K81A. Bezruchka in the Tsarevich's Garden. .15.16.26.-.32.27.-.32.

A girl whose hands are cut off comes to a fruit tree (garden bed) to find food. Seeing her there, the prince takes her as his wife.

Maltese, French (Normandy, Nivernais, Loire-Atlantique, Vienne, Velay), Germans (Hesse, Alsace), Koreans, Hungarians, Romanians, Slovaks, Russians (Arkhangelsk {Pinega}, Pskov, Voronezh), Belarusians, Mingrelians, Setos, Latvians, Lithuanians, Uzbeks, Komi, Kazan Tatars.

Southern Europe. The Maltese [the king leaves, during which time his wife gives birth to twins named Sun and Moon; the queen mother locks her in a cellar, writes to her son that his wife has given birth to two kittens; then cuts off the young queen's hands and drives her out {apparently tying the babies to her}; she finds a fig tree and feeds on the falling figs; on the way back the king sees a woman, does not recognize her, asks questions; she tells him everything; he realizes that she is his wife, brings her to the palace; the queen mother is skinned, made into a doormat]: Stumme 1904, no. 23: 66-67.

Western Europe. French (Normandy) [a woman envies her daughter's beauty; hires two assassins to bring her her heart and hands; they bring her a dog's heart, but cut off the girl's hands; she comes to the castle garden and starts eating the fruit; the heir falls in love and marries the armless woman, but his mother is against it; when the woman gives birth to two boys, the mother-in-law switches a letter to her son and a letter from him: she has given birth to two monsters and must be gotten rid of; she is thrown out, the babies hanging from her neck; bending over a spring, she drops one of them, cries out to God, her hands grow back and she catches the baby; the husband returns from the war 12 years later and goes to look for his wife; he finds them; the mother-in-law is given over to be devoured by beasts of prey]: Fleury 1883, no. 3: 151-159; French (Nivernais, Loire-Atlantique, Vienne, Velay) [publications containing episode IIA of the ATU 706 plot]: Delarue, Téneze 1964: 623, 625, 627-628; German (from Marie von Hasselpflug, Dorotea Vieh, Jahann HB Bauer; revised version; probably Hesse) [the devil offers to make a poor miller rich if in three years he gives him what is behind the mill; returning home, the miller learns that behind the mill was not an apple tree, but his daughter; at the appointed hour the girl washed herself and drew a circle around herself with chalk; the devil cannot come near, demands that all the water be removed; the girl washed her hands with her tears; the devil orders her hands to be cut off; she washed the stumps with her tears; the devil has to leave; the girl left home; the gardener saw her biting into an apple hanging on a tree; the young king married her; while he was away, she gave birth to a boy; the devil replaced the letter – she gave birth to a werewolf {or rather, a non-human child}; then the devil replaced the king’s letter with an order to kill the mother and child, and bring him her eyes and tongue; the queen mother sent the tongue and eyes of a doe, and told her daughter-in-law to leave; God sent an angel to take care of the young mother; her arms grew, and she and her son live in the palace, wanting for nothing; the king returned and went in search of his wife and son; after 7 years he found them and brought them back to his palace]: Grimm, Grimm 2003, no. 31: 109-113 (=Grimm, Grimm 1987: 392-396); Germans(Alsace) [a young forester's widow is interested in remarriage; she does not need her daughter Marianne; promises to marry one of her lovers if he kills M. and brings her her hands; he lets the girl go, but cuts off her hands; she comes to the king's garden and starts eating apples at night; the young king finds her; takes her as his wife; a year later the king goes to war; his wife gives birth to twin boys; the king's parents send him a letter; it is replaced with the message that his wife has given birth to puppies; the king's reply is also replaced: the children must be burned so that only ashes remain; the king's parents hang the children on her chest and back and send her into the forest; Saints Peter and Lazarus come to meet her; they return her hands and build her a hut to live in; the king returns, finds out everything, searches unsuccessfully for his wife; while hunting he finds himself next to the house where M. lived with her sons; she talks to them, calling the newcomer their father; a holiday; M.'s mother is found; the king asks what to do with the woman who cut off her daughter's hands; she replies that they should be torn slowly with hot pincers and lashed with a whip; and that is what they did to her]: Lefftz 2006, no. 7: 175-180

