A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The hunter’s four dogs have names corresponding to their particular acts. Rattray renders Ahuahua as Sniff-sniff, Ntaferentafere as Lick-lick, Abopo as Tie-in-knots and Amenekom as Gulp-down. Usually they accompany their master, but he leaves them at home when he goes to gather kola nuts. Threatened by Sasabonsam, he obtains permission to call them three times. Their faint hearing and successive advances create a rescue that arrives just before the calls are exhausted. Sniffing and licking prepare the final pair’s extraordinary actions: one knots the adversary’s throat and the other swallows him after he falls.
The dogs’ loyalty reverses after Fly hides the meal the grateful hunter has set aside for them. Believing that they have been denied food despite saving him, they decide to kill him. They repeat their former sequence: the hunter initially treats their licking as play, then Tie-in-knots constricts his throat and Gulp-down swallows him. On returning home, they discover the soup overhead and recognize their mistake. Fly escapes, and the tale uses the betrayal to explain a dog’s attempt to catch flies.
Origins & earliest records
Rattray’s Akan collection presents this narrative with facing English translation; the readable scan is a later lithographic reprint of the 1930 work.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected episode printed pp 163–168 inspected. Four source names and translated actions retained as one narrative group.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Akan-Ashanti folk-tales
How it came about that when Nwansana, the Fly, settles on Kraman, the Dog, he snaps at it; pp 163–168.
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.
- Primary collected narrative translationRattray — Four dogs, Sasabonsam and FlyResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.