J32a1. Night pests - horses. .15.16.27.-.29.31.32.

But at night someone tramples the field, steals hay, etc. The hero learns that this is done by horses.

Catalans, Germans (East Prussia, Alsace), Northern India (Hindi), Agaria, Moldovans, Bulgarians, Slovaks, Lusatians, Ukrainians (Transcarpathia), Belarusians, Russians (Arkhangelsk {Pinega}, Pskov, Moscow, Voronezh), Abazins, Ossetians, Laks, Armenians, Turks, Norwegians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Chuvash, Mari, Komi.

Southern Europe. Catalans (including Mallorca) [three brothers take turns guarding a field; the eldest fall asleep, the youngest catches a horse that is ruining the crops; it asks to be let go, promises to help; the same with two more horses; the three brothers set out on a journey; while spending the night in the forest, the youngest overhears a conversation between three giants; the king will give his daughter to the one who defeats him three times; thanks to the help of the horses, the youngest brother wins three times and receives the princess]: Camarena, Chevalier 1995, no. 530: 117.

Western Europe. Germans (East Prussia) [a father has two clever sons and the younger, Hans, a fool; three stallions tread the wheat at night; the father sends his sons out to guard the field in turns; the eldest meets an old man, refuses to speak to him, falls asleep in the field; the same with the middle brother; G. is kind to the old man, shares his food with him, and the bread turns into delicacies; the old man gives him a handkerchief that makes wishes come true; wish for the horses to stop, for a stable to appear for them, and for you - a house; each horse has a set of clothes for Hans: like the moon, like the stars, like the sun; Hans tells his brothers that he has caught the horses, they laugh, and then see the horses in the stable; suitors are sought for three princesses; G. and his brothers ride there on the horses that Hans caught, but they do not take him; he rides unrecognized in clothes that are like the moon; [grabs the princess and brings her to the house he received thanks to the wishing handkerchief; sits down by the stove himself; the same with the other two princesses (dressed like the stars; like the sun); each of the brothers marries a princess; they live well, for everything arises according to Hans's wish]: Lemke 1887, no. 6: 58-52; Germans (Alsace) [someone steals hay, the father asks his three sons to guard him; the elders are afraid, all three times the youngest, Jean the Fool, goes; he catches a bay, a black, and a white horse; the king will give the golden nut and his daughter to the best rider; Jean wins each time in the guise of a prince; the princess is upset that the groom then disappears each time; she scratches him behind the ear, goes around all the men, recognizes Jean; he marries, but continues to sleep in the ashes; incognito defeats enemies, is wounded in the leg, his wife sees the wound, heals Jean, he remains a prince]: Lefftz 2006, no. 3: 159-165.

South Asia. North India (translated from Hindi ) [Indra's horses trample the royal garden at night; three princes guard it in turns; the youngest sprinkles salt on a cut, does not fall asleep, catches the horse, which gives him a hair to summon a magic horse of any color; the elder brothers want to leave, return on the condition that the youngest will become a Penny Servant (PS); the princess will marry the one who jumps on a horse to the roof of the palace, hits her with a ball; PS jumps on horses of seven colors seven times, the last time allows the princess to scratch him with a sword; PS appears in the guise of a lousy beggar, but receives the princess; the princess's seven brothers cannot get game, PS easily gets it, leaves wives for the brothers, cutting off the tail, claw, etc. of each animal; the next time he brands their heads with a hot coin for giving them water; shows claws etc. to the king, says that his sons robbed him and for this they were branded; the king gave GS half his kingdom]: Zograf 1962: 383-397; agaria (God-dhuka Lohar, central Chhattisgarh, Raipur district) [at night wild boars ravage the raja's field; he successively sends seven sons to guard; each falls asleep, only the youngest hurts his fingers, rubs pepper, catches one of Bhagavan's seven horses, which orders it to be