K27z3. Cat with lamp, ATU 217.
.15.-.17.21.23.27.-.31.33.
The character taught a cat (monkey, dog) to hold a candle (lamp) or extinguish it at a signal. Seeing a mouse (rat), the cat rushes after it and, as a result, drops (does not extinguish) the candle.
TunisianNubians, Kabiles, Berbers, Tunisian Arabs (?) , Arabs (?) Algeria, Egyptian Arabs, Catalans, Spaniards, Basques, Italians (conditionally: southern Italy), Sicilians, French, Swiss, Germans (Schleswig-Holstein), Friesians, Irish, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestinians, Syria, Tibetans, Punjabians, Santals, Telugu (or Marathi), Sinhales, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbs, Greeks, Hungarians, Poles, Czechs, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, Bukhara Arabs, Tajiks, Persians, Mountain Tajiks, Yagnobes, Swedes, Danes, Faroese, Finns, Latvians, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz.
Sudan - East Africa. Nubians [betting on life and property]: Kronenberg, No. 48:230-235 in El-Shamy 2004, No. 217A: 84.
North Africa. Kabila [Akkarui-Buthluva ("restless head") is the son of agelite (village chief); he went on a journey; the old man says that one road leads to seven seas, the other to wild animals; AB crossed the sea, found a box of gold, stayed in a caféin; the local agelite has a beautiful daughter; sleeps for a month, awake for a month; when she gets married, he will sleep like ordinary people; they fell in love with each other friend; the girl sent her father a ripe pomegranate, rotten on the one hand: it's time to marry; the father will give it to someone who brings a hundred bags of beans from across the sea that a Jew has; a sea maiden came out ("daughter of agelite genies"), carried AB across the sea; he married her, they have two sons; a Jew guards his bags himself during the day, and at night the cat holds a lamp and even if a rat runs, does not leave it; a Jew: who will force throw the cat a lamp, I'll give him all his property, and whoever tries, but can't, will give me everything and will be executed; many tried unsuccessfully, the Jew took possession of everything; AB lowered a rat on a rope through a hole in ceiling; at first the cat did not react, but in the morning he grabbed a rat, dropped the lamp; AB executed a Jew, brought bags of beans to the sea; the sea maiden and her children disappeared into the water, the waves carried AB and bags to on the other side; AB married Agelite's daughter; soon began to miss the sea maiden; threw himself into the sea, swam out six months later; rushed again; the sea maiden realized that he loved her, went ashore; AB with two became the wives and sons of a sea maiden to rule the country where that Jew was]: Frobenius 1921b, No. 50:265-271; Arabs (?) Tunisia [betting on life and property]: Fermé 1893:276-279 in El-Shamy 2004, No. 217A: 84; the Berbers of Tunisia [the poor brother has a son, the rich has a daughter; the rich took the poor son as a servant so that he carried his daughter to school; the teacher demanded offerings from the students; the daughter of a rich man asked him to write down the requirements on paper - her father would send everything; other girls: if your father were rich, he would not take it her brother's son would carry you as a servant; the next day the girl would not let her carry her, but went by herself; her mother and father would argue whether to pass her off as a paternal nephew named Ahmed or a mother's side named Said; she suggested that both of them go by ship to trade; whoever brought more money would go out; both young men ended up in the city where there was a hangout for gambling; Said was told that they have a cat that holds a candle in its paws all night; if he drops, S. can take a hundred ships, and if he does, they will take his ship; the cat held the candle; losing In total, S. began to work in the kitchen; A. persuaded the boy to come in the evening and release the mice at the signal; when he released the first one, the cat only jerked, and when the second one, he chased the mouse; A. received a hundred ships; returned the ship to Said, for which he agreed that A. burn a stigma in his back; returned first, his wedding was being prepared; A. turns the wedding train to his yard; if S. has A.'s seal, then he is his property; A. married a cousin and S. died of grief]: Stumme 1900, No. 6:49-51; Arabs (?) Alzhar, Arabs of Egypt: El-Shamy 2004, No. 217:83
Southern Europe. Catalans (Majorca) [Solomon was not indifferent to women; invited them to dinner, and two cats held candles; the guests could not distract their attention; but when S. released the rats, they they rushed after her; Solomon: If cats lose their heads at the sight of rats, is it surprising that women make me lose their heads?] : Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 217:51-52; Spaniards [a priest preached at night and a trained cat held a candle; one day a rat let out, the cat rushed after it and the candle went out]: Camarena, Chevalier 1997, No. 217:356; Basques [motive known]: Camarena, Chevalier 1997, No. 217:357; Italians (region not specified) [the prince taught the cat to hold a lit candle during dinner; no matter what they brought to the table, the cat did not move; the prince's friend released the mouse, the cat rushed after it; this story is told in particular about Dante (as a friend) and Cecco d'Ascoli]: Crane 1885:309 (=Kotrelev 1991:311-312); Sicilians [the prince taught the cat to stand on its hind legs during lunch and hold a lit candle; one of the guests released a mouse, the cat rushed after it]: Kotrelev 1991:311-312.
