H52. The search for immortality, ATU 470B.

.15.-.17.22.27.-.29.31.33.34. (.38.)

A person finds a country where there is no death, but eventually dies.

Portuguese, Italians (Veneto), Sardinians, Corsicans, Irish, French, Flemish, Babylonia, Vietnamese, Serbs, Hungarians, Romanians, Moldovans, Poles, Ukrainians, Ossetians, Tatas, Georgians , Armenians, Finns, Estonians, Western Sami, Swedes, Kazakhs, Khakas, (Japanese).

Southern Europe. Corsicans [Grandesta has learned a lot, went to visit his elderly mother; on the way he refuses to help the old beggar; he turns into a young man, says that G. will die himself and there is no trace will remain; G. goes to look for the country of immortality; at night he sees an inscription in the mountains in fiery letters: They don't die here; G. stays there; once a storm began; when it was over, the griffin flew in, threw bloody prey, swallowed a grain of sand, flew away; the mountain told G. that there would be no death in this country until it, the mountain, was equal to the plain; but G. wants eternal immortality, so he goes on; remains by a beautiful lake; an oak tree says that everything is immortal here; a storm begins, a black bird arrives, swallows a drop of water: it arrives every thousand years, when there is nothing left of the lake, immortality will end; G. moves on; meets a beautiful woman, she brings him on a chariot to the land of true immortality; once G. remembered his mother and decided to visit her; his wife gave a winged horse: by no means You can't go; no one on earth remembers his mother or himself; on the way back he meets a driver who asks for help; G. jumped off his horse, turned into a skeleton; Death: finally caught you]: Ortoli 1883, No. 28:224-234; Sardinians: Cerise, Serafini, No. 470B: 109; Portuguese [the hero enters a country in another world where there is no death; wants to visit his homeland; his wife warns him not get off his horse; he breaks the ban, Old Time appears, kills him]: Cardigos 2008, No. 470B: 112; Italians: Calvino 1980, No. 27 (Veneto, Verona) [the young man goes to look for a country in which they do not die; he meets an old man with a wheelbarrow of stones; he says that until he moves the whole mountain, the young man will not die, it will take at least a hundred years; the young man does not agree to stay with the old man, for a hundred years is not immortality; then he sees an old man pruning tree branches; he will not die until he prunes the branches of all the trees in the forest, it will take two hundred years; the same; the third old man points to the duck: until she drinks the sea, the young man will not die, it will take three hundred years; the same; finally, the young man came to the palace where the fourth old man; he replies that the person who came has achieved his goal; the young man lives in the palace for a long time, but one day decides visit his family; the old man says that the last of them has already died; but if the young man insists, he can take a white horse that jumps like the wind; but if he gets off his horse and touches the ground, instantly he will die; on the way, the young man sees the steppe instead of the sea and the bones of the old man who showed him the duck; then he sees a rooted forest and a plain on the site of the mountain; the young man's hometown has changed beyond recognition, about him no one heard the relatives; on the way back, the man asks for help to pull out the cart stuck in the mud; as soon as the young man touched the ground, the owner of the cart grabbed him and said that he was Death; in the cart shoes that had to be worn out when catching up with the young man; he died immediately]: 77-79; Kotrelev 1991 [=Ilyin, Kazakova 1960:203-211; Grantest's scientist went to visit his mother, spoke contemptuously of the poor, but he reminded him of death; he forgot about his mother and science, went to search for the land of immortality; found a valley where a monster flies every thousand years to pick up one grain of sand; the mountain says that Everything here will be scattered to the grain of sand; he thinks he has come to the lake of real immortality, but a monster also flies there to pick up one drop; by the sea, an old woman asked her son to be cured, but the fairy gave a feather that we must show the eagle, he will take him to the land of immortality; G. forgot about the child, the eagle carried him to the fairies; once G. remembered his mother; the fairy gave a horse, but G. should not touch the ground with his foot; in the village, a man speaks of G. as a nonentity who sought immortality only for himself and forgot about his mother; G. jumped off his horse in anger and crumbled to dust]: 315-320.

