K35a6. Luminous feather. .16.17.28.29.31.32.

The character illuminates the room with a light-emitting object he has found (usually a feather).

Bretons, French (Upper Brittany), Palestinians, Slovaks, Poles, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Danes, Bashkirs.

Western Europe. Bretons [the son of the French king got lost while hunting, spent the night with a charcoal burner, whose wife had just given birth; left a letter that the boy Louis (Petit-Louis), when he grows up, must bring him - he will be accepted into the palace; sending his son away, the father tells him not to have anything to do with the hunchback, the lame, the leper; L. left the first two; against the advice of the horse, picked up a shining feather ; when he bent down to the spring, the leper pushed him off, took the horse and the letter, was accepted into the palace; L. got hired there as a groom, found his horse; the leper notices the light spreading from the feather ; tells the king that L. boasted that he could get a princess with golden hair; along the way, various animals join L.; with their help he carries out the princess's tasks; she, having arrived to the king, demands that her silver castle be delivered to her; the keys to it threw into the sea; the king of fishes gets them; the princess demands that the groom become young, for this she needs living and dead water; the horse teaches L. how to make the raven bring them; the princess sprinkled the king with dead water and married L.; (further break, living water does not appear)]: Luzel in Cosquin 1887: 294-295; the French (Upper Brittany) [Jean's mother is ill; a big man (this is the devil) tells his father to give his wife a drink of broth made from the flesh of a seven-year-old child; Jean runs to his godmother; she takes him back to his parents, he sees his little sister in the cauldron; he runs into the forest, meets a giant (this is the devil again) who has a horse the size of a dog and a doe; he takes Jean to his underground castle; tells him to watch the fire under the cauldron; in the cauldron are sinners, including Jean's godmother, she orders not to drown while the devil is away; the little horse tells Jean that he himself will turn into the same little horse; the little horse, following the doe, carries Jean away, the devil pursues; they throw down the currycomb (river), the comb (grate), reach the holy land; in the forest, Jean, contrary to the horse's prohibition, picks up something shining ; the horse orders to hire himself out to work in the castle as a groom, promises to appear when called; the feather illuminates the stable , the servants tell the king that Jean can bring the bird itself; on horseback and with a doe, he arrives at the source, orders to cut off his head, throw it into the water, the bird flies in to peck at the carrion, Jean grabs it, the horse is revived; the servants persuade the king to order Jean to bring the princess; he takes her on a ship, she throws a ring into the sea; she will marry only if the ring is returned; the horse orders his head to be cut off and thrown into the sea, the fishes swim up, he gets the ring that he swallowed, is revived; the princess orders the king to kill Jean, revives his feather; now orders Jean to kill the king, does not revive him, marries Jean; the horse and the doe turn into a prince and princess, get married; (ending)]: Sébillot 1894, no. 32: 275-277.

Western Asia. Palestinians [the king's unloved wife has one son, the young and beloved one has two; the young son comes to his father and asks him to give him the kingdom in his lifetime; the king: first you must work as hard and endure as many hardships as I; the same with his brother; Ballan is the son of an unloved wife, the king beats him, but the third time the courtiers advised him to tell him the same thing as his half-brothers; B.'s mother gave him a horse and he set out on a journey; a sparkling feather on the road ; the horse: if you pick it up, you will regret it, and if you don't pick it up, you will regret it; B. picked it up, arrived in the city, stopped at the caravanserai; the local king and the vizier went out to check if all the lights were out, for such was the king's order; a light was visible in the caravanserai ; the vizier came there in the morning; the young man had to give up the feather; The vizier advised the king to send B. for the bird itself; the horse: that's easy: let them give a cage of gold and silver from the vizier's treasury; the horse flew to where the bird lived; at dawn she flew to the cage, said that one like this was for her, and entered it; B. brought the cage with the bird; the vizier: let B. get the owner of the bird; the horse: let them give gold and silver from the vizier's treasury to build a large ship; B. brought the ship to the city where the princess lived; she boarded the ship to look at it, B. steered the ship away from the shore; she threw her ring into the sea; when they arrived, she told the king that she would marry the one who got the ring; the horse: asked for a ship with flour, it should be poured into the sea where the princess threw the ring; the fish ate their fill and the fish leader asked how to thank them for such a meal; B.: get the ring; they got it; the vizier: let him get the princess's horse; horse: let the vizier give him a bridle of gold and silver; that horse is in the cave, he would have killed B.'s horse, but he will let himself be bridled with that bridle and ride on it; the princess cut the horse into pieces and demanded that he be made whole again and brought to life; horse: let the vizier give him a gold and silver bucket; they flew to the sea of ​​living water; while getting the water, the horse lost consciousness, but the splashes fell on his muzzle and he came to life; B. was supposed to sprinkle him, but forgot; the horse ordered that some of the water be poured into bottles and hidden; princess: now let B. be burned at the stake; horse: rub yourself with living water and demand that they add wood; king: who are you? it turned out that the king was B.'s father's brother; he ordered that the vizier be thrown into the fire; they rode to B.'s father and he handed over the kingdom to him]: Muhawi, Kanaana 1989, no. 5: 69-82.

