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

Overview

A chief offers his beautiful daughter to whoever hoes the greatest area on a communal workday. The chameleon learns of the contest in advance and consumes hoeing medicine. He delays until the others are well ahead, strikes the soil once, climbs onto his hoe and lets it carry him while hoeing. It passes the workers and reaches the furrow boundary, allowing him to rest before they arrive.

The chief then withholds consent and demands victory in a race. The hartebeest claims superior speed. The chameleon changes into a needle, attaches to its tail and rides unseen while it outruns everyone. At the chief’s house he releases his grip, reaches the daughter and embraces her before the hartebeest returns. The disappointed runner weeps; the ending explains the marks beneath its eyes as tears left unwiped. The moving hoe and needle form are distinct means of victory, while the girl’s own body undergoes no reported change.

Uses hoeing medicineRides self-working hoeExplicit needle transformationClings to runner’s tailWins revised contest
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Origins & earliest records

Malam Shaihu supplies the written Hausa material translated and transliterated by R. Sutherland Rattray. The compiler’s Author’s Note describes a mixed written and Arabic-manuscript mediation process; this tale is not labeled a verbatim oral field transcription by a separately named narrator.

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Records & interpretation

Shaihu/Rattray, Hausa Folk-Lore, Customs, Proverbs, etc., Volume I (1913), tale 4, complete pp. 74–78; compiler methodology p. xii.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Hausa Folk-Lore, Customs, Proverbs, etc., Volume I

    Malam Shaihu, manuscript contributor; R. Sutherland Rattray, transliterator and translator · 1913

    Shaihu/Rattray, Hausa Folk-Lore, Customs, Proverbs, etc., Volume I (1913), tale 4, complete pp. 74–78; compiler methodology p. xii.

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. Bilingual manuscript tale; digitized primary OCRShaihu/Rattray 1913 — Needle-Form Chameleon of Shaihu’s Marriage ContestResearch access: 2026-10-05
  2. Compiler methodologyAuthor’s NoteResearch 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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