A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A king denies his son and orders him killed, but the minister's son persuades the executioners to leave him alive. They cut off a hand as supposed evidence and abandon the boy. A woman finds him, brings water, washes and licks the injured place, and his hand becomes as it was before. The source identifies her through a historical illness label, which supplies no personal name. She adopts him, protects him and establishes his household as he grows. Each new marriage fails to satisfy his hostile father, who demands brides associated successively with a thicket kingdom, a water kingdom, the heavens and Agaddez.
The foster mother negotiates with the water ruler herself and accepts a wild cat's help in ascending to the heavenly household. For the final marriage, the prince must spend a fortnight in a locked room without eating grain. She secretly feeds him each night. When the bride discovers soup and marks the wall, the mother replaces the apparent evidence with kola-water while the pair sleep, allowing the trial to end in marriage. This later stratagem is deliberate concealment rather than another regrowing-body feat. The tale's eventual attack on the prince is answered by his bride, so that battlefield power is not transferred to the foster mother.
Origins & earliest records
The complete tale 64 is attributed to A., Ashetu, in Tremearne's contents and narrator key. The introduction places her contributions in 1906-1907 at Amar, without a dated session for this particular story. Collector comments about religions and historical customs are kept distinct from her translated narrative.
Records & interpretation
Complete The Origin of the White-Breasted Crow, pp. 335-340, read together with noteLXIV pp. 495-497. Restoration and adoption pp. 335-336; realm negotiations and complete confinement stratagem pp. 336-338.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Hausa Superstitions and Customs - The Origin of the White-Breasted Crow
Tale 64, pp. 335-340; notes pp. 495-497. Restoration and adoption pp. 335-336; realm negotiations and complete confinement stratagem pp. 336-338.
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.
- Collected primary narrative in translationTremearne 1913 - Ashetu tale 64Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.