M114H. Build a house in the air .12.23.27.28.30.
A powerful character tells you to build a house hanging in the air. A person finds a witty way out of the situation.
Songhai, Hindi, Ancient Greece, Russian written tradition, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Yazgulyam people, Baluchis.
West Africa. Songhai [a cruel ruler tells sons to kill elderly fathers; one young man hid his father; the ruler gathers the young, orders them to build a house from earth to heaven; father advises his son to ask the ruler indicate the place between earth and sky where his residence will be located; when he hears the question, the tyrant realizes that the young man's father is alive, he is ashamed, he abandons the idea]: Hama 1967:261.
South Asia. North India, Uttar Pradesh, Hindi: Crooke 1895, No. 478 (Lucknow district) [Akbar tells Birbalu to build a house neither on earth nor in heaven; B.'s daughter promised to settle the matter; taught parrots to shout: serve bricks and mortar! Birbal released the parrots, they shouted what they had learned, B. said that the masons were ready; A. laughed]: 177; Bloodless, Chelyshev 1978 [Akbar suggests B. build a house in the air; he asks for time prepare building materials; tells his daughter to teach parrots the necessary words; called A., who opened the door of the palace, the parrots flew out and started shouting: take bricks, carry paint, etc.; B.: how only masons and carpenters will collect materials, start building; A. awarded B. for wit]: 57-58.
The Balkans. Ancient Greece (The Biography of Aesop, XXI-XXIII, 101-123) [the young man lied to Aesop before King Lycurgus of Babylon and he ordered his execution; but the chief of the guard hid E. in prison; at this time King Nectanebon of Egypt sent L. a letter: "I have decided to build a tower so that it does not touch the earth or the sky; people and a man have come to answer my questions; if he answers, I will pay you tribute"; L. regrets that E. was executed, while others could not solve the problems; the chief of the guard said that E. is alive; L. is happy; E. ordered to fatten four eagles and teach them to raise boys into the air; arriving at Egypt, wittily answers N.'s questions; eagles and boys fly up, boys shout: serve beams, clay and bricks; N. admits defeat, but adds that his mares brought from Greece they throw it away when they hear the stallions from Babylon laughing; E. begins to beat the cat: she visited Babylon at night and strangled a cockerel there; if the cat cannot reach Babylon overnight, then the mares cannot hear stallions; Heliopolis priests: there is a temple in the world, a pillar in the temple, 12 cities on a pole, 30 beams above each roof, two women run around each; E.: temple - peace, pillar - year, cities - months, beam - day, two women - night and day; priests advise asking E. to name what no one has seen or heard; E. writes an IOU on behalf of N.: he owes King L. 1000 talents, the deadline has already passed; N. paid tribute to Aesop for three years; L. erected him a golden statue]: Gasparov 1991:71-79.
Central Europe. Russian written tradition [The oldest version of The Tale of Akir the Premudrom (two lists of the 15th century and one in the 17th century), which is probably a translation of the Armenian version: the nephew slandered sage Akir before King Synagrip; S. ordered A. to be executed; A.'s friend, who was tasked with it, saved his life and beheaded another person instead of him; A. began to hide in a shelter dug in earth; having learned that A. had been executed, King Pharaoh of Egypt sent S. a letter: "I want to build a house between heaven and earth. So a skilled builder came to me, let them do and arrange everything as I like. And let him answer my other tricky questions. If you send me a craftsman who can do anything I tell him, I'll send you my three-year tribute. If you do not find such a wise husband or he cannot answer my questions, you will send me three years of income from your land"; S. began to grieve that he had executed A.; friend A. admitted that he had saved his life; S. is happy; A. told his household members: "Find me two eagles and feed them. And tell my falconers to teach them how to fly up. And make a cage and find my smart boy among my household members, and put him in a cage, <носимую> eagles. <с клеткой>And teach them to take off, and teach the boy to shout: "Bring lime and stones, the builders are ready"; then he went to F., introduced himself as S.'s groom; F. asked who he, F., and him looked like nobles; A.: "You, king, are like the sun, and likened your nobles to sunny rays"; in other riddles F. likened himself to the moon and tree, and his nobles to stars and blooming grass; A. guessed them all; F. ordered to build a palace between heaven and earth; A. released an eagle with the boy into the sky; the boy shouted that the builders were ready and ordered to carry stones with lime; F. did not understand how to do this; A. began to beat F.'s squad with a stick, turned them to flight; F. ordered them to leave the construction of the palace and then said: "Akir, allow me this task: when your lord's horses laugh in Adora and Naliva lands , then our foal mares give birth in our land"; A. ordered the servants to catch and beat the ferret; said F. that the ferret had reached Nalivskaya and Adorskaya lands, gnawed off the head of the rooster given to him by S. and returned back; F. replied that this cannot be done overnight; A.: "And I have heard that when horses laugh in the land of Adora, your mares give birth to foals here. But you say that there are a thousand and eighty miles from Egypt to the land of Adora"; F.: "There is one oak log, and on that log there are twelve pines with thirty wheels, and each wheel has two mice, one black and the other white"; A.: "What you call a log is a year, and then you say that twelve pines on it are twelve months a year. And what do you say about thirty wheels is thirty days a month, and what you call two mice - one white and the other black - is day and night"; F.: "Bring me two ropes of sand, five long elbows, and a finger thick"; A.: "Order your keykeepers to take the same rope out of the house for me, then I will also owl according to its model"; F. demanded that it be twisted; A. checked a hole in the temple wall for on the sunny side, and when the sun rose, he took a handful of sand and poured it into the hole; the sand swirled like a rope in the sun; A. "Send your youths to lay down this rope, and in the meantime I will owl the other"; F. arranged a feast for him and gave him a three-year tribute from Egypt; A. returned to S.; he gave him his nephew; A. punished nephew, began to reproach and teach him; his nephew puffed up like a jug and broke in half]: Likhachev et al. 2004:28-57.
