Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

H13. The deceased comes back.

.20.21.24.25.29.40.42.-.47.50.52.65.66.

The character comes to the afterlife, meets the deceased there, he manages to bring him back to the world of the living. See H12 motif.

Micronesia-Polynesia. Yap [girls and boys are making love in the house; one took her brother out of the house, led her to the side, offered to meet her; they copulated many times; they sailed in a boat, went to another island ; there, local girls, out of envy, killed the boy's sister/wife, cut them into pieces; he folded them, hid their genitals in his apron; the spirit came, asked permission to eat the corpse, then the girl would come to life; noticed genitals, ate them too; they went to heaven, the spirit helped find their sister; the brother again offered to have sex, the sister was gone, her spirit returned her; they went down to earth to her parents; the girl should not go to source; one day she went, died immediately and fell into the water; she was buried]: Müller 1918, No. 37:519-520; Ulithi (Western Carolinas) [when the son grew up, the mother became pregnant again; father and son according to custom they took her to another island to give birth; her father sailed back, did not return, married another woman; while her son was fishing for his mother, she died during childbirth; her spirit hid her body, took her form; her son caught a lot fish, half went somewhere {obviously, mother spirit ate it raw}; the mother did not eat the cooked fish; opened up to her son, asked her body to be buried; secretly took him into the boat of the dead, she sailed to island of spirits; the son grabbed the beautiful girl, but in the morning she turned into a pile of bones; the mother told her to hold the girl for three days but not to talk to her; the second night the son spoke again; the woman's husband sailed to the island where she was giving birth, hid where the hearth was; his wife came there with other spirits; consistently asked them whether to destroy the house, hearth, husband; they replied that yes, they killed her husband; son managed to keep the spirit girl, she came to life, he married her]: Mitchell 1973, No. 74:218-221; Hawaii [Hiku's arrow falls near the house of beautiful Kawelu; that six days does not allow herself to be touched, H. is angry leaves; K. tries to get him back, but H. tells the vines to block her way; K. hangs himself; H. smears himself with rancid oil like he's dead, swims where the sky meets the sea; goes down a rope to the lower world, invites spirits to swing on a rope; when K.'s spirit gives a signal, the rope is pulled to the surface; K.'s soul is connected to the body, it comes to life]: Beckwith 1970:147; Tahiti [Tafa'i brings his wife's soul back from the underworld, puts her soul back in her body, she comes to life]: Beckwith 1970:150; Tuvalu (Niutao Atoll) [Tangatakatoa is the son of a crab; met a girl Falineolangi, they got married, They are sons Punga and Sena; F. warned T. not to be angry while fishing, even if the fish bite off the forest, but T. violated the ban; birds immediately flew in, forming a ladder, F. took it to the sky ; T. died of grief; the brothers grew up, P. went to the village to look for a wife, did not find it; S. met an ugly and dirty girl in the last hut, promised to marry her; told her to come when he heard a faint scream; at first P. shouted loudly, all the beauties of the village came running, P. married; S. shouted softly, only an ugly girl came; her mother bought her in five lagoons and she became beautiful; S. realized that P. is going to kill him out of envy; warned his wife that if the waves turn red, he is dead; the widow gave birth to boys Kalisisi and Tofaki; P. killed all wives and took the