K119e. Melnik: a success story. 15.16.27.-.30.

A poor young man who was benefited from an assistant animal, imagining him as a rich man in the eyes of the king, is a miller or the son of a miller.

Maltese, Serbs, French, Walloons, Serbs, Bulgarians, Eastern Ukrainians (Poltava), Balkarians, Avars, Lucks, Dargins, Aguls, Georgians, Armenians, Turks, Kurds, Persians, Vakhans, pachayas.

Southern Europe. The Maltese {almost exactly follows Perrault's fairy tale} [after the death of the miller, the eldest son gets a mill, a middle donkey, the cat's youngest son; the cat asks the owner to give him boots and a bag; comes to the king with gifts (rabbits and partridges) on behalf of Il-Konti Gerfex ("Count Samozvantsev"); tells the owner to climb into the water, explains to the king and princess that he was attacked by robbers; the cat offers the wizard turns into a lion and then a mouse, eats it; the miller's son becomes king after the death of his father-in-law]: Mifsud-Chircop 1978, No. 545B: 173-175.

Western Europe. The Wallons [the miller left a cat, a rooster and a sickle to his sons; Jean took a rooster, Jacques a sickle, the elder Pierre a cat; P. came to the royal castle, where they were exhausted by the mice, he released the cat Mina; he caught mice, P. married a princess, stayed in the palace; Jean came to the kingdom, where a chariot was sent east before sunrise to restore the sun, otherwise the day would not return; the chariot returned only at 9 am, and only then did it dawn; the next night Jean released the rooster, he sang at 3 am, it was dawn; Jean gets a princess for the rooster, stays in the palace; Jacques came to the country where he reaped with sticks almost the entire harvest was lost; Jacques also gets a princess for the sickle]: Carnoy 1883:283-291 (translated to Lopyrev 1959, No. 7:10-14); the French (Upper Brittany) [three brothers inherited a rooster, a cat and a sickle; the one who received a rooster sold it for a lot of money to people looking for a day; a cat to suffering from mice; a sickle to stung, shooting at ears with a gun]: Sébillot 1894, No. 34:278-279; the French [after the death of his father, the eldest son inherited a mill, the middle son a donkey, and the youngest a cat; the cat tells the owner to give him a pair of boots and a bag, caught a rabbit, lured them into a bag with bran, brought it as a gift to the king; next time he brought two partridges; this is how he carried game for two or three months - on behalf of the Marquis Karabas; tells us to go swimming; shouts that the Marquis Karabas is drowning; the king ran to the rescue; the cat said that the robbers also stole the clothes, the king gave the Marquis the best dress; the cat runs forward and tells the mowers, reapers and all other workers to answer that their owner is the Marquis Karabas; he began to praise the cannibal: indeed Can he become a lion? And with a mouse? ate the mouse; the king and daughter arrived at the castle; the king gave his daughter for the marquis; the cat stayed with them]: Perrault 2011:55-62.

The Balkans. The Serbs [the fox and the miller agreed: he has a chicken a day, and she will get him a wife; the fox married the princess, saying that the groom was immensely rich; on the way to the wedding, the fox told the miller to wait at rivers, she ran to the king herself and said that the groom fell into the water and all her clothes were covered in mud; the king's three daughters-in-law immediately offered clothes for her future son-in-law and the fox chose the best set; after the wedding, she brought young people and guests to Ali Baba's palace, and he was told that Vladyka had come to destroy him - let him hide in the oven; the fox stuffed straw there and burned Ali Baba; the guests admired the palace; the miller promises: if the fox would die, it would be buried with human honors; the fox pretended to be dead, the miller threw it on a pile of manure; the fox ran to the king and told him everything; he took back his daughter, and the miller returned to the mill, but kept giving the fox chicken a day because he became very afraid of it; and when she really died, he buried her as a human]: Eschker 1992, No. 56:227-229; Bulgarians [ the fox steals something from the miller (shepherd, etc.); asks not to kill, promises to marry the princess; comes to the king as a matchmaker from Tumburli Run, Dermenji Bey, etc.; asks for a loan of measure, and when he gives it, a coin stuck there; says that on the way to the palace, its owner almost drowned (he was attacked by robbers), everything is gone, the king sends appropriate clothes; the miller looks around in unusual clothes, the fox gives explanations for this; tells shepherds, reapers, etc. to answer that these are herds, fields of its owner; in the palace, a serpent (self-made, robbers) tells them to hide (into a well, throws a stone from above) or escape fleeing; to test the miller's gratitude, the fox pretends to be dead; instead of the promised solemn funeral, the miller orders him to throw carrion into the river; the fox shames him, and when he really dies, buried with honors; or the princess wife orders to put not the promised chickens in the bag for the fox, but the dog]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 545B: 200-201.

