Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

M78C. The boy is a severed finger. (.13.) .28.29.31.32.34.

A tiny little man emerges from a severed finger.

(Somalis), Russians (Vologda, Moscow), Terek Cossacks, Eastern Sami, Karelians, Veps, Setus, Latvians, Lithuanians, Komi, Mordovians, Bashkirs, Dagurs.

(Wed. Sudan - East Africa. Somalis [two girls agreed to take their goats to the same place; one drove to another, fell asleep, the goats left; she followed in the footsteps and came across Five Bellied; he agreed open her belly and return the goats, promising the girl not to tell anyone about it; she told her mother; she fell ill; the mother went with the goats herself, the five-bellied came and ate the girl, left her thumb hands, he fell into a vessel of water, his mother drank water, swallowed her finger, gave birth to a boy the size of a finger; he led the herd to the pasture, sitting in the ear of a cow; robbers came; the boy screams that he is in the ear of a cow, in the vulva, in the horn of a bull, in a tree trunk; robbers cut their ears, break their horns, cut down trees, find nothing; they are so tired that they leave everything and go]: Hanghe 1988:202-204).

Central Europe. Russians (Vologodskaya) [the old woman cut off the cabbage, cut off her finger, threw it behind the stove; the boy with his finger came out: Where is the priest? - He plows. - Let's take breakfast and help him plow; brought pancakes to my father; began to plow, getting into the horse's ear; tells me to sell it, if there is a buyer, he will return in the evening; the master bought it, the boy with his finger made a hole in his pocket, ran away; hears two thieves going to steal bulls from his ass; offers help; shouts loudly: which bull should I take, white or black? he threw a rope over the brown one; the thieves ate the meat, the boy was given the skin, he fell asleep in it, the wolf swallowed it; the boy from the wolf's belly: shepherd, the wolf wants to eat your sheep; the wolf is starving; the boy agrees to get out, only if he takes him to his father and mother; the boy shouts that the wolf ran to the lead, the old man and the old woman killed the wolf, sewed the boy's skin coat]: Gura 1965, No. 18:229-230 (=Burtsev 1895, No. 17:106- 109); Russians (Moscow) [the woman pinched a splint, cut off her finger, wrapped it in a cloth, put it on the stove, baked pancakes; her finger became a boy, volunteered to take the pancakes to his grandfather in the field; offered to plow sitting in the horse's ear; the master heard someone singing; the boy with a finger told his grandfather to sell it, then he would run away; got out from their master's pocket; asked the robbers; they sent him to unlock the door from the inside ; he did so; the robbers took the cow from the priest, slaughtered it, left the boy in demand; the wolf swallowed it, the boy began to scratch the wolf from the inside, ordered it to be taken to his grandparents; they killed the wolf; all good]: Vedernikova, Samodelova 1998, No. 63:180.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Terek Cossacks (art. Ardon) [the old man and the old woman have no children; the old man wants to cut chips, cuts off his finger; a boy appears out of him; he lives with the old people, remains the size of a finger; returning from mowing, hears the conversation of thieves who want to rob the priest; asks them to take him with them; goes with them at night to the priest's house; climbs into the lock hole, opens the gate; thieves take three horses and slaughter the ox; the boy climbs into the house, covers his butt with wet skin, puts the demand between his father's daughters, braids two clerks and inserts a pipe into the old woman's nose; then brings meat home; in the morning, the pop scolds from behind a wet blanket, his daughters argue which of them gave birth, and the clerks scream at each other from behind their braids; the pop tells the old woman to light the fire; she blows on the coal, the pipe plays; the old woman dances, pop screams]: Gusev 1893:363-366.

