Hausa Superstitions and Customs: An Introduction to the Folk-Lore and the Folk

First Published in 1970. This an important addition to the understanding of African Islamic studies. Hausa folklore is rich i the world-wide motifs found in one form or another in such widely differing cultures as India, Scandinavia, American, Ireland and so on. There are familiar characters that can be identified from European folklore, but more often than not a number of motifs are clearly Indian. The publication of this second impression of Tremeane's work, is particularly welcome at a time when there is a growing interest among students in the background of ideas that inform African cultures as well as in the phenomena of African languages and the structures of African societies. But this material should not be seen as exclusively African. It is also part of the general Islamic heritage and contains a wealth of evidence to enable us to explain and understand the nature of the Islamic presence in Africa. Includes forty-one illustrations, over two hundred figures in the text, and a map.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Folk-lore and folk-law: introduction; some characteristics of the tales; animals in the tales; personal characteristics and virtues; the lore of the folk; customs and superstitions; customs and superstitions (contd.). Part 2 Hausa tales, parables and variants: there is no king but God; the punishment of the Sabbath-breakers; the tender-hearted maiden and the fish; the spider, the old woman and the wonderful bull; the false friend; a lie can give more pain than a spear; the king who fulfilled his promise to the leper; the friendly lion, and the youth and his wife; however poor you are there is someone even worse off; the boy, the girl and Dodo; falsehood is more profitable than truth; virtue pays better than greed; the victim does not always see the joke; Dodo, the robber and the magic door; the deceitful spider, the half-man and the rubber-girl; the rich Malam, the thieving spider and the hyaena; little fool, or the biter bit; how the spider ate the hyaena-cubs' food; the slave who was wiser than the king; the cock by his wit saves his skin; the hen seeks a charm from the wild-cat; the battle between the beasts and the birds; the goat frightens the hyaena; the spider, the guinea-fowl and the francolin; how the cunning jerboa killed the strong lion; the camel and the rude monkey; the boy who was lucky in trading; one cannot help an unlucky man; the wonderful ring; the greedy girl and her cure; the gluttons; how Dodo frightened the greedy man; Bortorimi and the spider; the hyaena and the spider visit the king of a far city; the hyaena confesses her guilt; the greedy spider and the birds; the hare outwits the hyaena; everything comes to him who waits; the lazy frog and his punishment; the snake and the scorpion; the spider which bought a dog as a slave; the wooing of the bashful maiden; the girls and the unknown youth; the son of the king of Agaddez; the boy who became his rival's ruler; the wild cat and the hen; the dishonest father; the contest for Dodo's wife; the man and his lazy wives; the two wives, the hyaena and the dove; the man and his wives, and Dodo; the wife who would not work alone; the thoughtful and the thoughtless husbands; Solomon and the birds; the king who coveted his son's wife; the girl who married Dodo's son; the man who married a monkey; the monkey-woman; the despised wife's triumph; the good Kishia and the lucky boy; the determined girl and the wicked parents; the wicked girl, and her punishment; the two half-brothers and the jealous mother; the origin of the white-breasted crow; the brave mother and the cowardly father; the fighting ram; the lucky foundling; the wicked father and the kind stranger; the woman who could not keep a secret; the boy who refused to walk; the woman who bore a clay pot; the woman whose offspring were a mouse and a cake; how the beautiful girl escaped from Dodo; the precocious new-baby settles his father's debts; Dodo's debt; how the eagle outwitted the townspeople; the spider passes on a de