Yu.E. Berezkin, E.N. Duvakin

Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area

Analytical catalogue

Introduction
Bibliography
Ethnicities and habitats

H36B. A chameleon betrays a person. .10.-.13. (.14.) .21.22.24.

The

chameleon is to blame for the fact that a person is mortal or that he must work; he loses what the deity has entrusted to him. See H36 motif.

Hottentots, Zulu, Sutho, Swazi, Xhosa, Chwana, Ndebele, Ronga, Tsonga, (Nyoro), Douala, Ngoni, Fang, Bemba, Yao, Nyaja, Tonga, Tonga (Malawi), Ndaw, Xhosa, Quiri, Luya, Louie subia, ganda, bemba, lamba, ilah, venda, hausa, eve (?) , Ditammari, Tangale, Margi, Mukulehe, Yaka (Baja-Kaka), Vute, Kukuyu, Kamba, Joluo, Mbai, Acholi, Nandi (Egyptian Arabs), Kachin, Banar, Dayaki, Ngaju, Southern Palawan

SW Africa. Hottentots (! Kora, Nama) [The moon sends Chameleon to say that as she is reborn, people will come to life after death; the Chameleon forgot what to say, is back; the Moon sent a Hare; he also forgot and said that people must die; the moon cut the Hare's lip]: Abrahamsson 1951:28.

Bantu-speaking Africa. Zulu [The Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard (or Salamander) brings the news of death]; the scythe [Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; suto [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; suto [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death] the news of death]; Swazi [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; the chwana [1) The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death; 2) The lizard hesitates, the Chameleon brings the news of death]; ndebele [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; ronga [The chameleon hesitates, the Crocodile brings the news of death]; douala [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; fang [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard is false news]; (cf. nyoro [chameleon is opposed to the regularly reviving Month]); yaka (Baja-Kaka) [Chameleon hesitates, the Toad insults God with its appearance, he tells him to die]; bubi, yaounde, coco, bulu [The chameleon hesitates, the lizard brings the news of death]; ngoni [The chameleon hesitates, the lizard brings the news of death]; bemba [The chameleon hesitates, the dog brings the news of death; Chameleon hesitates, Lizard brings news of death]; couple [Chameleon hesitates, Frog brings news of death]; yao, nyanja, tonga (Malawi) [Chameleon hesitates, Lizard brings the news of death]; tonga [Chameleon hesitates, Polygoge brings the news of death]; louis [Chameleon hesitates, Hare (Lizard) brings the news of death]; subia [Chameleon hesitates, Lizard brings the news of death]; lower reaches of the Zambezi [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; ndau [Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; the scythe [Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard slows, the Lizard brings the news of death] brings the news of death]; quiri [Chameleon and Salamander agreed to eat their children; Salamander poured red paint into the water, the Chameleon saw, killed and ate their children; all animals for the festival They came with the children, the Chameleon saw that he had been deceived; the Chameleon threw a stone off the cliff, saying that if anyone dies, he would not be born again; Salamandra said he would revive; the Chameleon is still every evening mourns his children; when he sees a chameleon, he is killed; the person who sees it or one of his relatives will die]: Abrahamsson 1951:10 (=Baumann 1936:279); luya [The chameleon climbed into a beer mug, told the man to drink it; he refused because the chameleon is considered poisonous and disgusting; the Chameleon told people to be mortal; the Snake drank the contents, became immortal, changing its skin]: Abrahamsson 1951:18; luya (vugusu) [people did not die, or were resurrected on the fourth day when they got back from the grave; the Chameleon asked the person to share food with him, he drove him away; the Snake shared; the Chameleon ordered people get sick and die, and snakes live forever by changing their skin]: Wagner 1949:169-170 (=1955:43-44; =Abrahamsson 1951:18; =Parrinder 1967:56); ganda ["the story of the chameleon and the moon is not unknown"]; lamba [The Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; sila [1) Leza sent Chameleon to say that death is final; then the Hare with the news of eternal life; the Hare ran and announced first, but The chameleon said that only his message was true; L. agreed; 2) Leza sent Chameleon with the news of eternal life, then Hare with the news of death; the Hare came running and announced first]: Smith, Dale 1920:100-101 ( quoted in Abrahamsson 1951:22; Janssens 1926:561); wenda [God sent the Centipede to tell people they should be immortal; she stayed on the road, eating fruit; at this time, the evil god Ralowimba sent Chameleon to tell people to die; when the Centipede came, they didn't believe her]: Wessmann 1908:82-83 (retelling in Abrahamsson 1951:23); kikuyu [The chameleon hesitates, the bird broadcasts the news of death]; kamba [Chameleon hesitates, the weaver bird communicates the news of death].

