K73a2a. The child is replaced by a log. .15.16.22.23.28.31.

Having hidden or thrown away the newborn baby, the woman's ill-wishers replace it with a piece of wood and/or tell the father that the wife gave birth to a piece of wood.

Italians (Abruzzo), Germans (Austria), Thais, Tamils, Russians (Orenburg), Icelanders.

Southern Europe. Italians (Abruzzo) [one sister wants to marry a miller, the second a blacksmith, the third a prince; and so it happens; the envious sisters report that the prince's wife has given birth to a piece of wood, a puppy and a kitten, they throw the children (two boys and a girl) into the river; the miller picks them up and raises them; a palace is built for them; there is no singing tree, no dancing water and no talking bird; the brothers go to get them, turn into stones; their sister disenchants them and gets everything; the bird tells the king everything; the sisters are banished]: Del Monte Tammaro 1971, no. 706-d: 47-48.

Western Europe. Germans (Austria) [in the evening the king is walking through the city, overhears a conversation between three sisters; one wants to become the wife of a gardener, another a baker, the third the king; the king marries her, gives her sisters in marriage to the gardener and the baker; the queen gave birth to a son; the eldest sister substituted a puppy for him, put the boy in a barrel, and threw it into the Danube; a fisherman picked up the boy; the same thing a year later - the middle sister substituted a kitten; the third time the queen gave birth to a girl, the sisters put a log under her; the king ordered his wife to be chained to the wall, and every passer-by had to spit at her; the brothers and sister grew up, the fisherman died; an old man came and told his sister about a talking bird, a singing tree, and golden water; the eldest brother goes off to search, the old man tells her to follow the rolling ball, and not to look back if thunder strikes; the young man looked back, turned to stone; the same with the second brother; the sister did not look back, galloped up the mountain, took the bird, it told him to draw water from the well, break off a branch, revive the brothers (and other people) with it; at home the bird told him to plant the branch, pour golden water on it; invite the king, give him poisonous grass; the king was outraged; the bird: if you cannot eat poison, how could your wife give birth to a puppy, a kitten and a log; the queen was freed, her sisters were executed]: Tserf 1992: 167-174

Burma - Indochina. Thais [a princess finds a crocodile's egg, keeps it, the baby crocodile is born, grows up, goes into the river, kills people; the people tell the king that the king's daughter must be sacrificed; the king sends his daughter to the river; she takes her favorite cat with her; she jumps into the water and stays on a lotus flower; the crocodile wants to grab her, but runs into the thorns on the stem and dies; the cat advises the princess not to return home; a rakshasa seizes the princess, makes her his daughter; a neighboring king hunts, chases a golden deer (in the form of Indra), which leads the king to the rakshasa's house and disappears; the king brings the princess to himself and takes her as his wife; when the princess gives birth, the former wife says that she has given birth to a log ; but all ends well]: Low 1836: 348.

South Asia. Tamils ​​[a raja has two wives but no children; saw an adivasi girl (Irula) with a big belly; decided that she would bear him 16 children; bought her from her poor parents; the wife began to give birth in her husband's absence; gave birth to 15 boys and the eldest a girl, but at the instigation of the other two wives, the midwife replaced them with 16 pieces of wood , and buried the children in a garbage dump; the raja locked his wife in a cowshed; the "Queen of the Garbage Dump" (some spirit) saved the children; seeing them playing, the wives pretended to feel ill from the garbage dump and the raja ordered it to be removed immediately; the Queen of the Garbage Dump moved the children to a well under the supervision of Ganga Devi; the wives asked the raja to empty the well; Ganga Devi handed the children over to Kali, they began to play in her temple; the wives asked him to destroy the temple, Kali moved the children to the forest; when a tiger passed by, Shiva and Parvati temporarily turned the children into stones; the sister told them to go to an old woman and ask for help, but the brothers answered her rudely and she turned them into plants; the girl began to cry, the minister heard, the raja married her; a son was born and grew up, but the wife was always silent; the son threatened to cut his life, then she told him everything; he came to the old woman, asked to revive his uncles and she did it; the sister told the brothers to prepare pieces of wood, go to the city and shout: could the raja's wife give birth to pieces of wood; the raja will invite them to his place, nothing can be eaten, first feed the food to a crow and a dog; they did so, the crow and the dog died; let the brothers repeat everything the next day and demand that the woman from the cowshed cook the rice; the raja told the brothers to call their sister, but she demanded: let 56 rajas gather first; when they gathered, the sister told everything; two wives were burned in a lime kiln]: Blackburn 2005, no. 98

Central Europe. Russians (Orenburg; {conditionally: southern provinces}) [the tsar overheard a conversation between three daughters of a deceased merchant; the eldest wants to marry the tsar's baker, the middle one - the cook, the youngest - the tsar himself, will give birth to two sons, whose arms up to the elbows are in gold, their legs up to the knees in silver, and the daughter - will laugh, roses will shower down, and if she cries - pearls; the sisters replace the children with a puppy, a kitten, a piece of wood , and lower each one down the river in a box; after the third time, the tsar sacrificed his wife to a pillar; the children were found, raised by a general, and then died; when the brothers are hunting, the old woman tells her sister that she lacks living water, dead water, a talking bird; the eldest brother goes in search; an old man overgrown with hair: they travel a lot, return little; the young man hears screams, turns around, turns to stone; the same with the younger brother; a sister comes, cuts the old man's hair and beard, he warns him not to turn around; you need to take a talking bird, get water from the well, sprinkle it on the stones; all the people came to life; the king was going to marry the girl from whose lips roses fall; the bird: this is your daughter; told everything; the queen was released from the pledge, her sisters were shot]: Afanasyev 1958 (2), No. 289: 391-394.

Baltoscandia. Icelanders [a peasant has three daughters; they see a young king accompanied by his scribe and shoemaker; the eldest says that she would marry the shoemaker, the middle one - the scribe, the youngest - the king himself; the king heard and decided that this is how it will be; the elders envied the youngest; when she gave birth, they switched the child with a puppy and threw it into a garbage pit; some man pulled the baby out of the garbage, and another picked it up and raised it; the same thing happened to the second (switched with a kitten) and the third ( switched with a log ) babies; the eldest is Wilhelm, the middle one is Sigurd, the youngest is a girl; the queen was thrown into a cage with a lion, but the lion did not eat her, but shared his food with her; after the death of the tutor, the brothers and sister were left alone; they want to know about their origins; one man said that there is a bird sitting on a stone, it will tell; but those who went to it turned to stone; one must not pay attention to what is happening around; V. went; after three days there are drops of blood on S.'s knife - trouble with V.; S. went, the same thing happened to him; the sister went, did not turn around at the voices of her brothers; a bird gives living water to revive the petrified; tells the story of the mother of the brothers and sister; they freed their mother, brought her to their place, changed her clothes; the mother threw the sisters to the lion; the sister of the brothers married the prince whom she revived from stone; V. inherited his father's throne, and S. - the throne of the king whose daughter he married]: Poestion 1884, no. 23: 191-199 (the same or similar text in Rittershaus 1902, no. 70: 274-281)