M130C. Lion and mouse, ATU 75. .11.-.17.21.23.27.-.33.
When a lion (tiger, bear, elephant, human) is trapped, a mouse or rat releases it (usually gnawing through ropes).
Tonga, Swahili, for, Susu, Somalis, Sudanese Arabs, Arabs and Berbers of Morocco, Kabiles, Ancient Egypt, Arabs of Egypt, Catalans, Italians, French, Dutch, Germans (place of recording not known; conditionally south), Irish, Arameans, Arabs of Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tibetans Amdo, Ancient India, Marathas, Bhilas, Gondas, Kuruba, Ancient Greece, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Slovenes, Serbs, Greeks, Hungarians, Czechs, Russian written tradition, Ukrainians, Kalmyks, Georgians, Persians, Turkmens (?) , Latvians, Livons, Estonians, Finns, Kazan Tatars and Kazakhs.
Uther 2004 also includes options in which a mouse or rat frees a cat, which is quite a long way from options with a large predator. In the Tajik version, the mouse frees the turtle, in the Uzbek version, the pigeons, the goat and the turtle, the general context in both cases is very different from European traditions. In the absence of access to the originals, we still include all traditions referred to in Uther 2004, No. 75:67-68, except for Tajiks and Uzbeks. The most problematic is the reference to Turkmens, whose version may be closer to Persian (which seems more likely) or Uzbek-Tajik.
Bantu-speaking Africa. Tonga [the lion spared the mouse; when trapped, the mouse gnawed through the ropes]: Klipple 1992:58; Swahili: El-Shamy, 2004, No. 75:33.
West Africa. For [the lion spared the rat; when it was trapped, the rat gnawed through the ropes]: Klipple 1992:60; susu [the rat woke up the lion, he agreed to spare it; when he was trapped, the rat gnawed through the ropes]: Klipple 1992:60.
Sudan - East Africa. Sudanese Arabs: Nowak 1969, No. 48 [when the king killed his brother and son, the man went to the forest and became a lumberjack; the mouse tells the lion that the man is stronger than him; the lion summons the lumberjack to compete and As a result, he ties him up; the mouse gnawed through the ropes; the lion goes to take revenge on the lumberjack, but poured boiling water first on him and then on the other lions; lions make man their king, help defeat his enemy king; a man became king and married a vizier's daughter], 50 [see Arabs of Iraq: same story]: 76, 77; Somalis [a mouse ran over the head of a sleeping lion; he woke up and grabbed her; the mouse apologized and said that someday he would need it; the lion let her go; soon got into the net set up by the hunter; the mouse heard a growl and ran; gnawed a hole in the net and freed the lion]: Kapchits 1997, No. 49:40- 41.
North Africa. Ancient Egypt (a papyrus from Leiden on a demotic) [the lion accidentally crushed the mouse; she asked for life, for which he would save his life one day; the lion did not believe it, but let go of the mouse; when the lion hit trapped and tied up, the mouse gnawed through the fetters and the lion ran away, hiding the mouse in his mane]: Dawson 1925:228-229; Arabs and Berbers of Morocco, Kabilas, Arabs of Egypt: El-Shamy 2004, NO. 75:33.
