M171C. In exchange for a thorn, ATU 2034F. .14.15.17.23.27.29.30.
At the character's request, another removes a thorn from his body (cuts off the tip of his tail, etc.). The thorn (the tip of the tail) is gone or, when it is removed, the character is injured. As a result, he is reimbursed for something more valuable than what he lost.
Kabils, Portuguese, Nepalis, Bengalis, Kannadas, Tamils, Greeks, Nogais, Kumyks, Dargins, Lezgins, Rutulans, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Kurds, Persians, Tajiks.
North Africa. Kabila [the jackal asks the woman to pull the thorn out of his leg; she pulls it out; the jackal demands his thorn back, the woman cannot find it, she has to give an egg in return; the jackal sleeps in the house asks to put an egg under the owner's chicken for the night, breaks the egg at night, smears the chicken's beak with yolk, the owner has to give the chicken instead of the egg; in the next house: chicken to goats, kills the chicken, smears it a goat's face with blood, gets a goat; also: a goat for a cow; a cow for a horse; people bury an old woman, a jackal exchanges her body for a mare; comes to the newlyweds house, asks to put his sick mother for the night on bed next to the bride; cut the corpse's throat; in the morning accuses the bride for stabbing his mother, the groom's father gives the bride a jackal; he carried her in a sack; he stayed in the house, it turned out to be his parents' house girls; the jackal went for a drink, the girl called her father, he released her, put two dogs in the bag; the jackal carried him, stopped, began to sing about how he changed the thorn for an egg, etc., opened the bag, the dogs they tore it up, returned home]: Frobenius 1921b, No. 6:19-24;
Southern Europe. The Portuguese (Coimbra) [the cat went to the barber to trim his beard; he also advised him to shorten his tail; on the way home, the cat decided that the barber had no right to keep what was cut off; because he could not get the tip of his tail back, the cat took the knife; when he saw a fish merchant who did not have a knife, the cat gave her his own, and then returned and demanded it back; the merchant gave him fish in exchange for the knife; the miller ate bare bread, the cat gave him fish; demanded back, but the fish had already been eaten, the miller gave him a kul of flour; the girls did not have flour; the cat gave his kul and then demanded that it be returned; if they did not give it, he took it the girl; gave her to the laundress as an assistant, she did not return it, the cat took his shirt; the violinist did not have a shirt, the cat gave it, the violinist did not return it, the cat took the violin; climbed the tree and began to play, singing about how everyone else was]: Coelho 1879, No. 11:19-20.
South Asia. Nepali [the jackal's wife gives birth; he came to the goat to ask for someone from her family to help with childbirth; only the youngest goat agreed; when he came to the jackals, she saw that she was going there eat, ran back; the goats fenced his house with thorns; the jackal poked in his face, stabbed his face; asked the blacksmith to remove the splinter, he cut his face, the jackal demanded a knife in return; came to the potter, offered a knife cut clay, the knife broke, the jackal got a pot for it; he came to a woman who milks a cow into a vessel of leaf, gave a pot, the cow broke it, the jackal took a cow in return; the peasant plows, the wife pulls the plow ; the jackal put the cow in the plow, she injured her leg, he took the peasant's wife; people were baking cakes, the jackal offered his woman to bake them; she burned himself with butter; the jackal began to eat cakes, went then, the children stole the cakes, the jackal took the drum, climbed a tree, began to beat the drum, fell and crashed]: Heunemann 1980, No. 19:142-145; Bengalis: Bradley-Birt 1920 [the jackal set up a school, the crocodile taught his seven children; the jackal ate them; the crocodile hid in the water, grabbed the jackal by the leg; he put a bunch of reeds in him: both my legs are in place, you grabbed the reeds; the crocodile released jackal's leg; next time pretended to be dead; jackal: the crocodile is alive because the dead must move its tail and ears; the crocodile does so; the jackal ran away, the shepherds saw the crocodile and drove it away; the jackal began to eat eggplants from the bush, stabbed his nose; asked the barber to pull out his thorn, who cut his nose; for this, the jackal took away his iron tool; the potter dug clay, the jackal gave him a tool to test, he accidentally broke it, got a pot; the participants in the wedding procession accidentally broke the vessel, the jackal got a bride for it; went to pick up a clergyman for the wedding, leaving his wife and drummer's wife; she cut vegetables and accidentally cut the girl in half; the jackal demanded her husband's drum in return; climbed a tree, began singing about his adventures; fell into the canal, the crocodile ate it]: 186-190; Siddiqui, Lerch 1998 [The jackal asked the barber to pull the thorn out of his nose; he accidentally cut off the tip of his nose, for which he gave his knife to cut off his nails; the potter dug the clay with his bare hands, the jackal gave him a knife, which immediately broke down, the potter gave the clay jug; a wedding procession was passing by the jackal, a rocket hit the jug, which crashed; the jackal was given to the bride; the jackal left the bride with the drummer's wife, followed the priest perform a wedding ceremony; the bride dozed off, fell into the fire and burned; the drummer's wife hid her body, climbed onto the roof herself; the jackal threatened to burn her daughter, the drummer's wife gave the jackal her best drum husband; the jackal climbed a tree, began to beat the drum and sing about how it was; fell and crashed to death]: 130-135; kannada [the monkey pricked its tail, asked the barber to pull out the splinter, he accidentally cut off the entire tail, the monkey demanded a razor for it; let the potter cut the clay with a razor, the razor broke, the monkey got a pot; let the peasant water the cucumbers, he dropped it and broke it a pot; the monkey received a cucumber; gave a peasant who ate bare bread, demanded it back, got an ox; gave the acrobats, the ox was soon dead, the acrobats gave a drum in return; the monkey began to beat the drum and sing about everything that happened]: Ramanujan 1997, No. 39:109-111; Tamils [the monkey stabbed the tip of its tail, asked the barber to pull out a splinter, he accidentally cut off the tip of his tail, monkey demanded it back, the barber gave the razor; the monkey invited the woman to cut wood with it, the razor became dull, the monkey received a bunch of firewood in return; gave firewood to the woman who baked cakes; when they burned down, she demanded it back, got a basket of cakes; exchanged it from the pariah for a drum, climbed a tree with it, began to beat the drum and sing about what had happened]: Natesa Sastri 1884-1888, No. 14:182-184.
The Balkans. The Greeks [the rooster found the thorn, gave it to the baker, who threw it into the oven, the rooster demanded it back, took the pies, gave it to the butcher, who fed them to the sheep, the rooster took the sheep, brought it to the wedding, stabbed them, then demanded back, took the bride, took him to a cave in the mountains; the groom and his father found a cave and shot the rooster, fried it, ate it]: Dawkins 1916:521-523.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Nogais [a woman was baking bread in a tandoor; a thorn pierced the rooster's leg; he asked the woman to pull her out and throw it into the tandoor; the thorn burned down, the rooster demanded that it be returned, grabbed it and carried away the cake ; gives it to the shepherd to eat, demands it back, takes the sheep; gives it to the khan, who gives it to the daughter; the sheep is eaten, the rooster demanded that it be returned or given to him by the bride; the khan twisted his neck, the rooster was eaten]: Nogai 1979, No. 4:14-16; Kumyks [the fox asked the woman to remove the thorn from her leg; the woman threw a thorn into the fire; the fox demanded bread in return, the woman did not give it, the fox grabbed the bread, ran away; she also exchanged bread for chicken, chicken for lamb, lamb on girl, left the bag with the girl by the cliff; the shepherds found it, freed the girl, put the puppies in her place; the fox hugged the bag, the puppies screamed, the fox from fear fell off a cliff, crashed]: Ganiyeva 2011a, No. 113:276-278; Dargins [the bird asked the woman to remove the thorn; she pulled out and threw the thorn into the fire; the bird demands the thorn back, gets three loaves; gives bread to shepherds, demands back, gets a ram; sold a ram at the bazaar, bought a cow; sold a cow, brought a bride; sold the bride, bought an accordion; flew up a tree, began singing, oh what happened to her]: Ganiyeva 2011a, No. 112:273; Lezgins [the sparrow asked the old woman to remove the thorn from his leg; she took it out, threw it into the fire; the sparrow demanded the thorn back, the old woman gave it to him seven lavashes; he gave them to shepherds who were drinking milk; then demanded back, they gave him seven sheep; flew to the wedding, danced with the bride, and slaughtered the sheep, served kebabs; the sparrow demanded either return sheep, or give it to the bride; got the bride, exchanged her for saz, began to play; a hawk appeared, the sparrow dropped the saz, he crashed; since then the sparrow has been flying and singing]: Khalilov 1965, No. 2:12-13; Rutultsy [ the bird stabbed her leg; none of the women want to pull out the thorn - the child will cry; Gulsenem pulled it out in the bakery, threw it into the fire; the bird demanded the thorn back, took the bakery in return, gave it to storage to the shepherd; the chick broke it, the bird got the chick; the bird gave her ashuga, who stabbed the heifer, gave her chngur; the bird began to play it, sing a song about taking the girl as his wife]: Ganiyeva 2011a, No. 111:272; Georgians: Chikovani 1954, No. 93 (Kartley) [poor half a chicken stabbed his leg, asks the baker to pull out the thorn, he pulled it out, threw it into the oven; P. demands a thorn back, threatens to smash everything , the baker gives him bread; he shares bread with the shepherds, demands it back, gets a ram; lets him slaughter a ram at a wedding, demands it back, gets a bride in return; sees a flute playing, exchanges the pipe at the bride, playing the flute, sings about what he exchanged for]: 402-403 (=1986:35-36); Kurdovanidze 2000, No. 170* [does the sparrow give the old woman a splinter {which she pulled him out?