K164. A wife is not a best friend, ATU 921B.
.13.-.17.27.-.29.31.32.34.
The person himself or someone else creates a situation in which he is convinced that his wife is not his best friend. Usually, a traitor wife is opposed to a loyal dog.
Arabs (?) Algeria, Egyptian Arabs, Italians (region not specified; conventionally central Italy or south), Germans (Mecklenburg), Dutch, Friesians, Welsh, Serbs, Ancient Greece, Croats, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Romanians, Russians ( Olonetskaya, Vologda, Samara Krai), Ukrainians (Hutsulshchina, Galicia, Podolia, Kievskaya, Poltava), Belarusians, Czechs, Slovaks, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Finns, leaders, Eastern Sami, Latvians, Lithuanians, Bashkirs, Tuvans.
Sudan - East Africa. Dinka [the man divided his hair into 4 parts and told his wife what every quarter means; 1) the wife is a stranger; 2) his half-brother, the stepmother's son is a stranger; 3) the dog is a faithful friend; 4) the mother's brother is a faithful friend; let everyone bring a calf and the guesser pick up all the calves; they can't guess for many days; the chief decided to hang the man as soon as someone guesses; the stepmother's son asked the man's wife answered and she told him everything; the chief promises to hang the man the next day; dogs attack the guards who came for the owner, killed two; the wife refuses even to give milk husband: he will die anyway; the stepmother's son asks for his clothes: he will still disappear; the brother's youngest son tells the guards to go with him to the chief, otherwise one of them will be killed; asks the chief to hang him instead of his uncle, because his uncle has no brothers and he has 5 of them; the chief hesitates and begins to ask the prisoner; understands everything, frees both the prisoner and his nephew]: Deng 1984:137-13.
North Africa. Arabs (?) Algeria (1 entry, Sahykod 1987, #3:28-34), Egyptian Arabs (many entries): El-Shamy 2004, No. 921B: 595.
Southern Europe. Italians (region not specified): Cirese, Serafini 1975, No. 921B: 234
Western Europe. Germans (Mecklenburg), Dutch, Friesians, Welsh: Uther 2004 (1), No. 921B: 547-548.
The Balkans. Ancient Greece (Aesop) [master tells servant to give food to whoever loves him most; servant brings food to dog; indignant wife threatens to leave her husband; servant: only the dog loves, only she will return even if she is beaten]: Uther 2004 (1), No. 921B: 547; Bulgarians [1) the man thought his best friend was his wife, and she was an enemy, but the dog was the best friend; on the advice of the servant, the man hit the dog, and then called and she came; hit his wife, and she returned to her father; to get her back, the servant had to spread the rumor that the owner was getting married again; 2) hell promises the woman a purse of gold if she will kill her husband; when she brings her hand with a knife or an ax, the devil wakes her husband up; the dog, when the line approaches its owner, began to howl and did not let him in]: Daskalova-Perkovska 1994, No. 921B: 330; Romanians [the poor fisherman saved the devil from the wolf in the forest; the devil asks him to come to him with the one who loves him best (mut seiner Hoffnung zu kommen); the devil took the form of a young man and seduced the fisherman's wife to kill him; the husband woke up and saw her with an ax; the next day he came with a dog, she began to drive away the line and he gave the man a bag of gold; the man went hunting with his two brothers; so that the husbands would return faster, the wives hid them the chairs and the brothers were in the forest without fire; the elder climbed a tree and noticed the fire; there was a dragon, demanding to tell the tale, he could not, the dragon picked it up with his tail and threw it into the fire; the same with middle brother; younger (that fisherman) told; (should)]: Bîrlea 1966:395-397; Serbs, Croats, Hungarians: Uther 2004 (1), No. 921B: 547-548.
