L41a1. The cauldron split. .15.16.19.24.26.30.31.34.

When the demon tries to shake the hero out of the bag over the cauldron, stones fall from the bag into the cauldron and it splits.

Italians (Friuli, Tuscany), Spaniards, French, Buka, Toraja, Apayao, mountain Tajiks, Yagnobis, Norwegians, Eastern and Western Saami, Kumandins, Khakass.

Southern Europe. Italians : Calvino 1980, no. 37 (Friuli; the story is known throughout northern and central Italy) [a boy, Pierino Pierone, climbed a pear tree; a witch asked him to come down and give her some pears; PP refused, threw the pear down, it fell into cow dung, then into horse dung; then PP came down, the witch put him in a sack, carried him away, stopped along the way and went off to relieve herself; PP gnawed through the rope, filled the sack with stones and ran away; at home the witch emptied the contents of the sack into a boiling cauldron, it broke, and boiling water flooded the room; the witch put on a wig, came back to the pear tree; PP recognized her, but still came down; he was unable to gnaw through the rope, but at that moment a hunter came up, untied the sack, and replaced the boy with a dog; when the witch untied the sack, the dog bit her and ran away; the third time the witch had a red wig; she brought PP home; left for a while, telling her daughter to boil it; PP pretends not to know how to put the head on the board so that Margarita would cut it off; cut off her own head, threw it into the cauldron; climbed onto the shelf above the fireplace; the witch asks how he got there; PP says that he made a ladder out of a spoon, knife and fork; the witch tried, fell into the fire and burned]: 110-114, 723; Crane 1885, No. 85 (Tuscany) [Buchettino found some money, bought figs, climbed a tree and began to eat; the ogre asked them to be thrown down to him; one, then the other fell into the mud; the ogre asked B. to get down and give it to him, grabbed it, carried it away in a sack, stopped on the way, walked away; B. cut the sack, filled it with stones, ran away; at home the ogre dumped the stones into the cauldron, realized that he had been deceived; went back; B. is on the roof, says that he climbed in by placing frying pans, pots and other utensils on top of each other; the ogre did so, fell and was killed]: 265-267; Spaniards [in one house lived Perequín with his grandmother, and in another a giant with his wife Maria; P. climbed a tree for figs (higuines); the giant asked him to throw them down, P. refused; when the boy got off, the giant put him in a sack and carried him home; on the way he went off to relieve himself; P. filled the sack with stones and ran away; at home the giant tells his wife to prepare the cauldron, empties the contents of the sack into it, the cauldron split; the next day - the same thing (the boy filled the sack with straw); on the third day he brought the boy, locked him in a closet, went to call guests; P. persuaded M. to let him out – he would help chop wood; he cut off her head, put it in bed, and climbed up the chimney himself; the giant found his wife’s head, and P. ran away]: Camarena, Chevalier 1995, No. 327C: 141-143.

Western Europe. The French (Alpes-Maritimes; the author knows of no other French versions) [a boy, Pitchin-Pitchot, found a coin and asked his mother what to buy with it; she offered him pepper, apples, and dogwood; he agreed to buy figs; he ate them, throwing the pits out the window and being afraid to go out into the garden: the ogre would carry them away; the following year a fig tree grew; PP climbed onto it and ate figs; the ogre came up to him and asked to give him some; the figs fell to the ground; the ogre asked to give them into his hands; PP shook them into a sack and carried them away; he left the sack and went to get a drink; PP cut a hole, filled the sack with stones, ran to the ogre's house and climbed onto the roof; at home the ogre opened the sack so that the prey would fall into the cauldron, the stones broke the cauldron; PP laughs; the ogre asks him how he got onto the roof; put all the plates, etc., one on top of the other; the cannibal did so, fell, and the dishes broke; PP: sit on a red-hot iron rod; the cannibal sat down and died]: Delarue 1957, No. 327C: 328-329.

Melanesia. Buka : Montauban, O'Reilly 1952, No. 4 [the boys were left in the men's house; Totopiok came, demanded taro; told the boys to break each other's arms; they bent their arms, but one later straightened them; then T. bent everyone's arms and legs, threw them into a basket, brought them home; went with his wife for taro; the children cut the basket with shell knives, climbed out, put stones in their place, ran away; T. smashed his cauldron with stones; the next day everything was repeated; the children pretended to cry, finding themselves in the basket; when T. picked it up, the men shot arrows, he ran, but his way was blocked]: 68-70.