Western Europe. French (south of Normandy) [Pierre, a young peasant, decided to become a soldier, rose to military leader, then appointed chief minister; one of the courtiers reproached him as low origin; P. asked the king to throw him in prison; courtier: you can't avoid death anyway; then P. went to look for the country of immortality; he found it and stayed there; after 300 years, a huge one flew a bird; residents said that it feeds on sand and earth; when it eats everything, the world would end for the inhabitants; P. went to look for another country; lived on the island of immortality for 600 years; left it when he was shown a huge fish; when she drank the sea, life would end; once he freed a fly from the shadows of a spider; she turned into a fairy and offered to fulfill his wish; P. wished immortality; the fairy carried him to a world of stars where there is no death; but one day he was tired of endless happiness and wanted to return to his village; the fairy advised not to do so, but still gave a horse, warning him that if he got off him and will touch the ground, then die; the horse flew to Pierre's native places; instead of a village, a big city, you can't learn anything; P. came across a man whose cart was stuck in the mud; he asked for help to pull it out ; as soon as P. came down, the cart turned into a pile of shoes and the man into Death; she said she had been looking for Pierre for a long time. "What are these shoes? - I wore them out while I was looking for you]: Delarue, Tenèze 1964, No. 470B: 163-165; Flemish, Irish: Uther 2004 (1), No. 470B: 277; (cf. Irish [a person follows a deceased friend to another world, sees a lot of strange things there, and when he returns, he does not recognize his native places because a long time has passed on earth]: Jackson 1936:287; Irish [western in an Irish settlement in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, Illinois; the king of France wants to marry; the monk says the three swans flying to the lake are girls; gives the king ten mile boots, that steals the girls' clothes; gives it as a promise to take them with her; the older, middle, younger sister takes turns carrying it; he wants to marry his youngest, must identify her; she warns that she will sit, kneeling; after a few years, the king wants to visit the house; the wife warns not to do so; gives a flying ship, tells him not to leave it; the king leaves, Death immediately grabs him; the king asks for old men to be taken instead, but Death wants only him; the king asks Death to get into the box first, attaches it with a lid, returns to his wife, wants to open the box, the wife does not tell; they throw the box in the sea, the waves bring it to Ireland; people open the box, Death begins to kill everyone; so the Irish moved to America]: Neely 1944:90-91).

Western Asia. Babylonia (the first 11 tablets of the Akkadian poem) [King Gilgamesh is cruel to his subjects; the gods create the wild man Enkidu to defeat G.; E. leaves animals and goes to people after he was seduced by the harlot Shamkhat; G. and E. fight and become friends, kill Humbaba cedar forest guards; the gods want to punish them for this, E. dies; G. wants to understand the mystery of death; goes through the gorge the range of mountains surrounding the world, persuading a scorpion man to let him pass; visits a garden where gems grow on trees; Siduri, who lives by the sea, shows him the way; Urshanabi transports him through the waters of death to the island where the immortal Ut-Napishti lives; he tells G. the story of the flood, helps to get a flower of eternal youth from the bottom of the sea; while G. was sleeping, the snake stole the flower, returning to its hole, threw it off skin; G. laments that he has obtained the ability to rejuvenate not for himself (and all people), but for snakes]: Dyakonov 196:7-82.

Burma - Indochina. Vieta [Tu Thuc mandarin neglects her duties, dreams of a Land of Bliss; at a flower festival, a girl accidentally broke a peony; no one wants to pay a fine for her, TT gives her cloak; leaves office, goes to the mountains, ends up in the Land of Bliss; her mistress gives her daughter for it - this is the same girl, she is a celestial who then descended to earth; after a long time TT decides to visit his family; his wife gives a letter, tells me to read it only on the spot; everything is different on earth; one person said he is probably his descendant; TT went to the mountains and disappeared]: Sun 1967:44- 50.

