M158A. Dividing the Harvest, ATU 9.
.15.-.17.(.21.).24.27.-.31.38.
Two animal characters work a plot of land together. During the field work, one idles (imposes his imaginary services on the other), and then demands (the greater) share of the harvest.
In ATU, themes 1030 and 9 (in our case, motifs M158 and M158A) are different, but in AT (Aarne, Thompson 1964) the formulation of type 9 is so general that texts of type 1030 easily fall under it. This is the source of confusion in the indexes (including in ATU).
Arabs and Berbers of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Portuguese, Galicians, Spaniards, Basques, Aragon, Italians (Molise, Lazio, Basilicata), Sardinians, Corsicans, Irish(?), Frisians(?), Germans (? Schleswig-Holstein?, Julian Alps), Palestinians, Arabs of Iraq (Kachi), Malays, Tetum, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Greeks, Poles(?), Ossetians, Lezgins, Turks, Bakhtiaris, Tajiks, Yazghullam, Western Saami, Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Karelians, Estonians, Japanese.
North Africa. Arabs of northern Morocco [after gathering the harvest, a jackal said that he was entitled to four shares, and the sheep to one; the sheep pretended to follow the donkey to take away her share, but complained to the dog; she put the donkey in a sack and gave it to the jackal, saying that there were lambs in the sack and that they would help carry the grain; the jackal was about to eat the lambs, the dog rushed at him, and all the grain went to the sheep]: Lebedev 1990, No. 4: 30; Arabs of Algeria [a sheep and a jackal sowed wheat, and when they began to divide the harvest, the jackal demanded 4/5ths for himself – he needed more; the sheep agreed, but asked to wait: he would bring the donkey to carry her share; she came to an agreement with the dog, who climbed into the pack; the sheep told the jackal that she had brought lambs; he climbed into the pack, out came the dog's mouth; the jackal ran away, the sheep got all the harvest]: Bushnaq 1987: 237-238; the Berbers of Morocco (Laoust 1949-1950, no. 12B: 9-10 [fox {jackal?} and hedgehog]) and Algeria (Delheure 1989, no. 59: 350-351 [fox {jackal?} and bear?]): El-Shamy 2004, no. 9: 3-4; the Kabyles [a jackal and a hedgehog decided to grow beans together; they prepared a pot of butter and a pot of honey - they will return from work in the evening and eat; jackal: a neighbor has had a baby, they will have to go and name him; went to where the pots were hidden, ate the butter and honey, filled the pots with earth, smeared the top with the rest of the butter and honey; returning, he replied that the child was named Do Dna (bis auf dem Boden); during the harvest and processing of the crops, the jackal arranges it so that the hedgehog does all the work; offers to divide: the jackal gets the beans, the hedgehog the straw; the hedgehog is indignant; the jackal asks (his) brothers, they say: whoever runs to the barn faster will get the grain; the hedgehog leaves his brother there; when the jackal runs up, the hedgehog (i.e. the hedgehog's brother) says that he has already run; the animals award the beans to the hedgehog; both argue about who ate the butter and honey; man: go to bed, putting the shards under you; the one whose they are smeared with butter and honey eats; in the morning the jackal got up and changed the shards; hedgehog blamed him, jackal tried to hit and bite him, got all pricked; decided not to mess with the hedgehog anymore, hedgehog got the harvest]: Frobenius 1921b, no. 4: 13-16; Berbers of Tunisia (Matmata region) [a wolf and a hedgehog were cultivating a field together; they began to argue over who would get the harvest; the hedgehog suggested running a race, placed his seven children along the course, the wolf believed that he had lost]: Dähnhardt 1912: 68-69; Arabs of Tunisia [a hedgehog and a donkey were cultivating a field together; the donkey ate the entire harvest; the hedgehog goes to a leopard, promises to bring the donkey for dinner; he leads the donkey, supposedly to the mosque, but brings it to the leopard, who kills the donkey; the leopard asks where the heart is {apparently the hedgehog ate it}; hedgehog: if the donkey had a heart, he wouldn’t have come here; puts palm fibers in the leopard’s food, and it dies]: Nowak 1969, No. 18: 59.
