Machekur, despite his wife’s warnings, frequently visited the Mice-Girls. One day, after eating a large portion of fish-roe pudding, he fell asleep. The Mice-Girls attached a bladder to his anus, causing him to suffer from diarrhea. When he tried to relieve himself, the bladder burst, and the mess flowed out, leaving him embarrassed and distressed.
Source
Tales of Yukaghir, Lamut, and Russianized Natives of Eastern Siberia
by Waldemar Bogoras
The American Museum of Natural History
Anthropological Papers, Vol. 20, Part 1
New York, 1918
► Themes of the story
Moral Lessons: The narrative imparts a lesson about the consequences of ignoring warnings and engaging in inappropriate behavior, as Machekur suffers due to his disregard for his wife’s advice.
Cunning and Deception: The Mice-Girls use cunning to deceive Machekur, showcasing their cleverness in executing the prank.
Family Dynamics: The interaction between Machekur and his wife highlights the dynamics of marital relationships and the repercussions of neglecting a partner’s counsel.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Yukaghir people
Told by Mary Korkin, a Russianized Yukaghir woman, in the village of Pokhotsk, the Kolyma country, summer of 1896.
Machekur lived with his wife Machekur-woman.
[In Russian Мачекуръ and Мачекуриха. This tale represents only one of the well-known episodes of the story of Raven and the Mice. I give it here because of the names Machekur and Machekur-Woman, which have replaced the usual Kutq (Ku’rgil) and Miti. Perhaps these names belong to some Yukaghir version of the story.]
Their neighbors were three Mice-Girls. The old man used to pay them frequent visits. Finally, the old woman grew angry, and said, “Cease going there! They will do something unpleasant to you.” The old man, however, paid no attention to these warnings. One time the Mice-Girls offered him some fat pudding, made of fish-roe mixed with oil. He ate so much that he could not eat any more, and fell asleep. They took a large bladder and fastened it to the old man’s anus.
► Continue reading…
He awoke and went home, and on account of the quantity of oil he had swallowed, he had diarrhoea. So he would sit down and try to defecate; but when he stood up, no faeces were to be seen on the ground. In the meanwhile, after three or four attempts, he felt something heavy attached to his buttocks. He went to his wife, and said, “Machekur-Woman! I tried to defecate, but it seems in vain, for I saw no faeces on the ground. Meantime I feel as if my intestines had gone out of my anus.” “Sit down!” said the woman. But he remained standing. “Sit down!” she again shouted, and he was much frightened, and flopped down upon a bench. The bladder burst, and the faeces flowed around.
The end.
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