K14E. Sons think their father is rich, ATU 982.
.13.-.17.21.-.24.26.-.31.
Sons don't care about their elderly father (rare: daughter-in-law doesn't care about their mother-in-law). He pretends to be hiding something. Sons believe that these are values that their father will leave them and begin to care for him.
Arabs of Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Berbers of Morocco, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalans, Italians (Trieste), Sicilians, Corsicans, Maltese, British, Irish, Bretons, Frisians, Flemish, Dutch, Germans, Qatar, Saudia, Palestinians, Arameans, Tibetans, Khmers, Kashmiris, Sinhalese, Simalur, Chinese, Slovenes, Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Romanians, Greeks, Czechs, Slovaks, Russians ( Voronezh), Ukrainians (Ivano-Frankivsk, Podolia, Kiev), Belarusians, Adygs, Persians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians.
Sudan - East Africa. Sudanese Arabs: El-Shamy 2004, No. 982:685-686
North Africa. Egyptian/Libyan Arabs: El-Shamy 2004, No. 982:685-686; Moroccan Berbers: Topper 1986, No. 24 in Uther 2004 (1), No. 982:613-614.
Southern Europe. Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians: Uther 2004 (1), No. 982:513; Catalans (incl. Mallorca and Minorca) [sons care for their elderly father because they expect him to leave them a great inheritance or because he pretends to leave them a big inheritance, although This is actually not the case]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 982:197; Corsicans [a person has four or five married sons; they ask him to divide his property between them and they will take turns feeding him; They draw lots, everyone is dissatisfied with what he has received; the father remains with the eldest son; the daughter-in-law reproaches him in a piece, he is uncomfortable and ashamed; the priest gives him a purse with money and tells him, spending the night on the second floor, counting money loudly; daughter-in-law peeks through a gap in the ceiling; father puts a baton in a bag and locks it all in a chest, and returns the money to the priest; after that, he is fed enough and asked to stay more; father died and after the funeral everyone rushed to the chest: it only had a baton in it]: Massignon 1984:206-207 (=Tenèze, Bru 2004, No. 982:201-203); Maltese [elderly widower gives everything property for his sons; they treat him badly together with his daughters-in-law (he is blind in one eye and is asked to look after the chickens); he borrowed money and rings it so that the children can hear; after that, they think that The father keeps the money in the chest and begins to treat him well (sons fight for the right to keep their father in their house); there are only stones in the chest; (the father leaves a will according to which the sons must spend a lot on his funeral; as a result, they went bankrupt)]: Mifsud-Chircop 1978, No. 982:414-416; Italians (Trieste), Sicilians: Mifsud-Chircop 1978:416.
Western Europe. English, Irish, Frisian, Flemish, Dutch, German: Uther 2004 (1), No. 982:613-614; Bretons: Luzel in Tenèze, Bru 2004:203.
Western Asia. Palestinians, Qatar, Saudi Arabia: El-Shamy 2004, No. 982:685-686; Aramaics: Arnold 1994, No. 12 in Uther 2004 (1), No. 982:613-614.
Tibet is the Northeast of India. The Tibetans [the daughter got married, the son brought two wives into the house; then the son and mother died, and the daughters-in-law forced the father-in-law to herd cattle all day and hardly fed them; he asks the caravans to hand over to his daughter that she is happy with life, because who else has power but a shepherd; eats cheese and blood; sometimes drinks wine, but does not need barley and does not have bubbles (i.e. water) to make it; the daughter understood everything and sent her father a precious bead, placing it in a brick; the old man also understood everything, took out a bead out of the brick; showed it to each daughter-in-law, promising to leave the bead after death for her; before death he put it a bead on the rafters of the house above the pond; gave her daughter: the treasure is around the dragon's neck, and his image is in the sea; the daughter understood, saw the reflection of the bead in the water, took it]: Shelton 1925, No. 37:147-150.
Burma - Indochina. Khmer: Gaudes 1987, No. 72 in Uther 2004 (1), No. 982:613-614.
South Asia. Kashmiris [the rich man thought he would die soon and divided his property between his sons; but he survived, but his sons began to treat him rude; his friend brought him four bags of stones and advised him to pretend that the bags were in the bags, which he is now paying back; the sons surrounded their father with care, and when they opened the bags after his death, they realized that they had been carried out]: Knowles 1888:241-242; Sinhalese [the widow advises her son to marry; he collects potsherds in a bag, gives her mother and tells her to pretend that there is money in the bag and then put it in the chest; then the daughter-in-law will treat her with respect ; the mother fell ill with leprosy; now the son advises keeping the bag by the bed and telling everyone what she has accumulated over her entire life and that she will give it to the person who cares about her most; until her death the woman was surrounded by care; when she died, her daughter-in-law stole the bag and hid it, and when she opened it, she was terribly upset and angry; so did the mother of her daughter-in-law; after that, the young woman left her husband and returned to her mother's house; (in a version recorded by S.H. Goonetilleke, instead of pebbles potsherds)]: Parker 1914b, No. 234:240-242.
Malaysia-Indonesia. Simalur [the rich man gave the property to his three sons, but they stopped feeding him; a friend gave him a stone wrapped in cloth and told him never to part with it; the sons believed that it was a talisman , who gives wealth; after his death, sons argue over inheritance; everything has been clarified; since then people have not given away property during their lifetime]: Koehler 1964:81-84.
China - Korea. The Chinese [{many sources; apparently the story was actually recorded by the Chinese, not the minorities}]: Ting 1978, No. 982.
The Balkans. Slovenes, Serbs, Croats, Hungarians, Romanians, Greeks: Uther 2004 (1), No. 982:613-614; Bulgarians [the old man divided the property between his sons; after None of them care about it; a friend gave the old man money to defiantly count it that night; after giving money, the old man returned it to his friend, but pretended to hide it in a night pot; My daughter-in-law noticed this, and the old man was well cared for; after his death, stones with crap were found in the pot]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 982:366-367.
Central Europe. Russians (Voronezh), Ukrainians (Ivano-Frankivsk, Podolia, Kiev), Belarusians [Stones in the chest: adult children treat their old father badly, do not let him eat; on the advice of a friend (out of his own ingenuity), he fills his chest with stones and counts them every day like money; the children then begin to read him, feed him well; after the old man dies in the chest only stones are found]: SUS 1979, No. 982:251.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Adygs [children begin to take good care of their father, believing that he will leave gold to someone who treats him better; after their father dies, they find wealth instead of wealth in an agreed place instruction for parents]: Tkhamokova 2014, No. 982:193; Georgians [the sons of the mullah do not care about their father; he calls everyone separately and informs him that he is going to bequeath him the accumulated gold; everyone begins to take care of him; after the death of his father, the sons find a parcel with paper on which the advice is written: do not give property to heirs in advance]: Kurdovanidze 2000, No. 982:80.
Iran - Central Asia. Persians (Yazd) [a rich man divided his property between 4 sons; pretends that he still has treasures in his bag; after the death of his father, sons find a donkey skull in the bag with the inscription: yes Allah and the Prophet will curse him who gives property to children during his lifetime]: Marzolph 1984, 982:181.
Baltoscandia. Latvians [the father fills the chest with stones; the children think it's money and treat their father well; they will be disappointed after his death]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 982:338.