M197E. Wife is an unknown beast, ATU 1091.
.15.16.27.28.31.32.34.
When going to meet a demon or beast, a person brings his wife (rarely: grandfather), who is covered with resin and rolled in feathers, backs back on the carats, etc. understands what kind of animal is in front of him, and thus loses the argument, or gets scared and leaves.
Catalans, Spaniards, Italians (Ticino, Toscana, Lazio), Basques, Maltese, Irish, British, French, Walloons, Dutch, Flemish, Friesians, Germans (Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania ), Serbs, Slovenes, Bulgarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Russians (Arkhangelsk, Novgorod), Ukrainians (Galicia, Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kiev), Belarusians, Norwegians, Swedes, Western Sami, Finns, Karelians, Veps, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Komi, Tuvans.
Southern Europe. The Catalans [the peasant and the hell are arguing who will bring the most amazing animal; the devil brings a fresh bull, but the peasant guesses it's a bull; the peasant smears his grandfather with honey, dumps in feathers; hell doesn't know what kind of animal it is]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 1091:211; Spaniards: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1091:35; Italians (Ticino) [poor people have 11 children; father goes looking for happiness ; comes to a forest crossed by many paths; a gentleman appears (this is a devil), gives gold on the condition that in a year and one day a person will return and say how many paths there are in the forest, the so-called "Babylonian trails"; before the expiration of her term, the wife smeared herself with honey, lay in feathers, pretended to be an unprecedented bird; when she saw her, the devil said that she had lived 700 years and trampled 366 paths in the forest, and had never seen anything like this before; the husband came and named the number, the devil disappeared in the smoke and flame; the gold he gave did not disappear]: Keller 1981:116-120; Italians (Tuscany, Lazio): Cirese, Serafini 1975, No. 1091:263; Basques: Azcua 1942, No. 123 [the man sold his soul to the devil; he promised to let him go if he guessed how old the devil is; the old woman promises to arrange everything; lies down on the ground with her ass up; the devil says he lives 150 years, but I haven't seen this; this is how man was able to terminate the contract with the devil]: 343-344; Barandiaran 1962b [the devil volunteered to solve all problems if man gave him his soul; the contract will be terminated if man will say how old the devil is; the wife undressed, smeared herself with honey, feathered, removed the door threshold, and lay down in this place with her legs lifted; the devil said he had been living for so many years, and so on I did not see the threshold (barrera); the husband overheard, said to the devil, he had to leave]: 101-102; Webster 1879 [someone gives the poor man money on the condition that he later answers the question of how old the devil is; a person becomes rich, but begins to feel sad; when he finds out the reason, the wife tells him to smear honey, lie in feathers, walk around the devil when he comes; the devil says that he lives for so many years, and this He did not see the beast; having learned the secret, the man was not afraid of the devil]: 59-59; Maltese [a man promises a devil in his wife's soul if the devil fills the house with gold in three days; the wife suggests asking for more honey and feathers; a person must show the trait of an animal that the hell does not know; brings his wife with honey and feathers on her; (when the devil admits defeat), the person explains who is in front of him]: Mifsud-Chircop 1978, No. 1091:446.
Western Europe. The French (Dauphin) [husband and wife sowed wheat; the husband has gone to reap, but the devil and the devils are already reaping there; the devil has become attached to something that man once said; but will leave him a crop if he will guess how old he is; his wife undressed, smeared with honey, feathered, came screaming and shrimping; jiavol to devils: 10,000 years old as the devil, but I have never seen such a vile beast; when I heard the right answer, the devil said he leaves the crop to man, but let him dare to talk about what]: Joister 1991, No. 67.2:360-361; walloons [the wife is not happy that her husband squeezed the oats; "To hell with this harvest!" ; when the husband comes to pick up the harvest, the devil says that everything belongs to him; but let everyone bring tomorrow a beast whose name the other guesses; the man brought his wife, covered with honey and lying in feathers; hell didn't guess, and man easily named the animal that drew the devil]: Laport 1932, No. 1091:86; Irish, British, Dutch, Flemish, Friezes, Germans (Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania): Uther 2004 (2), No. 1091:35
The Balkans. Bulgarians: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. *500 [The Archangel promises to enrich the poor if he tells him how old he is in three years; otherwise he will take his soul (and the souls of his wife and children); twice the poor man answered incorrectly; the third time he told his wife to undress, smear honey and lie in feathers; the Archangel says he lives 720 years but has never seen such a monster], 1091 [hell disguised camel, but pop understands what kind of animal it is; he (on his wife's advice) brings his wife on a leash; hell doesn't understand if it's a person or an animal]: 177, 383; Serbs, Slovenes: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1091:35.
