L65a2. Severed finger. .27.29.30.32.

A man shoots off (damages) a finger of a demonic creature, and then sees that his sister, lying in her cradle, has lost her finger.

Bulgarians, Romanians, Greeks, Stavropol Turkmens, Abkhazians, Stavropol Turkmens, Ingush, Lezgins, Mingrelians, Uzbeks, Bashkirs.

Balkans. Bulgarians [a woman, who previously gave birth only to sons or is childless, asks God to give her a daughter, even if she is a lamia (vampire, plague); gives birth to a daughter, she is a lamia, eats horses; the younger brother, while grazing horses, wounds her (cuts off a finger); leaves home, along the way gets helper dogs, lives in another village; decides to visit his native village; there the lamia has eaten everyone; the sister successively eats off the horse's legs, asks her brother whether he arrived on a three-, two-, or one-legged horse; the Mouse answers the sister instead of the brother (beats the drum, sings); running away, the hero successively climbs three trees (poplars, oaks, they were planted by him); when the sister had almost gnawed through the trunk of the third tree, the hero's wife, having learned from the dogs' behavior or some other sign that her husband was in trouble, releases the dogs, and they tear the lamia apart]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, no. 315a: 117-118; Romanians [a married couple have a son; later a daughter was born; a sheep disappears every night; the son volunteered to watch it; he sees a baby girl crawl out of her cradle at midnight, go out and eat the sheep whole; the boy threw the axe, cut off his sister's finger; the girl lay down in the cradle and began to cry; the boy began to tell his story, but his father did not believe him and kicked him out of the house; he walked away; there is a house in a deserted area, the owner takes him in; 12 years later he gives him a horse and sends him to visit his parents; grass grows on the site of his native village, only the parents' hut remains; he goes to see his sister; she went out, ate one of the horse's legs, and returned saying that her brother had a strange horse - three-legged; then two-legged, then one-legged; then she swallowed the horse whole; the young man jumped out the window, ran, climbed one of the two oak trees growing nearby; the sister ran up, gnawed through the trunk, the young man moved to the second oak; he began to call his master's dogs; one was named I hear well (Hör gut), the other - Strong as the earth; the second broke down the door, they managed to run, ate the cannibal; the young man began to live in his own house, the master helped him, he got married, all is well]: Schullerus 1977, No. 48: 303-306; Greeks[a woman has a son and a daughter, the daughter gives birth to a girl; at night the monster devours cattle; the young man shoots off his little finger, in the morning the baby girl cries, her little finger is torn off; the young man demands that his sister kill the monster, she refuses; he takes his mother and leaves; they stop in the cannibal's cave; he conspires with the young man's mother to kill him; the mother pretends to be ill, asks to bring her 1) the milk of the cannibal doe, 2) the melon of life, 3) the water of life; each time the fairy helps to obtain what she is looking for, replacing it with horse urine, an ordinary melon, ordinary water; the sister asks what her brother's life is; he answers that it is in a broom, in a doorframe (it decorates them); in a golden hair on his head; she pulls out a hair, she and the cannibal eat it; The fairy sends two young deer fawns (they are described as dogs) brought by the youth to bring all the bones of the eaten one; at first the little finger is missing, then it is found; revives with milk, melon, water of immortality; the youth kills the cannibal and the mother; comes to his sister, she has eaten everyone, tells him to ring a bell while boiling water; a mouse rings for him, he runs away; climbs three trees that grew from nuts given by the fairy; the young deer fawns come running, eat the monster; the youth marries the fairy]: Paton 1900, No. 12: 340-344.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Abkhazians : Bgazhba 1983 [the prince has three sons; he begged God for a daughter; he shot off a wolf's finger, his daughter was crying at home, he put his finger on her hand, she was a werewolf; the sister chased her younger brother; the woodpecker complained that the tree would soon fall, he would have nowhere to get food for the children; the young man made the rotten tree young and hard; the sorceress Arupapdirected him along the road, he came to the Moon, got married; went to look for his parents and brothers, the Moon gave him a ring; the houses are all in disrepair, only his sister lives; he successively eats the horse's legs, goes to the blacksmith to sharpen his teeth; the rat tells the young man to run; the woodpecker, A. sends the witch along the wrong road, but she catches up again; the young man throws the ring to his wife in the sky; the dogs rush at the witch, the young man climbs to his wife along the lunar path; the witch tears off her