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Overview

Mbulu a Ngonga, translated as Jackal of Ngonga, invites Hare to play in the bush in tale XXXI. He hides twice and is found both times. Hare then promises that Jackal cannot find him and conceals himself in a hole with his eyes opened wide. Jackal looks in, mistakes the eyes for an ominous presence and flees crying. Hare emerges laughing and explains that the feared sight was only the friend he had promised to find. No omen-being actually materializes in the hole.

Tale XXXV places Jackal in the bush with his kinsman Dog. He sends Dog to a village to fetch fire so they can burn grass and catch locusts. Dog instead finds a woman feeding her child, receives the food left from the pot and decides to stay where eating is better. Jackal waits in vain. The ending translates his howling into a complaint about the companion who was drawn away by food, explaining why dogs now live with people. It does not say Jackal follows him or that the woman changes into an animal.

These two episodes concern the named jackal in Chatelain’s animal tales. They are distinct from the southern African imbulu that steals a girl’s clothes and has a tail with a separate appetite. Chatelain’s note distinguishes mbulu from another jackal term, dibeku, and from the smaller mu-kenge translated as Fox; those lexical observations do not establish that every narrative name represents a modern scientific species.

Speaking jackalRepeatedly found in hide-and-seekMistakes hidden eyes for omenSends Dog for fireHowl recast as loss of companion
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Origins & earliest records

Jelemía dia Sabatelu contributed XXXI and XXXV. Both are identified as Mbamba in origin and Mbaka in dialect. Chatelain’s comparative opinions about jackal cunning and domestication are separate from the two completed speaking episodes.

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Records & interpretation

Complete XXXI, Jackal and Hare, pp. 208–209; XXXV, Dog and Jackal, pp. 212–215. English pp. 209, 213, 215; contributor and lexical notes pp. 300–301.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Folk-Tales of Angola

    Héli Chatelain, collector, editor and literal English translator; named contributor in origin · 1894

    Complete XXXI, Jackal and Hare, pp. 208–209; XXXV, Dog and Jackal, pp. 212–215. English pp. 209, 213, 215; contributor and lexical notes pp. 300–301.

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.

  1. Collected Ki-mbundu text with facing English translation and contributor notesChatelain 1894 — Mbulu a NgongaResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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