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Overview
Uapanipani is the crane approached by two girls fleeing an oppressive old man. Their parents had expelled them after the elder killed their baby brother, misrepresenting an instruction to feed him. Seeking fire, they entered the old man’s household and were forced to labour without receiving their catch of insects, snakes and lizards.
The girls escape with provisions. Their pursuer asks the crane, addressed as Egubeda, or sharer of betel nut, to keep one child and surrender the other. Uapanipani instead asks their destination. He swallows both girls, flies over the pursuer and deposits them unharmed outside their father’s house. He refuses all rewards except a coconut-shell cup. The returning father abandons his anger and welcomes the daughters he had believed dead.
Origins & earliest records
Annie Ker, Papuan Fairy Tales (London: Macmillan, 1910), The Crane, pp. 64–67. Individual narrator unnamed.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected narrative directly read in digitized transcription.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Papuan Fairy Tales: The Crane, pp. 64–67
Complete selected narrative inspected.
Family & connections
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References
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- Primary collected textKer 1910: The CraneResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.