Yuri E.Berezkin
AMERINDIAN MYTHOLOGY with parallels in the Old World
Classification and Areal Distribution of Motifs. The Analytical Catalogue
46. Human Spouse of Non-human Person.
Woman, young girl, small girl, baby boy) gets into wilderness (forest, river, sea) and becomes to live with a big animal or bush spirit. If not otherwise: the spirit or animal feeds her (him) well; the human person returns to the people. People often kill her forest spouse, her children conceived from him, or (more rare) herself. See motif M45.
A. Forest woman abducts or receives baby boy; raises him up to make him her lover.
.43.49.56.59.62.78.
Coast-Plateau.
Puget Sound [ogress steals Loon Woman's son; marries him; he escapes; Thunder's daughter kills persecutor (cuts her head off with a door or burns her); marries the youth]: Ballard 1929: 101-103.
Great Basin.
Western Shoshoni [Echo (female bush spirit) asks a woman to permit her to hold her baby boy, steals him; makes his penis long, copulates with him; the boy escapes; wren man cuts the long penis off; boy becomes normal again]: Smith 1993: 138-139; Chemehuevi [Dove has Sandbar Fly to care for her infant son while she is gathering seeds; Wind Woman imitates her voice telling the nurse to give her the boy, steals him; Dove squeezed the nurse, now sandbar flies have a tapered shape; Dove's son becomes a young man; Wind Woman makes him to copulate with her so often that his penis becomes large and heavy; he cannot escape; meets four girls who are his cousins, they reduce his penis to normal size, tell him to tie his game to the top of a tree; Dove's son runs away; one of the archers hides the youth in his arrow, sends it far away; another man hides him in a heap of arrows, lures Wind Woman into the cave, closes it; she became Echo]: Laird 1976: 158-159; Ute [Dove woman asks her daugher to look after her baby son; witch steals the baby, transforns him into adult man, takes for a husband; mother's brother Eagle finds the boy; lures Witch out of her hiding place, escapes with the boy who turns back into baby; Witch asks Rattlesnake to hide her, crawls into his stomach; Rattlesnake abandons her nside his empty skin; Witch inside the skin turns into echo]: Powell 1881: 45-47.
Northern Andes.
Guajiro [cring boy is put outdoors; she-bear takes him; feeds well; makes her husband; spirits bring them meat of his brothers; he kills the spirits, remains with the bear]: WS 1986(2), no.41: 588-593.
Guiana.
Arekuna [small boy cries all the time; mother abandons him at the road; Fox raises him up; female Tapir steals him and makes her husband; young man returns home, his relatives kill Tapir]: Koch-Grunberg 1924, no.22: 68-70.
NW Amazonia.
Bora [women dance at the feast with their babies in hands; female Dog who lives in the forest asks everyone what gender is the baby; all answer that it is female, the last that it is male; Dog asks to give her the baby for a while, carries away; female Deer tells the woman to prepare the soup with chile and excrements, centepedes, etc., bring to the Dog, make all springs dry; Dog enjoys the soup but becomes thirsty; goes to seek water, lets the boy to her daughter; Deer takes the boy, runs away, brings it to his mother; Dog thinks that Deer has entered a tree hollow, climbs in, fights with some animal inside; her daughter pulls out her cut off legs]: Anderson de Thiesen 1975: 55-65.
Southern Amazonia.
Paresi [Mother of Termits (MT) asks wife of Uymayro to let her raise up her baby boy; woman gives her the boy; MT feeds him with termits which she extracts from her own body, plans to make him her lover; the boy's father finds MT, throws sharp stone into her, brings the boy home; he is full of termits; when they wash and clean him, a small termit nest emerges on the floor]: HP 1987, no.225: 716.
B. Other variants (a small girl is abducted).
Coast-Plateau.
(Lillooet [husband is Owl]).
California.
Husband is mountain spirit. (Karok; Tubatulabal [as in Karok]; Kawaiisu).
Northern Andes.
(Guajiro [husband of a bear]).
Llanos.
