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

Overview

The lion meets the chief’s eldest son forging in the forest and offers to work his bellows. The man has promised a lion for his father’s funeral, a purpose he does not disclose to his visitor. As the lion heats the tongs, he watches what appears to be a remarkable demonstration of the smith’s bodily endurance. Concealed leaves take the heat, but the lion thinks it is the man’s own flesh burning.

Impressed, the lion asks the smith to apply the tongs to him. He is injured until he faints and is dragged home by the brothers. The passage does not say he dies or is resurrected: he awakens among spectators and challenges the smith’s account of charitable assistance. Calling it false, he leaps on him and breaks his body into the many-footed form identified as the spider’s origin. The eldest’s promised lion sacrifice is not completed in the narrated ending.

Speaks as smith’s friendWorks bellowsMistakes concealed-leaf demonstrationFaints during injuryRevives from faintKills and transforms deceptive smith
01

Origins & earliest records

Malam Shaihu supplies the written Hausa material translated and transliterated by R. Sutherland Rattray. The compiler’s Author’s Note describes a mixed written and Arabic-manuscript mediation process; this tale is not labeled a verbatim oral field transcription by a separately named narrator.

02

Records & interpretation

Shaihu/Rattray, Hausa Folk-Lore, Customs, Proverbs, etc., Volume I (1913), tale 6, complete pp. 108–128; smith/lion episode pp. 122–128; compiler methodology p. xii.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Hausa Folk-Lore, Customs, Proverbs, etc., Volume I

    Malam Shaihu, manuscript contributor; R. Sutherland Rattray, transliterator and translator · 1913

    Shaihu/Rattray, Hausa Folk-Lore, Customs, Proverbs, etc., Volume I (1913), tale 6, complete pp. 108–128; smith/lion episode pp. 122–128; compiler methodology p. xii.

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. Bilingual manuscript tale; digitized primary OCRShaihu/Rattray 1913 — Bellows-Working Lion of Shaihu’s Funeral TaleResearch access: 2026-10-05
  2. Compiler methodologyAuthor’s NoteResearch 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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