China – Korea. Koreans [a stepmother orders her husband to cut off his stepdaughter’s hands; an eagle carries off the right hand, a kite the left; she comes to a rich house, stands under a persimmon tree, cannot pick the fruit; the heir to the house sees her, hides her, marries; leaves; the wife gives birth, sends a servant with a letter; he stays at the stepmother’s house, she replaces the letter, as if the wife had given birth to a freak; replaces a letter from the husband, as if he orders the wife to be thrown out; she bends over a stream, the child slips out, the mother’s hands grow to grab it; the wife with the child and the husband stay in the same house; the stepmother is punished]: Cho 2001, no. 106: 201-203.

The Balkans. The Hungarians [the king sent a letter to his son; the messenger spent the night in the house where the mother and daughter lived; the mother asked which of them was more beautiful; the messenger answered evasively, but in the sense that older people are inferior in appearance to the young; the woman ordered his servant to take the girl into the forest and bring her liver, lungs and hands; the servant brought the liver and lungs of a dog, but the hands had to be cut off; the woman ate the liver and lungs, and threw the hands in the attic; the armless girl came into the garden at night to gnaw apples from the tree; the king ordered the garden to be guarded; on the third night it was the prince's turn; the girl: sleep, little eye, sleep, the other; the prince fell asleep, but she stumbled and fell on him; the prince married her; went to war, his wife gave birth to golden-haired twins; the prince's wife's mother switched the letter: she is a prostitute and gave birth to puppies; switched the answer: throw the wife out immediately; [the armless girl came to the magic lake: she bathed and her arms grew; she settled in a hut; the husband was hunting, came there, but did not recognize his wife; when he fell asleep, he dropped his hand from the bed; wife: son, fix your father's hand; then his leg; the prince's servant heard this; a second wedding; the wife persuaded him to forgive his mother]: Jones, Kropf 1889, no. 36: 182-188; Romanians [the son of the Green Tsar fell in love with the daughter of the Red Tsar; the princess's mother decided to kill her, because her daughter was more beautiful than her; she ordered the executioner to take the girl into the forest and bring her hands and heart; the executioner brought the heart of a dog, but cut off her hands; the girl came to the vineyard of the Red Tsar, met the prince there and he married her; his mother declared war on the Red Tsar; wrote a letter to her son that his wife was wandering around somewhere, and replaced his letter with an order to throw out his wife and the newborn; she found her hands in the spring, put them to the stumps and they grew back; her husband came to her, she recognized him; she told the child that he was his father; the husband's mother was hanged]: Bîrlea 1966: 454-455.

