Week 9 Story: Three Women and An Ox
Ndoza’ntu, Songa’nzila, and Fulla Fulla had been waiting all
day for their husband Nenpetro to come back. He had left many hours ago to kill
an ox for their dinner. He hunted every day for their food, bringing back whatever
he could find, whether it was an antelope, a monkey, an ox. It was really
whatever he had found that day. But today he had wanted ox, so off he had gone.
But now the three women had begun to wonder where he was. Not out of necessity,
but out of a combination of annoyance and boredom. The women had been gifted
with special abilities. Ndoza’ntu had the power of dreams, Songa’nzila had the
gift of guidance, and Fulla Fulla had the ability to raise the dead. Ndoza’ntu
took a nap as a way to pass the time, and during her nap, she dreamed of their
husband lying on the ground after he was attacked by an angry ox. She told the
other women of her dream when she woke up. The three of them pondered what
their next action should be.
“I suppose we should go get him”, said Ndoza’ntu.
“But do we have to?” whined Fulla Fulla. She’d been growing
tired of him for a while now.
“Yes, I think it’s the right thing to do”, sighed Songa’nzila.
The women got up slowly and grumbled as they gathered their things and set out.
Songa’nzila guided the women to where their husband lay.
Fulla Fulla took a long look at him. She then looked up at the women and they
shared a look, as if to say “Oh fine, I guess we can save him.”
She knelt over
him and did her magic. He took a sharp breath and opened his eyes.
He looked at all three women, smiled, and said, “Thank you for
what you have done. As a reward, I will allow one of you to bear my child. Who saved
me?”
The women all laughed. Songa’nzila said “We all did. Why
would we fight over something as silly as you?” and the women all turned and
walked away, leaving Nenpetro laying on the ground alone in confusion.
Bibliography: How the Wives Restored Their Husband to Life from Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett link to online reading
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Wow, this was such a different story to read. I thought you did a great job writing it. My favorite part was the end. The end was a little surprising. I was not expecting them to be rude after. I thought that surprise element was a nice touch. I also liked that you placed the image at the end of your story. This allowed me to stay focused on the story.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story! It honestly made me laugh! I've never read the original story so It would have been nice if you had explained the background of the story a little more! But I loved the story and the ending - all about the girl power! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Caroline!
ReplyDeleteThis story was a fun read. I like how it was short and sweet. I've never read the original story, so I didn't really know what to expect. But I like how the story was very "girl power" as Amanda said above. I wonder if an author's note might be helpful in explaining what the original story was, and what you decided to do differently, especially for readers who have never read this story before. Nice job!
Hey Caroline,
ReplyDeleteI genuinely laughed at the end of your story. At first, I was a bit disappointed because I thought you were just simply retelling the story (I too chose this unit to read) since everything was so similar to that of the original. However, once it got to the part where the wives would original fight over the man, the story took a hilarious turn.
The twist was blunt and realistic. I loved it!
Great job!
Caroline, this was a fabulous retelling! What a fantastic feminist twist at the end — I thought the dialogue was funny, candid and fresh, and I love that instead of the three women fighting over the man they'd revived, they just ditched him. I hadn't read your source material for this, but I didn't feel like I had to to understand the story. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very different twist on the original story. It was a funny story and I enjoyed reading it. I could almost picture the women disgruntling and all laughing once he offered one of them to bear his child. Great story I thought a little more detail could have helped but it was still unique and fun to read!
ReplyDelete