K157. Thieves killed one at a time, ATU 304.

.13.-.17.23.27.-.33.

The character lures his opponents one at a time and each, as soon as they appear, cuts off their heads.

Somalis, Moroccan Arabs, Moroccan Berbers {?} , Egyptian Arabs, Spaniards, Catalans (?) , Portuguese {?} , ladins, Irish {?} , friezes {?} , Flemish {?} , Germans (Schleswig - Holstein, Grimms, Austria), French, Palestinians, Punjabis (?) , Serbs, Bulgarians, Albanians, Greeks, Hungarians, Moldovans, Transylvania, Slovaks, Poles, Russians (Moscow, Ryazan, Voronezh), Western Ukrainians (Transcarpathia), Adygs, Abazins, Karachays, Balkarians, Stavropol Turkmens, Megrelians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Kurds, Lurs, Persians, Tajiks (?) , Uzbeks, Paryas, Shugnans, Ishkashim, Swedes, Norwegians, Bashkirs, Karakalpaks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uighurs.

Sudan - East Africa. Somalis [six thieves meet a man and tell him to join them; he says he does not have a sword, they give him a sword; tell him to enter the Sultan's palace first; when the robbers follow, the man cuts off everyone's head; in the palace, a man calms the dogs by throwing meat at them; finding them sleeping, ties the hair of a woman and her husband, the hair of two princesses, the dog; kills a snake , who is going to bite the Sultan; leaving the palace, a man sees a dragon that demands a girl every year; defeats the dragon, cuts off his tongue and leaves; the sultan promises a reward to the dragon killer; six impostors come for her, but the sultan demands to show his tongue; the hero appears, shows the dragon's tongue; the sultan gives the hero a choice of any of the princesses whose hair he knitted; the hero marries, the sultan transfers the throne to him]: Klipple 1992:131-132.

North Africa. The Arabs of Morocco [the son of a wealthy merchant almost broke him when he begged for a monkey and tied it at the entrance to the shop where customers used to gather; then the monkey scratched the merchant's wife; then the merchant shot the monkey and began to raise his son strictly; he grew up to be a noble young man; bought the deceased, whom the creditors did not allow to be buried; the merchant praised his son and ordered him to pay as well memorial meal; the dead man took the form of a bald man, came to the meal, but ate only lentils; the merchant asked him to be a friend and mentor to his son; things went uphill; the young man decided to go with a caravan; In a parking lot in the desert, a bald man noticed a fire; there were 40 robbers; each went to follow the tent to rob it later; the bald man killed them one at a time, took the treasures and returned to the merchant's sleeping son; The caravan came to town; it was empty, everyone was eaten by a ghoul, leaving one beautiful girl; the bald man began to fight the ghoul and hit him fatally; hit him again! - My mother taught me not to do the same thing twice; when they returned, the bald man offered to share the money, including the girl; he and the merchant's son took her by the different legs and swung his bald sword; three fell out of her the eggs were the product of a ghoul, the bald man crushed them; went towards the cemetery; the merchant and his son caught up with him at the grave, but he turned to dust]: Bushnaq 1987:124-128; the Arabs of Egypt [the king has 7 sons, the eldest Mohammed Clever; answers his father that he should be married at the same time as the rest of the brothers; they sail by ship to the city of Bannur; M. kills an ogre lion; pulled the ring, an underground passage opened, there are 40 robbers; they are amazed: M. alone picked up a slab, which they had difficulty picking up together; M. promises the robbers to enter the king's palace and throw precious stones from the roof; let them everyone they raise ten; M. enters the king's chambers, kills the snake that was supposed to bite him; throws stones to the robbers, 10 robbers rushed to each, and M. killed them by dropping other stones; 7 the brothers marry the king's 7 daughters; the brothers, wives and wife M. sailed home, and M. the king asked them to stay; the sorcerer captured the departed, imprisoned M.'s wife in prison; M. crept in there, taught his wife to find out where the soul of a sorcerer; she is in a box, in a snake, in the country of Wakwak 500 years; M. came to the sea; the son of the king of red genies caught the daughter of the king of white genies in the net; M. let her go, she asked her horses, the most old Zurub brought M. to Wakwak in a moment; M. forced the sorcerer to first return the stolen ship with his brothers and their wives, then killed]: Lebedev 1990, No. 26:142-147 (version recounted in Nowak 1969, No. 81) : 97); Moroccan Berbers: Laoust 1949, No. 102 in Uther 2004 (1), No. 304:186-187

Southern Europe. {The retelling of the Portuguese and Catalan texts does not cover the episode, but logically it should be}. The Spaniards (Granada) [when dying, the father tells each of his three sons to go water the flower garden at night after his death; the father was buried in the crypt; the elder went to water the flowers there, the roof of the crypt began to beat against the floor, the walls together, the young man ran away; the middle brother did the same; the younger one watered until everything calmed down; a beast got out of the crypt and turned off the lantern; the young man saw light in the distance and went there; came across old woman at night, politely asked what she was doing; "I shorten nights and lengthening days"; he pushed the old woman, she fell and the night continued; the young man went to the fire of 41 sleeping robbers; lit a lantern, robbers woke up and wanted to burn the visitor; but when they found out that he was able to lift la cardera {cauldron?} , made him chieftain; vowing to return, the young man came again to his father's grave; there the beast crumbled into pieces; the father promised his son good luck; came to the old woman, picked her up from the ground, dawn came; brothers the young man did not say anything; he got on his horse and returned to the robbers; persuaded them not to steal wine from the poor, but to rob the palace; he climbed first and, as the robbers got up, cut off them heads; in one of the chambers, a young man saw three princesses sleeping; the youngest took off the ring from his finger and cut off a piece from her skirt; the king wants to know who killed the robbers; many noble imposters have come; the princess said that someone had visited her; decided to have a tavern where they drink and feed for free, but let the visitors tell stories; the brothers also came there, the younger one told everything; the elders are ashamed of not fulfilling their father's requests; the youngest showed his princess ring, became the royal son-in-law]: Camarena, Chevalier 1995, No. 304:43-47; Catalans (one entry is inaccurate localization) [the young man goes to look for a way to cure his blind father; gets to three giants; goes with them to the castle where the dog protects the peace of the sleeping princess; the young man shot the dog from Luke and regained strength by drinking water from the pool; killed giants with a sword; lights a candle in the princess's chambers to look at her sleeping; wax dripped on her face; the princess wakes up, the young man runs away; brought She heals his father with water; they come to the inn, where they meet the princess; from the young man's story, she finds out that he was the one who came to her and marries him]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 304:67; Portuguese [the young man with his brothers and father leave home; they spend the night in the palace, where invisible hands serve food, etc.; kill the monster; the fire goes out, the young man goes after the fire; the old woman (sun and moon) gives two threads: one to create day and the other to create night; teaches how to find light; a young man meets robbers (giants) and, thanks to his ingenuity, defeats them; throws them into a well; killing snakes, giants, etc., he saves three sleeping princesses; kisses the third, pulls out fire; picks up various items belonging to each princess; saves their parents, the king and queen; returns to sleeping father and brothers; shows items taken, recognized as a princess and {princess's parents?}] : Cardigos 2006, No. 304:63; ladins [mother and three sons went to Santiago de Compostela; at night the youngest guards at midnight; climbed a spruce tree, light in the distance, the young man approaches the fire of three giants; shot a piece of meat out of one's mouth; the giants are ready to take it into business, they send the princess through the window to widen the hole so that they can also climb; young man to everyone cuts off his head when he gets up and slips it in; snatches every giant's tooth; at the bedside of a sleeping princess, he took one golden shoe from a pair, half a ring and half a handkerchief; unnoticed returned to his brothers and mother; to find out who rescued her, the princess ordered to build an inn on the pilgrims' way; food is free there, but everyone must tell us what they know about the giants; on the way back, the young man also stopped there; showed his teeth torn out from the giants; the princess appeared, the young man showed his shoe, halves of a ring and a handkerchief; the wedding; if they did not die, they are still alive]: Decurtins, Brunold-Bigler 2002, No. 60:161-164 (roughly the same in Brunold-Bigler, Widmer 2004, No. 55:297-302).

