M154A. Ox, donkey and work, ATU 207A.

.11.13.-.17.21.23.27.-.33.

One pet (usually a donkey) encourages the other to pretend to be sick. After that, the adviser has to work for two. Then he tells the imaginary patient that the owner is going to slaughter him and he is in a hurry to work.

Swahili, Nubians, Amhara [mul], Somalis, Sudanese Arabs, Berbers of Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Spaniards, Galicians, Maltese, Italians (Abruzzo, Puglia), Walloons, Germans (Schleswig- Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia), Irish, Arab literary tradition, Arabs of Palestine, Syria, Garo, Punjabi, (Sinhales), Hungarians, Slovenes, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Greeks, Albanians, Eastern Ukrainians , Ossetians, Lucks, Kurds, Persians, Pashtuns, Turkmens, Lithuanians, Mordovians [horse], Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Dungans.

Bantu-speaking Africa. Swahili: Klipple 1992:226 [The donkey advises the ox to pretend to be sick; the donkey has to work alone for three days; then the donkey says that the owner has decided to slaughter the ox and he voluntarily goes to work; the man hears it, laughs; the wife thinks he is over her; the husband is ready to talk about his ability to understand the language of animals, the hozya knows that he will die after that; hears the cat reproach the rooster for does not mourn the imminent death of the owner; the rooster replies that the owner should not prepare for death, but beat his wife; he does so], 226-227 [Seliman bin Daud receives from God the ability to understand the language of birds and animals; must keep his secret; tells all animals to build a house; hears cows advise donkeys to pretend to be sick; a week later, while working for donkeys, they say that S. is going to slaughter sick; donkeys hurry to work themselves; S. laughs, his wife demands to say why; S. is ready to reveal his secret; hears a rooster: I have many wives, and if one does not obey, she just has to be beaten; S. does].

Sudan - East Africa. Nubians, Arabs of Sudan: El-Shamy 2004, No. 207A: 77; Amhara [ox complains about hard work; mule advises to pretend to be sick; the owner harnessed a mule the next day; in the evening tells the ox that the owner is going to slaughter him, so it's better to recover]: Reuss-Nliba, Reuss-Nliba 2016:23; Somalis [the ox is tired of work and the donkey felt sorry for him - offered not to eat as if he was sick; In the morning, the owner drove a donkey to the field]: Kapchits 1997, No. 47:40.

North Africa. Algerian Berbers: Basset, No. 108 in El-Shamy 2004, No. 207A: 77; Morocco, Egypt [an ox complains to a donkey about hard work; he advises him to pretend to be sick; the owner hears them conversation, shifts all the work of the ox to the donkey; he tells the ox that the owner is going to slaughter him if he is sick; the ox is healthy in the morning]: Nowak 1969, No. 44:74.

Southern Europe. Spaniards (Andalusia) [a donkey in friendship with an ox; an ox complains to him about hard work - another ox does not know how to work in a team; a donkey advises not to eat in the morning; the owner will decide that the ox is sick and will not take him into the field; the ox is resting for several days; the servant overheard their conversation, told the owner; he harnessed the donkey; when he returned, the donkey warned the ox: if he does not start eating, he will be considered hopeless sick and will be stabbed; the ox recovered immediately]: Camarena, Chevalier 1997, No. 207A: 336-339; Galicians [man understood the language of animals, but could not admit it, otherwise he would die; the ox complains to the donkey about hard work, the donkey advises to pretend to be sick, in the morning a man harnessed a donkey into a plow; returning from the field, the donkey tells the will that the owner wants to slaughter him, so it is better to recover immediately; seeing that the husband laughs at something, the wife demanded an explanation; the dog to the rooster: what do you sing - the owner will die soon; the rooster: let him better kick his wife out of bed (colla unha tralla e bote à mulher da cama); he did]: Contos 1972, No. 52:55-56; Maltese [a person understands animal language but should not talk about it; a cow complains to a donkey about hard work, who advises him to pretend to be sick; (episode with a donkey sent to work instead of a cow is missing); the man laughs at what he heard, the wife demands an explanation; he is going to reveal the secret and is preparing to die, but hears a conversation between a dog and a rooster; dog reproaches the rooster for singing on this mournful day; the rooster replies that he copes with 20 wives, but the owner cannot do one; the man picks up a rod and chases his wife]: Mifsud-Chircop 1978, No. 207A, 670 : 14, 214-215; Sicilians [there is an ox, donkey and peasant plot]: Crane 1885:153; Italians (Puglia): Cerise, Serafini 1075, No. 207A: 33l; Italians (Abruzzo) [Christ stopped at the house of a rich man; he was well fed and, as a reward, he gave the owner the ability to understand the language of animals; but if he tells anyone about this, he will die immediately; a person hears a conversation between an ox and a donkey, laughs, the wife demands an explanation; the husband is ready to reveal his secret but hears the rooster saying he is coping with 20 wives; the man laughs again and follows the rooster's example]: Elwin 1944:294.

