A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

The girl sheltered by Chipfalamfula and her attendants reach Makényi seeking a bright shell carried there by a bird. The inhabitants are away cultivating their fields, so the visitors wait in a tree. Returning people detect the smell of human flesh and notice the girls overhead. Junod explicitly presents them as people-eaters and captions the episode as the ogres of Makényi.

They repeatedly chop the trunk to reach their intended meal, but the bird makes the tree repair itself. During another field-work absence the visitors descend, find the shell and leave with clothing, money and other riches. The inhabitants return hoping to eat them, discover the emptied houses and pursue on horseback. At the river the girl opens a dry crossing with her small stick. The riders follow, but the waters return over them. Junod speculates that the horses are a later addition; that proposal does not remove them from the actually published episode.

Cultivate fieldsDetect human scentTry to fell occupied treeMaintain houses and treasureMounted pursuitOvertaken by returning river
01

Origins & earliest records

Nkoulounkoulou is the credited contributor. Junod’s account of his narrators says she remembered the story after hearing it once, several years earlier in Mapoute. He publishes the French rendering; his biblical comparisons and proposed historical explanations are kept separate from the narration.

02

Records & interpretation

Junod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa (1897), XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine, complete pp. 229–237; contributor account p. 72 and source-context note pp. 235–236.

In the literature

“Car les habitants du pays de Makényi sont des mangeurs d’hommes.”
Nkoulounkoulou, narrator; Henri-Alexandre Junod, French translator/collector · Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa
XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine, printed p.233 · Henri-Alexandre Junod (French)

The published prose identifies the village inhabitants as man-eaters.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa

    Nkoulounkoulou, contributor; Henri-Alexandre Junod, collector and translator · 1897

    Junod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa (1897), XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine, complete pp. 229–237; contributor account p. 72 and source-context note pp. 235–236.

  2. 02

    Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa — XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine

    Nkoulounkoulou, narrator; Henri-Alexandre Junod, French translator/collector · 1897

    Henri-AlexandreJunod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa, Lausanne:GeorgesBridel1897, Princeton scan. Complete French XVI229–237 and XVII237–242 independently read in retained OCR; original230/231/233/236/237/238 visually inspected. Narrator236 and237 notes visually checked. Other specified pages read in OCR only; no whole-corpus reading claimed.

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.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa

Henri-AlexandreJunod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa, Lausanne:GeorgesBridel1897, Princeton scan. Complete French XVI229–237 and XVII237–242 independently read in retained OCR; original230/231/233/236/237/238 visually inspected. Narrator236 and237 notes visually checked. Other specified pages read in OCR only; no whole-corpus reading claimed.

  1. The girls arrive in Makényi while inhabitants work in fields and hide in a tree. Returning villagers smell human flesh and attempt to chop the tree down, but the bird repeatedly restores it. The girls subsequently enter the houses during another absence, recover the shell/carbuncle and take fabrics, money and chests. The villagers pursue on horses, follow the girls through parted river water and are covered when it returns. The girls reach home and are recognised.

    XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine, complete printed pp.229–237, contributor and provenance note235–236

The story’s Makényi inhabitants are source-specific beings, not a label applied to actual contemporary residents. Junod’s claimed late addition of horses and his discussion of Biblical resemblance in235–236 are conjectural editorial interpretation, not proven dating or transmission. No chant or river formula copied.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. French translation of attributed oral narrative; digitized primary editionJunod — Nkoulounkoulou’s girl and river creatureResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

FT·3260 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