M91c5. Unprofitable sale, ATU 1551.

.13.-.17.22.23.27.-.31.33.

The person himself or his little son goes to the bazaar to sell a cow (or another large pet). The crook convinces him that it is a sheep (or another animal that is smaller and cheaper). Each of the crook's friends confirms the score or gives an even lower grade. A man at a loss sells a cow for the price of a sheep.

Kordofan, Arabs (?) Algerians, Egyptian Arabs, Portuguese, Aragon, Catalans, Italians (Tuscany, Calabria), Ladins, Irish, British, French, Flemish, Friesians, Germans (Pomerania), Iraqi Arabs, Khmers (?) , Ancient India, Punjabi, Telugu, Sinhales, Albanians, Croats, Hungarians, Romanians, Macedonians, Greeks, Ukrainians, Russians (region unknown), Poles, Kalmyks, Adygs, Abkhazians, Karachays and/or Balkarians, Ingush, Georgians, Armenians, Turks, Persians, Turkmens, Pashtuns, Finns, Karelians and Kazakhs.

Sudan - East Africa. Kordofan (ethnicity not specified) [poor Said goes to sell his only ox to buy a goat or sheep and feed the children; the leader of the robbers says that this is a ram and gives the price of a ram for an ox; S.: but the tail is oxen! the robber cut off his tail and ordered not to argue; at home S. promises his wife to punish the robber; put on his wife's dress, came to the robber's house disguised as a woman; when they were alone, the imaginary woman asked show how the punishment mechanism works; as a result, the robber was hung by the leg, and S. began to beat him with that cowhide; took away a bag of gold; then S. sends his wife unnoticed each time find out what the robber is going to do; he wants a doctor; S. comes disguised as a doctor, hits the robber again and takes away gold; the robber tells his people to move him to a place where only a shepherd goes with herd; let them leave him a bag of emeralds; S. came under the guise of a shepherd, beats the robber again, took away the emeralds; the robber decides to dissolve the rumor of his death; let him be taken to the cave, leave the stock wine and food; S. came under the guise of a mullah, eats and drinks, reads the Koran; the robber sighed; the imaginary mullah: the dead man sighs, he will have to read for several days; the robber asks him for pardon; S. took the food and drink, cured the thief, they became friends]: Frobenius 1923, No. 21:241-251.

North Africa. Arabs (?) Algeria (de Pétigny 1951, No. 13:223-233), Egyptian Arabs: El-Shamy 2004, No. 1551:857.

Southern Europe. Portuguese [the deceiver tells the swineherd that his pig is a foal (calf, pig); the deceiver's friend, with whom he has agreed in advance, approaches and confirms that yes is a foal]: Cardigos 2006, No. 1551:325-326; Aragon [a boy leads a pig (or other animal) on a rope; a monk (lumberjack) says it's a chicken; they bet; another monk comes up and says that, chicken, of course; the boy admits the loss and the pig goes to the monks]: González Sanz 1996, No. 1551:125; Catalans (incl. Ibiza) [the boy goes to the bazaar to sell a pig; to meet the monk, says it is a sheep; if the first person they ask confirms his opinion, he will get the sheep; he has agreed in advance with another monk; picks up a pig]: Oriol, Pujol 2008, No. 1551:254; Italians (Tuscany, Calabria): Cirese, Serafini, No. 1551:339-340; ladins [the widow sent her son to sell the cow; three neighbors agreed on him deceive; consistently go out and offer to buy a goat; the young man is confused, gave the cow for the price of a goat; his mother scolds him, and he promised to pay off the crooks; agreed with the innkeeper, in advance after paying for four; made himself a colorful hat; called his neighbors for lunch, because they paid him well for the goat; after eating, waved his hat and asked the owner if it had been paid; he replies yes; the next day the same in another tavern; the crooks bought a hat for a lot of money; when they tried to pay, the owner furiously drove them away with a truncheon]: Decurtins, Brunold-Bigler 2002, No. 122:320-323.

Western Europe. Irish, English, French (Joisten 1971 (2), No. 131-133), Flemish, Friesians, Germans (Pomerania): Uther 2004 (2), No. 1551:291-292

Western Asia. And the slaves of Iraq [the peasant sent his son to sell the buffalo, and 40 Egyptian crooks said it was a goat, paid accordingly; the farmer trained the cat as if it were listening orders; in front of the crooks, he told her to bring a stick, then bring her clothes, the cat does everything; the crooks bought the cat for a lot, she ran away from them; they came to the peasant to demand money back, and he put the money under the tail of the horse; the crooks believed that the horse was defecating with gold, bought it; when they discovered the deception, they came to the peasant; he tied his wife's blood-filled guts around his neck, agreed how act; pretended to be dissatisfied with the food, stabbed his wife, bleed, his wife fell; he put a cane in her ass, blew, his wife "came to life"; the crooks bought a cane, killed their wives, they did not come to life; they sewed the peasant into a bag, left; he shouted that he did not want to marry his uncle's daughter; the shepherd agrees to change places with him, is thrown into the well; the peasant comes with the herd, says he got it in the well; the crooks asked them to be thrown there; the peasant to his son: all the wealth went to the buffalo]: Weissbach 1908, No. 19:120-126 (translated into Lebedev 1990, No. 49:234-237).

