A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Four men travel together to test their strength and sleep beneath a monkey-bread tree in the forest. While three hunt, their companion remains to guard their possessions. A spirit challenges the guard by referring to his reputation for strength, defeats him at wrestling and leaves him bound. Hambari, Dashira and Tankoko take successive turns and each suffers the same result. The challenger returns after every defeat, allowing the traveling company to discover that strength celebrated among people does not guarantee victory against him.

Awudu finally stays behind deliberately to confront the opponent. The spirit boasts that he alone matches all four travelers and that Awudu is the last untested member. Their struggle has no winner: they continue wrestling until they rise into the sky. The other men flee, while the pair's unending grunts become the rumbling of thunder. Comparative notes offer different endings in which a tree-associated opponent or Dodo is killed, but those resolutions are not part of Awudu's continuing sky struggle.

Repeated wrestling challengesVictorious over three guardsSkyward struggleUnending thunder grunts
01

Origins & earliest records

Tale 88 is credited Ba Gu(d)du in Tremearne's narrator key. The selected witness is the second edition 1913; a precise narration date is not supplied.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete main tale 88, printed pp. 414-417, directly read; main narrative distinguished from comparative variants.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Hausa Superstitions and Customs

    Ba Gu(d)du, storyteller; A. J. N. Tremearne, collector and translator · 1913

    Second edition; tale 88, pp. 414-417.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Collected primary narrativeHausa Superstitions and Customs - tale 88Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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