Central Europe. Slovaks [father wants to marry his daughter; when she refuses, he orders her hand to be cut off and put in a bearskin; she comes to the king's garden to bite the apples hanging on the trees; the king marries her, she gives birth to a son; the wicked woman lies that she is a puppy, drives her out of the palace; the Lord and St. Peter return her hands and make all the wishes of her son Petrik come true; the king and his cook accidentally drop by their house; cook: let P. wish that he and his mother were together in a castle overseas; P. refuses; then the cook killed P.'s mother, and P. turned him into a dog; P. himself became the king's cook; he brought a lily from his mother's grave and it turned into a woman again; all is well]: Gašparíková 1993, no. 91: 63-64; Russian : Russian (Arkhangelskaya: Pinega) [dying parents tell their son not to marry, their daughter not to marry; a brother got married, his wife tells him to get rid of his sister; he took his sister to the forest, cut off her hands; she came to the garden, started eating apples; Ivan (he is a prince or a merchant's son) lay in wait for her, married; the husband went to war, his parents do not like his daughter-in-law; she asked him to tie the baby to her and left; she bent down to the river, the boy fell out; a bird: stretch out your hands! her hands grew back, she grabbed the child; a bird: this river arose from your blood and tears; a woman came to her brother's house, they did not recognize her; her husband came there too; everyone tells tales; she told about herself; the witch, who is the brother's wife, had her head cut off]: Sitina 1975, No. 8 {number 8 is repeated twice in the numbering}: ; Russian: Russian (Pskovskaya, Ostrovsky u.) [dying parents tell their son to take care of his sister; she advises her brother to get married; the wife took a dislike to her sister-in-law; broke bottles of wine, ruined her stallion, killed her own baby, blamed her sister-in-law for everything; the brother took his sister into the forest to cut off her head, but agreed to cut off only her hands; she came to the royal garden to eat apples from the branches; the prince found her, married her; when he left, she gave birth to a son: his arms up to the elbows in gold, his legs up to the knees in silver, a crescent on the back of his head, the sun on his forehead, frequent stars on the top of his head; the messenger stayed at the house of the woman in labor's brother; his wife switched the letter: she gave birth to neither a dog, nor a cat, nor a mouse; switched the prince's answer: throw his wife out with the baby; she dropped the baby in the water, fell asleep; when she woke up, the baby was alive and the hands were in place; exchanged clothes with a shepherd, became a beggar; came to her brother's house, and the prince came there too; tells a tale - her story; everything came out, a feast for the whole world]: Smirnov 1917, No. 104: 333-337; Russian(Voronezh, Korotoyaksky district) [summary of a fairy tale from the manuscript of priest Nikolai Patritsky "Ethnographic information about the inhabitants of the Korotoyaksky district" (1855): "a brother, having separated from his sister, went to trade; the brother's wife, out of anger towards her sister, in the absence of her husband, first slaughtered a horse, then killed a child, blaming it all on the sister's witchcraft; the brother wanted to kill his sister, but at her request he cut off only her hand and sent her to wander the world; the sister picked apples in a reserved garden, the son of the owner of this garden married her; the young wife, in the absence of her husband, gave birth to a son "Separation"; the barinov's evil daughter-in-law replaced the letter, writing that a Chutsk piglet was born; the husband ordered his wife to leave his house completely; her brave son defeats enemy regiments, is generously rewarded and is close to one general; they could not find his mother for a long time: she was looking after sick soldiers in men's clothes; it soon turned out that she was the wife of that very tsarist general who had brought her heroic son close to him"]: Zelenin 1914, No. 73: 392-393; Russian (Voronezh) [Orphans, a brother and sister, live amicably. The brother gets married, his wife is jealous of his beautiful sister. She tells her husband that in his absence she broke dishes, stabbed his favorite horse, and killed his child. The brother cannot forgive his sister for the latter act, takes her to the forest and cuts off her hands. The brother shows his hands to his wife and says that he killed his sister. The girl enters the tsar's garden and eats apples. Bova the prince notices this, lets her live at court, and marries her. In his absence, his wife gives birth to a beautiful child ("a star on his forehead, a moon on the back of his head"). The letter with the news of the birth ends up with her brother, his wife replaces it with a message about the birth of "neither a mouse nor an animal, but some kind of monster." She also replaces the prince's reply, orders that the child's mother be killed before his return. The king and queen take pity on their daughter-in-law, tie the child to their chest and let her go. The girl bends down to the water to drink, the child falls into the river. When she reaches out to pull him out of the water, her arms grow. She asks for salvation for the child and healing for herself. Together with the child, she stops to spend the night at her brother's, where her husband also appears. He and the hosts recognize her, but are doubtful, since she has arms. Bova asks how she lost her arms, her brother says that her arms were cut off by a machine. He confesses that he is her husband. The three of them return to the prince's parents, the wife tells how she was healed and how her hands returned. The child becomes even more beautiful after he fell into the water ("the star on his forehead became brighter"). The daughter-in-law and brother were shot, the prince's son grew up and became the tsar]: Baryshnikova 2007, No. 6: 66-70; Belarusians[dying parents tell their son and daughter to live in peace and harmony, as they did in their time; brother marries; wife thinks he loves sister more than her; slaughtered cow, blamed sister; brother is not angry; horse - same; child; then brother took sister to forest, cut off hands; she came to the king's garden, where golden apples are counted; she ate one; they began to search; king found, fell in love, married; when he left, wife gave birth to a son - a moon on forehead, dawns on the back of head; messenger spent the night with woman's brother, his wife replaced the letter - gave birth to neither a beetle, nor a toad; replaced the answer: to drive away wife together with the one she gave birth to; she bent over well, child fell, hands grew; she came to her brother's house, her husband was there; she told everything; The tsar took his wife, the brother tied his to a horse's tail and sent her out into the field]: Romanov 1887, No. 55: 283-285.

