E31B. Male saviors. 11.12.

Several women are involved in reviving a deceased man and are arguing about who did more to revive him.

Bulu, Congo, Baule, Dagomba, Pear, Wai, Loma-Mende, Dagari, Fulbe.

Bantu-speaking Africa. Bulu [a person has five wives: Remembering, Finding-Path, Groping-Brody, Picking-Things-Up, Bring-Life); husband fell off the mango, crashed; the first wife remembered him, the second found his path, the third took everyone across the river, the fourth collected pieces of his body, the fifth revived him; they argued who his wife was; the judge said that this man is all their husband]: Schwab 1922, No. 3:212; Congo [the hunter has three wives - Dreamer, Guide, Raiser-of-the-Dead; they eat the antelope he brought, the monkey, remain hungry; he goes to get a buffalo for them, kills it, but another buffalo kills him; Dreamer finds out, Guide takes them to the scene, Raiser revives her husband; everyone wants him to eat it first food; the husband explains why he will first take food from the hands of the one that revived him]: Dennett 1898:33-34 (=Kharitonov 1975, No. 30:74-75).

West Africa. Baule [husband died on the road from sunstroke; one wife drove away flies, the other ran into the forest, the spirit gave her a means to revive her, but it is only effective if no fly lands on the deceased; the husband came to life, but the wives argued whose role in reviving him was more important; people decided not to revive the dead]: Himmelheber 1951b: 105-107, translated into Himmelheber 1960:146-148; Dagomba [having given birth, three the man's wives went to their parents; at a fork in the roads, the husband suddenly died; one wife immediately hanged herself, the second sat next to her body to drive away the vultures; the third rushed into the forest and met there Kulparga, brought to the body, which revived the man and first wife by hitting the bodies with a cow's tail; which wife is better?] : Cardinall 1931:203; groans [two men asked the chief to feed them, then let him kill them; he did so; the third asked permission to spend the night with his daughter under the same conditions; the chief left the dog at the door of the hut, but the chief's daughter gave her food and the lovers ran away; by the river, the horsemen sent by the chief almost caught up with them, but the ferryman's daughter transported them to the other side; the three of them came to to the ogre's wife; she poisoned her husband and the man was left with three wives; each gave birth to a son; one was black, the other was red, the third was white; the sons quarreled: everyone wanted the tail of a dead cow; the father threw the cow's skin up; it became the sky, the horns the sun and the moon, the tail the stars; the wives began to argue which of them did more to save their husband; the husband said that everything was the same and that their sons were for he is equally expensive too]: Cardinall 1931:24-25; vai: Jablow 1961 [the chief invites everyone to play the bōh game, loses, mortgages a gold bracelet, promises to execute if in the morning There will be no bracelet; at night, the bracelet returns to it by itself, the man is executed; the chief's daughter likes the young man, she runs with him; when they run out of strength, they meet a girl carrying food; she agrees share if a young man marries her; the same with a water carrier who transported the fugitives by boat across the river; after a man dies from a snake bite, his four sons argue about the inheritance; each refers on their mother, without whom the father would die; they can't find a solution]: 103-107; Pinney 1973:158-161 [three brothers suggested to the chief: we will take what we want for five days, and let him take our lives on the sixth; the eldest drank for five days, ate the average, the younger Talwa demanded clothes; the chief's daughter fell in love with him and they ran away; they had nothing to eat in the forest; they met a girl, she gave rice, told T. to do it as her wife; the third the girl brought him out of the swamp - the same; another leader demands to guess which of the many chests he used in his youth; the leader's daughter fell in love with T., suggested; the leader gave him his daughter and land; the question: which one Did you make four more wives for T.?] , 161-163 [the dog, eagle and otter marry the hunter's daughter; but he did not return from the forest; the girl will be saved; the dog traced the trail to the river, the otter finds out that he is being held captive by water spirits and they want a hundred monkeys in return; the eagle called other eagles and they left a hundred monkeys into the river; the hunter came back, who did more to save him?] ; loma mende [the young man has two mistresses in different villages; at a fork in the roads he could not decide which one to go to, ate poisonous fruits and died; a mistress came and saw that he was dead, and too ate the fruit; the second one came, brought the sorcerer, who revived the dead; the girls told the young man to choose; one died with him, the other revived him-who should he choose?] : Pinney 1973:74-76; dagari [husband fell from a tree and crashed; the first wife ran, the second climbed a tree herself and committed suicide, the third sat down by her body to drive away flies; the first met the spirit; he said that if not a fly had yet sat on the deceased, he would revive him; he revived her husband and second wife, demanded that her husband give him one of his wives: he would make a potion from her liver to continue to revive the dead ; which wife should the husband give away?] : Métuolé Somba 1991:210; (cf. Fulbe [three women successively save Bilali; in the village, the chief asks visitors where he buried the amulets; executes those who did not answer; the leader's daughter tells B. everything; he indicates the place the chief dies, B. becomes the chief himself]: Paulse 1976:183-184).