(Sicuani [wife of fox]).
Orinoco Delta.
(Warao [lives with jaguar who licks her private parts]); Wilbert 1970, no.197 [=no,191, motif M45, but no cring; jaguar frows the girl up till she is fifteen; boiling water makes him blind]: 458-460.
Montana.
Sharanahua [jaguar seized the baby daughter, when its father throws it out of the house (probably because she was cring); jaguar raises and marries her, she gives birth to three jaguar babies; her father believes he has eaten her; finds his daughter in the forest; jaguar kills peccaries and gives them to him; he blows on his hands and the jaguar dies; father and daughter return home, she marries a man, has children; jaguar children die]: Siskind 1973: 76; Yaminahua [jaguar steals baby girl when its parents throw it out of the house because it cries; raises and marries her, she has a child; kills peccary, makes a basket, puts peccary into it, gives to his father-in-law; the father-in-law rejects the gift, insults the jaguar, returns with his daugther to his home]: MacQuarrie 1992, no.2: 117.
Bolivia-Guapore.
Moseten [woman takes her baby girl to the garden plot; jaguar kidnaps the girl, marries her; she bears his children; jaguar supplies with meat her relatives; she informs them that her husband and sons are going to kill people; people kill both jaguars and jaguar's wife]: Nordenskiold 1924: 147-149.
Southern Amazonia.
Wife of wolf (Chrysocon jubatus). (Kamaiura).
Chaco.
(Chorote [wife of jaguar]).
B. Adult woman or girl is abducted by non-human being.
NE Asia.
Chukchi (Reindeer) [boys and girls play husbands and wives; the youngest girl catches whale skull; it carries her into the sea, turns into whale, marries her; her brother trains to ride in canoe as swiftly as birds fly; comes after her with companions; Whale floods the room with water, men turn into birds; puts heavy stone disc covered with blood to roll, they turn into ermines; carry the woman back; Whale pursues them; woman throws one by one parts of her garment till she is naked; Whale spends time playing with them; people on the shore kill Whale; woman bears Whale's son; he brings whales to her people; somebody kills him]: Bogoras 1928, no.50: 436-439.
Arctic.
Girls play husbands and wives; one names whale skull her husband; it carries her into the sea, turns into whale, marries her; her brother carries her back; Whale pursues them; she throws parts of her garment, Whale spends time playing with them; siblings escape. Asiatic Eskimo [one girl has no partner, takes a whale skull; her eight brothers come after her; their canoe goes between moving rocks, only stern is injured; girl bears Whale's son; he brings whales to her people; people in other village kill him]: Menovschikov 1985, no.99: 238-241; Chugach [woman gathers berries, steps into bear's dung, curses bears; it proves that her husband is really a bear, abducts her, marries her; her brothers kill him, bring her home; her bear-children remain in the forest; she cries (because they are killed by the hunters?)]: Birket-Smith 1953: 153-154; Caribou [another girl names falcon her husband; he carries her to the cliff; she makes a rope of sinews, comes down, returns home]: Rasmussen 1930b: 94-96.
Subarctic.
Tanaina [handsome stranger marries a girl; proves to be brown bear; her three sons grow up, kill their Bear father tricking him coming under a scaffold with heavy stones on it; woman with sons return to the people; someone teases Bear-boys, they kill him; leave the village; since then people and brown bears live apart]: Vaudrin 1969: 45-48; Southern Tutchone [woman gathers berries, steps into bear's dung, curses bears; Bear takes her husband's appearance, abducts her, marries her; her brothers kill him, bring her home; ask her to play a bear; she kills them all, returns to the mountains with her bear children]: McClelland 1987: 261-264; Kaska [two girls eat too much fat; their mother tells them to marry Fog-Man; Fog-Man kills his two cannibal wives, transform them into porcupine and beaver, marries the girls; is a good hunter, brings meat to his parents-in-law; Fog-People chief food is sheep's horns, which they call fat, cut like back-fat; once Fog-Man puts a mountain on his meat-cache; people starve; when he takes the mountain off, mother-in-law eats too much fat, breaks in two]: Teit 1917a, no.20: 466-467; Tahltan: Teit 1919-1921, no.59 [woman gathers berries, steps into black bear's dung, curses bears; Bear in form of a man abducts her, marries her; she turns into bear herself; bears two sons; Bear sends her to people, warns not to speak with her former husband; getting to the village she acquires back human form; people make fun of her sons who are half-bears; she turns into a bear, kills people; hunters kill her and her children], 60 [Grizzly abducts a woman, she bears him twins; they return to the people; consent to play bears; hunters attack them; they kill people, return to the forest; going away, they sing mourning song because they have killed their relatives (origin of the Grizzly-Bear Song)]: 337-338, 338-339.
