# Zarlik and Munglik

Zarlik and Munglik (German: Zảrlik und Munglik; Uzbek: Zorlik va Munglik) is an Uzbek folktale collected by Uzbek folklorist Mansur Afzalov and translated into German by Isidor Levin and Ilse Laude-Cirtautas. It is related to the theme of the calumniated wife and is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children".
These tales refer to stories where a girl promises a king she will bear a child or children with wonderful attributes, but her jealous relatives or the king's wives plot against the babies and their mother. Variants of the tale type are registered in Central Asia, in the Turkic languages and among the Turkic peoples that inhabit the region.

## Summary

A padishah has four wives, but has not fathered any child yet. One day, the youngest wife, named Gulbahra ("Rose-Beautiful") announces she is pregnant. The padishah rejoices in this fact. Gulbahra gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The other-cowives, however, see this as a threat to their position and bribe a sorceress named Mastan Kampir to get the children and replace them for puppies.
The sorceress takes the children and abandons them in the woods, hoping that the wild animals will devour the twins. Against her expectations, the children are nursed by a wild deer as their foster mother. Years later, a hunter kills the deer and the twins are all alone in the world. They are found by an old man, who named the boy Zarlik ("Der Kummervolle") and the girl Munglik ("Die Traurige").
The boy becomes a mighty and fine hunter and one day encounters his father, the padishah. The padishah admires the boy and wishes he could have such a son. He goes back to his palace and the co-wives learn of the twins survival. To get rid of the children for good, they order Mastan Kampir to cook up some trick. So Mastan Kampir visits the twins' house and tells Munglik about a Weltenspiegel ("A World-Mirror"), so she can see the whole world.
Munglik tells Zarlik about the World-Mirror and goes on a quest. With the help of the Semurgh bird, he brings home the mirror. One day, Munglik peers into the mirror, and discovers their father is the padishah, and their mother is buried in a hole in the ground, joined with two hounds. The twins invite the padishah to peer into the mirror, and he discovers the twins are his children. He punishes the three co-wives and the sorceress, and restores Gulbahra as his queen.

## Analysis
### Tale type

The tale is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 707, "The Three Golden Children". According to folklorist Erika Taube, the tale type is "widespread" in Turkic-Mongolian traditions, a position also held by scholars Isidore Levin and Ilse Laude-Cirtautas, who assert its spread in Turkic traditions.

#### The Central Asian epic

The story also exists as an homonymous epic poem known among the Turkic peoples: according to Isidore Levin, Ilse Laude-Cirtautas and Kyrgyz scholarship, versions exist among the Karakalpak, the Kyrgyz and the Kazakh. In that regard, Turkish scholarship noted that the Kyrgyz epic Muňluk ve Zarlık shares motifs and plot structure with tales from Turkey, so much so it has been suggested they originate from a common cultural background of the Turkic peoples. Similarly, Kyrgyz scholarship suggests its diffusion among the neighbouring Turkic peoples as an oral tale, and indicates an origin for the story among the Siberian Turco-Mongolian peoples.

### Motifs

According to Erika Taube, these tales show variation in the number of the khan's wives (none, at first, or 1, 2, 3, 12 and even 108); the number of children (a son, two sons, a son and daughter pair, or three sons), and their attributes (golden chest, silver backside, or legs of gold or silver).

## Variants
### Uzbekistan
#### Hasan and Zuhra

Similarities have been noted between tale type 707 and the Uzbek tale "Хасан и Зухра" ("Hasan and Zuhra"). In a version of the tale, published by Uzbek author Mikhail I. Sheverdin [ru], despite being married to 40 wives, the shah still hasn't fathered a son. In his wanderings, he finds three sisters, daughters of a shepherd, talking among themselves: Nasiba, Gulbahor and Sulfiya. The youngest, Sulfiya, promises to give birth to twins, a boy named Hasan and a girl named Zuhra, both beautiful and smart. The midwife replaces them with two goats, puts the twins in a bag and abandons it on the road. Thankfully, they are saved by a coming caravan. Twelve years pass, and Hasan, now a youth, meets his father, the shah, during a hunt. The shah convenes with a wise old woman, who discusses with the monarch the truth of what happened to his twin children. In a review of Sheverdin's book, scholar Heda Jason [de] classified the tale as type ATU 707.

