Chapter X: Part 10

Can, 108. Candle, (228). Castor-oil bean, 14, 48, 95, 153. Cat, 178. Chickens, 182. Child, 159. Clock, 72, 97. Cloud, 57, 134. Cloud and stars, 46. Cocoanut, 63, 83, 135, 175, 188, 200. Coco leaf, 18. Coffee, 111, 172. Coffee-pot, 51, 116. Coffee-pulper, 10. Cooking-pot, 42, 50, 110, 123, 124, 130, 139, 161, (229). Cord, 23. Cork, and bottle, 37. Corn, and rat, 177. Corn-ear, 103. Corn-grain, 66. Cow, 181, 184. Crow, 102, 127.

Daughter, (266). Debt, 118. Dew and sweat, 79. Dog, 8, (202). Dog-flea, 30. Duckanoo, (236).

Ear, 60. Ear of corn, 103. Earth, 134. Earthquake, 82. Egg, 25, 26, 70, 86, (230), (237), (244), (265). Equal, (255). Eve, (238). Eye, 17, 168. Eye-lashes, 168.

Feather, 127, 128. Fingers, 16, 80. Fingers catching lice, 67. Finger-nail, 163. Fire, 39, 65, 98, 123, 124, 125, 141, 171. Fire-stones, 139. Flea, 30, 190, (241). Fly, 129. Foot, 151. Frying-pan, 28, 167.

Goat, 199. Grass-quit, 1. Grater, 69. Grave, 22. Griddle, 122, 125, 171. Guitar, 137. Gum, 126. Gun, 7, 146. Gungo peas, 43.

Hawk, 119. Heaven, 134. Hen, 182. Hole, 64, 179, (231). Horse-shoe nail, 90, 179. Hunger, 117.

Ink on paper, 71, 120.

Jigger, 160. Jonah and the whale, (239).

Kasava, root, 85. Key, 189.

Ladder, 99. Lamb, 201. Lamp, 166. Letter M, (254). Lice, 41, 67. Lock, 189. Lot’s wife, (263).

Mat, 165. Match-box and match, 35. Mile-posts, 94. Mill-rollers, 138. Moon, 53, 58, 78, 106, 107, 152, (257).

Nail, finger, 163. Nail, in a house, 47, 101. Nail, horse-shoe, 90, 179. Needles, 52. Needle and thread, 3, 4, 33, 34, 140, 193, 194. Newspaper, 144. Nipples, 180. Nothing, (267).

Onion, 173. Orange, 76. Ox, (246).

Paper, 71, 120. Parrot, (232). Peas, Gungo, 43. Pepper, 131. Pig, (202), (203), (204). Pingwing, 19. Pipe, 5, 73, 142. Pot, coffee, 51, 116. Pot, cooking, 42, 50, 110, 123, 124, 130, 139, 161, (229). Pumpkin-vine, 15, 115, 147, 162. Purse, 154.

Rainbow, 176. Rat, and cat, 178. Rat, and corn, 177. Riddle, (243). Ring, 62, 158, (242). Road, 156, 198. Roof, 2. Rooster, 77, 143.

Saddle, 91, (234). Saw, 157. Scissors, 12, 38. Sea, 105, 136. Secret, (259). Ship, at sea, 136. Sieve, 21. Smoke, 98, 141, 164, 185, 186. Snail, 36. Soil, 87. Spark, 98. Stars, 54, 55, 56. Steelyard, 6. Stockings, 169. Stove, 11. Strings, of a guitar, 137. Stump, 187. Sugar-cane, 61, 149, 150. Sun, 104, (245). Sunshine, (235). Sweat, and dew, 79.

Talking-machine, 112. Teats, 181. Teeth, 31, 32, 126. Thunder, 145. Tin can, 108. Tobacco, (247). Toes, 183. Tongue, 32. Tooth, 126. Train, of cars, 89. Trash, 75. Tree, 40. Tree, climbing a, 74, 135, 188. Trousers, 84. Tumblers, 29. Turn-stick, 130, 161.

Umbrella, 59.

Water, (233). Wheel, buggy, 24, 92, 93. Wife, 9, 88, 159, (258). Wife, Lot’s, (263). Witch, 209. Women, (261). Woodpecker, 44, 132.

ABBREVIATIONS OF TITLES.

1. Jamaica references.

Bates, JAFL [168] 9 Creole Folk-lore from Jamaica; I. Proverbs; II. Nancy stories; by William C. Bates. JAFL 9: 38–42; 121–126. 1896. Bell Obeah, by H. J. Bell. London 1889. Cundall FL [169] Folk-lore of the Negroes of Jamaica, by Frank 15, 16 Cundall. FL 15: 87–94; 206–214; 450–456; 16: 68–77. 1904, 1905. Jekyll Jamaica Song and Story, by Walter Jekyll, with an introduction by Alice Werner. Publications Folk-Lore Society 55, London, 1907. Lewis Journal of a West India Proprietor (1815–1817), by Matthew Gregory Lewis. London, 1834. Milne-Home Mama’s Black Nurse Stories, by Mrs. M. P. Milne-Home. Edinburgh & London, 1890. Musgrave, FLR [170] Ananci Stories, furnished by W. A. S. Musgrave. 3 pt. 1 FLR 3, pt. 1; 53–54. London, 1880. Newell, JAFL 9 Abstracts from Milne-Home, by W. W. Newell. JAFL 9: 126–128. 1896. Robinson, FL 4 Obeah Worship in East and West Indies: in Jamaica, by May Robinson. 207–213. 1893. Smith Anancy Stories, by Pamela Coleman Smith. New York, 1899. Smith, JAFL 9 Two Negro Stories from Jamaica, by Pamela Coleman Smith. 278. Trowbridge, JAFL 9 Negro Customs and Folk-stories of Jamaica, by Ada Wilson Trowbridge. 279–287. 1896. Udal, FL 26 Obeah in the West Indies, by J. S. Udal. 253–295. London, 1915. Wake, FLJ 1 Ananci Stories (abstracts from Lewis), by C. Staniland Wake. FLJ 1: 280–292. London, 1883. Wona Selection of Ananci Stories, by Wona (Mrs. Charles Wilson). Kingston, 1899.

