In Jamaica, the reward of self-control is not a wife but a cow. This the winner desires to eat entirely by himself. The “whole cow” theme so popular in Jamaica, occurs in [19], [22], [30], and in [6], [7], [11], [21], [23], [24], [25], [34], [39], [132] of this collection, the story turns upon a trick to secure the whole of a common food-supply.
The Foolman episode is told by Milne-Home, 109–113, of Anansi’s wife and “Quanqua.”
In P. Smith, the very popular “Dry-head” episode accounts for the loss of the cow, as in numbers [22] and [30]. [[252]]
In Barker, Anansi intends to get the cow to himself, but he loses it by the trick of stealing the tied animal. See Parsons, FL 28: 411–413.
For the trick of tails in the ground, compare Harris, Nights, 234–236; 247–258; Uncle Remus, 101–103; Christensen, 89–90; JAFL 26: (Hitchiti Indians) 215–216; (General) 30: 228; (Cape Verde) 230; 31: (Guatemala) 474; 32: (Virginia) 368; (Georgia) 403.
30. Dry-Head and Anansi. [[Story]]
The “Dry-head” episode is very popular in Jamaica. From Jekyll’s version, 48–49, I have corrected my version 30c as Johnson gave it and made Dry-head, not Anansi, the victim of the bag trick. Johnson was not a reliable informant. Other Jamaica versions occur in Pamela Smith, 75–76, as the conclusion to the “cowitch” story, and in Wona, 44–50.
The story falls into three parts. (1) Anansi pretends that he is about to die unless he has the whole of a fat barrow to himself. (2) He carries it away into the woods to eat and inadvertently picks up Dry-head, who devours the whole. (3) He invents an expedient to get rid of Dry-head.
Compare Surinam, JAFL 30: 244–246; Madagascar, Renel 2: 1–2; 57–59; Kaffir, Theal, 158–162; Upper Congo, Weeks FL 12: 82–83; West African, Tremearne, FL 22: 61–63; Barker, 66; Cronise and Ward, 287–290; Rattray, 2: 106–122.