#### A Shining Pottery Bowl

Uzbek author Mikhail I. Sheverdin published another Uzbek tale titled in Russian: Блестящая глиняная чаша, romanized: Vlestyatşaya glinyanaya çaşa ("A Shining Pottery Bowl"). In this tale, a tsar has 40 wives, but no son yet. His viziers suggest he take another wife. He marries another maiden. One day, she announces she is expecting a son. The other 40 wives feel threatened by the newcomer and bribe the midwife to get rid of the child as soon as they are born. The 41st wife gives birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. The midwife takes the royal children, replaces them for puppies and abandons both in the wilderness to die. The youngest queen is banished to the steppe with the puppies, while her children are raised by a she-bear in a cave. Years later, the tsar's co-wives learn of their survival and order the midwife to get rid of them. The midwife visits them and sets them on a quest for a shining pottery bowl and a magic mirror. To get the second item, the boy saves a nest of Simurgh birdlings and takes a journey to another kingdom on its back. In a review of Sheverdin's book, scholar Heda Jason [de] classified the tale as type ATU 707. Professor Selami Fedakar considered it a Russian-language variant of the Uzbek tale he collected, "Parıldama Sırlı Tabak".

#### Glittering Enamelled Plate

In an Uzbek tale titled Parıldama Sırlı Tabak (Yaltıllama Sapal Tavak, "Glittering Enamelled Plate"), a sultan has forty wives, but no child. He complains about it to his viziers, who suggest he takes a new wife who can provide him an heir. The sultan remarries and his fortieth wife soon becomes pregnant, to the co-wives's consternation, who fear they will fall out of favour with their husband as soon as her child is born. The co-wives bribe a midwife and they set up a trap for the newest queen and take her children, a boy and a girl, as soon as they are born and replace them for puppies. The sultan returns from a hunt, falls for the deception and orders his wife to be buried in the desert up to the torso and to be placed with the dogs. As for the children, they are abandoned in the woods and found by a bear, which brings them to its den. The bear raises the twins: the girl spends her days in the cave, while her brother hunts food for them. Years later, one day, the sultan is on a hunt himself when he spots the girl by the bear's cave entrance and tries to approach her, but she flees to the depths of the cave. When the sultan retreats, the girl returns to the entrance. The sultan returns home and comments about it to his forty wives. The co-wives the children are alive and bribe the midwife again to get rid of them. The midwife goes to the cave to meet the girl and convinces her to search for the "glittering enamelled plate". The male twin returns home and is told about his sister's request, then says it is a perilous quest. Still, the boy journeys on: with the helpful advice of a sage, he rides a horse to a stream and summons the plate, which rises out of the water and trails behind the boy. After the first quest, the midwife tells the girl about the mirror that can show the whole world. For the second quest, the boy protects a nest of Simurgh chicks from a dragon and, in return, gives him a feather. He journeys on until he finds the king who owns the mirror, and uses a Simurgh feather to remove a thorn from the monarch's hand. The boy returns with the mirror. Later, the sultan meets the twins again and decides to adopt them, since they are also fatherless. The male twin delivers him a book which reveals the co-wives' intrigue, and the sultan banishes them. At the end of the tale, the sultan sends his viziers to retrieve the twins' mother from the desert, but whenever they go, the dogs (which were the puppies) attack them. The male twin himself goes to rescue his mother, who demands to be given a carriage and better dressed so she can go to court like a sultan's wife. It is done so, and the family reunites. The twins are then given the names Şehzade Batır (the boy) and Gülferah (the girl).

