M171c1. In exchange for a bast shoe. .28.31.32.

The character has only a bast shoe with him (or he then pretends that he had a bast shoe). He asks for a place to stay for the night, and in the morning he claims that he had something more valuable with him. At each new place to stay for the night, he continues to exchange something less valuable for something more valuable.

Russians (Tersky Coast, Zaonezhye, Pskov, Ryazan), Ukrainians (Kursk), Vozhans, Estonians, Setos, Latvians, Karelians, Komi, Udmurts.

Central Europe. Russians (Tersky Coast) [an old woman found a bast shoe, asked to stay overnight, to put the bast shoe with the chickens; in the morning she said that she had a chicken; so, exchanging one for another, she received a goose, a ram, a bull; she harnessed the bull and went; hares, foxes, ermines asked to take them; the woman sings: "Yukh, yukh, yukh, not a bull, a spring tail, someone else's sleigh, crooked shafts, not yours, go, don't stand there!"]: Balashov 1970, No. 128: 363-365; Russians (Zaonezhie) [an old woman had a bast shoe, asked to stay overnight, and to put the bast shoe with the chickens; in the morning she said that she had a chicken with her, she gets it; then a sheep; a lamb; a bull; harnessed him to the sled, went off; the hare, then the fox, the wolf ask to be allowed to sit in the sled; when the bear sat down, the tie (the tie of the shaft to the sled) in the sled broke; the old woman sent the hare, he brought a branch; each next one - even thicker; the old woman went herself; the animals ate the bull, stuffed it with straw and put it on stakes and ran away; the old woman whips the bull, it fell on its side, there is straw inside]: Onegina 1986, No. 40: 121-123 (similar text No. 31: 103-104); Russian (Vologda) [the old woman asked to go into the hut, she had a bast shoe with her; in the morning she said that there was a chicken; they gave her the chicken; in another place a sheep for a chicken, then a calf for a sheep; [she reached the cow]: Kuzmina 2008, No. 28: 73 (variants No. 29, 30: 73-76; Russian (Pskov) [a fox spent the night at a peasant’s, asked for bast shoes; at the next overnight stay, asked to put her bast shoes with the chickens, buried them, in the morning demanded a chicken; then a duck; a ram; a bull; a sled for the bull; she went; a hare asks to be allowed to sit in her sleigh; then a wolf; when a bear sat down, the shafts broke; the hare brought thin ones, the other fox did the same, the wolf brought a shaggy log, the bear brought one with roots; the fox went on her own; during this time the animals ate the bull, stuffed it with hay; fox: whoever ate the bull will fall into the hole, let’s jump; everyone fell; fox: we will scream, whoever doesn’t make it will let's eat; started with a hare; left a fox and a bear; the fox hid the intestines under itself, now pulls them out and eats them, says they are its own; the bear pulled his out, died, the fox eats him; but can't get out; threatens a thrush to eat his children if he doesn't get them out of the hole; the thrush brought sticks, the fox got out; the fox orders to give her a drink; a peasant is carrying a barrel of wine to a wedding; a thrush sat on the barrel, the peasant hit it, the thrush flew away, the barrel broke, the fox got drunk; now make them laugh; two brothers are threshing, a thrush sat on one's head, the other hit it, the thrush flew away, the fox laughed; now steam it out; the fox is steaming, the thrush says that dogs are coming; the fox out the window, then into the hollow, asks about her legs - how did they run? ears; eyes; tail; tail bolt - the dogs grabbed her by the tail and ate her]: Chernyshev 1950, No. 33: 73-75; Russian(Ryazan) [they gave the grandmother a favor - a bast shoe; she asked to be given a chicken instead; they gave it; she asked for a place to stay for the night; let her chicken be with the geese; in the morning she said that she had a goose; next time she exchanged the goose for a lamb; the lamb for a calf; she made shafts, rides on a bull, sings how she exchanged one thing for another; a hare, a fox, a wolf, a bear ask to be put in the sleigh; the shafts broke, the old woman went to make new ones, they stretched the skin over branches, ran away; the grandmother came up, the scarecrow fell; she went again to exchange the bast shoe for a chicken, the chicken for a duck, etc.]: Samodelova 2013, No. 55: 59-61; Ukrainians (Kursk, Belgorod u.; Gnatyuk) [a fox stole clothes, dressed up as a wanderer, spent the night in a house, saying that she was going to Kiev, and then to Athos; said that she had food and a passport in her bag, although there was only straw; when everyone fell asleep, she shook the straw out of it; in the morning she threatened to sue, they gave her two chickens; when she left the house, she ate one, brought the other to a new lodging; at night she ate it too; in the morning she said that her chicken was purebred, she received two ducks; then a pair of geese; a pair of lambs; a bull; harnessed it to a sleigh, came to the forest, ate the bull, stuffed the skin with hay and put it on its feet, sat in the sleigh; a bear and a wolf ask them to take them; the fox beats the bull, and calls the bear and the wolf fools; runs away; the bear and the wolf tear the bull, and there is only the skin; they rushed after the fox, it into the hole; they sat down by the hole; the fox asks the body parts what they were doing; he promises to buy shoes for the legs, earrings for the ears; and the tail only clung to the stumps; the fox put it out, the wolf grabbed it, but the fox resisted; the bear pulled the fox out and tore it to pieces]: Berezovsky 1979, No. 263: 299-304.

