L121A. The hunter's secret. .12.

The hunter has the ability to avoid danger by turning into various objects. The werewolf wife tries to recognize them in order to destroy the hunter.

Bambara, Mandingo, Malinke, Wai, Twi, Guro, Dan, Ashanti, Hausa, Von, Dagomba, Dagari.

West Africa. Bambara [the Siriman hunter kills many animals; the Hare advises animals to turn the antelope into a woman to trap S.; S.'s mother warns him that the woman seems dangerous to her; she asks S. to kill and fry his dogs; his mother keeps their bones, puts them in a vessel; his wife asks what S. turns into while hunting; he replies that he is a stump, grass, agama lizard; his wife asks S. accompany her to her parents, asks her not to take weapons with her; in an unfamiliar forest she calls animals, they rush to S.; S. turns into a termite mound, grass, stump, agama, her wife every time says that termite mound, etc., is S.; the hare gnaws on the tree trunk on which S.; mother S. sees her son in a tree from a distance, cooks dog bones, dogs come to life, kill and disperse animals; since then it has been known that it is impossible argue with mother]: Görög 1979:106-111; Malinke: Belcher 2005 [animals are concerned that Sirankomi is killing them; to learn its hunting secrets, buffalo turns into a beauty, comes to S.'s house, asks her to tell her secrets to prove that he is really that great hunter; he says he can turn into an anthill or termite, a stump, a hummock of grass; when ready to talk about the last transformation, S.'s mother stops him; in the morning, a woman leads S. to the bush, asking him not to take a weapon with her; the animals rush at him, but do not know when he leaves in the form small tornado; var.: a woman makes a hunter get rid of his dogs, but his mother or sister lowers them or revives them from their bones; the hunter hides in a tree, dogs save him]: 42-48; Hervé ; 1936, Education africaine 25 (93): 53-56 in Görög 1979 [(no details)]: 106-111; Vai [a skilled hunter kills animals; an elephant turns into a girl; the hunter's mother warns that women are insidious; the girl seduces the hunter, he says that she can disappear in front of animals when she goes into a tree; then into an anthill; knowing this, the elephants knocked down a tree, trampled on an anthill, a hunter died]: Creel 1966:16-20; twee: Bellon 1914, No. 3 [(translated in Olderogg 1959:191-193, where the text is referred to akan); the hunter took panther cubs from the hollow; the fox asked for one, then the hunter gave the second one; the panther mother became a girl, came to the village, promised to marry someone who would fall into a calebass hung from a tree; only the hunter got there; his amulet warned him not to fall asleep before the wife fell asleep; the hunter pretended to be asleep, the wife became a panther, the amulet turned the hunter into a mat; the next time the panther tore the mat, but the hunter turned into a pillow; then the wife called the hunter to her city, and he forgot the amulet; she knitted it and went after her husband to pour the hunter's heart blood on her own amulet; a fox came and taught the hunter what to do; when the wife- The panther came back, he asked her to tie it lightly so that a fox would approach her and grab it and eat it; fox: hunter, how are you? "I caught something and I want to get rid of it." Scratch it with a knife so I can see blood. Panther: Just a little bit. The hunter killed the panther with a knife; escaped thanks to the fox], 6 []: 17-20, 29-38; guro [the hunter takes the game out of the traps, and the cannibal comes out of the tree and picks it up; the pregnant wife thinks that the husband gives game to his mistress; watches him (which is forbidden), sees an ogre; he is going to kill a woman, the hunter asks for the child to be given to him if it is a boy; gives his son to his mother; he grows up quickly; pretending to have a pain in his forehead, provokes his grandmother to put her fingers in his mouth and bites her: he will bite off if she does not tell what happened to his father; she says; the young man goes to the ogre; on the way receives a horn from an old woman that gives instructions, corn kernels and winged ants; when there is an obstacle on the way, the young man asks for a horn, he tells him to throw the seed and ant, they pave the way; stays in at home with the cannibal, everyone asks the other who snores; the cannibal falls asleep, the young man cuts off his head and goes out; but the ogre puts his head back, turns into a girl, she comes to the young man to become his wife; horn warns of danger; for the first time a young man turns into a loincloth at night, his cannibal wife does not find him; the second time she burns the bandage, but the young man became at that time the threshold; the third time she surrounds him with fire; he takes a horn but drops it into the fire; turns into a hawk that always flies where they make a fire - looking for his fetiche]: Tououi Bi 2014:117-127; dan [after his father's death, the young hunter first killed the largest animals, and then buffaloes; he had a talisman; when the beast rushed, the hunter turned into a butterfly