L37a1. Let a wolf eat a fool, ATU 461A.

.13.14.29.30.31.33.

A person goes to find out the reason for his failures. Others also share their questions with him. God (fate) answers that a predator (wolf, lion, bear) must eat a fool, and to help others, you must dig up a treasure, marry a queen, etc. did not receive direct instructions to do so. The predator decides he won't find anyone more stupid.

Sudanese Arabs, Berbers, and Arabs (?) Morocco, Berbers of Algeria, Arabs of Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kabardian, Ingush, Kumyks, Lezgins, Rutulans, Megrelians, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Kurds, Pashtuns, Turkmens, Persians, Bakhtiyars, Baluchis, Latvians, Kazakhs.

Sudan - East Africa. Sudanese Arabs [Sick beast has to eat brain of a stupid man for cure]: El-Shamy 2004, No. 461A: 232-233.

North Africa. Berbers and Arabs (?) Morocco, Algerian Berbers (Blida), Egyptian Arabs [Sick beast has to eat brain of a stupid man for cure]: El-Shamy 2004, No. 461A: 232-233.

Western Asia. Iraq, Saudi Arabia [Sick beast has to eat brain of a stupid man for cure]: El-Shamy 2004, No. 461A: 232-233.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Kabardian people [lazy Shadul√° went to the sage to find out why he is poor; a skinny wolf asks to know why he is not full; an apple tree why apples are bitter; fish why can't close his mouth; sage: a lazy man must work; the wolf will be cured by eating a lazy man; a jug of gold is under the apple tree; a piece of gold is stuck in the fish's mouth; S. refuses to take gold out of the fish's mouth and from under the apple tree: the sage said that he will get rich without it; the wolf ate him]: Aliyeva, Kardangushev 197:18-21; Ingush [the man goes to look for Happiness; the Wolf he meets asks what will save him from scabies, the gardener - why not one of the two apple trees bears fruit, the padishah - how to find peace if you have everything; Happiness says that the padishah is a woman who must marry; an apple tree will bear fruit if you dig a treasure from under it; Wolf will be cured by eating a person who does not know how to use the goods that come into his hands; a man refuses to marry a padishah, take a treasure, is eaten by the Wolf]: Malsagov 1983, No. 85:242-243; Kumyks: Alimova 2013, No. 75 [the poor man went to look for the owner of his happiness; the bear asks to know what medicine will relieve him of his headache; one farmer - why ears are without grains, the other - why potatoes small; the old man replies that he is the master of happiness; says that the poor man's happiness fell like sand, everything depends on him; let the bear eat the brain of a fool; under the wheat field gold, under copper is potatoes; the man refuses a share, tells the peasants that his happiness is already with him; the bear decided that he could not find a greater fool, ate his brain]: 333-335; Bagriy 1930 (2) [the man missed inheritance, went to seek his happiness; the blind bear asks to find his happiness; the khan, who has more troops than the enemy, asks to know why he is losing battles; the man sees him lying on the ground the old man, this is happiness; the old man tells the bear to tell the bear that he must eat the brain of the biggest fool; the khan loses because he is a woman, let them choose a man; the man went home, said in the khanate, what was going on, told the bear everything; he decided that he would not find a greater fool, ate his brain]: 44-45; Lezgins [the man is dissatisfied with fate, he came to the place where they give happiness; to him they told me to go to the Khan's field, where bread would not be born, to dig it up; someone was already plowing there, they began to plow together, found 7 jugs of gold; the man came again to ask for happiness; he was told to go to the Arabs, there they choose the shabby wolf on whose head the falcon will sit on; the shabby wolf he meets asks to know when his hair will grow; the fool was chosen, but he gave up the throne, returned to learn about the wolf; they answered that the wolf must eat a fool's brain; the wolf ate him and overgrown him with hair]: Khalilov 1965, No. 83:259-260; Rutultsy [the poor man went to Allah to ask for a full life; the shabby wolf asks him to know what to do to become covered with wool again; plowman - why the field does not produce crops; padishah - what is his fate; Allah replies that he has already given the poor wealth; the padishah must marry; let the plowman dig up the treasury, let the wolf will eat the brain of a fool; the padishah discovers that he is a woman, offers himself, the man says he is in a hurry to go home, because Allah has given him wealth; the ploughman dug a treasure, but the man has given up his share; the wolf ate the brain a man, thinking that he would