M168B. Crooked stick. .29.
Abird or person who becomes a bird is tasked with bringing a stick that is neither straight nor crooked. This bird is still looking for it.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Armenians: Harutyunyan 2007 [God promised to make the first person to fly to him king of birds; chapar (chapar - "wattle fence", cit - "bird") climbed under the eagle's wing, he soared up; when he sat down to rest, H. came to God; God ordered to bring a twig so that it would not be short or long, crooked or straight; since then he has been looking under the fence, saying, No, no, not the same, no]: 46; Lalayants 1904, No. 10 (Elizavetpol Gubernia) [the same text, apparently; the bird is a jay]: 206; Azerbaijanis [the man promised to appoint the bird that would fly the highest as padishah; an eagle flew up, but a finch flew out of its feathers and turned out to be more above; the man told him that since he won by cunning, let him complete another task: he would bring the stick neither straight nor crooked; the finch is still looking for it, and the eagle became the padishah of the birds]: Nabiev 1988:267 ; talyshi [to reject the poor young man's offer, the padishah promises to give him a daughter if he brings a stick that is not crooked or straight; the young man asked God to turn him into a bird and give him freedom to fly around the world looking for the right stick; God turned it into a goldfinch; watching him, you can see how the goldfinch always takes a piece of stick and, looking at it from both ends, puts it on the ground and looks for another]: Asatryan 2005:9-10.