M172. Hare riding a lion, ATU 72. .10.-.14. (.31.)

To show that a strong character is his slave, a mount, a weak character adjusts so that a strong character undertakes to carry him. Others are convinced of the veracity of the weak.

Southern Kalahari Bushmen [jackal on wolf], kikuyu [rabbit on squirrel], ambundu [frog on elephant], nyanja [hare on lion], bambara [hare on hyena], mandingo [hare on elephant], wute [ tukur dwarf deer on hyena], kono [hare on elephant], wai [hare on leopard], Sierra Leone, wute [pygmy deer on hyena], mosi [hare on hyena], nupe [turtle on elephant], yoruba [turtle na elephant], engenny [turtle on lion], tiv [hare on lion], songhai [hare on hyena; hare on elephant], hausa [spider on hyena], wolof [hare on hyena], dagari [Der], truck [fox on lion], shilluk [fox on lion], shilluk [fox on lion], Western Sahara [hedgehog on fox], (Latvians [hare on wolf]).

SW Africa. Southern Kalahari Bushmen [the jackal marries the girl; she replies that her lover is a wolf; jackal: this is my horse; invites the wolf to go to the girl together; pretends to be sick on the way, wolf lets herself be bored; the girl gets the jackal]: Kotlyar 1983, No. 37:58-59.

Bantu-speaking Africa. Kikuyu [the squirrel is going to marry, the hare promises to go with her to witness; in the morning he pretends to be seriously ill; the squirrel agrees to carry him, the hare asks that the squirrel allow himself to ride, rides on horseback; says he is ashamed of her long tail, the squirrel agrees to cut off its tail; father-in-law does not recognize his son-in-law in a tailless squirrel, his people drive a squirrel and a hare with sticks]: Gagnolo 1953, No. 27:123-125; ambundu [a frog and an elephant are going to marry the same girl; the frog tells her that the elephant is her mount; pretends to be sick, asks the elephant to drive her, allow herself to be harnessed, or else will fall, a twig to disperse mosquitoes is a whip; the girl sees it, admits the frog is right]: Serauky 1986:174 (briefly in Klipple 1992:53; the original is Chatelain 1894, also reproduced in W.W.N. 1894); nyanja [the lion fraternized with the man; the hare also wanted to fraternize, the man refused - his brother is a lion; the hare: the lion is my horse; the man laughed, told the lion; the hare to the lion: this is a lie, I would prove it, but fell ill; the lion offered to carry him, agreed to be saddled and restrained; riding a lion, a hare appears in front of a man]: Holland 1916:162-163.