Iran - Central Asia. Tajiks [padishah is ill; doctor: let them catch a white gazelle, slaughter him in the presence of the padishah, give him a drink of blood; the prince went with the soldiers, saw a poor girl, promised to send matchmakers, brought a gazelle, but her blood is no easier; doctor: the right gazelle has a necklace around her neck, rings on the legs, she is guarded by 40 peri; the prince saw a gazelle, but the main peri, Nigora, ordered to do it first conditions: 1) run with the gazelle to Balkh and overtake it; 2) build a palace between heaven and earth; 3) sit in a hot tone for 7 days and cook pilaf there; if you do, we will become your slaves, and if no, let's die in prison and leave the bodies to snakes; 40 baklavons fled, did not overtake the gazelle, were thrown into prison; shepherd's daughter Nulsanam {the one the prince saw first?} put on men's clothes, came to the old man; three doves flew to his three sons, turned into peri, became wives of sons, took them away, sons went in search and disappeared; in a dream, an old man teaches G. to hit each other with three swords, a horse will appear, come to the cave, go down on a rope, the divas are sleeping at this time, take a ring from under his tongue, after which the diva will become a servant; three young men the caves were lowered by G., she took the ring, ordered the diva to return the kidnapped young men and then take them all to the boy's father; the young men became G.'s assistants; the elder overtook the gazelle; the diva rose to the sky, and G. said peri: let the diva now be served with stone and solution; peri: the second requirement is fulfilled; the third young man Bahrpakhlavon sat in good shape, cooked pilaf; Nigora G. gave the main peri to her brother, the rest baklavons released from prison; padishah recovered, prince married G., received the throne, appointed brother G. as a vizier]: Osmanov 1989:371-379; Uzbeks [padishah tells the vizier to find an architect who will build a palace in the air; the famous architect decided to save the vizier and came with him to the padishah; said that clay to build an air palace should be mixed only on water brought in a sieve; padishah abandoned his idea]: Sheverdin 1984:148-150; Yazgulyam [the king's two eldest wives slandered the youngest because she is more beautiful than them; the king expelled her, she gave birth to a boy; the vizier found out about this, decided him lime - only he can build a castle in the air; the mother sends her son, tells him not to be afraid; the old man gives him a hoopoe; the boy releases a hoopoe, he takes off, shouts for sand and stones; no one maybe; the boy tells the king that he is his father; the vizier and envious wives were tied to the tails of horses]: Grunberg, Steblin-Kamensky 1976, No. 62:465-467; the Baluchi [the king expelled one of the three wives; she gave birth, her son grew up; found out that he was a prince; heard who the king promised a reward to whoever would build a palace in the air; having received the money, he ordered him to bring construction material; he himself spent time in talking to travelers who were passing by; one day another king was walking by, they went together; the young man offers to catch a couple of mares and ride on horseback; the king does not see any mares around; then suggests to carry each other; the king refuses; the young man asks that the king first go to the caravanserai and call him, and then go to his place; tells his daughter that he was going with a crazy young man; the daughter explains that the young man offered to make staffs, brighten up the road with stories; people should have heard the king's voice, not thinking that he had come in secret; the king gave his daughter to the young man and the falcon's dowries; the young man came to the king, who wished to build an air palace, said he had brought an architect, released a falcon; let a man who had never committed a misdemeanor be the first to give the falcon a brick; there were no such ones; young man: my mother did only a minor offense, why did the king punish her so much; the king hugged her son and returned his mother]: Dames 1892, No. 7:525-527.