E9i2. The magic wife is a duck.

.16.25.-.28.30.31.32.34.36.37.39.(.72.)

Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, assistant, adopted daughter) has the form of a duck.

French (Upper Brittany), Dutch, Manobo, Hungarians, Chuan Miao, Lusatians, Poles, Ukrainians (Pokuttya, Chernigov, south-east Kyiv, Kharkov), Russians (Tersky Coast, Arkhangelsk {Pinega}, Tula, Bryansk), Danes, Norwegians, Finns, Karelians, Setos, Latvians, Mari, Mordvins, Chulym Turks, Tuvans, Nanai, Udege, Chukchi (Mokovi).

Western Europe. French (Upper Brittany) [a man lost a game of cards to Bluebeard; he said that he must serve him for 7 years, and until he finds him, he will not sleep day or night; the man goes off in search; he meets three old women in succession; the first has not seen people for 100 years, the second for 40, the third knows where SB lives: he must cross three seas: red, white and blue; when SB's three daughters arrive to swim, he must steal the garter; three ducks arrive and become girls; the man hid the garter with one of them, she promised to deliver him to her father, but did not keep her promise; the same with the second; the old woman teaches him to take an oath from the girl; the third swore and delivered the man to her father's kingdom; SB orders him to scoop out a pond with a thimble; spin a monstrous amount of wool; to get eggs from a bird's nest in a high tree by climbing up there without a ladder; the daughter of the SB orders her to be chopped into pieces to make a ladder; then the little finger was missing; the SB orders the bride to be identified among her sisters; the man identified her by the missing little finger; the wife's sisters want to kill the man out of jealousy; the wife orders him to break the egg on the SB's chest, in which his life is contained]: Sébillot 1894, no. 1: 167-168; the Dutch [three princesses, a prince and all the people are bewitched in a castle; only an innocent youth can disenchant them; the youth entered: the castle is empty, wine is on the table; as soon as he drank the wine, the glass was filled again; in the second room there is food (ditto); from the sixth room there is a ladder down; there are three princesses, the youngest is more beautiful than the rest; the eldest explained how to save them; you have to go to a glass mountain, on the top of which there is a dragon; he is sleeping, and a woman is taking insects from him; you have to pluck three feathers from him, the woman will help; the young man came to the mountain, the woman hid it under the bed; when she was plucking a feather, the dragon woke up, but she calmed him down; the young man took the feather to the castle; the next day he came to the glass mountain again (the same thing); the third time the dragon woke up and began to spit fire, but the young man managed to escape; three nights from 11 pm until midnight spirits came to tear the young man to pieces; the first night there were 12 of them, then 24, then 30; but the young man endured everything; each time the old woman (it was one of the young princesses) treated him and revived him; the middle princess explained that now they needed to take a bath, but the young man should not spy on them; but he looked through the keyhole; princesses: now he must come to the pond every afternoon for 6 years and try to hit the middle of the three ducks; only in the sixth year will he be able to hit it; and so it happened; the ducks disappeared, and when he went back to the castle, the three princesses came out to meet him; the castle was disenchanted, all the people and domestic animals came to life; the young man married the middle princess and they began to reign]: Schanbach, Müller 1855, No. 2: 257-260.

Taiwan - Philippines. Ifugao (Batad group) [Tilay always brought back a wild boar from hunting; one day his dog began to bark incessantly; at dusk he saw large ducks come down to the pond, take off their feather clothes, and turn into girls; T. hid the clothes of the most beautiful one; the others flew away, this one he brought to himself, covering her nakedness with a piece of his own loincloth; they have a daughter and two sons; while playing, they found the mother's clothes; she put them on, cut one son in half, took the lower half and one child, left the other and the upper half, and flew to the sky; the half remaining below began to decompose; T. said that he was a man and could not revive her; the wife said that she was a star, came down and revived her; these children of T. have many descendants]: Wrigglesworth 1991, no. 22: 225-229.