Western Europe. The French (Lorraine) [the poor man is dead; the widow and two sons do not have money to celebrate mass; at night, a knock in the house comes dead, demanding that they pray for him; the youngest son came to praying the grave; the bird began to lure him; following her, the young man found himself in the forest; night fell, he climbed an oak tree; three robbers stopped under the oak tree; one brought fire, the other meat, the third wine; a young man hears their conversation; there is no way to rob the castle - a watchdog interferes; the robbers noticed the young man and told him to go to the castle to kill the dog; he made a hole in the wall, killed the dog, told the robbers too climb, cut off everyone's head with an ax; there are three sleeping princesses in three rooms; the young man took the most beautiful slipper; returning home, celebrated his father's mass; the younger princess set up an inn, where are fed and watered for free, but visitors must tell stories; the young man tells his own, shows his slipper, the princess shows another; wedding]: Cosquin 1986, No. 40:69-71; Germans [young man first he studied with a locksmith, and then went to study with a hunter; when the training period ended, the young hunter received a wind gun from the master, which hits without a miss; at night in the forest he quietly approached at the fire of three giants; shot the meat out of their hands with a gun; the giants asked the hunter to help them find the princess in the tower; the hunter shot a little dog that started barking when approaching outsiders; entered the castle, where a sword can kill anyone, the hunter took it; the sleeping princess; the hunter took one of her shoes and cut off a piece from her dress and shirt; when the giants came in, the hunter cut off everyone's head, cut off their tongues, took them with him and left; the commander told the king that he had killed the giants; the princess refused to follow him; the king told her to dress as a peasant woman and sell pots, and The peasants told the peasants to beat the pots; then the king placed his daughter in a house where she was supposed to cook for passers-by, and not take money; on the door there was an inscription: "Now for free, tomorrow for money"; everyone began to come there , the hunter also came; the princess recognized her father's sword, which is now with the hunter; the hunter showed the king the tongues of giants, cut off pieces of shirt and dress; the wedding; the commander chose for himself Punishment: When the king asked what someone who would oppose him deserved, the commander replied that he should be cut to pieces; the commander was quartered]: Grimm, Grimm 2002, No. 111:369-373 (= Grimm, Grimm 1987:294-299); Germans (Austria) [the king bequeaths three sons to pass their three sisters off as the first to ask; they are given to strangers; brothers go in search; the cloud sleeps twice he almost puts out the fire, and when it's his younger brother's turn, he puts it out altogether; he goes to look for fire, comes to the giants; they tell him to help them get their three royal daughters; the young man kills the giants one at a time brothers marry queens; the king does not order to take his wife with him: she will be immediately kidnapped by a white knight; the young man leaves with his wife, the white knight takes her away; the young man consistently comes to his sisters, they are married for three-, six-, nine-headed dragons; the latter summons animals, only a lame fox knows the way; the kidnapped wife explains that the white knight has a fast horse; you have to hire his mother, ask for the reward is a bridle and a foal; on the way, the young man saved the fish, ants, bandaged the fox's leg; the old woman tells three mares to herd three nights; 99 stakes have 99 heads of those who tried to herd; fish, ants, fox help ( you need to throw a bridle on three fish, three ants, a basket of three eggs is mares); the young man gets a bridle and a foal; he is weak, tells him to let him get drunk, strong in the morning; the young man takes his wife away ( the foal asks if he is running like the wind or as a thought); the white knight's horse cannot catch up, throws off the rider; the sisters' husbands have taken human form]: Cerf 1992:183-192; Irish, Germans (Schleswig-Holsteig), Friesians, Flemish: Uther 2004 (1), No. 304:186-187

Western Asia. Palestinians [the king is going to marry 40 sons, but they only want to marry 40 daughters of one father and one mother; the brothers are obedient in everything to the youngest, his name is Sabir; he decided that they they will go in search of 40 brides, and if they do not find them, they will marry those offered by their father; they have pitched tents in a picturesque place; the brothers are sleeping, S. is awake, his candle has gone out, but there is no flint; he sees there is a light in the distance; there is a cave with 40 robbers; they blocked the entrance with a stone that no one can move; S. pushed the stone away, entered quietly; there they divided the ram into 40 parts, S. took one and one the robber was not enough; chieftain: if a young man who comes, let him become a brother, a girl a sister, an elderly man a father; S. named himself; he was offered to become an chieftain; he asks for flint and promises to return tomorrow ; in the morning tells his brothers that he will return in 5-6 days; the robbers want to rob the Sultan, who has 40 daughters; S. climbed into the castle, killed the sleeping guards, entered the room where 40 girls slept; the youngest is the most beautiful; he exchanged rings with her; going up to the wall, told the robbers to go up one by one, cut off each of them; returned to his brothers; the sultan would give the throne to the one who killed the robbers ; S. came and told everything; wedding; brothers and wives went home; they were caught up by the king's messengers: another king attacked, the king asks his son-in-law to return to help; this king comes every 5 years and robs possessions; S. defeated his army, captured and forgave; everything is fine]: Littmann 2016:350-360.

South Asia. Pakistan (Punjabi?) [the lumberjack's wife asks the goddess to give her son; she tells me to eat a cucumber in 7 days; the woman eats the next day, gives birth to a son three inches tall; the woodcutter sells himself to the king; the king will free him only for 10,000 rupees; the Frog asks Three Inches to get an ax; he comes to a dwarf blacksmith with a long beard, ties his beard to a tree, promises to release him if he gives an ax; he cuts a tree with an ax, who is stuck by the Frog's wife; she gives the cure for blindness; the king's daughter is blind; the king agrees to give her for Three Inches if he retrieves the bodies of eight famous robbers; Three Inches says to the robbers that the king wants to marry his daughter to one of them, asks her to appear one at a time; Three Inches cuts off the head of each robber; gets a princess; makes her sighted; the wedding; the parents of the tiny man are proud of him]: Siddiqui, Lerch 1998:91-97.

