Reading Notes: Congo, Part B

(African Spurred Tortoise courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

For this reading note I will be covering the story of How the Spider Won and Lost Nzambi’s Daughter.

Characters:

Nzambi on Earth

Nzambi’s daughter

Nzambi Mpungu who has the heavenly fire

Spider

Tortoise

Woodpecker

Rat

Sandfly

Plot: The characters try to help the spider get the heavenly fire by going with him to heaven. There they have to complete several trials before they get the fire and return home. After returning home with the fire the Woodpecker complains about the spider getting the daughter. Everyone else chimes in and eventually Nzambi on Earth decides that no one gets the daughter.

Setting: The main part of the story happens in Nzambi Mpungu’s home in the heavens.

Bibliography: The story I am refering to comes from the Congo Unit. It is the story: How the Spider Won and Lost Nzambi's Daughter by Richard Edward Dennett (1898).