China - Korea. Chuan Miao [an orphan steals a feather from one of seven duck women who have flown in to bathe; first it is motley, which turns out to be an old woman, then it is white, which turns out to be a girl; she gives birth to two sons for the orphan; when they are 7 years old, they let it slip to their mother that their father has a feather; the mother takes it and flies away; the brothers find their mother; her father promises to let them and her go if they 1) pick peaches for him; put them back on the branches (the mother puts them); 2) cultivate the area, sow, then collect the sown grain (the mother calls up the wind, the grain gathers in a heap; a bird pecks one grain, the mother catches it and takes the grain out of its belly); 3) find the one who is hiding (the mother tells them to tickle a white horse, which is the grandfather; the same with turning into a pig); the brothers themselves are turned by their mother into sticks inside a bamboo, the grandfather cannot find them); 4) sends them to the site, sets it on fire, their mother turns them into fish, they hide in the clay; the grandfather lets them go with their mother; says that if they see black bubbles in the river, they must be scooped up (dip up), if white - no; the mother says that the black ones are demons, the white ones are gold; the eldest did not listen to his mother, scooped up the black one, the demon took his mother home; the grandfather promises to free the mother if the eldest grandson marries the Tiger's daughter, the younger - the Monkey; the eldest calls the Tiger's daughter, is afraid, climbs a tree, the Tiger's daughter did not find him; the younger brought his wife; she went to fetch water, met the eldest, he killed her; the younger has to blame the Grasshoppers for the murder of the Monkey; the Monkeys go to kill them, the Grasshoppers sit on their heads, the Monkeys killed each other with clubs; the last one ate the grasshoppers when they could not fly in the morning, ate too much, died]: Graham 1954: 278-280.

Central Europe. Poles [three sons of a shepherd take turns guarding a sheaf of golden ears grown by their father; a bird steals the sheaf; the youngest goes in search, stays with an old wizard and his blind wife; deceives a rock spirit, receives a remedy that restores sight; the wizard's wife promises to get the young man a bride; tells him to go to the sea, where three duck-maidens are bathing; he hides the feather-clothes of one of them, then returns it, she flies away; the same again; the third time he does not return it, takes the girl as a wife, they have a daughter; he goes with his wife to visit his parents; the wife complains to her father-in-law that her husband will not give her her favorite dress; the father-in-law gets her the key from the chest, she puts on her shirt, flies away as a duck; The husband returns to the old wizard, who helps him reach the glass mountain and get his wife back]: Shcherbakov 1980: 115-125 (retold in Kozlova 2006: 330); Belarusians (Novogrudok uyezd, Grodno province; variant of Russian fairy tale #216) [an old man hires himself out as a shepherd for a year, is unable to work the last three days, receives three groschen instead of a hundred rubles; in the forest, an old woman tells him to throw the groschen into a well, a lot of money appears; the old woman divides it into four parts; she takes one for herself, the other for the old man, the third the old man must give to the poor, and with the fourth he must buy incense - this is for God; an angel asks the old man what he wants for his incense; he replies that he does not know how to live; the angel asks God, who tells the old man to go to the lake, in its place there was a church, whose priest sinned; three paradise ducks will fly in, become three girls, let him take one as his wife; the wife tells him to stop for the night in the field; (the text is cut off, then as in the Russian fairy tale, see motif F7]: Afanasyev 1958(2): 466-467; Ukrainians(Pokuttya) [the master bent down to the well to drink some water; the underground king grabbed him by the beard: give him what you don’t know at home; when the master returned, it turned out that his wife had given birth to a son; he grew up and went into the forest at the age of 15; a voice came out of the fire: remind your father of his promise; the boy went to look for the underground king; there were 12 white shirts by the river and 12 ducks in the water; he hid one shirt; the ducks came out onto the shore and turned into girls; the one whose clothes he hid said that they were the 12 daughters of the underground king; she stamped her feet and a passage