M39a4. A fool turns to the shadow, (ATU 1681A).
.13.17.21.23.26.28.-.32.
Afool takes his own shadow for a character chasing him and gives her his property.
Bilin [hare], Jibbali, Tibetans, Kumaoni, Nepali, Haria, Assamese, Chinese, Russians (Arkhangelsk, Karelia, Vologda, Moscow, Ryazan), Belarusians, Varnishes, Georgians ( Imereti), Kurds, Persians (Kerman, Qazvin), Uzbeks, Latvians, Lithuanians, Maris, Bashkirs.
Sudan - East Africa. Bilin [the hare saw his shadow, mistook it for a terrible beast, ran, stopped in the bushes, where the shadow disappeared in the shade; hare: thank God he gave me quick legs]: Reinisch 1882 in Meinhoff 1917, No. 72:294.
Western Asia. Jibbali [there were two brothers, one fool; they began to work for the Sultan; a fool was sent to the Sultan's wife for food; on the way back, the fool saw his shadow, was frightened, threw her all the food; they began to beat him, he killed seven, left, found goats, led them to a fruit tree; the goats began to eat fruit, he killed them, left only one goat; the fruit was on his horns, the fool called the goat brother]: Müller 1907, No. 4: 9-11.
Tibet is the Northeast of India. Tibetans [a foolish young Muslim was sitting in a meadow sniffing yellow flowers; a passer-by: your soles turned yellow, which means that you are about to die; a Muslim dug his own grave and lay down in it; A man was passing by, carrying a jug of butter for the king; when he learned his story from a Muslim, told him to stand up better and help carry oil, for which he promised chicken; on the way, the boy began to wonder how the chicken will lay eggs, he will raise new chickens, etc., eventually get a house and marry; slipped and broke a jar of butter; the man dragged him to the king; smiling told the guy, the king laughed and gave a bar of gold for him; when the young man came to the house, he saw a dog carrying a purse with money in its mouth; his mother, fearing that the money would be taken away from them, put sugar on the roof and told her son that it was from heaven sugar was falling; while the son was collecting sugar, the mother took the dog's money; they agreed to marry; the young man promised to come to the bride's house in the evening; rides a horse and sees a shadow, takes it for a stalking spirit, consistently throws up all his garments, jumps off his horse, hides in the shade of the poplar, where the shadow disappears; climbed onto the poplar, fell asleep; the travelers picked everything up, sat down under the poplar to divide; the young man screams from the tree: and me; they ran away, the young man went down, got dressed and sat on his horse; during the wedding ceremony, the young man put the best pieces for his mother in a jug; put it deep in his hand, she got stuck; I had to say that he does not want to eat anymore; wife: knock a jug on a white stone on the street; it turned out that he hit his father-in-law on the head; thinking that he had killed a man, the young man ran away; in some yard he lay down first on honeycombs, and then on wool; in the morning he decided that he had been turned into a sheep as punishment for murder; joined the flock; at night, the thieves came to steal the sheep, found the biggest young man; on the river bank they wanted to slaughter a sheep, the young man shouted that it was not necessary; the thieves ran away, the young man returned to his wife; after a few years he went to work; the owner said that the lamp would be held at night not by the servant, but by the cat; if this does not happen, the guest he will take all his property, and if so, he will give everything to the owner; so this man regularly robbed travelers; after losing, the young man remained a servant in the house; the wife dressed up as a man, went in search; agreed with her husband that he would release the mice; the third time the cat rushed after the mouse, dropped the lamp; the husband and wife received wealth, returned home]: O'Connor 1906, No. 6:30-42 (retelling in Parfionovich 1976:110- 121, the hero's name is Lodup).
