Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

E5. A half-ready man tries to stand up. .14.16. (.23.) .29.33.

God makes man out of clay. He must wait until it dries, but tries to get up earlier.

Algerian Arabs, Flemish, (Birkhor), Ingush, Dungans.

North Africa. The Arabs of Algeria (Tiaret Plateau) [when man was expelled from paradise, it was an intangible spirit; God made man out of clay; Satan came down to earth to see what shape God would give man; The man looked so disgusting that he spat at him; the spit hit where the navel is now; when the angels brought (the soul) of the man to place it in the body, they saw it on the body a stain; one of them scraped off the soiled clay from this place and threw it aside; the dent in this place remained; God turned the piece thrown away into a dog; because the dog was created from the devil's saliva, Muslims consider it unclean, but since it is also from a part of the human body, the dog is his best friend; angels began to penetrate the soul from their feet; when it reached his knees, the man tried to get up, angels prevented; same when the soul reached the waist; and only when the soul reached the head did angels allow a person to stand up; impatience is a characteristic feature of man]: Aceval 2005:10-11.

Western Europe. Flemish people [people sculpted from clay had to lie down for three days; those who tried to get up early were deformed: they have flat feet or crooked legs]: Van den Berg 2000, No. 38:49.

(Wed. South Asia. Birkhor [at first there is water everywhere, there is a lotus on the water, the great Sing-bonga spirit came to the surface at the core of the stem, told the Turtle to bring clay from the bottom; turtle: where will I leave the house? S.: take it with you (this is its shell); the water washed away the clay from the turtle's shell; The crab also could not bring it; the leech took it out by swallowing clay; S. squeezed out the clay from it, threw it in four directions, creating land; the land was moist and uneven, S. began to level it, but mountains remained in some places; threw seeds, forests appeared; then S. created a winged horse, and then sculpted the human figure and left it to dry; the horse came and trampled on it, fearing that the man would harness it; then S. made a dog and a new human figure; when the horse came again at night to trample on the man, the dog barked away; the figure dried up and S. her revived, but the joints did not bend; S. took his life and made a new person with bent joints]: Roy 1925:398-402).

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Ingush [God created angels, showed them different things, they could not name anything; then God kneaded clay and sculpted a man; sent Jabrayil to heaven to catch a soul, but souls were not given; the same with other angels; Azrail brought one soul; God began to put it into man, and when his soul reached his lower back, the man tried to stand up, but could not run; if at that moment the soul had reached his legs, man would have run far away; but God revived man slowly; showed him a sheep, a buffalo, a dog, and the man named them all; since he could not get along with angels, God brought man down from heaven, gave cattle and sheep; Jebrail also gave a plow and barley]: Dakhkilgov 1991:106-107 in Tsaroyeva 2016:170.

Turkestan. Dungans [Allah created four angels from the flame, sent one of them to bring clay (earth) of five colors (red, yellow, blue, white, black) to create a person; the clays refused - they stained with sewage and are not suitable for this; the same is with the second messenger; the third, Abraham (Yinbolaxi), made the clays come to Allah; God mixed them with water, created Adam, left them to dry, told him not to get up; but A. tried to stand up on his own; his skull split, vitality broke out, birds in the sky, animals on the ground, fish, crabs, etc. in lakes and rivers; with his left hand A. took clay from the soles of the right foot, the right foot from the sole of the left foot, covered a hole in the skull; therefore, people's soles are concave, and people have not become immortal as Allah wanted]: Shujang Li, Luckert 1994:79-80.