K75a2. Gardener. .13.-.17.27.-.32.

Having appeared incognito to a powerful character, the hero works for him as a gardener.

Korofan, Arabs of Sudan, Egypt, Italians (Mentona, Tyrol), Basques, Maltese, Ladins, French (Switzerland), Germans (North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig, Upper Palatinate, Austria), Arameans, Palestinians, Arabs of Iraq, Hungarians, Romanians, Serbs, Macedonians, Greeks (Lesbos), Poles, Czechs, Ukrainians (Volyn), Ingush, Terek Cossacks, Kumyks, Avars, Dargins, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Kurds, Bakhtiaris, Persians, Persian written tradition, Tajiks, Turkmens, Baluchis, Latvians, Lutsi, Western Saami, Danes, Mordvins.

Sudan - East Africa. Kordofan(language not specified): Frobenius 1923, #15 [at the hour when Sultan Shatr Mohamed's son was born, a mare foaled; the boy and the horse Husan grew up, the stepmother hates her stepson; the horse warns that the food, then the clothes, will be poisoned; the stepmother pretended to be ill: the horse's liver will cure her; when SM returns from school, the stepmother's servants try to prevent him from going to H., but SM drives them away; the horse teaches him to ask his father for permission to ride one last time; the stepmother sends armed servants to stop the horse if SM tries to gallop away; but they gallop away, no one could catch up with them; in another city, H. gave SM hairs to summon him, ordered him to leave his weapons and rich clothes and go to the city in poor clothes; he came to the Sultan's garden, told the gardener that he had already worked as an assistant gardener, who took him on as a worker; When everyone had gone to the party, SM decided to call the horse he missed, put on royal attire; then he took off his clothes, bathed in a pond, and sent the horse away; the youngest of the sultan's 7 daughters saw SM, fell in love; the gardener noticed the hoofprints and punished SM for not stopping a stranger; the princess began to send the best food for SM, but the gardener kept it for himself; this lasted for three years; after the eldest daughter's request, the sultan called all the men so that each of the daughters could throw a handkerchief at the one she wanted to marry; the youngest waits until everyone is called, including the gardener and his worker; she threw a handkerchief at SM; SM and the sultan's youngest daughter were settled in the slave quarter; enemies attacked; six detachments led by the eldest sons-in-law were defeated; SM called the horse, put on ceremonial attire, and defeated the enemies; the wife tells SM about the mysterious victorious horseman; the same on the second day, when SM killed the enemy sultan; his sultan bandaged SM's wound with a handkerchief; at night SM fell asleep, the wife sees blood, calls her mother, she recognizes the handkerchief of her husband the sultan, brings it to him; when the sultan's messengers came for SM, he called a horse, dressed in ceremonial attire; told the sultan everything; he made him his heir, and executed the gardener for mistreating SM; only in one of two options: from grief over the choice of his daughter, the sultan fell ill, he will be cured by gazelle milk; 6 sons-in-law were not found, SM called a horse, got it, gave it to the sons-in-law; but this milk did not help the sultan; and what SM kept for himself and passed on through his wife helped], 19 [the king laments that he is childless; the sorcerer gives two lemons; let one eat the Arab wife, she will bear a daughter, and the other - a concubine, will bear a son; when he grows up, he must come to the sorcerer; the boy's name is Shatr Mohammed (SM); the sorcerer met him, told him to remind his father of the promise; he cries; the sorcerer turned into an eagle and carried off SM; in his palace he gives SM the keys to all the rooms, but forbids him to unlock one of them; treasures are everywhere; in the forbidden room of SM there is a beauty suspended by her hair; on one side there is a horse on chains, in front of him bloody meat; on the other - a lion, in front of him hay; the floor is strewn with old and recently cut off heads of young people; SM freed the girl, swapped hay and meat, the horse and the lion broke the chains; horse: put on your armor,take a sword and a girl and let's gallop; a lion is with them; a sorcerer catches up; a horse orders to throw a comb (a dense forest), a piece of glass (a field covered with shards of glass), soap (a river); the sorcerer swam, drowned; a horse orders to take his hairs to summon him, and go to the city; he hired himself out to a gardener; the youngest of the 7 princesses sees him bathing, summoning a horse and putting on armor; she sends him food every day, but the gardener takes it; the princesses send 7 melons to their father: it's time for them to get married; each throws a handkerchief to the one she has chosen as a husband; the youngest with SM is settled in the slave quarter; the king fell ill, he needs gazelle milk; SM gives it to the eldest sons-in-law, they allow them to put a brand on their buttocks; the sons-in-law's milk does not help, the milk brought by the youngest princess healed the father; enemies attacked; sons-in-law flee, SM smashes enemies on his horse; to mark the savior, the king inflicts a slight wound on his hand with a sword and bandages it with his handkerchief; the wife recognizes her father's handkerchief, tells her mother; the king begs SM to return to the palace; the elder sons-in-law have to show the brand, now they are slaves of SM]: 165-179, 204-216, 216-224; ArabsSudan [al-Zir Abu Laila (AZ) was playing ball with the boys, his ball fell into the house of an old woman, broke a jug; she: if AZ is worth anything, why doesn’t he marry his cross-cousin, who is not yet married; AZ’s parents reluctantly confirm that he has an uncle - the sultan of the country at sunset; they themselves live in the country at sunrise; AZ has a magic tuft of hair; he asks for a horse, a sword and a shield; he pretended to be a fool with the sultan named Miji al-Awir (MA), hired himself out as a gardener; in his true form he destroyed the enemy army; the sultan promises the hero a daughter, everyone claims this role; MA says that the true winner must know where the trophies are; only MA knows and was able to bring back the spoils; during the wedding, everyone is outraged, but AZ shows his true form; the wedding resumes; AZ has a daughter and a son by his wife; they are going to AZ's country; there is no water - after AZ's departure everything dried up, the parents went blind; with his return all is well]: Al-Shahi, Moore 1920, no. 8: 75-79.

North Africa. Arabs of Egypt [Prince Mohammed the Intelligent and the foal were born at the same time; their mothers died; the king-father married a slave, she has a Jewish lover; they want to get rid of M.; they agreed to poison him; the horse tells about it, M. throws food to the cat, she dies; the stepmother pretends to be ill, she needs the horse's heart; the horse and M. talked; M. asked his father to let him ride one last time, galloped away; changed clothes with the sheikh, hired himself out as a gardener; one day he called the horse, put on royal clothes, began to prance; the youngest princess saw him and fell in love; suggested that her sisters let their father know that it was time for them to marry; each throws a handkerchief at her chosen one; six threw, the youngest waits; when M. was brought (and he was turning the wheels for irrigation), she threw it at him; the king locked them up; fell ill with grief; he will be helped by the milk of a she-bear in the skin of a young she-bear (the word previously meant "lioness"; later - a semi-mythical beast); M. called his horse, set up the royal tent, a gift to the eldest sons-in-law of milk in the skin of an old she-bear, for this he stamped their rears with a red-hot ring; he kept the best milk in the skin of a young she-bear for himself; what was brought by the eldest sons-in-law did not help, what was brought by the youngest daughter healed the king; the war began, M. defeats the enemies, the king put a ring on his finger, bandaged his hand with a kerchief; the daughter calls her father to her, M. tells him everything, the eldest sons-in-law were slaves of M.'s father; M. and his wife return the kingdom to their father, who had already died; they burned his wife and the Jew]: Spitta bey 1883, no. 12: 152-161.

