A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A pregnant woman needs help lifting her water pot after her companion abandons her. Dodo comes out of the stream and assists on a condition: a son will become his friend, but a daughter his wife. She agrees and later gives birth to a girl. A rival wife informs him both of the birth and, years later, of a wedding arranged for the daughter. He arrives at the wedding announcing Kadindi and demanding payment of the debt. The bride's family offers a horse, cattle, guests, food and finally her father, but each swallowing leaves the demand unanswered.

The bride appeals to God, and a knife is thrown down to her from above. She gives it to the monster as another object to swallow. It cuts him open from mouth to stomach, and he falls dead. People and animals emerge, including the guests and father, allowing the wedding to proceed. Kadindi is thus a specific name or self-announcement inside this Dodo episode, whose enormous intake preserves swallowed life. The comparative son-and-lizard version has a different escape from the monster's heart and is not substituted for the bride's knife ending.

Emergence from waterConditional marriage debtNamed Kadindi announcementLiving swallowed victimsKnife opens the body
01

Origins & earliest records

Tale 75 is credited Sar(r)ikin Dukawa by Tremearne's narrator key. Selected witness: second edition 1913; exact telling date unspecified.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete main tale 75, printed pp. 363-365, directly read; comparative variants kept separate.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Hausa Superstitions and Customs

    Sar(r)ikin Dukawa, storyteller; A. J. N. Tremearne, collector and translator · 1913

    Second edition; tale 75, pp. 363-365.

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 75Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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