B125A. The Nightingale and the Copperhead. .16.28.31.

The nightingale (or, less often, someone else) takes the copperhead's eyes and does not return them, and the copperhead remains blind.

French (Orleans, Loire), Germans (Mecklenburg), Russians (Novgorod; central provinces?), Estonians.

Western Europe. French (Orleans: Sologne; Loire: Loiret; Bourbonnais) [the nightingale borrowed the copperhead's eyes and did not return them]: Dähnhardt 1910, no. 37: 136–137; Germans (Mecklenburg) [the nightingale and the copperhead]: Dähnhardt 1910, no. 38: 138.

Central Europe. Russians (Novgorod, Borovichi district) [manuscript by Fyodor Pardalotsky "Some local Borovichi words. Local Borovichi riddles, proverbs, superstitions, signs and legends" (1848): the cat used to be eyeless; once she asked a copperhead for eyes so she could go to a wedding, and did not return them, which is why the copperhead became blind]: Zelenin 1915, no. 6: 858; Russians (place of entry not specified {conditionally - central provinces}) [it is believed that the copperhead (slow burner) is very poisonous, evil and blind; if it had eyes, 40 mothers would cry every day and 40 people would die from it; before she was sighted, and the cat was blind; the cat asked the copperhead for eyes for a while so she could go to a party; The copperhead agreed and gave them to the cat; she did not take her eyes back]: Ermolov 1905a: 396.

Baltoscandia. Estonians [The Forest Master took Copperhead's eyes; promised to return them if she crawled back and forth through the axle of a wheel; Copperhead crawled one way, the wheel was carried away; she got one eye back; Nightingale was also one-eyed; asked Copperhead for an eye for the night to go to a wedding; did not return it, was left with two eyes; the blind Copperhead destroys nightingales' nests]: Jakobson 1954: 42-43.