Southern Europe. Basques [Ezkabi (Fidel) is hired as a servant; the owner leaves for 7 years, ordering him to take care of the horses; the white mare explains that the owner is the devil, the horses are transformed people, orders them to run; orders to wet their hair, it turns golden; E. covers them; the owner chases; the mare strikes with her hoof three times: fog, hail, river; the pursuer drowns; E. is hired as a gardener to the king , the youngest princess falls in love with him; the father settles them near a mountain; the unrecognized E. defeats the enemies; the elder sons-in-law make fun of him; the king falls ill, almost blind, sends for medicine; the elder sons-in-law disappear; E. meets an old woman, she gives him bottles with medicine for blindness and old age; sells them to the elder sons-in-law for golden apples given by their wives; at the feast on the occasion of their return, E. tells everything, shows the apples, takes off the pelt from his head, everyone sees his golden hair; the king gives him the crown; variants: E.'s head is really covered with scabs; having gone for medicine, E. pays the debts of a poor man, whose corpse is beaten in front of the church; buries him; nothing is said about the white mare; the old woman gives everything; the youngest princess falls in love, noticing E.'s golden hair]: Webster 1879: 111-120; Italians (Mentona) [after the death of his wife, the father takes another; the stepmother wants to poison her stepson; his "little filly" warns him not to eat; having overheard their conversation, the stepmother makes an agreement with the doctor: she will pretend to be ill, and he will advise her to wrap herself in a fresh horse skin; the young man gallops away, the horse tells him to hire himself out as a gardener to the king , to keep quiet and only say his name - Bismé; the youngest princess spied him combing his golden hair; the king allowed her to marry the gardener, but sent her out of sight; the youth, in a luxurious outfit, incognito, defeats enemies; gets game in a hunt, gives it to the elder sons-in-law, the first time for wedding rings, the second time for the right to brand their buttocks; the horse allows B. to speak; at the feast he tells everything; the king sent away the elder sons-in-law, appointed B. his heir]: Andrews 1880: 44-46; Italians (South Tyrol) [when the king lost his throne, his son went on a journey; got a job as a servant in a house; the owner told him to feed the horse meat and the bear hay; when leaving, he left the keys, but did not tell him to unlock one room; the prince unlocked it, there was a lake behind the door; the prince went to the mare and she said: you have been behind that door, now your hair is golden; you must run; take with you a comb, scissors, a mirror; they galloped off, the owner pursued; the horse told him to throw away the comb (a high hedge), scissors (a thorny forest), mirror (a lake; the pursuer gave up the chase); in the city, the prince hid his hair under his cap; hired himself out as a gardener; every day he had to prepare bouquets for three princesses; fell in love with the youngest; the bouquet for her was better than the others, and she noticed it; one day the cap fell off and the princess saw the golden hair from the balcony; she went up to the prince; he took off his hat, but asked not to give it away; the king: the winner of the tournament will get the youngest princess; on the first day, the prince on horseback in his true form in white clothes; on the second day in blue; on the third in purple; wins every time; each time the horse jumps over the fence, and no one knows where the winner has disappeared; the king orders all the men to gather; let the daughter throw a golden apple at the chosen one; on the first two days she did not throw it at anyone, and on the third - at the young gardener; the king is angry, but keeps his word; fell ill; he will be cured by the blood of a dragon; all three sons-in-law went to a forest inhabited by dangerous creatures; the prince killed the dragon and brought a vessel with his blood; gave it to the elder sons-in-law, receiving in exchange the golden balls that the elder princesses threw to them; the king recovered; at the feast, the prince told how it happened and showed the balls; took off her hat, revealing golden hair; everyone recognized the winner of the tournament; mare orders her head to be cut off; after which she turns into a beautiful princess; returns to her father; prince inherits father-in-law's throne]: Schneller 1861, No. 20: 42-47; Maltese [a sorcerer promises a childless couple the birth of a son on the condition that they give him the boy after a certain time; the prince comes to the sorcerer, who tells him to take care of the horses, except for one; this horse is an enchanted prince; the prince flees on this horse; magical escape (a thrown blade, shards of glass, a comb turn into rain, fire, darkness, many iron combs, shards of glass, blades); the prince saves fish, ants, lions, is hired as a gardener by the king , hiding his golden hair under a ram's bladder; the youngest princess sees his golden hair, chooses him as a husband; the prince wins the competition three times incognito; the advisers offer to get rid of the gardener by offering difficult tasks (sleeping with lions; sorting out grain); in the guise of a gardener, he marries the youngest princess; incognito, he defeats enemies; the prince and his wife return to the sorcerer, destroy his outer soul, disenchant everyone with living water; obtains medicine for the blind king; the horse turns into the king, who was bewitched]: Mifsud-Chircop 1978, No. 314: 68-74; Ladins [while the father was at war, the son grew up and went wandering; he answered the gentleman in green that he was going to learn something; he put him on his back, flew to a secluded house, ordered to give the bear barley, and the horse meat; the young man did the opposite; the horse said that the sorcerer had turned them into animals; they needed to take some ointment, a broom, a brush, a currycomb, and run; the sorcerer in green was pursuing; the brush, then the currycomb, turned into a dense forest; the broom turned into rough terrain with chasms and rocks, the sorcerer stopped pursuing; the horse ordered his head to be smeared with ointment, the young man became a handsome man with golden hair; the horse ordered to kill a bear and put on its skin, get a job at the palace looking after the chickens, then ask to be made a gardener ; the youngest of the three princesses sees the young man when he has removed the skin; the princesses asked their father to give them each a golden apple - whoever they throw it at, they will marry; the youngest throws it at Bearskin, they are settled in a hut; the king orders his sons-in-law to go hunting; Bearskin takes his horse, puts on a luxurious outfit, gets a lot of game; the elder sons-in-law got nothing; Bearskin gave them the spoils for the apples he got from the princesses; the next time – for his horse to kick them in the rear, leaving a mark; enemies attacked, unrecognized in the guise of a hero, Bearskin twice defeats the enemies; the second time the king scratches him with his sword (to notice who this stranger is); at the feast the youth shows the golden apples and orders the elder sons-in-law to show the marks of the hoof; the elder princesses grieve that they did not marry Bearskin]: Uffer 1973, no. 8: 19-25 (=Decurtins, Brunold-Bigler 2002, no. 64: 171-178).

Western Europe. The French (Switzerland, Unterwallis canton) [poor people have 9 children; they send the eldest, 9 years old, to look for food on his own; a rich lady picks him up in a carriage; allows him to unlock all the rooms except one; he unlocks it, the door slams behind him; corpses are hanging in the room; the lady forgave him for the first time; he enters again, there is also a horse, a mule and a donkey in the room; the horse says that they are bewitched people; tells them to take a log, a bucket and a brush with them; they gallop away, throw a log (mountain), a bucket (sea), a brush (thicket); the youth {obviously, he has grown up} is hired as a gardener by the king, who orders the garden to be tidied up for the wedding of his eldest daughter; 10 minutes before the end of the time, the youth does the work "in the name of the hairs of my horse Bayard"; the same for the wedding of the middle daughter; the youngest took a young gardener as her husband; the king gives each of them a golden apple: the throne will be left to the son-in-law who disposes of the gift with the greatest benefit; the sons-in-law go to war, the youngest chooses the worst horse, then defeats the enemies with the help of Bayard's hairs; the elder sons-in-law attribute the victory to themselves; the king fell ill, the meat of the largest snake will cure him; the younger son-in-law again gets everything with the help of Bayard's hairs; gives it to the elders for their golden apples; the king is ill again, he needs the meat of the largest eagle; the same, gives the meat to the elder sons-in-law, but in return he puts brands on their backsides; the king orders them to bring the golden apples; the younger son-in-law brings all three, the elders - fakes; are forced to show the brands; [the younger son-in-law inherits the throne]: Jegerlehner 1909, no. 30: 138-143 (=Wildhaber, Uffer 1971, no. 26: 73-79); Germans (North Rhine-Westphalia, Münster dialect) [a wild man ravages fields and gardens; a hunter planted bottles of alcohol for him; brought him to a castle, saying that he would get more there; they put him in a cage; the count (the lord) invited noble guests to look at the curiosity; at that time his son was playing, the ball fell into the cage; the wild man promised to return the ball if the boy would steal the key from his mother's pocket; when he opened the cage, the boy was afraid of punishment and the man took it away with him; left him near the royal garden; the prince hired himself out as an assistant gardener; the princess saw the youth washing himself; gave a chicken, a duck, a goose, filled with ducats, but the young man gave everything to the gardener; became the young man's wife, his father sent her to work in the brewery, and the young man began to work in the kitchen; the king went to war; the young man was given a lame three-legged horse; the wild man led the horse and the army out of the mountain, the young man defeated the enemies; this happened three times; the third time the king tied his handkerchief around the hero's wounded hand; the young man showed him his handkerchief, the king understood everything and handed over the throne to him; the spell for the wild man ended, he became king again, and the mountain became a castle]: Grimm, Grimm 2002, No. 237: 649-651; Germans(Schleswig) [a peasant's eldest son, Christian, and his youngest, the strongman Franz; he went to get firewood, pulled out and brought back 7 trees; the father is unhappy: too many; F. went off to look for work; a certain Hermann hired him to look after a stallion and nothing more; promising more and more money, he asks to stay for the second, then the third year; he orders not to open one door; but he opened it, there was a blooming garden and bushes made of diamonds, gold and silver; F. broke the twigs and took them with him; the horse: what have you done, now you have to run; F. mounts the horse, gallops away; the horse orders to throw behind him a whip (dense hedge), a bag (mountain), a blanket (water); H. began to drink water and burst; the horse orders to cut off his head, turns into a beautiful lady; she is a Russian princess whom H. kidnapped and bewitched; gives a wand to call her for help, you need to knock on a certain tree; F. began to serve the royal gardener ; does everything badly, does not understand plants; after a reprimand from the gardener, F. attached the torn off shoots, which, having been in his pocket, turned into diamonds, gold, silver; the princess saw this and asked the gardener to send her vegetables with his assistant; the princess fed and watered F., paid generously for the vegetables: the gardener was surprised that so much; the next time she paid even more, but quietly took the jewelry out of F.'s pocket; the third time she brought F. to her father to show her art of creating jewelry; the king is ready to give F. his daughter if he builds a castle; F. went to the tree that must be knocked on; the Russian princess gave an inexhaustible purse of gold; the castle was built with this money; enemies attacked; the Russian princess gave a sword that creates as many soldiers as needed; some destroyed all the enemies to the last man; F. married a princess]: Müllenhoff 1845, No. 605: 438-444; Germans (Upper Palatinate) [the king caught a wild man while hunting; he called guests to look at him; the prince was playing ball, the ball fell where the chained man was; he promised to give the ball back if the young man freed him; he stole the key from his sleeping father, opened the lock, put the key back; the king ordered that the tongue, eyes, and gold finger (Goldfinger) of his son be brought to him; the messengers released the prince, brought the eyes and tongue of a dog, the little finger of a shepherd boy; the prince hid his golden hair under a kerchief, came to work for the gardener ; the king tells his daughters to choose a chosen one, giving him a bouquet of flowers; the eldest, the middle one find suitable ones for themselves and leave; the youngest says that not everyone is here; she gave the bouquet to the young gardener and began to live in his hut; the king fell ill, three paradise apples will help him; everyone went in search, the gardener too; in the forest he met that wild man; he gave a magic wand to open the entrance to the rock; the young man managed to run in, pick two apples and return, the rock slammed shut behind him; the young man gave the apples to the elder sons-in-law, for this they allowed them to burn a brand on their backs; the second time the king asked for snake milk; the queen of snakes gave two drops, the young man gave them to the elder sons-in-law, again burned their backs; the war began; the wild man gave the young man a horse, weapons and armor; with this sword the young man defeated the enemies; the king tied his wound with his handkerchief; then he saw that it was his youngest daughter's husband; he told about the brands put on the eldest sons-in-law; messengers came from his father's kingdom: he was dead; the youth took off his headscarf, revealing golden hair; inherited the kingdoms of his father and father-in-law]: Schönwerth 1981: 22-23; Germans (Lower Austria) [a poor man cannot find a job; someone in green promises a bag of money if the man gives him what he finds in the house in 9 years; this is his son Ferdinand; when he grew up, the man in green took him to his palace; allows him to walk everywhere, but not to look at the pond behind the bushes; one day F. broke the ban; there are goldfish in the pond; he wanted to catch some - his finger, dipped in the water, became covered in gold, he tied it with a rag; the owner beat F., hit his finger with a hammer and the gold came off; the next time the owner forbade him to enter one room; F. entered, there was a man there; gave a brush, a comb and a glass mug, points out a horse to mount; gallop away; a man in green pursues, the horse orders him to drop the brush (dense forest), then a comb (lake), a mug (glass mountain, the pursuer cannot climb over); the horse brought him to the palace; 10 years of life have passed in one day; the horse orders him to hire himself out to a gardener on the condition of working only at night; the horse gave clothes with stars, in which it is light; the plants that F. takes care of grow luxuriantly; the princess fell in love; the king fell ill, he will be cured by the milk of she-wolves, bears and deer; the king promises a daughter to the one who gets the milk; the animals gave F. milk, two gardeners asked for it, he poured out a third; but their portions did not make the king feel better, they were thrown into prison, and from F.'s portion he recovered; a wedding; the horse orders him to be hacked to death; a dove flew out of it and flew away; F. inherited the throne and brought his parents to live with him]: Vernaleken 1980, no. 8: 28-33.

