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Overview
The second movement of the Widow’s Children follows the mother and her two younger children to another country. Sent to gather firewood because food is insufficient, the children lose their way and enter an old woman’s household. She calls them her children and repeatedly sends them for fuel. On one return the older child stays behind and encounters the deceased father, who asks why they are cutting wood. The child cannot explain, and the father promises further advice when they are sent for water.
When that errand comes, the older child waits and asks the father again. The dead parent explains what to do when the old woman asks whether the heated water is boiling: the child should plead ignorance, then act when she bends to inspect it. The child follows the instruction, and the siblings escape to their mother with the household’s money. The father’s specific knowledge and second consultation support his role as an advising deceased parent. The text supplies neither a visible skeletal body nor a claim that he returns permanently to ordinary family life.
Origins & earliest records
Musoki supplies tale VIII. Chatelain says he was a Mu-suku passenger traveling with him from Loanda to St. Vincent in May 1890, an enslaved personal servant being taken toward Lisbon. The printed dialect is that of the Dande River. This named contributor’s circumstances are retained rather than replaced by an anonymous community attribution.
Records & interpretation
Complete tale VIII, The Children of the Widow, bilingual pp. 110–115; English narrative pp. 111, 113 and ending p. 115; contributor note VIII pp. 282–283, notes 384–391. Deceased father and ending English pp. 113 and 115; note 391 p. 283.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Folk-Tales of Angola
Complete tale VIII, The Children of the Widow, bilingual pp. 110–115; English narrative pp. 111, 113 and ending p. 115; contributor note VIII pp. 282–283, notes 384–391. Deceased father and ending English pp. 113 and 115; note 391 p. 283.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Collected Ki-mbundu text with facing English translation and contributor notesChatelain 1894 — Deceased Father of the Firewood ChildrenResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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