Baltoscandia. Vozhane [a fox spends the night in a house, leaves a bast shoe in the henhouse, the hens have torn it apart, she gets a hen; so she exchanges the hen for a sheep; a calf; a horse; the fox harnesses it, goes on a sleigh, a wolf and a bear get into the sleigh, then a hare; a shaft has broken; everyone brings material to make a new one - no good; the fox goes to choose a pole herself, the animals have eaten the horse, stuffed the skin with bones; the fox repairs the sleigh, the horse does not budge; the fox orders to jump over a pit, the guilty one will fall; all three fall, the fox remains]: Kippar 2002: 80-83 (=Mägiste 1959, no. 191: 216-218); Estonians [Jannsen, no. 1; at a night's lodging, a man leaves a bast shoe in the henhouse; [he tore a bast shoe at night, took a rooster in the morning; then a lamb, a bull, a horse (he kills them himself at night); then about a fox, a wolf, a bear]: Cosquin 1987: 208; Estonians , Setos (mostly Setos, but there are records from Läänemaa and Virumaa) [a bast shoe was thrown at a fox, it picked it up, asked for a place to stay for the night; at night it tears the bast shoe, says that a rooster tore it, gets the rooster; then for the rooster a bull; an ox; a horse; rides off into the forest on it]: Kippar 1986, no. 170: 134-135; Setos [at a well the fox started shouting: hey, women, the wolf is shitting in the well; the women came running: the wolf; no, they got angry at the fox, one threw a bast shoe at it; it carried it away; spent the night on a farm; at night she tore a bast shoe and hung the rags around the hens' necks; in compensation she received a chicken; then on other farms where she spent the night, she got a nusya for the chicken, a lamb for the goose; a cow; an ox; a horse; she rode in a cart and sang about how it all happened; the hare asked to take him too, sings with the fox together; then the same went a goat; a dog; a wolf; a bear; an elk; the shaft broke; the hare went for a piece of wood, brought a twig; so all the animals took turns, carrying the wrong things; the fox went herself; at that time the wolf and the bear ate the horse, stuffed the skin with straw; the fox met a bird, wants to eat the chicks; it promises to feed her; she distracts the woman who was carrying food; she dropped everything on the ground, the fox ate her fill; now the fox demands vodka; the bird circles around the man who has a keg of vodka; he wants to hit the fox, breaks the barrel, the fox gets drunk; the fox asks her to make him laugh; the bird leads him to the threshing floor, sits on the peasant's head; he wanted to hit her with a flail, hits his father on the head, the fox laughs; he demands a bathhouse, and to have a good run before that; the bird advises her to go to the village; the dogs follow the fox, the fox hides in the bathhouse; asks the members of her body how they helped her; the tail: and I only got in the way and clung to the bushes; the fox stuck it out to the dogs, they pulled the fox out by the tail and tore it apart]: Kippar 1997: 164-170; Karelians(Olonets district) [an old woman asked to spend the night, asks where she should put her bast shoe; they offer to put it with the bast shoes, she asks with the chickens; in the morning she says that she had a chicken with her, she gets it; in the same way she exchanges the chicken for a calf, the calf for a cow, the cow for a horse; a mouse, then a fox, a wolf, a bear ask to be given a lift in a sleigh; the shaft broke; each of the animals brings from the forest the wrong thing (a crooked stick, a knotty log, etc.); the old woman goes by herself, the animals eat the horse, spread the skin on poles, and run away; the old woman hit the horse, it fell apart; old woman: now my bast shoe is gone]: Konkka 1959, no. 9: 51-53; Latvians [a fox stops at a house, wraps bast around a rooster's neck, says that he ate her bast shoe, receives a rooster; then a ram; a cow; a horse; receives a sleigh and harness for the horse; a hare, a wolf, and a bear ask for a lift; a shaft is broken; the hare brings a twig, the bear a snag, the fox goes to fetch a suitable pole herself, the rest are eaten by the horse; fox: whoever falls from the pole while crossing the river is the one who eats it; a hare, a wolf, and a bear stumble but cross, the fox falls into the water, asks a starling to throw brushwood into the river, gets out; asks for food; the starling distracts the old woman, she puts a sack of bread on the ground, the fox ate the bread; asks for a drink; an old man is carrying a barrel of water, a starling sits on the plug, the old man tries to hit him, the plug falls out, the water spills out; make laugh; a starling sits on the back of a man's head, his son tries to hit the starling with a flail, hits his father; the fox laughs]: Arijs 1971: 46-51.

Volga – Perm. Komi -Permyaks [an old man stopped for the night, said that he had a bast shoe with him, put it in the henhouse; in the morning he said that he had a chicken, took the chicken; the next time – to the sheep, took the sheep; a cow; a horse; a bear ordered to put him in a sleigh; then a wolf; the shaft broke; the wolf brought a spruce branch, the bear – a stump, the old man went himself; at that time the wolf and the bear ripped open the horse’s belly, ate the entrails, stuffed it with straw; the old man came, got into the sleigh, wanted to go, but saw that the horse had straw in its belly]: Genetz 1897, no. 2: 42-44; Komi (Lower Vychegda dialect) []: Rédei 1978, no. 34: 127-133; Udmurts [a fox found a bast shoe, asked to stay the night, put the bast shoe in a chicken coop, hid it at night, in the morning demanded a chicken for the lost bast shoe; then a goose, a ram, oxen; the fox slaughtered them all, hid the meat, stuffed the ox's skin with straw, stole a collar and a sleigh, invited a wolf and a bear; pretended to urge the ox, but it didn't budge; left; the wolf and the bear pounced on the ox, but under the skin there was only straw]: Wichmann 1901, No. 24: 118-119.