Central Europe. Eastern Ukrainians (c. 1878, Poltava, Mirgorod) [The father leaves his sons a mill, a barn and a cat after death, the youngest gets a cat. The guy cries, the cat goes to the mill with a bag, puts cabbage leaf in it, lures so hares, brings it as a gift to the king, who gives flour and money in gratitude. The cat regularly brings flour to the owner. The mill owner's brother is not happy with the cat and threatens to kill him. The cat calms the owner, leads him to the river, tells him to undress, jump into the water and shout that he was robbed by robbers. A king and his daughter pass by, and the cat tells how Mr. Zapichansky was robbed, who sent them rabbits as a gift. The princess asks to bring him to the palace, he is dressed up, she marries him]: Rudchenko 1870, No. 6:12-13.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Balkarians: Malkonduev 2017:561-564 [the miller has 5-6 sheep; he does not cut them, he saves them to pay dowry for his wife; the fox comes to visit every day; insists that the miller slaughter every time for she is a ram, promises to marry; comes to the khan, praises the groom for his daughter; promises to bring a groom with a huge dowry; told him to climb into the river, and she set fire to the bridge herself; told the khan that the bridge had collapsed, people drowned, the goods are gone, only the groom himself was saved; the khan sent the best clothes; the groom does not touch everything looks around his clothes; the fox explains to the bride that he was better, so sent to him he is shy; the fox told the people accompanying the groom to his house to make noise and shoot; ran to the giants: the army is coming, you will be killed; the giants ran away, the fox stayed with the young; then came to the giants and said that a cowardly miller lived in their house, whose sheep she ate; the main giant went, afraid; the fox told her to hold her tail; the man agreed with his wife; told him to carry an ax and a knife; the fox: lead him rather, it's been a long time since giants were slaughtered; the giant smeared the fox on the ground, ran away; the giants left and are still going], 566-570 [the poor miller has only 6 chickens; the fox tells her to slaughter one chicken, then the rest; then tells me to heat the spit and shoot it; climbed the hill, all the animals gathered around; fox: the whole world is burning, I hardly ran away, there is only one place where you can hide from the fire; leads animals in the khan's barn, locks them with a key; asks the khan for his daughter as her brother's wife; he himself is a man, but has come into the form of a fox; said that he brought the remnants of animals; the khan is amazed: if these are remnants, how many but all of them; the fox tells the miller to break the bridge, undress, throw everything into the water; fox khan: under the weight of a hundred wagons, the bridge collapsed; the khan tells the tailors to sew clothes for the groom; the khan is surprised why his son-in-law looks around his clothes; fox: shy, he was much better; a hundred wagons with his bride and goodness, the fox takes nine giants to the castle; the fox is to the giants: the world is burning, we must hide under a shock of straw; the fox set fire straw; 8 giants burned down, one half-burnt ran away; later the miller drove the fox away; she brought the half-burnt giant; the miller to the fox: why are you driving a half-burnt, not healthy; the giant smeared the fox on land and ran away], 630-632 [poor guy Chigyr, he has a mill; the fox steals everything he is given for flour; C. was waiting for her, she promises to become his friend; promises to marry the khan's daughter; Khan promises a daughter for 200 heads of wild animals; the fox burned its tail, shouted to the animals that the fire was near, brought 500 heads to the khan's pen; the khan gave her daughter; the fox says that the palace and the property of its owner have burned down; the khan is all made up; then says that all her master's men drowned when the bridge collapsed; wearing Khan's outfit, C. looked around at himself, and the bride grinned; the fox explains that he had never worn so bad clothes; but C.'s wife is dissatisfied with the fact that he was bald, killed the fox, hitting it with a jug, and returned to her father; after that, all C.'s wealth was lost, only the mill remained]; Avars [at the miller Vshivy Haji Lisa stole some rags; he wants to kill her, but Lisa promises to marry him to the khan's daughter if he buries her in a fat tail after her death; asks the khan for a measure - Bukuchi Khan wants to measure silver; leaves the coin in measure; then gold; then asks the daughter; the khan gladly agrees; the fox tells the miller to jump into the river, call for help, supposedly everything has been carried away by water; he is given new vestments; Lisa explains that B. feels awkward because he is used to clothes covered with diamonds; the same with food; after the wedding, the miller takes his wife; the fox is in front, tells the shepherds to say that they are herding cattle, horses are not a dragon, but B. , otherwise B. will kill them; tells the dragon that the king of the seven kingdoms is coming, tells them to hide in a haystack, sets it on fire, the dragon dies; the bride and miller are happy; the fox decides to check whether the miller is grateful; pretends to be dead; he says he doesn't care; Lisa accuses him; when she really dies, the miller really buries her in a fat tail just in case]: Dirr 1920, No. 12:66-70 (=Saidov, Dalgat 1965:131-137); Lucky [the miller caught a fox stealing his apples, who promises to marry him to the king's daughter; tells the king that his daughter is marrying