A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Spider encounters a large bearded stone while setting traps in a forest. The narrator immediately distinguishes it from an ordinary rock: a spirit has taken stone form. Anyone who remarks on its beard collapses beside it and cannot readily rise. Spider first falls victim himself and remains helpless for the day before recovering enough to go home. Having learned the condition, he brings Deer to the place, lets him walk ahead and waits for the predictable exclamation. When Deer falls, Spider cuts his throat and takes him home as food for his family.
The trap depends on what each visitor says, not merely on approaching or seeing the stone. Rabbit keeps silent even when Spider asks what he sees and points toward his own chin to suggest a beard. Spider then rehearses the beginning of the expected sentence, which Rabbit repeats only as an unfinished fragment. Frustration finally makes Spider pronounce the full dangerous observation, so his attempted instruction catches himself as well as his intended victim. The turkey's intervention separates the pair from their earlier helpless prey: it helps Rabbit because he is regarded as good, while fearing that Spider will later claim to have rescued it instead. Spider must promise otherwise before receiving help.
He repeats the deception with a gazelle and other animals, but Cunnie Rabbit refuses to name what he sees. Spider tries gestures and incomplete phrases to make Rabbit supply the dangerous words. Eventually Spider says the complete expression himself; Rabbit repeats it and both collapse. A turkey raises Rabbit first, then reluctantly helps Spider after extracting a promise against later misrepresentation. The creature's danger lies in recognition voiced aloud, while the ensuing killings are Spider's acts. The story combines a supernatural place encounter with a trickster's attempted conversion of that encounter into a hunting device.
Origins & earliest records
Florence M. Cronise collected tales from children and adult employees of the Rotifunk mission in Sierra Leone. The 1903 preface credits Henry W. Ward with much of the arrangement and narrative setting; its named speakers are not assumed to be independently documented field informants.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected tale directly read, printed pp. 167-172. Preface and introduction separately inspected for collection and editorial mediation.
In the literature
“he nar one debble wey bin turn stone”
Chapter VII; pp. 167–172; A Stone That Wore a Beard; Opening account of Spider finding the bearded stone · Historical Sierra Leone contact-English rendering
The stone’s appearance is explained as a spirit’s disguise.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider and the Other Beef
A Stone That Wore a Beard; pp. 167-172.
- 02
Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider and the Other Beef — A Stone That Wore a Beard
London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co.; New York, E. P. Dutton, 1903, visually verified title page. Selected Project Gutenberg 48828 transcription retains printed page markers and exact tale anchors. Preface pp. v–vi credits Cronise with collection and Ward with arrangement/setting; introduction pp. 1–4 describes Rotifunk mission children and adult employees as sources. Frame speakers are not independently verified individual informants.
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.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider and the Other Beef
London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co.; New York, E. P. Dutton, 1903, visually verified title page. Selected Project Gutenberg 48828 transcription retains printed page markers and exact tale anchors. Preface pp. v–vi credits Cronise with collection and Ward with arrangement/setting; introduction pp. 1–4 describes Rotifunk mission children and adult employees as sources. Frame speakers are not independently verified individual informants.
- A spirit disguised as a bearded stone causes anyone who remarks on its beard to collapse. Spider first suffers the effect, then lures deer, gazelle and other animals there, killing them for food.
Chapter VII; pp. 167–172; A Stone That Wore a Beard; Spider discovers the stone’s effect
- Rabbit avoids saying the dangerous words until Spider himself says them; both collapse. Trorkey helps Rabbit because he is good and finally helps the pleading Spider despite expecting his ingratitude.
Complete named tale and relevant footnotes read. Editorial racial generalizations are not adopted. Frame speakers are literary witnesses, not verified informants; spirit/devil vocabulary belongs to this collected rendering and is not equated with Christian Satan or a universal African category.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Collected primary narrative with editorial settingA Stone That Wore a BeardResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.