G16. Ants find cultivated plants. .22.52.62.
Ants are the first to find cultivated plants that are unknown to others and concentrated in one place.
Wa, Huasteca, Totonaki, Azteca, Nahuat Puebla, Huasteca Nahuatl, Tequixtlateca, Soque, Tzotzil, Tseltal, Mopan, Kekchi, Chorti, Mocho, Tojolabal, Jacalteca, Quiche, Uitoto, Tikuna .
Burma - Indochina. Wa [among the stories recorded by the author is about the origin of rice: a bird or ant finds rice inside the mountain and brings it to people; rice was brought to mankind from a mountain either by a bird or an ant ]: Obayashi 1964a: 205.
Mesoamerica Huasteci [the god of the lower world Maam sowed the first milpa; placed the harvest in the sky in the west (now Mount T'ithach is about 3 km high); the bird drew attention to ants- leaf cutters who dragged maize seeds from the support of the sky; maize remained in it until people brought old Mushi from the east; he smashed the rock with lightning; one piece flew north, the other east, third south; only the Huastec did not listen to Mushi or turn his face away; when he lost consciousness, he recovered when all the white maize had already been dismantled; only the less valuable one was left, burned by lightning yellow and blue]: Alcorn 1984:62-63, 90; coastal Totonaki [see motif A24; ancestors live in a dark, cold world; only the sky's serpent shines - the Milky Way; its mouth is open; the lizard finds hot stone; four birds manage to break it, get a shining egg; animals bring it to the spring; an orphan girl grabs it with her teeth, it bursts, she swallows it; gives birth to twin sons , dies; her grandmother leaves babies on tree branches, they do not die, she raises them; the Great Serpent shines poorly, feeds on young girls; brothers heat stones in the temazcal, throw them into his mouth , he dies; the Green Tree (the deity of the forest, Chihuecolo) explains to the brothers how to get corn; tells the old woman to ask for a basket of corn; ants and rodents (tusas) carry grains through a hole in the bottom baskets; thus, the brothers extract more corn; the elder carves 24 sticks, they turn into axes and machetes, the animals help cut down the forest on seven mountains; the brothers set fire to what was cut down, tell their grandmother hide in the temazcal; it does not hide, suffocates from smoke; after seven days the corn is ripe, the cobs are huge; the corn god tells it to be placed inside Mount Tahin; K. explains to the elder that by doing so corn will survive when the world of darkness ends; the eldest becomes the Sun, the youngest becomes the Month; corn is hidden in the mountain; people turn into ants (hormiga ariera), notice that it is brightly colored bird drops grain {end]]: Münch 1993:37-40; Totonaki: Arena 2000:75-78 [after the end of the world, those who believed in the gods were taken to heaven, but who fulfilled less than half of the commandments were returned to earth for new life in the form of animals; Woodpecker and Ant noticed how an unfamiliar variegated bird dropped grain; they tried it, they liked it, it was corn they did not know; they realized that the bird was pulling grain from the rock; there is a small hole in the rock; the Ant is unable to carry a grain from there, the Woodpecker does not climb; the woodpecker has broken through the rock, but is covered with corn, has been injured, and since then he has red feathers; everyone rushed to sort the corn, ignoring the Woodpecker; only he kept the grain for sowing; replied that it was necessary to sow boiled grains, crushing each into four parts; in the end he told the truth to their friend, he to their own, so they learned to grow corn], 82-84 [there was no corn; the Quetzal bird brought a grain from the sky, threw it through a hole into the hollow of a tree; one grain fell to the ground; Ant (hormiga arriera; ants and others were humans, but Quetzal was a real bird) found it, showed Woodpecker, who began to widen the hole, corn fell on him, hurt him, so the woodpeckers had red feathers; The ant began to carry corn without waiting for the Woodpecker to wake up; he was offended; he sowed corn, and the Ant only ate it; the Woodpecker replied to the Ant that the grain must be cooked or ground before sowing; Ant asked the Wind to scatter the Woodpecker's field; the woodpecker told Ant how to sow for promising that the Wind would restore the field; he restored