K127. The Swan Brothers, ATU 451.
.13.-.17.22.-.24.27.-.32.37.
The girl has many brothers, they are turned into birds or animals (rarely: plants; killed by witchcraft), then usually disgraced (animated; usually everything, in Georgian option - one). See K127A motif.
Nubians, Arabs of Morocco, Berbers of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Spaniards, Basques, Catalans, Portuguese, Italians (Veneto, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise), Corsicans, Sardinians, Maltese, Ladins, Scots, Irish, Frisians, Flemish, Germans (Grimms, Schleswig-Holstein, Swabia, Austria), Qatar, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Shans, India (translated from Hindi), Marathi, Punjabi, Greeks, Hungarians, Slovenes, Croats, Romanians, Bulgarians, Russians (Arkhangelsk, Voronezh), Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Luzhitans, Georgians, Armenians, Turks, Tajiks, Turkmens, Finns, Norwegians, (Icelanders), Swedes, Danes, Western Sami, Faroese, Icelanders, Latvians, Lithuanians, Lutsies, Livons, Mari, North Ryukyu.
Sudan - East Africa. The Nubians [seven brothers go to the mountains, leaving their sister at home; the old woman invites the sorcerer Senib to get rid of the brothers in order to marry their sister; he stabbed the young man with pins and turned them into bulls ; people killed and ate them, left their bones; their sister buried them, watered them, seven palm trees grew, but only on one date, the girl eats them; 25 years later S. came, ate the girl, sat under a palm tree, an ant crawled to him, he became deaf; a crocodile crawled in at night and ate it; Neil washed the palm trees, they were carried by the current, a man named Sadad Bekri buried them]: Reinisch 1879, No. 8:221-224.
North Africa. Arabs of Morocco, Berbers of Algeria, Libya, Egypt: El-Shamy 2004, No. 451:224-226; Tunisia [Aisha once lived and had 7 brothers. One day she was about to cook for them, went up to the roof, saw the smoke, and walked towards him. There was a ghoul, he gave her a coal and injured her finger. She went home and blood kept dripping from her finger. A raven flew after her to hide traces of blood, but she hurt him and he flew away. Gul found her home and came to her every day to suck blood from her finger, which she put into the keyhole. The brothers found out about the ghoul and burned it. And cabbage grew in this place. Aisha cooked it, the brothers ate it and turned into birds. Aisha went to see an old lady. She told her she should get the heart of a ghoul and a gulsha. Aisha did so, cooked them with mehmes and put them on the roof. The brothers flew in, ate and became human again. Once a maid found a ring in the house, gave it to Aisha, who put it on and died. The brothers did not want to bury her, put her on a camel, and the camel came to a group of men playing. One came up to him and accidentally touched Aisha's hand, the ring fell, she came to life, married this man and had 2 children with him. Then her older brother went looking for her. I met Aisha's husband by chance at the market. He recognized him by his strong resemblance and invited him home. Aisha told her son her story, and her brother recognized it. Everyone is happy]: Al-Aribi 2009, No. 24 in Korovkina MS
Southern Europe. Spaniards [when daughter Mariquita is born, parents forget about their seven sons, they leave; M. gets lost, ends up in the brothers' house, secretly cleans it up; the brothers wait for her, recognize her sister by the ring ; M. forgets to feed the dog, he fills the fire with urine, M. follows the fire to the dragon; she gives a gun; the dragon comes after him, everyone sucks blood from M.'s finger; the brothers kill him, on his grave Parsley grows, whoever eats will become a black bull; M. forgets about it, puts it in soup, the brothers become bulls; the prince marries M., the bulls with her; leaves; the maid turns M. into a dove, sticking her in the head is a pin, takes its place, makes the bulls work; the dove flies to the prince, he accidentally takes out the pin, M. takes a human form; the brothers are spoiled with the same pin; the maid executed]: Malinovskaya 2002:210-214; Basques (recorded in French) [seven brothers leave home; after that, the mother gives birth to a girl; while playing, other children tell her that she would be the same as good as her brothers; the mother admits that her daughter has brothers, she goes looking for them; finds the brothers' house, cleans, cooks, hides; every night when the brothers fall asleep, she sews a shirt for one of them; the youngest wakes up; the brothers do not tell her to go to her neighbor; the sister goes to look for fire to cook; the witch gives fire and herbs to put in a basin to wash her feet; immersing her legs in there, brothers turn into cows, the youngest into a Breton cow; her girlfriend loves her more than others; the king sees her, she agrees to become his wife on the condition that he allows him to take care of the cows, especially Breton; she gives birth in the absence of her husband; a witch throws her into the abyss, goes to bed in her place; tells the king that he will recover if he slaughtered a Breton cow; the servant goes after the cows, they have abyss; he hears the Queen's voice; she says that she is suffering not for herself, but because of her child, husband and cows; the king pulls his wife out of the abyss; threatens the witch to burn her in the stove if she does not return her to the young men human form; it returns, but is still burned; the ashes are scattered, the brothers married court ladies]: Webster 1879:187-191; Catalans [the couple has seven sons; the husband promises to kill them all , if another boy is born; the mother gives birth to a girl, sends a maid to give the brothers an appropriate signal; she is confused, the brothers decide that a boy has been born, they leave; the girl has grown up, goes to look brothers; because of her father's curse or the machinations of the witch, they turned into animals; the fairy teaches the girl to break the spell, but she should not talk about it; the girl agrees to marry the king, but asks not ask her about nothing she does; her mother-in-law speaks ill of her daughter-in-law, but she reminds her husband of his promise; when the brothers take on human form, the king's wife explains everything to him]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 451:100-101; Portuguese [two or seven brothers leave after the