K168A. Food becomes severed body members,
ATU 664* .14.15.17.27.28.30.32.
A person thinks that he has something in his hands to eat (veal head, melon, bread, etc.), but these objects turn into human heads or limbs. Cf. K80c1 motive.
Arabs of Morocco, Tunisia, Berbers of Algeria, Spaniards, Catalans, Arameans, Bulgarians, Russians (Samara), Western Ukrainians, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Baluchis, Komi.
North Africa. Arabs of Morocco [a man came to the barber's tent and asked him to shave; barber: I can slaughter you now and no one will recognize you; man: the chief sultan (i.e. God) will recognize and tell you the youngest; the barber cut off the man's head, buried his body and head in different places at night; one day he came to the place where he buried his head; grapes grew there, bearing fruit at odd hours; The barber decided to present it to the Sultan; when he took it out of the bag, his head was severed; I had to confess everything; the sultan ordered the barber to be beheaded]: Alarcón y Santón 1913, No. 1:87-91; Algerian Berbers (Zouavas) [two people carried figs to the bazaar; met a ploughman; he asked to guard the oxen while he was going out for a drink; they stole one first, then another ox; then they stole money from the old woman; then one stole from another; came to him and offered to shave him, cut off his head; a pomegranate tree grew in this place; later the killer plucked and took the fruit from it to the king; the bag contained the head of the victim]: Basset 1887, No. 57:114-116; the Arabs of Tunisia [the other two stopped in a deserted place; one asked the other to shave it; he put a knife to his throat and asked what would happen if he stabbed him; the friend replied that the Grand Sultan would inform the little one and he would do justice; the first cut off the second head, later hid it, and returned home and continued to live a normal life; one day I decided to visit the scene of the murder and found a vine with excellent grapes there; I decided to present the grapes to the Sultan, but when he opened the bag, There was a severed head; the murderer confessed and was executed]: Fermé 1893, No. 7:279-281.
Southern Europe. The Spanish [after earning the money, the maid went home; told her friend that she was afraid to go alone with the money; the friend's husband volunteered to accompany her, killed her, cut off her head and took the money; when he returned, he hears voices: you will pay in Seville; a few months later, two seniors asked him to accompany them to Seville; sent them to the bazaar to buy a calf's head; he hid it under the cloak and went back; the police told him to show what was under his cloak; there was a woman's head; those two seniors disappeared and the murderer was hanged]: Camarena, Chevalier 2003, No. 780C: 219- 221; Catalans (including Mallorca) [Lord and St. Peter went to jail; St. Peter reproached the prisoner for his crime; the Lord sent Peter to buy a lamb's head; he bought it, put his head in a bag, and blood began to drip from there; the police ordered him to open the bag - It has a human head; Petra has been put in jail; Lord: Now you see that innocent people are also going to prison]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 780C: 159.
Western Asia. Aramei (Malyulya) [a man lived and fed his family with firewood in the forest; a large tree has been felling for five days; two pots of gold coins under the roots; he called a rich neighbor; when they got it gold, the neighbor said he would kill the poor man; he promised to take care of his children; he asked to give them to his pregnant wife: let him call the child the Son of the Offended; the neighbor told the poor man's children that their father suddenly fell ill and died far away in the forest; a year later, a rich man came to the scene of the murder and found a vine with a bunch of grapes, although it was winter; grapes were the size of an eye; a rich man brought grapes To the Sultan, but when he unfolded his handkerchief, a human head was there; he had to tell everything; the murderer was beheaded and his property was given to the victim's family]: Bergsträsser 1915, No. 4:10-13.
The Balkans. Bulgarians [years after the crime is committed, a murderer buys a veal or lamb head and carries it home to cook; people notice a bloody one reaching for a person trail, follow him and instead of a calf's head they find the head of the victim; the murderer is punished]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 780C: 276.
Central Europe. The Russians (Samara) [the soldier served 25 years and went to see the tsar; the soldier was let in; the tsar asks how great the light is; soldier: the sun goes on for 25 hours; how much from heaven to earth; it knocks there, and here you can hear; how deep the sea is; we had a grandfather 70 years old, went to the next world and now he is gone; the tsar gave the soldier 25 rubles, he went to the tavern, skipped everything; bought carrots, cut them into mugs, gave them to the innkeeper, who mistook it for gold; when he later saw the carrot, the innkeeper brought the soldier to the king, took out the carrot - gold; the king asked him to joke; the room was flooded with water, the king was on the roof, the water came in, the boat appeared, the king he swam in it; the water has come down, an old woman with buns is coming, he took a hold, the quarterly one comes up - the king holds human heads; they took them to the scaffold to beat with a whip; the hangman once hit, the king screamed; people ran in, the king was sitting on the sofa; the king thought that a year had passed, but only an hour; the king gave the soldier a wolf ticket; the old man called to him, asked for a fairy tale; sat down on the floor, the soldier ordered Send the daughters-in-law to bed, otherwise he says obscenely; the old man felt - they are both bears; soldier: you have to run to the forest; if I am killed, you will tumble over me; that's what happened; the owner tumbled over Polaty, daughters-in-law ran in, picked up; the old man drove the soldier away]: Sadovnikov 1884, No. 25:116-119; Ukrainians (Ugric Russia, Galicia, Pokutye) [Secret murder opens: cabbage (calf's head) turns into the head of the victim; the wheat that grew on the victim's grave is red, the dough from it contains blood; the body of the victim grows to the murderer]: SUS 1979, No. -781*: 198 {it follows from the definition that at least one source for Western Ukrainians transforms cabbage or veal head into a human head}.