NW Coast.
Eyak: Birket-Smith, Laguna 1938 [woman gathers berries, steps into bear's dung, curses bears; Bear takes her husband's appearance, abducts her, marries her; she returns to the people, helps them to find bears' dens]: 276-277 [she escapes], 277-279 [she bears two sons; her brothers find her; she sends her sons to their Bear-father]; Krauss 1982 [Octopus pulls a young woman into the sea, marries her; she has two Octopus-boys; visits with them her human relatives; a whale kills Octopus, woman dies of grief; her sons kills the whale, never return to the people]: 106-107; Smelcer 1993 [as in Krauss]: 61-63; Tlingit: McClelland 1987 [as in Southern Tutchone; the informator has not remembered the end of the text]: 261-263; De Laguna 1972 [begins as in Eyak in Birket-Smith, Laguna; Bear abducts her; her brothers kill him; she returns to people, her five bear-sons remain in forest]: 880-882; Swanton 1909, no.6 [girl drowns, becomes Otter's wife; her brother's family starves; she and her three half-human sons come to help them, bring food; disapper when the brother tells other people about them], 31 [1) girl gathers berries, steps into Grizzlie's dung, curses Grizzlies; Grizzly in guise of a handsome man takes her to his house; she leaves dentalia beads where she defecates, Grizzlies respect her, but the beads supply is soon over; an old woman tells her to take a piece of devil's club, a rose bush thorn, some mud, some sand, a small rock; the girl escapes, throws objects, they turn into thicket of devil's clubs, rose bushes, muddy place, sand bank, high cliff; she promises to become a wife of a man in canoe; his club kills the bears; his first wife is a large Clam; he warns not to look at her when she eats; the girl looks, a stream of water pours from Clam, the girl drowns; her husband revives her, kills Clam; permits the girl to return to her parents; 2) chief's daughter slips on slime which has dropped from octopus, curses it; Octopus turns into man, takes her into sea; she bears his two sons; they crawl to her parents; her father invites his son-in-law; Octopus, his sons and wife come; people rescue the woman, kill Octopus, throw his sons to the beach; many octopuses attack town at night; shaman gets control over them], 65 [girls are prohibited to eat between meals; two sisters break tabu; their mother abuses the older, suggests her to marry Mountain Dweller; both girls escape to the forest; Mountain Dweller's face is painted red, he marries the older girl; warns her not to look at the woman behind the curtain; she breaks tabu, both sisters fall dead; Mountain Dweller kills the bad woman, revives the sisters; lets them visit their parents, gives plenty of meat in a small basket; people feast on it; it is fortunate to hear Montain Dweller's ax], 89 [chief's daughter gathers berries, steps into Grizzlie's dung, curses Grizzly; he abducts her; old Mouse-woman tells her to run away; Sun' sons take her into their canoe, marry her; she bears a boy, all of them visit her father; for people her husbands and son are like moon beams; see motif K43], 92 [as in no.65; two sisters are accused of eating up food that was in store for the guests; Mouse-woman helps them to pass obstacles on the way to Mountain Dweller; they throw a piece of fish to dogs, moss between kelps floating together, whetstone between Crushing Mountains; Mountain Dweller marries the both sisters; his mother puts mountain sheep into fire, pushes towards her daughters-in-law; they push it back killing her]: 29-30, 126-128, 128-130, 222-224, 252-261, 280-288; Haida [chief's daughter has secret lover of simple stock; Bear abducts her, marries her; her lover rescues her; one of her sons remains with the bears, another with people; Bear has taught her ritual songs]: Deans 1889: 255-259; Tsimshian: Barbeau 1953: 88-102 [(episodes illustrated by Haida argellite carvings); girl does not sing special song to let Grizzlies know about her presence but laughs; stepping into Grizzlie's dung, curses grizzlies; Grizzly in human form takes her away, makes her marry her; she turns into bear herself; her husband knows that the youngest of her three brothers will kill him; this happens; before his death, Grizzly takes off bear skins from his two sons (his wife is now in human form), makes them the best hunters], 117-129 (Ness River) [picking berries, noble