to the lower world opened; she taught her to approach her father on her knees; he gave her 3 tasks: 1) build a castle overnight; the girl told her to go to bed and the castle would be ready in the morning; 2) identify the youngest daughter among the 12, otherwise she would be given to the live pigs to be eaten; girl: there would be a fly circling near my ear; 3) to sew boots; the girl can't, they run, her spit is responsible for the young man; pursuit; the girl turned herself into a field, the young man into a sower; a lake and a fisherman; a tavern and an innkeeper; now the girl throws down the comb - a dense forest; they have almost reached it; the young man goes ahead, the girl tells him not to kiss the child, otherwise he will forget her; he kissed; a wedding with some girl is being prepared; the girl hired herself as a cook, baked a loaf of bread and two doves; the dove and the dove exchange phrases about how the young man forgot everything; the master is glad that his son has returned, and with a bride; the cook became a dove, flew after the young man; {it is unclear whether he nevertheless married the daughter of the underworld king or an earthly girl}]: Zinchuk 2005b, No. 88: 392-401; Ukrainians(Chernigovskaya) [An old man and an old woman have no children, they are sad, and go into the forest to pick mushrooms. The old woman finds a nest in a bush, and in it is a duckling. The old man suggests taking it home, as the duckling has a broken leg. They bring it home, make a nest for the duckling, and go out to pick mushrooms again. When they return, the house is cleaned, bread is baked, and borscht is cooked. None of the neighbors know anything. The next day they go to pick mushrooms. At home, dumplings are cooked, threads are spun. The neighbors say that they saw a girl carrying water from the well, beautiful, but a little lame. The old woman suggests that the old man announce that they are going to pick mushrooms, and that they themselves hide and see who it is. They hide, and see a girl with a yoke, beautiful, but a little lame, coming out of their hut, walking to the well. They enter the hut, there is no duckling in the nest, only feathers, they throw it into the oven. The girl comes, cries, the grandfather and the grandmother console her, offer to be their daughter. The girl answers that she would have lived with them forever if they had not burned her nest and spied on her, but now she does not want to. She asks the grandfather to make her a whorl and a spindle, sits in the yard and spins. A flock of ducks flies, the ducks see her and sing: "Here is our maiden, here is our Yiva, on a swept palace, on a hewn column, the whorl rustles, the spindle rings ... Let us throw her a feather each, let her fly with us." The girl answers: "I will not fly with you: when I was in a meadow, I broke my leg, and you flew away - you abandoned me!" They throw her a feather each, fly on. The second flock flies, they say the same thing, she answers them the same way, they drop a feather each. The third flock flies, everything is the same, the girl wraps herself in feathers, becomes a duck, flies away with the flock, the old man and the old woman are left alone]: Rudchenko 1870, No. 13: 32-35; Ukrainians(SE Kievskaya, Cherkassky district, village of Mliev) [a peasant and his wife prayed for a son, named them Ivan Bogodavets (IB); he grew up quickly, came to his uncle the blacksmith, asked him to forge a finger from a hundred pounds of iron; threw it up, went to bed, a day later there was thunder, rain, the club fell on his shoulder, broke; another hundred pounds, two days - bent; another hundred, three days - intact; with it he went to fight a cancer named Vir, who lives overseas; another cancer transported him; during the fight Vir drinks strong water, and IB weak, the cancer wins; goes to bed; the other cancer suggested swapping barrels with strong and weak water; IB drove Vir into the ground up to his neck; he asks to spare his life, gives a self-propelled bull, a rolling pea apple and living and dead water; IB took everything, but still killed Vir; the old crayfish carried him across the sea; IB left the magic gifts to his mother: the apple will roll to the place where it was killed, and the water will revive it from the seed; IB sees a mustachioed man who alternately sets 6 windmills in motion on one side and then on the other; then Vernigora (changes valleys and mountains); Vernidub; an inscription at the crossroads: you will be healthy; you will be full, but you will also be beaten; they are walking along the second one; they began to live in a three-story house, they cook in turns; 4 