M39a2c. Salt is sown ATU 1200, J1932.3. .13.15.16.23.27.-.32.34.
A fool (or a character pretending to be crazy) sows salt (small objects) like a grain.
Sakho, Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians (Lazio, Campania, Abruzzo, Puglia), Latins, French, Walloons, Flemish, English, Germans (Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, Switzerland, Austria), Dogri, Punjabi, Rajastans, (Ancient Greece), Bulgarians, Macedonians, Greeks, Serbs, Bosnians, Croats, Slovenes, Romanians, Hungarians, Poles, Slovaks, Northern and Eastern Ukrainians (Volyn, Kherson) , Belarusians (Minsk), Russians (Tver, Gorkovskaya), Russian written tradition, Crimean Tatars, Urums, Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Turks, Tajiks (?) , Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, Faroese, East Sami (Inari), Finns, (Karelians), Estonians, Livonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Kazan Tatars, Siberian Tatars. {Not all sources referred to by Uther 2004 in connection with type 1200 contain this motif - in Turkish and Arabic indexes and in the tiger text ( Eberhard, Boratav 1953; El-Shamy 2004; Littmann 1910) he's not there}.
Sudan - East Africa. Sakho [parents send their stupid son on a shopping trip and give him several thalers; their son's friends ask them to show them coins; when he does, they say that the thalers are old and needed sow to raise new ones; a fool agrees and sows coins; friends advise him to go to his parents for new thalers before he raises his own; a fool comes to his parents, talks about everything and asks for "fresh" thalers; parents are angry, they go to where he sowed coins, but find nothing - their son's comrades have already taken everything]: Reinisch 1889, No. 8:243-244.
Southern Europe. Spaniards (Murcia) [fools sow needles; the expression is used as an insult to locals]; Portuguese [fools sow salt or sardines hoping that salt (sardines) will grow]: Cardigos 2006, No. 2000:266; Italians (Lazio, Campania, Abruzzo, Puglia): Cirese, Serafini 1975, No. 1200:271; Latins ["The First Vatican Mythograph" (compiled at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennium) by an unknown medieval compiler): "When Palamed was assembling an army in Greece, he brought Ulysses, who pretended to be crazy, against his will. Namely, when he planted <пашню> salt and harnessed animals of different nature, Palamed gave him a <в бороüду> son. When Ulysses saw him, he stopped the plow and, taken to war, had enough reasons to grieve" (taken from Serv. Aen. II. 81; per. V.N. Yarkho)]: I Myth. Vat. I. 35. 1-2 (cf. ["Myths" attributed to Guy Julius Gigin, who lived at the turn of the eras, but most likely date back to the 1st and 2nd centuries: "When Agamemnon and Menelaus, sons of Atreus, gathered leaders who swore to go to Troy, they arrived at Ithaca to Ulysses, Aart's son, who was predicted that if he went under Troy, he would return home in twenty years poor and lost his companions. So when he found out that ambassadors were coming to him, pretending to be crazy, he put on a hat and put a horse and a bull into the plow. When Palamed saw him, he realized that he was pretending, took Telemach from the cradle of his son, put him under the plow and said: Leave pretense and go with the rest of the sworn ones. Ulysses then confirmed he would go. Since then, he has become hostile to Palamed" (trans. D.O. Torshilova)]: Hyg. Fab. 95).
Western Europe. French (Gascony, Bladé 1886.III: 130ff), Flemish, British, Germans (Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, Switzerland, Austria): Uther 2004 (2), No. 1200:72; Germans (no place of recording, but Schwarzenborn in Hessen) [Schwarzenborn residents sowed their remaining salt to grow their own; only hot nettles grew]: Hansen 2002:414; walloons [the joker convinced the simpletons that salt brings a wheat-like plant; they sowed salt; when they thought the sprouts appeared, they decided to weed the crop; so as not to spoil the seedlings by leaving them in the field traces, the weeder is placed on a stretcher and transferred to the middle of the field; as a result, the field was so trampled that the salt did not rise]: Laport 1932, No. 1200:87; Germans (written tradition) [folk book" Schildburgers, the amazing, bizarre, unheard of and hitherto undescribed adventures and deeds of the aforementioned inhabitants of Schilda from Misnopotamia, behind Utopia" (1598; first edition entitled "Das Das Lalenbuch" was published in Strasbourg in 1597): the inhabitants of Schilde mixed up their legs, and no one could recognize their own; they were going to use a cow to remove the grass from the ancient wall; built a windowless town hall and wore there is light in bags; they sowed salt; as a result of their "adventures and deeds", Schilda burns to the ground; left homeless, nameburghers with wives and children spread around the world, spreading stupidity everywhere]: Purishev 1955 : 216.
