B33f1. The mistress of night and day.15.23.27.-.29.

By performing certain actions, the (old) woman determines the daily cycle.

Spaniards, Portuguese, Galicians, Italians (Campania), Ancient India, Bulgarians, Albanians, Greeks, Western Ukrainians (Transcarpathia), Turks.

Southern Europe. The Spaniards (Granada) [when dying, the father tells each of his three sons to go water the flower garden at night after his death; the father was buried in the crypt; the elder went to water the flowers there, the roof of the crypt became beating against the floor, the walls against each other, the young man ran away; the middle brother did the same; the younger one watered until everything calmed down; a beast came out of the crypt and turned off the lantern; the young man saw a light in the distance and went there; I came across an old night woman, politely asked what she was doing; "I'm shortening nights and lengthening days"; he pushed the old woman, she fell down and the night continued; the young man went to the fire of 41 sleeping robbers; lit the flashlight, the robbers woke up and wanted to burn the person; but when they found out that he had been able to lift la cardera {cauldron?} , made him chieftain; vowing to return, the young man came again to his father's grave; there the beast crumbled into pieces; the father promised his son good luck; came to the old woman, picked her up from the ground, dawn came; brothers the young man did not say anything; he got on his horse and returned to the robbers; persuaded them not to steal wine from the poor, but to rob the palace; he climbed first and cut off them as the robbers got up heads; in one of the chambers, a young man saw three princesses sleeping; the youngest took off the ring from his finger and cut off a piece from her skirt; the king wants to know who killed the robbers; many noble imposters have come; the princess said that someone had visited her; decided to have a tavern where they drink and feed for free, but let the visitors tell stories; the brothers also came there, the younger one told everything; the elders are ashamed of not fulfilling their father's requests; the youngest showed his princess ring and became the royal son-in-law]: Camarena, Chevalier 1995, No. 304:43-47; Portuguese [young man with brothers and father leaves home; they spend the night in the palace, where invisible hands serve food, etc.; kill the monster; the fire goes out, the young man goes after the fire; the old woman (sun and moon) gives two threads: one to create day and the other to create night; teaches how to find light; a young man meets robbers (giants) and, thanks to his ingenuity, defeats them; throws them into a well; killing snakes, giants, etc., he saves three sleeping princesses; kisses the third, pulls out fire; picks up various items belonging to each princess; saves their parents, the king and queen; returns to sleeping father and brothers; shows items taken, recognized as princess and parents {princess?}] : Cardigos 2006, No. 304:63; Galicians [at dawn The old woman sprinkles flour through a sieve and makes it light]: Mariño 1921:5; Italians (Campania, Naples) ["when the Night hung black dresses to keep them from moths"]: Basile 2018:179.

South Asia. Ancient India (Rigveda; materials identified and sent by Y.V. Vasilkov) [RV. I. 113.14. She (Usas - Morning Dawn) has flashed forth with her ornaments at the doorposts of heaven. The goddess has removed the black raiment. Awakening (the world), with her ruddy horses, Dawn drives hither with a well-yoked chariot. Macdonell, Vedic Mythology: she removes the black robe of night; Elizarenkova: the goddess took off her black outfit]. (This is really "attire", "outfit" is nirnija). RV.I.115. Verses 4 and 5 are more enigmatic and have occasioned much discussion: many scholars believe that both verses contrast the sun of the day with the "night sun," the dark side of the sun that, in the form of a wheel, travels invisibly from west to east to position itself for the next daily rising. Thus, in such interpretations, in the first half of verse 4 Night gathers up the dark garment she was weaving (see II.38.4) at the advent of the rising sun, but wathes the night sun in her garment in the second half of the verse. Two sides of the sun, bright and dark, are also referred to, more clearly, in the second half of verse 5. Although these interpretations have much in their favor, we still remain uncertain about what verses 4 and 5 are actually depicting. 