The flight from a Devil husband has also taken on a fixed form in
Jamaica in contrast to the number of variants related on Andros Island
and the much more complex versions known in Africa. It is possible that
this is true only for the localities visited.
The story has three parts. (1) A girl marries a handsome man against
her little brother’s warning. (2) The man, who is usually the devil,
carries her home, accompanied in secret by the brother, locks her up,
and sets a cock to watch her. (3) An old woman befriends her, they feed
the cock with various grains and finally escape over the river in the
Devil’s magic boat, pursued by the Devil.
Jekyll, 148–151, The Devil and the Princess, has a version of this
story.
Compare Zeltner, 85–90; Nassau, 68–76; Fortier, 68–75; Jones, 82–88;
Chatelain, 99–101; Barker, 97–101; Jacottet, 160–166; Callaway, 78–85;
Christensen, 10–14; Tremearne, FL 22: 346–348; Dayrell, 38–41; 98–103;
Parsons, Andros Island, 49–54; Sea Islands, 45–49; JAFL 30: 181–183;
JAFL 12: 126–130; and see references to numbers 83 and 85.
(1) In the Snake marriage, number 85, there is no rejected warning, but
the hunter-brothers come to the rescue. In numbers 83 and 87, it is the
despised little brother who effects the escape.
(2) In Jacottet, a girl is carried away to the land of the half-bodied
people and guarded by horns that cry out. They are silenced by pouring
in hot water and stuffing them with stones. In Barker, the dragon who
carries away Anansi and his son sets a white cock to warn him if they
try to escape. In Christensen, a fly guards the girl and Tiger comes
running at its call. In Fortier and JAFL 12: 128, roosters guard the
girl. In Callaway, an old woman warns the Pigeons when the girl
escapes.
(3) The only version of the flight theme which I found developed in
Jamaica is that of the evasion of the guardian cock by feeding him
enough corn so that the girl can get across the river before the cock
summons the husband.
In some flight stories, it is the pursuing monster himself who is
silenced with the corn-throwing. In Nassau, the fleeing girl throws out
three gourdfuls of seed which the Leopard stops to pick up. In
Chatelain, the woman throws out calabashes of seed to the pursuing
cannibal. Compare Renel 1: 38–40; 2: 262–263; Ferrand, 119–122.
The appearance of both the kindly maid-servant and the helpful brother
in the Jamaica versions is irrelevant. The immense popularity of the
theme of the despised little brother probably makes his appearance an
inthrust. In Zeltner, Nassau and Jones, a friendly horse accompanies
the bride. In JAFL 12: 126–130, a friendly ox belonging to the husband
carries the bride. So also in Parsons, Andros Island, 51–52 ii, and in
JAFL 30: 181, the friendly animal is taken from the husband’s fields.
In Zeltner and Jones, the horse warns its mistress; in Dayrell the old
mother sends her home because the girl is kind to her; in Fortier,
because she is sorry for her; in JAFL 12, the old wife sends her away
because she is jealous. In Dayrell, 101, a skull to which she has been
kind acts the part of helper.
In Zeltner, Nassau, Fortier, Jones and Parsons, Andros Island, 52–54
iii, iv, and Sea Islands, the flight develops into an obstacle race. In
Parsons, 50–51, and Tremearne, the fugitives escape by transformation.
In Callaway, the sea divides; in Fortier, the Crocodile carries the
girl over and drowns her pursuer. Riddling questions are to be answered
in JAFL 12; Parsons, Andros Island, 52 iii; Sea Islands, 46; JAFL 30;
see Jekyll, 26–28. A secret door gives a Blue-beard turn to the
versions of Jones, Fortier, and Parsons, Andros Island, 44–45, and Sea
Islands, 47–49; see Jekyll, 35–37.
The Jamaica version is on the whole bare of incident. Interest centers
in the imitative songs of swallowing, of running, and in the boat-call,
to the exclusion of any further development of the flight theme.