The Balkans. Serbs [when he dies, the father tells his three sons to give three sisters to the first to come for them; the elders are against, the youngest gives the sisters to the Unknown Force each time; the brothers go to look for them; every night the youngest kills a dragon coming out of the lake, cuts off his ears, hides his ears; the youngest goes to look for fire, 9 giants eat human meat by the fire; the young man pretends to eat too; pretends to help them enter the city , kills one at a time; stabbed a snake crawling to bite the princess; marries her; the king does not order to unlock the ninth room, the young man unlocks, there Bash-Celik, shackled there, promises another life three times for water, breaks his chains, takes the prince's wife; he goes looking for her, comes to his sisters, they are married to Tsar Zmeev, Sokolov, Orlov; everyone gives a pen (if you burn it, he will come to the rescue); the prince takes him away three times his wife, the warhead catches up with him every time, takes away the gift of three lives; for the fourth time, the sisters' husbands revive him; the kidnapped person finds out where the life of the warhead (a bird in the fox's top, that in the mountain); snakes, eagles, falcons catch up bird, warhead dies, prince returns wife]: Karadzich 1856 to Dmitriev, Volkonsky 1956:145-164; Bulgarians [the youngest of three brothers on guard at night, kills a monster (lamia, dragon); fire (flooded with the blood of the monster) goes out; sees the fire on the mountain and goes there, meets an old woman (named Day and Night, Evening Star), she spins; he makes her spin only black yarn until he returns; by the fire robbers, they test the young man (they tell him to get a boiling pot out of the fire), recognize him as a strongman; tell him to help rob (kill) the king (kidnap the princess); entering the palace, the young man kills one by one incoming robbers; kisses a sleeping princess, picks up her ring, kills a snake or lamia who was ready to kill the princess; to find the hero, the king sets up an inn, feeds visitors for free , but for this they must tell stories; the young man talks about what happened, shows a ring and his knife stuck in the wall; the king should give his daughter for a young man (and his eldest daughters for his brothers)]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 304:106-107; Greeks [father tells three sons to pray at his grave for three nights and pass off their three sisters as the first to marry them; after reprimanding the prayer, the elder returns to the house; at this time a strange-looking man comes, almost a freak; only the younger brother insists on giving him his sister; the same with the middle brother and middle sister; the younger one comes to a woman with with two balls of thread, black and white; it depends on her whether it is night or day; the young man asks to unwind the black thread more slowly so that he can finish reading the prayer before dawn; she refused; then he tied her to the tree, and he went to the place where the light was seen; there are 40 dragons around a huge boiling cauldron; the young man picked it up and put it back; they ask for help them steal the princess; going up to the tower, the young man tells dragons go up one by one and kills each; kissed the princess in bed and exchanged rings with her; returned home, untying the mistress of night and day; to identify the hero who killed dragons, the king tells everyone to come and talk about her life; the princess recognized the young man and her ring; the wedding; the young man noticed a golden key in his wife's hair; opened the locked door with them, pulled the ring, fell off it the dark figure took the princess away; the young man went in search; came to his older sister's castle; her husband called the birds, but only the lame eagle knew where the sorcerer's castle was and carried the young man there; taking the princess, they flew back, but the sorcerer, to whom his flying horse tells everything, caught up with them, took the princess and cut the young man in half; the eagle brought halves, the sister's husband revived them with live water; the young man came to his middle sister; her husband explains that it is necessary to get the same winged horse as the sorcerer's; the young man came to the mountain, tamed the horse, took his wife home; the sorcerer's horse could not catch up with them]: Legrand 1881:145-160; Moldovans [ three fellows kidnapped three princesses; the king promises a reward to whoever finds his daughters; Calin the Fool and his two older brothers go in search; K. guards at night, kills three-, four-, eight-headed dragons; the last blood filled the fire; K. goes to the light, met, tied Evening, Midnight, Dawn so that the day does not come until he returns; 12 dragons and their mother sleep around the fire; K. takes a coal, but also meat; dragons wake up, tell them to bring the daughter of the Red King (they themselves cannot, because they are afraid of a puppy with a rooster); K. leads dragons with him, kills one at a time when they climb over the city wall; K. took off the ring from the princess's finger; cut off the dragons tongues; killed one dragon in their lair, and the other ran away; fed and let go of the bound Evening, Midnight, Dawn; passing through gold, silver, copper the forest meets three kidnapped princesses, each preparing food for its dragon; kills two dragons; when fighting a third, both call a crow, but K. calls him a blessed king, the raven pours water on the flame the dragon dies; when K. fell asleep, his brothers cut off his legs; he was found armless; K. grabbed the runaway dragon, which showed the lake; when K. and his brother plunged, their legs and arms grew; they killed the dragon; the princess is given to a gypsy who allegedly killed dragons; K. sends his ring, is recognized, showed his tongues; a gypsy with a bag of nuts was tied to the horse's tail; where the nut fell, a piece of body fell off ; K. gave the princess to his former betrothed; K. came home, his wife was made a maid; he offered to throw a core up; when it fell, it crushed his brothers]: Moldavian tales 1969:158-168; Greeks [ the robbers stole the sister of three brothers; they went in search; they made a fire in the evening; the older brother was on guard the first night; a lamia came, he killed her, did not say anything to the brothers; on the second night, the same with middle brother; in the third, the youngest killed three lamias who came; but the fire went out, the young man went to look for fire; saw the light in the distance, went to it; met an old woman, she replied that a distant fire was a fire robbers; and she herself brings the day to the world; the young man asked her to stay still while he goes to get the fire; she promised, but he did not trust her, tied her to a tree; 40 ears sit around a cauldron with 40 ears robbers; the young man took off the cauldron, took the fire and put the cauldron back; when he returned to the old woman, the young man untied her, came to his brothers; it was dawn and they moved on; but the robbers brought the young man to them, told him climb into the royal treasury; he found a sword and cut off the heads of all the robbers who crawled through the hole one by one; after drinking water from the bowl, the young man left; to find out who killed the robbers and saved treasury, the king set up an inn where everyone was supposed to talk about their adventures; the young man also came and began to tell; the king married him to his daughter, and his brothers to the daughters of nobles people]: Hahn 1864 (1), No. 52:286-288; Albanians [the sister's three brothers are married to the Sun, Month and South; they decide to visit them; they spend the night three times, each time one brother guards the other's sleep; the elder killed a lamia, did not tell his brothers about it; the same middle one; the youngest too, but the lamia managed to extinguish the fire with her tail; the young man sees the light in the distance, goes there; on the way he meets the mother of the night, asks her to prolong the darkness; she promises to do it, but he does not believe it and connects her; when he goes to the light source, he sees a huge cauldron with 12 ears standing on fire; picked it up, lit the torch, and put it in place; 12 robbers are amazed at this by force: they can only lift the cauldron together; they led the young man to rob the king; breaking through the wall, they climbed into the stable; the young man stayed outside; raised the alarm, cut off the heads of the robbers as they they got out; left his knife there; on the way back he freed the mother of the night; the king found the dead robbers and the knife; ordered a tavern where food was free, but let everyone tell us what they had done; The elder and middle brothers described how each killed a lamia, the youngest also about robbers; the king gave his daughter for him; on the occasion of the royal wedding, prisoners were released, half of them made of iron; the young man persuaded the king to release him too; as soon as the king broke his shackles, the monster swallowed the princess and flew away; the young man asks the king to give iron shoes and a staff, promises to return the princess in a year; comes to his sister, whose husband is the Sun; she hid her brother, the Sun senses a man, but promises not to touch her brother-in-law; advises to ask the Month; he sends to the South; the South also does not know where the Iron Man is, directs him to the huge falcon , tells him to come up from behind and threaten to slaughter him if he does not tell him where the Iron Man is; the falcon tells him to prepare meat and fix his wings - he is too old; they fly to a high mountain, the last piece of meat the young man cut off his thigh; when he reached, the falcon regurgitated this piece and grew it back; the wife hid the young man, but the iron found him, drank blood, and spit out his skin and bones; the falcon saw, flew between the crusaders mountains, took swallows milk into his beak, revived the young man with it; he taught his wife to pretend to be dead and ask her husband where his strength is; iron; in a broom; the wife burned the broom, but nothing happened; pretended again sick; iron: there is a boar on the mountain, he has a silver fang, a hare in his fang, there are three pigeons in the hare, they are strong; the young man came to the shepherd, began to ask about the boar, he heard, the young man began to fight with him; boar: I would like to sharpen my fangs racine de gouet; young man: I would have flour, fried fish and wine; the shepherd brought everything, the young man killed the boar, took out pigeons; turning his two heads, the young man came to the Iron Man, killed the third, the iron died; the falcon brought the young man and princess to the king; everyone is happy]: Dozon 1991, No. 15:121-134; Serbs, Hungarians [story known]: Cosquin 1886:71; Germans Transilvani []: Haltrich, no. The 22nd in (detailed retelling) of Cosquin 1886:71-72.

