Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

K76F. A young calf. .26.29.30.32.35.

The young man, who looks like a calf, marries and then turns into a handsome man.

Chinese (Jiangsu), Koreans, Avars, Armenians, Mountain Tajiks, Yazgulyam, Bashkirs, Southern Selkups.

China - Korea. Usually Frog. South and Northwest Chinese (Jiangsu) [one of three wives gives birth to a son in the absence of her husband; the other two throw him into the water, he does not sink; they wrap him in straw, let a cow eat; she gives birth to a calf; angry wives want to eat his liver; a man gives them another one, buys a calf; a girl wants to marry whoever she hits with a ball, hits a calf; takes him away, he turns into a young man; they marry; angry wives punished]: Eberhard 1937, No. 33:54; Koreans [when leaving, Park asks two wives how they will greet him; Chie-bi promises to arrange a party, Jae-bi promises to have a son; in P. Chie-bi kidnaps C.'s son, tells his servants to throw him into the ice-hole; wild animals save him; throw him to pigs - he is safe; cook in oil; a piece remains, eaten by a cow, gives birth to a golden calf wool; P. returns, Chie-bi says that Che gave her son to someone, P. puts Che in the cellar; Chie-bi pretends to be sick, asks for the calf's heart; the old woman lets go of the calf, gives the dog's heart; the calf comes to the imperial city; the emperor promises to give his fourth daughter to jump to the gong (the elders are married to a minister, general, sage); the calf jumps, gets a princess, at night turns into a person; visits his father, tells his story; Che is released, Chie-bi is imprisoned in a cellar]: Shkurkin 1941:21-42.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Avars [an evil spirit turned Khan's only son into a bull; Khan married him, at night the bull turned into a young man; he asked his wife not to talk about it; she told his mother, her mother left him bull skin into the fire; the young goby flew away like a dove, told his wife to look for him in heaven; the girl has been looking up to the sky ever since, and pigeons live on roofs and attics, fearing to fly into the house]: Khalidova 2012, No. 198:219-220 ; Armenians [=Nazinyan 2014:25-29; a dervish gives a childless old woman three apples, tells her to eat them for three days; she eats them right away, gives birth to a bull; he asks to marry the royal daughter; performs tasks: create a golden one bring a tray of gold, an unsewn dress, to bring the bride home so that her head does not see the sun, her legs do not touch the ground; at night he becomes handsome; the wife burns a bull's skin; the husband turns into a pigeon, flies away; the wife follows, turns into a dove, finds her husband at the bottom of the sea, where she is happy with him]: Ganalanyan 1965:66-71.

Iran - Central Asia. Mountain Tajiks [ask the old woman's calf to marry him the Shah's daughter; first they beat the old woman, then the vizier suggests that two rams fight in the sky, and on the street at once Seedlings have grown; the calf goes to its parents on Mount Kof, who fulfill the conditions; after the wedding, the calf turns handsome; the wife burns veal skin]: Rosenfeld, Rychkova 1990, No. 7:47-48; Yazgulyams [the poor man found an egg on the mountain slope, left it in the pantry, a calf appeared; the poor man and his wife died, the calf stayed with the poor man's mother; fills the pantry with food; tells him to marry him the king's daughter; the king wants to hang an old woman, the vizier advises giving the calf difficult errands; 1) shady apple trees along the road; 2) a mill with compartments for grain and meat; 3) roof gutters, oil flows one by one, the other milk; 4) three yards are full of gold; everything is ready by morning, the wedding, the calf turns into a human]: Grunberg, Steblin-Kamensky 1976, No. 22:241-243 (=Edelman 1966, No. 7:197-199).

Volga - Perm. The Bashkirs [the bull tells the old master to marry the khan's daughter for him; the old man is beaten; after the third time, the khan agrees; at night the bull takes off his skin, the bride is happy, burns her skin; the husband orders to pour milk from the barn, go with an iron staff for the milk stream; flies away as a white bird; the khan's daughter comes to her husband's older brother, he sends to the middle, to the youngest, the elder gives food for the middle cow, the middle is for the younger evil geese; all four brothers gather, the fourth (still in the form of a bull? or an ogre?) feeds and hides the girl; the elders say that honey and meat were not enough; the elder advises the girl to wrap herself in silk when her fourth brother executes her; she refuses, is ready to answer; the husband accepts human form, everyone is happy]: Barag 1989, No. 22:125-128.

Western Siberia. The Southern Selkups [the elderly have a bull son (Pyka i); the old man has married him twice to royal pre-ego since at least the Bronze Age; each time the king orders him to be cut off head, P. licks the body, revives it, sends it again; the third youngest daughter agrees; P. arrives handsome, builds a palace; the older sisters burned a bull's skin out of envy, he disappeared in the form of a whirlwind; the bride visited three sisters P., the youngest helped him find and hold him, sewing him into cow skin; when seven cow skins burst on him, he became human again]: Tuchkova 2004:254-255.