Central Europe. Slovaks : Dobšinský 1970, no. 8 [a peasant has 12 sons, 11 of whom despise the youngest, Janko; they hire themselves out to the king, a year later each receives an ox; the next time a cow; then a horse; J. is afraid to choose the strong horse; the thin horse advises him to choose it; the brothers gallop away; the horse: shall we gallop like the sun or like the wind? J.: so as not to get hurt; a copper horse and a copper rider, J. arrives at the inn before his brothers, they say that they have seen a copper horseman; the next time – silver; gold; the brothers ask their father to marry them; he sees an old witch who ploughs with 6 horses; she says that she has 12 daughters; he beats the horses with a whip, they turn into 12 girls; Before the wedding, the little horse teaches Ya: not to sit in the middle, to say that he is the youngest, must watch the horses; not to drink wine, not to eat soup, roast, pour out unnoticed; the wine will become a piece of glass, the soup - a brush, the roast - a comb, hide them under clothes; let the brothers lie down at night in the place of the witch's daughters, and they in the place of the brothers; at night the witch cut off the heads of her daughters, thinking that she was killing the young men; the little horse tells him to gallop away, not to pick up anything along the way; the witch throws a golden horseshoe, Ya asks whether to pick it up; the little horse: if you pick it up, it will be bad, if you don't pick it up, even worse; Ya picked it up; the little horse tells him to throw away the comb (a mountain covered with dense forest); then the same: the witch throws a golden feather, Ya - a brush (thorny thickets); golden hair - glass (the sea, the witch stops the chase); made peace with his brothers, the little horse orders to hire himself out to serve the king; the other grooms (in some versions these are J.'s brothers) light candles, but J. does not; the grooms spied J. lighting the stable with the witch's golden horseshoe; the king demands the horse whose horseshoe; they galloped up to the witch and while she was sleeping, J. stole the keys from under her pillow, took the horse away, hid the sword; he shouted about this to the witch, she chased, but could not cross the sea; the grooms reported that it was light in J.'s stable again, the light from a feather ; the king demands the bird; J. took the keys from the sleeping witch's belt, broke her sword, and carried off the cage with the duck laying golden eggs; the third time - a golden hair, the king demands the girl; the sleeping witch holds the keys in her teeth, J. carefully took them out, broke the witch's sword, unlocked the third room, and took the golden girl; from across the sea he shouted to the witch that he would never return to her; she turned into resin out of anger; the girl wants only J., the king is going to execute him; the little horse orders a cauldron of milk to be boiled, absorbed the heat, J. bathed, became golden; the king also decided to bathe, the little horse returned the heat, the king was boiled; J. became king]: 36-46; Cosquin 1887 [among the Serbs (Jagitch, no. 58), Croats (Krauss, p. 528), Slovaks (Leskien, p. 528) the hero picks up various shining objects - a feather, a hair, a horseshoe]: 296; Poles : Dombrowski 1992 [three elders find a baby; they call him Three Son; a cow appears, they feed the boy with her milk; when they die, the cow teaches them to summon the miracle horse; T. orders them to bring him to the palace; On the way he plucks a feather from the firebird ; the king appoints T. a guard; the other guards put out the lights; T. illuminates everything with a feather from the firebird ; he is appointed head of the guard; the guards persuade the king to order the bird itself to be brought; the horse carries it to its dwelling, the bird voluntarily follows them; the moon is eclipsed, the guards say that T. can find out why; the horse carries it to where the palace of the moon hangs above the earth, the firebird lifts it there; the mother of the moon is afraid that her son will kill the guest; the moon tells that one princess fell in love with him, and her father, a sorcerer, made her a sea queen, so the moon directed all the rays into the sea; T. tells the king about this, who appoints him commander; the envious say that T. can get the princess herself; they call her three times, the princess comes out of the sea, orders to give the king a ring and a sword, let the king defeat her; during the battle the princess cuts off the king's head, makes T. her husband, he becomes king; a cow appears – she is T.'s mother, now she has atoned for her sins, disappears underground]: 252-266; Shcherbakov 1980 []: 128-131.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Azerbaijanis [the king has a son Melik-Mamed and two more sons; dying, he tells his brother to give his daughter to MM, but the latter ordered to expel the brothers; they worked as grooms, then began to mow hay; someone scattered the cattle; MM guards, caught three horses that came out of the sea; the brothers rode them to the old woman; the spotted horse teaches MM to exchange headdresses with her daughters; in the morning the old woman slaughtered not the brothers, but her own daughters; the spotted horse teaches MM to hit her so that her mother's milk flows out of her nostrils; the brothers came to the city, hired themselves out to the king as grooms; the elders envy MM; they told the king that he can bring news from the sun, why eclipses happen; the horse tells to take a written order from the king; give it to the mother of the sun; her son replies that he hides from shame when he sees the peri, the daughter of the king of angels, going out for a walk; the king demanded that MM deliver this peri; the horse teaches him to lure the peri into the tent; the peri demands that the king fill the pool with mares' milk, to bathe in it in order to become younger; gives MM a handful of earth to throw into the pool where the king is bathing; he turned into earth, and MM became younger and married the peri], 348-354 [the king has sons Mamed, Ahmed and Samed; while hunting, the king and the vizier see a monster, it demands a small lamb; as soon as it receives consent, it turns into a black snake; vizier: the lamb is the youngest prince, Mamed; the vizier took M. to the cave of the king of snakes; the daughter of the king of snakes liked him, she killed the previous 40 kings; when M. wanted to return to her father, his wife told him to ask her father for a black horse; He rode on it with his wife; she did not order the feather to be picked up , but M. did; they stopped at the qaziy; the guards noticed the feather from which the light came, and took it to the king; he said that it was the feather of the Shah-Shongar bird, and ordered M. to bring the bird itself; the wife ordered that millet be poured where they found the feather, M. grabbed the bird and brought it; the vizier advised ordering the daughter of this bird to be brought; M. deliberately turned over the cauldron and tried to fry meat on it; a girl came up to teach her how to do it, M. took her away; she told the king that the peri's husband should himself be a peri, poured hot water on him and he melted; the peri married M., and he rode with two wives to his father; at the locked gates of one fortress they saw a chest with a beaten girl in it; M. cured her; she called herself the queen of the city, and a slave took her throne; M. killed the slave, and took the queen as his third wife; one of the brothers wanted to poison M., but the daughter of the king of snakes gave it to a dog to try, and it died; the brothers were executed, M. became king; three apples fell from the window in the ceiling: one for the narrator, another for the listeners, and the third for those looking in the window]: Bagriy, Zeynalli 1935: 262-269; Turks : Stebleva 1986, No. 20 [the padishah went blind; dervish: the cure for your eyes is earth from where no foot of your horse has ever stepped; the eldest son brings earth from a hill beyond the seven mountains; the padishah: I hunted partridges there; the middle one - from the bottom of the abyss beyond the seven mountains (I went there to hunt ducks); the youngest; the youngest fattens the foal with barley and raisins; rides at night, sees the light, raises a shining wing ; horse: it will bring misfortune; the shahzade stayed with an old woman, he uses the wing instead of a lamp ; the local padishah forbade lighting a fire; servants came to the shahzade; he gladly gives the wing to the padishah; he orders to get the bird itself; this is the padishah of birds; one must hide in the remains of a mule; to seize the padishah of birds when they arrive to peck at carrion; the shahzade brings a bird; the vizier advises the padishah to order the youth to build a palace of ivory; the horse: we must pour raki into the pond, the elephants will get drunk; the shahzade brought tusks, built a palace; the vizier advises to send him for the Most Beautiful in the World; the horse taught him to sneak up on her from behind and beat her with pink twigs; this girl demands that the padishah bring her mares, bathe in their milk and then become younger; the horse teaches him to cover him with the skins of 40 buffaloes; at the seashore he will wrestle with a sea stallion and it will not gnaw through the last skin; he will take the mares to the island, we must take a red-bay and a dark-bay; the girl began to wash the padishah with the milk of a dark-bay mare and only a skeleton remained of him; [she began to wash Shahzade with milk from a red-brown horse, he gained eternal youth; Shahzade brought land, his father regained his sight; they achieved their desires]: 62-69.