Central Europe. Slovaks [a woman does not know who will take lunch to her husband in the field, dreams of a son at least the size of a pea; a pea turns into a boy; he brings soup and dumplings to his father, falls into a ditch, soup he spilled, he almost drowned in it, got out on the dumplings, collected them again, they were in the mud; brought them to his father, said that the dog had spilled soup, that there were poppies in dumplings; father did not believe it, wanted to beat them, Pea began to control with oxen, work has begun; the master wants to buy G. as a gift to his wife, G. whispers to his father to sell, he will return; on the way he made a hole in his master's purse, threw away all the ducats and jumped out himself, brought ducats to his parents; when soldiers came, hid in a pot; having enriched his parents, went on a journey; people carry iron on 12 carts, they cannot go uphill; G. suggests removing the mountain if that date he has as much iron as he can carry it away; moves the mountain, takes everything away; tells the forge to make a club out of it; in 24 days, 24 workers forged it; G. sat under the mushroom to fix his shoes, some person wanted to sit on the mushroom, G. stabbed him with an awl; the fire of 11 robbers; G. began to throw bumps into everyone's bowl as he brought it to his mouth; then went out, waved his club, the robbers took him to them; he stayed to guard their parking lot, the wolf swallowed it, he cut it from the inside, went out; the robbers tell him to steal four oxen from the peasant; when he came to the barn, he made a fuss, the owner did not notice him, almost stepped on him; he threw him into the corner, took the oxen; furious that the robbers continued to laugh at him; they split the money and sent G. to wash his giblets to prevent him from giving him his share; by the river he began to beat giblets and scream: it's not me, but them; robbers ran away, G. took their money to his parents; but they just died; during the funeral he fell into the grave, and the gravedigger refused to pull him out; he got out on his own, buried the gravedigger alive; became a robber again, came to the fire, which has 11 robbers; they argue who to make the chieftain; G.: the one whose club thrown up will be the last to fall; G.'s club fell only the next day and went into the ground; it was made chieftain, the club was hardly pulled out; the rich king has a watchman cock; at the same time, the king promises a daughter to the one who will destroy the robbers; G. ordered ten to carry his club, and he sat at the eleventh in his pocket, gradually filling his pocket with stones, so that the robber could hardly walk; G. threw his club and knocked down the rooster; got inside through the keyhole, opened the passage, cut off the heads of all the robbers who entered as they entered they slipped it in, cut it off and took their tongues with them; another man brought their heads, the king was ready to give him his daughter; but G. showed his tongues; after the wedding, G. confessed, his skin burst crashly, appeared beautiful young man; merry wedding]: Dobšinský 1970, No. 30:161-170; Poles [the young man receives a magic gun (from a mysterious hunter, from an old woman, from a father whose coffin he guards); approaches robbers (giants), knocks food out of their hands with a bullet; goes with them to the castle, and when he gets there, cuts off the head of each of the incoming robbers (giants); spends the night with the sleeping royal; when leaving, leaves a letter or taking certain items with her; the royal gives birth to a child and the king is looking for his father; the impostor claims to be in the royal's hand; the queen receives guests in the tavern and tells for them to tell stories; a young man comes there, talks about what happened and confirms his words, showing what was taken from peace by the royal]: Krzyżanowski 1962, No. 304:88-89; Russians ( Moscow) [Tsar Peter met a soldier in the forest, he did not recognize him; they saw a light from the tree, came to the hut, there was an old woman there; they began to look: there was plenty of food; lay down in the hayloft; the robbers returned; the chieftain sends see them one by one, what kind of guests are; the soldier beheads each, the last to the chieftain; later the tsar awarded the soldier]: Vedernikova, Samodelova 1998, No. 72:198-199; Russians (Ryazan) [after mother's death, the elder brother drove Ivan and their sister away; they live in a bathhouse, I. hunts and picks mushrooms; went to the big house; went in, drank vodka, began to sing; 36 robbers came; chieftain sends a man kill I., he kills the robber himself; so he killed everyone one by one, the chieftain hid; I. brought his sister there; she saw the chieftain, fell in love, he tells him to pretend to be sick, send I. for special apples, where he will be killed by robbers; I. killed 300 robbers, brought apples and brought the princess kidnapped by the robbers; the princess hears the chieftain and sister I. agree that his sister should play cards with I. the loser to tie his hands; I. tore the other two ropes, could not break his hair; the sister called the chieftain, but the princess cut off his head; sister I. tore in half; I. and the princess came to the king and had a wedding]: Smirnov 1917, No. 229:115-119; Russians (Voronezhskaya, p. Pershino, Nizhnedevitsky District, 1936) [The wife of a wealthy merchant gives birth to a son in his absence, when he returns, decides that the child is not from him. He takes his wife to the forest, cuts off his hands, gouges out his eyes, cuts off his son's head and leaves. A woman meets an old man, he asks for bread, but she only has a child with a severed head, he leads her to the stream, washes her hands with water - they grow back, she washes her eyes and sees again. It wets the child's head, he comes to life, and the head coalesces with the body. They find themselves in a big house, move over the fence, see weapons covered in blood inside, and realize that its owners are robbers. The mother realizes that her son is very strong and teaches him how to kill robbers when they return. They climb one by one over the fence to open the gate, and the son kills everyone with one blow of an iron wedge. The last, oldest, 12th thief escapes into the forest. Mother and son live in a robbers' house, he teaches him how to use weapons and ride horses (he goes through 11 horses, they fall at his arm, chooses the 12th horse of the senior robber, she barely holds him). While hunting, the boy meets the king's daughter, they exchange rings and decide to get married when they grow up. While the son is hunting, an old robber comes to his mother, persuades her to kill her son and live with him, she agrees. On the advice of a robber, he pretends to be sick. He sends his son for living and dead water, thinks that he will not return from there, because the ravine in which she is located constantly opens and closes, and everyone will inevitably fall into it. On the way, the son stops at the old man's hut, they pray together, the old man finds out where the boy is going, lets him choose a horse in the herd. The horse feels the boy's strength and obeys. At the ravine, the boy fills the jug with water, and the horse manages to jump out before the ravine closes (only grabbed the end of the tail). The mother and the robber see that the boy is back, the mother asks him to bring milk from the lioness with the lions. He stays in the hut again, the old man gives the boy an arrow, advises the lioness to throw it in the mouth, otherwise she will swallow it with the horse. The boy performs, the lioness asks in a human voice why the boy has come, he explains, she gives him milk and two lion cubs. The boy brings milk, his mother invites him to play cards, says that according to the rules, the winner binds the loser. First he gives in, and when he ties her up, asks her to be released, then wins and binds her, but he breaks the rope. They play again, he loses, and his mother ties her son with a wire rope, he can't escape and the thief wants to cut off his head. She feels sorry for him, his eyes are gouged out and driven out of the house into the dense forest. Not seeing the road, he pulls out a large oak tree, which falls on the main road and blocks the carriage. The men ask the boy to help pull the oak tree, but he throws it off the road alone. They agree to take him with them, but the horse does not go under the boy, he goes to get the cart on foot, finds out that his beloved's kingdom is passing through the way, he stays at the well, where the maid comes to get water The princess, asks for a drink, puts the girl's name ring into the jug. He finds it in a jug, comes to the boy, promises not to leave him behind. Parents are dissatisfied with their blind son-in-law, but the girl takes care of him and leaves him in the palace. He falls asleep in the garden, a horse and lions come running to him, he orders them to bring living and dead water from his mother's house, he washes his eyes and regains his sight. The princess notices this, but the groom asks not to tell anyone. The serpent demands to give the king's eldest daughter to be eaten, Misha promises to save his sister, but asks him not to tell anyone. He promises the army (+ princes, boyars) set up to protect the princess to defeat the snake, and in return demands that everyone cut off their little finger. He defeats the snake, the girl returns home. Misha tells the bride that he went to bed for three days. He saves the middle princess from the 6-headed Serpent, takes the troops "on the body strap", and the lions help him defeat him. Misha asks the princess to tell the boyars that he went to bed for 6 days, and they laugh at him and the princess. When the 12-headed Serpent demands to eat their youngest daughter, the princes and the boyars refuse to protect her, they are afraid, the king forces them (beloved daughter!). Misha promises to save her from the snake. The army is offered to defeat a snake instead of him in exchange for five roses. He cuts off a snake with three heads each, he is helped by lions, and the fire is extinguished. Misha goes to bed for 2 days and is laughed at. At the feast, he raises his legs high, the windows shake, sits on an ordinary chair - he shatters to pieces, brings him a "heroic chair", creaks, but holds on. Instead of one glass, Misha demands 300 in one "bowl" and drinks. Princes and boyars reproach Misha for "you are healthy to drink, but you are not good to fight", he knocks his fist on the table, the table flies, he asks why everyone present is wearing gloves, where they lost little fingers. He pulls out his little fingers and belts, shows rose marks, and tells the king the whole truth. He hits the princes head against the head. The Tsar signed a state to Misha]: Pukhova 2006, No. 4:33-45; Ukrainians (Transcarpathia, Tyachiv district, p. Dulova) [The tsar has three sons and a daughter, the eldest sons study well, the youngest Ivan Farmudz is stupid, Pepelyanik. The brothers decide to find out why their father has one eye crying and the other laughing. The oldest one comes first. The king reads, there is a saber on the table, he swings at his son, he runs away, the king throws his sword after him, and she pierces the door. It's the same with the middle son. When the IF enters, the king swings, and the IF puts his head on the table: the king has the right to kill him. The king reports that he was sold to an unclean man in his mother's womb. When he dies, the devils will smash his bones across seven powers, so one eye cries. But he hopes his sons will protect him, so the second one laughs. He tells you to cook 7 fathoms of firewood, dig a grave in 7 fathoms deep, sons spend the night near the grave and burn a fire, sabers in their hands, three snakes will arrive at night: at 9 o'clock - three-headed, at 10 - 6-headed, at midnight - Chapter 12 If someone comes for a sister, give it back. The king is dead, the brothers spend the night at the grave. The elders fall asleep. IF kills a 3-headed snake, blood almost flooded the sleepers. The IF puts logs under the heads of sleepy brothers. Kills the 6-headed, the blood almost flooded the sleepers, the IF seats sleepy brothers. A 12-headed serpent arrives. Ivan cuts 6 goals, then 6 more, but one always returns to the place. The IF pierces the snake's neck and presses it to the ground, the blood cools down, the head cannot grow. Blood flows like a river, and IF puts the sleepy brothers standing still. The fire went out, the IF climbs the ash tree, the light is in the distance, the IF is walking, the forest is on the way, two women ask to judge who is the oldest. It's Night and Day. The IF ties them to poles at a distance, tells them to remain silent until they return, otherwise they will cut off their heads. It comes to a fire of 300 fathoms of firewood, robbers (sprays) sleep around. The IF cuts off the stick, splits the end and pulls out the smut in a split, but the coal falls on the senior robber. The IF runs away with fire. The robbers wake up, the younger and middle do not see anything, the eldest gets up, his head rises above the trees, he sees the IF, steps several times, catches up with the IF, puts it in the palm of his hand, brings him to the fire, calls it an ant, promises to kill for stealing smut. IF calls himself the best thief in the world. The robber demands help to steal the king's daughter. The sun never shone on her, the wind never blew on her forehead, golden hair on her head, her beauty is indescribable. The robbers have not been able to steal it for three years: there is a golden rooster at the royal gate and as soon as they approach, he starts singing and the army shoots. The IF crawls up, kills a rooster, finds the room where the girl sleeps, calls the robbers one by one, cuts everyone's head, changes rings with the sleeping princess, leaves a note: IF hacked three snakes, Night and He tied the day to trees, shot a rooster, cut off the heads of the robbers, and exchanged rings with the princess. Night and Day are asked to let them go: it has been dark for 7 days. The IF judges this way: in summer it should be a long day (a lot of work, the harvest must ripen), and in winter it should be short. Night and day sign an eternal contract. The IF returns, cuts the frozen blood of snakes, the brothers who wake up fainting with fear. The Interfax rules the state. At midnight, musicians come and demand to give what their father ordered, otherwise they will leave no stone unturned. The IF throws their sister out the window. The musicians are playing, the wind is blowing - a train of 100 carriages flies across forests and seas. The neighboring king promised a daughter to whoever would kill the thieves. A gypsy servant finds the bodies and pretends to be their murderer. Preparing a wedding. The IF is late, the gypsy demands not to let him in, but the king lets him in. The Interfax ridicules the groom, expects execution for insulting the future royal son-in-law. At the gallows, she tells me what he did and where he put the letter, shows the princess's ring. The people rejoice, the army and servants disperse the gypsies. After the wedding, IF goes to his brothers, the king lets him go, but forbids him to take his wife with him, who was not shining in the sun or blowing the wind: she will be kidnapped by the wind. The IF does not listen, the whirlwind takes the princess away. The queen gives three years to find her daughter, otherwise she executes her. The IF wanders, there is a hole in the trunk of the oak tree: "This is where the wedding with Farmudz Mariika came in." The IF comes to a small hut like a box. There, his brother-in-law tells his wife to cook: her brother starves to death. He puts the IF to bed, asks the horse where the IF's wife is. Horse: In the seventieth country, the Filthy King stands for a cook. Pogany also has a horse, his older brother, he is stronger, he will catch up, the poganin king will cut Ivan to pieces. You have to put a bag on the horse so that the horse will then bring the chopped one. The brother-in-law equips the IF on the road, the horse brings him to the realm of Poganin. Ivanova's wife is just on her way to the well with the buckets, singing plaintively. The IF puts her on a horse. At the same moment, Filthy's horse laughs. Poganin grabs an iron pitchfork, rushes into the staff, finds out that the IF stole his cook, but he has time. He snaps his teeth and eats two wagons of nuts, smokes two wagons of tobacco, sleeps for two hours, takes a sword, sits on a horse and starts after him. IF Horse: It burns the fire because the Filthy King is catching up. Let the IF ask Poganin to cut him with a sword, throw him in a bag and put him on his horse. This is what happens. Poganin picks up the cook. The brother-in-law tells his wife to bring a trough from the attic in advance, folds the pieces of the IF body, pours it with healing water, and everything grows together. The brother-in-law has two souls, he blows on his body, releases one of them, the soul enters the IF, and he comes to life. His brother-in-law explains that he won't be able to revive him again. His mother, who is the oldest over half the world, could help, knows a lot, but she can eat it when she sees it. The IF has been going to her for six months. Baba feels it from a distance, roars: she has been living in this place for 10,000 years, but has not seen an earthly person, she has not eaten fresh human beings for 3000 years. The IF calls her a sweet mother, a dear matchmaker, and says that her son sent him. Baba wants to see it but promises to eat it. He takes two iron poles, 10 m each, supports his eyelids, otherwise they cannot hold on. The IF talks about everything, the woman feels sorry for him. He sends him to his husband, but there is little hope that he will regret it, he is even angrier, he is 6 months away. He feeds him with tin dumplings, he does not feel hungry during the journey. My grandfather senses it from an even greater distance, 15,000 years, has not seen a person, he has not eaten human beings for 5,000 years. The Interfax calls him a sweet father, a dear matchmaker, says that he has been pardoned and sent by his wife as the oldest in the world. Grandfather: I ate millions of people, but I have never met such an affectionate and kind person. She wants to watch and then eat it. It supports the eyelids with iron poles 20 m long. He regretted, feeds the IF with steel dumplings. It gives two twigs that grow out of the ground. There is a basement under the house, there are two horses, one must be hit with one twig and the other with another, he gives these horses because he is old, the horses must be obeyed, they will do everything. The IF goes down into the dungeon, sees wooden tremblers on four legs, hits them with a twig - the tremblers turn into a stallion and a mare. The horse is happy, asks you to take him out of the basement, take a wooden ax, cut three thousand fathoms of firewood, and light a fire. A wooden ax cuts trees into ready-made logs. Horses eat fire, eat ashes 100 meters deep, drink all the water, drink the lake three times: now they are invincible. The horse tells you to take diamond clothes out of his left ear, and a saddle with a bridle for a woman from his right ear. The horse asks how to carry it, IF: so that neither he nor the horse is harmed. The horse is happy to have waited for a good king. Pogany's horse is his son. They arrive at the well, the IF dresses his wife in diamond clothes, puts him on a mare, and rises above the sky. The horse in the filthy king's stine laughs. They're flying in pursuit, there's no time to wait. Pogany's horse calls his father and mother, asks him to wait for him, otherwise he will be tortured by the scum. They advise you to fly into the sky, throw off the pollution. Poganin is still falling, and if he fell, it would rumble with all the thunder and the earth would crumble. The horse rushes after his parents, flies with them. The light is all over the sky, people think the whole world is on fire. The old king cries with joy, IF invites brothers to a feast]: Lintour, Chandey 1965:9-29.