F91. Worm grower. 39.40.

A person finds or grows monstrous worms to eat his wife.

SV Asia. Chukchi: Baboshina 1958, No. 94 [the wife and daughter left her husband, found an empty yaranga; the mother died, the girl came to the yaranga of seven brothers, cleaned everything up, left; then sewed clothes; once the older brother hid, found the girl; the younger brother also needs a wife, he bothers the girl, she killed him with a stick, hid him among pieces of meat; the brothers found the body, dug a hole, collected worms there, began to fatten him; the mosquito asks the girl to sew him beautiful clothes; warns that tomorrow the brothers will throw her into the hole; she must look up, fly to the sky; so it happened; the brothers went to their place for dinner, the worms crawled out and ate them]: 227-229; Belikov 1982:138-149 [the husband's younger brother bothers his wife in his absence; one day she threatens him with a knife, accidentally kills him; the husband fattens a beetle and a caterpillar in the pit, they turn into huge monsters; The Spider tells her that her husband will lead her monsters to eat, tells her to sew new torbaza, throw her in front of the hole; the husband rushes after him, the Spider takes the woman to heaven, the husband is angry rushes into a hole, eaten; in the sky, kele catches the souls of earthly people on the hook; Kele's wives tell a woman to hide in the house of the Sunny Woman; she burns kele when she looks at him; Sunny Woman gives an earthly look into boxes, each one can see the earth at different times of the year; a woman pours water, snow, it rains and snows on the ground; sees her home; the Sun returns her to earth to her parents], 167-169 [four Brothers hunt deer, some eat cooked meat; when the younger one remains guarded, a skeleton woman enters, tells her to overlay her with meat, turns into a woman, the youngest marries her; the eldest also wants to her; the woman rejects the youngest, hits the board, kills, hides, the elder finds the body; the spider tells the woman that the elder grows worms in the pit to throw them to eat; the woman suggests to the brothers try on ritual gloves, a spider lifts her up]; Van Deusen 1999 [three brothers notice that this skeleton is stealing from their house; they catch him, he turns out to be a girl, one of the brothers marries her; she is dead; one day, when there were no others, the third brother died, the wife put her body on a shelf to dry her skins; two brothers returned and decided to push her into a hole in the hearth; the Spider told her to grab hold of web, raised to the upper world]: 39-40.

