M39a4f. Fool sells property to statue. .15.16.

A fool sells property to a statue, thinking the buyer will pay. Trying to get the money, he finds a treasure.

Spaniards, Galicians, Catalans, Italians (Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Molise, Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria), Sicilians, Corsicans, Bretons, French (Picardy, Upper Brittany, Auvergne), (Chinese).

Southern Europe. Spaniards [a fool wants to sell something to a statue of a saint; when it does not answer, he kicks it and breaks the offering box; it is full of money]: Hernández Fernández 2013, no. 1643: 250; Galicians [a wife went to the fair, while her husband stayed behind to do the housework; he tied the chickens together with a rope, a kite carried them all off at once; he brought a donkey to knead the adze, the donkey ate the dough; the next day the wife sent her husband to the fair with orders to sell the cloth to a taciturn buyer; he left him in front of the statue in the church; the next day he came for the money; when he did not receive it, he began to beat the statue, it split, and there was money inside; the husband brought it to his wife]: Contos 1972, no. 72: 69-70; Catalans [a fool sells a pet or a basket of fruit to a statue of a saint; when he demands money, the statue does not react; he hits it with a stick, smashes the statue and the donation box behind it; takes the money]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, no. 1643: 262; Italians (Lazio, Campania, Molise, Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria), Sicilians : Cirese, Serafini 1975, no. 1643: 359-360; Italians (Tuscany) [Giucco sells cloth to the statue (it remains silent); sends flour home, throwing it to the wind; washes a donkey with boiling water; plucks out the eyes of sheep because they "gave eyes to the girls"; taking his orders literally, he takes the door off its hinges and carries it away; hides in a tree; robbers have settled under the tree; J. drops the door, the robbers run away, J. gets the money]: D'Aronco 1953, #1006: 111; Italians (Campania) [the widow Grannonia has a son, Vardiello; when leaving, she tells him to keep an eye on the hen; she doesn't tell him to eat from the pot in the cupboard - it contains poison; V. sees the hen walking around the yard, throws a rolling pin at her, killing her; he himself tries to sit on the eggs and crushes them; decides to roast and eat the dead chicken; goes down to the cellar for wine; hears a crash, goes up to look: it's the cat that has dragged the chicken off the spit, and the cat is running after it; V. catches up with the cat, but the wine has spilled out of the open barrel; he fills a puddle in the cellar with flour; decides to poison himself and starts eating candied nuts from the forbidden pot; mother returned, forgave everything, sent him to sell the canvas, ordering him not to chat with strangers; V. refuses to talk to the buyers; sells the canvas to the statue, because it is silent; promises to come for the money tomorrow; when he came, he smashed its belly - there are gold coins; tells his mother that he brought beans; his mother sits him in front of the door and quietly sprinkles raisins and dried figs on top; V. believes that this is such a rain; sees how two people fight over the gold coin they found; says that he has many such beans; he is brought to the judge; V.: I found beans in the stomach of a mute when figs with raisins were falling from the sky; the judge declared him insane]: Basile 2018, No. I.4: 80-85; ItaliansCampaign) [Pitré, no. 190; Giufá is sent by his mother to sell some cloth; the buyers haggle; Giufá decides that they are too talkative, offers the cloth to a clay statue; it remains silent, he promises to come for the money the next day; he arrives, the cloth is gone, the statue remains silent, Giufá breaks it, and finds a vessel with money inside, he brings it to his mother; the mother sends her to take the cloth to a dyer, one who dyes green and black; Giufá leaves the cloth with a green snake, the cloth is lost]: Crane 1885, no. 99: 291-292; Italians (Abruzzo) []: Del Monte Tammaro 1971, no. 1201-b: 152; Corsicans [sending her son to the market to sell some linen, her mother tells him not to sell to those who talk too much; the son refuses all buyers who speak to him, leaves the cloth to a naked statue in the chapel, promising to come for the money in a month; the boy came, the statue was silent, he grabbed her by the head, it broke off, money fell out, the son brought it to his mother]: Massignon 1984, no. 34: 76-77; Sicilians [the mother has a son Giufá; she sends him to sell the cloth not to the chatterbox, but to the silent one; refuses to sell to those who ask about the price - they talk too much; sells to the statue; the next day the statue is there, but the cloth is gone; D. demands money, hit the statue with a hoe, inside was a pot of gold; one day D. looked at the moon hiding behind the clouds and repeated: exit! hide! two thieves who stole a calf wanted to divide the meat, but decided that it was about them, ran away; D. brought the meat to his mother; the next day she said that she had sold it to the flies and would return the money when they had it; D. went to the judge; he gave him permission to kill flies; D. killed a fly on the judge's nose by hitting him with his fist; one day D. borrowed money from everyone and pretended to be dead; the man who sold him the red beret hid in the church behind a coffin; the robbers brought the money and began to divide it; D. rose from the coffin, the robbers ran away; D. and the seller of the beret divided the money and began to argue over the last kopeck; the robbers decided that there were so many dead people that each got only a trifle, and left altogether; the tavern owner hired D. and ordered him to wash his wineskin until clean; he washed it the whole morning; he saw a ship and began to wave it; the captain and his men sailed up in a boat: why did you call? D.: tell me, is the wineskin clean now? they beat him; he should have said, "Fair wind"; seeing a hunter chasing rabbits, said "Fair wind"; hunter: should have said, "Lord, make them die"; D. says this to two fighters; should have said, "Lord, separate them"; he says this to a bride and groom; should have said, "Let them laugh"; he says this at a funeral; he gets beaten every time]: Calvino 1980, no. 190: 579-687; Maltese [a fool sells cloth to a statue; the next day breaks it into pieces because the statue has not paid; finds treasure inside; thanks to the money, he manages to escape punishment for killing his neighbor; his mother makes him believe that it was raining grapes]: Mifsud-Chircop 1978, no. 1643: 674-675;.

