the old man (Tale 24)

Role: father and husband · First appears: Tale 24 · Mooregoo The Mopoke, And Mooninguggahgul The Mosquito Bird

The old man lived with his two wives, the Mooninguggahgul sisters, and their two sons. Angry at his sons for being greedy, he sent a whirlwind that carried them and the mubboo trees into the sky; there they remained beside the trees, with the boomerangs scattered along the Milky Way. When night came, his wives recognized their sons’ voices in the sky and vowed to avenge their loss.

The next day, while the old man was at camp, his wives poured hot gum into his eyes, blinding him. He ran away crying out in agony and turned into a night hawk, the Mopoke, whose cry the wives recognized as “Mooregoo, moregoo.”

Relationship record

Life events

• The old man’s whirlwind carried his sons and the mubboo trees into the sky.(Tale 24 · Mooregoo The Mopoke, And Mooninguggahgul The Mosquito Bird · 📍 the sky)
  • With: the two sons (Tale 24) the two sons (Tale 24)
  • “On the whirlwind bore them until they reached the sky, where it placed the two trees with the boys still clinging to them.”
• The sons remained in the sky beside the trees, and the boomerangs were scattered along the Milky Way.(Tale 24 · Mooregoo The Mopoke, And Mooninguggahgul The Mosquito Bird · 📍 the sky)
  • With: the two sons (Tale 24) the two sons (Tale 24)
  • “And there they still are, near the Milky Way, and known as Wurrawilberoo. The boomerangs are scattered all along the Milky Way, for the whirlwind had gathered them all together in its rush through space.”
• The wives recognized their sons’ voices in the sky and vowed to avenge their loss.(Tale 24 · Mooregoo The Mopoke, And Mooninguggahgul The Mosquito Bird)
  • With: the first wife (Tale 24) the second wife (Tale 24)
  • “They vowed to avenge the loss of their boys.”
• The wives poured hot gum into the old man’s eyes, blinding him.(Tale 24 · Mooregoo The Mopoke, And Mooninguggahgul The Mosquito Bird · 📍 the camp)
  • With: the first wife (Tale 24) the second wife (Tale 24)
  • “As he did so, she signed to the other woman, who quickly came, gave her some of the melted gum, which they both then poured hot into his eyes, filling them with it.”
• The blinded old man ran away from camp, crying out in agony.(Tale 24 · Mooregoo The Mopoke, And Mooninguggahgul The Mosquito Bird)
  • “Out of the camp he ran and far away, still crying out in his agony, as he went.”
• The old man turned into a night hawk, the Mopoke.(Tale 24 · Mooregoo The Mopoke, And Mooninguggahgul The Mosquito Bird)
  • “But though they never saw their husband, they saw a night hawk, the Mopoke, and as that cried always, ‘Mooregoo, moregoo,’ as their husband had cried in his agony, they knew that he must have turned into the bird.”

Tale 24 · Mooregoo The Mopoke, And Mooninguggahgul The Mosquito Bird

• married with the first wife (Tale 24) “An old man lived with his two wives, the Mooninguggahgul sisters, and his two sons.”
• married with the second wife (Tale 24) “An old man lived with his two wives, the Mooninguggahgul sisters, and his two sons.”
• child: the two sons (Tale 24) “The old man was very angry that his sons were so greedy,”

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