Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue translated by Jon F White

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

M39A2a. A fool buys spoons and a table. .28.29.31.32.34.

A

fool buys spoons and/or a table, tells the table to go on its own feet, throws away spoons because they rattle. The two episodes are usually combined.

(Walloons), Russians (Tersky Bereg, Arkhangelskaya, Vologda, Moscow, Gorkovskaya), Tabasarans, Veps, Mari, Chuvash, Kazan Tatars, Kumandins.

(Wed. Western Europe. Walloons [mother sends Gribouille {Walloon fool's name} to buy a pot; G. leaves the pot on the way back: I have two legs and you have three, you can get there by yourself]: Carnoy 1883:179-180).

Central Europe. Russians (Teresky Bereg) [two smart brothers, the third is a fool; they decided to marry him; sent him to the bazaar to buy what he needed for the wedding; he bought it; gave the meat to crows, the millet to the birds, the table - let him buy it himself he goes, he has 4 legs; the brothers went by themselves; at that time he poured the braga on the floor, began to swim in it; went to the forest, the birch tree creaks, he hit it with an ax - why does it creak, money fell out of it; brothers sent to the ass to ask for a measure for money; father: no measure; he killed him, buried him in manure; the brothers killed and buried the ram, and lowered the father's body into the lake; the popadya is looking for her husband; fool: I buried him in a manure heap; he was told to dig; was he with horns, legs and fur? brothers: what to take from him; they never married a fool]: Balashov 1970, No. 139:385-387; Russians (Arkhangelskaya) [Ivan's younger brother was sent to buy spoons and salt; spoons are rattling, I. think they are teasing him a fool, threw them away; horses don't drink; he decided that the water in the river was unsalted, poured salt into the water; the frog is croaking; I. think they count his money (two, two); poured money into the swamp - count; brothers with father decided that there was nothing to take from a fool]: Drannikova 2002, No. 61:146-149; Russians (Vologodskaya) [two brothers are smart, they work, the third Ivan is a fool, only catches flies; his mother sent him to take him to his brothers a pot of dumplings; I. sees his shadow, thinks that a man throws dumplings, threw everything away, then the pot, it crashed; his brothers beat him, made the sheep herd, went to the village for lunch; the sheep became to wander away, I. punched their eyes; his brothers beat him again; for the holiday they sent him to the city to buy spoons, a table, food; when he went back, he ordered the table to go by itself - he has four legs like that horses; fed all the food to the crows - let the sisters eat; put pots and korchagi ("hats") on burnt stumps; the horse does not drink from the river - apparently, it does not want salt without salt, poured salt into the river; the horse still does not drink , I. killed her with a log; carried spoons, they rattle, he thinks they are teasing "Ivan the Fool"; he trampled on them; the brothers sent I. to collect what he threw away; he made a hole in the korchagi, put everything on one batog; at home he hears that the beer is wandering; he thinks that it is teasing him - he let him out and began to swim in the trough; the brothers sewed the fool into the kul, carried him to drown; left and went to inspect the ice-hole; the master goes to three; I. shouts that they want to make him a voivode, but he does not know how to judge; the master ordered him to be sewn into the kul; drowned; I. arrives at the top three - they gave at the bottom; the brothers ordered them to drown; I. drove home beer finish drinking and remembering brothers]: Gura 1965, No. 13:219-220 (=Burtsev 1895, No. 20:115-119); Russians (Moscow) [third brother is a fool; put a trap near the cellar; mother got caught, died; fool brothers: what kind of bird I caught; I took me on a sled to bury, on the bridge to meet the wagon train, the sled fell; fool: the sovereign's spinner was killed! the merchants paid off with money; the brothers sent them to buy spoons, pots, millet, and a table for the funeral; the fool put pots on the stakes (they stand without hats), poured millet into the daws (grandmother's children wanted to eat); the gate they creak (hungry, poured millet into the last two pots, put spoons); threw the table - let him go; you have to give the horse a drink, there is no deck near the well; passer-by: hooks to make it lower; fool first cut off the horse's front legs, and then the back legs; put the braga, she murmurs; the fool thinks he's teasing; he poured everything out, swims around the room in a trough; a fool is sent to a wake; he calls men without wives and children; sent for wives; then for children; he gathered them, decided that they were black, threw everything into boiling water, put on shirts - now white; this fool did leprosy like this]: Vedernikova, Samorodova 1998, No. 95:237-239; Russians (Gorkovskaya) []: Eremina et al. 1979, No. 8:176-178.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Tabasarans [fool Valyai-Morgan is the son of the khan; his father sent him to find a wife; he went to the bazaar, can I get a wife? everyone laughs; one person says his daughter is just as stupid; VM went on: the girl releases and then catches chickens, then grabs a bundle of eggs, then lets it go; her father told her that the eggs should be intact, and the chickens did not run away; the VM advises to tie the chickens to the hen; the hawk took everyone away at once; the girl's father beat the VM, left her daughter in the barn; VM was there; at night they stabbed a cow and a donkey without understanding decided to run; when they found out that VM was the son of the khan, the girl's father gave her to him and sent her to the khan; the VM had to drag the bed, and the girl was supposed to carry cups, spoons and boxes of tea and sugar; VM beds: I have two legs, and There are four of you, go by yourself; they threw what the girl was carrying at the spring to come to him for tea; everyone thought that VM had found a suitable wife for him]: Khalilov, Osmanov 1989:234-236.

