Postscript

Oral Tradition, 37 (2025):19–21 Some years after completing the preceding article, the author came across what is so far the closest parallel to “What Do You Want Money For?” outside northwestern Africa: a Galician Yiddish nursery rhyme (Pipe 1971:200–201), which goes as follows (author’s rough translation, ignoring diminutives): Ele, bele, Yoske,You have a black bride.She […]

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“What Do You Want Money For?”

Oral Tradition, 37 (2025):3–18 Introduction This article examines an apparently undocumented tale from northwestern Africa: a short, simply phrased dialogue between a man and a cat. The cat finds some money, and repeated questions of “What do you want that for?” lead to progressively longer-term goals, outlining a moderately successful life. These goals are largely […]

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