K67H. Bear in the barn .27.-.29.32.
When a worker is sent to a place where he is to be torn apart by a predator, he tames it, and at home he releases it into the barn (stable). As a result, the predator destroys the owner's cattle.
Moldovans, Romanians, Hungarians, Russians (Nizovaya Pechora, Karelian Pomorie, Pinega, Vologda), Ukrainians (Ekaterinoslav), Belarusians, Kashubians, Kalmyks, Mordvins, Chuvashes.
The Balkans. Moldavians [the eldest brother hired himself out to a priest as a farmhand; if he gets angry, the priest will cut off his ear and nose; the priest doesn't feed him, the worker gets angry, the priest cuts off his ear and nose; the same with the middle brother; the youngest, Pacala, agreed on the same terms for a period until the cuckoo calls; he sold the oxen, eats and drinks to his heart's content, exchanged the sheep for bagpipes, to which the priest dances against his will; the priest calls P. to show the bagpipes to the priest's wife; he ties millstones to his feet, but he dances anyway; he orders a bridge to be made from the porch to the gate, so that it is strong on one side and sags on the other; P. kills the sheep, makes a bridge out of their bodies; the priest sends P. to hell to the mill, but fills the sacks with ashes instead of grain; P. puts the devils under the millstone, threatens to burn the mill, they give 12 sacks of flour; they break the cart, P. makes new wheels, shafts from the devils' bodies; the wolves ate the oxen, P. harnessed the wolves; they ate the cattle in the priest's barn; the priest's mother-in-law climbed a tree, cuckooed like a cuckoo, P. killed her with a stone; the priest and his wife decided to run away, P. hid in a sack, which they took with them; at night by the river he changed places with the priest's wife, the priest drowned his wife; got angry; P. cut off his ear and nose]: Botezatu 1981: 339-349; Romanians [two older orphan brothers are hired as farm laborers by a priest; whoever gets angry first, the other will cut the straps out of his back; After working for a year and suffering from hunger, the orphans become angry; the priest cut the straps from their backs and drove them away without paying; the youngest, Janos, wanted to eat, slaughtered a goat; the next time he made a fire out of the plow, slaughtered and roasted an ox; when they were sent into the forest for firewood, the wolf and the bear ate the oxen, and the devil broke the wheel; J. harnessed the wolf and the bear, told the devil to hold the wheel; sent them to pasture pigs and goats; J. trained them, they lined up during the king's visit; having agreed with the burgomaster, the priest sends J. to war; he returns with a dead horse, which he took from the priest; he arranges it so that the priest himself accidentally killed the horse; the priest and the priest's wife decided to run away from the worker; he climbed into a sack; in the evening, at a halt, he got out; the priest and the priest's wife agreed to drown him; J. changed places with the priest's wife and they drowned her together with the priest; J. marries the princess and inherits the throne]: Bîrlea 1966: 475-476; Hungarians [Janos hired himself out to the mayor on the condition that he would not get angry; whoever got angry would have his belt cut off his back by the other; the owner did not feed J., and he did not work and slaughtered his cattle; he had to feed him; knowing that the mayor's wife had a lover, J. told her that she had to put bean poles behind the stove and pour boiling water on the wool; the lover was hiding behind the stove and in the wool; the mayor sent J. into the forest for the herd so that the animals would eat it; J. dragged a bear and wild boars, the boars to the barn, the bear to the pigsty; the owner asked J. to go down into the well, covered the exit with a millstone; I. emerged with a millstone on my head; the war began, I. defeated the enemies, the king gave him his daughter]: Ortutai 1974, No. 29: 355-361.