Baltoscandia. Danes [=1879: 1-21; a son is born to poor people, they cannot find a godfather; a beggar agrees to be their godfather, names the boy Willy Faith; leaves a rusty key; when the youth is 14, a house appears, he opens it with the key, there is a talking horse; W. rides away in it; the horse does not tell him to pick up the glowing feathers , W. picks them up; is hired as a groom by the king; the king forbids them to light a light at night; the feathers glow like fire , W. paints a portrait of a beauty; the groom brings it to the king; the king: this is the daughter of the king whom I killed and who ran away; orders her to be got; the horse: she became a bird, these were her feathers; orders the king to give him a ship; along the way they throw worms to the fish, barrels to play with for the whales, meat to the wolves and bears on the other bank, bread to the giants; in the castle a bird turns into a girl; the dog helps to find her among the fabrics, straw; on the way back she throws away the keys, but the fish find them and give them to V.; the girl demands that the king deliver her castle to her; the king orders V. to do the same (the giants bring them); the girl: I need the keys; V.: I have them; the girl demands the water of life and the water of death; the horse with V. gallops into the forest, orders to kill the chick, the raven brings the water of life to revive him, V. takes the bottle; the horse orders to let the viper into the nest; the raven brings the water of death to kill it, the young man takes it; the girl sprinkled V. with the water of death, and then with the water of life, he became a handsome man; the king wants the same, she does it; he wants it again; but the water of life has run out; V. becomes king, marries the girl; the horse orders to cut off his head, turns into a prince - the brother of V.'s wife; all is well]: Grundtvig 1920: 9-26.