wife of his murdered brother; the brothers grew up, sailed in a boat on the sea, T. died of thirst, K. tied his body to a log so that the fish would not eat it; the boat docked at the island of the dead; black and white clouds respond that S. did not see, red says that K. recognizes his father among the other dead by a dark mole on his head, tells him to grab him from behind and not let him go until S. stops resisting; S. found T., but he has no eyes; S. ordered all the fish to open mouth, moray eel's mouth saw his brother's eyes; moray eel agreed to return them for promising that S. would make her big eyes; S. put T.'s eyes in, he came to life; all three returned home, P. ran unknown where]: 83 -86; Tokelau (Fakaofo) [Kui woman has daughters Tauluga, Taulalo and Moa (=Sina), only M. is quite human; they take turns coming to Nonu's house, but he asks her mother to drive the first two, marries M.; At a festive feast, sisters M. ask N. for garlands of flowers, but he replies that all the flowers are for M.; his wife's sisters steal his soul; M. comes to K., asks her to scream as if she feels bad, the sisters come running, M. makes them give their soul to N.; they first try to slip other souls, but M. takes what they need; along the way, N.'s soul smells in the places where M. carries it, she explains; revives N.]: Burrows 1923:159- 160; Pukapuka (South Cook Islands) [Milimili dies, descends to Po; wife cries, her domestic gods ask the sea man Tangata-no-te-moana to go down to Leva for the soul of the deceased; T. tells Tulikalo Hit the gongo so loudly that the gods run out of the house, T. grabs M.'s soul, throws it to the family gods, M. comes to life]: Beckwith 1970:150: Beckwith 1970:150; Mangareva [Hina-te-Kakara (kakara - "aroma") swallowed by a shark, Taihuka saved her; Marau-Tagaroa killed him; H. descended into the lower world, the bird brought her to the spirit of T.; H. managed to bring him back to earth, revived T.]: Buck 1938:335; The Marquises [texts Handy is briefly retold in Blixen 1987:261-266, in Beckwith 1970:149, in Poignant 1967:64)] Handy 1930:113-115 [Tue-ato's wife cheated on him, he strangled her, grieves, her sisters brought her back to life; 13 days he must not touch her, breaks the ban; sisters revive her], 117-120 [Kena leaves his wife; she tries to follow him, then rushes into the abyss; he marries a cousin; she gets killed; mother K. helps him descend to the lower world; at the entrance there are interpreting rocks; companion K., holding on to the end of his loincloth, is crushed; the mistress of the lower world tells K. to wash and dress his wife, put it in the basket, do not open for 10 days; first he violates the ban; the second attempt is successful], 121-122 [(Nukuhiva); Hahapoa descends into the afterlife for his wife Hanau; the mistress of the lower world tells K. to wash and dress her wife, put in the basket, don't open for 10 days; first he breaks the ban; second attempt succeeds]; Maori: Beckwith 1970:148 (South Island) [Hutu comes to the village, wins dart throwing; his arrow falls at the house of Pare, a lonely beauty of high birth; she carries the arrow, forcing H. to enter the house; he rejects her, because he is shorter and married, leaves; she hangs; the servants grab H., he promises revive P.; descends to the lower world; on the way, Hine-nui-te-po gives him a basket of food so that he does not eat the food of the dead; he invites the dead to bend the tree and swing on it, clutching to the top; together with P. thrown up by a tree, grabs the roots of plants growing on the earth's surface; connects P.'s soul to the body, marries her], 149 [Miru's sister dies; he descends to the lower world, where Kewa rules, catches her her soul, returns to her body, her sister comes to life].

