Goonur (the son)

Also known as: Goonur, the husband / Goonur, the son / Goonur, their husband · Role: son · First appears: Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor

In Tale 22, Goonur lived with his mother, Goonur the woman-doctor, and his wives, Guddah and Beereeun. After the wives angered him, he beat them both. At the creek, they set a concealed water-filled pit, and Goonur fell in and began to drown.

Two or three days later, his mother found him and restored him to consciousness. She secretly kept him at her camp, helping him return to hunting while his wives believed he was dead. When they discovered he was alive, Goonur set pointed stakes beneath the creek’s water; Guddah and Beereeun jumped onto them and were held under the water. His mother restored the wives and told them, “You are all mine now, and I desire that you live in peace and never more deceive me”.

Relationship record

Life events

• Goonur (the son) beat his two wives.(Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor)
  • With: Guddah Beereeun
  • “One day the two wives had done something to anger Goonur, their husband, and he gave them both a great beating.”
• Guddah and Beereeun devised a water-filled pit to kill Goonur (the son).(Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor · 📍 the creek)
  • With: Guddah Beereeun
  • “They dug a big hole in the sand near the creek, filled it with water, and covered the hole over with boughs, leaves, and grass.”
• Goonur (the son) fell into the concealed pit and drowned.(Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor · 📍 the creek)
  • With: Guddah Beereeun
  • “Too late then to save himself, for he was drowning and could not escape.”
• Goonur (the mother) found her drowned son and restored him to consciousness.(Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor · 📍 the creek)
  • With: Goonur (the mother)
  • “Soon her hope was realised, and after a violent twitching of the muscles her son regained consciousness.”
• Goonur (the mother) secretly concealed her son and helped him return to hunting.(Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor · 📍 the camp)
  • With: Goonur (the mother)
  • “And thus they managed for some time to keep his return a secret; and little the wives knew that their husband was alive and in his mother's camp.”
• Guddah and Beereeun discovered that Goonur (the son) was alive.(Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor)
  • With: Guddah Beereeun
  • “And out of it, to their amazement, stepped Goonur, their husband.”
• Goonur (the son) concealed pointed stakes in the creek to kill his wives.(Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor · 📍 the creek)
  • With: Guddah Beereeun
  • “Having cut and pointed sharply two stakes, he stuck them firmly in the creek, then he placed two logs on the bank, in front of the sticks, which were underneath the water, and invisible.”
• Guddah and Beereeun were impaled on the stakes and held under the water.(Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor · 📍 the creek)
  • With: Guddah Beereeun
  • “Well had Goonur calculated the distance, for both jumped right on to the stakes placed in the water to catch them, and which stuck firmly into them, holding them under the water.”
• Goonur (the mother) restored the wives and demanded that they all live in peace.(Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor · 📍 the camp)
  • With: Goonur (the mother) Guddah Beereeun
  • “You are all mine now, and I desire that you live in peace and never more deceive me, or never again shall I use my skill for you:”

Tale 22 · Goonur, The Woman-Doctor

• parent: Goonur (the mother) “Goonur was a clever old woman-doctor, who lived with her son, Goonur, and his two wives.”
• married with Guddah “The wives were Guddah the red lizard, and Beereeun the small, prickly lizard. One day the two wives had done something to anger Goonur, their husband, and he gave them both a great beating.”
• married with Beereeun “The wives were Guddah the red lizard, and Beereeun the small, prickly lizard. One day the two wives had done something to anger Goonur, their husband, and he gave them both a great beating.”

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Extracted from the original text of Australian Legendary Tales. Made with Rho MD.