K101B. Three nights of testing, (ATU 400) .15.16.28.31.32.
Agirl or boy is disgraced after the hero endures the torment or fears to which demons expose him for three nights. The girl or boy themselves are not dangerous for the hero, they help him.
Italians (Emilia Romagna), Ladins, Bretons, French (Upper Brittany), Germans (Pomerania, Hanover, Grimms, Upper Palatinate, Swabia), Luzhitans, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Russians ( Arkhangelsk, Samara, Tobolsk), Norwegians (Latvians, Estonians), Mordovians.
Southern Europe. Italians (Bologna) [after the death of their father, three brothers go on a journey and spend the night in an empty luxurious palace; food and beds are ready; early in the morning, the elder and then the middle brothers leave; the younger Sandrino walks into the garden and sees a girl immersed in water up to her neck in the pool; the girl is the queen of the Three Golden Mountains; if the young man spends three nights in the palace, she will be disgraced; on the first night his bed surrounded by predatory animals, S. does not react; in the morning the girl rose waist-deep from the water; after the second night, only her legs remain in the water; after the third, the girl came to the palace and warned; during their wedding S. must not fall asleep when he kneels down to pray; S. fell asleep and the bride disappeared; after going in search, S. asks the owner of the inn if he has seen the queen of the Three Golden Mountains; this is the owner animals, they know nothing, he sends S. to his brother, the owner of the fish; then, the owner of the birds; the eagle was the last, he was at a feast with King Marone, who marries the queen of the Three Golden Mountains; the eagle carries S. across the sea, he throws meat into his beak and gives him water; a little short, S. cut off the last piece from his leg; the queen healed the wound with ointment and introduced it to her father, king; wedding]: Calvino 1980, No. 55:176-179; Ladins: Decurtins, Brunold-Bigler 2002, No. 26 [the knight went into the castle; the girl says she was bewitched and she will appear to him as a snake for three nights; if she kisses, she is disgraced; the first night the snake had a girl's head, the second night her body, and the third night she was all a woman; one day a knight came out of the castle, went to the inn; its owner was that witch; she put a pin in his head oblivion; so 6 days; on the seventh, the girl's maid gave him a pair of gold shoes and said that the witch had taken the girl to the top of the glass mountain; the knight put on his shoes and climbed them up the mountain; giving one girl, went back with her; wedding]: 81-82; Uffer 1973, No. 26 [the youngest of 24 sons is Ludivic; there is a witch in the castle who bewitched many people; L. went to spell them; his white horse called out, said that when he went to bed, six snakes would crawl on each side of the bed and let the cold fall; L. withstood the cold; the same second night; before that, L. came to the inn, met there with as a girl; on the third night, 24 snakes crawled to his bed, L. still withstood the cold; after that, the snakes turned into princesses and the horse into a young man; he asked L. to choose a bride, but he did not have a single one liked it; he went back to that girl, she gave him a tablecloth that made his wishes come to his brothers, and they threw him into a hole in the forest with 6 lions; L. asked for a tablecloth to give each of them a ham; the girl gave birth to a boy; began to send a man to bring the child's father; each time one of the brothers appeared, but the boy did not pay attention to him; then the girl told the brothers to deliver her lover or at least his bones, otherwise he will raze their house to the ground; the brothers brought L., 6 lions with him; the son was delighted to see his father, played with lions; the wedding], 49 [the tailor went on a journey; the owner of the inn the court says that there are no free beds, but there is an empty castle nearby; but no one has yet returned from there; the young man came to the castle; at midnight two giants came and beat him until dawn; he silently withstood the beatings; In the morning, a girl's head appeared from a well in the yard; she was an enchanted princess, gave an ointment to heal her wounds and fractures; if the young man survived two more nights, he would spell her; and so happened; the young man married princess]: 103-106, 240-242.