2. General References.

Arcin La Guinée française, by André Arcin. Paris, 1907.
Backus, JAFL 11 Animal Tales from North Carolina, by Emma M.
Backus. JAFL 11: 284–291. 1898.
Backus, JAFL 12 Tales of the Rabbit from Georgia Negroes, by Emma
M. Backus. JAFL 12: 108–115. 1899.
Backus, JAFL 13 Folk-tales from Georgia, by Emma M. Backus. JAFL
13: 19–32. 1900.
Backus, JAFL 25 Negro Tales from Georgia, collected by Mrs.
Backus & Mrs. Leitner. 125–136. 1912.
Barker West African Folk-tales, by W. H. Barker &
Cecilia Sinclair. London, 1917.
Basset, 1 Contes Populaires Berbères, by René Basset.
Collection de Contes et de Chansons Populaires
12, Paris, 1887.
Basset, 2 Nouveaux Contes Berbères, by René Basset.
Collection de Contes et de Chansons Populaires
23, Paris, 1897.
Bérenger-Féraud Contes Populaires de la Senegambia, by L. J. B.
Bérenger-Féraud. Collection de Contes et de
Chansons Populaires 9, Paris, 1885.
Bleek Reynard the Fox in South Africa; or Hottentot
Fables and Tales, by Wilhelm Heinrich Imanuel
Bleek. London, 1864.
Bleek, Bushman Specimens of Bushman Folk-lore, by W. H. I.
Bleek, edited by Lucy C. Lloyd, with an
introduction by George McCall Theal. London,
1911.
Boas, JAFL 25 Notes on Mexican Folk-lore, by Franz Boas. JAFL
25: 204–260. 1912.
Boas and Simango, Tales and Proverbs of the Vandau of Portuguese S.
JAFL 35 Africa. JAFL 35: 151–204.
Bolte und Polívka Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- und Hausmärchen der
Brüder Grimm. 3 vols. Leipzig, 1913–1918.
Bundy, JAFL 32 Folk-tales from Liberia, by Richard C. Bundy.
JAFL 32. 406–427. 1919.
Callaway Nursery Tales, Traditions and History of the
Zulus, by H. Callaway. London 1868.
Chatelain Folk-tales of Angola, by Héli Chatelain. MAFLS
[171] 1. 1894.
Christensen Afro-American Folk-lore. Told around cabin fires
of the Sea Islands of South Carolina, by A. M. H.
Christensen. Boston, 1892.
Cleare, JAFL 30 Four Folk-tales from Fortune Islands, Bahamas, by
W. T. Cleare. JAFL 30: 228–229. 1917.
Cronise and Ward Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider and the other Beef.
West African Folk-tales, by Florence M. Cronise
and Henry W. Ward. London & New York, 1903.
Dayrell Folk-stories from Southern Nigeria, West Africa,
by Elphinstone Dayrell, with an introduction by
Andrew Lang. London, 1910.
Dähnhardt Natursagen, by Oskar Dähnhardt, Leipzig,
1907–1912.
Dennett Notes on the Folk-lore of the Fjort (French
Congo), by R. E. Dennett. Publications Folk-Lore
Society 41, London, 1897.
Edwards Bahama Songs and Stories, by Charles L. Edwards.
MAFLS 3, 1895.
Ellis, Tshi The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of
West Africa, by Alfred Burdon Ellis. London,
1887.
Ellis, Ewe The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of
West Africa. London, 1890.
Ellis, Yoruba The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of
West Africa. London, 1894.
Elmslie FL 3 Folk-lore Tales of Central Africa (Nyassaland),
by D. Elmslie. FL 3: 92–110. 1892.
Ernst, VBGAEU 20 Tio Tigre y Tio Conejo (Venezuela), by A. Ernst.
Verh. Berlin Ges. Anthrop., Ethn. u. Urgesch. 20:
274–278.
Espinosa, JAFL 24, New-Mexican Spanish Folk-lore, by Aurelio M.
27 Espinosa. JAFL 24: 397–444; 27: 119–147. 1911,
1914.
Espinosa, JAFL 27 Comparative Notes on Spanish Folk-tales, JAFL 27:
211–231. 1914.
Espinosa, JAFL 27 Folk-tales of the Tepecanos, collected by J.
Alden Mason, edited by Aurelio M. Espinosa. JAFL
27: 148–210. 1914.
Espinosa, JAFL 28 Folk-tales from Oaxaca, collected by Paul Radin,
edited by Aurelio Espinosa. JAFL 28: 390–408.
1915.
Ferrand Contes Populaires Malgaches, by Gabriel Ferrand.
Collection de Contes et de Chansons Populaires
19, Paris, 1893.
Fortier Louisiana Folk-tales in the French Dialect and
English Translation, by Alcée Fortier. MAFLS 2,
1895.
Frobenius Volksmärchen der Kabylen, by Leo Frobenius, Jena,
1921.
Frazer, FLJ 7 A South African Red Riding-Hood, by J. S. Frazer.
FLJ 7: 167–168.
Harris, Friends Uncle Remus and His Friends. Boston & New York,
1892.
Harris, Nights Nights with Uncle Remus. Boston & New York, 1911.
Harris, Uncle Remus Uncle Remus, His Songs and His Sayings, by Joel
Chandler Harris. New York & London, 1919.
Hartt Amazonian Tortoise Myths, by Charles F. Hartt.
Rio de Janeiro, 1875.
Hollis, Masai The Masai, Their Language and Folk-lore, by A. C.
Hollis. Oxford, 1905.
Hollis, Nandi The Nandi, Their Language and Folk-lore. Oxford,
1909.
Jacottet Treasury of Basuto Lore, by E. Jacottet. Part 1.
Folk-tales of the Basuto, South Africa & London,
1908.
Johnston, JAFL 9 Two Negro Tales (Louisiana), by Mrs. William
Preston Johnston. JAFL 9: 194–198. 1896.
Jones Negro Myths from the Georgia Coast, by C. C.
Jones. Boston & New York, 1888.
Junod Les Chants et les Contes des Ba-Ronga de la Baie
de Delagoa, by Henri A. Junod. Lausanne, 1897.
Klunziger Upper Egypt, by Karl B. Klunziger. New York,
1878.
Koch-Grünberg Vom Roroim zum Orinoco, by Theodor Koch-Grünberg,
Berlin, 1916.
Koelle African Native Literature, or Proverbs, Fables
and Historical Fragments in the Kanuri or Bornu
Language (and translation) by S. W. Koelle.
London, 1854.
Krug, JAFL 25, 32 Bulu Tales from Kamerun, West Africa, by Adolph
N. Krug. JAFL 25: 106–124, 1912.
Kunst, JAFL 28 Some Animal Fables of the Chuh Indians
(Guatemala), by J. Kunst. JAFL 28: 353. 1915.
Lee, JAFL 5 Some Negro Lore from Baltimore, by Collins Lee.
JAFL 5: 110–112. 1892.
Lenz Araukanische Märchen und Erzählungen, by Dr.
Rudolf Lenz. Valparaiso, 1896.
Lenz, Estudios Estudios Araucanos, by Dr. Rudolph Lenz. Anales
de la Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile
1895–97.
MacDonald Africana, by Duff MacDonald. London, Edinburgh,
Aberdeen, 1882.
Mason, JAFL 27 Folk-tales of the Tepecanos, by J. Alden Mason,
edited by A. M. Espinosa, JAFL 27: 148–210. 1914.
Mechling, JAFL 25 Stories from Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, by W. H. Mechling.
JAFL 25: 199–203. 1912.
Mechling JAFL 29 Stories and Songs from the Southern Atlantic
Coastal Region of Mexico, by W. H. Mechling. JAFL
29: 547–558. 1916.
Nassau Where Animals Talk. West African Folk-lore Tales,
by Robert H. Nassau. Boston, 1912.
Nassau, JAFL 28 Batanga Tales. JAFL 28: 24–51. 1915. (Text in
JAFL 30: 262–268.)
Parsons, Andros Folk-tales of Andros Island, Bahamas, by Elsie
Island Clews Parsons. MAFLS 13, 1918.
Parsons, Sea Folk-lore of the Sea Islands, South Carolina, by
Islands Elsie Clews Parsons. MAFLS 16, 1923.
Parsons, JAFL 30 Tales from Guilford County, North Carolina, JAFL
30: 168–200. 1917.
Parsons, JAFL 30 Tales from Maryland and Pennsylvania. JAFL 30:
209–217. 1917.
Parsons, JAFL 30 Ten Folk-tales from the Cape Verde Islands. JAFL
30: 230–238. 1917.
Parsons FL 28, 29, The Provenience of Certain Negro Folk-tales. FL
30 28: 408–414; 29: 206–218; 30: 227–234. London,
1917, 1918, 1919.
Parsons, JAFL 32 Folk-tales from Students in Tuskegee Institute,
Alabama; Folk-tales from Students in the Georgia
State College, (edited). JAFL 32: 397–405. 1919.
Penard, JAFL 30 Surinam Folk-tales, by A. P. & T. E. Penard. JAFL
30: 239–250. 1917.
Radin, JAFL 28 Folk-tales from Oaxaca, collected by Paul Radin,
edited by Espinosa. JAFL 28: 390–408. 1915.
Rattray Hausa Folk-lore, customs, proverbs, collected and
transliterated, by R. S. Rattray, with a preface
by R. R. Marett. 2 Vol. Oxford, 1913.
Rattray, Chinyanje Some Folk-lore Stories and Songs in Chinyanje, by
R. S. Rattray, London, 1907.
Recinos, JAFL 31 Cuentos Populares de Guatemala, by Adrian
Recinos. JAFL 31: 472–487. 1918.
Renel Contes de Madagascar, by Charles Renel.
Collection de Contes et de Chansons Populaires
37, 38, Paris, 1910.
Rivière Contes Populaires de la Kabylie du Djvrdjvra, by
J. Rivière. Collection de Contes et de Chansons
Populaires 4, Paris, 1882.
Saurière Cuentos populares araucanos y chilenos, S. de
Saurière, Revista de Folklore Chileno, 7: 1–282,
Santiago de Chile, 1918.
Schwab, JAFL 27, 32 Bulu Folk-tales, by George Schwab. JAFL 27:
266–288; 32: 428–437. 1914, 1919.
Smiley, JAFL 32 Folk-lore from Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama and Florida, by Portia Smiley. JAFL 32:
357–383. 1919.
Smith Brazil, the Amazons and the Coast, by Herbert
Smith. New York, 1879.
Steere Swahili Tales as Told by Natives of Zanzibar, by
Edward Steere. London, 1889.
Stewart, JAFL 32 Seven Folk-tales from the Sea-islands, South
Carolina, by Sadie E. Stewart. JAFL 32: 394–396.
1919.
Theal Kaffir Folk-lore, by George McCall Theal. London,
1882.
Torrend Specimens of Bantu Folk-lore from Northern
Rhodesia, by J. Torrend. London & New York, 1921.
Tremearne Hausa Superstitions and Customs, by A. J. N.
Tremearne. London, 1913.
Tremearne, Tailed Tailed Head-hunters of Nigeria, by A. J. N.
Head-hunters Tremearne, London, 1912.
Tremearne FL 21, 22 Fifty Hausa Folk-tales, by A. J. N. Tremearne. FL
21: 199–215; 351–365; 487–503. 22: 60–73;
218–228; 341–348; 457–473. 1910 & 1911.
Weeks, FL 12 Stories and other Notes from the Upper Congo, by
John H. Weeks. FL 12: 181–189. 1901.
Weeks, FL 20 Leopard in the Maise-farm; a Lower Congo
Folk-tale. FL 20: 209–211. 1909.
Zeltner Contes du Senegal et du Niger, by Fr. De Zeltner.
Collection de Contes et de Chansons Populaires
40, Paris, 1913.