The Balkans. Hungarians [a young man goes to search for a country where there is no death; he sees an eagle trying to break the branches of a tree; he turns into a man, says he will die when he can uproot a tree, it will take 600 years old; offers a daughter as a wife, but the young man says that he does not need long, but eternal life; the daughter of an eagle gives a box with her portrait, if you look, you will be transported to the right place; a bald man carries the earth basket, will die when she demolishes the mountain; his daughter gives him a ring (if you wear it, you will be wherever you want); the daughter of the deceased king offers the young man a hand and a throne; in her room the floor is covered with needles, her family will die when everyone will step; gives a golden twig (it will turn into whatever you want); the young man walks along the river, beyond which the sky adjoins the ground; enters the hanging castle, stays with the queen, there is no death in the castle; after a thousand For years, a young man goes to visit his parents, the queen gives bottles of living and dead water; a young man revives a dead queen with needles (they all failed), an old man who demolished a mountain, tore out an eagle tree; where was the parents' home, the old woman sees it Death, rushes in pursuit; Death and the Queen of Life both claim to be a young man, the Queen of Life lets Death in; they agree that the Queen of Life will leave the young man to the sky behind the Morning Star's back; if he falls into the garden, he stays with it, if behind the fence, with Death; he falls against the wall, but then into the garden, stays with the Queen]: Gidash 1953:24-32 (=Ortutai 1974, No. 1:63 -72); Moldovans [When a flea shoved one leg with 99 shackles of iron, the other with 99 okami (1 ca 1200 g) became, and everything seemed not enough for her, the king's son was mischievous. He fell from a slingshot into a jug of water carried by his grandmother, who cursed him: "So that you walk around the ground and not calm down until you reach the immortal kingdom, but you will not find peace there either." The prince is melancholy; he goes to seek an immortal kingdom. He comes to his cell. The hermit does not know about such a kingdom, he sends him through the forest, animals will meet there - everyone should be greeted. Then in front of the castle, the snake will lie with its head on the doorstep - and greet him, he will be happy, turn his head - it will be possible to pass. The castle will tell you where to go next. That's what the prince does. The palace is as old as the world. For saying hello to his animals, he gives a ball of gold thread. The guy goes for a ball, sits down to rest under the oak tree. The acorn asks you to get up from him, offers to live with him until he becomes a strong and lush oak tree. And when he is old, falls and swallows begin to swarm in his ashes, then the prince will end. The prince sprinkles the acorn with earth to grow, says goodbye to him, and goes on after the ball. He comes to a grape bush covered with clusters. The bush suggests burying the grape seed and staying here until the grapes grow; as long as he is alive, the prince will drink wine and eat grapes. The prince buried the seed and moves on. He wants to shoot an eagle, the Tolt asks not to kill, but to heal. If trouble happens, we need to think about it, he will come to the rescue. The prince bandages the eagle's wounds, feeds it, and moves on. The sea has receded, and on the sand lies a king of fish 12 steps long, human-tall, with silver wings, and golden scales. He asks not to eat it, but to put it in water - if you think about it, he will come to the rescue. Then the fox asks to protect her from dogs (same). The mosquito asks to be released from the web (same). He says that there will be a castle, where you have to go to the king and ask for your youngest daughter as a bride. Until he gets married, he won't take over the immortal realm. The guy comes to the gilded chambers, explains where and where he's going from. The king agrees to give his daughter if the boy can hide. Then he will live in the castle as long as the earth stands and the sun shines: from this gate the immortal kingdom begins. The guy remembers the eagle, the eagle takes it to the heavenly gate and hides it behind 9 rows of clouds. The three princesses look alike. The eldest sees the guy in the sky. The king is going to tear his head off, his daughter asks for forgiveness. The