M39a4c. The fool sells his property to the birds. .14.27.-.32.

A fool sells property to birds, believing that the buyer will pay. Trying to get money, he finds a treasure.

Western Sahara [owl], Arabs and Berbers of Morocco [owl], Kabyles [cuckoo], Tunisia [owl], Bulgarians [crows, jackdaws, eagles, sparrows], Armenians [crows], Tajiks [crow], Uzbeks [owl, hoopoe], Baluchis [owl].

North Africa. Western Sahara [a young man drives a large flock of sheep; the others ask him to go separately, as the flock is crowded in a common camp; an owl flies by; the young man asks him if he would like to buy the flock, for what price, etc.; the owl cries every time; the young man understands this as consent; he returns a month later, the owl leads him to a cave, there is a jug of gold, the young man counts out the agreed number of coins, returns; relatives rush to look for the cave to take everything, but do not find it]: Aris, Cladellas 1999: 82-83; Kabyle : Rivière 1882, no. 4 [a mother sent her son to sell a goat; he heard a cuckoo, began to negotiate with it about the price, takes the cuckooing for its answers, leaves the goat tied to an oak tree; on Friday the fool returned, began to demand money, threw stones at the cuckoo, which he took from the ruins of a house, found a treasure, took from it 2 francs 50 sous; the next day the mother told him to show the place; along the way she threw pancakes and fritters, the son thinks that they fall from the sky; the son told everyone how he and his mother took the treasure from the abandoned house; the owners of the land began to demand that they give them the treasure; the mother said that her son was an idiot; he began to insist: after all, at that time it was raining pancakes and fritters; the people believed the mother that the son made it all up]: 179-182; Reesink 1977 [a widow sent her son to sell a cow; he hears the cuckoo calling, offers to buy the cow, understands "cuckoo" as a positive answer, will come back for the money tomorrow; the next day again "cuckoo"; again tells his mother that the money will be tomorrow; finds a treasure, takes only a few coins - the price of the cow; mother asks to be taken to this place, takes everything; having prepared pancakes and boiled eggs in advance, she threw them on the way home, explaining that God sent them; the boy went to tell everyone that they had found a treasure, and the mother hid the money at that time; son: the treasure was found when pancakes and eggs fell from the sky; everyone was convinced that the boy was a fool; then the boy pushed a man standing at the edge into the well; the mother threw a goat in there; the boy was told to go down into the well; he says that the one he found has horns, wool and cloven hooves; when the boy got the goat out, people again believed that he was just a fool]: 148-150; Arabs of Morocco[Bahlul lived with his mother, who ordered him to sell their only goat; passing by a rock, B. heard an owl hooting; he offered to buy her the goat and, hearing the hoot, each time he understood it as an affirmative answer to his question; left the goat with the owl, promising to come for the money the next day; coming in the morning, B. began to demand money, threw a stone at the owl, it disappeared into a hole; he followed it, saw a vessel with gold coins and took exactly as much as he wanted for the goat; the mother cooked peas and beans, asked her son to show her the place, took all the gold, and on the way back she sprinkled peas and beans on her son; he told him that his mother had found treasure - just before the pea and bean rain began; the villagers just smiled]: Bushnaq 1987: 278-280 (approximately the same in Socin, Stumme 1895, no. 6: 98-99); the Berbers of Morocco [a mother tells her son to sell a goat; he sees an owl hooting, takes the hooting for a promise to buy it for a certain price; in the morning he came for the money, the owl continued to hoot; he threw a stone at it, the owl disappeared into a crevice; there was a pot of gold there; he took 10 coins from it and brought it to his mother; the mother asked her son to show her the place and scattered beans and peas on the way back; the fool began to tell everything: the mother took the gold when it was raining beans and peas; the people laughed and did not go to take the money from the widow]: Stimme 1896, no. 7: 403-405; Tunisia [as among the Berbers of Morocco: rain of sausages]: Stumme 1893: 131.