brother's leg at the knee; a one-legged man is seen on the moon]: 33-35 (=2002: 39-41); Chursin 1956: 149-150 [A. Ioakimov, 1874, No. 54; there are three brothers in the family; a daughter was born; on the same day she carried the younger brother off to a cloud, but he cut off her finger and was saved; having got married, the sister ate her husband; The younger brother came to visit; the sister ate his horse's leg, then another, then a third, then the whole horse; she tied her brother in a leather wineskin and went to sharpen her teeth; the rats gnawed through the wineskin, the brother ran away; he threw a handful of wheat (the forest) and salt (the sea) behind him; the sister made her way across, swam across, grabbed her brother near the house, and the brother's wife began to pull him towards her; they decided that the sister would eat Brother-Moon, and the wife would fatten him up], 150-151 [Gudauta district; two single brothers, the third eldest is married; sees how an invisible force carries a ram from the sky every day; the middle one does the same; the youngest shoots, a bloody finger falls from a cloud; at home the eldest brother's daughter has a finger torn off in her cradle; the brother puts the finger to her, it grows back; the brothers leave, the youngest is the last; he asks the woodpecker to detain the witch; he replies that he needs to get food; the brother hits the tree, it becomes young; Baba Yaga tells him to go straight ahead, he comes to the Moon maiden; lives with her; goes to look for his brothers, the Moon gives him a ring; a niece (var.: sister) is at home; eats one, two, three, four legs of a horse, the whole horse; puts the young man in a wineskin, goes to sharpen his teeth; he runs away; a woodpecker and Baba Yaga help; he throws the ring to the Moon, the dogs rush at the witch; she manages to tear off his leg; a man with his leg torn off below the knee is seen on the moon], 151-153 [Gudauta district; 7 sons of a prince want a sister; a girl is born; a wolf carried off a lamb at night, the 4th brother cut off a toe on his hind leg; saw that a finger was cut off from a girl lying in the cradle; leaves home; gets married; went to visit his homeland; his father-in-law ordered him to take a boxwood branch, a walnut, coal; the husband gave his wife a ring; only the sister is home, she eats the horse's legs, the whole horse; she went to sharpen her teeth; the rat began to play the violin; the brother throws a branch (forest), coal (dirt), a nut (tree); the brother hides at the top; the witch gnaws the tree; the wife looks at the ring, releases the dogs, they tear the witch apart; the man stepped on her tooth, died; the Raven pecked out the eyes; God gave the Hawk powder, he sprinkled it, the dead rose]; Stavropol Turkmens[the king has three sons from his first wife; she died, he married again; the new one gave birth to a daughter; mares in the herd disappear at night; the eldest and middle sons fall asleep; the youngest comes, prepares dinner; the old woman comes, then leaves; disappears under a stone; the young man goes down there too; 40 robbers are sleeping there; the young man hit one with his boot, hid; then said that he was the son of a thief and wants to steal with them; promises to get the king's three daughters; killed the guard, went in to the princesses; each had a sword; he hit with his own, cut the first two, from the blow to the sword of the youngest his sword crumbled; the young man took this sword; called the robbers and killed each one one by one, strung their ears on a thread; killed the old woman, taking the keys to the pantry; shot at a black cloud, a child's severed finger fell to the ground; at home the queen says that her daughter's finger was cut off; the young man gave away his finger - he found it in the steppe; the king (the one who is the father of the three princesses) calls the people together, looking for a hero, only the young man's sword fits into the scabbard; the three princesses are given in marriage to three princes; the stepmother orders to drive the youngest away; he came to the tree; a snake is crawling towards the eaglets' nest, he killed it; for this the eaglet gave him two eaglets out of three; the young man went further, took a thorn out of the lioness's paw, she gave him two lion cubs out of six; he left the lion cubs and eaglets to guard the horse, put on ram skins and offal, went to the city; the youngest of the king's three daughters realized that this was the prince; she suggested that her sisters send the king three apples: green, half-ripe, ripe; the king ordered all the men to pass under the window, let each daughter throw an apple at the one she wants to marry; the elders threw them into the viziers' sons, the younger one into a pretended beggar; the king settled them near the stable; the king fell ill and needed the meat of an asshole; the pretended beggar in his true form, with the help of his lions and eagles, got the asshole, gave the meat to the elder sons-in-law, and they allowed him to brand their sacrums; the meat brought by the elder sons-in-law made the king feel worse; but the