M152B. A brave donkey and a cowardly lion, ATU 103C*.
.15.16.23.26.-.31.33.
Whena herbivorous ungulates (usually a donkey) for the first time, a large predator thinks that it is strong and dangerous. The further behavior of the herbivore usually convinces the predator that the first impression is correct.
Spaniards, Portuguese, Catalans, Italians (Tuscany), Corsicans, French, northern India, Chinese (Zhejiang), Chinese writing tradition (Tang era), Hungarians, Ukrainians ( Galicia, Hutsulshchina, Ugric Russia, Kievan), Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Persians, Tajiks, Mountain Tajiks, Yazgulyam, Bartangans, Lithuanians, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Karakalpaks.
Southern Europe. The Spaniards [the donkey did not want to work, the owner left him in the mountains; the wolf invites the donkey to go ahead to make it easier to attack him; asks what is between his legs; donkey: a musket and bullets, if it shoots, there will be nothing left in the area 10 km away; the wolf runs away, tells the lion about the terrible beast; the lion offers to go together with his tails; the donkey roars again, those who come run away]: Camarena, Chevalier 1997, No. 103C*: 175-177; Catalans [a donkey meets a lion, says he, a donkey, is most feared and respected; climbs a hill and roars; all animals run away in panic; a lion holds a donkey by fool]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 103C*: 36-37; Portuguese [the donkey manages to present his failures to the lion as victories; he almost drowns and speaks as if he is fishing; unable to jump over the wall ( tree), says he scratched his belly; while the lion is hunting, the donkey pretends to be dead and catches birds that come down to peck at his ass; brags that it only seeks to hunt birds in flight; breaks up a lion, because the lion (friendly but) constantly interferes in his affairs]: Cardigos 2006, No. 103C*: 32-33; Italians (Tuscany): Cirese, Serafini 1975, No. 125B: 26; Italians (region not specified) [ after the donkey was frightened of the ant lion, the owner called him Harpaliona ("lion lord"); he grew up and met a lion; the lion had never seen donkeys before, offered to make friends; at the crossing, the donkey was carried water; he had a hard time getting out, said he chased the fish, but it was a pike and he threw it away; he slowly climbs over obstacles, says he weighs himself; when he fell, he says that his head is always outweighs; kicked the fragile wall and it collapsed, the lion was impressed; when the lion found out that the donkey could eat thorns, he invited the other lions to make G. king, and they agreed]: Kotrelev 1991:268- 271; Corsicans [the donkey ran away: the lion saw him for the first time and heard a roar; the donkey replied that he was Harpalionu ("defeating the lion"), the lion offered union; the lion jumped across the river, the donkey drowned a little; says that he caught a huge fish with his tail, but had to let go; the lion jumped over the wall; the donkey climbed with its front legs and was stuck; said he weighed himself: his ass or head was heavier; the lion began to doubt the lion's strength, suggests knocking down the wall; the lion only injured its paws, the donkey kicked the wall and it fell; the donkey eats thorns in front of the lion's eyes, he was shocked; the lions declared the donkey king; when the donkey died, he was buried with honors]: Ortoli 1883:133-137.
Western Europe. The French (Gascony) [the owners want to get rid of an aged donkey; he goes into the forest, meets a lion; the lion does not know what kind of animal it is, frightened by its roar; the donkey says it is on his head pistols, and bullets in the scrotum; the wolf tells the lion that he ate a lot of such donkeys; the lion agrees to return only by contacting the wolf with its tails; when he sees them, the donkey roars again, the lion flees drags the wolf, he dies; the lion first thinks that the wolf is laughing, and then that he died of fear; they hunt; the lion catches rabbits, and the donkey pretends to be dead, lures magpies and crows with oats, knocks down, throws it into the bushes from where they can't fly; the lion believes that the donkey killed the game in flight; they find an iron bar; the lion can hardly lift; the donkey roars to warn his brother behind the forest: he will throw a bar through the forest , let the brother be careful; the lion tells you not to throw; the lion offers to jump over the river; he jumps over, the donkey falls into the water, the lion pulls him out; the donkey pretends to be angry: he was fishing; the lion and the donkey diverge]: Arnaudin 1967, No. 12:146-160.