Western Asia. Arameans (Maaloula) [a stepmother took a dislike to her stepson; he took a magic ring from his father's chest and came to the city; on the way he changed clothes with a shepherd; stole a ram's intestine from a woman, washed it, pulled it over his head, as if he had a scab; hired himself out to the vizier's gardener; sometimes he orders the ring to give him a horse, luxurious clothes, removes the intestine from his head, and then again takes the form of a scab; the vizier's daughter noticed this; the father gathered all the men so that she could throw a golden apple at the one she wanted as a husband; she threw it at the scab; at first they thought it was an accident, but the next day she threw the apple at the scab again; the vizier placed his daughter and her chosen one in a barn; everyone went to war, the scab too - on a thin nag; he called everything he needed from the ring; defeats the enemies, but is wounded in the arm; the vizier bandaged the wound with his handkerchief; when the vizier went to his daughter to drive her and her husband away altogether, he recognized his handkerchief; everything became clear; the young man and his wife moved into the palace]: Bergsträsser 1915, no. 20: 66-71; Palestinians [the king has a tree with three branches: red, green and blue; every night someone picks off one of the branches; the king to the vizier: find out in 14 days, otherwise I will execute him; the vizier's daughter advises him to ask three princes to keep watch; the two elder ones fall asleep; the youngest, Hasan, grabs a red horse; the following nights, a green one; a blue one; the last one says that they are three brothers; they got this tree from the spirits and planted it here; each has his own branch, the color of which he dresses; the king transfers power to H., the brothers are jealous, but he refuses power and all three of them go to another city; the brothers take H. as a groom; the youngest Almaza is unmarried, she will marry the one who grabs her necklace displayed in the window; the brothers leave H. home; he calls a green horse, in the form of a green knight he gallops high and carries off the necklace; the next day the second necklace, on a red horse; the third on a blue one; at home he pulled a cattle stomach over his head, as if he were bald, he hired himself out to the king as a gardener , but A. saw it; asks her father to gather all the men, she will throw an apple at her chosen one; no one is chosen; only the gardener and his bald assistant are missing; A. threw an apple at H., the king settled them in the stable; he fell ill, gazelle meat will cure him; H. called a red horse, asked him for a castle with servants; any animals, including gazelles, are there; the eldest sons-in-law came; he gave them gazelles, but kept the lungs, heart and liver for himself, and put a seal on the sons-in-law; the food prepared from the meat of gazelles turned out to be inedible, and the food from the offal, which the youngest daughter brought, was unusually tasty and the king recovered; the neighboring king demands tribute for 7 years, a war began; H. on a red horse defeats everyone; his wife and her mother see how he changes his clothes; the king comes to ask him to come to him; he refuses: I myself am a prince, and the husbands of your two other daughters are slaves; they have to show the brands on their bodies; the king cut off their heads; their wives H. gave to his brothers; a new wedding feast of 40 days; the king handed over the throne to H.]: Littmann 1984: 183-204; Arabs of Iraq [the two eldest sons of the sultan by an Arab woman, the youngest by an Ethiopian; the sultan invites his sons to shoot a bow - wherever the arrows fall, there they can take a wife; the arrows of the elders hit the courtyards of the amir and vizier, the arrow of the youngest flew into the chol (desert); a lion asks to remove a thorn from his foot, gives three hairs; if rubbed, they turn into wish-fulfilling servants; the prince asks for a flying horse, stops at a city, buys a sheep, pulls a stomach over his head, now looks bald, remains to work for the sultan's gardener; The youngest of the three princesses one day sees a young man in all his splendor; at the request of the princesses, a gardener brings the sultan three melons of varying degrees of ripeness; the vizier explains the hint; the sultan gathers all the men, gives his daughters an apple each, and orders them to throw it at the one they like; the elders choose the sons of the emir and the vizier; the youngest does not abandon them, demands that the gardener's apprentice be brought; the sultan settles them in the stable; enemies attack; the young man appears three times incognito in a brilliant guise on different horses and defeats the enemies; the sultan bandages the wound on his hand with his handkerchief; out of grief that he does not know who the hero is, the sultan goes blind; a doctor: he needs lion's milk in a vessel made of lion's skin, carried on the back of a lion; the eldest son-in-law rides; at the crossroads an old man spins the thread of day and night; one road - "If you go, you won't come back", two - "You'll go and come back"; he went to come back; met a man who offered to play chess; lost everything, became a servant; the same with the second son-in-law; the younger son-in-law is kind to the old man, wants to go along the road of no return; the old man teaches not to turn around if he feels blows from all sides, to put the guards to sleep, then the lionesses will give what is needed; unrecognized, the young man finds his brothers, gives a bottle of milk, in return for which he puts seals on their backsides; but the milk did not help the sultan; in his true form, the son of the Ethiopian woman appears to the sultan, a lion with milk behind him; the sultan regained his sight, handed over the throne to him]: Stevens 2006, no. 12: 58-73.

The Balkans. The Hungarians [the queen has died, the king has gone to war, leaving behind a small prince; the chamberlain wants to kill him in order to give the throne to his son; in the stable, an unkempt colt tells a boy to bring him hot coals; he swallows them and becomes strong, tells him to take a silver outfit from his ear, collect gold and silver, sit on him, brings him to the city; gives him a whistle to call him, gallops away himself, ordering everyone to answer "I don't know" to all questions; the king takes him in; he serves in the kitchen, he grows up; every time the cook leaves him to watch the soup, he spoils the soup (threw a cat into the cauldron; poured salt; burned a piglet); he was assigned to the poultry yard, he breaks eggs, lets out the chickens; assigned to the gardener ; calls his horse and tramples the whole garden; he was made a swineherd; The princesses must throw an apple at those they want as husbands; the youngest threw it at the swineherd; they were settled in a wooden booth; the elder sons-in-law hunt; Dunno calls a horse every time, sells game made of silver and gold to his sons-in-law for a hundred gold pieces, they do not recognize him; the dog-headed Tatars attacked, Dunno defeats them; the king praises, asks to appear at the ball; Dunno began to speak, appeared with his wife; everything became clear, the king gave him the throne]: Ortutai 1974, No. 9: 189-230; Romanians [a forest hermit picked up a basket with a baby in the river; a vine grew near his cave, on which grapes immediately ripened; he fed the boy with it, named him Demetrius; he grew up; dying, the hermit ordered to take a rein in the cave - a horse will appear, he must ride it; When they arrived in the kingdom of the three fairies, the horse ordered them to wash their hair in a pool, the water of which turns golden once every hundred years; D.'s hair turned golden, he pulled a bubble over his head and hired himself out as a gardener to the ruler city; he has three daughters; the eldest Anika suggested sending their father three melons of varying ripeness; the adviser explained that the daughters wanted to get married; the eldest found a husband, and Didine was still with her father; she saw how the gardener took the bubble from his head, summoned a horse and pranced around the garden; so three times, each time D. in a new set of clothes received from three fairies; the last one with the sun, moon and stars - Morning and Evening on the sleeves; adviser to the ruler: let all the men pass in front of D., and she will throw a golden apple at the chosen one; she threw twice at D.; they were settled in a courtyard building, D. carried water; but in their room the horse arranged everything with unprecedented luxury; going to war, D. summoned his winged horse, smashes the enemies; wounded his hand, the ruler gave his scarf to bandage; the ruler went blind; will see, washing his eyes with the milk of a red wild goat; D. gave ordinary milk to his eldest sons-in-law, in exchange for which they allowed him to burn a brand into their backs; what the eldest sons-in-law brought did not help, but what Didina brought restored his father's sight; at the feast D. declared his eldest sons-in-law to be his branded slaves, showed the ruler his kerchief and his golden hair; the horse galloped back to the land of fairies, carrying away their dresses, since D. no longer needed them; to this day it is believed that the Demitrii must have golden hair]: Mawr 1881: 19-27; Serbs [the princess sees how the bald dwarf gardener turns into a handsome man on a horse; tells her father to give her in marriage to him; the father settles the young people in a poor house; enemies attack, the husbands of the eldest daughters are powerless, Baldness defeats everyone; appears as a young man]: Karadzic 1856 in Dmitriev, Volkonsky 1956: 132-135; Macedonians [a young man came to a blind old man in his house in the mountains; he promises to adopt him if the young man will endure three blows with a club; he substitutes a sack of straw in his place; the old man gives the keys to 10 rooms (they contain treasures), but refuses to give the keys to two; the young man came to three fairies who had stolen the old man's eyes; they will dance if the young man plays the flute; if he gets tired before them, they will take his eyes; his fingers are shaking; he replies that he remembered how he searched in the old man's head; they ask him to search with them; he ties them by the hair, hangs them on a tree; they say that the old man's eyes are in two golden apples; the young man frees the fairies, gives the old man one apple; he gives the second after he allows him to unlock the last two rooms; in one there is a winged horse and a golden spring, in the other a winged mule and a silver spring; the young man becomes gold above the waist, silver - below; runs away on a horse, the old man chases on a mule; the young man throws a comb (thorny thickets), salt (mountain), oil (river); the old man cannot cross the river, he advises to hide his appearance from people; the young man dresses as a beggar, pulls a bladder over his face, as if he were a leper, hires himself out as a gardener ; the youngest of the king's three daughters sees him in his true form; the princesses must throw an apple at those they want to marry; the youngest throws it three times at the imaginary leper; their father, in anger, drives them out to live in the henhouse; the king has gone blind, he needs fairy milk; the imaginary leper pretends to be stuck in a swamp; in his true form, he brings fairy milk and wild boar's milk on a winged horse; he gives pig's milk under the guise of fairy milk to the elder sons-in-law, brands them on their thighs; the pig's milk makes the king even worse; the youngest daughter gives the fairy milk, the king regains his sight; the imaginary leper in his true form defeats his enemies, the king bandages his wound with his handkerchief; then he sees the leper's handkerchief; the young man reveals himself, shows the brands on the bodies of his elder sons-in-law; the king seats the youngest next to him, the elder ones under the table]: Martin 1955: 18-31; Macedonians [a merchant stayed in a house where a boy was born; at night he hears three goddesses of fate prophesy that the newborn will become smart and kind and inherit the merchant's property; he carries the boy off and abandons him in the forest; a fairy and her three daughters raise him; when they go hunting, they leave him 39 keys and take the 40th with them; one day they forgot to take them, the youth unlocked the door, the birds that were behind it flew out; the youth found the fairies' winged horse and asked what to do now; the horse told him to mount