asshole's intestines, which the younger daughter cooked, made him well; at the feast the prince in his true form said that two of his slaves had run away, and the elder sons-in-law had to show the brands; the prince presented the slaves to the king; everything became clear; the prince decided to visit his home; he released the eagles, but the lions said that they would still be useful and stayed with the prince's wife; the city was intact at home, there were no people; in the werewolf sister's hut were the emaciated father, stepmother, brothers and wives; the sister asks successively whether her brother arrived on a horse with three, two, one legs, whether he arrived on foot; she orders him to play the balalaika; the fox volunteered to play for him, and let him hang up his boots, which are visible from the kitchen – as if he continues to sit; the sister pursues, the prince turned three arrows into trees, climbed the first, the sister gnawed at it, it fell, the prince moved to the second, then to the third; the lions sense something, the wife released them, they tore the cannibal to pieces; they drove a lot of cattle; at home the prince transferred power to his elder brother; he himself began to live with two wives (how he married the first is not said)]: A.K. 1875, No. 1: 1-13; Ingush[there are seven sons in a family; they all want a girl; after the girl is born, the apples disappear; the thief is wounded in the finger; everyone is checked, the girl's finger is wounded, the mother asks her not to kill her; then the younger brother leaves; returning after many years, he finds an empty village; the ant says that the girl ate everyone, tells him not to agree to eat, to ask her to bring water in a sieve; the sister eats off the legs of her brother's horse one by one, each time asking how many legs the horse had; the brother answers that three, two, one, that the horse crawled; that he came on foot without a horse; while the sister carries water, the ant tells her to take a comb, copper sulfate, coal; the brother runs; the comb turns into a forest, the copper sulfate into a copper sulfate field, the coal into black fog; the brother asks the Moon to save him; the Moon lifts him up, the witch manages to tear off one of the horse's legs; [The month and the brother are now together]: Malsagov 1983, No. 138: 297-299; Lezgins [the shah has three sons from his first wife, she died, the second gave birth to a daughter; someone eats off a horse's legs; the eldest and middle sons are guarding, they notice nothing; the youngest cut his finger, sprinkled it with salt, shot off the finger of a monster, it turned out to be his sister's finger; the shah decided to kill his daughter, the sons do not agree, they leave; the eldest is traveling along the road "from which they return", the middle one - "I don't know", the youngest - "they do not return"; exchanges his rich clothes for a lion cub; kills a one-, two-, seven-headed azhdah, freeing three princesses, promises to take them on the way back; comes to the mother of the seven azhdah, makes friends with them; they want to get a golden cockerel and a golden sieve, to get a girl for them; the young man goes to get them; the Azhdakha brothers give a fat tail, a carpet, cotton wool; the young man gave the lion cub a fat tail, sent him back; laid a carpet on the bridge that goes up and down; cotton wool on the thorns; jumped over the crushing mountains on a horse, only the hairs from the horse's tail were cut off; in that country there are only women; the young man stole a cockerel and a sieve, returned, took three princesses, found the brothers; they pushed him into a well; the merchant pulled him out; the queen of the women's kingdom came to the brothers, they said that they had gotten the cockerel and the sieve, she killed them; she found the young man, made sure that he had gotten the items, became his wife; the young man goes to visit his father, only his sister is there; he asks if the brother has arrived on a horse with three, two, one horse, on a horse carcass; she has already eaten them all; the brother became a dove, the sister a fox, the dove sat on a tree, noticed a lion cub, the lion tore the fox to pieces; the dove became a youth, noticed a leaf with a drop of his sister's blood, the leaf became a beetle, the youth threw the beetle to the hen, she ate it; the youth returned to his wife; feast]: Ganieva 2011b, No. 31: 301-304; Megrels[a girl was born, turned out to be a giantess Mdevi, devoured her parents' cows; the eldest and middle brothers were watching, did not notice anything; the youngest shot; blood began to flow from the girl's right hand in the cradle; the parents drove their son away; M. ate them all; the youngest went home, taking three dogs; they fell behind, the brother gave his sister a horse to eat; then he gave her a drink, the sister fell asleep, the dogs mauled her; the brother shot, the sister came back to life; this happened twice; the third time he did not shoot, the sister did not come back to life, the brother remained to live in the house]: Mashurko 1894: 392-393 (retold in Chursin 1956: 154).

