H36I. A goat betrays a person. 11.-.13.
A goat or sheep is to blame for the fact that a person is mortal. See H36 motif.
Yaka, Kuta, Safwa, Konde, Mkulve, Luba, Krachi, Dagomba, Eve, Ashanti, Ijo, Bulsa, Bongo, Sandave.
Bantu-speaking Africa. Yaka (Congo) [Goat hesitates, Dog false news]; Kuta [Goat hesitates, Dog brings news of death; dog, goat slow, do not bring good news]; safwa [Dog overtakes Sheep with the news of death]; conde [The dog overtakes the Sheep with the news of death]; mkulva [people gave the dog bones, the sheep meat; the old woman Mwawa ordered to change; the dog quickly ate the meat, barked, We let's die, we'll die; The sheep has been messing with bones for a long time and unsuccessfully, flashed, We will die and be resurrected; people said that the Dog was ahead of her, beat the dog]: Hamberger 1909, No. 4:300; bast [ Life and Death roamed the roads in woven herb clothes; the creator of Kalumbu told the goat and dog to miss Life, Detain Death; the dog went to watch first, fell asleep, Death passed; the next a goat guarded a day, caught a passerby, it turned out to be Life; now Death walks along the roads, and Life detained by a goat cannot save people from it]: Scheub 2000:98 (in short, Abrahamsson 1951:38-39); per . in Kotlyar 1975:63 (retelling in Kotlyar 2009, No. 404:253); nyakusa [like other Bantus, the motive for the "false news": Sheep and Dog were sent, one with news of eternal life, the other about human mortality]: Wilson 1959:15;
West Africa. Krachi: Cardinall 1931:27-28 [=Scheub 2000:263, Abrahamsson in brief 1951:6; the cannibal toucan killed people; Wulbari called his people together for everyone to choose their subjects; the goat said her the people are grass, the dog is what people are; V. sent the dog to give people the elixir of life to revive those killed by the toucan; it found a bone, began to gnaw, put the elixir aside; the goat passed by, took elixir, poured grass on her people; so people die forever, and the grass is reborn every year], 28-29 [people sent a sheep to Nyame with a message that they would not like to die; for reliability through They sent a dog for a while; a sheep came across grass, on which one woman poured salt and began to eat; at this time the dog reached Nyame and said that people wanted to die; on the way back it met the sheep also explained that the dog was wrong; both returned to N., but he refused to change his mind]; Dagomba [people were slaves, sent a dog to Wuni asking him to change his position; she stopped see what the old woman was cooking (it turned out that she was boiling water); the goat heard people's request, came to V., said that people go to die; when the dog came running, V. refused to change his mind; now people and mortals and slaves]: Cardinall 1931:29-30 (=Abrahamsson 1951:6-7, =Scheub 2000:264); akan [sheep hesitates, dog asks for death to be final]; ashanti [Goat hesitates, Sheep brings the news of death]; Igbo [Dog hesitates, Sheep false news]; ijo (kalabari): Dayrell 1910, No. 23 [The creator was sorry that people were dying; he sent the dog to tell them to leave the deceased lie down sprinkled with gold; in a day he will come to life; the dog found a bone near the old woman's house, began to gnaw on it, and then fell asleep; the Creator sent a sheep; she began to pinch the grass, and then forgot exactly what was it should be said; ordered the dead to be buried in the ground; when the dog came running and conveyed the Creator's words, she was told that they had already received another order; they did not like the dog, because of it people were mortal]: 81-82; J. of the African Soc. 18:194 (1906) in Frazer 1926 [people didn't die, one got sick and died, others sent the Dog to ask God what to do; she kept not coming back, people sent the Sheep, she came back to say the deceased should be buried; the dog came, told him to put hot ash on the dead's stomach, he will come to life; but it was too late, so dogs are treated badly]: 192-193 (=Abrahamsson 1951:7); bull [ the dog hesitates, the goat is false news].
Sudan-East Africa. Bongo [Goat hesitates, Dog false news]; sandave [Sheep to Dog: people must die and then be reborn; Dog: No, die forever; Dog offers to run to Sixafumbo; Sheep came first, made her demand; the dog offered to try again; scattered salt on the Sheep's road; she stopped licking salt, the Dog ran to Sixafumbo at that time, asked people died forever; when the Sheep came running and asked them to be reborn, it was refused; the Sheep offered to run again, but the Dog refused; therefore, the sheep is man's friend, and the dog is a curse ("club" to be exact)]: Arnold 1984:156-157.