Burma - Indochina. Khmers (?) ["Cambodia" - probably Khmer]: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1551:291-292.

South Asia. Ancient India (Hitopadesha) [a brahman carried a goat for sacrifice; three crooks sat along the road under trees some distance from each other; everyone asks why the brahmana is carrying dog; after the third time, the brahmana left the "dog" and left, and the goat went to the crooks]: Parker 1914b: 205; Punjabis [the person bought a buffalo and leads through the village; people who meet ask where it leads kid; faced with such a unanimous opinion, the man left the buffalo, fearing that his brother would be angry for the kid he had bought]: Swynnerton 1892:105 -106; telugu [brahman led four or five goats; several sudras ask one why he leads rabid dogs; the latter advises to tie them to a tree so as not to bite people; when the brahmana leaves, the shudra takes the goats]: Pantulu 1905:61; Sinhalese [a man took a calf to sell; three guys began to convince him that it was a goat and forced him to sell it for pennies; then the man suggested that he would not go home, but stay with liars; made a triangular hat and said that she pays the bills for it; pays the owner of the tavern in advance; the crooks bought a hat for a lot of money; when they refused to eat the tavern the next day pay, they were beaten; so three times; and the man took everything and left]: Parker 1914b, No. 226:200-205.

The Balkans. Albanians, Croats, Hungarians, Romanians, Macedonians, Greeks: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1551:291-292.