3. Riddle References.

Andros Island [Parsons] Riddles from Andros Island (Bahamas), by Elsie Clews Parsons. JAFL 30: 275–277. 1917. Argyleshire [Maclagen] Games and Diversions of Argyleshire, by R. C. Maclagen. PFLS [172] 47: 179–184. 1901. Canadian [Waugh and Canadian Folk-lore from Ontario, by F. W. Wintemberg] Waugh and W. J. and K. H. Wintemberg. JAFL 31: 63–72; 123–124; 133. 1918. Catalan [Briz] Endevinallas Populares Catalanas, by F. P. Briz. Barcelona, 1882. Dorsetshire: Notes and Dorsetshire Riddles. Notes and Queries, 3rd Queries series 9: 50. 1866. Eastern Bantu [Seidel] Geschichten und Lieder der Afrikaner, by A. Seidel, 176–309. Berlin, 1899. England, Nursery Rhymes Nursery Rhymes of England, by J. O. of [Halliwell] Halliwell, Percy Society 4: 91–97. London 1842. English: Booke of Merry Booke of Merry Riddles, by J. O. Halliwell Riddles [Halliwell] 1629. Literature of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. London, 1851. English: Fashionable Fashionable Puzzler or Book of Riddles, Puzzler selected: with remarks on riddles by Mrs. Barbauld. New York, 1835. English: New Collection New Collection of Enigmas, Charades, Transpositions. London, 1791. English: Popular Rhymes Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, by J. O. and Nursery Tales Halliwell. 1848. [Halliwell] English: Puniana Puniana, edited by the Hon. Hugh Rowley. London, 1872. English: Puzzles Old and Puzzles Old and New, by Professor Hoffman. New London and New York, undated. English: Riddler (New The Riddler: Paradoxes and Puzzles (paper). Haven) New Haven, 1835. English: Riddler The Riddler. No. 4. Cornhill, Boston (paper, (Boston) undated). Guilford County Negro Riddles from Guilford County, North [Parsons] Carolina, by Elsie Clews Parsons. JAFL 30: 201–207. 1917. Hausa [Tremearne] Hausa Superstitions and Customs, by A. J. N. Tremearne, 58–60. London, 1913. Holme Riddles [Tupper] Holme Riddles: 1640, by Frederick Tupper. Publications of the Modern Language Association, New Series 9: 211–272. 1903. Irish [McCall] Folk-lore Riddles: Irish and Anglo-Irish, by P. J. McCall. Journal of the National Literature Society of Ireland 1 pt. 2. Lancashire, Notes and Household Riddles, Notes and Queries, 3rd Queries series, 9: 86. Lincolnshire: Notes and Lincolnshire Riddles. Notes and Queries, 3rd Queries series 8: 502–504. 1865. Mexican [Boas] Notes on Mexican Folk-lore, by Franz Boas. JAFL 25: 227–231. 1912. Mexican [Recinos] Riddles from Mexico, by A. Recinos. JAFL 31: 537–549. 1918. Nandi [Hollis] The Nandi: their Language and Folk-lore, by A. C. Hollis, 133–151. Oxford, 1909. New Mexican Spanish New Mexican Spanish Folk-lore: Riddles, by [Espinosa] A. M. Espinosa. JAFL 28: 319–352; 31: 363–364. 1915, 1918. New Orleans (Perkins) Riddles from Negro School children in New Orleans, La., by A. E. Perkins. JAFL 35: 105–115. Pennsylvania Dutch Pennsylvania German Riddles and Nursery [Stoudt] Rhymes, by Ino. Baer Stoudt, JAFL 19: 113–121. 1906. Porto Rican [Mason] Porto Rican Folk-lore: Riddles, by J. A. Mason. JAFL 29: 423–504. 1916. Scotland, Popular Rhymes Popular Rhymes of Scotland, by Robert of [Chambers] Chambers. London and Edinburgh, 1841. Suaheli [Velten] Hundert Suaheli-Rätsel, by C. Velten. Mitteilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin: Afrikanische Studien 1–11. Berlin, 1904. Suahili [Steere] Swahili Tales as told by Natives of Zanzibar, by Edward Steere, 419–421. London, 1889. Welsh-Gypsy [Sampson] Fifty Welsh-Gypsy Folk-riddles, by John Sampson. Journal of the Gypsy-lore Society 5: 241. 1911. West Highlands Popular Tales of the West Highlands, by J. [Campbell] F. Campbell, 2: 406–423. London, 1890. Yorkshire: Notes and Yorkshire Riddles, by Baring Gould. Notes Queries and Queries, 3rd series 8: 325. 1865.