released, to come when needed; the raja drives away the elder sons, but the youngest goes with them, they make him their servant; the raja promises a daughter to the one who can gallop across the palace on a horse; the youngest is sent to water the horses, but hires a woman for this, and he himself gallops on Bhagavan's horse; the raja orders all the men to be brought; the youth appears in the guise of a beggar, but the princess chooses him three times; the brothers push him into a well, cover him with earth, take the princess; Bhagavan's seven horses dig up the well; the raja executes the six brothers, arranges a lavish wedding for his daughter]: Elwin 1944, No. V.2: 170-171;

The Balkans. Moldovans : Botezatu 1981 [someone's horses are trampling millet; a father sends his sons to keep watch; the eldest and middle ones fall asleep; the youngest, Teleesh, grabs one of the horses; he orders three hairs from his mane to be taken from him; the king will give his youngest daughter in marriage to the one who gallops up the narrow stairs to her balcony and takes off the ring; T. first rides a white horse, his brothers overtake him and beat him; then he calls his horse Gaitan, who orders it to go in one ear and out the other, T. turns into a dressed-up groom; G. asks: should he ride like the wind or like a thought? T.: at a normal pace; seeing the rider, the brothers politely ask where he is from; T.: from Posechin; he almost climbed to the balcony, but returned; the next day the same (T. orders the horse to lead him like the wind; he answers the brothers that he is from Kulakov); On the third day: as a thought; from Knutovsk; the princess gave T. a ring, touched his hair with her hand, it turned golden; the tsar ordered to check all the young men; when the kushma was pulled off T.'s head, everyone saw golden hair; the tsar moved his daughter and T. to a hut outside his possessions; but G. created a palace for them; a war began, T. mounted a 105-year-old donkey, got stuck in the mud, tore the skin off the donkey, the tsar passing by saw this; then he called G., defeated the enemies; the same a second time (mounted a nag, was slightly wounded, the tsar bandaged his hand); the queen went into her daughter's hut, saw the tsar's scarf on her son-in-law; the tsar went to look and went blind; the lioness's milk will cure him; G. brought him to the sleeping lioness, T. milked her milk; G. turned T. into an old man, he met his sons-in-law, said that in his youth he went for milk and was only now returning; gave milk (it was cow's) to his sons-in-law for permission to put a brand on their backs; the milk from the sons-in-law did not help, but the milk brought by the youngest daughter restored her sight; everyone gathered, T. told everything, ordered the sons-in-law to show the brands, on them was the name "T."; the tsar gave him the throne]: 157-169; Moldavian Tales 1968: 222-231 [the herd eats the peasant's millet; the eldest and middle sons fall asleep, the youngest Vasile the Fool puts nettles and blackthorns nearby, does not fall asleep, catches a bay, black, and dun horse; the tsar will give the princess to the one who jumps to her window in the high tower and changes the ring on her finger; V. climbs into the ear of the bay (next time black, etc.) horse, comes out as a hero and with a weapon; only the bay horse jumped; the king gives his daughter to V., settles her in a hut; the enemy attacked, V. smashes the enemies, the king bandaged his wounded hand, at the feast he sees his handkerchief at V.; orders to build a crystal palace and a bridge, next to trees with golden fruits and birds; the horses do everything, turn the king into a pig]; Bulgarians[at night a horse tramples a peasant's field (vineyard, meadow); the older sons fall asleep, the youngest (the fool, "Cinderella") catches the magic horse; it gives him hairs from its mane to summon it; or before his death a father orders his three sons to guard his grave for three nights; only the youngest son fulfills the request and gains three magic horses; the tsar will give his daughter to the one who rides a horse to the balcony and takes the princess's ring from her finger (or jumps over a hole on a horse; wins a race); the young man, unrecognized by his brothers, completes the task]: Daskalova-Perkovska 1994, no. 530: 194-195.