sister is born; she grows up and goes looking for them; the bird brings her to the brothers' house; they warn not to give the fire goes out, does not take water from a certain source; she violates the ban, with the help of a pin or witchcraft herbs, the witch turns brothers into oxen or deer; sister takes care of them; var.: they disappear; she agrees to marry the king if he allows her enchanted brothers to be taken; the younger brother promises to maintain contact with her sister; the black woman bewitches the king's wife, takes her place; either the courtiers are intriguing to see that the king's wife is talking to someone secretly at the gate (this is her ox brother); the king's wife is taken into custody or turning into a dove; she is disgraced by the prince, or Disgruntled brothers save, or she calls her mother and she disagrees with her sons, or witches disappoint them]: Cardigos 2006, No. 451:108-109; the Maltese [13 brothers leave home, become robbers; their sister finds them and lives in their palace; violates the ban on entering the same room; a witch is imprisoned there; she gives a piece of apple for each of the brothers; after eating them, they turn into bulls; the leper prince vows to marry a Maltese girl if he recovers; offers her hand; she agrees to keep the bulls in the palace with her; brothers disgraced, cooked in resin by a sorceress]: Mifsud-Chircop 1978, No. 451:122-123; Italians (Veneto, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise), Sardinians: Cerise, Serafini 1975, No. 451:106; Italians: Basile 2018 (Naples) [seven brothers announce to the mother that if she gives birth to a boy instead of a girl this time, they will leave; waiting on the hill for a symbol: if a son, then the mother must throw an inkwell and a pen through the window, and if the daughter, a spoon and a spindle; the mother made a mistake; the brothers went to the forest and began to live in the house of a blind orc; for this they alternately served as his guide; Chianna grew up and went to look for the brothers; found them and stayed with them; they warned them to give a share of any food to the cat; one day C. ate a bean without sharing it with the cat; she jumped on the fire, extinguishing it; C. went to the orc for fire; he began to sharpen his fangs because he hated women; C. locked herself in her room; the brothers promised to take him to the woman through the back door, pushed him into a hole and buried him; told his sister not to tear the grass in the place where an orc was buried, otherwise they would turn into pigeons; one day a wanderer came in and was injured by a cone that fell from a tree; C. chewed rosemary growing on the site of the orc's grave, made a patch; the brothers turned into pigeons; said that only Mother of Time knows how to restore their human appearance; the whale directs them to the upper reaches of the river and asks them to know what to do to prevent it from hitting the rocks; mouse: how to get rid of cats; ant: what should be done to make them ants live longer; old oak: how to regain honor (acorns used to be human food, but now only pigs); C. met an old man she had healed; he carried Time is paid from the field; he says that the mother of Time is sitting on the top of the mountain in the ruins of buildings; her eyelids are so heavy that she cannot lift them; we must tear out the watch weights; for if the old woman calls her son, he will eat what has come, but if there are no weights in the watch, he will not be able to leave his seat; C. makes the mother of Time promise not to give her away; hides, and the old woman asks her son questions; under the roots of the oak tree there is a treasure; to her paws cats must tie a bell; ants will live up to a hundred years if they give up the ability to fly; a whale (valena, j.r.) must prettier its face and make friends with a sea mouse (mr. - some kind of fish); pigeon brothers must build a nest at the top of the column of wealth; pigeons sat on the bull's horns, became young men (allusion to a cornucopia); the brothers dug a treasure from under the oak tree; they were attacked by robbers, took the money and tied to trees; but the mouse gnawed through the fetters, and the ant showed the dungeon where the robbers took the treasures; the whale took the brothers and C. to their parents]: 426-439; Calvino 1980, No. 16 (Piedmont) [12 brothers they built a house in the woods, became carpenters; their sister grew up; the raven took her necklace, she ran after her and came to her brothers; cooked, cleaned it, hid; the next day, the younger brother became watch, found her sister; the brothers told her not to talk to anyone - around the witch; one day the fire went out, the girl came to the witch's house; she gave fire, but promised to come tomorrow to suck blood from her finger; no need to unlock the door - just stick your finger out; the brothers noticed that her sister was turning pale, asked her; when the witch came again, the girl did not stick her finger out; the witch put her head in the cat's hole, the brothers cut off their heads; the girl met another witch, who gave her 12 bowls, and when the brothers ate, 11 of them turned into oxen, and the youngest, who took only a little sip, into a lamb; the prince saw a girl married her and brought her animals; the witch came, asked the young queen to pick a bunch of grapes for her while standing on the edge of the pool, pushed her into the pool, took her form, asked the king to slaughter lamb; he suspected something was amiss, went after the lamb, took his wife out of the pool; the witch was burned, and as she burned, oxen and lamb turned into people again]: 48-50; ladins [woman 7 sons and daughter; the woman turned her sons into foxes; then she regretted it, but it was too late; the sister came to the castle, where her brothers appeared in human form at midnight; she must 7 years to disgrace them be silent; settled in a hut; while hunting, the king found her, married her; went to war; his wife gave birth to a boy; his mother-in-law threw him into the lake, told her son that his wife had given birth to a kitten; the same the following year; the same 5 more times; the king ordered his wife to be burned; when she was tied to a pole, 7 knights rode, each with a boy in her arms; the Queen spoke and told everything; the Queen Mother was burned instead]: Decurtins, Brunold-Bigler 2002, No. 63:169-171; Corsicans, Sicilians: Uther 2004, No. 451:267-268.
