L73C. The handkerchief opens and closes the way.

.15.16.(.25.).27.-.29.31.32.34.36.39.(.44.65.)

By waving a cloth (towel, handkerchief, item of clothing) or throwing it, placing it on water, etc., the character creates obstacles (in the path of the pursuer) or a means to overcome them (a bridge, etc.).

{The distribution of texts in which a scarf opens or, on the contrary, closes the way is similar, so there is no point in dividing this motif into two independent ones}.

Spaniards, Germans (East Prussia), (Sambals), Romanians, Hungarians, Serbs, Greeks, Russians (Tersky Coast, Nizovaya Pechora, Karelian Pomorie, Arkhangelsk (Leshukonsky district), Zaonezhye, Pskov, Tula, Voronezh), Belarusians, Ukrainians (Transcarpathia, Podolia, Chernigov, south-east Kyiv, Cherkasy, Poltava, Kharkov, Kherson, Yekaterinoslav), Czechs, Kashubians, Kabardians, Balkars, Georgians, Finns, Setos, Lutsi, Latvians, Lithuanians, Komi, Udmurts, Mari, Kazan Tatars, Khakass, Central (?) Yakuts, Baikal Evenks, Evens, Tundra Yukaghirs, (Western Marsh Kri, Quechua southern Peru).

Southern Europe. Spaniards (Salamanca) [a young man, Lisardo, plays cards and always loses; a demon makes a condition: he will always win, but in 5 years he will go to the castle of Go-Not-Return (PN); in 5 years he goes, asks the eagle for directions, it sends him to another, who is older, it brings him to the castle, tells him to hide the clothes of the one of PN's three bathing daughters, who is a saint, her name is Blancaflor; he hides and returns the clothes, the girl promises to help; PN tells him to 1) scatter a sack of rice in the forest, bring it back intact the next day (B. does everything); 2) make a field in place of the forest, collect wheat, bake bread, all in one day (ditto); 3) ditto - vineyard, wine; 4) get from the river the ring lost by the great-grandmother; B. tells him to cut it up, put it in a vessel without spilling a drop of blood, throw it into the river; in the evening he brings the ring, says that a drop has spilled, but from the little finger; 5) tame the horse; it is PN himself, his wife and daughters, B. will be on the right, do not hit on the right side; 6) three daughters will stretch out their hands, and L. is blindfolded, it is necessary to choose the hand of the bride; B. can be recognized by the missing phalanx of the little finger; B. orders to leave the spitting to answer for them, to choose the skinny nag Mysl, and not the plump Vetra; L. does the opposite; the father chases, B. throws down a comb (thicket), a scarf (lastral), a garter (river); PN returns each time, his wife sends him away again; B. turns the horse into a vegetable garden, L. into a peasant, herself into a bed of lettuce; a chapel, a hermit, an icon; PN's wife decides not to chase herself, but to make L. forget B. if he kisses someone; B. warns, but some old woman kissed him from behind, L. forgot B.; she comes, stops under the guise of a prostitute; L. comes to her three times before the wedding, but each time she tells him to do something (for example, serve coffee), and he freezes at this task until the morning; at the wedding he tells two dolls to portray himself and L., they tell everything, L. remembers, marries B.]: Camarena, Chevalier 1995, No. 313C: 85-95.

Western Europe. Germans (East Prussia) [a brother and sister got lost in the forest; they came to a house made of rusks sprinkled with sugar; they began to break off pieces and eat; a witch lived in the house; she asks: who is there? children: the wind; the witch tells them to go into the house; she put the boy in a chest to fatten him up, and made the girl a servant; when the witch began to feel the boy's finger, the sister gave him a stick to point instead of a finger; the witch believes that the boy is thin; but the next time the witch realized the deception; the boy sits in such a way that he does not fit into the stove; the girl asked the witch to show how to sit, shoved the witch into the stove herself; the children mounted a white horse that was standing near the house and galloped off, taking with them a brush, an egg and a piece of linen; the witch broke the stove and rushed in pursuit; the horse tells them to throw the brush away; a dense forest arose; the witch ran back, brought an axe and cut a path; the crow cries: I see where the witch hid the axe; the witch took the axe home, ran again; next time an egg (a mountain, the witch ran for a pick, the crow cries – the same); the children ran to a body of water; the horse: throw the canvas; a bridge formed, the children crossed it, and, finding themselves on the other bank, pulled the canvas towards themselves again; the witch tried to drink the sea and burst]: Lemke 1887, No. 29: 151-153.

( Compare Taiwan – Philippines. Text of Spanish origin. Sambals [the parents are away for a long time, Pedro goes to open the door – there is a boroka (from Spanish bruja; with a woman’s head, four horse legs, bird’s wings, devours children); she took P. to her house in the mountains, made him a servant, flew away at night; decided to eat P., went to call other witches; the horse told P. about this, gave him red and white scarves, he galloped on it; threw a red scarf – flame, the witches’ wings were burnt, white – the sea, the witches stopped the chase]: Rybkin 1975, No. 79: 200-201).

The Balkans. Hungarians [a king placed his daughter in a tower to isolate her from men; one of two wanderers held a stalk up to the window, and the girl became pregnant from its smell; her father placed her in a barrel, threw her into the sea; the barrel washed up on an island, the girl climbed out, gave birth to a son, he grew up, began to swim across the strait to the mainland, bringing apples from there to his mother; his mother herself christened him in the name of his father the sun, his godfather the month, and his cousins ​​the stars; his name is Beautiful Szérus; a hussar's suit and a sword fell to him from a tree; he carried his mother across the strait on a tree trunk; a giant met him on the way, S. hacked him to death; he brought the mother to the giants' castle; the king of the giants met with S.'s mother, they decided to get rid of S.; the mother pretended to be ill: they had to bring a bear cub and eat its heart; the she-bear gave her the bear cub; when the mother saw it, she said she had already recovered; the same with the wolf cub; the lion cub; the mother suggests to S. as a joke to tie his thumbs - will he be able to break them; he cannot; the giant agrees to fulfill his last wish; S. asks to put into his mouth three whistles given by a she-bear, a she-wolf and a lioness; the lion grabbed the giant, the wolf - the woman, the bear broke the bonds; S. chopped up the giant, pieces of meat - into a trough, into a second - water, left the mother between the troughs; left with his animals; a bride is needed; the bear advises to ask the sun - S.'s father; the lion delivered them all to the sky; the sun does not know about brides, advises to turn to the moon; the moon - to the stars, more precisely to the Morning Star; neither one nor the other stars know, let him ask the winds, they blow everywhere; they answered that his betrothed is sleeping in a golden cradle at the bottom of hell, she is rocked by 42 devils; S. and the animals returned to earth; the count himself tried to get this girl, promised to help; S. grabbed the girl, the devils gave chase; the lion threw a brush (forest), a handkerchief (sea) ; the bear threw three pins (three mountains to the sky); the devils could not overcome them; the count took the girl; she will marry only the one who can milk three golden mares; the animals milked; she will marry the one who bathes in their milk, heated to boiling; the animals cooled it, S. bathed, became a handsome man; the count wanted to bathe too, the animals heated the milk, the count boiled; the girl was going to marry S., he went out into the garden, fell asleep, the count's younger brother cut off his head; the animals saw a snake, whose baby snake was cut in half with a scythe, she carries healing grass; the lion stepped on the snake's head, the animals took the grass, the snake hit the lion with its tail, tearing off his fur, only the mane remained; at first they attached the head back to front, had to redo it; at this time the count's brother is preparing the wedding; the lion and the wolf tore it apart; wedding; S. dug up his mother, she ate the flesh of a giant, took a sharp bone, put it in her son's bed, it pierced his heart; his animals revived him with the elixir taken from the snake, tore his mother apart; a son was born; when he was 7 years, months, days, hours and minutes old, his blood had to be sprinkled on 3 stones; S. did this, his three animals became princes again, the castle of the giants was their castle; S.'s son did not die, they only took his blood; they are all alive, if they did not die]: Dégh 1965, no. 8: 109-126; Serbs [a wolf with an iron head wants to eat the shepherd Peter; he persuaded him to wait until he got married; the wolf agreed; he showed up for the wedding; seeing the wolf, P. ran and ran all day; he asked the mother of the sun to hide him; She left him for the night and made a towel: if you wave it, the waters will part , and then close again; he crossed the river on dry land, closed the waters behind him, and went on; but the wolf eventually swam across the river; P. ran to the house of the mother of the month; in the morning she gave him inexhaustible bread; the wolf catches up again; P. waved the towel - a path opened up in the thicket; waved again - the trees trapped the wolf; he began to gnaw them; P. lay down, and when he woke up, a lion, a bear and a lynx were nearby; he fed them bread; took them with him; again made a road in the forest and closed it behind him; P. came to the mother of wolves and she asked him to be her shepherd; she lured the handkerchief from P., went into the thicket and freed her son, who was trapped by the trees; but now Peter is guarded by his animals; when the wolf hid in the hole and his mother covered it with branches, the animals lay down right in that place and the wolf could not rush at P.; then the wolf asked his mother to persuade Peter to leave the animals at home; the wolf rushed at P., who climbed a tree; the wolf gnawed him; P. threw him his shoes and screamed three times; first he heard a lynx, then a bear, and finally a lion; the door was locked, but they crawled under the wall; they tore the wolf to pieces; then P. set the animals on the wolf's mother, and they tore her to pieces too; having taken the gold and the rams, P. returned home]: Eschker 1992, No. 18: 100-106; Moldovans [the king has lost his seal; if he had a son, he would go to the next world and take the signet ring from his grandfather's hand; Tudor's daughter puts on men's clothes and goes in her son's place; the deer got its antlers stuck in the snake's mouth; the snake asks to cut the deer's antlers, the deer asks to kill the snake; T. kills the snake; the deer leads to the castle where the grandfather's ring lies; if you step on the threshold, you will remain there forever; T. stumbled over the threshold, the devils took the ring and took her to the chief; he promises to release T. if he brings the white horse of the Red Tsar; the deer warns her not to take the bridle; she takes it, is caught, the king orders Ilyana Kosynzyana to be brought; along the way, T. and the deer stop by St. Wednesday (gives a box), St. Friday (a brush), St. Saturday (a scarf); IK is a nut that a witch rolls around the castle, it needs to be replaced; other witches return, tell the nut to open, it doesn't open, they set off in pursuit; a deer tells you to throw away a comb (forest), a box (mountain), a scarf (river) ; witches: if you are a woman, become a man, and if a man - a woman; Tudora became Tudor; the Red Tsar's deer chipped in IK, T. received a horse, and the deer returned; the same with the chief devil; T. took away the ring; T. returns home on a horse with a seal and a bride]: Botezatu 1981: 246-257; Moldavians [a childless queen conceived from a tear from an icon; her son Fat-Frumos ("Born from a tear"); he makes peace with his father's enemy; he pays tribute to the Lesovaya witch, every tenth baby; FF defeats her, she runs away chained; he follows her daughter Ilyana orders to exchange the barrels with water and force; FF kills her, takes her daughter as his wife; the king asks to defeat Lute, to bring him his daughter; FF takes her away; L. asks his horse if he should hurry with the pursuit, the horse says not very; the first time L. takes away his daughter, the second time he incinerates FF; St. Peter asks God to revive him; L.'s daughter turns FF into a flower, hides it, asks L. how to get a two-hearted horse; FF hears, comes to the old woman, who gives the task of grazing her herd, along the way helps a mosquito, a crayfish; mosquitoes drive the scattered horses, crayfish drive them out from under the water; the servant replaces the old woman's sleepy food with good food; the old woman puts the hearts of mares into a skinny three-year-old, FF chooses him; rides away on it with the maid; she orders to throw away the brush (forest), the whetstone (rock), the kerchief (lake) , the witch-Midnight drowns; the maid disappears, FF takes away L.'s daughter on the seven-hearted horse; the two-hearted one throws L. into the sky; the king marries L.'s daughter, FF marries I.]: Moldavian Tales 1968: 139-157; Greeks [the old woman cannot cook lentil soup for a long time; when she has cooked it, she puts it in the river; the prince's horse does not drink, he angrily overturns the pot; the old woman wishes him to fall in love with golden-haired Anthousa; he arrives at the house without entering; hides, sees how the dragoness-mother orders A. to let her down his golden hair, climbs up it; the same is A.'s brother; when they leave, the young man calls A. with the same words; A. hides it; runs away with it, tying the mouth of all objects; forgot about the mortar; she tells the dragoness-mother that her daughter ran away with the prince; the mother chases on a bear; A. throws a thin, then a thick comb (a thicket of thin, then thick trunks), a scarf (the sea) ; At the shore, the mother teaches A. that she must make two birds out of dough, when the prince leaves her on the tree, goes to his mother, she kisses him, he forgets everything; at the prince's wedding, the female bird tells A.'s story, and the male answers each time that he does not remember; the prince remembers everything, marries A.]: Megas 1970, No. 22: 42-46.