girl steps into bear dung, scolds bears; on her way back, straps of her basket break; two young men suggest their help, bring to the Grizzly Bears to be married to Grizzly; Mouse asks her for mountain goat fat and wool, she gives her them; then a lot of fat is brought, Grizzly explains, that this is her generous gift; Mouse tells that she has to hide her excrements putting under her copper adornments; seeing copper, Grizzly believes that she was right in poking fun on their excrements; once she brings in dry wood, Grizzlies are angry; when winter comes and she gives birth to two bear cubs, the youngest of her four brothers finds her, kills Grizzly; she and her cubs come to the people in human form; while hunting, boys turn into Grizzlies, kill a lot of game, girl's father becomes rich; eventually, boys turn into Grizzlies, return to their father's bear people] 129-146, (Gitsees tribe, Port Simpson) [picking berries, chief's daughter steps on bear dung, calls bears names; stripes of her basket break, two men suggest their help, take her to Grizzly house; big Grizzly names her daughter-in-law; Mouse tells her to hide her excrement, to put her copper ornaments instead; Grizzlies believe that she was right in poking fun on their excremenets; two sisters of Grizzly spy ort her; she ties them to stumps, run away; calls Dzaradilaw who rides in his copper canoe; he takes her after she promises to be his wife; kills Grizzlies with his alive club which returns to him; girl finds frogs in D.' hair; pretends to bite them making a noise with her teeth; first wife of
D. welcomes her,
D. warns not to look at her in his absence; girl looks, Wolverine devours her soul;
D. cuts off Wolverine's head, smears neck with concotion of grasses (otherwise head returns to the body); takes woman's soul back, she revives; gives birth to a son; her brothers come with presents,
D. hides his wife, brothers find her (false) dead body;
D. sends wife and son to her parents, warns that the boy should not contact people before he grows up; he contacts, makes a mess, becomes weak; his grandfather builds a house apart for him and his mother; he kills a water bird, it turns into copper canoe, they make many copper objects; uncle gets to know how rich he is, gives him his daughter; boy's club hunts seals itself; he sends his spear to invite water monsters; gives a feast; they erect a pole]; Bella Coola [girl gathers berries, sleeps on the ground, finds that she has been ling on bear's dung, curses bears; Bear in huamn form abducts her; she sleeps with him one night, it proves to be a year; Bears agree that her younger brother would come after her; she returns with him to the people]: McIlwraith 1948(1): 678-679.
Coast-Plateau.
Carrier [chief's daughter mocks a large frog; Frog in form of a man carries her into the pond; two years later a frog comes with a baby frog on her back; people give them charcoals to eat; drain the pond; find a huge frog with a face of a man; girl's body also is now frog-like; girl explains that if her child brought by a frog to the grandparents were welcomed, she would be able to remain human; frogs go to live into the river]: Jenness 1934, no.19: 168-169; Comox (Catlo'ltq) [Wolf abducts Alqs' daughter; he comes in search of her to the lord of the dead; he gives him directions;
A. comes to Wolves, finds that his daughter lives well, returns home; he was absent four years; when his descendants asks for deers, Wolves give them]: Boas 1895, no.15: 86-87; Quileute [one of two girls agrees to marry Shark; bears his son; now she and her son are covered with kelp like Sharks relatives; her Shark family visit her parents, bring meat and fish; people eat but do not see their in-laws; her father ask her not to come anymore but to send fish and seals]: Andrade 1931, no.51: 141-145; Chinook [Grizzly abducts the girl; she has five brothers; bears a boy and a girl; her four brothers come to the Bear's house one by one; Bear's son asks them to groom him, bites their throats; the last brother does not kill pheasant on his way, does not enter the Bear's house; Bear's daughter helps him to burn Bear and his son in their house; sister revives her brothers; dives into lake, turns into monster; chief marries the Bear's daughter; she never laughs; when she does it at last, becomes cannibal, devours her husband]: Boas 1894a, no.1: 17-19.