West Africa. Hausa [Chameleon hesitates, Lizard false news]; margie [Chameleon hesitates, Lizard brings news of death]; mukulehe [Chameleon hesitates]: Lembezat 196:59; tangale [ The lizard dug eggs out of the ground, let them hatch; he answered Chameleon that they were all his children; he called celestials, they told the Lizard to hatch the eggs; snakes, flies, insects, lizards came out of them ; a child soon died from a snake bite; the lizard replied that the Chameleon had brought eggs; it was said that people would not die, but the Lizard said they would; people went to the sorcerer, who told the Lizard and the Chameleon climb a tree; whoever falls first did it {got eggs}; The lizard said that if the first person to fall from the tree gets up, people will die; fell and got up; the Chameleon died; the lizard brought the girl, gave To the Chameleon as a ransom]: Jungraithmayr 2002:207-214; yaka (Baja-Kaka) [The chameleon hesitates, the Toad is false news]; vute [the chameleon hesitates, the snake brings the false news that people should die]: Siebert 1921, No. 2:57-60 (summary in Abrahamsson 1951:9-10 and Lembezat 1961:236); bamum [Frog: Humans must respawn; Chameleon: die forever; who is first will reach the drum, by the way it will be; the Chameleon put stones in the Frog's way, ran first; chameleons are killed, and the frog that enters the house is considered to bring children]: Abrahamsson 1951:9; eve [the plot of the false news featuring a chameleon is not recorded, but there is a saying: "Chamäleon sagt: im langsamen Gehen ist auch Tod, und im eiligen Gehen ist auch Tod")]: Struck 1909b: 176; dithammari (bettamaribe) [everyone wants people not to die, only Chameleon is against; supreme god Kuyey suggests that whoever gets to him first, made a decision on the fate of people; they decide to send the Dog, but it finds meat in the bushes, stops gnawing bones; the Chameleon came first, so people are mortal]: Anpetkova-Sharova 2010:219-220.

Sudan-East Africa. Acholi [1) Lent his pipe to Chameleon for a month, who broke it, Month said that now people will die forever, and one seed is not enough to satiate; 2) people came to life in two or three days after death; Mameleon mother received the phone from Lubanga, the man broke it; could not return it whole, Mother Chameleon asked L. to make people mortal; 3) the man returned it, but Chameleonsha did not believe it; until still crying on this pipe; 4) people were reborn immediately after death, but they broke Chameleonshi's phone and Lubanga made them mortal; the chameleon walks slowly so as not to fall into the ground; 5) daughter of the Month crashed the phone playing with the Chameleonsha; so the Month is cold, and the Sun, which was aside from all this, is hot; people used to die, grow out of the grave again; now the Chameleonsha said they would become die forever; 6) The spider broke the phone, the Chameleonsha demanded that it be restored, he went to Lubanga, said that the dead should die forever; 7) The chameleon said that once people broke his wife's phone, they must die too; 8) The spider was the first to come to the village, telling Lubanga that humans should die; the Chameleon came later but said the same thing]: Boccassino 1938:83-92 (retelling in Abrahamsson 1951:16-17 ); joluo [people came down from heaven, but Death began to destroy them; Nsasaye took pity, sent him to say that if he was sacrificed of pure fat, he would stop death; people sent Chameleon to give he had a bundle with the best mutton fat; he dropped it, brought it dirty; N. furiously left Death rampant on earth]: Belcher 2005:153-154; mbai: Fortier 1967:123-125 [Sou and Loa lived together; L.: let cereal fields cover all the land; S.: but then there will be no place to relieve themselves; let people dig graves for the dead; this is how S. made people mortal; L. wanted people to die and were reborn; the lizard quickly ran to L. and said that people would die forever; the chameleon walked slowly and came later; said people would die and be reborn; L. replied that he was late], 125 [Sou sent a chameleon to tell Death: Let the moon die for good and man be reborn; the lizard overheard, came first and gave the order: let the moon rise in three days and man die for good; when the chameleon came, Death did not listen to him]; nandi [the chameleon was the king of animals; there was a severe drought; the chameleon said that the animals angered sun god Cheptalel, for not They give him a share of the harvest; agreed to go to C. to ask for mercy; C. forgave him, gave the chameleon an amulet, ordered him to carry it in his mouth and not speak to anyone; but when he reached his country, the chameleon swallowed the amulet; I decided not to go back, but went to the forest; he changes color without being noticed]: Chesaina 1997:33-34.

(Wed. North Africa. The Arabs of Egypt [the chameleon is called gemel-el-jahud - "Jewish camel"]: Struck 1909b: 177).

