M163. Dear cat, ATU 1281, 1651.

.12.-.17.23.27.-.33. (.34.)

A person finds himself in a country where there are many mice (rats, snakes), but no cats. He sells his cat there and gets an award.

Bambara, Sakho, Morocco, Egypt, Spaniards, Aragon, Catalans, Portuguese, Italians (Veneto, Tuscany), Sicilians, English, Irish, Scottish, Dutch, Frisians, Germans (North Rhine - Westphalia, Austria), French (Upper Brittany), Walloons, Arameans, Iraqi Arabs, Oriya, Hungarians, Slovenes, Serbs, Romanians, Croats, Bosnians, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Slovaks, Czechs, Ukrainians (Eastern Slovakia, Transcarpathia, Volyn, Poltava), Belarusians, Russians (Vologda, Yaroslavl), Karachays or Balkarians, Nogais, Varnishes, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Turkmens, Uzbeks, Persians, Yazgulyams, Sarykol, Karakalpaks, Western Sami, Finns, Karelians, Veps, Estonians, Seto, Latvians, Lithuanians, Livons, Swedes, Danes, Icelanders, Norwegians, Mordovians, Mari, Bashkirs, Karakalpaks, Kyrgyz, (Dagurs).

West Africa. Bambara [young Sara is 15 years old; he found a needle, suggests changing it to a rooster; the chief's wife lost the needle, gave him a rooster; S.'s older brothers are surprised; S. tells the rooster to fry and leave him a leg; he goes to change it to a horse; the leader goes with the mounted warriors, one agreed to change it, ate his leg and drove S. away; he dragged after him, began to cry; when he found out what was going on, the leader gave him the horse; at home, the brothers are happy, but S. goes to change his horse for 7 cats; he is given slaves instead of cats, but he refuses; brings cats to a country where hordes of rats get 7 slaves for each cat; after living at home, he goes to exchange 49 slaves for a dead man ; changes them to the corpse of the deceased king; taking four marabas as witnesses, leaves them to guard the body; the king's sons try to take the body, they are not given marabou; S. rewards them for their loyalty; begins to beat the corpse, listing the king's crimes; cadias: the corpse belongs to S.; the king's sons buy the father's body, giving 7 slaves for each of those 49; S. founds a large village; the water snake indicates S. where the gold is, for which he gave her 7 bulls; after giving her slaves freedom, he took over the kingdom at the head of his army and became king; called his father and brothers; so he received the kingdom in exchange for a needle]: Zeltner 1923:73-80.

Sudan-East Africa. Sakho [a man came to a country where men are dogs; one woman hid him; while her dog husband was hunting, they ran away, climbed a tree; a dog ran, a woman told the man to kiss her, the dog died out of grief; then the fugitives came to the land of giant snakes, then to the land of cannibals; there the woman ate human beings, the man left her, came to normal people; bought a cat, came to a country where there are many snakes, the cat killed them, he sold it for a high price]: Reinisch 1889, No. 4:113-116.

North Africa. Morocco [the poor man inherited only a cat from his parents; his wife sent him to sell it; he went to an inn where mice did not live, sold it for a basket of gold; exchanged it for a basket of gold; exchanged it for two cows, exchanged them for a donkey, a dog, a skullcap, lost it; the merchant listened to his story, gave them a donkey loaded with gold, sent a servant to escort the man; he became a successful merchant]: Lebedev 1990 , No. 47:229-230; Egypt: El-Shamy 2004, No. 1651:896-897.

Southern Europe. Italians: Cirese, Serafini 1975, No. 1281 (Veneto), 1651 (Tuscany): 283, 361; Sicilians [the poor widow always celebrated Archangel Michael's Day; when she ran out of money, she came sell his little son to the king to celebrate this day; the king generously awarded her, awarded her in honor of St. Michael's chapel and forgot about it; the boy Pippi grew up with the princess, they fell in love; to get rid of the insignificant groom, the courtiers advised the king to send P. by sea with goods - the ship is sure to sink; St. Michael ordered to ask to load the ship with salt; the captain sailed away in the boat, the ship leaked, but St. Michael took him to a harbor in a country where they did not know about salt; the local king bought it worth its weight in gold; the next time (a ship carrying cats in a country where people were tortured by rats); for the third time, P. and St. Michael arrived in a country where they did not know beans and their cargo was beans; the local queen offered to play cards, but began to lose; sent an army against P., but St. Michael blinded the warriors with dust, P. cut off the Queen's head, freed the emaciated prisoners, gave them beans to eat to regain strength, and received gold for the beans; the king promised St. Mikhail got better and gave his daughter to P.]: Calvino 1984, No. 173:623-627; Spaniards (Murcia) [a person sells a cat to people who suffer from rats; when he is going to leave, he is asked what the animal is eats; understand the answer as "he will eat everyone"; they leave the village in horror]: Hernández Fernández 2013, No. 1651:251; Aragon: González Sanz 1996, No. 1650 [inherited from his father three brothers receive a cat, a braid and pants; each of the inherited objects is sold for a lot of money], 1651 [episode (1650): the cat is sold to people who do not have cats and suffer from an abundance of rats]: 127, 127-128; Catalans (Mallorca included) [a guy inherits a cat; come to people who don't know cats and suffer from rats; sells a cat for a lot of money; when a cat kills rats, people kill him, because they are afraid that he will now eat them themselves]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 1651:263; the Portuguese [three brothers inherit a cat, a sickle {scythe - perhaps a braid} and a rooster, everyone sells inherited for a lot of money]: Cardigos 2006, No. 1650:339.

