Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalog

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnic groups and areas
Original text
Rate this translation
Your feedback will be used to help improve Google Translate

M198a3. Who stole the ruby?

.14.16.17.22.23.27.29.30.32.-.34.

One of the brothers secretly takes valuables that belong to all of them or is illegitimate. The brothers come to a powerful character to determine the thief or illegitimate. Usually the character tells a story and determines the culprit by the reaction of those who come.

Tunisian Arabs, Catalans, Scots, Irish, Lebanese Arabs, Iraqi Arabs (Socotra), Khmers, Himachali Paharis, Hindi (Western Hindi), Rajasthani (?) (Madhya Pradesh), Punjabis, Sinhalese, Slovenes, Bosnians, Greeks, Crimean Tatars, Kalmyks, Adyghe (Abaza), Ingush, Tats, Dargins, Georgians, Turks {check}, Kurds, Turkmens, Tajiks, Farsiwans, Yagnobis, Pashtuns, Kazan Tatars, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Kirghiz, Uighurs, Shors, Khakass.

North Africa. Arabs of Tunis [all three sons named Muhammad; father suspects one of them of being illegitimate; dying, says: M. inherits, M. inherits, M. does not inherit; brothers go to the judge, who sends Hiddi to the qadi; on the way, one says that a camel passing by was tailless, another that it was one-eyed, a third that it was loaded with sweets on one side and sour on the other; the owner comes towards them; the brothers describe his camel, he does not believe that they did not see it, goes with them to the qadi; the brothers explain the basis for their conclusions: the camel did not scatter dung with its tail; it nibbled grass on one side of the road; gnats were circling on one side of the road and flies on the other; the qadi lets the camel's owner go, keeps the brothers for the night, orders them to feed them; eavesdrops; one says that the meat is dog meat, another that the woman who brought the dinner is ill; a third that the qadi is illegitimate because he did not stay to dine with the guests; the shepherd explains that the lamb was nursed by a dog, the woman confessed that she was not feeling well, the qadi's mother that he is the son of a butcher because her husband was weak; one brother answered the qadi that dog meat is fibrous, but camel meat is not; the second that the woman did not salt the food; the qadi, pointing to the third brother: this M. should not inherit, because only an illegitimate son recognizes an illegitimate son]: Stumme 1893, no. 13: 123-126 (=Bushnaq 1987: 345-348).

Southern Europe. Catalans (Mallorca) [after the death of their father, three brothers went to the king to ask him to help them divide the inheritance; they met a man whose mule had disappeared; eldest brother: one-eyed? middle: gray? youngest: lame? No, we did not see him; the owner of the mule went with his brothers to the king; the king ordered that the brothers be fed; youngest: the pig was raised on the milk of a bitch; middle: wine from {what?} grapes (Setzlings-Trauben); youngest: the king is an illegitimate son, his father is a Moor; the king began to question; the pig died, the pig was suckled by a bitch; the wine is really from Setzlings-Trauben; the queen mother: that year I was captured by the Moors and became pregnant; a lame mule can be identified by its tracks; blind because it was nibbling grass on one side of the path; the hairs are a mixture of black and white; The king invited the brothers to draw a portrait of their father and shoot at it; the best marksman would receive the inheritance; the younger one refused to shoot; the king gave him the inheritance]: Erherzog 1896: 95-102.

Western Europe. Scots [a dying father told his sons the place where he had left the gold; when they went to get it, it was empty; they went to a friend of the father's to ask him to tell them which of them had taken the gold; he tells a story; the girl was married to an unloved man; after the wedding, the groom asked her what was troubling her; she told him everything and he took her to her lover's house; he sent her back; she was attacked by robbers; on learning what had happened, one of them brought her to her husband himself; the eldest brother said that the husband was the noblest, the middle one the lover, the youngest a thief; the old man said that he had taken the gold; he had to give it all back]: Campbell 1860(2), no. 19: 16–19; Irish : Uther 2004(1), no. 976: 608–609.

