Dolphin Who Carries Borahy (Ferrand Witnesses)

Overview

Ferrand’s main version finds a fisherman on an island inhabited only by women. An old woman hides him in her house and denies his presence when others come to ask about him. Afraid of being discovered, he goes to the shore, sees an enormous dolphin and asks it to take him away. The animal agrees, asking him to obtain food for the journey. He takes rice from the old woman’s home and leaves with the dolphin. It lands him on Nosy-Borahy, whose name the narrator connects with the fisherman’s name Borahy. His descendants refrain from hunting, killing or eating dolphins in gratitude for the service.

A long annotation gives an earlier Balmond version with a different opening. Burahe harpoons a whale which draws his canoe far out to sea; after reaching the women’s island he alone survives the crew. The old woman conceals him in a chest. On meeting the dolphin, he offers it a choice between departing if it means harm or remaining to help. It stays, and he puts a large piece of wood on its back before riding to Nosy Burahe. At the destination a crowd gathers. When he wants water, the dolphin tells him to pierce the coral with his finger; good water flows and he and the crowd drink.

Burahe compares the rescuer with parent, relative and master and asks the people to treat it well. It refuses other offered food but eats shellfish and then leaves. The account again ends by making dolphin meat fady for his people. These food and water details belong to the quoted comparative version, not Ferrand’s shorter main narrative. Ferrand says he collected his own account during a visit to Sainte-Marie in 1888, without naming its individual teller. The whale is the vehicle of the earlier danger, while the dolphin performs the rescue; they are not treated as interchangeable animals.

Origins & earliest records

Ferrand 1893 XLIV145–147, main account collected on Sainte-Marie in 1888. The long footnote quotes Balmond’s 1842 vocabulary/grammar account as a distinct comparative witness.

Records & interpretation

Complete main narrative and entire quoted Balmond comparison read through shellfish meal/departure and prohibition. Balmond original not independently inspected; earlier quoted version clearly labelled.

Selected bibliography

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

1. 01

   Contes populaires malgaches

   Gabriel Ferrand, collector, translator and annotator · 1893

   XLIV, pp.145–147, complete with source and comparative notes.

Family & connections

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References

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

1. Historical collected French narrativeFerrand 1893, XLIVResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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