K73b5. Nor could the mother eat the baby.

.23.27.29.-.31.

The woman is accused of actions that she, by nature, could not commit. To deny the charge, an example is given of something equally absurd and impossible.

Kashmiris, Bengalis, Himachali Pakharis, India (Hindi), Oraons, Greeks, Dargins, Lithuanians, Persians, Yagnobes.

South Asia. Kashmiris [the two eldest wives have daughters, the youngest is childless for a long time, then is about to give birth; older wives put the newborn boy in a box, let him down into the river, replace him with a puppy; pick up the boy gardener; same a year later with the second newborn; the king sees boys letting a wooden horse eat and drink; explains that it is inanimate; they reply that a woman cannot give birth to puppies either; the king expels older wives, returns the youngest and sons]: Knowles 1888:405-408; Bengalis [the king in disguise wanders around the city, eavesdropping on the conversation of three sisters; one wants to marry the royal gardener, the other cooks, the third for the king; the king fulfills their wish; when the queen gives birth, the sisters replace the child with a puppy, let them down the river in a pot; the same a year later, a kitten; in the third year, a daughter, replace a wooden one a doll; the queen was driven away, the brahmana and his wife picked up the children, named Arun, Varun, Kiranmala; after the death of their adoptive parents, brothers and sister build a house; the hermit advises going to Mount Maya for gold trees with diamond flowers; A., K. come there, turn into stone; the sister finds out when she sees rust on the blades left; puts on men's clothes, walks without paying attention to the monsters, sprinkles the statues with live water, everyone comes to life; the golden parrot taught her what to do; the brothers, sister and parrot return, invite the king; he says that he cannot eat the gold given to him for plate; the parrot asks how a woman could give birth to a puppy, kitten and doll; everything is explained, the parrot also finds the queen; the sisters were buried alive]: Porozhnyakov 1990:16-26; himachali plowmen [7 royal wives are childless; he takes the eighth, she becomes pregnant; envious wives replaced the child with a stone; the king made the eighth wife a maid; the wife's child was given to the cobra, but she raised her hood to make him protect him from the sun; the elephant gently touched him with its trunk; then they put the baby in an iron box and threw it into the river; the box went under water, but the fisherman caught it; the young man grew up, his name was Gulel; he went to the river, where seven wives and a maid came to get water; smashed the jugs of seven wives with arrows, and shot her mother with a flower that remained in her hair; the next day he stopped the women and said that he should first give water to his wooden horse; wives: wooden horses do not drink; he broke the jugs of 7 wives and filled his mother's jug; the king called him to account: wooden horses do not drink; G.: if so, women do not give birth to stones; The maid hugged her son; he begged his father not to execute his wives, they were sent to the distant rest of the palace; G. soon became the mighty and just king of Kumaon]: Seethalakshmi 1960, No. 16:58-60; India (translated from Hindi ) [After changing clothes, the king goes to town at night; hears one sister saying that if the groom married her, she would eat peas, which are fed to horses; the second, if she married the king's cook, she would have something something fell; the youngest - if the king married her, she would become a real queen; the king marries the youngest, passing the elders off as a groom and cook; the queen gave birth to a son, the sisters threw him in a jug into the river, replaced with a puppy; the second with a kitten; the daughter with a wooden doll; the king ordered the queen to be put on a donkey and driven away; the brahmana picked up the children, the boys Arun and Varun, the girl Kiranmala; the brahman died; the king got lost, got into his house; when the king left, K. advised the brothers to build a palace, they were building; the hermit says that there is not enough golden bird, silverwood and a pearl spring, all for Mount Maya; A., then V. leave, turn into stone; at home, the saber rusted, the bowstring broke; K. came to the mountain, the bird ordered the brothers to be sprinkled with water, they came to life; at home the bird ordered to invite the king to visit; the king is given gold, he says it cannot be eaten; the bird asks how a woman can give birth to a puppy; the king has returned his wife and children, the sisters have been buried alive]: Zograf 1964:302-310; Oraons [six wives infertile, the seventh gave birth to twins, others gave her Gewürtzstein and a broom, threw the children into a hole; the king rejected his wife; the potter and his wife found the children, they grew up, he sculpted a horse out of clay for the boy, a bird to a girl; by the pond, children tell them to drink; the king's wives: toys cannot drink; boy: a woman cannot give birth to a stone and a broom; wives pretended to be sick, they will be cured by the blood of the potter's children; the king ordered kill the children; the potter buried them, a tree with flowers grew; the wives could not pluck them, but they fell to the king themselves and became children; the king stayed with the children, executed the wives]: Hahn 1906, No. 28:54-55.