Iran - Central Asia. Uzbeks (Tashkent) [after the birth of his third son, the king drove his wife away and took a younger one; someone steals foals from his favorite mare; the eldest and middle princes are put to sleep, Yalmauz-Kampyr carries off a foal each time; the youngest shot off her little finger; that same evening the young queen gave birth to a daughter and disappeared; the prince noticed that she had no little finger; the father did not listen to him and drove him away; he stops at an old woman's, she has a daughter of marriageable age; he goes to look for his mother, the old woman gives him a comb, a razor, and a whetstone; gives him a stick-paddle, whichever way the blade turns, that's where he goes; he found his mother, bought her out of slavery; she died; he went to visit the house; through a crack he sees his sister in the guise of Yalmauz-Kampyr, she is sorting through the heads of her eaten parents and brothers; the fox tells him to run, and he stays to beat the drum for him while Yak goes for poison; the prince runs away, throws the comb (thicket), the razor (mountain), the bar (sea; Yak swam, but the fish dragged her to the bottom, and then carried the prince to the shore; she told him to take care of the stick-merrymaker; the young king finds the daughter of that old woman, marries her; when he swims across the sea above the place where the monster-fish crushed Yak, a storm sinks the ship, but they swim out on the fish; feast]: Ostroumov 1990, No. 3: 13-20.

Volga - Perm. Bashkirs : Barag 1989, No. 19 [old people have three sons and a daughter, the youngest is a bald lazy person; at night the cattle disappears; the brothers take turns watching, the elders fall asleep; the bald man sees a descending fire, shoots, shoots off a finger; in the morning the sister's hand is bandaged; the parents do not believe him; he leaves, marries two princesses in different kingdoms; they advise him to visit his relatives; he arrives on Kuk-tulpar, leaves at a distance, rides in on a mare, desolation is everywhere; the sister is at the stove, flew out into the chimney, returned, asks if her brother had arrived on a three-legged horse; then on a two-legged, one-legged, came on foot; brother rushes away, gallops on Kuk-tulpar, sister follows, wives ready with sabres, hacked her to pieces], 31 [a widower has a son, he married another, a daughter was born; the young man sees how the descending fire became a girl, she sucks blood from the heart of a mare; he rushes at the girl, bites off her finger; in the morning he sees that the baby is missing a finger, throws the girl into the oven, the stepmother snatches it, the young man leaves; a month later he saves a white snake from the fire; this is the son of the king of snakes, becomes the hero's companion; brings to his father, advises him to ask for a red pillow as a reward, this is his sister; the widower's son is happy with his wife, the vizier sees them, the king demands that he give up his wife or get a girl from overseas; the wife says that this is her friend, gives a letter, the young man takes her as a second wife; the king is furious; the king demands another girl, the young man himself takes her as a third wife; the king sent an army, his wives destroyed it; the king gathers a new army, his wives teach him to saddle a winged dragon, it kills the king; a young man decides to visit his relatives, his wives tell him to take two horses with him; only his sister, a witch, is at home, she eats the horse's legs, then the body; the brother leaves his boots (his sister threw herself at them, swallowed them), and gallops off on the second horse to his wives]: 116-117, 159-164.