K154A. Men in a harem. 13.17.23.27.-.34.
Whensolving a riddle, a boy or young man exposes the daughter, wife, or assistants of a powerful character: the daughter or wife has a lover; the assistant prepares a plot.
Kordofan, Iraqi Arabs, Ancient India, Kashmiris, Santals, Greeks, Russians (Vologda, Pskov), Adygs, Balkarians, Ingush, Armenians, Turks, Kurds, Persians, Lithuanians, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Kyrgyz, Khakas.
Sudan - East Africa. Kordofan (language not specified) [the fakir was walking through the desert, saw a skull; it says: he killed 14 people during his lifetime, I will kill 14 more after death; the fakir brought the skull home to destroy it; told his daughter grind the skull into flour; to check if she had crushed the skull thinly, the girl tried a pinch on her tongue; the fakir scattered the bone meal downwind: he would not kill anyone else; the girl became pregnant; the fakir I wanted to kill my daughter, but the doctor confirmed that she was a virgin, although pregnant; when the boy was born, he came to the garden, there was a tower, a rope hung from the window, sleeping warriors around; a boy climbed into the room on a rope; there is a woman, she has a man's head on her lap, she combs it to make a woman's hairstyle; woman to man: when I dress you up as a woman, everyone will accept you for my maid; remembering everything, the boy returned to himself; that woman's husband dreams that he has grown a sweet melon, but a bird comes to peck at it; he called the fakirs to explain the dream; if after 5 days will not be answered, he executes them all; the boy asked his grandmother to persuade his grandfather to tell him why he is so concerned; let the grandfather tell the rich man that only a boy can solve the dream and bring him; boy He ordered him to be brought to the tower; pretended that his knife had been lost; let the rich man's wife and her maid also take off their clothes for inspection; the rich man saw that the imaginary maid was a man; the rich man ordered his wife to be executed, The maids and warriors who were supposed to guard the tower were 14 in total; the fakir understood the meaning of the inscription on the skull]: Frobenius 1923, No. 2:31-37.
Western Asia. Iraqi Arabs: Stevens 2006, No. 44 [The sultan is predicted that his daughter will disgrace him; he orders all his daughters to be killed; one of the wives begged not to kill her daughter; the sultan locks his daughter in a palace; a fisherman caught two laughing fish and brought it for the Sultan's daughter; she wants to know why; the vizier, on pain of death, was told to find out three days in advance; he asks everyone - to no avail; the wife remembers the boy, who reproached the vizier when he hit his mare just for crying; the boy promises to reveal the secret if he is brought to the palace; he asks if the Sultan's daughter will regret that wanted to know the answer to the question; in front of everyone, she announces that the Sultan's daughter went to her lover down the underground passage; the Sultan orders her daughter to be beheaded, adopts a boy]: 253-263 (retelling in Nowak 1969, No. 478:380); Yaremenko 1990, No. 11 (north of Baghdad) [Sheikh Hassan returned and found his daughter pregnant; in his absence, she found a bundle of white powder and licked it; he lowered his daughter and grandson in a box along the river; the fisherman caught it; once he caught an unusual colorful fish; the boy told me not to eat it, take it to the Vali Palace; the fisherman received a lot of money for it; when Vali's daughter saw the fish, she was shy, and the fish laughed; Wali demanded that the fisherman explain this; the boy told the fisherman to bring him to the palace; the boy warns that Wali would regret wanting to know the truth; first he told two parables; 1) The king and his favorite bird are in the desert; the bird knocks out his cup of water twice, which is difficult to aim from the stream; he kills the bird, walks up the stream, sees that the stream oozes from his mouth a line ; 2) the king's beloved nightingale brought a seed, an apple tree grew; the courtiers poisoned the apple, the king gave the cat a try, he died, the king killed the nightingale; the gardener tasted the second apple, was younger; the king repented; Still, Wali tells the boy to explain why the fish laughed; he asks to open the hatch into the underground of Vali's daughter - her black lover and four children are there]: 60-68.