Central Europe. Russians (Tersky Coast) [the old people have daughters; the grandfather died; suitors come one after another and take them away; Anna to where the axes fall, Marya - where the dogs bark, Olekonilda - where they catch fish; the grandmother goes to visit her daughters; the axes fall, the dogs rush - had to go back; came to the lake, on the other side O. rinses white; O. spread out a towel and carried the mother; her husband flew at night as a swan, took off the bird's clothes, she burned his "skins", he said that she would never see him again; O. ordered the blacksmith to forge three staffs for her, came to a hut on chicken legs on a rooster's head; there the old woman stirs the coals with her nose, directs them to her sister, she - to the elder sister, teaches what to do; O. does not go before the hostess, spreads a hospitable tablecloth, gives it for permission to spend the night with her husband; she gives him a drink, he does not wake up; O. laments: I have broken three staffs, trampled three bast shoes, gnawed three prosporums; hangs a cross around his neck; the next day the husband sees the cross, does not drink, imperceptibly pours out the wine; O. pushed the witch and the bride into a cauldron of resin; began to live with her husband]: Balashov 1970, No. 1: 35-39; Russians (Nizovaya Pechora) [Old parents have two daughters, one finds a golden stone in the forest, collects a lot of berries, the eldest is unable to do this. The eldest kills the younger, buries her under a birch tree, takes the stone for herself. At home, the parents heat up the bathhouse. The father, brother, mother and sister take turns calling the youngest to take a steam bath, she tells everyone that she was killed by her sister. The dead girl comes to the gate, asks her brother to let her in, she is afraid of the wolves who want to eat her. The brother lets her in on the condition that she will become his wife. She agrees. She makes two dolls, they talk about how her brother is ashamed to take his sister as his wife, the girl falls through the ground. She runs to the hut, hides from Yagabikha in the hut with her grandmother under a needle. The girl runs further and hides in the hut with a bearded old man under a flint. They run from Yagabikha, go through a mountain, Yagabikha returns to the field for a shovel, digs up the earth and continues the chase. The old man and the girl run to the river, they have a "tailor's pipe", they "spread out the tailor's pipe" and sail away on it. Yagabikha jumped towards them, but they threw her into the water, she drowned. On the other bank they found themselves with the emperor... ( he doesn't know more )]: Onchukov 2008, No. 44: 159-161; Russian(Karelian Pomorie, Sumsky Posad) [the ship stood in the middle of the sea; the sea king orders the merchant to pay, that he does not know the house; there the wife gave birth to a son Ivan; the boy grew up, went to the sea king; 12 swans flew in, became maidens, they are the daughters of the sea king; I. hid the clothes of one, it was Vasilisa the Wise, she agreed to be Ivan's betrothed; they went down to the sea; the sea king orders to build an air crystal palace; VP calls the servants, they built it overnight; an air crystal ship (ditto); tame the stallion; VP: this is the king himself; it is necessary to beat him with iron hammers and rods, sprinkle ashes in his eyes; the horse had to descend from the sky; now the king orders to choose a wife from among his 12 daughters; VP: there will be a mosquito on my nose; once again (a fly); third time (a mouse will run between the legs); VP: in the evening we must run, in the morning he will eat us; she turned I. into a church, herself a watchman; a lake and a duck; for the third time VP threw a "raft", it became a fiery river; the sea king asks to put a towel, walked on it , VM cut the towel, the king burned; I. left VP, went forward; VP: you will forget me; he met his parents and forgot, they picked out a bride for him; VP sent a backwoods grandmother with a pie; two doves flew out of it, started a conversation; I. remembered everything, got married to VP]: Razumova, Senkina 1974, No. 48: 238-243; Russian (Arkhangelskaya, Leshukonsky district, village of Zasulye, 1928) [dying, the tsar gives his son Ivan the keys to all the rooms, but forbids him to enter one. He does not give his blessing to either I. or his daughter Elena for the marriage. I. unlocks the door, a wolf runs out, destroys the palace. I. and E. climb onto the balcony, a huge bull carries them away. The wolf catches up, eats the bull, returns the prince and princess, forgives their escape. A thin bull appears, carries away the brother and sister, they doubt his strength. I. presses his ear to the ground, hears pursuit, takes a comb from the bull's right ear with his right hand and throws it to the left, a dense forest grows up, detains the wolf. Ivan hears pursuit again, takes a handkerchief from his left ear with his left hand, a bridge appears across the lake. Having crossed, E. takes the scarf, the lake delays the wolf. The bull disappears, I. and E. spend the night at the old man's, stay to live with him, I. hunts, E. cooks. The old man dies, leaves guns and dogs Katay and Valya. E. sees a handsome young man on the lake, throws the scarf, the young man comes down to her along the bridge, hits the ground and turns into a wolf. He offers to give herself to him and destroy her brother, she agrees. The wolf offers to pretend to be ill: she saw in a dream that in order to be cured she needs to get a nightingale, a bear and flour from under the millstone. If he dies, his gold tooth can kill I. I. gets everything, along the way he feels sorry for the crow, the nightingale and the bear, the last two give him a cub each. At the mill the wolf locks I. inside and is about to eat him, he asks to be allowed to roll a cigarette. While he is twisting, the crow tells how many doors his hunt has gnawed through, she breaks through and tears the wolf apart. I. reproaches his sister-traitor, she hits him with the wolf's golden tooth, I. dies. Katay licks the place where the tooth hit, I. comes back to life, the dog dies. The animals take turns reviving each other, die themselves, the bear licks the nightingale, holds a frying pan in front of his forehead, the tooth flies out, gets into the frying pan, E. catches it. Ivan leaves her with a barrel and coals, says that if she cries a barrel of tears, it means she pities the wolf, and if she eats the coals, it means she pities her brother. He comes to the city, settles with an old woman, learns about the snake, it is the princess's turn to be eaten, with the help of his hunt I. defeats the snake. He saves the second and third princesses (the snakes are torn apart by dogs and a bear). Receives a ring and a towel from the girls, remembers her father's request not to marry. The water carrier forces the girls to admit that he is the slayer of the dragon. I. comes with animals to the wedding of the water carrier and the youngest princess, the girls recognize him and tell their father the truth. I. shows the tongues of the dragons, the ring and the towel. The king orders to cut off the water carrier's hand. I. marries the youngest princess, returns for his sister, she has cried a barrel of tears, I. takes pity on her, brings her to his place, but lodges her separately. She enters her brother's room at night, hits him with a wolf's tooth, I. dies. E. persuades not to feed or release I.'s animals. At the funeral, the animals are released without Elena's knowledge, they lick I., the tooth hits Katay, he dies, I. comes to life. Those present run away in horror. The animals lick each other, I.takes out a frying pan, takes out a tooth, tells about his sister's deed and shoots her. She does not die, then animals tear her apart, and burn her body]: Nikiforov 1961, No. 114: 290-300;Russian: Russian (Olonets, Zaonezhye) [the king bent over the well, someone grabbed him; let him go, gave him water for a promise to give him what he didn’t know at home; the king didn’t know that a daughter was born; the water spirit promised to come back in 12 years for a gift; when his daughter was 12, the king put her in a cart, harnessed a goat, and the goat took her to another country; people from an oncoming cart {is there a sorcerer?} ask the goat what he’s carrying; he replies that he’s carrying brushes and pins; {what happens next is not entirely clear, but they’re running from the chase}; the girl asks the goat what they hear, he replies each time that the chase is on their heels; the girl throws down a comb (an ice floe from east to west, from earth to sky), a brush (a bone mountain); the pursuers drilled, cut a hole; the towel is a river of fire , the chase stopped; the girl locked herself in the house, but the king had to open it, he married her; Yaga Baba pushed the queen into the water, replaced her with her daughter; the king is surprised that his wife has lost weight; she asks to slaughter a goat; he comes to the sea: sister Natasyushka, they will slaughter me tomorrow; N.: the white stone presses on my neck, the white sands fill my breasts, the water floods my eyes; the king overheard, got N., on the fourth day she came to life, told everything; Yaga Baba and her daughter were tied to 12 stallions and released into an open field; “Where the head fell - there is a crack {rocky ridge}, where the corpse - there is a swamp, where the legs - there are hooks, where the hands - there is a rake”]: Karnaukhova 2009, No. 64: 176-180; Russian (location of recording not specified) {the motif of the scarf, with which the sister waves it to create a bridge for her demonic lover, is found only in the Russian North and the Pskov region; the execution of the antagonist "by firing squad" - only in the Russian North; therefore, in the correlation table, the text is conditionally attributed to the Olonetsk province.} [Ivan Tsarevich and his sister went to live in a state where the people had died out; they come to Baba Yaga; she has a revolving hut on chicken legs; she advises I. not to take his sister with him; gives him a ball of yarn and tells him to follow it; the ball rolls to the second Baba Yaga, she is in the same hut; gives him a towel, with which he can wave it to create a bridge across the river; wave it again, and the bridge will disappear; she also advises not to take her sister; I. ​​hunts with dogs; the Serpent Gorynych arrives and becomes a fine fellow; advises Ivan's sister to ask him for a scarf, supposedly to wash it; then the Serpent will cross the bridge to her; in order to get rid of I., the Serpent advises his sister to pretend to be ill, to ask for wolf's milk; the she-wolf gives milk and a wolf cub; the same with the she-bear; with the lioness; (further insertion, var. 2: 459-460: the Serpent suggests to his mistress to send her brother for living water to the kingdom where two mountains diverge once a day, and come together again after 2-3 minutes; living and healing waters are kept between those mountains; the prince rode on horseback between the mountains, scooped up two bubbles of water, but on the way back the mountains crushed the horse's (hind) legs; the prince sprinkled him with water and he became whole); now the Serpent came up with the idea of ​​sending I. to the mill for flour dust; there are 12 iron doors there, they will slam shut themselves; I. managed to get out, but his hunt remained locked up; I. asks to be allowed to take a steam bath before dying; does everything slowly; the raven reports how many doors the hunt has gnawed through; the animals managed to run up and tore the Serpent apart; I. put his sister in a stone pillar; left an empty vat, a vat of water and a bundle of hay; he will let her go when she eats the hay, drinks the water and cries a vat of tears; I. went on; half the people in the city are crying, half are having fun; an old woman: the 12-headed serpent flies to eat people from different ends; the people of the end where he will not fly today are having fun; it is the princess's turn to be eaten; I. chopped off the snake's heads, cut out the tongues, fell asleep on the princess's lap; the water carrier cut off Ivan's head and ordered him to say that he is the savior; the animals found the body, the lion caught the young raven, made the raven bring living and dead water; first he tore apart and revived the little raven, then he fused Ivan's head with his body and revived him; I. came to the wedding, showed his tongues; the water carrier was shot; the wedding; I. went to his sister; she ate the hay, drank the water, cried a tear in the vat; he forgave her and brought her to live with him]: Afanasyev 1985, No. 204: 100-106; Russian(Olonetskaya, Velikogubskaya volost, Kosmozero, west of I.V. Karnaukhova) [wife is childless; sent for fresh perch; wife and worker ate, each gave birth to a boy; elder brother {son of the housewife} went, three forks: to the right - you will be rich, to the left - wife, in the middle - killed; went to the left; in the young lady's house; put him to bed, he fell into the cellar; younger brother went, chose the road where he would kill; hut on chicken legs - turn here with the porch; Baba Yaga fed, gave a comb, sent to the elder sister; she gave a whetstone, sent to the eldest; there is fog over the city, in the house Baba Yaga (apparently the eldest sister) tells fairy tales to the girls; the guy took apples and living water, raped the girl, galloped away; girl: he drank some tea, but didn’t cover the teapot, sent a chase; the guy threw down a comb (forest), a bar (gorges), a towel (fiery river) ; the guy reached a crossroads and rode along the road where he was going to get married; he also fell through; he broke down a wall, everyone got out; his brothers were envious, they killed him; the horse broke a bottle with living water, revived it; he returned home; a messenger from the girl Beauty from the golden kingdom: let my betrothed come; she already has a child; the elder brother rode; she put down velvet, the guy got off his horse, walked around, she drove him away; the younger rode along the velvet – here is my betrothed; they began to live and live happily, to acquire wealth]: Vlasova 2011, No. 15: 45-46; Russians (Olonetskaya) [the blacksmith made an iron wolf so that people would come to see; the wolf swallowed the blacksmith's wife, then the blacksmith himself; the blacksmith has a son Ivan and a younger daughter; the bull tells them to run; the wolf turned into a snake, came to the hut at midnight to eat the children; the spoons, bowl, and dough do not tell; the poker is offended that its owner first heated it in the stove and then put it in water; she says that the bull took the children; in the morning the bull puts the children in a cart, tells them to take a comb and a whetstone with them; the snake chases, the bull tells them to throw away the comb (dense forest); the whetstone (mountain); at the fiery sea the bull tells them to grab a handkerchief by the horn , a bridge has appeared ; live in a hut; the bull orders him to be slaughtered: the meat in the cauldron, the horns under the hut; two dogs jumped out from under the cauldron; Ivan hunts with them; the snake from the other side of the sea orders the sister to find her brother's scarf and wave it - the snake will pass by her; became her lover; in order to destroy her brother, let him pretend to be ill: you need to bring milk from the she-wolf hero; the she-wolf gives milk and one wolf cub; he carried him on his back; then the same - a she-bear and a bear cub; a lioness and a lion cub; the snake lured Ivan's animals behind 12 iron doors; Ivan asks to be allowed to wash in a bathhouse before death; a raven flies in and reports how many doors the animals have already broken down; the animals came running and tore the snake apart; they burned it; but the sister collected the ashes and he was reborn; took out a poisonous tooth, put it under Ivan's pillow, he died, the snake buried him; the animals dug up, told the hare to lick the tooth; Ivan came to life, and the hare died; the animals killed and burned the snake again, buried the ashes; the animals dug their sister into the ground up to her chest and put two cauldrons: let her cry; if there are more tears in the one for the snake, then we will leave it in the ground, and if for Ivan, then we will dig it up; Ivan and the animals come to the crypt, where the horse is on a chain, a sword, a saddle, clothes; Ivan dressed up and came to the city; settled with an old woman; she says that a six-headed snake demands the eldest daughter of the king to be eaten; the snake came out of the sea, Ivan and the animals killed him; hid the heads under a stone, and cut out the tongues and took them; the princess gives a ring, tied a piece of a scarf to all the saviors; the gypsy attributed the victory to himself; in 3 days the 9-headed dragon demands the middle daughter (ditto); then the 12-headed dragon demands the youngest, otherwise he will burn the whole kingdom with fire; ditto; the gypsy is preparing for the wedding; Ivan sends animals to bring cooking, the princesses recognize their saviors; Ivan tells the tsar to come to him himself, and then they go to the palace together with the animals; the bear killed the gypsy; Ivan went to his sister, she filled the cauldron of dragons, Ivan left her buried; wedding; did not get into the mouth, ran down the beard]: Gospodarev 1937: 227-258; Russians (Pskov, Pushkinogorsk district) [the grandfather and grandmother had a mill with 12 gates; she took the flour herself, ground it, closed and opened it according to the hour; she was hysterical, a peasant is looking for a foreman; a pebble promises to do everything, but orders to give something back, which the peasant at home does not know; the wife gave birth to twins: Nastya and Vanya; the father gave them a needle without eyes and ordered to run; told the pebble that they ran to him; N. threw a comb (the forest, the pebble returned for an axe, cut a passage); N. waved her handkerchief, they flew over the lake; they came to a hut: turn your back there, your front here; an old man came with a gun and a dog; he ordered them to serve I. and died; N. came to the river, on the other side there was a pebble with an accordion, proposed marriage, ordered to wave her handkerchief; she waved it, he flew over to her; advises to ask I. to get some hare's milk; the hare milked and gave a hare; N. poured out the milk; the same with the fox, she-wolf, she-bear, lioness; golysh: let him go to your father's mill, his animals will remain locked up; while he was walking, golysh and N. wove three ropes: silk, hemp, hair; N. suggests that I. break them; I. could not break the hair one; asks permission to heat the bathhouse before his death; a raven flies, reports how many doors the animals gnawed through; the animals came running, tore golysh, N. tied two of golysh's teeth in a scarf; I. chained her to an oak tree, put two barrels; let her cry tears in one for golysh, and in the other - for him; not far away, an evil spirit with seven heads came out to the lake; the tsar's daughter had just been condemned to him; (further in square brackets: I. saves her, marries; the wife pities N., asks to forge; N. throws a tooth at their heads - they die; animals revive with living and dead water; N. was torn apart, tied to the tails of horses)]: Chernyshev 1950, No. 43: 86-89; Russians [an old man tells a childless couple to collect an egg from each yard, put a hen in it; 40 healthy boys are born, one is frail; his name is Zamoryshek (Afterlife); the brothers mow hay, collect it in stacks, one stack is lost; Z. tells the blacksmith to forge a chain, catches and tames the thief - a sea mare, she gives her foals, the brothers leave to look for brides; Baba Yaga alone has 41 daughters; Z.'s horse orders them to change places with their wives at night; Baba Yaga's servants cut off the heads of her daughters; the brothers impale the heads on stakes and ride away; Baba Yaga shoots with a fiery shield; Z. throws a scarf across the sea , it turns into a bridge, the brothers are saved]: Afanasyev 1958(1), No. 105: 166-168, 482 [variation: Z. throws a brush (mountain), comb (forest), towel (river) ]; Russian (Tula) [a merchant has three sons, the youngest is Ivan the Fool; the father has living and dead water and rejuvenating apples in the garden of the heroine of Bethlehem; it would be good to get some; the older brothers went and returned; I. went; the brothers gave him a three-legged horse; he sat down facing backwards, took the tail in his teeth, and drove it with his palm; the horse died, he skinned it, called the jackdaws and crows; he came to an old woman; she said that the heroine had a horse in the mountain behind 12 cast-iron doors; I. came, called the horse, it broke down the doors, I. saddled it, dressed in heroic clothes, took heroic weapons, and went to the old woman; she asked him to bring her those apples and gave her a comb; in the next hut another old woman asked him to bring apples; she gave a brush; in the third she gave a scarf; the horse jumped over the fence; I. collected apples and water; V. is sleeping, he left a note: "A joker was here, Ivanushka the Fool"; the horse demands that I. wash himself three times; then he jumped over the fence, but touched it; V. gives chase; I. leaves apples for each old woman, they grow younger; throws a comb (dense forest), a brush (swamp), waves a handkerchief (river) ; V. shouts: wait until I send a man with a letter; I. ​​fell asleep, his brothers found him, stabbed him to death, brought the apples to their father; he grew younger; V. sent a man, he returned and said that I. was stabbed to death; V. herself came, washed I. with dead and living water, he came back to life, they went together to his father; V. snapped one brother, I. snapped the other; they returned home to V.'s garden; V. gave the keys, did not tell to unlock one barn; I. unlocked, there was a snake hanging on 12 chains; asked for a drink; after the third bucket broke the chains, flew away and carried off V.; I. let the crayfish go, did not kill the bees, did not kill the lion, they promised to help; I. found V., took him back, the snake caught up and promised to kill I. next time; I. took V. away again; the snake caught up again, put I. in a barrel and threw him into the sea; V. asks the snake where he gets such horses; the snake: one woman has stakes around her, on each one a human head, one stake was left for I.; the crayfish broke the barrel with tongs; I. came to V., she told about that woman; I. came to that one, her hut is on chicken legs, on spindle heels; his nose has grown into the ceiling; the woman orders to pasture 12 mares and a foal for three days, then she will give a horse; the horses soared up to the clouds; the lion and the bees sent animals, flies, mosquitoes to look for them; the bees and mosquitoes drove the horses back; the same on the second and third days; the servant Koshkarka orders to choose a foal, it will stand behind the mares; the foal asks to let it go to the meadows for two weeks; after this he came running, bringing two more horses; I. and V. flew on two, and the third behind; the snake flies lower, I. cut off its head; all is well]: Erlenwein 1882: 115-124; Russian (Voronezh, Bobrovsky district) [the tsar bent down to the well to drink some water, the bear tsar grabbed him by the beard and let him go for his promise to give him something he didn't know about in the house; at that time the tsarina gave birth to twins: Ivan Tsarevich and Marya Tsarevna; the children were hidden in an underground chamber; the parents died, the bear tsar came, the palace was empty, a chisel was stuck in the wall; he replied that it should be thrown away: where it sticks, that's where they'll dig; the bear tsar found I. and M. and took them to his place; the children ask for a drink; when the bear tsar went to fetch water, the eagle picked up the children and carried them away, but the bear tsar singe his wings; the next time the children want to eat, the eagle carried them; the third time the little bull-dristunok carries the children; three times he defecates in the face of the bear catching up; then he gives I. a comb and a towel; the thrown comb turned into a forest, the bear gnawed through it; I. waved the towel - a fiery lake ; the bear stopped chasing; he brought the bull to the house in the clearing; he orders to slaughter it and burn it, scatter the ashes over three ridges, a horse, a dog and an apple tree will grow; I. took the horse and the dog for himself, brought a wolf cub and a bear cub from the hunt; one day he did not take the dog with him; a six-headed snake flew in, became a handsome man, asked M. to throw a bridge over the lake, took her away, and locked the dog and threw the key into the lake; I. went to look; in an open field there is a hut on chicken legs, on dog heels; I.: turn your back to the forest, face me; there is a baba yaga in the hut, a bone leg from corner to corner, her nose has grown into the ceiling; Baba Yaga orders to break three twigs from that apple tree, hit the lock, it will open, you can take the dog and go to the dragon; the dog, the wolf and the bear tore the dragon apart, I. returned M.]: Afanasyev 1958, No. 201: 90-93; Russian (Voronezh, 1965, s. Shchuchye, Ertilsky district) [A merchant suspects his step-son of stealing, says that it would be better if the devil took him. The devil takes the boy, raises him. The devil leaves and leaves the boy the keys, but forbids him to enter one room. He comes in, sees a skinny horse on chains, gives him 3 buckets of water, the horse breaks the chains, offers the boy to run away, he agrees not immediately, but. The devil catches up with them, scolds the boy, puts the horse on a chain. The devil leaves again and promises to kill the guy if he enters the forbidden room. The guy goes to the horse, it is completely exhausted, gives him more water, the horse breaks free, they decide to run away. The horse advises to take a towel, comb and brush from the devil. He stands with his muzzle to the east, orders to dig a hole - gold is boiling in it, the guy lowers his hands - they become golden, then digs a hole under the horse's hind legs - there is silver, he lowers his legs, they become knee-deep silver. The devil catches up with the fugitives, the guy throws down the towel, a river appears , then a comb, a forest grows, and a brush - a wall of fire grows. The devil cannot overcome it, turns back. The guy finds himself in a foreign kingdom, offers to save the princess, stolen by the Turkish padishah. The guy returns the girl, but does not confess, he kills a bull, rips off its skin and wraps himself in it, the princess sees him and falls in love, asks her father to marry them. The king does not like the guy, he promises to give his daughter to him in marriage if he defeats the Turkish army, because the Turkish padishah, having lost the princess, declares war. The guy defeats the Turkish army, his squad dies, he single-handedly saves the king's daughter and her servant (her tent is captured by the Turkish squad). The horse asks to cut off his head, the guy does not want to, but he insists. The horse turns out to be a fine fellow, bewitched by the devil, now that he is disenchanted, the devil is dead. The king gives the lad his daughter in marriage, the fine fellow marries the princess's beautiful servant]: Kretov 1977, No. 32: 54-56; Belarusians [the king's most beautiful ship sank; he promises half the kingdom to whoever returns the ship; evil spirits: you don't need half the kingdom, give what you don't know at home; it turned out that at home the wife gave birth to a son and a daughter; they grew up, the dragon flew for them, brought them to the forest; the boy talks about barrels, the girl about watermelons; the dragon realized that these were not the king's children; they had to give them up; one day the dragon told the boy to separate the poppy seeds from the ashes, and the girl to embroider a towel; the raven took them under his wings, carried them away from the dragon; he caught up with them, took them away; The next day the ox tells the girl to take a brush and a comb, and the boy - a bar and a scarf, sit in the left and right ears; the snake catches up, they throw a brush (forest), a comb (earth mountain), a bar (stone mountain); wave a scarf at the sea - a bridge , on the other bank - no bridge; the ox tells to cut it into 12 parts, they turned into 12 dogs; began to live; the brother does not know that a snake began to fly to his sister; the sister asks for bear's milk; the she-bear gave milk and a bear cub; the same with the she-wolf; the dogs remained behind 12 doors; the sister tells her brother to heat water; the raven: do not hurry, the dogs gnawed through 9 doors; the brother asks for permission to blow the trumpet before death; the dogs heard, tore the snake apart; the sister took the snake's tooth; brother and sister went to live with their parents; the sister put a tooth in her brother's bed; he died, the sister put the body in a barrel and into the sea; the wolf got the barrel out, the bear knocked out the bottom, they found the tooth, took it out; they started to live happily]: Romanov 1887, No. 7: 63-65; Belarusians (Mogilevskaya, zap. 1888-1891, Vysokovskaya vol., Orsha uyezd, from the territory of Yakov Ignatov, 76 years old, illiterate) [An old man and an old woman have no children, the old man sends her to town to buy 12 eggs to hatch, they hatch 12 sons, baptize them on the 11th, forget about the 12th, return, the priest baptizes him Kashevar and a good fellow; the sons grow up quickly, help in the field, the older ones mow, Kashevar cooks; while the older brothers sleep after dinner, Kashevar mows more than all of them, the brothers think that God is helping; the same thing is repeated when they rake the haystacks and put up stacks; every night someone steals a stack, the two older brothers can do nothing, Kashevar volunteers; They forge a mace weighing 12 poods for him, the first mace breaks against Kashevar's hand, the second passes the test, Kashevar goes off at night to guard the haystacks; at midnight a mare with 12 foals comes running, takes the haystack and leaves, Kashevar falls from the haystack; the next night the mare with foals comes again, Kashevar jumps on her from the haystack, the mare carries him through the air to the thirtieth kingdom, Kashevar hits her with a mace, the mare returns him to his father's yard, he instructs his brothers to build a stable with 12 stalls; Kashevar flies on the mare again until she gets tired and agrees to fulfill his will - she brings 12 foals to the yard; Kashevar gives the mare to their father, the foals to the brothers; the brothers leave to choose brides for themselves; The cook gets the weakest horse, he lets it graze in the field, then saddles it and overtakes the others through the air; The cook flies up to the hut on a chicken leg, there are 12 hitching posts with rings near the hut, he ties the horse, goes into the hut, the grandmother says that her sister has 12 daughters; The cook leaves and rides to the next hut on a chicken leg - history repeats itself; The cook rides to the third hut on a chicken leg, there lies the grandmother ("legs in the garden bed, tits under the table") the mother of 12 daughters, they sit down to talk, the brothers arrive; The cook goes out into the yard, meets Nastasya Privokrasya, she tells how to recognize her among the 12 doves and 12 maidens; Grandmother calls into the upper room, 12 doves appear, Kashevar recognizes them, then they all turn into 12 identical girls, he recognizes them again (Nastasia gives a sign each time), they get married; Nastasia gives her husband a handkerchief to call her when things get tough; after the feast, the newlyweds go to the barn, Kashevar's horse warns that Grandmother has already sent for executioners to chop off their heads; on the horse's advice, they exchange clothes, Nastasia goes out into the garden, Kashevar's horse carries him away (and his brothers along with him), Grandmother sets off in a mortar in pursuit; on the Fire River, with the help of Nastasia's handkerchief, Kashevar builds the Kalinov Bridge, crosses over, destroys the bridge with a wave of the handkerchief , the grandmother cannot cross the river, they agree that Kashevar will come to visit again; the brothers release their horses into the meadow, the horses kill each other, the brothers begin to argue over this, kill each other, Kashevar takes their bodies to the river, cries and rides away on his horse; on the way, Kashevar finds a shining feather, the horse dissuades him from taking it, because in the feather there is “an axe and a chopping block, a death shirt”, Kashevar takes the feather for himself for beauty; the landowner exchanges the shining feather with Kashevar, offering his daughter in marriage, but Kashevar goes for Nastasya and brings her to the landowner’s house; on the way back, the grandmother tries