E9i1. The magical wife is a swan.

.15.16.21.23.24.27.-.29.31.-.39.

Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, assistant) has the image of a swan.

Portuguese, Ladins, Irish, English, Bretons, Germans (Lower Rhine, East Prussia, Swabia, Austria), Bodo (Kachari), Ancient India, Minahasa, Croats, Hungarians, Transylvanian Saxons, Czechs, Lusatians, Russians (Tersky Coast, Karelian Pomerania, Olonetskaya, Vologda, Voronezh), Kalmyks, Nogais, Kumyks, Karachays/Balkars, Turks, Scandinavians, Danes, Norwegians, Finns, Karelians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Setos, Komi, Chuvash, Mari, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Yellow Uighurs, Baikal and Transbaikal Buryats, Khalkha Mongols, Oirats, Siberian Tatars, Chulym Turks, Khakass [probably], Altaians, Tuvans, Mansi, Northern Khanty, Southern Khanty, Nenets (Gydan), Western Evenks, Baikal Evenks, Far Eastern Evenks, Evens, Nanai, Orochi, Ancient Japan, Tundra Yukaghirs.

Southern Europe. Portuguese [a young man hides a swan maiden's feather robe; marries her; one day she finds the robe and flies away to her own world]: Cardigos, Correia 2015(1), no. 400*: 202; Ladins : Uffer 1973, no. 3 [=Decurtins, Brunold-Bigler 2002, no. 30: 91-93; a merchant's son set out on a ship with goods; a black ship with a red flag sailed up in the middle of the sea; the captain suggested playing cards; the young man lost the goods, the ship, and himself; the captain returned everything, but demanded that the young man come to him in America by a certain day; upon learning of this, the merchant sent his son to a hermit; the hermit advised him to sail to an island where swans fly; when they cast off their swan clothes and become maidens, he must hide the clothes of one of them; He chose the most beautiful one; she promised to become his wife and help; gave him a wand; when he touched the sea with it, it retreated and he walked on dry land; the black man showed 60 boxes; 59 for a human head, and the 6th for the youth's head; 1) gave a glass axe to cut down the forest; the axe immediately broke; the swan girl told him to go to bed, and when the youth woke up, the forest was felled; 2) remove the mountain and break a vineyard on this place (the same); 3) get a ring from the sea, which was placed on a paper boat and launched on the waves; the girl tells her to cut off her head; the severed head rolled into the sea, three drops of blood rose from the water and with them the ring, followed by the reborn girl, more beautiful than before; they both came to the black captain - the girl's father; he greets them with a smile, gives a lot of gold; they returned to the youth's father; wedding], 10 [=Decurtins, Brunold-Bigler 2002, no. 67: 185-187; seven soldiers were returning from the war; they saw a castle, a table set with good food, seven beds; at night a girl appeared next to each of them; they said that they were bewitched; in order to break the spell, the soldiers must not see or touch the girls for a year and two days; on the last day, the soldiers go hunting and see seven swans flying in to bathe; guessing that these were their girls, they agreed to light a fire at night; they saw that the girls had swan legs; the girls ran away, and the soldiers woke up in an unfamiliar place, the castle was gone; a year later, another soldier found the same castle and waited until his term was fulfilled; the swans became girls forever, the soldier married the one who came to him]: 9-11, 30-32.

Western Europe. Irish [in his estate, Connor Quinn sees three swans fly in, take off their bird clothes, and become girls; they look alike, which means they are sisters; K. grabs the clothes of the youngest, goes home, and the girl follows him; she agrees to become his wife if he stops gambling and never invites the O'Brien family to the house, since they are enemies of her family (and also K.'s family); with the appearance of a swan wife in the house (her name is Beatrice), K.'s affairs go uphill, success everywhere; the wife gives birth to a son, and then a daughter; after 7 years, K. gets acquainted with a man and brings him into the house; gambles away all his property to him; the wife and children fly away, becoming swans]: Fulton 2017, no. 15: 116-130; Irish [the prince lives with his father and young stepmother; One day they are hunting and see three swans on the lake. They take off their hats and become girls. They approach the hunters, the most beautiful one approaches the prince. When the hunters return, the queen learns from one of them what they have seen. She asks this guy to stick a sleeping pin into the prince next time. The swan maiden could not wake the prince and said that she would come only once more. The same the next day. The swan maiden asks to tell him that the prince will not see her again. The prince goes to look for her. He comes into the house and the nine-legged horse hides him. Three seals enter and become young men. The first one: I have an apple that will make a castle if I throw it. I have a ring that will blind and kill your enemies. The third one: I have a nine-legged horse. Everyone would like to give it to the prince. The prince reveals himself and receives everything. The horse: First I have to throw you to the ground three times. The prince passes the test. Now the horse will carry you wherever he needs to go. brought to the king; the king will give the daughter if the youth fulfills the conditions; clear the island of Owases; the horse jumped onto the island, the prince exterminated the Owases {some demons or cannibals}; when the prince returned, the servant (butler, responsible for food and wine) changed clothes with him; the king is going to give his daughter to this impostor; they all lost their way in the fog; the king promised the daughter to the youth, believing that it was he, the servant, if he saved them; he did not intend to keep his promise; the youth threw an apple, a castle appeared; the princess says that she will marry the one who can ride a 9-legged horse; the servant tried, the horse killed him on the spot; the same with others who tried; the prince easily saddled the horse; the princess recognized the youth, dressed him up like a queen; the horse turned into a princess, the three seal youths are her brothers; [the magic has broken]: Larminie 1893: 219-231; Irish [a prince plays cards with an old man, who casts a spell on him not to eat twice at the same table, not to sleep twice in the same bed; the wise man explains that the old man lives at the bottom of the sea, tells where his four swan daughters will fly; the prince hides the clothes of the youngest; gives them to her for a promise to help; she sticks a sleeping pin into her father so that he will not cut the young man down at the entrance; the young man enters, says, God save everything here; this phrase lifted the spell, but the old man gives instructions; 1) build a house; 2) clear the house of rubbish; 3) erect a roof; 4) cover it with down of wild birds; the old man's daughter does everything for the young man, orders him to take a horse and run; the father and his army chase, the wife orders her to splash some of the horse's sweat taken from his ear after herself, a sea appears; the old man drains it, collecting three plates of water; the daughter gets a duck from a tree, an egg from a duck, hits her father in the left leg with the egg, he dies; the wife orders the prince to come home first; he will forget her if he kisses anyone; a greyhound kissed him, he forgot his wife, took a princess as his wife; the old man's daughter hires herself out as a washerwoman; the princess enters the laundry, falls dead; the washerwoman orders the rooster and the hen to tell a story about her and about the one who forgot her; the prince remembers everything, calls the old man's daughter his wife]: McManus 1915: 191-195; English (Cambridgeshire) [a young man wounded one of 7 swans in the wing, brought it home; went out for an axe, and, upon returning, found a girl instead of a swan; every night 6 swans tried to free her, but could not enter the house; during this time, the wound on her hand healed and began to be covered with bird feathers; the young man was furious and began to beat his wife; in response, she became a swan, pushed the young man out of the house, the other swans finished him off; in the morning they found a mutilated corpse]: Scheidau 2022: 110-113; Bretons [a shepherd Pipi Menou sees swans flying to a lake, taking off their feather clothes, bathing; his grandmother explains that they are the daughters of a sorcerer whose castle hangs high above the sea; the maiden's clothes must be hidden, let her take them to her castle and become his wife; PM hid the younger's clothes; the maidens carried him to the castle, leaving him in the garden; when the gardener loaded the basket with vegetables and fruits, PM hid there, the maiden lifted him up, he stayed with her for the night; the two sisters were jealous, they threatened to reveal everything; PM's wife put him on her back, they went down to the ground and stayed there; they had many children]: Luzel 1887(2), No. 7: 347-354 Bretons[King Bran is a widower and has a son, Hael; the king has remarried, his stepmother does not like her stepson; he spends all day hunting; the old man suggests playing checkers; the winner can ask the loser for whatever he wants; H. wins and asks that his stepmother have a goat's head for a month; and so it happens; H. goes back to the old man, this time he loses; he orders him to come to him in the Black Valley within a year and complete three tasks there; H. goes in search; a huge bird comes down: its chicks are dying of hunger, let H. give them his horse to eat; H. agrees; in return the bird carries him across the seas and mountains into the desert: follow the path and you will be shown the way to the Black Valley; the old man in the castle gives H. food, lodging for the night, and a mule that will gallop 500 leagues in an hour; there will be a lake there, at noon three swans will fly in to bathe, throw off their clothes; These are the three daughters of the King of the Black Valley; the clothes of the youngest must be hidden, she will have a blue ribbon; she agrees to help and be his wife, her name is Skoaz-Wenn (White Shoulder); after spending the night in her room, H. announced to the King of the Black Valley that he had arrived riding a rainbow; the king does not feed H. and leaves him on a tree for the night; SV carries him to her room; 1) demolish the old castle in a day, throw the stones into the pond; SV does everything with the help of her magic wand; 2) rebuild the castle from the stones thrown into the pond (ditto); 3) get a ring lost in the lakes and swamps; SV dives in the form of a swan, fights with the hellish forces, brings the ring, but the feather on her wing is broken; when it will be necessary to identify her among the sisters, H. will feel that her little finger is broken; the king offers to identify the chosen one, H. does it; one of the sisters noticed H. climbing into SV's room, intending to tell; SV became a swan, H. perched on her, and they flew away; the king-father is happy to see his son with his daughter-in-law; the wedding took place after the stepmother's head became human again]: Brekilien 1999: 209-219; Bretons (probably; Lai du Desiré) [the knight sees the swan maiden in the forest who has taken off her robe]: Grimm 1882(1): 430; Germans(probably Lower Rhine) [a young man wanted to shoot a swan, but heard a voice: the shot will cost you your life; twice; the third time a beautiful girl appeared before him; he will disenchant her if he does not tell anyone about her beauty for a year and says a prayer every week; the King of France promises a daughter to the best hunter; the young man became the winner, but refused to marry, since his bride was a thousand times more beautiful than the princess; a maiden appeared, said that he had broken his oath to keep silent about her beauty, ordered him to look for her on a glass mountain; the young man wandered into a dense forest; saw a mill; asks the miller about the glass mountain; he gave him a goat: only riding on it can one climb this mountain; but the goat only took him to the mountain, threw the young man off and ran away; he wanted to drink from the spring: do not drink, otherwise you will part with life; but he drank and fell into a deep sleep; a maiden appeared; in her anger she almost pierced his heart with a point, but decided not to do it; when he woke up, he read what she wrote: if you had not drunk the water, you would have disenchanted me, and now look for me in the dark world; the young man again found himself in the forest near the mill (another one); the miller: tomorrow the Vulture bird will fly in to carry a barrel of flour to the dark world; in the morning the miller hid the young man in this barrel; in the dark world the young man climbed out of the barrel, followed the sound of water to the bridge, saw a light in the distance; the maiden with a servant will give; brought him to her room, told him to hide under the bed, and when she returned and lay down, to lie across it; to be silent, no matter what happened; the spirits came, began to beat the young man, but disappeared at midnight; the maiden cured him with an ointment; the next night the spirits almost threw him into boiling oil, but midnight struck; On the third night they began to hang, but midnight struck; the spell was broken; the king was convinced that the swan maiden was more beautiful than his daughter]: Wolf 1851: 216-224; Germans(East Prussia) [two rich merchants; one has a son, Albertus, the other a daughter, Karlinchen; their parents agree to marry them when the children grow up; the wedding day is set, but A. goes away on business and is kidnapped by robbers; when their ship docked, he escapes; he goes to an old man who takes him in; he has 12 fenced-in plots; one must not enter the 12th between 11 and 12 noon; there are three pillars there; A. begins to spy; three swans descend on the pillars, take off their bird clothes, turn into girls, and begin to bathe; the next time A. steals the clothes of the one he likes best; brings her to her parents (her name is Marianchen) and says he will marry only her; forbids her to open the chest; goes away on business; M. and her mother-in-law begin to examine the property, A.'s mother opens the chest and finds swan clothes in it; M. put it on, said, "To the glass mountain!" and flew away; A. returned, learned about it, went to look for his wife; there is a fallen ox in the forest; a lion, a dog, an eagle and an ant (Homsk) cannot divide the carcass; A. divided it for them; each gave a woollen thread (feather, leg), this gives the ability to transform these types of animals; he flew as an eagle to the glass mountain, as an ant penetrated the hall where the maidens were, and then into M.'s room; she says that her mother is a witch; before her arrival A. again became an ant and hid, but she found him; orders to fulfill three assignments; 1) in one day cut down a forest, prepare firewood and stack it in woodpiles; M. brought breakfast, ordered to go to bed; when she brought dinner, the forest was cut down; when dinner, stacked in woodpiles; 2) to empty a well with a glass jug during the day and for the well itself to disappear; the jug immediately broke; M.: go to bed; by evening there is no trace of the well; 3) to bathe in boiling water; M.: spit into the cauldron three times, then bathe; and then we run; they flew away in the form of an eagle and a swan; the witch sent her eldest daughter after them; M. ordered her to descend to the ground, turned herself into a rose, and A. into thorns; the second daughter (the church and the priest); flew away herself; M. spread out a scarf; a pond appeared, and M. and A. - a duck and a drake, do not swim to the shore; the witch stops pursuing and leaves her daughter three nuts; she wrapped them in a scarf; they arrived in the city, a wedding is being prepared; but A.'s first bride, Karlinchen, poured him some drops, because of which he forgot M. and again took K. for his only bride; K.: if a woman appears in church in a more luxurious dress than me, I will renounce my rights to A.; M. took a dress like stars from the first nut; A. does not recognize M. and asks what she wants for her dress, so that he can give it to K.; she asks him to come to her for a talk; but K. poured him a sleeping potion; the next time - a dress like the moon; the same, but the coachman sees and hears everything; the third time - a dress like the sun; A. is warned and does not drink the sleeping potion and remembers M.; in church A. says that he has lost one of the boots of the pair; he ordered a new one, but it is worse than the first one, and then he found the old one: which one to keep? priest: the same; A. married M.; K. went home, taking her dresses]: Lemke 1887, No. 39: 188-204; Germans(East Prussia) [a hunter lives with his mother; sees three swans fly to a lake, take off their bird clothes, become girls and bathe; he hid the clothes of one; they have two children; one day the hunter's mother opened the chest and saw swan wings; called her daughter-in-law; she put on the wings and flew away; flying over her husband, told him to look for her on a glass mountain; the hunter successively comes to the eldest, middle, youngest hermit brothers, each sends to the next; from the youngest the glass mountain is visible; along the way the hunter divides the carcass of an ox between a lion, a greyhound, an eagle (or a falcon) and an ant; each endows him with the ability to transform into a creature of his own species; he climbs as an ant up the glass mountain; then through the rooms of the two older princesses to the room of the youngest; she hides him; at the meal the king tells his daughters that they will all be disenchanted when the 12-headed dragon is killed; only a lion can kill it, a hare will jump out of the head, a greyhound must catch the hare; a dove will fly out of the hare's head, a falcon must catch it; in the dove's head there is a pebble, it must be thrown from the mountain so that it breaks into small pieces; the hunter, taking the forms of different animals, does all this; the spell is dispelled, the king gives the throne to his son-in-law, a hunter]: Lemke 1887, No. 40: 204-212; Germans (Swabia) [a hunter's wife dies; the old man advises him to hide the clothes of one of the swan maidens who come to the lake to bathe; the wife gives birth to several children; after 15 years she finds a swan robe, flies away; The old man sends her husband to a miller, who loads flour onto donkeys, which take it to a castle where a swan maiden lives; the husband persuades the miller to hide him in a sack; the wife tells her husband to keep quiet when three dragons fly in for an hour each day for three days and torment him; on the first day they are snakes, then turtles, then snakes again; the husband remains silent; the dragons turn into three noble women, they were swans; they and their spouses remain in the castle]: Meier 1852, no. 7: 39-42 (=Ashliman 2002); Germans (Swabia) [his beloved wife died, a hunter is wandering through the forest; an old man in a hut advises him to hide the clothes of one of the three swan maidens who fly in to bathe; this is how the hunter got a wife; the old man warns him to hide his feather clothes from her; they have many children; after 15 years he forgot to close the room in which he kept his wife's clothes; the wife flew away; the children know nothing; the old man: the wife is in the castle, from which every day a donkey is sent to the mill for flour; the hunter hid in a sack, the donkey brought it to the castle; the wife is happy to see her husband again; in order to get her, he must three times endure for an hour in silence the suffering that will be caused by dragons flying in different guises; the first time snakes appeared, the second time - toads, the third - snakes again; he held back a scream; three snakes turned into three women, they were the swans; the hunter remained to live with his wife in the castle]: Meier 1852, No. 7: 39-42; Germans(Austria) [a young man sees three girls swimming in a lake in the forest, putting on swan clothes, and flying away; their mother orders a hut to be built near the lake and to be kept guard; the young man hides the clothes of the middle girl, brings them to the hut; leaves after her mother, forgetting to lock the chest; the girl finds her clothes, flies away, ordering them to look for them on a glass mountain; an old man calls the animals, only a three-legged hare knows the way to the glass mountain; the young man divides the carcass of a horse between a bear, a wolf, a raven, and an ant; each gives his hair (the ant gives his paw), which allows him to take the form of this animal; the young man flies up the mountain to the girl like a raven; she warns that her mother is a witch; she sets the conditions of the wedding: 1) drink the egg without breaking the shell (the young man makes a tiny hole like an ant); 2) to cut down a forest in three days, turn it into woodpiles (the wife does everything); 3) to set fire to the wood and jump into the fire; he jumps, in place of the fire there is a palace; the young man began to live in it with his wife and her sisters]: Tserf 1992: 123-128.