it, flew over the wall; the fairies cannot catch him; their mother tells the youth, since he ran away, to dress as a beggar {and pretend to be bald}, to cover the horse with the skin of another - an old and useless one; release the horse and call it, if necessary, burning the hairs taken with you; the young man hired himself out to a gardener; destroyed the garden, said that they were Tatars; the princess saw everything; told the gardener not to beat the young man - he, allegedly, was not lying; the king gave each of his three daughters a golden apple, let them throw it at those when they wanted to be husbands; the princess threw it three times at the supposedly bald young man; the king settled them with geese; weak-eyed, he needs living water; the elder sons-in-law went in search; the youngest called a winged horse, brought water, the king recovered, handed over the throne to him]: Mazon 1936, No. 52: 199-203; Greeks(Lesbos) [the king's garden is drying up; he was advised to take a hereditary gardener; the garden blossomed; the gardener's son brings fruit to the king's table, and flowers to the princess; she fell in love with him; the king is furious: he wanted to give her in marriage to the vizier's son; ministers: to get rid of the young man, suggest that he and the vizier's son go on a long journey; whoever returns first will get the princess; the vizier's son (SV) galloped off, having received a lot of gold, and the gardener's son (SS) trudged on a nag; SV cursed the old woman who asked him for food; SS put her on his nag; in the city they stopped at an inn for beggars; the local king will reward the one who returns his health and youth; old woman: go south; you will see three puppies: white, black, red; kill them, burn them, collect the ashes in three bags of the same color as the puppies; in the palace, order a huge cauldron of water to boil; throw the king into it; when the meat separates from the bones, collect the bones, lay them out in order, pour ashes from the three bags on them; the king will be reborn at the age of 20; and so it happened; the young man asks for a wish-fulfilling bronze ring as a reward; having received it, SS orders the ring to create a ship from precious materials; sailed to the city, lives in the palace; in the same city, the impoverished SV; he did not recognize him; SS promised to give him a ship, but first lured him to his palace and ordered the slaves to brand him on the ass with a red-hot ring; the ship he gave was worthless with sailors-wheels; when SV arrived, the king was still happy, immediately arranged his wedding with the princess; At this time a luxurious ship entered the harbor; the king invites him to the wedding, and the SS says that the groom is his slave; everyone saw the brand; the princess recognized her lover; wedding; the Jewish sorcerer found out about the ring; when the SS sailed away on business, he caught some fish and offered them to the princess; in return he wants only a bronze ring; she was surprised that it was so cheap, but gave the ring; the Jew wished that the SS ship would become as pitiful as the SV ship was, and the sailors - cripples; the SS fell into despair, they drove him out from everywhere; his ship arrived at the island of mice; the cats that escaped from it began to exterminate them; the mouse queen sent an embassy with a request to leave the island; the SS demands his stolen ring in return; they called all the mice; the last to arrive were three crippled ones: blind, hunchbacked and with torn ears; they said that at night the Jew keeps the ring in his mouth; they were sent after him; the blind woman remained to guard the ship, and the other two sneaked into the bedroom; one dipped her tail in oil, then in pepper, and then began to tickle the Jew's nose; he sneezed, the ring fell out, and a humpbacked mouse carried it off; the mice began to argue about whose merit was greater, and dropped the ring into the sea; they decided to remain on the deserted island; the blind woman began to gnaw a dead fish and found the ring in its belly; the SS ordered the ship to become luxurious as before; he united with his wife, and the Jew was tied to the tail of a skinny mule]: Carnoy, Nicolaides 1889, No. 3: 57-74.

Central Europe. Poles [the king borrowed money from a sorcerer; he turned the queen into a horse, replacing her with his daughter; the king did not notice the substitution; she decides to destroy the young man - the queen's son; his horse tells him not to eat what the stepmother offers, give it to the dog; the dog died; the mother gives a uniform that will tear the body; it is necessary to hide it, replace it with your own; then the stepmother tore her clothes, complained to her husband; the king orders to execute his son; the horse teaches him to ask permission to ride one last time; they galloped away; the horse tells him to hire himself out as a gardener to another king; the younger princess fell in love with him, gave him a ring; the young man showed up at the wedding in disguise, the bride is upset; enemies attacked, the princess reproaches her husband - disasters because of him; in his true form on his horse, the young man defeats the enemies twice; the king bandaged the wound with his handkerchief; came to his son-in-law, who introduced himself as a prince; the horse turned into the queen mother; the deceiver was driven away, the young man began to rule both kingdoms]: Shcherbakov 1980: 111-114; Czechs [the king of France defeated the king of England and he is angry with him; the king of France has a portrait of Athanasia, the daughter of the king of England, hanging in a locked room; the king of France has an older son, Ladislav, and a younger son, Rudolf; one day the room was left unlocked, L. entered, saw the portrait, fell in love and went to fetch the bride, but told his father that he was going to inspect the army; the English king realized who was in front of him, ordered it to be baked, put in a chest and sent to the French king with wishes for an appetite; when the French king left, R. also ordered the forbidden room to be unlocked; the king agreed to let R. go on the condition that 10 soldiers would not leave him; but he secretly sailed away on a ship, leaving the soldiers; the king put them under guard; if R. does not return in a year and a day, they will be beheaded; in England, R. changed clothes with a beggar; looked in on the king; he wanted to execute the insolent man, but A. persuaded him to leave him as a gardener; the previous one was old and let him teach a new one; gave R. new clothes; it turned out that the gardener was handsome and young, the princess fell in love with him; the gardener told R. to trim the flowers and pull out the grass, and he pulled out the flowers and trimmed the grass; but the king ordered the new gardener to be left; tomorrow is the princess's birthday, everyone will present her with a bouquet, whose is better; R.'s bouquet was the best and the princess gave a lot of gold for it; sent a servant to ask for another one; this one is even better; they spent the night together; he called himself the merchant's son; when A. became pregnant, R. hired a ship, sailed across the strait, hired a carriage; then he said that he had run out of money, had to sell everything, that he was not a merchant's son, but a hunchback; convinced that the princess was faithful to him under any circumstances, R. revealed who he was; her father was happy that his daughter was alive; the kings made peace]: Tille 1890: 67-70, 107-115; Ukrainians(Volyn, Starokonstantinovsky district, village of Chernelizka) [the tsar's wife gave birth to a son, and the mare gave birth to a foal the same day; they became inseparable; the tsar left, the tsarina was unfaithful to him; she was afraid that her son would tell; the horse warns not to eat poison; not to lie down on the bed; when the tsar returned, to ask permission to ride around the yard; he will jump over the fence and carry off the prince; in another kingdom, the horse orders to put on a lousy cap, hire himself out to the tsar and always answer "I don't know"; the prince was appointed a gardener; the youngest princess saw him take off his cap; the tsar gives away 12 daughters, the youngest chose Dunno; they were settled in a peasant hut; enemies attacked№ the prince called the horse, took on his true form, defeated everyone; this happened three times; the tsar bandaged his hand; they began to look for the hero, they found a handkerchief; the tsar handed over the kingdom to him, and the other sons-in-law were driven out]: Rudchenko 1878, No. 58: 214-219.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Ingush [the prince's wife gave birth to a son and died; that same night a mare gave birth; the prince remarried; the stepmother wants to kill her stepson; the healer advises to poison him, the foal warns; the healer advises to pretend to be ill, the foal's liver and lungs are needed; the son made a deal with the foal - he will ask his father for permission to ride one last time; they galloped away; the young man became a gardener for the pachchakh , the foal gave three hairs to call him when needed; the pachchakh's youngest daughter fell in love with the young man, gave him wine, they were settled in a hut; the eldest daughters chose eminent suitors; the dragon turned off the water and demanded the pachchakh's daughters to be eaten; unrecognized, the young man called a horse, chopped up the dragon, brought and hid the pachchakh's eldest daughter's scarf; the same with the middle one; with the youngest (i.e. with the wife of the young man himself); the pacchakha fell ill and needed lion meat; the young man got it and gave it to the elder sons-in-law for permission to brand them on their thighs; the meat brought by the elder sons-in-law made the pacchakha worse, but the fried lion intestine given by the younger daughter made it better; the young man in his true form came to the pacchakha, brought three scarves, and received half the kingdom; he came to his father, who was a beggar, his wife and her lover were in power; the young man killed them, restored his father to his rights; showed the brands on the elder sons-in-law, forced them to collect the half the kingdom they had received from their father-in-law and transfer it to his hereditary possessions]: Tankieva 2003: 104-111; Terek Cossacks (st. Borozdinskaya) [the tsar has 12 wives, but no children; he sends the elder Pirigrim on a trip around the kingdom to find out what to do; the elder listens under the window of a village house to what the girls are talking about; the first: "If I got married, I would always sew shirts for my husband - such shirts that there are no other in the whole kingdom"; the second: "I would always embroider carpets"; the third: "I would always write papers ..."; the youngest: "If I get married, I will give birth to 12 sons"; the tsar takes the youngest as his wife; she cannot give birth; he sends the elder to the market, orders him to buy from the first person he meets whatever he will be carrying; the elder buys apples; the queen cuts one of them in half; she eats one half herself, the other she gives to the tsar; then she gives birth to a son, Magometan Magometovich; the tsar leaves, leaving a general in his care; he courts the queen; MM reproaches her; the servants say: "Your father has a sworn horse, Black Vikhor: it has been standing underground for thirty years, on 12 iron chains, behind 12 iron doors, on 12 iron locks"; MM visits the horse; the sorceress advises the general that the queen feed MM bread baked in snake fat; the horse warns of danger; MM gives the bread to the dogs, they are torn to pieces; the sorceress advises to give MM herbal tea to drink; the horse senses trouble, tells MM not to drink; MM breaks the glass; the general brings a red shirt from the sorceress to give to MM before the bathhouse; horse: "As soon as you put it on, you will turn to ashes... But take an iron pitchfork - lift the eyelid of my right eye and look: there is a red shirt in one corner - take it and hide it in your pocket"; in the bathhouse, MM puts on the shirt given to him by the horse, and not the one given to him by his mother; the tsar returns home; the tsarina pretends to be ill; says that she will recover if the heart and liver of the Black Whirlwind are roasted for her; the tsar orders the horse to be killed; MM asks to be allowed to ride one last time; mounts the horse and flies away; they find themselves in the kingdom of Bartholomew; the horse orders them to put on the pistons and old clothes picked up along the way, to pour a potion