NOTES.

1. TYING TIGER.

Parkes heard this story in St. Ann Parish. Milne-Home, 99–108, tells it of Anansi and “Lion,” who takes the place of Tiger in earlier Jamaica story-telling. In a famous Jamaica digging-song, the words “Tiger-Lion” are coupled much as we should say “John Smith.”

The story falls into three parts. (1) A bully takes for himself the food-supply of one weaker than himself, who dares not object. (2) The bully is tricked into allowing himself to be tied; when he is tormented or robbed of the food he is monopolizing. (3) He either dies, or he is rescued and (a) falls upon his rescuer, or (b) invites him to dinner, when he is again tricked by his first victim, who personates the animal who has released him and enjoys his hospitality until detected and pursued.

Compare: Callaway, 29; 358; Theal, 110; Jacottet, 20–22; Dayrell, 93–97; Barker, 55–58; Cronise and Ward, 209–213; Ellis, Ewe 274; Rattray, 2: 74–82; Smith, 549–551; Lenz, 41; Christensen, 23–25; Harris, Nights, 327–329; Friends, 21–23; Ernst, VBGAEU 20: 275; Koch-Grünberg, 2: 141; Saurière, 95–100; Lenz, Estudios, 202, 210.

(1) The fish-basket story occurs in Dayrell and in Barker (antelope in a bundle). In Milne-Home, Anansi catches the fish by pretending he is going to give them new life.

(2) The tying trick is variously treated. In Callaway, 29, and Theal, the “cannibal’s” hair is plaited into the thatch, in Jacottet, the tail; in Callaway, 358, the tail is fastened into the ground. In Dayrell, the two play at tying each other (as in numbers 16 and 37) and the weaker animal refuses to untie the stronger. In Barker, the stronger animal consents to be hung in order to have his teeth beautifully filed. In Cronise & Ward and in the American versions (Harris, Christensen, Lenz, Ernst), the tying takes place under pretence of storm, but a pretence made plausible by shaking the trees as if a storm were coming. In Jacottet’s story, Lion, whose tail has been thatched into the hut, prays for a storm to kill his tormentor; it comes and destroys Lion himself. In Koch-Grünberg (Taulipang), the story is mixed with the motive of the support of the stone.

Tormenting the tied victim by throwing at him the remnants of the feast occurs in Theal, Cronise & Ward, Dayrell (salt and pepper). In Callaway and Lenz, he is severely beaten.

(3) Release by “White-ants” occurs in Barker, Cronise & Ward, Smith; by “Bush-rat” in Dayrell, where the story ends, as in number 12c, by the released victim falling upon his rescuer. In Milne-Home, this motive is also suggested. In Ellis, “Bush-rat” is freed by “Snail.” Compare Nassau, 46, where the swollen Leopard, freed from his predicament by Crab, turns and eats up his rescuer. The overheard invitation occurs in Barker, Smith, Milne-Home.

2. TIGER AS SUBSTITUTE.

The two episodes do not, so far as I know, occur in African collections, and in American collections they belong to a single story.

Compare: (Mexico), Boas, JAFL 25: 205; Parsons, Andros Island 82–85; Sea Islands, 40–43; Edwards, 63; JAFL 30: 229; Backus, JAFL 13: 22–24; JAFL 32: 400–402; Harris, Nights, 12–17; 179–185; Uncle Remus 140–145; Hichiti Indians, JAFL 26: 214.

In Edward’s and Parsons’s versions, the two episodes of tying in the garden and tying up while the water is scalding belong together; one is the conclusion of the other. In Mrs. Parsons’s version, the boy says when he finds Boukee tied in place of Rabby, “O pa! de leetle man grow beeg!” Edward’s version says, “Pa, dey big one here!”—“Don’t care if ’e big one or little one, I goin’ to scal’ him!” is the answer. In Boas’s Mexican Rabbit cycle, Rabbit is caught in a woman’s chile-garden by means of the tar-baby, is hung in a net while water is heating, pretends he is to marry, and persuades Coyote into his place. The “dear old woman” says “Ah! How did the Rabbit turn into a coyote?”

The story is related to Grimm 8, discussed by Bolte u. Polívka 1: 68. In Boas’s Mexican cycle, Rabbit escapes from Coyote by leaving him playing the guitar for a marriage couple. Anansi is represented as an accomplished fiddler in numbers 4, 10b, 14, 15, 20, 40, 43, 44, 47b, 93, 94, 131, 141. See numbers 1 and 21b and Boas’s discussion, JAFL 25: 248–250.

3. TIGER AS RIDING-HORSE.

The story is very common in Jamaica and presents no local variations from the form familiar in America. In Parkes’s version, the “two misses” become two “post-mistresses”. In a version by Knight, a school-master in the Santa Cruz mountains, Tacoomah is the horse and the story ends, “From that day the saddle fasten on Brer Tacoomah’s back.” Knight explained that “Brer Tacoomah is a large spider with yellow spots and a broad back shaped like a saddle,” and that the story was told to explain this characteristic.

Other Jamaica versions are found in Milne-Home, 51–63; Pamela Smith, 17; and Wona, 19–23. In Wona’s version, the story is made to explain “why gungo-peas are always covered with Tacoomahs,” a species of spider.

Compare Parsons, Andros Island, 30 and note; Sea Islands, 53; for comparative references.

Tremearne, FL 21:205, and Tailed-Head-Hunters, 322, tells a Hausa story of a Hyena who has stolen a holy man’s horse. Spider offers to bring the Hyena to him in its place, and persuades Hyena, under pretence of taking him to a dead animal, to be saddled and bridled and ridden by Spider to the holy man, who then mounts Hyena and completes his journey.

In Ellis, Yoruba 265, Tortoise rides Elephant into town to sustain an idle boast.

In Smith’s Brazil version, the little animal is tied on for safety, and takes care to slip into a hole when he finally dismounts.

In Ernst, VBGAEU 20:277 (Venezuela), Rabbit rides Tiger across a river. The story is coupled here with the murder in mid-stream.

4. TIGER’S SHEEP-SKIN SUIT.

Parkes heard this story in St. Ann Parish. Wona, 62–67, tells how Anansi steals Monkey’s clothes and passes the theft off on “Bone.”

Compare: Tremearne, FL 21:352; Harris, Nights; 68–74; Parsons, Sea Islands, 145; JAFL 32:366.