Tibet - North-East India. Bodo (Kachari) [a merchant died; the son grew up, begged his mother to let him also go and trade; in one village he stayed with an old couple; they had a swan; the young man saw how the swan cast off her feathers and began to bathe; the young man bought the swan, brought it to his mother's house, but the swan remained a swan; the old woman advised him to send a girl to comb the son's hair, he told of his sufferings; then the old woman advised the young man to lie in wait at midnight for the swan-maiden to cast off her feathers and become a man; let her throw the feathers into the fire; they began to live happily]: Anderson 1896: 11-15.

South Asia. Ancient India (Shatapatha Brahmana) [the apsara Urvashi seduced many ascetics and sages with her beauty; Mitra cursed her, sending her to live on earth; U. agreed to become the wife of the first king of the Lunar dynasty, Pururavas, on the condition that she would not see him naked; when the heavenly Gandharvas decided that it was time for U. to return to the upper world, they stole her two favorite lambs that lay by her bed at night; P. chased them, the Gandharvas flashed lightning, U. saw her husband and disappeared; P. came to the lake where the Apsaras bathed in the form of swans ; U., recognized by him, told him to come in a year, when she would give birth to his son; a year later, the lovers united after P. himself became one of the Gandharvas; for this he had to make a sacrifice and conceive a wish; for the sacrifice the Ganharvas gave a brazier with heavenly fire, which P. immediately lost; but he obtained fire by friction, thereby establishing the rite of obtaining sacred fire]: Grinzer 1982b: 350-351.

Malaysia - Indonesia. Minahasa [Mamanua dreams that he will find a spring under a stone; he pulls out the stone, a lake is formed, M. makes a vegetable garden on the shore; someone steals sugar cane and fruits; M. lies in wait, 9 girls in the form of swans {in Braginsky's translation - geese} fly in to bathe, take off their bird clothes; M. hides the clothes of Lingkambene, the daughter of the supreme god Muntu-untu, takes L. as a wife, she gives birth to a son Wulansendow; despite the warning, he accidentally rips off one of her hairs; she must return to heaven to heal the wound; M. and V. sit on a falcon, it is unable to lift them; they climb along the rattan, it breaks, they fall into the water, a fish carries them to the horizon, a dog carries them across the sky to M.-u's palace. he orders to identify his wife among nine girls (the dog sniffs her out, wags its tail); they remain in the sky; V. grows up, asks his grandfather to lower him to the earth; he gives him a bundle with an egg in it, from which a wife for V. emerges; in another bundle are the seeds of fruit trees; since then they have been growing on the earth]: Kratz 1973, no. 44: 212-216 (=Braginsky 1972: 117-121; the same or a very similar text in another translation in Bystrov et al. 1962: 205-209, the girls are swans, not geese).

The Balkans. Croats (Austria) [a young count saw a girl on the shore of a lake take off a chain from her neck, become a swan and swim; the next day he grabbed the girl and took him as his wife; his mother wants to get rid of her daughter-in-law, because she is poor; the count went to war; the mother intercepts and destroys the spouses' letters to each other; the wife gave birth to two boys and a girl; the mother ordered a servant to take the children to the forest and gouge out their eyes, but the servant brought her dogs' eyes; a hunter found the children, raised them; when his own son grew up, he kicked out the adopted children; they came to swim in the same lake; the count's mother saw and sent a servant to steal the chains; the sister managed to jump out on the shore and put hers on, and the brothers remained swans; the mother wrote to the count that his wife gave birth to puppies; the count ordered his wife to be buried in the ground up to her neck; and her daughter feeds on scraps and gives them to her swan brothers in the morning; the count returned; he saw the servant who had been sent to kill the girl, because she was stealing; the girl (i.e. the count's daughter): I steal to feed my swan brothers; the count bought from the jeweler the gold chains of his swan sons, which their mother had stolen from them and given to the jeweler to make a cup; he put the chains on the swans' necks, and they became young men; but they could not save his swan wife; they dug her up still alive, but worms had eaten all her flesh; they burned the count's mother]: Neweklowsky, Gaál 1983, no. 24: 151-158; Hungarians: Ortutai 1974, No. 11 [the son of a farm laborer grew up and went wandering; people were carrying 12 carts of reeds, he asked for some reeds, but couldn’t find the right kind; he found two reed bushes by the sea, made guns and sabres from the reeds; now his name is Maly s Kamyshinami (K.); he came to the king; it turned out that he was indistinguishable from the prince; he tells him that he met a girl whose father will only give her to someone who is just as rich; the king also won’t marry his son to someone who has less money than he does; K. brings the prince to the girl, they lure her onto a ship and take her away; at their overnight stay, K. hears the conversation of vultures; the horse will throw the prince, he will kill himself; the faithful servant will shoot at a hare, but will hit the prince; A 12-headed dragon carries off the bride on her wedding night; whoever tells will be turned to stone; K. shot his horse and servant; asked permission to stay in the bridal chamber; chopped off the dragon's heads; he is asked to explain; he told and is turned to stone; two sons were born; a beggar orders the stone to be sprinkled with the blood of these children; K. came to life; the king gave him the keys to 99 rooms, but did not give him the keys to the hundredth; K. peeps through the keyhole; there are three baths, swan maidens fly in, take off their clothes, bathe; they say that if you hide the clothes, you will not return; K. made a key, hid the clothes of the youngest, gave her another one, took her as his wife; the wife warns him not to give her her old clothes if others ask; they are invited to the wedding, everyone asks that the wife dance in her old clothes, for she will dance even better; K. brought it, his wife put it on and flew away, told him to look for her in the fortress on a high mountain, with a star above it; K. comes to the mother of the Sun; the Sun returned, does not know about the mountain, advises him to ask his uncle Wind; the Wind tells him to follow the blackthorn bush {tumbleweed?}; at the miller's mountain he put K. in a barrel of flour, which a vulture lifts to the top of the mountain every day; the vulture lifts him, he reveals himself to his wife, stays with her on the mountain]: 251-264; Domotor 1988, #400A ^x [every night the fruits of the magic tree disappear; the owner's three sons guard them in turn; the eldest fall asleep, a mouse helps the youngest not to fall asleep; he seizes and takes the swan maiden as his wife; she forbids him to tell anyone about her; the young man breaks the ban, the wife flies away as a swan; a young man sets out to find his wife, but falls asleep three times when he is supposed to meet her; supernatural beings help him achieve his goal]: 458; Transylvanian Saxons[a poor woman's son was tending his master's sheep; he saw a white bird, chased it, got lost in the forest; came to the old man's fire; the old man offered to serve him for a year, then he would help him find the bird; when leaving, the old man left the keys to all the rooms, forbidding anyone to enter the last one; on the last day of the year, the young man decided to unlock the room; there is a hall, in it a pond, above it the sky, in the pond three swan maidens; seeing the young man, they flew away; when the old man returned, the young man himself confessed; the old man was not angry; ordered him to serve another year, then he would get the bird; the year ended, the old man himself unlocked the room, asked which of the girls he liked best; young man: the youngest; old man: go into the room in the evening, take the box from under the bed, take it home; the swan maiden will follow her herself; but until you get there, do not turn around; and when you marry, keep the box from your wife; the young man did not turn around, a maiden in snow-white clothes approached; she was sad, asked to return her dress; he felt sorry for her and returned her, closing the windows and doors; she became a swan and flew away through the chimney; the young man came to the old man; the old man: now she is on a distant island in the power of a seven-headed dragon; the young man went in search; he walked for 7 years, but there was still no sea; three giants are fighting over a cloak of invisibility, a hat that will take you wherever you want, and an invincible sword; they say that whoever owns these treasures will get the beauty from the island, and with her the kingdom; the young man ordered them to bring the treasures and fight with each other; and he himself, having taken everything, flew to the island; cut off the dragon's heads; putting on the cloak, flew into the castle, grabbed the box and threw it into the sea; then he flew for his mother to settle her in the castle too; wedding; [the young man came to rule all the lands ruled by the dragon]: Haltrich 1882, no. 5: 4-5; Romanians [the king is hunting, sees a swan on the lake, it asks him not to shoot, the king brings it alive to the gypsy cook, the swan turns into a girl, says that she left her fairy mother; the king marries her, she gives birth to a son; while the king is away, the jealous cook invites the queen into the garden, throws her into a well, tells the king that his wife flew away as a swan; the king is going to marry the gypsy; the shepherd makes a flute from a branch of a willow growing by the well; the flute says that it is afraid for its baby, that the gypsy is a villain; the gypsy throws the flute, it turns into the former queen; the king rewards the shepherd, executes the gypsy; the wife, having become a swan for a time, flies to say goodbye to her mother, returns to the king; all is well]: Gaster 1915, no. 83: 249-254 (=Ashliman 2002).

