K156A. Challenges: girl or boy? (.15.22.27.29.30.32.)

The young man suspects that the other boy is a girl in disguise. The young man's mother comes up with various tests to establish this, but the girl manages to avoid exposure for a long time.

Italians, Corsicans, Karen, Romanians, Moldovans, Greeks, Gagauz, Lezgins, Persians, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Mari.

Southern Europe. Italians (Tuscany) [the king is ill, has no sons, only three daughters: Carolina, Assuntina, and the youngest Fanta-Ghiró; the neighboring king has declared war; each daughter successively proposes to lead the troops; the king agrees that daughters will not talk about women's activities on the way; each comes with a Tonino servant, who must return the girl if she breaks the condition; seeing tretnik, vine stakes, the elders notice that they could be used to make spinning wheels, spindles; sent home FG not a word about spinning wheels, meets the enemy king, he is a wonderful young man; he suspects that there is a girl in front of him and asks his mother how to expose the deception; she gives advice, but FG does not succumb to provocations; is interested in weapons in her arsenal; in the garden she picks not a rose, but jasmine; cuts bread like a man without pressing it to his chest; the last test is to go swimming in the pond together; FG negotiates with T., who at the last moment brings a letter stating that FG's father is supposedly dying; FG comes to her father, followed by a young king: "General, will you marry me?" ; wedding]: Calvino 1980, No. 69:249-253; Corsicans [two princes marry a rich, the youngest to a poor one; when they went swimming, the Turks stole them; the poor man's wife dresses up as a man, on a small ship goes to Turkey, comes to the prison warden; his mother suspects that she is a woman; the chief tests the visitor, but the prince's wife does not betray herself: she cuts flowers in the garden, is dissatisfied with the weapon - she has better, she hits the prisoners when they are shown to her; the boss invites them to sleep in the same room; the prince's wife put sleeping pills in the wine, took the keys, took the prisoners home; only there the husband recognized his wife; holiday]: Massignon 1984, No. 67:148-151.

Burma - Indochina. Karen [the queen gave birth to a daughter after 3 years and 3 months pregnant; when the girl started crying, someone in the country immediately died; astrologers ordered to get rid of her; the queen named her daughter Mikeitari, rafted down the river; she was picked up by Rakshas Yaushi; fed M., making milk flow from her finger; M. grew up; to find her lover, she put three of her hair and a letter in silver the box, lowered it down the river; Prince Seitamalia picked it up; came to M.; she ordered him to return in 15 days; his father gave S. a winged horse; Y.'s servants set a trap, S. got into it; the horse freed him and brought him back, but S. died of her wounds; M. decided to come to him herself; on the way, to make it easier for her to travel, Nat made her a man and gave her a magic bow; M. shot the counter bill with it; King Bilu asked M. take him with him and promised to be a servant; M. made him a man; M. revived the prince with living water; he suspects that M. is a girl; a bilu servant helps her remain unrecognized (prevents her from starting to vomit flowers, which would betray her feminine nature; M. manages not to be identified while bathing; when M. stepped over the stone, blood came out on it, but bilu sprinkled it with ashes; when M. approached the pond, the water became clear, but Bilu pulled out his tooth and covered the water with blood); M. and S. go back to the rakshasa; nat advises making a wax doll with honey inside, putting it in bed instead of themselves; S. believes M. a traitor, will try to kill her; S. flew on a winged horse, stabbed himself: if M. is innocent, let her blood be sweet as honey; feeling sweet, S. was going to kill himself, M. stopped him; one day, on the way to Rakshasa, his servant took M., brought Rakshasa, but he agreed to let M. go to the prince; wedding]: Kachevich, Osipov 1976, No. 167:431-437.

