A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Moulala is a very large and very long serpent associated with a hollow tree. The collected description says that when it occupies the hollow, the ground below is full of birds. A person approaching and passing beneath is threatened with death. Its beard resembles a rooster’s crest, a precise comparison the text supplies without identifying a biological species or adding wings.
The account says that Moulala pursues a person it sees and, if it catches them, strikes the head. When it lies in a tree, it fills that tree completely. These are its specific reported actions and scale relationships; no measured length or named victim follows. The presence of birds below the hollow is not explained as speech, guardianship or the serpent’s offspring. The description therefore preserves that unexplained setting alongside the crest-like beard and lethal pursuit, rather than turning it into a wider dragon biography.
Origins & earliest records
Jacottet’s 1901 Textes Louyi prints original-language tales with French translations. Introduction pp. i–ii distinguishes Kaboukou’s 1895 dictation from material supplied by Akaende and Maroumo in June–July 1900. It says individual assignments depend on contents markers; the inspected narrative heading does not independently identify this tale’s teller, so its individual attribution remains unconfirmed.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected French text and surrounding notes read. Unexplained mechanisms remain unexplained; neighbouring tales and collector hypotheses do not supply extra actions.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Études sur les langues du Haut-Zambèze, III: Textes Louyi
LX, Moulala, pp. 137–138, entire morphology, tree and pursuit description. Individual narrator assignment unresolved.
- 02
Jacottet Textes Louyi: Moulala
Édouard Jacottet, Études sur les langues du Haut-Zambèze, third part: Textes Louyi, Paris: Ernest Leroux,1901. Title and complete introduction independently read; misleading catalogue1869 date rejected. French translation with Louyi originals. Introduction names Kaboukou(1895), Akaende and Maroumo(1900), but retained contents omit promised tale-level initials, so individual attribution for these selections remains unresolved.
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.
Études sur les langues du Haut-Zambèze, III: Textes Louyi
Édouard Jacottet, Études sur les langues du Haut-Zambèze, third part: Textes Louyi, Paris: Ernest Leroux,1901. Title and complete introduction independently read; misleading catalogue1869 date rejected. French translation with Louyi originals. Introduction names Kaboukou(1895), Akaende and Maroumo(1900), but retained contents omit promised tale-level initials, so individual attribution for these selections remains unresolved.
- Moulala is a very long, large forest serpent said to occupy a tree hollow, with birds covering the ground nearby. It has a beard compared with a cock’s crest, pursues an approaching person and strikes the head when it catches them. Its body fills the tree where it rests. A note points to an earlier Subiya notice without supplying a new independent comparative reading here.
LX, complete bilingual137–138; French138 and comparison note
Historical French rendering; whole volume not claimed read. Printed-page labels taken from retained primary OCR, not separately visually collated in this batch. No ritual wording, song, recipe, image or new quotation copied.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Digitized primary collected textJacottet — Louyi leopard marriageResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.