Central Europe. Russians (Arkhangelsk, Novgorod), Ukrainians (Galicia, Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kiev), Belarusians [Who will bring a more extraordinary animal: man comes to marry his wife]: SUS 1979, No. 1091:263; Russians Arkhangelskaya (Pustozersk, 1925) [A man plants turnips, turnips did not grow in the first year. He swears "The goblin would have all the turnips." In the second year, the turnip degenerated, the man starts collecting, the Leshy comes, says his turnips, he raised him. The man asks Leshy a task - if he guesses what the man will come for turnips, then Leshy's turnip. The old woman unweaves her hair, gets on all fours, the man rides her for turnips. The goblin can't guess who it is. Turnips go to an old man and an old woman]: Ozarovskaya 2009, No. 48:363-364; Poles [the devil claims to the harvest harvested by man; ready to give up if he brings a beautiful horse or shows a beast ( a bird) that the hell did not see; a man arrives on a naked wife who backs forward, or smears his wife with tar and dumps her in feathers]: Krzyżanowski 1963, No. 1030:11; Czechs, Slovaks : Uther 2004 (2), No. 1091:35
Baltoscandia. The Veps [the soldier stays in the house, is left overnight in a room where demons come at night; he plays the balalaika, demons fall from the ceiling, asks to be taught to play; the soldier promises to do this is the next night; promises the owner to drive out demons, for this he asks his daughter to marry; brings a barrel with a long plug; tells demons that it is necessary to learn to play in a barrel; pushes them, maims them, promises to go into forest; a year later they surround him in the forest; he asks for permission to send a letter to his wife; the wife comes backwards, bending down with her hair down; the soldier says that a bear is coming, demons are running away]: Onegina, Zaitseva 1996, No. 51:177-178; Karelians [someone steals turnips from a man from the field; a man catches a line; the devil claims that his field; suggests that the owner should be considered the owner of the one who comes on a more wonderful animal; hell he rode a hare; the old man sat on his wife, who is moving her bare ass towards the line; the devil pointed his finger, the old woman farted; the devil recognized the old man as the master of the field]: Onegin 2010, No. 52:463-464; Latvians [The harvest will go to whoever brings the most extraordinary animal. Damn brings his wife by stripping her off and combing her hair in advance. The devil has never seen such an animal, refuses to harvest]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 1091:341; Norwegians [the guy sold himself a trait and, in order to pay off, must show him a beast that hell does not know; he was rescued by a beggar who was covered with tar and feathered]: Hodne 1984:343; Swedes, Western Sami, Finns, Estonians, Lithuanians: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1091:35 .
Volga - Perm. Komi [the man and his wife sowed bread, but the land is bad and the man remembered the line; the harvest was good, but the hell appropriated it; he will give it to the man if he wins the guessing contest the beast brought; the devil brought the wolf; man: it's a wolf; the man told his wife to lift her skirt, back back, tilt her head with her hair loose; hell: long tail, no head, what kind of beast, I don't know; harvest got the man]: Fokos-Fuchs 1951, No. 2:36-41.
Southern Siberia - Mongolia. The Tuvans [the millet did not grow, the old man said, Let Azá (the devil) take it; Aza heard, the millet grew, Aza began to demand it for himself; they began to argue; the wife offered to ride it; Aza came in a yak, a man on his wife; she stood backwards to Aza and peed herself, the man said it was tears; Aza did not understand who it was, scared, left]: Katanov 1907:99-100.