to catch up with them in a mortar, cannot cross the fiery river, they again agree that Kashevar will come to visit again; the landowner falls in love with Nastasya, wants to get married, sends Kashevar to the granny (the witch) for a wedding dress (the witch's herself) for Nastasya; Kashevar flies in on a horse, turns into a black cat, steals the keys from the witch, takes the dress, the story with the chase is repeated; Nastasya demands a wedding ring (the story with turning into a cat, stealing the ring from the witch and the subsequent chase is repeated) and wedding candles from the church, Kashevar flies in to the witch, changes clothes with the shepherd, his horse turns into a lamb with gold and silver wool, distracts attention, Kashevar steals the wedding candles from the church, the story with the chase is repeated; for the 4th time Kashevar is sent (Nastasya demands) for a self-dancing gusli (the story with turning into a cat, theft, chase is repeated); Nastasya demands horses, Kashevar, on the advice of his horse, lures a mare (who returned from his father to the witch) and the other horses, revived by the mare, during the chase at the Fire River Kashevar promises not to come to visit anymore; Kashevar goes to the kitchen to rest, they chop him into pieces, boil him and feed him to the dogs, Kashevar's horse cries, asks Nastasya to collect the bones, the little finger is found on the second try, the horse breathes 3 times: Kashevar becomes whole, moves and rises, becomes more beautiful than before; the landowner ("pan") decides to become more beautiful in the same way, but the dogs simply eat him; Kashevar remains on the estate]: Romanov 1901, No. 39: 360-370; Ukrainians (Transcarpathia) [the grandfather brought his stepmother; went to earn money; The stepmother tells her stepdaughter to go to her sister for a needle and thread - she will sew the girl a new dress; the girl sees a toad fighting a mouse, crushed it; chased the toad away; the grateful mouse gives a piece of meat, bread, butter, a red ribbon; at the witch, who will put her at the spinning wheel, you need to throw the meat to the cat, the bread to the dog, grease the gate with butter, tie a ribbon to the birch tree; they will not rush, they will let you through; then the girl chased away a snake, which crushed a lizard; it gives a towel and a comb; the witch keeps asking if the girl is spinning, and she herself is preparing to bathe and slaughter her; the cat, having received the meat, spins for the girl, tells her to run; the cat, dogs, gate, birch say that the witch has never done them any good, but the girl did; threw the comb (forest), towel (river) ; the witch returned for a broom to fly across the river on, but the girl ran home; the father had just returned; chased away the stepmother]: Fairy Tales of Verkhovyna 1970: 407-412; Ukrainians (Transcarpathia) [a poor man has many children, he sold his son to a sharkani; he fattens him up with nuts to eat; the horse offers to carry him away, the sharkani caught up with him, forgave him ("my mother forgave me the first time, the second time she beat me with a rod, the third time you can eat me"); the same is the second horse; the third is thin, tells him to take a comb, a towel and a cup (or a goblet - pogar); the boy throws a comb (a thicket), a cup (ice), a towel (a bridge over water ; they crossed and removed the bridge); the horse tells him to cut it into three parts, the dogs Dalekochuy, Dalekovid, Golova-ka-zhelezo appeared; one day the boy saw a girl on the other bank; she asked to throw a towel so that a bridge would appear and to lock the dogs; the shackan took this girl from the boy's parents and came instead of her; the boy asks to be allowed to climb a tree and blow a whistle before he dies (that horse gave it to him); the dog with an iron head broke the door, the dogs ran up, tore the shackan, the boy returned to his parents]: Dey 1981: 69-73; Ukrainians (Galicia, Sambir district) [an old soldier is leaving his service; an old man asks for alms; he gives him one kreuzer and two that he had; the same old man comes back again, the soldier gave him the second kreuzer; the third time the soldier gave him a piece of his cloak; he came to the city, the king orders him to spend the night in the church to save his daughter, promises a reward; there a snake is eating the guards; the old man orders him to stand to the left of the door, the snake will not see; the snake flew, scattering fire, and disappeared; the same the next night; on the third night you need to get up behind the image of Nicholas; the snake turned into a beauty, the spell broke; she turned the soldier into a prince, sat him next to her; a feast; that old man came there, gave a means to call him, if trouble; in another city a dragon was devouring people; the soldier approached the rock from which the 7-headed dragon stuck out his heads, chopped them off; the prince came to his aid, and together they killed the dragon, people are grateful; the prince and the soldier parted, plunging a knife into a beech: if there is blood on the knife, then trouble is with the owner; the prince came to the sea; he sees a mountain on which there are three girls: the middle one in gold, the youngest in diamonds, the eldest in silver; seeing the crying prince below, the eldest and middle say that they will not go for him, and the youngest (diamond) agrees to go; she put a handkerchief on the sea, the prince crossed over it to the glass mountain; she brought him to the palace; says that he is her betrothed, only one night remains to wait for 9 years; gave him strong water to drink, and he killed “that woman” (the witch); they arrive at the place where they stuck knives into the beech tree – there is blood on the soldier’s knife; the wife has living water; the soldier’s body was found, revived, and that minister and the princess were killed; they returned with the soldier to the glass mountain, the soldier was given the middle (golden) sister as a wife]: Dragomanov 1876, No. 5: 267-271; Ukrainians (Galicia) [a young gentleman got lost, stayed with a hermit; the hermit told him to graze his donkey, but not by the seashore; the young gentleman went there one day; three doves flew in, took off their dresses, became girls; the young gentleman told her about it; he lived with the hermit and grew up; he came to the sea again, hid the dress of the youngest; returned it after she gave him her ring and promised to be his wife; the hermit: now take the money and go; having reached the sea, the young gentleman saw a shining mountain behind it, and those three young ladies were walking along it; the young gentleman cries; his fiancée puts down her kerchief, a bridge appears, the young gentleman comes to her; the girls' mother gives her a glass axe and hoe, let her turn the meadow into a field in two hours; the bride tells her to go to bed, summoned the devils and ordered the work to be done; also: demolish the mountain and triple the pasture in that place (ditto); guess the bride among three doves (she moves her wing); they took treasures and left; the sister is chasing, the bride turned herself and the young man into a rosehip and viburnum on the sides of the road; the mother herself is chasing; the bride became a duck on the sea, turned the young man into an eagle; he does not allow the mother to attack her daughter; the mother gave in, blessed the young couple 12 times and gave them her kingdom]: Dragomanov 1876, No. 8: 278-283; Ukrainians (Chernigov, Nezhin district) [the tsar, tsarina and one daughter died, leaving a second daughter and a son; when the father was dying, he buried them to hide them from the dragon; the dragon flew in, asked the broom, poker, poker, axe, shelf where the tsar hid the children; everyone answers that the tsar or tsarina was kind to them; will sweep (bury the heat, take the pots out of the oven, chop, etc.) and put (lay), so I stand (lie); but the snake insists that traces of work (wrinkles) are visible on the chisel; it agrees and orders to go out, throw it behind itself and dig where it falls; the snake dug up the children and carried them to its hole; along the way, Olenka suggests that the snake look for lice on it; the snake fell asleep, Ivan cried; the bumblebee puts the children on its back, carries them away, but the snake caught up and returned; the bull offers to help next time; carries the children, the snake catches up; the bull tells I. to climb into its right ear, climb out of the left, in its head there is a comb and a scarf; I. waved the comb - a thicket, the scarf - the sea parted and the bull ran on dry land; the snake was afraid, built himself a house and stayed to live in it; the brother and sister came to another house; the bull ordered to slaughter him, hang his legs in different places; in the morning the dogs Protyus and Nedvyus, the sword-kladenets and the gun emerged from them; the sister went to the river to wash, the snake from the other bank asks to get a handkerchief and wave it so that he can cross; O. told I. that she wanted to wash the handkerchief, waved it, the sea parted , the snake passed; O. agreed to pretend to be ill, to ask for animal milk; when I. approaches, the snake turned into a needle, telling O. to stick it into the wall, otherwise the dogs would tear it apart; the dogs caught up with the mother hare, she allowed them to milk her, gave her a baby hare; the same with the fox, she-wolf, she-bear, lioness, tigress; the snake suggested sending I. to the mill so that the animals would remain locked behind 12 doors; when I. left the mill, the doors closed; at home I. asks permission to climb an ash tree before dying; the magpie: don’t come down, the dogs have already gnawed through three doors; the dogs came running, tore apart O. and the snake]: Malinka 1902, No. 16: 277-282; Ukrainians (Cherkassy: Chigirin) [the youngest son goes to sow, the grain ripened that same day; the father became rich, married the eldest son to a peasant woman, the middle one to a priest's daughter, the youngest to a general's daughter; the youngest son has been motionless for seven years; the old woman orders him to be taken to the forest, tied to an oak tree with an iron rope, and to leave without looking back (if he had looked back, Semiletka would have broken off the entire forest); after seven days Semiletka woke up, came to the old woman, took the name Superoak; her two sons, the Zmeys, took him as brothers, gave him the keys, and ordered him not to look into the stable; he opened it, there were two horses, one was eating gold, his head and hand also became golden; the old woman orders him to run, otherwise they would eat him; gives him a brush, a comb, a scarf; The snake pursues, the Superoak throws a comb (forest), a brush (mound), a scarf (sea , the snake drinks, bursts); hires himself out to a master to graze pigs, leads them to the lands of the snake, frees three heroes from under a rock; marries the master's daughter; the snake demands her to be eaten; the Superoak kills the snake]: Pankeev 1992: 202-216; Ukrainians (SE Kiev, Cherkasy uyezd, village of Mliev) [the king grew old; sees in a dream that there is a queen beyond the fiery sea; the Orda River runs from her little finger; there are apples in a garden entwined with planers; whoever drinks that water and tastes the apples will be rejuvenated; the eldest son went, could not bear the heat of the fiery sea, returned; the same with the middle one; They laugh at the younger fool, they gave him a horse that carries homebrew, a saddle made of straw, a bridle and bast; the horse: my dear sir, my beloved sir, how long have I waited for you! Take the heroic sash from your right ear, let me graze in the early dew; he returned as a heroic horse; at the sea he orders me to take the handkerchief from my right ear and wave it three times ; the sea froze for 20 arshins, and when they crossed, after a wave of the scarf, it began to burn again; they reached a hut, there Saint Monday gives the best horse to reach that queen; the same with Saint Sereda (gives an even better horse); in the third hut Saint Friday (same); there is a fence around the garden, look - the hat will fly off; the horse jumped over the third time; the horse: the girl sleeps for 12 days, wakes up on the 13th; the prince collected apples and water, but, contrary to the horse's prohibition, came together with the girl three times; the horse carried her out of the pit, jumped over the fence, but touched the strings; the alarm was raised; Friday, Sereda direct the pursuit along the wrong path; the girl sees from the mountain, chases again; the horse orders to get it out of his right ear. {skip page; it is clear that the prince ended up in the lower world and protected the chicks of the mighty bird from the weather}; she agrees to take him out to the ground, orders to take 12 barrels of water and 12 pieces of meat; the prince cut off the last piece from his leg; on the ground the bird burped him up and put him back; at home the prince again pretended to be a fool; the queen built a bridge and appeared with her three sons (the prince "kissed" her three times); orders the king to "give her the villain"№ the king sent the eldest son; the queen orders to break his ribs, put him on a horse and let him go; beat the middle one, but leave him alive and let him go home; the youngest came out, he was also beaten]: Chubinsky 1878, No. 81: 322-329; Ukrainians (Kherson) [after the death of their parents, a boy and a girl live with an old woman; she sent them to Baba Yaga; BYa orders to carry water for the bathhouse in a sieve; the cat advises to cover the holes with clay; then: heat the bathhouse without straw; the cat: brushwood under the shelf; BYa steamed herself and left; the children gave lard to the cat, bread to the dog, greased the gate, it opened; the cat gave a brush and a scarf; there is a prickly pine tree on the way, the children tied its needles with a ribbon, she let them through; the cat, the dog, the gate, the pine tree answer BYa that she did not care about them, but the children did, so they let them through; the children threw a scarf - a river ; a brush - a thicket; BYa stopped chasing]: Yastrebov 1894, No. 19.1: 154-156; Ukrainians (Cherkasskaya, Chigirinsky district) [a rich peasant has three sons, the youngest pretends to be a fool; the brothers went to plow; the youngest asks to let him go sow; an old man comes towards him: when you return home, send him out to mow; and indeed: the sown wheat ripened that same day; the father married his sons; the youngest son, 7 years old, lies in a carriage; the old woman tells the boy's father to find a powerful oak tree in the forest, tie a board to a branch, a pillow on the board, leave the child there, and leave without looking back; after 7 days the boy became a hero named Sverkhduba; he finds a house in the forest; in it the mother of two snakes first hides him from them, then shows him, for they decided to make him their younger brother; when leaving, they give him the keys to the farm, but tell him not to look into one stable; S. found the keys, unlocked it: there one horse eats wheat, and the other gold; S. poured gold for the first one with his hands - his hands turned golden; grabbed his head - and his head turned golden; confesses to the mother of snakes; she tells him to mount her horse and gallop away; gives him a brush, a comb, a scarf; horse: climb into my right ear, come out of the left, you will become a beauty; when they gallop, the horse asks: can you see behind? S.: a crow flies beyond nine lands; horse: throw me a comb! (dense forest); the snake hired sawyers, they made a road; next time - a brush (a mountain up to the sky; the snake hired diggers); S. waved his scarf - the sea; the snake began to drink and burst; the horse tells him to feed him: burn oak trees, give him coals; S. strained the coals through a sieve; S., wearing mittens and a winter hat to hide the gilding, hired himself out as a pig-breeder to the master; he orders not to go further than the border, beyond it the land is a snake, he will eat; S. braided and tarred a giant whip with a 25-pood weight on the end; he drove away the snake with it, pulled three heroes out of a hole under a stone, fed them; they gave him a ring, he attached it to the whip, the master's daughter saw it, wanted the ring, agreed to marry S. for this reason; wedding; the snake demands the master's youngest daughter (i.e. S.'s wife); to be eaten; the master gives a horse; S. fed it to magpies-crows; he called his own: the earth trembled, fire burst from his nostrils; the horse brought heroic clothes and weapons; fell asleep on his wife's lap; woke up from a dripping tear; fights with the snake, asks his wife to release the horse, he killed the snake; wedding]: Grinchenko 1897, No. 248: 343-352 (= Pankeev 1992: 202-216); Ukrainians(Poltava) [after reviewing the troops, the tsar went home; it was hot, he decided to get a drink at least from the swamp; got stuck; "If only the devil would help"; an evil spirit flew in, demanded to give back what the tsar did not know at home; pulled him out of the swamp; at that time his wife gave birth to a son and a daughter; offers to hide the children under the floor; they grew up in a year; the devil flew in; the tsar: I don’t know where the children are; the devil asks for a poker, a fork, an axe; he tells about a chisel; let the devil throw it down and look where it stuck; the devil carried off the children, the tsar sat down to rest, ordered the girl to look in his head, and the boy to scratch his heels; a horse flew in, ordered him to mount it, and flew away; the snake noticed the loss, breathed fire, did not reach it; but the horse realized that the snake would catch up, left the children in the field and flew away; the children persuaded the snake not to eat them; the bird orders to sit on it and carries it (the same); the third time the bull carries it away; feeling the fiery breath of the serpent, the bull did not leave the children, but ordered to climb into the left ear, climb out of the right and get the harness; it did not help; the bull: climb into the right, climb out of the left, get the comb and throw - there will be a forest; the serpent got through; next time get a white scarf, wave it back, there will be a sea; the sea serpent cannot be overcome; the bull brought it to the hut; orders to slaughter it, eat the meat, and put the bones behind the eaves, from them the dogs Chuiko and Buiko will grow; the serpent pretended to be a handsome guy on the other side of the sea; orders the sister to ask her brother to wash the scarf, wave it; the sea disappeared, the serpent came; advised to pretend to be ill, send for hare's milk; just then the brother comes, the snake hides in the chest, the dogs bark, the sister asks to drive them out into the yard; the hare scolds her milk, gives a son; all the same with fox's milk (the fox gives a fox cub), wolf's, bear's; the snake advises to send the brother for pears and apples; they are in the snake's garden; the snake shoots fire, but Ivan is baked, and the dogs tore the snake to shreds, Ivan brought pears and apples; bring a watermelon; in the melon field another snake shoots fire (same); send to the mill, the doors of which will slam shut themselves; snake: if Ivan kills me, then bake pies with my meat and my tooth inside; Ivan goes to the mill, a passerby teaches: you must not look back, otherwise the 12 doors of the mill will lock; but having collected flour, Ivan looked back and the dogs remained locked; The same man told about his sister and the snake and taught him: go slowly so that the dogs have time to break down the doors; at home I. asks to be allowed to steam out in the bathhouse; the magpie teaches to put out the fire so that the bathhouse does not heat up longer; I. ​​asks to be allowed to climb a sycamore tree to say goodbye to this world; he whistled; the dogs, the hare, the fox, the wolf, the bear came running, tore the snake apart; the sister managed to snatch a piece of meat and a tooth; as soon as I. bit off a pie, the tooth jumped out into his forehead, I. died; Chuiko pulled out the tooth, but it stuck into him, Chuiko died; all the animals followed one after another; the hare managed to pull the tooth out of the fox so that it stuck into a log; he climbed into a dead cow; the eagles flew down; the hare grabbed the eagle and ordered that healing and living water be brought, and the eaglet remained as a pledge; the eagle brought it, the hare tore the eaglet apart, washed it with healing water, the eaglet grew together,and then with living water – he came back to life; after this the hare revived everyone into whom his tooth sank; I. tied his sister to a sycamore tree and put two buckets in front of her so that she would cry, and he himself went to his father]: Chubinsky 1978, No. 48: 138-152;Ukrainians (Kharkiv) [The Tsar makes a "zalizny" wolf for the children - Ivan and Oleksandra. It comes to life, the parents hide the children in the oven, the wolf eats the Tsar and Tsarina. The wolf asks the pot, then the bowl, the poker, where the children are hiding, they do not know. The chisel says that the owner hit him on the cheeks and head, promises to show if the wolf throws it over his head, it ends up in the oven. The children ask the wolf not to eat them, promise to consider him an older brother, he takes them to the graves, himself goes off to get the prey. The cranes ask the Tsar's children if they are sitting there of their own free will, they answer, the birds carry the children away. The wolf discovers the loss and sets off in pursuit, the crane asks Ivan Tsarevich if the wolf is far away, he replies, "we are far away", the wolf blows on the birds' wings and smokes them, the cranes fall, the children again promise to obey the wolf and ask not to eat them. He leaves them on the graves, a bull appears and carries off the tsar's children, asking them to take a comb, a scarf, a spoon, and a brush with them. When the bull asks Ivan if the wolf pursuer is far away, he replies that it is close and throws the brush - a forest grows as thick as a brush, then the comb - a forest grows as thick as a comb, then the spoon - a mountain grows, the scarf - the sea . The wolf cannot cross the sea]: Kharkov collection 1898, No. 3: 127-128; Ukrainians (Ekaterinoslavskaya, Mariupolsky district, Olginskoye village) [when dying, the father gave 40 sons a horse each, and a foal to the 41st; they were going to marry Friday's daughters, but she had only 40 girls; and Sereda had 41; when they lay down with the girls, the youngest took his foal out into the entryway and begged the girl for her headscarf; the foal ordered that the headscarves be taken off all the girls and tied to the brothers; Sereda slaughtered her daughters; the brothers gallop away; the foal ordered that the headscarf be waved (sea; then forest; mountain) ; the brothers stayed at home, and the youngest rode away; the foal ordered not to pick up the shining feather of the firebird, but the lad picked it up; they spent the night in a dugout; the woman reported to the tsar that the feather was bright; the king orders the ring to be taken out of a cauldron of boiling milk; the horse sneezed, the milk ran out, the boy went into the cauldron and back, became a handsome man; the king dived in and was boiled; the boy married the queen]: Dragomanov 1876, no. 25: 336-338 (=Novitsky 2007, no. 119: 83-86); (cf. Ukrainians (Kholm Rus, Podolia, Vinnitsa) [in Ushitsky (Podolia) and Vinnitsa districts and generally in the Podolsk province, as well as in Kholm Rus, the Milky Way is considered the road from Moscow to Jerusalem; the Danube River flows along the road to Jerusalem; canvas bridges lead across it , which respond when someone wants to cross or drive to the other side; each bridge is five miles long]: Bulashev 1909: 305); Kashubians [the childless owner of the Cieczkow castle finally has twins; the boy is named Morning, the girl is named Vesnyanka; one day the owner of the castle meets a witch, who promises to send an iron wolf for the children in six months; the father builds a stone fortress surrounded by a moat for the children; the wolf comes, says that they should not be afraid of him, jumps into the fortress, carries the children away; while he sleeps, an elk offers the children to save them: their father once let him go for the sake of his children; the wolf caught up with and swallowed the elk; the next time – a wild horse, which the children's father let go; gives them a comb, a brush, a handkerchief; the wolf catches up, the horse tells them to throw away the comb (the mountain, the wolf gnaws a passage), the brush (the forest, the wolf broke through a passage), the handkerchief (the lake) ; the wolf stops chasing, the children return home; since then this lake is called Good]: Puu 1991: 17-23; Czechs [the princess will marry the one who can watch her for three nights; Prince Matyash goes to try; he meets and takes as companions the Wide One (can swallow an army), the Long One (can reach the clouds), and the Fire-Eyed One (can summon fire with his gaze); the princess pretended to be asleep and when M. and his companions also fell asleep, she turned into an apple and rolled away; M. woke up, the Long One stretched out and grabbed the apple; the next night the princess flew away as a dove, but the Fire-Eyed One singe her wings, she returned; on the third night the princess flew out as a fly, sank to the bottom of the well as a fish; the Fire-Eyed One looked, the water boiled, the fish jumped out; the king sent an army, M. with his bride and sworn brothers run away; the princess throws down a handkerchief - so many threads, so many trees , a forest arose; sheds tears - a river; the Long One covered the sun - darkness; The broad one swallowed the army, but then belched it out; the king learned that his son-in-law was a prince and came to the wedding]: Nemtsova 1978: 163-171.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Kabardians [an old man Kurtyzh had a son, Kambolet; an old warrior took him in to raise; teaches him to ask his father for a small foal; then teaches him to beat the grown foal with seven dogwood twigs until it obeys; K. went on a campaign, met and took as companions the Son of the Sun, the Son of the Moon and the Son of the River; the pshi will give gouache to the one who hits the eye of a needle; K. knocked off the head of the needle, gave the gouache to the Son of the Sun, rode on; the same with another pshi (hit the needle, gave the gouache to the Son of the Moon); the third has a horn with a drink on a pole; whoever climbs in, takes it off and does not spill it will receive gouache; K. did so, gave the gouache to the Son of the River; each of the friends must shoot arrows into the sky; if milk flows from a fallen arrow, then all is well with K., but if blood, then trouble; at the crossroads of three roads there is a stone with the inscription: happy path, neither bad nor good, unhappy path; K. chose the unfortunate one; he cut down a hundred cannibal horsemen; their mother is in the house, one tooth rests on one ceiling beam, the other on another; a shine is visible across the sea, it is a beauty; the mother of cannibals teaches how to tame a porpoise, it will carry her across the sea; across the sea K. took the beauty as his wife; at this time his abandoned horse knocked out both teeth of an old woman; she made a bridge with her handkerchief, also crossed the sea, disguised as an old woman came to K.'s wife, advised her to find out what her husband's soul is; he first says that it is in his thigh, in his shoulder blade, then in his sword; the old woman stole the key, threw the sword into the sea; K. died, and the old woman beat his wife and threw her into the reeds; comrades see arrows in blood, come to the mother of cannibals, she puts her scarf as a bridge, they cross the sea, find K.'s wife; the son of the Sun and the son of the Moon rise, illuminate the sea, the son of the River descends under the water, the turtle tripped over the sword, he pulled it out, revived K.; he and his wife returned home]: Kerashev 1957: 177-187; Kabardians [a bride must be brought to a good guy; someone shouts that everyone in the village will die; the guy goes to look, lies down, putting a skull under his head; it turns into a terrible dog; the guy asks to let him live for three more days; after three days they bring the bride, the dog appears, the shots do not harm him; the guy runs, hides in the house; there the girl says that there were three sisters, their father wanted to get together with them, but God turned him into a dog; he destroys good people and horses; the girl gives a towel to create a bridge across the sea, a whip (to destroy it), two chureks; the halves of the second one turned into dogs Zhansit and Myrsit; the guy settled with the old woman, she became his mother; the dog from the other bank asks to steal the towel from the guy, to make a bridge ; the old woman agrees when the dog promises to become her husband; the dog hides under the bed to eat the guy, but the dogs pounced on him and mauled him; the guy returned home to his bride; all is well]: Talpa 1936: 113-117; Balkars (1959 entry) [the wife died, the husband began to look for the same, did not find one, decided to take the daughter who was most like the mother; the daughter ran away, climbed an apple tree, ate an apple, became pregnant, gave birth to a son, he quickly grew up; the deer ordered to kill him, a house will arise from the skin, greyhounds from the kidneys, a bridge from the tail, if necessary; across the river, an emegen asks the woman to bring him to her; she does not want to take him as a son, agrees to take him as a husband; she put down the deer tail, the emegen crossed the river on the bridge ; the emegens taught the woman to pretend to be sick: she needed 1) meat of ram-horned aurochs; the young man got it; 2) water from a rock that sometimes opens, sometimes closes (one girl helped to get it); 3) to bathe in a cauldron (the Emegens set the second one, began to cook the young man; the aurochs knocked down the upper cauldron, the girl pulled the young man out; the young man killed the Emegens and his mother, married the girl]: Malkonduev 2017: 470-472; Georgians [the father tells his sons to take wives where the arrows they shoot will fall; the eldest marries the princess, the middle one the adviser's daughter, the youngest a frog; left alone, the Frog sheds her skin, becomes a beauty, runs the house; the husband lay in wait, threw the skin into the fire; mocking the older daughters-in-law, the wife of the younger brother asks to send papers for a dress, a horse, a donkey or a dog to go to visit the king; the elders put on paper dresses, ride a mare and a donkey; the Frog tells her husband to bring blue and white horses, causes rain, the dresses of the elders get wet, the elders returned, the Frog and her husband remained with the king; the king wants to take his son's wife away from him, gives him difficult tasks; 1) plow and sow the field (a self-propelled plow does everything), 2) return the sown grain (ants collected it), 3) build a wall (arises from the beam of a mirror), 4) bring the ring of the dead mother from the other world; the wife spreads out a scarf - the path to the other world ; on the way, the husband sees a woman who tears off her breasts, sticks them to the hot walls of the tone (an oven for baking flatbreads); spouses who are cramped on a cowhide; others who are not cramped on an ax handle; a plowman who is licked by nine pairs of bulls; the mother gives a ring, says that her husband will burn in it; on the way back, the man receives answers from those he saw; the plowman tortured the bulls, some spouses lived in harmony, others quarreled, the woman did not share bread; son gives father a ring, he burns]: Chikovani 1986: 136-141; Georgians (Dusheti) [a young man works for a merchant for a year, receives a reed, from which a beauty emerges; the prince wants to take her away; the merchant promises him the best wife; he orders him to pluck a feather from the clothes of one of the female doves, who will fly in, undress and start swimming; the wife finds the feather, flies away; the merchant orders an elephant to carry the prince across three hot seas; the elephant carries him; scalded, dies, ordering him to wait for a peacock, who carries flour to the sky once a year; three quarrel over a flying carpet, a self-assembled tablecloth, an invisibility cap, a stick that hits itself; the prince orders them to step aside, takes the items away, flies to the miller, who hides him among sacks of flour, the peacock brings him to the sky; the prince flies back with his wife; her father pursues her, the wife tells him to throw down the towel, turns her husband into an old man, herself into a sheep; her husband into a swineherd, herself into a pig; the third time the towel turns into a boiling sea , the father stops pursuing her]: Kurdovanidze 1988(1), No. 44: 169-175.

