Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

B117. Dog rights, ATU 200.. 14.-.17.27.-.29.31.32.

The

document issued to animals (usually dogs) was lost due to the cat's fault (swallowed by a cat, burned, gnawed by mice). Since then, dogs and cats (usually cats and mice as well) have been at odds.

Moroccan Berbers, Portuguese, Catalans, Italians (Abruzzo), Germans (all?) , Flemish, French (Provence), Walloons, Palestinians, Greeks, Albanians, Hungarians, Romanians, Slovenes, Czechs, Luzhitans, Poles, Russians (Voronezh Oblast, Karelian ASSR), Ukrainians (Transcarpathia, Hutsulshchina, Podolia, Ternopil, Chernihiv), Belarusians, Turks, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Seto, Finns, Swedes, Chuvash.

{Uther, referring to Kecskeméti, Paunonen 1974, mentions the Livs; Kecskeméti, Paunonen 1974 does not have number 200; nor is the motive in India's Bø index dker 1957; Uther 2004 refers to No. 34, but there is no motive there or other numbers in Bødker 1957; Liungman 196:27 indicates that Babry has a plot - it's not there}.

North Africa. The Berbers of Morocco: Laoust 1949-1950, No. 100:165-167 in El-Shamy 2004, No. 200:74

Southern Europe. Catalans [=Camarena, Chevalier 1997, No. 200:326-327; cats and dogs have reached an agreement, putting it on paper: dogs will eat bones and cats eat thorns; dogs begin to break agreement; cats get their copy, but the mice chewed on it and now says "dogs must eat bones and thorns"; cats and dogs have been fighting ever since]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 200:51-52; (cf. 200A [ dogs write a petition objecting to how people treat them; the document was tied to the tail of one of the dogs for everyone else to sign it; there is still no one sent; other dogs start looking, so sniffing each other]: 52; same variant in Portugal and Galicia); Italians (Abruzzo): Cerise, Serafini, No. 200:32.

Western Europe. French (1 entry in Provence): Delarue, Tenèze 1976, No. 200:439; Walloons: Laporte 1932, No.*200B [cats and dogs argue which of them has the right to sit next to a person at hearth; God tells dogs to do it during the day and cats at night; although this solution is written on parchment, cats break it; a new trial begins; a mouse runs, the cat runs after it rushes, the dog drops the parchment and the cat swallows it; fighting and general confusion; St. Peter puts the whole company out the door; cats and dogs have been at odds ever since], *200E [dogs used to eat meat and people eat bones; people decided to change things; dogs went to court to restore their rights and got the paper they needed; however, the dog king dropped it in the soup and one of the dogs ate it; so dogs sniff each other trying to find the document]: 34, 35; Germans [the animal god gave the dog was nobility; the dog gave the precious parchment to the cat; she hid it in the hollow of an oak tree and forgot it; the parchment was gnawed by a mouse; once the dog came for parchment; since then cats have been chasing mice, and dogs are cats]: Grimm, Grimm 2002, No. 273:713-714; Flemish: Uther 2004 (1), No. 200:126; Liungman 1961 [in Bohemia and Germany, the plot has been known since the 15th century. {it's not clear - in Bohemia it's a German or Czech text, rather German}]: 26-27.

Western Asia. Palestinians [God freed the cat and dog from hard work: the dog for loyalty, the cat for cleanliness; they were given a document confirming these rights; the document was given to a dog that hid it in the place where she kept the bones; the horse, donkey and bull, out of envy, bribed the rat to find and destroy the document; since then, the dog has been chained and despised for its carelessness cats; cats and dogs alike can't stand rats, and horses, donkeys and bulls, on the contrary, share their lunch with them]: Hanauer 2009, No. 10:237.

The Balkans. Hungarians [the dog keeps the cat a document proving its position (noble origin, etc.); the cat hides it in a box (behind the ceiling beam, etc.); when the dog demanded the document back, the cat could not show it because the paper was gnawed by mice; since then dogs have been at odds with cats, and cats with mice]: Kovács 1987, No. 200:283; Albanians [tortured the donkey died at work; the dog does not want to go hunting with the owner: he will treat it like a donkey; the owner assured the kadia of a paper in which he promised not to do this to the dog; the dog gave the paper was kept to the cat; she gave it to the mice; the dog grew old, she became ill treated, she complained to the cadia; he asked for that paper to be brought to him; it turned out that the mice had eaten it; since then the cat held a slob on mice, and a dog on a cat]: Serkova 1979:226-228; Romanians [God wrote a letter for animals to live by the rules, gave it to the wolf, appointed him a praser; the wolf gave the certificate for safekeeping to a dog, and that to a cat; the boys chased the cat, she jumped over the fire, dropped her letter, it burned down; since then, the wolf has been chasing the dog and the dog after the cat]: Shustova 1994:186-187; Greeks, Slovenes: Uther 2004 (1), No. 200:126