Western Europe. Bretons [mother sends fool Jean to sell cow for no less than 200 francs; Jean sells and buys a hare with the same money; leaves it to graze, calling mother to see how well the (new) cow is eating; hare runs away; mother sends Jean to sell pig; no one buys, Jean sells pig to statue of saint (silence means consent); comes for money, statue is silent; he hits it with stick, it breaks and louis d'ors fall out; Jean brings them to mother]: Sébillot 1910, no. 40: 158-160; French (Picardy) [mother sends Jean to sell butter and buy a pig; on the way he sees holes in the road, decides that they will grow in the hot sun and greases them; there is a crucifix on the hill; Jean asks if Jesus will buy the butter he has left; [took silence for consent, left the butter; bought a piglet, told it to go home by itself; mother beat Jean]: Carnoy 1883, no. 7: 189-191; French (Upper Brittany) [mother sends Jean to sell a cow for 20 francs; they offer him 15, he drives the cow home; goes through the open door of the chapel, asks for the statue of the saint, takes silence for consent, demands money, hits the statue, coins fall out; mother puts Jean in the place of the saint; women come, begin to pray and, as is customary, stick needles into the knees of the statue; Jean eventually runs away, and the women decide that the saint has run away]: Sébillot 1880: 224-226; French (Auvergne) [a widow sends her son to sell some linen, but not to a chatterbox; in the church he sees a statue being wet, leaves the cloth for it; later demands money; not receiving it, he smashes the statue, and treasures pour out of it]: Sébillot 2004: 51.

( Cf. China – Korea. Chinese [many sources, certainly Chinese, not a minority, but places of recording are not given; wife sends husband to sell something (usually cloth woven by her) to a respectable, nice, reliable man; he gives the goods on credit to a (temple) statue; sometimes he thinks that the statue is laughing at him, breaks it {no mention of treasure in the statue}]: Ting 1978, no. 1319N).