South Asia.South Asia. Ancient India [Persian "parrot stories" draw directly on an Indian prototype that already included a fairy tale of "fish laughter"; a similar version in Indian literature: Der Textus ornatior der & #346; ukasaptati/kritisch hrsg. von R. Schmidt//Abhandlungen der Philosophisch-Philologischen Classe der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Bd. XXI, Abt. 2. München: Verlag der K. Akademie, 1898. Nos. 5-17. This story may be among the Seventy Tales of a Parrot from some other collection, as evidenced by the fact that it is about King Bikrmakir (Bakmagar) and his wife Kamjuy from cycle about Tsar Vikramaditya (Vikramark, Vikram) and Queen Kamakalik]: S.Yu. Neklyudov, personal message 25.09.2021; Santals [the merchant has five unmarried sons; having bought a permit from the Raja, he ordered his sons clear the overgrown pond; there were fish at the bottom, two of which were sent by the merchant to Raja; when the fish arrived in the palace, they laughed; no one could explain why; the Raja promised to execute the merchant and all of him descendants, if he did not find an explanation by a certain date; the merchant told the eldest son to leave to continue the family; he met the daughter of another Raja, they liked each other, the Raja and Rani agreed for marriage; the wife noticed that the young husband cries at night; he explained the reason; she ordered him to go to his father to settle the matter; ordered the people to gather; agreed that if everything turned out to be true, the merchant will receive half of the Raja's possessions; announced that the Raja has only an older wife, women, the rest are men; so the fish laughed; it turned out; the Raja was disgraced, the merchant received what was promised]: Bompas 1909, No. 18: 70-74; Kashmiris [the king's wife began to buy fish from the merchant; said she only wanted a female; the fish laughed; the merchant said it was a male and left; the king demanded that the vizier should have him in six months found out what it means to laugh fish, otherwise he executes; the vizier, not hoping for success, advised his son to leave the city for a while; he goes and his companion is a peasant; the young man offers to carry each other; when he sees wheat in the field, asks if it has already been eaten; gives the peasant a knife, asks him to make two horses with it, and bring the knife back; no one greeted them in the city, the young man called the city a cemetery; in the cemetery, people pray and give gifts to passers-by, the young man called it a beautiful city; waded across the river without taking off his sandals; a peasant invited him into his house, the young man asks if he is strong a load-bearing beam; a peasant tells his wife and daughter that he brought a fool; the daughter explains that the young man is smart (he had to tell each other stories; two staffs were cut out; the planted field seemed to have been eaten; unfriendly people resemble dead people; without sandals, you can hurt your feet against stones at the bottom of the river); the girl told the servant to take the young man gyav, 12 chapátís and a jug of milk, saying: the moon is full, 12 months is a year, the sea is full of water; the servant shared food with his son on the way; the young man ordered to convey the answer: the moon is in the first quarter, the year is 11 months old, the sea is not full at all; the girl understood and punished to the servant; the girl also explained the fish laugh: there is a man in the palace about whom the king knows nothing; the vizier's son returned to his father, taking the girl with him; the vizier ordered to dig a hole: let all the women in the palace jump through her; only one could do it - he was a man in disguise; the vizier's son married an intelligent girl]: Knowles 1988:484-490.
The Balkans. Greeks (Asia Minor) [my wife wrote to her husband in Istanbul to come urgently; on the way he noticed a skull with the inscription: one killed me, I will kill nine; the man cut out part of the skull with the inscription, wrapped it in a handkerchief and took it with him; at home, the daughter found a handkerchief, licked it, became pregnant; the father shot her, but kept the boy born; the king dreams: in front of him is a table and bread for him, but 9 wolves came and began to eat; the king is looking for someone to explain the dream; the messenger tells the boys to let his horse pass; the son of the skull says he knows about the king's dream; the boy was brought to the king; the boy demands bread, also a melon, a knife, otherwise He will not say anything; explains that there are 9 men in the palace; 9 girls were brought, they turned out to be men who slept with the king's wife; they were beheaded, and the king gave the boy a village]: Dawkins 1916:541-545.
Central Europe. Russians (Vologda) [the men decided to build a new hut for the poor man; before construction begins, he sleeps and dreams: he lies on a snake in four corners; in the morning he went to the master to solve a dream; he arrived, the boy advises to give the master only half of his sleep; the master listened to the dream, went with the man, agreed to take half; the man's old hut was broken - at every angle there was a pot of money; the master took half, returned to his home; bought the boy from his father and gave the servant to slaughter, fry his lung and liver; the servant stabbed the puppies, spilled food; master: the dog is eaten by the dogs, pour it into the toilet; the sovereign called the master to guess his dream: three snakes suck his chest; the master asked for three days, the boy promised to figure it out, but let him bring him to the Tsar; ordered the three maids of the three royal daughters to be stripped naked; they turned out to be men; The tsar ordered both them and the master to be cut off, and gave the master's property to the