B115. Evergreen trees.. 29.30.32.-.34.37.

Conifers and some other trees and shrubs (shrubs) became evergreen after they were accidentally spilled with the elixir of immortality. Cf. H6b motive.

Talysh [boxwood], (Azerbaijanis?) , Persians [cypress, pine, spruce, citrus, palm trees], Tajiks [juniper], Uzbeks [karakach], Kazan Tatars [pine, spruce], Bashkirs [pine, spruce], Kazakhs [pine, juniper], Kyrgyz [juniper], Altaians [conifers, moss], Khakas [pine, spruce, cedar, rose hips], Tuvans [juniper, fir, pine], tofalars [cedar, spruce, pine], Baikal Buryats [pine], Khalkha Mongols [pine, spruce, cedar, juniper, ephedra, lingonberry], Mongols of Ordos [karagan], Udege people [cedar].

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Talyshi: Arakelova 2006 [(Talysh folk legends and tales, p.20); Khidr owns living water, which he wants to sprinkle people so that they gain immortality; a raven who is entrusted with this the mission, trying to sprinkle itself, spills water from its beak onto the boxwood tree, which has been evergreen ever since]: 122; Bagry 1930 (3) [Alexander went east to look for eternal water; the groaning old man said that he drank water, his body grew old, now he cannot die; A. poured out the water, the old man is gone, it was Archangel Gabriel, sent by God to prevent man from becoming immortal; drops of water fell on the spruce tree and juniper, now they are forever green]: 24-26; Asatryan 2005 [Saint Hizr gave water from the spring of paradise to the Earth's crow, ordered that it be sprinkled on people's heads so that they could find eternal life; the crow took water, I flew, sat on a boxwood tree, decided to pour water on my head, but the water spilled onto boxwood, which became evergreen]: 20; Azerbaijanis [the fairy tale fully coincides with the legend of living water in "Iskander-name" by Nizami (Baku, 1940:369-376)]: commentary to Potanin 1972:317; (cf. Armenians [the spruce tells Christ to depart so that he does not suffer from its smell; H. blesses the spruce, tells him to be evergreen]: Ganalanyan 1979, No. 234:102).

Iran - Central Asia. Persians: Donaldson 1938 [In the west, in the everlasting darkness of Zulmát, near Mount Kaf, there is a spring of living water; the soil around is hot; you can only go there with permission Khawji Khizr; Alexander went there with 40 horsemen; XX. allowed me to pass, explained how not to burn his legs; A. filled the vessel; going out into the bright world, hung it on a branch; Crow flew in, drank water , overturned the vessel, the liquid spilled onto the tree; the tree became evergreen (p.142: therefore, cypress or pine are considered sacred), the Raven is immortal, and A. did not drink living water; some of A. they picked up stones in a dark land, they turned out to be gold; others decided to come back and take them too, but XX did not meet them again and they did not find a way]: 92; Osmanov 1987 [Iskander Zulkarnain found out that Mount Kaf in the Mrak cave has living water; it is 70 years to go there; he took fifteen-year-old boys with him; despite the prohibition, he took his father alone, putting him in a chest with dried fish and straw; at the entrance to the cave, father advised me to throw straw, the horses saw it in the darkness, entered; leaving the other end of the cave, the father advised me to throw fish into the springs; in one dried water came to life, there was living water; I. rewarded father and son; ways back The hedgehog told I. that he drank living water, lived forever, but turned into a hedgehog; I. poured water on the roots of citrus fruits, palms, pines and fir trees; now they are always green]: 233-234; Tajiks ( northern Tajikistan, everywhere) [Khudovand gave the crow water from the Zumzum/Zamzam well in the Mecca region to bring it to a man so that the man could live for a thousand years; the raven croaked and dropped water from his mouth, drops fell on juniper, since then it has been evergreen, growing for a thousand years]: Rakhimov 2007:79-80; Uzbeks [in old age, Iskander Two-horned orders to bring it to the water source of immortality; the old man says he, who also conquered the world 3000 years ago, drank living water, and was soon overthrown; now everyone considers him a murderer; I. did not drink water, spilled it on three ellies; they are still green; {in a mild climate small-leaved elm is evergreen}]: Rogov 1980:223-224.

