H54A. A trimmed old man. .14.-.16.

The hero meets an old man whose face is completely covered. He cuts his hair, a grateful old man helps him.

Kabiles, Spaniards, French (Quebec), Germans (Saxony-Anhalt).

North Africa. Kabila (Blida) [Emhammed lives with his mother and brothers; began to steal treasures from the Sultan's treasury; when he discovered a hole, the Sultan ordered a pot of resin to be placed there; her thief would fall; on this day, E. advised him to take his younger brother with him - let him also learn how to steal; his brother fell into the resin; E. cut off his head and brought him to his mother; said that if she left the house today crying, he would kill her; the next morning, the Sultan ordered the headless body to be crucified and all the inhabitants of the city brought there; E. told his mother to bring a jug of butter with her and drop it; everyone would believe that she was crying for the missing oil; sultan tells the adviser to feed the ostrich with pearls and diamonds and lead him to the castle; whoever is used to stealing, if he sees jewelry in the bird's feces, will rush to collect them; E. dressed up as an old woman, came up to the castle and woke up grains; the ostrich began to peck at them, E. lured him, stabbed him and took the jewelry out of his stomach; the adviser offered to send an old woman around the city who would say that the Sultan will pay a lot of money to someone who has ostrich fat (considered a strong medicine); E.'s mother naively replied that she has fat; noticing this, E. killed the old woman and buried the corpse; adviser to the Sultan: arrange a holiday for the people, warning that the elderly, sick and crippled should not come; give everyone wine, their tongues will be untied; E. began to talk about his exploits; the Sultan ordered him to shave half his beards, to then find it; E. took a knife and began to cut off half a beard to everyone he could; the Sultan ordered everyone to be imprisoned; at this time, the Sultan's son brought the horse to drink, pushing the old woman away from the water; old woman: it would be better got King Cefretmâge's daughter ("The King in Yellow Boots"); the prince demanded that he be released in search of the princess; E. admitted that he stole, asked the others to let go; the Sultan did not execute him, but ordered accompany his son; on the way, the prince fell asleep, and E. went to explore the surroundings and entered the castle of two gulas; they warned that if the prince wanted to drink, he would ask them for water; the stream was poisoned with poison the seven-headed snake; when the prince woke up, E. brought him to the castle; they did not find the guley, and the cellars were full of human and animal bones; when the prince fell asleep again, E. went to the stream and cut off six heads of the snake; the snake: for the first time such a brave man has come; bring a prince and get a gift; E. and the prince came to the dungeon; there are two naked beauties; one is a princess, the other is the daughter of his vizier; 7 days ago someone kidnapped them from the royal garden; leaving the girls, E. and the prince went on horseback; the old man herds the camels; says that only guli live further; gives a razor, a comb and a mirror; if you reach the stove, pick it up, If you find yourself underground; there's an old man whose eyelashes cover his eyes; he asks him to shave - shave and then ask questions; spears are always ready; this old man gave a mirror and sent to her older brother; and so 7 brothers who need to cut off their eyelashes are each sent to the elder; the seventh to the old woman, the mother of all seven; she will take the King in yellow boots to the gates of the city; but not approach her if she pushes salt and a black dove is flying around her; contact her when she pushes grain and a white dove flies; lie down on her breasts; E. and the prince have done everything, the old woman arranged for them feast; says that 90 young men have already been beheaded for asking for the princess's hand; leave my horses and clothes, put on rags; for money, a woman in town agreed to show me the house where she lives princess; entering the sleeping princess, E. put together the chandeliers in the corners and left; so three times; when the princess grabbed his finger, the hair with which Gulya wrapped him turned shining ring; the princess changed it to her magic one; it fulfilled any wishes that were not aimed at harming the princess; they came to the Sultan; he offers difficult tasks; 1) find out what three items are in a bundle inside the chest; E. learned this from the princess: the princess's mother's comb, her marriage contract and the "black skin of the Black Ocean"; 2) holding a bowl of milk in his teeth, climb a palm tree without splashing it; E. told the ring to make the prince complete the task; 3) indicate which of the hundred closed palanquins the bride was in, grab her camel's reins and take her away; thanks to the ring, everything succeeded; Gulya met them as a young girl; when they got out of the dungeon, a cloud carried away the princess; E. turned to the ring, but it was gone; E. went alone in search; camel driver, and then the shepherdess directs him to the Women Thief; overhears how he succumbs to the princess's persuasion to tell him what his life is; in a thread in an ostrich egg in the dungeon where the ghoul king lives; a shepherdess agreed to take him there; after driving the ostrich to the ground, E. stabbed it, broke an egg and burned a thread; the kidnapper burned down with it; hundreds of kidnapped women are happy; E. brought herds to the prince; the magic ring found again, the women were sent home, the prince married the King's daughter in yellow boots]: Desparmet 1912:241-252 (long eyelashes on p. 245).