Caucasus – Asia Minor. Megrels [Kato was left an orphan when her brother named Nartia was only three years old; K. raised him; N. took a wife named Sasha; she does not love N.; set fire to the house, threw her son into the fire, accused N.; she was sentenced to death; her brother cut off her hands, left her naked in the forest; she eats apples under the Tsar's apple tree; Tsarevich Alexei finds her, takes her as his wife; in his absence K. gave birth; a messenger was sent, S. replaced the letter: the wife gave birth to a puppy; A. replaced the letter: the wife and the puppy were thrown into a pit; the Tsar kicks out his daughter-in-law; bending over the river, K. dropped the baby, but her arms grew; K. comes to the palace, tells her tale; all is well; S. was tied to the horse's tail]: Stepanov 1898, No. 11: 34-39.

Iran - Central Asia. Uzbeks [the parents of Hasan and Khurliko died; the bai married Hasan to his daughter Zuleikha; she hated Khurliko, first burned the property, then stabbed her own child, planted a knife on Khurliko; her brother cut off her hands and drove her out; in the padishah's garden, Khurliko ate melons; Prince Anwar saw her, married her; having received the throne in another kingdom, he left his wife to bear a child; Z. replaced the letter with a message that Z. gave birth to a puppy and a kitten; replaced the return letter: even if she gave birth to a son with a golden braid, a daughter with a silver one, cut off her breasts, throw the children in H.'s bag over her shoulder, drive her out into the desert; the padishah did not cripple his daughter-in-law, but drove her out; when H. was crossing the river, the son fell out and drowned; the elder returned the child and returned the hands to the mother; orders to throw 7 pebbles, the river will split into canals, it can be crossed; throw 40 - a palace and wealth will appear; having returned to his father, A. set out to look for his wife, met her brother Hasan, they came to the palace of Khurliko; at night she put diamonds and pearls in her brother's pocket; Khurliko accuses Hasan of theft, he swears that he is innocent; she tells everything; Zuleikha was executed]: Afzalov et al. 1972(2): 208-216.