Western Europe. The Wallons [the miller left a cat, a rooster and a sickle to his sons; Jean took a rooster, Jacques a sickle, the elder Pierre a cat; P. came to the royal castle, where they were exhausted by the mice, he released the cat Mina; he caught mice, P. married a princess, stayed in the palace; Jean came to the kingdom, where a chariot was sent east before sunrise to restore the sun, otherwise the day would not return; the chariot returned only at 9 am, and only then did it dawn; the next night Jean released the rooster, he sang at 3 am, it was dawn; Jean gets a princess for the rooster, stays in the palace; Jacques came to the country where he reaped with sticks, almost the entire crop was lost; Jacques also gets a princess for the sickle]: Carnoy 1883:283-291 (translated to Lopyrev 1959, No. 7:10-14); friezes [die Fäkingee suffered from mice; a stranger sold them a cat and the mice were gone; the stranger said that the cat would now find food for itself; then Fälinger remembered that they had forgotten to ask what the cat ate; he replied with what you would give it; they understood: you (a play on words); they tried to catch the cat, but it slipped between her legs alone; he thought death had come; people first barricaded all the exits and then set fire to the house; the cat spilled out and hid in another house; they eventually burned the whole village; the cat was no longer seen and the inhabitants calmed down]: Sundermann 1870:59-61; the French (Haute-Brittany) [three brothers inherited a rooster, a cat and a sickle; the one who received the rooster sold it for a lot of money to people looking for a day; a cat to suffering from mice; a sickle to stung, shooting at ears with a gun]: Sébillot 1894, No. 34:278-279; the British [boy- orphan Dick Whittington came to London, was in distress, finally got a job in the kitchen; bought a cat for a penny; when the owner went on business, everyone gave money for the owner to buy their share goods, and DU gave the cat; the cook tortured him and he left, but heard the bells ringing: return to London, Lord Mayor Whittington; in Africa, the owner came to the Moorish king, whose possessions were ravaged by rats and mice; he paid a fabulous price for the cat; on his return, the owner gave all the money to DU, married him to his daughter, and he was elected Lord Mayor and then knighted]: Jacobs 1890, No. 31:167 -178 (translated to Shereshevskaya 1967:30-38); the Germans [when dying, the father gave his eldest son a rooster, the middle son a braid, the youngest a cat; the eldest came to an island where they did not know how to keep track of time; residents gave for a rooster as much gold as a donkey could carry; the middle one came to people who cut off ears by firing cannons with cannons; received as much gold for the braid as the horse could take away; the youngest went to the island where people were tortured by mice, got two mules loaded with gold for a cat; after killing the mice, the cat was thirsty and began to meow; the king and subjects were frightened, decided to expel the monster; the cat did not leave, but continued to meow; cannons opened fire on the castle; the cat ran away and the castle was destroyed]: Grimm, Grimm 2002, No. 70:251-252 (=Grimm, Grimm 1987:210-212); Irish, Scots, Dutch, Germans (North Rhine-Westphalia, Austria): Uther 2004 (2), No. 1651:354-355.

Western Asia. Aramei: Bergsträsser 1915, No. 10 [the oil seller came to the village, where the food he was served was immediately eaten by mice; he promised to bring a beast that would kill mice, and received 2,000 for it piastres; brought a cat; the cat ate all the mice, began to catch birds and pigeons; people decided that he would eat them too; the elder ordered them to leave their homes and move into the field; then destroy houses; cut down trees; burn them down ruins; but the cat did not leave; the oil seller came again and, when he found out what was going on, took the cat, getting 2,000 piastres again; the villagers decided that a mouse was better than such a terrible beast], 32 [option]: 34-38, 101-102; Iraqi Arabs: El-Shamy 2004, No. 1651:896-897

South Asia. Oriya (dombo) [during hunger, the wife of a poor brahman advises to visit a king whose teacher was once; rani says that gold should not be given to a brahman because his king is not himself earned; let him go earn something - such a gift would be valuable; a brahmana was hired to work for a tanner and earned small money with hard work; the brahman was disappointed; returned home; the merchant invites all residents to bring him goods for sale or money to buy something in distant countries; the brahmana gave his small money to buy a glass; in the city where the merchant first sailed, the glasses were not sold, so he bought a cat for the brahmana; one day, pirates boarded the ship, but did not take anything, but released two rats; they believed that the rats would make a hole in the bottom and here- then the robbery will begin; however, the cat killed the rats; the pirates gave their entire ship for such a wonderful beast; the merchant brought it back to the brahmana, who returned it to the merchant, but received a lot of money for the ship and the goods on it]: Tauscher 1959, No. 11:34-37.