Central Europe. Russians (Nizovaya Pechora, Verkhneye Bugayevo village) [three brothers, the youngest hired himself out to a priest; whoever gets angry first gets a belt out of his back and a buckle out of his ass; the worker is underfed, sullen, banished without pay; the same with the middle brother; the eldest brother impaled the priest's leper son; he was ordered to guard the barn door, he took it off its hinges and sits on it; he was ordered to crumble onions and pepper into a pie; he chopped up the priest's children Luka and Persha and served a pie with their meat; he was sent for a bear, saying that a cow was lost; the worker brought the bear and drove it into the barn, it killed all the cows; the priest and his wife decided to run away, the worker climbed into the sack instead of bread; there was a rest stop by the river, the worker: I am here; they decided to push him into the river at night; he changed places with the priest's wife, she was drowned; the priest got angry, the guy cut a belt out of his back, a buckle out of his ass]: Onchukov 2008, No. 42: 153-156; Russian (Karelian(?) Pomorie) [A worker is hired by the priest and the priest's wife. In one go, he cuts down an incredible number of trees, the priest is surprised and sends him to pick up his cows from the field (there were no cows in the field). The worker meets a bear, grabs him by the head and saddles him. He brings the bear to the cowshed, and the bear eats the cows. The priest sees how his task is done, sends the worker to the lake to find the cross that he lost. He himself hopes that the "water bear" will eat the worker. The worker grabs the "water bear" by his long hair and brings him to the priest's yard. The priest orders the worker to bring his money from the forest. He harnesses a bear to a cart, makes a waterman a coachman and goes into the forest. He meets the devil, plays cards all night and the worker wins. He brings the money he won to the priest. The priest and the priest's wife decide to run away from the worker. The priest's wife prepares a purse with food for the journey and hangs it out in the evening near the "raven". The worker eats everything and climbs into the purse. The priest and the priest's wife take the purse and run away, the worker shouts "I'll catch up", they decide to eat by the lake, they see that the worker is sitting in the purse. At night, the priest and the priest's wife want to throw the worker into the lake, but he switches places with the priest and the priest's wife throws her husband, and the worker hers. He took their money and left]: Zeitlin 1911, No. 5: 12-13 (=Azadovsky 1947, No. 25: 136-138); Russian (Arkhangelskaya: Pinega) [the priest hired Baldusha; he, along with the cattle, drove in a bear, which had killed the cows; he was ordered to guard the barn door; he took it off its hinges, brought it into the hut, and guarded it; the priest and his wife decided to run away, but B. climbed into the sack they had taken with them; at night they decided to push B. into the river; he overheard, got up at night, whispered to the priest's wife to push B., and she pushed the priest; the priest drowned, B. married the priest's wife]: Simina 1975, No. 49, fairy tale "About Baldusha"; Russian(Olonetskaya, Petrozavodsky uyezd, Ilemskaya Selga village) [a priest hires a worker: whoever gets angry will lose his nose and mug; three brothers, all Ivans; the eldest were left without noses; the youngest put the priest's children on stakes; sent into the forest to break arcs; bears ate the horses; I. drove the bears, put them in a barn; slaughter a cow that looks at you; they all looked, slaughtered them all; sent to the devil for duty; I. twists a rope by the lake, tells the water spirit that he wants to dry him out; the devil: whoever throws the club higher; I. pretends that if he throws it, the devils will not see the club anymore; he dug a hole, the devils filled it with gold; the priest went to the church, orders someone to guard the door; I. broke down the door]: Onchukov 2008, No. 208: 373-374; Russian (Vologda) [the priest hired Mitrosha as a worker; if he refuses in advance, he will not get money, but if the priest refuses, he will give a lot; the worker immediately ate all the bread and soup; broke the whole lion with an axe; the priest and the priest's wife want to get rid of M.; they sent him into the forest to look for the cow, although she did not run away; he brought a she-bear, she slaughtered all the cattle; the priest sent M. to the devil's mill; M. harnessed the she-bear and went; brought flour and the main devil; the priest sent M. to return the debt from the tsar; seeing the devil with the she-bear, they gave him more money than he asked for; the priest and the priest's wife run into the forest; M. quietly climbed into the sack; they lay down to sleep by the lake; M. got out unnoticed, changed places with the priest; drowned him and the priest's wife; stayed to live with the priest's wife]: Mintz, Savushkina 