Central Europe. Czechs [a poor man, Tonda, hired himself out for a hundred gold pieces a month; there is no work; at the end of the term the master takes him to the sea, hits the water with a twig, the waters part, they walk on dry land to the castle, T. climbs in through the window, the master orders them to throw in money, T. refuses, the window contracts and closes; a certain black man shows 99 corpses of those whom the master had lured earlier; since T. did not take the money, the black man leaves him to watch a pair of horses and a goat; T. asks for cards, then for a wife; orders three feathers to be plucked from one of three swans that will fly in to bathe; the swan turns into a girl; T. asks to be allowed to see his parents, the master allows, but advises against it; at home T. opens the chest he brought, the wife grabs her feathers and flies away; T. returns, the goat takes him to the pond where the swans are bathing; the witch sends her daughter Amalka, she puts T. to sleep each time, the swans are not awakened, they fly away further and further; in the last castle the princess (this is T.'s wife) throws a ring, T. catches it on his sword three times, each time he leaves; the princess finds it, the spouses are united; T. chops off the heads of the black pan and the goat, they turn into a king and queen]: Bogolyubova, Talova 2000: 307-317; the Lusatians [a soldier-drummer left the fortress and saw how three swans descended into the water in the moat, took off their feather clothes, became girls and began to bathe; he quietly hid the clothes of one of them; took her as his wife; one day he forgot the key in the lock of the chest; the wife opened the chest, put on her feather clothes, left a note and flew away; the note said that she should be looked for on a certain mountain; The drummer must go into a cave, pick three flowers, and beat the drum; a castle appeared in place of the mountain and three princesses came out, who, due to witchcraft, were swans; the drummer stayed with them]: Veckenstedt 1880, no. 13.2: 120-122; Russian (Tersky Bereg): Balashov 1970, no. 22 [the princess laughs - gold pours out, she cries - pearls; one step is golden, the other is silver; the tsar died, the prince goes to the city, the princess tells him not to brag about her; he drank, bragged, the local tsar orders that his sister be brought; the tsar sent a ship; the old woman took the princess's clothes, pushed them into the water, she flew away as a swan ; the old woman replaced her with her daughter; the gold does not pour out, the prince was put in prison; sister flies in, sheds her wings, cries pearls; the watchman followed, burned the swan wings, grabbed the princess, she turned into a snake, a spindle, all sorts; the king took away his real wife, and gave her brother his kingdom], 145 [the queen gave birth to a son, Evryukha the knocker, and the nannies said that it was a calf; the king put her in the basement; E. broke down the wall, left his mother with the old woman, set off on a journey, met, took two more with him; they came to the house, there was a lot of cattle inside, they slaughtered a bull, they cook the meat in turns; the old man beats the cook, hangs him by the hair from the ceiling beam; when it was E.'s turn, he beat the old man, burned him in the fire; the swans flew in , became girls, started washing in the bathhouse; the first brother tries to close the door to the bathhouse, he is thrown out; the same with the second; E. holds the door; the girl calls E. her fiancé, she is Kashchei’s daughter, she will arrive on a ship in the summer; E. waits, the old woman sticks a pin into his head, he falls asleep; this happens three times; E. found the old woman, burned her; found a bride; she promises to find out where her father’s death is; he replies that it is in a broom (she gilded the broom); in an egg; she gave the egg to Evryukha, he smashed it on Kashchei’s forehead, he died; arrived with his wife to his homeland, killed the tsar and the nannies]: 78-80, 394-397; Russians (Karelian Pomorie, Virma; a brief summary of the text from the archive of the Karelian branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences) [the young man hides the dress of one of the swan- maidens ; during a date with her, the uncle puts his nephew to sleep with a sleeping pin, the swan girl disappears, the hero finds her, their wedding takes place]: Razumova, Senkina 1974, No. 215: 380; Russians (North - Arkhangelsk?) [Ivan Tsarevich wounded the swan , brought it into the tent; someone is cooking and cleaning; the third time I. catches and grabs the girl; she resists, turned into a golden spindle, I. broke it, threw the heel in front of him (be a young woman), and the tip behind his back (be a scarlet flower); they have a son; in the spring the backyard grandmother tells I. to guard his wife; the swans are flying, each offers to throw off a wing; the wife answers her father and sister that she has Ivanushka here; he tells his mother to throw off her wing, the wife caught it, but I. grabbed it; she began to cry]: Karnaukhova 1948: 173-177; Russians (Olonetskaya, Pudozhsky district) [the rich brother is childless, the poor man has a son, Ivan; the poor man gave his son to the rich man for a year; they came to the old man; he bought V. for himself for a year; brought him to the shore in front of the mountain, wrapped him in a skin, birds lifted him up the mountain; there is gold there, the old man orders to throw it down; loaded him onto a ship and sailed away; I. found a hole, followed it to another old man; lives with him; gives him a gun, sends him to the shore; three swans will fly in, throw off their dresses, start swimming, you need to take the dress of the middle girl, Maria; she became his wife; I. wants to visit relatives; the old man gives a scooter-sled, a flying horse, I. and M. arrive; M. goes to the feast, asks her mother-in-law for the dress that her husband did not give her - it is better; mother gets the key, unlocks the chest, M. puts on a swan dress and flies away; I. swims to her across the sea; M. will be returned to him if he manages to hide; I. hid inside a stone, in the sky (the eagle brought it), underground (the lion buried it under the turf) – they found; M. suggested hiding behind a mirror, the wizards did not find; a wedding; and I was there, drank mead and beer, it flowed down my lips, but did not get into my mouth]: Smirnov 2003(1), No. 49: 229-233; Russian (Olonetskaya, Vytegorsky uyezd, village of Shalga) [a soldier is released for three days; three swans are flying, he shot at the middle one, it fell, became a maiden; they got married; on the fourth day he came to the tsar; the tsar ordered to show his wife; her brain can be seen flowing from bone to bone; the tsar orders his advisers to think of a way to kill the soldier in order to take his wife; one senator suggests: let him count how many rivers, streams and lakes there are in the world; wife: pray to the Savior, the morning is wiser than the evening; she called the birds, asks who can fly around the whole earth; the falcon can, he counted them all, the soldier gave a note to the tsar; senator: let him bring the bird that is on the island of Dunan in the ocean-sea, itself gold, a silver head, silver and gold eggs (the same, the falcon brought); go there, I don’t know where, bring something, I don’t know what; the wife tells him to put on iron bast shoes and walk until they wear out; there will be a hut on a chicken leg, on a spindle heel, you must tell him to turn his back to the forest, with the porch towards me; there a girl is winding silk, digging coals with her nose; he sees a towel given by his wife: this is my sister’s; he sends to the second sister; she tells him to go to the cape; a terrible frog will swim up, open its mouth, let out foam; you must enter its mouth; the soldier entered, then the doors, opened them, the sea king came towards him, calls him his beloved son-in-law; gives Vanyushka; whatever you ask for, he will give; V.: boldly exchange me - I will return; they met a man with a chest, in it were heroes with horses; they exchanged, V. returned; another with a club (same); the soldier tells the heroes of the king and the senator to “move apart into 6 parts; he and his wife began to reign]: Azadovsky 1947, no. 9: 80-84; Russians (Olonetskaya) [a young man went fishing, saw three swans , they took off their skins, became girls, began to swim, he hid one skin, the girl agreed to be his wife; getting into the boat, the young man gave his wife the skin so that she would not get wet; she put it on and flew away; she told him to look for her in three years on Lake Ilmen, to ask the woman who worked as a laundress; she brought him into the house; the wife's father greeted his son-in-law, the wife brought out her son; they began to live well]: Rybnikov in Azadovsky 1947, no. 44: 186-187; Russians (Voronezhskaya) [Ivan hunts for the master; sees twelve swans; they throw off their bird clothes, become girls, swim; he hides the slipper of one, she agrees to become his wife; cleans up his poor house; the master demands either Ivan's wife, or 1) bring all the animals a beast; the wife tells him to follow the rolling ball; the beast rushes at I., but gets its horn stuck in an oak tree; I. leads it by the leash given by his wife; the master gets scared, asks him to take the beast away; 2) get the self-playing gusli; the ball rolls to the wife's mother, she gives the gusli; 3) bring neither this nor that; the wife asks, only the frog knows how to get it; there is a crystal palace in the lake, Orlets is there; I. tells him to throw a feast at the master's, then drive out the master and his people]: Korolkova 1969: 130-140; Russian (a tale from Afanasyev's notes) [the king orders his three sons to shoot and marry a girl from the house where the arrow hits; the eldest take the daughters of the minister and the general, the youngest Ivan takes a frog (otherwise she will not let him out of the chisel); at night the frog takes off her skin and becomes a beauty; the king asks his daughters-in-law to 1) sew him a shirt each, 2) make carpets embroidered with gold; the frog orders the winds, they bring everything; 3) bake bread; the frog pours flour into cold water, puts it in an unheated oven, takes out the loaves of bread; the other daughters-in-law do the same, nothing works, they hastily light the oven, the bread burns; 4) at the feast the Frog appears as a beauty, pours and puts what was not drunk, not eaten up her sleeves, dancing, splashes out the lake with swans, then it disappears; the other daughters-in-law imitate, pour scraps on everyone; I. burns the frog skin, Vasilisa the Wise orders to look for it in the thirtieth kingdom; Baba Yaga teaches that when VP flies in, you have to grab her by the head; she will turn into a frog, a toad, a snake, an arrow; you have to break the arrow; I. releases the arrow, VP flies away; the same with sister BYa, I. breaks the arrow, returns from VP on a flying carpet]: Afanasyev 1958 (3), No. 570: 356-361.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Kalmyks [the archer Kheeche-Mergen hides the clothes of one of three swan-maidens who have flown in to bathe; marries; Tsarkin Khan desires her, the adviser suggests sending Kh. to the Ganges for tigress's milk; the tigress is Kh.'s wife's livestock, he brings the milk; a lame and one-eyed drunkard suggests bringing an insignificant thing from an unknown country; the wife gives a ball of yarn; Kh. follows, shows his wife's comb to the woman, it is his wife's sister; she gives another ball of yarn, he leads her to her elder sister; she asks about all the creatures, knows only about a crayfish with an iron claw; it is in the forest beyond the outer sea; Kh. hides, sees how the batyr tells Murza to serve food; when he leaves, Kh. asks Murza to join the meal; on the way back Kh. exchanges Murza for a folding palace, a cane with an army, Murza returns each time; Kh. drives out the khan, ascends to the throne]: Vatagin 1964: 115-128 (= Egorov 1978: 74-85); Karachays or Balkars [Aladin asks his father to get him a good horse; he brings a nondescript little mare; the horse grew stronger, raced further, ended up on the seashore, disappeared into the sea; A. sees three bathing girls, hides their swan clothes; promises to give them to them if they help him get the prince's daughter, who needs to be made to talk; he needs to touch the fur coat with a stick, she will tell him a story, there will be an argument in the story, he needs to resolve the argument incorrectly, then the girl will start talking; the three brothers share one bull; the eldest grazed the head, the middle one - the belly, the youngest - the hind legs; the youngest thought that the bull was sick, he went to consult with the middle brother; late in the evening he reached the belly of the bull, both went to the eldest, late at night they reached the head of the bull; the brothers took the bull to the watering hole, he drained the sea in one gulp; the brothers decided to leave the bull on the island, it turned out to be the back of a fish; the fish swallowed the bull; the eagle carried off the fish; in the steppe, a shepherd sat down to rest in the shade of his goat's beard; the eagle landed on the goat's horns, ate the fish with the grass and trees that grew on it; the bull's shoulder blade fell from his beak, hit the old man's eye; he asked his daughter to take it out; she rode her father's eye lengthwise and crosswise in a boat, picked up the shoulder blade with her little fingernail, threw it out the window; the shoulder blade fell near a well where a caravan of ninety camels stopped; The caravaneers lit a fire on the shoulder blade of an ox, and a fox ran past, smelled the smell, began to gnaw the shoulder blade, the caravaneers thought that an earthquake had begun; the woman hit the fox with a yoke, killed it; the caravaneers removed half of the skin, but not the other half - 90 people were unable to turn the fox over; they decided to sew 90 fur coats from half the skin; the woman pushed the fox with the toe of her shoe, turned it over, wondered if half the skin would be enough for a hat for her newborn son; who of them is bigger?; Aladin: fish; the silent one could not resist: the child is bigger than everyone; A. received a wife]: Aliyeva, Kholaev 1983: 90-97; Nogays[a legend about the origin of the ancestor of the Nogai rulers, Egide; a shepherd found a skull with an inscription in the steppe; ground it into flour, hid it in a chest; his daughter found the bundle, licked it, and gave birth to a boy, Bar-kai; living far from people and hunting, B. marries a swan maiden; she gives birth to his son, Kutly-kai (Edige's father), and leaves; in another version, three swans flew to the shore of a lake, took off their clothes, became girls, and bathed; Kutly-kaia hid the clothes of the youngest and married her]: Kapaev 2012: 257-258; Kumyks [a dervish took Ibrahim to the top of an egg-shaped cliff; he managed to descend into the garden of the daughters of the king of the genies; they must return to their father for one month a year; when flying away, they are told not to look into one room; he enters there, the garden is even better, three beauties fly in to bathe, throw off their swan attire; I. fell in love with the dark-braided one; when the first girls arrived, the youngest promised to help get her; teaches her to hide, to tie her hair to a tree while she dives, to beat her until she submits; I. hides the swan cover of that girl, the other two flew away; the dark-braided one is forced to agree to become I.'s wife; he decides to return to his mother; the first girls tell I. to give his wife's swan clothing to his mother for safekeeping; while I. is away, the khan's mother sees the dark-braided one in the bathhouse; asks her to sing; she agrees if the khan's mother digs up the chest in which the swan attire is hidden; having received it, she flies away; I. calls the first three girls; they explain that his wife and the other two are from those genies who do not have men, they kill men; The youngest sends I. to the border of the kingdom of the genies; then other genies help; I. falls into the hands of giants, who put him in a cage; he runs away, meets warrior girls, one of whom agrees to help; in the end he falls into the hands of those genies who have his wife; they want to execute him, his wife, and the genie girl who helped him; the guard lets them go; I. and the black-braided girl return to I.'s mother]: Ganieva 2011b, no. 17: 201-208; Turks [a man (prince) went bankrupt; hired himself out to a merchant; the merchant tells him to climb into the carcass of an animal, birds lift it up a mountain; the man throws diamonds from there; the owner leaves, but the worker manages to escape from the trap; he comes to another country and marries a princess (this is the country of the padishah of birds; swan maidens arrive once a year, he hides her clothes made of feathers); after the wedding she runs away (finds clothes and flies away); he returns to the diamond mountain; only the oldest bird knows where his wife is; after adventures he helps his father defeat enemies and becomes padishah]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, no. 187: 233-235.

