M135. Two rams and a wolf, ATU 122K* .15.16.27.-.31.34.
Two ungulates - usually after the wolf agrees to divide the meadow between them - butt the predator from both sides, killing or maiming.
Spaniards, Galicians, Portuguese, Catalans, Aragon, Basques, Frisians, Dutch, Flemish, Germans (Mecklenburg, Sudetes), French, Ancient Greece, Croats, Serbs, Hungarians, Bosnians, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Albanians, Crimean Tatars, Ossetians, Ingush, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Persians, Estonians, Seto (?) , Finns, Buryats.
Southern Europe. Aragon [two rams run away, a wolf butts on both sides, he dies]: González Sanz 1996, No. 122K: 69; Spaniards (everywhere) [the wolf is sure the day will be good; did not pick up the pig leg that she found; requires the mare to give him a foal (more precisely mulina); she asks to first pull a splinter out of her back leg, kicks her hoof; two lambs ask for help to separate there is a meadow between them: they will disperse in different directions and whoever gets to the wolf first will get the best part; they butt him on both sides; goats ask for permission to celebrate mass first, bleat, shepherds come running, beating wolf; pig asks to be baptized first by piglets in the river; pushed the wolf into the water and took the piglets home; the wolf got ashore and laments: who are you to pull splinters, divide meadows, perform church service, baptizing piglets? let lightning strike me from the sky; there was a woodcutter with an ax nearby, hacked a wolf]: Camarena, Chevalier 1997, No. 122A: 199-201; Galicians, Basques [wolf land surveyor; scattered on both sides of the pasture, two rams butt and kill a wolf]: Camarena, Chevalier 1997, No. 122K*: 216-217; the Portuguese [the wolf agrees to stand in the middle of the field to help separate him; two goats run from both sides, kill a wolf]: Cardigos 2006, No. 122K: 38; Catalans [the motive is known, many records]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 122K*: 42.
Western Europe. Friesians, Dutch, Flemish, Germans (Mecklenburg, Sudetenland): Uther 2004 (1), No 122K*: 92-93; the French [two rams (bulls) agree to be eaten by a wolf (or give him a lamb, but they come up with an excuse to be on opposite sides of him; let the wolf help them divide the meadow or choose who to eat first; after that they butt him; this is an episode in the series others; every time the wolf regrets his stupidity and eventually wants the sky to fall on his head; at this time, a man sitting in a tree throws an ax at him; the wolf is left without a tail or at all killed]: Delarue, Tenèze 1976, No. 122:363-364
The Balkans. Ancient Greece [the wolf is sure that he will eat today; does not pick up a pie on the road, salted pork, sees a horse with a foal; she asks to pull out a splinter first, lies the wolf on the forehead; two rams are asked to help divide the meadow: whoever reaches the wolf first is the owner; they butt it on both sides; the pig asks to be baptized first by piglets, pushes the wolf into a ditch, the water carries it under mill wheel; goats ask them to serve them first; the wolf howls, people come running, hitting the wolf; he laments: why is he so proud, was his father a healer or bishop; let a sword fall on him from heaven; a man sitting in a tree threw an ax at the wolf; wolf: Lord, our prayers reach you so quickly!] : Gasparov 1991, No. 50 (36): 251-253; Croats [the wolf is going to eat the dog, which asks for permission to say goodbye to the puppies, does not return; the donkey advises to start eating it from behind, knocks out the wolf teeth with a hoof; two rams offer the wolf to jump into his mouth and ass, hit him with horns from the take-off; the horse offers to jump on its back, carries the wolf to the city, people beat him; when he returns to the forest, the wolf sticks