Central Europe. Slovaks [someone is treading oats; two older brothers are guarding, drinking wine, falling asleep; the younger one eats apples, tames a horse, the latter gives him a halter, promises to help; this happens three times; the king promises a house to the one who will pluck from the sky a golden ring on a golden cord, an apple, a handkerchief; the younger brother wins three times on a copper, silver, and golden horse; the king is looking for a winner, the winner is handsome, receives a princess]: Bogatyrev 1955: 117-122 (=Gorbov 1949: 119-124; similar variant in Gašparíková 1993, no. 154: 104-105); Slovaks {a brief retelling of a fairy tale from Dob., III, p. 14} [when a fisherman cast his net, a bird flew out of the water and cried: You will find it if you do not forget; he pulled out three large eggs, put them on the stove at home, his wife wanted to cook them, but the fisherman did not allow it; he cast the net three more times, each time he pulled out three eggs; 12 boys hatched from the eggs; someone steals hay; these are 12 horses, the youngest catches them]: Leskien, Brugman 1882: 528; Lusatians [at night someone eats grass in the meadow; the eldest and middle brothers guard, fall asleep; the youngest Hans brought a bag of thorns, as soon as he fell asleep, he fell on the thorns and woke up; [caught a horse that came to graze in the meadow]: Veckenstedt 1880, No. 4.1: 57; Ukrainians (Transcarpathia) [the tsar has a meadow with silky grass; someone is grazing on it; the tsar promises his daughter to anyone he finds out about; three sons of a common man undertake to guard it; the middle and youngest did not keep an eye on it; the youngest, Ivan the Fool, feeds a mouse; she says that these are silver, gold, and diamond horses; the bridle must be removed from each one and not given back; I. hid the bridles in a hollow, did not tell anyone about it; the grass is untouched; the tsar does not want to give his daughter to I.; he will give it to the one who gallops to the third tier {of the tower}; each of the horses orders that the harness and sabre (silver, gold, diamond) be removed from its left ear; the princess gives I. a handkerchief, then a ring, then hits I. on the forehead with the royal signet; he hides the gifts in the ashes, pulls a stocking over his forehead, but he is found; the young couple are settled in a goose barn; enemies attack, the unrecognized I. defeats them; he answers the king that he is from Libováros (in Hungarian: goose-town); this three times; the king bandaged the knight's wounded finger; recognized his handkerchief; gave I. the crown]: P. Lintur in Pankejev 1992: 112-122; Belarusians[a childless grandfather has a dream: to collect bird eggs and hatch them; he collected 31, the woman hatched them, boys were born; they were all baptized, the last one didn’t have a name, they called him Mal-Malyshok; the sons went to mow, M. broke an oak tree, mows with it; every night one haystack disappears; ten brothers keep watch, they don’t notice anyone; M. orders an iron club to be forged, he tosses it up, puts his forehead under it, it splits; the one that weighs 40 poods didn’t split; M. beats a mare with a club, she gives him the foals, M. takes the weakest one for himself; the brothers left; after the death of their parents, M. caught up with them; the first Baba Yaga has 29 daughters, she sends them to her sister, she has 30, she sends them to another, she has 31; The horse tells M. that at night the brothers should quietly put the brides' hats on and tie their scarves on themselves; Baba Yaga cut off her daughters' heads with a self-cutting sword; Baba Yaga catches up on a goat, M. kills him; the brothers hired themselves out to the tsar, M. is the eldest, the brothers persuade the tsar to order M. to bring Baba Yaga's self-cutting sword; M. carried away; the brothers: to get the self-cutting gusli; M. carried away; the brothers: M. can find out why the sun stood in one place for three hours; M. rides to the sun; the fish-whale asks to find out why he is lying on the shore; M. comes to the Moon, who first hides him from his brother-Sun, then M. revealed himself; the Sun: was lost in looking at the maiden-Bagpipes when she was sailing in a golden boat; let the whale spit out 40 swallowed ships; the tsar orders to get the maiden-Bagpipe; M. offered V. wine, she got drunk, he carried her off; V. orders to get the chest with her clothes from the bottom of the sea; M. sends a self-cutting sword to chop fish, the fish-whale asks not to do this, gets the chest; V.: now the keys to the chest from the bottom of the sea; the last crayfish brought the keys; V. to get married, build a church of gold and silver bricks and the same bridge; and so that the resin would boil in the cauldron; V. did everything herself, the tsar fell into the resin, M. became the tsar, married V.]: Vasilenok et al. 1958: 94-109; Russian(Arkhangelskaya: Pinega) [someone is trampling a wheat field; the eldest prince went to guard, fell asleep; the same with the middle one; the youngest Ivan grabbed the winged Sivka-Burka; he carried him for a long time, but could not throw him off; the tsar sent I. to find out why “the sun does not roll into their kingdom”; on the way I. sees two women pouring water from one well to another; they ask to find out how long they will have to do this; two girls are looking out of the window into the window (ditto); a man is holding a fiery table on the bridge (ditto); I. came to the