boy]: Sokolov, Sokolov 1981, No. 32:126-127; Russians (Pskov) [the man built a new house; when he first went to bed there, I had a dream as if a bear had attacked and began to crush him; went to the master to solve the dream; on the way a boy: if the master asks for a bear, promise only a third; the master picked up the floorboard in the hut, under she has a bear skin, she has money in it; the man confessed who taught him to promise no more than a third of the bear; the master is jealous of the boy; he comes to his father, tells him to kill him unnoticed at night, fry his heart, give it to him; boy to the cook: fry the puppy; then the sovereign will ask the master a riddle, he will not solve it, he will want to shoot himself, and hold him, he will reward him; the sovereign sees that the edge of his beloved bowl has been bitten off; the master went for the boy; he promises to solve the dream if he is given "the favorite hrelin of Her State Empire"; the sovereign put all the "khrelin" in a row in the hope that the boy will point to another; he pointed to his beloved; she was given to him, immediately the wedding; the wife is in the power of her husband, the boy tells her to undress - it turned out to be a man; the Tsar awarded the boy, and the "khrelina" was shot]: Smirnov 1917, No. 99:326-328.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Crimean Tatars (Miskhor) [a man walked and saw a skull; it says: What did this head see and what else will it see? the man brought the skull home; one day the wife looked for something, found the skull and threw it into the fire; the returning husband collected the ashes and hid it in the chest; the daughter found a purse with ashes, licked and became pregnant; gave birth son; after 12 years he was sent to school; he was teased as a bastard; after learning from his mother who he was, the boy left; he began to live with a merchant in the city; if he sells goods, they are immediately bought; speaks to a shopkeeper to a woman who had a dream and he is ready to explain it: you saw a snake wrapped around you; there is a pot of gold hidden in your house, take it; the woman wanted to share the gold with the boy, but he refused; she began to talk about his abilities; Bey asked him to explain his dream - 40 snakes strangle him in his dream; when he heard the answer, the servants gave the boy an arap to kill him, but the arap hid him; next time the boy told the dream to Bey personally; there were 40 beauties in the house; the boy asked Bey to tell them to split into two groups and undress; 20 turned out to be men; be1 executed everyone, and made the boy an adviser]: Zherdeva 2020, No. 34 ; Adygs (Temirgoyevtsy) [Efendi Gassan collected medicinal herbs, saw a skull with the inscription "7 people still must die from me"; G. brought the skull home, burned it, tied the ash in a handkerchief and hid it; went to Mecca; his daughter Fatma went through medicinal herbs, found ash in her handkerchief, licked, became pregnant, gave birth to a boy; when G. returned, he fell in love with him, he was named Isaac; when I. was 12 years old, he bought a merchant, gave an education; childless husband and wife bought I. for a triple price; fearing for him, they are not allowed to go outside the fence of the house; he went out, the king noticed him, sent him with a letter to the head of the fortress; on the way, the princess called I. to her place, read the letter (which contains the command to kill the applicant), replaced I. with an order to marry I. to the royal daughter; when he learned about his son-in-law, the king decided that it was the will of Allah, fell in love with I.; he sees the queen, the mother of her wife; says out loud that she wants to prove that she has not seen anyone else; men but her husband; the queen demands that I. explain; I. asks for the keys to him, found 7 chests, in each man; I. cut off their heads; the queen was executed, the tsar died, I. reigned]: Vasilkov 1905, No. 4:69-79 (=Aliyeva 1938, No. 33:253-260); Balkarians [an old widower found a skull in the cemetery with with the inscription: "During my lifetime, my owner killed a hundred souls, and I, a dead head, are destined to destroy a hundred souls too"; the old man decided to destroy the skull, threw it into the fire; one bone did not turn to ash, and just turned white; the old man started it, wrapped it in a rag and gave it to his daughter for preservation; went to Mecca, and the daughter became ill and suffered greatly; she thought that the powder she had given was poison and drank it; after that she recovered and became pregnant; when she returned, the father decided to kill her daughter, but spared her; she gave birth to a boy; he grew up handsome and intelligent; one day the boys caught a goldfish and carried it as a gift to the queen; she said that if the male fish would not take it yet; when she found out, the fish jumped out of the water, fell back into the bowl and died; the king told the boy's teacher to find out the cause of death of the fish, otherwise he would execute him; the boy promised to give an answer; the boy to the king: do not seek the truth that is bitter for you, but if you insist, I will only give it to you without strangers; when the courtiers came out, the boy explained that the fish should be I am outraged by the queen's hypocrisy, for all her ladies of honor are young men in disguise; the king ordered the execution of all hundred young men, the queen torn with four horses, and the boy rewarded; when the boy grew up, the people made him foreman, Ak-sueki ("white bone") came from him]: Tulchinsky 1903:58-61; Ingush [the boy was riding a mare; the prince poked her with a whip; the boy said that he gouged out the eye of the person in the womb foal mares with a white mark on their forehead; the mare was stabbed, it turned out so; the prince took the boy to