Western Europe. Germans: Grimm 1883 [in texts for children: three nuts or eggs are presented, inside them are a gold dress, a silver dress, a chicken with 7 (or 12) chickens; these are the sun, the moon, the Pleiades]: 728; Grimm, Grimm 1987, No. 9 [the king and queen have 12 sons; the king orders them to be killed if a daughter is born; the mother tells the sons to leave and see if she raises a white or red flag; the brothers see a red one, so a girl was born, they go to the forest, promising to kill her sister; she grew up, saw 12 shirts, found out from her mother what happened, came to a house in the woods; there's younger brother Veniamin, he hides her, takes her from The brothers say not to kill her; they see a sister with a gold star in her forehead; promise to love her; she accidentally picks 12 lilies, the brothers turn into crows, fly away; the old woman says that it takes 7 years to remain silent and do not laugh; the sister spins while sitting in a tree; the king finds her, marries her; his mother persuades her son to burn a strange beggar; crows arrive at the last moment, they are 7 years old, they are young men they scattered a fire; the king's mother was put in a barrel of boiling oil and snakes]: 32-36 (=Grimm, Grimm 1987:30-34); Germans (Swabia) [the woman baked three pies, took them to the cellar; her three sons they sniffed and ate everything; woman: let those who ate them turn into ravens; the brothers flew away in crows, telling her sister to take three chicken legs and come a year later to the glass mountain where their castle will be; she came the castle is empty; took an older brother's spoon, ate from her middle plate and drank from her younger's mug; hid; the brothers flew in before midnight; began to look for who they ate and drank; found a sister; she would be able to do them to spell if she goes to the forest and does not say a word in 7 years; a year later, the hunter found her, married her; she gave birth to a son in his absence; the midwife replaced him with a dog and threw the child into the river; crows- the brothers picked him up; the same with the second son; after the third, the husband ordered his wife to be burned at the stake; the years were just over; three white knights appeared on white horses, missing sons in their arms; the midwife was burned at the stake; the brothers did not leave their sister and her children to their abusive husband, but took them with them]: Meier 1852a, No. 49:174-179; Germans (Austria) [stepmother curses seven stepsons, they fly away as crows; sister goes in search; old woman: you have to cut your finger and leg - only while blood drips, you can climb to the top of the mountain; there is a castle on the mountain, brothers fly in, become human; they tell my sister that she needs to remain silent for 7 years, make 7 nettle shirts for them; the king sees a girl, marries; she gives birth to a boy, a servant replaces him with a puppy; next time a kitten; an animal; the king puts his wife in a tenmnitsa; she does not grabs nettles, the maid brings them; she is taken to the fire; 7 years are over, the crows have arrived, become human; the seventh shirt has an incomplete sleeve, instead of his left hand, the younger brother has a wing; he stays with sister and her king husband]: Cerf 1992:175-181; Irish: Danaher 1967, No. 35 [the Queen has 12 sons but wants a daughter; tells the witch she is willing to sacrifice her sons for her daughter; as soon as a girl was born, her sons turned into swans; when the girl was 16, her mother told her everything, she went in search of her brothers; she comes to the castle, where they become young men again at night; witch doctor: if the girl will collect {some plant}, make yarn, cloth, sew shirts for her brothers and will not say a word during this time, they will become human again; the prince learned about the beautiful weaver, took her as his wife, she gave birth to a son; a witch stole him, sprinkled chicken blood on her mother's cradle and shirt; the woman was sentenced to burn; she continues to work on her way to the place of execution; when the fire was set on fire, she called out to brothers, swans flew in, put out the fire, she threw shirts over everyone, they became human again; she did not have time to finish the youngest's shirt, he had a swan wing instead of one hand; the prince ordered find a witch, a kidnapped boy with her; a witch burned]: 108-112; Jackson 1936 [12 bewitched brothers and 12 shirts that their sister weaves nettle]: 287; Larminie 1893 [the king's first wife died , leaving three sons and daughter Gilla; every day N. takes food to the brothers to the island; she has a magic cloak, but she does not know that if you lend it to anyone, his power will run out; the poultry house tells a new one the queen about the old children; she sends her eldest daughter to the island, G. casts a fog, the daughter of the new queen has returned; the same from the middle one; the youngest reached the island and saw G. cut off her brothers' heads, washed and put it in her place; the next time she asked G. for a raincoat, sailed in her place; one brother doubted, but the other unlocked the door; the imaginary G. cut off the brothers' heads and threw them away; G. found their heads but they no longer grew; G. called to God, the brothers came to life, but in the form of "water dogs" (otters) and G. became fourth; then turned into pigeons; G. turned water into wine and made the blind man sighted; The brothers said they would become human again if she made them shirts out of ivy leaves in a year and day without shedding tears; George na Riell found her in a forest house, she has a child with him; the Queen's daughter killed the child, made a lump of ash and blood, put G. in her mouth; said she ate her child; George na Riell ordered G. to be burned, but at the last moment three crows flew in, G. threw them on them shirts and they became people, told everything; the Queen's daughter was burned; George na Riell married G.]: 179-187; the Irish [the king and queen have 12 sons; seeing the raven go down to the slaughtered man in winter calf, the queen wished to have a daughter with skin white as snow, cheeks red as blood, hair black as raven, ready to give all 12 sons for her; an old woman appeared and said that the daughter would be born, but at the same time, the sons will be gone; when she gave birth, the sons turned into geese and flew away {skip the pdf page}; the girl comes to the brothers' house; they swore to kill her but do not want to do so; appears old woman: if you kill, I will turn you into cane; let the girl collect swamp fluff in five years, hide threads from it, wear shirts and be silent all this time; the prince met the girl and married him; him the mother hates her daughter-in-law; when the Queen gave birth, the Queen Mother put her to sleep and gave the child to the wolf, who appeared in the garden and took it away; the same for the second time; the Queen smeared the mother's lips with blood so that everyone believed that she ate the child herself; they decided to burn her; at the moment when the hangman lit the fire, the Queen finished her work, put shirts on the geese that had arrived and they became young men; appeared a woman, leading one hand and holding a baby, the Queen's children; the Queen Mother and her henchmen were torn apart by horses]: Kennedy 1875, No. 2:14-19; Scots, Frisians, Germans ( Schleswig-Holstein), Flemish: Uther 2004, No. 451:267-268.