ducks flew in, became girls, took off their dresses, went to the bathhouse; Ustaty propped the door with a windmill; the girls knocked down the door and piled the windmill on Ustaty, and stuffed their mustaches into his mouth; the same with Vernigora and Vernidub; IB propped the door with his club; the girls have to promise that they will become faithful wives; they are the daughters of Kashchei (Kostiy), who has no soul; he sent a fleet; IB sent Usatiy; he turned one mustache, the other - all the ships sank; Kashchei sent an army along the valley, Vyrvygor killed them all; through the forest, Vyrvydub killed them all; along the road; now IB himself is coming; Kashchei killed him, buried him, took his daughters; IB's mother releases a self-propelled bull, an apple and goes with living water; IB came to life, came to Kashchei's daughters, asks to find out where Kashchei's soul is; Kashchei: in freedom; IB: gild the ox's horns; in the drake (they gilded them and pray to him); there is an island by the sea, there is a stone, an oak tree nearby, a nest on the oak, in it a seagull, she has an egg, the egg has a soul; IB goes, spends the night in succession with three old men, each one tells him to pray for him later, directs him to the goal; when he prays, one of the wishes comes true: the sea is frozen, you can go to the island; it got hot, a seagull came down to drink, IB grabbed it, tore it apart, the egg rolled into the sea, but a storm started, the waves threw the egg onto the shore; he remembered the first old man again, the sea froze again, you can cross; he broke the egg, Kashchei died; the brothers-in-arms returned their wives; the narrator was shot from a cannon and he flew here]: Chubinsky 1878, No. 64: 239-250; Ukrainians(Kharkiv) [the merchant's ship stopped; the merchant orders the sailor to dive; the sea grandfather holds the ship at the bottom, orders the merchant to write a receipt in blood promising to give him what he does not know at home; while he was gone, his wife gave birth to and raised a son; at the age of 12 he went to the sea grandfather; 12 ducks turn into girls, take off their clothes, swim; the young man hides the clothes of the youngest, gives them in exchange for a promise to become his wife; she is the sea grandfather's servant; he orders him to go, without turning around at the vipers and animals, to the hut on a chicken leg; the betrothed is waiting for him there; each of the 12 girls lives in such a hut; teaches how to boldly answer the lions, break down the gate, recognize her among 12 identical girls (there will be a crooked heel on the left foot); do this three times (the little finger on the left hand is bent); [the merchant's son receives a wife and 12 ships of gold and silver]: Chubinsky 1878, No. 5: 17-24 (= Pankeev 1992: 151-160); Russians (Tersky Coast) [the tsar is widowed, marries Baba Yaga; she wants to kill her stepson, Ivan Tsarevich; he starts going to the sea, wants to shoot a duck; the duck tells him not to shoot, but to marry her; she will sail on a ship; I. answers Baba Yaga's son that he wants to leave home; he asks to take him with him; when a ship appeared at sea, he stuck a pin in the tsarevich's hair and he fell asleep; Marfa the princess promises to sail tomorrow on two ships (ditto_; on three (ditto); after this she says that I. will not see her again; I. forged three pairs of iron bast shoes, three iron staffs, three iron hats and three iron prosphora (to gnaw); when the bast shoes began to wear out, the staff to break, the hat to rot, the prosphora to gnaw through, I. approached the hut on a chicken leg on a rooster's head; I. tells her to turn her eyes to the forest, the gate to him; in the hut an old woman - her tits hang over the garden bed, takes the pots away with her lips; after eating, I. told her everything; the old woman: this is my niece; sends to the second sister; when I. reached her, the second pair began to stomp (etc.); ditto; added that the niece is now melancholy taken away, put into an egg, the egg into a duck, the duck swims fast in the lake, can't be shot; sends to the third sister (same thing); I. made a crossbow, shot a duck, the old woman cooked it; the niece arrived, doesn't eat duck meat; the old woman: it's cattle meat; M. took a sip and remembered I., tells her aunt to give it to her; I. ​​went out, wedding; began to live with M.]: Balashov 1970, No. 57: 200-203; Russian(Arkhangelskaya: Pinega) [a peasant leaned over the ice-hole to drink; the devil grabbed him by the beard; peasant: my cow is expecting a calf, my horse is expecting a foal; the devil won't let go; he promised a child that his wife