out of V.'s window from which mosquitoes will appear (there are none in V.'s kingdom), to stand by the window and answer the same thing: "I don't know - that's how it was"; MM follows his instructions; V. makes him first an assistant to the cooks (MM eats the meat there), then a yard worker (MM ties the reins to the horse's tail, pulls them, skins the horse), and then a gardener ; another king declares war on Tsar V.; V.'s youngest daughter tells her father to consult with MM; MM replies: "I don't know - so it will be"; V. puts him in prison; MM breaks down the wall, changes clothes, flies on horseback to the battlefield, defeats the enemy, returns; V. throws a feast to recognize and reward the hero who saved him; the youngest daughter asks if he is the gardener ; V. comes to the dungeon, recognizes MM as a hero; MM asks to give him his youngest daughter in marriage; V. sets a condition: to recognize her among his other daughters; a horse flies in the form of a fly, warns MM that it will sit on the forehead of the youngest princess; MM recognizes her among the 6 royal daughters; receives the princess and half the kingdom]: Butova 1889, No. 4: 141-156; Kumyks [a dervish gives a childless khan an apple, let his wife, mare, dog eat it, each will bear twins; one boy, a stallion and a puppy must be given to the dervish; the eldest is named Arslan-khan, the youngest - Batyr-khan; the dervish takes A. away; at the spring the skull teaches: this is a black virgin, you must pretend that you can’t do anything; let him show how to bake bread; push the dev into the oven and pour oil on him; having killed the dev, A. rides his horse and dog; a passer-by orders him to dip his finger in the stream when he meets him; A. pulled out a thorn from a lioness, she gave him a lion cub; killed a snake that was crawling to the eagle's nest, she gave him an eaglet; dipped his finger, it turned gold; poured the water over the lion cub, the eaglet, the dog; having released the animals and put on a cap, A. hired himself out as a gardener to the khan ; tied a bouquet with his golden hair; the youngest princess saw and understood who the worker was; the sisters sent their father three apples, rotten, half-rotten, ripe; the vizier: it is time for the daughters to get married; the khan ordered the daughters to throw an apple at passing men; the elder ones threw it at the vizier's sons, the youngest at the worker; the khan settled them in a crumbling saklya; The khan fell ill and needed deer meat; A. mounted a nag, then assumed his true form, summoned an eagle, killed a deer, poisoned some of the meat; gave it to the eldest sons-in-law, for which he put a seal on the back of the youngest of them; the khan scolded the eldest sons-in-law for the bitter meat, but liked what A. brought; bring lion's milk; the same (A. poisoned the milk in one wineskin), a seal on the back of the eldest son-in-law; from A.'s milk the khan recovered; enemies attacked, A. defeated them, said that the eldest sons-in-law were his slaves, showed the seals; Batyr Khan rode in his brother's footsteps; received a lion cub, an eaglet, doused himself with golden water; A.'s wife mistook him for her husband, but B. beat her; when A. arrived, she began to accuse him; A. caught up with B. and killed him, then repented; saw how one mouse killed another, and then revived it with grass; A. revived his brother with it; all is well]: Barsov 1882, No. 1: 121-128; Avars [a beggar gives a childless man two beans, orders him to give one of the two sons that will be born; when Arslan and Batyr grow up, the father gives A.; on the way he drinks from a stream, a skull at the bottom says that the beggar is a Black Dev, teaches him to pretend that he does not know how to sweep the floor, heat the stove; pushes the Dev into the fire; pulls out a splinter from a lioness, returns the eaglet to the nest, receives a lion cub, an eaglet; dips a finger in a stream, it turns gold; washes his hair, mane and tail of a horse in a stream; releases animals, they will return when he burns a feather; smears his face with mud, hires himself out to a gardener ; the khan's youngest daughter sees his golden hair; the khan invites his three daughters to throw an apple at those they want to marry; the youngest throws it at A.; the khan drives her away, she and A. live in a hut on the outskirts; the sick khan will be cured by deer meat; he calls an eagle, the latter - a horse and a lioness; A. kills a deer, gives the meat smeared with bile to the eldest sons-in-law, for this he puts a brand on their backs; the venison is bitter, the khan is angry, and the meat given by the youngest daughter is tasty; but he is worse, he needs the lioness's milk; the lioness gives it; A. puts a brand on the eldest son-in-law, gives milk in a jug where there was vinegar, it has soured; from the milk brought by A., the khan recovered; as a reward he asks for his two slaves, everyone sees the seals on the backs of the elder sons-in-law; A. takes on his true form; A.'s brother Batyr follows in his footsteps, a lioness and an eagle give him brothers, the lion cub and eaglet that A. had received; A.'s wife takes B. for her husband, is rejected, and cries; reproaches A. who has returned from hunting; he catches up with B., kills him with an arrow; repents; one mouse kills another, revives him with grass; A. revives B. with her; feast]: Kapiev 1974: 72-80; Dargins [the one-eyed man promises the childless khan the birth of three sons if he gives one to him; gives an apple, the peel must be fed to a mare, the core to a dog, they will also bring three foals, three puppies; only the youngest son agrees to go to the one-eyed man; each time he asks him to show him how to do something; he himself pushes him into the tarum (for baking bread); frees the kidnapped daughter of the khan, sends her to her father, promising to return for her; On the way he pulls out a splinter from a lion, kills a snake that regularly devours the eagle's chicks; the eagle flies in, raising the wind with its wings, the rain is its tears; gives the young man one eaglet to help; having changed clothes and hired himself out to a gardener , he asks the bathing khan's daughters for a comb to comb her hair; the youngest gives it, he leaves his golden hair on it; the gardener tells the khan to give him rotten, half-rotten, and fresh apples (symbols of daughters of different ages); the khan's daughters throw apples at the chosen ones, the youngest chooses the poor gardener; he twice in his true form, with the help of a horse, a dog, and an eagle, defeats the enemies; the khan is sick, lion meat will cure him, the lioness gives the young man one of the lion cubs, the right half is poisonous; the older sons-in-law buy meat for a brand on the buttock; the khan drives out the elder sons-in-law with poisonous meat, greets the youngest; he appears in his true form, shows his brands on the elder sons-in-law, making them slaves; lives with his wife; goes to visit his father; goes to Shirim-Shakhir, who turns anyone who comes to her into stone; his brother comes for him (on the way he puts a sword on the bed, spending the night with his wives), his words move ShSh to pity, all the stones are disenchanted; all the brothers get married: the first plays an unplayed (when he was a gardener) wedding, the second on ShSh, the third on the daughter of a one-eyed man]: Osmanov 1963: 125-139 (= Mazaev, Kasumov 1997 (1): 401-413); Georgians : Kurdovanidze 1988, No. 34 [the princess is kidnapped by two devas, they fight over her, kill each other; she stays with a powerful forest hermit; she goes to her father's house to give birth, their son is named Khristagan; he is powerful, he goes to look for his father; not recognizing each other, the son and father fight, the hermit kills Kh.; God sends a scarf with a dove, Kh. comes to life; he finds his swineherd Beltagan; they defeat the devas, their sister B. he takes as his wife; Kh., disguised as a swineherd, is hired by the father of three princesses, now his name is Kochora ("curly"); he serves as a groom, then a gardener ; the youngest sister senses that this strongman is not an ordinary person; the princesses serve apples to the chosen ones, the elder ones marry the princes, the youngest marries K., they are settled in the stall; a sick king needs the entrails of a boar; K. in his true form kills the boar, gives it to his eldest son-in-law, tears off his little fingernail; the same - deer's milk, tears off the ear of the middle son-in-law; K. defeats the enemies, appears in his true form, the eldest sons-in-law leave with their wives; another king finds a golden hair of K.'s wife in the sea, falls in love, sends an old woman; she finds out from K.'s wife that her husband's life is in a thin hair; kidnaps the woman, kills K., tearing out his hair; B. finds the hair in the sea, revives his sworn brother; everyone celebrates, the old woman is tied to the tail of a horse], 35 [a dev gives the king an apple for childlessness for half of what will be born; takes the eldest of two sons; the old woman teaches him to throw himself into the river from the dev, enter the house, take the horse and dog; on the advice of the horse, pulls a ram's stomach over his head, hires himself out as a gardener ; the king's youngest daughter sees the young man while he is washing his hair; advises her sisters to stick a knife into an overripe, ripe and green watermelon and send them to their father; the king summons the suitors; the elders choose a nazir and a wazir, the younger chooses a gardener; the king's wife falls ill and asks for 1) hare meat; the gardener, with the help of his horse and dog, gets hares, sells them to the elder sons-in-law by cutting off their earlobes; 2) deer milk (the same, the sons-in-law let the horse kick them on the buttocks); the gardener, having assumed his true form, defeats the enemies, cuts his hand, the king bandages it, recognizes his own scarf; the elder sons-in-law are made servants of the younger one; while hunting, the young man is swallowed by a cannibal, having chained her horse and dog; a poplar falls at home, the younger brother goes to look for the older one, everything repeats with him, the daughter-in-law thinks it is her husband, he puts a sword between them; does not put hair and spin the cannibal on the horse dog, sword, cuts off the cannibal's wart, the swallowed one comes out bald; from the blood of the cannibal the hair grows back, the chains on the horse and dog fall off; the older brother returns to his wife, the younger to his parents]: 98-114, 114-128; Georgians (Imereti, the village of Kulashi) [twin brothers, their dogs and horses are indistinguishable from each other; the first one leaves, leaving a saber: if there is dew on it in the morning, you must hurry to help; met a gambler, lost everything, but then won back; dressed up as a simple worker, hired himself out to the king as a gardener ; when he was sleeping and the kerchief fell from his head, the princess saw his hair and fell in love; the king called the men together and ordered his daughters to make a choice; the two eldest chose handsome and noble ones, and the youngest chose a gardener; they were settled in a hut; the elder sons-in-law did not get anything while hunting, but the young man, taking his hidden horse and dog, got a deer; he gave it to the elders, in return for which they allowed him to turn his back so that the young man’s horse would kick them; the same thing happened the next two days; the Turks attacked, the unrecognized young man smashes the enemies, was wounded in the arm, the king bandaged it with his kerchief; at the feast he recognized his kerchief, honored the younger son-in-law with honors, drove away the elder sons-in-law; the young man went hunting, began to fry shashlik; a witch crawled out of the water, asked to share, to tie it with dog hair; swallowed shashlik, a young man, a horse and dogs; the second brother saw dew on the shashlik and went looking for it; the king took him for his son-in-law; he asked for the witch's hair to be thrown into the fire, the dogs grabbed her, she vomited up the swallowed ones, the brothers killed and burned the witch; the second brother married the king's niece]: Mashurko 1894: 383-387; Georgians[a stepmother tells her stepson named Sizmara to guard the grain from the chickens, he falls asleep, the chickens peck the grain; the stepmother beats S., he says that in a dream he found himself in Baghdad, on one side of him sits the moon, on the other the sun, the morning star pours silver water from a golden jug onto his hands; the