F100C. Miracle in feathers, ATU 1091, 1091A. (.16.28.32.)
The woman covered herself with something sticky and was lying in feathers. The demonic character believes that this is an animal or bird unknown to him.
French (Upper Brittany), Walloons, Germans (Pomerania, Harz), Russians (Arkhangelsk, Novgorod), Ukrainians (Galicia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Kiev), Belarusians, Komi.
Western Europe. The French (Haute-Brittany) [the man with the devil agreed that everyone would bring an animal with him and if the other found out what it was, he would take it for himself; the man smeared honey on his naked wife and he rolled in feathers, and the hell brought a goat; the man said it was a goat, but the hell did not understand who the man brought; since then people have goats]: Sébillot 1880 in Kabakova 1998, No. 31:48; walloons []: Carnoy 1883, No. 3:62-66; Germans (Pomerania) [After receiving the inheritance, the man squandered everything in the taverns and went to the woods to hang himself; when he tied a rope to a female, a shout from the tree; that's hell; he gave man an inexhaustible purse on the condition that by a certain date a person shows him a bird that he did not see; the man became a regular at the tavern again, and tanned three days before the deadline; the old woman is She noticed and, when she found out what was going on, promised to help; ordered to get a vat of resin and a vat of feathers; she smeared herself with resin, then fell out in feathers; hell confessed to being defeated; when the man said that in front of him just a chicken, tested the hell and disappeared - what is chicken like?] : Jahn 1891, No. 50:263-265; Germans (Harz) [the eldest daughter took her father to the forest lunch; came across a wire with rings on it; a gray man jumped out of the cave, took the girl to her place; forbid to open one room; she broke the ban, the little man just came up and killed her; the same with three other sisters; the fifth arranged the corpses as if everyone was doing something (sweeping, washing, cooks, etc.); she plunged into a barrel of honey herself and lay in feathers; ran home; towards a little man who went to invite guests to the wedding; asks the bird what his fiancée is doing; the "bird" answers what he cleans, cooks; at home, the man believes that in every room in front of him the bride is at work; when he understood the deception, he chased the fugitive, but she managed to run to his father's house]: Pröhle 1854, No. 7: 26-29;.
Central Europe. Russians (Arkhangelsk, Novgorod), Ukrainians (Galicia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Volyn, Kiev), Belarusians [Who will bring a more extraordinary animal: man arrives to marry his wife]: SUS 1979, No. 91:263.
Volga - Perm. Komi []: Fokos-Fuchs 1951, No. 2:36-42