South Asia. The Sowing of Salt: Thompson, Roberts 1960, No. 1200:134 (citing Brown W.N. Tawi tales. MS in Indiana University Library); Punjabi {Punjab}, Rajastans {indicated Rajasthan} [The Sowing of Salt]: Jason 1989, No. 1200:46; the Rajastans [three deceivers decided to farm, bought a field and planted it with salt; with the onset of winter, the field became covered with frost in the morning, which the deceivers mistaken for salt; by lunchtime, the hoarfrost melted, the field turned black again and the deceivers remained perplexed; thinking that someone was robbing them, they ambushed them; when the birds arrived in the field, they became shoot him; a frightened bird sat on the chest of one of the deceivers; the other shot it and hit his friend; he died; the other two decided to stop farming and return to their own still craft]: Roy Chaudhury 1972, No. 11:68-72.
The Balkans. Macedonians, Greeks, Serbs, Bosnians, Croats, Slovenes, Romanians: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1200:72; Bulgarians [fools sowed salt, but she did not rose; they think someone ate it]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 1200:396; Hungarians [fools sow salt like grain and wait for a rich harvest; nettles grow in the sown field]: Kovács, Benedek 1990a, No. 1200:39-40, 429; (cf. Ancient Greece (references to Odysseus' feigned madness are repeatedly found in Greek sources, but they do not contain episodes with salt): Lycophr. Alex. 815-819 ["Alexander" by Lycophron (3rd century BC): "It would be better, miserable, to be in your homeland /Stayed, chasing bulls across the field, /Tying a donkey in a yoke to them as a worker, /Portraying feigned madness,/ Why is it so evil to experience the test!" (per. I.E. Surikova)]; Luc. De dom. 30 ["On the House" by Lucian Samosatsky (2nd century): "Further, Odysseus, pretending to be insane when he had to go camping with the Atrids against his will: the ambassadors have already arrived to hand over he is invited; the whole setting corresponds to the game played by Odysseus: a wagon and a ridiculous team of animals, Odyssey's imaginary misunderstanding of what is happening around him. However, he is found to be his offspring: Palamed, the son of Nafplius, who understands what is happening, grabs Telemachus, threatens to kill him with a naked sword and responds to feigned madness with feigned anger. Odysseus, in fear for his son, suddenly recovers, his father affects him, and the game stops" (trans. N.P. Baranova)]; Hansen 2002 [Sophocles had the tragedy "The Mad Odyssey", the text of which is almost completely lost; the salt-sowing Odyssey is explicitly mentioned only in Servius's commentary to Virgil ( end of the 4th century) {see data on Latins}; whether this episode occurred in the ancient Greek tradition remains unknown]: 414-415).
Central Europe. Poles [fools sow salt hoping it will grow like grain, or plant horns in the belief that they will grow into calves]: Krzyżanowski 1963, No. 1200:26; Slovaks: Uther 2004 (2 ), No. 1200:72; Ukrainians (Volyn, Kherson), Belarusians (Minsk) [Fools sow salt]: SUS 1979, No. 1200:273; Belarusians (Minsk Gubernia, Slutsky District) [the man sowed rye, then buckwheat did not degenerate; salt did not rise either; he saw bear tracks, thought that because of the bear, he turned to the ass; found a hollow where the bear, the pop, the bear bit off his head ; the priest was pulled out, they began to argue whether there was a head; the worker does not remember; the farmhand scratched her braids's ass, but did not remember whether the head was either]: Vasilenok et al. 1958:238-239 (Belarusian original in Shane 1893, No. 145: 311-312); Russians (Tverskaya, Andreanopol district, 1926) [townspeople sowed salt in autumn; nothing in spring, only a wolf trail across the field; decided that the salt had risen, but the wolf took it away; one climbed into the wolf a hole; when it was pulled out, there was no head; they don't remember - was it? went to his wife; "Yak slurped jelly, his beard was shaking"]: Barashevich, Ponomareva 2000, No. 21:240; Russians (Gorkovskaya) [for maternal funeral, two older brothers send Vanyushka to the bazaar; he bought flour, salt, skulls {pots}, table, spoons; on the way back, the horse was exhausted, got up; V. decided that it wanted to drink, leads to the river; the horse does not drink; V. poured all the salt into the water - still does not drink; scored horse, she drowned; drags the cart himself; promises to deal with spoons - why are they rattling; puts the table on the ground - let him go; the bushes swing in the wind - he wants hats, planted pots on the branches; flew off jackdaws, crows, V. poured out all their flour; threw the cart, came on foot; the brothers told them to bring children to the wake as well; there is no cart with a horse, V. drags the harrow and throws the children on their teeth; people ran away, took children who are alive]: Eremina et al. 1979, No. 8:176-178; Russian written tradition ["The Story of the Creation and Captivity of Troy", which was probably compiled for the first edition of the Russian the chronograph at the end of the 15th century and is an abbreviated retelling of The Parables of Kralekh, supplemented by extracts from the main text of Konstantin Manasseh's Chronicle (hundreds of manuscripts of the 16th-18th centuries; translated from Chronograph list of 1512): Menelaus and Agamen "gathered a strong army. And Ayaksh, the son of Solomons, came to their aid with thirty ships. And then Palamed, the son of the Prideks, came with thirty ships. And after that, a man, named Urekshish, son of Lantes, pretended to be crazy so as not to be involved in the Trojan bloodshed, began to plow sand and sow salt. The kings also ordered his baby son to be thrown in front of the plow. "And if," they said, "he's crazy, he'll cut it." And as soon as they left, he stopped the ox and stopped plowing. And they took him to the kings. And Urekshish said: "I'd rather run with a rabid dog for three years than take communion of the Trojan blood that will be shed because of Elena Queen!"] : Likhachev et al. 2003:198-199.