Western Europe. French [motive known]: Delarue, Tenèze 1976, No. 217:449; Germans (Schleswig-Holstein), Swiss, Friesians: Uther 2004 (1), No. 217:136; Irish [cat taught how to hold a lit candle, but it drops it when a person releases a mouse]: Jackson 1936:285.
Western Asia. Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestinians, Syria: El-Shamy 2004, No. 217:83
Tibet is the Northeast of India. The Tibetans [a foolish Muslim young man was picking yellow flowers; a passer said that now his feet were yellow, so he was about to die; the young man dug his own grave and lay down; the man carried a vessel of oil to the king, offered the young man to carry it, promising a chicken; the young man began to think how it would bring him chickens, etc., he eventually married; stumbled and broke the vessel; the man brought him to the king, who laughed, gave the young man a purse with gold; when the young man came to the house, the dog grabbed the purse; the mother poured sugar on the roof, told her son that sugar was falling from the sky; while the son was collecting sugar, the mother took the dog's gold; agreed on marriage; the young man promised to come to the bride's house in the evening; rides a horse and sees a shadow, takes it for a stalker spirit, consistently throws him all his garments, jumps off his horse, hides in the shadows of the poplar, where the shadow disappears; climbed onto the poplar, fell asleep; the travelers picked everything up, sat down under the poplar to divide; the young man shouts from the tree: and to me; they ran away, the young man went down, dressed and sat on his horse; during At the wedding ceremony, the young man put the best pieces for his mother in a jug; put his hand deep, she got stuck; I had to say that he no longer wanted to eat; wife: knock a jug on a white stone on the street; it turned out that he hit his father-in-law on the head; thinking that he had killed the man, the young man ran away; in some yard he lay down first on honeycombs and then on his hair; in the morning he decided that he had been turned into punishment for murder in the sheep; joined the flock; at night the thieves came to steal the sheep, found the biggest young man; on the river bank they wanted to slaughter the sheep, the young man shouted that it was not necessary; the thieves ran away, the young man returned to his wife; through He went to work for several years; the owner said that it would not be a servant who would hold the lamp at night, but a cat; if this did not happen, the guest would take all his property, and if so, he would give everything to the owner; so this the man regularly robbed travelers; after losing, the young man remained a servant in the house; the wife dressed up as a man, went in search; agreed with her husband that he would release the mice; the third time the cat rushed after the mouse, dropped the lamp; husband and wife received wealth, returned home]: O'Connor 1906, No. 6:30-42 (retelling in Parfionovich 1976:110-121, hero name Lodup).