mother of the Sun; she hides him; the Sun came, smelled a man, his mother denies everything; at night she pretends that she dreamed of what I. saw on the way; the Sun answers: the women sold sour milk and added water, the punishment is eternal; the girls were spreading gossip (ditto); the man gave money on interest (ditto); in order for the sun to roll into that kingdom, it is necessary to get such and such a princess; Ivan returns; he told the peasant about his fate only after crossing the bridge, otherwise he would not let him through; he called Sivko-Burko home; he has flames coming out of his ears, smoke coming out of his nostrils; he tells Ivan to first catch the Firebird (F.); he teaches him to prepare troughs with millet and hide; the first time Ivan missed F., the second time he caught F.; SB died; F. teaches him to catch the princess when she comes out with the maids and she blinds them with her radiance; the crows flew in to peck F.; I. caught one chick, told the raven to bring living and dead water; it brought it, I. revived F.; I. returned home, it became sunny in his kingdom; the older brothers are already married, the king tells I. to also find a wife; the captured princess turned into a frog; the tsar orders the daughters-in-law to sew a shirt each; the frog cut the fabric, threw it out the window, and brought the shirt back in the morning; the brothers' wives cut it too, but only scraps remained; bake a loaf of bread (the frog poured the dough out the window; the same); show off who is prettier; the frog became a beauty in a golden carriage; at the feast, she hides the bones in her sleeve; when she dances and throws them out, cities and seas appear; when the older daughters-in-law throw the bones out, they fly into the tsar's face]: Simina 1975, no. 13:; Russians (Pskovskaya) [two smart brothers, and Ivan is a fool; someone got into the habit of eating oats; the smart ones go to keep watch, but overslept; I. grabbed Sivchik-Burchik; let him go for his promise to serve; the tsar seated his daughter on the second floor, and whoever takes the ring from her hand while galloping will marry her; I. got it on Sivchik-Burchik; came to the tsar, showed the ring, became Ivan Tsarevich]: Ploshchuk 2004, No. 37: 108-109 (approximately the same No. 38: 109-112); Russian (Moscow) [someone tramples wheat; the eldest son guards, falls asleep; the same is the middle one; the youngest fool grabbed the wood goblin and began to beat him; he bought him off with gold, silver and copper and gave him a pipe; if you play, the pigs dance; the princess bought one piglet, for which she showed herself up to the knee; the next time she bought a pig and two piglets, stripped naked; the tsar will give her to the one who shows her signs; fool: golden hair under the right shoulder, silver under the left, a golden star on the back; wedding]: Vedernikova, Samodelova 1998, No. 59: 162-164; Russian(Voronezh) [An old man kills a bird with 21 eggs while hunting. An old woman orders him to hatch them. After 21 weeks, 20 sons hatch, and a week later the last son, Ivan the Chatterbox, appears. The old man grows rich, notices that someone is stealing from the stacks, sends his sons to guard at night, the older brothers fall asleep and do not see the thief, and on the last night it is Ivan's turn. He prepares a hammer and an iron bit. Ivan does not sleep and catches a mare and her 21 foals (hits them between the ears with the hammer). The father praises Ivan, takes the mare, the brothers sort out the foals, and Ivan gets the weakest. The father and his sons go hunting. Four times Ivan lets the foal out into the field to gain strength (it bends first under his hand, then under his foot, under a seated rider). Ivan catches up with his brothers, on the third day he sees fire, finds a golden feather, despite the horse's warnings, takes it with him. The father orders all the horses to be cleaned, Ivan waves the feather - his horse becomes golden. The father praises Ivan, shames the other brothers. The brothers are jealous and tell their father that Ivan boasts of catching a playful cat, a dancing goose and a cymbal-playing fox, the father sends his youngest son to get the animals. With the help of the horse, he does everything. The brothers tell their father that Ivan can get a self-playing gusli. Ivan ends up with Baba Yaga, she gives him a ball of yarn, he leads her to Yaga's middle sister, the mother of the Serpent Gorynych, who keeps the gusli. The mother feeds her son, sits him down to play cards with Ivan, the players agree that the winner will eat the loser. Ivan wins in two days, asks to give him the gusli, the Serpent gives it, rejoices that he remains alive, not eaten. The father again, on the slander of the elder sons, orders Ivan to get Marya the princess. He sails on a ship, lures the princess to him by playing the gusli (she has never heard of it), and brings her to the father. The father then gives all the orders to his son at the request of the bride, demands to bring her box. Ivan distracts the palace guards, releasing his golden horse, gets the box and brings it. He gets 12 mares on the orders of his father: he wraps his horse in twine and pours resin on it - it drives the horses out of the sea, its protection is torn by the horses' teeth. On the orders of his father, he milks the mares, boils their milk and jumps into it after the agreed signal from the horse. Ivan becomes a handsome man. Marya demands that her father also bathe, but he dies in the boiling milk. Ivan marries Marya]: Baryshnikova 2007, No. 17: 97-105.