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Story of a Moselantja

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
I was doing a bit of reading tonight, and came across a very intriguing folk tale of a creature called a Moselantja and a woman whom it had decided to torment. I'll do my best to retell the tale here, and add a little of my own reflections on some of the deeper meanings that sprung forward for me.

The story starts with a young African woman named Fenyane who had had a messenger come to her family(which consisted only of her mother and young brother), saying a chief in a neighboring village sought her for a wife for his son. The family was happy at this proposal, but Mother was concerned that no one was available to make the walk with her daughter to the other village. At that moment, a commotion came from the young boy, and the Mother had to leave immediately to see to the boy.

"Just go" she told her daughter. "Be sure that no matter what happens, you don't look back!" With that, Fenyane sets out.

For awhile, Fenyane treks along. But she hears whispers, urges, warnings to turn around. "Your brother has died." "Your mother is filled with grief and has burned down the hut." "The fire has spread to the rest of the village."

The girl's worries are so similar to that of so many. While we may not dread these exact scenarios, how often do we stop and worry about the 'what ifs', burdened about the unknown and ugly possibilities that are out of our control?

Eventually, the girl's fortitude breaks down. She looks behind her and in the direction of her former home. All is calm. There is no smoke, no commotion that she can see. All that is behind her is an ugly creature called a Moselantja.

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At first glance, it looks almost human, but one cannot help but notice the tail, complete with mouth on it...

How ugly our worries and burden seem; so human, yet a little distorted...

The ugly creature stays on her back the whole trip, little by little taking the wedding finery from Fenyane that her mother had sent with her. By the time they get to the new village, the Moselantja looked like the bride(being ever careful to tuck her tail in) and Fenyane her maid! The Moselantje rolled with it, and, being a confident little devil, had the people of the village eating out of her hand! Soon, she married the chief's son, and Fenyane was sent to live with an old maid on the edge of the village.

How often do our fears and anxieties take over, presenting a false version of ourselves?

If anyone knows anything about old women in mythology, its that they're never as weak or naive as they look. The old woman, noting the situation and Fenyane's down days(as the future she had counted on was stolen from her), was able to see through this charismatic being's disguise. Knowing that a Moselantja loves nothing more than milk, she dug a large hole and filled it with millet porridge that had been simmered in cow's milk nearby the hut of the chief's son. She, along with the other women of the village, have a squabble with the Moselantja, and bring her to her husband's hut to settle the matter. Not being able to resist, the Moselantja senses the milk porridge, letting her tail drop into it. Consuming all, she becomes so fat that she becomes immobile. Terrified at what he thought was his wife's transformation, he calls to his warriors, who dissemble it immediately.

All too easy it is to give way to our fears, to let them take over. We may even feed them, making ourselves immobile with fear and despair.

The villagers burn the pieces of this terrible being, and the old woman shares the story of what really happened. The chief's son then marries the correct woman, and Fenyane's story looks up... or does it?

A pumpkin grows where the Moselantja's remains were burned. Who worries about a pumpkin? None of them did... until it took on a life of its own. Angry at Fenyane, and containing the spirit of the deceased Moselantja, the pumpkin would roll daily into her hut and slam her, injuring and bruising her. Terrified, Fenyane refused to tell her husband where her fresh bruises were coming from.

Its all too easy to let ourselves be beaten by regrets. Its all too easy to fight these internal battles on our own, not letting those who are closest to us in to help.

Fenyane's husband hides in the hut and finds the answers out for himself. Not to have his life and wife ruled by a mere pumpkin, he smashes it, and burns it as before.

Thinking the evil creature was gone from their lives, they relaxed until their son turned up sick one day. With the boy's fever climbing, the wise father understood the Moselantja was still around... somewhere. Tearing apart the hut, he finally found three small thorns. After disposing of them, the boy regained health again.

To me, the thorns symbolize the dangers of letting ugliness stay within. Perhaps its out of sight and out of mind, but you never know when it can come forth to sting either yourself or others.

And finally, they lived happily ever after.



To those who read through this, thanks for exploring this myth with me. :)



 
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