C142. Baer (p. 135). Brother Mud Turtle's Trickery

This is Chase142.

Types
ATU0122G Turtle tells jackal he must be soaked in water to soften his shell
ATU1310 drowning the crayfish as punishment
Motifs
K0581.1 drowning the crayfish as punishment

Notes
Klippe has a Giryana version about lion seizing tortoise: "tortoise asks to be carried to the pool and rubbed until the scales come off. While the lion is rubbing his paw raw, the tortoise is sinking in the mud."

Baer thinks fox's paw might be an echo of lion's paw

Baer observes: "The story is in the popular African and Afro-American tradition of the trickster making a helpful suggestion to the captorwhich in effect enables the trickster to escape."

about Turtle: "Mud Turtle functions here as does tortoise in the African versions although the more usual substitution for the African tortoise-trickster in American negro tales is Brer Tarrypin."