Western Europe. The Bretons [the king has a daughter; a son Jean was born in old age; the king and queen died; Jean is raised by a peasant; his sister wants to kill him, but the peasant loves him; Jean grew up, left with his beloved white lamb; the person he met persuaded him to change it to two dogs - Tearing Iron and the Incomparable; Jean was hired as a hunter in the castle; others are jealous, locked the dogs in the tower; Jean is surrounded by predatory animals, he called the dogs, they came running, bit to death the animals; Jean left, came to another castle; there was food and bed, he sees a woman's hand; three devils smelled him, fried him and ate him, the girl revived him from the bone; says that there are still two nights left; on the second night he sees the girl's head, the devils played ball with them, threw them against the wall, he is alive again; on the third night they cut him down and ate it, the girl revived him from her fingernail; the spell is asleep, the girl came, and with her people, servants; she became a wife; his sister came, wanted to lime him, pretended to be sick, sent him to the mill; the witch dug a hole, Jean fell into it, the dogs pulled him out; the witch dug a hole, Jean fell into it, the dogs pulled him out; the witch advises to send Jean to a spring for water, where he will be attacked by 50 invisible knights; dogs saw them and drove them away; the witch confessed her helplessness; Jean and his wife came to Paris, their people greeted; another witch offered to put razors in their bed; the couple's bodies were cut into pieces, buried in one coffin; the dogs were pulled out and revived; they said that they were Jean's parents, who took the image of dogs to protect him from his sister; she must be thrown into the oven; then she will atone for her sins and end up in paradise with her parents; that's what happened]: Luzel 1879:23-38; French (Haute-Brittany) [ returning from war, a young man La Ramée (R.) comes to a castle in the forest; there is a monster with a woman's head; she will be disgraced if R. manages to spend three nights in the castle and remain silent all the time; gives a bottle with a remedy that heals; the little witch and demons tear R. with their claws, fry them; in the morning the medicine heals him; on the second night it is even worse; on the third he was torn to pieces, thrown into a well; his princess got it and revived it, she became beautiful herself, they got married; the wife did not tell me to drink, the witch took the form of an orange merchant, he drank juice, died; the princess ordered him to be buried, but the servants left his body in forest; R. comes to life, comes to hell; the raven does not know where Heures Castle is, the wind brings R. there; there the princess prepares to marry another; recognizes R. by her handkerchief; tells his father that the old key to the dresser is better than the new one, reunites with R.]: Sébillot 1894, No. 26:270-271; Germans (Pomerania) [returning from afar, the king ordered the fisherman to bring vendace fish immediately; he replied that they did not have it, but the king does not want to listen; the fisherman threw a net, but there is no vendace; someone came up and promised to help the fisherman if he promised to give him what he did not know at home in 14 years; and let him sign in blood; fisherman brought vendace and found out that his wife had given birth to a son and the queen had a daughter; when he found out what was going on, the king refused to eat the fish and ordered it to be thrown back into the sea; the fisherman's son grew up in the castle like a prince; after learning what was promised hell, the young man cried; but a tiny man came and gave him a book and said it would help; the devil took the young man hundreds of miles away; demanded that he throw the book away, threatened to throw it into the sea, but he did not throw it away; and when they landed, the young man drew a cross sign in the sand so that the devil could not leave his seat; he had to hand over a receipt and write another one stating that he had no control over the young man; the hell flew away, the young man walked across the plain; six days later he saw a mound and a door; an old man in the room; he was ready to receive the young man, but when he went up the hill, he must stay to the left and not turn to the right; but he was tired of it; old man warned that death was waiting to go to the right; the young man still went, there was an iron gate in front of him; someone's hands seemed to raise him and found himself in the room; everything he wanted appeared immediately; in the evening he came in and a black woman disappeared; at 11, three dwarfs came in, told the young man to play cards with them; he