Baltoscandia. Finns [a young man is about to shoot a wood grouse, which asks him not to do so; this happens three times; the young man agrees to take the wood grouse home and feed it for a year; a copper feather grew on the wood grouse's tail and when it fell out, he flew away; he returned in the evening and asked to feed it for another year; a silver feather grew; after the third year - a gold one; the wood grouse ordered him to sit on it; they fly across the sea, the wood grouse throws the young man down and picks him up three times so that he experiences the same fear that the wood grouse experienced when they aimed at him; they arrive at the copper castle of the wood grouse's younger sister; he orders him to ask her for a chest without a key, but she did not give it to him; the same with the middle sister in the silver castle; the eldest in the gold castle gave it to her; on the way back the wood grouse got tired and left the young man on the mountain; he did not want to drag the chest, he threw it down and a palace, a farm, people, etc. appeared; the old man promises to put everything back if the young man promises to give him what was born at his home; the young man knows that his wife was not expecting a child and promised; the old man allowed him to keep the baby for a year, ordered him to call him by his name - Krummdreher; within a year the boy grew up, became a young man, went to the old man; there is an oak tree between the sea and the lake, he climbed it, saw girls sailing on a ship; they began to swim, he hid the clothes of one of them; gave it for a promise to become a wife and help; this is the old man's daughter; she gives her handkerchief, he makes her invisible and offers any food; before entering the castle, you need to pull an iron stake with a ring on the end out of the ground; the young man pulled it out easily; the young man knocked on the castle door with it, the old man came out, but did not see anyone, and the invisible young man entered the castle to the bride; the old man orders 1) to create a castle neither on earth nor in heaven; 2) to cultivate the field, harvest and bake bread in one night; 3) to bring three iron-billed wood grouse from overseas; bride: shoe 7 of the 9 horses, and we can gallop away on two; the old man pursues; the girl waved her kerchief, a mountain appeared, the old man ran for an axe; he chopped his way through; the girl turned the horses into a church and a bell tower, herself into a priest, the youth into a deacon; they answered the old man that the fugitives were already beyond the river; he gave chase again, but the girl created a river with her kerchief ; the old man stopped pursuing; all is well]: Salmelainen 1947: 19-25; Seto [the mother died, the father married a witch (vanapatu), she has two sons of her own; one of them wants to marry her; she goes to the barn to get dressed, the witch's sons leave dogs at the exit so that she does not leave; The mouse asks for some bread, the girl gives it, the mouse gnaws a hole in the wall, tells her to take a whetstone, a brush, and a cat with her; the girl runs, the cat listens, reports on the chase; the girl throws down the brushes (the forest, the devils are running after the axes; then they hide the axes, the bird says what it sees, they take the axes home, and run to catch up again), the whetstone (the stone wall; the same, they are running after crowbars and hammers), the handkerchief (the sea, the devils are drinking, bursting)]: Järv et al. 2009, no. 35: 148-152; Lutsi (zap. 1893) [Jaan Kuningapoeg (i.e. "Ivan Tsarevich", I.), he has three sisters, his parents are dead; goes with the eldest sister to see the world, ravens attacked the end; when the carriage was opened, the raven carried off the eldest sister; the same with the middle one (the wind carried away) and the youngest (the thunder carried away); I. went to look for his sisters and find himself a wife; a hut on a chicken leg with ram's horns; come up to me in front, let the traveler inside; the eldest sister is inside; the raven sends to the middle one; the wind - to the youngest; thunder teaches him to approach the castle, at the castle there is a three-legged horse; when the plowman leaves him and leaves the girl to guard, then she must be stolen; I. put the girl on the horse, took her away; Must (must – “black”, Estonian) returned and asked the horse if we would catch up; the horse: even if we plough, sow (etc. – all the field work), bake pies, eat, sleep, we will still have time; I. came on foot to the thunder: the maiden and the horse were taken away; the thunder: go through 9 kingdoms to the 10th, there take the king’s advice to pasture a mare with 12 foals; if you succeed, you will get a horse that they will not catch up with; gave three hairs to call his sons-in-law, they will help pasture; the other sons-in-law gave the same; in the castle the cat asks him not to forget; when I. opens the stable doors, let him stand behind the door, otherwise the horses will trample him; the foals scattered above the forest, below the clouds; but the raven, the wind and the thunder drove the foals back; the next day the cat tells them to hide in the corner of the stable; the horses came back again, Must beats them again for this; the cat: the daughters have been horses for two days, and tomorrow their mother will go; they must hide from her behind the stable; the raven, the wind and the thunder and they drove her; offers to choose a horse; the cat: take the nondescript one; I. took the girl away again, the three-legged horse tells them to set off in pursuit immediately; I. threw a brush (dense forest), a whetstone (mountain), a scarf (sea of ​​fire) ; Must: I had one last stake left for your head, but you escaped; wedding]: Annom et al. 2018: 114-122; Latvians [three owners drive a shepherd away without paying; the fourth leaves for three days, tells them to light a fire under the cauldrons, not to look into the well; those three owners ended up in the cauldrons; the shepherd stuck his hand in the well, his finger got covered in blood, it can't be wiped off; the owner beats the shepherd who broke the ban, next time he doesn't order him to enter the room; there is a horse, oats behind him, candles in front of him, the young man gives the oats to the horse, he orders him to run, take a comb, a handkerchief, a bottle; they turn into a forest, into rocks, into the sea ; the devil stops the chase; the horse orders, if necessary, to call a silver, gold, diamond, black horse; the young man is hired by the king as a water carrier; he calls the horses one after another, rides out to defeat the enemies; the servant claims that he saved the kingdom; the king finds a fragment of his spear in the water carrier's leg; the water carrier marries the princess, the servant is tied to the tail of the black horse; the horse orders his head to be cut off, turns into a prince bewitched by the devil]: Arijs 1971: 167-175; Latvians [two brothers go hunting; they see a dog, but do not shoot it; it gives three puppies: Grab, Break, Iron-Breaker; then a wolf, a bear, a lynx, a fox, a deer, a roe deer, a hare each give two cubs - one per brother; when they part, each of the brothers thrusts a knife into an oak tree; the eldest came to a castle; there is only one maiden there; the rest ran after a white deer and turned into stones; the young man with the animals also chased the deer; the witch touched them with a twig, turning them into stones; the younger brother saw that the elder's knife was rusty; came to the same castle; maiden: we must run from the witch; they ride first on a wolf, then on a bear; deer: rub my right horn, a brush will appear; the young man throws it - a dense forest; the next time - a bar (mountains); the third time - a scarf (a river of fire); the witch stopped chasing; the deer orders to kill him; the head under the threshold, the body under the floor; here is a ribbon, you can revive the deer again; the girl accidentally waved her handkerchief, a bridge appeared over the fiery river; the witch made a hole; the animals fell into it, behind them there are 9 iron doors; the witch orders to steam in the bathhouse, and then she will eat everyone; the deer's head: do not hurry, the dogs have already broken down 3 doors; the witch pulled out the gold tooth given to the girl by lime; the girl died, the witch buried her; the animals broke down the doors, hid in the house; when the witch entered, they pounced; she ran away; the animals found the girl's body and the gold tooth; they inserted it - she came to life; the witch is sitting on an aspen tree; the young man threatens to cut down the aspen tree; the witch: to revive the petrified, you need to sprinkle the stones with earth from under the aspen; everyone came to life; [they felled the aspen, tore the witch apart]: Arijs 1971: 200-206; Lithuanians [the same or a very similar text in Kerbelit 2014, no. 43: 100-101; after the death of his parents, the prince wants to get married; the messengers say that his sister is the most beautiful of all; he tells her to get ready for the wedding; she replies that she is putting on her shoes, a dress, a wreath, and at that time she herself falls into the ground, and finds herself in the lower world; he comes to the daughter of the Sun, she is a prisoner of the witch, she sticks a needle into the wall, because of this the witch does not see the princess; both girls run, throwing behind them a ball of yarn (mountains, the witch is digging with a shovel), a brush (the forest, she is chopping with an axe), a towel (a lake, the witch is drinking, she tells the mortar to drink too, it does not drink, the witch bursts); the girls come to the prince, they are the same; he puts a vial of blood under his clothes, pretends to have killed himself; the sister cries even more bitterly, the prince marries the daughter of the Sun, the brother of the daughter of the Sun marries the princess)]: Lyobite 1965: 154-158.

