K80C. Ivic cranes, ATU 960, 960A. .15.16.27.-.30.

Before death, the victim of murderers turns to birds (luminaries, animals, plants, etc.). Later, when the murderer sees these birds (moon, sun, plant, etc.), the murderer remembers his act aloud or otherwise betrays himself. Or birds, being the only witnesses to the crime, lead those investigating the crime to the murderers.

Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Sicilians, Ancient Italy, British, Germans (Bremen, Baden-Württemberg - Swabia), Dutch, Friesians, French (almost everywhere), Socotra, Shans, Karen, Nepali, Pakistan (Urdu), Ancient Greece, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbs, Czechs, Poles, Russians (Samara {and Tverskaya}), Ukrainians (Galicia, Kiev, Kharkiv, Poltava), Adygs (Circassians), Chechens, Nogais, Avars, Georgians, Turks, Kurds, Persians, Swedes, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Finns.

Southern Europe. The Portuguese [when the victim dies, asks the murderer to be the godfather of his child and give him the name Not Hide from God; either he says that burdock will tell about the murder; or flying partridges; Upon hearing the name, the king is surprised and solves the crime; or when he sees burdock or partridges, the murderer laughs, arouses the suspicion of others, and eventually confesses to the crime]: Cardigos 2006, No. 960:251; Spaniards: Boggs 1980, No. 960 [dying at the hands of the murderer, the man points to the burdock and predicts that he will point to the culprit; the burdock stuck to the murderer's clothes; the wife noticed this, began to ask questions why the husband is gloomy; he spoke about the murder; he often returns drunk and beats his wife; she finally reported him and the murderer was hanged]: 115-116; Hernández Fernández 2013, No. 960 (Murcia) [ two neighbors got into a fight over a woman or from abroad, one killed another; when dying, a person predicts that raindrops (burdock) will witness against the murderer; many years later, during the rain or at the sight of burdock, the murderer recalls the deaths aloud with the victim's words and pretends to be]: 171; Catalans [cranes are the only witnesses to the murder; they fly over the murderers, thus betraying them authorities]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 960A: 195; Sicilians: Cirese, Serafini 1975, No. 960:246; (cf. Italians (western 19th century, no place of recording, perhaps this is the Sicilian text noted in Cirese, Serafini 1975, No. 960) [the poor man met a murderer on a deserted road; prayed in vain to keep him alive - he has no money; when he died, he called a pigeon flying by; the murderer was hired as a cook; the owner brought him a pigeon to cook; the owner's daughters noticed that the cook grinned, asked what was going on; he answered if the pigeon could be a witness; told us what had happened; they asked him to repeat the story by calling his father; the father called the police; the murderer was captured and executed]: Hansen 2002:89; Ancient Italy [there are Latin sources, cf. Ancient Greece]: Hansen 2002:90-91.

Western Europe. The French (Normandy; other versions from Dauphinay, Lorraine, Provence, Bigorre, Landes; exposed crows everywhere) [Ponsias sold butter, eggs, etc.; returned home in old age ; two robbers attacked; dying from knife wounds, P. saw crows and said that the birds of heaven were witnesses to the crime; a year later, people gathered auto-da fe to burn father and daughter, who committed incest; when they saw the crows, the two robbers in the crowd noticed: here they are, witnesses in favor of P.; those standing nearby heard, the robbers were captured, they were confused in their testimony and confessed; them sentenced to wheeling; crows croaked during execution; the place of murder has since been called Field P.]: Tenèze 2000, No. 960A: 191-193; Germans (Bremen): Uther 2004 (1), No. 960A: 601; Germans ( Baden-Württemberg - Swabia) [the tailor robbed and killed a Jew; when he died, he said: the sun will betray you; the tailor married, became a respected person; one Sunday morning, when he saw the sun's rays, he laughed; the wife demanded an explanation, he had to tell him everything; the wife did not want to live with the murderer, she told me everything, her husband was convicted; when they were going to cut his head, he noticed that the sun had given him away]: Hubrich-Messow 1988, No. 72:116-117 (=Meier 1852, No. 13:53-54); Germans (Baden-Württemberg: Black Forest) [the guy left his pregnant lover to marry a rich woman; decided to kill the girl so as not to prevented; brought him to the forest to a dug grave; she promised that her blood would give him away; one day he went to mow the grass in the clearing where he buried the girl and the braid was stained with blood; when he returned home, he said everything told his wife; after a family quarrel, she extradited her husband and he was executed]: Hubrich-Messow 2006, No. 152:115-116; (cf. Germans (Baden-Württemberg: Black Forest) [a knight has one daughter black as the ground and the other is white as snow and blush as a cherry; when they were washing on the Rhine, the white woman noticed that black can't be washed white; setra pushed her into the river; later lured her fiancé to him; the harp player found the body drowned and made it {obviously bones} a harp; he came to the wedding of his killer sister; when he first touched string, the bride froze in a daze; second, silk robes slept from him; third, she died]: Hubrich-Messow 2006, No. 146:109-110; Germans (Switzerland) [in the summer, the shepherd became angry at The boy who was helping him and drowned him with his head in a cauldron filled with milk; said that he died when he fell off a cliff; his body decayed, his bones fell into a stream; one day a shepherd went to collect water, found a bone and brought it to the house where the feast was taking place; blood flowed from the bone; the murderer was executed]: Sutermeister 1869, No. 14:32-34); the Dutch, the Friezes: Uther 2004 (1), No. 960:601; the British (West 1903 from 80 years old shepherd) [two brothers decided to kill the shepherd; he said that the crows would witness; one day the crows flew in and began to croak; one brother asked the other if he remembered the story; the neighbor heard, reported The brothers were hanged]: Hansen 2002:90.