did not react; then they began to play with him like a ball, and disappeared at midnight; the young man woke up when the sun was already high; on the second day, the same; the woman turned half white; until 12, the young man was cut and slaughtered, and then he became whole again; on the third evening the woman became three-quarters bright; the young man was spoken in his voice father, but he knew it was all hell; so was his mother; he woke up in the royal bedchamber; the disgraced princess threw herself around his neck; one day a young man wanted to go home to bring his parents; wife: here's a white horse, it will ride, but it can only carry one person - leave your parents where they are now; the horse flew above the clouds; the parents did not recognize their son; when he opened, he also met king; he paraded; but the young king told the old man that his kingdom was much larger and his wife was incomparably more beautiful than the king's daughter; his wife warned not to say anything, but the king broke it the order was now thrown into prison; he asked the children to bring his white horse, but he was not there; but then the old king received a letter from the young wife: to let her husband go, otherwise the city will be turned to ashes; when he saw the young king's wife and her warriors, the old king realized that the young king was telling the truth; the wife disappeared, leaving her husband with iron shoes and a staff: she would find her when she was worn out; in the forest I came across three who shared the inheritance: an invisible cloak, boots by leaps and bounds, and a hat that shoots silently; the king put on his cloak, took everything and disappeared; came to the house, where the cannibal mother of the month; had dinner; then to the Sun; on the third evening to the Wind; he knows where the kingdom of the king's wife is; she is now celebrating a new wedding; they immediately flew in and the wind caused a terrible storm; the Queen sent a master to repair the towers; the king agreed with him that he would give him a job in the queen's room; when the newlyweds came in, the king beat them while remaining invisible; the groom thought it was hell and ran away; the king opened Queen; the wedding took place, but they had]: Jahn 1891, No. 54:281-298; the Germans (Hanover) [the miller picked up a box floating along the river with a boy in it; he and his wife raised him; at the age of 14 he said he wanted to be not a miller, but a hunter; learned from a hunter; once chased a white deer; he brought him to the castle and disappeared; the table was laid inside, the bed was prepared; at midnight someone enters: his face is rough like that bear and ice cold; voice in the morning: come again; the young man went home and returned to the castle in the evening; this time his face is less rough and slightly warm; the next night smooth and warm; in the morning in The princess enters the room and then her parents; the young man disgraced them; the king gave him a daughter; wedding]: Colshorn, Colshorn 1854, No. 21:69-72; Germans: Grimm, Grimm 2003, No. 92 [=Grimm, Grimm 1987:251- 256; the merchant's ships sank, he went bankrupt; the black man promises to enrich him if in 12 years the merchant brings what is now the first to push him in the leg; his son pushed him; 12 years later, the young man went to that little man; he sent him to sail on a ship; the ship arrived at the enchanted castle; there the snake will become a princess again if the young man suffers the torture of 12 black men for three nights; he endured it, lives for 8 years with the princess, then decides to visit her father; the princess gives the ring; it will take you wherever you want, but the husband should not use it to carry her to his father; he came to his father disguised as a poor shepherd, mother recognized him by his birthmark; to prove that he was married to a princess, the son carried his wife and child to show his father; the wife was offended; when the husband fell asleep, returned to her place, taking the ring but leaving the shoe; three the giant is arguing over a saber that will cut off all heads except one, an invisible cloak, speedboat boots; a man asked the giants to let him try things, moved to his wife; she feasts while sitting on the throne; he he sat on the throne himself, cut off the heads of those who tried to drive him out], 121 [=Grimm, Grimm 1987:311-316; the Queen went on a journey; began to play with the giant's pins; replies that he can do anything He wants to; the giant sends him for an apple from the tree of life - his fiancée demands so; the Queen easily passed the sleeping animal guards, reached out his hand to the apple, sticking it through the ring; it shrunk and filled him with heroic power; a