Volga - Perm. Komi [A mouse quarreled with a sparrow, birds began to fight with animals, killed each other, an eagle with a broken wing was left by the sea of ​​blood; an old man picked him up; the old woman twice orders to shoot the eagle, each time the eagle asks not to do this; having recovered, she carries the old man, throws him down twice, picks him up from the ground, so that he too would experience fear; the eagle's sister gives a box, does not order to open it on the way; the old man opens it, gold spills out; another old man (this is an evil tun ) puts the gold back for a promise to give back in three years what he does not know at home; the old man was absent for fifteen years, his son grew up; the old woman orders the young man to lie in wait for 12 swans - the tun's daughters, to hide the clothes of the youngest while they are bathing; she gives him her ring, flies away; the tun marries him to her, gives him tasks, the wife teaches him how to fulfill them; 1) to build a palace overnight (monsters do); 2) to create a river with fish, gardens on the banks (ditto); 3) a crystal bridge (ditto); a daughter steals her father's scarf, runs away with her husband; a tun pursues them; she waves the scarf, creating a forest, then a river ; a young man pierces the tun with an arrow, he turns into a pine tree]: Novikov 1938, No. 25: 88-103; Udmurts [the evil widow of Egipecha tries to destroy Anna, the wife of her adopted son Ivan; orders the sheep to be sheared; I.: these are bears and wolves; I. orders to climb an oak tree, to knock on it with scissors; the animals are trying to get A. their wool fell out, A. brought it; E. sends A. to bring a reed from her sister; I. ​​orders to take with her various products and objects; A. gives meat to the dogs, oats to the geese, a silk belt to the birch, oils the door hinges, needles to the tailors, a kalach to the cat; sister E. goes to boil resin to throw into it, the cat tells her to run; answers for A.; A. runs from sister E., throws down the brush, a forest grows, a nut - a river; the pursuer asks how to cross; " Spread a scarf and swim "; she drowned; A. called E., said that her sister was drowning, drowned her in the same way]: Klabukov 1948, No. 32: 92-98 (= Kralina 1960, No. 45: 124-129; Mari (meadow) [the husband went into the forest, the wife at home; Viver-kuva came, asked to unlock the door, to go out and watch the squirrel and marten play; the woman answered each time that she was busy (rolling bread, putting it in the oven); left ört (ört – spirit, soul) to answer for herself, climbed out through the chimney, ran to her parents; V. climbed through the pipe, chased ört, then ran after the woman; she threw a shondash (a brush for combing tow), a thicket appeared; a stone (mountain), a red scarf (fire) ; the woman ran to her parents' house, but they did not open the door ("we have no daughter who would walk around at night"); the same - brother ("no sister"); the woman hid in the barn, V. found her, only the intestines remained; in the morning the father thinks that the wolf ate the sheep; he made strings for the gusli from the intestines, began to play; the gusli sing: "Oh, my father, don't play, you will tear my heart apart"; the same mother, brother; the brother threw the gusli into the fire, from there jumped out alive]: Tudorovskaya, Eman 1945: 19-23; Kazan Tatars [Akhmet is told that he is more cheerful and bolder than his brothers; the mother is forced to tell that his 10 brothers left and disappeared; A. comes to the mother of 10 genies, promises her sons to get for them 11 daughters of the padishah, which is prevented by 10 batyrs; they turn out to be A.'s brothers; A. enters the girls' room, orders the genies to go up there one by one, cuts off each one's head, takes the name rings from the sleeping girls, keeps one for himself, and gives 10 to the brothers; 5 batyrs claim that it was they who defeated the genies; the padishah gives them his daughters, but during the wedding the batyrs cannot lift the heads of the genies, and A. does it easily; the daughters of the padishah recognize their rings, marry their brothers; the father of the genies wants to get the daughter of the padishah of the Sun, but he will give her only for the padishah's horse Almazov; the father of the genies kidnapped A. and ordered to get that horse; the old man orders to take the horse away, but not to touch the bridle; A. grabs her, the bells ring, he is captured, Padishah Almazov demands the nightingale of Padishah of the Moon; the old man orders not to take the cage, A. did not take it, gave the nightingale in exchange for the horse, but the nightingale returned to him; gave the horse in exchange for the daughter of the Sun, the horse also returned; the old man orders to go from the fork to the right, A. forgot and went to the left; A. fell asleep, woke up - no girl, no horse, no nightingale; the old man gives a handkerchief, a comb and a mirror; putting the handkerchief on the water, A. crosses the river , takes the girl, the horse, the nightingale from the palace of the div; he chases, A. threw the comb (the forest), the mirror (the sea); the div swam, drowned; A. gives the girl to the padishah of the genies, remains a worker, orders to find out what the soul of the genie is; genie: in a broom (the girl decorates the broom); in four eggs under a duck in a nest on an island guarded by four wild boars; A. fights with the wild boars, the main wild boar wants to eat a reed sprout, A. wants a roast lamb; the shepherd gave him a lamb, he killed the wild boars, brought the eggs, broke two, the genie agreed to take him home with the girl, there A. broke the remaining eggs; 11 brothers with their wives, a nightingale and a horse return to their parents]: Yarmukhametov 1957: 14-31.