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Adygi (bzhedugi) [serf millet goes to look for gold for him, disappears; a grown son offends his son Psha, his mother tells him to find out better where his father is; the boy asks his mother to cook corn broth, puts her hand in the hot, making her talk about her father; pshi gives a horse and a sword; the young man finds a golden castle, defeats seven seven-headed bastards; brings his mother there; one damn thing is alive, the mother of the young man pulls him out of the hole when he promises to be her husband; gives birth to a son with him, the young man picks him up without knowing that he is a damn son; in martial arts, the young man defeats the bastard, and the son of the damn, being loyal to his brother, kills father with a gun; tells his brother everything; the young man ties his mother to 12 horses; the younger brother's hearth goes out, he goes to the wilds for fire; they let him go for the promise to get the daughter of the Nogai Khan for them; he promises to open a small gate for them, kills one at a time, cuts off their ears; gets Khan's daughter to marry her older brother]: Huth 1987:185-200; Abazins [Katashch and his two older brothers sent by his father to look wives; brothers fell asleep, K. noticed the tents and went there; the Ainizh sits in each and played with an apple; one repeats "Arzan", the other "Urazan", the third "Surazan"; the Ainyzhi say that these are the names of the prince's daughters, whom they cannot kidnap; K. tells the Ainymen to send him to the fortress, takes a handkerchief, bracelet and ring from sleeping girls, tells the Ainyzhs to go up the wall, kills one at a time; the brothers marry these girls ; the serpent asks K. to find out why Mukhtar Pasha is angry; K. goes, kills a snake that ate Orlitsa's chicks, which takes him across the sea to Mukhtar Pasha, teaches him what to do; we must ask why he died state; he will answer, but ask him to pray; M.'s answer: the eldest daughter turned into a snake, ashamed of her father's crimes; the youngest lives with him, but does not show her face; the eagle picked up K. and took it away, and both the seas merged and swallowed up the island with M.; Orlitsa brings K. back, the serpent turns into a beautiful woman - daughter M., K. takes her as his wife; at home K. returns sight to his father blind with tears]: Tugov 1985, No. 33:75-80; ( cf. Ossetians [in Uther 2004, a reference to Byazyrok 1958, No. 49; the retelling of the text under this number does contain a reference to ATU 304, but has nothing to do with this story]); Karachays , Balkarians [the sledge mare is screwed at night, the foal is carried away by the three-headed emegen Bettirsey ulu Batras; the eldest, middle sons fall asleep on guard; the younger Sosurkau cuts off B.'s heads, cuts off his ears , buries their heads and body; the foal turns into a horse; S. cannot light a pipe, the fire has been stolen by emegens; the horse carries S. across the sea; S. takes fire from a hundred emegenes; they wake up, tell him them feed; he puts B.'s severed ears under the meat, the emegenes are saturated for the first time; they tell them to get a bride from Chanta-Kala for them, send 12 emegens to help; he climbs through the chimney, asks emegens to climb on one, kills all 12; blood falls on the girl's golden chest; S. licks her; at this point gold disappears, and his tongue turns golden; S. also lost the charyk on his left leg; Khan gives his daughter to Akbiyche for answering the questions; this is that girl; S. was just right for the charyk, the golden mark was in his language, S. talks about what happened, takes A. as his wife]: Karaketov 2001b, No. 8:362-366; Balkarians (zap. . 1958) [In the city of Iran, the padishah has 19 wives; from the very first daughter and three sons, and 18 are childless; the latter tears her clothes, cuts her hands, accuses her husband's sons of attacking in order to belittle the honor of the padishah himself; he orders to hang his sons; the vizier offers to kill them in the forest, he will bring their blood; he lets the young men go, brings the hare's blood; at night, the elder brother kills a lion, the middle brother kills a snake, they don't talk about it others; the youngest goes to the light of the fire, there are 60 robbers; he is called to spy for them; the robbers ask to know where the padishah has the money; raises the robbers one by one on a rope, cuts off each head, penetrates the padishah's three sleeping daughters; returns to the brothers without telling anything; the padishah is looking for the one who killed the robbers; the younger brother confesses; the padishah marries them to his daughters; the younger the brother gave medicine to the padishah and his wife; the vizier is jealous, replaced the medicines with poison; they gave it to the dog, she died; at this time the younger brother was on guard, killed the snake, began to wash the blood from the knife; the padishah was convinced that his son-in-law wanted to kill him; but he showed the medicine he had left, showed the snake he had killed; the padishah executed the vizier; a few years later the brothers fled; they were surrounded by an army - it turned out to be their father's army; all gathered, the elder brother told everything; the padishah's youngest wife was executed; feast]: Malkonduev 2017:523-528; Stavropol Turkmens [the tsar has three sons with his first wife; she died, he remarried; the new one has given birth to a daughter; mares disappear in the herd at night; the eldest, middle sons fall asleep; the youngest comes, cooks dinner; an old woman comes, then leaves; disappears under a stone; the young man goes down there; 40 robbers sleep there; the young man hit one with his boot, hid; then said that he was the son of a thief and wanted to steal with them; promised to get the king's three daughters; killed the guard, went to the princesses; each had a sword; he hit his own, cut the first two, when he hit the youngest's sword, his sword crumbled; the young man took this sword; called the robbers and killed each one at a time, strung his ears on a thread; killed the old woman, taking the keys to pantry; shot into a black cloud, a shot child's finger fell to the ground; at home, the queen says that her daughter's finger was cut off; the young man gave his finger and found it in the steppe; the king (the one who is the father of three princesses) summons people, looks for a hero, only the young man's sword came to the sheath; three princesses are presented as three princes; the stepmother tells the youngest to be driven away; he has come to the tree; the snake crawls to the eagles' nest, he killed her; for this, the eagle gave him two out of three eagles; the young man went on, took the splinter out of the lioness's paw, who gave him two out of six lion cubs; left the lion cubs and eagles to guard the horse, put on lamb skins and tripe himself , went to the city; the youngest of the king's three daughters realized that she was a prince; invited the sisters to send three apples to the king: green, half-ripe, ripe; the king ordered all men to pass by the window, let each the daughter will throw an apple at whoever she wants to marry; the elders threw the viziers at the sons, the youngest in an imaginary beggar; the king settled them at the stable; the king is sick, he needs the meat of the feather; the imaginary beggar in true form with With the help of his lions and eagles, he obtained a kulan, gave the meat to his older sons-in-law, who allowed them to be stigmatized on the sacrums; what his older sons-in-law brought to the king became worse; and the fish guts that she cooked youngest daughter, he recovered; at the feast, the prince truly said that two slaves had escaped from him, his elder sons-in-law had to show stamps; the prince gave slaves to the king; everything was clarified; the prince decided visit his home; let the eagles go, but the lions said they would still be useful, stayed with the prince's wife; the city was intact at home, there were no people; in the werewolf sister's hut, her father, stepmother, brothers and wives were thin; sister consistently asks if the brother came on horseback with three, two, one legs, whether he came on foot; tells me to play the balalaika; the fox volunteered to play for him, and let him hang his boots, which can be seen from kitchens - as if he was still sitting; his sister was chasing, the prince turned three arrows into trees, climbed the first one, his sister gnawed at him, it fell, the prince moved to the second, then to the third; lions something they feel that their wife released them, they tore up the cannibal; they brought a lot of cattle; at home, the prince handed over power to his older brother; he himself began to live with two wives (it is not said how he married the first one)]: A.K. 1875, No. 1:1-13 ; Megrelia [Tsagareli, Megrelian Studies, vol. 1:10-13; when dying, the king orders him to guard his grave for three nights and pass off his three sisters as those who ask; the elder hears a rumble and sees someone tear up the grave, grabbed the corpse, cried over it, and then buried it and disappeared; the same with the middle brother; while they were away, the youngest gave the three sisters to those who came for them; the youngest cut the monster in two, but his blood filled a candle; the young man noticed the light, went to it, telling the rooster not to scream so that morning would not come; after crossing the river, the young man saw demi (=devi) sitting by the fire; grabbed the smut and rushed to run; when crossing, the smut went out; he returned, but captured; Demi is told to get three princesses from the castle; the young man climbed the wall and killed all the demis one by one as they got up; went to the princesses, gave each ring (his youngest), returned, took fire, plunged a sword into the stone, allowed the rooster to sing, returned to his father's grave; the king promises daughters to whoever pulls the sword out of the stone; only a young man could married his youngest, gave it to his older brothers; the king gave the younger a flying carpet, the young and his servants flew it, but the flying monster took the princess away; the young man went in search; came to three demi married to his sisters; they said they saw Kazha-Ndii-Kerkun ("fast silicon-like demi") carry a gold-haired beauty and they only managed to pull out the curl of her hair; the young man recognized his wife's curl; the demi-sons-in-law gave he had a horse and a dog; he came to K.'s house; when he was taking his wife away, the gate called K.; he easily caught up with the young man, chopped them to pieces; the dog collected them, loaded them on a horse, he came to his demy-son-in-law; the youngest revived him, gave a three-legged horse; when K.'s horse caught up, the three-legged started and K.'s horse slowed down; the young man cut K. in half and returned his wife]: Wardrobe 1894, No. 2:112-118; Armenians [a young man, extremely strong, got the fire of the devas, followed the princess with them, killed the devas one by one, kissed the sleeping princess, took the crown of the sleeping king; the young man proved to the king that he was in the palace, killed the devas; the king gave for him his daughter]: Gullakian 1990, No. 304:17; Azerbaijanis [the king's 40 sons are going to marry 40 sisters; the king orders not to stay overnight in the destroyed building and in the steppe; the brothers spent the night at the old one the minaret, where the white diva; only the younger Melik-Mamed does not sleep; killed the diva, refusing to hit again, hid the corpse; elsewhere the same, the black diva; at the third night, MM came to the old man, he winds threads around black (night) and white (day) balls; MM tied the old man to make the night go on, came to the house where the wedding of 40 giants with 40 kidnapped princesses sisters; MM bribed an old woman, she gave cotton wool so that the watchman bell would not ring; MM killed the giants who came out one by one, plunged a sword into marble in the palace of the princesses's father, returned to the brothers; no one can pull out the sword, only the MM himself; the king gives his daughters to his brothers; on the way back, the serpent king brought MM to him, ordered Sanam with 40 braids, the daughter of an underground king, to be kidnapped; having received a magic tablecloth from the snake, MM fed a lion, an ant, a bird along the way Zumrud gushi, they gave fur, etc.; the underground king has 99 heads on the roof; he tells 1) to defeat the lion (the lion that MM fed won); 2) collect the sown millet (the ants collected); the last the grain was brought by a lame ant); 3) hang the scales in the air (MM agrees with the old woman that she will cut off one of the princess's braid, the Zumrud-gushi bird hung the scales on her); MM received the princess; on the bridge freed Jansyn-Kos; he pursues, took the princess, disappeared; Zumrud-gushi revived MM with live water; explained that J.K's death was in a needle, in a needle, in a sparrow, in a cage, in an elephant in the forest; MM took it out, broke a needle, J.K. died; the king of the serpent gave way to Princess MM; feast at home, MM lives with two wives]: Bogoyavlensky 1892 c, No. 6:308-318; Turks: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 213.III.2 [the young man's fire goes out; he goes for fire, meets an old woman who spins and then dissolves yarn; 40 giants agree to fire if the young man gets them three daughters of Padishah Peri; or 40 giants or robbers cannot enter the palace ; the young man climbs there and then cuts off the heads of each of the robbers who enter]: 251; Kunos 1901 [when he dies, the padishah tells him to guard his grave for three nights; whoever copes with this will receive the throne; three sisters must pass off as the first to come to marry; the eldest son hears a rumble and noise at night, runs in fear; the middle son is the same; the younger Mehmed kills the dragon; he asks to hit him with a sword a second time, M. says that the mother gave birth to him once; saw an old man with white (day) and black (night) balloons; tied his hands so that he would not let go of the day, came to 40 robbers, offered them to help steal treasures, killed one at a time when they went up to the wall; cut the snake; saw three princesses sleeping, fell in love with the youngest; returned, cutting off the dragon's nose and ears; untied the old man; the elder brother had already become the padishah; at the insistence of the younger, the sisters were given to the lion, the tiger, the bird Anka (he is the padishah peri); the king of the castle, in which M. killed 40 robbers and a snake, agrees with the vizier to identify the hero by arranging a bathhouse for all men; M. identified: he does not have sword; he asks the younger princess; king: but the demon whirlwind wants her, so she sits in a steel room; M. received the princess, and his brothers received her sisters; as soon as M. left for the forest, the whirlwind took his wife; M. goes in search, visits three sisters, each husband shows the way; M. takes his wife, jumps away; the whirlwind woke up on the fourth day, slowly packed up, easily caught up, tore it to shreds; allowed his wife collect the bones; she loaded them on her horse, told them to go where they needed to go; he came to Anka's wife; Anka gathered all the birds; the old owl was the last to appear, she was alone in the Garden of Eden; from there she brought live water Anka revived M.; he returned to his wife: let her know what the whirlwind's life is; he confesses: there is an island on the seventh sea level, there is a bull, a box in it, a dove in the box; there is a spring on the mountain, 40 sea horses once a year they come to him, we must tame one, he will deliver him to the right place; M. took out the box, took his wife, killed a pigeon, the whirlwind died, M. became a padishah]: 112-133; the Kurds [two guys met a pleshivets who drove a herd of sheep; they laughed at him; he told how he had lost his hair; the khanum, watching him wield the sword, fell in love with him, told him to take her away, taking the gold, otherwise he would give it to her husband; 40 robbers took the horses , gold and khanum, and he was tied by the hair; he was left without a scalp; caught up with the robbers, hid; the chieftain sends one to the horses, the bald one blew his head off; so with everyone; then hacked the chieftain; guys They apologized and decided not to rob anyone]: Jalil et al. 1989, No. 74:334-336.