tamed lion followed him; the bride did not see that ring on the giant's hand; the giant invited the Queen to swim, he took off his clothes and ring, the giant took it away; but the lion took it away and returned it to the Queen; but when the Queen was dressing, the giant attacked and gouged out his eyes; brought him to the edge of the cliff; each time the lion grabs and drags the owner away from the edge of the abyss; led to the stream, water who is being treated for blindness; the queen comes to the castle; there is an enchanted maiden; if the Queen withstands three nights of torment, she will be disgraced; after each night, the virgin washes the Queen with live water, him the wounds disappear; the castle is divided, the queen marries the queen]: 310-314, 395-399; Schönwerth 1981 (Upper Palatinate) [gardener's son Hans went on a journey; saw a castle in the depths of the forest; woman in black, she served him dinner, showed him the bed and left; at night a black man came and tortured G.; in the morning the woman was in gray, the next night G. was tortured by two men; on the third morning the woman went out in white, begged him to wait for the third night; Hans was beaten and tortured by three, but in the morning the princess was disgraced; G. married her; wanted to visit her father; the princess gave a ring to summon her if trouble happened; G. came to In the appearance of the prince, the king held a ball in honor of him; but the guests did not allow his wives to dance with G., because he was too handsome; then G. called his wife with a ring to amaze everyone with her beauty; in the morning G. woke up alone, next to him his old clothes and a pair of iron boots; his wife wrote that she was leaving him as punishment, and if he wanted to see her again, he should wear his iron boots; G. went in search and saw how three are arguing for possession of an inexhaustible purse, speeders and an invisibility cloak; G. promised to resolve the dispute, but first asked permission to try the items; took them and fled; sees a runner a person is the wind that hurries to dry the princess who has a wedding; G. overtakes him, gives him the end of the rope, let him hold on to it and fly with him; in the tavern, G. found out that tomorrow the princess must choose a husband; stood invisible behind the altar and knocked the book out of the priest's hands; gave the groom a toothpick, he flew away; at the feast, remaining invisible, began to give all his food to the poor; dropped the ring, the servant picked it up and gave it to the princess, because it wore her name; she recognized G.; he showed his iron boots - they are not worn out yet; wedding]: 20; Germans (Swabia) [beloved wife died, hunter wanders around the forest; the old man in the hut advises to hide the clothes of one of the three swan girls who come to swim; this is how the hunter got his wife; the old man warned me to hide her feather clothes; they have many children; After 15 years, he forgot to close the room where he kept his wife's clothes; the wife flew away; the children know nothing; the old man: the wife in the castle, from which a donkey is sent every day to the mill for flour; the hunter hid in in a bag, the donkey brought him to the castle; the wife is happy to see her husband again; to receive it, he must silently endure the suffering caused by dragons arriving in different guises three times for an hour; in the first time snakes appeared, the second time toads, the third time snakes again; he held back the scream; three snakes turned into three women, those swans; the hunter stayed with his wife in the castle]: Meier 1852a, No. 7:39-42.
Central Europe. Czechs [father goes to the fair; older daughters ask for outfits, the youngest is a rosebud; roses have long faded; suddenly the father sees a rose bush in the clearing with the only blooming rose; he I picked a rose, a terrible beast came out from behind the bush; I agree to give the flower if a person sends him the first one to meet him at home; this is the youngest daughter; she agreed to go to the beast; the earth opened and the girl found herself in a black marble palace; a shaggy beast warns that she will be tormented by monsters, but she must remain silent; at night, the monsters attacked and then disappeared; after every night the castle turns white by a third; in At the end of the third, the girl screams that she is dying; the monsters disappear, there is a beautiful young man nearby; they ride in a golden carriage to visit her father and sisters]: Nemtsova 1977:14-20; Slovaks [Blahoslav lives with his mother, hunts; one day he sees a deer with golden antlers; he seems to ask him to ride; when his horse's strength is running out, B. galloped to the castle and shot a