him; once they caught an unusual fish; the prince's daughter picked it up but realized: what if this fish - male; the fish laughed and died; the prince demanded to know the reason; the prince told that young man (he is already 17) to answer, otherwise he would burn him; the young man tells how the rider, languishing with thirst, put his hands under his hands water pouring from above, but the pet pigeon splashed it; the rider killed the pigeon, and when he looked up, he saw a dragon drooling; second story: devout blind spouses have a golden bird; God gave her two apples that will restore sight; the bird threw apples to the old men, and the old man thought that stones were stones and killed the bird; then he saw the light and repented; the prince is adamant - his daughter must know the reason why she laughed fish; young man: in the basement there are three bastards whom the princess gave birth to from Black Nega; the young man left the prince, began to study, became smarter than teachers; they sent him to a certain country out of envy; he went there, brought data girls have golden shoes; teachers hired a witch, who said that her daughter's shoes were stolen; the young man went back to that country; people on the shore complain that a woman brings food on the ship, will show teases and takes them back; the young man grabs the girl, she escapes, leaving the ship and her ring; on the other side, another woman teases people in the same way, bringing clothes on the ship, but not giving them; the young man grabbed her handkerchief and ship; the young man climbed into the tower, hid; three birds came in, telling how one lost her ring, the other lost her scarf, and the third lost her golden shoes; the birds became girls, one noticed that someone was drinking from her glass; the young man seemed to be his wife, gave a ring - if worn, all three would come; the young man was taken home, the teachers and the witch were thrown into prison; they say that the young man was brought his stolen shoes again; the young man put on a ring, those girls appeared, the liars were punished, the young man became a padishah, married his wife's sisters]: Tankieva 2003:132-140; Armenians: Gazarov 1889, No. 1 [merchant I saw a skull floating along the river and repeated: "I killed a hundred people during my lifetime, but then I'll kill another hundred"; the merchant brought the skull home, poured the powder into a bag, hung it on the wall; left on business, in the house a 13-year-old daughter was left from her first wife and her stepmother who tyranted her; the girl decided to poison herself, swallowed the powder, believing that it was poison; became pregnant, gave birth to a son; stepmother was childless and fell in love with him; boy He became a young man; the king saw a fish jump out of the pond and laugh; if the wise men did not give an explanation after 40 days, they would be executed; that young man took the king to his 15-year-old daughter's room and told him to break the floor. There are many princess lovers there; the king hung them and daughter, made the young man the first vizier, and then handed him the throne]: 77-79; Nazinyan 1969 [brother and sister lived poorly; brother went to cut wood, heard a voice: Whoever takes me will repent, and whoever does not take me will also repent; this was what the skull said; the young man burned it on a pile of collected firewood; the next day he found a bead in the ash, put it in his shirt pocket; sister began to wash her shirt, found a bead and accidentally swallowed it, became pregnant; as soon as her son was born, he immediately spoke and went to his uncle's arable land to bring bread; quickly plowed the whole field; his name was Chicó; he volunteered to explain the king's dream; tells the king not to tell, he already knows what the king saw: red and green shadows above the palace, and trees grew around; indicated where the gold was buried; the fortuneteller asks C. stay with him, paid his mother as much gold as H. weighs; the fortuneteller tells his daughter to kill C. and prepare his brain: he will eat him and become as smart; C. girl: the fortuneteller is not because of this he will get wiser, give him bull brains; the king dreams again: the White and Black Seas are mixed; the fortuneteller regrets that C. is not there, he comes out of the chest; asks the king to make him king for a few minutes; cuts down to the fortuneteller - his enemy - the head; explains the dream: the king's wife is cheating on him with Nazir; Nazir and the queen run away; C. comes to his grandmother, asks him to give him the last goose, offers Nazir for 3 rubles; Nazir gave one, took the goose to his wife, ordered it to fry it and send it to him with a man who would show her a finger; C. heard, showed his finger, took the goose, wrote on the door: I am Chico, and you are Nazir, it's a little trouble, and big in front"; told his grandmother to dress him as a girl, give Nazir as a maid; held his head under the press, wrote the same inscription again; appeared under the guise of a doctor, began to cut him with a razor and rub salt (the same inscription); the king dreams: a snake exhaled in front of his house; C., under the guise of an angel of death, put Nazir and his wife in a coffin and brought it to the king]: 83-92; Turks [the princess sweeps, finds a pearl, swallows, gives birth to a son; her brothers expel her; the son grows up, one of the brothers takes the boy; sells; the buyer dreams that he was ridiculed by fish; the boy tells how his grandfather was thirsty, and the falcon (ein treuer Vogel) knocked over the water he wanted to drink; the bird died, the owner found out that the water was poisoned; the owner had a wife with 40 lovers, so the fish laughed; he kills lovers, a boy and dies of hatred]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 100.II:117; Kurds [the