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

Overview

During a second attack on the river creature’s daughter, the girl and Chichingouane struggle for a bright shell found beneath their tree. A passing bird picks it up in its beak and carries it to Makényi. The younger girl and her attendants later follow the river and a long plain in search of that object, reaching the settlement after an overnight journey.

The bird perches in a tree on the settlement’s open space. The visitors climb there while the inhabitants are working in the fields. Returning inhabitants detect human scent, identify the girls overhead and begin chopping the trunk. Just before it falls, the bird flies past in refusal, and the tree repairs itself and stands. It prevents the next day’s attempt as well. The girls eventually descend during a field-work absence, retrieve the shell from a chest and escape. The bird’s repairing intervention enables that departure, but it is not named as the agent that parts the river afterward.

Carries shell in beakPerches at MakényiProtects tree-refuged visitorsRestores cut treeRepeats intervention
01

Origins & earliest records

Nkoulounkoulou is the credited contributor. Junod’s account of his narrators says she remembered the story after hearing it once, several years earlier in Mapoute. He publishes the French rendering; his biblical comparisons and proposed historical explanations are kept separate from the narration.

02

Records & interpretation

Junod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa (1897), XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine, complete pp. 229–237; contributor account p. 72 and source-context note pp. 235–236.

In the literature

“L’arbre se raccommoda et demeura debout”
Nkoulounkoulou, narrator; Henri-Alexandre Junod, French translator/collector · Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa
XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine, printed p.233 · Henri-Alexandre Junod (French)

The protected tree repairs itself when the bird intervenes.

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

    Nkoulounkoulou, contributor; Henri-Alexandre Junod, collector and translator · 1897

    Junod, Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa (1897), XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine, complete pp. 229–237; contributor account p. 72 and source-context note pp. 235–236.

  2. 02

    Les chants et les contes des Ba-Ronga de la baie de Delagoa — XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine

    Nkoulounkoulou, 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 French XVI229–237 and XVII237–242 independently read in retained OCR; original230/231/233/236/237/238 visually inspected. Narrator236 and237 notes visually checked. Other specified pages read in OCR only; no whole-corpus reading claimed.

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 French XVI229–237 and XVII237–242 independently read in retained OCR; original230/231/233/236/237/238 visually inspected. Narrator236 and237 notes visually checked. Other specified pages read in OCR only; no whole-corpus reading claimed.

  1. The bird takes the heroine’s bright shell/carbuncle during her quarrel with Chichingouane and carries it to Makényi. After the betrayed girl and companions follow, they climb the tree where it perches. The village’s man-eaters attempt to chop it down; the bird flies past, objects and the tree repairs itself. It prevents another attempt the next day. The girls later recover their object and take village wealth while inhabitants work in the fields, then escape before the mounted pursuit.

    XVI La Jeune fille et la Baleine, complete printed pp.229–237, contributor and provenance note235–236

The bird has no species or personal name assigned in the selected account. It is not silently identified with the natural honeyguide or another collection’s tree-restoring bird. No birdsong or magical utterance copied; only surrounding prose excerpted.

References

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

  1. French translation of attributed oral narrative; digitized primary editionJunod — Nkoulounkoulou’s girl and river creatureResearch 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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