you believe that someone with the power to revive the dead is still struggling to eat on a day-to-day basis?

There was also the inclusion of story logic, which the author proposes to create a theme/lesson that was to be inferred from the tale itself

The hunter/husband, Nepetro, chose the third wife, Fulla Fulla, who made him a soup made of pig. This is solely to the fact that her gift was most important in terms of the achievement of the goal of returning back her husband
However, there is a commentary on the logic within the story that thought, if the husband was just revived back to life, he would be awfully hungry. If this was the case, the smartest and most logical thing to do was to mix up all of the soup and eat them together to fill his stomach. Instead, he used it as an indicator to make a decision between the wives that he had.

How Nsassi Got Married. Story Source: Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett.

Something that I saw highly apparent in the story was the inclusion of repetition of certain aspects/tasks.

Nsassi's dog would return to the town where the beautiful daughters lived to seek the names of them. However, with each time, the dog would become either too hungry or too thirsty and would end up forgetting their names. He would return each time until he finally gave the names of the daughters to the prince. Unfortunately, the prince would also become thirsty along the way to the town, and BOTH would forget the names.
Such repetitious nature is very common within folklores. I think that the significance is in terms of the dramatic effect that is meant to be told out loud.

It could also be a source of comedic relief due to the foolishness of the characters in the story that would certainly be very amusing to the readers.

I like how the story started off with a preface about how the theme of finding the names of people, especially wives and brides, were of commonality in African readings.

There is a great importance of names in African culture. Per further investigation, naming is used to communicate messages, often to members of the family or to the community overall. It can also be a distinguishing divide between communities.

(Nsassi, or Gazelle. Source: Wikimedia)

Mythology