West Africa. Bambara [Mangalla god promises a hare to make him king if he brings a calebas with flies, mosquitoes, a snake covered with a stick, wild buffalo milk, a saddled hyena; old man Domma: M. not will fulfill promises; refuses to help; the hare makes a small hole in the calebass, tells the flies that M. allegedly said that there are not enough flies in the world to fill this calebass; flies climb into show the calebass that there are enough of them, the hare closes the hole; the same with mosquitoes; says to the snake as if M. does not believe that it is long enough to wrap a stick; the snake wraps around the stick, the hare ties her by the tail and head to her; tells wild buffaloes that M. does not believe that they have milk in their udders; they allow themselves to be milked to assure M. otherwise; the hare tells the hyena that his they make a king, he will be able to slaughter cattle without restrictions, he will only take heads; for promising to give her carcasses, the hyena allows himself to ride; comes to heaven to M.; he tells him to come by road, to who does not have Friday and Monday; the hare goes to D., he says that he warned the hare - M. will deceive him, there is no such road; at this time the hyena escaped from the harness, returned to the ground, the ass barely I pulled it out, so the hyenas are lower in the back than in the front; in the evening, the mosquito made a hole in the calebas, the mosquitoes flew out and have been active in the evenings ever since, and the flies have escaped into the wild during the day]: Frobenius 1922b, No. 82:151-153; mandingo [all animals suffer from the oppression of an elephant; the hare promises to ride it; tells the elephant that he is ready to take him to a tree with a multiplying plant at the top of which is a plant that multiplies strength; not keeps up with the elephant, which lets it sit on its back; directing the elephant back and forth, the hare drives past the gathered animals and then runs away]: Mariko 1984:158-161; kono [the elephant gathers lead a funeral procession for the death of a parent; the hare advises an elephant to put him on his head as an unusual decoration; the audience mistook the hare for a rider, declare king, and an elephant tied to a tree; an elephant breaks out, chases a hare]: Holas 1975:186-187; Vai [deer prefers a leopard; hare: this is my slave and my horse; tells the leopard that the deer is afraid of him; To prove that he is kind and docile, let him carry him, the hare, on his back, then the deer will marry him; when the leopard came to the deer the next day, it shamefully drove him away; the leopard chased the hare, he ran into the cave, pretended to keep the ceiling from falling; ran away, but the leopard remained standing; two shells explained to the leopard what was going on; the hare and his brother opossum ( giant rat) they were caught, their skins were removed, tied to a tree, and their skins were put on and came to the leopard, stayed overnight; at night the rat ate their skins; when the leopard broke in, the hare ran away, and off the tail the opossum leopard managed to tear off part of its skin, it is now bicolor; the deer has married a clever hare]: Pinney 1973:143-147; Vute [Tukur has decided to make Hyena his horse; The Mole is about I found out this, told Hyena; she told T. to come to the top of the hill in 5 days; Hyena called all the animals there, but T. still did not; Hyena followed him; T. told his wife to answer that he was sick; Hyena offered to give him a ride; T.: then the saddle is more comfortable with it; the whip too; piercing Hyena with spurs and whipping, T. drove Hyena to death]: Sieber 1921, No. 9:165-166; Yoruba: Ellis 1894, No. 3 [the turtle promises animals that it will ride an elephant; tells the elephant that the animals think it is too big to come to town; elephant: yes, no, I just don't know the way; the turtle is summoned show; asks to let the elephant sit on its back, otherwise he is too tired; teaches signals when to run fast, when it is even faster; calls the elephant his father's slave, the animals laugh; the elephant is going to throw off turtle on rocks; turtle: this way I'm not going to die, I must throw it into the swamp; he did; he wanted to trample, but the turtle swam away; the elephant ran away into the forest; elephants have not come to town since then]: 265-267; Klipple 1992 [ a woman promises a daughter to a hyena; a turtle tells her that the hyena is her mount; promises to show the hyena where the carcass of a fallen animal lies if it takes it there; the hyena agrees to be harnessed, mother girls see a turtle riding a hyena, gives her daughter to a turtle]: 54; nupe [a turtle and an elephant marry the same girl; her mother promises it to an elephant, but the turtle says that the elephant is her horse; paints her mouth as if her tooth is being dug, the elephant agrees to take the turtle, agrees to wear a harness; the turtle gets the girl]: Klipple 1992:54; engenny [the king's daughter is about to marry a lion the turtle says that the lion is its horse; the lion summoned the turtle to court; he sprinkled chalk on its head and ashes on its body; told the hare messenger that he was sick; the lion came for him himself, agreed to take him; the turtle managed to wash herself, sit on a pillow seat; they drove past the royal house; the lion wanted to grab the turtle, but it disappeared into the water]: Anpetkova-Sharova 2010:60-61; dark [the turtle says it is limping, the leopard undertakes to bring it; she asks for permission to put the reins in his mouth, or else he will fall; take a stick; arrives on a leopard like a drawn horse]: Cronise, Ward 1903:70-73 (retelling in Klipple 1992: 6); cassonke [the hare tells the hyena that only aristocrats are allowed to fish and their horses are fed plenty; the hyena agrees to play the role of a horse; the hare feeds it with straw alone; says that they are going to sacrifice her, the hyena runs away]: Klipple 1992:6; mosi [the hare promises to come to the fair on a hyena; pretends to have a knee pain, tells the hyena that tomorrow at the fair they will slaughter cattle; the hyena is ready to take them, allows itself to ride and be bored; everyone at the fair marvels at it; the hyena asks what people say; the hare: that the hyena stole the ram; the hyena asks her let go, run away]: Frobenius 1922b, No. 100:232-233; Dagari [Der brags that he will be able to fill a vessel with flies, bring a cobra on a stick and ride an elephant; tells flies he argues with vessel: he does not believe that flies can fill it; flies fill the vessel to prove the opposite, D. closes the lid; says to the cobra that the stick does not believe that the cobra is longer than it; the cobra stretches next to the stick, D. ties it up; asks the elephant to give him a ride because he is sick, rides an elephant, shows a cobra and a vessel of flies]: Métuolé Somba 1991:15-18; tiv [the hare suggests to the lion, that the leader's daughter is married by someone who comes to his future father-in-law on horseback; pretended to be sick, lying in ash; the lion offers a ride, agrees to be saddled and stressed; when he reaches the place, runs away when the lion rushes at him]: Abraham 1940:65-67; Songhai: Calame-Griaule 2002 [Mohammad the Jackal and the lion Great Evil met; the lion coughs, the jackal promises to cure him; tells him to lift the cow; He made belts out of the skin, tied the lion tightly to the tree; began to fry meat; told the lion to open his mouth, hit him with a stick; left; ants and termites agreed to gnaw through the belts if the lion did not eat them; freed himself, the lion licked the termites; found jackals; Jackal-M. has no tooth, he made an imaginary tooth out of the tuber peel; laughed, the imaginary tooth fell out, the lion chased the jackal, he whizzed into the hole, the lion grabbed him by leg; jackal: why did you grab the root? the lion let go of the jackal's leg; the lion tells the hyena to dig out the jackal; but she bit off the lion's genitals and ran away; the jackal promised the lion to return it; went to the hyena and began to say that he had a daughter's wedding, lots of food; halfway through he said he was tired; the hyena agreed to carry it, even gave stirrups; each hyenyat enters the house, where the meat, the lion's eye notices, comes out quickly; when the hyena itself enters, the lion gutted it, filled him with ash and covered his ass with a piece of lung; they ran, the younger hyeno pulled out the plug, everything fell out of the hyena]: 197-202; Hama 1967 [marabu went on horseback to Mecca; the hyena asked for permission to eat the horse, promised to bring the maraba itself; after eating the horse, ran away; the hare promises to help; tells the hyena that his mother's cow has fallen, there is no one to refresh; the hyena gladly agrees to go help; the hare pretends that he is tired, the hyena carries him; the hare pretends that it is uncomfortable to sit on the hyena's back just like that, saddles it and bores it; led it to the marab - let him ride it]: 270-272; Rozhdansky 2005, No. C.4 [animals they chose an elephant as ruler, but the hare said that the elephant is his slave; tells the elephant that he was chosen ruler, he must go; along the way, the hare pretends to be tired, the elephant allows him to sit on it; after finding out what is going on, the elephant chased the hare, which disappeared into the grass, shouted that a person who cannot swim could not chase it; the elephant believed that the swaying grass was water]: 138; hausa [malam {same as marabu: scientist , magician, priest} rode a horse to Kano; the hyena asked him to let her go to the carcass of the fallen animal for a while and back; took the horses and did not return; the spider promises to help; tells the hyena that he will take her away to the fallen animal; she agrees to take him, he complains that her back is angular, saddles and cheers, gives malama; tells Kano to chain the hyena; Malam asks again, the hyena explains that the hare tells you to tie it with a belt; gnaws through the belt, eats chickens and goats in the yard, runs away, but cannot find the spider; since then, the spider has become popular, all tales about it]: Tremearne 1910, No. 3:205-207; vute [tukur (some kind of animal?) pretends to be sick, unable to attend an animal meeting; the hyena agrees to be lucky; he whips her, and when he reaches the place, he pierces the spurs, the hyena falls dead]: Klipple 1992, No. 5:5-6; wolof : Reuss-Nliba, Reuss-Nliba 2018:193-194 [commanded to come to the lion on horseback; the hyena and the hare do not have horses; the hare persuaded the hyena to portray his horse and will share it with her at the feast; the hare eats three changes, each time explaining to the hyena why he did not bring her more food; then says that the chief ordered all horses to be sacrificed; the hyena considers him its savior and takes the lion out of the house], 197-199 [the hyena asked the chief's daughter and he agreed; the hare came later and said that the leader's future son-in-law was his horse, the hare; returned to himself and pretended to be sick; the hyena found out and went after the bride, went to pick it up and told him to come with her to the chief; and if he was so ill, she agreed to carry it on her back; when he saw the hare riding a hyena, the chief gave his daughter to the hare].