Western Europe. Irish, Germans (Schleswig-Holstein, Nordrhein-Westfalen): Uther 2004 (1), No. 207A: 131; Walloons [tired of work, the horse pretended to be sick and refused to eat; for him the donkey had to work; he asked the horse to feel sorry for him and not to pretend, the horse agreed; the next day, the donkey pretended to be sick; the horse said that the owners thought of slaughtering the donkey if he did not will recover; donkey has taken up food and work]: Laport 1932, no.*218:36-37.

Western Asia. The Arab literary tradition (One Thousand and One Nights) [the merchant speaks to animals; this merchant's bull decides that the donkey takes more rest and lives in a more comfortable stable; the donkey advises the bull to pretend sick, the merchant hears this; orders the donkey to plow; the donkey tells the bull that he will be stabbed if he does not recover; the merchant hears this; the next day the bull starts working again, the merchant laughs at it; the wife asks about the reason for the laughter; the merchant says it will kill him; the wife insists; the merchant prepares to die after revealing the secret; hears the advice of a rooster to beat his wife with rods to remorse and not speak her; his wife is beaten; she repents, does not ask anything else]: Salye 2010:14-19; Palestinians [the merchant received the gift of understanding the language of animals on the condition that he does not tell about it, otherwise he will die; hears donkey and ox talking; ox complains about hard work, donkey advises not to eat as if he were sick; in the morning the owner harnessed the donkey; in the evening he advised the bull to recover, otherwise he would be stabbed; the owner became laugh, the wife decided that for her reason, she went to her parents, his wife's relatives threatened to divorce; the owner promises to tell his wife everything; hears a conversation between a rooster and a dog; rooster: I have no problems with 20 wives , but the owner is afraid alone; he beat his wife]: Hanauer 2009:235-236; Syrian Arabs [the poor man makes a living cutting and selling firewood; in the place where he cuts, a huge snake crawls out and tells him clean; on this day the children are hungry; the poor man goes again, tells the snake that he has no choice; she tells him to swallow three grains, he begins to understand the language of birds and animals; if he shares in secret, he will die; he hears a conversation between two crows: they spend the night in jugs of gold; a man gets gold, gets rich; hears a conversation between an ox and a donkey; a donkey advises the ox to refuse food - in the morning the owner does not will drive him to work; the owner told him to harness the donkey; the donkey tells the ox that the owner is going to slaughter him if he is sick; the husband reacted to this conversation, the wife demands an explanation; the husband gathers guests, prepares to die; hears a dog reproach a rooster who eagerly bites grain; rooster: I don't feel sorry for the owner; I cope with 12 wives, but he can't do one; a man hits his wife with a stick]: Kuhr 1993:83-89.

Tibet is the Northeast of India. Garo [Dampo understood the language of animals, but if he says, he will die; hears a donkey advising the ox to pretend to be sick in order to avoid work; in the morning he tells him to harness a donkey instead of an ox; the next night, the donkey tells the ox to look healthy, otherwise he will be stabbed; D. laughs, his wife demands an explanation; D. promises to tell everything, but asks him to prepare the last meal for him, for then he will die; the dog reproaches the rooster for being callous: the owner will die soon; the rooster: well, and a fool - I have 30 or 40 wives and everyone obeys; D. heard everything; the next day he ate the dishes prepared by his wife, and then beat her; since then they have lived happily ever since]: 61-66.