The Balkans. Greeks (Syros) [at night at work, the older sister says she would like to marry a royal cook, the middle sister would like to marry a treasurer, the youngest a prince and have three children, Sun, Month and Morning Star; the prince in disguise stood outside the window and heard, fulfilled the wishes of the sisters; went to war, leaving his wife pregnant; mother-in-law told the midwife to throw her children into the river, replacing her puppy, kitten and with a mouse; the midwife put the babies in the basket; the shepherd noticed that one goat was returning with an empty udder; found three children, raised them, placed them in a tower; mother-in-law sent her daughter-in-law to the chicken coop, and The prince did not ask about his wife again; once he saw a tower, a girl in the window, two young men taming horses near the tower; the prince thought that his children should be like this; the mother told the prince that he saw the elves; scolded the midwife, ordered the survivors to be killed; she came disguised as a beggar and told the girl that she lacked the branch that produced music; the brothers went in search; the monk he met explained that two dragons were guarding the branch; at midnight they would fall asleep and should be shot in their mouths; the brothers killed the dragons, brought a branch; when the king saw the young men, he rejoiced, and his mother said again that they were elves; the midwife persuades the girl to ask her brothers to get an all-seeing mirror; the monk: 40 dragons are guarding him, they take turns sleeping; the brothers killed them all, brought a mirror; the midwife: there is not enough bird Dikjeretto; when she looks in the mirror, she talks about what all people in the world say in any language; the brothers left her sister a shirt on: if they turn black, they are in trouble; the monk refused to help - why does a girl send her brothers to death out of a whim; they went to the bird and she turned them into stone; the shirts turned black, the sister went to look for brothers; the monk: you have to undress naked, go to the bird from behind and grab her legs; the caught bird told her to go for living water between the crushing rocks; the girl slipped through, the rocks tore off only a piece of her dress; the sister revived the brothers, they all returned, the shepherd had a feast ; the prince came, the girl showed him a branch, a mirror and a bird; the prince called them to his place; the bird ordered him to take it with him and let the girl invite the prince to try what she had cooked: eggplants, and inside diamonds; prince: how can eggplants contain diamonds; poultry: how can a woman give birth to a puppy, kitten and mouse? the bird told me everything; the prince returned his wife from the chicken coop; the midwife was beheaded, the queen was burned]: Hahn 1864 (2), No. 69:47-58.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Dargin residents [the older sister promises to feed the village with one sakha of flour, the middle sister promises to sew half a meter of satin for everyone, the youngest - to give birth to a talkhan boy with a golden pigtail, on one side the moon, with another sun; Talkhan marries her, leaves, his first wife tells her to give birth in the chimney, replaces the boy with two puppies, throws the boy in a chest into the sea; invites the returning Talkhan to sew a new one put his wife in the skin of a cow in the doorway to wipe his feet on her; he does so; the sea grandmother raised a boy; he hunts, comes to Talkhan, his stepmother recognizes him, pretending to be sick, asks get a husband 1) a rejuvenating honey-oil tree; a marine grandmother tells the tree to throw oatmeal and bagels at the tree; a young man brings a tree; 2) a cat playing the zurna; a marine grandmother says that the cat lives on rough rocks, you have to hit the rocks with a whip; the young man brings a cat, the rocks only cut the hairs off the horse's tail; 3) the girl Arts-Izdag ("arts" is silver); sea grandmother: who will call her, stones; we must first mention the golden pigtail, then the moon and the sun; AI goes with him, 40 previously petrified sledges come to life, AI carries wealth with him; the young man makes wax dolls; tells his father that like dolls they cannot eat, and a woman cannot give birth to puppies; the father ties his eldest wife to the mare's tail, tells them to overcook, grind the bones, the boy's mother scattered them to the wind, the young man marries AI]: Ganiyeva 2011b, No. 28:281-284; Azerbaijanis (Borchaly County, Tiflis Province) [widow fisherman married, stepmother orders three stepdaughters to be taken to the forest; sisters decide to eat the one who will fall behind on the run, but the youngest digs a passage to the royal stable, where horses are fed raisins; Shah Abbas is surprised why the horses are losing weight; the courtier caught the girls; the eldest replies that she can weave a carpet on which the army can fit, the middle one cook eggs in eggshells for all troops, the youngest will give birth to two children with gold and silver hair; SHA marries the youngest; wife gives birth to a boy Ibrahim and a girl Gullizar; the witch advises older sisters let the children down the river in a box, replace them with puppies; SHA tells him to poke out his wife's eyes, throw them into a hole, give a piece of bread and a mug of water a day; the Bogomolets caught the box, saved the children; dying, ordered go up the river; the gardener takes the children to him; they knit bouquets, SHA is happy, calls the boy, talks to him; the aunts are in panic; the witch persuades G. to ask his brother to get 1) talking, singing a tree (uprooted, brought); 2) a bird that translates the words of a tree (brings); 3) marry King Guria's daughter; the king of demons gives a flying carpet, a stick (hit the stump that blocks the road) an invisible hat (they will be ordered to enter a hot bath, you have to become invisible, hide), a tablecloth (they will order to eat 40 pilaf boilers, the tablecloth will eat everything); SHA invites I., that: eat, my sleeves; SHA: is it Can sleeves eat? I.: Can a woman give birth to puppies? The Tsar executed his wife's sisters]: Bogoyavlensky 1899, No. 11:95-104.