Southern Siberia – Mongolia. Khakass [the old people have a son (he is younger) and a daughter Altyn-Tan; the old man died, the mother is also preparing to die and tells them not to go to the mountain Akh-tag ahead, not to put out the fire – they won’t be able to light it again; but the brother and sister went; only AT climbed to the top, there is a house, in it a black woman; AT asked for fire, but she asked to go into the house first; AT didn’t go in, she ran away; when the children ran through the taiga, they were chased by Khara-Khashty – black, with a long beard and huge eyes; the brother and sister ran to the old woman’s yurt; she replies that she won’t be able to resist the Ainu, sends them to the middle sister, she – to the eldest; this eldest gives AT a golden scarf: if you wave it, the waters of the river will part, you can cross to the other bank; the brother and sister crossed, XX couldn’t cross and returned; a brother and sister built a dwelling; a boy learns to hunt, asks his sister what animals are called; three geese fly and cry: there is a baby on the other side of the river, we must pick him up , he will help; AT went to the other bank, but the baby turned into XX and made her his wife ; he began to live with her in the house where her brother lived; XX gave the boy a name: Adygchy-Ool; a white dog overheard XX telling AT to put a fang into the soup prepared for his brother; it will stick into the boy's throat; we will eat him and his dogs; a white and a blue dog agree to pretend to fight: they overturn a cauldron and the fang falls to the ground; when the fang fell to the ground, it caught fire; the next time XX and AT agreed to bring their brother to the house in the forest, where XX would be waiting for him to kill him; the boy managed to climb onto the roof and began to call the dogs; they jumped out from under the ground, bit XX; blue dog: we will tie AT to the wall, let there be a white cup under the right eye, blue under the left; if AT begins to pity her brother, her tears will fill the white cup, and if XX - blue; then Adygchi-Ool with dogs came to the aal; the old people took him to themselves as a son; one day the cattle stopped mooing, people began to shout; the dogs ran away and brought the skin of a blue and white wolf; the old people are glad - these wolves were destroying the cattle; the khan gave AO his only daughter; when they came to look at AT, only tears from the left eye filled the cup (i.e. she grieved for the demon); AO brought her to his home; she gave him poisonous araki and he died; the dogs dragged the body to the mountain; the blue one ran for a reviving potion; brought in her ear, but there were arrows in her sides, she died; the white one revived both her and her master; Altyn-Tan was tied to the tails of three mares]: Torokova, Sychenko 2014, No. 16: 321-335.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Khakass [a sparrow and a mouse argued about who could drag more grain into the bin; they began to accuse each other of stealing, and fought; a war between birds and animals began; a hawk asks a peasant to feed him until his wings grow; the peasant nurses him back to health; he brings him to his sister; returning home, the peasant does not know how to cross the sea; a man in a boat takes him across for a promise to give what he does not know at home; this is a son; a water spirit takes him and orders him to create a taiga; a girl gave him a scarf, he waved it, and a taiga arose ; the water spirit orders the boy to find himself a wife, otherwise he will kill him; he runs away with the girl; they scattered across the ground, the water spirit became a rooster, and was unable to collect all the wheat; agreed to release the fugitives, they came to the boy’s parents, everything was fine]: Katanov 1907, No. 378: 390-391.