Western Asia. Qatar, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Yemen: El-Shamy 2004, No. 451:224-226.
Burma - Indochina. Shana [the queen dies, leaving 11 sons and a daughter; the stepmother feeds her stepchildren with enchanted dishes, they turn into ducks; blames their sister for this, turns her ugly, drives her away; the old woman tells her in a dream that at night the brothers turn into people again; the girl bathes, restores her former beauty; brother ducks also fly to the lake, throw off their bird's clothes; the old woman explains that brothers will remain human if the sister silently weaves burdock clothes for them; the prince sees a dumb woman, takes her home; the watchman sees a girl picking burdock in the cemetery at night; she is gathered burn like a sorceress; brothers fly in, grab clothes, turn into young men, save their sister from the fire; the brothers' father drives his sorceress wife away, sons inherit his throne]: Zapadova 1977:318-322 (Kasevich, Osipov 1976, No. 184:534-540).
South Asia. India (translated from Hindi) [sadhu gives the queen a drink of ash and milk, she becomes pregnant; in order for a daughter to be born, the queen's 12 sons must go to the forest; the daughter sees the princes' children's shirts, the mother is forced to tell her about her brothers, she leaves, finds brothers; the 12-year spell ends; the sister comes to the garden, tears flowers, a witch appears, the brothers turn into ravens; to turn them back into people, the sister must be silent for 11 years; the king finds her; his older wives smear her new mouth with the blood of an infant; the king orders his wife to be burned; the crows who have arrived take her away from the fire, turn into princes; the king burned seven wives and counselor]: Zographer 1964:398-410; Marathi [the king sees a tree without leaves with 101 fruits; the vizier explains that if the king marries the gardener's daughter, she will give him 100 sons and daughter; he marries, and the 12 older wives consider it a shame for them; when leaving, the king leaves a bell to his new wife; she rings three times to see if the king really returns immediately; when 12 times They attacked, she called, but the king did not come; she gave birth to 101 children, the wives replaced them with stones, the maid threw the babies on the pile of garbage, the king who returned left his wife in prison forever; the bandicoot hid them, began to educate; wives told me to dig up a pile of garbage, the bandicoot hid the children under the steps near the temple of the god of wisdom Gunputti; the laundress's daughter spoke about this, the steps were raised, the bandicoot was killed, the temple was burned down, the boys became mango trees, the girl became a rose bush; the laundress's daughter recognized them again, the trees were uprooted, they were going to burn them, but G. sent a storm, the trees fell into the river, swam out, became human again; brothers met Rakshasi, she turned them into ravens; the king found a girl, married them, named Draupadí Bai, agreed to take crows; D. gave birth to a son, Ramchundra; he grew up, found that rakshasi, became a servant; she showed water to revive the enchanted, a stick to create obstacles, and each of its hair would burn the forest; R. runs away, taking water, a stick and hairs, Rakshasi pursues, he creates a river with a stick ( rakshasi swims across), mountain (climbs), throws hairs (rakshasi burns); restores the mother's brothers to their human appearance; Father D. and his 12 wives are invited to the festival; brothers and sister tell father to bring their mother; everyone says; 12 wives were burned alive and the vile maid was forgotten to be executed]: Frere 1868, No. 4:55-71; Punjabi [{not all pages on the Internet, but the story is clear};... the king is hungry and thirsty , one gold is around; an ugly witch (dain) appears, gives water; she is immensely rich and the king decides to marry her; after becoming a queen, the witch turned 7 princes into swans, they flew away; their sister goes to searching; the old woman says that in the evening the swans fly to the spring; the sister waited for them, they are happy, after dark they became young men; in the morning they flew away again in the guise of swans; the voice teaches princess; on the mountain there is a tree with red fruits; the fibers in its leaves must be woven into shirts for the brothers, then the spell will dissipate; but until the shirts are ready, we must remain silent; every night the princess she takes her shirt off; but on the fifth day she is seen and taken away by the prince; notices that at night she goes to a tree, that swans are circling around her during the day; decides that the girl is a witch, is going to put a poisonous one on her the snake; but she opened the window and the swans pecked the snake; the sister threw shirts on the brothers and they became young men again]: Sheikh-Dilthey 1976, No. 10:48-51 {52?}.
