K56a5c. Talking to months .15.17.27.28.

A person kindly answers the question of characters who embody the weather in certain months of the year, was awarded. The other one scolds them and is punished.

Spaniards, Maltese, Italians (Naples), Syrian Arabs, Slovenes, Serbs, Bulgarians, Greeks, (Romanians), Poles.

Southern Europe. Spaniards (Valladolid) [in a hungry year, a peasant goes begging, meets two people, they ask him about each month, he praises him (rhymes), they give him a wand that fulfills wishes; another farmer scolds him all the months, a stick given to him hits him]: Camarena, Chevalier 1995, No. 480C: 367-370; Maltese: Mifsud-Chircop 1978, No. 294 [one brother is poor and kind, the other rich and arrogant; the poor comes to the house for 12 months, praises everyone to heaven; on behalf of his brothers, January gives him an inexhaustible source of food; after learning about this, a rich brother goes by the months; he is rude to them; January gives a baton that beats a rich man], 480.II [a poor woman lives by sifting flour from a rich woman, shaking out clothes at home and making bread from the collected flour dust; when she learns about this, the rich says shaking clothes out in her house; she (or a poor man) meets a group of men without knowing it's months; they ask what she or he thinks about everyone; she or he praises everyone; January gives a tablecloth- a magic, a stick, a bag of money; when he finds out about this, the rich man comes to months and scolds everyone; the stick hits him, he does not know how to stop it]: 24, 128-131; Italians (Naples) [Cianne is stingy and rich, his brother Lise is poor; he went on a journey; in inclement weather, shivering from the cold, he went to an inn where 12 young men were sitting by the fire; they invited him to warm up; with a gloomy look, one asked what L. thinks about the weather; L.: that every month of the year he does his duty; we must rely on the will of the sky, and not try to do things our own way; otherwise we want sun in winter and clouds in summer; young man: you You think wisely, but you will not argue that this March is very rude, sending rain, snow, hail and frost; L: don't just scold him, spring begins with it; the young man was happy because he and was Mart; gave L. a wish-fulfilling box; in the morning he opened it and asked for a warm palanquin with porters; everything immediately appeared; then asked for food, clothes, etc.; when C. found out about everything, he came to the same inn; when asked about the weather, began to vilify March with swear words; it would be better if March were excluded from the number of months; Mart gave a whip; if you want anything, say "Whip, give me a hundred!" ; when he got home, C. said so, but the whip did not give money, but began to beat him; L. stopped the whip and explained that C. was to blame; C. pleaded guilty and became good]: Basile 2018:485-490 (=Basile 2000, No. 26).

Western Asia. Syrian Arabs (Damascus) [mother had difficulty persuading her son to marry; but the daughter-in-law was angry, told her husband to leave her mother-in-law in a deserted place; the son left his mother, promised to return soon, disappeared; two men, Winter and Summer, came up to her, asked what part of the year she thought was better; she praised both; they made a gold coin fall from a woman's lips every time she said; on the fifth day, her son became shamefully, he came back, found a pile of gold; his daughter-in-law told her husband to take her mother to the same place; she scolded both winter and summer; they ordered the old woman to spew intestinal gases out of her mouth every time she said; left]: Kuhr 1993:64-68.

The Balkans. Slovenes [stepmother sends Maritsa to wash black wool white, her own daughter white; a beautiful woman whitens M.'s hair; in winter, stepmother sends M. for berries; she meets 12 yunaks, answers that all months are good, and March is the best, picking berries; the own daughter replies that everyone is bad, barely escapes from the weather; the master comes to marry M., the stepmother hides her in the trough, offering her own daughter, but the rooster shouts where M. is; wedding]: Wratislaw 1890, No. 57:298-301 (=Arkhipova 1962:117-119); Serbs [stepmother tyrannites stepdaughter Maritsa; sent her hair to bleach - gave her own daughter white, M. - black; rivers come to M., turns black wool into white hair; in winter, stepmothers send M. for berries; towards 12 yunaks, ask which month is the best; M.: everyone is good, but especially March; yunaki are happy, they showed where to pick berries; when it got warmer, the stepmother sent her own daughter; she says that the months are bad and March is the worst; a thunderstorm began, the girl barely reached home; the master came to marry M.; stepmother she hid it under the trough, showed her daughter; the rooster sang: Maritsa is in the trough! matchmakers took M. away; she died an easy death because she was friends with a pitchfork for 12 months]: Tesic 2017:56-60; Bulgarians: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, no.*480 ₅ [stepmother sends stepdaughter at night for water or for berries or flowers in the middle of winter; she meets 11 men and one woman, which is 12 months of the year; they ask me which one is prettier; she replies that everyone is good, they do what's wrong with her Gold falls on her lips; stepmother sends her own daughter, who replies that everyone is ugly or worse than December, January and February; months tell snakes and lizards to fall from her lips]: 174; Klyagina-Kondratyeva 1951 [=Karaliychev 1984 (2): 5-8; stepmother tyrannites her stepdaughter, sends her stepdaughter to fetch water at night; they have gathered there for 12 months; grandmother Marta asks if the girl eats dry dogwood, she gratefully takes it and eats; replies that all months are good; Marta makes flowers and chervonets fall from the girl's mouth when she laughs or talks; stepmother sends her own daughter, she throws dogwood in Marta's face, says that's it months are not good; when she comes back and starts talking, snakes and lizards fall from her lips, nettles fall from her lips; since then they have appeared in the world; and her stepdaughter was kicked out and married by a passer-by well done]: 92-95; Greeks: Kretschmer 1919, No. 22 (Corfu) [the woman went to the field and fell into a hole; she was there for 12 months, asked which one she liked best; she praised everyone; they filled her handkerchief and basket with gold; another old woman went there and said that every month with a flaw, everyone was bad; she was filled with snakes and asked to open it when she was with her family in indoors; snakes ate everyone]: 223-224; Legrand 1881 [a woman went for brushwood, went into the house, there are 12 young people; these are months; they ask which one is the worst; a woman praises everyone, they they fill her bag with money; when she found out, another woman went with her biggest bag, scolded everyone; when she opened the bag, snakes crawled out and ate it]: 11-14; (cf. Romanians [the rich man did not give fire to the poor man; he noticed a fire in the distance, came to a fire around which there are 12 men; these are months; he asks them to give fire; they ask what is the best month for him; poor man: August, the poor have bread; August gives fire and advises them to go around the farm; the bins are filled with grain, and the barn is filled with cattle; when they learned about this, the rich put out the fire in the hearths, came to months and said that March is the best; by this time the poor run out of hay and wheat supplies and come to the rich to work for little hay and grain; therefore, the poor remain poor and the rich rich; March gives fire and tells them to enclose farms; everything burns]: Bîrlea 1966:418-419).

Central Europe. Poles [stepmother sends stepdaughter for fire; on the advice of the Mother of God, she turns to three (frost, wind, month) or 12 characters; when asked which one is better, she replies that everyone is good; in the reward goes to the coals, which turn into gold at home; the stepmother sends her own daughter, who praises only the month she likes; gets fire and he burns her, or brings the coals that are at home turn into reptiles and they devour her with her mother]: Krzyżanowski 1962, No. 480B: 153-154.