1955, No. 23: 81-84; Ukrainians (Ekaterinoslavskaya, Aleksandrovsky u., s. Voznesenka) [the priest hired a worker; he set a condition: whoever gets angry, the other will cut off his head; the worker is idle; the priest sent him into the forest for firewood, giving him skinny oxen so that he wouldn't feel sorry for them, because the bears would eat them all; the worker fed the oxen to the bears and harnessed them; at home he let the bears into the barn, they tore apart all the priest's cattle; the priest sent the worker to collect the debt from the master; the master, horrified, gave everything back; sent for flour to the devil's mill; on the way back the axle broke, the worker ordered the devil to crawl under the cart and, bent over, support the cart the whole way; the priest and his wife agreed to run away; the worker quietly climbed into the sack; spent the night by the river; at night the worker changed places with the priest's wife, woke up the priest, who decided that it was his wife, and together with the priest threw the wife into the river; the worker stayed to live with the priest]: Dragomanov 1876, No. 30: 349-352; Belarusians(Mogilevskaya) [the orphan Ivan went wherever his eyes looked; a girl came along and began to live with him; the master found out, sends Ivan abroad for a wild ox, wants to take his wife; the wife gives him a ball of yarn; it rolls, Ivan follows it, throws a bridle on a bear and brings him; hearing that Ivan had brought the ox, the master orders him to be driven into the barn; the bear slaughtered all the cattle; now the master orders him to go to the gusli, so that they will give him a gusli; the wife gives him a ball of yarn again; Ivan comes to the gusli, fights with him; wipes his face with a tent; the gusli recognized his sister's kerchief; the gusli recognized, gave him a gusli; on the way back, the man orders the gusli to be exchanged for a stick, which itself kills; having exchanged, he orders the stick to kill that man, takes the gusli; another man comes to exchange the gusli for his axe, which does everything (the same); the master sends I. to his father to ask where he hid the money; I. goes for the ball again; in one place he sees a man “propping up a raft” (he wanted to die and asked God – let him “at least prop up the raft” in the next world); in another two birds are fighting (in life they were sorceresses); in a third a young woman is swimming in milk (she was a witch and took milk from cows); they bring resin to the master’s father; he explains: half of the money is under the manger, and the other where they hang the collars; the master tells I. to climb into the boiling resin; he jumped together with his wife, both turned golden; “they caught the master under the raft”; they told the axe to build a house, dug up the money, began to make a fortune]: Shein 1893, No. 20: 42-47; (cf. Belarusians (Mogilevskaya, Goretsky district, Svyatoshitsy village) [a woman went to pick berries; a bear carried her off, she gave birth to a son; she ran away with him; the bear followed her, but the men killed it; the husband wanted to drive his wife away, but the people insisted that he build her a separate hut so that she could raise their son; he beats and maims other children - he is too strong; the son left, hired himself out to a priest, said that his name is Misham; his horse can barely move; M. does not want money, but so that in a year he can hit the priest and the priest's wife; the priest agrees, not knowing that a strongman {man} stands in front of him; he chops wood without an axe, hitting the logs on the ground; the horse falls from M.'s blow; the priest's wife: let's send to drive the cows out of the oats and bring one cow home (these are not cows, but bears); M. brought a she-bear and agrees to milk her; the priest sends him to the mill where the devils grind at night; M. brought the devil; the priest's wife: let's send to the tsar, order him to bring 800 rubles in salary; M. harnessed the devil and the bear, went off; the tsar gave the money, if only M. would leave quickly; the priest and the priest's wife decided to run away, M. hid in a sack; seeing M., they decided to spend the night by the lake and push M. into the water at night; he changed places with the priest, and together with the priest's wife pushed the priest; began to live with the priest's wife]: Shein 1893, No. 19: 36-42); Kashubians[a wife to a blacksmith: you are a healthy man, but you have no children; the blacksmith forged a boy and named him Iron Martin (IM); he eats so much that the family is ruined; he promises to improve things, his father forges him a heavy club and IM goes out to earn money; he hires himself out to the most evil owner on the condition that in a year he will hit him with three fingers in a certain place; he does everything literally; he is told to return from plowing when the dog runs home; he crushes it with his club, it runs squealing, jumps over the fence; IM throws a horse