The Balkans. Bulgarians (Sofia District) [there were many mice in the village, people defended themselves with sticks; a passerby said he could bring an animal that crushed mice, brought a cat; villagers gave a full hat for a cat money; the man hurried home, and the villagers rushed to ask what the animal was eating; he said bread and meat, and the villagers understood that bread was us; the villagers chased the cat, she ran into the forest; when she found herself in in the forest, the villagers could not decide whether it was them or not]: Sumtsov 2015:44; Serbs [the person worked for a year, asked for a salary, received pfenning; decided that if the coin drowned in the stream, he would not earn it, and if it pops up, he earned it; the coin went to the bottom; he returned to the owner, returned the pfenning and worked for another year; the same; after the third year, pfenning surfaced; the man gave it to a merchant who was going for the sea - let him buy something for pfenning, which he will sell later; he bought a cat that the children are going to drown; the storm brought the ship to a distant country; there is no remedy for rats and mice; the merchant released the cat He killed the rodents, for which the local king loaded his ship with gold and silver; but told the man that he had bought a marble slab for his pfenning; he made a table out of it and it turned into gold; the man ran to the merchant, but he said that the gold rightfully belonged to him; gave him the treasures he had brought and gave him a daughter]: Eschker 1992, No. 22:117-121; Hungarians, Slovenes, Romanians, Croats, Bosnians, Macedonians, Greeks: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1651:354-355.