fisherman has a son Mirza, the padishah has a daughter Golnar; G. has 40 maids, one of them is a young man in disguise; no one understands that he is a young man, and five-year-old M. welcomes him as the padishah's son-in-law; G. tells his father that he will die if he does not eat M.'s cooked head; the padishah sent the vizier to buy M.; he tells the vizier to hide him, he sends him it will be useful to bring his head to his deceased comrade yesterday; the fisherman caught a beautiful fish, gave it to the vizier; M. tells the vizier to give it to the padishah; the padishah is happy, wants to give fish to his daughter; G.: if a female, then I will accept a gift, or if it is a male, not, because everyone on my half should be only female; at these words, the fish put its head out of the pool and grinned; the padishah tells the vizier 40 days in advance to find out why, otherwise will cut off his head; M. brought the vizier to the padishah, asks him to give up the throne for an hour so that the padishah, angry, does not kill him; tells a parable about how the pradishah's falcon was sad, the vizier advised him let go; he brought two seeds, of which grew an apple tree with two apples; the padishah's wife fell ill; one apple fell, the snake bit it; the padishah ordered to give half to the dog, half to the cat, both died, the padishah killed the falcon; ordered the second apple to be given to his wife to get rid of her torment and die; she recovered and became more beautiful than before; the padishah repented that he had killed the falcon; so you will repent, insisting to find out about the fish; M. called G. and the maids, said that his knife had been stolen, let everyone undress; G.: one so shy that she even sleeps without undressing; her lover was exposed; the padishah ordered her daughter to be imprisoned and a lover riding a donkey face to tail and drive around the city, then drive him out of the country; made M. a vekil]: Rudenko 1970, No. 48:136-140.
Iran - Central Asia. Persians (literary tradition, 1313-1316, Indian source) [Story 40: A wealthy merchant saw a skull rolling on the ground like a ball, with the hand of fate inscribed on its forehead: "This the head will kill 84 people during his lifetime, and after death the same number"; at the instigation of Satan, the merchant brought the skull home, threw it into the fire, sifted the ashes, put it in the box, and the box in the chest, handed it his wife, told him not to open it; the merchant's 12-year-old daughter opened the chest, found nothing but ash, sucked a pinch like salt, closed the chest again; when signs of pregnancy appeared, told her mother about everything; gave birth to a handsome boy, he was named Mashalla; 7 years later, the merchant returned home and decided to raise the boy; overseas merchants brought jewelry, the merchant bought 9 pearls; M.: 2 out of 9 are fake, it is better to return them; the merchant brought the boy to the sellers; M. separated the enamel under which there was a cinnabar in front of their eyes; the sellers asked the merchant to sell them the boy and that advised the merchant to agree; at home, the sellers began to raise M. as their son; once the local Raja Bikmakir wanted to retire with his wife Kamjuy; he had 83 more wives; the fisherman brought him a few curiosities with a fish body and a human head; B. ordered them to be thrown into a basin of water and looked; and K. turned away and ordered a veil to be hung between her and the fish: there are also males; fish they opened their mouths and laughed; K. said she would not eat or sleep until it was found out why the fish laughed; B.: whoever finds out why the fish laughed will be rewarded; M. came to the Raja and asked me to listen to him in private, and it would be better for the lady not to ask me so as not to repent or regret it, as happened to the grocer's wife; story 41: the grocer became impoverished and became a lumberjack; in The tree was inhabited by a genie: if you chose this craft out of need, come here every day and take 20 dinars; but don't talk about it; your wife made you tell me, money did not appear under the tree anymore; E. did not understand the hint; then M. spoke about the regrets of the mother of the slutty woman; Story 42: The brahmana's son reached adulthood, but lived at his father's expense; asked him to be released on a journey; began to serve a hermit; he gave him an inexhaustible purse with money, but told him to keep a secret; when he returned home and became rich, the brahmana's son fell in love with a slutty girl; her mother advised her daughter to find out the source of the wide the lover's expenses; she found out the secret, the mother and daughter stole the purse and fled; but the purse did not give more money; K. again did not understand the hint; then M. told the Raja to go to the harem and undress all his wives; among them a young man in a woman's dress appeared; the Raja ordered everyone, including K., to be drowned; the prediction came true; the fish laughed because the truly virtuous would not be hypocritical]: An-Naari 1985, stories 40-42: 201-209; Persians [a variant similar to that in al-Nairi]: Osmanov 1987:256-260; Persians [a brief retelling of Osmanov's version; a man finds a skull, it says: 40 killed, 40 I'll kill; he rubs the skull into powder, which his daughter accidentally eats; she gives birth to a child; the king demands to know why the fish smiled; the young man explains: the touchless princess has 40 lovers; they are executed, prediction skulls fulfilled]: Marzolph 1984, No. 875D: 157.
Baltoscandia. Lithuanians [stepmother tries to seduce the prince, who rejects her; she slander him; when they are going to hang him, the prince, taught by his teachers, proves that among the Queen's maids There is a man in disguise; the queen and her lover are hanged]: Balys 1936, no.*656:65-66.
