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

Overview

Halandi and her younger brother Mayindana insist on visiting grandparents despite their mother’s warning about dangerous sala fruits on the route. Junod explains ordinary sala as round, hard-shelled fruits and the phrase masala mbubulwa as an unusually large, marvellous form. In the forest Halandi noisily breaks and eats the large fruits, rebuking and striking her brother when he objects. He chooses a small sala instead and breaks it carefully.

As they continue, the great fruits gather into a large army. The assembly includes unripe fruit, ripe unpicked fruit, fallen fruit and even those Halandi has eaten. Its young men and women run ahead in pursuit, wearing bells and war ornaments and carrying small spears and shields. Their song distinguishes Mayindana’s small fruit from Halandi’s consumption of the dangerous ones. This is an active, speaking and armed fruit company rather than an ordinary description of a plant.

The company attacks Halandi, and its leader strikes at her heart. She still dismisses the danger. Mayindana reaches the grandparents in tears and reports what has happened; Halandi is buried and he is escorted home to tell their mother. His earlier boast about returning to life is not enacted as a resurrection: he has survived the fruit attack. The ending keeps the two siblings’ different outcomes distinct.

Unusually large sala fruitsGather from tree and groundConsumed fruits join assemblyYoung men and women in armyBells, shields and spearsPursuit targets forbidden-fruit eater
01

Origins & earliest records

Junod’s performance footnote explicitly identifies Camilla as the narrator while describing her gesture during the attack. Chiguyane/Camilla’s broader contributor account appears on pp. 71–72. Junod supplies the French translation and fruit terminology notes; his ensuing general anatomy judgment is not adopted.

02

Records & interpretation

Junod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa (1897), XVIII Halandi et Mayindana, complete pp. 242–244, illustration p. 245; fruit terms pp. 242–243 and Camilla performance note p. 244.

In the literature

“formant une grande armée”
Chiguyane (Camilla), narrator; Henri-Alexandre Junod, French translator/collector · Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa
XVIII Halandi et Mayindana, printed p.244 · Henri-Alexandre Junod (French)

The dangerous fruits assemble as an army.

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

    Chiguyane (Camilla), narrator; Henri-Alexandre Junod, collector and translator · 1897

    Junod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa (1897), XVIII Halandi et Mayindana, complete pp. 242–244, illustration p. 245; fruit terms pp. 242–243 and Camilla performance note p. 244.

  2. 02

    Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa — XVIII Halandi et Mayindana

    Chiguyane (Camilla), 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 original FrenchXVIII242–244 main story, XIX246–253 and XX253–256 independently read in retained OCR. Original244/249/256 pixels checked; Camilla244 and Manganyélé256 contributor notes visually read, Camilla246 and Chitchwéya248 notes read in OCR only. Illustration245 not reused or independently checked.

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 original FrenchXVIII242–244 main story, XIX246–253 and XX253–256 independently read in retained OCR. Original244/249/256 pixels checked; Camilla244 and Manganyélé256 contributor notes visually read, Camilla246 and Chitchwéya248 notes read in OCR only. Illustration245 not reused or independently checked.

  1. Siblings Halandi and younger Mayindana insist on visiting their grandparents despite their mother’s warning about large-headed sala fruits. Halandi noisily breaks and eats the forbidden large fruits and strikes her brother when he protests; Mayindana takes a small sala carefully. Unripe, ripe, fallen and already-eaten large fruits gather into an army with bells, weapons and shields. They pursue Halandi and their leader attacks her heart. Mayindana reaches the grandparents, recounts events and returns home after Halandi is buried.

    XVIII Halandi et Mayindana, complete printed pp.242–244 main narrative, illustration245 not reused

Masala mbubulwa is a narrative class of extraordinary fruit beings, distinct from ordinary sala and small masala nkolombya. The source’s wordplay does not establish Mayindana’s actual death or resurrection. Junod’s disparaging generalisation about anatomy in244 is not accepted as a modern community description; only Camilla’s contributor identification and narrated gesture are retained.

References

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

  1. French translation of attributed oral narrative; digitized primary editionJunod — Halandi and the sala fruit companyResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

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