South Asia. Punjabi: Sheikh-Dilthey 1976, No. 37 in Uther 2004 (1), No. 207A: 131; (cf. Sinhalese [a peasant (Gamarala) constantly scolds with his wife; understands animal language; hears a rooster saying: I can handle 12 wives, but the owner can't do one; the peasant beat his wife and they become live together; when he hears an ox complain to a donkey about hard work, he laughs; when his wife demands to explain, he replies that he laughed when the bull grinned when he saw a cow (bull grinned at the cow)]: Parker 1914a, No. 275:419-420).

The Balkans. Macedonians, Hungarians: Uther 2004 (1), No. 207A: 131; Bulgarians [the grateful snake (which man saved from the fire) gives him the ability to understand animal language, but he is under fear death should not talk about it; he learns from a bird where the treasure is buried; understands the conversation between a wolf, an old dog and a corrupt young dog; a conversation between a horse and a mare; a donkey and an ox; a slander on sheep; a wife demands explanations; the husband is ready to tell and prepares to die, but does not do so when he hears the conversation between the dog and the rooster; the rooster says that he copes with many wives, and the owner cannot calm down one; the husband beat wife]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 670:231; Greeks [the ox complains to the donkey about his hard life; he advises him to pretend to be sick, the owner will not drive him to work; in the morning the owner harnessed the donkey; when he returns, he advises the ox to immediately show that he is full of energy, otherwise he will be stabbed to death]: Megas 1970, No. 14:16-17; Slovenes (Wiskorsha, 1901) [the donkey was tired of working; he complained to the ox; he advised him to pretend to be sick; the donkey did so in the morning; in the evening he told the ox how well his day had gone; in response, the ox told him how bad he had gone his day; the donkey advised him to pretend to be sick; in the morning the ox did so; the donkey heard the servant come say: "It's the donkey's turn today; he has recovered from yesterday"; in the evening the ox told the donkey how had a great rest; the donkey complained that his day was difficult, said that he heard a conversation between the owner and the butcher ("If tomorrow my ox does not get up willingly, I will come to notify you and you will come with knives to kill him"), and also advised him to get to work in the morning]: Baudouin de Courtenay 1904, No. 1:69-71; Albanians [the man invited everyone to taste the fruits from his garden; the monk ate, offered to do any desire, a person has chosen to know the language of animals and birds; but on pain of death you cannot talk about it; one day a person hears a donkey talking to an ox; an ox complains about life, and a donkey advises him pretend to be sick; in the morning a man harnessed a donkey instead of an ox; in the evening he advises the ox to recover, otherwise the owner is going to slaughter him; the owner laughs, the wife is puzzled; another time the wife is pregnant and the mare complains to the foal how many she must carry; the man tells his wife to get off the mare; then the man hears the conversation between sheep and dogs; promises to tell his wife everything; the dog is in mourning, reproaches the rooster that he is having fun; rooster: I have 40 wives and the owner can't handle one; the man kicked his wife out]: Pedersen 1898, No. 11:82-88.

Central Europe. Eastern Ukrainians (Poltava, Romny Utilities) [The farmer harnesses the bull, plows it, leaves the donkey at home. He straightens the bull, puts an armful of hay in the nursery, the donkey eats, the bull rests. The merchant hears a conversation between a bull and a donkey - the bull is tired and resting, wants to eat later. The next day, everything repeats itself, in the evening the donkey advises the bull to "strictly treat" the owner to let him go. The owner hears and plows on the donkey the next day, listens to the animals talking in the evening: the donkey is resting, the bull eats. In the morning, the owner harnesses the donkey again and in the evening he tells the bull that they feel sorry for him, because they cook for slaughter, advises him to lose weight. The hostess asks her husband to tell us what he heard and why he laughs, he promises to tell you the next day. In the morning she says that if she does, she will die right away, she insists. He hears a conversation between a dog and a rooster: the dog talks about the owner's promise to tell his wife a story, as if he does, he will die, the rooster says that he has 50 wives and everyone is afraid of him. Shows why: flutters several chickens one at a time. The owner flutters his wife's hair, she lets him not tell a story. The rooster and the dog are the saviors of the owner]: Gnedich 1916, No. 1529:61-63.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Ossetians [the ox complained to the donkey about fatigue, he advised him to limp; but the owner understood the language of animals and harnessed the donkey; in the evening, the donkey told the ox that if his leg did not recover by morning, his they will stab; the owner appreciated the donkey's mind]: Byazirov 1971, No. 43:295; Lucky [the person has learned the language of animals from the book; at the end it says: if the learner tells others about it, he will die"; the person hears a donkey invites the bull to pretend to be sick; as a result, he had to work for two; the donkey told the bull that the owner decided to slaughter him, let him look healthy; the man laughed, the wife began to demand explanations; man talking to a rooster with a chicken: a rooster has 10 wives, and the owner cannot cope with one; a man beat his wife, she no longer molested]: Aliyeva 2013, No. 115:491-492; Kurds: Spies, no. 7 c Marzolph 1984, No. 207A: 55.