#### The Golden-Braided Boy

In the tale "Золотая косичка" ("The Golden-Braided [Boy]"), a padishah and his viziers sight a giant red rose, where three peri women are weaving. The peris are asked about their abilities, the youngest promises to bear the padishah a golden-braided boy. The padishah marries the third peri woman, and the viziers the other two. The padishah's other co-wives bribe a midwife to get rid of the boy and replace him for puppies. The midwife throws the boy into the steppe, but he is found and suckled by a hart. The boy returns to his father's palace and the co-wives take the boy, lock him up in a chest and cast him in the sea. He survives this second attempt and is found by a fisherman. Years later, the co-wives and the midwife send the boy for a flower gulikakhkakh, forty magical cauldrons and a magic mirror.

#### The Twin Children with Golden Hair

Researcher Gabrielle Keller published an Uzbek tale, first collected in 1999 in Bulungur, Samarqand, from informant Qumri Abdimuminova. In this tale, titled Die goldhaarigen Zwillingskinder ("The Twin Children with Golden Hair"), a padeschah named Odil Chan is 43 years old, but has no children. One day, on a hunt, he approaches a house where a man lived with his three daughters, and overhears their conversation: the eldest promises to weave a carpet like no one has ever had; the middle one that she can build castles like the people never had, and the youngest promises to give birth to a golden-haired son. Odil Chan marries the youngest sister as his fourth wife, and she gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The padeschah's other wives become jealous and order a maidservant to get puppies, place the animals in the newborns' cradles to deceive him, and abandon the twins in the steppe. The maidservant bribes a wood gatherer to kill the children and bring back a cloth with their blood, but, out of pity, the wood-gatherer hides the children behind a bush and presents a cloth with dove's blood as proof of his deed. Some time later, the old man returns to check on the children and see a castle where he left them. He tries to bypass the castle, and enter a garden. He sees the twins, frolicking naked in the garden and eating the apples. The female twin calls out for her brother to see the old man, who promises to take them to city and clothe them. After the twins go to the city, the padescha Odil Chan begins to uncover the truth, and punishes his other wives.