The common theme of teaching to an unsuspecting comrade an incriminating song (as in Parsons, Sea Islands, 145) is here emphasized by a second intrigue, that of the sheep-skin suit. The idea seems related to the next number. In Wona, 30–36, Tacoomah puts on a sheep-skin and hides in the fold from which the sheep are being stolen, Anansi ties and accuses him because he wears the sheep-skin.

5. TIGER CATCHING THE SHEEP-THIEF.

The story of the sheep-thief and the disguised watchman is popular in Jamaica, especially in St. Ann Parish, and I have given three versions in order to show the range of variation and the persistence of the essential plot. I have abbreviated White’s version without other change except the insertion of the incident of the misunderstood warning, which comes from another version and commonly precedes the episode of the “refugees in the roof.” Besides these three versions, Wona has the story, 30–36, and in Jekyll, 88, Tiger puts on a similar disguise at the conclusion of Annancy and Candle-fly (see number 7).

The tale falls into three parts. (1) A flock of sheep disappear one by one. (2) Tiger, or his equivalent, puts on the animal’s skin in order to catch the thief. (3) The thief is caught, but escapes his captor; or he provides a substitute; or he is pursued and takes refuge in the roof.

Compare: Tremearne, 214–216; Barker, 131–132; Parsons, Andros Island, 117–119; Edwards, 67–68.

(1) The witty opening of the Jamaica versions based on a compensation motive (see numbers 22 and 63), in which the rascal takes advantage of an open-handedness common to aristocratic wealth, does not occur outside Jamaica. Compare Tremearne, FL 21: 213–214. In Parsons, he pleads his wife’s illness; in Edwards and Barker, he is a mere thief. In Barker, as in Jamaica, the story accepts the absurdity that all the sheep have disappeared except the last.

(2) The thief-catcher is “head-man” in Edwards as in Jamaica; in Barker he is a man who comes to town; in Wona, he is Tacoomah; in Parsons, a lion gets in with the sheep and is taken as the plumpest of them.

(3) Barker’s version has a moralizing tendency; it is the friend who accompanies the thief who, at a flash of lightning, detects the trap and escapes. In Edwards, as in version (b), the rascal shifts the burden to his unsuspecting accomplice and himself escapes. Edwards and Parsons both conclude with the episode of taking refuge in the roof, as in version (c). For references see Parsons, 117 note 2.

For the incident of the misunderstood warning, compare: Tremearne, FL 21: 206; Renel 2: 7, 8; Theal, 165; Harris, Nights, 82; Trowbridge, JAFL 9: 286.

There can be no doubt that the essential plot is a version of the Sindibad fable of the thief among the beasts, who caught the lion by mistake, told in Comparetti’s translation from the Portuguese in his “Researches Concerning the Book of Sindibad”, PFLS 9: 144. A rich herder camps beside a village at night. A prowling lion gets among the beasts. A thief comes and, feeling the animals to see which is the plumpest, lays hands upon the lion.

6. TIGER’S BREAKFAST.

For the first breakfast trick, compare number 57a; for the second, 43. For Tiger’s revenge, see number 38.

7. EGGS AND SCORPIONS.

Jekyll tells the same story in Annancy and Candle-fly, 86–89; Wona, in Anancy and Fire-fly, 24–29; Pamela Smith, in Anancy and Ginger-fly. Milne-Home, 35–39, contains the scorpion episode. Compare Tremearne FL 21: 360.

The plot is in two parts. (1) Anansi goes on an egg-hunt at night with Fire-fly as guide, but is deserted because of his greed. (2) He stumbles upon Tiger’s house at night, and tries to steal back the eggs which Tiger has set Scorpions to guard. The parallel of this story with number 39 is obvious. Jekyll’s version takes on elements of the sheep-stealing story, number 5. A Mandeville version reads much like Milne-Home’s:

Bra Anansi an’ Bra Tiger went out to go an’ steal some eggs. Bra Anansi took a rubber bag an’ Bra Tiger took a canvas bag. When Bra Tiger bag full, Bra Anansi jus’ half. Bra Tiger would not wait any longer. He leave him an’ he go away.

Anansi was filling the bag, there he see a light coming, think it was Bra Tiger an’ cry out, “Lor’, Bra’r, Bra’r, yo’ jus’ coming to meet me?” But it wasn’t Tiger; it was the man watchin’ the eggs.

An’ when he went up to hol’ him he said, “Do, sah! do, sah! don’ carry me to massah to-night. Tie me to yo’ bed-side to-night till a mawnin’!” An’ when the man was sleeping, he call to Bra Rat, “Bra’r Rat, run come here let me tell you somethin’!” When Bra Rat come he said, “Jes’ loose me, I hev some egg here to give you!” An’ he loose him, he simply went right away,—never give Bra Rat anything.

8. TIGER’S BONE-HOLE.

The popular story of the bone-hole is better in action than on paper. A lad in Ballard’s Valley gave me a similar story of John-Crow’s bone-hole, ending with the dash of boiling water which has rendered John-Crow permanently bald (see number 47). After dictating the story he said, “Now I will tell it so as to make it funny”, and he proceeded to retell the tale in rapid dialogue, changing his voice to imitate the speakers and representing in pantomime the action of eating and throwing the bones, of ducking to escape them, and of playing the fiddle. As in this case, the dictated stories often only approximately render the style of actual oral delivery.

Compare Cronise and Ward, 214–218. For negro ideas about the “bone-heap” see Bleek, Bushman Folk-lore, 275–283.

9. THE CHRISTENING.

The Jamaica version of this wide-spread tale (Grimm 3, discussed in Bolte u. Polívka, 1: 9–13), has no local peculiarities. Compare Parsons, Sea Islands, 5–9 and references; also Frobenius 3: 13–16.

It consists of two parts. (1) A rascal excuses himself three times for leaving his companion, on the plea of a summons to a christening, in order to rob a tub of butter which the two hold in common. (2) By smearing the innocent companion with the butter, he makes him appear the guilty one.

The first part is the distinguishing feature of the tale. A stolen food-supply is one of the commonest episodes in negro trickster stories and common tests to detect the thief occur:—(a) Taking a purge to detect stolen food as in Dennett, 92. (b) Jumping over a fire, as in Harris, Uncle Remus, 84; Nights, 253–254; JAFL 30: 193; 32: 394; and numbers 21 a and 36. (See Bolte u. Polívka 1: 39). (c) Jumping over, or walking, a string, as in Theal, 115; Junod, 105; Boas and Simango JAFL 35: 193; Compare also Monk Lewis’s story of the test in crossing a river, 253–254, illustrated in number 80.

The trick to “incriminate another fellow” is, regularly, to smear the innocent victim with food while he sleeps. Compare: Bleek, 18; Callaway, 169; Theal, 93–97; Junod, 102; Dayrell, 53–54; Harris, Uncle Remus, 83; Parsons, Sea Islands, 8–14; also, Haida Indians, Swanton 113 (Bur. of Am. Ethn. Bull. 29).

The blood-smearing of the innocent victim in Leopard’s Marriage Journey, Nassau, 85–95, is a particular instance of the same motive. The sheep-skin suit and the song in the mouth of the unsuspecting victim, serve as witty substitutes for this common device for the incriminating of an innocent person by the guilty.