deer; but instead of a deer, he found his arrow pierced into a board with an invitation to the castle; the table was laid and the bed was prepared; three girls appeared, asking him to endure three nights of suffering to spell them; at night, demons began to beat him, but then disappeared and he fell asleep until morning; when he soaked his hand and hair in the well in the morning, they turned silver; he tied his hand so that he could not see; at the end of the third night, B. came to the chapel; there was the younger princess wrote on his sword the name of the castle where he should come to pick her up, because they themselves are now free and are leaving the castle; B. rode there, let the horse go; hired him in the kitchen; when the youngest came there princess, B. showed her silver curl; on the third day she asked this worker to bring her food; the girl asked to wait until the day when her father would gather suitors and each sister would leave a handkerchief to whoever she wanted to be her husband; that day she left him B.; the king wanted to throw B. out, but when he saw the silver curls, he understood everything; the wedding; B.'s mother came to live with the young]: Dobšinský 1970, No. 47:240-243; Poles [three queens fire arrows to find brides; the elder's arrows hit the houses where girls live; the youngest's arrow falls next to the toad; the queen breaks the curse from the toad, burning her skin or after three nights of torment]: Krzyżanowski 1962, No. 402:129; Luzhitans [the young hunter aimed at the swan three times on the lake, but each time a voice asks him not to shoot; princess in the form of a swan, asks her to spell; to do this, you need to read our Father in the Church every Sunday for a year; then let her come back to the lake; when the year is almost over, the hunter won shooting at the target, and the king promised to give his daughter to the winner; but the hunter rejected the princesses - his fiancée was more beautiful; however, he did not go to church that day, and when he came to the lake, the swans were not there; he I heard a voice: since you did not go to church, now look for it on a glass mountain; in the forest, a miller in a lonely mill says that no one has come to him for 700 years; in the morning he put a roe deer on a golden roe deer and it brought it to glass mountain; his voice forbids him to bend down for a drink; he drinks, the mountain disappears, now we must look for a dark world; the young man came to another miller; he grinds for the dark world and from time to time the bird is a vulture carries flour there; the young man hid in a barrel of flour carried by the vulture; in a dark world, the swan princess hid the young man under her bed; warned that the perfume would torment him for three nights and if they did not he says no groan, he will split her; he endured everything, woke up with the princess in the castle and became king]: Veckenstedt 1880, No. 13.3:122-125; Russians (Arkhangelskaya, Mezen, d. Lebskaya, 1927) [Soldier Ivan (I.) was burdened with military exercises, left the guard and escaped from service. In the forest, he finds an equipped and empty house, eats and drinks there, goes to bed, and at night he has Golovnya (G.). G.: I am a bewitched royal daughter, and here is a provincial city, bewitched. What they will do to you for three nights, be patient, you will save everyone. For two nights, a comrade soldier, a feldfebel, an officer with soldiers, an executed man and a doctor come to I., persuade, threaten and bribe him to leave with them. I. is silent, and during the day the smut gradually becomes a girl. For the third time - general, colonel and army. In addition to promises and threats, they manage to cut off I.'s arms and legs. But morning falls, and with him G. finally turns into the Tsar Maiden (CD), the forest into a city, and I. is intact. The CD tells him about their engagement, but warns that she will be G. again at night, wearing a black dress. The townspeople do not know how to thank I., but he got bored a week later, because the CD at night is G. He burns her black dress. CD: You won't see me now until you pass through the loose sands, you won't have great power. I. takes his iron boots, a staff and a hat, goes looking for it, and three years later he finds a city beyond a mountain, a deep gorge and a river of loose sand. I. is desperate. The Mogoway bird arrives. I. cunningly drinks her with wine, Mogovey takes him to the city. I. finds a hut and tells everything to her widow mistress (V.), who turns out to be the godmother of the CD and says that foreign princes are marrying the CD. The godmother suggests waiting for the CD to visit her. I. goes out for a walk and sees the unburied Copper Hero (MB), arranges