Aarne-Thompson-Uther (ATU) - Types of Folktales

68: The Jackal Trapped in the Animal Hide

ATU > 1-299: ANIMAL TALES > 1-99: Wild Animals > 1-69: The Clever Fox (Other Animal) > 68: The Jackal Trapped in the Animal Hide

Description

  • I. Entering the Elephant. (a) An elephant lets his friend the jackal enter his body to drink water. The jackal eats the internal organs and the elephant dies. The jackal is trapped in the carcass. (b) A jackal eats its way into a carcass which it finds and is trapped inside when the skin dries.
  • II. Jackal and the God. (a) A god passes and the jackal challenges him to a rain-making contest. The god sends rain, the carcass swells, and the jackal escapes. (b) The jackal pretends to be a god and frightens people into bringing sacrifice and pouring water over the carcass.
  • Motives

    F929.1, J2136.6.1, K565.2, K952.1.1, K1022.1.1, K1973

    Variants

    68A. Greed

    The animal puts his head into the jug in which there is some food; he cannot get it out of the trap and is caught or killed.

    68B. The Fox Drowns the Pot

    Puts the pot on his head and is himself drowned.

    No examples in our database yet

    External Examples

    StoryATUOriginAuthorYearSource
    Crawling into the Elephant's Belly 68 African-American Internet Archive

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