is expecting; his wife gave birth to Ivanushka, he grew up; he shot a bow, the arrow hit grandma's little lamb; an old woman: what are you doing, mother's breadwinner, father's cheat (i.e. his father promised him to the devil); the old woman does not explain what this means; only when Ivan shot at her for the third time, she admitted that it was for the Sea King; Ivan went to him; there is a hut on a chicken's leg, in it Baba Yaga is poking her nose into the stove, sending him to her older sister; there Ivan tells the hut on a chicken's leg to stop, turn its eyes to the forest, and the gates to him; Baba Yaga says that the Sea King is their father; sends to the eldest sister; she teaches: three duck-maidens will come, hide the shirt of the eldest; she explains how to recognize it: the first time I will nod with my boot, the second time I will wave my handkerchief, the third time - "the stud will be on the wrong side"; the Sea King orders to recognize the eldest daughter; he recognized three times; she was given to Ivan as a wife; her name is Dumoslava; the king orders to build a church by morning; D. waved her hand, the lame and blind came running, built; now by morning build a ship (ditto); weave a rope out of sand; I. and D. flee, D. left three spits to answer for herself; when the king realized it, he sent pursuit; D. turned the sled, herself and I. into ducks; next time the church and the priest with the priest's wife; the king himself is chasing; poshevni - the sky, the horse - the moon, I. with D. - the stars; the king tries to pull them off with a hook (but for some reason he can't); before reaching the house, I. left D. under a bush, came home, {forgot D.}, they began to marry him; she came to the wedding, released a dove, and it muttered: I will, I will, I will not forget; I. remembered everything, took D. as his wife]: Simina 1975, No. 11: ; Russian(Tula) [a mouse and a sparrow prepared buckwheat; the mouse chased the sparrow away, who complained to the eagle, the eagle fought with a lion, broke his wing; asks the merchant to feed him until the wing heals; he fed him three benches; after that the eagle put the merchant on his back, flew away; twice pretended to drop him; this is because the merchant, having fed him a bench, was going to chase the eagle away each time; the eagle brought the merchant to his elder sister, asked her for a chest, she did not give it to him; to the middle one; the eagle asked for a jug, and she gave him a flying carpet; they flew on it to the youngest; she gave her a snuffbox; flying back over the river, the merchant dropped it; the eagle caught a crayfish, told him to find it; the crayfish gathered other crayfish; the eldest saw the snuffbox on the idol's lap; the eagle ordered to call the idol to him; he came: he will give the snuffbox if the merchant gives what he does not know at home; at that time a son was born to the merchant at home; he {grew up} and went to serve the idol; Baba Yaga gives a ball of yarn, he brought it to another Baba Yaga; she gave an ear of corn; the ear of corn rolled to the third Baba Yaga; she teaches how to go to the lake; four ducks will fly in one after another, shed their wings, start swimming, you need to hide the wings of the last one; she called Ivan her fiancé; let him first go to her, only then to her father; she will hang a scarf on her room; she flew away as a duck; human heads are hanging on the house; I. came to the girl, she sends to her father to ask for work; 1) to break the horse; I. ordered the horse to be shod, beat him with an iron balda; 2) to make a temple out of wax overnight; the girl called the servants to work; told Ivan: an old man will come and ask for a wax tablet - you have to beat him with a hammer; 3) to cut down the forest, sow wheat, etc., and by the morning bake pies; the girl's servants did everything; 4) to recognize the youngest daughter; the girl: I will release the temple; they ran away, leaving a log on the bed; the idol hit her with a sword, but there was nothing there; the idol sent a pursuit; the girl became a goat, I. a shepherd; the servants ask, but the shepherd one thing: goat, goat, kyzya, kyzya; they left; next time the church and the priest; they got home; they began to live and acquire wealth]: Erlenwein 1882: 108-115; Russian(Tula) [the tsar and the sorceress have a son, Dmitry; when he was dying, the tsar did not pass on his kingdom to him; D. went hunting; 12 ducks flew in and became maidens, the youngest was the best of all, D. hid her dress; the sisters flew away, but Sasha remained; "If a man is old, be my grandfather, if the middle one - my brother, if