4. This is the Sun's divinity, this his greatness: in the middle of (her) work (Night?) has gathered together what was stretched out. When he has yoked his tawny horses from their seat, just after that Night stretches her garment for him (Vµsas - "apparel", "blanket"). Wed. Erman, Essay on the History of Vedic Literature: Ushas (Morning Dawn) drops the "black veil of night" 5. The Sun takes on his own form in the lap of heaven, for Mitra and Varuna to see. His one surface, gleaming, is unbounded; the tawny (horses) together bring the other, the black one. RV. I. 134.4. For you [Vāyu] do the gleaming dawns stretch their amazing garments in the distance, into the houses at the rays (of the sun) -their brilliant (garments) at the new rays. RV II. 38.4. To Savitar [Savitar, who represents the power of the sun, the motivator god, sets everything in motion in the morning and calms him down in the evening] 4. The weaver rolled the stretched (fabric) again. In the middle of his work, a skillful person did his job. He got up and gathered. He separated the times of sacrifice. (that is, morning and evening dawn). Without stopping, God Savitar came. 4a. Weaving (vayanti)... - That is night. She rolled up what had been woven during the day. In other words, night has come. - Quite the opposite: this night is rolling its veil (cf. I. 115.4). And this, like nightfall again, is led by the solar motivator god Savitar. 4. Once again the weaver has wrapped up what was stretched out; in the middle of his work the mindful (worker) has set down his craft. Having pulled himself together, he [=Savitar] has stood up. He has always kept the seasons separate. As Proper Thinking, god Savitar has come. RV IV. 13.4. You (Agni) drive with the (horses) that convey best, as you unravel the thread, stripping off the black garment (of night), o god. The rays of the Sun, shaking the darkness like a hide (for tanning), have set it down in the waters (vasman - "apparel", "blanket").

The Balkans. Bulgarians [the youngest of three brothers on guard at night, kills a monster (lamia, dragon); fire (covered in monster blood) goes out; sees fire on the mountain and goes there, meets an old woman (named Day and Night, Evening Star), she spins; he makes her spin only black yarn until he returns; by the fire, robbers, they test the young man (they tell her to get a boiling pot out of the fire), admit in it a strongman; ordered to help rob (kill) the king (kidnap the princess); after entering the palace, the young man kills incoming robbers one by one; kisses the sleeping princess, takes her ring, kills a snake, or lamia who was ready to kill the princess; to find the hero, the king sets up an inn, feeds visitors for free, but for this they must tell stories; the young man talks about what happened, shows a ring and his knife stuck in the wall; the king gives his daughter for a young man (and his eldest daughters for his brothers)]: Daskalova-Perkovska et al. 1994, No. 304:106-107; Albanians [with three brothers the sisters are married to the Sun, the Moon and the South; they decide to visit them; they spend three nights, each time one brother guards the others sleep; the elder killed the lamia, did not tell the brothers about it; the same middle brother; the youngest too, but The lamia has managed to extinguish the fire with her tail; the young man sees the light in the distance, goes there; on the way he meets the mother of the night, asks her to prolong the darkness; she promises to do so, but he does not believe and binds her together; when he goes to the light source, he sees a huge cauldron with 12 ears standing on the fire; he picked it up, lit the torch, and put it in place; the 12 robbers are amazed by this force: they can only lift the cauldron together; they took the young man to rob the king; breaking through the wall, they climbed into the stable; the young man stayed outside; raised the alarm, cut off the heads of the robbers as they got out; left his knife there; on the way back freed the mother of the night; the king found the dead robbers and a knife; ordered a tavern where food is free, but let everyone tell us what they did; the older and middle brothers told how each killed lamia, the youngest also about robbers; the king gave his daughter for him; prisoners were released on the occasion of the royal wedding; half of them were made of iron; the young man persuaded the king to release him as well; as soon as the king broke his shackles, the monster swallowed the princess and flew away; the young man asks the king to give him iron shoes and a staff, promises to return the princess in a year; comes to his sister, whose husband is the Sun; she hid her brother, the Sun senses a man, but promises not to touch his brother-in-law; advises you to ask the Month; he sends him to the South; the South also does not know where the Iron Man is, directs him to a huge falcon, tells him to come up from behind and threaten to slaughter him, If he does not say where the Iron Man is; the falcon tells us to prepare