Volga - Perm. Bashkirs [a late son of old people and a foal born at the same time constantly defecate; the old man leaves them in the steppe, caravan drivers pick them up, give them to an old woman to raise; children tease the boy for being fatherless; he asks his adoptive mother to fry peas, squeezes the hot peas in her hands; she admits that she is not his real mother; the boy rides off on his foal, which has become a horse; despite his warning, he picks up a golden feather ; the king's servants notice the light emanating from the feather , the king invites the young man to live with him; those close to him slander the young man, as if he despises the king, bragging about getting the whole bird; the fox shows the way to the bird; the young man catches it, the king covers the palace with its skin; the servants advise ordering that the daughter of the sea king be brought to the king as a wife; the wolf teaches her to catch her; The mermaid promises to marry the king if he gets her ring that fell into the sea; the young man saves the fish, it brings the ring; the mermaid orders her sea stallion to be brought; the fox teaches him to tether it; first the young man's horse is bitten by the sea horse and dies; the young man hides in its belly, grabs the young crow that has descended; returns it to the crow when it brings living water, revives the horse; he defeats the sea horse; the king orders the young man to bathe in boiling water and in boiling milk, if he is not boiled, he can take the mermaid for himself; the young man bathes and becomes a handsome man; the king is boiled; the young man marries and becomes king]: Barag 1988, no. 46: 314-334.