Western Asia. Arabs of Iraq and Lebanon [a merchant has three sons, each named Ali, one of them illegitimate; after the death of their father, the brothers read the will: Ali inherits, Ali inherits, Ali does not inherit; the brothers go to look for someone who will explain the meaning of what was written; a Bedouin is looking for a camel, the brothers tell him its features, but claim that they did not see the camel; the Bedouin takes them to a qadi; they explain how they recognized the camel's features; the qadi also does not understand the meaning of the will; the brothers turn to the emir of the Bedouins; he tells the story and from the reaction of each brother understands which of them is illegitimate; they kill him, and the two legitimate children divide the inheritance]: Nowak 1969, no. 479: 380-381; (cf. Socotra [a man has two sons, his wife died; he remarried and died after intercourse with his wife; she demanded that they divide the property after she gave birth to a son; the older brothers do not want to share with the younger; they go to the chief to ask to resolve their dispute; seeing the tracks of a camel, the brothers determined that it was blind in one eye, without a tail, carrying lead; the owner of the camel asks the brothers, they describe the camel and he does not believe that the brothers did not see it; the chief ordered meat and rice to be served; the brothers: meat is forbidden, rice is unclean, the chief is illegitimate; the servant confessed to the chief that the lamb was suckled by a bitch; the cook: my baby wet himself and I did not wash my hands when I cooked; the chief's mother: the previous chief had no children and when he died, she got together with a servant; as for the inheritance, the chief sent the brothers to the sultan; he orders the youngest to go to his daughters, take the sheep and bring it to him; locks the sheep in one room and the young man in another; the daughter comes running, the sultan asks to describe the thief; the girl: he had the face of a girl and the back of an old man's head; the brothers: yes, the father was an old man and the mother was young; the sultan ordered the inheritance to be divided equally between the three brothers and they agreed]: Naumkin, Kogan, vol. 1, no. 17).

Burma - Indochina. Khmer [a Brahmin left gold with four hermits for safekeeping; one stole it and hid it; when the Brahmin returned for the gold, the hermits asked the king to identify the thief; the king's daughter, Vitiet Serey, began to tell a parable; the girl, out of gratitude, promised the teacher the first night; she told the groom about it, he let her go; the tiger wanted to eat her, the robbers wanted to rob her, but when they heard what the matter was, they did not touch her; the teacher let her go in peace; one hermit called the husband the most noble, the second - the tiger, the third - the robbers, the fourth - the teacher; the princess guessed that the gold was stolen by the one who praised the robbers; she pretended to marry the one who would bring her the money; the hermit who praised the tiger already figured out where the money was and brought it; the Brahmin took part, gave the rest to the king]: Gorgoniev 1973: 264-268.