South Asia. Kumaoni [the fool was sent to bring tortillas to his relatives; he saw his shadow behind him, mistook it for a man stalking him, threw cakes at him; then threw away his garments ; the sun went down, the shadow was gone, the fool said: Now he's gone after seeing that I have nothing else]: Upreti 1894:109; Nepalis [Lathepro goes to father-in-law's house for the first time; mother tells me not to take anyone with her, sit in front of his father-in-law like a lion and talk like a crow; greedily not eat, then tell him what he liked; L. sees the shadow following him; asks if she wants a gold chain, the shadow nods after him, he gives the chain; she gives all the jewelry and clothes, comes naked; hides behind the tree; the father-in-law went out to collect the fruits of the vine that wrapped around the tree, grabbed her son-in-law's penis instead of the fruit; everyone ran out to scream, wife explains that her husband was robbed, gives him clothes; L. sat like a lion, his wife says that everyone in the city is sitting like this; father-in-law is surprised that his son-in-law does not eat anything, but croaks every time; wife: he is full and silent; at night L. went out to eat, broke the molasses jar, smeared himself all over, woolen yarn stuck to the molasses; thieves broke in, mistook L. for a sheep, took him away on a rope; seeing that it was a man, the thieves ran away; in the morning L. left, repeating the name of the lentil cake he liked the most; when he jumped over the ditch, he forgot the word; thought he dropped it in a ditch, looked for it; couldn't explain to people what he was looking for; people said, Oh! L.: found; no one understood what he found and what he lost]: Sakya, Griffith 1980:211-214; Haria [mother baked bread, sent her son to carry bread to his married sister; after walking some distance, young man came back to see how far he had gone; noticed his shadow, threw her bread for her to go away; came to his sister without bread and kept silent; and when everyone fell asleep, he ran home]: Roy 1937:437-438; Assamese [on the way to his father-in-law, the son-in-law is frightened by his own shadow; trying to appease the pursuer, he throws her clothes naked; in the evening the shadow disappears; in the dark, the son-in-law walks, clinging to the tail of his father-in-law's ox, and At home, his father-in-law hides under a banana; after eating, his mother-in-law poured dirty water on him, he screamed; she let him into the house and gave him clothes; at night his son-in-law smeared molasses and was lying in cotton wool; hid among goats; thieves mistook him for a goat, took him away; when crossing the river, he screamed, the thieves ran away, the young man washed himself, his father-in-law found him]: Goswami 1960:97.
China - Korea. Chinese [{several sources, almost certainly Chinese, not minorities}; fools fear their own shadow]: Ting 1978, No. 1321B.
Central Europe. Russians (Arkhangelsk, Karelia, Vologda, Ryazan), Belarusians [A fool is afraid of his own shadow: he throws pots into the shadows, hits gadflies that annoy horses and with them kills horses, slaughs a cow, gives meat to dogs, calls guests, kills guys, etc.]: SUS 1979, No. 1681A: 344-345; Russians (Arkhangelskaya, Mezen, Vozhgory) [summary of the record: a fool goes to sell a bull and a bag of salt; salt water in the river, sells a bull to a birch tree, in its creak he fancies "three hundred"; finds a treasure under a birch tree; buys pots, puts them on stumps, etc.; kills a deacon; brothers they bury a goat; it is dug up instead of a clerk, the murder is hidden]: Nikiforov 1961, No. 16:363; Russians (Vologda) [two brothers are smart, they work, the third Ivan is a fool, only catches flies; his mother sent him take a pot of dumplings to his brothers; I. sees his shadow, thinks that a man throws dumplings, threw everything away, then the pot, it broke; his brothers beat him, made the sheep herd, went to the village for lunch ; the sheep began to wander, I. stabbed 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 holes in the korchagi, put everything on one batog; at home hears that the beer is wandering; he thinks that it is teasing him - he