it; but since then, corn plants, unlike bananas, have a lot stems (in the sense of small stems); if the Wind hadn't scattered the field, corn plants would be as large as trees and cobs would grow right on branches (en las puntas de las matas)]; Aztecs (16th century). ) [after the Fourth Creation was destroyed by the flood, Nata ("my father") and Nene ("vulva") were sent to the ground; they were told to eat one grain of corn {a day}, but they began to fry fish; the smoke reached the sky; Titlacahuan and Tezcatlipoca went down, turned the first couple into dogs; Quetzalkoatl went to the world of the dead, brought a precious bone from there to Tamoanchan; together with his wife, they brought people to life with her help; Q. saw an ant drag a grain of corn; he had to say that the corn was in Tonacatepetl ("mountain of food"); Q. himself turned into a black ant, brought a seed; to the gods in Tamoanchan I liked the corn; Q. tied the mountain with a rope, but could not move it; the blue, white, yellow and red rain gods smashed the mountain, getting white, yellow, dark and turquoise corn, as well as beans and amaranth]: Taggart 1983:88-89; Leon Portilla 196:154-155; Huasteca district Nahuatl [man found corn in the hollow; went on, saw ants dragging grains; went after them, came to Huescontepet ("food hill"); cleared the area; a thunderstorm began, lightning broke the hill, the corn above turned black, below turned red, even lower turned yellow, and at the very bottom remained white; so now corn is of different colors]: Stiles 1985a: 106-107; Puebla Nahuat: Taggart 198:89-90 (version from Yaonáhuac village) [a young man with animals built a house, grew corn, harvested it into the house; the young man said he was leaving, then the animals were speechless; the Thunders had nothing to eat, they were looking for corn; the thunder saw an ant drag a seed, found out that it was carrying chamois from the barn or mountain; tied himself to an ant, since then the ants have a narrow waist; but can't get inside; brought grain to other Thunders, everyone decided to go get corn; smashed a mountain, got corn; the grains choked (or the mouse bit them), became flat; the oldest Thunder slept for a long time, he got only the remnants], 91-92 (Huitzilan version) [when it first dawned, the ants paved the path; the Thunders saw that they they drag corn; made the ant confess where they got it from, pulling his waist with a rope, since then it has been narrow; the main Thunder pierced the mountain with his head; everyone rushed for grain, trampled on it, grains became flat; the one who broke the mountain lay unconscious]; tequistlateca [there was no corn; people saw an ant (hormiga-arriera) dragging a grain of corn, followed it, came to the cave, where the cobs are stacked; its owner is Crow; every 20 days he doesn't know where the cob came from; people love Crow because it made them learn about corn]: Carrasco 1960:110; juice [ant I found a small hole in the mountain and took out corn from there; the first ancestors (los viejitos) began to find where the corn came from, pulled the ant's waist until it told, the waist became narrow; tried to blow up the mountain with dynamite - failed; then Thunder broke it, got corn]: Baez-Jorge 1983:392-393; mopan [people have nothing to eat; Thunder servant angel noticed ants (hormigas- arrieras) are dragging corn grains from under the rock; The thunder broke the rock with lightning; some of the corn remained white, the other turned yellow, the third turned red from the fire, some completely black]: Schumann 1971:309-311; tsotsil [Our Father cleared the plot; the next morning all the trees were in place; on the fourth day he spies on who was doing it; the Rabbit and the Deer tell the forest to revive, they are helped by two species of wasps and bees; Our Father stretched out the Rabbit's ears, cut off his tails and the Deer; cut off the bodies of Bees and Wasps with his fingernail, now they have a thin waist; gave the Rabbit and the Deer under the protection of the god of earth, who took them to his cave; refused to take Bees and Wasps; they stayed on the ground, they don't have a bullet, anything can happen to them]: Gossen 1974:307; Celtal: Hermitte 1970 [hunter sees ants carrying corn kernels in the forest ; ants refuse to answer where they get them from; the hunter asks God for help; he cuts the ant in half, then