F70e2. A father tests daughters or sons.

.15.27.-.30.32.33.

The father takes turns sending daughters or sons to a difficult task. At the very beginning, their courage is put to the test. Only the youngest son or daughter can stand the test. Usually a father finds himself on the way, pretending to be an enemy or predator, but only the youngest son or daughter bravely fights.

Italians (Tuscany), (Ladins), Bretons, Gagauz people, Romanians, Moldovans, Russians (Ryazan), Abkhazians, Kabardians, Ossetians, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Shahname, Mari, Kazakhs.

Southern Europe. Italians (Tuscany) [the king is ill, has no sons, only three daughters: Carolina, Assuntina, and the youngest Fanta-Ghiró; the neighboring king has declared war; each daughter successively proposes to lead the troops; the king agrees that daughters will not talk about women's activities on the way; each comes with a Tonino servant, who must return the girl if she breaks the condition; seeing tretnik, vine stakes, the elders notice that they could be used to make spinning wheels, spindles; sent home FG not a word about spinning wheels, meets the enemy king, he is a wonderful young man; he suspects that there is a girl in front of him and asks his mother how to expose the deception; she gives advice, but FG does not succumb to provocations; is interested in weapons in her arsenal; in the garden she picks not a rose, but jasmine; cuts bread like a man without pressing it to his chest; the last test is to go swimming in the pond together; FG negotiates with T., who at the last moment brings a letter stating that FG's father is supposedly dying; FG comes to her father, followed by a young king: "General, will you marry me?" ; wedding]: Calvino 1980, No. 69:249-253; (cf. ladins [the parents have three sons, the eldest Bucobello began to go to the girls; the father decided to ward him off, put on a bull's skin and went out to meet him; B. came back, asked the girls for a pitchfork and plunged them into their belly monsters, threw him into the water; when it all turned out, the local court told B. to wander until he was frightened and spend the night where the sunset caught him; one day B. spent the night under an oak tree, hears three big birds talking; in a village where there is no water, you have to hit a rock with a hammer, three streams will flow; the owner of the castle is afraid to enter there, because none of those who came back have come back; there is a giant sleeping from midnight to one o'clock in the morning; you have to go into a room with a sword on the wall, hack the giant with a sword; the kidnapped princess is in the White Sea; to return her, you have to appear invisible; B. got water, got a cart of gold, brought him to the godfather; the same for killing a giant; B. comes to a woman, she hides him in the basement; when her daughter Tuman comes, she senses a man, but her mother denies that there is no one; asks if the daughter knows where is the White Sea; she replies that the Winds know about it (two different winds - a cold north wind and a dry wind in the mountains); the north wind (the same episode with the mother of the wind) does not know; the dry wind tells me to show him man; says that tomorrow the princess is married and he flies there to dry his clothes; let B. take the mare (she is the last of 12 horses); the mare turned into an old woman, gave leaps and bounds of boots, a raincoat- invisible, magic tablecloth; B. opened to the princess, took her away unnoticed by others; returns with gold and the bride to him, then lives in the royal palace]: Uffer 1973, No. 36:140-154).