Midwest.
Sauk (story heard from the Sioux) [girl comes across Bear; shams dead covering her face with her skirt; Bear puts his hand on her vulva, she tells, Don't do it; he carries her to his den, marries her; people find her, bring home, kill Bear; his two brothers in man's form come to kill her but let her live; she bears a son who has bear's teeth; he becomes famous warrior, cannot be hit]: Skinner 1928, no.14: 168-169.
The Northeast.
Malecite [Mountain turns into man, abducts girl; she bears son; all of them visit her parents; if their son wants to eat something he must point at it; playing boy points at another boy by chance, another boy dies; Mountain family goes away]: Mechling 1914, no.28: 97-99.
Plains.
Assiniboin [woman asks her husband to bring her a bear cub; cub grows up, carries her away; she spends winter with him, bears his son (he is also bear); escapes with it back to people; men kill father-Bear; cub plays and kills four boys, then returns to the forest]: Lowie 1909a, no.34: 191-192; Osage [girl's parents reject her suitors; she meets a man, goes with him, he turns into Buffalo; she bears his son; mean One-Rib buffalo abducts her; creates two women of the same appearance, her husband must recognize her; Calf tells him that his wife will move her right ear; husband gets her back; they return to the people; Buffalo-boy kicks another boy, he calls him names; father and son return to buffaloes; every buffalo (hide?) that was in the camp turns into buffalo, goes off with them]: Dorsey 1904c, no.23: 27-30; Arapaho [dwarf abducts girl; her son wants to see her parents; her brother is the first to meet her; dwarf brings a lot of meat to the people; woman remains with her parents, dwarf goes away]: Dorsey, Kroeber 1903, no.68: 125-126.
California.
Pomo [Rattlesnake first comes to the girl as a man; then takes her to his home; she bears four rattlesnake sons; tells them not to bite people; is changing; visits her parents for the last time, is never seen anymore]: Barrett 1933, no.101: 373-374; Wintu [girl has her first menses]: DuBois, Demetracopoulou 1931, no.46 [mother sends her to bring sand to process acorns; man meets her, takes to his home; he is Wolf; she brings venison to her mother; when she comes for the second time, she turns into a wolf, runs away], 47 [she has a pet fox; mother throws him away; girl disappears; comes back with a child and her mountain husband; he has canine teeth; he and the woman turn into pumas, go away]: 372-374.
Great Southwest.
Tiwa (Isleta) [girl rejects suitorsl says she would rather marry a bear; Bear old man comes, suggests her to marry her, she agrees; men chase them but rain washes away Bear's tracks; she bears two boys, they are half-bears, great hunters; old Bear dies; people kill his sons, take the mother home; she dies of sorrow]: Parsons 1932c, no.17: 404-405.
Mesoamerica.
Lacandon [jaguar steals a girl or two sisters; feeds her or them well, brings fire for them, marries them]: Boremanse 1986: 219-222 [one girl; jaguar supplies her family with the meat; envious neighbor kills jaguar and his sons; jaguar's wife dies of sorrow; jaguars and humans become enemies], 381-383 [girls come to bring meat to their father; angry people kill jaguar and his sons; sisters remain with the people].
Lower Central America.
Rama [abandoned wife gets into forest, tapir marries her; her brothers kill tapir, she returns to the village; people laugh at her son from tapir, he escapes to the forest]: Loveland 1982: 134-135.
