Types
Motifs
J1759 Wildcat mistaken for clawlessanimal
Notes
from Baer: "In a Creek Indian tale Rabbit, seeing Wildcat's tracks and believing he has no claws, challenges him to play scratch. Wildcat rips the hide from Rabbit's body" -- in Swanton ... and see also Creature with No Claws, Chase112, for more exact parallel with Wolf, not Rabbit, challenging Wildcat.
even better: "Dorson's John and the Tigercat attests to the longevity of the tale in Afro-American oral tradition" -- and it's one of his public domain texts: link.
Conclusion: "This seems to be a North American Indian tale borrowed by the American Negroes."
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