over the fence, it dies; next time he is told to plough until the horse laughs; IM cuts the horse's mouth, exposing its teeth; threshes grain with rafters pulled out from under the roof; to get rid of IM, the owner tells him to clean the well; when he comes down, he throws first a millstone on him, and then a bell; JM thanks for the necklace and hat, keeps them; he is sent into the forest for firewood; a pair of lions killed the horses; he harnessed them himself; on the way home he relieved himself, which he did only once a year; shit flooded the entire valley; at home he locked the lions in a barn, giving them hay; he began to beat them: why don't they eat; the owner sent JM with sacks of grain to grind at the devil's mill; he beat the devil until he wrote in blood that he promised to leave the mill; the owner tells his wife to climb a tree and cuckoo: supposedly, the year is already over; JM shot her; a week later a real cuckoo cuckooed; JM hit (clicked?) the owner the first time, he flew out the window into the yard; the second time - beyond the border of the site, he gave up the ghost; now JM has come to hell; Beelzebub showed him a bed prepared for him with knives with the points up; he tore V. from the chain to which he was chained and laid him on knives; he let him go for the promise to leave the people alone and give him a barrel of gold; he brought the gold to his parents, and he himself again turned into iron]: Knoop 1885, No. 10: 208-215.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Kalmyks : Vatagin 1964 [dying, an old woman tells her three sons not to hire themselves out to work for Khan Yad; the eldest brother hired himself out, the khan assigned him to clean up the manure behind Aranzal-the horse; whoever got angry, the other would cut the straps off his back; the eldest brother worked until dark, got angry, the khan cut the straps off his back; the middle brother did the same; the youngest Shovara plugged the horse's anus, the horse died; the khan got angry, Sh. cut the straps off his back; so that the sheep wouldn't run away, he cut off their hooves; so that the cows would drink less, he fed them pieces of leather, having cut a leather bucket, the cows died; he drowned the last bull; he killed the khan's wife; the khan sent him to the mill, where the shulma was; Sh. took a bear as a companion, caught two hares; shulma suggests competitions: wrestling (Sh. puts up his old father, a bear, in his place); running a race around the lake (Sh. puts up his younger brother, a hare, and at the finish line strokes the other one, as if it were the same one); carrying a horse around the lake (Sh. gallops on horseback); shulma ground flour, gave him a pipe that plays 68 melodies of happiness and 108 melodies of sorrow; Sh. harnessed the bear, arrived, let the bear out for the night with the cows, and he killed them; Sh. plays the pipe, the sheep dance, and the khan with them, steps into the hearth, screams, Sh. cut the second belt from the khan's back; he runs into the reeds, Sh. hid in a chest, which the khan carried; the khan ran away, Sh. took the chest, offers to cure the daughter of another khan; we must kill shulma in the reeds; Khan Yadu was killed, Sh. married the khan’s daughter]: 223-230.
Volga – Perm. Mordvins [a priest and his wife have an adopted son; he has grown up and eats a lot; they sent him into the forest to find a lost ox; he drags a bear by the ear and lets him into the barn with the cows; the priest tells him to go to the mill to get rye; there are devils there; the lad harnessed the bear, made the devil the coachman and arrived; the priest and his wife decided to spend the night with the lad on the river bank in order to push him into the water at night; he overheard, put on priest’s clothes, and together with the priest’s wife pushed the priest into the river; in the morning the priest’s wife began to wail and is still wailing]: Paasonen 1941: 339-341; Chuvash [brothers Tungai, Taral, Akhvandyuk; the eldest Tungai hired himself out to the priest on the condition that he not get angry for a year; whoever gets angry, the other will skin him from the back; T. could not take out all the manure, got angry, lost his skin; the same with Taral; A. sharpens a knife, the bull promises not to heap so much manure anymore; then A. slaughtered all the sheep, ate them together with the other shepherds; the priest sent A. into the forest; there a bear ate the horse; A. harnessed the bear, came to the priest, put the bear in a stall, at night it ate the horse; the priest sent A. to the mill, where the devils were; they brought Satan, he asks to lift his eyelids; without waiting for this, A. jumped on Satan's head, began to saw off his horns; Satan asked to let him go and ordered the devils to do all the work for A.; A. arrives on a bear together with the devil, settles him in the house; the priest gets angry, A. skinned his back; [attached the strips of skin to the brothers]: Sidorova 1979: 188-194.