H6A. People and plants. (.11.) .12.13.20.24.25.27.

.29.30.33.38.34.43.56.61.-.64.66.69.72.

Mortal humans are opposed to plants that regularly shed their bark, bloom in the spring after winter sleep, or reproduce vegetatively. See H4 motif.

(Wed. Bantu-speaking Africa. Kamba [God sent Chameleon to tell people that they would be reborn after death; he walked slowly, Magpie asked for permission to go round the way; God allowed; she appeared first, said that people will die irrevocably like tree roots; the Chameleon came later; now people are getting old and not being reborn]: Arewa 196:13-14).

West Africa. Krachi [the cannibal toucan killed people; Wulbari convened his people for everyone to choose their subjects; the goat said that its people are grass, the dog is people; V. sent the dog to take it to people the elixir of life to revive those killed by the toucan; she found a bone, began to gnaw, put the elixir aside; the goat passed by, took the elixir, poured grass on its people; so people die forever, and the grass is reborn every year]: Scheub 2000:263 (brief in Abrahamsson 1951:6); Liberia [people send the Cat to the sorcerer for the elixir of immortality; on the way back, he puts what he has received on a stump He swims in the river, forgets the errand; he is sent to find the missing, but the elixir has already soaked in the stump; so the felled tree grows out of a stump again, while people die irrevocably]: Bundy 1919, No. 3:408; (cf. . limba (Sierra Leone) [Kanu told the Snake to give people the elixir of immortality; but Toad took it and spilled it along the way, so humans are mortal]: Scheub 2000:103).

Sudan-East Africa. Acholi [Lubanga told people to be as eternal as grass (growing again after a steppe fire), like mountains and rocks; but now people are dying because of the Chameleon smoking pipe; L. gave people fertility, but mountains don't give birth or die]: Abrahamsson 1951:71

Micronesia-Polynesia. Palau [Obagat wanted to put a stone in people's breasts to make them strong and not in need of food; however, Tariit (water shepherdess aka coot, Rallus pectoralis) advised it is better to give people breath, but O. did not agree; sent his son to water the man and make him immortal; T. arranged that the Hibiscus populneus tree quietly pierced the vessel from a tarot leaf containing water; the woman lost her immortality, and the hibiscus became tenacious, any branch, if planted, grows; O. hit T. on the head with a stick, now it is red striped with blood] : Kubary 1873:222-223 (apparently the same text, but from another edition quoted in Anell 1964:21, in Frazer 1924:259-260); Society Islands [Tangaroa created the first man Ti'i (Tiki) and his wife Hina; Wars broke out between gods and people; Tangaroa and his assistant Tu cursed creation, but each time softened Hin's curse; 1) let the stars flicker but continue to shine; 2) the moon grows old, disappears - but it is reviving; 3) the rivers go into the sand - but the water flows again from the springs; 4) the leaves on the trees turn yellow, the fruiting season is over - but new leaves and fruits appear; Hina would make sure that people were reborn, but Tiki told them to die; he died himself (about the same for London missionaries)]: Henry (JPS 10:52) in Williamson 1933 (2): 149.

Malaysia-Indonesia. Mentawai [Shaman Pageta Sabbau offered people a choice of bananas with fish or yams with prawns; they chose the former; PS said people would now die forever like bananas and fish; choosing second, they would change their skin and grow younger like shrimp and shoot new shoots like yam tubers cut into pieces]: Schefold 1988:73-75; ngaju [(according to Schwaner 1853:179; in a brief retelling of 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. - the category of 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 by the action 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, the leader of diseases); Mahadara Sangen and Mahadara Sangiang were born for the seventh time; Sangen took the embryos of plants and animals, descended to earth; there, from the marriage of two trees, an egg was born, with a lifeless female image ; Sangen went to heaven for living water; at this time, Angoi breathed breath and wind into the woman, made her blood from the rain, bones from bamboo (probably); Sangen, who returned, spilled living water in anger, she sprinkled plants; they now grow back when cut off, and humans are mortal; he killed A., cut the corpse, and snakes, tigers, and other harmful creatures have emerged from his marriage to that woman; Sangiang gave birth to many gods, including the guide of souls to the world of the dead, Sangsang Tempon Tellon]: Schärer 1966:68-71.