Baltoscandia. Setu [dying parents order their son and daughter not to marry; the son has St. Mary as his godfather, the daughter St. Nicholas; the son nevertheless takes a wife, moves his sister into a closet; the wife decides to destroy her; kills the piglets, tells her husband that his sister did it; the sister swears by St. Nicholas that she is innocent; the same thing when the wife killed sheep; cows; horses; then she killed her newborn child; then the brother took his sister into the forest and cut off her hands, hung them around her neck; the sister came to a rich house, there were apple trees, she began to eat apples; the old woman noticed, asks her merchant son to guard the thief; he seized the girl, persuaded the mother to leave her in the house; the mother gave her son a hundred rubles to find a wife; he spent the money, did not find a suitable bride; this happened three times; then the mother told him to take the handless one; The son went away on business, his mother wrote to him that his wife had given birth to a girl; she sent the letter through his friend, who happened to be the brother of the armless man; his wife found the letter, replaced it with another, writing that his wife had given birth to a puppy; in reply, the husband ordered to wait for his return; the evil sister again replaced the letter, ordering the puppy to be hung on the daughter-in-law's neck and to drive her out; the mother-in-law hung the baby together with his severed arms, which remained as if alive; the woman came to the sea, asked God to take her away, wanted to throw herself into the sea; an old man came out, reattached her arms, she took the baby in them; she came to her brother, he did not recognize her; her husband was there too; she began to tell her story; her brother's wife tried in vain to prevent her; she was tied to a horse's tail (huu hanna otsa) and sent out into the world; the blue stone and the hazel bush beat her for another nine years until nothing was left of her (voolits' tõist viil perrä ütesä aastakka kooni ar lõppi)]: Sandra 2004: 226-231 (approximately the same in Säärits 2022: 445-447 and 493-495); Latvians [ Bezruchka . Dying parents punish their children not to marry. (Also: a father wants to marry his daughter, drives her away for her disobedience, orders her hands to be cut off). The son marries anyway. The brother's wife hates her sister-in-law, kills a dog, a horse, and blames her husband's sister for this. Then the wife kills her child, and the brother, having cut off his sister's hands, drives her away. The sister ends up in the king's garden, picks apples with her mouth. The king marries her and goes off to war. When the child is born, the wife sends a messenger to the king with news. The evil daughter-in-law replaces the letter, saying that a baby animal has been born. The king orders the child to be raised. The daughter-in-law again replaces the letter. The queen and the child are driven into the forest, the child falls into the water, the mother, crying, reaches out to him, her arms grow. She lives with the child in a forest hut. One day the king stops there for the night. He is told everything that happened in the form of a fairy tale]: Arijs, Medne 1977, No. 760: 311-312; Lithuanians[Saint Margaret was the Duke's sister, they had a wicked stepmother; began to write to the Duke that M. was leading a dissolute life; after the third letter, the Duke ordered that M.'s hands be cut off and driven out into the forest; she came to the King's domain, began to eat cucumbers in the garden; she was caught and brought to the Prince, but he fell in love with her and took her as his wife; a year later she gave birth; there was moonlight above the boy's head, two stars on the sides; the Prince left at that time; the wicked stepmother wrote that M. had given birth to an unknown beast; after the third letter, the Prince ordered that the baby be tied to M.'s neck and driven away; she bent down to the spring, the baby fell into the water; when she tried to catch him, his arms grew back; and the Baby was pulled out of the water by the Mother of God, and he immediately grew up and began to speak; they went out to the palace of the Duke, M.'s brother; everyone gathered there for the holiday; M. told her story; The Duke ordered his stepmother to be burned on hot bricks]: Leskien, Brugman 1882, no. 46: 505-508.

Volga - Perm. Komi (Vym dialect) [the stepdaughter spilled flour; the stepmother cut off her hand and kicked her out; she came to the tsar's garden and started nibbling on the apples she could get; the tsar sent his son to guard the thief; when the tsarevich saw the girl, he married her; he went off to war; the wife gave birth; they sent a letter asking what to name the boy; the messenger spent the night at the stepmother's house; she replaced the letter with a message that his wife had given birth to a puppy; the tsarevich wrote that it did not matter who; the stepmother replaced it with an order to kick his wife out until the tsarevich returned; the tsar and tsarina gave their daughter-in-law the child and kicked her out; she fell asleep by the seashore; her hand grew back from the blows of the waves; she came with the child to a house and stayed to live there; the tsarevich went to look for his wife and came there; the spouses did not immediately recognize each other, and then hugged; [returned home and had a feast]: Rédei 1978, no. 4: 33-37; Kazan Tatars [brother got married, wife does not love his younger sister; cut down apple trees, slaughtered foal, blamed sister-in-law; then killed child; husband took sister to forest, cut off hands; she came to the garden of padishah's son; prince fell in love, got married; left on business; wife gave birth to two sons; padishah sent son a letter, brother's wife substituted, same with reply; woman with newborns was abandoned in forest; she bent down to water, hands grew; she left children with forester, hired herself out as worker; all participants of events come there; she tells her story; brother's wife was arrested, he himself was remarried]: Zamaletdinov 2009, no. 59: 219-235.