The fisherman's son sold in his mother's womb

Note: ; A newer and more complete copy of this tale from the Nitra region is: The story of The Penitent Robber (Antti Aarne type 756). It has been recorded in several places in our country, the best known publication is by János Kriza under the title “Megölő Estéfán” in the Vadrózsák (new ed. Magy. Népk. Kyyjt. XII. k. 209–15. II., 1. here the domestic versions and foreign references on page 466). Our copy begins with a regular Jephthah motif, it further corresponds to the type, only the imposition of the penitential method cannot come from the mouth of the king of devils. The original is probably the North Slavic form, where a holy man (God) found on the road tells the boy what the murderous robber should do in order to be saved. The whole type probably developed among the North Slavs, among whom Madaj is the name of the sinner, and the name occurs among the neighboring peoples, also in our country: Mádai, in German in the form Madei. The same method of penance has been mentioned in Western European legend structures since the 12th century, but inserted into a different framework. In them, a pious hermit imposes the punishment, the robber endures it, but then it turns out that Heaven forgives the great sinner sooner than the one who lives a constantly pious life, the hermit becomes furious at this and becomes a roadblock, and finally ends up in the clutches of the devil. The tale clearly broke away from it and made the poignant method of penance independent, and with it created a type that, as clearly from Christian legend, is an extremely rare example in the European fairy tale treasury. See, in addition to the above references to Kriza, about it: Toldo's treatise in Zs. d. Ver. für Volksk. XVI. 1906. 31., Bolte's ibid. p. XIII. 71., Polívka's important contributions on Slavic material: Arch. für slav. Philol. XIX. 246., XXI. 271. and 294., XXVI. 457. and XXXI. 594–603. II., and also on the legend: on the saints Paphnutius, Gregory, Julian and Ignatius Gordon Hall. Gerould: The Hermit and the Saint (Publ. of the Mod. Langu. Assoc. of Amer. XX. 3. füzet), Luzel: Lógendes chrétiennes de la Basse-Bretagne, Par. 1881. I. 204 and René Basset: Le baton qui reverdit, a Rev. des Trad. Popul. XXII. 1907. 289. ; Original title: The Fisherman's Boy Who Was Not Born and Already Sold; Original source: Ethnological Database of the Museum of Ethnography – 580/16-21. ; Type number: ATU/MNK 756B