In Arcin, 473, the common food-supply is stored in a granary of which Rabbit steals the key, eats the food, and scatters the remains in the house of the guardian Hyena.

10. EATING TIGER’S GUTS.

The “Just so” story, number 51, is another version of the diving plot, which is popular in Jamaica. Jekyll tells it, 7–9, in form (b).

Compare: Chatelain, 205; Junod, 208; Renel, 254; JAFL 32: 395; Nights, 373–377; Parsons, Sea Islands, 40.

In all these cases, the trickster proposes diving and eats a store of food while his companion is in the water. The grotesque idea of bodily dismemberment coupled with the diving episode, I do not find in any of the parallels noted. In Parsons, Andros Island, 73, Boukee and Elephant go out bird-hunting. Boukee shoots Elephant and brings him home to the family. Boukee is brought to justice because the children are overheard singing,

“Me an’ Mamma’n Pappa
Eat my belly full o’ pot o’ soup
Bo’o’ Elephin got (gut), oh!”

For the incriminating song in version (b), see number 4.

11. THROWING AWAY KNIVES.

The story furnishes a good instance of local setting for an old tale, the pine-apple being well known in Jamaica. It takes two forms, that of leaving behind an implement necessary for the enjoyment for some food-supply, and that of throwing it away, in both cases under the impression that the adviser has done the same, as in number 13.

Compare, for both spoon and knife episodes, Theal’s Hlakanyana cycle, 105–107; for the knife, Nassau, 85; 90; for the spoon, Chatelain, 17 (incomplete); Tremearne, 231–233. In Dayrell, 51, the abandoned implement is a drinking-horn. In the Bahama versions of the same story (Parsons, Andros Islands, 70–74; Edwards, 80–82) the episode does not appear.

12. GRACE BEFORE MEAT.

The same story is told in Jekyll, 77. For the introduction, compare Tremearne, FL 21: 502, and many Berber trick stories, e.g. Basset 1: 1, 3; 2: 12, 18, 76, 87. A version from Henry Spence, the Bog song leader, exactly follows the Aesopic model of Grimm 75 discussed in Bolte u. Polívka 2: 119–121.

De Fox ax de cat how much trick him got. Puss say, “I have one.” De Fox say him have ten time ten. So one day Dog start de Cat an’ de Fox. So after de Cat run fe de tree, never miss de tree at all, run to de top an’ sit down look upon Fox now an’ de dog. An’ all de trick de Fox got, de Dog ketch him.

For Monkey’s helping Tiger out of the hole and Tiger’s ingratitude, compare Tremearne, FL 21: 362.

For the escape by saying grace, compare: Bleek, 23; Jones, 109–110; Harris, Nights, 152–153 and see number 59b.

13. SEEING TROUBLE.

The complete story is made up of three parts. (1) Some inexperienced animal wants to know “what trouble is”. (2) The rascal gets him into difficulty; (3) and helps him out again.

Compare: Zeltner, 105–107; Tremearne, FL 21: 499–500; Jones, 107–109; Parsons, Sea Islands, 59–61.

(1) Only Jones, Parsons and the Jamaica version (a) have the introduction, which suggests the story (Grimm 4) of the lad who did not know what fear was.

(2) One of three plots is employed to teach wisdom. In Jones (see number 30c and Gerber’s Great Russian Animal Tales, 12, 16) the rascal gives his victim a bull-dog in a bag and bids him let it out in an open field. In Parsons, he sets on fire the deep grass in which his victim lies sleeping. In Zeltner, Hyena and Hare catch four lion cubs; Hare pretends to kill his two, and Hyena follows his supposed example. In Tremearne, Hyena and Jerboa on a wedding journey are lodged in the goat-house and the fowl-house respectively. Jerboa proposes they have a feast, then counsels the host to count the fowls and the goats. None of his fowl are missing, but Hyena has eaten a goat. In Ferrand, Madagascar, 207, it is proposed to kill mothers. One pretends to, the other thinks it real and does it. See number 136.

In Gerber’s Great Russian Animal Tales, 13, the Fox, having placed some chickens under her, pretends to be tearing out and eating her own entrails. Bear tries to do the same and kills himself.

(3) The escape into a hole is very common. The usual method of rescue is to throw dust, pepper or spit into the eyes of the watcher at the hole. Compare: numbers 5c, 23, 27a, and Zeltner, 107; Nassau, 45, 46; Smith, 549; Harris, Uncle Remus, 52; Nights, 285; Fortier, 115; Jones, 108; JAFL 30: 178; Parsons, Andros Island, 118 and note for references.

The “sweet” eye-water suggests such a tale as Tremearne, FL 21: 364, where Goat smears honey upon Hyena’s sinew, with which he is doing some mending for Lion, and by giving Lion a taste of it provokes an attack upon Hyena.

14. NEW NAMES.

The trick to save a mother in time of famine from a mutual agreement of sacrifice to hunger, has a great vogue in Jamaica. I got two versions, and Pamela Smith tells it as “Parrot, Tiger and Anancy,” 52–54.

Compare: Dayrell, 86–90; Dennett, 85; Harris, Nights, 233–236; 237–241; Fortier, 109; Parsons, Andros Island, 116–117; JAFL 30: 230–231.

Only in the Jamaica versions and in Parsons does the trick consist in teaching a hidden name. In P. Smith, after saving his mother by teaching her the new name, Anansi hides her in a tree and the story follows 17 a. Dayrell, and Harris 237–241, tell the tree story. In Dennett, she is hidden in a cave, where she is discovered by treachery and killed. In Harris 233–236, Wolf’s mother is taken first to market and sold, and Rabbit tricks Wolf out of horses, wagon and provisions by the familiar device of burying the tails; but the story is incomplete, as it does not explain how Anansi got out of the bargain. In Fortier, the two mothers are tied, one with a rope, the other with a cob-web, and one mother escapes. The tying trick precedes the tail-burying in Parson’s Portuguese version, JAFL 30: 230–231.

In Chatelain, 141–145, four brothers-in-law refuse food to their brother’s wife because she does not know their names. A bird sings them to her as follows:

Listen, I will tell thee;
(One is) Tumba Sekundu;
(One is) Tumba Sekundu Muna;
(One is) Tumba Kaulu;
(One is) Tumba Kaulu Muna.

For the hidden name theme which forms the basis of this story, see note to number 69.

15. LONG SHIRT.

Hendrick’s version of this good story is the only one I heard in Jamaica. It has a European coloring in the speaking garment, which resembles the English versions of Jack and the Bean-stalk. The setting of the dance resembles number 4, but in this story the dance plays no motivating part. For the horn as stump see Aesop, Phaedrus 2: 8. The conclusion is no doubt a turn of Hendrick’s own, as he was fond of explanatory endings and got one in whenever he could.

16. SHUT UP IN THE POT.

This common African story is not popular in America in this form, either because the idea is repulsive or because it is too simple to make a good story. The essential feature, that of taking turns going into the pot, is employed in number 37, and resembles the playing at tie each other of number 1. It is used in some versions of number 98. In Wona, 14–18, Anansi gets the animals into his pot by proposing a weight-testing contest.

Compare: Jacottet, 12–14; Junod, 91; Dayrell, 36–37; Elmslie, FL 3: 104–105; Boas and Simango JAFL 35: 168–170.

