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Overview

Dan-Kuchingaya accompanies two older brothers to court a witch's daughters. He hears their hostess sharpening a knife and keeps her occupied with requests instead of allowing the visitors to sleep unprotected. By exchanging the boys' clothes with those of the daughters, he misdirects the witch's identification in the dark. He digs a passage from the hut toward his own town and sends his brothers through it, then openly tells the bereaved mother what he has done before returning home.

He recognizes her when she comes to their market in a new guise, but his eldest brother rejects the warning and loses his eyes to her revenge. Dan-Kuchingaya changes himself into a beautiful Filani girl carrying milk for sale and approaches the witch's dwelling. Pretending that his cattle have been blinded by a wicked boy bearing his own name, he learns of a charm using a black goat's eyes and obtains the witch's ointment. At a safe distance he becomes a youth again and reveals his identity. The brothers acquire a black goat and the boy places its eyes in the injured brother's sockets; the tale says his sight returns. His transformations serve a specific rescue deception, while his companions' failures turn on dismissing his warning.

Youngest rescuing brotherClothing substitutionEscape tunnelMilk-seller transformationReturn to youth form
01

Origins & earliest records

Tale 94 is credited Mohamma in Tremearne's narrator key. Selected witness: second edition 1913; exact narration date unspecified.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete main tale 94, printed pp. 428-432, directly read; comparative versions distinguished from main action.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Hausa Superstitions and Customs

    Mohamma, storyteller; A. J. N. Tremearne, collector and translator · 1913

    Second edition; tale 94, pp. 428-432.

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 94Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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