South Asia. Himachali- Pahari [a dying king gave his three sons a ruby ​​each; they put them in a casket, and then found one missing; brothers went to a priest; the man asked if they had seen his camel; brothers: blind (in one eye), no tail, and carrying vinegar? they had not; the owner came with them to the priest; the brothers give an explanation: the grass had been plucked from one side of the road; when the camel sat down, it left no trace of its tail; the smell of vinegar remained; the priest ordered that something be brought to the brothers to eat, began to listen to what they said; brothers: grain from a cemetery, meat - not from a slaughtered animal; and indeed: the grain was from a cemetery, but the meat of a goat that had fallen and broken; the priest told about two men and a thief, asked which one the brothers liked more; each named his character; priest: the one who liked the thief took the ruby; the youth took out the ruby, returned it to his brothers, and they all returned home together]: Dracott 1906: 115-118; Punjabis (Western Punjabi) [when the king of Egypt was dying, he told his three sons that he had hidden three rubies for them, ordering them to hide them again in case the kingdom should pass into other hands; when the enemies captured the kingdom, the brothers found the rubies, but one was missing; they went to the qadi; they met the owner of the lost camel; they answered that the camel was blind in one eye, had no tail, and was carrying vinegar; the owner did not believe that the brothers had not seen the camel itself and also went with them to the qadi; the brothers explained that the leaves had been plucked only on one side, and that drops of vinegar had fallen and the ground had swollen; when a camel sits down or stands up, it beats its tail, but this time there was no trace on the ground; [Whoever wants to know how the ruby ​​was found, let him look at Vol. 9, Pt. 1 (Grierson 1916: 442-443, Western Hindi)]: Grierson 1919a: 277-279; Western Hindi (Bundeli dialect, Madhya Pradesh) [a banker divided his inheritance equally among his four sons, and kept four rubies with him until his death; the brothers put them in a basket; when the eldest looked into it again, one ruby ​​was missing; the brothers came to the king and asked to determine which of them had stolen the ruby; the king ordered the vizier to decide the matter; the vizier's daughter asked him to rely on her; she sent servants to instill in the brothers faith in her prophetic powers; she ordered them to bring the rubies and throw them into the basket, which already contained her own rubies; there was one ruby ​​more, for the thief was afraid and threw his own; so the ruby ​​was returned, and the thief did not lose face]: Grierson 1916: 443-444; Rajasthanis(? conditional; Hindi or Rajasthani, impossible to determine) (Madhya Pradesh; ) [a rich merchant orders his four sons to take a piece of jewelry from under four table legs (? cot) after his death, but only in the presence of all four; he dies, the brothers decide to take the jewelry, but there are only three of them; they go to the king for advice; they ask him to find the lost item, but so that we do not know who did it; the king lets them spend the night and sends dinner; first brother: the flour in the flatbread is tainted with blood; second: the molasses has gone sour; third: female milk was used to prepare the food; the leaves-plates are given cow dung; the king is informed, he calls the brothers to him; peasant: a shot boar fell on a heap of grain, blood was spilled; molasses was collected from plates where it was not finished; a servant was breastfeeding a baby and drops fell into the milk; The man who brought the leaves also admitted his guilt; the king suggests that the brothers deal with the loss themselves and sends to the king of the city of Dharampur (in Gujarat); the king: what is in the closed vessel? elder brother: round; second brother: red, third: there are seeds inside, youngest: it is a pomegranate; the brothers went to Swarngarh (in Chattisgarh); the elder: a lame camel was passing by; the second: one-eyed; the third: missing one tooth; the youngest: a pregnant woman was riding on it; their guide reported to the king; the brothers explained: the trace of the fourth hoof is shallow, the grass is plucked on one side of the path, unevenly, there are handprints on the ground at the camp; the king sends to his daughter in Dhara Nagari (Chattisgarh); she tells them to spend the night with her; tells the elder brother a story; the king's son and the vizier's son are friends; they agreed to send each other wives on their wedding night; the prince married first and sent his wife to the vizier's son; they met robbers; the chieftain believed that she would give them her jewelry on the way back; the vizier's son gave her the jewelry and called her sister; the chieftain was touched and took nothing; who is nobler? elder brothers: all; youngest: all idiots; princess: you stole it; he had to return what was stolen, and the princess quietly slipped the fourth jewelry into the others]: Parmar 1960, no. 5: 19-28; the Sinhalese [Big, Middle, and Little Hetty mined precious stones; one day they found one stone, put it in a small basket, hers in the middle, the middle one in the large; each had the key to only one basket; but MK forged the other two keys and stole the ruby; all three came to the king; the queen ordered that the matter be entrusted to her; they began to beat each of the three; MK confessed at the first blows; returned the stone; it was sold, BH and CX divided the money, and MX received nothing]: Parker 1914a, no. 96: 98-100 (translated in Volkhonsky, Solntseva 1985, no. 226: 478-479).

The Balkans. Slovenes , Bosnians , Greeks : Uther 2004(1), no. 976: 608-609.

