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Overview
A child’s parents hang a bunch of bananas in the house and instruct it to answer speech while they go fishing. When a nearby witch asks whether he is alone, the boy calls his kin and the bananas reply from indoors. Believing adults are present, she withdraws. As he eats the fruit, the answering voice grows weaker.
Once the last banana is gone, no response comes. The witch kills the boy and removes his liver. His parents discover the concealed injury, and his father lures her down with an offer of fish before killing her and burning her house. The bananas’ protection depends on their remaining present; they are not said to resurrect the child or transform into people. The witch is part of this encounter, without an inferred named monster species.
Origins & earliest records
Annie Ker, Papuan Fairy Tales (London: Macmillan, 1910), The Talking Bananas, pp. 31–35. Individual narrator unnamed.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected tale read in digitized transcription; bodily and narrative claims limited to that witness.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Papuan Fairy Tales: The Talking Bananas, pp. 31–35
Full selected narrative inspected.
Family & connections
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References
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- Primary collected textKer 1910: The Talking Bananas, pp. 31–35Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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