Volga - Perm. Kazan Tatars: Gilyazutdinov 2015, No. 271 [the Bulgarian ruler sent one of his warriors to fetch the water of eternity; the batyr found a spring, took water into a leather bag; returning back, went to bed on the bank of the river. Ashyt; put the bag at his feet; when he saw a dream, he pushed the bag with his foot and knocked it over; water spilled between the fir trees and the pines; they became evergreen, and the batyr stayed on the banks of that river], 272 [many people dies, the horseman goes for living water; the captive in the palace of the king of divas shows him a source of water, gives him a mirror and a bar; the diva chases after him, the horseman throws a mirror, it becomes the sea, the bar becomes mountains; divas and horsemen fight, divas break the vessel with a saber, living water pours out to the roots of fir trees, since then conifers have always been green]: 266, 266-267; Bashkirs [hero Ural reaches a source of living water (Yanshishma); a decrepit old man advises W. not to drink from the spring, otherwise death will not bring relief from the torments of old age; W. did not drink, spilled water on pines and spruce trees that became evergreen]: Sagitov 1981:136-141.

Turkestan. Kazakhs (recorded by G.N. Potanin) ["From the late Kyrgyz Musa Ch. Chormanov (Chokan Valikhanov's uncle), in 1880, I wrote down the following legend, which he probably read in a Muslim book"; in the kingdom of Garun al-Rashid, it was a custom to kill people over 60 years old age; the son took his father to the place where the elderly were killed; the father sat down on a stone and laughed; when asked by his son, he replied: "I led my father to death on the same road, we were both tired at this very stone, and now Like me, my father sat down on a rock to rest; I didn't think sixty years would come to me so soon. This is what I smiled at. Soon your son will lead you to death in a similar way"; the son took his father back, hid him and kept him a secret from everyone for twenty years; GR ordered to get living water (myangi su); the old man explained to his son, where and how to find it; they walked with the others for forty days, the water supply ran out; the old man, whom his son was carrying in the box, told the bulls to be released; they sniffed the ground, began to dig it; they found water there; the old man explained to the son: "Not all water is "alive". Throw dead fish into the water! Only a spring with "living water" in which fish come to life"; the son did so; people began to take stones from there; the son, on the advice of his father, took a whole bag; when they returned, the stones turned gold; the son carried his GR bag; GR decided to check the water he had brought him, began to throw dead fish into it; only the old man's son had water alive; it was hung in a bucket on a pine tree; the wandering Alimbet Khan said that he had drunk water and cannot die for a thousand years; GR decided not to drink; it was drunk by a flying crow, so he lives for a thousand years; drops fell from his beak; because of this, the pine tree does not rot; juniper grew under it, which is also became a "strong tree"; Kazyr and Ilyas also drank water; both have not died so far; K. appears to every person three times in his life in a plain form; I. helps those suffering from water crashes; where he passes , there, in his footsteps, the grass turns green]: Gomboev 1890:143-144 (a handwritten and incomplete version of the same text was published in Potanin 1972, No. 8:99-100); Kyrgyz [Khan orders to kill anyone over 40 years; then ordered to bring black worms: until they bring them, he would levy a tax; one horseman hid his father in a chest; he ordered to dig up bay's grave, there were worms; next time Khan; Khan all the time wanders; father: kill the black dog that makes the khan move from place to place; stopped, but there is no water; father: dig where the cows stop and start hitting their hooves; the young man had to confess that he had a father; the khan repented, but told the young man's father to find living water; he led him to a rock from where water was dripping; said that under his feet a man who drank living water and lay for centuries until turned into green juniper; Khan was frightened and ordered to pour out living water; the old man poured it on juniper; since then it has been evergreen]: Ledenev 1987:128-130.