Western Europe. The Bretons [the lord of Reranrais Castle has three daughters but no sons; daughters ask their father to buy them a knightly outfit: they will go to serve the king pretending to be men; the eldest Marguerite goes; the father dressed up as a robber, jumped out on the road in front of her, M. jumped back; the same with the middle Franseason; the youngest Allet jumped forward; told the king that her father specifically said that he had only daughters, wanted to surprise; the queen fell in love with the new page; the maid of honor became pregnant and said it was the page's fault; Aleta had to reveal to the king who she was; the maid of honor was torn by four horses, king married A., a son was born; the king's men captured the strange creature Murlu, put him in a cage; the ball thrown by the prince hit the cage; M. promised to return it if the boy pulled the key out of the sleeping king's pocket and opened the cage; when leaving, M. promised to help the boy; the king swore to kill whoever releases M.; the Queen tells his son to run; he sat M. on his shoulder and M. took him to the palace of the King of Naples; the prince was told herding pigs - do not let them into the forest, bring the herd safe in the evening; M. helps, the pigs are intact, multiply; sheep (the same; M. drove the sheep into the forest, did not allow the forest giant to eat them); cows (back to the forest, where grass is better; M. gave the prince a magic sword, the prince himself killed the giant, took gold and gems from his castle); sees the princess who must be given to the snake; sends his retinue, calls M., he appeared in guise a mighty horse; on the first day, the prince cut off 6 heads; they grew, on the second day he cut off all 7; the coal miner picked them up, called the snake the winner; showed his heads, and the prince (still in the guise of a shepherd) showed his tongues cut off; the coal miner was thrown into the oven; the wedding; M. came in, turned into a beautiful queen; it was she who tried to build an imaginary page; for this she turned into M. for a period until the son of the imaginary a page, i.e. a girl, does not marry a princess; {the first reference was to a maid of honor, not a queen}]: Luzel 1887 (2), No. 4:296-313.

The Balkans. Gagauz people [the master has three daughters, he is looking for someone to herd his horses; the eldest daughter is coming, the father turned to a bear, went out to meet him, the girl ran home; the middle one; the youngest goes for advice to the old woman; she tells the horses to give hot coals, take the one that will eat them; the skinny mare began to eat, the girl sat on it, was going to shoot the bear; her father blessed her to herd horses for three years; The sun falls in love with her, but does not understand whether she is a girl or a man; the mother of the Sun advises her to see how she urinates and what things she buys at the bazaar; the girl urinates like a man, takes only things for men; three years later she shows the Sun her chest and braid; the mother of the Sun advises to put a golden swing; the girl sat on her, the Sun raised her; the palm advised the girl to remain silent for seven years; then the Sun took another bride; she tells her to be the first to bring a sieve from Mother Sunday; Sunday sends by Friday, she sends by Wednesday, Wednesday says that the sieve took the hobur; hobur tells me to play the violin, goes for with a sieve, but in fact, sharpen her teeth; the mouse volunteered to jump on the strings, run; the hobur killed the mouse, chases after him; the girl threw the canvas (river; hobur put one lip to the ground, the other to the sky, drank water) , a brush (forest), a stone (rocky place, hobur can't cross); the girl brought a sieve; the second bride: you, dumb, bring her a pot; girl: to take away your tongue; the sun slaughtered the ram, heard rushed to the girl, her hands were covered in blood; the girl became a swallow, the second bride was a goat, both went through the pipe, the Sun still did not marry]: Moshkov 1904, No. 30:42-44; Romanians [the king has only three daughters, there is no one to send to war; the eldest dresses up as a soldier, is about to go; the father chipped in as a wolf, meets her, she is frightened; the same is with the second daughter; the third is not afraid of the snake that the father has become; she serves the king, he puts her as a guard at his daughter's rooms, the daughter falls in love, the wedding, but her husband does not go to bed with her; she is going to divorce; the king sends her son-in-law with a letter; the female helps her overcome the line; On the way back, she finds bread and wine, takes them away; they belonged to a hermit and he curses the thief: let him change his sex; the princess is happy]: Bîrlea 1966:429-430; Romanians [the king has three daughters , and he must send his son to serve the Red King; daughters take turns calling to put on men's clothes and go; in the shoes of a bear, the father frightens the eldest, she turns back; the same with the middle one; the youngest does not scared; at court, an imaginary young man cooks better than royal sons and is made a cook; envious sons tell their father that the young man boasted to bring dates from the bear garden; the horse helps to do this; they say , as if a young man promised to bring a stallion from a herd of wild mares in the Sahara; the horse tells him to wear buffalo skin and give him a noose; fighting the stallion, throws a noose over him and brings him; bring him alive and dead water because of the crushing mountains; the horse says that at noon the mountains stop for a while; the girl has extracted water, but hears a voice behind her: whoever does this will change his sex; get a tour with a star on his forehead; the horse tells him to dig a hole, hide in it, jump out, cut off the tour's head and sit in a hole until dawn until the tour dies; when the ex-girlfriend returns, and now the young man, tells the Red King that his sons boasted to sit in a burning haystack and tell stories; they burned down, and the young man returns to his father and inherits the throne]: Bîrlea 1966:430-431; Romanians [the king has a pear tree, three at night birds with iron beaks eat fruits; older princes fall asleep; the younger mouse asks for crumbs; wakes up when birds arrive, he catches one, brings it into the house, she turns into the Beauty of the World, they sleep together; the maid cuts off her golden curl; the Beauty of Mira is offended: let the prince look for her on a glass mountain; fly away as a bird; Beauty of Peace is the daughter of another king; he demands one of the princes as her husband; goes the eldest, the father puts on a bear skin and frightens him, he turns back; the same with the middle one; the old woman advises the youngest to choose a horse that eats hot coals, take the sword and armor that he used father when he was on his way to marry; the prince was not afraid of his father; he ordered to avoid the red-bearded and beardless; the beardless imposed himself on companions; rejected twice, but the third time convinced that everyone here was beardless; descends into the well and refuses to lift him before the prince does not agree to change roles; calls him the White Moor (BM); at the court of the Red King, a beardless sends BM for a gem from lion garden; then after the gold-haired deer; the horse kills the beardless, the prince regains his status and marries the Beauty of the World; after the wedding, he takes his wife home, with them the Destroyer of the Nine Lands (RDZ) so that the prince's horse can climb the glass mountain, shoves him with puddy horseshoes, and blindfolds all the wedding guests; one untied the bandage, the horse fell to his knee; during this time, BM's mother died , the father remarried; the stepmother put poison in the BM's food and on the bridge he should ride on; the RDZ leads past the bridge, throws food to the pigs, burns the clothes offered; he has to explain and as he tells the story stony; KM gives birth to a beautiful child; spouses dream that RDZ can only be revived with the blood of their child; three drops of blood fall on a petrified person, he comes to life]: Bîrlea 1966:431-433; Moldovans [The shepherd has only daughters, they offer to herd a flock instead of him; the eldest dresses as a boy, goes with a flock; the father puts on a bear skin, rushes at the sheep, the imaginary guy runs; the same middle daughter; the youngest rushes at the bear, the father asks not to beat him; the son of Baba Kotoroans is also a shepherd, suspects that the other shepherd is a girl; K. comes up with challenges, Mioara the sheep teaches how to avoid exposure; the girl refuses to wash; replaces a bunch of basil under her head (basil fades under the girls' heads); K.'s son married; the boy girl sees his wife take off the boiling pot with an apron; says they don't do this, takes off the kushma from his head, everyone can see her golden hair; K.'s son has lamb blood on his hands, he tries to grab the girl, she has turned into a swallow; there are blood stains on his neck, and K.'s son managed to pull feathers out of his tail]: Botezat 1981:332-336 (=Moldavian tales 1968:451-457).

