Once
upon a time, there was a man who had two wives. The elder wife, Sarah, and the
younger wife, Samantha, each had a son. One day, the husband decided that he
would go into the Bush to trade for approximately six long months. Before his
journey, each wife worked diligently to make their husband food for his long
journey. The husband's one request was that the family remain a family, even in
his absence, but most importantly that neither or his sons were harmed. When
the day came that the husband was to leave, he felt a great worry that in his
absence, his family would not be safe. He let this feeling pass as his wives
reassured him that everything would be fine.
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| The husband killing his elder wife in the original story: Hathi Trust |
The six months passed very slow for the little family, as they awaited their loved one to return. As each day
passed, Sarah began to worry about the state of the younger wife. You see,
Samantha had always been jealous of the elder wife, because she always got more
attention than her. When their sons were born, they took even more attention
away from Samantha and she became extremely jealous.
When
it was nearing the end of the six months, the family anxiously awaited the
return of their husband. Samantha, feeling extremely jealous that when her
husband did return the he would not have missed her most, devised a plan to rid
herself of the other family members. She decided that she would kidnap them and
keep them hidden from her husband. She then would tell the husband that while
he was away a group of bandits came and took them, leaving her alone.
Samantha said to Sarah and the children, “Any day
now, our husband shall return and we have no meat for him to eat, why don’t we go
down to the river and catch some fish to celebrate his return?”
Sarah
replied, “Marvelous! He will love the pleasant surprise.”
Away
the went to the river to catch some fish or little did they know, where Samantha
would hide them away. There was a small cave, that only Samantha knew about and
that is where she decided to hide the family. While they were fishing, Samantha
saw pointed out the cave and said, “Look, there appears to be a cave over
there, why don’t we go and led the children explore?”
The
children replied, “Please! Please! Let’s go explore.”
Sarah,
knowing that the children were tired of fishing she replied, “ That sounds like
a great idea.”
Away
they went to the cave, never to be seen or heard from again. Samantha returned
home with a bundle of fish and found her waiting husband.
The
husband said, “My dear, you look lovely, where is everyone else?”
Samantha,
forcing tears replied, “Shortly after you left, a group of bandits came and
took them, leaving me injured. I have not seen or heard from them since.” Samantha
had pulled off a very good lie and the husband did not suspect a thing.
The
husband responded, “I must search from them.”
The
next morning, the husband left to go back into the bush on a search for his family.
Samantha was left alone, with no one to comfort her and feeling sorry for
herself and feeling bad for what she had done. She then went back to the cave to retrieve the family, but
all that was left of them was bones.
Author’s Note: In the original story, I
kept the characters and the plot the same. I decided to change what happens to
the family though. In the original story, the elder wife is jealous of the
younger wife’s son because he is better looking and more intelligent than her
own son. She then decides that one night, she will kill the younger wife’s son,
while she is out fishing. The night she went to kill the boy, she went to where
they usually sleep and using a sharp knife, killed him. The other child went
screaming to the neighbors for refuge. The next morning, meaning to spare the
younger wife from finding her son dead, the elder wife went to clean the mess. That is when she discovered that she had killed her own son. She took his lifeless body and ran
into the woods. When the husband returned he had asked the younger wife what
happened, but the only witness was the other son and the husband did not want
to believe a child, so he gathered a friend and went back into the bush in search
of his wife. When he found her along with his son’s body, he killed her out of
rage. I decided to change the way things progress in the story. Instead of
making the elder wife jealous, I made the younger wife jealous. Also, instead
of outright killing a child, I made the younger wife decide to hide the whole
family out of jealousy, so she could have all the husband’s attention. I also
thought it would be good punishment to make the husband want to immediately go
out of search for his long-lost family, leaving the younger wife alone again.
For further punishment, I also made her be regretful of her decision and go
back to the cave and the family to have been devoured by something, that way,
not only did she feel bad for herself, but also what she had done to the family.
Bibliography:
Dennet, Richard E. Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort. Congo Unit: The Jealous Wife. 1898.