Iran - Central Asia. The Persians [the older sister promises to dress the army if she is presented as a vizier, the middle sister promises to feed the army, the younger sister promises to give birth to the Shah a gold-haired son, who, if she laughs, roses fall out of his mouth, tears are pearls and precious stones; sisters put the puppy, the baby is put in the oven in the bath; the shah lodged his wife in the kennel like a dog; the bathhouse attendant picks up the baby, gets rich; the Shah's new wife pretends to be sick , asks to bring lion's milk in the skin of another lion on the back of another lion; the shah sends the adopted son of a bathhouse attendant; the mother of the divas teaches that the main lion has a pain in his leg; the young man heals him, that's all suits; bring a mare with 40 foals; bring a self-swinging cradle; a diva tells her mother about two girls bathing, you have to hide their dress, they will give a cradle; the shah sees how a young man, a bathhouse worker who works as an assistant beats a wooden donkey to eat barley; when asked by the Shah, he answers: if the Shah's wife has given birth to a puppy, why does the wooden donkey not eat barley; the Shah asks the bathhouse attendant, returns his wife and son, ties her sisters by their hair to the tails of horses; that woman and her son have achieved their goal, so let my friends also achieve their goals and desires]: Osmanov 1987:131-146; Yagnobtsy : Andreev, Peschereva 1957, No. 12 [the vizier's son rejected the poor man's two daughters, took the youngest; her sisters replaced the children with puppies, took them to their aunt, she raised; the vizier asks why the boy is drinking wooden a horse; he asks how he could believe that his wife gave birth to puppies; the vizier returned his son and daughter, the aunts were tied to the horse's tail], 20 [the youngest of seven daughters gave her father crap instead of eating; he drove everyone away ; leaving her sisters in the steppe, the youngest came to the old woman; she tells her to take food to her husband, the girl takes it to her sisters every time, says that the dog has eaten; kills the old woman and her husband, the sisters settle in their house; the older sisters go to a feast, the youngest is left; she follows, loses her shoe, the king promises to marry whoever he suits; fits that girl; she has given birth to a boy and a girl, another wife has replaced them puppies; the husband tells her to leave her on the roof, throw her bread like dogs; (the old woman is raising children); the boy gives water to a wooden horse; when the king is surprised, he asks how a woman can give birth to puppies; everything is explained; the other wife played goat, torn to pieces]: 90, 111-114.

Baltoscandia. Lithuanians [after building a bridge, the king sends a servant to listen to what people say when they walk along it; the servant hears the saints talking: the king will have a son, whose every wish will be fulfilled; kidnaps a boy, coats blood on the lips of the sleeping queen and accuses her of eating her baby; the queen is imprisoned in a tower; the servant and his mistress run away after taking the baby; the boy is told herd cattle and wish for what the servant needs (palace, etc.); the boy accidentally overhears the conversation of his imaginary parents, destroys the palace, turns traitor servants into dogs, goes to his father's castle and tells him along the way to feed dogs with hot coals; answers curious people that this is not a miracle; it is a miracle that the queen ate her own baby; in front of the king's eyes, the prince returns the servants to their human appearance and they confess what she did; the Queen was released, the servants were punished]: Balys 1936, No. 651:64-65; Lithuanians [the king went out to town in the evening; hears the conversation of three seamstress sisters; if she were taken by the royal footman, she would be full pies; medium: if the royal chef took it, I would eat various dishes; youngest: if the king took it, I would dress beautifully; the king passed off his older sisters as a footman and cook, married the youngest himself; the king went to war; the queen had a son, his sisters threw him into the river, swaddled the dog; the gardener saved the baby; the king ordered the dog to be released; the same next time (kitten); the third time was born daughter; the gardener took her too; the king was told that his wife gave birth to a tree; he ordered her to be enclosed in a glass pole that passed by to spit on her and tease her; the gardener died, the children grew up; the nun to the girl when she is alone at home: you miss a talking bird, a singing and playing tree, yellow water; you have to drive 12 months before the old man is on the road, he will tell you what to do next; the older brother has gone; the old man gave a ball, you have to follow him, climb the mountain, do not turn around if they frighten him; he turned around, turned into a coal pole and rolled down the mountain; middle brother is the same; sister went, did not turn around, a bird on the mountain with with a long neck, the girl threatens to strangle her, she tells her to bring water from a spring under the mountain and revive the petrified ones with it; the girl revived many people, the last brothers; the bird ordered to break off the twig - the tree He will grow out of it; it will be a lot to collect some yellow water; the king meets the brothers three times, asks them to talk to their sister, they forget twice, he gives them three golden bullets, they fall out of their jackets, brothers remembered; the sister tells the king to come to visit; the bird orders to serve cucumbers, but remove the seeds from them and replace them with beads; the king is surprised; the bird in the cage: if cucumbers with beads cannot grow, then and a woman cannot give birth to a dog, a cat and a tree; the king returns the queen and children to the palace; the older sisters were torn by horses; cannons were fired at the feast; they put me in a gun, shot, I'm here arrived]: Kerbelite 2021, No. 29:204-212.