#### Vospirokhun

Uzbek author Mikhail I. Sheverdin published an Uzbek tale titled "Воспирохун" ("Vospirokhun"), two rival shahs, White Shah and Black Shah, order a bald man to find batyrs to form an army to fight each other. The bald man meets a youth on a horse with a magic whip, who helps him defeat the army and lets him take the credit for it. The youth then says his name is Vospirokhun, promises to come to his aid whenever he utter his name, and departs. Later, the bald man marries the Black Shah's daughter, discovers Vospirohun is a girl and goes on a quest to find her. The bald man finds an old woman who is Vospirokhun's mother, who gives him advice on how to approach her daughter: enter her hut, where she is in her forty-day sleeping cycle, tie her hair in forty knots to forty pillars, and hold her tight. Vospirokhun wakes up and recognizes her friend, then marries him. Later, the bald man accidentally lets her picture float down the stream to another kingdom, whose monarch sights the picture and falls in love with its owner, then tries to kidnap her, but the bald man, Vospirokhun's husband, rescues her. After also escaping from a den of thieves and their leader, the bald man returns to the White Shah's lands and marries his daughter. The bald man becomes the Shah in his father-in-law's place and goes on hunts. Two years later, one day, before he goes on a hunt, he asks his three wives what they will bring him when he returns: Vospirokhun promises to bear him twins, a boy and a girl with golden or silver heads, and the other co-wives, the daughter of the White Shah and the daughter of the Black Shah, also promise to bear him children. The bald man departs, and Vospirokhun becomes pregnant, to her rivals' concern and jealousy. Vospirokhun is ready to give birth to her twins, a boy and a girl, and the other co-wives promise to bring a kind midwife to look after her: they bribe an old woman, who takes the children as soon as they are born, replaces them for puppies and abandons them in the steppe. The bald shah returns and, on seeing the puppies, orders Vospirokhun to be banished to the zindan.
As for the children, a man named Khizrbuva finds the children in the steppes, draws a circle on the ground with his staff, and an iron palace appears to house the children. Khizrbuva wonders aloud who can suckle the children, and a she-goat suddenly trots to him. The she-goat complains it cannot produce milk even for its young, but Khizrbuva bids the animal suckle and rear the twin children inside the palace, and it will be able to produce milk for its own young. Time passes, the she-goat suckles the children, who grow up and live in the castle: the boy, named Sohibkurol, spends his day hunting, while the girl, named Sohibjamol, stays at home. One day, the old woman who delivered the children, who always goes for a walk in the steppe to gather twigs, finds the girl alone at the iron palace and deduces she is Vospirokhun's child. She convinces her to send her twin brother to bring some roses from such a place and some nightingales that fly over the flowers and sing beautifully. Next, the old woman tells them to seek a winged white horse in some distant mountains, and lastly for a maiden named Sangil Sopoltosh that lives in a distant country. Khizrbuva advises Sohibkurol in his quests, and he is successful. The old woman appears again, but Sangil Sopoltosh chastises her presence there and Sohibkurol cuts up the old woman with his sword. Later, Sohibkurol meets the bald