Tibet is the Northeast of India. Kachin: Gilhodes 1908, No. 20 [no one died, only the children of the Sun disappeared and appeared every day; rich Kaban Sutna climbed the mountain every day to give the Sun the gifts that are now donated to the time of burial (chickens, pigs, etc.); he was tired, wanted the Sun to descend to him on the contrary; killed a rat, arranged a ceremony, but the Sun did not go down; then he dressed a man in a big squirrel; the sons of the Sun first believed that someone was dead, came to dance at the funeral ceremony; then they exposed the deception; since people needed death, let everyone who turned gray die; Chameleon liked the memorial food: let the young die; since then people have been killing chameleons]: 687-688; Kasevich, Osipov 1976, No. 27 [people went to the sun to give them rice; returning back through the land of nat chameleon, people tried not to make noise, but he still heard and asked what the sun nat said when he was giving rice; people: for the stem to be off the buffalo's leg and the ear to the horse's tail; the chameleon: let the stem be off my leg and the ear off the horse's tail; the chameleon: let the stem be off my leg and the ear from the horse's tail my tail; when people see a chameleon, they chase it and hit it with sticks]: 102-103.

Burma - Indochina. Banar [the dead were buried under the roots of a long blo tree, they were reborn; the chameleon was afraid to stick out its tail so that it would not be squeezed out; suggested that the dead be buried under the long tree khung; humans were no longer resurrected]: Guerlach 1887:479; Karpov, Tkachev 1958:258 (retelling the same text in Fraser 1985:46, in Frazer 1913:74).

Malaysia-Indonesia. Dayaki (West Kalimantan) [the rice grains were the size of a coconut, they were divided into pieces; the daughter asks her mother how much rice to put in the pot each time; she replies that the piece was in a small pot, one grain into a big one; one day the mother left; the daughter asked; the chameleon answered their forests: one grain, two, three; rice began to pour over the edge, turned into small rice]: Bunanta 2003:69-70; ngaju : Schärer 1966:68 [At first there is water everywhere, with the Naga Bussai snake in luxurious clothes and jewelry; Hatala threw the ground on his head; Ranjing Mahatala Langit descended, found seven eggs consisting of earth; out of five all plants and animals came out, the first two were male and female; he went to the Creator for a breath for them, at which time Sangiang Angoi {angoi is a "chameleon"; see p.76-77} came out of the ground, blew breathing into people, they came to life but became mortals; the RML saw this, took back divine gifts: immortality, eternal youth, the enjoyment of eternal leisure], 68-71 [(according to Schwaner 1853:179; in a brief retelling Dixon 1916:160 reference to Hupe 1846:138); there were two trees in the sky, one appeared a growth, broke off under the weight of a bird and a second winged creature that sat on it, fell into the Sangiang River (S. - category heavenly spirits), the Serpent who lived in it tried to destroy him, but the build-up washed ashore, a woman arose from it, made a boat out of a banyan leaf, sailed along the river to the sea, where she met with a man who arose under the influence of waves from a floating log; the first six times she had miscarriages, each became a woman, who gave birth to different gods and spirits from different creatures (the first gave birth to Djangan Hatuen Peres, leader diseases); the sons Mahadara Sangen and Mahadara Sangiang were born for the seventh time; Sangen took the embryos of plants and animals, descended to earth; there, an egg was born from the marriage of two trees, in which an egg was born, lifeless female image; Sangen went to heaven for live water; at this time, Angoi breathed wind and breath into the woman, gave her blood from the rain, bones from bamboo (probably); Sangen, who returned, spilled the living in anger water, she sprinkled the plants; they now grow back cut off, and people are mortal; he killed A., cut the corpse, and snakes, tigers, and other harmful creatures have emerged from it; his marriage to that woman comes from humans; Sangiang gave birth to many gods, including the guide of souls to the world of the dead, Sangsang Tempon Tellon], 76-77 [(Mallinckrodt 1924); after creating the earth, Mahatara threw a piece of garing wood from the sky on it, on one at the end of which he carved the figure of a man, on the other a woman; the tree split, the male image fell into the water, the female image fell on land, both came to life, began to live in the boat on which the woman descended to the sea; the first the miscarriage fell into the water, turned into evil water spirits, the second to land, into evil terrestrial spirits; the third was wrapped in a banana leaf, left on a tree, it turned into wood spirits; then M. went down, taught a man and a woman how to marry; the woman gave birth to three sons named Maharadja Sangian, Maharadja Sangen, Maharadja Bunu; the sky was near the ground and served as food; Mahatara gave seeds to the first all edible plants, the second "floating" iron that kills only for a while, the third "sinking", killing iron; in the end, Mahatara stopped carrying living water to the ground, reviving the dead, the sky moved away from the ground, MB was left alone on earth; made a woman out of clay, Mahatara promised to revive her; at this time, angoi (chameleon) offered his services; Mahatara returned with live water, upset, explained that since the figure was revived by a mortal being (chameleon), people will also be mortal; this woman Hantelo Petak ("three times earth") and MB are descended from people; M.Sangiang M.Sangen also married, gave birth sangian and sangen air spirits]; southern Palawan [Sapäd invites Chameleon to repeat after her what she says with sugar cane in her mouth; says, "The moon dies, disappears, and revives"; The chameleon stumbles, "Dies, dies... "; the bird then tells him to say, 'A banana dies, only a new process comes to replace it'; the Chameleon says this, so fathers are reborn only in children]: MacDonald 1981:109-110.