Central Europe. Poles [the boy leads a sheep to the bazaar; the person he meets says that it is a pig and, if someone confirms his words, let the boy give the animal; by agreement, that a pig and they take sheep from a boy]: Krzyżanowski 1963, No. 1551:89; Russians, Ukrainians {not according to SUS 1979}: Uther 2004 (2), No. 1551:291-292.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Kalmyks [Hoje's son went to sell a goat; two brothers told him that it was a goose and bought it for the price of a goose; H. agreed with his family: when the brothers come, pretend that the horse was littering with a bay with gold, throw coins into the manure; they buy a horse for a lot of money; H. agreed with his family: to catch two chanterelles, one would be taken by H. and hid in the hayloft, the other would be sent for him when the brothers came; H. will come - supposedly it was one fox; the brothers bought a chanterelle; one sent her for the second, the fox ran away; H. tied a gut of blood to his wife's throat; in the presence of the brothers he pretended to stab his wife, then revived with the same knife; the brothers bought a knife, stabbed their wives; decided not to bother H. anymore]: Sokolov, Broydo 1936:476-480; Adygs [deceivers buy a goat (calf, cheaply from a peasant (Khozha, etc.) cow), assuring him that it is a goose; a peasant sells them a "wonderful horse", a fox (hare) a maid, a hat "all paid" that revives a knife; deceivers kill their wives; they want to drown the peasant, etc., but fails]: Tkhamokova 2014, No. 1539:208; Abkhazians [the bastard has a brother and sister; together with his brother he stayed with one person; at night he decided to steal the bell from his door, but did not tear it off, but took it all the door; they climbed a tree, the door to the bastard; pilgrims returning from Mecca stopped under the tree; the bastard dropped the door, the pilgrims ran away, the brothers got the property; the bastard took only a bag of incense, burned it at the stake, smoke to the sky; God asked what he wanted; the bastard asked an Aphyartsa (two-string violin), from the sounds of which everyone dances; hired the ass on the condition: if first he will be angry, unpaid, and if the pop or popadya get angry, they will give you a chest of gold; the bastard led the goats to herd, plays, they danced all day and stayed hungry; they gnaw a tree into the barn; pop, then the popadya went to find out, they were also dancing, they could not eat, they gave the gold; the bastard told his sister to hide the gold; went to the bazaar to sell geese; the general's son asks how much the ducks are; I had to give geese for the price of ducks; the general's son marries a princess; the bastard put on a woman's dress, pretended to be a maid and told the bride that the groom was not a man; the princess settled in the lousy man's house, and the bastard pretended to be a bride; told the cooks to send food to his house; a feast begins, but there is no food; after finding out where the valuables are, the bastard, disguised as a bride, pushed the groom into the well, took the valuables and married princess; another king sent a bastard's wife to his father: let him cut off a piece of meat from him, send back both the bull and the meat; the bastard emptied the bull; the other king sent three men in the same clothes: who a nobleman, who is a prince, who is a peasant; the bastard guessed by the position of his hands during sleep (thrown behind his head, one hand under his head, hands between his legs); the tsar recognized the bastard as his son-in-law]: Shakryl 1975, No. 50:262-268; Balkarians and Karachays [Khozha's son went to the bazaar to sell a goat; two brothers agreed to claim that the boy had a goat and bought a goat at the price of a goose; Khozha invites deceivers to visit, shows a horse, to which he planted coins in the manure, sells a horse for a lot of money; Khozha caught two foxes, tied one in the hayloft; the other was sent to look for him when the two brothers brought the horse back; Khozha took the fox from the hayloft, pretended to be the one sent for him; sold it for a lot; the brothers left Khozha alone]: Aliyeva, Kholaev 1971:170-172; the Ingush [three merchants planned to deceive Tsagen; when he brought a bull to sell, each claiming it was a goat; C. sewed a colorful hat, paid the owners of three taverns for tomorrow's lunch, agreed that tomorrow he would only wave his hat; three merchants bought hat; began to wave it, but had to pay; C. dug a hole in the yard, the merchants fell into it and died; C. pays the beggar to bury the dead man; says; on the way back he saw a mullah, decided it was again returning dead man and cut his skull]: Malsagov 1983, No. 114:262-265 (=Sadulayev 2004, No. 98:248-251); Georgians: Jaliashvili 1970 [the merchant forces the poor man's son to sell a cow for 3 rubles, claiming that it is a calf, a goat, a lamb; the poor man sends to say that the cow was sold, not its tail, but the merchant cuts off its tail, returns it; the poor man throws coins on the ground, pretends to be his donkey defecates with gold, the merchant buys a donkey; he resorts to beat the poor man; he digs up a pre-hidden pot of pilaf, kebab, chicken, the merchant buys a shovel; ties up the poor man, drags him to heat, goes for by boat; the poor man persuaded the shepherd to untie him, ran away; the merchant dragged the merchant to drown, who also ran away]: 93-96; Kurdovanidze 1988 (2), No. 136 (Kartli) []: 268-269; Armenians (Turkish Armenia) [Yaro sends sell a son to sell a cow; three beardless people deceive him, each says that it is not a cow, but a heifer, they buy it for pennies; I go by myself, taking a donkey, putting gold under his tail, selling it to the unbearable for a lot of money; buys two birds with one stone, negotiates with his wife, leaving her one and taking the other to the field; the beardless come running, I promise to return the money and feed the beardless in my house, lets the hare go ordering my wife to cook dinner; beardless people buy a hare; I hang a blood bubble around my wife's neck; tell her to get money, she doesn't react; I stab the bubble with a knife, pretending to stab my wife; pretends to rush at the beardless now; they run away in horror and do not return]: Khachatryants 1933:101-109 (=Karapetyan 1967:190-194); Turks [three crooks deceive Khoja Nasreddin's son, forcing him to sell a cow for a pittance]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 351.III.1a: 383.