Western Asia. Socotra [during the famine, two men decided to take the woman's fruits and roots and kill her; she begged her to pray and not kill her before the moon rises; turned to the moon, instructing her to" her (moons; j.r., also grammatically, which is not typical for Semitic languages, comm. L. Kogan) of Tanuf's grandson, whose mother Zibrinno was killed for her roots and fruits"; son Z. began to look for his mother, those two murderers came to his house; when they saw the moon, they told this story; when they heard his mother's name, the owner of the house hacked down sword killers]: Naumkin 2012:422-423 (retelling Naumkin, Kogan 2013, No. 4:181); (cf. Arabs of Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen: El-Shamy 2004, No. 960:667-668; are there any it is impossible to determine this particular motive in texts without primary sources).

Burma - Indochina. Shana [two friends went for two or three years to earn money; one decided to kill the other in the woods, take all the money for himself; when he dies, he asks the cloud to witness the crime; once he sees the clouds, the murderer laughed; the wife began to demand why he laughed, the husband reluctantly told; the wife told her sister, the story reached the leader; the murderer was executed]: Milne 1910:273-275 (=Kornev 196:126-127); Karen [two friends Phalun and Phakain made money by trading, returning home; they spent the night in the woods, Phakain decided to take his companion's money and kill him; Phalun called out to the clouds, taking them to witnesses to the crime; at home, Phakain said that Phaluna was robbed by robbers, and then he fell ill and died; once he was standing with his wife, looking at the clouds and the moon, smiled; the wife decided that her husband was remembering some Some mistress; he told his wife everything, she swore to remain silent; when Phakain got a mistress and beat his wife, she told Phalun's widow everything; Phakaina was executed]: Kasevich, Osipov 1976, No. 186:500-504.

South Asia. Nepali [the man decided to get rich; in bad weather he came to the rich man with a knife; he asked him to fulfill his last wish; let the murderer agree that bubbles in the puddles will witness the killed; the killer agrees; got rich; after many years he sees bubbles in puddles, laughs, the wife asks for an explanation, laughs too; the wife spilled out, the murderer was captured]: Sakya, Griffith 1980:181-183; Pakistan (Urdu; probably Punjabi) [respected faqir Danadil decided to become a dervish, went on a journey; in a deserted place he was attacked by robbers; he saw a flock of cranes and invited them to be witnesses; long after that, the people gathered for the feast; murderers also came there; a flock of cranes flew to them; one told the other that these were the ones D. saw when they killed him; people heard this, the murderers were tortured, forced to pay a fine: Hertel 1921, No. 85:340-341.