Central Europe. Czechs [older brother Martin inherited a braid from his father, middle Matthes a rooster, younger Michael a cat; Martin left home, came to a country where people tear the grass with their hands; ordered him to leave him in the meadow one, to bring food for two; after mowing the meadow, he sold the king a braid for a lot of money; he believed that the scythe was mowing by itself; the following year the braid was left in the meadow, but it did not eat or mow; the king ordered it to be beaten; at every blow, she jumped, cut off the nose of the onlookers; she was buried, they still began to tear the grass with her hands; Matthes went to seek use for a rooster in a country where such a bird had not been seen; said that she causes the day; they used to go there to accompany the day to the mountain, and met them in the morning; in the evening the rooster fell asleep, the day ended on its own; in the morning he began to crow, the sun rose again; the king paid generously for rooster; now Michael went to sell the cat; in a country where cats were not seen, but where there are many mice, he received a lot of money for the cat; when the mice were gone, they sent a messenger to ask what to feed the cat; Michael did not understood what the messenger said and asked again in German, Was? the messenger thought it was Czech, that who should eat "you"; the cat was locked up, the sentries trembled with fear; one opened the window slightly to look, the cat jumped out and ran away; people locked themselves in houses, but a detachment of warriors I never found the cat]: Němcová 1990:305-313; northern Ukrainians (Volyn, Zaslavsky y.) [the older brother got a shovel from his parents, the middle brother got a cat, the youngest a bast; each went to seek uses for his inheritance; the elder found people who separated the grain from the sex with their hands, sold a shovel for a hundred rubles, returned, soon ran out of money; the middle one found a village where people's mice were eating; sold the cat for a hundred rubles, returned, too, the money soon ran out; the youngest came to the lake, began to wet and weave a bast; hell asks what he's doing; guy: hang a net of devils; devils pay off; the guy put a hole hat over the hole, the devils all wear gold, but they can't fill the hat; Satan wants compete; the guy invites him to race with his child (this is a hare), carry the mare 4 times around the lake (he jumps himself, but the hell carries); hell: who will throw a heavy mace higher; the guy looks at sun: this is my brothers' forge, they need iron; hell asks not to throw, gives money]: Malinka 1902, No. 2:265-267; Eastern Ukrainians (Poltava) [Once gypsies lived in a big city, after when they were frightened by an ordinary cat, they parted and began to wander, "live in tents". The gypsy has mice, his Russian worker offers to bring an animal that will save you from rodents. The cat catches some of the mice, some frighten and they do not show up. The Russian downloads the service and leaves, the gypsy catches up with him, asks what to feed the cat, he asks again "quench?" , the gypsy hears "you". The gypsy is afraid that the cat will eat all the inhabitants, sets fire to the city, the gypsies are fleeing. The gypsy goes to check if the cat has burned down. The beast waits for a fire on a pole to which the gypsy ties a horse, the cat jumps on the horse, which in fear breaks away from the pole and runs towards the camp. Gypsies see a cat on horseback, get scared and leave, since then they have been wandering and hesitating to rebuild the city]: Strizhevsky 1905, No. 17:35-37; Slovaks: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1651:354-355; Ukrainians (Eastern Slovakia, Transcarpathia), Belarusians [Happiness from a cat: a cat is sold in a country where cats are not even known]: SUS 1959, No. 1651:342; Russians (Vologda) [For service a wealthy merchant is hired by an unknown person, serves for a year, then asks for a calculation. The merchant wants to pay properly, but the employee takes only one penny, throws it into the water and says that if he works faithfully, a penny will not sink. A penny is sinking. He serves there for another year and history repeats itself. He works for another year, and the merchant gives him more money "for his hard service" than before. The employee again takes only one penny and throws it into the water - all three come up. He takes them and, returning to his place, meets that merchant on his way to dinner. He gives him one penny and asks him to light a candle for him. In the church, a merchant takes candles with his own money, accidentally dropping a penny - it lights up a fire. People are surprised, they light candles for a penny. An employee meets another merchant on his way to the fair, gives him another penny and asks him to buy something at the fair. A merchant buys a cat for a penny, swims to trade and sails to a state that suffers from a "gnat". The cat eats the gnat, the king wants to buy it and asks for the price - the merchant says that the cat is not his and lies, that it costs three ships. The king gives ships for the cat. The merchant returns, the worker finds him, gets three ships. He swims to the island, climbs to spend the night on an oak tree and hears Yerakhta bragging below that he is going to kidnap the king's daughter, and his comrades threaten to beat him with iron bars if he fails. A worker comes to the king, the last penny lights up, preventing Yerakhta from implementing his plan. Comrades whip Yerakhta, and the worker marries the princess]: Burtsev 1895, No. 30:139-142; Russians (Yaroslavskaya): Pomerantseva 1958, No. 23 in Uther 2004 (2), No. 1281:98; Belarusians (Minskaya, Turov) [ summary of a fairy tale from Mikhail Krivoshapkin's manuscript "About Volyn and Minsk Polesye" (1898-1899): Ivan Bezdolny "bought a cat, for which he later received a bag of gold; bought a cart of palm for gold, lit it and asked God for a beautiful wife, chose her from three lambs who were bathing; Voight wants to take his wife away from him and sends him first to that suite to his father, and then to heaven to call the crown from his son; he swam in hot milk from 12 blood and became handsome, and the pan was cooked in the same milk"]: Zelenin 1914, No. 12:295.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Karachays or Balkarians [the daughter reproaches the khan for not giving what he earned to the young farmhand; the khan kicked her out and she became the wife of that poor young man; he went to look for work; hired a shepherd for three years; the owner asks if he wants to receive 3 honestly earned rubles a year or 15 dishonestly; the young man wants honest money; in a year he is going to take the money to his wife; the owner promises to do this is instead of him; bought a mirror and sold it for 30 rubles to the daughter of a rich man, who looked in a bucket of water; gave the money to the worker's wife with an order from her husband to build a house; the same for the second year; the owner bought a cat and sold it worth its weight in gold to people who were tortured by mice; the worker's wife built a real palace; three years later the worker goes home; the companion sold him three tips for 3 rubles; 1) not keep a grudge against a friend; 2) don't spend the night in the ravine; 3) take your time to draw conclusions; people are afraid to go down to the well; the worker has come down; there is a girl, a frog and a young man; he asks who is more beautiful; worker: whoever his heart loves; that young man cut off the girl's head and said that the girl was chasing him, and he would rather take a frog; the worker shared the gold with his companions; spent the night on a hill, and the rest were in the ravine and were carried away by water; at home, the worker thought that his wife had found another husband, had given birth to a child, but did not show anger; in Kunatsky, his father-in-law and his wealthy owner; the owner explained everything]: Malkonduev 2017:832-830; Nogais [bai gives daughter Altynshash as the first person he meets; this is a poor young man Omiruzak; he buys two cats, comes to a village where rats gnaw people's noses and ears; cats they caught rats, residents pay in gold; O. is happy with his wife in a new house; bought a snake, she died, a golden tree grew on her grave; A. blurted out the secret to the mullah's wife; O. told the mullah that if he knew mystery, let him take his house and wife; in a dream, the soothsayer says O. that tomorrow the sun will rise in the west; O. argues with the mullah where the sun will rise, the sun has risen in the west, O. returns what he lost and gets a mullah's wife]: Nogai 1979, No. 28:137-140; Lucky [Arakan is a woodcutter, his younger brother Sarakan sold clothes; A. found a kitten in the forest, gave it the name Maracan; M. grew up, S. persuaded A. to give M. to him; M. says that he is a harbinger of happiness; S. comes to a city where hordes of rats, M. exterminates them, S. receives a lot of money; returns the cat A.; he tells the mice that he will no longer eat them, prepares for the pilgrimage to Mecca, asks everyone to gather; asks who gnawed through his new charyks; everyone is silent, he strangled all the mice, set off; settled in a fox hole; the fox took his tail ran away for the snake; the wolf, the bear are afraid to approach; the fox suggests that the wolf and bear bring meat, get the cauldron themselves; the "snake" will crawl out, smell the meat; the cat comes out, fumbles in the bushes; the fox thinks that her looking for ashdah, rushes away; the bear climbs a tree in fear, falls; the cat jumps into the bushes in fear, there is a wolf, he rushes away; M. ate all the meat, returned home to A.]: Kapiyeva 1991:285-290; Armenians : Ioannisian 1968 [when he died, the king bequeathed the kingdom to the eldest son, and the cat and rooster to the youngest; the youngest came to the village, met the Bearded; he knew the secret rooster; agreed with his son that he would hit him during lunch, the boy will scream and, to calm him down, he will need to slaughter the rooster; but when the prince left, Bezborodoy's wife, unaware of her husband's plans to eat this particular boiled rooster, gave it away prince; there is a ring in the rooster, there are two Arabs in it; the prince ordered him to be transferred to another kingdom, settled with an old woman; asked to marry the royal daughter; the king demands a palace overnight; then a carpet from the palace to the church with willows on the sides, nightingales on them; the wedding dress was not sewn, not cut; wedding; Beardless came, exchanged a rusty ring from the prince's wife for corals; ordered the palace and princess to be moved to the island among seas; the prince goes in search; in the country where the mice were tortured, he let a cat on the mice; the king of cats agreed to get a ring if the prince removes his cat; returning the ring, the prince orders to drown the Bearded, return the palace and the princess]: 99-109; Nazinyan 2014 [the poor man went to look for money; sends a bag of apples and a cat with the merchant; he comes to a city where no apples were seen, the merchant received a huge profit; to another the country is dominated by mice, the merchant releases a cat, the king pays in gold; the merchant gave money to the poor man's wife, who built a good house, sent her son to study; on the way home, the poor man gives the last coins for advice wise man: 1) you won't die before death, even if you fall off a cliff into the water; 2) the best one you love; 3) every sneeze is good; people ask the poor man to go down to the well for water; there are cut off heads, crows and frogs; the raven asks if he should marry a frog; the poor man replies that the best is the one you love; the raven becomes a young man, the frog the girl gave him; the people who pulled him out wells were also given a coin; when he saw his wife's house, the poor man thought that she had married a rich man; when he saw the young man, he thought it was his rival; but remembered that sneezing was useful, began to eavesdrop, realized that the young man was his son; everything is fine]: 191-194; Azerbaijanis [the old woman replies to the Shah that if a woman does not destroy the house, it will last for a thousand years; the vizier agrees with her, the shah does not; the eldest daughters tell the Shah that the house is home the husband builds, the youngest is the wife; the Shah passes her off as the poor and lazy Ahmed, the son of an old woman; after sprinkling nuts in the yard, his wife lured A. out of bed; with the first money he earned, A. bought a cat; went with in a caravan; he is asked to go down to the well for water; the diva leads A. to the room where the frog asks what is the most beautiful thing in the world; A.: what does your soul love; the diva loved the frog, gave A. pomegranates as a reward and walnut; with another caravan, A. arrived in the country of the Thin-Legged; rats and mice rush at people, A. released the cat, received gold for it; A. sent pomegranate, walnut and gold to his wife, she built a palace better than the royal one , precious stones were in the grenade; when A. returned, they invited the Shah to visit; he admitted his daughter was right]: Nabiev 1988:77-82; Turks: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 45 (Istanbul, Ankara, Trabzon) [a person comes to a village where there are hordes of rats and no cats; sells a cat to residents; when a cat has eaten all the rats, residents fear that it will now eat them, leave the villages]: 56; Dor 2002, No. 12 []: 43-47.