Malaysia-Indonesia. Java [the king was told that if he wanted a daughter, he must sacrifice his 12 sons; the queen negotiates with her sons; if she raises a black flag, she has given birth to a son, if the red flag is a daughter; red rises, the brothers leave; the daughter grows up, goes to look for them, stays with the old woman; in her absence, the prince of spirits comes, the princess does not answer him, he takes her to his palace, to the garden offers treasures; asks in her hearts why she is silent like a dog; she becomes a dog; prince: if you agree to become my wife, you will regain your human form; she hears the bushes talking in garden: these are her enchanted brothers; she agreed to become the prince's wife, took on a human form, asked him to be returned to her brothers, it happened; asked where the soul of the prince of spirits was; in a throat in a cage for the palace; the brothers drowned the cage, the prince rushed to the grave and died, they took possession of his palace]: Kratz 1973, No. 20:125-131.
The Balkans. The Greeks [the father is happy that a daughter was born; she must be bathed; he sends seven sons to fetch water, they broke the jug; they were afraid to return, the father cursed them, turning them into crows; repented, but late; the sister found out everything from her mother, went to look for her brothers; the Sun is too hot, the Month is cannibal; the Stars are friendly; the Morning Star gave the bat's foot bone to open the tower where the brothers are; servant let her in, prepared food and wine; she drank and ate from each serving, threw her mother's ring into her younger brother's glass; he realizes that her sister is there, brothers immediately become human]: Megas 1970, No. 31:79- 81; Croats [the poor widow has 9 sons and a daughter; she has nothing to feed her sons - let them at least turn into wolves; the brothers ran away as wolves; the girl grew up; when she found out what had happened to her brothers, she went looking for them; came to the house where the old woman came; she hid her from the wolves on the roof; wolves came running and became young men; the old woman showed them the girl, they are happy; to spell them, the sister must remain silent for 9 years; she herds cows, the prince saw her; married; when she gave birth, her mother-in-law threw the baby out the window into the lake, but the white wolf picked him up; so three times; puppies instead of babies; the prince agreed to hang his wife; at the last the moment 9 knights rode on white horses, brought three children; the term expired, the spell was removed; the prince expelled his mother]: Eschker 1992, No. 23:121-127; Bulgarians [according to the witch (or mother's curse) 9 (11) The brothers are turned into birds (swans, crows) and fly away; the sister goes in search, meets them, they carry her on their wings (in a net) across the sea to another kingdom; she meets the prince, marries; she finds out what can spell the brothers if she manages to weave a nettle (linen) shirt for everyone without saying a word during this time; accused of witchcraft; at the last moment the brothers arrive, she throws on they are shirts, they turn into young men; only one sleeve was not ready; (influence of published translations)]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 451:160; Hungarians, Slovenes, Romanians : Uther 2004, No. 451:267-268
Central Europe. Russians (Voronezhskaya, 1968, p. Vorontsovka, Pavlovsky District) [The witch stepmother turns 12 stepsons into swans, takes her stepdaughter to the forest. The girl lives in a cave by the lake and sees 12 swans flying ashore, hears 12 knights talking about looking for a sister, going out to them and recognizing their brothers. The witch's grandmother tells the girl that she must knit 12 nettle shirts for her brothers to be human again, but she can't talk until she does. The girl goes to the cemetery to pick nettles, meets the prince and he takes her to his kingdom. They don't like her there for her silence, they suspect that she is a witch. When she is taken to death, swans appear, she puts on shirts, does not have time to tie her sleeve on her last shirt, and one brother has a wing instead of a hand. She tells the prince that she rescued her brothers, her stepmother is put in a barrel and thrown into the sea. Prince marries a girl]: Kretov 1977, No. 31:53-54; Russians (Voronezh) [Tsar Paltim has 12 sons, his wife Lisaveta is expecting another child, and the tsar promises to kill all sons if a daughter will be born and prepares coffins for them. Lisaveta tells her sons about her father's plans, they leave home and climb a tree, and their mother knit shirts for them. When a girl, Lisaveta, is born, the mother raises a blue flag over the palace (which means that a daughter is born and sons cannot return, red would mean that they can return), the sons go to live in the forest. When her daughter, the Golden Star, grows up, she learns from her mother about her brothers, takes their shirts and goes looking for them. She comes to their forest hut, tells her brother who she is and he explains to others. She stays with them. The girl drops her brothers' shirts into the river, finds them and enchants them by Baba Yaga. Brothers turn into swans. Baba Yaga tells the girl how to heal her brothers: knit nettle shirts. Hunters notice a girl, one of them marries her, but she does not talk, she tears nettles at night. He decides (at the suggestion of his mother) that she is a witch and wants to burn at the stake. Twelve swans arrive, she puts shirts on them, and they turn into her brothers (she doesn't have time to tie her sleeve alone)]: Baryshnikova 2007, No. 39:165-169; Russians (Arkhangelskaya, Mezen, d. Vozhegora, 1927) [The king has 12 sons, he decides to kill them if the queen gives birth to a daughter and prepares 12 coffins. She tells her sons about this, shows the coffin room and promises to hang a red flag if she gives birth to a girl and a white flag if she gives birth to a boy. The brothers see the red flag, go into the forest and build a hut. The daughter finds a room with 12 coffins, a chest with 12 shirts, asks her mother where her brothers are, she says. The girl goes looking for her brothers. They agree to kill every girl they