Tibet is the Northeast of India. Tibetans ["ghost stories"; the king marries the daughter of the ruler of one of the possessions, does not love her, finds a lover living near the palace; dies; his spirit is beloved, what to do; after receiving the jewel, the official wife returns to her country; the beloved gives birth to a son, is accepted into the palace by the mother of her deceased husband; his ghost continues to visit; teaches what she will do, to bring him back from the world of the dead; a young woman gives wine to an iron man drinking molten brass; grain to lambs; meat to warriors; her blood to giant guards; in the castle she does not take from the altar an eighth heart that asks him to pick up and a ninth heart that asks him not to touch; eight devils stalk a woman but bribed guards refuse to detain her; husband comes to life]: MacDonald 1931:312- 315; best [Clothe Thangwal Pakhangpa died on the fifth day after marrying Shunu Lembi; she followed him into the world of the dead; Soraren tried to scare her back; but the verpre, the tiger, the flood, the fire did not frighten her; S. agreed that her husband should also return to earth with her]: Singh 1985:203-205.

Malaysia-Indonesia. Ngaju [Patih Teteh and his wife Akah Ihang Iho comes to live a young tiger, becomes their son; PT did not recognize him in the woods, accidentally killed him; his wife killed her husband at night by hitting him in the face with a club; when burned the corpse, she felt sorry for her husband, she went to the village of the dead for smoke; on the way, the spirits say every time that the PT had just passed, asked for help in the field, the wife helps; in the spirit village, her deceased Grandma teaches you how to put a net on a sleeping AI; he will promise to turn into a tiger, a snake, a rhino bird (turns off her eyes), she must say that she is not afraid, wants to die herself; he turns into an egg she wraps him in a handkerchief, runs away, the grandmother gives him a comb, teaches him what to do; the woman drops an egg into the river, the stalker spirits dive after it, the bird advises the woman to look for the sixth, she finds it, runs on, throws a comb, it turns into a wall; at home, a woman carves three wooden figures, dresses her husband in clothes; perfume makes a hole in the wall, rushes at the figures, takes it away, discovers that mistaken; woman sprinkles live water on the egg, husband comes to life]: Schärer 1966:151-158; Western Toraja [wife dies, husband plants coconut on the grave; wife's spirit goes out to her husband, but then disappears; through For seven years, he tells you to sprinkle the grave with milk of the seventh coconut, shout, Get up; the wife has come to life, her husband's parents are happy]: Kruyt 1938, No. 45:398.

Taiwan - Philippines. Tingian [wife is dead; at night he comes to help her husband harvest rice; he goes down with her to the lower world of spirits; they sleep, he takes bamboo with her life; they climb to the ground on a creeping stem; they cut him off, the stalking spirits fall down; the woman comes to life]: Rybkin 1971, No. 43:134-135.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Kalmyks [Khan's son fell in love with a simple girl; died; came to her on a full moon; said that he would come every day if she overcame obstacles; give vodka to an iron old man; feed two huge rams with fresh snow; give beef and pies to warriors in shells; make a bloody sacrifice to two demons outside a building with a banner made of human skin; the house has nine ghosts and nine hearts at the khan's throne; only one fresh one will ask not to take it (you must take it), dried ones will ask you to take it (you can't take it); the girl takes her lover's heart, ghosts rush after her, but demons, etc., say that she gave them gifts and miss them; at home, the girl finds her lover alive, they got married]: Badmaev 1899:97-99.

The Arctic. The island of St. Lawrence [wife died; some time after the funeral, the husband finds the grave empty; follows the fox trails to the house, sees a man and a dish of foam through the smoke hole; the man hits a tambourine made of foam The man's wife begins to rise, breaks up; a man with a tambourine tells the foxes to bring the missing bones; the wife is reborn; the man promises a sword, a dog, etc., gets his wife back; at home does leaves a wooden sword, a dog figurine, along with pieces of meat in a deserted place; the perfume accepted the gift, the wife stayed alive]: Krupnik, Krutak 2002:215-216.

NW Coast. Quakiutl.