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Abaza [every year someone steals the millet harvest from Ishak's field; the eldest son Hadjibekir goes to guard it, falls asleep; the same with the middle son Mhamat; the youngest Solman lassoed the stallion - the leader of the herd; he gives three horses for himself, hairs, if burned, he will come to the rescue; S.'s horses are bought for a lot of money; the prince calls him to him, S. calls his magic horse; on the way, despite the horse's warning, he picks up an eagle's feather; the prince likes S.; an envious adviser suggests that S. give him the feather; then, to 1) bring that eagle; the horse orders to dig a hole, pour grain, all the birds fly in, S. catches the eagle; 2) the golden fat tail of a ram living in the river; the horse teaches how to lure the ram out with salt, cut off the tip of the fat tail; 3) a bitch's puppy who gave birth between two seas; the horse teaches him to throw pieces of cloth to the bushes, saying that they are for trousers and a shirt, how to cross a bridge through the bushes, and pick up the puppy; 4) the daughter of the Sun and the Moon, living in the belly of a whale; she comes out of the whale to look at the goods brought by S., and he brings her to the prince; 5) the chest of the daughter of the Sun and the Moon; S. climbs into the whale's mouth, and when he returns a day later, he brings out the chest; 6) the bride sets a condition for bringing her a gold ring from her father, the Sun, and mother, the Moon; the horse advises what to do; a fish-bridge over the sea; he agrees to cross it if S. asks how much longer she will have to hang like that as a bridge; Summer and Winter are fighting, and allow S. to pass between them if S. asks how much longer they will have to fight; the Moon first hides S., then shows her to her husband; They say that Summer and Winter will fight forever, the fish will always hang as a bridge; S. conveys the answers to them, passing between Summer and Winter, across the fish-bridge; the bride tells the groom to bathe in boiling milk; the prince tells S. to bathe, the bride gives him her ring, he comes out of the cauldron unharmed; the prince is boiled; S. marries the daughter of the Sun and the Moon, becomes a prince]: Tugov 1985, No. 47: 131-138; Ossetians [someone's horse is poisoning millet; three brothers decide to take turns watching; the elders are sleeping, the youngest Funuktz ("Cinderella") caught the horse, it gave him a bridle to call it when needed; the Aldar's daughter is in the tower; he will give her to the one who snatches the ring from her hands; the horse tells F. to pull the saddle out of one of his ears and the clothes out of the other; F. flew past the tower twice; the third time he tore off the ring; the Aldar called the men to identify the groom; F. came in beggarly clothes, and covered the ring with a rag; but the Aldar's daughter noticed the ring and gave the cup to F.; F. showed up at the wedding in his heroic guise]: Dzagurov 1973, No. 36: 108-113; varnishes[at night a horse tramples a peasant's field; the eldest and middle sons are asleep, the youngest sprinkles salt into a cut on his little finger, tries to grab the rider, who disappears, leaving a golden shoe behind; goes to look for a pair; an old woman tells that in the city at night someone kills passers-by; a young man sees a creature with a whip that hits a grave, a dead man comes out, it hits again, the dead man returns to the grave; the young man takes away the whip; in another city people are naked, because all ships with goods sink at night; the young man sees a hand reaching out of the water, grabs, tears off a gold ring; goes down to the palace at the bottom of the sea, finds a pair for the shoe in a chest; three doves fly in, turn into girls; they are the daughters of the sea king, the shoe, the whip, the ring belong to them; the young man takes one as a wife, brings the other two to his brothers; wedding]: Khalilov 1965, No. 43: 101-104; Armenians [an old man has three sons, the youngest, Jahannes, is a fool and a lazybones; someone is poisoning the crops; the eldest and middle sons are guarding, falling asleep; the youngest cut his finger, poured salt; a horse with fiery wings descended from the sky, J. threw a bridle on it, tamed it; the horse promised to be a servant; to summon it, you have to whistle three times and call; the brothers did not believe about the horse; the king will give his daughter to the one who can jump on horseback to her balcony on the tower; twice J.'s horse almost jumped there, on the third day J. took the ring off the princess's finger; at home he wrapped his hand in a rag, otherwise the ring shines with fire; everyone gathered at the princess's; she untied the dirty rag, the ring shone; J. was washed, dressed, married to the princess]: Dirr 1920, No. 30: 142-147; Turks [a horse tramples a peasant's field; the elder brother did not notice anything, the younger one watches carefully; three times with a break of a year meets the horse, receiving from him increasingly luxurious clothing; the princess will be given to the one who climbs to her on the glass mountain; she must put a ring on his finger; the hero succeeds in this twice; he bandages the finger with the ring with a rag; the king calls all the men, the hero is recognized]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 73: 82.