South Asia. North India, Jalaun County, Hindi [laundress has 4 donkeys, one is missing; wife tells me to be wary of tigers; husband: I don't care about tigers, but it's bad that it flows (I don't mid a tiger, a am more afraid of a wetting; tapakwa); the tiger hears and thinks that tapakwa is some kind of demon; went into the stall, saw an animal, hit it with a truncheon, sat on it and went to look for the missing donkey; in the morning he saw that he was riding a tiger, jumped and hid in the cave; the tiger told the hare about his terrible adventures; the hare called others, they came to the cave; whoever has the longest tail, let him stick it inside; the man tore off his tail, hares ran away; that missing donkey towards the tiger; tiger: I am a tiger; donkey: and I'm one and a quarter (probably a play on words); when crossing the river, the water carried a donkey, the tiger pulled it out; donkey: I threw myself into the water catch fish; the tiger ran away, the owner saw the donkey and brought it back to the stall]: Crooke 1895, No. 257:104.
China - Korea. Chinese (Zhejiang) [when the tiger sees a deer for the first time, it is frightened; the deer acts as if it is not afraid of the tiger; the tiger tells the monkey how it has met a terrible beast; the monkey leads him back to show that the deer has nothing to fear; the deer gives a voice; the tiger runs believing that the monkey has deceived him]: Eberhard 1937, No. 3:14; Chinese written tradition (Tang era) [the tiger sees a donkey for the first time and gets scared; after finding out who it really is, the tiger ate it]: Eberhard 1937:14-15.
The Balkans. Hungarians: Uther 2004 (1), No 103C*: 79
Central Europe. Ukrainians (Ugric Russia, Galicia, Hutsulshchina, Kiev) [An old donkey meets a bear (wolf): they compete; a donkey frightens a bear by showing him his horseshoe ("royal seal")]: SUS 1979, NO. 103C*: 67.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Azerbaijanis [the donkey ran away from the evil master; the fox promised to help him if he lures chickens out of the village; a lion appears, the donkey roars, the fox explains that he is the angry king of underground animals, and he, the fox is his guide; the lion pulls out the donkey that has fallen into the river; he replies that he is trembling with anger: why did the lion prevent him from swimming; the hare tells the lion that the fox and the donkey are deceiving him; the fox to the lion: my servant brought you, your life is over; the hare ran away; deciding that the next time the hare could bring the wolf, the fox and the donkey broke up]: Nabiev 1988:243-246; the Kurds [the donkey left the owner, found a good valley; When he saw the lion, he roared, said that he was Levoed; offered the lion to drive eagles at him; one sick eagle accidentally fell next to a donkey; the donkey gave it to the lion, the lion decided that he was hunting in the air; both went to swim, the donkey almost drowned, but shook the fish out of his ears, gave it to the lion; the lion thought that the donkey was a hunter in the water; the fox told the lion that the donkey had deceived him, offered to tie his tails and lead him; donkey roared, the lion ran, dragging the fox with him until it died]: Jalil et al. 1989, No. 180:489-490.
Iran - Central Asia. Persians [the lion first saw a donkey, was frightened; the donkey says that he himself is a hunter lion, taking a lion as a servant; he drives a fly off him, pulls him out of the swamp; each time the donkey pretends to be dissatisfied , promises to punish the lion (the fly purified the blood; there was his father's grave in the swamp, the donkey wanted to read a prayer); the lion runs away, meets the fox; it leads him back: the donkey is your food; donkey: thank you fox for leading an escaped servant, I will rip out his heart and liver; a lion killed a fox, ran away]: Aliyeva et al. 1958:470-474 (=Rosenfeld 1958:34-38); Tajiks: Levin et al. 1981, No. 157 [the old woman is cruel to the donkey; mouse advises her to throw off and swim across the river, there are pastures; wolves approached the donkey, the donkey has time to bury sour milk in one place and a torn blanket in another; donkey: whoever can knock urine out of the ground will eat others; the donkey stomped, the milk splashed, the wolves believed it was the urine of the earth; donkey: and now, who would knock out the earth's intestines; the donkey kicked, the threads of the blanket appeared; the wolves ran away, the bird that saw everything called the donkey a hero] , 354 [The donkey goes to bow to the Kaaba, joined by a ram, a rooster, a mole, a woodpecker; the she-wolf demands meat from the donkey; the ram beats her, the rooster bakes, the woodpecker knocks - the coffin boards, the mole digs - grave; she-wolf runs away; lion asks donkey who he is; donkey: a roaring lion; a lion is afraid of a donkey; it is difficult for a donkey to cross the river, water carries it, he yells, the lion pulls it out; donkey: I called you to help me pull it out big fish; the