Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/238

 202 Collectanea.

children is shown strongly, and obedience is expected from them. They are usually well treated, unless they are unnatural. The Hausas reckoned descent through females, and even to-day a Hausa or Filani woman will not mention the name of her first husband. There is a song Allah na hiba, na foddi sunan mijjina (" Oh God, I repent, I have spoken my husband's name"), supposed to be sung should any break this law. The eldest child, — especially if a daughter, — is almost always known by a nickname, and the mother at any rate would not say the proper name. The Hausa brides are carried off screaming to their husbands, a survival of marriage by capture. It would seem from one of the stories that various gods or spirits of some kind were once worshipped, since there is a King of the Thicket and a King of the Heavens, and the Hausa idea of a god is fashioned on that of a king. Allah Sa{r)rikin Dwiia (" God is the King of the World ") is a very common expression. The rainbow is said to be a Snake which comes out of a well, a belief, — according to Tylor,^ — common to rude tribes. Pagans, (and also those professing Mohammedanism when their sincerity is doubted), are to-day sworn on iron, — usually a knife or bayonet. Most Hausas are also careful to bury the nails and hair. Names for echo are Iblis (the Arabic devil) and Kurua (shade).

Since the spider is the king of cunning and craftiness all fables are told in his name. A story commences thus, the listeners answering the narrator as follows : —

N. Ga ta nan, Ga ta nan. See her here, see her here.

L. Ta zo ta taya viu hira. Let her come and aid our conver-

sation or

Ta zo muji Let her come (and) let us bear

or

Ta zo ta wuche Let her come and pass.

The narrator then proceeds with his tale. When it is finished

he says : —

Kti{r)riii)i bus kan kusu (or bera) Finished (A'm^;;«<j = ashes) is the

head of the mouse. En ba don gizzo ba Were it not on account of the

spider

'^Primitive Culture, vol. i., p. 293.