A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
A community warns a visiting man not to set traps in a forest occupied by dangerous spirits. He ignores the warning and captures a pigeon explicitly identified as a spirit in bird form. Rather than struggling silently, it instructs him at each stage: release it, carry it home, kill it and remove its feathers. The commands continue after killing, cleaning and cutting. The man prepares the bird as food, adds the requested seasoning and eats it; when he leaves half, the creature tells him to finish everything.
The transformation is completed later that evening when the man returns to the forest. As he opens his mouth to speak, the pigeon flies out alive and he falls dead. Searchers cannot find him because the spirit has carried him away. This predator gains entry through apparent prey, maintaining its directing voice through treatment that would destroy an ordinary bird. The tale closes by warning against stubbornly disregarding advice, while the editors' surrounding scene gives the episode an atmosphere of fearful nighttime storytelling.
Origins & earliest records
Florence M. Cronise collected tales from children and adult employees of the Rotifunk mission in Sierra Leone. The 1903 preface credits Henry W. Ward with much of the arrangement and narrative setting; its named speakers are not assumed to be independently documented field informants.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected tale directly read, printed pp. 160-164. Preface and introduction separately inspected for collection and editorial mediation.
In the literature
“Dis bird nar debble wey bin turn bird”
Chapter VI; pp. 160–164; The Devil Turns Pigeon; Opening explanation of the trapped pigeon · Historical Sierra Leone contact-English rendering
The narrator explicitly identifies the pigeon as a transformed spirit.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider and the Other Beef
The Devil Turns Pigeon; pp. 160-164.
- 02
Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider and the Other Beef — The Devil Turns Pigeon
London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co.; New York, E. P. Dutton, 1903, visually verified title page. Selected Project Gutenberg 48828 transcription retains printed page markers and exact tale anchors. Preface pp. v–vi credits Cronise with collection and Ward with arrangement/setting; introduction pp. 1–4 describes Rotifunk mission children and adult employees as sources. Frame speakers are not independently verified individual informants.
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.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider and the Other Beef
London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co.; New York, E. P. Dutton, 1903, visually verified title page. Selected Project Gutenberg 48828 transcription retains printed page markers and exact tale anchors. Preface pp. v–vi credits Cronise with collection and Ward with arrangement/setting; introduction pp. 1–4 describes Rotifunk mission children and adult employees as sources. Frame speakers are not independently verified individual informants.
- A stranger ignores warnings against trapping in the spirits’ forest. A spirit enters his trap as a pigeon and directs him to carry it home, kill, pluck, cook and eat it.
Chapter VI; pp. 160–164; The Devil Turns Pigeon; Forbidden trapping and bird capture
- After he eats the entire pigeon and returns to the forest, it flies from his mouth when he speaks; he falls dead and the spirit carries him away.
Chapter VI; pp. 160–164; The Devil Turns Pigeon; Return to the forest and escape from his mouth
Complete named tale and relevant footnotes read. Editorial racial generalizations are not adopted. Frame speakers are literary witnesses, not verified informants; spirit/devil vocabulary belongs to this collected rendering and is not equated with Christian Satan or a universal African category.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Collected primary narrative with editorial settingThe Devil Turns PigeonResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.