South Asia. Punjabi (Rawalpindi District) [Raja Rasalu went to play chaupur with King Sarkap; he saw a cat rushing around at the pottery stove; she said that her kittens were in one of the vessels; R. bought the stove from potter; the cat gave R. one kitten: he will help him; S.: the first bet is the kingdom, the second is all the treasures of the world, the third is life; R.: the first is his weapon, the second is his horse, the third is life; despite warning, R. began to play with Sarkap's bones made from the dead man's bones; he released the rat, she turned the bones over properly and R. lost the weapon; then the horse; then R. offered to play it with bones, released the kitten, the rat did not dare to go out, S. lost; R. played back his weapon and horse, won S.'s kingdom, wealth and head; R. did not kill him, took an oath not to play on the lives of others; received it a newborn daughter and 20 years later she married a horse; then R. offered her kingdoms to unite; Rakshasi no longer appeared to win, i.e., art, where she ruled with]: Steel, Temple 1884:276-280 ; Punjabi [Prince Ghool refuses to marry; asks a girl at a well for water; a girl (she is the daughter of blacksmith Alim): this is the prince no one marries; he promises to marry her; she asked for a year's delay; placed the growing melons in a vessel; the melons grew, she offered to extract them; no one could; she soaked the clay, widened the necks, took out the melons; after the wedding, the prince regularly beats his wife with a whip; she advises to get the princess better and beat her; the princess offers to play three games of chess; after losing the first, the prince gives his horse, the second surrenders to her mercy, the third goes to clean the stable; the wife, wearing men's clothes, goes in search, saves a drowning rat, who explains that the princess has a cat with a magic lamp on her head; this makes her invisible, she moves figures and the princess always wins; the wife releases the rat, the cat rushes after her, the wife knocks the lamp off her head, the cat runs away; the princess loses; but she is silent, she must be talked three times; the rat is responsible for the princess, she thinks the leg of the bed is saying, yelling at her; the wife tells long stories twice, the rat comments, the princess screams that this is not the case; the wedding, but the imaginary prince asks to postpone a genuine marriage for six months; frees the enslaved, but not her husband; tells him to wear her men's outfit and give her his groom; the prince brings the princess; the blacksmith's daughter shows his clothes groom; he realizes that his first wife got the princess; everything is fine]: Swynnerton 1892, No. 80:313-330; Kashmiris [the wealthy merchant has a stupid son; he was ashamed to marry him, but his wife insisted to find a bride; the father agreed to give his son three coins; let him buy one for himself, throw the other into the river, buy food, drink, gnaw, plant in the garden, and more food for a cow; blacksmith's daughter: leave one coin in your pocket and buy a melon for the other, it contains all five things; the father did not believe what his son had come up with; when he learned about the blacksmith's daughter, he decided to marry her son; came to the blacksmith, only the daughter is at home; - Where are the parents - The father went to buy a ruby for a cowrie, and the mother went to sell words; explained that the father went to buy lamp oils and the mother went to marry; people advised the groom to say that he would beat every day the wife had 7 shoes; the blacksmith offered to cancel the wedding, but the daughter said she would settle the matter; the first night she said it was not good to quarrel on the wedding day; then the first week; and then, as usual, returns to his parents for a while; the merchant's wife insisted that he give his son money to trade; a young merchant comes to a luxurious house; the hostess offers to play backgammon; the cat is taught to extinguish the lamp rang, at that moment the hostess replaces backgammon; the merchant lost his property, wife and himself; occasionally gave home a letter to his father, in which he described everything as it was, and to his wife, in which he wrote that he was rich, and when she returns, he will beat her with a shoe; the person sent accidentally mixed up the letters; the wife