In Dayrell’s version, Bat pretends to make soup by jumping into a pot which he has previously prepared with food, and persuades his companion to scald himself to death by imitating him. Yeats drew his play of the “Pot of Lentils” from an Irish version in which a stone serves as the magic means instead of the magician’s person.

17. HOUSE IN THE AIR.

The story of obtaining entrance to a hidden food-supply “in the air” takes two general forms in Jamaica—first, that in which a song serves as pass-word, as in the voice-softening Rapunzel plot, number 91; second, that of the lost pass, numbers 22 and 100. The lost pass takes two directions; there is either a forgotten pass-word or a destroyed “key.”

The story is popular in Jamaica. See Jekyll, 23–25, Pamela Smith, 52–54; Backus, JAFL 11: 288–289.

Compare: Dayrell, 86–90; Parsons, Andros Island, 5–7; 8–9; Sea Islands, 36; Harris, Nights, 236–241.

Version (a). Dayrell, Harris and Pamela Smith use the episode to complete the mother-eating story; the trickster hides his relative in a tree in order to evade his share of the bargain.

In Bleek, 7, 9, and Theal, 190, a trickster offers to act as carrier for the Lion’s prey, conveys it to a height, then pretends to draw the Lion up with a rope but lets him fall when he is part way up.

Version (b). The version is so incomplete that its connections are difficult to trace. In Chatelain, 133, when the women from Sun and Moon who have come to draw water go back up to heaven on the cobweb that Spider has woven, Frog goes along with them to woo the daughter of Sun and Moon for his master. In Dennett, 74, the Spider climbs up to the blue vault of heaven and draws up the other animals to woo Nzambi’s daughter.

Versions (c) and (d). In Parsons, Andros Island, 5–7, the trickster visits some fat pea-fields in the air belonging to “dose speerits which you call witch people” and gets a dash of hot water, as in number 1 b. In version (d), the trickster himself employs the hot water in the popular John-crow peel-head episode with which the story concludes; see number 48. Backus’s Jamaica version ends in the same fashion.

The idea of the liver as the “key” to the house occurs in Chatelain, 113. The trickster, after trying in vain to kill a monster by cutting off his head, gets himself swallowed and “goes to look into his hearts (i.e. “liver” and “inner organs” generally, says the note) whether these are the keys.”

18. GOAT ON THE HILL-SIDE.

This well-known East Indian fable is common in Jamaica. Jekyll gives a version, 20–22.

Compare: Parsons, Andros Island, 88–89 and note for references; also Chatelain, 189–191; Junod, 123–124; Edwards, JAFL 4: 52.

The ruse is one generally planned by the weak trickster for his strong but dull-witted companion, as in number 23. There is a tendency to place the incident among the monkeys, as in number 37. In Parsons’s three versions the slaughter is made among them; in Jekyll’s version, in a second of my own from Mandeville, and in Jacottet’s form, it is the monkey or baboon who discovers the trick. In Tremearne, FL 21: 209–210, a bird gives warning; in Chatelain, a deer.

19. DOG AND DOG-HEAD.

This story is told everywhere in Jamaica, but I find no African version and Mrs. Parsons says (JAFL 32: 391) that, although she heard it “over and over again” in South Carolina, it was altogether unknown in North Carolina; see Sea Islands, 1–5. Such a distribution argues a fairly modern origin for the complete form of the story.

The story has two parts. (1) Two friends, who have, one a dog and the other a dog-head, go hunting, and the owner of the dog-head claims the spoils for his own. (2) His companion, who dares not dispute him, recovers the spoils by pretending that the owner is come to punish the theft.

An introduction sometimes tells how the friends come by the dog and dog-head. Each gets a present of a dog, but one is so greedy that he eats his down, beginning at the tail, until only the head is left. When his friend jeers at him, he makes a bet that his dog-head will catch the prey. The business of deciding at which end to begin to eat the dog is used as a humorous episode detached from the rest of the story, the victim sometimes escaping in the meantime.

The trick of claiming the cow as the prey of the dog-head may be related to such stories as that of Basset 2: 88, in which the man lays the new-born calf beside his own bull and declares that the bull has mothered it.

For the revenge, compare Rivière, 11; Harris, Nights, 131–132.

20. TACOOMAH’S CORN-PIECE.

See number 21.

21. ANANSI AND THE TAR BABY.

For the distribution of the Tar-baby story in negro folk-lore and its relation to negro practices compare: Boas, JAFL 25: 247–250; Tremearne, 20–24; Parsons, Andros Island, 12–13; Sea Islands, 26–29. For Spanish see Espinosa (Cuentos populares españoles, Stanford University 1923, Vol. I, p. 80.)

Version (a). Of all the devices to catch a thief, the tar-baby story is by far the most popular in Jamaica. Despite its conformity to negro practices, the uniformity of style in which the story is treated shows that it is not here developed upon a naturalistic basis. On the other hand, the trick of the escape into the habitat does not often occur in Jamaica, perhaps because it is more amusing when coupled with the figure of Rabbit, as in 59 a. For other instances of the fire-test see notes to number 9.

Version (b). Jamaica thief stories lay emphasis upon the unexpectedness of the thief’s identity. In version (a) and in number 50, it is the watchman himself who is robbing the garden. In (b) it is the intimate friend. In (c) it is the father of the family. Pains are taken, moreover, to divert suspicion. In number 20, Anansi establishes an alibi by playing all night at a dance while his gang rob the field; in Junod, 102, Rabbit makes his companion put him under a mortar at night and fasten his feet, then wriggles out of the trap and returns to it again. The device in version (b) seems to be native to Jamaica.

The escape by means of a substitute is more dramatically handled than in Mrs. Parsons’s Bahama versions, 15–16, but as Goat is generally a wary animal in Jamaica stories, the ending must be derived from the “Boukee and Rabby” cycle of the Bahama and Louisiana equivalents. For the substitute theme, compare numbers 2, 4, 5b, 10b, 58.

Version (c). Compare: Bleek, 80–82; Cronise and Ward, 101–111; Barker, 69–72. For the detection of the father by the son, see Cunnie-more-than-father, number 23.

22. INSIDE THE COW.

According to Mrs. Parson’s analysis in Andros Island, 2–10, the story of the lost pass takes four forms: (1) across water, (2) inside a tree, (3) to the sky, (4) inside the cow. To all these passages, a magic pass is attached, and either a violated prohibition or a forgotten pass-word traps the intruder until the master of the place appears.

In Jamaica, the story is very popular. (1) occurs in numbers 7, 39, 58, out of which, however, the pass-word has dropped; (2) is wanting; (3) is found in number 17; (4) appears in numbers 6 and 38 and in a number of current versions which contain the episode of cutting meat from inside the cow, but lack the other elements of the story.

For the pattern of Parkes’s story, which falls into five parts, compare: Tremearne, 257–260; Ellis, Yoruba, 271; Barker, 81–84; Cronise and Ward, 231–238; Nassau, 35–37; 202–207; Fortier, 31; 111; Harris, Uncle Remus, 166–168; Christensen, 108; Edwards, 77; Parsons, Andros Island, 2–10; Rattray, 2: 88.

(1) The trickster discovers food in a neighbor’s possession in Tremearne, Nassau, 203, Fortier, 31, Harris, Christensen, Edwards, Parsons, 3, 4, 27.

