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

Overview

The prince survives his father's attempts to kill him and later makes several marriages with his foster mother's assistance. After the Agaddez marriage, the father allies himself with an attacking force and surrounds the son's city. The prince appeals to his wives in succession until the Agaddez bride flicks perspiration from her brow and speaks an annihilating command. The army falls dead, with the father and the minister's son spared at the prince's request. The son first brings these survivors inside and gives them garments, including a turban for his father.

The father is then taken to the council chamber, where the son asks how an enemy should be treated and executes him after the answer. In the ensuing movement the fallen turban rolls around the neck, and the scene culminates in a white-breasted crow rising into the air and calling. The collector's note links this detail to the white breast and glosses the repeated cry as an address to the son. The translated pronoun sequence does not warrant a separately imagined whole-corpse metamorphosis. This is an origin tale's terminal bird transformation, distinct from the ordinary white-breasted crow helper in another Auta story.

Transformation at an executionTurban-linked white breastRising flightCry addressed to the son
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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.

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Records & interpretation

Complete The Origin of the White-Breasted Crow, pp. 335-340, read together with noteLXIV pp. 495-497. Complete preceding assault and transformation pp. 339-340; noteLXIV.13 links the turban detail to white breast and 14 glosses the cry.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Hausa Superstitions and Customs - The Origin of the White-Breasted Crow

    Ashetu, narrator; A. J. N. Tremearne, collector and translator · 1913

    Tale 64, pp. 335-340; notes pp. 495-497. Complete preceding assault and transformation pp. 339-340; noteLXIV.13 links the turban detail to white breast and 14 glosses the cry.

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 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.

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