Iran - Central Asia. Turkmens [lazy Ovez went with a caravan; the merchant is ready to pay 1 tenge of honest money and 1000 dishonest money per month; O. hired for honest ones; bought a cat in 1 tenge, sent him home with a caravan; the caravan stopped in a village that was annoyed by mice; the residents bought a cat, filled the bag with gold, the caravan took it to O.'s parents; next time O. bought a dog; on the way home, the dragon ordered to reconcile him and his father; O. did it easily; the young dragon advised him to ask for a wish-fulfilling ring as a reward; O. sent his mother to marry the padishah's daughter; he ordered the construction of a golden palace; with the power of the ring everything done, O. got a wife; the old woman promised the padishah to fix everything; came to O.'s wife, offered to buy her back, she took off her ring, the old woman told Ovez to kill, beat the princess, return everything to the padishah; cat snuck to the padishah, made the mouse tickle him in his sleep, the padishah spit out the ring, the cat took it away; crossing the river, the dog took the ring in his mouth, dropped it; the cat found a ring in the belly of the fish; revived O., he destroyed the padishah and his entourage, rose]: Stebleva 1969, No. 35:184-191; Uzbeks [bai gives Nurulla money to trade three times; he buys advice at the bazaar : wake up your wife before going to bed; every lover likes his beloved; do not refuse the morning offer; the father died, the thieves took all N.'s property, took him to the cave, beat him half to death, abandoned at home; his wife tells N. to hire a day laborer; he leaves with a merchant; he is asked to go down to the cave to get water; there is a terrible diva, he killed everyone; asks who is more beautiful: a peri sitting next to him or a frog; N. says that his beloved is sweet to the lover, the diva gives a lamp with gems; tells him to buy more black pepper at the bazaar; water flowed from the cave; N. bought a kitten in one place; in the parking lot of the merchants' caravan defeated the mice; N. released the kitten, the merchants generously gifted him; the lamp received from the diva N. wants to sell to the padishah; the vizier advises to persuade the gardener to kill the first person who came, send N. in the morning to the garden; on the way, the old man invited N. to drink tea, and the vizier went to the garden to check the execution of the order; the gardener demolished his head; the padishah decided that it was Allah's will and paid for the lamp; in Samarkand N . released the kitten again; people whose mice gnawed through bags of flour paid generously; N. bought pepper and then sold it at exorbitant prices in Istanbul; when he returned, he saw his wife sleeping, and not far from her horseman; slaughter the cauldron, but remembered the advice; wife: this is our son]: Afzalov et al. 1972 (2): 197-203; Persians: Bakhnov 1992 [orphan Ekbal heard that the streets in Kashmir were paved with gold, came there; the cook began to drive him away, but the owner greeted him; his owner's daughter Rohsare gave him money to buy a cat; when the merchants went on a trip, everyone gave them their goods, R. advised Ekbal to give the cat; merchants arrived in a country where there is no life because of mice, received a lot of money for a cat, brought them to E.; E. and R. got married]: 159-166 (=Osmanov 1958:279-286); Jaliashvili, Faras 1967 (Isfahan) [the poor man came to a city where mice are driven away with sticks; promised to bring the Shah an animal that kills mice; the shah gave him money and the poor man brought him a cat; but one cat is not enough, the poor man received more money, brought several cats, but he did not say that he had many of them in his homeland; when he left, they sent him to ask them the names of the animals and what to feed them when there were no mice; the man wanted to say that with meat, but said that with his head shah {apparently a play on words}; the shah and his family fled the palace, settled elsewhere; the commander drove up to the palace, got off his horse and entered; at this time the cat accidentally jumped out of the window onto the horse's saddle, grabbed at him, the horse galloped and just where the Shah was hiding; he fainted out of fear]: 104-107; Osmanov 1987 [the elder brother inherited a ladder from his father, the middle brother fainted in fear]: 104-107; the elder brother inherited a ladder from his father, the middle brother fainted in fear put the stairs to the fence of someone else's house, heard the owner agree with his wife to send her a man to take the money, comes disguised as this man, takes the money; a pack broke into the middle yard wolves, he started beating the drum, the wolves swept away; a merchant drove up, opened the gate, the wolves ran away; the young man said that he taught wolves to dance on behalf of the padishah, the merchant had to pay for them; younger the brother came to a city where there was no passage from the mice, sold the cat for a lot of money; the cat scratched the slave, the padishah ordered her to drown, the rider put her on the saddle with him to throw her into the river, but fell and drowned himself; the cat rode a horse, people fled in horror, the cat got the whole country]: 377-378; Yazgulyam [the king died, the son went broke, went to hire shepherds; the wife gives with her gold, tells you to go away to preserve honor; someone sells the right word, the prince buys with gold: hold back your anger! the prince has been working for 12 years, receiving a chicken and a kitten as a reward; takes only a kitten, gives it to a caravan man to give it to his father (hiding that his father is dead); the caravan comes to a country where there are many mice and there are no cats, she sells it for gold, gives it to the prince's wife; she bought a goat and chicken, gradually became rich; another owner gave the prince a horse, a cow, a sheep, a camel, a yak for his service; he comes to the one who gave chicken and kitten; the chicken has given a huge offspring, bought cattle, the prince drives whole herds home; secretly comes to his wife outside the house, sees a man next to him; wants to kill both, but holds back his anger; the man turns out to be his son; everything is fine]: Grunberg, Steblin-Kamensky 1976, No. 52:426-430; Sarykoltsy [the prince is bankrupt, he buys the advice "Hold Your Anger" with the last gold; the prince has been serving with a rich man for 12 years, he pays a kitten and a chicken, the prince remembers the advice, does not protest; with his father's friend, without opening himself to him, he sends a kitten to his son; he comes with a caravan to a city where mice are rampant, sells a kitten for gold; a man gives money to the prince's wife, who bought a cow, a chicken, became rich again; the prince himself also receives cattle for his long service; at night his wife, a bearded man with her, looks into the house; in the morning finds out it's their son; all is well]: Pakhalina 1966:189-191.