Caucasus – Asia Minor. Crimean Tatars [a dying khan orders his three sons to divide the treasure; when they wanted to get it, the hiding place was empty; they went to a wise old man to find out who was the thief; he tells a story; a girl was married to an unloved man; upon learning of this, the husband sent her to her lover, and he to her husband; a robber kidnapped her, but after hearing her story he let her go; who is more noble? The younger brother: the robber; the old man: so you stole the money; the younger brother returned the money, the old man divided it equally]: Zarubin, Zarubin 1991: 58-63 (Birzgal 1992: 75-81); Kalmyks [a dying father tells his three sons that there are three poplars in the south, and then falls silent; the younger brother found the poplars, dug up an erdni precious stone; The brothers found only a hole; the younger one does not confess; They went to court to Khan Balak; They see a camel's track: Its humps hang to the left, It has no right eye, It is a she-camel, with a pregnant woman on it; The owner of the camel does not believe that the brothers only saw a track; The Khan serves the brothers food and overhears: It is not kumiss, but blood, not mutton, but dog meat, The Khan himself is black bone; The woman confesses that when she was preparing kumiss, her nose started bleeding; The shepherd: The lamb was nursed by a dog; The Khan's mother: She got together with a commoner after her husband died; The Khan says that he has no right to resolve the dispute between the brothers, Sends them to a wise girl; She asks: A man went to the Dalai Lama, met a wolf, but it did not touch him, Which of them is sinless; The younger one answers that it was a man; The girl: You took the stone; I had to return it and divide it into three parts; the khan's daughter does not speak, whoever gets her to speak will receive the khanate; the eldest and middle brothers could not get her to speak, they were thrown into the abyss; the youngest found a dead toti bird, revived it with living water; having hidden it in his sleeve, he tells stories to the khan's daughter; 1) a carpenter roughly carved a figure of a man out of a log, the second one finished it, the lama revived the girl; probably she must belong to the lama; girl: no, to the first carpenter; 2) (having hidden the toti under the pillow); why did the khan's daughter fall silent again? toti from under the pillow: if she speaks, the words will be heard from all places where air comes out; girl: what is this? the younger brother received the girl, freed everyone who was thrown into the abyss]: Vatagin 1964: 216-222; Adyghe [the judge (prince, khan, etc.) must find out which of the three brothers is the thief; a story is told about the noble deeds of the groom, the lover and the robber; the one who calls the robber the most noble unwittingly gives himself away and is exposed]: Tkhamokova 2014, No. 976: 191; (cf. Abazins[two hunters shot at the same deer; divided the carcass in half, but could not divide the head and spine; went to see an old man; after eating, they said that the meat tasted like dog meat, and the basta (stiff porridge) smelled like a corpse; the old man explains that the lamb was suckled by a bitch, and the barley for the basta comes from an ear of grain that grew on a grave; (other stories); in order to divide the deer, the old man orders each of them to take a jaw, break the skull in half, divide the spine into three parts, and then divide each part in half]: Tugov 1985, No. 62: 184-188); Ingush [while dying, a prince told his three sons about buried pearls; the youngest secretly dug up the treasure, and they went to see the prince so that he would identify the thief; along the way, the eldest says that a horse, blind in one eye, passed by; middle: honey flowed down one side, butter on the other; youngest: the mare was in foal; they told the prince about the mare; having made sure that everything was so, the prince was surprised: what other advice did such smart people need; they gave the brothers food, they began to eavesdrop; the prince was born of a slave, dumplings smell of blood, meat - of dog; the prince's mother: her husband had no children and allowed her to mate with a slave; while kneading the dough, she cut her finger; the shepherd: he saw a sheep mate with a dog; the prince's daughter asks to tell how the brothers found out everything (the horse was nibbling grass on one side of the path; bees on one side, flies on the other; the gait of the front legs is heavier than the hind legs; the prince greeted the guests with his collar unbuttoned; in dog broth, the fat is on the bottom and the broth on top); the prince's daughter tells about a girl who was married not for love; The husband allowed her to visit her former lover, but he sent her back, and the robbers they met let her go; who is nobler? Younger brother: robbers; Girl: so you stole the pearls]: Malsagov 1983, no. 56: 203-207 (= Sadulaev 2004, no. 58: 153-157); Dargins [while dying, the father told his three sons where he had buried the gold and ordered them to divide it; the gold was not there, the brothers went to the khan to find out which of them was the thief; they met a man who was looking for a missing camel; they asked if the camel was lame, crooked, and loaded with honey and butter; they said they had not seen it; the owner did not believe them and took them to the khan; the eldest: he determined the lameness by the tracks; the middle one: the camel was nibbling grass only on the left side of the path; the youngest: flies gathered on one side of the path, and beetles on the other; the khan ordered food to be served to the brothers, began to eavesdrop; they said that the meat smelled of dog, the wine of blood, and the khan was the son of a baker; the shepherd said that the lamb had sucked a dog; the storekeeper, that a vineyard had been laid out on the site of the massacre; the khan's mother, that