Saturday, July 30, 2016

C130. Baer (p. 127). Why Brother Bull Grumbles and Growls

This is Chase130.

Types
Motifs
D0314.1 transformation: bovine (wild) to person
D0333.1 transformation: bull to man
E0030 resuscitation by arrangement of members
Notes

Harris noted that information was John Holder, as Chase108.

Milne-Holme has two Jamaican tales: De Lady and de Bull, and also Garshan Bull.

See note to Chase113 for Chatelain's story of a child saving a parent from fatal marriage to wild animal

Flowers lists Garshan Bull as ATU0300 The Dragon-Slayer because Anansi gathers the pieces of the bull and claims to be the killer. There is a Koasati tale of Flight to the Tree in Swanton which resembles the Garshan Bull story

Baer describes this story as a merging: "In Holder's presentaiton the two Jamaican tales are merged but without the portion so reminiscent of Dragon-Slayer tales."

in the African tales, the key element is transformation in order to eat the human; this is not part of Holder's story. Baer suggests that the eating could be a metaphor for sexual ravishment, or it could just be about the threat that, hidden at first, is made clear

Baer concludes: "While minor details of embroidery are dervied from various sources, the overall pattern of the tale has its close analogues in Africa."

She then provides a quick summary of what Werner calls "ogre husband" stories, "found all over Africa, and told to warn girls against being overhard to please in the choice of a husband." The wooer might be "a lion, a hyena, or a leopard, who has assumed a man's shape for the time being." A younger brother is often the key figure in rescuing the woman.





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