Baltoscandia. The Finns [two older brothers are smart, the youngest is Tuhkimo {"Cinderella"; there is no gender category in Finnish} are lazy; the eldest received shearing scissors from his father, the middle one a cat, and the youngest an armful of oak measles; the elder came to the place where sheep were cut off their hair with an ax, sold scissors for silver; the middle one came to people tortured by rats and mice; the guy sold the cat worth its weight in gold; T. began to soak the bark in a forest lake; answers the son of the water that he is going to weave a seine and catch water from the lake with his family; the waterman sends his son to fight T. and overtake him on the run; he puts the elder instead of himself brother (bear) and youngest - a hare; whoever throws a club higher; T. pretends to throw it on the cloud, the son of the water did not allow it - this is his father's property; the water pays off; T. makes a hole in hat and puts it on a hollow stump; tells the son of water to take all the gold to his home himself; on the way, the curtain is my mother's birdo; then the old punt is his mother's shoe; then the millstone is the godsend { =spinner?} mother; sending the water's son back, T. separated the objects he saw on the way; with a millstone around his neck, he barely survived]: Salmelainen in Concca 1991:252-259; Icelanders [ambassador of father's death to son in a dream it was said that he made the money dishonestly; let the son give half to the poor and pour the other into the sea; what comes up can be taken; the young man did so; 6 shillings wrapped in paper surfaced; a young man went on a journey, spent the night in the house and saw an unusual animal; he was told it was a cat; he bought it for 6 shillings; the next night he was advised to go to the king, who is hospitable; the king has no escape from rats; the cat jumped out, gnawed through many rats, and the rest fled; the king invited the young man to either become first minister or marry his daughter and inherit the throne; young man chose the latter; after becoming king, the young man appointed the peasant who sheltered him as first minister]: Poestion 1884, No. 11:80-84; Karelians, Estonians, Livonians, Danes: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1651:354-355; Western Sami [after the death of the merchant, each of the two sons got a barrel of money; the youngest poured his money into the sea: honest money will emerge; two shillings surfaced; after learning about This, the older brother told the younger brother to go away - he would ruin him too; the younger one hired a cocom on the ship; gave the captain his three shillings to buy something with them; he bought a kitten; not in the other getting rid of mice; a young man lends a grown cat for 50, then 100, 500 thalers; and elsewhere; the young man became rich; when he returned home, he saw his impoverished brother; he digested from cod liver blubber]: Kohl-Larsen 1982, No. 17:116-124; Norwegians [poor young man bought or inherited a cat with his last money and set off on a merchant ship; the ship arrived at a country dominated by mice, a young man sold a cat for a lot of money; the merchant tried to take the money, but it failed; they come back, the young man marries the merchant's daughter]: Hodne 1984, No. 1651:286; Lithuanians [when he died, the father left his eldest son a millstone, the middle cat, the youngest a handful of hemp; each went to seek happiness; the eldest came to an old woman, she has 12 robber sons; she hid him in the attic, and there blow above the table; the robbers share the gold, one says: let the thunder hit you! the guy threw the millstones, the robbers ran away, the guy took the money; the middle one came to the owner, who was tortured by rats; sold the cat for gold; the youngest at the lake shore began to twist ruffles of bast shoes out of hemp; answers the line that he has ruffles to pull the lake together; agrees not to do so if the devil gives him a hat full of gold; holes in his hat and dug a hole; the devil has poured him three bags of gold]: Lobite 1965:262-264; the Veps [the old man and the old woman sowed turnips on the roof; the turnips began to grow; the old woman was afraid that she would crush the house, climbed to collect it, fell on the harrow; the old man went to look for mourners; a chicken, a hare, a fox, a wolf, a bear met; everyone replies that he knows how to lament; the old man left them by the body, they ate the old woman and ran away; the old man took the kitten, the scoop and the ax and left; in the hut the man from the stove jumps into the pants held by his wife; for a hundred rubles, the old man taught how to wear pants; elsewhere, a man carries light into a windowless hut with a bag; an old man cut through a window for 200 rubles; in third place rats at night they eat people; the old man sold the kitten; the old man returned home, and a man came out of his hut and told him to leave; the old man cried, Onego arose from tears, flooded the house]: Onegin, Zaitseva 1996, No. 19:101-103; Swedes [the story is rare in Sweden; the earliest (Latin) fixation in Europe is 1175; a domestic cat from Egypt to Italy, probably in the 4th century AD; in Sweden in burials since about 600 AD]: Liungman 1961, No. 1651 : 325-326; Latvians [Happiness from a cat. The cat is sold in a country where such animals are not known and receive great wealth]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 1651:354; Seto: Vanahunt 2015 [there is no end to rats on the island; a merchant from the island came to another city; complained about the "fleas" in his house; advised him to take a king cat for them; when he left, he asked what the king was eating; people: meat and fat (lihha ja rasva); and he heard that city and people (liina ja rahva); decided to kill the cat, and he went out the window and to the roof; the house was set on fire, and people rushed to the ship; the ship sank, the city burned down; so it turned out that the cat ate the people and the city]: 123; Normann, Tampere 1989 [the younger brother inherited a grain shovel from his father, the middle brother inherited a skein of bast, the elder brother inherited a cat; the elder came to the owners who did not know the shovels, who gave three shovels of money for the shovel; the middle one sat down by the lake, began to unwind the ball; replied to the waterman that he was going to braid the lake so that no one would come in or out; the water paid off in gold; the youngest came to the village, where there is no end to mice; he suppressed all the mice, the owner gave him as much money as the cat himself; forgot to ask what the cat eats when the mice ran out; sent the boy after him, the cat's owner replied that the cat was eating liha ja rasva (meat and lard); the boy heard linna ja rahva (city and people); the owner drove the cat away and he returned to his older brother]: 113-116.