Iran - Central Asia. Persians (Farce): Marzolph 1984, № 207A: 55; Persians [when Solomon was sitting surrounded by birds and animals, the starling did an unpraiseworthy act; asked him not to punish: everything is predetermined God; Simurg: the starling is wrong, there is no predestination; S. is angry; Archangel Gabriel Solomon: we will make sure that the padishah of the East has a son and the padishah of the West has a daughter; they are destined to meet; S. will try she will not be able to interfere; S. takes the girl to a nest on a mountain across the seas; no one knows about this; the girl considers Simurg her mother; the son of the padishah of the East was shipwrecked, the merchants sheltered him; he gained confidence in the owner and decided to search for the origins of the Nile; he gave him Solomon's potion, which made it possible to understand the language of birds and animals; the prince came to the garden, where trees were made of gold, emerald leaves, fruits from gems, everything is wrapped in canvas; the king demands that the viziers find out the secret of the trees, otherwise he executes; the viziers met the prince, they went together; the young man cuts off ripe and unripe crops and sprinkles everything into the water; the man at the well fills the vessels of those who come, and his own vessel is empty; the snake stings those who pass by, but no one is afraid of it; one butcher has fatty meat, the other has skinny and rotten meat, but customers prefer the second; people cling to the gazelle and run after it; the person picks up firewood, cannot pick it up, puts it back; puppies bark in the dog's womb; the tripod is covered with canvas, people tear off pieces; old man: mine older brother, ask him; the second old man refers to his oldest brother; he is black-haired, gives explanations; the king was so generous and fair that trees with gems grew, and everything was sewn into the canvas, to be told about his justice; a young man with a sickle is an angel of death; a man at the well labors gains benefits, and deprives his loved ones of them; the bird came out of the hole, but could not return back - a word; a fat kid sucking his mother, but he did not become fatter: a king who oppresses subjects; a snake is life, it strikes; people and two butchers: turning away from his wife and leaning towards the forbidden; the gazelle is earthly life; the person who collected fuel is a sinner; puppies in the womb: not letting their parents speak; the canvas is faith; my hair is black because my wife is good and my younger brothers have bad wives; prince stopped with a young man; hears and understands the conversation between a bull and a donkey; the bull is tired, the donkey advises to pretend to be sick; in the morning the plowman harnessed the donkey; in the evening the donkey advises the bull to become cheerful again, otherwise they want the patient slaughter; the prince laughs; the owner's wife demands explanations; he asks for feces and ink to write (and die) about everything; in the yard, the rooster praises the owner's mind; the dog: he is stupid because he will die, he will find out about it the king and, as a result, the owner will be executed, and his house will be ruined; let the husband beat his wife; the prince told his husband, and he beat his wife; the prince goes on; the elder orders to grab the bird, it will carry it across the sea, it must take water from the spring, return back on the bird; the old man will be dead, he must be washed; in that land there is a dome of paradise, from which 4 rivers flow: the Nile, the Euphrates, the Tigris, Jeyhun; in paradise, the prince picked a bunch of grapes; when he returned, the devil invited him to eat an apple; the grapes immediately disappeared; the prince sailed on the ship, the ship sank, the prince went ashore with his horses; saw a girl on the tree; advised her to ask Simurga bring a mirror; she is convinced she does not look like Simurg; ask Simurg to take you to the seashore for a day; the prince began to come out of the horse's skin in which he wrapped himself, and the girl became pregnant; then asked Simurg to bring her skin into her nest; in the shoes of a prince; when she was 15 years old, S. ordered Simurg to bring that skin: in it a girl, a prince and their child; in fear of the promised terrible executed, Simurg flew away and no one else saw him; wedding]: Romaskevich 1934a, No. 65:331-355 (=Braginsky 1977:289-315); Pashtuns: Kushnerovich 1980 [the bull worked hard, the donkey advised him pretend to be sick; the owner put all the work on the donkey; the donkey tells the bull that the owner is going to stab him if he does not recover; the next day the donkey stayed in the barn again and the bull went to work]: 93- 94; Lebedev 1972, No. 19 [(=Nikulin 1988:591-593); Suleiman taught man the language of animals on the condition that he will remain silent about it or die; he hears a donkey teaching a bull to pretend to be sick; the man harnessed the donkey in the morning, in the evening he advises the bull to be healthy again, otherwise, they say, the owner will stab him; the man laughed, the wife began to demand to tell; the husband began to write a will; the bull and the donkey grieve, and the rooster laughs at the fool, he has 12 wives; the man did not tell his wife anything]: 221-223; Turkmens [bulls plow, work forever; the donkey advises the bull to pretend to be sick; the owner harnessed instead he is a donkey; in the evening, the donkey pretends to be all right, but the owner is going to slaughter the bull if he cannot work; the owner harnessed the bull again]: Fur Fair 1980:8-11.

