M197e1. The Demon Claims the Harvest. .16.28.31.32.34.

The demon claims that the harvest on the man's field is his. But if the man brings an animal unknown to him, he will retract his demands. The man brings his wife, smeared with something sticky and covered in feathers, on all fours, with her hair loose, etc. The demon admits his defeat.

French (Gascony, Dauphiné), Walloons, Russians (Nizovaya Pechora, Arkhangelskaya - Summer Coast of the White Sea and Pinega, Novgorodskaya), Belarusians, Ukrainians (Kyiv, Poltava), Poles, Karelians, Livs, Latvians, Komi, Tuvans.

Western Europe. French (Gascony) [a man hired himself out as a farm laborer to the devil; devil: my share is above ground, yours is below; the man sowed carrots, turnips, beets; the next year the devil chose what was below, the man sowed grain; devil: I will bring an animal, and if you do not recognize it, I will take you to hell; the man hid under a bridge and learned that the devil was driving a donkey, which he covered with rags on all sides; man: if you do not recognize my animal, the whole harvest is mine; ordered his wife to smear herself with honey and roll in feathers; the devil did not understand who it was]: Dardy 1891, No. 58: 215-217; French (Dauphiné) [a husband and wife sowed wheat; the husband went to reap, but the devil and his little devils were already reaping; the devil got attached to something a man said in his time; but will leave him the harvest if he guesses how old he is; the wife undressed, smeared herself with honey, rolled herself in feathers, came screaming and shrimasnicha; the devil to the little devils: 10,000 years since I was the devil, but I have never seen such a vile beast; having heard the correct answer, the devil said that he will leave the harvest to the man, but let him cut himself off from babbling God knows what]: Joister 1991, No. 67.2: 360-361; Walloons [the wife is unhappy that her husband has reaped the oats; "To hell with this harvest!"; when the husband comes to collect the harvest, the devil says that everything belongs to him; but let everyone bring tomorrow an animal whose name the other can guess; the man brought his wife, smeared with honey and rolled in feathers; the devil did not guess, but the man easily named the animal that the devil brought]: Laport 1932, No. 1091: 86.

