J51a2. A severed finger instead of a chicken bone. .15.16.27.31.

The girl must penetrate an inaccessible place using chicken bones. She loses one or there are not enough bones. By cutting off her finger and using it as she should use bones, the girl achieves her goal.

Spaniards (Burgos), Germans (Schleswig, Brandenburg or Saxony, Pomerania, Austria), Romanians, Lithuanians.

Southern Europe. Spaniards (Burgos) [a father sends first two, then three, then two more sons to fetch water; they do not carry water, but play near a spring; the father curses his sons to become ravens; after this the mother gives birth to a daughter; she grows up; a friend says she had brothers; the parents are forced to confess; the ravens must be sought on the Glass Mountain; a passerby gives a bone that will open the mountain; the girl loses it; she cuts off her finger at the mountain, reveals the mountain to them; ate from each plate, drank from each cup; the ravens return; each says that someone ate and drank from his plate, cup; the last one finds in his cup a ring that the girl dropped; the brothers recognize their mother's ring; ravens: if each of us kisses the key, the curse will be broken; the girl comes out of hiding, kisses, the brothers become people; they all return home]: Marcos et al. 2002, No. 33: 121-123

Western Europe. Germans (Schleswig) [the king got lost while hunting; a little black man offered to lead him out of the forest if he would give up the first person to come out to meet him at home; it was not a dog that came out, but a daughter; in 8 days she was to go to the groom; a white wolf came up, she sat astride him and he ran; exhausted, she asked three times how far it was to the glass mountain; to the will: it is far, and if you ask, I will throw her off; the fourth time he threw her off and disappeared; she came to an old woman, she was cooking a chicken; she advised her to turn to the wind and take all the chicken bones with her; the wind sent her to the sun, the sun to the moon; everyone feeds her soup and tells her to take the bones; the moon says that there is a wedding on the glass mountain now; the girl remembered that this is where she needs to go; she sticks the bones into a steep slope, a staircase is formed; she lost one bone, so she cut off the phalanx of her little finger ; on the mountain a black man, but turned into a handsome prince, celebrates his wedding with another woman; the princess began to sing about everything that had happened to her; the prince heard, remembered everything, sent the other bride away, married the princess; they came to her father; if they did not die, then they are still alive]: Müllenhoff 1845, No. 595: 405-408; Germans (Brandenburg/Saxony - Mark) [a woman has 8 sons and a daughter; she did not have enough to do with her sons and wished that they would be swans for 4 hours and two - people again; the swan sons flew away; the mother died; the sister went to look for her brothers; she came to the mother of the wind; she hides her in a barrel, otherwise her son will come and eat her; she cooked a rooster - it smells; the wind sensed her but did not eat her, advised her to go to the moon, giving her seven-league boots that would come back on their own; the same thing happened to the mother of the moon; he told the sun to go to the glass mountain and gave her rooster bones to climb it; the girl made a ladder out of them; the last crossbar was not enough, she cut off her little finger and it became a crossbar; there was a house at the top with beds with swan feathers; the girl hid in the youngest's bed; her brothers found her; they explained how to disenchant them; she had to weave 8 shirts in 8 months while remaining silent; her brothers arranged a shelter for her in a tree; the king's dogs sensed her; the king ordered her to come down or he would shoot her; he married her; when the king went off to war, his wife gave birth; his mother took the child into the forest and smeared the mother's mouth with blood as if she had eaten the baby; the same thing a second time; the third time the king ordered his wife to be taken into the forest; her servant spared her, brought the liver and heart of the animal; the queen found her children, they were nursed by wild animals; one day the king came there; at that time he was 8 years old, the mother said to her son: here is your father; the brothers acquired human form; the queen mother was torn apart by two oxen]: Kuhn 1843, No. 10: 282-289; Germans (Eastern Pomerania) [a peasant is going to town; the eldest daughter asks him to bring a black dress, the middle one - a shawl, the youngest - a songbook; on the way back the father remembered that he had forgotten the songbook; but it was too late and he did not go back; a white wolf comes towards him; he asks what the peasant is worried about; gives him the book on the condition that he return it tomorrow at 10 am and give him whoever comes out to meet him first; the peasant thought that a dog would come out, but the youngest daughter came out; ; but he sent the wolf the shepherd's daughter instead of his daughter; the wolf carried her off; the girl: in this place my father was grazing cows; the same with the broom maker's daughter (here the father cut twigs); the wolf carried each one back, and having received the peasant's daughter, brought her to the glass mountain; at night he turned into a prince; he sent the girl to the wedding of her eldest sister; he brought her there and gave her a twig: wave it, and a coachman will appear to take her back; and not to tell about her husband; everything went well; then to the middle sister's wedding; here the girl was given a drink and she blabbed; when she was getting ready to go back, the coachman did not appear; an old woman came to her; she cooked a chicken for her: let her keep the bones, with their help she will climb the glass mountain; she also gave a spindle, a reel and a stool; when you climb the mountain, sit down to spin; a woman will come out and start asking for these items; there were not enough bones; the girl cut off her finger, making the last step out of it; having given the items, the girl bought three nights with the woman's husband; but she gives him wine and he falls asleep each time; but the third time the husband quietly poured the wine down his collar; in the morning the White Wolf asks his wife which key is better {the lost and found or the new one}; she answers that the old one; the girl lives with the White Wolf again; the old woman came; the girl says that she would like to see her husband in the guise of a prince during the day; she advises to throw the wolf skin into the fire at night; The wolf finally became a prince and they went to live with his parents - the king and queen]: Stanitzke 1928: 6-11; Germans (Austria) [the king got lost while hunting; a hunter in black clothes showed the way for a promise to give what he would be the first to come out to meet the king; the daughter came out; three days later a white wolf came running, she sat on him, he ran away; three days later the wolf threw her off; she came to the house of the Moon; they ate a chicken, he collected the bones, wrapped them up, told the girl to keep them; the same with the Sun; with the Wind; he brings it to the mountain; you have to throw the bones, climb them like steps; there were not enough bones , the Wind orders to cut off the little finger; at the door is a black hunter, he turned into a rich king, who was the white wolf; a wedding]: Tserf 1992: 211-216.

