E9L. The Magic Wife - Mouse. .16.21.28.31.

Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife) has the image of a mouse (rarely: a rat).

Bretons, French (Nievre, Ardennes, Lorraine, Nivernais, Poitou, Vendée, Dordogne, Auvergne, Vienne), Dutch, Germans (Hesse, Upper Palatinate), Mustang, Czechs, Latvians, Karelians (northern), Finns, Swedes, Norwegians, Western Sami.

Western Europe. Bretons [the queen gave birth to a daughter, the sorceress was not invited to the party, she turned the princess into a mouse; the spell will be broken if the sorceress's sister laughs; the king went to war, the mouse daughter asked to take her with him, sits in the horse's ear, sings; the Spaniards liked it, the son of the Spanish king took the mouse princess as his wife; the Spanish king will leave the crown to whichever of his three sons brings the best linen; the mouse wife gives a small box, in it there is much of the best linen, the elder brothers are put to shame; they offer to leave the crown to the one whose wife is the most beautiful; the mouse wife secretly rides after her husband riding on a rooster; stops at a puddle; the sorceress's sister sees this, laughs; sorceress: the spell was cast before the sister laughs; the mouse becomes a beauty, arrives in a golden carriage; the king gives the throne to her husband; at a feast she hides pieces of food in her bodice, they turn into pearls and flowers; the older daughters-in-law also put food in their bodice, dogs and cats run after them, the king drives them away, gives the throne to his youngest son]: Luzel 1887(2), no. 2: 134-145 (=Lopyreva 1959, no. 15: 42-47); French (Nievre; also Ardennes, Lorraine, Nivernais, Poitou, Vendée, Dordogne, Auvergne, Vienne, in most versions the sorceress is a frog, sometimes a mouse or a cat) [two brothers cannot find brides; they decide to shoot at the big wide world; a beautiful girl came out to the younger one, and a frog jumped out to the older one; she led them to a lonely castle; the younger one suggested going to their uncle the king; the frog told the older one to agree; king: whose dog runs around but doesn't break anything, to him I will give the throne; a little dog jumped out of the eldest's box and didn't break anything, but the eldest's knocked over everything; whose thread will encircle the lock three times; the younger brother's twice, and the eldest's five times; whose wife is the most beautiful; a frog sat in a carriage driven by a lizard and horses by rats; and turned into a beauty, and the carriage into a real one; the eldest brother received three kingdoms, but gave one to the younger]: Delarue 1964, no. 402: 36-38; Dutch[a peasant will make the heir of the three sons who brings the best cloth in a year; the youngest Hans comes to a castle in the forest, there is a mouse; he says that if he combs and washes it for a year, he will get the cloth; a year later, G. picked up a rag on the way, first showed it, and then the cloth from the castle; the father is ready to give him the house and farm, but the brothers demand a new test: who will bring the best chain that would encircle the house; the same; on the way home, G. picked up a wire chain, first showed it; who will bring the best bride; G. came to the castle again; when there are three weeks left until the end of the year, the mouse asks to cut a year-old branch in the garden and beat it, the mouse, until blood appears; G. brought a thorny branch; the mouse turned into a princess, the empty castle into a palace with servants; G. and his wife did not admit to their father who they were - they only asked permission to live for three weeks; the brothers did not recognize G. either; When he was a year old, G. confessed to his father; taking him with him, he left with his wife for her castle, and the estate went to his brothers]: Schanbach, Müller 1855, No. 7: 268-271; Germans (Wild and Hassenpflug families, mixed version, Hesse) [two princes are clever, the younger is Simpleton; the king promises to give the throne to the one who brings the best carpet; he releases three feathers in the wind; the feathers of the elder brothers were carried away by the wind, the feather of the youngest fell nearby; there turned out to be an entrance to a dungeon; in the room there was a large toad and many small ones; the toad gave a beautiful carpet; the elder brothers took a coarse woolen scarf from the first shepherdess they came across; now the king demands the best ring from the pretender to the throne, releases feathers again; the toad gives Simpleton a gold ring with gems, the elder brothers bring a wheel rim; third condition: bring the most beautiful girl; the toad gives a hollowed out turnip pulled by six mice, orders one of the little toads to be put into the turnip; it turns into a beauty, the turnip into a carriage, the mice into horses; the older brothers bring village women; the older brothers demand the final test: let the girls jump through a ring hanging in the middle of the hall; two women fall, breaking their arms and legs; the simpleton's girl easily jumps through; he receives the crown]: Grimm, Grimm 2002, no. 63: 233-235; Germans (Upper Palatinate) [a peasant has an older son, Mikhl, and a younger son, Jodl; the father would like to leave the property to the eldest; promises to the one who brings the best scarf; a toad comes to meet J., tells him to go with her, brings him into the house, calls a mouse servant, who brings a box with the best scarves; the scarf brought by Jodl turns out to be better than the one brought by Mikhl; the same thing a second time; the third time – who will bring the best bride; the toad tells him to go to bed with her; when J. woke up, he was in the castle, the beauty was nearby, she was bewitched; the mouse became a chambermaid; J. gave the house and farmstead to his brother, and he himself began to live with the princess; if they did not die, then they are still living]: Schönwerth 1981: 27.