monarch (unaware he is his father), shares some game he hunted with him, and is convinced to host the monarch in his own house. The boy laments to the Khizrdeva he cannot properly host the bald monarch in his own meagre home, but Khizrbuva says the boy should not worry and has to simply return home, for everything will be arranged. Sohibkurol rides home to the iron palace and finds it richly furnished with servants and furniture. The bald king goes to the twins' palace for a meal, and Khizrbuva asks if he can tell him a story: he explains everything to the bald monarch, indicates the twins are his children, and vanishes. The family is reunited, rescue Vospirokhun and bring her home, as the other co-wives are executed. Sohibkurol assumes the throne after his bald father relinquishes it in his son's favour, and he and his wife Sangil Sopoltosh have three male children. Later, Sohibkurol's three sons go on a quest for a lovely princess. Sohibkurol and Sangil Sopoltosh's youngest son finds the princess, but is betrayed by his elder brothers and tossed in a ditch to die. The cadet prince returns home, the princess explains everything, Sohibkurol punishes his traitorous elder sons and marries his youngest to the princess. In a review of Sheverdin's book, scholar Heda Jason [de] classified the tale as a combination of types, the middle part belonging to type ATU 707.

### Karakalpak people

Following professor Marat Nurmukhamedov [ru]'s study on Pushkin's verse fairy tale, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Turkologist Karl Reichl [ky] argues that the dastan (a type of Central Asian oral epic poetry) titled Šaryar, from the Turkic Karakalpaks, is "closely related" to the tale type of the Calumniated Wife, and more specifically to The Tale of Tsar Saltan. In a version of the epos published by Russian translator Sergey L. Severtsev [ru], a ruler named Darapshah has nine wives, but no child. One day, he marries a beautiful maiden named Gulshara, and she bears him a pair of twins of "extraordinary beauty" named Sharyar and Anzhim. However, while king Darapshah is away, the nine co-wives bribe a sorceress to drown the children in a pond and replace them for a puppy and a kitten. Darapshah returns and sees the little animals. Tricked by the co-wives' deception, he banishes Gulshara away from the kingdom. As for the babies, they survive in the pond, until a slave hired by the co-wives takes them out, but, moved by their beauty, abandons them near a crossroads, until a kingly caravan finds the twins. The siblings are adopted by Khan Shasuar and his wife Akdaulet, and grow up as fine people: Sharyar a strong warrior and Anzhim a smart and well-read woman. The co-wives learn of the twins' survival and order the sorceress to get rid of them. The old witch pays a visit to Sharyar in his newly-built fortress and tells him about a fabulous city called Takhta-Zarin (Тахта-Зарин, in the original), where he can find a magical bird Bulbilgoya (Бюльбильгоя, in the original), which can sing beautifully and whose blood can heal the king, and about a maiden of peerless beauty named Khundyzsha (Хундызша, in the original). Sharyar rides his horse to Khundyzsha's city and marries her, then goes looking for the bird in the city of Takhta-Zarin, despite the maiden's protests. He reaches Takhta-Zarin and meets Bulbilgoya, which is a sorcerous bird that turns him to stone after a battle. Later, Anzhim senses something happened to her brother and follows his tracks to save him.