(2) His impatience leads him to create a “mock sunrise.” In Tremearne, he burns the roof; in Christensen, he sets a tree on fire; in Ellis, he simulates the cock-crowing; in Barker, he makes the children rattle their spoons and sweep the floor.

In Parkes’s version, Anansi wakens at the cow-boy’s bell, and the reference to the “river-side” connects the story with the crossing water variant. As in Cronise and Ward, after learning the trick from his friend, he goes off alone for a supply without calling his neighbor.

In Jones, 11–14, and Harris, Friends, 6–11, the Sun promises to find food for the hungry Hawk if he can ever catch him in bed. When Rooster finally wakes Hawk in time to catch the Sun, the angry lord gives Hawk permission to catch chickens.

(3) In cutting the meat from inside the cow, in spite of warning he cuts a vital organ in Nassau, Cronise and Ward, Harris, Fortier, Parsons, 9; and numbers 17c and 17d of this collection.

In Fortier, 31 (see number 7), instead of taking one egg from each nest as bidden, he takes all. In Ellis, he forgets the pass-word.

(4) When the owner of the dead cow comes to cut it up, the trickster hides in some organ, which the owner’s daughter takes to the brook to wash. He jumps out, pretends that he was in the brook bathing, complains of the insult and gets the cow as damages. So Cronise and Ward, Nassau, Edwards. In Tremearne, he gets a whole elephant for himself.

(5) He carries the cow away into a lonely place in order to enjoy the whole, and Dry-head gets it away from him; see numbers 29, 30. The episode does not occur in other versions. In Cronise and Ward, he gets three cows by means of the tail in the ground trick. In Harris, he is given his companion’s head, who gets shut up with him and upon whom he has laid the blame of killing the cow.

23. CUNNIE-MORE-THAN-FATHER.

Parkes gave me the only version of this admirable story that I found in Jamaica and I did not find it in this form in other American collections. The essential idea is that of repeated attempts by a parent to turn over to an enemy an adroit child, who each time outwits his would-be captor. The plot is common in Africa. In Rattray, Chinyanje, 133–136; Torrend, 183–185; Junod, 158–163, a woman steals from a monster, who demands her unborn child in compensation. After his birth, the monster comes for his prey. The parent attempts to beguile the child into his hands by sending him to fetch something from the place where the monster lies concealed. Each time the child escapes. Finally the child climbs a tree and throws down fruit (Torrend and Junod) or wood (Rattray) into the open mouth of his enemy, thus choking and killing him.

For a similar sequence of attempts to entrap a weaker enemy, compare the Coyote and Rabbit cycle from Mexico, Boas, JAFL 25: 205, 236, 246, and 260 referring to Preuss; and two versions of the same story by Mechling, JAFL 25: 201–202.

Parkes’s version includes five episodes, three of which belong to the regular cycle; the first and the last are indeterminate.

(1) The child proves too clever for the parent. Barker, 24, says, “Anansi is the Spider, and with him is generally associated his son, Kweku Tsin.” Stories about the two bring out the superior wit of the son and the jealousy of the father. Compare numbers 19, 21 c, 24 in this collection.

In the African stories cited above, the motive for seeking to entrap the child is one of compensation for stolen food. In the Mexican cycle, the dull-witted strong animal has been made to suffer punishment for a stolen food-supply, in place of the real thief. In Jamaica, the child’s exposure of a hidden food-supply is used as the motive.

The story of the yam’s hidden name is universally known and enjoyed in Jamaica. It belongs to the group of hidden-name stories discussed under number 69. See Milne-Home, 56–57, De Affassia, and compare Musgrave, 53–54.

(2), (3). The child first sticks a fire-stick into the pepper-bush behind which his enemy lies in wait, then throws bags of ants into his face as he waits under a cocoanut tree.

In the African and Mexican parallels, the trickster throws down fruit,—prickly-pears in Mexico. In every case, two fruits are thrown harmlessly, then the fatal fruit. Compare Parsons, Andros Island, 40. In Georgia, Backus, JAFL 13: 22–23, pepper is the missile. In Nassau, 25–30, bags of ants and pepper are thrown to detect the pretended dead. This may be related to the bee trick in the Mexican cycle. In the Jamaica episode of the “refugees in the roof,” numbers 5 c and 27, after the wife and children have dropped and been devoured, Anansi puffs dust into the pursuer’s eyes and escapes. Dust is thrown in Parsons, Sea Islands, 54, and in other instances in the same collection.

(4) For the episode of detecting a hidden enemy by calling upon the place where he is hidden to speak, compare Steere, 377; Rattray, 134; Renel 2: 92, 93; Fortier, 110; Harris, Friends, 143–146; and Boas’ Mexican cycle, JAFL 25: 208 and reference, note page 248.

(5) For the trick of changing places in the coffin and the pretended pastures under sea, compare 107, 108.

24. THE DUCKANO TREE.

Tacoomah in this tale plays the part of Cunnie-more-than-father of the preceding as a spy to discover a hidden food-supply. It is a very popular Jamaica story, told by Milne-Home, 120–124; Wona, 62–66; Pamela Smith, 78.

Compare Edwards, 79; Dayrell, 26–28.

The story has three parts. (1) The son by means of a trail of ashes discovers a hidden food supply. (2) He takes all but one fruit and charms that so that his father cannot pick it. (3) Dog picks it up and swallows it, is pursued, discovered by his eyes in the ground, and the stolen fruit is squeezed out of him, thus causing the “sink places” in his two sides.

(1) For the trail of ashes compare Barker, 51–54; Arcin, 478; Dayrell, 27; Nassau, 204, 141, 155; Harris, Friends, 15–20.

(2) In Dayrell’s story of The King’s Magic Drum, the king gives Tortoise a tree which bears foo-foo once a year and drops foo-foo and soup once a day, but will lose the power if visited twice. The son follows and breaks the spell. The Kaffir “Iron John” story of The Bird that made milk (Callaway, 99–104; Theal, 29–39), is the story of a food-producing animal trapped by the father and let loose by the son.

In Barker, Anansi, to punish men, gets the wisdom of the world sealed up in a jar and attempts to hide it away from everyone but himself in the top of a tall tree. His son, Kweku Tsin, follows him to the tree where he is hiding it, and, in his anger, Anansi lets the jar fall and break.

(3) In Theal, 158–168, a man whose greed in hiding a food-supply from his family has been discovered and punished, calls upon his dogs to aid him. Later his son escapes from the cannibals by slipping into a hole.

25. FOOD AND CUDGEL.

The first form of this story is very common in Jamaica. It is told by Pamela Smith, Candoo, 28–30; Wona, Do-mek-I-see, 9–18. The introductory trick is generally told as an independent witticism.

Compare: Basset 11, 93–95; 102; Barker, 39–44; Dayrell, 20–28; Parsons, Andros Island, 141 and note for further references. See Grimm 36, The Wishing Table, the Gold-ass, and the Cudgell in the Sack, discussed in Bolte u. Polívka, 2: 336–361.

26. THE RIDDLE.

Hendricks called this riddle test a “Nansi story,” although another which he told me,—that of bringing water in a basket by daubing the basket with clay—he said was “not exactly a Nansi story.”

27. ANANSI AND BROTHER DEAD.