Baltoscandia. Norwegians [someone tramples the field at night; the two older brothers do not find out anything, the youngest sees three swan maidens (-dove, -raven), steals the clothes of one of them, she promises to marry him]: Christiansen 1959: 128; Swedes (Blekinge county) [a young farmer sees three swans flying in to bathe, throw off their clothes, become maidens; the mother advises her son to hide the clothes of the one he likes; after 7 years he shows the clothes to his wife; she immediately puts them on and flies away; a year later the husband dies of grief]: Hofberg 1893: 35-38 (=Ashliman 2002) ; Danes [the older sons Peter and Paul are smart, the younger Esbeen is lazy; the older ones decide to develop a rocky plot of land on the farm; but every year on Midsummer Day the seed is trampled; Peter, then Paul, guard, flee in terror; E. sees three swan maidens descend; while they dance, he hides their clothes; returns them when the youngest Lena, the maiden of Zondervand, agrees to marry him; they are three princesses whom a witch has kidnapped and releases once a year; L. teaches them to build a castle by hitting a stone with a tree branch; tells them not to invite the king; but the brothers' father has invited him; having learned that the king is coming, L. flies away, tells them to come to her at the castle, which is north of the sun, west of the moon; E. goes off in search; two fight over the invisibility cap, E. suggests that the winner should have it, puts it on himself; the other two fight over the seven-league boots; E. suggests that they run a race, takes the boots; two more - because of the knife, whoever you point it at falls dead; E. takes the knife, points it at the fighters; E. comes to the old woman, she is the mistress of animals, they do not know about the castle; he sends to his sister, the mistress of fish - the same; she to the other sister - the mistress of birds; the lame eagle arrives last of all, he was flying just from this castle; the mistress tells him to bring E. there; they fly through a hole in the ground, then in water, in fire; E. throws the ring that L. gave him into the goblet brought by the servant; puts on the invisibility cap, kills the witch with his magic knife; wedding]: Grundtvig 1920: 27-41; Western Sami [the king has three sons; the youngest is Cinderella (Gudnavirus, or Askeladden)the three daughters of King Baiwe ("day, sun") take off their swan clothes, and the youth-"Cinderella" hides them; one of the maidens, in order to get the clothes back, agrees to become his wife]: Friis 1871: 152-161; Finns[the king has two worthy sons, and the younger one is Tuhkimo ("Cinderella"); the father orders to shoot arrows: wherever they fall, there they will take wives; the arrows of the elders hit the estates, the younger one flew into the forest; he found her with a frog; she calls herself his bride; he brought her home; the king orders the daughters-in-law to prepare dinner; the frog orders T. to go to bed; T. spies; sees how the frog shed her skin, became a beauty, opened the window and calls her own; 8 swans flew in, shed their feathers, became girls, prepared everything; in the morning T. put a woven tablecloth and food on the table; now the king orders to bring gifts; the swan girls wove a shirt; the king is pleased; he orders the daughters-in-law to come and dance before him; the frog created a lake with fish and waterfowl on the parquet, other birds flew, a tree grew, and then everything disappeared; the king settled T. next to himself, and drove away his brothers with a stick; the fortune teller advises T. to throw the frog skin into the fire as soon as his wife takes it off; wife: you should have waited three more nights; there were 9 of us sisters, mother got angry with us and turned me into a frog, the rest into swans; and now you will not see me; flew away as a swan; the healer tells you to walk for three days in one direction to the lake; your wife and her sisters will shed their swan feathers; you need to take possession of your wife's outfit; he will do it; the swan promises to become a daughter if she is an old man, a sister if you are my brother, and a bride if you are a stranger; she agrees to be a wife, but you need to go to her father's castle; you will need to recognize her among the sisters; she will have a drop of blood on her shirt; he said so; the others could not wipe off the blood, but the young man did it easily; received a wife and returned with her to his father]: Beauvois 1862: 190-193; Finns[a father has been plowing a field near the shore for 10 years, but each time a storm destroys the harvest; the attempts of the eldest and middle brothers are just as unsuccessful; the youngest (he is a soldier) sees swans descending from a cloud, turning into girls, dancing, trampling the field; the soldier hid the swan dress of one girl, she had to become his wife; she explained that a witch turned her and her sisters into swans and only the grass that grew in this field could break the spell, so they trampled the crops; the king found out that the soldier had a beautiful wife; he orders to bring all the creatures by tomorrow in pairs; the wife orders to wave a handkerchief - the animals appeared; all the birds - the same; get the lost keys; wife: they are behind the altar in the church, you need to up and run without looking back; the soldier looked back, immediately fell from his horse with his temple on a stone and lost consciousness; the horse brought the keys to his wife, she gave them to the king; to avoid his advances, the wife told her husband's parents that they should look for her beyond the Black and White Seas in a copper castle at the bottom of the Red Sea; she put on swan plumage and flew away; when the soldier came to, he saw three dead men fighting over an invisibility cap, seven-league boots and a self-cutting sword; he ordered them to give him the curiosities and to go back to their graves; he went to the east; he stopped at a pagan house where he did not get baptized; the owner showed him three barns with copper, silver and gold coins; the soldier took away the gold ones; he reached a revolving hut on a chicken leg; the soldier ordered her to stop; there was an old woman in the hut with a nose three cubits long; she agreed to take him across the Black Sea on the condition that she would then cut off the soldier's hand; having reached the other shore, the soldier put on his invisibility cap and disappeared; there is another hut on a chicken leg, the housewife is stirring the coals in the stove with her nose; the same (transports across the White Sea); the third hut is spinning and does not want to stop; the soldier threw a net under the cranes' feet, the hut stopped; the old woman collects birds, then fish; only the whale knows about the copper lock, its tail got tangled in the battlements of the wall; the whale brought the soldier to the castle; the soldier cut the chains, the lock floated to the surface; the soldier threw a ring into his wife's cup; she brought it to his home on her swan wings; the king sent an army, but the soldier pointed a self-cutting sword, the king and his army fell underground]: Konkka 1993: 17-28; Karelians [the old woman died, the old man married Syuetar; the son of the old man and the old woman saw how the swan maidens flew in to bathe; he hid the clothes of one of them, she became his bride; S. sent her daughter for him, she stuck needles into him, he fell asleep when ships with gifts approached; on the ninth he was supposed to see his wife; going for the third time, the guy does not kill a deer, a duck, an eagle; the eagle carries him on its back across the sea, along the way he feeds the eagle meat, bread, gives it wine to drink; the duck brings a stone egg, inside which is the guy's mind; the deer brings it to the bride; she hides in the water, the pike brings her]: Yevseyev 1981: 236-237; Karelians(Kalevala district) [a man went into the forest, took aim at a vuoka bird; it asked him not to shoot, but to bring it to him and feed it for a year; this happened three times; it explained that it was wounded when it fought with a wood grouse; when the bird recovered, it ordered him to slaughter a cow, take the meat with them, and it would carry them for a reward; it dropped and picked up a man over the sea three times, so that he would experience the same fear that it did when he took aim at it; the bird stopped successively at its three sisters’ houses, in a copper, silver, and gold house; only the sister from the gold house agreed to give up the box with the key; as it flew away, the vuoka bird beat its wings, and the copper and silver houses burned down; on the way, the man opened the box, and countless goods fell out; the giant demon put everything back in exchange for a promise to give back what had been born in the man’s house during his absence; it turned out that a boy had been born and had already grown up; The boy accidentally broke a pot of soup on the old woman's window; she says that he was promised to the Arab guest, let him go to him; the boy (now more likely a young man) leaves; he sees three swans flying in to bathe, throwing off their clothes, becoming girls; he hides the clothes of one; the girl agrees to take him as a groom; she says that she was cursed to be the daughter of the Arab guest; the swan took the young man under her wing and brought him to the Arab guest; the young man spent the night with the girl, in the morning she gave him living water to drink, ordered him to break all the axes and saws that his father would give him in order to prepare a huge amount of wood; after this the devil gave him his axe, the young man ordered the demons to do the work; the second task: to dig a giant field on the rock (the same - break hoes and shovels); the devil orders to choose a bride from among three identical girls; chickens; mares; the girl teaches that she will have a longer string on her apron; she will put her finger aside; puts his hind leg aside; the devil offers to ride a horse, it is he himself; the girl teaches how to beat a horse with whips and a sledgehammer on the forehead; the beaten devil fell ill, the girl orders to run; they turned into a shepherd and a cow; a priest and a church; the demons did not understand, they returned; when they became a lake and a ruff, the devil himself came running, tried to drink the lake; the ruff ripped open his belly, the water flowed out, the devil died; the girl sends the guy home, and she herself must remain water for three more years; the young man became a rich merchant, forgot his bride, is preparing a wedding with the princess; the girl comes, offers to buy buns from her; the buyer wants to sleep with her; she orders him to come in the evening; the girl sent a suitor for firewood, she stuck to the door handle all night; the next evening the same thing with the second one, who went out to bring a sack of flour; on the third evening the merchant himself came; she lay down with him, said who she was; [they stayed to live together]: Onegina 2010, No. 16: 182-193; Karelians(northern, Tungudsky district) [they caught the firebird, gave it to the king; the king ordered the execution of the one who released it; the bird asks the prince to get the key from his mother, he got it, released the bird; he is banished accompanied by a soldier; he goes down into the well; the soldier lifts him back for a promise to give him a horse and exchange clothes; the soldier is mistaken for the prince by another king, the real prince is sent to herd hares; they run away; a swan-girl arrives, she is the firebird; they live in her palace; then they return, she gives them a whip to gather the hares and an accordion; he plays, the princess falls in love with him; he is sent to herd hares twice more, the swan-girl helps each time; they want to give the princess to the three-headed dragon, the prince kills him, cuts out his tongues; the soldier (i.e. the imaginary prince) said that he killed him; agreed to give his big toe for tongues; the same 6 and 9-headed snakes (thumb; belt from the back); the princess is given in marriage to a soldier, she orders to check if he is healthy, everyone sees flaws; the imaginary shepherd explains everything; marries the princess]: Stepanova 2000, No. 113: 194-200; Estonians (Rannu) [dying, a forester bequeaths to his son to take care of the landowner's forest, but not to go to one place; he goes, there little devils are fighting over bast shoes (runners), a hat (sees everything), a sheepskin coat (makes invisible); the forester shoots, promises to award things to the one who brings the flown pellets first; six swans fly by, he, putting on bast shoes, follows them; they bathe in the lake, taking off their feather clothes; he hides the clothes of one, takes her as a wife; they have a son; the wife laughs; promises to tell him what if he shows where her clothes are; tells a funny story about the devil; the husband opens the chest; the wife grabs the clothes, flies away; he comes to an empty house, there is food and drink, goes to bed; six Swans enter; each says that someone ate her bread, slept on her bed; the wife finds her husband in her bed; flies away for her son, tells her husband not to go into one room; he comes in, there is an old devil chained up there; asks for water, the forester gives it, the devil drinks three times, breaks the chains, waits for the forester's wife, carries her away; the forester finds, takes his wife, the devil catches up, carries her away again; so twice, the third time he kills; earlier the forester picked up and saved the half-dead wolf; now the crows and ravens flew in to peck the forester's corpse, the wolf caught the chick; he promised to return the crow if he brought living water; he brought it, the wolf revived the forester; the forester's mother sends him to a smart old man who lives far away; he says that a witch lives across the sea, her white mare gives birth to 12 foals every year; there are human heads on the stakes, one stake is empty; if you graze for 3 days, you will get a foal, you must take the most inconspicuous one; the king of midges, the king of horseflies and Vähjäkuningas (?) will help you graze; the forester does everything, takes his wife away; the devil's horse says that he will not catch up, because his brother is stronger than him; both horses kill the devil, the forester and his wife ride home on them]: Järv et al. 2009, No. 14: 78-84; Setu[a peasant was carrying a cartload of firewood from the forest, it overturned on the way down; the peasant, without much hope, began to call for help; a black man came out of the forest: I will help if you give me what you don’t know at home; the peasant promised, the man easily put the cart back in place; he promised to come in 15 years; his wife gave birth to a boy, in 15 years the man came for him; the peasant persuaded him to wait another year, then he himself would send his son; he went into the forest, saw three swans come down to the lake, take off their clothes, and become girls; while they were swimming, the young man hid the clothes of one of them; the girl turns to the kidnapper: if he gives it back, she will love him like her father, or mother, or sister, or brother, or fiance; he gave it back; he came to the black man; the black man orders that the oak grove be uprooted by morning, plowed, sowed, harvested barley, made beer from it, otherwise he will kill; the girl called the people together, everything was ready by morning; next time the black man ordered a pig with piglets to be brought from the pasture; the girl: these are his wife and her children; you have to throw it down the pig's throat, grab the piglet and run to the house; the pig with the other piglets will run after you; at home you stick the pitchfork down the pig's throat again, otherwise she would have eaten you; next: give the black stallion some food; the girl: this is the black man himself, she gave him a crowbar to beat him with; she ordered him to run: now the black man will lie there for three days, his head hurts from the blows with the crowbar; the girl turned the young man into a swan, they flew to his parents; they ordered them to get married immediately, so that the black man would no longer have power over them]: Sandra 2004: 236-240; Lithuanians : Kerbelyte 2014, #91 [geese peck buckwheat, an old man catches a goose, it turns into a girl, the master takes her as his wife; flocks of geese fly by, the wife asks each time if her parents, brothers, sister, grandfather and grandmother are there; they are in the last flock, they drop a feather to her, the goose flies away, leaving behind two children], 92 [a swan flies to the old couple, turns into a girl, cooks and cleans; the old man lies in wait, burns the wing; the king marries her; the swan father calls her, but she refuses to abandon her son; the same with the mother; when her beloved flies by, she asks to drop her wing, leaves her son; the king marries a laume; the swan flies to her son; the king smears the windowsill with resin, seizes his wife, executes the laume]: 203-205, 205-207; Lyobite 1965 [while the old people are clearing the clearing, the Swan flies in every day, turns into a girl, and tidies up the house; the old man hid, burned her wings, the Swan stayed with the old people; the king notices her, brings her to the palace, she bears him a son; swans fly over her, offer to throw her wings; she refuses her father and mother, accepts wings from her swan friend, flies away; her friend dies; the king marries Laume; the Swan regularly flies to her son, the rest of the time the baby sleeps; the king spies, the old man advises to smear the windowsill with resin; the king catches the Swan, tears off her wings, executes Laume]: 133-135.