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Altaians: Anokhin 1924 [Ulgen created human bodies, sent Raven to Kuday to ask for souls for them; he gave them, the Raven carried them in his beak; flew past the corpse of a camel, a horse, When he saw the cow's corpse, he shouted, Carr, what eyes! Souls fell into the coniferous forests, which became evergreen; at this time Erlik gave the dog guard a warm fur coat, breathed his soul into people's bodies, their bodies came to life]: 18; Dyrenkova 1929 [Ulgen, having created the body human, sends a crow to Kuday to ask for souls for his creation]: 123; Nikiforov 1915:241 [Ulgen, through the Raven, took souls from heaven for humanity, but when he saw that Yerlik was already managed to breathe his soul into the human body, scattered the "souls of immortality" through coniferous forests and mosses], 243 [the hunter saw a cedar, from the top of which water ran into a stone box; put dried fish in it, it became swim]; Khakas: Dyrenkova 1929 (Sagai people) [Kudai created 10 men and 9 women; of all the birds, only the Raven agreed to fly for mogu su (eternal water) to let them revive; on the way he was tempted back by carrion, spilled part of the water; as punishment he became black, and people lost their immortality]: 123; Katanov 1907, No. 397 [Kudai told the old man that there would be a flood, ordered to make a raft, put it on it all creatures; the Devil (Ainá) tells his wife to give him a drink, not to board the raft until he says in their hearts, "Sit down, damn it"; the mammoth and the eagle refused to sit down, decided to pull it out anyway; but the birds and the eagle was tired, they sat on the mammoth, he and the eagle plunged into the water; the old man sent the crow for living water; he did not carry it, spilled it on pine, rose hips, spruce trees and cedar; therefore the trees are evergreen]: 417-418; Tuvans [Burgan-Bakshy created living water to make everyone immortal; Ara-Hoo secretly swallowed it; BB asked Shulba which direction AH went, he pointed to heaven; BB asked the Sun, it was pointed to the moon; asked the Moon, she said: Here he is coming; TT cut AH with a sacred rod; the lower part fell to the ground, the upper part slipped away; the water that had flowed out of the body fell on the cedar, spruce, juniper Turkestan and Siberian, fir, pine; for giving it away from the Sun and Moon, AH swallowed them, but they came out of its empty body; this is how eclipses occur]: Alekseev et al. 2010, No. 7:49; tofalars [the man met people with horse hooves; they stabbed their daughter to feed him; he rode off on a horse; they chased, armed with iron hooks; they fell behind when he jumped over the swamp; a man came to people who ride hares; a sable killed one of them; a man killed a sable; for this, those people promised him living (eternal) water; the man returned home, told the women to prepare for meeting eternal people; when women saw hares riding hares, they laughed; eternal people did not give water, but splashed it out on cedar, spruce, pine; these trees became evergreen; people are mortal because they women laughed]: Katanov 1891:89-90 (=1907:654-655; =Rassadin 1996, No. 39:95-96); Baikal Buryats: Zhamtsarano 2011 (Olkhonsky, 1903) ["The cuckoo king lives in the south, the size of a ram. He sent us and his cuckoo the water of eternity (munhuin hara wa) to spray it all of us, so that the whole earth and people could live in happiness and abundance. But the cuckoo of immortality splashed into pine, spruce and other evergreen trees. She reported to the king and now reports: "There are no trees or people there (i.e. we), and I am forced to cuckle on horse droppings (tontogool). It is hot in summer and cold in winter. There is no tree that can withstand you, king""]: 59; the Baikal Buryats (Alar) [The raven drinks eternal black water and is therefore durable; God sent him to take it to man; he sat on the way pine tree; Owl frightened him with a scream, he spilled water; since then, pine has been evergreen; water must be taken from the spring in the morning before the raven can get drunk; he arrives early and gains immortality]: Potanin 1883, No. 43 g: 210-211; Khalkha Mongols: Benningsen 1912 (St. Zain