released it 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 rides on the top 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 - at the bottom of the distance; the brothers ordered them to drown; I. drove home to finish drinking beer and brothers remember]: Gura 1965, No. 13:219-220 (=Burtsev 1895, No. 20:115-119); Russians (Moscow) []: Vedernikova, Samorodova 1998, No. 96:239-243; Russians [fool Tararushka is the widow's son; she commands to cry for his father - at least he would have rubbed himself on the nose with an onion, the men beat him; mother: should the men have said: beer and wine; he says to two fighting; mother: who were the men? T: carriers; mother: you must say "can't bear it"; T. says at the funeral; mother: you need to "canon and palm"; T. speaks at the wedding; mother: you need to "break your fast, let your children get your beard dirty" ; T. says to the man who is carrying manure; Mother: He should have been with a stick; T. hits dogs with a stick, they bite him; mother: he just had to spit; T. spat on his grandfather, he beat him; mother: should have "Hello, grandpa!" T. says to the bear, he is barely alive; his mother tells him to sell the canvas; T. sells a birch tree; then he found a pot of gold there; his mother tells her to ask his neighbor for measure; the neighbor calls to measure gold himself, tells him to whistle, if anyone goes; the neighbor himself comes out, T. killed him with a club; his mother said she would put the body in the attic, buried it herself, put a dead goat there; T.: I killed; he is told to get the body; he is consistently asks if the victim had 4 legs, hair, horns; the audience parted]: Kuznetsova et al. 2005, No. 1/15:96-100.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Lucky [Yarakhmed is smart, his brother Karahmed is a fool; he takes his shadow for a man, is afraid of it; casts shadows a cauldron of khinkal and a gold pin found; Y. says that the pin was needed put it in his pocket; K. finds a dagger, puts it in his pocket, hurts himself; should have been tied to his belt; finds a puppy, tied it, he dies; he should have thrown bread at him, he would go; finds an ax, throws him bread; I. He goes after the ax himself, stumbled, broke his leg; K. only at night, when there is no shadow, takes him to the doctor; puts a hat on the tree so that the tree does not get hot; a shirt on a stone so that the sun does not burn him; the plough creaks, K. thinks that it spoils the air, broke it; he sees the shadow again, throws stones at it, there is a mountain by night, there is no shadow, K. thinks he has defeated enemies]: Aliyeva 2012, No. 84:385-387; Georgians ( Imereti) [Garkom is the elder brother, the fool Kant is the youngest; orphans, they came to work for the landowner; K. began to herd sheep, climbed a pear, threw pears to the sheep, telling them to hide them for him; sheep scattered; K. killed them, leaving one goat, whose pear was stuck between its horns; the brothers ran away, hired a nobleman; G. bathed the old father, and K. carried firewood; once they changed, K. put the old man in a bath of boiling water, then put the corpse in bed; began to put porridge into the dead man's mouth; the brothers ran away again; in the forest, G. asked K. for a burka, who cut it off piece by piece, at night G. froze to death; K. found a jug with money, but I saw my shadow and thought that she was chasing him; started throwing her money, then hit the shadow on the head with a jug; I came to the mosque, became ugly there, the Azerbaijanis beat him to death]: Khagan 1989a, No. 82-85; Kurds [three travelers argued which of them the rider they met greeted him; caught up with him and asked him; rider: the one with whom the stupidest story in life had happened; first: was as a dyer, saw his shadow in the pool, decided that the thief hid to steal threads; told his friend to hit him with a club, and climbed into the pool; stuck his head out, got hit on the head; second: was a teacher, children agreed to say that he was sick and pale; he believed; the third wife dressed the same as her lover, he believed he was not him; the rider said he greeted the third]: Jalil et al. 1989, No. 288:553-556.