in a man's dress came to the cat's owner, asked the servants what was going on, took a mouse with her; released when the cat was supposed to turn off the lamp; the hostess lost everything, including herself; the husband did not recognize his wife, she appointed him her sardar, hid his prison clothes; when the husband was going to beat his wife with shoes at home, she was in his presence She told her parents everything, showed his clothes; the hostess, now a slave, confirmed everything; the old merchant ordered all the treasures to be handed over to her daughter-in-law, not to a fool's son]: Knowles 1888:144-153; Telugu {the collection contains mostly Telugu texts, but there are several Marathi texts; there is a small possibility that this text is also Marathi} [the king goes blind, only the leaves of a certain tree will regain his sight; two sons from their first wife go in search, play chess with a rich courtesan, lose, become her servants; the son from the second wife stays with the old woman; she explains that all the players they certainly lose; the courtesan has a cat with a lamp on her head; when the courtesan feels that the opponent is stronger, she gives the cat a sign, she drops the lamp, the courtesan changes the position of the figures; The prince releases two rats, the cat rushes after them, he changes figures and wins; the courtesan becomes his maid herself, he frees all enslaved kings and princes, including brothers; goes for leaves; wins the cannibal, who marries him off her adopted daughter; gives him three pebbles: they must be thrown into the tree, the snakes, scorpions and centipedes teeming on it will disappear; the young man took out the leaves and, together with his brothers went to his father; the brothers killed him, filled him with dung, set him on fire; his dog brought the cannibal's daughter and courtesan to the fire; the cannibal's daughter mixed ash with water, sculpted her husband's figure, and he came to life; the older brothers restored his father's sight; the youngest with both women came to his mother, told her everything; after learning the truth, the king expelled his elder sons, handed over the throne to the youngest]: Venkataswami 1923, No. 78:144-149; Santals [betting on life and property]: Bodding 1929:253-257; Sinhalas [apparently translated by Parker, vol. 1, No. 155:173-177; parents bring the prince one wife after another; he asks each to warm up for he has water, they refuse, he sends them back; the latter was paid more, she heated the water, they began to live together; contrary to warning, the prince goes with the merchants to the city where the hetera lives; she has the cat holding the lamp; merchants bet: if the cat does not drop the lamp during the meal, the merchants will lose all their property, and if it does, they will get the whole city of hetera; merchants lose; wife The prince in a man's outfit went to save her husband; released four mice, the cat did not move; three more - the cat dropped the lamp; the wife returned the prince, everything is fine]: Volkhonsky, Solntseva 1985, No. 100:245-247.
The Balkans. Bulgarians [episode: the café owner's cat brings visitors a tray of coffee; the man released the mouse, the cat ran after it, the tray fell]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 217:78-79; Hungarians [the king taught the cat to hold a lit candle on his head; argues with Markalf what is stronger: nature or teaching; he releases a mouse; the cat rushed after her, the candle fell]: Kovács 1987, No. 217:289; Macedonians, Serbs, Greeks: Uther 2004 (1), No. 217:136
Central Europe. Poles, Czechs: Uther 2004 (1), No. 217:136
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Armenians [the cat rushed after the mice, the candle that was on his head fell]: Gullakian 1984:175; Azerbaijanis [the Shah invites merchants to play backgammon; if his cat holds out until morning There are seven lamps on the tail, the shah will take his property and put him in prison, or vice versa if he does not hold him; the cat did not move, the merchant lost everything; the servant told his wife; she ordered to catch the mice, disguised as a merchant, came with a caravan; during the game, her servants began to release mice, the cat dropped the lamps, the merchant was released, and the Shah was imprisoned]: Bagriy, Zeynally 1935:270-272 (=Akhundov 1955:306-307).
