M200. A young old donkey is lucky, ATU 1215.
.12.14.-.17.23.26.-.29.31.
Theold man and boy set off with a donkey. They try all the options: only an old man sits on a donkey, only a boy, both together, both walking next to a donkey, dragging a donkey with them. People make unflattering comments every time.
Bura, Moroccan Arabs (Berbers?) , Algeria, Egypt, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Aragon, Italians (Piedmont, Toscana, Lazio, Calabria), English, Irish, French, Dutch, Flemish, Frisians, Germans (Austria; and the north?) , Palestinians, Arabs from Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, northern India (Hindi?) , Malayals, Chinese (?) , Serbs, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Greeks, Czechs, Slovaks, Turks, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Finns, Norwegians.
West Africa. Bura [the poor man goes to the bazaar with his son and donkey; passers-by are dissatisfied, the father puts his son on a donkey; others believe that the father should ride, he has exchanged with his son; advice continue, the father puts his son with him; the poor man is told if he wants to torture the animal to death; the poor man and his son hang the donkey from the pole; when they reach the bazaar, the donkey is already dead; father to son: do what you think is necessary and don't listen to others]: Helser, African stories, pp. 43ff in Klipple 1992, no. J1041.2:382-383.
North Africa. Arabs of Morocco {possibly Berbers}, Algeria, Egypt: El-Shamy 2004, No. 1215:716.
Southern Europe. The Portuguese [a miller rides a donkey and his son follows; they change places; they both sit down; the miller drags the donkey on his back; every time passers-by say it's wrong to do this]: Cardigos 2006, No. 1215:267; Spaniards (Childers 1977, No. J1041.2): Uther 2004 (2), No. 1215:77-78; Italians (Piedmont, Tuscany, Lazio, Calabria): Cirese, Serafini 1975, No. 1215:77-78; Catalans [first grandfather puts his grandson on a donkey, passers-by say that it is ugly for an elderly person; when they switch places, passing by, they reproach their grandfather that the boy will be tired; when Both sit down, passers-by are dissatisfied again: they torture the poor animal; they decide that it is best not to listen to advice]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 1215:218-219; Aragon [people first reproach the peasant for that he leads a donkey with no one sitting on his back; then because he sat on a donkey with his son; for sitting a boy and walking himself; the farmer returned home not to listen to reproaches]: Gonz√° ; lez Sanz 1996:110-111; Maltese [the kidnapped man and his young son go to town leading a donkey; passers-by take care of the father when he puts his son on the donkey, when he sits on himself, and the boy walks when he walks when puts their son on a donkey behind them; they tied up a donkey and carry him on a stretcher - they laugh at them]: Mifsud-Chircop 1978, No. 1215:471.
Western Europe. The British, the Irish, the French, the Dutch, the Flemish, the Frisians, the Germans (Austria; and the North?) : Uther 2004 (2), No. 1215:77-78.
Western Asia. Palestinians, Arabs of Iraq, Saudi Arabia: El-Shamy 2004, No. 1215:716; Arabs of Lebanon, Iraq [father teaches son: do not what people do, but what you want; son in answer: listen to neighbors old and young; father suggests trying: take a donkey and walk next to him; people scold them; son sits on a donkey, father walks; same; they change places; sit on donkey together; same; father: so don't listen to others]: Nowak 1960, No. 328:292-293; Arabs of Oman [as in defining the motive; Jouha and his son]: Taibah, MacDonald 2016:51.
South Asia. North India (Hindi)? : North Indian Notes and Queries 5 in Thompson, Roberts 1960, No. 1215:134; Malayals [father and son took a donkey and went to the bazaar; people around them reproach them first for walking; then for walking that both were going; that it was hard for the donkey to carry them; they tied up a donkey and carried them on their teeth; crossing the river across a narrow bridge, they dropped them and the donkey drowned]: Menon 1995:26-27.
China - Korea. The Chinese (?) [2 sources; it is acceptable that they are really Han, although not the slightest guarantee]: Ting 1978, No. 1215.
The Balkans. Serbs [as a motive in defining; man and his son]: Vazhaev 1962:451-452; Bulgarians [when a son rides a donkey, people say he does not respect his father, when a father, he does not feel sorry for his son, Both sit down - they torture a donkey; then they tied a donkey to carry it on themselves, but dropped it into the river and it drowned]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 1215:; Hungarians, Romanians, Greeks: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1215:77-78.
Central Europe. Czechs, Slovaks: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1215:77-78; (cf. Ukrainians [Grinchenko's book "Kolosky" was published in Chernigov, but the SUS does not include this issue for any province, including Chernihiv; most likely, as in the case of the Russian version, copy from some foreign original]: Grinchenko 1898 in SUS 1979, No. 1215:274; Russians [in the inscription to the lubok, a summary of the plot; from the German original]: Rovinsky 1881:268-269).
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Turks (Amasya) [father and son go to the bazaar and bring a donkey; the peasant advises putting a son on a donkey; the other to sit down on their own; the third, let both sit down; on the advice of the fourth, the father and son carry donkey so that he would not get tired at all; on the bridge, the donkey started kicking, fell into the water and drowned; sometimes the hero of the story is Nasreddin Khoja]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 336:369.
Baltoscandia. Latvians [the mill is blamed for walking after his son, that he takes his son's place on a donkey, that he puts his son in front of him]: Aris, Medne 1977, No. 1215:344; Lithuanians, Finns , Estonians: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1215:77-78; Norwegians [passers-by reproach a person for riding a horse himself and his little son walking; they change places, passers-by reproach the boy that he is riding and his father is walking; at the end they carry a horse]: Hodne 1984:237.