Arabkhan; says that the groom's horse fell from the bridge to the river; the king sends a horse and the best clothes; at the feast, the miller looks around, the Fox explains that he does not like the palace; the king gives A. the throne, the Fox becomes a vizier]: Khalilov 1965, No. 25:42-43 (=Bagriy 1930 (2): 126-127; =Ganiyeva 2011a, No. 108:262-263; =Khalilov, Osmanov 1989:39-40); Dargins [the poor miller sees that the fox is eating his flour; the fox asks him not to kill, promises to marry the padishah's daughter; tells you to come to the riverbank undressed - as if wealth has drowned; the padishah believes that the miller is another padishah, sends rich clothes, marries daughters; the young go to her husband's house; the fox tells the shepherds to answer that the herds belong to a padishah traveling with his young wife; in the palace, Azhdaha tells him that an army is approaching to kill him; Azhdaha and her children are running away, the newlyweds occupy the palace]: Aliyeva 2013, No. 54:247-248; Agula [the miller fed the hungry fox, and she decided to thank him in return; she went to the king twice and asked for a measure to measure gold; each time a gold coin remained in the measure; the king decided that the fox served a rich man; the fox married the king's daughter to the miller; when the king invited the miller to his place, she asked the king for clothes for him on the pretext that the groom's clothes were soaked in the rain; after the wedding, the fox told Azhdaha that an army was coming to kill him; Azhdaha ran away, a miller and his wife settled in his house; when the fox came again, the miller asked his wife to drive her out; the fox persuaded Azhdakha drive the miller out of the house; they joined with a rope, and when Azhdaha got scared of the miller and ran into the forest, the fox died]: Maysak 2014, No. M29:477; Georgians: Bogoyavlensky 1894a, No. 10 (Imereti) [fox asks the miller to give her three chickens, promises to marry, takes out good clothes, brings her to the king; the young go home, the fox tells the heroes that a strong king and his entourage are coming, advises them to hide in the hay, set fire him, the miller went to the palace; he promises to put her in a golden coffin after the fox died; the fox pretended to be dead, the miller is going to throw it into the hole; so twice; the fox told the king everything; he executed fox for deception]: 71-73; Kurdovanidze 1988 (2), No. 75 [grapes are stolen from a poor miller; he catches Lisa; she promises to make him happy; goes to the king, marries his daughter for a "wealthy man"; leads the miller to the river, tells the king that the groom's money and clothes have drowned; the king and princess agree to the wedding; the fox tells the king and his army to follow in the distance and shoot; tells sheep and cow shepherds, tell wheat threshers that they work for Samtevan Chabukashvili; tells the devas that an army is coming to them, advises them to hide in a haystack, sets him on fire; the king who comes up receives a burning haystack at the palace behind the lamp; MF looks around at the feast, Lisa says that all the jewelry is intact - only one yakhont rolled away, here he is; everyone is happy]: 25-28; Armenians [the miller has lost his cheese, he trapped a fox; she asks her not to kill, promises to do good; comes to the king, says that King Chakhchakh has gold, asks for a measure; returning, she puts gold in the gap; the same with precious stones; for the third time : King HC asks the princess to marry, the king agrees; the fox comes again: the robbers have attacked, the king of CH took refuge in the mill, send clothes so that he can get married; at the table, the king asks why the groom does not eat ( he is frightened); fox: thinks about the lost good; after the wedding, the young leave, the fox runs forward, tells the shepherds to say that the herds are herding not Shah Mara, but Chah Chah, and the king goes to the CMM with the army; the same reapers; the fox tells Shah-Mar to hide in a haystack; the miller and his wife occupy his palace, the SHM fled]: Tumanyan 1984:34-40; Turks [Keloglan ("bald) worked for a miller, Lisa stole flour, he stole flour, he was her waited, she promised to do him good; she came to the padishah of Yemen, offered him to marry his daughter to Chimenji Padishah's son; told K. to throw fez into the river, said that C.'s son's retinue drowned, clothes burst, let the padishah send new clothes; K. feels new clothes, Lisa explains that his servants wear them in his palace; tells K. not to look around anymore; the padishah put 300 gold in his pockets of clothes, he He scattered them as something insignificant; Lisa tells the Bears that people are coming to them, advises them to hide in the hay, burns them; K. and his wife settle in the Bears house; K. promises Lisa that if she dies, he will order a beautiful coffin; she pretends to be dead, he throws her by the tail out of the house, the tail comes off; the fox reproaches K.; realizing who she married, K.'s wife cries; the other foxes laugh at the tailless; she leads them stealing grapes, tying them by the tail so as not to eat too much, calls people; the foxes ran away with their tails cut off; now all the foxes are tailless]: Stebleva 1986, No. 13:39-42; Kurds [foxes invites the miller to fraternize, promises to marry him; tells foxes, wolves, birds to go, fly to the palace; when the Sultan's daughter goes out to see, let the Simurg bird take her away; the miller received a wife; through For a month, the fox lay down at the mill, pretended to be dead, the miller threw him into the water; the fox called him a deceiver]: Jalil et al. 1989, No. 155:457-458.