meet because their sister is forced to live in the woods. The girl meets one of her brothers at the house, tells her who she is, he feels sorry for her and introduces her brothers, but forbids them to kiss. The brothers accept their sister, but she happily forgets the warning and kisses her brothers. They turn into crows and fly away, and she stops for 7 years and makes nettle shirts for them. The girl marries the prince, she weaves shirts day and night, they hate her silence, she does not have time to tie the sleeve of her last shirt when she is sent to the fire. She is rescued by her crow brothers (they extinguished the fire with their wings), she puts on shirts for her brothers, they become human again, only one brother is left without an arm. She starts talking and lives happily with her husband again]: Karnaukhova 1934, No. 136:262-263; Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians: SUS 1979, No. 451:135-136; Poles [King 12 sons and daughter; 12 years after the Queen's death, he marries the daughter of a witch; she turns stepsons into eagles, stepdaughter into a dove; the old man turns her into a basilisk, everyone falls at his sight dead; the same old man restored the dove to its human appearance; gave an inexhaustible bun; it approaches the gates of another world at the bottom of the abyss; Death with a scythe says that eagles come here, but they are not allowed in; from tears, the royal eagles are once again young men; a huge bird descends to carry them from the bottom of the abyss; brothers and sister sit on her, the queen feeds her a bun; the wind pulls out a bun; the queen cuts off for herself breasts, feeds a bird; on the ground, the bird breathed on his wounds, his breasts grew; the king returned from the war, the voivode killed the basilisk using a mirror, the king ordered the body of the basilisk to be burned; everyone is happy]: Dombrovsky 1992:68-76; Czechs, Slovaks, Lužians: Uther 2004, No. 451:267-268.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Georgians [nine brothers go hunting; tell their mother that they will not return if she gives birth to a boy again; a mother gives birth to a girl, puts a spindle on the gate; an evil neighbor replaces him with a yoke; the brothers decide that a boy was born, they leave; another girl tells the siblings that her brothers are missing because of her; the daughter bites her mother's chest, forcing her to reveal the truth; she comes to the brothers, who do not know who cleans the house; they find her; warn her not to let the fire go out; the girl comes to the mother of the devas; she gives smut and cilantro seeds, finds a house on them; dev bites off the girl's finger; the next day his brothers kill him; the mother of the devas asks them to put medicine in the brothers' food; they turn into deer, run away; one walks with her; the prince wants to shoot, the girl asks not to do so; the prince marries her ; a neighbor tells her servants to drown her, puts on her clothes, replaces her, tells her to stab a deer; he calls her sister, she answers, tells the king not to carry water, not to sharpen his dagger; the servants pull out the woman, the impostor is tied to the horse's tail]: Kurdovanidze 1988 (1), No. 54:213-218; Turks: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 165 (Istanbul, Ankara, Kars; this option is probably borrowed from Europe via literary source) [the mother is ready to give her two (11, 12, 7) sons as long as a daughter is born; after the birth of her sister, the brothers turn into wild ducks (pigeons, swans, birds, cats; var.: their an evil mother-in-law turns birds); the sister grew up, found out that she had brothers, went to look for them; comes to a house where brothers live in the guise of people at night, and they are ducks during the day; they will become people if she is wears them barbed fiber shirts and will remain silent all this time; a prince sees her, takes her as a wife; her brother's jealous sister consistently hides the three boys she gives birth to, accuses her of murder; at the last moment, the sister manages to finish the work, the brothers take on a human form, only the youngest has a wing: the sister did not have time to weave one sleeve], 166 [the woman has 7 sons; they they promise to leave if the mother gives birth to a boy again; the mother gives birth to a girl, but the villain replaces the red flag with a black one; the girl grew up, went to look for her brothers, came to their castle; they warn her not to give the fire goes out; the fire goes out, the sister comes to the giantess for the fire; she gives fire and then finds the girl on the ash trail; after digging a trap hole, the brothers kill the giantess's brother who has come (and kill her sons); the giantess kills brothers by putting her sons' teeth on them; the sister finds her teeth, pulls her teeth out, the brothers come to life, return home with the setra]: 182-183, 183-185; Armenians [seven Brothers are told to put a spindle on the roof if a girl is born and a plow if a boy is born again; someone mistakenly put a plow, the brothers have left; the girl has grown up; someone has lost a ball; all girls swore by their brothers that they did not take the ball, and this one swore as a dog; the mother admitted that the girl had brothers; she came to the house in the woods, cleaned and cooked, hid; the younger brother became to guard, I saw my sister; one day the fire went out, the girl saw smoke, came, and there was a terrible old woman, the mother of a deva; she gave coal and ash, the devil found a house on the fly; the girl refused to unlock it, but agreed to stick her finger out; the dev bit him off, she fainted; the brothers killed the deva, buried it; the deva's mother watered the grave, the grass grew, the brothers put her in soup, turned into rams; the prince took the girl, promised to take her brothers; a relative of the prince pushed his wife into the water, put on her dress, her husband did not notice the change; the liar pretended to be sick, asked to slaughter the sheep; they came to the shore, asking sister go out; she swam out, the brothers became human again, the liar was tied to the tail of a mule, let him flee the mountain; three apples fell from the sky]: Nazinyan 1969:135-138.