The Balkans. Romanians [a widow's daughter herds sheep, she has a dog; a witch's son herds sheep here; a girl dressed as a young man; an imaginary young man has made friends with a witch's son, happens to be in his house; a witch's son suspects that this is a girl; his mother does not believe it, but offers tests; 1) put a flower under the pillow for the night (if the girl wilts); the dog tells you to put the flower on the pillow and only hide it under the pillow in the morning, the flower is fresher than it was; 2) go swimming together; the dog disturbs the sheep, the imaginary young man runs to the herd without swimming; after that, the girl went to the sea, divided the waters with her shepherd's staff, switched to on the other side, the waters closed before the witch's son could follow her; the witch built a ship for her son with goods, her son sold them on the other side, the girl came to the ship, he sailed away; then she threw a ring into the sea and said that she would remain silent until the ring was found; the witch decides to get rid of her daughter-in-law, sends her sister for a sword {apparently a weaving sword} and thread; husband teaches you to put the first piece of food under her tongue; the witch's sister is surprised that the one who came is not dumb; she slaughtered a rooster for her, she ate it, putting a piece under her tongue; the witch's sister says that she has no sword or thread, sends to another sister (the same one, she slaughtered a lamb); the third sister lets a human hand eat; the girl throws her under the hearth, the witch calls out her hand, she answers from under the hearth; next time the girl hides her hand under her clothes, she replies that she is under the girl's heart; the witch gives a sword and thread, demands her hand back, the girl gives them; the second and first witches demand back a lamb, a rooster; the girl belches them alive, because she she put a piece under her tongue; the fishermen caught the fish that had swallowed the ring; the husband, holding the ring in his hand, touches his wife with a hand stained in fish blood; she turned into a swallow with a red breast and red with a speck under her beak; her husband tried to grab her tail, pulled out her feathers, so the swallow has a split tail]: Gaster 1915, No. 87:267-272; Moldovans [the shepherd has only daughters, they offer to herd a flock instead of him; the eldest dresses as a boy, goes with a flock; the father puts on a bear skin, rushes at the sheep, the imaginary guy runs; the same middle daughter; the youngest rushes at the bear, the father asks not to beat him; Baba Kotoroans's son is also a shepherd, suspects that the other shepherd is a girl; K. comes up with trials, Mioara the sheep teaches how to avoid exposure; the girl refuses to wash; replaces the one under the head is a bunch of basil (basil fades under the girls' heads); K.'s son married; the boy sees his wife take off the boiling pot with an apron; says they don't do this, takes off the kushma from her head, everyone can see her golden hair; K.'s son has lamb blood on his hands, he tries to grab the girl, she has turned into a swallow; there are blood stains on his neck, and K.'s son managed to pull feathers out of his tail]: Botezat 1981:332-336 (=Moldavian tales 1968:451-457); Greeks [(many options; all of Greece); an aged father (king) cannot go to serve (fight), but he does not have a son; elder daughters think that a father worries about the prospect of their marriage; the youngest dresses as a young man, goes to war; avoids exposure many times, but eventually the young man finds out that he has a girl in front of him; she performs many difficult tasks ; along the way, praises a dirty river or spring for its cleanliness, shifts food so that each animal can eat the food it needs; runs away from the pursuer, throwing objects that hinder the advancement of the pursuer; he grabs her horse by the tail, the horse tells her to cut off the tail; the stalker: if it is a man, let him become a woman, and if a woman, let him become a man; the heroine becomes a man and marries a princess whose husband formally became a girl]: Megas 2012, No. 884C: 187-189; Gagauz people [the master has three daughters, he is looking for someone to herd his horses; the eldest daughter is coming, the father turned to the bear, went out to meet him, the girl ran home; the same middle man; the youngest goes to the old woman for advice; she tells the horses to give hot coals, take the one that will eat them; skinny mare began to eat, the girl sat on her, was going to shoot a bear; her father blessed her to herd horses for three years; the sun fell in love with her, but does not understand whether it is a girl or a man; the Sun's mother advises you to see how she urinates and what things she buys at the bazaar; the girl urinates like a man, takes only things for men at the bazaar; three years later she shows the Sun her chest and braid; the mother of the Sun advises to put on a gold swing ; the girl sat on her, the Sun raised her; her palm advised the girl to remain silent for seven years; then the Sun took another bride; she tells her to be the first to bring a sieve from Mother Sunday; Sunday sends to Friday, by Wednesday, Wednesday says that the sieve took the hobur; the hobur tells me to play the violin, goes after the sieve, but in fact sharpen his teeth; the mouse volunteered to jump on the strings, run; the hobur killed the mouse, chases then; the girl threw a canvas (river; hobur put one lip to the ground, the other to the sky, drank water), a brush (forest), a stone (a rocky place, a hobur cannot cross); the girl brought a sieve; the second bride: to her you, dumb, bring a pot; girl: to take away your tongue; The sun slaughtered the ram, heard it, rushed to the girl, her hands were covered in blood; the girl became a swallow, the second bride was a goat, both went through the pipe, the Sun still not married]: Moshkov 1904, No. 30:42-44.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Lezgins [an angel in a dream tells the poor man that he should send one of his three daughters to heaven as a shepherd; only the youngest agrees; dressed in men's clothes, the wind lifted her and the dog to the sky from the top of the mountain; the father and son have sheep in the sky; the father says that the boy, the son suspects that the girl; she withstands all the tests (hit the target, the dog changed the violets at night - violets will wither under the woman, but not under the man); seven years later she was released; from the sky the young man saw that she was still a girl; on the holiday everyone swung on a swing, the dog did not let the girl in, but she sat on them, the swing took her back to heaven; she had to marry; her mother-in-law did not give her keys; fell asleep, the girl took the keys, began to open the rooms; in one jug in which the moon, sun, rain, wind; she I took off the lid, saw the ground where my mother and father jumped into this jug; flew and turned into the sun's rays; the guy jumped into a jug of snow out of grief, turned into snowflakes]: Ganiyeva 2011b, No. 20:235- 237 (=Khalidova 2012, No. 10:37-39).