she had given birth to a daughter and had swapped with the baker's wife; the khan's sister promised to find out which of the brothers was the thief, told a story; the girl was given not to her beloved, but to a rich man; the groom sent her to her lover; he sent her to the groom; the robber let her go; the eldest brother: the noblest of all husbands, the middle one is a lover, the youngest is a robber; the khan's sister: so you took the gold]: Osmanov 1963: 139-145; taty[a hat maker grew old, his wife died, his three sons and their wives did not care about him; he told each of them where the pot of gold was hidden, and ordered them not to tell their brothers; after that the sons treated him well; when their father died, the brothers met at the hiding place, but the pot was missing; they went to the padishah, to let him judge; when they arrived, the owner of the missing camel appeared; the eldest brother said that the camel was blind in one eye, the middle one - that there was a wineskin with honey on one side and with butter on the other; the youngest: a pregnant woman was riding on it; they explained why they thought so (the grass was plucked on one side of the road; there were flies on one side of the road, bees on the other; when getting off the camel, the woman leaned on the ground with her hands); the padishah ordered that the best dishes be served to them; eldest brother: the meat smells like dog; middle one: the rice has a corpse smell; youngest: the padishah is not the son of the padishah; cook: the lambs were suckled by a dog; rice grew in a cemetery; a young man advises the padishah to ask his mother to bake a flatbread and press her hand to the hot flatbread, then the mother will confess; the padishah's mother: her husband had no child, she gave birth to one of her confidants; to resolve a dispute between brothers, the padishah called the vizier's daughter; she tells a story; the khan's daughter loved a poor shepherd, she was married to another; on her wedding night, she threatens to kill herself and her husband; he let her go; the shepherd ordered her to return to her husband; she went wherever her eyes looked, ended up with robbers; to whom should she belong? eldest brother: to her husband, middle brother: to the shepherd, youngest: to the robber; khan's daughter: you took the gold; the youngest brother gave the brothers their share]: Aliyeva 2013, No. 35: 160-164; Georgians [the king bequeaths a state and a magic stone to his sons; the youngest took it secretly; the brothers went to the judge; the eldest: a one-eyed camel was walking along the road (it was nibbling grass on one side), the middle one: a vessel with kerosene on one side, honey on the other (where the honey was, there were flies, and where the kerosene, the grass had withered), the youngest: a pregnant woman was on it, missing her middle finger (there was an imprint left where she had been sitting); the owner of the camel took them to the king for trial, they easily explained everything; the king served dinner, ordered them to eavesdrop; the eldest: the king is a miller's son, the middle one: there was human blood in the bread, the youngest: the lamb was suckled by a dog; the king grabbed the mother by the nipple with his teeth, she confessed that after her husband's death she had sex with the miller; the baker: his assistants fought, someone cut their hand, blood got into the bread; the shepherd: the lamb was suckled by a dog; in order to identify a thief among the brothers, the king's wife tells a story; the younger brother says that in the hero's place he would not have refrained from stealing; the queen: you have the stone; the brothers: we knew it, but did not dare tell him]: Kurdovanidze 1988(2), No. 90: 120-125; the Turks []: Walker, Uysal 1966: 114f; the Kurds[the padishah visited the women's quarters once a year; in the third year the vizier came, the wife thought it was her husband; soon the padishah came, the wife was surprised, the husband understood everything; three sons were born, each Ahmad; the padishah made a will: A. inherits, A. inherits, A. does not inherit; the brothers went to the padishah of the neighboring country to judge them; the eldest: a lame, crooked camel without two front teeth passed by; the middle one: it was loaded with butter and honey; the youngest: a pregnant woman was riding on it; the owner of the camel came towards them; the brothers described the camel, the owner did not believe that they had not seen it, he took it to the kazi; the brothers: the camel dragged its leg, nibbled the grass on one side of the road, where there were no teeth, blades of grass remained; where the butter was spilled, there were ants, where there was honey - flies; when the woman sat on the ground, she got up, leaning on both hands; the kazi ordered that dinner be prepared for the brothers; brothers: the kebab stinks of dog, the pilaf smells of iron, the wine smells of blood; the shepherd: the lamb was sucking a bitch; there was a nail at the bottom of the cauldron; the winemaker: a thorn stuck into my leg, a drop of blood got into the grapes; in the morning the qazi's daughter tells a story: a girl went to the shepherd for a lost sheep, he let her go on the condition that she come to him on her wedding night before she got together with her husband; the padishah's son was predicted to die as soon as he got married; he saw this poor girl, decided to take her - let her at least become rich; sent her to the shepherd; the shepherd called her sister, sent her to her husband; the archangel Jabrail appeared for the soul of the padishah's son; the father and mother did not want to give their souls in exchange, the wife gave them; J. gave her 140 years of life, she divided them - between herself and her husband; who is nobler? younger brother: shepherd, I would not let the girl go; qazi's daughter: so you are the illegitimate one]: Rudenko 1970, no. 30: 68-73.