Taiwan - Philippines. Atayal [was a god who was covered with crap; he asked the atayal to wash it, promising that then they would shed their skin like myrtle and would not grow old and die; people refused; God said that now even children will die]: Norbeck 1950, No. 19:31; saisha [was a tree that shed its bark, and one saisha ran up and hugged him, being able to shed his skin]: Wang 2016:1606.

The Balkans. Greeks: Dähnhardt 1910 (Kalavryta, northern Peloponnese) [one of Alexander the Great's officers told his sister that he had obtained the water of immortality, persuade her to drink this water and wash herself with it; After washing, she splashed water outside, it fell on the chicken and {an untranslated word; probably wild onions - see. Megas}; since then, chicken sheds and rejuvenates every year, and wild onions are green even when pulled out of the ground]: 263; Megas 1970, No. 75 [after learning about the water of immortality, Alexander on Bucephalus slips between crushing rocks, killing dragons, collecting immortal water into the vessel, comes back to sleep; his sister, seeing a vessel of water, poured it on wild onions, so they never wither; A. turned his sister into a siren with a fish tail so that she suffers forever; but she loves her brother; asks sailors if A. is alive; if you say that he is dead, a storm will raise from grief, the ship will sink; we must answer that he is alive and reigns]: 200-202.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Talyshi: Bagriy 1930 (3) [Alexander went east to look for eternal water; the moaning old man said that he drank water, grew old in his body, now he could not die; A. poured out the water, the old man was gone, it was Archangel Gabriel, sent by God to prevent man from becoming immortal; drops of water fell on spruce and juniper, now they are forever green]: 24-26; Asatryan 2005 [Saint Hizr gave water from a paradise spring Earth the crow, told them to sprinkle it on people's heads so that they could find eternal life; did the crow take water and fly? I sat on a boxwood tree, decided to pour water on my head, but the water spilled onto boxwood, which became evergreen]: 20; Azerbaijanis [the fairy tale fully coincides with the legend of living water in Iskander- Name" Nizami (Baku, 1940:369-376)]: commentary to Potanin 1972:317; (cf. Armenians [the spruce tells Christ to depart so that he does not suffer from its smell; H. blesses the spruce, tells him to be evergreen]: Ganalanyan 1979, No. 234:102).

Iran - Central Asia. Persians: Donaldson 1938 [In the west, in the everlasting darkness of Zulmát, near Mount Kaf, there is a spring of living water; the soil around is hot; you can only go there with permission Khawji Khizr; Alexander went there with 40 horsemen; XX. allowed me to pass, explained how not to burn his legs; A. filled the vessel; going out into the bright world, hung it on a branch; Crow flew in, drank water , overturned the vessel, the liquid spilled onto the tree; the tree became evergreen (p.142: therefore, cypress or pine are considered sacred), the Raven is immortal, and A. did not drink living water; some of A. they picked up stones in a dark land, they turned out to be gold; others decided to come back and take them too, but XX did not meet them again and they did not find a way]: 92; Osmanov 1987 [Iskander Zulkarnain found out that Mount Kaf in the cave of Mrak has living water; it is 70 years to go there; he took fifteen-year-old boys with him; despite the prohibition, he took his father alone, putting him in a chest with dried fish and straw; at the entrance to the cave, father advised me to throw straw, the horses saw it in the darkness, entered; leaving the other end of the cave, the father advised me to throw fish into the springs; in one dried water came to life, there was living water; I. rewarded father and son; ways back The hedgehog told I. that he drank living water, lived forever, but turned into a hedgehog; I. poured water on the roots of citrus fruits, palms, pines and fir trees; now they are always green]: 233-234; Tajiks ( northern Tajikistan, everywhere) [Khudovand gave the crow water from the Zumzum/Zamzam well in the Mecca region to bring it to a man so that the man could live for a thousand years; the raven croaked and dropped water from his mouth, drops fell on juniper, since then it has been evergreen, growing for a thousand years]: Rakhimov 2007:79-80; Uzbeks [in old age, Iskander Two-horned orders to bring it to the water source of immortality; the old man says to him, who also conquered the world 3000 years ago, drank living water, and was soon overthrown; now everyone considers him a murderer; I. did not drink water, spilled it on three ellies; they are still green]: Rogov 1980:223- 224.