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Crimean Tatars [elders came to Ahmet-Ahai with a request to teach them how to extract salt; he said that salt is sown and reaped; the elders were happy and planted it in the field; ten years have passed months, the salt did not grow; the elders turned to A.-A. again; he asked if they had watered it, and when he found out that they had not watered it, he drove them out; the following year, the elders sowed salt again and almost daily it was watered; it did not grow again; A.-A. comforted the people by saying that the soil in their area was unable to reproduce salt]: Kondaraki 1875:116; urums [there are two entries on the story of Sachtylar Tuz (" They sowed salt")]: Garkavets 1999:17; Georgians [fools sow salt]: Kurdovanidze 2000, No. 1200:85; Armenians (Mox) [the Sursians plowed the field and sowed salt so as not to buy it again; after two The day we saw that the field had cracked; one put his tongue in the crack; he was bitten by a phalanx; he pulled out his tongue and said: "Wow, how spicy our salt is now!"] : Orbeli 1982, No. 15:66; Azerbaijanis (Lagich village) [in order not to go to the city for salt, two brothers decided to sow it; but in spring the field is lifeless, although everything around is already green; the brothers decided that the salt had been stolen and began to guard; when they saw the husband, they thought they were thieves and started shooting at them; when they sat down for a break, her husband sat on the forehead of one of the brothers again; the other shot her with a gun]: Dirr 1920, No. 80:274; the Turks [two holes bought salt at the bazaar and decided to sow it to avoid wasting it; a few days later they went to the field and saw that the salt glittered in the sun; They were happy, thinking that this salt was growing; midges flew into the field; the manholes were afraid that the midges would eat all the salt, and took guns; one of them said: "I will point you flies, and you shoot!" ; while a fly sat on his forehead, he shouted, "There's a fly on my forehead, shoot me!" ; a friend shot and killed him on the spot]: Gordlevsky 1961, No. 10:289; (cf. Turks [fools bring salt extracted from the salt lake and decide to throw it into their pond so that there is salt there too; the next morning the pond is dry, many flies have appeared; fools trying to shoot them shoot at themselves]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 327 V: 362).
Iran - Central Asia. Tajiks: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1200:72
Baltoscandia. Swedes [an elderly woman sows salt]: Liungman 1961, No. 1200:276; Norwegians (Christiansen 1964, no. 77; Norwegian index Hodne 1984 does not have this motive), Faroese, Finns , Lithuanians: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1200:72; Danes [one of the Molboer residents decided to plow the field and sow the salt they bought so that it would not be scarce; others followed his advice; when it was time to harvest, one of them came to the field and found nettle thickets with white flowers, which he mistook for salt]: Hansen 2002:414; Eastern Sami (Inari), Livons: Kecskeméti, Paunonen 1974, No. 1200:250; Estonians [Das Salzs ä en]: Aarne 1918, No. 1200:79; (cf. Karelians [a man from Kindasov went to find out what the Pryazhinsky men are doing; there the man sprinkles ash on the ice, let him melt to put it; Kindasovsky comes back and says that there are men in Yarn oats are sown; oats have been sown, all have been destroyed]: Konkka, Tupitsyna 1967, No. 60:389); Latvians [fools sow salt]: Arys, Medne 1977, No. 1200:345.
Volga - Perm. Kazan Tatars (6 variants of the west on the Volga, 1 in the Novosibirsk region) [three clever men sowed salt; when it snowed, they thought that the salt had sprouted; they decided to guard the field, they thought it was a thief; the river ran out of tracks, the clever guys thought that the thieves had sailed away by boat; decided to swim on a log; in order not to fall, they were the first to tie his legs under a log; they wonder why he began to dry his bast shoes before he reached; two crossed the river on a log; one climbed into the bear's den, the other pulled it out - no head; went to the village; complained to the wife of his first friend that her husband was drying all her bast shoes; the wife of the second could not remember whether her husband had a head]: Zamaletdinov 2009, No. 138:458-461.
Southern Siberia. Siberian Tatars (1 entry in Novosibirsk Oblast) [see Kazan Tatars]: Zamaletdinov 2009, No. 138:458-461.