Central Europe. Russians (Olonetskaya), Ukrainians (Hutsulshchina, Galicia, Podolia, Kievskaya, Poltava), Belarusians [Who is the best friend: a person thinks his wife is the best friend; hell shows him that his wife can easily cheat on her husband and even agrees to kill him; his best friend is a dog]: SUS 1979, No. 921B: 233; Ukrainians (Yekaterinoslavshchina, Aleksandrovsky U., late 19th century; similar the texts were recorded in the middle of the 19th century in Kiev, Kharkov, Poltava, Kursk provinces, Podolia) [once in the swamp, a person saw a sitting line creeping up to which a wolf was creeping up; man called out to the devil, he escaped; promised a reward, but let the man come to this place with his best friend; the man went through all his relatives, but decided that his best friend was his wife; those who came waited a long time and the man fell asleep; hell came up in the form of a handsome guy and brought gold; if a woman wants, let him marry him and kill her husband; she took a knife, swung, but the hell woke up the man; since he did not take the best with him friend, now they are even and money is not supposed: a man saved the line from a wolf, and hell from his wife]: Rakhno 2020:154-155; Ukrainians (Kiev, Zvenigorodsky y.) []: Rudchenko 1869, No. 40:72-73; Russians (Vologda, Kirillovsky district) [the hunter saw the bear attack on the robber; killed the bear; the robber asked him to come tomorrow, bringing his best friend; he brought his wife; no one, the hunter dozed off; the robber came out, offered his wife to kill husband and live with him, gave a sword; the wife swung, but the robber set up his gun; teaches the hunter: if you would bring a mother or a dog, but your wife is not your friend]: Sokolov, Sokolov 1981, No. 50:197-198; Czechs, Slovaks: Uther 2004 (1), No. 921B: 547-548
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Abkhazians [a slave blesses the king's newborn son: do business with a woman's determination; to prove that his words are spoken seriously, the slave invites the king to announce a reward to husbands who they will bring the heads of wives; no one appeared; and when the wives were rewarded for their husbands' heads, a crowd of women appeared in the morning with their heads severed off in their hands; king to a slave: you made me destroy my people, but but I know what women's determination means]: Shakryl 1975, No. 70:321-322; Ossetians [devils can only be seen if they want to; they are only afraid of wolves, lightning, fire and iron; lightning hits devils wherever he can catch up; when he meets the devil, he must show wolf claws; one day a person sees a wolf sneaking to the sleeping line; the devil shouted; the devil promised money, but at home - let the man come to him with his best friend; the man came with his wife; after drinking the devil's wine, fell asleep; the devil invited the woman to become his wife and kill the man; when the woman held a dagger over her husband, hell shouted to the sleeper: his wife wanted to kill you; then explained that since a man saved him from a wolf and he saved him from his wife, he was not even entitled to money]: Byazirov 1972:218-219.
Baltoscandia. Latvians [man's most loyal friend is a dog; when danger approaches, it wakes up its owner; his wife does not wake up]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 921B: 332; Lithuanians [man found bewitched the treasure; he began to dig up, he hears a voice: bring his best friend; he brings his wife; when he falls asleep, the lover (hell) persuades his wife to kill him; "You should have brought the dog, not his wife"]: Balys 1936, no.*894:93; Finns, counselors: Uther 2004 (1), No. 921B: 547-548; Eastern Sami [a person sees the devil tied upside down to a tree; he explains that another devil tied him; promises a bag of gold, but then asks to come with the one who is most accurate to man; the man brought his wife, there is no devil; the man fell asleep, the devil brought gold; offered his wife to kill the man - all the money will go to her; she she held a knife to her husband's throat, the devil cut him, explained that his wife was not faithful to him; the man beat her; one day, while hunting, he tied a dog and fell asleep; the dog saw the devil carrying a bag of gold and began to bark; devil: a dog or rather a wife]: Yermolov 1959:78-79.
Volga - Perm. The Bashkirs [the tsar was afraid that those who reached 70 would become a wise man and would be dangerous to him, so the old people were thrown off the cliff; the tsar's son-in-law hid his father in a chest; the tsar tells his son-in-law to appear, took one friend and one enemy; father: take a wife and a dog, beat both and see that the dog comes back and caresses, and the wife presses his father; this is what happened; the king handed over power to his son-in-law, who forbid killing old people]: Barag 1990, No. 39:99-101.
Southern Siberia - Mongolia. The Tuvans [the master spirit of the area told the hunter to bring a friend; he brought his wife; the spirit offered her to kill her husband, then she would give her wealth; the wife wanted to kill, but the dog drove her away; she is a friend]: Alexeev, Dongak 2006, No. 5:9.