Volga - Perm. Bashkirs: Barag 1989, No. 75 [the old man found a skull, it says: "The cause will be one birth and death is forty-one"; the old man burned the skull, hid the ash at the bottom of the chest; his daughter Gulfarah found a knot, unfolded it, licked it, became pregnant, gave birth to a boy; at the age of 10 he could solve dreams and knew what anyone was dreaming about; the old woman dreamed of four snakes in the corners of the house; the boy said that there gold was buried, the old woman did not believe it, the dream interpreters decided that the dream was bad; in the goose brought by the old woman they found a note thrown by the boy about gold; checked, found gold; interpreters they hired a murderer to get rid of the boy, but he said that the hired man would kill him for 40 gold and lose a hundred; the king had a dream, no one could guess: the king was attacked by 41 snakes, and the dove dispersed them; the boy bought from prison for 100 gold; he explained: 40 snakes are interpreters, 41 is a vizier, they want to kill the king, the dove is himself, the boy; the king executed interpreters and the vizier, put a boy in their place]: 362-363 ; Bessonov, 1941, No. 71 (from 1877-1909 recordings) [the old man found a human skull that read: "During his lifetime, eighty people killed and eighty more will be killed"; the old man tortured it into flour and brought it home, thinking it was real flour, the old man's daughter took it in her mouth and became pregnant; the boy born, Gaip-Nazar, began to understand animal language; merchants began to ask the old man to sell them GN; Mr. asked his grandfather to agree, He gave it to the merchants; they took it to their king; the king's vizier put his beloved wife beside him, and ordered the other thirty-nine wives to fish in the river; they put the fish they had caught in the basin, filled with water, and brought it to the vizier; the wife sitting next to him covered her face; the vizier asked why she was doing this; the wife replied that she was ashamed of fish males; the fish fluttered and began to laugh; the vizier was surprised and ordered the scientific mullahs who were in his city to be convened to find out why the fish laughed; none of the mullahs could cope with it; when GN was called, he went to the fish, overheard them, and said to the vizier: "This woman is ashamed of us, and she secretly hides her lover in her house from the vizier"; the vizier gathered forty of his wives into the house and ordered people to be summoned; when they began to search the wives, they found forty lovers hidden from the vizier; the vizier ordered both wives and lovers to be beheaded]: 319-320.
Turkestan. Kazakhs (Tokrau, eastern Kazakhstan) [bai saw a skull in the steppe; when I passed by, the skull said: "During my lifetime, I cost the lives of eighty people and now I still cost forty lives"; bai took the skull , burned it, wrapped the ashes in a rag, put it in a chest; his daughter (or sister), fumbling in the chest, found a cloth, licked the ashes, conceived, gave birth to a boy; bai gave the child to an old woman, she raised it, gave it to teaching a mullah; the khan had a dream and immediately forgot it; gathered the mullah and ordered him to tell about the dream and solve it; the mullah returned home, crying; the boy, who is already seven years old, promised to solve; the boy bayu: in in a dream you got on a horse (you rule the people), crossed the bridge (the bridge is your justice, and the tree is your people, its fruits are the tribute you pay), and at the other end there are 40 dragons (viziers); they wanted you break (conspiracy to kill bay), but the yellow bird (this is me) saved you; the khan executed the viziers, made the boy's vizier]: Potanin 1916, 41:146-147 (=1972:144-145); Babalar Sozi 2011, No. 51 (translated by Ruslan Bayastanova, April 20, 2017) [A shepherd herds sheep, finds a skull covered with inscriptions. On the left temple - "If you try it with my mouth, I will be born by mouth", on the forehead - "I will become a son who does not have a son", on the right temple - "I will decapitate forty-two people - I will become a khan." An intrigued shepherd burns his skull and collects the ashes into a bag. The shepherd's fifteen-year-old daughter finds him thinking about the bag, wondering what the substance is in the bag. Her father scares her, says it's poison, forbids her to try it. The daughter does not listen, she secretly tries the powder from the bag. She reaches orgasm, after a while she becomes pregnant. The mother asks her, the daughter talks about what happened, the mother tells her father. The father decides to marry her, suggests that Selim, the son of a poor man, marry his daughter without dowry, says that the girl is pregnant, says that the baby will be born by mouth and that he will take it for himself newborn. He promises to separate the young people into a separate yurt and give them a lot of cattle, asks them to keep everything secret. Selim agrees. The shepherd announces the born child as his son, tells everyone that his wife gave birth, feasts for thirty days, treats everyone. The boy is growing rapidly; at the age of seven, his father sends him to teach a mullah. At the age of fifteen, the boy studies with forty mullahs and surpasses them. He returns home and helps his father in the household. He herds sheep, meets a woman running with two geese. She asks her, the woman says she had a bad dream - as