} ; the old woman throws it into the fire, the sparrow demands the splinter back and gets a piece of bread in return; gives bread to the shepherds, they ate it, the sparrow gets the sheep; then the bride for the sheep, the chonguri for the bride ( plucked musical instrument); dropped it from a tree and the chonguri crashed]: 22; Armenians [the sparrow stabbed his leg, asked the old woman to pull out the splinter, returned to demand the thorn back; when he found out that she threw a thorn into the tonir, demanded it and received lavash; gave it to the shepherd, who was sipping milk without bread, demanded a lamb; offered to slaughter it to the audience at the wedding, demanded it back, took it away in return bride; told ashuga to look after the bride; when he returned, he began to demand saz in return, took him away, began to sing and play]: Tumanyan 1984:116-118; Azerbaijanis [Jik-jik-khanum pricked her leg, asked the grandmother to pull out the thorn, she threw the thorn at the tandoor, the bird demanded the thorn back, took the churek; offered it to the shepherd, and when he ate it, she demanded it back, took the ram; gave it for the king's wedding, when he was eaten, demanded him back, took his bride, exchanged him for saz from ashuga; began singing about how everything happened; a nut fell from the tree and killed her]: Bagriy, Zeynally 1935:466-469; Turks : Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 19 [sparrow (raven, rooster, Keroglan) asked the woman to pull out a splinter, she threw it into the oven, he demanded to give him the stove (tandoor); then he got a calf (sheep) for the stove; the calf was stabbed to death at the wedding; he got a bride for it; the shepherd changes it for a flute or drum]: 37-38; Poynter 1916 [the sparrow pricked his leg, asked the baker to pull out the thorn, he pulled it out and threw it into fire; the sparrow demanded the thorn back, got bread; gave it to the shepherds, who crumbled the ground into milk; demanded it back, took the lamb; gave the lamb to those gathered for the wedding who wanted to cook a dog ; demanded back; got the bride; exchanged her for a drum, flew up for a willow over the river, began to beat the drum and sing about his deeds; fell and drowned]: 311-313; Kurds [the old woman cannot light a fire in tandoor; the sparrow asks to pull the splinter out of his paw, put it on the dung, the fire will ignite; demands to return the splinter or give the cake; gives it to the shepherd to chop it in milk; demands 7 rams for the cake and lamb; offers his herd to people who are celebrating their wedding; demands and receives a bride for them; changes her to a shepherd's pipe; since that day everything has been chirping about it]: Jalil et al. 1989, No. 188:494-495.
Iran - Central Asia. Persians [the sparrow stabbed its paw, and the old woman cannot make a fire; the sparrow asks her to pull out his thorn, burn it, and then give him a cake; but while the sparrow was pecking the grains, his cake the old woman gave the dervish; then the sparrow took away all her cooked dough; brought tortillas to the shepherds on the condition that they would not eat without it; but they ate everything and he took their sheep; at the wedding they wanted To slaughter the dog, for there were no sheep; the sparrow gave him a ram, but he did not leave pilaf and he took the bride; flew to where the groom was and the bride was not; gave it back on the condition that after the wedding the bride would be returned to him; they did not give it to him, and he took the drum; sat on the fence, began to beat the drum and sing, telling him everything that had happened; prevented the old woman from praying; she cursed the sparrow, the wind snatched his drum, he fell and crashed]: Rosenfeld 1958:66-69; Tajiks (Maidon Gods, Samarkand Province) [the sparrow asked the old woman to pull out his thorn, bake it in a tandoor; demanded it back, took 10 cakes by the thorn; the man eats meat with mutton manure, the sparrow gave him bread, took the ram; ordered to another to slaughter his ram, took his daughter-in-law for it; a man was looking for a daughter-in-law, the sparrow gave her; demanded her back, the old woman said that after the wedding, the daughter-in-law was sent (to her husband); the sparrow asked received a dutar for his daughter-in-law]: Levin et al. 1981, No. 101:173.