his head into a linden tree hollow to hide from rain and hail; a shepherd hiding from the rain under the same linden tree pulled the wolf by the tail and cut it with an ax]: Schütz 1960, No. 3:27-31; Serbs [wolf sees in the meadow two rams; they ask him to stand in the middle of the meadow to separate it; they butt from the take-off on both sides; the wolf wants to lift the horse; he asks him to take off his horseshoes first, lies; wolf: am I a surveyor, to divide the meadow, is it a blacksmith (albátin) to unleash the end?] : Zlatkovich 2005, No. 15:27; Bulgarians: Klyagina-Kondratyeva 1951 [the wolf is going to eat two oxen; they offer to run to him from both sides in a race, who is first to eat in the morning, the other now; they butt him on both sides, the wolf is slightly alive, laments that he has decided to leave the ox until tomorrow; the mule says that he has a letter under his hoof, the wolf is kicking; wolf: why did I need to read the letter; donkey: jump over me three times, sin will be forgiven; dogs saw a wolf jumping, the donkey escaped; the pig offered to play the bagpipes first, screamed, the swineherd ran with the dogs; the fox calls the wolf to the village for the wedding, he is beaten; she ate the porridge herself at the mill, smeared herself, said that her brains were running out; the wolf carried the fox on his back, she says that the patient is healthy; the wolf guessed, the fox disappeared into Nora, the wolf grabbed her leg, the fox said that he grabbed the root, let the wolf let go; the wolf died of hunger and grief]: 231-235; Shereshevskaya 1957 [the foal asks the wolf to first remove his horseshoes so that do not choke, lies down; the goat offers to open his mouth wide, butts; two rams offer to eat the one who gets to him first, butt from the take-off on both sides; the donkey says that the wolf is called to be godfather at a wedding; a wolf rides on a donkey's back, he is beaten; wolf: grandfather and father were modest, and for some reason I decided to take a walk at the wedding]: 28-31; Macedonians [the wolf approached two rams; they offered him eat the first one who gets to him faster; hit him with horns on both sides, the wolf is barely alive; the mule says that the royal decree prohibiting him from harming him is written from behind him; the wolf leans down to see the mule kicks him with both hooves; the donkey offers to jump over it three times before eating it; the wolf jumps, the donkey's owner notices this, runs to the rescue; the pig asks permission to play first pipe; screams with all his might, the owner comes running; the fox assures that the wolf was invited to the wedding; people beat the wolf towards her; the fox ate porridge, smeared her head with the remnants, tells the wolf that her brains have been knocked out; the wolf agrees to carry her to her hole, she says "the beaten unbeaten man is lucky", hides in a hole; the wolf grabs the fox by the leg, she asks why he holds the root; the wolf lets the fox go; dies of grief and beatings]: Martin 1955:172-180; Albanians [the wolf wants to eat two rams; they ask for help to divide the meadow first; they will run from different ends, where they meet, there is the middle; the wolf butts with a run, he is barely alive]: Serkova 1989:219-220; Bosnians [a leaf fell on the mouse, she rushed to run; tells the fox that they shot from the sky, barely escaped; the fox also ran; then the wolf; the bear; climbed into the cave and began to live together; stocked up on honey for the winter; the fox pretended to be called for christening; ate all the honey several times; when they found empty kegs, everyone began to blame each other; the fox climbed on beech; the bear blew it up and knocked it down, but the tree fell on it and crushed it]: Preindlsberger-Mrazovic 1905:50-54; Hungarians: Uther 2004 (1), No. 122K*: 92-93.