Iran - Central Asia. Persians (Shiraz) [the king has 7 sons, his poor brother has 7 daughters; the king refers to him "my miserable brother"; the eldest daughter asks her father to offer to send her and the king's sons to trade - Let's see who makes a big profit; puts on men's clothes and took a cat with him; met a prince, who brought her, suspects it's a girl; his mother thinks not, suggests tests; the cat overhears everything, tells the hostess and corrects everything; tasting boiled pomegranate juice means a girl; the cat teaches you to ask for a piece for the cat; the flowers on the bed at night are fresh in the morning, because the cat changed them 10 times; go to the bathhouse; the cat teaches you how to wear an Armenian woman with lots of buttons; come on horseback; she will scare him, the servant will shout - the horse has galloped off! it will be possible to run after the horse and not return to the bathhouse; the girl wrote a letter to the prince recognizing who she was and where to look for her; the cat trained her gems; she met her uncle's sons, they became impoverished, she gave they had money, but for this they allowed them to be branded; she besieged the city and demanded that her seven slaves be returned to her; the stigma was on her uncle's sons; she discovered herself; her and the prince's wedding]: Romaskevich 1934a, No. 33:154-160; Uzbeks [The old man has three daughters, no son, he is ill, he needs a decoction of a pear branch; the eldest daughter dressed up as a man, saw a lion in the desert, turned back; the middle one saw the dragon is the same; the youngest took a dog with her, killed a lion and a dragon, came to the city of Zim-Zim; local young men suspected that they had a girl in front of them; offered to swim; the dog overhears everything tells the hostess; when it was time to undress, the dog barked, everything fell into darkness, the girl swam and dressed; chose a saddle over a doll; everyone puts a rose in bed, the woman has a rose must wither; the dog brought a fresh rose; the daughter returned to her father with a decoction of a pear branch]: Sheverdin 1980:14-17; Tajiks [the old man has three daughters but no son; he is blind; the eldest daughter dresses up a man, comes to an old woman, she says that many brave men died looking for a cure, the girl returns; the same middle daughter; the youngest is not afraid; the old woman sends her to the healer; he will ask for the medicine is the seed of a tree that a three-headed diva has; in the diva monastery, everyone must do good; the old woman gives a mirror, a comb, a bar; the girl cleans and adjusts the gates of the fortress, shifts the hay to the horses, and bones for dogs; sewed sleeves for baking bread, gave them to girls who toned tortillas with their bare hands; divas sleeps with open eyes; girl pulled out a bag from under his head and ran away; maids , dogs, horses, gates refused to grab her; she threw a mirror (river), a bar (mountain), a crest (forest); a diva stops chasing; the healer gives seeds; his friend says that the hero is a girl; at her head they put chrysanthemums (if a woman wither); the girl got up at dawn and picked fresh ones; but the healer's son saw it and went with her; the father saw the light, the young man married his daughter]: Amonov, Ulug-zade 1957:77 -83.

Volga - Perm. Marie [an old man's mare and an old woman brought 41 foals, they have gone overseas; the old man sends his daughters to search, the eldest is ready to go; the father tells them to go a roundabout road; he puts on bear skin himself goes straight; the daughter sees a bear and comes back; the same middle daughter; the youngest hits the imaginary bear with a rod, rolls her cart on; overseas she disguised herself as a man, began to live with an old woman, that son Ulem; he suspects that there is a girl nearby; they caught 10 horses, then 20, then the others; the mother advises W. to take his friend to the bathhouse; the girl tells her dog to steal W.'s purse; while he ran after him, she washed herself; brought the horses to the sea; for W. to help transport them, admitted that she was a girl and ordered a silk swing to be sent for Easter; she began to pump her relatives, then others, then flew to the swing to W.]: Tudorovskaya, Eman 1945:33-36.