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Jamaica - Brother Dead and the Brindle Puppy
Charles Roe, Maroon Town, Cock-pit country.
Deh was an Ol' Witch call Brar Dead, never talk to nobody; if him talk to anybody, him be dead. But him only making some bow all day an' set it to catch all wil' animal, an' when he catch dem, he put dem over fire an' dry dem, but him no eat dem. So Mr. Anansi go deh one day an' say, "Brar Dead, gi' me some of you meat now." But he never 'peak to Mr. Anansi, for him can't talk to nobody. So Anansi goin' in an' tak a whole bagful of de dry meat an start to eat it.
So Brar Dead has a brindle puppy. So Brar Dead pick some green bush an' gi' to de brindle puppy. So Mr. Anansi going to mak him talk dat day now. So when him come out an' tell little dog say when him sing an' people drop dead, puppy mus' t'row de bush on dem, because first day him gwine hear him voice. So him tak one de a arrow now an' start, an' de dog mus' follow him now. So when he stick him lance, blood don' come; Anansi don' walk dere. So go on; so when he stick at odder cross-road, blood come an' he say dere Anansi walk. So when he sing, Anansi got to stop. He sing,
"Anansi ma shway, Anansi ma shway,
A pupa yan kin baw, eh, eh, wa-eh!
A yan kin baw yeh, ke ya ma-dee,
Eh, eh, wa-eh, eh, wa-eh!
Eh, ey-eh wa-ey-eh!"
So he goin' till he ketch Anansi, an' when he see Anansi, tell de little puppy say mus' ketch Anansi. So de puppy ketch him, an' when he ketch him, poke de bow t'ru Anansi two ears an' he buil' up a fire an' burn up Anansi to dust.
NOTE:
Brother Dead and the Brindle Puppy.
The second story of "Brother Dead" is mixed up with obeah beliefs and it is hard to tell where the pattern ends and improvisation begins. Brother Dead, like the sorcerer, evidently sends a shadow in the shape of a brindled pup to pursue and catch Anansi. The song, meanwhile, plays a part in the conjuring. Words and tune are African. The old Maroon who gave me the trap-setting picture of "Brar Dead" quoted in the note to the last number, concluded as follows:
"When he (Dead) ketch to a cross-path, tek him lance an' see one little maugre dog into a hole an' dig him out an' say to de puppy, 'Ai! Brar, fo' kitty a shall man bra!' If he had caught Anansi, he would kill Anansi"
I was unable to get an explanation of the sorcerer's phrase.
Compare, for the guardian dog, the story of Sarah Wintun by Lewis, 291, and see number 72. Jamaica sorcerers send a helping spirit in animal form to work their revenge.
Jamaica Anansi Stories ,Martha Warren Beckwith, New York, Published By The American Folk-Lore Society, G. E. Stechert & Co., Agents. [1924] and is now in the public domain.
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