Balkans. Bulgarians [a fool sells an ox (live or slaughtered) to a tree or bush (cross, stump), or to wild animals or birds (wolves, bears, foxes, crows, jackdaws, eagles, sparrows), or to dogs; demanding payment, he cuts down a tree, etc. and finds a treasure]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 1643: 543.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Georgians [a foolish wife offers to knit some frogs for her; they croak; she takes this for consent, throws yarn into a pond; when she came for the socks, she found a golden reel in the pond; she explains that the frogs did not knit her socks and she took the gold from them; she exchanged the reel for several dolls and one slipper; her husband beat her and drove her away; she sees a dog, a rooster, thinks that her husband sent them for her, decides not to go; when a camel with luggage arrived, she went, bringing the camel; the husband sees that the camel is loaded with jewelry; he sits his wife in a tone, covers it with skins, sprinkles grain on top and lets the geese in; she thinks it is hail; the husband kills the camel, hid the luggage and the meat; the wife says that she brought the camel, the husband is seized, he tells the king that he knows nothing; the wife says that she brought the camel when there was hail and knocked out the king's eye (he was crooked); the king drove her away]: Kurdovanidze 1988, No. 146: 290-292; Armenians [a mother tells her younger, half-witted son to sell a cow; he slaughtered the cow for the crows in a gorge, told them to pray for his mother, took a lizard as a witness: the crows must say a prayer, and then pay for the cow; the mother told him to bring the cow; the fool demands money first from the crows, then from the lizard, it is under a stone, the fool lifted it up - there is a treasure underneath; the fool took a handful, brought it home; the elder brother took the rest; the headman demanded that the gold be divided, sent the elder brother for a measure; at this time the younger drowned the headman in a well; at night the elder secretly buried the headman, threw a goat into the well; people gathered, a fool climbs into the well and asks: did the headman have a tail? a beard? The people shout yes – pull it out; and there is a goat; the people dispersed]: Nazinyan 2007: 178-180.

Iran - Central Asia. Tajiks [a father died, the eldest son sent the younger to buy what was needed for the funeral; he bought nishalli, anointed the mats, people stuck to him, threw in a gold coin, tore off the mats; the eldest sent to sell a bull; the younger offers the bull to a raven; he shouts every time, Karr!; the younger comes for money, the bull was eaten by wolves, there is no money, he picked up a stone to throw at the raven, there is a treasure under the stone; when the eldest was digging up the treasure, a man passed by; he killed him and buried him; knowing that the younger would blab, he asked to tell the padishah the next day; buried seven goats in the same hole, scattered flatbreads in the yard; told the younger that they were falling from the sky; the younger answered the padishah that a dead man was under the goats, and this happened when the flatbreads were falling from the sky; The younger one took a pot of katyk from a girl, tore off a donkey's tail, took a frog and a millstone; thieves come towards him, he offers to make a bet; katyk is snot, a frog is a louse, a millstone is my father's bracelet; {the tail is not mentioned}; the brothers took the thieves' property]: Osmanov 1989: 456-459; Uzbeks : Konovalov, Stepanov 1986 [after the death of his father, the eldest son Anvar inherited the house, the younger Tambal - a cow and a barn; T. asks his brother for money, he advises him to sell the cow; he offers it to an owl; the owl gets scared and flies into a crack in the wall, coins pour out of it; T. takes 9, for which, as he thinks, he agreed with the owl; A. asks to bring him to that place, tells his wife to bake pancakes; in the dark he throws T. up on his knees, says that today is the day of falling pancakes; A. pulled out the gold, did not give it to Anwar, he complained to the shah; shah: when was this? T.: on the day of falling pancakes; the shah called him a fool and took the treasure for himself]: 270-272; Sheverdin 1967 [the mullah tells the worker to sell the bull; hearing the cry of the hoopoe, the worker realized that the hoopoe agreed to buy the bull, tied it to a tree, promised to come tomorrow; the mullah described how beautifully the buyer was dressed; the next day in the same place a roller; the worker: changed clothes, but give me the money anyway; chased the roller, stuck his hand in the hole, pulled out the gold; gave the price of the bull to the mullah, kept the rest for himself]: 60-61; Baluchi[the elder brother works, the younger one is a fool, plays and sits at home; got angry with his mother and killed her; the elder brother wanted to go sell the calf to buy a shroud; but the fool threatened to kill him too, and took the calf himself; at that time the elder brother borrowed money and buried his mother; the fool sold the calf to an owl (it kept nodding at his words), promising to come for the money later; at the funeral he smeared the carpets with molasses, they stuck to the people, the fool said that they wanted to steal them; the people left; the owl hid in a hollow; the fool brought his brother, began to dig, pulled out the owl, cut off its head as punishment for not wanting to pay; there was gold in the hollow; the fool sent his brother to get a cup to measure the gold; gold coins stuck to it; the king ordered to beat the fool's brother until he confessed; the fool came, ordered not to beat, brought the king to the hollow; the king climbed up there, the fool blocked the exit with a stone; both left; the fool made his brother carry a millstone he found on the road; they lifted it up a tree; an army camped below, they started cooking dinner, they had one sick man; the fool urinated, everyone decided that the sick man was sweating; then the fool threw down the millstone; everyone decided that the sky had fallen, they ran away; the chief sent one to check; the fool: let me kiss your tongue; cut off his tongue; seeing that the messenger was moaning and there was blood coming from his mouth, the people ran away; the brothers remained by that tree]: Zarubin 1949, No. 1: 17-29.