average one sees a guy in the fish's mouth (same thing). The youngest can't see only the boy's shadow. The king tells him to go out and admits that his daughter did not see him, but let him know the youngest. A mosquito sits on her nose. The guy stays in the castle with her forever. The king forbids him to go out through the gate he entered. One day, his arrow goes out the gate. Behind her, he opens the gate, sees a shiny thread from a golden ball, remembers his house, his father, and his mother. The king dissuades him, but he leaves. On a golden thread, he comes to an old and long vine, which recognizes him, but he refuses to rest. It's the same with oak. He reaches the castle, where he was given a golden ball, sees a dragon, dried up from old age, and greets him. The dragon rejoices and keeps him alive. The owner of the castle has grown a beard, half of which he puts under himself and the other is covered. The old man raises his eyelids with a crutch, looks at the guy, invites him to come back. There is a grove in the place of the hermit's cell, and ruins on the site of the castle's father. A 300-year-old man heard from his grandfathers that there was a king's castle with a son here, and that son went around the world for life without death, for youth without old age. And then everyone in the kingdom died of the plague. The prince returns, kicks a clay mortar at the ruins of the gate, and death creeps out from under it with a scythe on his shoulder: waiting for him. The prince runs away, death is his. He greets the dragon, enters the castle, the old man gives him a woolen belt, tells him to die, let him wear it until he wears out so that there is no whole thread left, and only then let him come. The dragon breathes heat and tar to death, does not let him in for not saying hello. The prince gives death a belt, runs to the oak tree, the oak tells you to take an iron staff from the hollow, let him die: let him come when the staff is erased. Death sets out to erase the staff. The prince reaches the vine. She promises to be a boat and a bridge for him, and tells him to throw his sword under his feet: let him come when the soblya rust and falls to dust. The saber is rusted, death is chasing, the prince comes to the castle, opens the gate, the wife meets him, grabs his hand, and death by the leg. They argue. The wife proposes to turn the prince into a golden apple, throw it up: whoever catches will get the prince. He throws an apple, it turns into an evening star. The king and his people also turn the girl into a golden apple, throw it up, tell them to find the king's son and return with him to the palace - death will not be able to do anything to them. The apple becomes the morning star. Death is angry, tramples the shadows of all three, and turns the king and both of his daughters into blocks of stone. Since then, there are stars in the sky and stone pillars at the gate]: Botezatu 1981:27-37; Romanians [the old man promises a childless emperor the birth of a son; the boy still cries in his mother's womb; falls silent and is born when his father promises him immortality and eternal youth; the young man grows up, chooses a thin skate, which turns into a four-winged horse; they come to a field covered with bones; a young man shoots his leg a woman who has become a monstrous woodpecker; she promises peace, the young man puts his leg back; the woodpecker's sister was also cursed by her parents, became a scorpion, both sisters are at odds; the scorpion has one cheek in the sky, the other on the ground, he spews fire; the young man shoots one head, the scorpion promises peace, the young man puts his head back; the horse carries him through the forest with monsters to the castle of eternal life; the castle's mistress does not allow monsters attack those who flew in; there are two women in the castle, a young man marries his youngest; women warn him not to go to the Valley of Sorrows; chasing a hare, he goes there, he wants to go home; women explain that his parents are long dead; on the way back they do not find Scorpion and Woodpecker, people say they have heard stories about them from old people; the horse leaves the young man at the ruins of his father's castle, returns to the land of immortality; the young man turns into an old man; Death leaves the deck, says that if he came later, even she would die; takes the hero]: Kremnitz 1882, No. 2:16-29 (=Knos 1901:260-275, =Browne 1915:312-320); Serbs: Uther 2004 (1), No. 470B: 277.

