In his court, his younger aunt scoffs at the merchant's narration about the city in Buyan, and describes a more interesting sight: in an oak lives a squirrel that sings songs and cracks nuts with a golden shell and kernel of emerald.

In this guise Prince Gvidon visits Saltan's court again and overhears his elder aunt telling the merchants about an army of 33 men led by one Chernomor that march in the sea.

His mother gives her blessing to the couple and they are wed. At the end of the tale, the merchants go to Tsar Saltan's court and, impressed by their narration, decides to visit this fabled island kingdom at once, despite protests from his sisters- and mother-in-law.

[14] In a series of articles published in Revue d'ethnographie et de sociologie, French scholar Gédeon Huet identified a subset of variants of the story of Les soeurs jalouses which involve the calumniated mother and her son cast in the sea in a barrel.

[19] Likewise, according to Russian folklorist Lev Barag [ru], a "frequent" episode of East Slavic variants of tale type 707 is the protagonist bringing his brothers some cakes made with their mother's milk.

[24] Folklorist Lev Barag noted that, in the East Slavic tales, the antagonists describe the wondrous sights the hero will search for: children with miraculous traits, a "cat-bayun" [fr], a pig with golden bristles, a strange bull, a magic mill, among other objects.

[37][38][39] In this tale, Katerina Saterima is the youngest princess, and promises to marry the Tsar of Burzhat and bear him two sons, their arms of gold to the elbow, their legs of silver to the knee, and pearls in their hair.

[40] The same work collected a second variant: Сказка о Труде-королевне ("The Tale of Princess Trude"), where the king and queen consult with a seer and learn of the prophecy that their daughter will give birth to the wonder-children: she is to give birth to nine sons in three gestations, and each of them shall have arms of gold up to the elbow, legs of silver up to the knee, pearls in their hair, a shining moon on the front and a red sun on the back of the neck.

[39] Early-20th century Russian scholarship also pointed that Arina Rodionovna, Pushkin's nanny, may have been one of the sources of inspiration to his versified fairy tale Tsar Saltan.

When they reach adulthood, their aunts send the brother on a quest for the lady Maria, the Yellow Flower, who acts as the speaking bird and reveals the truth during a banquet with the tsar.

[51] In a tale collected in Western Dvina (Daugava), "Каровушка-Бялонюшка", the stepdaughter promises to give birth to "three times three children", all with arms of gold, legs of silver and stars on their heads.

[54] Another version given by Potanin was collected in Biysk by Adrianov: a king listens to the conversations of three sisters, and marries the youngest, who promises to give birth to three golden-handed boys.

[57] In a tale collected from teller A. V. Chuprov with the title "Федор-царевич, Иван-царевич и их оклеветанная мать" ("Fyodor Tsarevich, Ivan Tsarevich and their Calumniated Mother"), a king passes by three servants and inquires them about their skills: the first says she can work with silk, the second can bake and cook, and the third says whoever marries her, she will bear him two sons, one with hands covered in gold and legs in silver, a sun on the front, stars on the sides and a moon on the back, and another with arms of a golden color and legs with a silvery tint.

Some time later, merchants come to the island and later visit Ivan Tsarevich's court to tell of strange sights they have seen: exotic felines (sables and martens); singing birds of paradise from the jealous sisters' aunt's garden; and six sons with arms of gold, legs of silver and pearls in their hair.

[61] In a Russian tale collected from a Pomor source in Karelia and given the title "Чудесные Дети" ("Во лбу солнце, на затылке месяц", or "The Sun on the front, the Moon on the nape", in another publishing),[62] a king orders his subjects to put out every light in the kingdom, and tells his son that whatever house is illuminated, there he shall find his bride.

At night, the prince takes a walk around the dark city and reaches a single illuminated house, where three sisters are talking to one another about their marriage wishes to Ivan Tsarevich: the elder sister boasts she can weave him a flying carpet, the middle one that she can sew a wide night with silk, and the youngest promises to bear him nine children in three pregnancies, all like bright falcons, each with the sun on the front, a moon on the back of their heads and stars on their braids.

There, they talk about a previously abandoned island now occupied by a woman and her son, and Yazhenya, dismissing their claims, boasts that her brother has a bull with a banya on its tail, a lake on its middle part, and a church on its head.

[63] In a tale collected in Vologda Oblast with the title "Про царя и его детей" ("About the Tsar and his Children"), a prince goes to look for a wife, and arrives at a house where three sisters are weaving.

Some time later, the old midwife learns of their survival and tells Vasya about a flower in the sea that can grant happiness, and about one of Koschei the Deathless's twelve daughters he can choose as his wife.

With his mother's blessing, who utters "from his lips to God's ears", the boy's wishes are fulfilled, and they wash ashore on an island, then the barrel bursts off to release them.

The tsar asks each maiden what they can do, and the youngest says she will give birth to 12 sons, their legs of gold, their waist of silver, the moon on the forehead and a small star on the back of the neck.

After the siblings are reunited, the son turns into an insect to spy on his aunts and eavesdrop on the conversation about the kingdom of wonders, one of them, a cat that walks and tells stories and tales.

Spying on his father's court as a little bird, Ivan Gvidonovich then returns to his mother's island and wishes to have the large oak on the tree the first time, and, after the second visit, he realizes the fourteen young people are his lost elder brothers.

[77][78] In a Ukrainian tale, "Песинський, жабинський, сухинський і золотокудрії сини цариці" ("Pesynsky, Zhabynsky, Sukhynsky[d] and the golden-haired sons of the queen"), three sisters are washing clothes in the river when they see in the distance a man rowing a boat.

[81] According to scholarship, professor Lev Grigorevich Barag noted that this sequence (dog helping the calumniated mother in finding the requested objects) appears as a variation of the tale type 707 only in Ukraine, Russia, Bashkir and Tuvan.

[82] In a tale summarized by folklorist Mykola Sumtsov with the title "Завистливая жена" ("The Envious Wife"), the girl promises to bear a son with a golden star on the forehead and a moon on his navel.

[85][86] Baltic-German scholar Walter Anderson located a variant first collected by Russian historian Al. Markevic [ru] from students in Odessa, but whose manuscript has been lost.

Ivan Carevic marries the third sister and she gives birth to her promises wonder children in three consecutive pregnancies, but the babies are replaced by the jealous aunts for a puppy, a kitten, and a normal boy.

Richter under the title Die drei Wünsche ("The Three Wishes"), three sisters spend an evening talking and weaving, the youngest saying she would like to have a son, bravest of all and loyal to the king.

[93] In a tale from Zaonezh'ya [fr] with the title "Про Ивана-царевича" ("About Ivan-Tsarevich"), recorded in 1982, three sisters in a bath house talk among themselves, the youngest says she will bear nine sons with golden legs, silver arms and pearls in their hair.