Malaysia - Indonesia. Toraja [(Bare-Toraja); when leaving to work in the fields, the parents tell their son Tandani and his brother to prepare food for their return; but they play all day every time; finally, the mother did not let the children into the house, pushing T. down the stairs; the brothers ran away; the mother tried to catch up with them and asked them to come back; T. threw peas behind him several times, the mother collected them, wasting time; T. asked the "gaping rocks" {gähnenden Felsen: apparently, pounding rocks} to let them through, the rocks let them through; the mother, however, was cut in half by the rocks: one half became a goat, the other a pig; the brothers reached a fruit tree; T. climbed up, began throwing fruit to his brother, driving away an approaching pig; he did not know that it was his mother; he threw her a fruit with a sharp leaf stalk in it; the pig swallowed it and died; the brothers came to an old man and an old woman; T. told about the killed pig, asked to feed his brother; the old man smeared the boy's mouth with blood, took the meat for himself, left the bones for his brothers; on the way to the old man, T. quietly transferred the meat to his basket, and put stones in the old man's basket; at home the old man began to dump the contents into the cauldron - it leaks; the old man thinks that a bone has pierced it; this happens with all the cauldrons; then he noticed that there were stones in the basket; in the morning the old men with two dogs rushed after the boys; they climbed a tree above the river; the old man noticed their reflection; he climbed the tree, saying to his wife: if it "crunches" fall, then it is me, and if it "plop", then it is T., let the dogs out on him; T.: open your mouth, I will throw something; the old man opened his mouth, T. threw a hot stone into it, the old man fell, the wife thinks that it is T., let the dogs out, they bite the old man to death; climbed up by herself, injured herself on the thorns and died]: Adriani 1915 in Bezemer 1904: 348-352.

Taiwan – Philippines. Apayao : Wilson 1947b: 51–54 [two brothers kill a wild boar; it is too heavy, they have no fire; one goes to a giant for fire; says he wants to fry grasshoppers and crabs; the giant says each time that these are his favorite foods; takes almost all the meat for himself; the brothers propose a diving contest, replace the meat with stones, climb a tree over a river; at home the giant empties the contents of the basket into a cauldron, the stones pierce it, the fire goes out; the giant sees the reflection of the brothers, chops down the tree; the brothers order an axe to chop off his legs; the giant's wife takes the axe – same thing; the brothers return home], 76–79 [five brothers chop down a tree, each hears a voice, Don't tear down my house ; only the youngest, Ingqui-it, is not afraid, gets the butt, from which comes forth a beauty; the brothers, out of envy, push the youngest's log into the river; following him, he finds himself in the cave of the cannibal Guissurab and his wife; the insect makes an exit for him in the wall of the cave, he leaves a mat with stones in his place; G. throws it into the cauldron, breaking it; G. and his wife pursue I., the brothers kill them with spears with red-hot tips].

Iran – Central Asia. Mountain Tajiks (Darvaz) [ Odin’s boy Zardoliak planted an apricot pit, a tree grew, he climbed it to eat the fruit; an old woman asked for some for herself, did not catch the dropped apricot, told him to come down and give her a handful in a skullcap, carried Z. away in a sack; on the way she stepped away for a while, Z. cut the sack with a knife, filled it with stones, returned to eat the apricots; the old woman brought the sack to her daughters, emptied the contents into a cauldron, the stones split the cauldron; the next time the old woman brought Z. home, he hid under the roof of her house; he said that he sat on a red-hot shovel, she lifted him up under the roof; the old woman sat on the shovel, burned]: Rosenfeld, Rychkova 1990: 208-209; Yagnobians [Shomiltykak asks the reaper for a sickle to help him reap; he sends to his wife for a sickle; Sh. tells her that the king demands the girls; she does not give them to him, he shouts about this to her husband, he orders him to give them to her, Sh. takes the girl away; promises to cure the bald shepherd, buries him in the ground up to his neck, kills him, leads away the herd; plants an apricot seed, threatens to crush it, the apricot grows in a few days, Sh. climbs on it; the old woman asks him to throw the fruits down to her, asks to give them into her hands, grabs Sh., carries him away in a sack; the reapers offer her bread to eat, Sh. runs away, leaving stones in the sack; the old woman's daughter lowers the contents of the sack into the cauldron, it breaks; the old woman catches Sh. again in the same way, does not stop eating the bread, brings Sh. home; while he sleeps, Sh. crawls out, cuts off the heads of the old woman’s daughters, throws one into the cauldron, hides at the top of a plane tree; the old woman eats the meat, discovers her dead daughters; asks how Sh. climbed up; he says that he hit himself in the backside with a hot iron; she does so, burns, dies]: Andreev, Peshchereva 1957, No. 33: 167-169.