Baltoscandia. The Veps (Pondala, 1957) [from an inventory of texts stored in the archives of the Karelian Scientific Center: a fool is at home, rolls around the hut in a trough; his brothers send him shopping; he buys butter, flour, chairs, a table; on the way back to make the horse eat and drink, pours flour into the ice-hole; lubricates ice cracks with oil; throws away the table and chairs: they have four legs each - they can walk by themselves; the brothers want to run away from fool, but they can't do it]: Onegin, Zaitseva 1996, No. 176:215.

Volga - Perm. Marie [of three sons, the youngest Koksha is a fool; his mother sent them to buy cups and spoons; he carries them home, spoons are knocking, K. thinks they are teasing him, he trampled on them; he saw stumps, decided that they were cold, put cups on them like hats; their mother sent them to buy meat, K. gave it to the dogs when they started barking, thought they were cold; their mother began to scold; K. came to the stumps, began to beat them with a stick: where did they go hats; the third stump split, it contains gold; when approaching the house, he began to beat the dogs, one of them spoiled with money in pain; K. brought all the money to his mother; (the second half of the text is omitted)]: Tudorovskaya, Eman 1945:99-100; Chuvash (Western 1913) [of the three brothers, the youngest Peter is bald; after the harvest, when it is necessary to prepare beer, he is sent to the bazaar to buy malt, bowl spoons, butter, salt, and a table; he bought everything, it is difficult for him to carry what he bought on foot; sat on the table, told him to become a horse; the table is in place; P.: if you don't want to run on four legs, you'll run on three; then two, one; finally broke the table; thinks that the spoons are in "Bald" teased him in his pocket, threw them away and trampled them; mixed the malt in the river; decided that the beer was good, but there was not enough salt, threw salt into the water; the gate posts cracked from the heat, P. sympathizes with them, oiled; the brothers scolded P., bought everything themselves, told P. to invite guests; he tells men to come, women to stay; he is sent for women, P. tells them to leave their children; they send them for children; P. loaded them on a cart, the children were crying, he killed them, crushed them with oppression, put a piece of snow in everyone's hands; said that the children were in the bathhouse, he gave them a piece of sugar; Bald was beaten; the brothers decided to run away from him, he hid in the kul, where they put the crackers; the brothers sat down, decided to eat, P. jumped out; had to return, P. corrected himself]: Chuvash tales 1937:152-155; Kazan Tatars [mother sent a stupid son to the bazaar; he bought a table, spoons, salt and some things; when he saw him, the pigeon stopped drinking water; the fool thought that because the water was unsalted, he poured salt into the water; the spoons began to rattle; fool decided that they were planning to kill him, threw him away; the horse was tired, the fool left the table on the road - let him go, he has 4 legs; the next ra his mother tells him to say hello if he meets a person, if he meets a person counting money, count with him; the fool saw dogs crossed, greeted him, began to count his fingers; dogs tore his clothes; mother: they must be beaten; the fool took a stick, killed him the old man, left it in the flour cellar; the mother killed the goat, changed the body; the fool told the wife and children of the victim where the body was; he was told to get the body; he asks if the old man had horns; people left]: Nasyrov, Polyakov 1900, No. 2:13-14; (cf.; Kazan Tatars [there will be guests; the old man sent his son to the bazaar to buy flour, salt, eggs, butter, spoons, plates; he found nothing, returned the money; the same middle son; younger Taz bought everything, goes home through the forest; regretted the stumps without hats, placed a hundred plates on a hundred stumps; the horse got drunk, but does not drink anymore; so the water is unsalted - he poured salt into the lake; to feed the horse, poured out five pounds of flour, mixed it with water, the horse liked it; the wheels creak - smeared it with three pounds of oil; and then threw the cart and drove the horse away when it stumbled; threw spoons to the crows; when he reached the house, fell into the well; the corpse was pulled out, the guests were abandoned]: Zamaletdinov 2009, No. 149:462-463).

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Kumandins [two brothers sow bread, send a third fool to herd sheep; sheep run away, he gouges out their eyes; next time they don't want to cross the river; they're probably afraid to soak their shoes, he he took it off - cut off their legs; he was sent to the city to buy cups, spoons, pots, salt, and a table for the holiday; on the way back he sees burnt stumps - the brothers freeze without a hat, put pots on their stumps; kites scream - puts oats into their cup; at the table there are 4 legs - let him go; the horse does not drink water in the river - he does not want it without salt, the fool pours salt into the river; the horse still does not drink, he kills him; the brothers put the fool in a bag, carried him to drown, left him while looking for an ice-hole; the sick son of the priest is coming, the fool says he is in the bag to recover; the priest's son climbs into the bag, the fool goes to him horses; tells his brothers what he caught at the bottom; brothers ask them to drown, the fool got rich]: Baskakov 1972:185-188.