Volga - Perm. Komi [A mouse quarreled with a sparrow, birds began to fight with animals, killed each other, an eagle with a broken wing was left by the sea of ​​blood; an old man picked him up; the old woman twice orders to shoot the eagle, each time the eagle asks not to do this; having recovered, she carries the old man, throws him down twice, picks him up from the ground, so that he too would experience fear; the eagle's sister gives a box, does not order to open it on the way; the old man opens it, gold spills out; another old man (this is an evil tun ) puts the gold back for a promise to give back in three years what he does not know at home; the old man was absent for fifteen years, his son grew up; the old woman orders the young man to lie in wait for 12 swans - the tun's daughters, to hide the clothes of the youngest while they are bathing; she gives him her ring, flies away; the tun marries him to her, gives him tasks, the wife teaches him how to fulfill them; 1) to build a palace overnight (monsters do); 2) to create a river with fish, gardens on the banks (ditto); 3) a crystal bridge (ditto); a daughter steals her father's scarf, runs away with her husband; a tun pursues them; she waves her scarf, creating a forest, then a river; the young man pierces the tun with an arrow, he turns into a pine tree]: Novikov 1938, No. 25: 88-103 (another retelling in Bulatova 1985: 92-102); Chuvash [swan maidens bathe in a lake every day; the hero of the tale sees this, falls in love with the youngest, hides her clothes left on the shore; the older sisters fly away, the youngest becomes his wife; in some versions, instead of a lake, there is a millet field, and not swans but doves fly there]: Rodionov 1982: 158; Chuvash : Chuvash Tales 1938: 89-94 [An eagle asked a man not to shoot him, to heal his wing; he feeds him cows, sheep, his wife scolds him; the eagle lifts the man to the sky, throws him, picks him up, now the man also feels fear; the eagle takes him to his sisters, the middle one gives a casket, the man opens it on the way, silver falls out; an old man puts it back an elbow high for a promise to give something he doesn't know; during this time, his son Ivan was born and grew up; comes to the lake, hides the dress of one of the three bathing swan maidens; I. gives it back when she calls him not brother, but darling; gives a ball of yarn, I. comes to her father; 1) to water the stallion and the mare (these are the girls' parents; I. beats them, gives them water); 2) to identify the youngest of the sisters (she will blink an eye); I., gets married; having come to his parents, forgets his wife's request not to kiss the child in the cradle (this is an old man the size of an elbow), forgets his wife; they want to marry him, the cuckoo cuckoos, turns into his former wife, he remembers, returns to her], 198-202 [the hunter Pik cannot find a suitable bride; stops at the house where the widow is giving birth; hears Pihambar telling Pülekhsi to write in the book of fates that Pik will marry the widow's daughter who has just given birth; Pik does not want to wait so long; he thrust a spear into the baby and ran away; he hears a wolf asking the gods for food; they tell him to eat the widow's last sheep; Pik tries to interfere, kills the wolf, but it has already eaten the sheep; he asks the gods for a drink, they show him a stream of dirty water, then a stream of clean water; Pik shot a swan, which turned into a beauty; there is a wound on her side; his wife explains that it is from his arrow; that lake is called the swan lake, and the Chuvash do not touch swans]; Eyzin 1993 [the forest is empty, I. comes to a tree on which all the birds are; he shoots a large white one {a swan?}, it falls, he brings it into the hut, it turns into a beauty; the wife weaves a self-assembled tablecloth, the husband carries it to sell, the king sees, comes to find out who the craftswoman is; the sages advise sending I. for a goat with golden horns and wool; the wife sends to get a ball of yarn, he leads her to a goat; the same boar with golden bristles; they send for the invisible Sharapchik; the wife gives a towel, sends for a ball of yarn to her older sister; there is a girl in a silver palace, recognizes the towel of her younger sister; she gives her ball of yarn and a ring, the ball of yarn leads to the oldest sister in a golden palace; she directs her to the river, followed by Sh.; the frog asks for milk, I. brings it, the frog jumps, carries him across the river; three robbers enter the triangular house, order Sh. to set the table; when they leave, I. invites Sh. to go with him, he agrees; orders to exchange it with the robbers for the crossing of the river, a chest, an axe, a pipe; returns to I.; I. goes to war against the tsar, pipes - ships, from the chest - soldiers, axes make fortresses; I. kills the king, receives the throne, also a goat and a boar]: 129-138; Mari: Aktsorin 1984 [stepson Toidemar caught a swan in a snare and brought it home; stepmother plucked it and burned its feathers; T.'s tear fell on the swan, it became a beauty and married T.; in the fall the swans dropped a feather each to it and it flew away as a swan; T. began to cry, the swans dropped feathers on him too, he became a swan and flew away after his wife]: 132-145; Tudorovskaya, Eman 1945 [an old man and an old woman have a son; someone is ruining the oats; the son is guarding it, a swan sees it, singeing its wings with a burning spruce branch, it becomes a maiden, he takes her as his wife; when she goes to fetch water, the swans call her each time and drop a feather on her; she leaves her clothes on a stump, attaches the feathers, and flies away as a swan; the son goes to the stump with a silver whip, but the wife is not there; he began to cry]: 36-38; Mari [the tsar orders his three sons to get horses that would not be afraid of the noise of battle; the youngest Ivan meets a frog, she gives him a skinny little horse, only it is not afraid of gunshots, I. smashes the enemies; the tsar orders to bring a fearless man; the frog gives a dog; at the sight of a bear, the brothers' people climb a spruce tree, the dog rushes at the bear; whoever finds the best bride, the tsar will give the kingdom to him; I. brings a frog; the tsar orders his daughters-in-law to bring a beautiful shirt each; the frog has the best; whoever bakes the best bread; the frog throws dough into the oven, brings a loaf of bread; the other daughters-in-law peep, also throw dough into the oven, it burns; whoever will become a beauty; the frog turns into Princess Maria, arrives in a glass carriage, the street is illuminated; I. burns the frog skin; M. says that he should have waited two days, flies away as a swan ; I. rides a horse to look for her, with him a dog; arrives at the house, M.'s sister calls him son-in-law, they glue one wing to the horse; in the second, third house the second, third sisters glue two more wings; the third sister teaches to throw sand in the eyes of the infidel hero, the dog will tear him to pieces; and so it happened, I. brings his wife, her sisters with her]: Chetkarev 1941, No. 11: 173-178; Bashkirs : Abramzon 1977 [in the epic "Edigei" among the Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, semi-nomadic Uzbeks, Bashkirs, Siberian Tatars and others, the youngest of the maiden sisters who arrive in the form of swans agrees to become the wife of St. Baba Tuklas on the condition that he will not look at her head when she combs her hair, under her arms when she takes off her shirt, at her feet when she takes off her clothes; BT violates the ban, sees a transparent skull, lungs translucent under the arms, bird paws or hooves; the wife flies away, having reported where she will leave the baby; BT finds Edigei there]: 159-160; Barag 1989, No. 10 [a gray crow threatens to sink a merchant's ship; he will send a mare, whoever leaves the merchant's house first must ride away on it; a young worker comes out; an old woman teaches him to hide the clothes of the last of the seven white swan maidens who will fly in to bathe in the milky lake; the girl takes him to her father, he was the gray crow; six swans are his own daughters, the seventh is a kidnapped earthly girl; the father-in-law orders him to water the stallion (the wife teaches him to hit him with a stick), to water the six mares (these are the swan daughters, you need to flick them on the forehead), to plow the field overnight, to grow bread (the wife orders the genies); the wife orders the young man to run, they turn into a sheep and a shepherd, the servants did not recognize them; the father-in-law chases himself, does not believe that in front of him there are just an old man and an old woman; the daughter flew as a falcon, her father - as a falcon; roach and pike; the ring - in the girl's bucket, the father - a fisherman, asks to return the ring; the girl threw it out - grain; the rooster pecks, one grain from under the girl's foot - into the golden eagle, he kills the rooster; the fugitives safely reach home]: 71-74.

Turkestan. Kazakhs , Karakalpaks [in the epic "Edigei" among the Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, semi-nomadic Uzbeks, Bashkirs, Siberian Tatars and others, the youngest of the maiden sisters who arrive in the form of swans agrees to become the wife of St. Baba Tuklas on the condition that he will not look at her head when she combs her hair, under her arms when she takes off her shirt, at her feet when she takes off her clothes; BT violates the ban, sees a transparent skull, lungs translucent under the arms, bird paws or hooves; the wife flies away, having reported where she will leave the baby; BT finds Edigei there]: Abramzon 1977: 159-160; Kazakhs (Aral-Irtysh watershed) [the hero Koblandy robbed the bay; the son of that young man Karaman proposed single combat; After a long struggle, Koblandy killed him, took away people and property; the old man remained under the cauldron and the boy Talas-pay under the straw; two strongmen carried Karaman's bow, T. brought one; three swans torment the old man every day; T. tells him to tell, puts on his clothes, shoots the swans, the ring falls; he comes to the lousy shepherd, he replies that he is grazing Kadir-kan's cows; explains that at his word the cows and calves themselves cross the sea, tie themselves up, and are milked; that he licks the heels of the youngest of K.'s daughters; T. killed the guy, put on his clothes, told the cattle to do what was needed, came to K.; his daughters are those swans; he pretended to be sick in order to stay with the youngest; began to stroke her heels with a cow's tongue; he replies that yes, his tongue is cracked; she gave him honey, he began to stroke more gently; he bathed in the place where the maidens flew like swans; the youngest recognized T., took him with her to sleep; T. explains how to let the khan know that it is time for his daughters to get married: let one loaf of bread burn, another one scorch, and the third one bake properly; the khan ordered his daughters to choose grooms, the youngest took a lousy guy; the khan fell ill, he needed saiga meat; only the lousy guy killed it, gave it to the elder sons-in-law, and kept the entrails for himself; only from them did the khan recover; the alyp kara-gus bird ("huge black eagle") annually carries away the foal of a winged mare; the elder sons-in-law fall asleep, the lousy guy knocked off the foal's tail with an arrow, one feather of the bird; the sons-in-law carried off the tail, were unable to pick up the feather, only the lousy guy brought it back; three sons-in-law go to look for the bird; the lousy guy comes to the seven-headed cannibal, she promises to help; the bird sat on the bai-terek tree, the lousy guy shot it, only his horse was able to carry the carcass; the maiden, the daughter of a bird, pursues, the lousy one defeats her, takes her as his wife, releases the bird's captives; saves a snake, it gives him the gift of understanding the speech of animals; a bay horse comes running, this is the mother of T.'s horse, she escaped from Koblandy; T. appears to his father-in-law in his true form, he gives him half of the cattle, he returns to his father (i.e. to the old man with whom he lived after Koblandy's raid); T. and his son go to Koblandy; it turns out that their mothers are sisters, they become brothers; Ir-Kosai, avenging his father, attacked and killed Koblandy; T. made peace with him, became khan]: Potanin 1916, No. 11: 73-80 (= 1972, No. 6: 123-130); yellow Uighurs[swans flock to listen to the singing of a young shepherd; one remains, they become friends; one day he finds her torn corpse; the skeleton turns into the first six-stringed musical instrument; the shepherd touches the strings one by one, as this begins to rain, then turns into a downpour, a rainbow appears, singing is heard, a horse comes running, a beautiful girl descends from the sky; this is the Swan who fell in love with the shepherd; they both fly away to heaven, and the musical instrument remains with the people]: Stuart, Jhang 1996: 74.