lion ran away, the wolf came, demanded meat; the donkey offered to trot, gallop, quarry; brings it to people, the wolf was killed]: 156-157, 264-266; mountain Tajiks [the caravan threw exhausted donkey and camel; the camel asks the donkey not to sing, he sings, the lion comes; the donkey offers to get his brains out of the earth's head, pulls out a hidden pot of sour milk, says he will eat the lion, he runs away; the wolf leads him back, the lion is afraid, the wolf ties himself to him with a rope; the donkey screamed in fear, the lion rushed to run, dragged the wolf, he died]: Semenov 1900:21-22 (=Rosenfeld, Rychkova 1990, No. 34:135-136); Yazgulyam [donkey and bear friends, went hunting, there was a mountain stream on the way; the bear crossed, the donkey sank to the bottom, a baby hit his ear; when the donkey got out, he said he had caught fry; roared; the bear got scared and ran away; tells the wolf that the donkey is stronger than him; the wolf tells him to return, but the bear is afraid; the wolf went by himself; the donkey advises to take a ride on it first, otherwise his meat is bitter; a donkey ran into the owner's house, the wolf was killed]: Edelman 1966, No. 19:215-216; the Bartangans [a donkey met a lion; he had not yet seen donkeys; donkey: my name is Chandon-Sher ("several lions"); lion: my name is Cher; lion scared; the lion suggested that he would drive wild goats from the mountains and catch donkeys; donkey: the opposite is better; the donkey saw the goats and roared; they rushed down and the lion killed them; now the lion went to chase the goats; the donkey lay down, the magpie began to bite in his ass, he pulled in his ass and caught a magpie; lion: where are the goats; I don't know, but I caught forty backwards; lion: let's cross the river; the donkey was blown down; lion: why are you down below went out; donkey: but he caught the fish (it fell out of his ear); the lion got scared and ran; the wolf: it's just a donkey; the lion agrees to return only after they have tied behind his neck with a rope; the donkey roared, the lion fled, dragging the wolf, which fell to pieces; the donkey rushed home]: Sokolova 1960, No. 5:29-32.
Baltoscandia. Lithuanians [the owner cannot feed the horses, sends one to the forest; the horse requires steel horseshoes; the lion sees the horse. - What do you eat? - I tear up the snow and eat it. - What do you drink? - I break the ice and drink; the lion will unsuccessfully break the ice with his teeth and claws; asks the horse to make fire; it hits the horseshoe against the stone; the lion did not succeed; the wolf offered to lift the horse; the lion: it does fire and water; the lion picked up the wolf to see it, squeezed it, threw it to the ground and killed it]: Kerbelite 2014, No. 33:76-78.
Turkestan. Kazakhs [the donkey invites the camel to pretend to be exhausted when the owner is lucky to put their luggage on them; both fall to the ground, but the camel could not stand the beating and got up; the owner loaded him with a donkey and drove on; the donkey went, met the tiger, screamed, the tiger ran in fear; the wolf told him it was just a donkey; tied one end of the lasso around the tiger's neck and the other on his own, led him to the donkey; he yelled again, the tiger fled, tearing off the wolf's head; the donkey pretended to be dead, the magpie came down, he held it between his knees, beat her tail; she flew to the tiger, which was completely frightened; the donkey is still has been living on the lawn since]: Bosingen 1985:55-57; Karakalpaks [the donkey suggests that the camel fall along the road when they are carried with salt, pretend that they cannot work; the owner left the donkey, took everything salt on the camel; a lion came out to the donkey, agreed to compete, whose cry was louder, frightened of the donkey, ran away; the wolf assures that the donkey should be eaten, offers to contact his necks and return; the donkey roared again, the lion ran away, dragging the wolf along the thorns; he told another wolf about the incident; this wolf came to the donkey, the donkey offered him a ride on his back first, rode into town, the wolf was killed]: Volkov, Mayorov 1959:68-70; Kyrgyz [the tiger is afraid of the donkey's roar, he says he is batyr Mankan; the tiger offers him to drive the deer out of the forest; the deer are afraid of the donkey's roar, they ran, the tiger is full; now the tiger chases animals, the donkey chased the hare, scratched; his magpie began to bite, the donkey crushed it; told the tiger that he did not like animal meat, prefers poultry meat; the tiger tried to catch the birds on his own, could not, respected the donkey; both decide to jump across the river, the donkey fell into the water; explained that he saw the fish drown, wanted to save them; wolves tell the tiger that the donkey should not be afraid; donkey: thank you wolves, you're me they owed three tigers, this one is probably due to debt; the tiger killed wolves, ran away]: Brudny, Eshmambetov 1981:181-182.