Volga - Perm. Mordva: Evseviev 1964, No. 47 []: 321-322; Paasonen 1941 [the father inherited a cat, a middle shovel, and a younger bast; the eldest came to a city where they did not know about cats; he was locked up at night to be eaten by rats, but the cat strangled all the rats; the merchant began to sell the cat; the older brother asks for 100 rubles for each instruction (show what it is called, how to call, etc.); the merchant forgets that the cat should be called "kitty kitty", returns, pays another 100 rubles; the same with the middle brother, who rows grain with a shovel from people who do not know about shovels; the youngest sits down by the lake to twist a rope out of bast; answers the imp that he is going to hang the devils; the imp jumps into the water every time to ask for advice from the old devil; 1) fight (young man: with my 7-year-old sick grandfather, this is a bear); 2) race ( with my brother born yesterday, this is a hare); 3) who will carry the horse (the imp carries it, the young man jumps); 4) who will throw the club further (the young man pretends to throw it on the cloud); 5) hell gives gold, young man tells you to pour it into the hat, there is a hole; 6) the devil gives a pipe; the young man meets the Tatars, blows, everyone is dancing, they go to complain about the ass, the pop also dance, the popadya gave birth and trampled the child]: 324-331; marie [ (first-person narrative); two brothers are rich, the third is poor; sees someone working on the brothers' field late at night; they were their gods; said his god in a red shirt playing the accordion; boy beat him, he helped him; ordered him to buy a cat; the guy came with it to a merchant, who had a rat in his basement; the cat strangled the rats, the merchant gave a lot of money; the same in another house; the guy took a measure from the brothers measure money; the elder, out of envy, decided to set fire to his house, but the fire spread to the arsonist's house; the guy beat his brother and his wife, but let him live]: Tudorovskaya, Eman 1945:75-78; Bashkirs: Barag 1992, No. 41-45; Bessonov 1941, No. 54 (Chelyabinsk Uyezd) [after the old man's death, the eldest got a cat; he came to a village where there were many mice; he was given a cart of gold for a cat; his middle son got a shovel; he came to the village, where they did not know how to wind life, received a cart of gold for a shovel; the youngest bald man got a bast; began to twist the rope; told the owner of the water that he was going to drag the lake; the water offered gold, bald does not take; offers to run, his younger brother will run for him; the water man rushed after the hare in vain; offered to fight; the bald man pretended to be his grandfather, the bear; he hit the water; the water proposed to encircle a mare around the lake; the bald one galloped on it; the water gave a cart of gold]: 273-274; Roudenko 1908, No. 14 [about like in Bessonov]: 57-58.