Iran - Central Asia. Lura [the king has three sons, the youngest Jahantigh; his father's wife offered him love, J. refused; the woman grabbed him by the clothes, he cut off the piece of dress that was left in her hand, ran away; she accused him of an attempt on her honor; the king wanted to execute her son, but the vizier advised him to simply expel him; the older brothers left with the youngest; at night they take turns keeping the fire; when J. the wind blew out the fire; J. came to 16 demons; they cannot get the princess, because there are bells everywhere, which start to ring when they approach and the guards wake up; J. suggests stuffing them into the bells cotton wool; then tells the demons to go up one by one and kills everyone; kisses the princess and changes rings with her; brings a brazier to the sleeping brothers; in the city everyone claims that he destroyed it demons; when J. came, the king wants to give him his daughter, but he gives her older brother and moves on; in another village, the inhabitants are exhausted; the dragon closed the spring, every day gives water for sheep, bread and girl, turn of the royal daughter; clenching the back of the sword with his teeth, J. and the girl rushes into the dragon's mouth, ripped it apart with the blade of a sword; the girl marked the savior with dragon blood; all sources are here But they were filled; the men gathered, the princess found her savior; J. gave in to her middle brother, went on; J. comes to a city whose inhabitants are invisible; the fairy saw J. in a dream and will break the spell, if J. comes to her; when she saw him, she made everyone else visible; J. married his servant to the fairy and came to a city where there are only women; the fairy king invites everyone to overcome him, but no one can and he killed all men; the old woman teaches: we must take possession of the king's sea horse; hide in the stable; the horse will start, the king will come to give him sugar; so twice; the third time the king whips off the horse and leaves; then J. the horse will be pigeon; after defeating the king, he can be released only after he says "with my mother's milk and father's pain"; the fairy king gave his daughter J.; once his wife combed her hair and her hair fell into the river; his prince picked it up, the old woman promised to get the owner if she was given as much gold as she weighs herself; she came to J.'s wife; she did not want to keep her, but J. ordered her to keep it; the old woman persuaded J. to find out what his strength was; his wife pretended to be offended, J. admitted that his strength was in his hand (blade in his arm); when he fell asleep, his wife took out the blade, gave it to the old woman, who threw it into the river, put the woman to sleep and took her to the prince; J.'s wife told him she was in mourning for 40 days; his older brother J. saw that his star had set and the middle one knew how to be underwater; they came, the middle brother took out a blade from the bottom of the river, J. regained consciousness; the brothers bribed the old woman to take J.'s wife out of town; J. returned his wife, ordered the old woman to be burned]: Amanolahi, Thackston 1986, No. 1:1-9; Persians: Lorimer, Lorimer 1919, No. 27 (Kerman) [the chief merchant of Malik ut Tujjar sent his son to the bazaar, giving a hundred mists; he sees how the debtor's corpse was hanged and beaten at the crossroads, gives lenders all his money, his body they bury; the young man again received money from his father and went to trade; wanting to test the reliability of his satellites, he deliberately leaves the caravan and he leaves; the same second time; the third time he is expected; from A young man comes out in the desert, becomes a servant of the merchant's son; undertakes to guard the caravan alone at night on the condition that no others will interfere; one day he sees a fire, comes up, there are 40 robbers; he gives out and himself for a robber, proposes to rob the royal treasury; raises everyone on a rope against the wall and cuts off his head; kills the chieftain last; places the bodies in the treasury, the chieftain in the middle; in the royal the bedchamber finds a lion, manages to kill him before he rushes at the sleeping king; putting a sign on the king's leg with kalam, tasting royal dishes, drinking water and lighting the royal pipe, quietly returned to caravan; on the way, a diva woman who devoured and robbed caravans; a young man kills her, frees her prisoners, locks her treasury, returns to the caravan again; the king promises a daughter to the one who killed the lion and robbers; many try to attribute their exploits to themselves, but their stories are unreliable; the son of a merchant who has just arrived is summoned to the king, the servant goes with him, tells him to obey him; talks about how it happened, but attributes exploits to the son of the merchant; he receives a princess with a rich dowry; on the way back, the servant offers to take the diva's treasures and divide everything; brings a sword over the wife of the merchant's son to cut her in half; a black snake crawls out of her mouth; the servant gives the merchant's son all the treasures and his wife, says that he is the dead man whose debt he paid]: 169-175; Romaskevich 1934a, No. 34 [the king has 6 sons with 6 wives, but not from his beloved seventh; the dervish gave an apple to eat with his wife, a son was born; he was chrome, grew up quickly; all the brothers took a hundred mists and went to trade, the youngest too, his name was "native of Iran" (TI); with him servant; in the morning the fire went out; TI came to the old woman; her lower lip hung on her chest, the upper lip came under her eyes; she asks to get the princess with whom her 6 sons are in love, then she will give all her wealth; TI rose to the castle kissed the girl, bit off the cooked food, called out to the divas, cut off everyone's head as they went up the wall; brought the head of one of the divas to the old woman, who also cut off her head; came to the princess's father, showed the heads of the divas; the king will give his daughter if TI gets a mare with 40 foals; the princess teaches you to take sugar and dates with her; give dates to ants that are the size of a goat; sugar pour it into a bitter spring, the mare will come to drink; TI did so, saddled the mare, 40 foals followed her; the king gave his daughter; TI sees a man who drained the river with a cauldron; won, became his branded slave; a man with millstones on his legs (same); who ate trees and stones (same); in one place people are hanged by their forelocks - they fall in love with the king's daughter; TI goes to ask the princess, the king tells; 1) eat a lot pilaf and drink a pond of salt water (Opivalo and Obedalo performed); 2) break the pole in two (the man with millstones made the pole thin and broke it); the king gave his daughter; on the way, the White Div took both wives and disappeared into the mountains; TI came when divas are hunting, telling wives to find out where his bubble of life is; divas: it's a bush (wives are playing around the bush); divas: at noon, a yellow bull comes to the spring, a bubble in his left thigh; TI took out a bottle, told the diva to bring wives and all the riches, then broke the bottle; at night, three pigeons say: with a stick made of this tree you will heal a madman and only a healthy mind; you will make a leaf blind sighted and vice versa; sprinkle the bark into the sea and it will dry out; sister TI came to the mosque, did not recognize him; he threw a ring on the plate, told him to give it to his parents, they recognized his son's ring; he made them sighted with leaves; wedding; no information about the brothers]: 255-266; Tajiks {perhaps a Persian fairy tale, there is no data on the origin of the texts in the collection} [Jamshed Shah ruled in Hindustan; so far Shahzade Khurshed is hunting, his mother flirts with the vizier; D. orders her to be executed; H. managed to return and rode away, carrying his mother on horseback; looked into the house of 40 black cannibals; each goes out to kill him; H. stands for by the door, cuts off everyone's head; mother H. saw a hole with the dead; the last cannibal is alive; the woman helped him get out and hid him; to get rid of her son, the mother pretended to be sick, she will be helped by a crying person pomegranate; on the way, H. shot a lion and a pregnant lioness; took two lion cubs out of the lioness's belly, took them with him; brought a pomegranate; now the cannibal advises sending H. for a laughing apple; H. came to 40 divas who kidnapped a Yemeni princess; lions tore divas to pieces; H. has been feasting with malika for 40 days; she warns H. that his mother wants to kill him, but he does not believe him; brought apples; the cannibal advises to invite H. to test his strength: will he be able to tear the silk lace with which he was tied; the hidden cannibal is still afraid of H.; the mother took the sword to kill her son, but the lions came running and broke the fetters; the mother ran away, and the lions brought H. to malika; he admitted that she was right; left lions with her, and dressed as a calender; came to the ogre and his mother, they did not recognize him; asked for a spear, bow and arrow in the form of alms, which the cannibal still cannot lift; H. hacked the ogre and mother; the padishah of Yemen sent an army to return Malika; H. and the lions defeated him; the padishah sent an old woman; Malika senses ill, but H. left her as a maid; she poured they had sleeping pills, kidnapped Malika, but felt sorry for H. and did not kill him; H. came to Yemen with lions and began to smash him; the padishah gave him his daughter and recognized him as his son-in-law]: Khovari 1983:93-106; Uzbeks [Tonguch- batyr is 21 years old, Ortancha Tabyr is 18 years old, Kenja-batyr is 16 years old; their father instructs them and sends them on the road; after spending the night in a deserted place, the brothers take turns awake; T. killed a lion, girded himself with a piece of skin, did not say anything to the brothers; the next night, O. killed the serpent Azhdar Sultan, who had crawled out of the cave (the same); at the third night, K. went out to the house, where 20 robbers were cooking soup; asked him to join the gang; he was helped to climb the wall, he called the robbers one at a time, cut off each's head; entered the palace, took off his ring, bracelet, earring from three sleeping beauties; returned to brothers; in the morning, the Shah demands all the men to find out who was in the palace; the brothers were brought food, the vizier began to eavesdrop; T.: the lamb is fed by a dog; the bekmes (condensed syrup) smells of blood; K.: the cakes are packed as only a baker can put; the brothers told each other about their adventures, the vizier and the shah found out everything; the shepherd admitted that the sheep died and the lamb was fed by a female; the gardener killed in the thief's vineyard and buried the body; the Shah himself laid the cakes, his father was a baker; the Shah married his brothers to his daughters; once K. slaughtered a snake that was about to bite the sleeping Shah; he thought that K. was going to kill him, the vizier supported this idea, K. was thrown into prison; K.'s wife persuaded his father to ask his son-in-law; he told the story of a parrot; the parrot asked the Shah to visit his relatives in India for two weeks ; the mother of the parrot gave her son the fruits of life, which make the old people younger; the envious vizier injected poison into the fruit, advised him to give the peacocks, they died; the Shah tore off the parrot's head; decided to execute one old man by giving he had a fetus; the old man became young; the Shah let all three brothers go home, his wives went with them]: Afzalov et al. 1972 (1): 95-104 (=Konovalov, Stepanov 1986:306-308); parya [the padishah has 40 sons, all unmarried; each gave the vizier a melon, who brought the padishah; explained that it was time for the sons to marry; the padishah equipped them to look for brides; at rest, the brothers left alone to bake bread; he baked 40 loaves; from under His hand stretched out, took away one bread; the next day the young man pierced his hand with a hot spit; his hand disappeared; the young man began to dig, found a door, there were 40 devas; the young man cured the wounded; the devas ask for help get 40 girls with a dog; a young man killed a dog, told the devas to come in one at a time, killed each one; took a handkerchief, a ring from one girl; showed them to his father; he told them to bring the brothers; a common wedding; brothers and wives went to see their father; they are told that the padishah is blind, suspended, and his wife is a maid to the new one, who is a former vizier; the young man wiped his father's eyes with a handkerchief, he saw the light; restored him to the throne; The vizier was dragged like a goat carcass during a goat carcass]: Vinnikov 1977, No. 2:153-156; the Shugnans [the tsar died, his son and daughter were driven away; they began to live in ruins, the sister heard a voice and released diva; sister and brother found Jamshid's treasury, sister settled a diva there; gives birth to a son with him, who advises leaving the baby on the road and then picking him up as a stranger; the boy is extremely strong, loves his uncle; the fire goes out, the boy comes to seven divas, raises a huge cauldron, takes fire; the divas ask for help to get seven princesses; the boy takes turns killing the divas who come out, lets the princesses go; hears how the diva's mistress asks him to kill her brother; he shot the diva himself; after defeating the strongman, he got the princess, gave her to his uncle]: Grunberg, Steblin-Kamensky 1976, No. 24:250-258.