stepmother tells him to give her the dream, S. says that this is impossible, she drives him out of the house; S. comes to the capital of the king of the West, he is brought to the king; having learned about the dream, the king demands that it be given to him, throws S. into a pit; princess Mzetunakhavi ("never seen by the sun") secretly brings S. food for three years; refuses the king of the East; he 1) sends four mares, tells her to guess which of them is the mother, the eldest, the middle, the youngest daughter; S. teaches M. to let the horses lick some salt, in the morning the mother will be the first to run to the water, followed by the eldest daughter, etc.; 2) orders to break a piece of rock salt into balls; S. advises to ask to show what size balls to break it into; 3) shoots an arrow, no one can pull it out of the ground; S. climbs out of the hole along the rope thrown down by M., pulls out the arrow, returns to the hole; only S. managed to pick up the arrow and shoot it back to the king of the East; the king of the West agrees to give S. his daughter in marriage if he teaches the king of the East a lesson; along the way S. meets and takes as companions 1) Fast Walker with a millstone tied to his leg, 2) Sharp-Hearing, who listens to ants fighting underground, 3) Dexterous Hand, who changes the wings of live doves; the king of the East orders 1) to bring water from the healing spring before his Fast Walker; he sprinkles some earth on the sleepy Bystrokhod; Sharp-Hearing hears of this, S. cuts the millstone off Bystrokhod's foot with an arrow, he is the first to bring water; 2) to bring I don't know what; Dexterous Hand sends S. to the forest old woman; she orders I don't know what to give her to eat; food and wine appear; the old woman leaves, S. invites I don't know what to eat with him; he is grateful, goes with S.; invisible, beats the king; the king orders that poison be sprinkled on S. at the feast; Sharp-Hearing hears of this, Dexterous Hand changes the plates, the king's viziers die; the king of the East flees; the king of the West marries S.'s daughter, but settles them in the stable; the king of the East goes to war; S. takes golden armor from the ear of the winged horse, defeats the horse, the king of the West bandages his wounded finger with his handkerchief; by it S. recognizes, gives him the kingdom; he refuses, takes M. and leaves; he sends four mares, orders to guess which of them is the mother, the eldest, the middle, the youngest daughter; S. ut]: Chikovani 1986: 43-46; Armenians (Erzurum) [Badikan ("little prince"), the king's seventh son, comes to the steel cannibal Khan-Bokhu; he makes him an assistant; asks to get the daughter of the eastern king; B. hired himself as a gardener, appeared to the princess in ceremonial attire, she fell in love, he took her away, promises to save her from Khan-Bokhu; the princess asks where H. keeps his soul; the invincible white bull drinks from a spring once every seven days; in the bull is a white fox, in the fox is a casket, in it are seven birds ; B. fills the stream with wine, the bull gets drunk, B. cuts off its head; as he kills the fox and the birds, the giant grows weaker, loses limbs; B. takes the princess and the palace of Kh.]: Ghanalanyan 1965: 158-161 (=Seklemian 1898: 127-136, =Khachatryants 1933: 78-84, =Karapetyan 1967: 158-161); Armenians (Turkish Armenia) [when his 39 older brothers had already found wives for themselves, Prince Badikan went wandering; having lost all his people, he found himself at a strange building; the steel giant Khan-Bugu approached; B. was not afraid; the giant asked him to get him a beauty, whom he himself could not get; B. reached her city and hired himself out to a gardener; The princess saw him from the window when he was walking in his royal clothes and fell in love; they agreed that she would go out of town and B. would steal her; having interrupted the pursuit and jumped over the sea on his horse, B. confesses that he carried her off for HB; promises to save her; tells HB that she swore to remain a virgin for 7 years; she caresses HB and asks him to tell her what his soul is; A bull at the white mountain climbs to the top once every 7 days and drinks from 7 pools; there is a fox in the bull, a mother-of-pearl box in the bull, and 7 sparrows in the box; the bull cannot be killed, the fox cannot be caught, and the box cannot be opened; B. questions the dervishes; the dervishes say that a man can always be destroyed with the help of a woman, and an animal - with the help of alcohol; B. poured wine into the pools on the mountain; the bull got drunk; when B. cut off his head, HB trembled; falls apart and dies as B. kills the fox and sparrows; B. has united with the princess]: Macler 1905, No. 1: 11-22; Azerbaijanis : Bagriy, Zeynalli 1935 [the boy spends all his time with the horse, does not want to study; in order to get rid of the horse, the mother persuaded the doctor to say that in order to improve her health she needed to eat the meat of this horse; the husband did not object; the horse told the boy to ask permission to ride it one last time, they galloped away; they saw a tiger trying to swallow the horned animal, the horns got stuck in its mouth; the young man pulled out the horns, the tiger gave him its cub; the same with the lion; the tiger and the lion promised to graze the horse, and the young man was told to go to the city; he hired himself out as a gardener's assistant , the king's youngest daughter saw him and fell in love; offered to send her father three melons of varying ripeness; the advisers explained that it was time for the daughters to get married; the king ordered the daughters to throw an apple at the chosen ones; the youngest princess threw the apple at the young man; the king gave her to him, but expelled her from the palace; the king fell ill, he needed venison; did not give the horse to the youngest daughter; the young man mounted his old horse, the tiger and the lion drove the deer into the gorge; the young man gave the venison to the sons of the vizier and the vekil, but made it tasteless, and transferred the taste to the head and legs, which he took for himself; only the food brought by the youngest daughter helped the king; enemies attacked, the young man defeated them, wounded in the arm, the king bandaged it; gathered all the men, saw his bandage on the young man, made him heir to the throne]: 237-242; Bogoyavlensky 1899, No. 4 [Gulistan Khanum is going to kill her merchant husband in order to marry Gamzat Bek; she is also going to kill her horse; the horse tells her son Ali Khan about this and orders him to ask his mother for permission to go for a ride one last time; A. cut his mother in half and galloped away; exchanges clothes with a shepherd, hires himself out as a gardener to the Tsar under the guise of Kecal ("bald man"); the imaginary K. made ordinary bouquets for two princesses, and tied a bouquet for the younger one with his golden hair; the elder sisters throw an apple each at the vizier's and vakil's sons, and the youngest at K.; the Tsar has fallen ill and needs venison; K. gathers all the deer; gives them venison for permission to brand his face; the meat they brought made the king feel worse, but the broth prepared from the deer head, which K. kept for himself, made the king better; K. summoned his horse, defeated the enemies, the king bandaged his hand; he saw his bandage on K.; he made him his heir]: 44-50; Nabiyev 1988 [=Azerbaijani Tales 1986: 128-159; padishah Deshkuvar is childless; a dervish gives an apple, orders to give it to three wives, when the sons are 15 years old, one must be given to him; the khan's daughter gives birth to Khanbal, the bey - Beybal, the camel driver - Nerbal; N. is given to the dervish; the skull warns that it will be baked in a tandoor; N. pushes him into the cauldron; in the fortieth room there is a lion, a horse, a bird; in front of them there is grain, meat, hay; N. changed places as needed; they promise to help; N. dresses poorly, lives in the city with an old gardener ; the elder princesses do not like him, the youngest wants him to bring her flowers; a bird brings him an unfading bouquet; N. in his true form gives the same bouquets to the vizier's son and the vekil's son, but in return he brands their hands; the padishah's daughters throw an apple at the one they want to marry; the elders - for the vizier's and vekil's sons, the youngest - for N.; the sick padishah needs game broth; the lion drives all the game for N., the other sons-in-law return empty-handed; N. gives the game, brands the other hands of his rivals; but the padishah recovered only after the broth from the head of a roe deer given by N.; the padishah D. goes to war; only N. defeats him; N. holds court over everyone, retires to a castle in the mountains with his mother, wife, gardener, bird, lion and horse]: 218-239; Turks [summary of the text from the collection of Ign. Kunosh (without exact reference): fearing revenge of his brothers, the youngest prince secretly runs to his sons-in-law; the dev cordially receives the desired guest: letting him go, he gives him a wonderful seal; the prince approaches a large house that turns on a cock's leg; complaining about his lot, he arouses compassion in the gardener for the stranger, dressed in rags; having fallen in love with the princess, the keloglan (a bald young fool) calls the Arab and in a smart dress rides a horse through the garden, trampling the flowers; the princess throws gold at him by the handful; the ringing of the despicable metal compensates the gardener a hundredfold for the loss; allegorically hinting at her celibacy, she sends three melons to their father on behalf of her sisters; in front of a huge crowd of people, the princess distinguishes the keloglan three times; angry at the incomprehensible preference shown by his daughter to the keloglan, the king drives them away from him into the henhouse; the princess herself soon becomes disappointed in her husband; in order to cure the king, who suffers from eye problems, the eldest sons-in-law go for bird's milk; having begged his wife, for the sake of their child, for a mangy donkey, the keloglan mounts it; outside the city he pitches a tent; the brothers-in-law, having agreed to the disgrace (the keloglan applies a seal to his back), receive from him a drop of an unusual medicine; the king is delighted with his sons-in-law, he allows them to arrange a three-day tournament; like a lion, a young man enters the lists; the king personally bandages his slight wound with his daughter's handkerchief; the surprised princess carries it to her mother; the king takes his grandson on his lap and solemnly bequeaths the throne to the bald man]: Gordlevsky 1961, No. 41: 191; Kurds [the padishah's son is Moqaddam (MD), the vizier's is Mohammad (MM); MM studied, MD abandoned his studies; MM fell in love with the daughter of a distant padishah, MD went with him to get her; MM pulled a splinter out of a leopard's paw, helped ants cross a stream, they promise to help by giving them a hair each; MM and MD stopped at an old woman's; she tells them to work for the gardener , he will inform the padishah about the matchmakers; the padishah demands: 1) to get a dog that would defeat his dog (MM brought a leopard); 2) to separate the wheat from the millet in the barn (ants separated); 3) to eat a barn of salt; MM dug a tunnel to the padishah's daughter, learned from her that it is necessary to say: "What a whole barn of salt, what a pinch"; MD gets married, they ride back; MM rode forward, hears a conversation between three doves; 1) if MM and his wife approach the tower, they will burn; 2) if they sit under a tree by the spring, they will turn into wolves; 3) MD's father poisoned the horse's stirrups, if MD puts his foot in the stirrup, he will burn; if MM reports all this, he will turn to stone; MM destroyed the tower, muddied the spring and cut down the tree, killed the horse; MD is angry, but then his father died of love for his wife, MD forgot about MM; MM hears the doves again: a dragon is coming to devour MM; MM killed the dragon at the entrance to the palace, entered the chambers with a bloody sword, MD thinks that MM wants to kill him and his wife; MM told everything, turned to stone; the wife gave birth to a son; doves: if she slaughters her son at MM's feet, he will come back to life, and if she tells, she herself will turn to stone; the wife slaughtered him, MM came back to life; the dove threw a feather, MM ran it across his son's neck, he also came back to life; feast]: Rudenko 1970, No. 58: 210-218.