Central Europe. Czechs [the man gave the dog a parchment with the rights written on it; the cats envied, stole the parchment, hid it in the pantry under a bunch of rags; the mice found the letter and ate it to keep their rights from them; dogs began to ask for parchment from cats, they promised to return them, but the parchment was eaten; since then dogs have been chasing cats and cats catching mice]: Shustova 1994:55-56; Luzhitans: Romanenko 1962: 134-135 [the mice decided to muzzle the cats; the cat asked which one would do it; each mouse refused], 131 [the fly found wheat grain, wanted to carry it across the sea, asked a spider straighten the bridge for her; across the bridge, her husband gave the grain to the peasant, and he signed a paper promising to give the spider and fly a share in the harvest; the fly gave the paper to the cat for storage, the mouse ate ate it; since then, the spider Veckenstedt 1880, No. 45.1 [dogs had a document that required people to give them a pound of meat every day; to prevent it from becoming worn out, dogs gave it to preserve cat; she hid it and the mice gnawed; one day the dog did not get meat, went to get the document and found out that it was missing; since then dogs have been chasing cats and cats catching mice]: 422-423; Poles [ version: Shcherbakov 1980:16-18; after receiving an important document (from God or another), the dog gives it to the cat for storage; she hid it, but the document has been eaten by mice; since then dogs have been at odds with cats, and cats with mice]: Krzyżanowski 1962, No. 7:68-69; Russians (Voronezh Oblast, Karelian ASSR), Ukrainians (Transcarpathia, Hutsulshchyna, Podolia, Ternopil Region, Chernihiv Region), Belarusians [" Dog rights": a document about them was lost (gnawed by mice) due to the fault of a cat (cat); since then, the dog and the cat have enmity]: SUS 1979, No. 299:84 (plot review also in Belova et al. 2019:384-385); northern Ukrainians (Chernigov, Glukhov district) [the wolf had a pass to walk freely through the forests; in order not to get wet, he gave it to the dog, but the cat who stays at home; the cat hid it in straw, where it was eaten by a mouse; since then, the wolf has been rushing at the dog, the dog for cat, cat on mouse]: Malinka 1902, No. 37:317-318.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Turks (1 entry in Kars) [wolf, dog, and cat concluded a friendship pact; the cat hid the document in a crack in the wall; the mice ate it; once the wolf demanded a document from the dog, it turned to cat; without finding paper, the cat is now chasing mice, dogs chasing cats, wolf chasing dog]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 7:31-32.

Baltoscandia. Finns: Uther 2004 (1), No. 200:126; Lithuanians [the wolf brought a certificate that he was a nobleman, gave a dog that called him a man to read; the dog took the letter to the cat, she put it on the stove the mouse gnawed at them; since then, the cat has been rushing at the mouse, the dog at the cat, the wolf has been demanding that dogs be literate]: Löbite 1965:403; Latvians [1. The cat is herding cattle, the dog is sleeping. The cat steals the dog's freestyle, and now the dog must herd the cattle 2. A feud between a wolf, a dog, a cat and a mouse. The wolf gives the dog a wet passport for storage. The dog gives it to the cat to put it on the stove. The mouse chews at the passport. 3. Dogs receive a certificate from God allowing them to eat fallen cattle. The certificate is given to the cat for storage, but the mice gnaw it. Dogs attack a sleeping horse, make excuses to God, referring to a letter, but it is no longer there. The cat steals (borrows) money from the dog. They are gnawed by mice (also: the cat does not return in time)]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 200:263 (one of the options in Grishina 1993:109-111); Estonians: Jakobson 1954 [dogs, cats and mice were friends; however dogs began to hurt hares, chickens, squirrels, lambs and other animals; the Forest Father demanded an answer from them; the dogs began to make excuses: we are starving; but the Forest Father told them to eat only carrion; the certificate with the court decision, the dogs gave it to the shepherd pooch for storage; but she was always out of hand, gave it to the cat to put it behind the stove; when the dogs saw the sleeping horse, she was killed and ate them; the Forest Father promised to punish them severely; at the trial, the dogs said that they did not break the law: what fell by itself is theirs, and whether it is dead or alive, nothing is written about it in the paper; the dog ran to the cat, and she did not find a letter: the mice ate it and took the pieces to the nests; since then, the cat has been killing mice, and dogs have been chasing cats; they are also looking for someone who has been literated, so they sniff each other]: 209-211; Kippar 1986, No. 200 [throughout Estonia, including the set]: 139-140; Finns: Uther 2004 (1), No. 200:126; Swedes [the dog saved the princess's life and got free from her; gave her for the night storage for the cat; the mouse ate the document; as a result, the dog quarreled with the cat and the cat with the mouse]: Liungman 1961, No. 200:26.

Volga - Perm. Chuvashi [the wolf complained to the animal king about his hardship; he gave him a paper with a note of what to feed on; the wolf gave the paper to the dog for storage, the dog to the cat, the cat to the mouse; when the wolf gave the paper to the dog I needed paper, it turned out that the mice ate it; since then, the wolf hates the dog, the dog hates the cat, and the cat hates mice]: Danilov, Nechaev 1975:122-124.