Note 92. and 93. Hidden Names; Anansi and Mr. Able.

92. and 93. Hidden Names; Anansi and Mr. Able.

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; Dennet, 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.