Iran - Central Asia. Uzbeks [Ahmad goes to trade; the owner of the caravanserai offers to play chess; if her cat keeps the lamp on her head all night, she will win; A. lost everything, becomes a servant; A. Zukhra found out that there are no mice in that country; she takes four mice, releases it, the cat drops the lamp, Z. played everything and took her husband]: Rogov 1980:315-318; Bukhara Arabs [the emir is blind, sons are going for medicine; the elders come to the old woman; she stipulates that if the lamp stays on the cat until the morning, she will take their property; having lost everything, the brothers are hired as a fish merchant; younger greets the Albanists, who refers him to her older sister; she to the younger sister; she to the bargitumi tree; there are divas and peri, the young man collects the leaves of the tree; plays back what the brothers lost (sends the mouse to the cat); in the youngest steppe is thirsty, his brothers tear his eyes out in exchange for water, take the leaves, throw him into the well; he finds leaves in his pocket, sees the light; the horse pulls him out of the well; he heals his father; the father curses eldest sons]: Vinnikov 1969, No. 36:237-239; mountain Tajiks [the merchant goes to Egypt; the wife gives advice: not to mention his wife, put two mice in the bootlegs (note: further narrator missed an episode when the mice are released and the cat drops candles; another Tajik fairy tale has one); the merchant stayed with an old man for the night; he attached candles behind the cat's ears and offered to play chess; the merchant lost everything; said that if his wife found out about this, she would take away the property of the old man and his relatives; in response, the old man promised to bring trousers to the merchant's wife, and if possible, he would cut off his head; the old man hired an old woman, but the merchant's wife beat her; the old woman explained to the old man how to crochet and steal trousers; when she saw the loss, the merchant's wife wore a man's outfit and came to the Shah of Egypt under the guise of Shah Baghdad and asked for permission to rule the country for three days; ordered the execution of a chess player, to give his property to the merchant; she came to the merchant under the guise of a Shah; he was looking for his wife to execute her (lost trousers); everything was clarified; wife: you violated both advice - mentioned your wife and did not put mice by the bootlegs]: Rosenfeld, Rychkova 1990, No. 13:57-62; Yagnobtsy [the merchant's son came to the tsar; he sets the condition: if before At dawn, the cat will drop the lamp, he will give the kingdom to the merchant; if he does not drop it, he will take the merchant's caravan and himself; the king took away his wife's ring, sent 40 warriors to pick up his wife; the merchant's father accepted who came as guests; the daughter-in-law overheard their conversation, put poison on the pilaf, they died; she put her heads in the chests, took the pot and the mouse and came to the king; during the game she released the mouse, the cat dropped lamp; the merchant's wife took him and his goods, left the heads of his warriors to the king; the merchant went to trade again; his companions said that that king molested her; merchant: if she is not clean, bring it ring; that man gave the merchant's wife three trays of gold and received a ring; the husband left everything, left, hired him in a tea room; his wife found it and returned it]: Andreev, Peshereva 1957, No. 9:70-79; Persians: Osmanov 1987 [ the youngest son of the padishah pursues a gazelle; meets an old man, comes to him, sees a portrait of a beauty and falls in love; the old man teaches to kill seven divas and shoot a cat; she has 4 keys around her neck; fortieth from rooms where the beauty sleeps; shahzade kissed the girl and put a ring on her finger; the shah will give her daughter if shakhzade 1) makes the lamp fall off the cat's head (shahzade released the mouse); 2) in an hour make and light a lamp (did); 3) kiss the princess for 40 nights without waking her up; shahzadeh kissed her for 39 nights and woke her up on the 40th; wedding]: 294-295; Marzolph 1984, No. 217 (Mazendaran, Khorasan, Isfahan) [a trained cat holds a lit candle all night; another releases a mouse, the cat rushes after her, the candle falls; the episode in the context of the bet; the young man puts all his possessions, his clever wife wins and returns everything; the cat reacts to the third mouse released; in the Khorasan version, the youngest of 7 brothers falls in love when they see a portrait of the princess; kills 7 devas guarding her garden, takes it off her finger sleeping princess ring; the king sets three conditions for marriage, including the cat must drop the candle]: 56-57; Jaliashvili, Faras 1967 (Isfahan) [Padishah Chyna is blind; he asks three sons to go to Misr to visit Padishah Peri and bring the leaves of