Baltoscandia. Norwegians [on Midsummer Night someone eats grass in a meadow; the eldest and middle sons keep watch, hear a crash and run home; the youngest sees a horse, harness, copper armor, catches and hides the horse and everything else; a year later the same thing - silver armor, a year later - gold; the king will give his daughter in marriage to the one who jumps on a glass hill and takes a golden apple from the princess's hands; an unknown rider does this three times; the king orders all the men to be gathered so that the owner of the apples can be found; it turns out to be the youngest son, receives the princess and half the kingdom]: Dasent 1970: 92-103; Lithuanians : Kerbelyte 2014, No. 74 [someone poisons the oats of three brothers; two smart men keep watch, they did not notice anything; the fool catches a horse every night; these are the horses of the sun, moon, and star; brothers do not take a fool to a wedding; he climbed into the ear of the horse of the sun, appeared as a handsome man, gave the bride a handkerchief of darkness to carry, took her for himself; the same with the horses of the moon and stars; gave the brothers a horse and a girl each], 154 [after the death of their father, the 7 sons drank away the estate, hired themselves out as farm laborers; someone steals the mown hay; only the youngest Jonas manages to catch a mare with seven stallions; J. got the most nondescript; they decide to woo the 7 daughters of the Bone Woman, who is on the island; the little horse teaches J. to wave a handkerchief, the waters parted; orders to exchange blankets with the girls at night; the saber cuts off their heads; the little horse orders to run; the sea parted and closed behind, the Bone Woman cannot cross; the little horse does not allow him to pick up a feather, J. picked it up; the brothers, out of envy, tell the king that 1) J. can also get a bird; the bird is with the Bone Woman; J. became a cat, the Bone Woman brought him into the house, he took away the cage with the bird; 2) a sabre that chops itself and will defeat attacking enemies; J. became a bird, the Bone Woman brought it into the house, she took away the sabre; 3) a mermaid (while she was having a ball, the moon and sun were not visible for three days); the little horse teaches how to set a table with wine on the shore, the maiden came out of the water, got drunk, fell; the maiden to the king: I'll come out when you become a handsome man, you need to bathe in boiling milk; J. jumped and became a handsome man, the king dissolved in milk; J. married a virgin, became king]: 164-167, 401-408; Latvians[the king loses a haystack every night; he orders his three sons to guard the meadow; the eldest and the middle one fall asleep; the youngest fool crawls to sleep under the haystack; a white mare with two foals wakes him up, he grabs the reins and tames the mare; she orders him to give her to his eldest brother, the eldest foal to the middle one, and take the youngest for himself; the eldest sold their horses, and the youngest takes care of his own; the witch gives the queen poison: if you do not kill the fool, he will destroy you; the foal warns its owner twice; the witch orders the foal to be slaughtered; it advises the youth to ask permission to take a last ride; the foal soared into the sky and landed in another kingdom; orders him to dress in a fur coat with the wool outside and answer "I don't know" to everything; the king gave the fool to the gardener; the young man shakes the bridle, any work is immediately done; tied the forest with a rope and drags it all behind him; the king tells his three daughters to choose grooms; the youngest does not know whom, the king gave her in marriage to a fool; but they live well; the devil demands people to be eaten, it is the king's daughters' turn; the young man calls the horse each time, climbs into the ear, comes out in a luxurious outfit, kills the devils (they have 3, 9, 12 heads; the sword, the horse are silver, gold, diamond); each time then climbs back into the horse's ear, regains his former appearance; the last time, when the giant with 12 heads demands the youngest princess, the horse warns that 12 blacksmiths will come out with him; you must first kill the blacksmiths, because if they manage to hit the anvil, 12 more will come out, etc.; the young man managed to kill the blacksmiths, but the giant drove him into the ground up to his waist twice, and the horse pulled him out twice; the young man cut off the giant's leg, and then his head; the wife bandaged the wound with a handkerchief; in the evening she sees her foolish husband's handkerchief; the fool became a favorite son-in-law, inherited the throne]: Alksnite et al. 1958: 135-142.