Southern Europe. Catalans [the rat fell into the lion's cave; he didn't kill it, and when the lion was trapped, it gnawed through the ropes and freed it]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 75:35 (=Camarena, Chevalier 1997, No. 75 : 153); Italians (Valle d'Aorse): Cerise, Serafini 1975, No. 75:19; Italians (Campania: Naples) [seven brothers announce to the mother that if she gives birth to a boy instead of a girl this time, then they will leave; they are waiting on the hill for a symbol: if a son, the mother should throw an inkwell and a pen through the window, and if the daughter, a spoon and a spindle; the mother made a mistake; the brothers went to the forest and began to live in the house a blind orc; for this they served as his guide one by one; Chianna grew up and went looking for brothers; found and stayed with them; they warned him to give a share of any food to the cat; one day C. ate a bean without sharing it with a cat; she jumped on the fire, extinguishing it; C. went to the orc to get the fire; he began to sharpen his fangs because he hated women; C. locked herself in her room; the brothers promised to take him to the woman through the back door, they pushed them into a hole and buried them; they told their sister not to tear the grass where the orc was buried, otherwise they would turn into pigeons; one day a wanderer came in, who was injured by a cone that fell from a tree; C. chewed on the growing at the site of the grave of the orc, rosemary made a patch; the brothers turned into pigeons; they said that only Mother of Time knows how to restore their human appearance; the whale directs them to the upper reaches of the river and asks them to know that must be done so that it does not hit the rocks; mouse: how to get rid of cats; ant: what should be done to make them ants live longer; old oak: how to regain honor (acorns used to be people's food, and now only pigs); C. met an old man she had healed; he carried Time rent from the field; he says that the Mother of Time is sitting on top of the mountain in the ruins of buildings; her eyelids are so heavy that she cannot pick them up; we must tear out the weights of the watch; for if the old woman calls her son, he will eat what has come, but if the watch does not contain weights, he will not be able to leave his seat; C. promises from the mother of Time not to give her away; hides and the old woman asks her son questions; there is a treasure under the roots of the oak tree; a bell must be tied to the cat's paws; ants will live up to a hundred years if they give up the ability to fly; a whale (valena, j.r.) must be nice face and make friends with a sea mouse (mr. - some fish); pigeon brothers must make a nest at the top of the column of wealth; pigeons sat on the bull's horns, became young men (allusion to a cornucopia); brothers they dug a treasure from under the oak tree; they were attacked by robbers, took money and tied them to trees; but the mouse gnawed through the fetters, and the ant showed the dungeon where the robbers took the treasures; the whale took the brothers and C. to their parents]: Basile 2018:426-439.
Western Europe. Holladnians, Germans (place of recording unknown; conditionally south), French, Irish: Uther 2004, No. 75:67-68.
Western Asia; the Arameans [hunters caught a lion in the net; the mouse gnawed the knots and the lion freed himself; said no one should be despised and should never be lost hope]: Belov, Wilsker 1960:159; Iraqi Arabs [the man went for firewood; when he saw a lion, he did not run, but asked what he was doing in his forest; the lion was indignant, and the man offered to fight - only goes to get a hatchet, and the lion has his weapon with his fangs and claws; lion: how do I know you're going to come back? person: My name is Fas-Fus and I live there, but how do I know you're not going to run away? The lion himself offered to tie him; he would have died, but the mouse gnawed through the ropes for the lion's promise to become the patron saint of the mouse tribe; lion: what is your name? mouse: Phsie-fis (the word is a diminutive of Fas-Fus); the lion suspected something was amiss and left these places altogether]: Stevens 2006, No. 20:93-94; Saudia [the fox was trapped; persuaded the lion to release it and let him be tied up; the lion asks various animals to release him; the mouse gnawed through the ropes and freed the lion]: Nowak 1969, No. 23:62-63; Syrian Arabs: El-Shamy 2004, No. 75:33.
Tibet is the Northeast of India. Tibetans (Amdo; the text mentions the Blue River, i.e. the Yellow River) [The Blue River began to wash away the shore where the mice lived; when the elephant came to drink, the mice persuaded him to stretch out his trunk and save them; when the elephant grew old, it slipped on the slope and couldn't get up; grateful mice dug up the ground under the elephant's feet, he got up and escaped]: Cassis 1962:81-82.
South Asia. Ancient India (Panchatantra) [mice ask elephants not to trample them; for this, mice gnaw through ropes when elephants are trapped]: Bødker 1957, No. 760, 762:78, 79; Marathi [mice ran around the sleeping tiger; he woke up and crushed one; the mouse begged him not to kill her, promised to help him in the future; the tiger laughed and let go of the mouse; when he was trapped, the mouse gnawed through the ropes and saved the tiger]: Grierson 1905:385; bhilas [text identical to that recorded in the gondas]: Grierson 1907:284; gondas [waking up to the squeak of mice, the tiger crushed one; the mouse shames him (he's big, she is small), promises to repay well; when the tiger was trapped, the mouse gnawed through the ropes]: Grierson 1906:519; kuruba []: Kapp 1982, No. 4:246-261.
