M38a2. The hen boils eggs. .21.22.

A chicken (or other bird) lays eggs, boils them and feeds them to other characters (who try to imitate her with sad consequences for themselves).

Toto, Bhutan, Anglia, Vietnam.

Tibet - Northeast India. Toto [a forest hen and a monkey worked a plot of land together, cooking in turns; the hen laid eggs and cooked them; the monkey asked what was needed to cook dinner; the hen: I sat on a hot frying pan; the burnt monkey threw himself into the river; the hen laughed; the river carried the monkey away; the monkey saw a tiger, asked him to pull her out - then let him eat her; on the bank she asked to give her time to dry; jumped up a tree and disappeared; since then monkeys have a red bottom, and tigers eat monkeys]: Majumdar 1991, No. 13: 241-242; Bhutan [a hen (woman) does housework, a monkey (man) works in the field; when he returns, the hen is always dozing; it seems to him that she is doing nothing, suggests that they swap duties; the hen went into the field; the monkey did not even know how to make a fire; asked the hen to take charge of the house again, and stayed home to spy; deciding that she had found out everything, she stayed home again; with difficulty she blew on the fire; tried to sweep the floor as the hen did with her wings, but only raised dust with her hands; heated a frying pan with oil and tried to lay an egg, but only singe her tail; when the hen returned, the monkey tried to kill her, but she jumped out of the window; the hen met a needle, a piece of salt, a stick; all four came into the house when the monkey was not there; the needle hid in a crack, the salt in the hearth, the stick by the door; the monkey began to blow on the fire, salt in her eyes; fell on the floor, the needle in her bottom; the stick began to beat her, the monkey ran out and did not return; the hen sat under the roof all this time and clucked happily]: Choden 1994: 27-30; angami [The bird called everyone to work in her field; At noon she put a kettle of water on the fire, sat on the edge, laid an egg for each assistant, which was immediately boiled; seeing this, Crab called for help; having climbed onto the edge of the kettle, fell and was boiled; he was eaten]: Hutton 1914, No. 13: 490.

Burma - Indochina. Vietnam [The Hare and the Tiger went to cut grass for the roof, the Hen stayed to cook, laid an egg in boiling water, fed the Hare and the Tiger; the next time the Hen and the Tiger went to work in the field, the Hare stayed to cook, shit in boiling water, the Tiger beat him; when the Tiger went with the Hare to get grass, he asked him to lie down so that he could pile the grass on the Tiger, he set it on fire, since then the Tiger has stripes; The Hare suggested to the Tiger to stick his tail between the bamboos, it will make a beautiful sound; suggested to hit a wasp's nest - it's a drum; the bamboos cut off the Tiger's tail, the Tiger is bitten by wasps; The Hare tells the Tiger that the sky is falling, tells him to hide in a well, calls people, they kill the Tiger; The Hare ate sweet potatoes, they catch him, he pretended to be dead, they throw him out; The Hare asked the Crocodile to take him across the river, promising to give him a sister; he has no sister; the next time the Crocodile grabbed the Hare; he suggested saying "Ha", then he would be scared; the Crocodile opened his mouth, the Hare ran away]: Landes 1886, No. 45: 115-117 (Russian translation in Nikulin 1970a: 36, =1976: 26-28).