Series 06

STORY 5
The Moon and his Two Wives
as told by Jimmy Marrkula - NT

How was the new moon created? Listen and watch as betrayal and greed are central to this story

Synopsis:
The story of the moon and his two wives is about a man called Walmuda, who lived on Dhuthula Island with his two wives and two sons.

The wives gathered string for Walmuda to make a fishing nets. Their sons, Birrubirru and Djandurrungula were good fisherman. But they were greedy. They would eat most of the fish they caught before they went back to camp to their mothers and father.

The parents knew that the boys were not sharing their catch. So the father decided to take revenge. He wrapped them in a fishing net and threw them in the sea with the net wrapped around them.

The mothers returned that afternoon from gathering food and waited for the father and their sons return to camp. When their sons didn’t turn up they asked the father where they were. He didn’t know.

That night when the boys still hadn’t returned, the mothers went out looking for them. They found them two days later still in the net floating in the sea. The mothers took their sons back to camp and planned revenge on their husband. That night they carried out their revenge.

Their husband was turned into Wirribigili, meaning he will die but come back to life as the new moon each month. The people are now called Gubanyadanyada which means people will now die forever.

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