Iran - Central Asia. Turkmen [an old man promises a buried treasure to whichever son takes good care of him; when he dies, the treasure is gone; the sons argue about which of them took it, they go to the padishah; he tells a story: a girl loved a poor man, she was given to another; when he found out what happened, he let her go; when she was going to her previous lover, a thief seized her, but he also let her go; the previous lover ordered her to return to her husband; who is more noble? The younger brother replies that he is a thief; the padishah: so you stole the treasure, since you like the thief; the younger one shared with the elders]: Stebleva 1969, No. 59: 327-329; Tajiks [when dying, the father orders each of his three sons to dig up a pot of gold, and not to tell the brothers; he was upset to learn that this is what they did; While they were burying their father, the younger brother hid the gold; the brothers went to the judge; the eldest sees a camel's tracks: the camel is blind in one eye, the thorns are eaten away on one side of the road; the middle one: on the camel's left side is a jug of honey (wasps are flying on the left), and on the right - with vinegar (gnats are flying); the youngest: there was a rider, here is the trampled grass where he got off to rest; the owner of the camel met him, did not believe the brothers that they knew the signs of the lost animal, without seeing it; the judge asks them to guess what is under the scarf; the elder brother: it is round; the middle one: sweet; the youngest: an apple; the brothers are cleared of suspicion of stealing the camel; the judge brought them to the padishah; they guard his sleep; the eldest and middle did not notice anything, the youngest killed a snake, hid it under the bed, the padishah woke up, saw a man with a sword, ordered the execution; the eldest brother tells the story of a parrot that brought a seed to the padishah; an apple tree grew, an envious vizier poisoned the apple, offered to give it to a dog, which died; the padishah killed the parrot; the gardener's parents tried the apple, became younger; the padishah also ate, became younger, and repented of his haste; the middle brother tells about a falcon that spilled the water; the owner killed the falcon, and then saw that the poison of the killed snake was dripping into the spring; the youngest tells about the snake that he killed; the brothers came to the girl; she tells the story of the girl who was treated nobly by a merchant, a padishah, and a robber; the youngest: better than others - the robber; the girl: so you hid your father's gold; the youngest divided it equally with the brothers]: Ulug-zade 1967: 235-243; Farsivans[while dying, the king orders his three sons to divide the wealth fairly, and if they argue, to turn to their uncle (i.e. the king's brother), who is king in another city; the brothers go to their uncle; a man they meet is looking for a missing camel; the eldest brother says that the camel was blind in one eye, the middle one - that it was carrying honey and molasses, the youngest - that a pregnant woman was riding on it; the owner of the camel goes with them to the local king; the king served pilaf and began to listen to what the brothers were saying; eldest: the meat in the pilaf is bad; middle one: the wheat for the bread grew on the bones; youngest: the king is the son of a shepherd; the king's mother admits that she gave birth to girls and swapped children with the shepherd's daughter; shepherd: the sheep for the pilaf was suckled by a dog; steward: the wheat field was plowed in the cemetery; the king asks his brothers to guard him for three nights; On the third night, the younger brother watches, kills the dragon, the king sees the sword, wants to execute the young man; the eldest tells about the talking parrot: it warned about thieves, the king did not listen, killed the parrot, thieves plundered the treasury; the middle brother: the king got lost while hunting, the falcon did not allow him to drink water, the king killed it, and then noticed that the blood and venom of the killed dragon were dripping into the water; the king asked for forgiveness, the brothers rode on to their uncle; he orders him to settle the dispute between his daughter's nephews; she tells the story of how the young man released the girl in exchange for a promise to come to him on the night after her wedding; the groom let her go, the lover did the same; the eldest and middle brothers said that they would have done the same, and the youngest said that he would have taken the girl; girl: you want a larger share of the inheritance, take me as your wife instead; wedding; the eldest brother became king, the middle and youngest – viziers]: Grunberg, Steblin-Kamensky 1981, No. 11: 141-149; Yagnobis [one of four day laborers stole a precious stone from another; he complained to the king; the king's daughter promised to find the thief; (it is unclear whether what follows is her story or what really happens to her); a shepherd killed a snake that was ready to bite her; asked that on the night of the wedding she come to him; her husband, the prince, let her go; a tiger, then a thief – also; that shepherd – also; she called the four: which of them was the bravest? one answered that he was a thief; the princess ordered him to be searched, the stone was found]: Andreev, Peshchereva 1957, No. 19: 108-111; Pashtuns[while dying, the father buried three pots of money, putting a ruby ​​on each; the youngest son secretly took one ruby; the brothers went to the shah's clever daughters - let them decide which of them took the ruby; on the way they noticed: a woman was sitting under this tree; pregnant; ran away from her husband; a crooked camel without one tooth was walking along the road; on one side there was a pack with butter, on the other - with honey; they described the woman's features to her husband, who was looking for her; he accused them of kidnapping; the same is the owner of the missing camel; the brothers explain to the shah: a woman was sitting, leaning on her hands, which means she is pregnant, and when she walked, she did so in the opposite direction, therefore she is a runaway; the camel was eating grass on one side of the road, some blades of grass remained whole; where there are flies, there is butter, where there are bees, there is honey; the first princess undertook to find the thief of the ruby; they served pilaf; the meat is human (the woman fed the lamb); princess: these people are too smart; another princess sent a maid to take food and tell her: seven heavens, the sky is cloudy, but there are many stars; brothers: five heavens, the sky is clear, there are no stars; princess to the maid: how dare you eat two loaves of bread and meat? disguised as a man, the princess tells a story; the vizier's daughter agrees to the gardener's request to come to him on her wedding night when she gets married; she told her husband about this and he let her go; on the way she came across a tiger, then a robber, asked him to eat her or take her away when he returns; the gardener let the woman go, the robber and the tiger too; the shah's daughter asks her brothers which of the participants they liked; eldest: husband, middle: tiger, youngest: thief; princess: the youngest and took the ruby; go home, your case is resolved, give me back the ruby]: Lebedev 1972, No. 22: 192-198.