young, then my fiance"; S. promises to sail with his sisters on a ship tomorrow and take them to his kingdom; at home, his mother told his uncle to go with D. and stick a sleeping pin into him; S. wrote on his back: now you will take possession of me only when you wear out my iron boots, frock coat and hat; D. came to a clearing where a lion was fighting a 6-headed dragon; he shot, knocked off two heads, and the lion himself knocked off the others; the lion ordered him to sit on him and brought him to the fiery river; the ferryman will ask for your right hand and left leg, but you promise to give them to him on the other bank, and I will help him there; there the lion scattered the ferrymen; he brought him to the second fiery river (the same); at the third the old woman will demand his head; the lion overcame her too; he explains that these three rivers are iron boots, a frock coat, a hat; the old woman is your mother, the other ferrymen are her servants; D. came to the city of his bride, stayed with the old people; three times he went to the market where they were selling the robber: for 500, 400, and finally, for 300 rubles; this is the money that D. received from his father; he bought the robber; his name is Udal, a good fellow; they went to the tavern, Udal turned pieces of beetroot into gold coins; then he created a palace and a crystal bridge to the royal palace; he ordered Dmitry to write a request to give him his daughter; when they start dancing, let them dance once with each sister, and with S. as much as you like; at night D. fled with S., the palace disappeared, and the king and his people woke up in a field; the sisters give chase; U. became a lake, D. is a drake, S. is a duck; the next time an oak tree, an eagle, a flower (one sister plucked a flower, but the eagle knocked it off); the third time a chapel, an icon, an old man; from the fork D. and S. went along the left road, and U. along the right; when they stopped for the night, Koschei chopped up D., S. took him away; U. returned, slaughtered the horse, climbed into its belly, grabbed the chick, ordered the raven to bring living and dead water; revived D.; they came to S.; U. teaches them to find out from Koschei where his death is; Koschei: on the horns of a bull; S. decorated the bull with ribbons; in a ram (ditto); On the island there is an oak tree, under the oak tree there is a chest, in the chest there is a hare, in the hare there is a duck, in the duck there is an egg; U. stayed with S., D. went to look for the island; he did not kill the bear, ram, dog, raven, crayfish, fish - they all promised to help; D. crossed to the island along the back of the fish; he did not kill the old man, the old man gave him a rusk that can be eaten forever; the bear turned the chest out from under the oak tree, the ram knocked off the lid, the dog caught the hare, the raven - the duck, the crayfish got the egg that fell into the river; U. tells Sasha to smash the egg on Koschei's forehead, he died; in a year they are going to visit Sasha's native kingdom; U. hears the conversation of birds at night; along the way there will be a garden with poisoned apples, and whoever hears and tells will be turned to stone; a well with a golden ladle and poisoned water (ditto); when the mother-in-law puts them to bed and covers them with a blanket, they will fall through; If D. survives and gets out of bed in the morning, he will be swallowed by a 6-headed snake; W.trampled apples in the mud, threw mud into the well, spilled the wine that was served, threw a blanket into the stove (the stove collapsed), chopped off the head of a snake; they began to hang him, but he asked permission to talk to D.; he told everything and turned to stone; his mother-in-law sent D. to pasture the cattle, and his wife to feed the cows; they have a son and a daughter; D. sees three times in a dream: in order to revive U., it is necessary to slaughter the son and sprinkle the stone with his blood; having come to life, U. resurrected the child with living and dead water; they did not execute the mother-in-law; and U. received Koshchei's kingdom]: Erlenwein 1882: 145-169;Russian (Bryansk) [an old man and an old woman went mushroom picking and picked up a sick duck; brought it home; in their absence, someone was cooking and cleaning; neighbors said that some girl was busy around the house; the old man and the old woman hid and waylaid the girl; one day they threw duck feathers into the fire; the girl said that she was supposed to remain in duck form for another six months, but now she will remain a duck forever; became a duck and flew away]: Glebov 2016, No. 86: 130-131.