the Tutia tree; in Misra, the elder Jamshid agreed to play with the daughter of the chief of the guard, lost everything, became an apprentice to the barbecue maker; the middle Shamshir did the same (assistant stoker in the bathhouse); the youngest Ibrahim met a man who warned of that girl's cunning; he came to her and saw that she had 4 cats holding lamps; they argued: if I. could make cats leave lamps, he will receive all the girl's property, and if she can't, he will give her all his own; there were no mice in Misra, I. hardly bought four at the bazaar; 4 times cats threw the lamp and ate the mouse before than the girl had time to understand what had happened; she refused to fulfill the contract, I. cut it in half and took all the property; went to sell the calf, the chief of security recognized him, it was his daughter's calf; In confusion, I. fled and came to the chief of the guard under the guise of a girl; lured him to prison, offered to show how the prisoner was placed in blocks, beat him with an iron bar until he lost consciousness; disappeared; came to the chief of the guard disguised as a doctor; ordered them to be left in the bathhouse and for the orchestra to play; smeared him with syrup and released wasps; the vizier knows how to find the deceiver; cook soup and shout that it was hers the chief of the guard is handed out for health; the deceiver will come; I. rode in the prince's clothes, disappeared; then dressed as a poor tramp, the chief of the guard agreed to serve him, and he threw him into a boiling pot; everyone said: give me my calf! After that, I. arrived at the Peri Garden; he was guarded by divas, animals and ghouls; the old man teaches what to do; you must get to the sleeping daughter of Padishah Peri, leave a stick, a night hat, food, her shoes nearby, tear it apart dress, put a fly on his cheek and tie his belt; pluck the leaves from the third tree, although it will pull the branches up; I. returned to Misr, found and took the brothers with him; on the way they threw it into the well, killed the slave and took the leaves; I.'s dog ran to the shepherd, who gave her bread, she brought it to I.; the shepherds pulled him out, left; I. told the head of the caravan, who was en route to Chin, went with a caravan; at this time, the padishah saw the light from the leaves and placed the crown on J.'s head, and S. appointed him a vizier; when I. appeared and told his father everything, J. threw him into prison; the daughter of the padishah peri arrived in Chin and demanded the one who picked the leaves; J. came out, could not tell anything, he was cut into four pieces; then S. was quartered, the pieces were hung on the gate; I. told everything; became Padishah of the Peri Kingdom and the Kingdom of Men]: 109-130.
Baltoscandia. The Swedes [King of Tyre Hiram was visiting his friend King Salomon in Jerusalem; he showed a cat standing on his hind legs and holding two lamps in front; H. released a mouse and a cat dropped lights]: Schier 1971, No. 81:244-245; Latvians [A trained cat wears dishes on his head. Seeing a mouse, he chases it, throwing cups]: Aris, Meedne 1977, No. 217:264; Danes, Faroese, Finns: Uther 2004 (1), No. 217:136.
Turkestan. Kazakhs (Semipalatinsk Oblast; Ethnographic Review 1912) [a rich man tells his son to marry a girl, not to marry women; he still took it; before his death he showed his daughter-in-law where they were buried treasures; the daughter-in-law took her lover, gave everything to him; sent her husband to the bazaar in the city; there the khan offers to play: puts a candle on the cat's tail; in whichever direction the candle falls, he lost; the cat always runs to to the owner, the candle falls in the opposite direction; the man lost his property and himself; the wife also sent her husband's sister to lime her, but she hid a mouse in her sleeve; the khan lost the property, the courtiers and herself; the girl exchanged him for his brother]: Sidelnikov 1964:65-66 (=1971 (3): 51-52, =Daurenbekov 1979:141-142); Kyrgyz [Sulaimanbay has a son Mamyr; his father tells him to marry a girl, he took a young widow; dying, S. entrusted his daughter-in-law with a treasury, about which his rake son did not know; his wife offered to sell the house to a neighbor; he tried to give M. a drink, but he heard her tell her neighbor about the treasure buried on the site; M. sold a neighbor's house for an expensive price, dug up a treasure and left; the judge decided in favor of M.; M. married Alymkan, the daughter of wise Shakirbay; went with a caravan; the old woman suggests an argument: if her cat holds a candle all night in her paws, M. will give her his property; M. lost, left, was hired as an employee in a caravanserai; his wife put on men's clothes, came to that old woman, released her mouse, got her husband's camels back, found M.; all good]: Brudny 1954:85-90 (=Brudny, Eshmambetov 1977:128-133, =Ledenev 1987:40-46).