meat and fix its wings, he is too old; they are flying to a high mountain, the young man cut off the last piece of meat from his thigh; when he reaches, the falcon regurgitated this piece and grew it back; the wife hid the young man, but the iron man found him, drank blood, and spit out his skin and bones; the falcon saw, flew between the crushing mountains, took swallows into his beak of milk, revived they are a young man; he taught his wife to pretend to be dead and ask her husband where his strength is; iron; in a broom; the wife burned the broom, but nothing happened; pretended to be sick again; iron: there is a boar on the mountain, he has a silver fang, a hare in a fang, there are three pigeons in the hare, they are strong; the young man came to the shepherd, began to ask about the boar, he heard that the young man began to fight with him; boar: I would like to sharpen my fangs racine de gouet; young man: I would like flour, fried fish and wine; the shepherd brought everything, the young man killed the boar, took out pigeons; turning his two heads, the young man came to the Iron Man, killed the third, the iron died; the falcon brought the young man and princess to the king; everyone is happy]: Dozon 1991, No. 15:121-134; Greeks: Legrand 1881 [a father tells three sons to pray at his grave for three nights and pass off his three sisters as the first to marry them; after reprimanding the prayer, the elder returns to the house; at this time a strange-looking man comes, almost a freak; only the younger brother insists on giving him his sister; the same with the middle brother and middle sister; the youngest is a woman with two balls of thread, black and white; it depends on her whether it will be night or day; the young man asks to unwind the black thread more slowly so that he can be in time before dawn she refused to finish reading the prayer; then he tied it to a tree, and went where the light could be seen; there are 40 dragons around a huge boiling cauldron; the young man picked it up and put it back; they ask for help steal the princess; going up to the tower, the young man tells the dragons to go up one at a time and kills everyone; kissed the princess in his bedroom and exchanged rings with her; returned home, untying the mistress of the night and of the day; to identify the hero who killed dragons, the king tells everyone to come and talk about his life; the princess recognizes the young man and her ring; the wedding; the young man noticed a golden key in his wife's hair; opened it to them the locked door, pulled the ring, a dark figure fell off it and took the princess away; the young man went in search; came to his older sister's castle; her husband called the birds, but only the lame eagle knew where the castle was the sorcerer, and carried the young man there; taking the princess, they flew back, but the sorcerer, to whom his flying horse tells everything, caught up with them, took the princess and cut the young man in half; the eagle brought halves, the sister's husband revived with live water; the young man came to his middle sister; her husband explains that it is necessary to get the same winged horse as the sorcerer's; the young man came to the mountain, tamed the horse, took his wife home; the sorcerer's horse could not catch up]: 145-160; Hahn 1864 (1), No. 52 [the robbers stole the sister of three brothers; they went in search; they made a fire in the evening; the older brother is on guard the first night; lamia came, he killed her, brothers said nothing; on the second night he was the same with his middle brother; on the third, the youngest killed three lamias who had come; but the fire went out, the young man went to look for fire; saw a light in the distance, went to it; met an old woman , she replied that a distant fire is a fire of robbers; and she herself brings the day into the world; the young man asked her to stay still while he goes to get the fire; she promised, but he did not trust her tied it to a tree; 40 robbers are sitting around the cauldron with 40 ears; the young man took off the cauldron, took the fire and put the cauldron back; returning to the old woman, the young man untied her, came to the brothers; it was dawn and they moved on; but the robbers brought the young man to their place, told him to go into the royal treasury; he found a sword and cut off the heads of all the robbers who crawled through the hole one by one; after drinking water from the bowl, the young man left ; to find out who killed the robbers and saved the treasury, the king set up an inn where everyone was supposed to talk about their adventures; the young man also came and began to tell; the king married him to his daughters, and his brothers on the daughters of noble people]: 286-288.