Volga - Perm. Chuvash [someone tramples wheat, the father tells his sons to guard it; the eldest and middle sons fall asleep, the youngest Ivan catches a horse; sells it to the tsar for 3 cartloads of gold; picks up a golden feather; is hired by the tsar as a groom; cleans the horse with a golden feather, it becomes more beautiful; another groom tells the tsar: Ivan boasts of getting the golden bird itself; the horse advises to put some wheat and a barrel of wine under the bird, it gets drunk, Ivan brings it; the groom: Ivan boasts of getting the daughter of a water sprite; the horse orders to make a ship that can move on water and on land; the water sprite's daughter boards the ship, he carries her away; the water sprite's daughter refuses to leave without a dowry; Ivan returns to the water sprite, he turns into a bull, Ivan defeats him, brings him, and his entire herd follows him; the water-man's daughter orders to bathe in boiling milk; I. takes 3 hairs from the horse's tail, is unharmed; the tsar is boiled; I. became the tsar, married the water-man's daughter]: Chuvash fairy tales 1937: 280-283; Mari : Aktsorin; 1995 (mountain) [a horse tramples wheat; the eldest and middle brothers fall asleep, the youngest catches the horse, which promises to come when called; the tsar will give his daughter in marriage to the one who can jump on the horse to the third floor, where the daughter will be sitting; the youngest brother climbs into one ear of the horse each time, climbs out the other, becomes a handsome man, the third time he jumps, receives a ring, a handkerchief, a note from the tsar with a promise to give his daughter in marriage to him; in the morning the princess looks for her betrothed among those gathered; she cries when she learns that the beggar has the ring; he, with the help of a horse, turns into a handsome man, marries, and becomes king]: 62-83; Chetkarev 1941, No. 10 (meadow) [a father asks three sons to find out who is eating wheat in the field; the eldest and middle ones go to their mistresses, the youngest Ivan catches two horses in succession, then the little humpbacked horse, and puts it in a stall; the brothers stole two horses to sell at the market; Ivan caught up with the little humpbacked horse, and on the way picked up a feather from the firebird; the little humpbacked horse orders the horses to be sold to his tsar; they do not let the grooms near, and the tsar is forced to take Ivan as a groom; the other grooms, seeing the feather, persuade the tsar to send Ivan for the firebird; the little horse takes him to the apple tree where the firebird is, and Ivan brings it; to bring the princess as the tsar's wife; the little humpbacked horse helps to seize her and bring her; the bride demands that the king get the wedding crown from her father's church; he brings it; the princess demands that he bring the ring she threw into the lake; the hunchback orders the lake to be beaten with chains, the king of fish sends for a ruff, who brings the ring; the princess promises to marry the king if he becomes handsome; one must jump into boiling water, then into boiling milk, then into cold water; the hunchback brings grass to cool the boiling water, I. emerges handsome; the king is boiled; I. married the princess, became king]: 169-173; Komi- Permians [someone is poisoning the wheat; three older brothers go to guard, fall asleep; the fourth Ivan catches a white horse, which promises to help him; the tsar will give his daughter to the one who, while riding a horse, will rip off a golden ring from the cross on the chapel; Ivan calls the horse, which orders it to go in one ear and out the other, becomes handsome, rips off the ring; the tsar orders everyone to gather; Ivan shows the ring; the tsar gives him good clothes, marries him to his daughter]: Ariste 1978, no. 3: 86-88.