Central Europe. Ukrainians [a person decides to look for a country where there is no death; meets a wolf, who says he will die when he cuts an oak tail; then to the pannochki; they answer that they will live until they break it all the needles are in the baskets; comes to the Month, he replies that when the month in heaven is old, he is old, and when he is young, he is young; a person lives at the Month for a hundred years; Death comes, requires a person, the Month invites her to take the man by the legs, and he will take the head where he will fly; the man flew up, became a star for about a month]: Afanasiev 1994 (3): 271-272; Poles: Dombrovsky 1992 [A merchant is shipwrecked, finds himself on an unfamiliar shore; there is a garden, a palace, beauties are drinking wine; they do not see or hear it because he wears an invisible cloak; the merchant eats and drinks; once touches a girl who shies away in fear; one day his cloak falls off, but the girls allow him to live in their land of immortality; two months later he wants to visit his parents, but the girls say it's over in his country 200 years old; girls give a horse to carry him across the sea; the merchant will live if he does not get off him; at the bazaar he is told that the coin presented was in use 200 years ago; towards an old woman with a cart, loaded with worn wings; the cart is stuck, she asks for help; when the merchant descends, rushes to him, she is Death, she has worn out many wings in 200 years while looking for a merchant; he died]: 142-150; Shcherbakov 1980 [ taking a soldier, the Queen went to search for the land of immortality; the three robbers did not share a diamond balloon, an invisibility cloak and a horse that jumps through the clouds; the Queen threw the balloon and told the robbers to flee racing; they fell, were killed; the Queen gave the balloon to the soldier, ordered him to take him home and not return; he flew to the land of immortality himself, married the daughter of a local king; once decided to visit his homeland; hears his former servant wondering where the master had gone; the maid: his devils were taken to the hell; he went down to beat her, and that was Death; his wife rode, found the body, and also died; and the horse returned to the land of immortality]: 81-83.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Ossetians (Digoria) [a person decides to seek a country of immortality; comes to the sea; someone throws a bridge across the sea; he comes to the castle; a girl makes him young, he has been living with her for three hundred years; misses his homeland; his wife gives him two apples, tells him to eat one when he feels bad, the other when he finds his native village empty, he eats the first apple, becomes an old man; finds an old woman, talks to her, eats the second apple, dies]: Dzagurov 1983, No. 124:533-534; taty [after his friend Nissan died, Nemurum decided to go looking for the land of immortality, although his mother dissuaded him; nightingale, pheasant, the deer say that they are not immortal, they will die when they lose their last feather, the last scales from their horns (they fall one by one a year); on the fortieth day of his journey, N. comes to the beautiful woman; she is immortal, he lives with her, not getting old; wants to visit her homeland; his wife says that several generations have changed there; gives four apples, tells her not to drop them; N. sees the remains of a pheasant, a deer, a nightingale, each time she bends down, one the apple rolls out, it is getting older; the last one has rolled out on the mother's grave; God sends Azrail to take N.'s soul; he digs the grave, replies that he is digging it for an old man, asking N. to try it on, because that old man is the same height; N. lies down, A. takes his soul away]: Kukulla 1974, No. 4:52-57; Georgians: Chikovani 1985, No. 28 (Gori, Zap. 1890; =1986:303-306) [the widow replies to her son that his father is dead; he goes to search for a country without death; the deer replies that he will die when his horns grow to the sky; the raven - when the gorge is filled with peace; the young man comes to the castle by the sea, where she is beautiful, she is created together with the world; he lives with her; wants to visit his homeland; she gives him three apples, tells him to eat when he is sad; the young man does not find relatives at home; eats the first apple, becomes an old man; when he bites third, died]: 96-97, 337 [there are parallels in Caucasian, Russian, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese folklore; SUS 470-470A {this is another motive: a person follows a deceased friend to the next world and spends there 300 years, thinking he'd stayed for a few minutes}; Andreev 1929, No. 470-471], 338-339 (Dusheti, 1878) [the beggar gives an apple to the queen and wife of the counselor, who give birth for a son; they hide the truth about the world from the prince; a ray of sunlight falls through the broken window; the prince goes to search for a land where there is no death; the dove replies that will die when he fills the hole with feathers; the other when he fills the hole with tears; at the edge of the sky, a young man meets a girl, stays with her, they are immortal; wants to visit the house, he is given three apples; pigeons are dead; hell encourages him to eat two apples, the young man returns as an old man; the girl's mother cuts the last apple, the boy and the horse die], 339-340 (Akhalkalaki, 1961) [The prince finds out what death is, goes to look for a country where there is no death; there are no cemeteries in one place, but old people are killed and eaten; in another they are thrown off a cliff; the devas say they will not die until their treasures will run out; the peacock - when the gorge is filled with its feathers, he drops his pen a year; a young man comes to God's goddaughter, stays with her; goes to visit his land; the devas are dead, the gorge filled with feathers, the peacock died; finds parents - deep old people; when he kissed them, all three died]; Armenians: Gullakian 1983 [the land of immortality, a young man was looking for it]: 305; Uther 2004 (1), NO. 470B: 277.