not find anyone more stupid than him, became covered with wool]: Aliyeva 2013, No. 73:319-321; Megrelians (p. Chogi Zugdidsky University) [the poor brother of two rich brothers goes to ask God why he is poor; along the way, the wolf asks to know why he is not full; fish: why its head hurts so much that it must hit its head against a rock; gardener: why are grapes bitter; God answers in the forest; let man go home and get everything; the wolf must eat the donkey; there is a diamond in the fish's belly, a treasure is buried in the vineyard; the man refused to take the treasure dug and a diamond, since God promised to help him; the wolf decided that he would not find a bigger donkey, ate it]: Petrov 1894:73-78; Georgians: Bogoyavlensky 1894, No. 4 (Imereti) [=Kurdovanidze 1988 (2), No. 120:233-235; The poor man goes to God to find out why he is poor; along the way, the Wolf asks why he keeps running, the oak tree why the branches turn yellow; the fish why it does not go into the depths; God says that man will get what he wants when he returns; fish must spit out pearls; there is gold in the oak hollow; the wolf must eat the dumbest man; a person does not take pearls and gold because he believes in some other reward; The wolf eats it]: 23-30; Dirr 1920, No. 3 []: 9-13; Armenians: Ioannisian 1968 [the king gave shares to three sons, but the elder squandered everything; went to God to find out for what sins; on the way, the bear asks to know why he is scab and ulcers; the owner of the garden - why does he not bear fruit; the king - why is there a mess in his country; an angel to meet: come back and get wealth; the bear must eat a man; under every tree in that garden there is gold; the king of that countries - a woman, let her marry; a man comes back and gives an angel's answers; a woman offers to be her husband - no, I need to go home, I will get wealth there; the garden owner offers a daughter, then a son-in-law he will inherit everything; he refuses again; bear: here I will eat you; after that, the bear healed]: 156-161; Tumanyan 1984 [the poor man goes to God to ask him how long it takes for him to toil; the wolf asks to ask how long he should starve; beauty - why is she unhappy; the tree above the river - why is it dry; God promises the poor man to send him happiness, answers other questions; gold must be dug from under the tree, on the girl - marry, but the poor man says he has no time; the wolf must eat a fool; the wolf says that he will not find a more stupid person, eats the poor man]: 78-80; Wingate 1910, No. 1 [the poor man dreams as if he were some grief grieves him Luck; in the morning he goes to look for her; the lame Leo asks to ask Good Luck when he recovers; the winegrower - why his grapes are bitter; the rich woman in the palace, why she is not happy; man finds Good Luck, she answers the questions asked; a woman must marry; gold in the ditch makes the grapes bitter; if Leo eats a fool, he will recover; when he learns that a person has rejected the woman's hand and refused gold, Leo ate it, recovered]: 220-222; Azerbaijanis [poor Sheydullah went to Allah to ask for help; on the way, the wolf asks to know if his abdominal pain will subside; apple tree - will there be to bear fruit; fish - when it stops stabbing in the throat; in the burning bush the voice of Allah: remove a gem from the throat of the fish, dig a jug of chervonets from under the apple tree, eat a stupid man for a wolf; Sh. refused to take out the stone, dig a jug; the wolf ate it like a fool]: Bagriy, Zeynally 1935:206-210; Turks [an impoverished young man goes to find out why he is poor; wolf (lion, bear) asks to know how get rid of a headache; two brothers - why are they so poor; padishah - why do the subjects disobey; Fate answers: the padishah is a girl, let her marry and give her husband the throne; the brothers' father buried gold for them and their sister; the wolf must eat the fool; the young man refuses to marry the queen, take gold from his brothers; the wolf ate him like a complete fool]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 127:145; Kurds [a peasant goes to Allah to learn how to irrigate his garden from a river flowing into a deep gorge; the people he meets ask for their questions; old man: why are the ears in his field empty; wolf: how get rid of scab; Shah: how to defeat enemies; the old man says that the peasant will not reach Allah, that water has already flowed into his garden; that the jugs in the stream are filled with poison, poison wheat; the wolf must smear himself with the blood of a fool; the Shah is a woman in disguise, let her marry; giving answers, the peasant refuses to marry the shahina, hurries to his garden; the wolf did not eat it, but covered himself with blood from it veins]: Farizov, Rudenko 1959:95-99.