Southern Europe. Spaniards (Texas-New Mexico; {the story in the Pyrenees could also be Basques, Catalans, or Galicians, but there is no evidence of other Europeans entering the Southwest}) [the Queen gave birth two sons and a daughter; after each birth, the servants announced that the baby was dead and threatened to kill the Queen if he protested; the servant was supposed to throw the children into the river, but he left them poor to an old woman who lived on the edge of the forest; she named the children Jesus, Maria and Jose (the elder); when she died, the old woman told the children that at the top of the high mountain there was a talking green bird, a singing tree and living water; who were they I will get it, I will be happy all my life; no one has succeeded yet; the stones along the road are those who tried to climb the mountain, but looked back; Hose went first; one day M. saw that the mirror, which her brother was her brother gave, clouded, so he was in trouble; Jesus went (all the same); M. went; reached some hut, in which the old man had a beard to his knees, eyelashes and eyebrows to his chin; do not speak because of a beard maybe; M. cut it off with scissors, the old man said he had been living here for several hundred years; the young men passed a few days ago; all the stones that passed by; let M. cover his ears with cotton wool; she did so; all the same hears requests to look back, but only looks forward; at the top of the mountain behind you can hear magical music - she did not look back either; the green bird flew to her from the tree, told her to break off and take the branch with him and dial water, she will revive the petrified with it; at this time the king returned to his capital; the servants told him that the Queen was dead, and three poor children had obtained magic birds, wood and water; the king called them to his place; The bird told Mary not to eat food - poisoned; told all about the servants; the king ordered them to eat the poison themselves and they died; the bird to the king: your wife is alive and imprisoned in the tower, and the children are here; brought the queen; the bird then fell dead, the branch withered and the water dried]: Campa 1947:326-328.

Western Europe. The French (Quebec, Gaspré district) [same story as in a Spanish tale from the Southwest; "Hello, unfamiliar beauty," replied the old man. "Dear old man, it looks like you're not happy. Your lashes are so long you can hardly see. If you like, I'll cut them, as well as your beard and hair."]: Roy 1952:102 in Lajoye 2014:31; Germans (Saxony-Anhalt or near, the author lived in Halle) [three shepherd's daughters, the eldest are smart, the youngest simple; if the king marries her, she will make new shirts for all soldiers; medium: she will sew jackets and pants; youngest: the face of three children with gold crosses on their foreheads; the king heard, took the sisters in the castle and married the youngest; went to war, the wife gave birth to two boys and a girl; the sisters threw them in boxes into the water, wrote to the king that his wife gave birth to two puppies and a kitten; the king ordered her to be walled up, but to give food and drink; when he returned, the king walked through the forest, saw an unfamiliar wonderful castle and garden; there was a pond in it, where two young men and a girl with golden crosses on her forehead were riding horses; said this to the elder his wife's sister; she came and persuaded the older young man to get flowing water, a talking bird and a singing tree; the young man left a handkerchief at home: if blood comes out, he is in trouble; on the way he met an old man overgrown with a beard and hair; cut his hair and he brought him to the mountain; said that it was his duty, the old man, to feed the talking bird; if he turned around, he would petrify like hundreds of others; the young man did not turn around to the voices of bears and snakes, but when he heard his brother's voice, he looked back and became petrified; the middle brother went; the old man let him shut his ears with a rag; he turned to his sister's voice and also petrified; the sister did not turn around, the bird taught her to collect flowing water into a flask and break off a branch of a singing tree; they should not fall into the wrong hands; after smeared the stones with saliva, her sister revived the brothers; they came to the old man, who was in a coffin and on stone inscription: I have lived enough; when they returned, they met the king and the bird told him everything; the king returned his wife and children; the evil sisters were torn apart by horses]: Pröhle 1853, No. 3:10-16.