The Balkans. Ancient Greece [Ibykos lived in the 6th century BC in Rhegium, Greater Greece; the oldest evidence from the Antipater of Sidon, 2nd century BC, then Plutarch; Zinovius; Byzantine source of the 10th century); poet Ivik was mortally wounded by murderers sent to him by rulers dissatisfied with his popular popularity; this happened in a deserted place on his way to the Isthmian Games; when he died, Ivic saw a flock in the sky cranes, appealed to her to expose the murderers; those gathered for the games were outraged by the murder, but did not see a way to solve it; the tragedy of Eumenis was played out with Erinius's choir singing about the inevitability of retaliation against the criminals; the audience froze, at which time there was a crane click in the distance; then one of the murderers cried out, addressing the other: "These are the Ivikov cranes!" ; this is how he exposed himself, the criminals were executed]: Hansen 2002:90-91; Bulgarians [when dying, the murder victim calls ducks (hawks, the moon, etc.) to witness; later the murderer (or his brother), seeing ducks ( hawks, moon, etc.), grins; the king, dressed in simple clothes, notices this, finds out what is wrong; the murderer is executed]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 960A: 362; Hungarians [a man killed by his own as a companion; before death, the victim calls a tornado (sunlight, moonlight) as witnesses; many years later, seeing a "witness", the murderer recalls the last words of his victim aloud; others hear, punish murderer]: Benedek 1984, No. 960:415; Serbs, Macedonians: Uther 2004 (1), No. 960A: 601.

