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

Overview

Rasoandranomanga is the poor daughter of one household, while her companion Rasoandranovola comes from wealth. Kings from the four directions reject her condition concerning torn clothing and a ragged sleeping mat. The king of the centre agrees to care for her, replace her lost parents and give her good clothes. They marry. During his five-month trading absence, Rasoandranovola falsely claims he has chosen her instead and demands that the wife leave. When she refuses, the rival has birds killed, gathers their feathers and forcibly plants them over the wife’s body. Rasoandranomanga becomes a bird and flies away.

The rival takes her place, and the returning king does not detect the substitution. His real wife repeatedly flies over the house and tells him that feathers planted in her body have caused her condition. He merely praises the pleasant bird song. Eventually he traps the bird intending to cook it. While plucking it, he removes the added feathers and it becomes Rasoandranomanga again. Once all are removed, she explains the assault and imposture. The reversal is caused by this removal, rather than an unexplained blessing or the victim’s independent power to change at will.

The king allows her to choose the rival’s fate. She has Rasoandranovola beheaded with sheep and places her head among theirs in a basket sent to her parents as a supposed gift from their son-in-law. The messengers subsequently explain the transformation and revenge. The parents request the rest of their daughter’s body for ancestral burial, but it is refused, and they mourn for a long time. Rasoandranomanga remains married to the central king into old age. The complete ending is a severe revenge and lasting restored marriage, not a pardon for the impostor.

Feathers inserted by rivalHuman-to-bird changeSpeech interpreted as songPlucking restores human formPermanent restoration of marriage
01

Origins & earliest records

Renel 1910, tale 49, pp. 261–265, with regional/local heading. Individual teller unnamed; introduction V–VIII describes collection intermediaries and translation.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete tale 49, pp. 261–265, heading and relevant notes read. Each bodily change and the entire narrative outcome retained without fusing similarly named characters in other tales.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Contes de Madagascar, première partie: Contes merveilleux

    Charles Renel, editor and translator; Malagasy collection intermediaries · 1910

    Tale 49, pp. 261–265, complete, with regional/local collection heading.

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. Historical collected French narrativeRenel 1910, tale 49Research 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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