Volga - Perm. Kazan Tatars [three brothers found gold, buried it, the youngest took it secretly; the eldest suggests going to an old man - let him judge; he tells how he sold a girl apples for a promise to give himself to her on his wedding day; her husband let her go, and so did a tramp they met; who is more noble? The older brothers praise everyone; the youngest: if he were the groom, he would let his wife go only in the morning, and if he were the tramp, he would take the girl's clothes; the old man: so you took the gold]: Zamaletdinov 2010, No. 37: 113-114; Bashkirs [an old man found gold in a field, took it to the king, three took the gold; they denied all the old man's accusations; the princess promised to resolve the matter; she told a story; the girl wanted a flower, the old man got one, asked her to come to him immediately after marriage, before she got together with her husband; her husband let her go, the wolf he met on the road did not touch her, the old man praised her and did not touch her either; each of the listeners calls the protagonists of the story fools; princess: so you are thieves; they returned the gold, then they were beheaded]: Bessonov 1941, No. 73: 322-323.

Turkestan. Kazakhs : Malyuga 1962 [dying, Nurzhan orders his three sons to divide 99 gold coins as brothers; the brothers hid them in a cave; the youngest, Hamit, went broke; the brothers opened the treasure, and it turned out that there were fewer coins; the eldest, Sabit and Gabit, accuse each other, H. reconciles them; all three go to court before Beltekei, a friend of the father; he orders each of them to dig up the father’s grave and bring three hairs from the deceased’s beard; only H. agrees; B.: you took it, since you are ready to desecrate the grave; H. galloped away, S. and G. lived in harmony]: 92-96 (= Marchenko 1993: 93-97); Sidelnikov 1952 (Zmeinogorsk uyezd, Tomsk province) [= 1958: 294-303; Dying, Nurzhan tells his three sons that he left gold; let them take it if necessary; the brothers buried the gold in a cave; in the winter they went broke and dug up the money, but a third of it disappeared; the brothers went to the wise bay Baltekey; on the way, Akit sees the track of a tired camel, Sabit says that the camel was blind in its right eye, Hamit that it was carrying a tub of honey; the owner is looking for the camel; learning that the brothers know the signs of a camel, he goes with them to B.; having served the pilaf, B. began to eavesdrop; S.: the rice grew in the cemetery; A.: the ram sucked the bitch; Kh.: the owner is illegitimate; B. learned from the shepherd, the owner of the field and his mother that everything was so; the brothers explained how they guessed (the illegitimate one speaks with downcast eyes); they told how they learned about the signs of a camel; Then B. tells of a girl who was given in marriage to someone she did not love; the groom allowed her to go and say goodbye to her lover; he let her go back; thieves attacked, their chieftain let her go; B. asks: who is more noble? H. says a thief; B. tells him to return the money, which he did]: 191-198; the Kirghiz [while dying, the father told his three sons where the treasury was buried; when they came to divide it, they saw that the treasury was missing and began to blame each other; then they went to the kazy (i.e., the qadi); he tells a story; the bai's wife gave birth to a daughter, and the wife of a worker to a son, they grew up and fell in love with each other, but the bai betrothed his daughter to another; the girl promised her beloved that before lying with the groom, she would come to him; she told the groom about this and he allowed her to go to the young man; robbers met her on the road, but having heard her story, the chieftain let her go; she came to that young man, but he himself brought her to her husband; who of the three is nobler? The eldest brother says that the husband (kazy: you are jealous), the middle