Tibet – Northeast India. Mustang [the king orders his sons to marry; the eldest took the princess, the middle one – the minister’s daughter; the youngest does not want to marry; he waters the field, saves a mouse from the water; it leads him underground to her palace, she is a beauty there; he asks her to come with him to the world of people; the king demands from each daughter-in-law 1) to cover the palace with fabric (only the mouse does so), 2) to prepare a beautiful dress (the mouse takes out a dress with Buddhist shrines depicted on it), 3) to dance; the mouse dances better than all, her husband cuts the mouse skin, a beauty emerges; the king gives the throne to the youngest son, his wife gives birth to a son and a daughter]: Kretschmar 1985, no. 6: 58-61.

Central Europe. Czechs[the king invites his three sons to go out into the world, find brides and bring him gifts in a year - whose is better; the brothers shoot arrows in different directions; the youngest, Jarmil, his arrow hits a mouse hole; a road opens up downwards, in front of J. is a marble castle; a girl in white comes towards him, tells J. to mount her white horse; the horse flies to a castle of gold and gems; J. dismounts from the horse, and the horse flies away; inside the halls, one is richer than the other; the last one is empty, and on the diamond is written: to save me, keep me close to you and bathe me daily; under the diamond and gold is a toad; he puts it in his bosom; in another hall, food and wine appear by themselves; J. stayed in the castle, but the more he washed the toad, the uglier it seemed; a year later he found a note: put me in a frying pan, cover me, bring me to my father as a gift; J. returned to his father with his brothers; the eldest son's bride was a princess, and he gave her a mirror as a gift; the bride of the middle son also sent a mirror; I. ​​gave her the box; it had diamonds on it; a little man jumped out of it and handed her the mirror, and then disappeared; the king recognized I.'s gift as the best; now the king tells his sons to return in a year and a day, bringing portraits of their brides; I. returned to the toad; a year later there was a note: my portrait is in a frying pan, give it to my father; when I. gave it to him, the king said that he had never seen such a beauty; in another year and a day the king wants to see the brides themselves; instead of a toad, there was a beauty in front of I.; he tells me to go down to the basement, there are 12 candles, a shirt in front of each; I must put out the candles, bring the shirts and the candles, be silent and listen to nothing; the beauty: these shirts are toad skins, and the candles burned me; a monster, nailed by the tongue in the basement, bewitched my father the king; nailed by a witch who is stronger than a monster; for three years you must not tell in what form I was, and not say how many skins I had; especially dangerous is your mother, a witch who hates you; I. brought a bride, a wedding of three brothers; the prince's mother convinces him that she is not a witch, but his bride; found out what she wanted; stole from I.'s wife's room toad skins and candles and burned them; wife: you revealed the secret, now I am flying away to the glass mountain, from where there is no return; I. goes off in search; the juggler said that the glass mountain is in the east; around the mountain there is a river, on the bridge there are three giants; the maid from the white castle: tie the horse's hooves with rags and throw the dust behind you; spend the night at the mill across the river; the cook will bring the miller a chicken, the bones must be thrown under the millstones; let him give it to you, and you throw it in front of you when you want to climb the glass mountain; throw the last one behind you when you find yourself at the top; when I threw the bones, each one turned into a step; when I threw the last one back, a road appeared, along which the horse climbed; a witch with 12 daughters lives in the castle; wife: the witch knows that you are here, be kind to her; during the meal after each dish, get up and leave, otherwise you will stay forever; the witch promises to give I. a wife, but for three years of service; gives a wooden axe to cut down the forest; the wife put I. to sleep, threw the powder,someone's hands cut down the forest; the witch gave a spade to raze the mountain (ditto); to scoop out the pond with a thimble (ditto); wife: now the witch will appear as a black cloud, strike her with my sword; the witch fell dead, I. and his wife galloped away; having learned of everything, the king burned I.'s mother; they arrived at the mouse hole: there are the gates of the city, the disenchanted people greet; all are happy]: Curtin 1890: 331-355.