Central Europe. Ukrainians (Galicia, Kiev, Kharkiv) [Secret Murder (Ivikov Cranes): A dying man asks feather grass to solve the murder; many years later, the murderer laughs at in the form of grass, tells her secret to his wife, she reports it]: SUS 1979, No. 960A: 247; Ukrainians (p. Naguevichi Drogobichsky district, Galicia; I. Franco, recorded by him personally) [The man has a mistress, they go to the forest, make a fire, sit and talk. Something comes to his mind, he starts killing her. When she falls, she shouts: "Lord, let at least this forest snag testify to my death." After burying the body, the man goes to a distant village, hires there, and then marries there. She has been living with his wife for a couple of years and they are doing well. One day they both go through the same forest, through the same place. He sees that forest snag and starts laughing. The wife asks why he laughs, he talks out, she insists, he confesses that here under this snag he killed one who was with him, and she shouted for this snag to testify about her deaths. The wife thinks that what he did to her could do to her. As soon as they come to the village, she reports to him. They hang it. So the forest driftwood gave it out]: Franko 1895:223-224; Ukrainians (Umansky u. (Kiev governorate) [two guys were returning from Bessarabia from work; one decides to slaughter the other; he asks for permission to say goodbye to the tumbleweed: there will be a witness; after stabbing a friend, the murderer came home, got married, went with his wife to visit his father-in-law; when he saw the tumbleweed, he laughed; the wife began to admit, the husband told me why; on a visit he began to beat his wife; wife: you stabbed that guy, and now you want to kill me; my husband was captured and sent to Siberia]: Rudchenko 1869, No. 79:207-208; Ukrainians (reported by K. Rakhno, recorded in 1977 by L.M. Pidgirna, a student of the Kamenets-Podolsk Pedagogical Institute, in the village. Shustivtsi, Kamenets-Podolsky district, Khmelnitsky region from pensioner L.M. Kavetskaya, 58 years) [two comrades returned from work, spent the night in the field; one decided to kill the other and take his money; when he died, he told the tumbleweed to witness the crime; the murderer became rich and went with his wife visiting another village; seeing a tumbleweed, the husband laughed, the wife demanded an explanation, the husband told me everything; the wife spilled out, her husband was arrested; so the tumbleweed became a witness]; (cf. Ukrainians (Poltava region, western 2009) [husband and wife have a cow; in the spring they ran out of hay; the owner stole a little from the lord; the wife always ruffled her tongue, but this time she was silent; soon young grass appeared, the cow was taken out to graze, and rolled along the steppe tumbleweed; owner cow: graze, the stolen hay was gone; the pan noticed the loss, went after the tumbleweed and it led him to the thief's house; the hostess forcibly begged him not to pick up the cow; decided to continue to be less talk, but did not understand how the pan found out about hay]: Zinchuk 2010a: 222-223); Russians [a man killed a merchant in the steppe under the rakita; before his death he says: Feather grass, even if you testify for me; many years have passed; the man was walking with his wife along the steppe, caught up with the rakita, laughed; the wife began to wonder why; the man told me; the wife began to walk, the man beat her; she went and pointed at him in court]: Sadovnikov 1884, No. 119:380; (cf. Russians {Tver Oblast is outside the area of distribution of tumbleweed; undoubtedly late borrowing; the Samara version is also likely to be borrowed from steppe dwellers} (Tverskaya, Western 1991) [while working, one guy worked hard, a friend drank everything; on the way back he killed a friend and took the money; when he dies, he asks the tumbleweed to be a witness; the guy married; one day laughs when he sees a roll -field; wife demands explanations; I had to tell, my wife shouted, the man was arrested and taken away]: archive of the Center for Tver Local History and Ethnography, sent by V.E. Dobrovolskaya); Poles [ the criminal kills the traveler; when he dies, he says that the sun (moon, tree) will witness the crime; so it happened: the criminal accidentally betrayed himself]: Krzyżanowski 1962, No. 960:295; Czechs : Uther 2004 (1), No. 960A: 601.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Adygi [the villain out of jealousy leads a friend into the wilderness and kills in order to take possession of his wife; the dying man says: Either the crow will betray or the tumbleweed; hiding the crime, the villain marries the wife of the victim; one day, when the wind blows a tumbleweed into their house, the murderer succeeds; the wife cunningly seeks confession, avenges her husband's death]: Tkhamokova 2014, No. 960A: 191; Chechens [two friends decided that the girl would be given to the one whose horse would stop closer to the edge of the abyss; one of them got a wife, a son was born; when friends were returning from the raid, a single man killed a married man; when he died, he said: let silver poplar leaves (var.: tumbleweed) will tell about the murder; the victim's son grew up, rode with the murderer without knowing who it was; when he saw the poplar leaves moving, he laughed; the companion asked to tell us what was going on, the young man killed him; since then, silver poplar leaves have been swaying in the wind]: Malsagov 1983, No. 61:212; Nogais (Arukyz village, now Nevinnomysskaya village) [friends Ibray and Nuray married one girl, Arukyz; she chose N.; while hunting, I. shot N. in the back; when he died, he said that the tumbleweed would tell about the crime; I. said that N. had been bitten to death by wolves; married A. as if in memory of N.; once I. and his wife went to haymaking; waving off the annoying rolling of the field, I. said out loud, He will not say, N.! A. forced I. to confess to the murder, stabbed him with a dagger, and drowned herself]: Kapaev 2012:203-205; Avars [tumblefield options]: Khalilova 1992 and other publications (reported by K. Rakhno); Georgians [two peasants went to work; in the forest, one decided to strangle the other in order to seize his money; he asked him not to kill, otherwise the tumbleweed would spread the news; returning home, the murderer once laughed when he saw a tumbleweed; his wife insisted that he tell her why he laughed; he told; the wife told the neighbor; the murderer was hanged]: Kurdovanidze 1988 (2), No. 123 : 241-242; Turks [one option is recorded from a Circassian; a peasant kills a friend; before he dies, he says that the murderer will be given thorns {die Dornen; it's probably a tumbleweed}; the murderer marries the victim's widow; laughs when he sees the wind carry the tumbleweed; the wife asks for an explanation, her husband tells her about the murder, she reports him, he is punished]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 141:156; Kurds [a lazy man and a hard worker went to the city to work; on the way back, the lazy man decided to kill a friend and take his money; before his death, the worker asks for a feather grass stalk brought by the wind be a witness; one day a lazy man saw a feather grass stalk carried by the wind and laughed; his wife insisted that he tell him why he was laughing; told people; the padishah told him to return the money to the widow killed and executed the murderer]: Jalil et al. 1989, No. 71:332-333.

Iran - Central Asia. Persians (Farce) [the victim of the murder calls on the partridge to witness the crime; later, the murderer laughs at the sight of the partridge; the king realizes that something is wrong here, the killer is exposed]: Marzolph 1984, No. 960A: 179.

Baltoscandia. The Swedes [two laborers killed a man; when he dies, he says that two crows flying over him will witness the crime; one day the murderers see crows again and one of them makes all comments, hinting at what happened; others hear, demand an explanation, the murderers confessed]: Klintberg 2010, No. Y62:444; Latvians [A robber kills a lonely traveler for money. When he dies, he calls on the rays of the sun, grass, etc. One day someone accidentally mentions these "witnesses" and the robber involuntarily confesses to the crime. (Also: The robber accidentally repeats words he heard during the crime)]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 960:336; Lithuanians, Estonians, Finns: Uther 2004 (1), No. 960:601.