Iran - Central Asia. Tajiks, Uzbeks (widely used manuscripts in Persian and translated into Uzbek; the mentioned places of recording are Bukhara, Ura-Tyube) [stepmother tells her stepdaughter to strain every day a huge amount of yarn; the girl inherited a cow and a chicken from her mother; the cow ran into the cave or the wind carried cotton wool from the girl's hands; a gray old woman in white sits in the cave, says (in Persian version) from Ura-Tube) sweep the floor, look in her head, remains satisfied, rewards the girl with beauty; tells the cow to eat cotton wool, thin yarn begins to come out behind her; in Persian, native the stepmother's daughter is inattentive to the fairy, becomes ugly (a bead stolen and hidden in her mouth makes her goiter grow); Tajiks in Samarkand, their stepdaughter washes her hair in the Black River, and her face in Belaya, becomes beautiful; her own daughter, on the contrary, becomes black faced and gray hair; stepmother asks her husband to stab a cow; she tells her stepdaughter not to eat her meat, bury her bones under the threshold; a noble person invites you to a feast; stepmother tells her stepdaughter to separate millet from sorghum, the chicken does the job, the old fairy calls the gurias, they dress up the girl to go to the feast; the girl loses her slipper, noble the man tries it on everyone, the stepmother locks her in a latrine, but the chicken shows where to look; after getting married, the stepdaughter prepares a treat in honor of the old fairy woman (Bibi Se-Shambe), the husband comes in, is insulted that the treat is poor, overturns the cauldron; he goes to cut off the melons, in his bag they turn three missing princes into the heads; before his execution, he goes to his wife, repents, sacrifices Bibi Se-Shamba; heads turn into melons again, princes return, man's innocence proven]: Andreev 1927b: 8-12; Baluchis (Quetta district) [fakir blesses childless prophet Dris, D.'s wife gives birth to 40 boys; D. decides that they cannot feed everyone, leaves them alone, takes 39 to a deserted place; a year later, the goat herd sees boys playing there, reports D.; he comes, calls himself their father, they they run away; the mullah orders D.'s wife to bring their remaining son there; when they start playing with him, she must say that she gave birth to them; the boys came out of hiding, she lured them with sweets, brought them home; Angel Azrail, by order of God, deprived them of all their lives; they were buried; D. went on a journey, picked a melon on melons, put them in a bundle; the horsemen arrived and asked if he had seen the king's son, they forced him to unfold the knot, it contained the prince's head; the tsar ordered D. to cut off D.'s arms and legs, pull out his eyes, stop dying; his potter went out; adapted to drive an ox that walks in a circle, rotating the lift, asked if he had seen the king's son, forced Raleso and reading the Koran; the king's daughter saw him, she liked his voice, she told her father to pass her off as a cripple; they came to D. Health, Luck and Wisdom, called a prophet, made him healthy; he asks to open the head of his supposedly murdered son - there is a melon; the king's son returns healthy and with a bride; God allowed D. to see him, telling him to leave afterwards; D. returned, saying that he had forgotten his shoes; he stayed to see God]: Dames 1893, No. 14:294-300).
Volga - Perm. Komi [the soldier served for 25 years, came to the village, quietly snuck into the hut on the floor; the hostess came in, woke up her husband and told the soldier to drive away; her husband is bored, ready to leave for a fairy tale; the owners they have dinner, but the soldier is not invited; he said that without eating, he would not be able to tell a fairy tale; when they lay down, the soldier began to tell, and then both turned into bears, ran into the forest and sucked their paw in den; in spring, a soldier bear says that when they start tearing cows, they will kill him, take off his skin, let the master bear steal it, then become human again; when the owner bear pulls the skin, fell and found himself in a hut on the floor; ran to the barn - the cows are intact; in the morning the soldier says that he will not leave, but will pay a silver ruble for every day; in a year and three months, the owner has a bucket of silver; wanted show his wife, and there are pieces of birch bark in the bucket; the soldier to the king, he orders to be executed; the soldier asks for permission to say goodbye to the white light; went out onto the porch, water poured, the king to the roof, then onto the pipe; the fisherman in the boat I agree to save if the king goes to him as a laborer; the king caught fish and repaired nets all summer; then the fisherman sent him to the city to make dumplings and sell them; the trade was successful, but he was in flour severed hand; the king was led to trial; soldier: do not cut my voice; king: they are cutting my own; the king suddenly realized that he was in his palace, and the hangman wanted to execute the soldier; the king forgave and rewarded the soldier]: Plesovsky 1975:132-136.