Southern Siberia – Mongolia. Transbaikal Buryats: Barannikova et al. 1973, No. 1 (Tunkinskie) [=1993, No. 2: 37-61; an orphan earned a horse, wolves ate it; he takes on a bet to chop four sazhens of firewood in a day; there is little left, the orphan asks the Sun to wait, but the Sun sets; he works as a farm laborer again for a year, receives seed grain, in the fall his harvest is ruined by hail; he goes to the sea to fish and catch animals in snares; he sees how seven swans flew in, threw off their clothes, became girls, began to swim; the poor man hides the clothes of the most beautiful one; she asks to return them, promises to acknowledge the kidnapper as her father if he is old, her husband if he is young; the orphan returns her dress, keeps the scarf for himself; he continues to admire his wife; so that her husband does not get bored, she draws her portrait for him; the wind carries it away, the soldiers bring it to Abaakhai Khan, who orders them to find the woman; they go into the orphan's house to roast a bird; they do not take their eyes off the hostess, the bird is burnt; the hostess makes it unburnt, orders them not to tell what they saw; the bird satisfies the hunger of AKh and three soldiers; AKh orders them to linger in these parts; the next day the soldiers do not look at the woman, they roast the bird, it tastes normal, AKh beats them, forcing them to tell everything; locks the orphan and his wife in an iron barn; orders the orphan 1) to bring an evil yellow dog from the east; the wife gives a hook, the orphan pacifies the dog with it; 2) to cleanse the bottom of hot hell; the wife gives a red thread to get out of hell; it is impossible to cleanse hell, but the orphan suggests AKh to check it himself, to go down; 3) to bring tribute from the son of the Star and the son of the Sun; the wife gives a thread to climb to the sky, to show her handkerchief to her mother, she recognizes her as a matchmaker; a guard climbs after him, the orphan shakes him off, he falls; having rested at his mother-in-law's, the orphan comes to the wife of the son of the Star, she hides him in a hot cellar; when the son of the Star arrives, everything cools down; the son of the Star sends to the son of the Sun; on the way 1) two roosters ask to find out why they are fighting; 2) a woman - why is she sitting on the horns of a cow; 3) another woman - why is she lying down, water flows into her mouth, flows out from behind; the wife of the son of the Sun hides the orphan in a cold cellar; he begged the son of the Sun to send him on a day's journey on the horse Altan Sharga in his place; at noon he must dine on a silver table with 88 legs; the old man lying face down replies that he is looking at his seven dogs on the ground to show them the cattle that they can eat; an orphan breaks his arm, knocks out his eye because he gave his horse to the wolves to eat, for which he worked for a year; another old man replies that he is trying to blow back the hailstones and rain that he lets through the heavenly doors; the orphan beats him, breaks his arm, knocks out his eye because he ruined his crops; in the evening the son of the Sun gives the orphan a golden cane for AH; he says that the woman lying on the ground did not give mothers milk for their newborns; another beat a cow that was milked in honor of the eastern zayans; you should swing a cane at the roosters, they will turn into gold and silver; AH wants to kill the orphan, he swings a cane at him and his warriors, they fall dead; the orphan was chosen khan, the daughter of tenegeri - khansha]:43-53; Zabanov 1929 (Khorinsky; more precisely, a text about the origin of the Khorinsky people, but apparently recorded in the Baikal region) [three boys, Bulagat, Ekhirit, and Khoridoy, emerged from the foaming waters of Lake Baikal; they were raised by Asoi Khan-Udagan; after her death, B. and E. divided the property and separated; Kh. was offended that it was divided without him; on Olkhon he saw a bathing swan maiden, hid her clothes, and married her; his wife gave birth to 11 sons; she asked him to give her clothes and flew away; Kh. tried to grab her with his hands smeared with soot, and since then the legs of swans have been black]: 29-31; Pozdneev 1880 [(Khorinsky Buryats);Khoridoy saw three swans on Olkhon Island; they turned into girls and began to swim; Kh. stole the clothes of one of them; he had 11 sons from her – the founders of 11 Khorin clans; when he grew old, his wife asked him to return the swan clothes to her and flew away to the sky through the smoke hole]: 264-266 in Sharakshinova 1980: 130-131; Mikhailov 1983 [(retelling of the same text as in Sharakshinova); "according to the History of Asuikhan-udagan , Bulagat and Ekhirit decided to separate, to divide the property; the third brother, Khoridoy, was deprived, left, hid the bird attire of the bathing swan maiden; (another text): Galzut, the founder of the Galzut clan of the Lena Buryats, and Uhantai, another representative of the same clan, married the swan maiden]: 98-99; Potanin 1883: 23-24 [the Khangin clan of the Balagansky department considers a swan to be their ancestor; three swans flew to the lake, took off their skins, bathed in the form of girls; the man hid one skin, the girl had to marry him], 24-25 [(Alar Buryats); three daughters of Heaven flew to bathe in the form of swans ( sagan shibo ); the crooked shaman Odyuge stole the dress of the youngest, hid in a stone box; the wife gave birth to a son and a daughter, three years later asked her husband to return her dress; while her husband went after him, she washed herself with water from a clean spring and fumigated herself with juniper, washing away earthly impurity; putting on feathers, she flew away; she predicted that the Kharyat clan would come from her son , and the Sharyat clan from her daughter ]; Toroev 1941 in Eliasov 1973, No. 64 (Baikal region) [a poor man hides the clothes of the youngest of 9 bathing swan girls, they are the daughters of the heavenly Usege-malan; when 6 sons and 6 daughters have grown up, the son-in-law visits his father-in-law; he returns; the wife asks to give her wings, flies away; people come from the sons and daughters of this couple]: 312-317; Tugutov, Tugutov 1992, No. 46 (Selenginsk, Dzhidinsky district of Buryatia) [Khoredoy was offended by his two brothers, because they divided the spoils without him; left them; hid the clothes of one of the heavenly maidens bathing in the lake; got married], 47 [Khoredoy-khubuun hid the plumage of one of the swan maidens bathing in Baikal; the wife gave birth to 11 children, asked for clothes, flew away, becoming a swan; Kh. managed to grab her by the paws with his clay-smeared hands; now the swans have black paws; 11 clans came from Kh.'s children], 48 (Osinsky district, Irkutsk region) [Khoredoy-mergen lived on an island on the Angara; three swan maidens flew to bathe on Lake Osa-nur; Kh. turned into horse apples, hid the clothes of one; she bore him a son and a daughter; having drunk them drunk, she persuaded him to give her the clothes, flew out through the opening of the yurt; Kh. touched the swan's feet with hearth tongs, since then they have been black; flying away, the swan ordered to name her son Sharait (descendants in Alar aimag), and her daughter Khangin(descendants in Nukut aimag)], 49 (Osinsky district, Irkutsk region) [9 daughters of Esege Malaan-tengri went down to bathe; Kh., who turned into horse apples, hid the clothes of one; the daughter was named Hangin, the son Sharaid; after giving her husband a drink, the wife received clothes from him, flew away; before this she smeared the lid of the cauldron, dirtying her mouth and hands (swans now have black beaks and paws)]: 157-158, 158-160, 160-162, 162-163; Hangalov 1960, No. 1-2 [pp. 109-110 (Kudinsky): three hunters live on the northern side of Lake Baikal; they had six swan cervical vertebrae left; the comrades ate five, leaving only one for Khoredoy; he was offended, went across the ice to the southern side of Baikal; he saw women bathing, they flew away, becoming swans; the next time he hid the clothes of one of them, married the swan maiden; they had children; the wife gave Kh. wine to drink, found her clothes and flew away] (retelling in Rumyantsev 1962: 148-149; in Sharakshinova 1980: 131-132); 2) p. 110-111 (group not specified; probably Balagan or Kudin): Khoredoy-mergen on Lake Sadamtyn-sagan (it is located far to the north or far to the south) hid the clothes of one of three bathing swan women; the wife ordered him to move to the southern side of Baikal, only after that they began to have children - 11 sons and 6 daughters; the wife asked for her clothes back, flew out through the smoke hole of the yurt; the daughter grabbed her by the legs with her dirty hands, now the swans have black paws (retold in Rumyantsev 1962: 149-151)], 105 (Ungin Buryats) [the three daughters of Heaven were swimming in Lake Altan; a poor old man hid the clothes of the youngest; Khoredoy-mergen married this girl; she gave birth to a son and a daughter; asked for her clothes; flew away, saying that the son would be Sharat (from him the Sharat clan), and the daughter - Khangin (the Khangin clan)]: 109-111, 379-380; Sharakshinova 1959 (Khorin Buryats) [the poor man's bread perished because of frost, the foal was eaten by wolves; the poor man hid the dress of one of the swan-maidens who flew in to swim, married her; their 9 sons and 9 daughters became the ancestors of the Khorintsev]: 136; Nassen-Bayer, Stuart 1992 (Barguzinsky Ridge) [the hunter Bargutai saw seven girls splashing in Lake Baikal; hid the clothes of the youngest, the others flew away, becoming swans; Bargutai's wife gave birth to seven children, found her swan clothes, flew away through the upper opening of the yurt; the children became the ancestors of the Buryats]: 327; Khalkha- Mongols[Mani Badar Dzangi saw a white swan by a golden spring; beggars caught it to eat it; he bought it from them; took it to the Tamchin Plain and released it, it turned into a girl; this is the daughter of the heavenly khan Jagarmijid (Mongol. form of Ind. Vikramaditya); she waved her handkerchief, three golden palaces appeared; Khan Khara Betegen found out, wanted to take his wife away from MB; sent him to collect taxes, and invited his wife to a feast; when the khan tried to seize her, she flew away like a bird to the palace; they covered it with fuel and set it on fire; she flew out of the window and decided to wait for her husband for three years; MB returned, found her handkerchief; it was written in blood on it that he should go to three seas; in one he should water his horse, in another he should wash his bow, from the third he should quench his thirst; after this a one-horned gray bull will appear; then he must ride on it; he rode up to a golden well on a bull; two girls came to fetch water; when he learned that they were carrying water for the youngest of the seven daughters of the heavenly khan, MB threw the ring he had received from his wife into the bucket; the maids began to pour water on the hands of MB's wife, she saw and recognized the ring; she asked her father for permission to go down to the knight who was waiting at the gate; they lived happily and prosperously]: Poppe 1936: 47-48; Khalkha- Mongols [Mani Badar Dzangi saw a white swan near a golden spring; beggars caught it to eat it; he bought it from them; took it to the Tamchin Plain and released it, it turned into a girl; this is the daughter of the heavenly khan Jagarmijid (Mongol. form of Ind. Vikramaditya); she waved her handkerchief, three golden palaces appeared; Khan Khara Betegen found out, wanted to take MB's wife away; sent him to collect taxes, and invited his wife to a feast; when the khan tried to seize her, she flew away like a bird to the palace; he was covered with fuel and set on fire; she flew out of the window and decided to wait for her husband for three years; MB returned, found her handkerchief; it was written in blood on it that he should go to three seas; in one he should water his horse, in another he should wash his bow, from the third he should quench his thirst; after this a one-horned gray bull would appear; then he had to ride on it; he rode the bull to a golden well; two girls came for water; having learned that they were carrying water for the youngest of the seven daughters of the heavenly khan, MB threw the ring he had received from his wife into the bucket; the maids began to pour water on the hands of MB's wife, she saw and recognized the ring; she asked her father for permission to go down to the knight who was waiting at the gate; they lived happily and prosperously]: Poppe 1936: 47-48; Siberian Tatars (Tobolsk) [(excerpt); after his wanderings, Zyhanza stays with an old woman; she allows him to enter all the rooms (they contain valuables), except one; he violates the ban, there is a plain and a lake there; Z. hides near a poplar; three swans fly in; two throw off their feather clothes, become girls, bathe; the third says that she smells a man; but still joins the first two; Z. takes her clothes, she goes with him to the old woman's house; she praises Z., marries him to the swan maiden]: Frobenius 1904: 328-329; Chulym Turks[three swan maidens (they are also ducks) fly in, clean up the house of three brothers; the eldest and middle brothers see nothing, the youngest hides the girls' clothes, the brothers get married; the devil comes out of the chimney under the hearth to drink the blood of women; the youngest brother shoots, the devil, having taken the youngest's wife, falls underground; the brothers lower the youngest on a rope; the woman gives the devil - the iron king - vodka to drink, he tells him that his soul is in seven eggs in a box, the box is in the stomachs of seven deer; the hero gets the eggs, breaks them, kills the devil's son born of the woman, the brothers lift the woman, the eldest cuts the rope, lifting the youngest; he falls; sees how the mouse has recovered, gnawing grass, heals himself; the Kite cooks meat, lifts the hero into the upper world, the meat runs out, the hero cuts off flesh from his leg; the Kite regurgitates this piece, puts it to his leg; [the hero marries, kills his elder brother]: Porotova 1980: 76-80; Altai [ Böö-kan , the son of Kaldan-khan , saw three swans on the lake; caught one, which turned out to be the daughter of Uch-Kurbustan ; became her husband, ascended with her to heaven; one day he descended to earth, despite his wife’s prohibition, and went to see his earthly wife; she sewed a red thread onto his clothes; when he returned, his heavenly wife drove him away; she said that she would soon give birth to a son, Shuna , whom BK would find at night during the full moon under a birch tree, wrapped in a wolf skin, fed with the milk of three maral females]: Sherstova, 227, 232 in Sagalaev, Oktyabrskaya 1990: 70; Khakass (Sagays) [the motive is apparently present; swan (or other waterfowl)]: Radloff 1886 (Proben.., Bd 6: 122) in Halto 1961: 327; Tuvans : Vatagin 1971, No. 14 (Bai-Taiginsky district) [=Taube 1978, No. 35: 175-186; the poor orphan Ösküs-ool is hired by the khan to harvest millet while the moon is in the sky; he asks the moon not to set, it pays no attention; the khan beats the orphan; the same with the sun; the three daughters of Kurbustu-khan in the form of swans go down to the lake to bathe, throw off their feather clothes, the orphan hides the clothes of the youngest; he gives them to her, she says that her wings now smell of a man, they will not take her back, she becomes the wife of O.; Karaty-khan demands 1) to cause rain; 2) to stop it; 3) to build a palace of glass; the wife puts on swan wings, ties them to a birch tree in the sky, and then unties a piece of red silk, thereby causing and stopping rain; orders to tie a piece of yellow silk with a thread, throw it into the lake to her uncle Uzutu-khan , he sends a palace, O. brings it to the khan; 4) to get an army raging like the Kalchaa-Dalai sea ; the wife sends O. in her clothes to the sky, her mother intercedes for O. before Kurbustu-khan; he says that the army is in a golden chest with the Sun and the Moon; O. brings them with a lasso, half of the Moon is erased, the Sun is heated; O. tells how badly both of them once treated him; receives the army, it destroys the evil Karaty-khan and his people, O. feasts]: 130-139.