Southern Europe. {In the Pyrenean texts, the motifs M158 and M158A are usually combined. In the Catalan variant (Oriol, Pujol 2008, no. 9) there is only M158}. Portuguese [a fox and a lark decide to sow wheat together; the fox has a christening or a wedding every year, so only the lark works; when the harvest is ripe, the fox says that the lark has a beak with which he can pick up the chaff {straw?}, but she does not, so he will take the grain; the lark complains to the dog, which kills the fox; in return, the lark promises the dog potatoes, butter and laughter (a play on words; barrigada de rir – laugh until you drop); the lark distracts the attention of a man carrying a jug of oil; he throws a stone, the jug breaks; woman carrying potatoes; sits on the head of a shoemaker, who hits himself with a hammer; the dog laughs]: Cardigos, Correia 2015(2), no. 9: 48-50; Spaniards (Extremadura; ditto throughout Spain; also Galicians , Basques ) [a fox and a quail {as in the Portuguese version, both characters are feminine} decided to sow wheat together; only the quail works, and the fox has work to do every time; and when they were dividing the harvest, she gave the quail the straw and took the grain for herself (Mira, codorniz; lo que digo, digo: para ti la paja y para mi el trigo); the dog promised to help; it scattered beans on the path to the vineyard, and hid there itself; the fox began to pick up the beans, the dog rushed at it and beat it; the fox gave the grain to the lark]: Camarena, Chevalier 1997, no. 9: 35-36; Aragon [a fox and a bird (or a goat) divide the roots and stems of two different plants that they grew in a field; one of the participants gets the worst part both times; either one gets the grain and the other the straw ; the fox and the goat ask them to judge; the judges are a dog and a cat; the one whose defender is stronger wins]: González Sanz 1996, no. 9b: 64; Italians (Molise [the fox and the lark], Lazio, Basilicata): Cirese, Serafini 1975, no. 9: 30; Corsicans [godfather Fox and godfather Hedgehog sowed wheat together; only Hedgehog worked, and the Fox said every time that he was sick; he demanded that the harvest be divided; then he made a proposal: whoever reaches the threshing floor first will get everything; the Fox went to bed, and the Hedgehog walked all night and hid under a measure of grain at the threshing floor; the Fox came running, sat down on the measure, and boasted; but the Hedgehog got up and knocked down the Fox; the Hedgehog took the grain, and the Fox the straw; the Donkey asked for food; the Fox agreed on the condition that the Donkey give him one eye; then the other; he drove the Donkey along a bad road, he fell, died; the Crows flew in; the Fox asked him to roll him - then he would let them peck at the carcass; they lifted him into the air and threw him down, he fell into the vegetable garden, impaling his backside on a stick on which beans were climbing; he persuaded the woman to take him down, promising to be a nanny for her child for a year; but, finding himself free, he ran away]: Massignon 1984, No. 5: 10-12; Sardinians : Rapallo 1982, no. 9 in Uther 2004(1), no. 9: 24-25.
Western Europe. {Not sure that this is not the M158 motif}. Irish , Frisians , Germans (Schleswig-Holstein?, Julian Alps): Uther 2004(1), no. 9: 24-25
Western Asia. Palestinians : El-Shamy 2004, no. 9: 3-4; Arabs of Iraq [a hedgehog and a fox worked a field together; in order to take the entire harvest, the fox offers to give it to the winner of a race; the hedgehog puts five other hedgehogs on the course, the fox admits defeat]: Weissbach 1908, no. 27: 137-139 (retold in Nowak 1969, no. 19: 59-60).
( Cf. Tibet – North-East India. Kachins [a dog and a pig decided to prove to people that they, too, were capable of weeding a field; the pig weeded, and the dog tried and gave up; it ran around the field, leaving its tracks; people believed that the dog had done the work, and took it into their home]: Kasevich, Osipov 1976, No. 38: 127-129).
Malaysia – Indonesia. Malays : Overbeck 1975: 229 in Uther 2004(1), no. 9: 24–25; tetum [a monkey and a shark sow corn; the shark offers to split the harvest in half; the monkey says that the first one to arrive will get it all; the shark hides four other sharks along the course; the monkey wins hands down, but the shark is waiting for him at the finish line; the shark gets the whole harvest]: Hicks 1974: 64–65.
Balkans. Bulgarians [a fox offers a sparrow to sow wheat together; while the sparrow works, the fox pretends to support the sky, a cloud, and drives away the wind; demands nine grains out of ten; the sparrow calls the dog, the fox runs away, the sparrow and the dog are provided with grain for the winter]: Shereshevskaya 1957: 5-7; Macedonians , Greeks : Uther 2004(1), no. 9: 24-25.
Central Europe. Poles [not listed in Krzyżanowski 1962-1963, apparently the motif is rare; it is not certain whether this is really our M158A, since it is absent from other East and West Slavic traditions]: Simonides 1979, no. 291 in Uther 2004(1), no. 9: 24-25.
Caucasus – Asia Minor. Ossetians (Dzhavsky district, 1938) [the lamb works, the fox is idle; the lamb overtakes the fox and gets the grain, and the fox gets the cullings; spends the night with its cullings in a hut; in the morning demands a hen for the pecked grain; spends the night with the shepherds and in the morning demands a sheep for the crushed hen; etc.; finally the priest’s daughter gets it]: Byazirov 1958, no. 4: 312; Lezgins [the tortoise and the fox sowed a field together; the fox: let the whole harvest go to the one who wins the race; the tortoise placed its friends along the course; when the fox arrived, the tortoise was already at the finish line]: Ganieva 2011a, no. 31: 120; Turks [a tortoise, a crab and a fox decide to work a field together; the fox avoids the work and then offers to give the harvest to the fastest; loses both times: the tortoise places other tortoises along the course, and the crab clings to the fox's fur]: Dor 2002, no. 19: 61-62; Eberhard, Boratav 1953, no. 4: 29.