connects the halves; the ant confesses that the corn is hidden inside the rock; God commands young and old Woodpeckers to hammer a rock; both break their beaks; God gives the old an iron beak, which breaks the rock; man gets corn; the woodpecker has been hammering strong trees ever since]: 28-29; Slocum 1965 [people saw a black ant dragging a grain of corn; to force him to confess where he was dragging the grain from, they pulled his waist with a rope, it became narrow; they came to a rock through a hole in which the ant took out grain; the woodpecker began to hammer the rock, broke its beak; Lightning broke its rock; the Jews took a lot of corn, the rest of the people took the remnants; their corn rose, but the corn taken by the Jews did not]: 1-7; chorti [people noticed leaf cutter ants carrying seeds of corn, beans, rice, and other cultivated plants; people went down for ants and took seeds; in one variant, the ant itself was like grain corn, it was planted and grown corn]: Fought 1972:184-185, retelling and discussion in Hull 2016:8-9; mocho [people catch Tornado (his image merges with the Corn Mistress); he promises them corn beans, other plants in exchange for digging and a candle; people everywhere unsuccessfully search for corn; they send a flea, a turtle, they don't find both; an ant (Coecodoma mexicana, or Atta mexicana; picks up everything can carry) finds corn inside the mountain (= underworld), tries to carry it out; The owner catches it with a loop, squeezes it, since then the ants have a narrow waist; the ant explains that it came from another world, asks him let go, comes to the King (Rey; Reyes lived before the sun), reports where the corn is; the King asks Red Thunder to break the mountain; Thunder destroys it with its ax; ants bring corn to the King, people find corn]: Montemayor 1996 (2) [like Petrich, short version]: 64-65; Petrich 1985b: 159-169; Jacaltecs [two chiefs try unsuccessfully to hit a deer on the face of the moon with an arrow; fool (simpleton) asks for permission to shoot, cuts off the deer's leg with an arrow; it falls into the sea, which was then boiling; the chiefs ask Vulture to reach his leg, he is scalded; the chiefs make him new eyes out the seeds of the miche tree, but he stayed bald; the fool easily pulls out the deer's leg; everyone eats meat, he only gets bones; he grinds them, all animals come from the powder; he keeps them behind the fence; his mother, Seeing animals, laughing, animals scatter through the mountains; the deer had long ears, the rabbit's antlers, they changed; only the Fox remained, he was tied in the house; the Fool released him; noticed that when the Fox it blows the winds, the smell is pleasant; Louse sends him to follow the Fox, but he lay down in the sun, the louse crawled, the Fox saw it; sent Flea, who jumped off the Fox, then jumped again; but forgot exactly where the Fox got the corn; the mouse found the rock, said to the Fool; the Mouse and the Fox climbed through the hole, but it was too small for man; var.: Qich Mam went for a big ant carrying grain corn; bandaged his waist to punish him, so the ants have a narrow waist; the woodpecker began to hammer the rock, broke his beak; KM began to play marimba, determined by echo where the rock was thinner; lightning broke the rock, there were grains of corn, beans, peppers, pumpkins, etc.; burnt corn turned black, less burnt red, some remained white; KM called people, they dismantled the corn; KM had the most little cobs, but the land was his, it produced the best harvest]: Montejo, Campbell 1993:100-103; tojolabal: Jiménez 1996 [to make Ant say where he's dragging the corn grain from, the man pulls his body with a rope, now the ants have a narrow waist; corn in the rock, the Woodpecker could not pierce, the Thunder pierced, the woodpecker burned his head, it turned red; the corn was burnt, became different colors ]: 47; Ruz 1983:422; Kekchi: Burkitt 1920:211-227; Peñalosa 1995 [Mr. Pablo dreamed that there was corn; leaf cutter ants (zonpopos) found it inside the rock; woodpecker cut a hole , there was an explosion, the corn was burnt and colored; some people took all the white corn, they did not grow it, and Pablo had black corn; Cutete (?) He saw that candles should be burned and dug, got a crop; but he was not given corn; he called dogs, rats, agouti, etc., they ate all the grain]: 11-15; Schumann 