Central Europe. Russians (Ryazan) [the man has three daughters; in the village they cast lots on who to recruit, the choice fell on this man; the eldest daughter offered to go instead of her father; dressed as a man, took a gun ; towards the hare - she got scared and returned; the same middle daughter (towards the wolf); the youngest to meet the bear; she shot his finger and moved on; served for many years without arousing suspicion comrades; the owner of the room, which the imaginary young man shared with his friend, suspected that it was a girl; let a friend put hay under the mattress; under the woman the hay would turn black, and under the man would remain green; the girl got up early and replaced the blackened hay with fresh hay; hostess: go to the bathhouse together; girl: oh, we forgot the soap; while a friend went to get soap, the girl had already washed herself; the service was over and the girl returned home; and her friend became a cat and began to meow outside the window; the girl's father: honey, let the cat in; the cat grabbed the girl and carried her away by the Oka; becoming human again, the guy married the girl; mother-in-law tells her to bring gray sheep out of the forest; husband: they are wolves; the girl climbed onto the spruce tree, told the wolves to pack up and fill the birch bark box with their wool; then she went down, took the box and brought the wolves to her mother-in-law; she gives a windowsill and tells them to milk dark brown cows; they are bears; her daughter-in-law tells them to milk, brings them milk; mother-in-law: go to my sister and bring a yarn comber (Weberkamm); husband: this is Baba Yaga; give oil to the cat, he will bring a scratcher; Baba Yaga's hut on a chicken leg, on a spindle leg; Baba Yaga kindly let him in, and went to sharpen her teeth; daughter-in-law gave the cat oil, he told him to spit on the threshold, saliva will answer; taking the scratcher, the daughter-in-law ran away; Baba Yaga sat down in an iron stupa, took an iron pestle and set off in pursuit; her daughter-in-law threw her brush, thick reeds grew; the crest was a birch tree; the stone was a river; Baba Yaga tried to drink it and burst; now her mother-in-law sent her daughter-in-law and son to fish; they caught a ring that the girl threw into the river when the boy was carrying her to the other side; she said ]: Khudyakov, 2, No. 60:81-85 in Löwis of Menar 1921, No. 31:176-181 (in Uther 2004 (1), No. 514:301-302, for some reason, the fairy tale is called Belarusian).