The coast is the Plateau. Halkomel (lower reaches of Fraser) [Woodpecker and Eagle brothers, both have sons; Woodpecker's wife has teeth in her vagina; Coyote is jealous of young men, turns his wife's excrement into waterfowl; she lures the sons of Woodpecker and Eagle far upstream; they go to heaven, they are taken prisoner; various animals and birds try to ascend to heaven in vain; Woodpecker's wife's uncle makes a chain of arrows, it turns into the path; the first ancestors climb into heaven, fight against celestials, free young men, return; destroy the chain of arrows before the Snail descends; it jumps, has been boneless and slow ever since; The Eagle and Woodpecker cut the supports of the Coyote house, the house collapsed, the Coyote and his wife died; the Bear decided to avenge the Coyote; turned into a dog, came to the Robin Girl, hid; the eldest sons of Eagle and Woodpecker came To marry her, the Bear killed them; the same with the middle sons; the younger ones grow up, train; Raccoon helps them walk between a quartz woman and a Grizzly woman (they start fighting); Grizzly, then also Lynx they are being chased; the Seagull is transported in a boat across the river; when the Grizzly approaches, the Seagull makes a hole in the boat, water is collected, the Grizzly dies from cold water before the boat reaches the opposite bank; there are two blind women, the Duck and the Partridge, who are Norka's wives; he decided to help them; he pretended to be dying, ordered himself to be buried; when he found out that only the Partridge was loyal to him, he left only her wife; Bison - guardian of the entrance to the world of the dead; he missed the son of the Woodpecker and the son of the Eagle; the dead are playing; those who came took the brothers, brought them home, they came to life; the son of the Eagle married a Thrush woman; she cheated on him with his uncle Woodpecker; Eagle's son left; at the festival she spat in the baskets, which were filled with berries; Salmon came with his slave Thunderbird; he stole Thrush and put them in a boat; Woodpecker and Mink took the form of salmon, climbed to the top of the Thunderbird; he let the Thrush clean them; the salmon all fell off the shelf, became so dirty that the Thunderbird told them to be thrown away; the thrush went into the water, the salmon became Mink and Woodpecker , took it away; etc.]: Boas 1895, No. III.3:30-34 (=2002:111-121); Halkomel (lower reaches of the Fraser River): Boas 1895, No. 6 [husband goes to the grave of his deceased wife; Lynxes take them away, Chief Lynx is going to eat them a man who kills Lynx with a knife; makes many pairs of leather shoes, follows his wife; the Pelican helps him; he passes the snake Athlke, which has heads at both ends of his body; returns from heaven to earth with rich in gifts, becomes a shaman; wife does not get back], 7 [wife dies; husband goes to the mountains, comes to heaven; dead dance; husband takes his wife, brings home; observes the prohibition not to have sex with to her before returning; regains sight to her parents, who have become blind during his long absence]: 41-42; Hill-Tout 1904b [the wife dies, the husband goes to the mountains; when he gains strength, he comes to the leader of the dead; he tells do not try to capture his wife first; the husband breaks the ban, the wife disappears; the next time he waits enough, brings her to her native village, does not sleep with her on the way; another widower has followed his wife, received it, but on the way back he met before the deadline; the wife disappeared]: 339-341; Koulitz [the chief's daughter died, she was buried in a tree boat, the bottom was made; Norka repaired the hole, carried the deceased in this boat ; sailed to a beautiful house, the owner stepped over the girl five times, she came to life; he gives Norka beautiful clothes; two years later they come back, Norka explains that he brought his wife back from the land of the dead; they have a son; they are sailing in a boat, Norka dives for some sea food, his wife sees {or thinks she does not understand} that his tail is his giblets; she leaves him, returns to her father, explains that her husband turned into a dangerous creature]: Wilson 1998:292-295; tillamook [a two-headed cannibal keeps the girl like a slave; the young man comes three times, the girl replies to the cannibal that these are her footprints; the young man fights with cannibal, killed, she hangs his body to smoke among other bodies; the victim's younger brother comes; the girl tells him that the cannibal's vulnerabilities are her eyes, nipples and vagina; he kills the cannibal, burns , marries a girl; leaving her body in the house, goes in spirit to the land of the dead to return his brother; on the way he meets people who are parts of a funeral boat; a sparrow carries him across the river; brother agrees to return even though he has two dead wives; the dead cast the fog, but the Sparrow carries the brothers back; both return alive]: Jacobs, Jacobs 1959, No. 29:96-99 Klamath [Creator with his daughter descends into the world of spirits; spirits dance at night, turn into bones during the day; The Creator must keep his eyes closed; wants to repopulate the earth, collects bones in a basket, carries them to the ground, does bones are different tribes]: Gatshet 1890:79-84 in Clark 1966:133; modoc [like Klamath; falls twice, spirits fly out of the basket; reports third time]: Curtin 1912:42-45 in Clark 1953:133-134; upper coquil [the young wife is dead; the husband sleeps on the grave; on the fifth night the wife gets up from the grave, he tries to grab her, but she is incorporeal; he follows her; by the river the old man wants to give her something like lice, but the husband knocks the bag out of his hands so that she does not eat; wraps his arms around her neck, so he gets into the boat; another old man says he is also alive, not a ghost; turns a woman's body into a living body human; sends the couple back, they hold on to a bird that flies four hours over the sea, keep their eyes closed; get home safely]: Jacobs 2007:221-227.

