M147B. The fox gets rid of fleas, ATU 63. .15.16.23.27.28.31.33.
To get rid of fleas, a fox (jackal) takes a bunch of moss (hay, grass) in its mouth and immerses itself in water. Fleas, in order not to drown, move closer to her head and then fall for moss or hay. The fox leaves a bundle in the water and goes ashore.
Catalans, French, Scots, Irish, Friesians, Flemish, Germans (North Rhine-Westphalia), Punjabi, Slovenes, Hungarians, Poles, Swedes, Danes, Finns, Estonians, Latvians, Kyrgyz. {Uther 2004, referring to Moldavian 1955:150f, includes the Russian version; the Moldavian does not have this motive}.
Southern Europe. Catalans (one entry) [to escape fleas, a fox takes a bunch of grass in its mouth and sinks in water until only the tip of its muzzle is above the water; when all the fleas have moved to grass, the fox released a bunch]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 63:35.
Western Europe. The French (Alps) [to escape fleas, the fox took a bunch of moss into its mouth, entered the river, and when the fleas gathered for the moss, let it flow]: Sébillot, no. 65:320 in Delarue, Tenè ze 1976, No. I.1.3:30; Scots [to get rid of fleas, the fox found a piece of wool and entered the river with its face out, holding hair in its teeth; when all the fleas gathered there, the fox dived and let go wool; the story is told as authentic]: Campbell 1860, No. 2:268; Irish, Friesians, Flemish, Germans (Nordrhein-Westfalen): Uther 2004 (1), No. 63:59
South Asia. The Punjabi [to escape fleas, the jackal took a piece of wood in his mouth and slowly plunged into the pond; as he did, the fleas moved to his back, face, and finally to a piece of wood; then The jackal dived, let go of the piece of wood and went ashore]: Swynnerton 1884, No. 33:187 (=1892, No. 66:267).
The Balkans. Slovenes, Hungarians: Uther 2004 (1), No. 63:59
Central Europe. Poles [with moss on its head, the fox sinks into the water; the fleas have gathered on moss, the fox has dived and popped up elsewhere]: Krzyżanowski 1962, No. 63:56.
Baltoscandia. Swedes [to get rid of insects, the fox takes a ball of moss in its mouth and, retreating, sinks into the lake; insects move closer to its head and then to the moss; the fox throws moss into the water and goes out to coast]: Klintberg 2010, No. R61:321; Danes (Kristensen 1896, No. 71, 72), Finns: Uther 2004 (1), No. 63:59; Estonians (Saarema and mainland Estonia, but her set) [fox, taking in a bunch of hay fell, slowly began to sink into the water; when the fleas gathered in the hay, the fox dived and released hay, freed from fleas]: Kippar 1986, No. 63:71; Latvians [a fox holding a bunch of hay in mouth, immerses in water to free themselves from fleas; fleas gather in hay]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 63:254.
Turkestan. The Kyrgyz [tiger, wolf, fox and bear agreed to share everything they got; accepted a camel as comrades; a fox to a camel: Take four sheep from us, two sheep at your expense; if everything goes well I'll persuade you, we'll slaughter you, and in the spring you will take sheep, so you will be happy; we will not disassemble the sheep into pregnant and cowhide, which ones we come across, we will give them away; if the sheep turn out to be pregnant, after lambing they will be you are sixteen sheep; lambs are your profit, where else can you find such benefits for yourself? The camel agreed; "A cunning fox looking sideways where it is, there is real fun, this camel is its prey"; with these words, the fox divided the camel carcass into five parts: one part to the tiger, one part to a bear, one part to a wolf, one part to yourself. "Well, will the camel be left empty-handed?" - said the fox, prescribed another part to the camel and added it to her share of meat; the fox secretly swallowed the remaining camel buds after the section; and when she made signs to the wolf to take it for himself, the bear, lifting his hair, muttered - "but there is no heart." Tiger: Where are the camel buds? the fox squinted at the wolf, the tiger killed him; the bear and tiger packed their meat separately and went to have fun; the fox carried all the meat to the cave; the bear and tiger returned: Where is the meat? fox: The camel began to doubt, "now they are quarreling and gnawing, how can you expect sheep from them later", changed his mind, got up and walked away; the bear and the tiger believed her; brought them to a huge rock and turned to Tiger: Your late father used to jump from this side of the gorge to the other in one jump! It looks like you can't get over, you look like a coward! The tiger is ready at the top of the cliff; Fox: He steps and blows up the ground with his paws, just like his late father. Ayay-ayay, if not for cowardice, would have been like a father!.. Your father was a great brave man, if he was going to attack, did not back down, and did not give mercy to those caught. Facing the barrier, he never backed away, as he squeezed to jump, and jumped. I don't want to say that you have a fearful heart, that's all, apparently, your youth has an effect. The tiger jumped, broke his back and died; the fox: "I'll go and bury Joke (the familiar abbreviation of the Kyrgyz word "zholbors": tiger) in a clean place"; hid the corpse; lay down over the hidden meat, catching it, eats quietly; replies that she ripped open his belly, stretched out her large intestine and eats it; the bear tugs his gut, cannot finish because of pain; the fox has stretched it out, the bear died; lives well, decided to get rid of fleas; bit a piece of felt and went to the river; lowered its tail into the water; the fleas went from tail to back; the fox immersed its body in water, the fleas ran from the back to the neck; the fox and neck were immersed in water, fleas ran to felt, the fox let it go with the flow]: Seytaliev 1985:19-20.
Continued in 197.doc