Iran - Central Asia. Bakhtiyars (Isfahan) [after the death of his wife, the king took a new one; stepson Mahad-Malik-padishah fed the foal with dried fruits, candies and human milk, it began to understand the language of people; tells the youth that when he returns from school, his stepmother will give him water with poison; he did not drink; poisoned soup (ditto); tea (ditto); a pit with spears sticking out, a carpet on top; the stepmother overheard MM's conversation with the foal, pretended to be ill, the foal's blood will cure her; when the foal was brought out, the prince sat on it, it flew; parted with the prince, leaving his hair: if you burn it, he will come; the prince pulled a ram's stomach over his head; hired himself out to the king's gardener; the youngest princess saw him bathing, fell in love; The princesses asked the vizier to show the king that it was time for them to get married; he brought the king three cucumbers of varying ripeness; the king understood, gathered the people, gave each daughter an orange, and ordered her to throw it at the one she liked; the youngest threw it three times at the gardener's assistant; the king sent her to the stable; the two eldest married the sons of the vizier and the vekil; the sons-in-law went hunting; MM called his foal; he made it so that all the game gathered at MM; he gave the eldest sons-in-law two pieces of game, in return for which he put seals on their thighs; he kept the heads for himself; the meat brought by the eldest sons-in-law was tasteless; the youngest daughter brought the heads, the king liked it; MM asks the foal to create an army; it surrounded the city; MM in his true form demands that his slaves be given to him; the brands were noticed, the king gave MM the crown; but he returned it; wedding]: Romaskevich 1934a, no. 56: 178-187; Persians : Osmanov 1987: 322-336 [a dervish gives a childless shah an apple; let him eat it half and half with his wife, she will give birth to twins, let him give one to him; the boys Ebrahim and Esmail grew up, the dervish took Ebrahim; the dervish went ahead, and a stone with the inscription "this is a div" rolled up to Ebrahim (E.); then with instructions to ask the dervish himself to dance around a cauldron of boiling oil in order to teach him, to push the dervish into the cauldron; when the dervish died, E. unlocked the rooms, freed the gazelles, revived the petrified people and horses; the wind-horse tells him to leave quickly - the dervish has a brother; E. touched the golden water, his hand and hair turned golden; the div's brother chased him, the horse ordered him to throw away needles (a field of thorns), salt (a salt desert), water from a wineskin; the water splashed out in front; the horse swam across the sea, and the div perished in a whirlpool in which there was a mill; E. hired himself out to the palace gardener ; the three daughters of the padishah ask for bouquets; E. tied the bouquet for the youngest with his golden hair; E. and the princess revealed themselves to each other; the daughters sent the padishah watermelons: barely ripe, ripe and overripe; the padishah: let each throw an apple at the chosen one; E. pulled a ram's stomach over his head; the youngest chose E., they were settled in the stable; the elders chose the sons of the vizier and vakil; the padishah fell ill, he needed gazelle meat; E. called for those saved gazelles; sold one to the elder sons-in-law, asking them to give him the head and legs; the meat given to the sons-in-law was bitter; from the decoction brought by the youngest daughter, the padishah recovered; he moved her with E. to the palace; enemies attacked, E. defeated them, revealed himself to the padishah; E. went to visit his parents; the old woman invited him to her place, he fell into a pit with swords and spears; only the ointment that the old woman had will cure him; she is the mother of those two divs; E.'s brother saw that the tree E. planted was withering; E.'s brother met a rolling stone, on it were instructions on how to defeat the witch; he killed her when she turned into a cat; he pulled her out, cured E.; their mother went blind, the same ointment helped her; a feast and a holiday], 362-365 [the foal warns the boy that his stepmother is going to poison him, push him into a pit covered with a carpet; the stepmother pretended to be ill - the foal must be killed; the boy asks to be allowed to ride one last time, they galloped away; the young man pulled a ram's stomach over his head, hired himself out to a gardener; the padishah's youngest daughter saw how he summoned his foal and pranced like a handsome man; the eldest and middle daughters of the padishah were thrown by the Pomeranians into the viziers' sons, and the youngest into a supposed bald man; she and her husband were placed in a stable; the padishah fell ill, he needed gazelle meat, the young man gathered all the gazelles, gave one to the eldest sons-in-law, but branded them on the butt; kept the head and entrails for himself; the meat brought by the eldest sons-in-law made the padishah worse, but the entrails made him better; he asked the youngest daughter why there was straw in the soup; daughter: we live in a stable; the young man ordered the eldest sons-in-law to show their brands, appeared in his true form, the padishah gave them a palace]; Persians (Kerman) [the shah marries for the second time; his only son has a foal named Qeytas; he cries, warns that his stepmother will prepare poisoned ash (thick soup); the prince refuses to eat ash; the next time - poisoned pilaf; K. advises to take pilaf from the side of the dish where the stepmother is, and not the one closest to the prince; the prince remains alive; the third time the stepmother dug a well with swords, let the prince walk along the side of the road; the stepmother pretended to be ill, told the doctor to say that the medicine is foal fat; K. advises to agree to his father's demand to give it to him, but on the condition of allowing him to ride one last time, putting on precious clothes, taking the crown and decorating K. with jewelry; after the third circle K. carried away the prince; landed near the garden; tells the prince to put down and leave him the crown and royal clothes, put on rags, pull a sheepskin over his head; a princess lives in the castle; K. tells the young man become the adopted son of a gardener ; gives hairs from his mane, if you burn a hair - he will fly; one day the prince did so, K. flew in, the prince rides through the garden in royal attire, the princess fell in love; seeing the imaginary gardener in his former attire, asks him to reveal himself, they secretly marry; the vizier compares the ripeness of melons with the ripeness of the king's daughters; advises to give the shah's three daughters a golden orange each to throw at the one they like; the eldest choose the vizier's sons, the youngest - the adopted son of the gardener; the shah fell ill with grief; the doctor: the meat of a special bird will cure; the vizier's sons go after it, give the gardener's son a bad horse and a bad saddle; falling behind, he burned a hair, transformed; the brothers cannot catch the bird, do not recognize the gardener's son; he gave them a bird in exchange for a paper in which the brothers declared themselves his slaves; the prince kept the bird's head and legs (in them all the power of the medicine) for himself; brands the brothers; returns; the brothers bring the bird to the king, who only gets worse; the prince gives the legs and head in a simple dish, the daughter persuades her to try it, the shah recovers; the prince shows the brands on his eldest sons-in-law and a receipt; the shah takes the sheepskin from him, makes him his heir, and makes the vizier's sons slaves]: Lorimer, Lorimer 1919, no. 7: 33–42; Persian written tradition (episode of the story) [the Astrakhan king, He Who Does Not Know Sorrow (NZS), shows his beautiful wife, who dies when he approaches, and comes back to life when he leaves; tells his story; being the heir to the throne, he began to travel incognito; in Khorezm he entered a courtyard where the men looked like madmen; they lost their minds upon seeing Raziye, the daughter of the local sultan; in order to see R., NZS changes his clothes, puts a bubble on his head, and hires himself out as a gardener's assistant; everyone admires his ability to play music and dance, but is shocked by his ugliness; R. sees the bubble accidentally fall from NZS's head; accuses him of fraud and is thrown into prison; he is released due to the war; upon inheriting the Astrakhan throne, NZS proposes to R., but she is already betrothed to the ruler of Ghazna; (to be continued)]: Grunberg 1990: 215-224; the Tajiks [the padishah's wife dies after giving birth to Muzaffar; the padishah orders him to be taught all the sciences, but to be kept in a dungeon; when the teacher realized that M. knew more than him, he took out a brick from the dome of the dungeon and M. saw the sun; M. left the dungeon and began to live in the palace; his stepmother hates him; M. buys a plain horse at a high price; he warns that his stepmother dug a hole for M. and covered it with a carpet; M. jumps over it; the stepmother pretends to be ill and demands that the horse be slaughtered; M. agrees with him that at the last moment he will ask permission to go for a ride; he jumps on the horse and leaves the city; at the mountain the horse gives his hair and leaves M.; M. boards a ship, a fish in the river wants to swallow him, he kills it with arrows; he sails, sitting in a chest, to the padishah's garden, lives with the gardener , looks bald; the youngest princess Malika falls in love with M.; the princesses throw apples at the chosen ones; the eldest Gulsun at the vizier's son, the middle Fatima at the qadi's son, Malika at the bald gardener ; while hunting, M. in his true form kills deer, gives them to the other two sons-in-law, and takes the stomachs for himself; the cheese given to the shah by the eldest daughters is bitter, and to the youngest it is tasty, but there is manure at the bottom; Malika explains that they live in a barn; only M. defeats the enemies; the king bandages the hero's hand with a scarf, by which he recognizes the youngest son-in-law]: Amonov, Ulug-zade 1960: 193-204 (= 1957: 168-177); Turkmens [the padishah has 40 wives, no children; two heroes are sent far away to the sage; He promises that the 40th wife, the slave Guldzhemal, will give birth to two sons; when the padishah lies with her, a dervish enters, orders him to eat an apple in half with his wife, and then give him one son; G. gives birth to two glowing boys; the father hides them in an underground crypt; after 13 years the dervish comes, plays the dutar, the boys come out to him, he takes the youngest; the parrots tell him that this is a dev, he will push him into a boiling cauldron; the boy himself pushes the dev; comes to the plane tree, where a black dragon annually devours the chicks of the Simurgh bird; kills the dragon, Simurgh gives him a few feathers; takes a splinter out of a tiger's paw, it gives him hair; the young man pulls a stomach over his head, hires himself out to a gardener with three daughters of the shah; asks them for a comb to comb his hair, the elders drive him away, the youngest gives it; when he receives it back, he sees silver and gold hair on it; the padishah calls the people together, tells his daughters to throw a stone at whoever they like; the eldest marries the vizier's son, the middle one the vekil's son, the youngest the bald man; they are settled in a barn; the sick padishah asks for keyik meat; during the hunt, tigers and simurghs drive all the keyiks to the bald man; the other two sons-in-law receive meat, for which the young man brands them; he appears in glory, takes the sons-in-law as slaves, the padishah admits that he was mistaken; the young man wrestles with the peri, is thrown into a well by her; the elder brother goes to the rescue, everyone takes him for the younger; he puts a sword between himself and the younger man's wife; the peri defeats, both brothers return home]: Stebleva 1969, No. 24: 94-124; Baluchi [the king has three sons, two of whom have a living mother, the third does not; a horse foals, someone pulls the foal into the water, the prince does not let him, someone orders the foal to be given milk from a black sheep; the stepmother wants to take possession of the foal, it warns the owner that the bread is poisoned; that a well has been dug and covered with straw; the stepmother pretends to be ill, demands the skin from the foal's chest as medicine; it tells the prince that he must be saved at the eighth neigh, otherwise they will both die; the young man rises to heaven on the foal, throws a letter to his father, it tells of the stepmother's intrigues; in the seventh heaven he takes a splinter out of a female deva, she gives him hairs to burn, calling on the devas for help; the young man kills a snake crawling along a tree trunk to devour the Simurgh chicks; She wants to kill him, the chicks explain that he saved them; she gives him feathers; let him burn them if he needs help; the young man asks the shepherds for a sheep's stomach, hires himself out to the gardener ; the three royal daughters notice the beautiful bouquet; they find the young man's comb; the doves fly to the betrothed; the vizier's son for the eldest, the governor for the middle one; the young man hid in the stove, bald; the king places him with the youngest daughter in a donkey barn; the young man gathers all the gazelles, the elder sons-in-law come to ask for them, not recognizing him; he gives permission to put a slave brand on both of them; the young man's horse, div, simurgh defeat the approaching enemies, build a golden house; the king transfers the kingdom to his son-in-law]: Zarubin 1932, No. 14: 173-190.

