H36C. A lizard betrays a person.
.11.12.13.19.-.21. (.31.) .50.-.52.57.
Thelizard is to blame for the fact that a person is mortal. See H36 motif.
Chwana, Suto, Zulu, Swazi, Ndebele, Tsonga, Douala, Bubi, Yaoundé, Coco, Bulu, Kuta, Fang, (buheba), Loui, Subia, Ngoni, Yao, Nyanja, Tonga (Malawi), Tonga, Bemba, Lamba, Lower Zambezi, Ndau, Ronga, Xhosa, Hausa, Tangale, Margi, Bura, Mbai, Uduk, Sanye, (Savi) Solomon Islands (Eddystone), Ontong Java, (Maori), Rai (Tulung), Angami (? Nagaland), (Lithuanians), Diegeño, Mojave, Cora, Tepeua, Veracruz Nahuatl, Makiritare.
Bantu-speaking Africa. Suto-chwana [Turtle hesitates, Lizard false news]; sutho [Chameleon hesitates, Lizard brings news of death]; chwana [1) The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death; 2) The lizard hesitates, the Chameleon brings the news of death; the Turtle hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; the Zulu [The chameleon hesitates, the lizard brings the news of death]; the scythe [Chameleon hesitates, the lizard hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death] brings the news of death]; Swazi [Chameleon hesitates, Lizard brings news of death]; ndebele (Transvaal) [Chameleon hesitates, Lizard brings news of death]; duala [Chameleon hesitates, The lizard brings the news of death]; Louis [The Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; fang [Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard is false news]; bubi, yaoundé, coco, bulu [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; subia [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; kuta [Goat, Dog is slow, the Lizard brings the news of death]; ngoni [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; yao, nyanja, tonga (Malawi) [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; bemba [Chameleon hesitates, The lizard brings the news of death]; the lamba [the Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; the lower reaches of the Zambezi [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; ndau [The chameleon hesitates , The lizard brings the news of death]; ronga [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; the scythe [Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death]; (cf. buheba [Biba-Biba gave birth to Lula and Sanana; the lizard Mbankura asked the brothers if they wanted to live or die; they chose death, then changed their minds; Lula told S. not to dig a grave if someone died in his absence; S.'s son died, he was buried; S. killed Wooby's bat; L. said that he killed his nephew; so he left; saw the elephant killed by S., said that now the buheba would kill elephants, tusks give to children]: Zhukov, Kotlyar 1976, No. 21:64-65).
West Africa. Hausa [The Chameleon hesitates, the Lizard is false news]; margi [The chameleon hesitates, the Lizard brings the news of death (true or false)]; borax (bura-pubir) [man died for the first time, people They sent the Worm to ask the sky what to do; the sky told me to hang the corpse on a tree and throw porridge at it until it came to life; the lizard listened, ran before the Worm, said that Heaven told me to bury the corpse; therefore people are mortal now]: Scheub 2000:70; 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 be 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 revive in three days and the man die for good; when the chameleon came, Death did not listen to him]; tangale [The lizard dug eggs out of the ground, let them hatch; he answered Chameleon that they were all his children; he called the celestials, they told the Lizard to hatch eggs; snakes, flies, insects, lizards came out of them; soon he died from a snake bite child; 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 to climb the tree; who He would be the first to fall, he did it {got eggs}; the lizard said that if the first one who fell from the tree gets up, people will die; fell and got up; the Chameleon died; the lizard brought the girl, gave the Chameleon as redemption]: Jungraithmayr 2002:207-214.
Sudan - East Africa. The Duk [The month spat, the Lizard refused to swallow the spit; for this Month cursed her-neither she nor the people will be reborn after death; if the Lizard swallowed the spit, we would be reborn like a month]: Scheub 2000:16; sanye [The lizard told people they would die forever and the moon would be reborn; people have since started dying]: Barett 1911:37 (retelling in Abrahamsson 1951:19).