Baltoscandia. Eastern Sami: Egorov 1959 [about both versions in Kert 1961]: 94-95; Kert 1961, No. 47 [the old man accidentally cut off his thumb; the old woman washed her finger and put it in her a handmade handbag; the finger became a boy, ran to play, the merchant picked it up, his wife put the boy on a gold plate; when they went to bed, the boy tied their hair, poured dough over their heads and returned to an old man and an old woman; grew up big and became a good son]: 195-196; 1988 [grandfather accidentally cut off the end of his thumb, gave the woman a boy would grow up; she rinsed her finger in warm water, that "dad" shouted; began to talk and walk; pop picked him up, put him in his pocket with a knife and purse, drove on; the boy cut his pocket, fell out with the knife and money; brought his grandfather and woman, those surprised - so much money; the boy slept for three days, went on a journey; the pop found him, now put him in an iron pocket, brought him home; everyone laughs how he feeds forty; prepared the dough to bake him bread, fell asleep; the boy put the dough between his ass and his wife, tied his daughter and maids, son and grandfather by the hair; in the morning everyone began to pull each other's hair; pop tells his wife to remove what is between them; boy returned to my grandfather and woman; they bought a new house, began to live well]: 177-179; Karelians: Konkka, Tupitsyna 1976, No. 34 [the man pinched a splint and cut off his thumb, threw it behind the stove; in the morning the wife gathers take pies to my husband on the field, and finger to finger from behind the stove: I'll take it; pop comes to the field, asks him to sell his son; boy with finger winks at his father - sell it; pop put him in his pocket, boy with finger he cut through fools, threw away all the money and jumped out himself; at night he came to the ass; forced the workers and cooks to fight, hid under a broom; in the morning he was thrown away with the garbage, the cow swallowed it; they want to milk her, they hear voice; pop tells the cow to be slaughtered, nothing was found; the boy with a finger returned to his parents]: 279-281; Makarov 1963, No. 85 (Tver Karelians) [the old people have no children; the old woman cut off her finger, put it in the stove; from a tiny boy came out of the stove, took breakfast to his grandfather; sitting on a plow, he plows; the boyars asked to sell, the boy tells his grandfather to agree; on the way he spoiled his pocket, ran away, fell asleep under a flower, he was eaten by a cow; I got sick, she was stabbed, her intestines were thrown away, the wolf ate them, came to the boy's parents to steal something; boy: grandfather, don't shoot, I'm in the wolf's stomach; I got out of the wolf, the wolf was caught, everyone is living well]: 182 -183; setu [the elderly spouses are childless; the wife accidentally cut off her fingertip; wrapped it in a rag, put it behind the stove; the husband went to harrow, the wife regrets that there is no one to take lunch; severed finger turns into a boy, says he will carry it; harrows sitting in the horse's ear; tells his father to agree to sell it to thieves; they sent him to steal meat, he asked loudly whether to take fat or lean for the thieves chased, the boy hid in the chaff, the cow swallowed it with the chaff, he sings in her stomach; the owners hear, are frightened, they slaughter the cow, wash their intestines in the river, a piece with the boy swam, his the wolf swallows; from the wolf's belly, the boy screams to the shepherds; the wolf has to agree to take him home; the boy jumps out of the wolf's nostril, calls his mother and father, who kill the wolf]: Normann, Tampere 1989: 109-112; Veps [the old man chopped firewood, cut his finger, a boy with a finger (M.) appeared; promises to bring his father bread for arable land; on the way he sat on a mushroom, the bear swallowed it along with the mushroom; M. refuses just get out of his ass, tells him to take him home; when the bear went into the canopy, M. and killed him with a rocker arm; the next day he came to his father in the field, sat on a plow; the neighbor asked to sell him one ploughman; M. tells his father to agree - he will then run away; the neighbor put M. in his wallet, came home - there is a hole in his wallet and pocket; M. returned to his father]: Onegin, Zaitseva 1996, No. 25:120-122; Latvians [ a childless woman accidentally cuts off her toe, asks her son to be even as tall as a finger; the finger turns into a boy, takes the woman's husband breakfast, mows for it; the master buys it for a hat of money; the boy hides in a mushroom, he is eaten by a cow; the hostess hears a voice from a cow, the cow has been slaughtered, the boy hides in a ham, gives it to the beggar; he is frightened of his voice, throws a ham, the meat is eaten by a wolf; a boy from the inside of the wolf shouts that he has reached the cattle; tells him to take himself to his father in the kitchen; the father killed the wolf, the son got out; they live well]: Aris 1971:148; Lithuanians [neighbor advises childless the old woman cut off his little finger, throw it behind the stove; in the morning a tiny boy offers to take lunch to his father in the field; while the old man is eating, he climbs into the horse's ear, plows like this; the master wants to buy it, the little finger tells him agree to the old man; hides under the mushroom, the master does not find it; offers thieves to help rob his master; deliberately asks loudly, the owners wake up; hides in straw, she is eaten by a cow; hearing a voice from her belly, a cow is being slaughtered, the wolf has swallowed the tripe, the little finger from his stomach warns the shepherds; tells the wolf to carry it to the father's yard; there the wolf was slaughtered, a sheepskin coat was sewn out of his skin]: Lë 1965 bit: 250-254.