Baltoscandia. 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, a fool, crawls to sleep under a 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 elders have sold their horses, and the youngest is taking care of his own; a 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 soars into the sky and lands 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 youth managed to kill the blacksmiths, but the giant drove him into the ground up to the waist twice, and the horse pulled him out twice; the youth cut off the giant's leg, and then his head; the wife bandaged the wound with a handkerchief; in the evening she sees her handkerchief with her foolish husband; the fool became a favorite son-in-law, inherited the throne]: Alksnite et al. 1958: 135-142; Lutsi (zap. 1893) [the king kept his son behind 10 locks; but he is strong, he broke free; in the forest, an old man is in a house; he teaches him and feeds him, forbids him to enter the room, the door of which is tied with bast; the youth enters, there is a horse, in front of him meat, and a lion, in front of him hay; the youth rearranged them; the old man gets angry; after a while the youth enters that room again; the horse: hold me by the muzzle; shakes its muzzle, the youth falls; the horse: take a sip of water from the bottle; the same; again; this time so much strength that he held on; take a brush and a whetstone; the horse flies, the old man chases, his mouth is open; the youth throws the brush (forest and mountain), the whetstone (mountain); the old man makes his way; the horse orders to wave the right rein - a bridge over a fiery river; they galloped across it; the left: the old man was on the bridge at that time, the bridge collapsed, the old man burned; the horse is sent out to pasture, the young man made himself a house and a garden near the royal palace, in it there are silver and golden apples; the youngest princess noticed him; the suitors arrived; the king: whoever is brought a glass will be a husband; the elders brought the visitors, the youngest - to the gardener ; the elder suitors do not want such a son-in-law, they came with an army; the young man called a horse, defeated everyone, and again hid in his house; a new suitor came to the youngest, the young man defeated his army; then he led a terrible horse out of a high mountain, and an old man on it; a difficult battle; the young man is wounded in the arm, asks the king for a blessing (the king does not understand that this is his younger son-in-law), after which he killed the old man, and the suitor was walled up; the young man falls asleep for 12 days, the king recognizes his bandage; after 12 days the young man woke up healthy; at the feast the horse orders not to drink the first glass; the young man took a sip, the horse neighed, the cup fell, broke; the horse orders to take the queen's handkerchief and wipe the lips of the young man and himself; turns into the brother of the young man who disappeared long ago; I drank and ate there, it ran down my lips, but did not get into my mouth]: Annom et al. 2018: 135-139; Western Sami [a lad hired himself out to a giant as a laborer; chose the largest tree; the giant took hold of the top, the lad sat on the butt; replies that he is not tired at all; having brought the tree, the giant tells the lad to go into the barn, but not into the stable; the horse: tomorrow you will be asked to launch a boat; tell him that if you lean on it, the boat will fly to pieces; the giant himself launched it; asks him to take the oars; the lad: if I take them, they will break; the same goes for now (all the fishing tackle will break); when they return, the horse tells them to go into the barn, slaughter a cow, cut the heart in half; the giant's life is in the cow; if not dead, then cut it into small pieces; then they will gallop away, taking a box (Bühse), a sword, a piece of sulphur, a flint, a comb; when they galloped, the horse asked if the lad heard or saw anything behind him; as if the wind was whistling; the horse: the giant had come to life; throw sulfur: a body of water; the giant ran home for a ladle, drank water with the help of the ladle; wanted to leave it to pick it up on the way back, but the bird: if you leave it, I will take it; had to run home again to take it; tinderbox - a mountain; the giant runs for a drill (again about the bird); comb - a forest, ran for an axe (the bird); the lad on a horse galloped to the world where the giant does not go; there is a copper forest ahead, you can’t break branches; the lad broke the last one, a giant in copper clothes appeared, the horse defeated him; the same with the silver forest and the giant; with the golden one; now the horse told the lad to hire himself out to the king; he always wears a copper cap so that the golden one (Goldhut) is not visible; he told the king that he has a scab; became a gardener , the youngest of the three princesses saw him take off his copper cap; she asked her father to marry her to the young gardener; her sisters chose noble youths; the youngest son-in-law called a horse, shot many birds, gave them to the elders, and himself brought only an owl; wedding; the horse to the youth: you have forgotten about me, cut off my head; he cut it off, the horse itself turned into a handsome prince {the end without the details usual in single-plot tales}]: Poestion 1886, No. 21: 84-92; Danes [the wife of the King of Spain died, he took a new one; the stepmother seduces her stepson, but he refuses her; then she accuses him of trying to rape her; before his execution, he is allowed to walk in the garden for three days; every 7 years a white horse appears; this time it is here again, the prince has galloped away; they end up in Constantinople; the horse shows a hollow, in it are ordinary clothes and a vessel; when the prince moistened his hair with the liquid from it, his hair turned golden; he hides it under a cap; he is hired by a gardener for three years and must answer “I don’t know” to all questions; the youngest of the three princesses sees the young man’s golden hair; tells her sisters that the time has come for marriage; the princesses must throw golden apples at the chosen suitors; the youngest threw them at the gardener; unrecognized, in his true form on a magic horse, the young man defeats his enemies three times; the king deliberately wounds him in the leg in order to bandage the wound with a handkerchief and then identify him; the youth appears in all his glory, takes his wife and returns to his father; the stepmother was burned]: Holbek 1987: 564-565; the Danes [everyone was disappearing in the forest; the king sent an army to surround the place; they found him sleeping and chained a huge man - covered in wool and with one eye in his forehead; he put him in an iron cage in a tower, gave the key to his wife; their seven-year-old son was playing with a golden apple, it fell into the wild man's cage; he would give it back if the boy opened it; he taught him how to get the key from his mother; the boy asked his mother to look in his head and quietly pulled out the key; opened the cage, then, at the wild man's request, two doors, then he got his apple; the man gave him a whistle to call in case of danger; the boy locked the doors and quietly returned the key to his mother; when she was about to be executed, the prince confessed that he was guilty; the king ordered him to be taken into the forest; he blew a whistle, the wild man took him to his underground castle; he taught him military training for 7 years, the prince became a handsome and strong young man; the man ordered him to dip his head in a spring, his hair became golden; he took him to some royal castle, ordered him to hire himself as a worker there, but not to show his hair; the prince began to work for a gardener ; called himself lousy, so he was moved to a separate hut; at his request (and with the help of the witchcraft of the wild man) any work was done by itself; the youngest of the three princesses saw him combing his golden hair; the king arranged a tournament in honor of the eldest daughter, the prince won on a bay horse; the princess threw a golden apple at him, but he threw it to the duke's son; the same with the second princess (on a black horse; gave the apple to the count's son); the youngest daughter; on a white horse; kept the apple for himself, took the form of a gardener, showed the apple; revealed himself to the youngest princess; while hunting, the elder sons-in-law got nothing, the prince gave them game in exchange for their golden apples; the next day - for the right to cut belts from their skin; enemies attacked, the prince defeated them all; the king learned the truth; wedding; at the feast, the prince showed two other apples and told about the belts from the skin of the elder sons-in-law; the king drove them out together with their wives]: Grundtvig 1878: 227-251.

Volga - Perm. Mordvins [a horse tells its owner to take off its skin and put it on himself; if it needs to be called, stand on the skin and call; now its name is Horse Skin (HS); the king's garden has dried up, a man hired himself out on the condition of reviving it in three months; if he fails, his head will be cut off; if he succeeds, he will receive a princess; HS slept for 2 months and 27 days, and then summoned a horse with fire from its nostrils. It created a garden; the king sends each of his three daughters for HS, but it sleeps; a three-headed snake demands the eldest daughter; a horse made a man a hero; to do this, he climbed into one ear and climbed out of the other; woke up when a tear of the princess fell on his cheek; cut off the snake's head, hid it under a stone, received a ring from the princess; the coachman made her call him her savior; the same with the 9-headed serpent and the middle princess; with the 12-headed and the youngest; the horse warned that this serpent would prevail, it would be necessary to call her, the horse; she herself tore off the last heads and did not let them grow back; the king is ready to give the coachman the youngest daughter, but all three princesses demand that he show the rings given to him; the king wakes up LS, he has rings on his fingers; LS received the youngest princess and the kingdom]: Maskaev 1966: 199-206.