Baltoscandia. Finns, Swedes (Gotland; in Säve, Gustavson 1952 (1), No. 62, (2), No. 138), Estonians (Aarne 1918, No. 471*): Uther 2004 (1), No. 470B: 277; Western Sami [in autumn, coming to an island to fish, the young man settled in the house of the old witch Jadereschachku; she told him about the country of Nuorravoudagardi, where everyone is young; called birds, no one knew how to get there; finally flew an eagle and agreed to take the young man there; when they arrived and the young man entered the house and tore off the veil from the bed, he saw a beautiful girl; she agreed to marry him and took him to church; in church he gave eat half a fruit the size of an apple; after eating it, the young man saw that the church was full of people; one day he wanted to visit his old mother {this is that witch}; the eagle had difficulty carrying it, soon died; so the young man was no longer able to return to the land of eternal youth]: Kohl-Larsen 1982:35-39.

Turkestan. Kazakhs: Basilov 1982a [Korkut is the first shaman, inventor of the kobyz string instrument; in genealogical legends, a patriarch who lived 300 years; began to have a recurring dream as if he were dies; thinking that death awaits him on earth, he spread a blanket on the surface of the Syr Darya, began to play the mare; when he fell asleep, death in the form of a poisonous snake stung him]: 5; Zhirmunsky 1974 (genus tama, north -central Kazakhstan, Akmola region) [Korkut's mother gave birth to a shapeless bag, pulled off the shell, and a little man under it; the child was given the name Korkt ("fright"); at the age of 20, K. had a dream: he was told that he would live until the age of 40; K. began to look immortality, rode his fast camel Yellow; returns to the Syr Darya; sacrificing J., took off his skin, made the upper deck of a mare out of it; puts the carpet on the surface of the water and, sitting on it , plays the kobyz; while playing the "song of life", death cannot come; charter, K. fell asleep; then death took the form of a snake Kairak-Zhyldan and bit K.; he died]: 551-552 (=2007:161-163); Sidelnikov 1958 (1): 237-239.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Khakasi [an elderly hunter advises the young man not to hunt late - he will get lost; he did not listen, wandered for forty days, ate clothes other than a felt coat; his wife is preparing memorial food , he is a little bit saturated with the smell; finally he went out to the aal, stayed with the woman; she washed him, clothed him and fed him, hid him from her two sons; they came back, promised not to harm the man, married it is on his mother; they have a child; his wife does not tell you to go to high peaks; the person again did not listen and remembered the country where he used to live; the wife explains that her country does not grow old, and if a person he will return, he will quickly grow old and die; his death in the form of an old man is crushed in the mud by the wheel of the cart, he will ask him to pull it out - you can't pull it out; the man felt sorry for the old man, raised the wheel of the cart with a whip handle; old man: you'll die tomorrow; a man saw his wife and children and died]: Torokova, Sychenko 2014, No. 24:425-431.

(Wed. Japan. Japanese (Kyoto Prefecture, Historical Tango Province) [children torment a turtle; fisherman Urashima Taro bought it from them and released it into the sea; she invites him to the sea dragon palace; daughter Otohime leads the dragon to his chambers; realizing that his father and mother were worried about him, UT hurried home; O. gave the box, telling him never to open it; on the shore, people say that UT lived 700 years ago he disappeared; he opened the box, a cloud of smoke enveloped him, he instantly grew old and died]: Markova 1956:9-13).