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Overview
A gueule-tapée goes hunting and finds an egg. It places the egg between its feet, pushes it with its head and moves on its back until it reaches a pot, intending to cook the egg for its son. A hyena arrives as it lifts the pot, strikes the animal and takes the dish. The hyena wants a private place to eat and chooses its grandmother’s cave, believing that only it knows the shelter.
The cave already contains a sleeping lion. Unaware of it at first, the hyena places the pot on the lion’s head and wakes it in anger. It presents the food as something given by its mother, then leaves it and flees. The short narrative ends with that escape. It does not return to the deprived parent or show the lion killing either animal. The collection supplies the French animal label gueule-tapée without a scientific identification; the egg-handling, household purpose and theft are preserved without adding a zoological species.
Origins & earliest records
Basset (1897), no. 66, La gueule-tapée, la hyène et le lion, complete pp. 9–10. Source note 130, p. 254, names the Trarza Ahmed Saloum as telling it at Saint-Louis du Sénégal in 1888. Main heading misprints note136, while the notes section places source130 under no. 66.
Records & interpretation
Original pages 48–49 read through the hyena’s flight; exact source note 130 inspected on page 293, printed p. 254.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Nouveaux contes berbères
No. 66, full pp. 9–10; source note 130, p. 254.
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 communicated animal tale in collected translation; original facsimiles inspectedOriginal complete animal narrative and source noteResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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