Iran - Central Asia. Persians: Baiburdi, Borshevsky 1968 [Daho saw a silhouette on the road; began to ask: who are you? Daho: Hey, shadow! If you're human, then answer, and if you're not human, why are you silent?] : 48; Lorimer, Lorimer 1919, No. 12 (Kerman) [two brothers are merchants, the third is a fool; they send him to a sick mother; driving flies away from his mother, he hits her with a stone to death; brothers want to share the property Three weeks after the funeral, the fool demands his share immediately; the brothers take everything but a spinning wheel, a cow, a calf, 15 sheep and a stone; at the wake, the brothers decide to stab a fool's calf; send a fool for as guests, no one comes; the fool invited everyone on the condition that he would pay him for the calf; a dog came, eats meat; a fool demands payment from her for the calf, throws a poker at it, it fell into the lintel, a pot of gold fell out; the fool continues to chase the dog: I do not need a pot of gold, but 7 coins for a calf; the brothers took the gold; after the funeral, the fool drove the cow to pasture, offered a lizard buy it; the lizard nods; the fool asks for 15 coins, the lizard nods again; come in 15 days? nods again; the fool left the cow by the mink, the predators ate it; after 15 days, the fool demands money from the lizard, climbs into a hole, there is a door and 7 vessels with precious stones; the fool takes 15 coins for the cow; tells the brothers; they take the remaining treasures; the fool takes his shadow for a man, asks if the shadow wants to buy sheep; the shadow is silent and follows him; the fool lets the sheep go; leaves an inheritance; stays for the night on a hill above a stream; a traveler also stopped there, he has money in his bags; he makes figures out of chaimal (sweets), calls one God, the others Satan, the Prophet, Ali; before eating them, he attributes a flaw to everyone; the fool threw a spindle at him - leave it to me too! the traveler is confused; the fool throws bigger things - a shovel, a door; the traveler runs away in horror, the fool gets everything; he finds the last figure - God; "Oh God, I saved you!" ; returns home with bags; at night, the brothers discuss: they are rich, they could become kings if someone killed the king; the fool promises to do this, cut off the sleeping king's head, brought it to the brothers; they put it in torbu goat's head, they tell the fool that this is the head of the king, he threw it into the well looking for a murderer; the fool confesses, climbs into the well, asks if the king had horns and a goat's head; brothers: we talked that he is crazy; at night, a fool hears his brothers preparing to kill him; waits for them to fall asleep, kills both himself; chooses a new king, the bird sits on the fool's head three times; he becomes a ruler and gets smarter]: 70-78; Uzbeks [the mullah tells the employee to take the bull to the bazaar and sell it; the worker sees a hoopoe, sells him a bull (taking the sounds made by the bird as answers to questions), ties the bull to a tree and promises to come for the money tomorrow; the mullet says that the buyer was dressed like a mullah himself; the next day the worker comes to the tree; no bull, no hoopoe, a blue funnel sits on the tree; the worker thinks that the buyer changed his clothes, demands money, the blue-collar flew away, whizzed into a hole in the cliff; the worker started to poke a knife, found a jug of gold; gave the mullah money for the bull, and got his own for the rest economy]: Rogov 1980:313-314.
Baltoscandia. Latvians [A fool brings food to his brothers in the field, casts his shadow on the way; misunderstanding the order, kills sheep; all three brothers secretly drag the sheep into the barn; when the mother, having cooked lamb, serves, the fool demands a larger portion because he carried two at a time]: Aris, Medne 1977, no.*1681C: 366; Lithuanians [the adventures of a fool; throws meat to dogs; oils the road and pours beer on her; puts pots on stumps; throws money to frogs - let them count; throws food in his shadow; puts his left shoe on his right foot and vice versa; sometimes he manages to make the princess laugh; he refuses it and receives money instead]: Balys 1936, No. 1642:145.
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, thought they were cold, put cups on them like hats; their mother sent them to buy meat, K. gave it to the dogs when they began to bark, thought they were cold; their mother began to scold; K. came to the stumps, began to beat them with a stick: where did the hats go; third the stump split, it contained 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; Bashkirs [Yurttutmas, the son of the elderly, came to marry; he never saw rice with rice; thought that the byaleshi were wormed; he looked into the mirrors: the bride is ugly, but he himself is also; asks the hat if to marry; I saw the watch for the first time, thought it was Azhdaha; ran away, dismantling the bridge with him; but realized that he was on the wrong side; put the bridge again, crossed the river, dismantled it again; after the wedding he cut down an oak tree, to to whom he tied a horse with a cart; the oak fell, killed the horse, broke the cart; threw an ax at the ducks, the ax drowned; Yu undressed, began to dive, did not find an ax, nor took off his clothes; crept into the house, fell into the box with goose down; ran, dogs followed him, people think he was a genie; went out at night to feed the cattle, saw his shadow, thought she was chasing him, fell off the roof of the barn; hung his fur coat on a bush in the forest; took it for the bear, began to scream, people started shooting at the fur coat, made a hole; went down to the cellar for mead, dropped a crust of bread, the dog grabbed it, he chased her; father-in-law looked for his son-in-law, fell into the cellar, drowned in a mead]: Barag 1992, No. 41:86-88.