### Kyrgysztan

In a Kyrgyz tale translated to Hungarian as A kán fia ("The children of the khan"), a khan has 40 other wives, but marries a maiden he meets in his travels who promises to give birth to twins, a boy and a girl with golden chest and silver back. They are born, replaced by puppies and adopted by a man named Akmat. Years later, the male twin searches for a white apple tree that always bears fruit, a talking parrot and a woman of great beauty named Kulanda.
In a Kyrgyz tale published by authors D. Brudnoi and Kasymbek Yeshmambetov with the title "Злые жены" ("Evil Wives"), a khan has 40 wives, but no children yet. One day, on a travel, the khan meets three sisters: the elder says she can sew kalpaks for him; the middle one that she can feed a whole village with a small quantity of oatmeal, and the youngest promises she can bear him twins, a boy with golden legs and a girl with silver ones, and wherever they walk, gold or silver appear with every step. The khan decides to take the third sister as his wife, to the horror and jealousy of the other 40 ones. The co-wives ask a witch to get rid of the children as soon as they are born, so she hides them a chest and throws them in the mountains, then replaces the twins for puppies. When the khan sees the puppies instead of human babies, he orders his 41st wife and the puppies to be banished to a distant island. As for the children, they are found by a female deer and suckled with its milk. Years later, the khan goes on a hunt in the mountains and sees a trail of golden and silver steps leading into a cave. He follows the footsteps and finds the twins, then inquires about their origin. They can only say that a deer reared them. The khan returns to the palace and orders the witch to explain herself. The witch is forced to reveal the ruse; the twins and his wife are brought to the palace, the co-wives expelled and the witch thrown off a cliff.
In a Kyrgyz dastan titled Munduk Zarlık or Munduk ve Zarlık ("Munduk and Zarlık"), Nogay monarch, Khan Çançarkan wishes to have a child, and has married sixty times, but none of his wives has given him an heir. In his despair, a dervish appears to him in a dream and advises him to take yet another wife. This fails. After the sixty-first wife, the monarch enters into a hole and wishes for death. After forty days, a Khidr appears to the monarch and advises him to take a wife among his people by sacrifing cattle and making a grand feast for his subjects. It happens thus and the people are invited to the palatial feast. During the event, Çançarkan then gives an order that a suitable bride shall be given to him. The guests cannot provide his request and ride away, while a poor man named Cobdur remains. Cobdur returns home and tells his daughter Kançayım about their khan's orders, and Kançayım decides to go to talk to the monarch, since she has had a dream about a sword and an earring, and a falcon flying in and stealing her veil, which she interprets as portents of future delivery of a boy and a girl, the sword representing the boy and the earring the girl. Kançayım asks her father to ask for a huge dowry in gold coins, and marries the khan. Çançarkan places a pregnant Kançayım in a room and goes to hunt in the Aziret mountains, promising sixty gold bars to whoever brings him good news. An old woman Mastan approaches the jealous sixty co-wives and offers her services in exchange for payment: she will get rid of the newborns. Mastan tricks Kançayım into hiring her as her midwife, and helps in the delivery of the babies: twins, a boy and a girl with golden chest and silver backside. Mastan places dogs near the mother and goes to throw the children in water, but has second thoughts and sings a song about it. The children beg her not to throw them in water, but she does it anyway. The babies are somehow saved and nursed by a doe, and later rescued by a holy man named Gayberen and Kırk Çiltan (or Kırklar), being given the names Zarlık (the boy) and Munluk (the girl) and raised in the Şükürlük mountains. Çançarkan, believing that Kançayım gave birth to dogs, banishes her to the forest with the puppies. Years later, Zarlik goes to hunt in the mountains and Çançarkan sights something shining there. The monarch goes there and finds Zarlik, his silver chest and golden backside shining with a metallic glow. The monarch goes to embrace the youth, but Zarlik rebuffs him with an arrow. The sixty co-wives learn of their encounter and conspire with Mastan how to destroy them. Mastan has a plan: she goes to the cave where Munduk lives, gives her some clothes since the girl is naked and tries to trick her by saying she is their mother. She leaves and Zarlik returns, telling Munduk the woman is a witch and a liar. Mastan returns another time and convinces the girl to send her brother to take king Külmas's horse Külsaman and ride to the Külmöskan region in search of a wife for himself, Kuralay, and nice clothes for her. Zarlik falls for the false mission, kills some horses to fashion clothes for him and his sister, and rides into the wilderness. After six months, Hizir appears to Zarlik and says it is a dangerous mission given by witch Mastan. Zarlik, who is strong as many men, reaches Külmöskan, where he makes his case to find Kuralay and the horse, but the king mocks him and sends his soldiers to kill him. Zarlik kills the soldiers and confronts king Külmas, who tells him that the princess Kuralay has been kidnapped by the Kara Dev (Black Dev). Zarlik reaches Kara Dev's domains and, with Kuralay's help, defeats and kills the dev, then returns with the princess to Külmöskan, where he is made khan. Zarlik returns home with Kuralay and gifts, and Munduk greets her new sister-in-law. At the end of the tale, Çançarkan goes to hunt a roe deer with silver chest, golden back and jeweled horns, promising to reward the one who kills it. Zarlik and Çançarkan chase after the same deer in the forest, when the deer turns into a holy man, who reveals to the pair they are father and son. King and prince reunite and embrace. The holy man also tells that Kançayım is his mother, and the monarch and the twins go to the forest to find her. Kançayım is still with the puppies, but recognizes Munduk and Zarlik as her children. Çançarkan then hangs the other sixty co-wives, retakes Kançayım as his true queen and lives with his twin children. In another version of the dastan, there is a second quest given by Mastan to the twins: she sends them on a quest for a magic mirror that can see the whole world, located in Zılay Dağ (Mountain Zılay). Zarlik goes to the mountain and fails in the quest, but his sister Munduk rescues him.