Southern Venezuela.
Yanomami [female chief is married to her four brothers; jaguar abducts her to replace his dead wife; she nurses his two cubs but refuses to marry him; when her husbands come to rescue her, jaguar's wife resuscitates, jaguar's family transform into Moon's family; Moon's wife gives her two daughters in marriage to two of the brothers; Moon and his wife disapper, human persons return to the village]: WS 1990b, no.18: 53-55.
Montana.
Shipibo: Roe 1982, no.6 [widow with her little son leave for forest, tapir marries her; her late husband's brother kills tapir, returns woman with her son to the people; she acquires again human appearance that was almost lost], 4 [girl sits on the ground, copulates with the worm; her mother kills the worm with boiling water; the girl goes away to the forest; Jaguar sees worms in her vagina; inserts leaves; spiders, scorpions, snakes, fish, lizards come out; he gets a splinter between his teeth; she extracts it, he turns into jaguar because of pain; woman and her two sons return to people; jaguars attack them; the older brother goes to live with the jaguar; since then people and jaguars live separately]: 52-56, 58-61; Cashinahua [jaguar's mother eats up a son of jaguar and the woman, then another one; agrees to be burned; woman remains with the jaguar]: Ans 1975 [girl whose worm-paramour has been killed leaves for forest for shame; Jaguar does not eat her but marry]: 49-62; Capistrano de Abreu in Koch-Grunberg 1921, no.90 [in the forest jaguar abducts hunter's wife]: 251-254; Sharanahua [in the forest tapir abducts woman; she escapes to her home, dies bearing tapir's son; her husband's younger brother kills tapir]: Siskind 1973: 113-116; Marubo [girl whose worm-paramour was killed leaves for forest for shame; son of a cannibal woman does not eat her up but marries her; his mother and aunt devour successively two their sons; they are burned down; woman remains in the forest]: Melatti 1984: 110-146; Machiguenga: Pereira MS, 28 Jan. 1996 [two sisters meet in the forest two honey gatheres, marry them; husbands are Foxes in human form; to clean garden plots, tie trees together and fell them pulling the rope; Fox brothers warn their wives not to come to the garden plot to see their mother-in-law; one of the women breaks tabu, Fox-mother swallows her; husbands return to the forest to their mother; she vomits the swallowed woman, revives her; another sister joins them, abandons her human relatives], 12 June, 1996 [woman maltreats her adolescent daughter who is infested with worms; the girl leaves for the forest, hopes that jaguar eats her up; Jaguar extracts worms with a fish poison, marries her, provides meat; her brother finds her; Jaguar welcomes him but scares her wicked mother].
Bolivia-Guapore.
Tacana [master of the forest abducts the woman; copulates introducing his penis between her toes; she pours on him boiling water, escapes; upper part of her son's body is human, lower part is of the bush spirit]: HH 1961, no.70: 190; Chimane [jaguar steals the girl, marries her; suggests meat to her mother; the wife bears sons to the jaguar; warns her relatives that her husband and sons are going to attack people; her brothers kill jaguar and his sons; woman returns home; can eat but raw meat, dies]: HH 1989, no.13: 66-67; Chacobo [girl whose worm-paramour was killed leaves for forest for shame; jaguar marries her; they visit her mother; their son bites his grandmother, she dies; son of the latter kills the jaguar]: Kelm 1972, no.17: 243.
Southern Amazonia.
(Waura [wife of Fox]); Nambikwara [in the forest tapir abducts woman; she escapes to her home, bears tapir's son; people kill tapir and his son]: HP 1983, no.48: 78-80; Iranxe: HP 1985, no.49 [Tapir abducts a girl, disappears with her in a river; she asks him to climb a palm to bring fruits; escapes, bears his child; returns home; her brothers go to hunt, do not recognize young tapir as their sister's son, kill him; Tapir brings fruits to his in-laws; girl's younger brother tells him that his son is killed; Tapir goes away], 52 [two girls hunt after fling ants; one of them has her menses; wolf (Canis jubatus) abducts her though she suggest him to take another girl; she bears his child; escapes to her home; Wolf comes after her, brings meat to her family; girl's brother kills him; her mother kills his son]: 215-218.