one is a horseman, the youngest is a robber; kazy: you stole the treasury; return it now and divide the inheritance equally]: Sabyr uulu 2008: 221-223; Uyghurs[the three brothers hid the money left by their father in a secret place; when they dug it up, they found no gold; they asked a wise old man to determine which of them had stolen the gold; the old man tells a story; having learned that his daughter loved the son of a poor man, the rich man married her off; after the wedding, the groom let her go to say goodbye to her lover; on the way, they were attacked by robbers, but having learned what was going on, they let her go, one of them accompanied her to her lover’s house; he sent her back to the groom – now he is his friend; the eldest brother replied that the most noble of them all is the beloved, the youngest is the groom, the middle one is a robber; the old man said that the middle one stole the gold, he confessed]: Kabirov 1963: 247-248.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Shors [an old man took his three sons to bury gold, ordered to divide it equally after his death; when the brothers decided to dig it up, there was no gold; they went to Almas-kaan; the eldest: a tired horse was walking along the road; the middle one: there was honey in the saddlebag; the youngest: it was a white mare, blind in one eye; they told the khan, he asked how they knew; a tired horse's hind legs do not reach its front legs; there were dead flies along the road, the men flocked to the smell of honey; the horse was nibbling grass only on the left side, white hairs were falling from the tail - a mare's hair does not hold up well, it rots from urine; the kaan ordered to feed the brothers; the youngest: barley grew in the cemetery; the meat was from a ram that was sucking a dog; the youngest refused to drink suraz wine, because kaan is suraz; the kaan's mother confirmed everything, incl. that she gave birth to him from suraz after the death of her first husband; kaan to him: you stole gold, why did you come? younger brother: to announce that kaan is suraz; out of shame, kaan ran away from home]: Chudoyakov 2002: 97-99; Khakass [while dying, the father took out the hidden gold and silver and divided it between his three sons; they, fearing to keep the money at home, buried it at the ovaa; when they went to check, the money was gone; blaming each other, the brothers set off to see the khan; along the way they see hoofprints; the eldest: piebald, the middle one: a mare, the youngest: laden with honey; then they see the tracks of a maral; the eldest: one-eyed, the middle one: one-horned, the youngest: limping on his right hind leg; the khan tells the brothers that he is leaving now and will consider their case tomorrow; let the wife slaughter a lamb and feed the brothers; elder brother: the meat tastes like dog; middle brother: like human; youngest: the kalach tastes like human; the wife told the khan, he questioned the servant; the servant: the lamb was fed on dog's milk; drank water from the well where human remains were found; wheat was sown in the cemetery; the owners of the mare and the deer came, when the brothers said that they knew about the mare, they accused them of stealing; they recognized her by the fallen hairs; mares urinate differently than stallions; flies gathered on the drops of honey; the deer nibbled grass on one side of the path; tore bark from trees with its horn on one side; the hoof prints of the hind legs are across; then the khan tells how he went to a rich merchant who had a daughter; She left money on the table (not fearing that the khan would take it), put it next to her (not fearing that the khan would take possession of her); the elder and middle brothers: a worthy girl; the younger: I would take the money and hug the girl; the khan orders the younger brother to be beaten with rods, he immediately confessed and gave the money]: Torokova, Sychenko 2014, No. 26: 437-447.