### Kazakhstan

Kazakh literary critic and folklorist Seyt Kaskabasov [ru] stated that type 707 is among the 15 tale types of the international index that are present in both Kazakhstan and elsewhere. Type 707 is reported to register 8 or 9 variants, and Kaskabasov supposes that, apart from tale "Алтын Айдар" ("Altyn Aidar"), at least 6 variants derive from qissa (ru) (Kazakh oral epic poetry) "Мунлык-Зарлык" ("Munlyk-Zarlyk").
In the Kazakh epic Muńlıq-Zarlıq, the king of Nogai land, Şanşar, is 60 years old and has 60 wives, but still has not fathered a child. One day, a figure called Hazrat Khidr appears to him in a dream and tells him to marry a girl who shall bear him twins, a boy and a girl. King Şanşar finds this girl: Qanşayim, daughter of fisherman Jaudır. The king marries Qanşayim and she bears him a boy and a girl, who are replaced for puppies and cast in the "Qazar Sea" by a witch named Mıstan Kempir. King Şanşar believes in the co-wives' trickery and banishes his wife and the dogs to a desert island. A person named Gayp Eren rescues the twins and names them Muńlıq (the girl) and Zarlıq (the boy), and lets them live with a deer as their milk mother. Zarlıq becomes a fine warrior, while Muńlıq is a talented young lady. The co-wives, however, learn of their survival, and send Mıstan Kempir to get rid of them. The witch convinces Muńlıq to send her twin to Külmes, the khan of the Kalmyk. The boy ends up fighting the Kalmyk army and marrying the khan's daughter, princess Quralay. Meanwhile, on the island, Qanşayim has a dream where she is told her children are alive and well. Back to the king Şanşar, he follows a deer of golden and silver fur during a hunt, which is actually a benevolent spirit that is trying to reunite father and son. On the hunt for the same deer is Zarlıq, who meets up with his father. This leads Şanşar to release Qanşayim and punish the witch.
In a Kazakh tale, "Три сестры" ("Three Sisters"), a prince, the khan's son, is looking for a bride, when he stops by a tent, where he hears three womanly voices talking about their marriage wishes: the oldest sister says she will weave a golden carpet for his throne; the middle, that she will cook a feast for everyone with only an egg, and the youngest that she will bear the khan's son a boy with golden head and a girl with silver head. The prince decides to marry all three women, the first two accomplishing their promised feats. When it is time for the youngest queen to bear the fabled twins, her elder sisters convince a witch to throw the twins in the sea as soon as they are born and to replace them for animals. It just so happens and the twins are cast in a box that is saved by a poor old couple. They raise the twins and name the boy Kudaibergen ("given by God") and the girl Kunslu ("solar beauty"). Twelve years pass, the old man dies. The boy finds a powerful horse and begins to hunt, when he meets the king during a hunt. The sisters notice and send the witch to convince Kunslu to send her brother on dangerous quests: to get a self-playing dombra, a mirror that can see the whole "white world", and to seek Toshilar's daughter, Aislu ("lunar beauty") as his zhenge (the older brother's wife in the Kazakh familial system). Kudaibergen is advised by a helpful witch named Zhalmauyz Kempir, who, in regards to the second object (the mirror), tells the youth to seek the aid of the bird Samruk. When the boy tries to court Tolishar's daughter, her father shouts a magic spell to slowly petrify the youth. The prince, now khan himself, after seeing in the mirror his wife, tending to two dogs in the desert, orders his viziers to bring her back and learns of the whole plot.
In the Kazakh tale titled "Алтын Айдар" ("Altyn Aidar"), a khan has two wives. Before he leaves on a journey, he asks what his two wives will give him when he returns: the elder co-wife boasts she can build him a palace, while the younger promises to bear him a son and a daughter with a golden "aidar". The khan tells the younger co-wife to name the boy Altyn Aidar, and leaves. Both co-wives fulfill their promises, but the elder bribes a sorceress to take the children and drop them down a well, while placing a puppy and a kitten in their cradle. The khan returns and, seeing the animals, banishes the younger co-wife. Meanwhile, an eagle rescues the twins from the well and takes them to an old woman, who raises them. After the woman dies, Altyn Aidar begins hunting, while his sister stays in a cave. The elder co-wife learns of their survival and sends the sorceress to get rid of them. She convinces the female twin to send her brother to the pastures of Khan Kelmes, who owns a wild mare that foals colts that become tulpars. Altyn Aidar sails a boat to go to Khan Kelmes's lands, but a peri appears in the sea and tries to drown him by controlling the waves. The youth grabs her golden ring and she loses her powers, then reaches the pastures, where he holds a vigil on the herd for someone that is stealing Khan Kelmes's colts: another peri. Altyn Aidar threatens the second peri with a saber and gains a colt in return. Later, the sorceress goes back to the female twin and tells her her brother can find her a golden chest. Altyn Aidar rides his horse and meets an old woman near a fissure on the ground. The old woman tells him that many batyrs have come for the chest, but enter underground and become stones. Despite the danger, Altyn Aidar enters underground, but a third peri appears and petrifies him. His horse returns to the twins' cave; the female twin realizes her brother is in danger and rides the horse to the same place where the old woman is. She tells the old woman she will find her brother, and the peri, out of pity, restores her brother. Altyn Aidar returns home with his sister. Some time later, he walks in the woods and finds a yurt, where two peris are talking to each other about a youth who stole one's ring and the other's colts, but whom they wish to marry. Altyn Aidar appears to the peris and says he is the youth, taking them as his wives. At the end of the tale, the khan and Altyn Aidar meet during a hunt; a beast appears and reveals them the whole truth.

