K76D. Hedgehog Son, ATU 441. 16.27.28.31.

The son or adopter of the spouses is a hedgehog. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man.

Germans, Framandians, Croats, Hungarians, Slovenes, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Swedes.

Western Europe. Germans [a childless peasant dreams of having a son, even a hedgehog; a son is born, a hedgehog from head to waist; he was put behind the stove; after 8 years, the father goes to the fair, asks what to whom buy; the son asks for bagpipes; having received the bagpipes, Hans-Hedgehog asks to shove his rooster, leaves, taking pigs and donkeys with him; raised a large herd in the forest; he sat with a rooster in a tree and played the bagpipes; the king lost his way; G. promises to show the way if the king promises him that he would be the first to meet at home; his daughter ran out to meet him; the king gave a receipt, but wrote in it that he owed nothing; the same with another king, but he really promised and the king's daughter agreed; G. returned to his father, bringing many pigs, let the people slaughter them; asked his father to shove the rooster again; G. came to the first king, who ordered shoot whoever comes on a rooster, but G. took the princess; pierced her with needles and drove her away for infidelity; when he came to the second king, he gave his daughter, and G. threw his hedgehog skin into the fire and began handsome; got a kingdom; took his father]: Grimm, Grimm 2002, No. 108:361-364 (=Grimm, Grimm 1987:289-294); Flemish: Uther 2004 (1), No. 441:263.

The Balkans. Croats [a childless woman asks God for a son, even a hedgehog; after giving birth to a hedgehog, she sent him to the forest with a pig and a hog; he raised pigs there and lived for 9 years; one hunter saw pigs and heard a voice the owner, but I could not see it; he was frightened, told the owner of the forest; he came to the hedgehog; asked him to take him out of the forest - he got lost; he gave a hundred gold coins for it; he brought pigs to his parents and called himself a son; gave a hundred guilders and told him to marry; one girl was not afraid and agreed; at night the hedgehog became a young man; his mother-in-law advised me to burn the skin; when he found out that the skin had burned, the hedgehog said that he should have waited a little more; {the end seems to be cut off}]: Leskien 1915:151-153; Hungarians [the merchant got lost in the forest, promised the best of three daughters to the one who would bring him out and three more bags of coins: gold, silver, copper; the hedgehog took him out; and the king got lost, also promised a daughter and money, not bags, but carts; the hedgehog took him out of the forest; the poor man promised to adopt a hedgehog; in the evening he knocked on his door; ordered him to be fed, planting him at the table, not somewhere under the bed; sent me to buy a black rooster and an old saddle; I came on a rooster for my merchant daughter, chose the middle one; took her home, she cries, does not want to; hedgehog: then come back, you don't worthy of me, I'll only take the money; the hedgehog came on a rooster to the king; the eldest and middle princesses refused, the youngest and most beautiful agrees to do her father's will; on the way she asks to get into her carriage, not ride a rooster: she is not afraid of a hedgehog and he does not disgust her; after that, the hedgehog turned into a prince, the rooster turned into a magnificent horse, the saddle turned golden; a marble palace appeared under a copper roof and cock's leg, all gold inside; after learning about the happiness of the younger princess and the merchant's three daughters were desperate; one drowned in a well, the other in a pond, the third in the river, and the fourth also committed suicide (not It is said how), but the merchant's second daughter decided to destroy the princess; taking the guise of an old woman, she was hired into the palace; when the king went to war, the wife gave birth to twins - a boy and a girl; the old woman left them in a basket in the forest, and told the Queen that she gave birth to monsters and had to be thrown into the river; a white deer lifted the basket on its horns, came to the river, called a forest nymph, and she raised children for 7 years; once sent a girl with a mug to bring water; she saw a golden bird, ran after her, and suddenly she had only the handle of the mug in her hands; the same happened to the boy; the bird explained that the nymph was not their mother and led her to real parents; on the way we came across a pile of gold and dice; collected gold; stopped at an inn, where three gentlemen were playing dice; the boy also began to play and won all the money; one of the gentlemen said that there is a marble palace in the blooming garden; if you touch it three times with a gold stick, it will become a golden apple and you can move it wherever you want; they played this palace, the boy won and received a wand; when he reached the palace, he turned it into an apple; the bird brought the king, the boy's father and his sister, to the palace; ordered the apple to be turned into a palace again; gave a sign on it the coat of arms and the names of the children; it can only be shown to the father; the king wanted to come to see the new palace right away, but the old woman gave him a potion and he fell ill; said that she was leaving on his own; advised the boy to get it a talking tree; a boy named Yanoshka went in search; the hairy devil at the first castle asked if he was I. and sent it to his older brother, who gave the gold stick to open the stone wand fence; you have to go around the tree three times and run, otherwise the fence will close and I will turn to stone; I did the right thing, ignoring the beautiful dancers, ran home, and the tree was already in the middle garden; the king wants to go see the miracle again, is poisoned again; the old woman offers to get a bird to sing on this tree; I went the same way (three devil brothers), entered the garden, got to ninth room, but took not a sweet bird with simple feathers, but a gold one; immediately petrified; now her sister, her name Marishka, went; the same meetings; she took a rusty cage, revived her brother with a gold stick and they both came back; the bird sang in the tree; the king is poisoned again, the old woman offers to get a silver lake with goldfish; I went, the same meetings with the devils, the same rules (run around the lake three times); this time the king did not drink coffee with poison, came with his wife; the young man showed the king a sign, the couple recognized the children; the old woman was burned at a sulfur stake]: Curtin 1890:517-545; Slovenes: Uther 2004 (1), No. 441:263.

