These two numbers are closely related to number 69. The plot turns upon
tricks to discover a hidden name. The only difference between them is
that in one story it is possession of one or more girls’ names, in the
next, that of a person whose name the girls alone know, upon which the
plot depends. All the variants play upon the idea of concealing a
listener to surprise the keeper of the secret (invariably girls) into
betraying each other. See Jekyll, 11–13, where the king and queen kill
themselves, as in number 93, when they hear the girls’ names sung.
Compare Barker, 45–49; Dayrell, 79–80; Dennett, 35–38; Parsons, Andros
Island, 117.
In Dayrell, Tortoise gets the wives to call out the husband’s name in
fright, and he is so ashamed when he hears it that he takes to the
water.
In Barker, Anansi drops down bananas sweetened with honey to the girls
and they call to each other in surprise.