Magic password
In short: A spoken formula that opens or closes a passage or hidden place in a tale.
Motif
How does it work in the tale?
In the Cabo Verdean story Lob gets inside but forgets what to say to get out. Parsons compares the same pattern with Boukee in the Bahamas. Look for when each character learns the words and when they forget them.
Do the same words help both characters equally?
In Parsons’s Bahamian account, Rabby and Boukee use the same words to enter a house full of food. Rabby leaves. Boukee stays inside and later waits for the door to open. The two start with the same knowledge. Watch what each does after the door opens to see where their paths diverge.