Western Siberia. Mansi : Lukina 1990, #186 [a sister tells her brother to drink wolf's and pig's milk, he gains strength; tells him to take a swan with golden plumage as his wife; an old woman gives her a scarf, a ball of thread, a cup, a ring; the young man sits in the cup, spins the ball, blindfolds himself, and finds himself on the seashore; seven swans are bathing, having taken off their wings, the young man steals one wing; he gives it back when the Swan calls him husband; she flies away, teaches him how to get to her; her father tells him to tame a stallion (the young man tames it, following his wife's advice); the father and mother want to eat them, they send a worker after them; the wife turns her husband into a house, herself into an old man, the worker does not recognize them; the parents and the newlyweds make peace; the young man's sister's lover kills him, they take the corpse to the forest; [his wife sets his three dogs loose, they find him and bring him back to life; he kills his sister and her lover]: 477-482; Kannisto 1951, No. 5 (upper Lozva) [three brothers hunt, stay behind to cook in turns; three swans fly into the smoke hole, throw off their feather clothes, and turn into girls; the eldest brother hides a bowl and spoon, hides under the roof; the girls prepare bowls and spoons, scratch the stomach of the one hiding, the steam from the food burns him, they put on feathers, and fly away; the same with the middle brother; the youngest does not hide the bowl and spoon, puts a box next to him, hides the feather clothes in it, takes the girls as wives for himself and his brothers; when the husbands go hunting, the wives secretly wet their flints; the eldest brother goes to the Frozen Old Woman (Gefrierhase Alte) for fire; she orders to tell 7 fables, the elder brother does not know, grabs a firebrand, the old woman catches up with him, hits him with the firebrand, he returns without fire; the same with the middle one; the youngest tells fables, the old woman runs away herself, he brings fire; the brothers returned home]: 47-51; northern Khanty(Obdorsk, Syn dialect) [three brothers live in a hut, stay in turns to cook; the eldest hears three swans fly in; three women come in, scoop hot meat onto the cook's belly; when the brothers return, he replies that the cauldron has overturned; the same with the middle brother; the youngest Kemias hid between the beams, burned the swan clothes, the three women became the brothers' wives; when leaving, the men tell them not to play cards; they play, the seven-headed Menk-Iki comes, plays, wins, carries off the women; K. goes off in search, spends the night in succession with three old men, each forges iron; the last says that M. has a worker, Man-the-Big-as-a-Tailed-Squirrel, he has an iron club; you need to tell him that you are lost, throw the club at him, take his form, carry into M.'s house seven armfuls of firewood weighing 7 sleds; and so it happened; he feeds M.; he put a ring in a cup of water, the eldest of the women recognized him; in the morning the women ran away; K. fed M. so much that he went crazy; 7 knives hung in the sky, K. cut them off, M.'s heads fell; the body chases after K.; those old men plunge iron picks into him; then they put him in an iron trap, people throw it into the Ob; the brothers got their wives back; they beat them, a white stone fell out of the eldest and middle ones, not out of the youngest - she was not to blame; K. and his wife went down the Ob, the middle one - up, the eldest - to the Urals]: Steinitz 2014, No. 3: 219-226; Eastern Khanty (Vakh River) [the daughter of an old man and an old woman swallows everyone; the son asks his mother who she likes more; she answers that the daughter; the son put on a swan skin, came to the lake where the daughters of the Sun Woman flew to bathe; they took him in, he married one; he cries, missing home; his wife gave him a comb and a pebble; at home his sister plays with the skulls of her parents and neighbors, whom she had eaten; she wanted to eat a horse's leg; the brother gallops away on a horse, throws the comb, the stone; they turn into a forest, into a rock; the sister and wife grab him, the wife gets a part without a heart; the wife heals her husband, he sometimes dies, sometimes comes back to life; this is the Moon]: Lukina 1990, No. 5: 65; southern Khanty (Verkhne-Demyanskaya volost) [having returned from hunting, two brothers did not find the third one in the house, there was blood on the floor; but the brother just wanted to make sure that they loved him; the other two got angry and threw him into the forest; he came to the city, there was light in only two houses; for saving him from the cannibal he is promised the most beautiful of three daughters; at night he cut off the leg of the black rider with a shovel; but they did not give him a wife; in the second city the same (gray rider, ear with a gold earring); in the third city in five houses there is light - in four they rejoice, in the fifth they cry, 20 maidens and their mother; the same (white rider, three fingers with a ring); the young man came to the tower, ate, hid; three swans flew in, took off their swan skins, became maidens, began to feast; they tell how they lost their leg, ear, fingers; the young man tore the skins, took the youngest maiden as his wife]: Patkanov 1999: 386-389; Nenets(Gydan, zap. 1979) [a mare gives birth to a boy Yuno Nyu ("son of a horse", YN); he meets Iba-sei Nyu ("Son of the Warmth of the Heart", IN) and Pii-sei Nyu ("Son of the Night-Heart", PN), they live together; three girls Khabei Ne (Khanty Women) fly in the form of swans, throw off their swan skins, enter the house to eat; PN turns into a wooden dish, the girls put hot meat on it, he is scalded; the next day IN - into a ladle, scalded; YN turns into a strand of wool, catches the girls, each gets a wife; Syudbya Vesako ("giant old man") comes three times in the absence of husbands, inhales air, almost killing the women; as soon as YUN hits him with a hammer, he leaves (rides on bears, wolverines, mammoths); YUN comes to SV's daughter, she suggests searching in his head, throws him into a pit; YUN sends a bird to his mother; after 9 years, the mare comes, lets down her snot, it turns into a bronze rope; the first time the rope breaks, because YUN violated the ban on thinking about anything; the second time YUN rises; the mare flies to the sky, screaming that she is the Mother of the Seven Heavens, and he is the Son of the Seven Heavens; YUN chops SV into pieces, and his wife chops up SV's daughter; the seventh part of their hearts falls underground, becoming diseases; YUN – Num, his wife – Khaer (sun)]: Golovnev 1995: 385-387 and 2004: 277-285 (retellings with different details).

Eastern Siberia. Western Evenks (Podkamennaya Tunguska) [a man sold furs and was going home; bent down to an ice-hole to drink, someone grabbed him by the beard; had to promise a son, whom his wife was supposed to give birth to; the boy Gudey grew up instantly; his father gave him an iron staff; came to the lake; three swans took off their clothes, became girls; G. hid the clothes of one, gave her in exchange for a promise to become his wife; she gave a ball of yarn, will lead to three tents; where there are white dresses - a witch with her daughters, where there are black ones - a water spirit who kidnapped her, where there are red ones - she herself; you have to say, "Ayalik, open up"; the water spirit orders that the tent should have 1000 deer by morning (A. does it); ride the deer (this is the water spirit himself, you have to hit him with an iron hammer, he died from the blows); A.: you have to run from the witch; left two thimbles with saliva to answer for them; the witch's daughters are chasing, A. turned G. into a wolf, herself into a bear; then an anthill and a frog; a hunter and a hut; the witch is chasing, A. became a lake, G. - a perch; the witch became a bull, drank the lake together with the perch; it pierced its belly with needles, came out with water, the witch died]: Suvorov 1956: 7-14; Western Evenks (Upper Lena, Tutura) [an old man and an old woman have three daughters; having become swans, they bathe in a lake; they ask to hide them from 70 vagabonds; the father refuses, because the daughters did not help with the housework; the eldest became a needle, two were taken away; the father sent the eldest to Akshira-Bakshira, he will hide her; his ears are like cauldrons, his eyes are like stars, his nose is like an ice pick, his chin is like an oar, reeds are on his knees; she went]: Vasilevich 1936, no. 82: 118; Baikal Evenks (Baikal region) [ Letylkek stays at home while her older brother hunts; swans fly in twice, shed their feathers, tell her to feed them, scratch her face, fly away; L. lies to her brother that she herself was scratched; he hides, grabs the plumage of one of the swan girls, takes her as his wife; she gives birth to a son, finds her plumage, flies away taking her son; the husband finds his wife and son; when the swans are bathing, he steals his wife's clothes again, and she has to return to him; she finds her plumage again, flies away forever]: Voskoboinikov 1967, no. 9: 33-35; Far Eastern Evenks (Uchur-Zeya): Voskoboinikov, Menovshchikov 1951 [{also begun in Vasilevich 1947: 275}; Torganai is hunting, his younger brother Chanykoi is sitting at home, dirty; T. is surprised that he has become clean; Ch. admits that two swan-maidens wash and comb his hair; Ch. grabs one, T. hides her clothes, takes her as a wife; three days later the wife with her clothes and Ch. disappear; a three-headed eagle tells him to go west, to catch a wild deer with a broken horn, a silver bridle; T. rides it to the foot of the mountain, turns the deer into a stump, himself into a child; the eagle brings him to himself; T. ties himself to its leg, and so gets to the top of the mountain; finds his little son, Chirkumai nurses him; his mother and her sister come down, T. chops his wife's plumage with an axe, his sister flies away; their son Khuruguchon wants to marry the daughter of the Sun; she is guarded by the one-legged, one-armed Avasi; he eats half a berry with half a spoon; Kh. flies in like a fly (the text breaks off)]: 185-191 (similar text in Vasilevich 1966, no. 15: 263-267); Myreeva 2013 (Uchur) [Torgandun and his younger brother Chanikol live alone, not born of a woman; T. understands that he did not descend from the sky (otherwise there would be dew on his neck), did not rise from the lower world (there would be a mark on his feet), but grew like grass; Ch. has been lying in the mud in a tent for 35 years; two girls from the upper world flew in, washed Ch., put everything in order; the same for the next two days; Ch. is forced to tell his brother everything; T. orders to grab the girls tomorrow, and he himself will be in ambush; hides under a pile of chips; the younger swan girl senses T., does not come down, the eldest Gahantyma decides to come down, even if she has to become T.'s wife; Ch. grabbed the swan maiden, she tried to fly away, but T. grabbed them both, took away their clothes, hung them on the top of the hitching post; one day T. went hunting, G. began to ask Ch. what he would like if she asked him to cut down the hitching post; he asked for a cauldron of sinews, by evening he cut down the hitching post; G. overturned a boiling cauldron on Ch., Ch. died, and G. flew away, putting on her swan clothes; the crow does not know where to look for G., sends to the crow sitting on the hitching post-tree; the raven asks T. to kill a deer for him, points to the deer that can take T. to the mountain at the edge of the world; nearby there is a larch with a nest of a three-headed eagle; you need to kill the deer, kill the eaglet with an arrow, pretend to be the eaglet, the eagle will lift it into the nest, will feed it; you need to make a tambourine from deer skins; do not let the eagle sleep; and when it falls asleep, tie yourself to its feet, beat the tambourine; out of fright the eagle will carry it to the meadows of the upper world; there are many deer in the upper world; G. in clothes through which the body is visible, through the body - bones, through the bones - the brain; 33 copper and iron guys serve her; they hit the deer with their foreheads in front of T.'s eyes, T. lost consciousness; waking up, he followed the tracks; the same again at the house of the beauty Solkokchon; T. meets a female teal, who is lulling G.'s child; G.'s younger sister again does not order him to go down, but G. goes down to feed the child, T. comes out of hiding, tears her swan clothes, finally marries; their son quickly grew up, his mother gave him the name Ivulchen; I. grabs a female deer by the leg, she flies with him to the mountain of the upper world; says that the daughter of the master of the upper world, Gevan the old man, who rides on seven stars, is destined for him; leaves him with his giant brother, who first tries to kill I. by throwing him up, then offers a competition; 1) to lift a cast-iron ball frozen into the ground, 2) to jump on balls placed at a great distance from each other (I. does everything); the hero of the upper earth Cholbondor ("riding on Venus") is pleased, gives I. to be raised by his sister; (further about the struggle of the heroes of the upper world and the exploits of I.'s son)]: 41-83; Evens(Allaikhovsky district of Yakutia) [Umchegin is the elder brother, hunts wild deer, Buyundya is the younger, sits at home; sees seven swans fly in, remove their skins with feathers, become girls, play ball; they do not tell B. to tell his brother about them; B. ties knots on his clothes, but still forgets; U. watches, the swans notice him, fly away; when the swans flew in for the fourth time, U. hid well, rehid the skin-clothes of one of the girls; took her as his wife; she invites B. to play ball, gives him the ball for the fact that B. gives her her clothes, hidden in a hollow snag; flies away towards the midday sun, telling him to tell U. that she is pregnant; U. goes off to search; sits down on the ground, digs a little, there is a chum, in it an old woman; gives water, meat, taking them out of his sleeping bag; U. does not drink, does not eat, hides under his clothes; what is hidden disappears, he is full; the old woman sends him to her older sister, the same thing; she gives him a board, he needs to point it at the sea, it will freeze, he can cross on the ice; U. ran across like an ermine; seven girls are playing there, a bird is nursing one of the children, tells him that his father has come; the girls beat her, do not believe her; U. found and burned his wife's skin; the wife and the bird became girls; they stepped over the sea in one step; at home there are only bones from B.; U. revived him with living water]: Dutkin 1980a: 111-117; Lebedeva 1981 (Momsky district of Yakutia, 1963): 40 [ Irkenmel is the older brother, Sulerken is the younger; S. sees three swans shedding their wings and becoming girls; helps I. steal the wings of one; one day she deceives S., takes the wings, and flies away; a year later the swans arrive again; I. turns into an ermine, steals the wings, and returns his wife; throws the wings into the fire], 144-150 [swan girls fly to Omcheni's yurt; O., with the help of his younger brother, steals the wings of one of them; she bears him a son, persuades his younger brother to return her wings, and flies away, taking his son with her; O., in the form of an ermine, sets off in pursuit; finds his son's cradle; his wife appears, he throws his wife and son into the fire, and two birds fly out of the fire; the wife says that they are flying to their father Buskan Burai; "Omcheni quickly made himself a bow and arrow and shot it upward, and he himself sat astride the arrow. The arrow flew up to the sky and, hitting it, fell back near the fire. Omcheni broke two eights of his ribs. He lay near the fire, the poor fellow"; a bird flies up (the wife's younger sister), lifts O. up to the sky through a hole; he meets his father-in-law, returns his wife and son]; Evens[Deki's elder brother is hunting, Elki's younger brother is cooking at home; he sees 7 swans flying in, taking off their swan clothes, becoming girls and swimming; they play with E.; he wants to tell his brother, but forgets every time; he remembered after the third time; D. pretends to leave; he came back, grabbed the wings of one; took her as his wife; one day she offers E. to teach him to fly if he shows where the wings are hidden; E.: I'll show you if you give me your ball; E. goes off to play, and his wife flies away, telling him to tell D. that she is pregnant; D. got angry with his brother and went towards the sun, where the swans were flying; along the way he turned into a bird, a worm, a bear; he lay down on a hummock and felt smoke; he pulled it out, found himself in the house; the old woman is preparing food for him: she cut off one of her dried breasts, cut it, squeezed the liquid out of it; D. saw it, did not eat it, but felt full; the old woman sent him to her sister (the same episodes: a hummock, the old woman crumbles her breast; D. pretends to eat, but hides the food given to him under his clothes); the old woman gave him a board overgrown with moss: when you reach the sea, say, "Spread yourself across the sea like a bridge!"; D. ran across it like an ermine; on the other bank he sees seven girls, one with a child; they went to play, and that girl gave the child to a bird; it sings: don't cry, your father will soon come for your mother; the girls came running, scold and beat the bird, and it sings again; this happens three times; D. recognized his child, the bird showed where its wings were, D. burned them in the fire; D. took his wife and two old women with him and they all jumped over the sea; E. lies dead at home; they collected the bones, moistened them with water, E. came to life; D. began to hunt and brought in many deer]: Robbeck 2005: 61-67.