his funeral for the necessary 1000 rubles. At night, MB arrives on a copper horse to the hut and offers I. his strength. MB in his tent gives I. drink water with his strength, gives power over his three-hair horse and his armor. The same thing happened to Serebryany and the Golden Hero, but they did not give I. The SB was buried for 2,000, and the ZB for 5,000. ZB: If our strength is not enough for you, remember us, once we will rise from the grave for you. The next morning, V. says that the DC will come, and he realizes with I. that he will hide and jump out if the DC abandons its savior. Q: Then you beat her. The CD comes, answers V.'s questions that some soldier was bewitched, disgraced her, but why should she marry him now if the generals marry her. Then I. jumps out and hits the CD, she turns into a snake, a lioness, a tigress, a bear, but I. wins. The CD is becoming beautiful again and tells you to come to marry tomorrow, I will be your faithful wife. I. tells the whole story to the king, the CD confirms that they are having a wedding. After the wedding, three foreign princes attack with an army. I. rides against the first one on a copper horse, against the second on a silver horse - and wins everyone. Against the third, with the largest army, he rides a golden horse, fights for two days, almost dies and, remembering the words of the ZB, summons the heroes and wins with them. She goes to bed, sleeps for three days, then goes out for a week. The father of the CD gives him the kingdom]: Karnaukhova 2008, No. 138:312-320; Russians (Arkhangelsk, Onega University, Savinskaya Vol.) [the soldier left the service, bothered the robbers; they have a cook girl; an old woman came to Easter, gave her an outfit; as she put it on, she died; the robbers left (the coffin) hanging on the poles; the prince found brought her home; the old woman pulled off her sundress, the girl came to life; the wedding; the soldier chased the hare; some house; a woman covered in a golden carriage arrives; asks her to "scold" for three nights leaves a book, bottles, he must read inside the circle; evil spirits rush, but then disappears; the girl's hair has come down to her shoulders; after the next night, to the navel; after the third, everything is clean; she asks the soldier not to go away, but he wants to take a walk; if he does not return in an hour and a half, she will fly to the kingdom of far away; he returned in one and a half; slept with a Jew at night, went to the pier in the morning; there by ship That girl sailed, but a boy sent by a Jew stuck a pin into the soldier's overcoat and he fell asleep, the girl did not wake up; so three times; after the third time she left a note: to look for her in a kingdom far away; the soldier sailed to the city, where the princess in the tower, who rides, will receive her, otherwise he will be executed; three executed heroes are exhibited; where the soldier served at the tavern, his daughter gave an inexhaustible purse; the soldier filled three barrels of gold, the king allowed the heroes to be buried; horses consistently jump out of the graves to the soldier: in copper, silver, gold armor; the princess stamped his forehead with a ring; heroes came to life, came out of their graves, all four go to the mountain, where the soldier pulls out his shoes, a dress, a carriage; marries a princess]: Smirnov 1917, No. 94-108; Russians (Samara) [the merchant's son is taken as a soldier; writes home that he became an officer; then a general; every time he asks for money; the father came - the son serves as a soldier; he gave the horses he took with him to a real general, and asks his son for a wolf ticket; the son with two comrades came to the palace, where petrified people; they ate, two fell asleep, and the guy began to read a special book; at midnight three black girls in wool came out, asking for suffering for two more nights; after the second at night they are half white, after the third they are completely white; one of them, the sovereign of this kingdom, took the boy as her husband; one day he went in a carriage to his father, drank everything in the tavern on the way, appeared poor, hired herd goats; when he drives him past the balcony, the guy plays the pipe, the goats are dancing; his wife has come to pick him up, the wedding, but they are beggars {further transition to Kuzma Skorobogaty's story}; "Today they were married, and tomorrow to Tom they rushed; and Thomas has neither a stake nor a yard"; the fox told the merchant that Thomas has five herds and herds ("a horse herd, a horned herd, a herd of sheep, and a herd of goose, yes there is a herd of pyrino, and there is a herd of chicken"); in the village where Thomas lived, where Serpent Gorynych lived with Zmeya