if the threshold of her house was on fire. Scared of sleep, she goes to the famous forty mullahs to explain the dream to her. The boy asks her on her way back to tell us what the forty mullahs said. Mullahs tell the woman that she needs to leave home, otherwise she will be unhappy. Hearing this, the boy goes with the woman and helps her move to another place. Then he comes back, digs up the ground where the threshold of the house was and finds a gold bar the size of a horse's head. He gives the bar to his father and says that forty mullahs will soon appear and demand it, supposedly, for further training. Mullahs take the boy despite his father's protests. They start demanding that the boy show where he hid the gold, they torture him. The boy won't confess. Meanwhile, the khan of this country has a strange dream - he crosses the river on horseback, forty fish cling to the horse's legs, the horse almost falls, and black and yellow appear in front of the khan in the middle of the river snakes trying to bite. Khan barely escapes from them, crosses the river, finds himself in tall grass and a blooming garden, and having fun there. When Khan wakes up, he summons forty mullahs and requires them to figure out the meaning of the dream. The mullahs are confused, the furious khan gives them three days, then, if they do not explain their sleep, they will be beheaded. The mullahs cannot solve the dream, they decide to entrust it to the boy, then decide to kill him. The boy is promised they'll let him go if he helps them. The boy says that the dream will only explain to the Khan himself. The mullahs, looking forward to a big reward from the khan, agree. The boy and mullahs come to the khan, and the boy also asks to call the khan's wife and her yellow-faced slave. The boy announces to the Khan that forty fish are forty mullahs who are waiting - they will not wait for the Khan to die to take possession of his treasury. The black and yellow snake is Khan's wife and her lover, a yellow-faced slave. They want to lime the khan, after which the khan's wife would make the slave her husband and new khan. The enraged Khan orders the execution of forty mullahs, his wife and her slave. He gives the throne to a boy, becomes a vizier himself], 69 (translated by Ruslan Bayastanov, April 20, 2017) [Bai, a merchant named Mustakym, is very rich, richer than the Padishahs - usually in one shopping trip equips as many as 30 caravans. On the way, two bay cattle-breeders stumble upon a human skull with an inscription on their forehead. Unable to read the inscription, they bring a bayu skull. He reads the inscription, smiles, tells him to burn and crush the skull. The ash is put in a vessel, which is taken home and hidden in a chest. Mustakym has no sons, only a fifteen-year-old daughter. One day, while playing around, the daughter finds a vessel with ashes and tastes it. It makes you pregnant. According to the laws of that country, a woman who had a child out of wedlock was hanged. Therefore, bai's wife hides her daughter, walks with her belly full of cotton wool, imitating pregnancy. The girl gives birth to a boy, the mother passes off the newborn as her own. Bai leaves with caravans for a year, manages to hide everything from him. Bai returns, is very happy about the birth of his son, arranges a multi-day feast. The boy is very smart and surpasses all mullahs in his studies. Bai decides to teach him his trade, takes him with him, and goes to a neighboring state. The ruler of this state has 20 wives, and he takes turns sleeping with them. He takes them on fun trips with children. They go to the pond, set up for fun. Children catch and let go of fish, admire the padishah, his older wife is indifferent to children and fish games. The padishah accuses her that she does not look at different fish, she replies that there is nothing to look at, fish are like people, some of them are good and bad, perhaps slutty. Here a big fish (ide) sticks out of the water and laughs like a human being. When struck, the padishah cannot forget the laughing fish when he returns. He announces that whoever can solve what happened will cede his throne, crown and marry his only daughter. No one can figure it out; visitors are also required to participate in solving. Mustakym's son tries to guess, his father is frightened and persuades everyone not to take seriously the words of a thirteen-year-old child. The boy is delivered to the padishah, who needs a clue. The boy refuses, tells us to gather people, then he only undertakes to tell the answer. People gather, the boy first requires the padishah to cede the throne and crown, he concedes. The boy asks if his wives have a slave and tells him to call all wives with these slaves. Twenty wives and 20 slaves are brought in. The boy tells the slaves to walk back and forth, then orders them to undress. Slaves are undressed, all 20 are men. The boy explains that the fish laughed at the padishah's slutty wives, who accused fish of debauchery. A shameful padishah gives the boy the right to punish his wives. He orders the execution of everyone - 20 wives and 20 of their lovers, disguised as slaves. The people mock the padishah, who hesitates to give what he promised, calls Mustakym, and suspects that his son is not his. Mustakym's wife is delivered, who admits that the boy was born not by her, but by her daughter, and talks about the powder in the vessel. Mustakym explains the origin of the