Baltoscandia. Norwegians : Asbjíørsen, Moe 1960 [almost like in Dasent; the witch says she has brought a knife, then a fork, then a spoon; on the way she asks where she can lie down to rest, the boy replies that it is half a mile away, etc.; the first time she puts a pine root in the sack instead of herself, the second time a stone; when the troll woman shakes the sack into the cauldron, the stone breaks it]: 97-101; (cf. Dasent 1970 [a woman has a plump son, his name is Buttercup (BC); a witch comes, her head under her arm, the mother tells BC to hide; she replies that BC has gone away; the witch says that she has a silver knife for him; BC jumps out, the witch asks him to get the knife from the bag, takes it away; on the way asks how far it is to Storring; BC replies that it is only half a mile; the witch goes to bed, BC cuts a hole in the bag, returns to the mother; the same the second time (silver spoon); the third time (silver fork) the witch comes straight home; goes to invite guests, tells the daughter to cook the spoils; she does not know how to begin; BC advises her to lie down on the cutting board, chops off the girl's head, puts her to bed, cooks the meat, climbs onto the roof, taking a spruce root and a stone; when the guests are feasting, CM shouts that they are eating broth from the witch's daughter, throws a stone and a root at them, everyone perishes, he takes the gold and silver]: 124-129); Western Sami (Lyngen, coast of northern Norway) [late in the evening the children were skiing; Stallo put a sack under it, they ended up in the sack, S. carried them; left them for a while; the eldest boy got out of the sack and let the others out, put stones in the sack; S. brought the sack home, ordered a fire to be made under a large cauldron; emptied the sack home through a hole at the top; the stones fell into the cauldron, it broke, S.'s wife was scalded]: Lagercrantz 1958, no. 342: 28-29; Eastern Sami [children are skiing down a mountain, the Bear puts a sack under it; carries it, leaves it on a tree, goes to relieve himself; the children cut the sack open, put the stones in, left the one-eyed girl; The Bear's wife pours the contents into the cauldron, the stones break the cauldron; the girl is hired as a cook; she boiled the cubs, ran home; The bears ate the cubs]: Zaikov 1997, No. 8: 192-193; Karelians [the old people have a son and a dog named Golden Tooth; the old woman Syuyotar enters the hut, asks the mistress where her son is; she replies that he went into the forest with his father; S. says that she wanted to give him a golden knife; the boy jumps out from behind the stove; S. tells her to take the knife from the bag, carries the boy away in the bag; while she was resting, the boy put the stones in there, returned home; the same twice more (golden ladle; golden watch); the fourth time he brings it home; S. tells her daughter to roast the boy; he says that he doesn't know how to sit on the shovel, the girl shows, he puts her in the oven; puts on her clothes; when S. enters, he kills her by throwing stones at her]: Evseev 1981: 263-264.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Kumandins [Dyelbegen came to Mashparak, ordered to search in his head, carried him away in a sack, fell asleep on the way; M. put stones in his place, D.'s children found them; the next time - rotten wood; the third time M. dug a hole, D. fell through, M. poured boiling water on him]: Baskakov 1972: 148-150; Khakass [Chelbigen takes seven goats from the old woman Tardan, then carries her away in a sack; falls asleep on the way, she leaves the stones in the sack, runs away; at home Ch. pours the stones into the cauldron, they break through the bottom; the next time T. leaves bark in the sack; the third Ch. carries it home, goes off to beat animals; T. asks Ch.'s children to free her, promises to cook salamat for them; defecates; children take the dirt for salamat, devour it; T. cuts off their heads, covers them with a blanket, boils the liver; Ch. devours it; chases with T.; she pours the blood of Ch.'s children onto the ice three times, Ch. licks it, his tongue freezes; T. chops off the tongue twice, the third time chops off Ch.'s head; laughs, her liver bursts, she dies]: Katanov 1907, no. 437: 446-449 (= 1963, no. 437: 135-136, Torokova, Sychenko 2014, no. 17: 337-341).