Baltoscandia. Finns [=Konkka 1991: 162-173; a hunter sees three ducks come ashore, throw off their feather clothing, become girls; hides the clothing of the most beautiful; returned when she promised to become his wife; she is the most beautiful of all, the king wants to take her for his son, he is advised to give the duck-maiden's husband impossible tasks; 1) by morning make a Tischplatte, on which there are moon and stars (the wife painted); 2) bring nothing from nowhere; by morning the wife made a handkerchief, sent it on its way; when the husband reaches the house in which he sees something strange, let him show the handkerchief and act like one of them; around the house there is a fence of bones, on each post a skull, only one is empty; old woman: human flesh itself came; seeing the handkerchief: you are the husband of my aunt's daughter! asks the servants where to look for nothing and nothing, they do not know; She sent to her sister, who sent to the third sister; an old toad, who came last, knew there; the old woman told them to follow her; the toad led them to a house, where they hid in a dark corner; a man came in, called Nobody (Nichtda), ordered the table to be set; everything was done by itself, the servant was not visible; when the newcomer left, the man decided to call Nobody himself; he agreed to go with him; the man kept asking if Nobody was there; they sailed on a ship, the man told Nobody to feed the sailors; they offered to exchange the table with food that appears at will (and which Nobody had set) for an anvil: if you hit it with a hammer, 12 young men will appear who fulfill wishes; but Nobody stayed with him; the sailors, seeing that the magic table was gone, rushed after the man, but he ordered the young men to drive them away; the man came when his wife was being given in marriage to the king's son; he threw his ring into her cup, she recognized it and said that her husband was alive; the young men beat the king to death, the man was reunited with his wife and became king himself]: Salmelainen 1947: 33-39; Karelians(Olonetskaya, 1886) [three maidens took off their clothes, became ducks and swam; a guy saw, hid the clothes of one; remains silent when the girl promises to become a sister, gives up the clothes for a promise to become a wife; the girl promises to sail on three golden ships; a woman came out of the water, stuck sleeping needles into the guy's ears, he did not wake up; the same on 6, on 9 ships; the girl leaves a note: to see her, you will have to wear out 3 pairs of iron boots and 3 iron staffs; the guy goes to look, the hut is spinning on rooster spurs, in it is a cannibal woman, with a nose like a poker; she recognizes the guy as her brother's son; during the night she wore out one pair of his iron boots and one staff; the same with two other women; the last one sends them to hunt, the guy sheltered the foxes from the cold, then the wolf cubs, the bear cubs, threw the pike into the sea; a fox, a wolf, a bear, a pike promise to help; a young man comes to an old woman who has 8 heads on pillars, the 9th is prepared for him; the old woman orders her 9 horses to graze, they run away; a fox, then a wolf, a bear drive them; a horse: we will give birth to foals at night, take the skinniest one as a reward; a colt orders him to go to an old widow woman; she says that the love of his bride is in an egg inside a blue stone on an island; the horse jumped onto the island, the pike got the egg that fell into the sea; the widow fed it to her goddaughter (i.e. that girl), the young man took her as his wife]: Konkka 1959, No. 31: 142-148; Karelians :; Setu [a poor young man was grazing horses, received a foal for his work; he went into a church, and at that time a wolf carried off the foal; hired to rake the aftermath (grass that grew after the main haymaking) on ​​the condition that if he raked it before sunset, he would get money; almost didn’t make it in time, was left with nothing; fell asleep by the lake; in the morning he sees a duck fly in, shed its feathers, became a girl, and went into the water; the young man hid the feathers; the girl agreed to become his wife; they acquired a household; (the informant didn’t remember the middle of the plot, the young man was sent somewhere); the wife gave him three towels - let him go into three houses; he approaches the first one, it hops on three chicken legs; the young man tells him to stand with the threshold to it, with his back to the forest; a woman is spinning in the house; in the morning she saw the towel, realized that it was her sister’s husband; the same in the second house; this woman showed the way to the Sun - his wife’s father; there he stepped on the Sun’s toe, beat his assistant St. George; explained why; Sun: It is the evil people who are to blame, and I gave you my daughter as a consolation]: Säärits 2022: 335-337; Latvians[while riding the king's horse, the servant comes across an old man in the forest; he orders him not to open the gates tied with bast; there is a lake behind the gates, three ducks come flying in to bathe, take off their clothes, and turn into girls; the young man hides the clothes of one; he returns them, they turn him into a dove; upon returning, the old man returns him to human form; the same thing a second time; the old man advises him not to give up the dress, the young man takes the beauty as his wife, and returns to the king; the sorcerer advises the king to torment the servant with difficult errands; 1) bring a lion; the wife gives a handkerchief, the girl in the hut recognizes her sister by it, and orders her to throw the handkerchief over the lion's nose; 2) bring an apple tree; the wife's other sister rolls the apple tree into a handkerchief; 3) go there, I don't know where, and bring that, I don't know what; the wife promises the king to marry him if her husband does not return within a year; the third sister orders him to kiss the knees of the dead Mother Earth; she comes to life, calls the birds and animals, only the lame Frog knows the way; the invisible I Don’t Know What orders to feed the snake, to ask her for the box; an army comes out of her, kills the king, the servant reigns]: Arius 1971: 101-114.