powder - when the skull he found was brought, the skull's forehead read "My name is Dagystan, during my lifetime I saved 40 people from death, on the contrary, I will cause dead 40 people died." So he decided to check if this was the case, burned and crushed the skull, and hid the ashes. The calmed padishah suggests that since the boy is not born of a person, but of a gayyip (gayyip is a spirit, a ghost), then he should be named Ebini-gayip. Ebini-Gayip marries the daughter of a padishah, the padishah marries his real mother, daughter Mustakym]: 236-240, 306-311; Karakalpaks [the rich merchant went to foreign lands; on the way he saw rolling skull; Hey skull, where are you going? - On that one. - You're a skull, why do you need that one? - When I was alive, I caused the death of 40 people, and I would kill another 40; the merchant put his skull in a bag and returned home; his daughter found a skull, turned it in her arms, became pregnant, gave birth to a boy; when he is 9 years old, he begged the merchant to take him with him; herald: a person who knows the language of fish will receive a thousand gold from the ruler; the boy went to the ruler; it turns out that the fisherman gave the ruler fish, and the ruler's wife exclaimed: this fish is male! and covered her face; the fish laughed back; boy: the fish laughed because the ruler's 40 wives had all male maids; the maids were checked were men; the ruler ordered their heads to be cut off; the merchant returned home with a thousand gold]: Aimbetov 2014a: 97-98; Kyrgyz (Jalal-Abad Province) [Yakmas Akim had great wealth; he saw in the book that there is immortality grass on an island in the ocean; He ordered the ship to be built and went in search, but did not say the name of God; he summoned Azrailai ordered him to make the book and compass in the hands of YA drown in the water; taking the form of a bird, A. got down to the stern of the ship; asked where A. was now; YAA: Azrail or you or me; A.: how did you find out? YAA: I have a book; A. threw the book and compass into the sea; having failed, YAA distributed wealth to the poor, took his wife by the hand and set off to travel; arrived in the city of Khan Syrdybay; he entrusted a vizier named Ydyrys; to level the site and arrange a place to relax; Y. came to the bazaar to hire 40 workers; YAA promised to do everything alone if he was given food intended for forty; Khan's grandfather was a giant, his a shovel was found under the hill, brought by 40 people, and YaA took it with one hand, dug a hill with it in three days, planted fruit trees, spells so that the trees grew and the fruits ripened; in the middle of the hill He dug up a jug of gold coins, opened the lid, lay down beside him; Y. offers to divide the gold, but YAA wants to give it to the khan; when YAA leaned over the jug, the vizier cut off his head; she rolled and predicted that his wife would give birth to a son and when he was six years old he would tear Y's head off; Ya warned his wife in advance to name her son Daanyshman (wise man) and give him a knife, he would understand what to do with him; D. arranged that the garden watchman threw a stone at the sheep and killed it; says that he killed three souls; in the womb of the sheep there are two black lambs with white marks, one male, the other female; I. realized that in front of him a boy whom the vizier ordered to kill and bring his heart; when I. was going to slaughter D., he said that the khan and the vizier would not give him the promised khan's daughter, but he, D., would give it back; let the watchman buy it lamb and his heart will be cut out; it will taste like a human, because the lamb was fed by a woman whose child died; a year later, Khan had a dream and forgot it; told 40 viziers to find out what the dream was about, otherwise he will hang; Y. regretted that he ordered D. to be killed and was delighted to learn that the boy was alive; D. agrees to ride only on Y.'s vizier and stab him with two awls along the way; D. told the khan about the murder of his father and the khan allowed the stolen gold to be killed; as for the khan's dream, the khan's wife keeps her lover in the box; let the khan let them go in peace; the khan agreed; made D. a vizier, married him to his daughter; when the khan died, D . took his place]: Sabyr uulu 2008:203-208.
Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Khakasi [Hara-Pai was cruel and angry; the poor widow has a 14-year-old son, Yokes-Ool; one day he stays awake for three nights, tells his mother that they have a pot of gold underground and HP found out; he soon came and took all the gold; next time he came, tied up YOO and took him home; told two sizangs to kill him, he persuaded them to kill the dog and bring HP its lungs, hearts and tongue; he cooked and ate them; YOO knows that the chief khan told HP to explain the dream, otherwise he will execute him three days later; HP is happy to learn that YOO is alive, he will be able to solve the dream; YOO asks the chief khan to hand over power to him for three days; the dream is: two the candles are burning brightly, and the third is barely; Yoo hanu: you will die tomorrow; tells you to lock the khan's wife in prison, undress her six female maids; two of them turned out to be men, they planned to kill Khan and one of them was to marry Hansha and become khan himself; Hanshu and those men were beheaded, Yoo-la was made khan]: Torokova, Sychenko 2014, No. 27:447-459.