### Tuva

Russian ethnologist Grigory Potanin recorded a variant from Uryankhay Krai, modern day Tuva, with the title "Мынг хонгор атту Тюмендей и его сынъ Ерь Сару". In the first part of the tale, a being named Tyumendey, under the guise of a Dzhelbag, forces an old man to surrender his three daughters in exchange for his freedom. The old man and his wife convince the girls to fetch fruits in the woods. They return to the yurt and see Dzhelbag. The girls escape by using objects to create magical obstacles to their pursuer. They meet a beaver near a river that carries them across the water. The beaver tells the girl to toss some stones in the river; Dzhelbag drowns. The animal advises them to climb up three fir trees and wait there. In the second part of the story, as the three sisters are sitting on treetops and playing musical instruments, three hunters pass by the trees when water pours down on them. Thinking it rain, they look up and see the maidens. The three sisters marry the three hunters. One day, the third hunter goes away with his brothers-in-law, and asks his wife what she will do for him when he gets back: she will bear a boy with silver neck and golden head. Her sisters become envious, replace the boy for an animal and throw him in the lake. The hunter returns and, seeing the animal, maims, blinds and abandons his wife. The woman regains her limbs and sight by use of a magical herb. She then prepares to rescue her son from the lake. She tries three times, and is successful on the third occasion. She feeds the boy her milk and rubs her tears on his eyes. He recognizes him as his mother and calls himself Er-Saru (Ер-сару).
Folklorist Erika Taube collected another Tuvan tale from a 69-year-old informant in 1969. In this tale, titled "Он ийи гадынныг хаан" or "Хан с двенадцатью женами" (The Khan with Twelve Wives), a khan has 12 wives, but laments that none has given birth to any son. He goes on a journey and finds at first a woman, which he thinks is ugly. He returns to his travels and finds three sisters talking inside a hut, the youngest wishing for a husband that has looked for her, travelled all over the world and suffered all travails. He marries the third sister and she gives birth to twin boys. The other co-wives replace the boys for animals and cast them in the water. The khan returns and, seeing the animals, banishes the thirteenth wife to an island. The boys are found by a childless couple. Years later, the khan sends his eagle to the skies and, when it does not return, he rides on his horse to the island and meets a deep-wrinkled old lady. The old lady says she is a "lady or ruler of fate" and sets the khan on a quest to redeem himself and restore his family. Taube argued that the old lady character as the ruler of fate was "an ancient element" present in this tale, and compared it to similar motifs and figures of Central Asian faiths.

### Tofalar people

In a tale from the Tofalars titled "Три мальчика" ("Three Boys"), an old god wanders the Earth and seeks a woman to marry. He finds three women and inquires about their skills: the first tells she can bake bread for 300 people and there will still be some bread left; the second that she can plant 99 aspens to make skis for the people, and the third that she can bear three sons, the first two will have golden chest and the third a normal human chest. The god marries the third woman and has to go on a hunt. His wife gives birth to a boy with golden chest, who is replaced for a puppy by an evil midwife. The next year, the same happens to her second son. On the third year, she gives birth to a normal human boy, and the god, seeing that his wife failed in her promise, orders her and the son to be sewn inside a cow's hide and thrown in the sea. The cow's hide lands on an island. Mother and son live in the island, and the woman sews the boy a nice hat. The boy gives his hat to a man on the island and gains an ax, an iron stick and a bag. He reads in a book about a rich man who lives with two sons with golden chest. He recognizes that the boys are his elder brothers and goes to save them.