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Abkhazians [the vizier is old, the king asked to send the same intelligent man instead of him; the vizier sends his eldest son, attacks unexpectedly unrecognized, the young man returns; the same with the youngest; the daughter wears men's clothes, is not afraid, almost killed her father; the imaginary young man breaks through the gates of the adaua; they offer to choose one of their three sisters; he does not sleep with the elders; the youngest: I know you are a woman, but you will become a man; tells you to choose the worst horse; the king offers the vizier's "son" to get the heart and liver of a wild boar; "he" carved them from a sleeping boar, he is dead; bring wild deer milk; on the way interpreting rocks, the girl slipped through, the horse was crushed; she sees a petrified city; one of the petrified ones: the queen is offended by her husband, if she says more than three words (actually phrases), you will also be petrified; the girl held her sword; the queen: let everyone come to life, 2) women become men, 3) men become women; the vizier's daughter becomes a young man, kills the queen; the horse comes to life, the young man brought milk to the king, married his daughter Adaui, married the other two brothers]: Khashba, Kukba 1935:160-165 (=Shakryl 1975, No. 37:184-189, =Bgazhba 2002:221-225); Kabardian people [the man has no sons, has three daughters; he decided to test their courage; takes turns sending them on a journey in men's clothes, hiding under a bridge, suddenly attacking; the eldest, middle daughters are frightened, fleeing; the youngest fights back, jumps on, comes to the place where the prince wants to take the girl, but guards are around; an imaginary young man undertakes to bring the bride; in the burning steppe he saves three snakes; their mother is ready to fulfill any desire; gives a black horse, on it, the imaginary young man rode to that girl and brought her; she demands to bring her a box with seven keys wrapped in dog skin; the mother of snakes teaches how to do this; now the bride demands milk seven sea buffaloes for her and the groom to swim in it; an imaginary young man hijacks a buffalo, but a buffalo tells him to become a woman if he is a man and a man if she is a woman; now the heroine is really becomes a young man; the khan's son is cooked in hot milk, the young man (ex-girlfriend) married the girl he received]: Dirr 1920, No. 23:110-113; Ossetians [the poor man promises to send his son to the army instead of himself and marry him to the daughter of a giant; but he has only three daughters, no sons; the eldest, middle daughter is offered to send them in men's clothes, but they are frightened when the father portrays the enemy and attacks; the youngest: if if you were not a father, he would cut off your head; the giant lays his eldest, middle daughter with his imaginary son-in-law; in the morning they say that the groom disdained them; the youngest tells his father that everything is fine; tells you to take an unsightly stallion, a rusty sword, a bad ring; the "young man" joins the army, the horse tells me to take his hair with him; the younger princess has chosen a "young man" as her husband; the king's wife is ill, she needs a special apple; two they do not want to take their younger sons-in-law with them; he burns his hair, his horse appears; the "young man" kills a snake, brings apples, gives them to his older sons-in-law, cuts off one ear for this; the queen demands guinea pig giblets; the same, cuts belts from the back; queen: we need to know why the village of Agurovsky Kalak turned into stone; the "young man" finds his king in the village, petrified to the waist; his horse they were losing weight; he watched his wife ride to the giants at night; in the morning he let her know everything, she turned the village into stone; the horse teaches her to throw a ring at that woman, carry a sword, tell her to turn the heroine is a man (since she made the village stone, she can change her sex); then order to spell the village; the girl became a young man, he decapitated that woman; showed the king ears and belts from the back of her sons-in-law; married the princess and daughter of a giant]: Britaev, Kaloev 1959:245-253; Georgians: Bogoyavlensky 1894a, No. 6 (Imereti) [the tsar releases the aged economist on the condition that he sends a son in return; but the son is dead; each of the three daughters is invited to go instead of him dressed as a man; wanting to test their courage, the father suddenly jumps out on the road; the two eldest gallop back, the youngest is ready to fight; comes to the dragon palace; the dragon's daughter promises to make her a man