Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

K56d1. Treasures in the pumpkin .21.24.26.29.30.33.34.

Pumpkins or watermelons given to humans (grown from donated seeds) contain treasures.

Tibetans, Karen, Dusun, Chinese (Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Guangdong), Kabardian, Abazin, Uzbeks, Uighurs, Dungans, Dagurs.

Tibet is the Northeast of India. Tibetans: O'Connor 1906 [almost identical text in Sakya, Griffith 1980:92-94; a passerine chick fell out of the nest, broke its paw; poor Cham-ba bandaged it, put the chick back in the nest ; he grew up, flew in, threw a seed, ordered it to be planted, an ear grew, where instead of grain jewelry, the poor man sold them, raised money; the rich TSE-ring found out, took the chick out of the nest, threw it so that it broke his paw, bandaged it, put it in a nest; the sparrow gave a seed, the creditor grew up from the previous incarnation, took all the property, made the man a slave; C. left, giving Ts. a bag of gold for preservation; he wasted everything, returned the sandbag, said that gold had turned into sand; C. set up a free school, C. sent his son there, left for a while; C. taught the monkey to say, "Father, this is what I'm into turned"; I had to return the gold to get my son]: 20-25; Shelton 1925, No. 26 [two old men lived; one loved animals and birds; a bird came out with a broken leg; she brought him a pumpkin seed; when the pumpkin grew, it turned out to be golden; the second old man deliberately shot the bird in the leg; he also had a pumpkin, but an angry old man jumped out of it and said he was sent to evaluate that old man; put it on the scale, said it was too light, cut off his head]: 107-111.

Burma - Indochina. Karen [rich Phatakain ("scoundrel") envies poor Phatalun ("good man") for loving him; invites him to go on a ship to buy goods; gives him food and drink in exchange for his eyes; left on a deserted island; the master of the sea sends three servants in the form of dogs, whose names are the three truths of Buddhism; the dying man whispers these words, the nats think he knows their names, accepts the human appearance, P. is healed, taken home by giving pumpkin seeds; pumpkins grow, containing gold and silver; Phatakain tries to repeat everything, tells the servant to pull out his eyes; chases, scolds dogs, dies in agony; Phatalun comes to the island, finds the bones and skull of Phatakain, the skull asks him to be taken away, to tell the king that he, Phatalun, has a talking skull; the king's skull is silent, Phataluna is imprisoned; Phatalun's wife hits the skull with a stick, he screams, the king rewards Phatalun; the skull is thrown away, sails to the old man and the old woman; lies to the old woman that the old man is not loyal to her; the old man breaks it, a tree grows with fruits like a skull]: Kasevich, Osipov 1976, No. 172:461-467

Malaysia-Indonesia. Dusun (Piasau) [in the Tamburan Forest, she enters Ligat Liow's hut, she has a big heavy head; she asks her to grind rice for her, look for insects, snakes and scorpions; T. takes them out, her head LL becomes light, she gets up, gives seven pumpkins; T.'s cut pumpkins make food, dishes, gold, poultry and livestock; rich Sikinding goes to the forest, refuses to grind rice or comb his hair LL; snakes and scorpions come out of his pumpkin, bite him and his family to death]: Evans 1913:439-442 (translated into Braginsky 192:114-117)

China-Korea. The Chinese (Zhejiang) [on New Year's Eve, the poor man is able to offer the deity only insignificant gifts; but the deity is happy to send him a pumpkin seed; three days later, three pumpkins grow out of it, inside them pearls; another person is trying to imitate, but pumpkins blazed fire and burned it]: Eberhard 1937, No. 22:35; Chinese (many in Guangdong, eat in Shaanxi) [poor man heals a swallow (crane), she brings pumpkin seeds; in pumpkins there is wealth; the rich man deliberately breaks the swallow's paw to then heal; punished (dancers and beggars in his pumpkins, they take his goods); according to some options, he gets to the moon, where he is always trying to cut down a tree]: Eberhard 1937, No. 24:36-37.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Adygs (Kabardian people) [old Gurasha slammed the door in the house, the swallow fell out of the nest on the windowsill, broke her paw; G. came out, the swallow flew away; in the spring she brought watermelon seed; when the watermelon was ripe, containing gold and precious stones; other people caught a swallow, broke a leg, went out and released; in the spring, each swallow brought a watermelon seed; crawled out of watermelons poisonous snakes; G. asked her swallow for help; she called the swallows and they drove the snakes away; no one has harmed the swallows since then]: Kardanov 196:128-130; Abazins [poor widow cured a swallow that fell out of the nest and broke its paw; in the spring a swallow flew in, dropped a pumpkin seed in the hem of the widow; the woman planted it, a pumpkin grew, and gold coins were in it; a neighbor she deliberately broke the chick's paw, then bandaged it and put the chick back in the nest; the swallow brought a seed, a pumpkin grew, snakes in it, they stung the woman to death]: Tugov 1985, No. 26:45.

Iran - Central Asia. Uzbeks [the poor man cured the stork that had broken its wing; he threw three watermelon seeds on it; watermelons full of gold coins grew; the rich man broke the stork's leg with a stick, cured it, the stork, and threw off his seeds; huge bumblebees flew out of the cut watermelon, bit the rich man and his relatives]: Afzalov et al. 1972 (1): 74-75 (= Rogov 1980:337-339).

Turkestan. The Uighurs (Southern Dialect, Keria) [a reaper threw a sickle and wounded a swallow; another man made it a wing out of wood; later, a rescued swallow threw watermelon seeds on his head; he sowed them and grew up watermelons with gold coins instead of seeds; another person deliberately broke the swallow's wing and got along with another one; she dropped its seeds, a scorpion was inside the grown watermelon, and bit a person to death]: Tenishev 1984, No. 75:102-103; Dungans [the snake crawls to the swallow's nest, the poor brother kills the snake, cares for a chick with a broken leg; when the swallow returns in the spring, the swallow gives three pumpkin seeds; in Grown pumpkins are food, fabrics, gold; a rich brother deliberately breaks the swallow's paw; in his pumpkins there is water (floods the house), fire (burns it)]: Riftin et al. 1977, No. 12:104-107.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Dagurs [the swallow made a nest under the poor man's roof; the chick fell out and broke its leg; the poor man bandaged his paw, put the chick in the nest, he recovered; in the spring the swallows returned and brought it to the poor a pumpkin seed; he planted it, in the fall there was gold in the pumpkin; the rich man deliberately broke the chick's paw, then bandaged it; in the spring they also brought him a seed; when he cut the pumpkin in the fall, a flame broke out of it , burned down the house and family]: Bender, Su Huana 1984:177-179.