Iran – Central Asia. Bakhtiyars [the tortoise Miska-na-spine sows; the fox: "God help you"; the tortoise reaps, the fox again: "God help you"; comes for his share; the tortoise refuses to share; the fox claims that her words helped to grow the harvest; let whoever runs to the threshing floor faster get the grain; the tortoise hides his brother in the threshing floor; the fox overtakes the tortoise, but takes Miska-na-spine's brother for him; the fox leaves with his head down]: Lorimer, Lorimer 1919, no. 46: 304–305; Tajiks (Muminabad) [a bear damaged a farmer's rice field; then began to demand that the harvest be divided: he chased away the sparrows; the farmer is forced to agree, sends the bear to bring the dishes, but the bear refuses – there are dogs there, the farmer goes home himself; tells his wife to put the children on a horse with a sack of dust, to go ahead herself, to shout if anyone has seen a bear, the padishah's daughter needs medicine; the wife does everything, the bear asks to hide it; the farmer: the ears will stick out; the bear: cut them off with a sickle; the wife: there are the bear's legs; the bear: cut them off; the wife: whose head is it; the bear: chop it off; the farmer killed the bear, brought the rice home]: Levin et al. 1981, no. 17: 124-125; the Yazgulyams [the fox gave a flea and a frog a stick - let them sow; and she herself went to the foot of the mountain, so that the mountain would not collapse; when they began to harvest, the fox demanded a share for herself - she gave a stick, held the mountain; they do not agree; the fox: the one who runs faster will get the harvest; The flea latched onto the fox and when the fox came running, she said that she had been waiting for her for a long time; the fox burst with anger; the frog remained in a damp place; the flea built a mill and stayed for the winter; in the spring an avalanche carried her away]: Edelman 1966, No. 4: 193.
Baltoscandia. Norwegians [a fox and a bear work a field together, but the bear does most of the work]: Hodne 1984, no. 9: 24; Swedes [a bear and a fox share a field; the bear gets the chaff, and the fox gets the grain; when the bear threshes, the fox holds the grates]: Liungman 1961, no. 9AB: 6-7; Finns : Uther 2004(1), no. 9: 24-25; Karelians [a bear, a wolf, and a fox sow rye together; they gather it and take it to the threshing floor; the bear and the wolf thresh, and the fox says that she holds the grates (poles on which the sheaves are dried), but she herself quietly throws them onto them; she suggests dividing it up like this: whoever has more gets the bigger pile; she herself gets the grain, the wolf gets the chaff, and the bear gets the straw; they went to the mill; the bear and the wolf asked why the fox's millstone was knocking, but theirs was rustling; the fox: added sand; they added more, their millstones began to knock; they were cooking porridge; the fox's was white and puffing, theirs was black and not puffing; she quietly put some of their porridge into her own and then let them try it, saying, hers is the same; and while doing it, because she kept flour in the river; they put chaff and straw into the river, it was carried away]: Konkka 1963, no. 3: 56-57; Karelians (Kalevala district, west. 1937) [the fox, the bear, and the hare sowed grain and began to harvest; the bear reaps, then threshes, the fox and the hare are idle; the fox: you will get a bigger pile, and we will get a smaller one; the bear does not object; a fox lay down on the road, an old man was carrying fish, he picked up the fox; she threw the fish down, then jumped off herself; the wife scolds the old man: he couldn’t catch any, so he tells another story about the fox; the fox suggests dividing the bread; the bear received a large pile of chaff, the grain went to the fox and the hare; the fox says that she caught fish by dipping her tail into the ice hole; the bear lowered her tail, it froze, people started to beat the bear, he ran away; the fox lies with her head in sour cream; she says that they beat her so much that her brains flowed out; the hare looks at this, laughs – his lip burst]: Konkka 1963, no. 4: 58-59 (=Lavonen 1992: 178-179); Estonians : Kippar 1986, no. 9A [the fox and the wolf thresh grain; the wolf works, and the fox holds the grate], 9B [when dividing the harvest, the fox takes the smaller pile (grain), and the wolf the larger (chaff or straw)]: 46; Western {probably considering that there are Scandinavian variants and no Russian ones} Sami , Finns : Uther 2004(1), No. 9: 24-25.
Japan. Japanese (from Tohoku to central Honshu) [a monkey (fox: one version from Tohoku) and a toad or crab agree to grow rice together; the monkey does nothing, only the toad (crab) works; when the crop is ripe and mochi is prepared, the monkey offers to roll a mortar of mochi down a mountain; whoever runs to the mortar first gets the mochi; the monkey starts running, and the toad sees that the mochi has fallen out of the mortar and is hanging on a bush; the toad eats the mochi and refuses to share with the monkey; the monkey leaves, promising revenge (in Tohoku, further type 210: monkey fights crab)]: Ikeda 1971, no. 9: 15-16.