if she later marries her; gives a beautiful horse; the dragon chases, but the economist's daughter kills him; comes to serve the king; childless the king's wife wants to make the economist her lover, and to do this, frighten him; persuades the king to send a young economist for the blood and heart of a terrible boar, then she will be able to conceive a child; but an imaginary young man really leaves, kills a wild boar, brings a heart; the queen asks to send an economist to the petrified kingdom for living water; there is a petrified king and a serpent who comes to torture him; a girl the snake kills, who tells the murderer to change sex before death; agrees to spell the petrified; the young man returned to the king, who ordered the queen to be tied to the tail of the horse; the young man marries the dragon's daughter]: 35-55; Kurdovanidze 1988 (1), No. 67 [Vizier Alumbar is old, the king has let him go; he has three daughters; each offers to go to serve wearing a man's dress; the older, middle one is frightened when he rushes at her, dressed as Arab; youngest: if you did not look like my father, you would blow your head off; father sends an imaginary son to his friend deva; "young man" calls himself Almaskhan; the eldest, middle daughter of a deva they say that they spent the night with A. as brother and sister; the third is like husband and wife; teaches you to choose a plain skate and a ring with a red stone; the horse gives his hair; the king's daughter calls A., he does not go; she angry, pretended to be sick, you need the liver and heart of a boar; A. burns her hair, a horse appears, leads to the lake where the boar comes, tells me to poison the lake with opium; the boar falls asleep, it is easy to kill him; the princess asks to know the mystery of the petrified city; on the way, the horse tells him to give honey to flies, cheese to ants; in one house, the king of the city is petrified to the waist; the servant told him that the bulls are losing weight because the queen harnesses them at night; the king goes instead of his servant: the queen has a lover, king Kajay; in the morning, the king makes it clear that he knows everything; the queen turns the city into stone, feeds the king and hitting them with a stick every day; A. grabs the queen who has entered, she tells her to be petrified, but thanks to the ring, the spell does not work; then the queen tells A. to become a woman if he is a man, and vice versa; A. becomes a man; the queen breaks the spell from the city and the king, A. kills her; the king's daughter receives A., but the king releases him from service; A. marries the youngest daughter of the deva]: 293-304; Chikovani 1986 [the king demands that the old man either appear for service himself, or sent a son; but he has only three daughters; the eldest leaves in a man's outfit, an unrecognized father pounces with a sword, the girl runs away; the same with the middle one; the youngest fights; the father warns to be cautious with his dev friend; (hereinafter approximately like Kurdovanidze's)]: 351-360; Azerbaijanis (Kazakh district of Elisavetpol Gubernia) [two friends went east and west; agreed that if they were successful and married, let one's son take the other's daughter; both became kings; Vostochny had a daughter, Leili, and The Western has three daughters; he is uncomfortable to admit that there is no son, and L. is expecting a cousin to be her husband; each of the three daughters of the Western king is ready to go to the Eastern King dressed as a man; the vizier suggests simulating an attack: if the girl gets scared and returns, let her stay at home, and if she shows courage, let her continue her journey; the two eldest daughters are frightened, and the youngest killed the vizier and him people, came to the Eastern Tsar; a wedding is being prepared, but the visitor refuses: when he sees L., he called her sister and therefore cannot marry; L. loses consciousness; the doctor: 1) needs lion's milk; an imaginary young man goes for milk, the prophet Hirellaz gives; 2) the kidney of a sea stallion (H. teaches him to catch); the witch tells him to get an unusual apple; together with the imaginary groom in a clay pot, he flies to the mountain; sends him there where people turn into stone; a girl kills her, breaks the pot; H. teaches: an angel will fly to quilt the former king of the petrified kingdom; you must grab the angel's shirt, which he takes off; return it if he will fulfill a wish; an angel makes a girl a man, gives an apple, frees the king and his petrified subjects; the young man is grateful to the prophet; the wedding; the prophet told the father of the ex-girlfriend about this]: Stamboliev 1896 , NO. 4:18-26.