Baltoscandia. The Swedes [a young man has a gun that always hits the target; he leaves his brothers, meets a giant who likes the shooter's accuracy; pretends to help the giants penetrate castle, but kills them one at a time when they enter the door; there is a sleeping princess in the castle; when she wakes up, she discovers that she is pregnant and her golden apple is gone; the castle is broken and the princess sets off looking for the father of her child; starts an inn where everyone is fed for free; from the story of a young man who comes (or from the golden apple that comes with him), the princess identifies the hero]: Liungman 1961, No. 304:53-54; Norwegians [a poor young man gets (inherits) a magic gun; shooting it, knocks food out of the hands of giants; goes with them to rob the castle or steal the queen, but kills them {apparently like others traditions: cuts off the heads of those who enter}; in the castle, a young man sees the princess and converges with her; the impostor claims victory over the trolls; the king rewards him, but the princess refuses to marry him; the young man returns, tells how it happened, shows the troll tongues cut off; marries a princess]: Hodne 1984, No. 304:67.

Volga - Perm. Bashkirs [the old man has 7 sons, the youngest is Biish; an old man with 6 sons goes to look for his sons 7 daughters of the same father as brides; B.: do not stop at the lake and in the gorge; another old man leads to him, He gives 7 daughters; on the way back, the sons insisted on stopping in the gorge; Azhdaha surrounded them: send me B., and his fiancée will be a hostage; B. came, Azhdaha let the girl go, and B. tells me to kill a giant deva named Kyzyl; on the way, B. defeated a Russian hero, for which the tsar gave him a daughter; from another tsar he fired an arrow through a silver ring, also received a princess; he lives with Kyzyl for a year, then fights him; K. tells an old slave to pour oil on him (so that the enemy's hands slip off); the old woman pours oil on B., sprinkles ash on K.; two boys, his sons, came from his wives; one of K. killed them; B. brought his sons and wives to his village, but he is empty; only an old woman herds sheep; looks at the ground - cries, at the sky - laughs; replies that she cries for six sons, but sees signs in the sky that she is coming to her B. comes; he opened up to her; the same with the father; father: Pyariah has 40 sons, their wife; B. came to them, met his wife; she advises you to dig a hole at the doorstep and shout: the cattle have run away; 40 sons of the pyariah run out one, B. cut off their heads; won and killed the pyariah, took his cattle]: Barack 1988, No. 36:242-246.