Amur - Sakhalin. Nanai [Leterken is the younger brother, Mergen is the elder; M. went hunting, L. sees seven swans, invites them to come down; they took off their swan clothes, combed and washed L., and told M. to answer that he did it all himself; M. does not believe, L. tells how it was, M. tells him to stick his finger into a hole in his younger sister's robe; M. hid her swan clothes; six puddins flew away, M. took the seventh as his wife]: Medvedev 1992: 149-151; Orochi [an ox tells its owner to go to the sea, 12 swans will fly in, throw off their clothes, and become girls; the plumage of the youngest must be hidden; she clapped her hands, created a rich house, fed him, and put him to sleep; he woke up - no house, no girl; the ox reproaches the young man for not making her his wife; one must sow two sunflower seeds, they will grow to the sky; one must climb them; the stars are the roots of the trees of the upper world; the ox also tells him to climb into one ear and come out of the other, the young man became a fine fellow and a handsome man; the young man hit his head on the sky, it parted, he saw houses, in one of them was that beauty; her father gives difficult problems, the girl helps to solve; 1) recognize the bride among three hens (she will raise a wing, there is a white feather); 2) recognize her among 12 girls with curtained faces in the same dresses (the bride will pin a needle to her clothes); 3) find and bring three arrows shot in different directions; the bride tells him to choose a runt of the seahorse, its fur is the opposite way; she gives a bottle of medicine to treat wounds; the first arrow is in the side of the sturgeon; the young man took the arrow, cured the sturgeon; the second was brought by mice to their queen; they ate the horse of the young man; the mouse returned the arrow and revived the horse; the young man helped the weaker army; after the victory he learned that in their city the princess was wounded by an arrow; he took out the arrow, applied medicine, the princess recovered; the young man returned to his bride, her father gave her to him; one day a man decided to visit the land; his wife warned him not to eat chicken; they met him, gave him rooster meat; he ate it and became a rooster, therefore the rooster greets the morning dawn]: Avrorin, Lebedeva 1978, No. 82: 133-135; Orochi : Avrorin, Lebedeva 1966, No. 14 [ Ngetyrkasits at home, his elder brother hunts; seven swans fly in, turn into girls, clean the house, wash and comb N.'s hair; then they tell him to get dirty again, to scatter the spruce branches spread on the floor; N. does not do this; lies, as if he combed his hair with a bird's paw, wiped his face with bird down; the brother shows that this is impossible; N. tells the truth; the brother tells him to sew the younger sister's robe to N.'s robe next time, he himself hides; grabs the girl; she bears him a son; the boy stops crying when N. tells him that his mother's clothes are in the box; the woman tickles N., makes him say how he stopped the baby's crying; puts on feathers, flies away, taking her son; the husband shoots at a flying swan, shoots off his son's little finger; meets a servant, asks what he is doing and saying at home; kills him, takes his form, comes to his wife, puts her little finger on her son; the servant throws off his form (skin?) in the taiga; says that he killed a hare, but in fact he killed a lot of elks, feeds his father-in-law and mother-in-law; returns home; N. is stuck to the door because, despite his brother’s warning, he first ate fatty meat instead of lean; his brother revives him], 15 [beginning as in (14); N. immediately admits that the Swans were courting him; the brother meets not a servant, but an old woman; she gives him a teal and tells him to release it when the man reaches his destination; the teal calls the Swan to the shore, the man grabs her, tears her plumage; returns to N., who is happy]: 142-145, 145-147; 1978, No. 82 [(note p. 150 borrowed tale, probably of Manchu origin, but the motifs of swan maidens and hidden clothes "have been inherent in Oroch folklore since time immemorial"); the ox tells the master to go to the sea, 12 swans will fly in, throw off their clothes, and become maidens; the plumage of the youngest must be hidden; she clapped her hands, created a rich house, fed him, and put him to sleep; he woke up - no house, no maiden; the ox reproaches him that the young man did not make her his wife; he must sow two sunflower seeds, they will grow to the sky; he must climb them; the stars are the roots of the trees of the upper world; the ox also tells him to climb into one ear and out of the other, the young man became a fine fellow and a handsome man; the young man hit his head on the sky, it parted, he saw houses, in one of them the beauty; her father gives difficult problems, the girl helps to solve; 1) recognize the bride among three hens (she will raise a wing, there is a white feather); 2) recognize her among 12 girls with curtained faces in identical dresses (the bride will pin a needle to her clothes); 3) find and bring three arrows shot in different directions; the bride tells him to choose a runt of the seahorse, its fur is the opposite way; gives a bottle of medicine to treat wounds; the first arrow is in the side of the sturgeon; the young man took the arrow, cured the sturgeon; the second was brought to the mice to their queen; they ate the young man's horse; the mouse returned the arrow and revived the horse; the young man helped a weaker army; after the victory, he learned that in their city the princess was wounded by an arrow; he took out the arrow, applied the medicine, the princess recovered; the young man returned to his bride, her father gave her to him; one day the man decided to visit the land; his wife warned him not to eat chicken; he was met,gave him some rooster meat; he ate it and became a rooster, that is why the rooster greets the morning dawn]: 133-135; Medvedev 1992 [Ngetyrka, he has an older brother; while he is hunting, 7 swans arrive, turn into girls, comb N.'s hair, tidy everything up; flying away, they tell him to smear his face, make a mess again; the brother does not believe that N. combed his hair himself (he says that he combed it with a bird's paw, the brother offers to do it, it doesn't work); tells him to sew the younger girl's robe to his robe next time, and then call him; six swans flew away, the youngest got stuck in the smoke hole; the older brother married her; hid the skin with feathers; a boy was born; stops crying only after N. tells him that his father hid his mother's skin in a birch bark box; his brother's wife begins to tickle N., he confesses, which calms the child down; the wife takes the child and flies away; the father managed to shoot off his son's little finger; the brother left meat for N., went to look for his wife; the servant rides on a sled for firewood; replies that he serves a woman; if he wants to eat, he says, "Give me some yukola!"; when he comes, he throws down his axe with a crash; weaves ropes for nets, calls the spinners for weaving "hochka"; the hero killed the servant, took his form; the mistress is angry that the servant does not know where the spinners are; when the mistress left, the hero put his little finger to her son's hand; took his form; the girl's parents came to eat hare meat, and there is a pile of elk meat; the hero returned home, there N. stuck to the door; [his brother beat him up and fed him]: 353-355.

Ancient Japan. Ancient Japan : Miller 1987 [ancient fudoki (8th century); eight heavenly maidens flew down in the form of swans to bathe in a lake in Omi province; Ikatomi noticed them, sent his white dog to steal the youngest's feather robe; built a house there, Kami-no-ura, began to live in it with his heavenly wife, her sisters returned to heaven; they had two boys and two girls; the mother found her robe, returned to heaven]: 68; Baksheev 2004 (ancient fudoki): 447 [Omi-fudoki, see Miller 1987], 446 [Hitachi-fudoki, 713-720; during the reign of Emperor Suinin, shirotori ("white birds", swans) descended from the sky every morning, turned into girls, collected stones, built a dam (for bathing?), and flew away in the evening; but the dam kept falling apart, they sang a song, flew away forever; the village was named Shirotori; in ancient Japan from Kanto to Kyushu there are place names associated with swans everywhere].

NE Asia. Tundra Yukaghirs : Gogolev et al. 1975: 223-226 (Kolymskoye village, Nizhnekolymsky district) [the young man Ulegeradoite sees three swan-maidens on the lake who have taken off their clothes; the old man advises him to take the wings of the youngest one, they are closer to the shore; U. takes her as his wife; she says that her older brother will come for her, kill them all, it is better for them to go to her home themselves; she gets the wings, flies away; U. follows; overtakes his wife's younger brother; her father gives up his place to him], 242 (probably tundra) [(summary); the eldest of two brothers steals the wings of the youngest of seven swan-maidens; the youngest secretly returns her wings, she flies away; the eldest goes in search, two old women help him reach the land of his wife's parents; he returns home with her, lives richly]; Kurilov, Varlamova 1986 (village of Kolymskoye, Nizhnekolymsky District) [=Kurilov 2005, No. 8: 207-213; a young man named Uligral Oicha (Top of the Grass Stem) noticed three swans by the lake; they took off their wings, turned into girls and began to swim, then put their wings on and flew away; the young man consulted with his father and set out on his journey again; he met an old man who explained to him how to catch a swan girl; the young man made a shelter by the lake and, when the swans that arrived turned into girls and went swimming, he stole the wings of the youngest of them; she was unable to fly away, and the young man took her home; a few days later, the girl said that she needed to see her parents; the young man set out on his journey with her; she flew away, he followed her trail; The girl's brother came to meet the young man, said that he would take him to his father, and ran along the tops of the trees and grass; the young man ran after him; they ran for a long time; when they reached the camp, the girl's brother was out of breath, but the young man was not; the girl's father arranged a celebration and announced that the young man would become the new leader]: 31-43.