The Kind and Unkind Papuan Girls

Abstract

Among numerous traditional stories collected from the highlands tribes of Papua New Guinea during my long-term field research in the early seventies, i.e. within just one generation after primary European contact, there were many that distinctly resemble narratives sharing a common distribution between Europe and Southeast Asia. This applies inter alia to several versions of the ATU 480 type: The Kind and the Unkind Girls. These versions were not only most familiar among the tribes of Enga Province but also among the Kyaka Enga and the Ndemboka of the adjacent Western Highlands Province. Additionally some congenial narrative features are part of the mythical lore of other neighbouring highland tribes such as the Kewa of the Southern Highlands Province, resulting in significant combinations of tale types.