Iran - Central Asia. The Persians (Kerman) [the son of a bald man asks him to marry; the father promises to marry his uncle's daughter, sends him to sell a cow; at the Isfahan bazaar, 40 scanty-bearded people take turns convincing the young man that his cow is a goat; a young man sells a cow for the price of a goat; this was enough to eat and buy a handkerchief for the bride; his father borrows seven gold, brings the donkey to the beardless ones, quietly puts gold in his mouth he drops them; the beardless believe that the donkey produces gold, buy it for a thousand mists, having been instructed to feed it with barley for 40 days; the donkey is eaten and dead; the bald man caught two foxes, left one to his wife, ordering 40 people to cook dinner; with another he meets the beardless; the fox lets go, telling his wife that guests will come - let him cook dinner; when they come to the bald man's house, the beardless see a fox and ready-made lunch, they buy a fox for a hundred mists; they send it to their wives, the fox is gone; they wait three days - he probably does not know the way, then they go to the bald one; he ties his wife's stomach with blood under his clothes ; pretends to be angry that his wife brought an unripe melon, stabs her, she will fall as if dead, and when he puts a pipe in her mouth and his wife will stand up as if nothing had happened; the bald man sold the phone beardless; they killed their wives, they did not come to life; the beardless put the bald man in a bag, carried him to drown, left; hearing the shepherd chase the herd, the bald man begins to scream that he does not want to marry the king's daughter; the shepherd changes places with him, is drowned; the bald man brings sheep, says he was given a herd at the bottom; the beardless jump into the water and drown, the bald man marries his son]: Lorimer, Lorimer 1919, No. 29:180-190 (similar, but not identical text in the Ottomans 1987:464-468); Turkmens [when Aldarkose's son went to sell a cow, 40 merchants assured the boy that it was a goat; A. pushed gold donkeys down the drain; 40 merchants bought him for all the gold they had; A. told them to leave the donkey on the carpets in a dark room; A. cooked pilaf in advance; when 40 merchants came, he pretended to cook pilaf in an empty cauldron; merchants bought a cauldron, steel hit him with a ladle until he was broken; A. caught two birds with one stone, left one in the house, took the other with him; pretended to send a hare to his wife with an order to cook a shurpa; merchants bought a hare; the next time A. hid a blood bubble in his wife's bosom, pretended to be furious, stabbed his wife, and then began to play the pipe; the wife was resurrected; the merchants bought a pipe, killed their wives, and first pretended to resurrected them, but then admitted that they had been deceived again; A. hid in the grave, taking with him a red-hot iron rod with a tamga at the end; the merchants decided to spoil the grave, each A. imposed a brand; said Khan that his slaves did not obey him; when he saw the brand, the khan gave the merchants A., who sold them]: Kekilov, Kosayev 1962:63-70; Pashtuns [Tagga Khan is smart, he has a rustic younger brother; he sent him to sell him a goat; six brothers are deceivers; each consistently says that it is not a goat, but a dog, bought it for a pittance; T. rode on a donkey himself; answers his brothers that they are "Buchaks": he lives for a hundred years and loses gold ; puts gold in the manure in advance; brothers buy a donkey for a lot; T. tells his wife that when they arrive, one of the two rabbits should be sent for him and he will take the other with him; the brothers bought rabbit; T. negotiates with his wife: he will pretend to be angry with her in their presence, pretend to cut his throat; seeing blood, brothers are terrified; T. takes a stick, painting it red and green in advance color, revives wife; brothers bought a stick; killed their mother, failed to revive, fled fearing punishment for murder]: Thorburn 1876:194-197.

Baltoscandia. Finns: Concca 1993 [a farmer took a cow to sell; two fraudsters convinced him it was a goat; realizing that he had been deceived, the peasant paid the innkeepers in advance: when he came with scammers and raise their hats, they will say that everything was paid; the fraudsters bought a hat; when they found out that they had been deceived, they came to beat the peasant; he pretended to be sick; when he was hit with a stick, he jumped up and said that he had recovered; they bought a stick and hit the sick maid for testing; she lost consciousness; the farmer took the fraudsters for a watch (they had no money left) for promising to commit murder; the maid recovered]: 153-158; Salmelainen 1947 [the father sent his son to sell the cow; the same crooks meet several times, each time asking how much the goat is; the young man sold the cow for the price of a goat; then I saw them sell it to the cow at a profit; paid in advance at three taverns, agreeing with the owner that when he planted his hat, I must say that it was full; invited the crooks and sold them a hat for a lot of money; then pretended to be dying; the crooks came up, beat him alone with a stick lying next to him; after the third blow, the young man jumped up, thanking him for the cure; sold the stick for a lot of money; offered to test on the old man; he died from the blow; the crooks were frightened; the young man promised to take the blame if the crooks paid him again; brought the body to the river, put it on a stone; the body fell into the water; found witnesses: the young man wanted to help the old man, it was not his fault that he drowned; the father was surprised that his son earned so much money for the cow]: 75-80; Karelians [the poor man has seven children, he went to sell a chick; pop tells the employee to deceive the man; the employee asks how much the goat is; the same is the second; then the pop himself; the man sold the chick for the price of a goat; the wife explains that the pop deceived him; the man agreed with the clerk: He paid for the millet in advance, and let him give the millet in the morning when he raises his hat - as if the hat is paying; the same is in a cotton shop; the pop bought a hat, giving the money and cattle; the next day he picked up goods I tried to pay with a hat - it didn't work]: Concca 1959:155-158.

Turkestan. Kazakhs (Turgay Province) [poor Sabralla grew up a son, he gave him to study to a mullah; he ordered him to bring three dills; S. after his son to sell an ox at the bazaar; the deceivers, by agreement, offer not 15 or more dillas for the ox, but two and less; one gave three and the boy gave the ox; for two Dillas S. bought a donkey; tells the dealer that she is wasting money; sold it to him for a thousand dills; he brought her to bai Abralla's house, she spoiled everything carpets; A. is going to punish S.; he took out two birds with one stone, agreed with his wife; when the dealer came, the wife sent the hare for S.; he sold the hare for 1500 dill; A. orders to beat the dealer; S. left and began to live well]: Sidelnikov 1952:113-120.