West Africa. Truck [fox brought a hoe to the blacksmith, asked him to fix it; blacksmith: first I'll fulfill the lion's order; fox: lion is my father's slave; when he learned what the fox said about him, the lion came to him furiously: let's go to him elders; fox: I'm sick; lion: sit on me; fox: can't bareback; lion allowed himself to ride; put on a bridle, stirrups and take a whip to drive away flies; everyone saw a fox riding a saddled lion and whips him, believed that the lion was a slave; the fox hid in his brother's hole, the lion began to dig; the fox got out through the other exit, called himself another fox and offered to dig instead of a lion; hit the lion with a shovel on head and disappeared into the hole; the lion went to drink, leaving the rhino bird to guard the hole; the fox asked him to open his eyes wider, threw sand at them, ran away; the lion returned, the rhinoceros bird claimed that the fox was in the hole; the fox hole He dug up the whole thing, but the fox was not in it; the lion was told that the lion was on a palm tree; a rope was hanging from it, the lion pulled; the cubs thought that the father had returned; they told the lion that the father was in the cotton field; the lion climbed the palm tree instead of foxes; the fox pulled the rope, the lion picked it up; the fox asked the foxes to serve the meat, the cape with a knife; while the lion cut off and ate the meat, the fox, hiding the saw under his shirt, sawed the branch; the lion fell into the pond; no one wants to help him - he will also eat his savior; finally, one baboon pulled out a lion; he does not let go of his tail; fox: let's pray, bless the food - but we must raise both hands; the lion picked up, the baboon ran away; the lion died of hunger]: Evans Pritchard, Beaton 1940, No. 20:274-277; shilluk [the lion brought iron to the blacksmith, asked him to make spears; the fox took them, said that the lion is his slave; meets a lion, pretends not to understands what he is talking about; pretends to be sick; the lion puts him on his back, picks up a whip; with this whip, the fox hits the lion when he comes to the blacksmith's house; the blacksmith makes sure that the fox did not lie; The fox holes jump off, but the lion manages to tear off the end of its tail; the lion calls everyone to the holiday, the foxes also go; walking through the melons, the tailless invites others to tie a melon to the tail; shouts that people are coming, The foxes are running, their tails are cut off; the lion recognizes its deceiver, but he says that all foxes are without a tail; the lion lets him go]: Westermann 1912, No. 76:186-188.