and flew away; the oldest buffalo gathered others to decide what to do; offered to turn the young buffalo into a beautiful woman; she went to the village leader, asked him to show her that hunter; his mother felt unkind, but the hunter fell in love at night she asks what he turns into when the beast attacks; a termite mound; then a tree trunk; a needle; a deadwood; when she wants to say "a butterfly," the mother does not allow her to finish the phrase; the beauty returned to the buffalo and told everything; buffaloes attack, the hunter transforms into the objects he told the woman about; but buffaloes do not know about the butterfly, the hunter escaped]: Tiémoko 2019 : 3-6; Ashanti: Barker, Sinclaire 1917, No. 22 [When the mother prepares to die, the two eldest sons promise to make a tombstone, a coffin; the youngest promises to put the tail of an elephant princess in the coffin; he goes to look for her; comes to the elephant village; the old woman tells you to approach the princess when she sleeps, act decisively and quickly, otherwise the elephants will wake up; the young man carries his tail; elephants see it in a dream, wake up the princess, rush in pursuit; ji-ji boys tell them to throw a branch (a huge tree), a corn cob (a field of corn); when the elephants have passed through the field, the young man is already at home; the elephant princess took the form of a girl, came to the village, carrying a calebasa cymbal; whoever shoots an arrow through him will become her husband; old man: except Kwesi, who cut off the tail of the elephant princess; K. became the girl's husband; the first night she turned into an elephant, but GJ K. turned it into a mat, she didn't find it; the next night into a needle; K. asked his wife to bring him lunch to the field; she offered to look in his head, found GG in his hair, and threw it at fire; burning, GG told K. to spread his arms as if he were flying, turned into a hawk; so hawks often fly there, fire and smoke]: 123-128; Herskovits, Herskovits 1937, No. 19 [dying, father asks sons, what will they do for him when he dies; the first promises to bear the tail of the dangerous spirit of Sasabonsam, the second to break the rock, the third to cry; only the first does what he promised; the old woman gives him the means, it guides his actions; at night he climbs a tree; cuts off the tail of the sleeping S., runs away; S. sends other spirits in pursuit; the young man puts nkwata (a fork in the road) on the ground, appears many forks; throws an egg, a river appears; while the spirits try to drink the river, the young man gets home; S. turns into a beautiful woman, comes to marry a young man; he puts a piece of wood in his place for the night, the wife destroys it; in the afternoon, the young man goes with his wife to the field, the wife throws the product into the fire, rushes at the young man; the tool shouts the name of the bird the young man turns into]: 88; Hausa: Hassane 2013 []: 102-105; Tremearne 1911, No. 45 [Buffalo turns into a woman to kill a buffalo hunter; asks for his secrets; he replies that he is turning into an anthill, a stump, a Zob..; here the father tells me silence him; his wife leads the hunter to the savannah, asking him not to take weapons with her, turns into a buffalo, attacks an anthill, a stump; when the hunter turns into a ring (Zobe), the buffalo is not sure what it is he; the hunter escapes]: 457-458; Scheub 2000 [Dodo's wife came to the village, promised to marry someone who would open her basket; only a poor young man, throwing a stone, could open it; his father and he knew it was a woman - a monster, they themselves could turn into an elephant, lion and other animals; in the forest, a woman became a dodo, rushed at the young man, but he turned into a lion, a snake, she left]: 39-40); dagomba [the hunter killed buffalo; her daughter decided to take revenge, came to the hunter's village in the guise of a girl; all the young men noticed her, but she agreed to go only with that hunter; asked how he was doing hunt so many animals; the hunter said he could turn into wood, stone, water, etc.; before he called his last transformation, his mother stopped him, telling him to be silent; he only managed to manage start saying the word "needle" but did not say it in its entirety; the next morning I came across a buffalo, my wife; he became a tree - she uprooted it, broke it with a stone, drank it with water; then he became a needle and hid in the tail of a buffalo; gently fell off his tail, became human again and returned home]: Campbell 1931:104-105; dagari [the magician hunter does not miss, and in case of danger he can turn into various objects and elements; he has a pack of good dogs; he exterminates many animals; once killed a lioness, a lion cub escapes, grows up, decides to take revenge; turns into a beauty, goes out marry a hunter; says he loves a dog, the hunter allows his wife to kill all his dogs; the hunter's mother hides their bones; the wife chooses the skin of the murdered mother to bed; asks how the husband manages to be invulnerable; he replies that fire, straw, wind, drawer..; at this moment, the hunter's