Iran - Central Asia. Tajiks [seven brothers want a sister, go hunting; a mother gives birth to a girl Gulmokh, hangs a spinning wheel on the gate, an angry neighbor replaces her with a bow; friends tell G. that her brothers are gone, when she was born; she asks her mother to give her a hot wheat with her hand, clamps her hand, makes her tell the truth; she comes to the brothers' house, they do not understand who is cleaning; only the younger brother does not fall asleep, the guard; the fire goes out, G. comes to Baba Yaga for him; she gives fire, tells him to throw wheat along the way, comes after a goat, tells herself to comb her hair, sucks G.'s blood; the brothers push Baba Yaga into a hole, fall asleep earth; dill grows there; after eating it, brothers and sister turn into pigeons, fly to their father's house; brothers turn into poplars, sister into an apple tree; they do not give apples to the prince, for he did not do good deeds; let the old man rip off, brothers and sister get out of their trunks, hug their parents]: Amonov, Ulug-zade 1960:98-105; Turkmens [seven hunting brothers tell a pregnant mother to hang it out at the gate a doll if a daughter is born; evil neighbors replace her with a bow and arrow; brothers do not return; born Ak-Pamyk does not know that she has brothers; neighbors tell her to squeeze her mother's hand when she takes hot wheat grains; the mother talks about the brothers, gives a rolling cake that shows the way; AP cleans up the brothers in the cave; the youngest does not fall asleep, the AP grabs, she tells who she is; eats the berry promised to the cat , he blows out the fire; AP comes to the diva for fire; he gives, when he comes, kills the brothers; the old woman says that only the milk of the cannibal camel Ak-Maya will revive them; her camel helps AP, sucks, pouring into wineskin; AM chases AP, she splashes some of the milk, forms the Milky Way; AP revives the brothers, but the youngest does not have enough shoulder blades; brothers are married, wives hate AP, they pour lead into her ears, she dumb and deaf; she is sent on a camel to look for a husband; she is married by a prince, a vizier's son takes a camel; advises the prince to look for a second wife; the son pushes AP, lead falls out of her; when he learns that the wife has recovered, the prince sent a new one back; Uncle Bayram meets AP's son; she sends bags of scorpions to the brothers' wives, they die]: Sokali et al. 1955:69-81.
Baltoscandia. Western Sami, Faroese, Icelanders: Uther 2004, No. 451:267-268; Finns [the king has 12 sons, the queen is pregnant; the king decides to kill sons if a daughter is born, then she will have a large dowry; the mother sends her sons to the cave from where you can see the castle tower; if a boy is born, they will raise a white flag, if the girl is red; then she should leave; a daughter is born; the brothers are gone, promising to kill her sister, who was responsible for their expulsion; the sister grew up, found 12 men's shirts and went looking for brothers; her sister was met by her younger brother, the others also fell in love with her; 12 red ones grew up in front of the house flowers; the girl, without assuming the consequences, picked them off, the brothers flew away in crows; old woman: to restore their human appearance, it takes 7 years not to talk or laugh; the king found the girl and married them; his mother considers her a sorceress and orders her to be burned; when the fire caught fire, seven years old, the crows flew in and became young men, extinguished the fire; the king's mother was expelled]: Concca 1993:85-93; Norwegians [ the Queen a drop of blood from her nose falls on the snow; she wants to have a daughter white as snow, red as blood, ready to give her 12 sons for it; the trollich promises to fulfill her wish, will take her sons like only the daughter will be around; the queen orders a silver spoon for her sons and daughter; sons turn into wild ducks, fly away; daughters are sad that she does not have brothers; the mother tells her the truth, she goes to look for brothers; finds a home in the woods, secretly cooks and cleans; 12 ducks fly in, become princes; take their silver spoons, see another one, realize that the sister is nearby; the elder offers her kill, because she is to blame for their transformation, the youngest says she is not to blame; the brothers find her under the bed; the elder promises to save her life if she helps them; the sister must hide the thistle, sew 12 shirts, 12 capes, 12 scarves, then the brothers will find a human forever; before that she cannot talk, laugh and cry; when she collects fluff, the prince takes her away, marries her; her prince's stepmother hates; throws her child into a hole with snakes, cuts his finger, smears blood on her mouth, says that she ate the baby; so three times; the prince agrees to have his wife burned; the clothes for the brothers are ready, only with the shirt the younger brother is missing one sleeve; the youngest is reborn without an arm; the sister can talk, explains everything; the stepmother was torn apart by 12 horses; three children were found alive and well in the pit]: Dasent 1970:51-59; Danes [12 brothers consistently leave home and disappear; all horses are foals of the same mare; the younger sister on this mare goes to look for brothers, comes to see the ogre, his brothers; they they tell her to hide under the bed and not take anything that falls there; the ogre's golden comb falls; her sister takes it and combs her brothers, they turn into deer; the youngest says they can to spell; to do this, the sister must collect herbs and weave 12 shirts in 12 years without saying a word or tear; the king met her and married her; when she gives birth to a child, his queen mother picks up and tells the maid to kill, accuses the daughter-in-law of eating the baby; the maid hides the boy; so three times; after that, the king agrees to send his wife to the fire; standing in front of the fire, a woman washes a tear with a handkerchief; the deer take turns running up, the woman puts a shirt over each of them, restoring their human appearance to the brothers; the youngest is missing one eye; the sister takes it from her scarf and inserts it in ; Queen Mother punished, all is well]: Holbek 1987:547-548; Swedes []: Liungman 1961, No. 451:105-106; (cf. Swedes (Smaland) [the prince is predicted that his future wife will give birth to 12 twins; no one wants such a fate, only the maid agrees; the prince's mother replaces children with puppies; his wife and her offspring they must burn, but she escapes, and another woman with dolls is burned; the children have gold chains around their necks; when the prince's mother manages to kidnap them, the brothers turn into ravens; only one keeps the chain, remains human; the old man gives him a whistle that allows him to complete any task; one of them is to make a golden crown; while