The Balkans. Romanians [when leaving, the emperor orders his three daughters not to unlock a room; the eldest insists on unlocking it; there is a table and a book in it, in which it is written that the eldest sister will marry the emperor of the east, the middle one - the emperor of the west, and the youngest - a boar; the father returns, royal matchmakers come to the eldest daughters, the boar comes for the youngest; she obeys her father; on the way, the boar rolls in the mud and orders the bride to kiss him; at home in the evening, he turns into a young man; the wife is pregnant; asks an old woman for help; she gives a rope to tie her husband's leg at night; the rope breaks, the husband jumps up, says that if it were not for his wife, the spell would end in three days; she will see him after wearing out three pairs of iron sandals and three iron staffs; comes to the mother of the Moon (the Moon is a woman), who sends him to the mother of the Sun (the Sun is a man); The Sun advises to ask the Wind; the Wind's mother: your husband is in a forest house, like a pile of fallen trees; the wife comes there and, in order to climb up, makes a ladder of bones; one is missing, she cuts off her finger and it becomes the last rung ; the husband flies in as a dove, is frightened, then recognizes his wife, with her child; explains that his father, the emperor, fought with dragons and killed the dragon's cub; the mother of the latter turned the emperor's son into a boar to prevent the predestined marriage]: Kúnos 1901: 222-243.

Baltoscandia. Lithuanians [133 variants; sometimes brothers turn into ravens, sister weaves shirts from nettles; father died, mother was left with four sons, went to borrow peas from a neighbor, slipped on her way back, the peas spilled, mother wished in her heart that her sons would run away as wolves; and so it happened; a woman had a daughter by her second husband; having learned that she had brothers, the sister wove a shirt and a towel for each of them, went to look for her brothers; came to the sun, it told its mother to boil a chicken: let the girl eat it and put the bones in a bag ; the same with the moon; with a star; the star knows that the brothers are in the palace on the bone mountain; to climb up, you have to take out a bone and put it under your feet; one bone was missing, the girl bit off her little finger ; in the palace she put a shirt and a towel on each of the four beds; 4 wolves ran in, threw off their skins; seeing the sister, they got angry: if she had not come, the spell would have soon worn off; now let her sit in silence in the forest for three years (9 years); the king's men noticed her on a tree; not getting an answer from the girl, the king ordered her to be burned; at the last moment her four brothers galloped in, returned with their sister to their mother]: Kerbelite 2014, No. 111: 273-278.