mother hears, tells him to be silent; in the morning, the wife says that she will lead her husband to her parents, asks him to leave her gun, bow and arrows (she is afraid of them); after walking away for a minute, the wife turns into a lion; the hunter throws his flute at her, turns into fire; the lion turns into rain, fire into grass, water vapor into a buffalo, which begins to eat grass; grass into a tornado, a buffalo into the wall around it, a tornado into a lizard; the lion returns to its normal form, waiting for the lizard to descend; the hunter tells him to play his flute, his dogs come running, killing lion; the hunter's mother revived them from bones]: Hien 1995:82-96; background: Herskovits, Herskovits 1958, No. 17 [Azizã is a sea creature, another name for these creatures is Djehun; when A. went ashore, the hunter killed him, brought the king a severed tail, but woman-J. went to sea; this woman, the daughter of the murdered man, took the form of a beautiful girl, came to the king, promised to marry him if he shot and hit the calebass she will put on her head; the king did not hit; the same with other kings and hunters; only the old hunter who killed Father J. got; she married him; the hunter has 6 dogs; the wife asks how he will be saved in case of danger; he replies that he will turn into a river, a tree, a sand, a vessel; his mother hears, tells him to be silent; he did not say about the last transformation into a horse; his wife leads to the seashore for with leaves; the husband climbs a tree, the wife calls her relatives Yehwe, they start to nibble, cut the trunk with their legs, arms, hair, teeth; when the tree is ready to fall, the hunter breaks one of the seven his calebas, felling overgrows; the last time dogs hear, run, drive away all Yehwe; the hunter asked the fortuneteller what sacrifices to make; Yehwe killed the hunter's parents and all relatives, but he himself survived; Yehwe hasn't been killed since], 49 [the hunter saw Agbo (buffalo) take off her skin, became a girl, went to the bazaar; the hunter hid his skin, the girl had to marry him, she puts the condition that he doesn't call her Agbo; the first wife fights with her, says her buffalo skin is hidden under the roof; Agbo finds the skin, turns into a buffalo, kills the hunter's first wife and her children, runs into the forest, tries to knock down a tree on which the hunter puts on an amulet that makes him invisible; the buffalo leaves; since then, animals have not turned into humans], 65 [Sagbo and Zinzu brothers find themselves in forest without fire; saw smoke; Z. came to a giant (Yehwe) named Zogbano with 32 horns; saw that all parts of YZ's body were lying separately and eating; when YZ noticed Z., he gathered into one person; Z. received fire, left, began to play the flute about how YZ was watching; he went to look for the player, Z. denied it was him; put out the fire, came for him again; so three times; a girl came to the village, promised to go out for hitting a pea on a calebass on her head; only Z. hit, the girl became his wife; at night she turned into a giant, wanted to swallow him, but Z.'s 42 dogs barked; Z. saw a tree in the forest, wanted it to be his wife instead of that monster; the tree turned into Djeluba's girlfriend; she made a condition that he would not remember that she was a tree; she didn't cook; Z. came home, There was nothing to eat, went to his first wife, said that the second was just a tree; when Z. was in the forest, the first tree, she returned to the forest and became a tree; the second went to the forest to live with her relatives; the mother gave Z. the drum, did not order to beat it; the man asked to be beaten, all Yehwe Zogbanu ran to the noise, Z. climbed a tree, they knocked him down, he flew away with a partridge; the mother hears him telling his wife what partridges he could turn into an ant, a leaf, a river, sand; then his mother told him to be silent; in the morning his wife took Z. into the forest; he told his mother to let the dogs down if the water turned red; Z. climbed the tree for with leaves, YZ ran in, the water turned red, but his mother was not at home; Z.'s friend found himself in the forest, drove away the monsters; the wife said that everything happened without her knowledge; at home told Z.'s friend that Z. was dead; the friend hanged himself; Having got rid of him, his wife took Z. into the forest again; the friend's wife told Z., who found the body, brought it home; went with his wife to the forest; she asked him to climb the baobab to get leaves; the monsters gathered, they began to cut down, Z. successively broke 7 calebas, the felling overgrown every time; when the tree collapsed, Z. became an ant, a partridge, etc.; again a man, rushed to run, climbed a tree that was his wife; the notches on him were immediately overgrown; his mother let the dogs down, they tore the monsters apart; the tree wife refused to return, but sent her four tree children, who are now human; Chief Dada Segbo ordered dogs to become man's best friends; his Z. sacrificed his deceased friend; they still honor the Adiku tree, Z.'s wife.]: 186-190, 235-236, 275-284.