completing tasks, he finds chains and restores his brothers to their human appearance; together with As a mother, brothers come to the castle when the king is about to take another wife; the king returns the first one, the Queen Mother condemns herself: she was torn apart by horses]: Christiansen 1959:119; Icelanders [The king has 12 sons; bad weather found them hunting, they got lost, the giantess came to the cave; she is kind enough to give them food; she has 11 daughters and a captive girl; she teaches sleeping daughters to cut curls giantesses, put on her head; then at night the giantess will slaughter her own daughters; so it happened; the last of the princes jumped up and the giantess understood everything; cast a spell: the brothers will turn into bulls until until someone gives them the same food they eat on an island in the middle of the lake; a girl by the same lake will pour water from one well to another; the brothers killed and burned the giantess, and then disappeared with the girl; people noticed that 12 bulls regularly come to the palace; the poor's son Thorstein went to solve this riddle; asked the king to leave him in the palace for a year; went after the bulls; they they took him to an island where they became a young man; when they swam back, T. saw a girl overflowing with water; sprinkled her with water and she recovered; in the palace, the bulls were given the same bread and wine as they were on island, then they became human again; feast; T. married a royal daughter; he was made heir to the throne]: Poestion 1884, No. 36:297-303); Latvians: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 451 [Sister saves bewitched brothers. A father (mother) turns sons into birds (wolves). (Also: a father wants to kill his sons if a daughter is born. Sons run to the forest) My sister is looking for brothers. To save them, she must remain dumb for a long time and weave herb shirts. The king marries her and they have children. The witch takes them away, the king thinks his wife is a witch and is going to burn her. At the time of execution, brother birds flock, the sister puts shirts on them, the birds turn into people and the sister can speak again]: 287; Grishina 1993 [the mother has 7 sons; she wants a daughter: even after this son will become wolves; and so it happened; the girl grew up, prepared 7 shirts, sheets, towels each, went to look for brothers; the old man shows the way, gives a twig: she will turn into a boat to swim across island; at night brothers become human; brothers are happy with their sister; to spell them, you have to sit in a tree for 7 years, be silent, not cry or laugh; the deadline is almost over, but the king saw the girl, told remove from the tree, she shed a tear; the king married her; when she gave birth, the Queen Mother sent a letter to her son that his wife had given birth to either a dog or a cat; the king orders his wife to be burned; come running 7 brothers who became human, alone brings his son to the king; the king burned his mother at the stake]: 227-233; Lithuanians [133 options; sometimes brothers turn into crows, sister weaves nettle shirts; father died, the mother was left with her four sons, went to borrow peas from her neighbor, slipped back, the peas crumbled, the mother in her hearts wished her sons to run away as wolves; so happened; from her second husband the woman has a daughter; when she found out that she had brothers, the sister weaved a shirt and a towel for each of them, went to look for brothers; she came to the sun, she told her mother to cook the chicken: let the girl eat, and the bones will be put in a bag; the moon has the same; the star knows that the brothers are in the palace on bone mountain; to get up, you have to take it out the bone and put it under your feet; one bone was not enough, girl bit off her little finger; in the palace she put her shirt and towel on each of the four beds; 4 wolves ran in, threw off their skins; when they saw her sister, they were angry: if she hadn't come, the spell would soon have slept; now let her sit silently in the forest for three years (9 years); the king's men noticed her in a tree; without getting an answer from the girl, the king ordered her to be burned; at the last moment her four brothers rode, returned from sister to mother]: Kerbelite 2014, No. 111:273-278; Lutsi (1893; the informant learned a fairy tale from non-Estonian speakers) [the family has three sons and a daughter; the mother is dead, the father married a witch; the brothers want to go to church and everyone wants a better horse; start fighting; stepmother: fight like this; brothers are leaving. (it is clear from the following: they are friends at night, they fight with iron clubs during the day); the sister went to look for brothers; the old man called animals - they don't know; sent them to another, who called birds; birds: brothers fight in the ninth a kingdom by the sea; the sister came to their house, bit off her older brother's edge, hid behind the stove; the next day she put her mother's ring in the middle town; the brothers recognized him and rejoiced at his sister; she will save them if she has not said a word for 9 years; the sister left, lay down in the coffin; the prince was driving, the servant found the girl so beautiful that she could not leave; the same second; the prince himself came, brought them to him, married them; the wife gave birth; the prince's stepmother cut off the baby's leg, put it in the mouth of the woman in labor; the same with the second child; the woman was going to hang; 9 years passed, brothers appeared, and angels appeared from heaven; everyone to heaven, and the prince's stepmother to hell with no sun or moon]: Annom et al. 2018:131-134; the Livs [mother has 7 sons and a daughter; she can't feed them, she turned her sons into eagles; when the daughter asked where her brothers were, her mother made her dumb for 7 years; she went to look for her brothers, came to their cave; there are 7 hats, plates, spoons, beds; she cleans everything up; brothers suspect it is a sister; on the third day they find her under the bed; young the master decided to marry the girl; his father is against (the bride is dumb), decided to hang her; the son dissuaded her, and the next time the seven-year sentence ended; she told everything; married, and the brothers too turned into people]: Setälä in Kippar 2002:53-54.
Volga - Perm. Marie: Uther 2004, No. 451:267-268
Japan. North Ryukyu [version 1 throughout Japan; seven brothers have a younger sister; stepmother turns brothers into swans; they take their sister to a lonely island, stay there with her; in a dream, the old man speaks to the girl that she should weave clothes for her brothers from the grass growing on the island; the brothers put them on, become young men again; they return home with her sister; the stepmother turns into a swan, flies away]: Ikeda 1971.