The Balkans. Ancient Greece (Aesop's fable; Perry 1965, No. 150:450) [the mouse accidentally ran into the mouth of a sleeping lion; begged her not to eat, promising to repay her well; when the lion was trapped, it gnawed through the ropes]: Dawson 1925:229-230 (=Gasparov 1991:331-332); Gasparov 1962, No. 22 [retelling of Phaedr's fable from the Ademar Manuscript (11th century): "Field mice frolicked near a lion who fell asleep in the forest, and one of them accidentally I ran through it. The awakened lion grabbed the unfortunate mouse with quick claws. She began to beg for mercy because she was guilty by accident. Leo, thinking that if he killed her, he would commit a sin, but would not gain fame, forgave her and let her go. A few days later, the lion fell into a trap and, unable to get out, began to roar. As soon as the mouse heard this, it came running. When she recognized the prisoner, she said, "I have not forgotten your good deed," and began running around the net, snacking ropes and dissolving her cunning tackle. So the mouse again released the captured lion into the forest" (trans. Mikhail Gasparov)]: 72-73; Bulgarians [a mouse gnaws through ropes, freeing a caught lion; the plot is known mainly in written texts]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al., 1994, No. 75:53; Macedonians, Slovenians, Serbs, Greeks, Hungarians: Uther 2004, No. 75:67-68.
Central Europe. Russian written tradition: Tarkovsky, Tarkovskaya 2005, No. 10 ["The Spectacle of Human Life" by A.A. Vinius (1674, dozens of copies of the last quarter of the 17th century, printed edition of 1712, read and rewritten in the same 18th century), which is a translation and retelling of the collection of fables "Theatrum Morum", published by E. Sadeler in 1608 in Prague in German: the lion fell into hunting nets; the mouse heard a roar, gnawed through the nets and thereby freed the lion]; No. 39 ["Jesop" by Simbirsk captain Pyotr Kashinsky (1675, from two surviving copies, one dates back to 1684 and the other to the first third of the 18th century), which consists of three books and is a free translation of fables from the collection "Przypowieśći Aezopowe, z & #321; acińskiego na Polskie z pilnośćiů przełozone. Przydane sω k temu przypowieśći z Gabryela Greka y Laurenthego Abstemiusa", published in Krakow around 1600: the mouse released a lion in the net; asked the lion to give away his daughter for her son; the lion agreed; his daughter came to the mouse's son's house and, without noticing, crushed her husband with her paw (Book 3: "The Parable of Laurentius the Roman")]: 306, 431-432; Ukrainians (4 entries, but listed Only Kursk Gubernia are marked.) [Mouse (squirrel) and lion (bear): a mouse saves a lion from its nets by gnawing through ropes]: SUS 1979, No. 75:63; Czechs: Uther 2004, No. 75:67-68.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Kalmyks [an elephant pulled a mouse out of the puddle with its trunk; she promised to help him too; one day sand came down the mountainside and the elephant fell asleep; the mouse gathered the other mice and they dug up the elephant]: Basangova 2002:185 -187; Georgians [a mouse saves a trapped lion by gnawing through ropes]: Kurdovanidze 2000, No. 75:16
Iran - Central Asia. Persians: Marzolph 1984, No. 75 [the lion was trapped, the mouse gnawed through the fetters and freed it]: 44; Osmanov 1987 [the lion brought the sheep, ate; began to watch the fox eat up what he left; the fox twisted the lion's paws with her sheep's gut, the intestine is dry and the lion cannot move; the mouse gnawed through the intestine; the lion decided to leave: where the fox burns you, and the mouse will free you, you can't live]: 28; Turkmens: Reichl 1982, 55 in Uther 2004, No. 75:67-68.
Baltoscandia. Latvians [The bear feels sorry for the mouse. In turn, the mouse gnaws through the ropes and saves the bear]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 75:255; Estonians [literary sources only]: Kippar 1986, No. 75:78; Finns [the bear is trapped and tried in vain to tear the ropes; fell asleep; woke up when mice were running down his nose; he scolded them and decided not to eat, and the mouse said it would serve him; gnawed through the ropes; The ashamed bear went to the woods]: Salmelainen at Goldberg 1957:60-61, in Conca 1991:311; the Lives: Uther 2004, No. 75:67-68.
Volga - Perm. Mishari Tatars: Paasonen 1953:110-114 in Kecskeméti, Paunonen 1974, No. 75:218.
Turkestan. Kazakhs [the mouse accidentally ran over the sleeping tiger; he grabbed it and was about to strangle it; the mouse asked her to let go, promising to repay it; the tiger liked the joke and let go of the mouse; when was trapped, the mouse gnawed through the ropes, freeing the tiger]: Bosingen 1984:173