Melanesia. Addystone Island (Solomon Islands) [people were immortal; one woman died, her two children carried her to Mount Matendini; she must have returned, but people did not recognize her because she brightened and their mother was dark; she told them to kill the lizard, wrap it in leaves, take it to the same mountain; four days later they all came back to see if the lizard had disappeared; when they came down, the mother said that now humans will die, leaving forever in the spirit world like a lizard and other animals; after that, the mother disappeared]: Hocart in Anell 1964:4-5; (cf. savi [people were reborn like snakes; a man named Tafumon was killed by an arrow; went (i.e. his spirit went) to the village to wait for a new body; but others brought his old body there; karasu built a burial platform for the body and told people to die; the lizard wanted them to live forever; elephant grass, which is also a symbol of wilting and death, entered into an argument; the bird had to give in, people since then pores are dying]: Yost 1988:88-89).
Micronesia-Polynesia. Ontong Java [1) The Lizard and the Rat are arguing which of them eats more; decide to jump off the tree; the Lizard jumped, stayed motionless; the Rat jumped and crashed to death; then the Lizard got up, her descendants were given eternal life, and rats and all other creatures die forever; 2) The lizard and the Rat quarreled, the Lizard jumped from the high pole of the temple, froze; the Rat called people to be witnessing her victory; then the Lizard jumped up, killed the Rat, called her friends, wildworms (virmin); so Rat's friends humans die, but Lizard's friends don't]: Anell 1989:24; (cf. Maori [Whiro is a character opposed to Tane, who gave birth to plants and humans, since the birth of both; a symbol of death and evil; in the real world, V. embodies a lizard, specifically the green moko kaka-riki , not tuatara; this lizard symbolizes death and meeting it is a bad sign]: Best 1923:110).
Tibet is the Northeast of India. Rai (tulung) [Lizard suggested Mini (ancestor man?) to die, he foolishly agreed; they built burial chambers; the Lizard suggested that M. die first, but he did not know how to do it; then the Lizard shed her old skin, told him to do what she did ; M. did and died, so death appeared]: Allen 2001:42-43; Angami {presumably Nagaland, the band is not listed, so it may not be chin naga, but northern naga} [humans and animals changed skin, rejuvenated; Toad and Lizard agreed that only two creatures that suddenly came to their mind would change their skin; the Lizard said that the snake and the lizard, the Toad, were human and toad; but the Toad hesitated and lost; now only snakes and lizards change their skin and rejuvenate]: Borgohain, Roy Chaudhury 1975, No. 1:18 (translated to Kudinova, Kudinov 1995:89).
(Wed. Baltoscandia. According to Bronislava Kerbelite (personal report, 2014), the origin of the text is unknown, so a hoax or accidental mistake is highly likely. Lithuanians [God sent the Snail to tell people they would not die and the Lizard to say they would die; the Lizard brought the message first, so humans are mortal]: Kerbelite 2001:102).
The Great Southwest. Mojave [Lizard: Let people die, otherwise there won't be enough space, they'll have to defecate on each other's feet! People die because of the Lizard]: Kroeber 1972:6; diegueño [After creating humans, the two creators created the Wild Cat so that he knew everything about people; the Wild Cat ordered one man and one every year a woman died to make room for new people; people resisted; the Wild Cat sent for the Lizard; she confirmed that two should die every year; so it was]: Spier 1923:331-332.
NW Mexico. Cora [Father Sun asks the first ancestors what should happen to people (when they are old); one suggests that people go to heaven, others to dive into living water in the West, others - that people should not disappear; some want people to turn into mountains; the Lizard replies that people should die, be buried in the ground; the Earth should feed on people and produce crops]: Preuβ 1912, No. 2:144-145.
Mesoamerica Tepehua [Lizard: Don't let people resurrect, I'll have nowhere to put my tail; Jesus confirms this decision]: Williams García 1972:95; Nahuatl Veracruz [when a woman learns of her husband's resurrection, she should laugh; the lizard deliberately says she should cry; her husband dies again]: González Cruz 1984:225.
Southern Venezuela. Makiritar [Vanadi creates her own mother, tells her to die, buries her so that she may be resurrected again; leaves, leaving the Parrot as a watchman; when the deceased rises from the grave, from the rotten afterbirth of V., the evil spirit of Odosha gives the lizard a calebas with its urine, which pours it onto the resurrected one, her body falls apart; V. does not have time to run, because O. persuaded the Capuchin Monkey to open a shamanic V.'s handbag in which the night was]: Civrieux 1980:23-27.