Читать книгу THE ELEMENT ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAIRIES: An A-Z of Fairies, Pixies, and other Fantastical Creatures - Lucy Cooper - Страница 120
Biloko
Оглавление(Also eloko.) Malevolent dwarves in the folklore of the Nkundo people of central Zaire. Bilokos used bells to bewitch humans, placing spells upon them that could result in death. These malignant creatures dwelled in hollow trees and subsisted on a diet of human flesh. They are described as having beards of grass and wearing garments of leaves.
In one tale a wife stays behind at the hut while her husband goes hunting. As he leaves, he warns her that if she hears the ringing of a bell she must pay no attention to it, for it portends death. However, later that day, when the woman is alone in the silence of the forest, she is charmed to hear the ringing of a little bell and invites the owner of the bell to join her at the hut.
A biloko dwarf emerges from the forest and joins the woman. She offers him some food cooked over her fire, but he tells her he eats only human flesh. By now the woman is under his spell and she offers him the flesh of her arm.
The next day, the bell rings again and this time the bewitched woman offers the biloko the flesh of her buttocks.
On the third day, suspecting some evil is afoot, the husband does not go hunting, but instead hides behind the hut. When the dwarf appears and holds a knife to the woman’s side, proclaiming he wants to eat her liver, the man fires an arrow at him.
Struck by the blow, the biloko falls down, driving his knife into the woman’s side, and killing her.
The husband drives his spear into him and beheads him, then invites the people from the village to see the vanquished dwarf.