Volga - Perm. Mordvins [an old man has been in the forest for three years, leaned over the water, Vedyava grabbed him by the beard; refuses a stallion, a haystack, a beekeeper, demands what the old man does not know; a three-year-old son comes to meet him at home; he grows up, goes to Vedyava; Baba Yaga sends to her older sister, she - to the eldest; she says that her brother has 40 stakes, only the last one does not have a head yet; three ducks will fly in to bathe, they will become girls, it is necessary to hide the dress of the youngest; she promises to become his wife; orders not to eat what her father offers; he orders 1) to do all the work overnight - from uprooting the forest to baking bread; the wife orders the servants to do everything; 2) an iron bridge from the porch to the church, on the sides there are apple trees with apples and birds (ditto); 3) to tame a stallion (this is the girl's father, she became a man, she tamed him herself with a hammer and iron rods); he promises to marry the young, the wife tells them to run away, otherwise the father will kill, leaves the spitting to answer for themselves; turns herself into a cow, her husband into a shepherd; the church and the priest; herself into a ruff, the husband into a lake; this time the father himself chases, tells his daughter to be a bitch for 7 years; the wife says that she will become a woman in 7 days, but at home the husband should not kiss his younger sister; he kissed, forgot his wife; she flew as a dove to the new bride, became a woman, the bride sees a reflection in the well, thinks that she is such a beauty, returns without drawing water; the same with the younger sister; the young man himself came, saw his wife, remembered everything, the wedding with her]: Evseviev 1964, No. 13: 77-87; Mordvins [an old man promises a poor young man Rav-Zholdyamo gold on the top of a mountain; tells him to climb into the carcass of a horse, a raven brings it to the top of the mountain, RZh scares him away, lets him down, lowers bags of gold on a rope, the old man burns the rope, leaves; RZh kills a kite chasing three ducks; they pick up RZh, bring him to a forest hut, turn into girls; they fly away as ducks every day; RZh hides the dress of the youngest, gets married, brings his mother's wife; the wife brought gold with her, but is sad; asks to bring the precious ring forgotten at her sisters'; when RZh left, he told the mother not to give the daughter-in-law's duck outfit; the master invites him to visit, wants to know where they got the gold; the daughter-in-law asks her mother-in-law to give her the duck outfit to show herself to the master; she gives it to her, she flies away; RZh goes off in search; the old man sends him to his elder brother, who sends him to the eldest; each shows the path of the flying duck; the eldest: the wife in a crevice on a golden mountain; the raven picks at stones, trying to get to her; gives a felt plane and an invisible caftan; RZh throws stones at the raven, he rushes at him, RZh puts on the invisible caftan, takes his wife, returns home with her]: Samorodov 1972: 122-132.

Amur – Sakhalin. Nanai [the elder brother married a puddin; her younger sister left and became a duck; the elder sister, her husband, and younger brother hid by the lake; the duck became a girl and swims; the younger brother hid her skin; he married this girl]: Beldy, Bulgakova 2012, no. 33: 251; Udege [a Kalgama woman in the form of a duck flies in with other ducks; in a dream, a hunter learns that he should wait for K. on an island; he ties a 200 m rope to his legs; grabs K. and wrestles with her, pulls out something like a tinder fungus from between her legs; this is her talisman, the hunter must not tell anyone about it for seven years, then K. will become his wife and will help him hunt; K. lives with him, gives birth to a son, and while hunting the man kills six sables with one arrow; in fact, K. steals them from the traps of other hunters and gives them to him]: Bereznitsky 2009: 137.

NE Asia. Chukchi [Ememkut takes the clothes of ten ducks bathing in a lake, returns them to nine, takes the youngest as his wife; she flies away with the ducks together with her daughter and son (the son has no wings, the mother makes them from branches); E. goes to look for his wife and children; the old man gives him arrows that freeze the sea; beyond the sea E. meets his children first; the Duck is married to the Drake; E. easily kills a flock of attacking birds with a whip, brings his wife and children back]: Baboshina 1958, No. 33: 90-92.

( Cf. Chaco. Mokovi [two ducks take off their clothes, bathe; an owl and a heron hide their clothes, marry ducks; always return late, do not allow their wives to see them; one day they light a fire, see that the owl has ugly eyes and the heron has a neck; leave them]: Wilbert, Simoneau 1988, no. 155: 195).