Volga - Perm. Komi Zyryans [a woman baked bread, accidentally cut off her thumb, he rolled under a broom, became a boy, offered to take the bread to her father's arable land; offered his father to plow; seeing how the boy with -his finger plows, the pop bought it; on the way he cut a hole in his pocket, poured out all the money, got out himself, collected money; met a man and offered to go slaughter popov's oxen, pick up the meat; boy-s- his finger asked for a knife and an ax in the house, killed and tripled the oxen; put their intestines next to the sleeping ass, manure next to the hit, the stomach next to the maid; they thought that their intestines and stomach had come out, crap]: Wichmann 1916, No. 32:92-94; Mordovians: Evseviev 1964, No. 29 (Erzya) [the old man cut wood, cut off his thumb; the old woman put her finger in the stove, began to bake pancakes; the finger became a boy-s- with his finger, took the pancakes to his father, began to plow; the master wants to buy it, the boy with his finger tells me to agree; the master carried the chest, the boy with his finger made a hole, threw away the money, relieved himself, ran away; brought money for his father, the master's wife found crap in the chest]: 222-223; Maskaev 1966 (moksha) [the old man was going to plow, began to put the plow on the cart, cut off his finger; the woman wrapped her finger in a rag, put it in the stove; I wanted to bring my husband lunch; a voice from the stove: I'll take it; in the field I began to plow for my father; an English lord was driving by, marveled at the miracle, wanted to buy it; a boy with a finger tells his father to sell it; cuts a hole in his pocket , pours out all the gold, runs away himself; at home, the Lord took out a handkerchief to show the guests, and there was only snot]: 254-256 in Kippar 2002:165-167; Bashkirs [the old woman was making dough, cut off her thumb, appeared boy Bashbarmak ("thumb"); began to straighten his father's horse, she swallowed it with hay; the horse was stabbed, the intestines were thrown away, the wolf ate them; B. screams from his stomach every time the wolf tries attack the herd; the wolf was exhausted, the hunter shot him, took off his skin, B. got out, came to the place where the cattle were slaughtered, got a skin and a calf, spent the night in the same house; put the skin on the floor, the calf between the owners; they began to argue who gave birth to him, the old woman slipped on her skin, the old man on her; B. laughed so much that he died]: Barag 1992, No. 49:99-100.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Dagurs [a childless old woman was making noodles, cut off her thumb, tied it in a rag, put it on the table, her finger became a boy; carried food to her father in the field; he hears a voice, thinks it's a spirit, returns home; when he finds out what is going on, he leaves home, not wanting to deal with perfume; takes a bag of food with him, the boy hides there; answers his father; he throws the bag, leaves, but it turns out that the boy is on his arm; on his leg, etc.; the old man cuts off his arm, leg, etc., finally hurts his heart; the boy returns to the old woman, they live well]: Stuart et al. 1994:111-112.