The Midwest. Winnebago: Radin 1926, No. 2 [young wife dies; husband follows her; hairy man teaches him to jump boldly over a wide stream that turns into a stream; spirits dance, try to force him look at them; he resists temptation; receives a tambourine from old people, teaches songs; takes his wife back, throws ash at the persecuting spirits; arranges the first Spirit Dance, where he sings songs, learned in the afterlife, hits a tambourine brought with her]: 33-37; 1932:402-405; 1949:52-57; Smith 1997 [young wife dies; husband goes to the land of the dead for four years; crosses the river into which they fall angry; she has a woman with an ax; the winds help him; the wife dances with skeletons, says they are her husbands; the man withstands the test, returns with his wife]: 173-180; menominee [husband lies down in grave with his deceased wife; gets up, goes west in her footsteps; walks across a shaky bridge, past a terrible dog, seductive strawberries (whoever bites off will die altogether); the dead are ruled by younger brother Menapus a; at night, an old man hits a tambourine, the dead dance; he encloses a woman's soul in a phone, gives it to her husband; on the way back, the woman asks her to let her go; the husband jumps, holding the phone, into the funeral fire at his wife's grave ; both are fully revived]: Bloomfield 1928, No. 65:125-129; Western Ojibwa (chippewa) [a man's daughter died; five shamans agreed to go with him to Wanabojo; asked their spirits at the graves friends, they replied that V. was still on earth; people had reached the island on the lake. Upper, at sunrise; V. grew a cedar on his head, the roots braided his body; one asked if he could live forever, V. replied that only the stone is eternal, the one who asked to turn it into stone, became with a stone, stayed with V., the rest went to the land of spirits; V. said that when the spirits began to dance, the father should put his daughter in a bag, not untie it; on the second day, one of the shamans untied this V. the "snake chain" immediately became a spirit; on the fourth night, the father grabbed the daughter, put it in a bag, they returned to V., who ordered, when he returned home, to put the bag with the man's daughter in the steam room; she came to life] : Densmore 1928:384-386; Eastern Ojibwa (Southern Ontario)] [young wife dies; husband stays at the grave; as soon as he closes his eyes, he sees the wife come out of the grave and walk away; he goes behind, spends the night some distance about the place where she stayed; there is a house nearby; someone (this is Nanabush) says that there are all dogs a person has ever owned; if he did harm to them, they would take revenge; the one who then he gives bags of shoes; when dogs attack, a person throws their shoes and they tear them without touching the person; then another house, his name is, but the man does not go in; finally, the last one, it is empty, only small beds; N. says that when the spirit enters the house, it becomes invisible; but promises to help by hiding the one who comes in his pocket; at night, the spirits will begin to dance on the occasion of the arrival of the new deceased; the man saw, grabbed his wife, put it in a box; there is some kind of rubbing in the second box; the man teaches: you got here in two years, but you will return in two days; you have to heat two stones at home, put it in the box was rubbed to melt, cover both boxes and yourself with a blanket; if the wife speaks, then she came to life; everything was successful; parents came to visit the grave and saw the young couple alive]: Laidlaw 1915, No. 18:14-15.

Northeast. Seneca [with the help of a magic arrow, a young man kills many deer, marries the leader's daughter; sorcerers kill him; his wife follows him into the world of the dead; throws two cougars along the pheasant guarding the path; the dead dance; the Mother of the Dead puts the woman's husband's soul in a pumpkin bottle, gives it to her, tells her to cover the holes in her husband's body with clay when she returns, then let his soul into his mouth; the man comes to life]: Curtin, Hewitt 1918, No. 116:565-573; malesite [the wife dies, the husband follows her; the old woman gives him a nut and butter; the wife's spirit follows him into the world of the living; he pulls out her corpse, rubs it with oil, the wife comes to life]: Mechling 1914, No. 25:88-90; mikmaq [son dies, father comes to the Master of the Dead for him; he gives him a nut with his son's soul; at home, the father lets his soul into his son's dug up corpse; son comes to life]: LeclercQ in Mechling 1914, No. 26:91-93.