Central Europe. Poles [a childless woman has a hedgehog son; he marries a princess and the youngest queen agrees to marry him, or the hedgehog sends an army and the king has to give her daughter, or he does difficult tasks; hedgehog skin is thrown into the fire and the hedgehog turns handsome]: Krzyżanowski 1962, No. 441:139; Poles [(many entries); due to a rash wish or spell in the family a snake son is born; at night she takes on a human form; a girl promises to marry him or her father promises to give her (as payment for a flower picked for her); a girl breaks the spell on her snake husband (a dwarf, bear, wolf, donkey, boar, hedgehog, toad, bird) - burns skin, cuts off the head, etc.; due to the fact that the skin was burned ahead of time (due to the machinations of his wife's sisters, etc.), the husband disappears; going in search, the wife must wear out her iron shoes; receives magic items from the old woman; learns where to go from the winds and stars, climbs a glass mountain; buys three nights next to her husband for three valuable items, returns it]: Krzyżanowski 1947, No. 325:70-71; Czechs: Uther 2004 (1), No. 441:263; Slovaks [there is a story called Yanko the Hedgehog]: Gašparíková 1991, No. 441:510; Czechs: Uther 2004 (1), No. 441:263.

Baltoscandia. Swedes [the hedgehog variant is not common in Sweden, but is found]: Liungman 1961, No. 441:103; Latvians [childless spouses ask for a child as tall as a hedgehog; a Hedgehog comes out of the stove, says that he is their son; he herds pigs; the king is lost, promises the Hedgehog a daughter if he takes him out of the forest; at night the wife sees the hedgehog coat removed, burns it; the Hedgehog suffers for two weeks, then turns into a prince]: Arys 1971:144-147; Lithuanians [the woodcutter brings home a hedgehog; while sleeping with his wife, he cooks, cleans; the old people adopt him; he asks to marry him the queen; the king orders to take everything out overnight manure, plow the field, collect wheat, bake bread; The hedgehog does everything, gets a wife, sheds his skin for the night, becomes handsome; the queen burns her skin, the husband goes to the sea for seven years, says that the queen will turn into iron what she touches {this motive is no longer used}; the father visits the Hedgehog, who allows his wife to come; tells her to collect white foam, not red foam in a bundle; pulls his wife across the sea, through the fire; teaches him to identify him when he becomes one of the storks (lowers his wings), one of the horses (scab); her husband is returned to her, everyone is happy]: Lebite 1965:174-178; Estonians [a childless couple has a hedgehog son; climbing into the bull's ear, herds the herd; comes on a rooster to the father of three daughters, only the youngest agrees to marry him; tells his wife to hit him three times with a stick; turns into a young man, fallen needles into pieces of gold; now the older sisters regret not agreeing]: Normann, Lätt 1968:72-74.