Turkestan. Karakalpaks [the old man's three sons went to find happiness; spent the night in the forest, awake in turns; the elder killed the tiger, girded himself with a piece of skin, said nothing to the brothers; the middle one killed winged snake (same); the youngest's fire went out, he went into the light, where robbers were feasting in the cave; said he wanted to be with them; says he knows how to sneak into the Tismet Baya Palace; suggests squeeze through the loophole one at a time, cuts off each's head; T. quietly removes his earring, bracelet, ring from his three sleeping daughters; says that the eldest is for the older brother, the middle brother is for the middle brother, the middle one is for the middle, younger - for himself; quietly returned to his brothers; T. orders to find a hero; people overheard the brothers' conversation, T. said; the brothers got wives]: Volkov, Mayorov 1959:137-139; Sidelnikov 1952 [=1958 (1): 69-88, =Daurenbekov 1979:46-57; Ashken, Moshken {in Daurenbekov 1979 Shoshken)} and younger Zhumageldy leave their father's house; he does not tell them to spend the night in the forest, on a lonely grave, in a cemetery; they spend the night; every night the brothers are sleeping, J. is guarding; the monster is killing, the Yellow seven-headed bird turned out to be, hid the corpse, put the belt cut out of his back in his pocket; at the next stop he remembered the lonely grave, raised the stove, went underground, killed the Seven-Headed Dragon; at the third halt, I remembered the cemetery, came to 60 giants, ate more meat than they did; summons giants one by one to the next room, kills everyone everyone, cuts off and hides their ears; all three brothers go down to that country; the local khan is grateful that the bird, dragon and giants have been killed; J. renounces the khan's daughter and the throne, leaves A., goes with M. further; M. says he can drink the sea, J. - that his heart is in his dagger; the snake eats a girl and a ram every day, it is the turn of the khan's daughter; J. lets himself be swallowed, rips open the snake from the inside with a dagger; runs away, the edge of the robe remains in the girl's hands; everyone is called to a feast, J. is identified, gives the girl and the throne to M.; kills three giants, marries their sister; the khan is jealous; the old woman asks for his wife ask J. where his soul is, throws a dagger into the sea, takes the widow to the khan; A. and M. see blood dripping from the star, M. drinks the sea, they take out a dagger, revive J., who exterminates Khan and his people, returns wife]: 213-228; Kyrgyz [rich blind Sokurbay ("blind bai") sent his son to the bazaar, giving him a thousand gold; he met people who beat the dead man - he owed him; young man paid the debt and buried the dead man, giving all his money; S. told his son to find a good companion; he brought 12 people, S. felt their hands, drove them away; the young man brought another one; S.: "This one fits"; S. sent his son with a caravan; ordered not to drink from a spring in the desert; the caravan-bashi was that companion; he stopped at the spring; an old woman came up and gave her food for her children; but secretly followed her; entering the cave, The old woman says to her five children: "The sons of the same bay I once dazzled have arrived and settled down by the spring for the night. I'll cook poisons for them"; the caravan-bashi changed his wineskins; when the old woman came and gave her own wineskin with poison, she and her children went blind; the bashi caravan-bashi took the old woman's treasures from the cave and closed the exit; There is a yurt nearby, where 40 girls and 40 sheep are tied to be eaten by a dragon; a caravan-bashi killed a dragon with a sword; he tied a dragon skin around the waist of the khan's daughter; the khan wants to give her for a savior, but he promises to take her on the way back; seven robbers are rampant in another city; the caravan-bashi tells them that he is also a robber, promises to help rob the khan's treasury; calling robbers to alone, kills everyone; the khan is looking for a hero; many come, but only the caravan-bashi brought the robbers' ears cut off; promises to take the khan's daughter on the way back; in another city, caravan-bashi 12 times sends his son S. to the saddler, each time he must ask him to make a new saddle even better than the previous one; after the 12th saddle, the saddler cannot do better; he goes across the river, the caravan-bashi watches him; he comes to the yurt where the girls are; S.'s son fell asleep, the khan's daughter put a mark on his cheek; the caravan-bashi tells his son S. to ask the girl for her fur coat; the khan sees the caravan-bashi in this fur coat; he assures that it is not a fur coat Khan's daughter, and he has 40 of them; the khan gave him his daughter; on the way back, son S. and his companion took those two girls and the old woman's property from the spring; he saw the light; rejoiced; the satellite says he is the one dead and leaves]: Kebekov, Tokombaev 2007:169-175; Uighurs [father sends three sons to see the world; they take turns guarding at night; the eldest killed a tiger, made himself a belt out of skin; the middle one is a dragon, the same; the younger one goes out, he comes to a house, there are robbers, he pretends to be a robber too; when they go to rob the treasury, he kills them one at a time, takes off the ring, jewelry from three sleeping girls, returns to his brothers; khan invites him; elder: lamb meat fed by a dog; medium: wine smells of blood; younger: Khan's father is a musician; Khan overhears, asks a cook, a gardener (a murdered thief is buried under a grape bush), a nurse (khansha changed the musician's stillborn son to a newborn son); the brothers receive three daughters of the khan; they return from wives to the father's house]: Kabirov 1963:174-182.