Baltoscandia. Lithuanians: Uther 2004 (1), No 207A: 131

Volga - Perm. Mordva (Erzya) [a person understands the language of animals, but will die if he talks about it; the ox complains to the horse that he is working to the point of exhaustion; the horse advises to pretend to be sick; the owner heard and drove the horse instead of an ox in the field; in the evening, the horse tells the ox that the owner is going to slaughter him if he does not recover; the man laughs, the wife bothers why; he promises to tell, he will only give food to the chickens; those in horrified - the owner will die soon; rooster: I can cope with a lot of wives, I have to take a whip; my husband beat my wife, she promised not to ask why he laughs anymore]: Paasonen 1941:275-278.

Iran - Central Asia. Turkmens [Oraz asked Prophet Suleiman to teach him the language of animals; he taught him not to talk about it to anyone, otherwise you will die; O. hears a donkey persuading bulls to pretend sick; harnesses a donkey instead of bulls; the next day he tells the bull that the owner is going to sell the bulls to the butcher, they rush to work; O. laughs, his wife promises to divorce him if he does not He will tell you what's going on; he says that he manages 10 chickens, his wife must be beaten; the man did so, otherwise he would die]: Stebleva 1969, No. 37:195-197.

Turkestan. Kazakhs [Suleiman taught a person who came to him the language of animals on the condition that he would not tell anyone about it - otherwise he would die; a person hears a donkey advising the ox to pretend to be sick, so as not to work; as a result, the owner harnessed a donkey; then he advised the ox to show that he had recovered: otherwise the owner would stab him; the man laughed, the wife began to demand explanations; the dog cries, tells the rooster that the owner will die; the rooster: well, let him be a fool; I have 20 wives, and he can't handle one; the man beat his wife and she did not ask anything else]: Marchenko 1993:84-86; Karakalpaks [the donkey advises the bulls to pretend to be sick; then the peasants are harnessed into a donkey's plow; in the evening, the donkey warns the bulls that the owner is going to give them to the butcher if they do not recover; bulls began to work hard]: Volkov, Mayorov 1959:67; Dungans (Ningxia) [Suha comes to Suleiman and wants him to ask Allah to grant him the ability to understand animal language; he warns that if S. reveals a secret, he will die; S. hears a donkey trying to deceive the ox to voluntarily give up hay in his favor; laughs; the wife demands that S. tell everything; S. is going to write a will; hears a rooster and a dog discuss what will happen when the owner dies, and how reckless he hears his wife; S. is going to beat his wife, but does not dare, but goes back to Suleiman and asks him to be released from the gift he received]: Shujang Li, Luckert 1994:441-445.