Eastern Siberia. (Central?) Yakuts (summary of archival text, place of recording not specified; central?) [an old man chops a hole in the ice, a half-bear, half-wolf jumps out, demands that he give up his son and daughter; the old man sends them to the hole in the ice, the abaasy carries them away; a bull and a horse try to save them, the abaasy catches up with them, returns them; a deer carries them away; when the abaasy girl catches up, they have thrown down a comb (forest), a needle (iron wall), a scarf (river); they cross to the other bank, run away; the deer dies, orders them to throw down its ribs, they turn into a house, a barn; the head - an oven, the lungs - a guard dog, the heart and liver - wolves; while the brother is hunting, the sister hides the abaasy, digs a hole under her brother's bed; the brother kills his sister, leaves; meets three companions; [each cooks in turn, a man in a squirrel coat does not allow dinner to be cooked; the young man defeats him, descends to the lower world, takes wealth and women, gives them to his sworn brothers; comes to an old man and an old woman, tells everyone to stick to their beds; unsticks them for a promise to give him his daughter; marries, lives richly]: Ergis 1967, No. 127: 190; Baikal Evenks (Baikal region) [two sisters find a cradle with a child, bring it home; left alone, the child gets out of the cradle, becomes a monster; then returns to the cradle; the sisters throw him into a boiling cauldron, run away; he chases after them; they throw a kerchief (the sea) , a comb (the thicket); the pursuer screams, Mother, where is the ladle , drinks the sea, cuts down the forest; they throw a file, but it falls ahead of them; the younger one becomes a strand of wool, the older one an ant, they climb into a crack in the rock; the monster pulls the younger one, the older one holds her, the younger one is torn in half; the monster eats the back part, the older sister carries the front part with her; tries to leave her on a stump, on a tree, but the sister cries; when he leaves her on a hummock, he laughs; the frog takes her as his wife]: Voskoboinikov 1967, No. 13: 43-45; Baikal Evenks (village of Karama, Irkutsk region) [(No. 9: 179-180); two girls went to pick berries, came back - a baby in a cradle; sings that if a kind woman took him, he would become her good husband, if a husband took him, he would become a kind woman to him; the girls agreed to say out loud that the child was beautiful, pass him through a boiling cauldron of porridge, put him in the cauldron; they ran away; the monster catches up; the eldest threw a scarf - the sea (the monster ran after the boat, swam across); ridge - thicket (the monster ran after the saber, cut through); bar, it fell in front (mountain); the younger one became a wool, crawled through the hole, the older one - an ant, her bottom got stuck; the younger one began to pull, but the monster ate her bottom, the younger one returned home alone; (further No. 10: 180-181, from another informant); the younger one dragged the older one, left her; she cries; dragged her again, left her, she laughs; she went alone, the frill came undone, she stood with her foot on a stick to tie it, a Frog jumped out, told her to go to her yurt, fed her, hid her; told her to sew a wristlet (?) for her husband; the husband was surprised, she had never sewed before; The next day the Frog tells her to sew a tobacco pouch; the husband hid, caught the girl, and began to live with her; he told the Frog to pour blood into her skin and wrap herself up; at first she felt warm, but at night she froze to death; they killed the Frog's deer; the younger sister went to where she had left the older one; there was a hut, in it was a sister with no bottom, she gave the younger one many deer, and she brought them to her husband]: Titov 1936, No. 9 and 10: 179-181; Evens (Ola district of the Magadan region) [a man does not kill a duck, which promises to help; his dog tells him to look at what is crawling on it; cut it into six pieces; the man crushes a flea, the dog dies immediately, he cuts it up, these pieces are eaten by two bears, two wolves, two foxes, who become helpers; A Çolere with one arm, one leg, one eye in his forehead asks a man's sister how she crosses a river; the girl: her brother has a kerchief, he waves it - dry land is formed ; Ch. asks her to steal the kerchief; she steals it, Ch. crosses, takes her as a wife; persuades her to send her brother to the barns for yukola; the barn doors cannot be opened, bears, wolves, and foxes are sitting in the barns; upon returning, the man sees Ch.; he tells him to first wash in the bathhouse, then he will eat him; the animals tell him to call Ch. himself to the bathhouse; they tear him apart, the man burns the remains, leaves his sister tied to a tree, two cauldrons under her eyes; if the right one is full, it means she is mourning her brother, if the left one - Ch.; leaves, gets married; when the ropes have rotted, the sister picks up Ch.'s teeth, comes to her brother, puts the teeth in his bed; he dies; the sister suggests burning the deceased, the wife suggests leaving the coffin on the tree, burying the animals nearby; the foxes and the bear dig a way out, the duck pushes the coffin off the tree, the wolf brings living water, the others lick the owner’s wound, he comes back to life]: Novikova 1987: 66-69 (=1958: 60-65).