Iran - Central Asia. The Persians (Hamadan, Azerbaijan and possibly other regions) [a grateful fox (he stole flour, but the miller did not kill him) gets a princess for the poor man; for this purpose she dances in her yard, she goes out to look, the bird takes it away; at the head of an army of wild animals, the fox defeats the king's army; drives demons out of the castle; to test man's loyalty, the fox pretended to be dead; he is not going to him mourn; in revenge, the fox informs the princess of her husband's low origin; the man was guilty and everything was settled; when the fox really died, he was mourned according to all the rules]: Marzolph 1984, no.*545:112-113; Wakhans: Grunberg, Steblin-Kamensky 1976, No. 63 (Afghan Wakhan) [a bald miller guards a thief in the vineyard, catches Lisa; she promises to marry him the royal daughter; secretly sweeps the palace with his tail; they catch her, she says that she has come as a matchmaker, the king orders her to be executed, the vizier suggests asking for forty mules loaded with gold; the fox loads the donkeys with garbage, tells the miller to drive them into the river, explains to the king that the donkeys have drowned; asks for clothes to be sent, because the groom's clothes are also gone; in the palace, the miller looks around the new clothes and the palace, Lisa explains that he was better; after the wedding, he orders him to beat the drums and tambourines, says to the one-eyed diva that a terrible dragon is coming; the diva agrees to hide in a haystack, the Fox sets fire to him, the diva's palace goes to the miller; after a while, the Fox pretended to be sick; the miller tells her to be thrown outside; the princess left, the Fox forgave the miller, persuaded the princess to return; ordered herself to be burned after death, the ash turned into a golden ring]: 468-471; Pakhalina 1975, No. 3 (Tashkurgan, 1957) [the fox stole bread from the miller twice; then came to him again and said that she was not the fox that stole it; tried to steal bread again, but the miller noticed it; the fox: "Don't hit me, I I will herd cattle"; the miller agreed; the fox grazed the cattle for five years, then ate them; said to the miller: "You did not close the gate tightly enough at the cattle pen, your cattle scattered, the wolves ate them all"; the miller took half of the sheep's carcass and gave half to the fox; told her to eat meat and make him a sheepskin coat; the fox said that she needed flour for cooking; the miller sent it; the fox coated the skin with a dough, then ate it; told the miller that the skin had rotted; he asked her to make a hat; the fox ate the skin intended for this purpose; the miller asked to make mittens; the fox also ate this skin; the miller said that he would kill the fox; the fox promised to marry him to the king's daughter; went to the king; the king wanted to drive her out, but the vizier advised me to ask her for a big dowry; King Lisa: "Consider that I gave you my daughter , just imagine ten red satin horse packs"; the fox collected the rags, loaded it on ten horses, and drove to the river bank; ripped open the packs with a knife, threw them into the river, and began to cry; the king's people came running; the fox: "They promised that we would wait for you on the river bank, and I went to the river bank - there was no one, so all the packs of red satin from my horses fell and ended up in the water, for me This is a very unpleasant lesson, because I brought these ten packs of red satin to the king as dowry for his daughter, and now all these red satin packs in the water, who should I bill?" ; the king admitted that he was responsible for what happened; the fox brought the miller, who married the king's daughter]: 146-149; Pasha'i [The fox steals the grapes of the miller's son, asks not to shoot at her; the miller He drives his son away, he is starving; the fox promises to marry him to the king's daughter; takes him to the bazaar to eat, puts him on a horse, the young man does not know how to ride; the fox tells the king that she has brought him his son-in-law; asks for paintings He takes the horse away from the young man, puts the young man on a canvas, ties him to the horse, tells him to ride, the king is pleased that his son-in-law can ride; gives his daughter; at the feast the young man wet his pants, the king gave rich clothes; they go back, the young man cries, does not know what to do; the fox brings them to the cannibal's palace; says to the army coming, tells them to hide in a bag; all together they beat the cannibal to death; the miller's son remains in the palace with daughter of the king]: Morgenstierne 1944, No. 19:118-122.