M163A. What do cats eat? .15.-.17.27.28.-.31.

After people who were tortured by mice finally got a cat, they fear that it will now eat them themselves.

Spaniards, Catalans, Germans (Grimms), Frisians, Arameans, Bulgarians, Czechs, Eastern Ukrainians, Turks, Persians, Seto.

Southern Europe. Spaniards (Murcia) [a person sells a cat to people who suffer from rats; when he is about to leave, he is asked what the animal eats; they understand the answer as "he will eat everyone"; they leave in horror village]: Hernández Fernández 2013, No. 1651:251; Catalans (Mallorca included) [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 has killed rats, people kill him because they are afraid that he will now eat them themselves]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 1651:263.

Western Europe. The Germans [when he died, the father gave the eldest son a rooster, the middle son a braid, the youngest a cat; the eldest went to an island where they did not know how to keep track of time; residents gave as much gold for the rooster as he could carry a donkey; the middle one came to people who cut ears by firing cannons with cannons with nuclei; received as much gold for the braid as the horse could take away; the youngest went to an island where people were tortured by mice, received for a cat two mules loaded with gold; after killing the mice, the cat wanted to drink and began to meow; the king and subjects were frightened and decided to expel the monster; the cat did not leave, but continued to meow; they opened fire on the castle from cannons; the cat ran away and the castle was destroyed]: Grimm, Grimm 2002, No. 70:251-252 (=Grimm, Grimm 1987:210-212); the friezes [die Fäkingee suffered from mice; a stranger sold them a cat and mice disappeared; the stranger said that the cat would now find food for itself; then Fälinger remembered that they forgot to ask what the cat eats; he replied with what you would give it; they understood: you ( a play on words); they tried to catch the cat, but it slipped alone between his legs; 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 residents calmed down]: Sundermann 1870:59-61.

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 as well; the elder ordered them to leave their homes and move into the field; then destroy houses; cut down trees; burn them 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.

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.

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 a cat]: Němcová 1990:305-313; Eastern Ukrainians (Poltava) [Once upon a time, gypsies lived in a big city, after being frightened by an ordinary cat, parted and became to travel, to "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 build the city again]: Strizhevsky 1905, No. 17:35-37.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. 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 she will now eat them, they are leaving the villages]: 56.

Iran - Central Asia. Persians: 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 destroys mice; the shah gave him money and the poor man brought a cat; but one cat was not enough, the poor man received more money, brought several cats, but 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 how to feed them, when there are no mice; the man wanted to say it was meat, but said that the Shah's head was {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 came in; at this time, the cat accidentally jumped out of the window onto the horse's saddle, grabbed it, the horse galloped and just where the Shah was hiding; he fainted in fear]: 104-107; Osmanov 1987 [older brother inherited a ladder from his father, the middle one a drum, the youngest a cat; the eldest 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 under looking like this man, he takes money; a pack of wolves broke into the middle yard, he began to beat 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 dancing on behalf of the padishah, the merchant had to pay for them; the younger 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 told her drown, the rider put her on the saddle to throw her into the river, but fell and drowned himself; the cat rode a horse, people fled in horror, the cat inherited the whole country]: 377-378.

Baltoscandia. 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; he advised him to take a king cat for them; when he left, he asked what this king was eating; people: meat and fat (lihha ja rasva); and he heard that the 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; it so happened 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 grain shovel, the elder brother inherited a grain shovel, the middle brother the eldest came to the owners, who did not know the shovels, they gave three shovels of money for the shovel; the middle one sat down by the lake, began to unwind the ball; answered the waterman that he was going to braid the lake so that no one would enter and did not go out; the waterman paid off in gold; the youngest came to a village where there is no end to mice; he suppressed all the mice, the owner gave him as much money as the cat himself; they forgot to ask what the cat eats, when the mice ran out; sent the boy after, 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 the elder brother]: 113-116.