Iran - Central Asia. Shahname [Faridun's three sons returned with their brides; F. must name his sons and test them; took the form of a dragon and went out to meet them; the eldest son considered it best to take refuge in the mountains; the middle grabbed his bow and was about to fight; the youngest rushed to help him with a sword; F. decided that the eldest son was smart but not valiant, the middle son was brave but not smart, the younger was both valiant and smart; F. became again man and gave the eldest son the name Salm ("caution"), the middle son - Tour ("bull"), the youngest - Iraj ("noble Iranian"); the eldest took possession of Rum, the middle son Turan, the youngest - Iran; brothers they envied I., led troops to Iran; I. went out alone, intending to persuade the brothers to stop the enmity; they killed him in the tent; this is how the enmity between Iran and Turan began]: Ulug-zoda 1989:47-51.

Volga - Perm. Marie [an old man's mare and an old woman brought 41 foals, they have gone overseas; the old man sends his daughters to search, the eldest is ready to go; the father tells them to go a roundabout road; he puts on bear skin himself, goes straight; the daughter sees a bear and comes back; the same middle daughter; the youngest hits the imaginary bear with a rod, rolls her cart on; overseas she disguised herself as a man, began to live with an old woman, that son Ulem; he suspects that there is a girl nearby; they caught 10 horses, then 20, then the others; the mother advises W. to take his friend to the bathhouse; the girl tells her dog to steal W.'s purse; while he is running after him, she washed herself; brought the horses to the sea; for W. to help transport them, admitted that she was a girl and ordered a silk swing to be sent for Easter; she began to rock her relatives, then others, then flew to the swing to W.]: Tudorovskaya, Eman 1945:33-36.

Turkestan. Kazakhs [bai consistently sends three sons to search for the missing herd; turns into six wolves who go out to meet the young man; the eldest, then the middle sons flee; The father comes out to meet the youngest in the guise of six tigers, but he is not afraid; his father tells him to spend the night near the graves; the young man sees a fresh grave, says "suilam" 15 times; a young man comes out of the grave, they become friends; the dead man tells us who he was killed; tells them to go to his village, there are missing horses; gives them a knife, tells them to rip two horses, but not show them - the sister will find out and will be bad; young man He kills horses, he is beaten, they see a knife, they prepare to beat him to death; he leads the relatives of the dead to his grave, he goes out; his sister dropped a tear at him and he disappeared; people believed the young man, gave him horses; he hardly summoned the dead: his sister's tear turned into the sea through which he was supposed to sail; teaches him to go hiking, kill his murderer; kill a young woman in a yurt newlyweds and two girls; one of them the young man kissed; during the storm, others lose what they had earned during the raid, and the young man fastened a bag of droppings and a poplar with a rod, cattle came out of the bag, the poplar turned into gold and silver; the young man sees a dead friend those women whom he stabbed; the one he kissed left a dark spot; the dead gave her to him; then Azrail-Jebrail comes for the young man, but the dead man did not give him; he complained to God, but God left the young man alive]: Valikhanov 1985:65-70.