Central Europe. Ukrainians (Transcarpathia, Tyachiv district, s. Dulova) [The tsar has three sons and a daughter, the eldest sons study well, the youngest Ivan Farmudz is stupid, Pepelyanik. The brothers decide to find out why their father has one eye crying and the other laughing. The oldest one comes first. The king reads, there is a saber on the table, he swings at his son, he runs away, the king throws his sword after him, and she pierces the door. It's the same with the middle son. When the IF enters, the king swings, and IF puts his head on the table: the king has the right to kill him. The king reports that he was sold to an unclean man in his mother's womb. When he dies, the devils will smash his bones across seven powers, so one eye cries. But he hopes his sons will protect him, so the second one laughs. He tells you to cook 7 fathoms of firewood, dig a grave in 7 fathoms deep, sons spend the night near the grave and burn a fire, sabers in their hands, three snakes will arrive at night: at 9 o'clock - three-headed, at 10 a.m. - 6-headed, at midnight - Chapter 12 If someone comes for a sister, give it back. The king is dead, the brothers spend the night at the grave. The elders fall asleep. IF kills a 3-headed snake, blood almost flooded the sleepers. The IF puts logs under the heads of sleepy brothers. Kills the 6-headed, the blood almost flooded the sleepers, the IF seats sleepy brothers. A 12-headed serpent arrives. Ivan cuts 6 goals, then 6 more, but one always returns to the place. The IF pierces the snake's neck and presses it to the ground, the blood cools down, the head cannot grow. Blood flows like a river, and IF puts sleepy brothers standing still. The fire went out, the IF climbs the ash tree, the light is in the distance, the IF is walking, the forest is on the way, two women ask to judge who is older. It's Night and Day. The IF ties them to poles at a distance, tells them to remain silent until they return, otherwise they will cut off their heads. It comes to a fire of 300 fathoms of firewood, robbers (sprays) sleep around. The IF cuts off the stick, splits the end and pulls out the smut in a split, but the coal falls on the senior robber. The IF runs away with fire. The robbers wake up, the younger and middle do not see anything, the eldest gets up, his head rises above the trees, he sees the IF, steps several times, catches up with the IF, puts it in the palm of his hand, brings him to the fire, calls it an ant, promises to kill for stealing smut. IF calls himself the best thief in the world. The robber demands help to steal the king's daughter. The sun never shone on her, the wind never blew on her forehead, golden hair on her head, her beauty is indescribable. The robbers have not been able to steal it for three years: there is a golden rooster at the royal gate and as soon as they approach, he starts singing and the army shoots. The IF crawls up, kills a rooster, finds the room where the girl sleeps, calls the robbers one by one, cuts everyone's head, changes rings with the sleeping princess, leaves a note: IF hacked three snakes, Night and He tied the day to trees, shot a rooster, cut off the heads of the robbers, and exchanged rings with the princess. Night and Day are asked to let them go: it has been dark for 7 days. The IF judges this way: in summer it should be a long day (a lot of work, the harvest must ripen), and in winter it should be short. Night and day sign an eternal contract. The IF returns, cuts the frozen blood of snakes, the brothers who wake up fainting with fear. The Interfax rules the state. At midnight, musicians come and demand to give what their father ordered, otherwise they will leave no stone unturned. The IF throws their sister out the window. Musicians play, the wind blows - a train of 100 carriages flies across forests and seas. The neighboring king promised a daughter to whoever would kill the thieves. A gypsy servant finds the bodies and pretends to be their murderer. Preparing a wedding. The IF is late, the gypsy demands not to let him in, but the king lets him in. The Interfax ridicules the groom, expects execution for insulting the future royal son-in-law. At the gallows, she tells me what he did and where he put the letter, shows the princess's ring. The people rejoice, the army and servants disperse the gypsies. After the wedding, IF goes to his brothers, the king lets him go, but forbids him to take his wife with him, who was not shining in the sun or blowing the wind: she will be kidnapped by the wind. The IF does not listen, the whirlwind takes the princess away. The queen gives three years to find her daughter, otherwise she executes her. The IF wanders, there is a hole in the trunk of the oak tree: "This is where the wedding with Farmudz Mariika came in." The IF comes to a small hut like a box. There, his brother-in-law tells his wife