Hure, Sede) [The swallow took out a few drops of living water, carried it in her mouth to sprinkle people and give them immortality; the wasp bit her, the Swallow dropped the water, the drops fell on pine, cedar and lingonberries, now they always green; The swallow bit off Ose's tongue, now she doesn't sing but buzzing]: 21 (retelling referring to another Mongolian source in Yeongdong 1989:56; see below Taube 2004); Yeongdong 1989 [gods and asuras they foamed the ocean of milk, from there the sun, the moon, and a jug of nectar appeared; the asuras took the nectar, Hormusta and Vishnu stole it from them; the ruler of the asurs Rahu became one of the gods, took a place among celestials; when nectar was offered to him, the moon god recognized him, Vishnu cut off his head; garlic appeared from drops of blood, juniper from nectar; the etiological ending is characteristic of Mongolian text (apparently absent in Indian and Tibetan versions)]: 54-56; Potanin 1881, No. 25c [In ancient times, there was only water: there was no land. One llama descended from the sky and began to interfere with the ocean with his stick... Because of that interference, the globe of earth thickened from the middle of the ocean: further interference hardened the earth into a quadrangle. After that, two swans descended to that land: the llama turned the female's nail into a woman, and the male's leg into a man. In ancient times, there was a llama (the narrator thought it was the one that interfered with the ocean with a stick). He created all animals and birds, including the crow. After drawing beautiful water in a cup, he handed the crow and said, "Put this water one drop on every person's head so that they are immortal." The crow flew and sat in one place on the cedar. Croaking - a precious cup fell out of my mouth, water spilled: three plants grew in that place, eternally green, always fresh, not dying: kosh, cedar, dzergen and artsa, juniper... The crow returned to the llama . He asked her, "Where is the water?" - "Spilled". Then the lama said to the crow: Well, let you have Hara-kire (Black Crow) for this name: You will have no other food but the eyes of dead people]: 166-167; 1883, No. 43c [Burkhyn-Bakshi gave the Raven his drink of immortality, arashan, ordered him to pour it on the man's head; she sat on a spruce tree, waited for a man; Owl frightened her with a scream, she spilled arashan; since then, the spruce has been evergreen]: 210; Taube 2004 , No. 7 (Sukhebator aimag, eastern Mongolia) [The swallow decided to bring people the water of immortality; on the way she was bitten by a Bumblebee (Hummel), the Swallow screamed, dropped drops of living water from her beak, they fell on pine, cedar and ephedra, so those are evergreen; The Swallow pulled out Bumblebee's tongue, the bumblebee is now only buzzing]: 20; Mongols (Ordos) ["Ordos ardyn ulger". Hohhot, 1992:287; Burhan Bagsh sent a crow to bring people the nectar of immortality and health; he saw a mouse dying, lowered it, spilled nectar on the caragan bush; for this, BB told him to sit on even in the cold high place and hunt for mice; sent a hare to tell people to eat once a day and wash their face three times; the hare forgot everything and came back; BB threw a whip at him, his tail fell off, became small and The tail is a black spot; BB told him to be prey for everyone, including crows; sent a bull; he confused him, told him to wash once a day and eat three times; BB told him to work for people]: Yegupova 2012:25-27.

Amur-Sakhalin. The Udege people [the boy grows fast, puts on his old father's clothes, goes skiing to kill his enemy; kills the Iron Bird with an arrow, noticing a hole in her neck; taking out an arrow, accidentally injures him himself in the knee; consistently asks animals and birds to bring medicine from their parents; Mouse, Fox, Raven respond that they would rather eat it when he dies; The raven flies, gets the medicine, scatters it over cedars, brings the rest to the young man; he recovers, marries; his parents are not at home, but two aspens have grown; the young man tells his wife not to cut or cut them; she tries to make an incision with a knife; when he returns, the young man sees his father's head bandaged; his wife explains that she cut it unintentionally]: Nikolaeva 2003, No. 4:28-29.