Gorynovna; "these herds were theirs, and the fox boasted that they were Thomas the Rich"; "the mountain ones are going to mine", and the fox ran to Snake Gorynyvch and Zmeya Gorynovna, I told them to get out of the house; King Thunder and Queen Molonya are coming to your house! The king will kill and the Queen will burn!" the fox tells them to climb into a rotten deck; tells the shepherds to say that the herds of Thomas the Rich, otherwise the King will kill and the Queen will burn; when the merchant and his men arrived, the fox advised him to shoot the deck, Thomas's estate got it; after the wedding, a fox comes, asks for a lamb, then a single file; like this every day; Tom let the dog go at her, the fox in the hole; asks his eyes, legs, how they helped her escape; asks tail; "And I dragged across the floor so that the dogs would catch up with the fox and pinch"; the fox gave Serke's tail, who pulled it by the tail and tore it; Thomas the Rich began to live badly and make good money]: Sadovnikov 1884, No. 14:80 -84; Russians (Tobolsk, 1892) [the nobleman is not afraid of anything; tells the coachman to spend the night in the glacier where the dead is; at the robbers; the robbers cook; the nobleman tells the coachman to bring a cook, he is dead; the robbers ran away; drove up to the palace, around the guard; inside a princess obsessed with evil spirits; the nobleman broke the doors, read a book by candlelight; hacked three girls, they were missing; the next night in that there is a pole in the room, a terrible girl is chained to him, others are running around, she is dead during the day and alive at night; the nobleman reads prayers, brought her to life; the king gave her to him; the nobleman wants to go again look for fear; the tsar found a healer; that night he let in living water, his wife shouted, "We are drowning"; the nobleman was frightened and did not leave again]: Smirnov 1917, No. 311:263-265.
Baltoscandia. Norwegians [three bewitched girls are buried up to their necks in the ground; to save them, the hero must silently endure any suffering for three nights; each time he is healed with magic ointment; after On the third night, the spell on the girls finally falls, one of them is married by a young man]: Christiansen 1959:130; (cf. Latvians [husband spies on wife devouring corpses; he hits her with a rowan truncheon, the wife turns into a cow; to save his wife, the pastor tells her husband to go to church, circle around him, survive horrors]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 363.1:280; Estonians (Kose) [a man wants to find a beautiful bride; a witch doctor tells you to ask for a line at the crossroads of three roads; a man brought a beautiful woman out of the forest, gave him to his wife; she calls him to go to relatives; on the way he goes to chapels three times, supposedly to look at the graves of relatives; the husband follows, sees his wife devouring a fresh corpse; her husband beats her with a rowan with a stick, she became a black cow; the husband went to the priest; he told the night before the roosters to read the Bible in the church; the devils rushed at him, but the rooster sang; the next night the devils did not appear; the man married a hard-working girl]: Järv et al. 2015:101-102).
Volga - Perm. Mordva [Misha and Grisha resigned from service; drove into the inn, it was empty, there was a coffin on the table; lay down on the stove; an old man came out of the coffin at night, but could not reach guests; Misha in another parking lot lay down in an empty coffin on the grave; did not let the witch who had flown into it until she said that in the kingdom of far away she had put the prince and his wife to sleep; gave the bubbles of their blood; his comrades came there and revived those who slept, received an award; three dead people were picked up on the road, Misha buried them, chose vigor and strength as a reward; elsewhere Misha spends the night in the house; at night an old man comes in, hits him with a copper rod; in the morning the girl is grateful, asks to survive two more nights; witchcraft is gone, the princess says that her father wanted to marry her; she refused, he turned the kingdom into forest and water; Misha leaves Princess Grisha, goes further; causes the younger, middle, older brother (these are those dead); each time a horse comes running, makes him a hero; only the older brother's horse is quite heroic; on the balcony of the palace, the princess; the king will give it to whoever picks her up at a gallop, executes those who failed; the princess is upset that she has been presented as a soldier; enemies have attacked, Misha smashes them in his heroic appearance; visited Grisha, he is also happy with wife]: Samorodov 1972:138-156.