Bush-rat bites off tortoise's tail: hence tortoise's short tail. (Cf. A2378.4.4.)

Motif

Bush-rat bites off tortoise's tail: hence tortoise's short tail. (Cf. A2378.4.4.)

Mythological motifs. · Animal characteristics. · Various causes of animal characteristics. · Animal characteristics: change in ancient animal. · view the constellation · filed as A2216.4

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Scholars’ trail — 1reference

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

Ibo (Nigeria)Thomas 70.

Within the index

Filed under Animal characteristics: members bitten or cut off.

Filed beside it

Bear fishes through ice with tail: hence lacks tail. (Cf. A2378.2.4.)Devil pulls off goats' tails: hence lack tails. (Cf. A2378.2.2.)Moon splits hare's lip with hatchet: hence hare-lip. (Cf. A2211.2, A751.5.1, A2342.1.)Hawk's tail cut in two by sword as he is being transformed. Cause of his forked tail. (Cf. A2378.5.2.)God as falcon has tail cut off: hence falcon's short tail Formerly animals have ears like elephant's: hare bites them off

Travels with

Why tortoise has short tail. (Cf. A2216.4.)

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