Eastern Brazil.
Shavante [girls return from the field; the last one agrees to marry wolf; returns to the village and bears wolf's cubs; people drown them, burn down the woman; she turns into a hawk]: WS 1984a, no.91: 265-268.
Chaco.
Chamacoco [a couple goes to forest; two Jaguar brothers abduct the woman, she marries one of them; her human son grows up in her home, comes and kills jaguar; tries to return his mother; she acquires jaguar traits herself, leaves for forest]: WS 1987a, no.63, 64, 65: 196-219; Caduveo [woman lost all her relatives; is abducted by jaguar; escapes from him, bears son; cuts him in two, each half turns into a child]: WS 1990a, no.51: 84; Nivakle: WS 1987b, no.133 [girl mistreated by her parents leaves for forest; jaguar marries her, she bears his cub; jaguar kills her brother; she blinds him and escapes; people burn dead jaguar bones], 134 [in the forest jaguar abducts girl; she blinds him, he dies; back at home she bears his cub; young jaguar kills her brother; she kills her jaguar-son, people burn his corpse], 135 [woman blind jaguar and escapes; people burn his corpse, the jaguar emerge from it], 136 [woman is lost in the forest; jaguar-man marries her; hunts for her relatives; they kill him, burn the corpse, the jaguar emerge from it]: 300-304; Chorote [woman marries a jaguar]: WS 1985, no.129 [her parents and sisters do not give food to a girl, send her to jaguar; he brings her her borther's foot to eat; she blind jaguar, returns home, her other brothers kill jaguar], 131 [woman leaves her husband, goes to the jaguar; bears jaguar's son who eats her up; jaguar meets other woman who hides in a tree, marries her]: 246-248; Makka [husband does not bring to her wife as much ostrich eggs as she wants; both agree that she should leave him for jaguar; woman bears jaguar cub, brings him to village; young jaguar bites or kills other boys; people kill him, jaguars kill people, people of other village exterminate most of the jaguars]: WS 1991a, no.42, 43: 120; Angaite [jaguar forces woman to live with him; she bears human boy and jaguar cub; kills the cub, boy kills the jaguar]: Cordeu 1973, no.5: 203.
Southern Brazil.
Ofaie [girl leaves for jaguar who brings her a lot of meet; returns to people; jaguar continues to hunt for her relatives; she acquire jaguar traits, her grandmother kills her; jaguar returns to forest]: Ribeiro 1951, no.8: 129-131.
Fuegians.
[Girl marries Sea Lion]. Selknam [he gives her fish; she bears his son; her brothers spy on her; force her to divert sea lion's attention, kill him; son escapes into ocean, becomes sea lion; brothers dismemer murdered sea lion, sister asks to give her his sexual organs, does not eat other meat]: Wilbert 1975a, no.47: 132-135; Yamana: Bridges 1948 [girls play in water, Sea Lion steals one, gives her fish to eat; she bears a human child covered with sea lion fur; all of them visit her relatives; men kill Sea Lion; his son eats his meat; mother strikes him with a sea urchin, he turns into rockfish; woman remains with people]: 161-163; Gusinde 1937 [her brothers kill him; her son eats his father's meat; woman throws sea urchin into him, he turns into fish; brothers throw Lion's penis and other pieces of meat to their sister; she eats them]: 1176-1182; Wilbert 1977, no.19 and 37 [sea lion; cut off penis to woman], 30 [human; lovers' bodies destroyed by birds, vagina and penis remain], 27 [human changed to woodpecker; penis cut off]: 51-57, 75-78, 81-85,?? 105-108. C o m m e n t a r y. European motif Juan Oso is widespread from Mexico till Central Andes and Tacana. It is difficult to decide in what degree has it assimilated the aboriginal motif M44 with which it shares common motifs.