The Arctic. Asian Eskimos: Baboshina 1958, No. 69 [a girl approaches the yaranga of two brothers, eats there, leaves; then sews pants; the eldest remains guarded, finds a girl, marries; one day the youngest began to bother her, she stabbed him in the throat, hid his body; her brother found him; began to feed worms in a pit; pushed his wife, but she grabbed the web and disappeared into the sky; she was sitting with God in yaranga, he pushed his skin off the floor, the ground could be seen; the girl began to cry, it rained on the ground, her mother quickly began to collect the hides that had been hung to dry; the girl went down the web back to her yaranga]: 170-173; Menovshchikov 1974 (Sireniki) [five hunting brothers live together; a girl who refused to marry comes when they are not there, steals meat; the youngest stays on guard, catches the girl, marries her the eldest; the youngest bothers her, she swings, accidentally kills him with a knife, hides him; the eldest finds the body; the brothers grow two worms in the pit; The spider warns the woman, tells him to sew a torbaza, promises embroider them; on the edge of the pit, the husband examines the camp; when he pushes a woman, the Spider picks her up, the husband jumps into the hole himself out of annoyance, is eaten], No. 25:121-123; (=1985, No. 71:157-159); Rubtsova 1954, No. 13 (Chaplino) [ the girl does not marry, her father drives her to look for a groom; she meets five brothers, marries an older one; gives birth to a son and a daughter; her husband's brother bothers her, she swings a knife, accidentally kills him; hides the corpse on the scaffolding; blood drips, the husband finds the corpse; the Spider warns that the brothers feed the caterpillars with deer meat in the pit; tells them to grab the web when the husband collides it into a hole; woman rises to heaven; it is taken by a man, whose objects move at will; when he leaves, he tells him not to untie the bag, not to look into the small yaranga; fox wool falls out of the bag (not shove back, the husband puts it back when he returns); opens boxes, there are whales, walruses; there are half (vertically) of a woman in yaranga, she immediately falls, the fire burns the heroine; the husband returns everything to its place; a woman gives birth to a son, a daughter; a husband pushes a stone, conversations can be heard through a hole in Chaplino; a woman cries, it is raining on the ground; a husband lowers his wife and daughter on a belt to the ground to her parents, leaves her son myself]: 183-191; (cf. Nuniwack Island: Lantis 1946 [two brothers live alone; kayak at an iceberg for the night; the youngest cries; a woman appears, says, My husbands, throws two handfuls land, brothers fall asleep; wake up on a big island in the summer; the youngest grows up, the eldest advises him to marry this woman too; the woman rejects him, accidentally hits him in the face, he dies; she hides the body in the wall of the dugout behind a mat; the husband finds the body; the woman explains what happened, the husband is sad; the wife flies away, the husband calls her in vain; turns into a wolf; now there are many wolves on Nunivak]: 265- 267; Himmelheber 1951 [two brothers kayak, lose their way, stick to an ice floe; the youngest cries; a woman descends from the sky, throws the ground, Nunivak appears, the ice floe turns into a mountain; the elder takes a woman as his wife; one day his bowstring broke, he sent the youngest for a new one; the woman frightened him as a joke, and he died; she tried to hide the corpse, the eldest found it; the woman flew, the eldest tried to grab her, couldn't, she returned to heaven, he turned into a wolf]: 33-35); Northern Alaska Inupiate: Hall 1975, No. EH9 (noatagmiut) [the hunter calls his wife to the lake, where, allegedly, must perform a thanksgiving ritual; throws a caribou leg into the water, which is immediately eaten by worms; leaves his wife, her bones float up; at home says that his wife died of illness, gets another; story repeats; the third tells his two brothers to be nearby when her husband takes her to the lake; calls for help; brothers throw her husband himself into the lake]: 90-91; Lucier 1958 (noatagmiut), No. 15 [hunter finds lake with worms; throws a caribou leg at him, she is instantly eaten; brings his wife, leaves her, lies that his wife is dead; he is given a new one; her younger brother watches him; a man leaves his wife, tries to grab her brother, people come to his aid, throw her husband into wormy lake], PM69 [every next hunter's wife disappears; he brings a fourth to the lake, throws a caribou leg into the water, she has been eaten by worms; leaves her wife; the dead woman appears to her three brothers, talks about what happened; they tear her husband apart; the woman disappears; she would stay if the brothers hadn't hastened to kill her husband]: 100-101, 268-269; Spencer 1959 [the wife of the eldest of five brothers hates the youngest; kills him; brothers find a wormy corpse; race at the lake shore; the husband pushes his wife into the water, where the brothers threw him in advance wormy meat; woman eaten by worms, only her lungs swimming on the surface]: 73-74 (reprinted in Lévi-Strauss 1964, No. 133:249); McKenzie estuary [at the end of the caribou hunting season a young man takes a new wife every time; marries a petty officer's daughter; leads her to the lake, throws a caribou leg into the water, worms in the lake eat her instantly; tries to leave his wife, who calls for help from two their brothers; they throw their husband's own worms]: Ostermann 1942, No. 2:69-70; caribou [the husband found out that the wife wanted to be with another person; collected all the worms and insects, threw them into a hole under the stone, promised his wife to stab her if he didn't tell his lover to lie in this hole; she told his worms to eat him]: Rasmussen 1934b: 113; polar Eskimos [husband watches his wife, sees her coming to the lake, calling penis, he appears, she copulates with it; the husband calls the penis himself, kills with a stick, cooks, feeds his wife; puts worms, flies, etc. under her blanket, they eat it; he burns insects; someone cleans it in his house; he finds a beautiful woman; this is Lisa; Hare and Kal live in another house; the hunter and Kal change wives; Kal and Lisa are dissatisfied with each other's smell; they turn into a fox, feces, a hare into a hare; the hunter is looking for the Fox; comes to the cave where the worms he burned live; now they are people, the Fox lives with them (the text ends)]: Holtved 1951, No. 38:166-172; Menovshchikov 1985, No. 231:449-450; igloolik: Rasmussen 1930a [husband watches his wife; she calls the penis of the Spirit of the Lake; the penis crawls out of the lake, enters it; the husband calls him, imitating his wife's voice, cuts him off, cooks, lets his wife eat; sprinkles worms on her, those they crawl into it, kill her; returning from hunting, he finds food cooked; finds Lisa, who has taken off her skin and becomes a woman, marries her; Raven comes, says that he smells like a fox; the wife puts it on skin and runs away; Raven's wife is dog Kal]: 221-222; Spalding 1979 (Repulse Bay) [Kiviuq sees his two wives walking naked to the lake, asking Substitute penis to show up; take turns satisfy themselves with him; K. calls the penis with the voice of their wives, cuts it off, cuts it to pieces at home, cooks, gives it to their wives; they say that they are tough and tasty; they cry when they find out that they ate; K. collects worms on the shore; asks one if she is more afraid of worms or a knife; she replies that a knife; she sits on worms; they crawl into her anus and vagina, crawl out through her mouth, she dies; the second wife says she is afraid of worms; K. hacked her; someone cooks and cleans his house; he notices a fox hole under the grave of his wives; finds a woman grabs her skin; one day Wolverine offers to swap wives; K. tells her to close it tightly the door, but he forgets; the wife pees in bed, Wolverine asks what the stench is, the Fox grabs her skin, runs away; Wolverine's wife, with whom K. slept, turns into feces; K. follows the Fox's trail on the hole; from her Lemming, the Wolf, comes out, offers herself; K. rejects them; they let him into the hole; there's a crying wife; she first sits down from him, then goes home with him]: 64-66; Labrador Eskimos, western Greenland (5 versions - one from Labrador, 4 Greenland) [the husband suspects his wife of infidelity, watches her; she dresses up, goes to the lake, throws something into the water; appears out of the water a male creature; a woman undresses, rushes to him; the husband collects various worms, lets them on his wife, she dies; every time she returns home, she finds food cooked; finds Lisa in the guise of a woman, he marries; when visiting him, his relative deliberately complains about the stench out of envy; the wife turns into a fox, runs away; the husband comes to the hole, the fox sends a beetle, a spider, a caterpillar to him; he makes a fire, burning a fox; alone again]: Rink 1975, No. 11:143-145.