Baltoscandia. Latvians [when the time has come for his sons to marry, the father shoots three arrows from a bow and orders them to look for wives where the arrows fall (or the sons throw stones, follow a ball of yarn); the youngest son marries a frog (toad, mouse); the father orders beautiful shirts to be brought, delicious bread to be baked; the frog completes the tasks better than anyone else; at a feast, he puts bones in his sleeve, and beautiful objects spill out of it; the brothers' wives unsuccessfully try to do the same; the frog's husband burns the frog's skin, the frog disappears, he looks for it]: Arijs, Medne 1977, No. 402: 281; Karelians (northern) [the king has three sons, the youngest is Tukhkimus ("slob"); the king gave each of them a bow, T.'s is the worst, orders them to take wives where the arrows fall; the eldest's arrow fell on the roof of the tsar's bakery, the middle one's - the tsar's kitchen, T.'s - in the forest; the tsar orders that festive towels be brought from the brides; T. goes into the forest, there is a poor hut, a mouse came out of a crack; he orders to sleep on the stove without pants, in the morning there will be a towel; during the night thousands of mice plowed the field, grew flax, wove a towel; the brothers show the towels to the tsar; the tsar orders what the eldest brought to be taken to the pigsty, the middle ones - to the farm laborers, T. - to hang in his room for dear guests; now the tsar orders that shirts be brought from the daughters-in-law; the eldest daughters-in-law send a mongrel to T. as a spy; she tells how one mouse opened the window, another cut the fabric into pieces, they were thrown into the wind, the wind brought a shirt; the daughters-in-law also cut the fabric given to them by the tsar, but did not wait for the shirts and sewed them from their own fabric; the tsar orders the shirts of the eldest daughters-in-law to be given to the farm laborers, and promises to wear the one brought by T. at Easter; the tsar orders to prepare prosphora; the little dog tells how a mouse shook out the flour out the window into the wind; then the mice brought the prosphora in a ladle and disappeared; the daughters-in-law also shook out the flour, then they had to mold prosphora in cold water; the tsar orders to give the ones brought by the eldest daughters-in-law to the sheep, and calls the one brought by T. the prosphora of John the Theologian and goes with it to church; the tsar wants to see the daughters-in-law; the mouse turned into a beauty; she kicked the ladle and the mouse into the water, a horse jumped out, a carriage appeared; he orders that the mouse state disappear, and a castle appear; T. comes in, invites the bride's parents and relatives; during the feast, T.'s bride puts crumbs and bones down her sleeve; when she poured them out, a lake appeared, with fish and ducks in it, and fields of grain along the banks; the daughters-in-law tried to imitate, dirty the floor, threw bones at the guests; the tsar handed over the throne to T., his brothers became farm laborers, their wives – servants]: Onegina 2010, No. 22: 246-252; the Finns[a father ordered three sons to each fell his own tree: whichever way it fell, there would be a bride; the trees of the eldest and middle brothers fell toward their estates, the youngest's toward the forest; in the forest there was a hut, with a mouse in it; father: whose bride will bake the best bread; the mice brought a grain each, the lad brought the best bread; whose linen was better (the same, the mice brought a fiber of flax); whose bride was the most beautiful; the mouse harnessed five mice to a cart made of nutshells; a passer-by pushed them off a bridge into the water, a carriage with five black horses emerged from the water, with a beauty in the carriage; they celebrated a wedding]: Konkka 1991: 177-181; the Swedes [two clever princes, the third a fool, Cinderella; a witch doctor: let each one choose a tree in the forest, start cutting down the trunk in a circle, where it falls, look for a bride there; the elder ones' trees fell in the direction where people live, the younger one's fell in a juniper bush; there are many mice in it; the chief mouse orders the groom to be fed; when the brothers are ordered to bring the robes sewn by the brides, the mouse gives the youngest a robe that sparkles like stars; the king and the others are delighted; the same - a shirt; the brides must be brought; the mouse orders that her heads and the other mice's heads be cut off and thrown into the juniper bush; there was a crash, the young man lost consciousness, and when he came to, the princess and generals were nearby, a city instead of a tree; the king thinks that the emperor has granted his favor; a wedding; Cinderella inherited her father's throne]: Stier 1971, no. 35: 141-149; Norwegians [to get married, three brothers must bring certain items from their brides; the youngest brings the best, even though his bride is a rat, a frog, or a little elf; [after the wedding the bride turns into a beautiful girl]: Hodne 1984, no. 402: 93-94; Western Sami [three princes set out into the world; the father orders arrows to be shot: wherever the arrow falls, there to look for the bride; the youngest goes to look for an arrow, comes to a stream where there are trees; nearby is a peat house, in the house is a wooden vessel and in it a spoon, in the spoon is a mouse; offers to take her as a wife, she will take care of everything, do everything and clean up; the young man agreed; in the morning the mouse turned into a girl; says that she is a princess; brought her father, warriors, courtiers; the father is the king of the underworld; he invited the young man to get into his cart in order to immediately get to the young man's father; by this time the two older brothers have already returned with the girls; they are less beautiful than the mouse wife, and it is clear from them that they have worked for a long time; the king orders the youngest son's wife to wash the dishes - she does it instantly; then he orders everyone to spin silk threads, weave and sew dresses; the wife of the youngest son does everything immediately; the king calls the wife of the youngest son better; three weddings are celebrated, the youngest son and his wife leave for the underworld; when enemies attacked his father's kingdom, the husband of the mouse wife with a hundred warriors defeated them]: Kohl-Larsen 1982, no. 8: 70-74.