Iran - Central Asia. Pashtuns [the man went to look for his happiness; on the way, the Tiger asks him how to recover; the horse - where he is going; the tree - why it dries; the man finds happiness, scolds him for lies in the forest, happiness says that he has no mind; The tiger will heal when it eats a stupid man, the horse will become strong when it finds an owner, the treasure must be removed from under the roots of the tree; the man speaks a tree that will not dig up a treasure, since it has already found his happiness; for the same reason he does not take a horse; the Tiger ate it]: Lebedev 1972, No. 20:187-189; Turkmens [the poor man meets something; the person he meets replies that it is his Happiness, tells him to come in three months; a person walks, meets people and animals along the way, everyone talks about their misfortune, asks them to know what to do; the lion hurts head; the padishah sometimes hates and sometimes loves his warriors; the old man does not have fruit in the garden; Happiness replies that the lion must eat a fool, the padishah is a woman, a treasure is buried in the garden; returning, man refuses to take the treasure (he already has happiness), marry a padishah woman; he is eaten like a dead fool by a lion]: Stebleva 1969, No. 39:200-204; Persians: Romaskevich 1934a, No. 48 [akhund went to ask God to give him a living; on the way, the lion asks him to know why he is not satisfied; the gardener why the garden does not bear fruit; the king why he does not enjoy life; the Lord: the lion must eat a stupid man; under the ditch of the garden there are 7 treasures; the rider is a girl, let her marry; the king girl offered Akhunda marriage, he refused; Akhund - those treasures and daughter - refused again; having learned about this, the lion ate Akhund and was full]: 239-241; Lorimer, Lorimer 1919, No. 19 (Kerman) [the two brothers shared the inheritance equally, but the youngest harvests a good harvest, and the eldest does not grow anything; the brothers change earth, but the eldest is again without a crop; comes at night to steal some wheat from the youngest; in the field, a stranger is the luck of the younger brother; he says that the elder's luck is asleep and he must wake her up; the elder goes in search of good luck; meets a lion, who asks him good luck why he eats but does not get full; the old man asks to know why his land does not bear fruit; the king why his kingdom is in desolation; grief sleeps a big man; his elder brother wakes him up, gets answers; the king is a woman, let him marry; she offers her older brother to marry her, but he refuses - he is waiting for a harvest in the field; old man let him dig a treasure; the old man wants to marry his daughter to his older brother, he refuses again; the lion must eat the fool; the lion: there is no greater fool, ate his older brother]: 113-117; bakhtiyars [poor the brother sees a man in a black burka herding a herd of a rich brother; the shepherd replies that he is the luck of the rich, and the poor's luck sleeps in such a cave; the gardener asks good luck why the garden is not bears fruit; the king - why don't they listen to his orders; the wolf - why is he starving (have nothing to live on); the camel thorn collector - what does he deserve this activity; the poor man wakes up his luck, asks her questions sends answers: it is necessary to dig a treasure buried in the garden; the king is a woman; nothing will change in the life of the thorn collector; the poor man refuses half of the treasure, the Queen on the throne's offer to marry her; the wolf must eat the fool; the wolf tells the poor man to count the stars in the sky, rushes at him and eats him]: Lorimer, Lorimer 1919, No. 44:293-296; Baluchi [the peasant did not water his land, which was dry the land did not produce crops; he went to seek his happiness; the camel asks why the owner drove him away when he wiped his back into blood; the king why his army loses to any enemy; whale fish she crossed the river; she has something stuck in her throat, asks to know when deliverance will come; the person saw how his happiness wanted to go down to the well; asked to go with him; happiness replies that the camel must eat the brain of a stupid man; the king loses because he is a girl; the whale must be hit on the back; the man hit, the pearl popped out, but the man did not take it; refused to marry the king- to the girl - after all, his happiness woke up; after listening to the man's story, the camel killed him, ate his brain and his wounds healed]: Zarubin 1949, No. 2:29-35.

Baltoscandia. Latvians [Happiness Seeker. The guy is unlucky in life, he goes to God for happiness. The fish tells him to ask God how to cure a sick eye; the tree - why its branches dry; the wolf - how to regain health. God answers questions. The fish promises the guy a gem that is in the sore eye, the tree is the money under his roots, but the guy refuses everything. He's being eaten by a sick wolf]: Arys, Medne 1977, No. 460B: 288.

Turkestan. Kazakhs [the elder brother explains to Kadyr that his happiness is most likely sleeping under a Karaganda resident, while his older brother works; K. goes to look for his happiness; the lion asks him to know how to get rid of the pain in his stomach; the old man - why does his field not bear fruit; khan - why does he miss; K. saw happiness that had slept, began to beat; it says that idlers are not happy for the future, but agrees to answer questions; khan - a woman, let her marry; a korchaga with gold is buried in the field; the lion must eat the stupidest man; K. refuses to marry a khansha, take gold as a reward; upon learning about this, the lion rushed at him, but hit a rock and died; K. decided he was the happiest now]: Sidelnikov 1964:23-28.