1971:309-311; kekchi, mopan [ corn is hidden inside the rock, only ants know about it; the fox tastes the grains they have dropped, finds a rock; by the smell of intestinal gases, animals feel that the Fox ate something special; they follow him; they ask ants to get more corn, but they can't; the man asked Mam for help; there are four Moms, they are thunderdogs and watch animals under the general supervision of the Morning Star; the chief Mom is Yaluk ; he sends the Woodpecker to find the thinnest place; hits this place, the Woodpecker is wounded, since then his head is red; some of the corn has been burned and smoked, turned red and yellow; three Moms took all the white corn; Y. made it grow only the third time; there were no other cultivated plants; several men find a mamei tree in the forest; beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and other crops grow on it plants; people cut down wood, felling disappears overnight; all forest animals come, put chips back; then people cut down day and night; trees fall, people get cultivated plants]: Thompson 1930: 132-135; achi [Jesucristo's father hid corn and other cultivated plants in the rock; leaf-cutter ants began to take them from there; Jesucristo punished them by bandaging them in the middle, since then they have been thin waist]: Shaw 1971:42.
NW Amazon. Uitoto [Aime Huram has a daughter; Jusido Bunaima came to chew coca, asked her to marry; AH, his wife and daughter went to the site; when they returned, HM became a bird, the daughter asked her to catch, kept her in basket; when they came again, the birds were gone and HM was a man; they thought he took the bird; the next night AH and HB chewed coca again; HB: endure; but AH still went out to urinate; HS: once If you don't want coca, tobacco, you can't stand it, you will eat land, dry wood; AH Monayaterisai's daughter was sitting on a mat; Jusido Bunaima snuck from below in the guise of a worm, conceived son Housitofe (cassava); mother sent M. to bring water to a sieve to sift manioc flour, found a worm, filled it with boiling water; HB in a dream ordered M. to put the child she would give birth to in a pot, cover it with a sheet, and make it out of the foam that had risen do not show the cake to the parents; they saw an ant running with a piece of cassava, found out that their daughter had cassava; M. told them not to sleep, look after the child; the child grew into a manioc tree, pineapples, caimo, aguacate and other fruits; a lake grew along with the tree, the fruits fell into the water; they were taken out by the Old Rat; Father M. Aima Hurama looked for an ax; a woodpecker axe, a bird axe with a hard beak, an ordinary ax, a toad axe, a piranha axe were not good; he hardly woke up his fox uncle; he took a knife, cut off a vine for which the tree was tied to the sky; when the tree fell, the Fox injured his throat, the sons of the AH smeared the wound with yellow medicine, since then the foxes have a yellow throat; foxes are allowed to eat fruits in the gardens as a reward; AH collected oil from the water, brought, planted, grew cassava; ritual songs and accessories from the same lake and tree]: Yépez 1982:63-69; chikuna [there were no cultivated plants; the old woman noticed how Leaf-cutter ants carry something white; she liked the smell; following the trail, she came to the river channel; on the bank there was a tree, yam, sweet potato; fruits in the form of sweet cassava tubers fell into the water; she baked cassava under her arm, then dried it in the sun; her grandchildren Dioy and Epi came to visit, she did not tell them where the cassava came from; her friend kept the fire in her nightjar ("night swallow") bacurào beak; with her, the old woman no longer baked food under her arm, but cooked on fire; when asked, the old woman replied that she was baking in the sun; when she heard this answer, Bacurào laughed, the fire blazed from her beak ; people forcibly opened her beak, since then it has been wide; people found the tree, knocked it down and uprooted it; the deer picked up the shoots of cultivated plants, hid it in a basket; D. called the Deer to pick up the poisoned the fish, said he was leaving, turned into a tree above the river; the deer hung the basket on its branch, D. carried it away; the basket contained the tubers, shoots and seeds of all cultivated plants]: Nimuendaju 1952:130- 131.