Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue translated by Jon F White

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

J58A. Three wizards by the river.12.

To cross the river, each of the three people uses their own magic method.

Hausa, Krachi, Mosi (?) , bambara, wai, gola, biafada.

West Africa. Hausa [three friends named the King of Fighters, the King of Riflemen, the King of Prayers come to marry the girls; after taking their wives, they see that the river has overflowed on the way back; the King of Prayers with prayer spreads the waters, brings his wife dry; Tsar Strelkov shoots a series of arrows that fall on the water, runs over them, holding his wife, behind him the arrows float with the flow (arrows fell upon the stream in a stream, strong line from one bank to the other); The King of Fighters jumped the river with his wife]: Jablow 196:101-102; krachi [three stopped on the river bank, they can't swim; one said that he has sandals in which you can cross the river dry; the second has a saber with which he will cut water to form a dry path; the third has a thread â€" if you throw it, they will all cross the river; which of them the most powerful sorcerer?] : Cardinall 1931:201; mosi [father with three sons demonstrate their magical powers; one shares a river water with a rod]: Frobenius, Atlantis, 8:266 in Baumann 1936:262; bambara [ three boys and three girls crossed a shallow river, and when they returned, they saw that it had overflowed; one young man swam across the girl on a piece of wood, the other took all the water of the river into his purse, and the third cut water with a knife, crossed dry]: Zhukov, Kotlyar 1976, No. 168:421; vai [three twin brothers are sorcerers; one crossed the river by a stream of smoke from his pipe, the other by a thread from a loose ball, the third made a bridge of arrows, letting one after the other]: Ellis 1914, No. 8:191-192; naked [the girl rejects the grooms; the forest spirit borrows various parts of the body from others along the way, comes handsome, girl goes with him, he returns the loan, the girl is forced to live in his lair; the girl's mother gives birth to twins, goes to look for her sister; by the river, one makes a bridge of arrows, the other crosses clouds of smoke; they come to their sister, live with her, their two big dogs protect them; while the spirit is gone, the brothers pour rice to the rooster of the spirit so that he does not raise the alarm, run away with their sister to their parents; the spirit again appears under the guise of a beautiful woman, one of the brothers takes her as his wife; the wife takes her husband to the forest to collect fruits; when the husband climbs a tree, takes his true form, tries to knock down the tree; the husband witchcraft the tree restores; so several times; the husband's dogs come running, killing his imaginary wife]: Westermann 1921, No. 20:101-102; biafada [three young men must cross the river; one shot with a gun, flew over on a bullet, another hit the water with a sword, the water spread, he crossed dry; the third crossed on a wineskin; the latter is the most skillful, because everyone has a wineskin]: Mendelssohn 1971:96.