Plains. Pawnee [the young man mourns at the bride's grave; a creature in the form of either a skunk or a rainbow leads him into the world of the dead; he is told to throw lice on the girl's head; she itches and comes to life; he returns from bride to earth, marries her]: Dorsey 1904b, No. 20:71-73; assiniboine {whether this text can be considered a story about the return of the deceased is not entirely clear; therefore it is included in the h13 motif, but not in h12} [ When going hunting, the husband tells the pregnant wife not to answer strangers or look at who calls; the guest asks where the door is; the woman: You know it yourself; she serves food; guest: I'm not used to eating like this - put food on your stomach; after eating, he rips her stomach open and takes out her two twins; then he runs around with the woman each of the tipi pillars and takes his wife underground; the returning husband called the wolves, set for he told them to take care of the twins until he returns from the ground; each of the tipi pillars also runs around and goes underground through the hearth; there is a camp by the lake; the old woman warns that the locals are evil people will not return his wife to him, but he will be killed with the help of their manita; but they could not kill him; they handed him over through the old woman: there is a pole in the lake, you have to dive and shake him; he did it; then again, emerging only to evening; warned the old woman: when I am cooked and eaten, collect my bones, cover me with a blanket and lead me to stand up; the old woman has done everything, he has come to life; he lowers the sun into the underworld, the heat dies underground people; he returns with his wife to their children]: Lowie 1909a, No. 16:168-169.

Southeast USA. Yuchi [four men want to know if death exists, kill their wives; they go looking for them; before entering the cave, a cloud (=sky) rises and falls; three run under it in the form of a deer, a cougar, bear, rise to the cloud on the other side; the fourth is crushed; the old sun woman hides them under her clothes from a monstrous cougar; sows corn, beans, pumpkins, they immediately produce crops; the dead are invisible, they dance; The sun puts four wives in calebasses, gives them to their husbands; they wake up on the ground; one opens the vessel before reaching home, the wife disappears; three return their wives, become leaders]: Speck 1909, No. 8:144- 146.

The Great Southwest. Tiva (Taos) [1) Yellow Corn gives birth to a baby, fetches water ahead of time, sorcerers kill her; her husband Magpie's Tail buries her, takes the baby, follows her; during the day, the wife turns into a rabbit; they cross four rivers; the first is water, then ash, soot, blood; the living can only drink from the first; the dead build a log bridge for those who come, their logs are sunflower stalks; at night the dead dance, turn into rabbits during the day; the crow teaches her husband to pull his wife out of the window by the hand; she becomes a rabbit, the eagle tears him to shreds; the spirits of the rain cover their shreds with a blanket; the woman revives, returns with husband to people; 2) sorcerers kill Blue Corn; her sister Yellow Corn sleeps on the grave, follows her sister; further as in (1); ash, black, red rivers; rabbit covered with a dance skirt; kachina hits there with lightning, a woman comes to life]: Parsons 1940a, No. 6:23-28.

Mesoamerica The Aztecs [after raising the sky, Quetzalcoatl went to the underworld, asked its owner and mistress for human bones; the owner told him to blow into the horn first; K. asked the worms to do in holes in the bones, put beans there; blew into the horn; the owner changed his mind, ordered to leave the bones; nagual K. advised me to say, Yes, pick up the bones yourself; the owner ordered to dig a hole on K.'s way; quails they frightened K., he fell, dropped his bones; brought only fragments; in the upper world, the goddess Sinaconatl-Kitaztli grinded them into flour, all the gods injured their penises, moistened the flour with blood; this is how people appeared]: Krickeberg 1928:10-11.

The Central Andes. Kauri (prov. Kispicanchis, dep. Cusco) [Kkoa sends lightning and hail, he is the patron saint of shamans and wild cats; his lamas are vicuñas, roosters are condors; the entrance to his palace is through four lakes; corn is floating on the surface, potatoes, chunyo (starch); those who try to take them drown; lightning kills a man; the shaman takes his widow and six best thieves with him; while Kkoa is entertaining, the widow and thieves take her husband to the ground; he comes to life ]: Mishkin 1940:237-238.

Montagna - Jurua. Amouesha [the shaman had a young wife, left two children; the shaman grieves, the wife arrives in the form of a bee; in a dream he tells him that he should cover her with a cloth, leave her in a hut for three months leaves, return to the full moon; he did so, his wife came to life, her descendants are members of one of the ancestral units]: Santos-Granero 1991, No. 15:212-213.