Central Europe. Czechs, Lusatians: Uther 2004 (1), № 122K*: 92-93.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Crimean Tatars (steppe Crimea, Deir, now Amber) [the wolf tied a turban and told the calf that he was going to the Kaaba; tells the sheep that he wants to apologize to them; the same goes for horses; 10 days later the wolf could not stand hunger, ran back; the horse asks to pull the thorn out of its leg first; kicked at the nose; the rams first ask for help to divide the site, run away on both sides and butt; the calf asks sing to him first; dogs ran to howl; the wolf disappeared into the cave; laments: why did I take out the thorn, since I was not a blacksmith; that I am a royal surveyor to divide land for rams; folk singer to sing; if a man was sitting behind me, he would take me by the tail and knock me down; the man was sitting in a cave, heard everything and knocked down a wolf]: Zherdeva 2020, No. 58; Ossetians [the wolf goes to repent, sees a horse, decides to eat; she says that first you have to remove the nails from the horseshoe, hits the wolf on the head with his hoof; when he wakes up, he sees two rams; they offer to run to him from both sides - who falls behind, he fatter; sheep butt the wolf, he is barely alive; calves ask for permission to sing first, the meat will taste better; shepherds run, kill the wolf]: Kapiyeva 1991:370-371; Ingush [the wolf saw two rams; They asked him to stand between them, and they would look at each other before they died; the sheep hit the wolf with their horns, broke his ribs; the ox decided to eat the horse; he first asked him to pull the nail out of his horseshoe. knocked out the wolf's fangs; the donkey asked him to be allowed to scream before he died, people came running, began to beat the wolf; he fell into a hole, two robbers fell there; they beat him, grabbed him by the tail, the wolf pulled them out, they threw it back into the hole; the wolf thinks: Take care of me, God. What am I, my son-in-law who came to see the Shuryaks, or did I come to talk to my sister-in-law? Was I a veterinarian to pull nails out of a horse's hooves or was a dentist checking a horse's teeth? That's what I need it]: Sadulayev 2004, No. 16:44-45; (=Malsagov 1983, No. 153:290-300); Georgians [the wolf decided to go to Jerusalem to become a monk; he does not touch cattle on the way; but he was not allowed to enter the church, he returns; the donkey asks to first remove his horseshoes, kicks, knocks out his teeth; sheep first ask for help to divide the meadow, run from both sides, butt the wolf; the chick asks her to sing first, butts, the wolf falls from cool, barely alive; after each episode he regrets that he did not do his job]: Chikovani 1954:385-387; Armenians [(according to Vardan Aygektsi, 13th century, Kilikia); the wolf grabbed a lamb; he asks for a wolf to play the trumpet, always wanted to listen; the wolf howls, shepherds and dogs come running; two rams come to meet the wolf; asks them to divide the meadow for which they are fighting, they promise to give them a sheep; rams butt him on both sides, he is barely alive; the wolf chases the cat, that cat goes to the mill, the wolf after him, the cat ran away, the door slammed shut; the miller hits him, tears off his tail, the wolf gets out through the water hole]: Orbeli 1956, No. 139:139-140; Azerbaijanis [the bear dreamed of meat, he woke up and saw a goat; he asks for permission to sing before he dies; shepherds and dogs run; a bear meets two rams; each asks him to eat it first; the bear invites them to collide with their foreheads, whoever breaks his horn will start; both rams butt the bear, run away; the bear sees the horse; he asks him to start eating it from behind, lies with his teeth knocked out; the fox advises not to see meat in a dream anymore]: Nabiev 1988:246-248.
Iran - Central Asia. Persians [the bear dreams that he has got three fat pieces; when he wakes up, he goes to look for them; the kid says that he was the court singer of the bear's father, bleats, a shepherd comes running with shepherds, beats a bear; rams: we'll face it, let the bear eat the winner first; the bear is butted on both sides, he is barely alive; camel: I am your father's messenger, his letter is on his hoof; the bear lies, he is barely alive]: Aliyeva et al. 1958: 445-446.
Baltoscandia. Estonians, Seto [the bull invites the wolf to jump right into his mouth, breaks his head; or two rams ask the wolf to divide the field between them, run from different sides and butt; ( There are a lot of records, including 5 for the set; however, there is no complete certainty that the set also has a second option]: Kippar 1986, № 122K*: 100-101; Finns: Uther 2004 (1), № 122K*: 92-93.
Southern Siberia - Mongolia. The Buryats (Kizhinginsky District of Buryatia) [two rams butted, the fox waited for them to kill each other; licks blood from the grass; before she had time to dodge, the sheep flattened it]: Dugarov 1990:362.