to cook: her brother starves to death. He puts the IF to bed, asks the horse where the IF's wife is. Horse: In the seventieth country, the Filthy King stands for a cook. Pogany also has a horse, his older brother, he is stronger, he will catch up, the poganin king will cut Ivan to pieces. You have to put a bag on the horse so that the horse will then bring the chopped one. The brother-in-law equips the IF on the road, the horse brings him to the realm of Poganin. Ivanova's wife is just on her way to the well with the buckets, singing plaintively. The IF puts her on a horse. At the same moment, Filthy's horse laughs. Poganin grabs an iron pitchfork, rushes into the staff, finds out that the IF stole his cook, but he has time. He snaps his teeth and eats two wagons of nuts, smokes two wagons of tobacco, sleeps for two hours, takes a sword, sits on a horse and starts after him. IF Horse: It burns the fire because the Filthy King is catching up. Let the IF ask Poganin to cut him with a sword, throw him in a bag and put him on his horse. This is what happens. Poganin picks up the cook. The brother-in-law tells his wife to bring a trough from the attic in advance, folds the pieces of the IF body, pours it with healing water, and everything grows together. The brother-in-law has two souls, he blows on his body, releases one of them, the soul enters the IF, and he comes to life. His brother-in-law explains that he won't be able to revive him again. His mother, who is the oldest over half the world, could help, knows a lot, but she can eat it when she sees it. The IF has been going to her for six months. Baba feels it from a distance, roars: she has been living in this place for 10,000 years, but has not seen an earthly person, she has not eaten fresh human beings for 3000 years. The IF calls her a sweet mother, a dear matchmaker, and says that her son sent him. Baba wants to see it but promises to eat it. He takes two iron poles, 10 m each, supports his eyelids, otherwise they cannot hold on. The IF talks about everything, the woman feels sorry for him. He sends him to his husband, but there is little hope that he will regret it, he is even angrier, he is 6 months away. He feeds him with tin dumplings, he does not feel hungry during the journey. My grandfather senses it from an even greater distance, 15,000 years, has not seen a person, he has not eaten human beings for 5,000 years. The Interfax calls him a sweet father, a dear matchmaker, says that he has been pardoned and sent by his wife as the oldest in the world. Grandfather: I ate millions of people, but I have never met such an affectionate and kind person. She wants to watch and then eat it. It supports the eyelids with iron poles 20 m long. He regretted, feeds the IF with steel dumplings. It gives two twigs that grow out of the ground. There is a basement under the house, there are two horses, one must be hit with one twig and the other with another, he gives these horses because he is old, the horses must be obeyed, they will do everything. The IF goes down into the dungeon, sees wooden tremblers on four legs, hits them with a twig - the tremblers turn into a stallion and a mare. The horse is happy, asks you to take him out of the basement, take a wooden ax, cut three thousand fathoms of firewood, and light a fire. A wooden ax cuts trees into ready-made logs. Horses eat fire, eat ashes 100 meters deep, drink all the water, drink the lake three times: now they are invincible. The horse tells you to take diamond clothes out of his left ear, and a saddle with a bridle for a woman from his right ear. The horse asks how to carry it, IF: so that neither he nor the horse is harmed. The horse is happy to have waited for a good king. Pogany's horse is his son. They arrive at the well, the IF dresses his wife in diamond clothes, puts him on a mare, and rises above the sky. The horse in the filthy king's stine laughs. They're flying in pursuit, there's no time to wait. Pogany's horse calls his father and mother, asks him to wait for him, otherwise he will be tortured. They advise you to fly into the sky, throw off the pollution. Poganin is still falling, and if he fell, it would rumble with all the thunder and the earth would crumble. The horse rushes after his parents, flies with them. Light shines all over the sky, people think the whole world is on fire. The old king cries with joy, IF invites brothers to a feast]: Lintour, Chandey 1965:9-29.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Turks [the young man's fire goes out; he goes after the fire, meets an old woman who spins and then spreads yarn; 40 giants agree to fire if the young man gets them three daughters Padishah Peri; or 40 giants or robbers cannot enter the palace; the young man climbs there and then cuts off the heads of each of the incoming robbers]: Eberhard, Boratav 1953, No. 213.III.2:251.