One variation of the traditional African tale is the so-called riddle story, in which the listener is the one who gives his opinion or decides the solution or the fate of the characters. The Three Magic Gifts is one such story in which the audience doesn't just listen, but actively participates in the narrative and proposes its outcome.
By Rogério Andrade Barbosa, richly illustrated by Salmo Dansa, The Three Magical Gifts revives the traditional form of the African tale: the riddle story, in which the listener suggests the solution. The plot tells the story of three brothers living in a small village in the Congo who fall in love with the same woman: the royal princess. Since they are simple villagers, the possibility of any of them marrying the princess is quite remote.
Thus, they set out in search of a new life across the vast African territory, crossing forests and swamps, and facing terrifying beasts. Captured by beings endowed with supernatural powers, the brothers are forced to work as slaves on vast plantations and are freed after their work is completed.
For their obedience, each receives a magical gift. The oldest receives a magic mirror capable of seeing everything. The middle one, a flying carpet. And the youngest, an unbreakable steel net. Through the magic mirror, they see that the royal princess is being deceived and about to marry a monster. To save her, the three set off on the flying carpet to her rescue.
When the farce is uncovered, the king offers his daughter in marriage as a token of gratitude to one of the three brothers.
But who should marry the princess? The decision is up to the reader, who is invited to participate in the narrative and influence the characters' fates.
Oral stories, passed down and retold by word of mouth, literally "fly" around the world. In classic works like The Arabian Nights, for example, there's a variation similar to the African one retold here. In the Arabic version, a princess, after countless adventures, is saved thanks to an ivory pipe, a flying carpet, and an apple that cures all diseases.