Central Europe. Russians (Nizovaya Pechora, Pustozersk, 1925) [A man plants turnips, the first year the turnips don't grow. He swears, "The Leshy would have all the turnips." The second year the turnips grow, the man starts to pick them, and the Leshy comes and says the turnips are his, he grew them. The man asks the Leshy a problem - if he guesses what the man will come to pick the turnips on, then the turnip belongs to the Leshy. The old woman unbraids her hair, gets down on all fours, and the man comes to pick the turnips on it. The Leshy can't guess who it is. The old man and the old woman get the turnips]: Ozarovskaya 2009, no. 48: 363-364; Russians (Arkhangelskaya, Pinega) [the old man went to the turnips: like thimbles; "The Leshy would have all the turnips!"; and didn't pick them; but the next year he sowed again; the turnips grew as big as a tea saucer; he came to collect, and there was a wood goblin: the turnip is mine, I gave it to him myself; the old man: if you find out what I'm coming on, it's yours; the old man let his wife's hair down, told her to get on all fours, and sat astride her; the wood goblin: a sheep? no, not a sheep - too shaggy; the old men began to collect turnips - there weren't enough sacks]: Ozarovskaya 1931, No. 48: 394-395; Russians (Arkhangelskaya, Summer Coast of the White Sea) [the priest was sowing turnips, the mare ran away, broke the harrow; the priest: then take it, wood goblin, and the whole turnip; the priest came to pick the turnips, the wood goblin says that he gave them to him; the priest's wife: whoever arrives tomorrow on an animal that no one else recognizes, gets the turnip; the wood goblin arrived on a lion; the priest's wife let her hair down (it's a ponytail), put a piece of glass in her ass, walks forward with her ass, and the priest on top; priest: it's a one-eyed beast; leshy: your turnip]: Onchukov 1996, no. 48: 165; Russians (Novgorod) [the millet didn't grow, the poor man says, "To hell with it"; the devil took the millet and it grew well; I'm not ready if the poor man arrives on an unknown animal; the wife orders a carrot to be inserted into her ass, gets on all fours, letting her hair down; the devil doesn't understand where the head is and where the tail is, returns the field]: Vlasova, Zhekulina 2001, no. 83: 139-140; Belarusians [a peasant sowed peas; seeing how poorly they sprouted, the peasant said - let the devil take him; later someone said that the peas had grown wonderfully; the peasant went to look – and indeed they had; but the devil said that the peas were his, the peasant had given them to him himself; and now I was watering them; the wife told him to offer the devil: if you find out what kind of beast I arrived on, then it is yours, otherwise it is mine; the devil: fine, but you must also understand what I will arrive on; the wife got down on all fours naked, tousled her hair (it was like a tail), told her husband to sit on her and began to back away; the devil arrived on búsławi, the peasant said so; and the devil said that he had never seen such a beast]: Federowski 1897, No. 100: 32-33; Ukrainians(Kiev, Uman district) [a man sowed millet; three weeks later he came back - it had barely sprouted; "Let the devil take you, and I will not mow it!"; the devil began to water the field, weed; they ask the man why he does not mow the field - the millet is great; he came with a scythe; the devil: have you forgotten that you gave me the field? Now, if tomorrow you show up on an animal that I do not recognize, you will understand who I am on, then I will give it back; the wife tells the man to sit on her, and she gets down on all fours and lets down her hair; the devil did not understand what kind of animal it was; the man easily determined that the devil was on a goat; he received his millet; but the wife knew that the devil would come again; she dressed up as a peasant; she said that her name was Ya sam; the devil: whoever threshes the millet better will get it; the devil hits the threshing floor to no avail, and the imaginary peasant hits the sheaf; explains that he is strong because he is castrated; the devil asks to do the same to him; the castrated devil rushes to the swamp and screams in pain; devils: who you: devil: I myself]: Rudchenko 1869, No. 30: 54-57; Ukrainians (Poltava, Pereyaslav district, Boryspil) [a peasant is going to mow buckwheat; devil: my buckwheat; whoever arrives tomorrow on an animal that will be unknown to the other will get the harvest; the devil arrived on a goat, and the peasant on his naked wife, who had let her hair down; the devil spat and admitted defeat]: Chubinsky 1878, No. 100: 365; Poles [the devil and the peasant (woman) agree to divide the harvest; when they sow wheat, barley or millet, the devil chooses the roots, and when they sow turnips, the tops; the devil is ready to give up the entire harvest if the peasant arrives on a horse (brings an animal) that the devil has not seen; he smears his wife with tar and rolls her in feathers or arrives on a naked wife who is backing away]: Krzyżanowski 1963, no. 1030: 11.

Baltoscandia. Karelians [someone steals a turnip from a peasant's field; the peasant catches the devil; the devil claims that the field is his; proposes to consider the one who arrives on a stranger animal as the owner; the devil arrived riding a hare; an old man sat on his wife, who was moving with her bare bottom towards the devil; the devil poked her with his finger, the old woman farted; the devil acknowledged the old man as the owner of the field]: Onegina 2010, no. 52: 463-464; Livs [the peasant thought that the grain was growing poorly, and he cursed: the devil take him; but it soon turned out that the harvest would be good; the devil came to claim the field for himself; the man agreed to leave it if the other man could guess the name of his horse; at the last moment an old man came up to the man, scolded him for his carelessness and said that the horse's name was Lev {lõukoer; an old folk name for a lion}; the field remained for the man]: Loorits 1998(2): 176; Latvians [ The harvest will go to the one who brings the most unusual animal . The devil brings his wife, having undressed her and combed her hair forward. The devil has never seen such an animal, refuses the harvest]: Arijs, Medne 1977, No. 1091: 341.

Volga – Perm. Komi [a peasant and his wife sowed grain, but the soil was bad and the peasant mentioned the devil; the harvest turned out good, but the devil took it; he will give it to the peasant if he wins a competition to guess the beast brought; the devil brought a wolf; the peasant: it is a wolf; the peasant told his wife to lift her skirt, walk backwards, bow her head, and let her hair down; the devil: long tail, no head, I don’t know what kind of beast it is; the peasant got the harvest]: Fokos-Fuchs 1951, no. 2: 36-41.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Tuvans [the millet did not sprout, the old man said, Let Aza (the devil) take it; Aza heard, the millet grew, Aza began to demand it for himself; they began to argue; the wife suggested that he ride her; Aza rode on a yak, the man on his wife; she stood with her back to Aza and wet herself, the man said that it was tears; Aza did not understand who it was, got scared, left]: Katanov 1907: 99-100 (= Radlov 2003, No. 5).