D13hh. A person who goes to the dead should not laugh. 11.12.

When visiting another world, a person should not laugh or be surprised to see strange things. The person who breaks the rule dies or suffers damage.

Sakata, mongo-nkundu, maragoli, bambara, von, yoruba, yambasa.

Bantu-speaking Africa. Sakata: Colldén 1979, No. 9 [mother died, daughters Mbu and Mpia stayed to take care of the garden; Mbu went there and saw their dead mother cultivate the garden; her mother took her to the village dead; told me not to laugh if she saw termites dancing and people with their mouths on top of their heads; if friends called to swim, then swim in a bad place, not in a good place; Mbu listened, received gifts returned home], 22 [the father brought three nuts, the son ate them, the father demanded that he bring the nuts from where he picked them; the son goes, the old woman with a skin disease asks her to wash; he washes it, she gives two parcels, big and small; at a fork in three roads, a young man asks a large parcel, which says it's none of his business; a small man shows the way; a young man hears laughter, asks if he should laugh; a small the bundle says no; the young man picks nuts and banana leaves, brings them home; leaves the leaves, the father eats them, the son demands that the father bring new ones from where he picked them; the father goes and refuses wash the old woman; laughs, stones fall on him, he dies]: 161, 177-178; Mongo-nkundu: Zhukov, Kotlyar 1976, No. 151 [two sisters are married to Ilofi; he leads the eldest to his relatives; tells not to laugh when a human leg cuts off a palm tree, heads scoop up water; tells you to bake peels, not bananas (they will become bananas), enter the pond with leeches (she will come out with bracelets on her legs), etc.; wife everything does, comes back rich; the youngest wife also wants to go, she is doing the wrong thing, she was killed and eaten; I. was given money to buy a new wife]: 374-378 (briefly Hulstaert 1965, No. 621 in Colldén 1979:406); Knappert 1977, No. 11 [two sisters are married to Ilofi; he takes the eldest to his relatives; tells you not to laugh when a single leg cuts nuts, a louse weaves mats, individual heads fill jugs with water; tells bake peels rather than bananas (will become bananas), bones rather than fish (become fish), seeds rather than nuts (become nuts); don't go out at night when everyone is dancing; jump into a well with leeches and centipedes (will come out with decorations); the wife does everything, returns rich; the youngest wife also wants to go, laughs, leaves the house, she was killed and eaten]: 143-145); maragoli [the woman's husband became an ogre; she came to her sister; the husband came and began to sing, but the sister sat quietly; when he left, the wife gave her sister a lot of ornaments; taught her to put the fruits in the holes in the rock and run as soon as the bird began to bite; if she saw them dancing grass, don't go dancing with her; her sister did everything, came back rich; her younger sister also wanted jewelry; when the ogre started singing, she started dancing; ran when the bird finished eating fruits; the bird began to scream that the woman was here; began to dance with the grass; the cannibal caught up with the woman and ate it; the wife began to shave the cannibal, ripped off his skin, burned him with the house; other cannibals behind her they chased; she asked the hawk to take her and her children to the tree; the cannibals began to cut him down, but the woman said: the tree will not fall! and the felling overgrew; the woman began to whistle, people heard, ran, killed cannibals]: Kavaji 2005, No. 14:232-236.

West Africa. Bambara [an orphan washes dishes, breaks her stepmother's calebas; she demands her whole back, let her go to Tinimine; on the way, the girl sees food being cooked on fire, fighting pests eating each other's animals; not surprised, tells his story, they show the way; T. with three heads, two eyes, many hands makes the calebass whole, gives seven others with gold and treasures, servants, to carry them; her own daughter deliberately breaks the calebas; she is surprised at the creatures, refuses to work at T.'s house; she gives seven calebas, tells her to open it only in a locked room; they have bees and snakes stepmother and daughter die]: Görög 1979:60-64; background [mother dies, father tells another wife to take care of her daughter; she joins her; girl breaks the vessel; stepmother sent her to get water to where she is animals will eat; she sees two stones fighting; tells them she saw nothing; they hit her, she says it doesn't hurt; they let her through; the old woman takes off her head to brush her hair, girl says she didn't see anything; at the crossroads, another old woman, a girl licks her ulcers with her tongue; she passes between two butting buffaloes, they show the way; tohosu asks to stroke his back, she's all with tips and knives, the girl hurts her hand, but says that everything is fine; tohosu gives water to wash her hands, the wounds disappear; he lets you grind and cook one grain of millet, that's enough for everyone; tohosu says not take calebasses who will ask them to be taken, take seven silent people, fill them with water; these calebasses must be broken on the way back; they give rise to people, fields, wealth, carry it in stretchers; stepmother sends his own son, he replies to everyone that he has seen their strange deeds, refuses to lick ulcers, hurt his hands, cook with one grain; tohosu puts the boy in a goat pen for the night; tells them to take calebasses, who ask for it themselves; when they break them, the boy loses his way, the animals eat him]: Herskovits, Herskovits 1958, No. 69:293-298; Yoruba [mother sent her daughter to sell palm oil; by evening he came spirit (goblin), bought oil; after counting the cowrie received, the girl said that one was not enough; the spirit replied that he had no more and left; the girl followed him; he told her many times come back, but she keeps walking demanding her cowrie; they come to people standing with their heads on their heads and interpreting yams with their heads; to the river of pus (filth); there the spirit says there will be more blood, a steep mountain ; the girl keeps walking; they come to the land of the dead; there the spirit gives her a nut, tells her to take butter, give him cake; the girl does the opposite, the spirit is happy; the banana and the peel are the same; the spirit tells her to collect ado (little kaletas pumpkins for potions), take not the ones that ask them to take, but those that are silent; halfway to home, let him break the first calebass, the second at home, the third in the house; the girl does so, from Calebas appear slaves, horses, cattle, piles of cowrie; the girl's mother gave rich gifts to the chief's wife; she refused to take it and sent her daughter to sell oil; she still did the same, but she took the oil and the banana, the cake and the peel gave her spirit, picked off the calebasses who asked for it; wild animals appeared from the calabas, tore it on the doorstep of the house; she asked to open the door, but the house was only deaf and did not hear her screams]: Ellis 1894, No. 1:244-249; yambasa [one wife has a son, the other has a daughter; the boy's mother died, his stepmother bullies his stepson; sent him to wash dishes, he lost his spoon, his stepmother told get it out of the Bedeng Sea; on the way, the boy sees a pot of rice brewing himself, a tree that falls and gets up, two cassava pestas that work themselves (deux bâtons de manioc qui se battaient); every time he kneels reverently, receives a blessing; he comes to an old animal mistress by the sea; she hides him from animals for the night, gives him a grain of corn and a gnawed bone, they turn into corn porridge and meat; at night he tells the animals to be stabbed quietly with a sharp stick; they think fleas bite, go away; he catches a spoon from the sea, gets three eggs; they must be broken by the pests for cassava (warriors come out), at a falling tree (wild animals come out, warriors drive them away), at a boiling pot (wealth appears); stepmother sends her own daughter; she laughs at wonderful objects, they they wish her failure; throws away seed and bone; stabs animals heavily, they are dissatisfied; she is the first to break eggs with wild animals, they kill her; the eagle picked up her heart, left the girl's mother, she died of grief]: Binam Bikoï 1977:127-131.