North Africa. Western Sahara [at night, the fox falls asleep, and the hedgehog asks the rabbits to bring him twigs to make a saddle; tried it on a sleeping fox; hid it in the bushes; in the morning he tells the fox that he dreamed that they were they found a saddle and he, a hedgehog, did not fit, but the fox fit; fox: if we really find it, we'll try; as it happened, the hedgehog rides a fox; in the village, the hedgehog hid in wood, and the fox was attacked by children, beaten; the hedgehog asked the mistress's daughter, a colander and two needles; I made myself a cuirass and a sword, found a fox: where did you run away, look how I fought with children]: Aris, Cladellas 1991:148-149.

(Wed. Baltoscandia. Latvians [a girl (fox) rejects a hare because of its short tail and is going to marry a wolf; by cunning, the hare manages to ride the wolf and ride to the bride; she thinks that the wolf is her fiancé's horse, and marries a hare]: Arys, Medne 1977, No. 72:255. This is the only example of this story outside Africa, apart from versions from the New World that definitely made it to America with blacks; the text is exactly the same as West African ones; in Barovskis, Course 2017:160 Another story that matches our M56B motif is retold; it repeats in detail the West African version in Basset 1903, No. 74:184. In addition, in no Western Eurasian tradition, the hare is not a trickster that is associated not with one or two, but a series of episodes. There is confusion, or rather a deliberate hoax).