NE Asia. Tundra Yukaghirs [when a virgin sings, her reindeer always come to her; once she sees an evil spirit approaching, his upper lip touches the sky, the lower – the earth; the girl runs, throws a comb behind her, then a red scarf , they turn into a forest, fire ; the spirit devours the forest, drinks up the river, puts out the fire; she strikes the ground with her iron-tipped staff, turns into an arctic fox, then into a wolverine, a she-wolf, a bear, but the spirit overtakes her; she runs into an Evenk tent, loses consciousness; waking up, she sees three young men; the eldest was the pursuing spirit; she marries him]: Bogoras 1918, No. 1: 9-10.

( Cf. Midwest. Western Swamp Cree (Rock Cree) [a hunter's wife goes out for the day every day, tells the children to chop wood; by the time her husband returns, the chores are not done; the sons reply that their mother is meeting snakes; the husband goes, cuts off the head of a snake, brings it into the house; runs away; gives the sons an awl, a tinderbox, and some other object ( a towel ?), tells them to run; the wife finds the head of the snake, goes into the woods, finds the body of the snake; chases her husband, they rise into the air, she kills him, he turns into the Big Dipper (that's the way she killed him up in the air, that's where the Dipper now); the husband has managed to cut off his wife's head; the head chases the children; they drop the awl, thorny thickets appear; the head asks two snake-like creatures, worms, to become their wife if they make a passage underground; makes their way through this passage, chases again sons, they throw a flint, behind them is a fire; she again promises marriage, overcomes the obstacle; Wisahkicahk throws a third object, it falls in front, turns into a river; the Swan carries them, tells them not to touch her neck; the head touches the neck, the Swan throws it off, she turns into a sturgeon]: Brightman 1989: 9-13).

( Cf. Central Andes. Plot of Spanish origin. Quechua (prov. Calca, dep. Cusco ) [a ten-year-old girl loses her way, comes to an old woman; sees human bones in her cauldron; is sent for water; breaks and heals the leg of a Hummingbird; it advises her to run away; she meets a beautiful woman; she gives her soap, a towel, a comb; the thrown objects turn into a swamp, thorny bushes, a dense forest; the woman lowers a vessel from the sky for the girl, lifts her up in it to the sky; a cannibal asks to lift her too; the chains of the vessel break, the cannibal falls, is broken, her ashes are devoured by dogs]: Morote Best 1958, no. 5: 836-837).