Turkestan. Karakalpaks [the shepherd herds the Bai cattle; the wolf asks for one ram; the first one he comes across is grazed, they are the shepherd's ram, not the bay; so three times; the shepherd gives the wolf a ram, but asks for the skin to be returned; gives it to the caravans with a request to sell it; they change the skin for a cat, and for a cat in a city where mice are rampant, they receive a bag of gold; on the last night, the caravans decide split the gold among themselves; there is no caravan in the morning; one of the thieves comes and says that they tried to approach the camp every night, but was protected by an iron wall; today the wall has disappeared - what was wrong caravans? the caravan confesses his bad intentions, the thief returns the stolen goods, the caravan gives the gold to the shepherd, takes him as an assistant, and leaves the Bai sheep who offers to divide the gold]: Volkov, Majorov 1959:158-160; Kyrgyz [shepherdess herds the master's sheep; the wolf asks for one, otherwise he will take half of the herd; the owner: let him take it, but with his eyes closed; the wolf is enough four times the lamb that the shepherdess was supposed to get for work; the shepherdess asks to keep his skin; he gives it to passers-by to sell it; they exchanged the skin for a cat and received gold for the cat; but the robbers robbed them; a shepherdess came to that place, collected coals and they turned into gold - as much as a cat cost; the shepherdess became the richest]: Muchnik 1944:25-26; Kyrgyz [Berdibek and Keldibek because of the dissolute temper is forced to leave his native places; Keldibek asked B. what instructions his father gave him; B.: taught him to learn, cheat and not to miss his own; K.: my father taught him to be honest, not to commit unworthy deeds, be content with little; the young men got a job as a labourer for two bais; B. agreed that in a year of work he will receive 4 sheep, K. - one; a year later it turned out that B. received 4 sheep by agreement, they they brought lambs, he became 8; he stole 4 more sheep from his owner, they also brought lambs, he had 16 sheep; K. received one sheep, but was bitten to death by a wolf; from the remains of the sheep he cut hair, twisted the rope and became gird yourself with it; B. mocks: your father was good, now walk with a rope on your belt; K. gave the rope to passing merchants, asked to sell it and buy something with this money; merchants in distant lands they exchanged the rope for a cat (not knowing that it was a cat), brought an outlandish animal to Keldibek; he gave the cat to other merchants, asking them to sell it and bring money; the merchants came to a city where mice and rats they ate the ears of young children; the authorities do not know what to do, they heard that there is a meowing animal that would help them; merchants brought a cat, it killed mice and rats; the authorities ruled that every street should give the cat a bowl of gold to the owner and 80 streets in the city; the townspeople handed over 20 donkeys loaded with gold to K.; 40 robbers got involved in the caravan; they tried to rob them at night, but the caravan was surrounded by an iron wall; the chieftain realized that there was some secret and decided to follow the caravan; the merchants decided that K. would have enough gold for 15 donkeys, and decided to keep the gold for 5 donkeys; at night the iron wall has lost one side; the chieftain follows; the merchants decided that K. would have enough gold and 5 donkeys; at night, only one side remained at the iron wall around the caravan; the next day, merchants decide to give K. only one donkey with gold; at night the wall disappeared, only a golden pillar remains; the robbers seized the caravan; the merchants are guilty of greed; the chieftain realizes that a miracle has happened, lets go caravan without touching anything; merchants give all the donkeys to Keldibek; he brings 20 donkeys with gold to his master, who praises him for his honesty, gives him a daughter; K. asks B. how he is doing; B.: made 40 sheep, but all died from the pestilence; K. talks about himself, persuades them to come to their senses; they return to their homes together, K. helps B. marry and settle in]: Sabyr uulu 2008:313-317.

(Wed. Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Dagurs [formerly, when old people lived to be 60, they were rolled off the roof and crashed; one man in the king's service hid his father in the cellar; the spirit walks in the royal palace at night; the king commands to guard, no one can find out, the servants are executed; when it is the turn of the man who hid his father, he teaches his son to go south to the deer, which has horns to the sky; go up to heaven by horns, ask there a remedy for the spirit; a deer asks to ask when its horns will fall off; after receiving two boxes, but without asking about the horns, a man descends, promising the deer to tell later; screams from the ground that the horns will fall now; they immediately fall like two trees; the man opened one box before reaching the house, an animal jumped out of there, ran away; carried the second box; went with it to the palace; a spirit appeared looking like a donkey; a man opened the box, the cat jumped out of it, rushed at the spirit; it became a rat, the cat killed it; the rats used to be huge; since cats appeared, rats no longer become rat spirits; the king ordered explain how the man managed to carry out the assignment; he talked about his father; the king forbade killing old people]: Kevin et al. 1994:80-81).