Volga - Perm. Kazan Tatars [many people die, a dzhigit goes for living water; a captive in the palace of the king of divas shows him a source of water, gives him a mirror and a bar; a diva chases after him, a dzhigit throws a mirror , it becomes the sea, the bar becomes mountains; divas and horsemen fight, the diva breaks the vessel with a saber, living water pours out on the roots of fir trees, since then conifers are always green]: http://www.alabuga.ru/City/History/TatarMyths/earth.htm; Bashkirs [the Ural hero reaches a source of living water (Yanshishma); a stale old man advises W. not to drink from the spring - otherwise death will not bring getting rid of the torments of old age; W. did not drink, spilled water on pines and spruce trees that had become evergreen]: Sagitov 1981:136-141.

Turkestan. Kazakhs (recorded by G.N. Potanin) ["From the late Kyrgyz Musa Ch. Chormanov (Chokan Valikhanov's uncle), in 1880, I wrote down the following legend, which he probably read in a Muslim book"; in the kingdom of Garun al-Rashid, it was a custom to kill people over the age of 60 age; the son took his father to the place where the elderly were killed; the father sat down on a stone and laughed; when asked by his son, he replied: "I led my father to death on the same road, we were both tired at this very stone, and now Like me, my father sat down on a rock to rest; I didn't think sixty years would come to me so soon. This is what I smiled at. Soon your son will lead you to death in a similar way"; the son took his father back, hid him and kept him a secret from everyone for twenty years; GR ordered to get living water (myangi su); the old man explained to his son, where and how to find it; they walked with the others for forty days, the water supply ran out; the old man, whom his son was carrying in the box, told the bulls to be released; they sniffed the ground, began to dig it; they found water there; the old man explained to the son: "Not all water is "alive". Throw dead fish into the water! Only a spring with "living water" in which fish come to life"; the son did so; people began to take stones from there; the son, on the advice of his father, took a whole bag; when they returned, the stones turned gold; the son carried his GR bag; GR decided to check the water he had brought him, began to throw dead fish into it; only the old man's son had water alive; it was hung in a bucket on a pine tree; the wandering Alimbet Khan said that he had drunk water and cannot die for a thousand years; GR decided not to drink; it was drunk by a crow that flew in, so he lives for a thousand years; drops fell from his beak; because of this, the pine tree does not rot; juniper grew under it, which also became a "strong tree"; Kazyr and Ilyas also drank water; both have not died so far; K. appears to every person three times in his life in a plain form; I. helps those suffering from water crashes; where he passes , there, in his footsteps, the grass turns green]: Gomboev 1890:143-144 (a handwritten and incomplete version of the same text was published in Potanin 1972, No. 8:99-100).

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Altaians: Anokhin 1924 [Ulgen created human bodies, sent Raven to Kuday to ask for souls for them; he gave them, the Raven carried them in his beak; flew past the corpse of a camel, a horse, When he saw the cow's corpse, he shouted, Carr, what eyes! Souls fell into the coniferous forests, which became evergreen; at this time Erlik gave the dog guard a warm fur coat, breathed his soul into people's bodies, their bodies came to life]: 18; Dyrenkova 1929 [Ulgen, having created the body human, sends a crow to Kuday to ask for souls for his creation]: 123; Nikiforov 1915:241 [Ulgen, through the Raven, took souls from heaven for humanity, but when he saw that Yerlik was already managed to breathe his soul into the human body, scattered the "souls of immortality" through coniferous forests and mosses], 243 [the hunter saw a cedar, from the top of which water ran into a stone box; put dried fish in it, it became swim]; Khakas: Dyrenkova 1929 (Sagai people) [Kudai created 10 men and 9 women; of all the birds, only the Raven agreed to fly for mogu su (eternal water) to let them revive; on the way he was tempted back by carrion, spilled part of the water; as punishment he became black, and people lost their immortality]: 123; Katanov 1907, No. 397 [Kudai told the old man that there would be a flood, ordered to make a raft, put it on it all creatures; the Devil (Ainá) tells his wife to give him a drink, not to board the raft until he says in their hearts, "Sit down, damn it"; the mammoth and the eagle refused to sit down, decided to pull it out anyway; but the birds and the eagle was tired, they sat on the mammoth, he and the eagle plunged into the water; the old man sent the crow for living water; he did not carry it, spilled it on pine, rose hips, spruce trees and cedar; therefore the trees are evergreen]: 417-418; Tofalars [man met people with horse hooves; they stabbed their daughter to feed him; he rode off on a horse; they chased armed with iron hooks; fell behind when he jumped over a swamp; a man came to people who ride hares; a sable killed one of them; a man killed a sable; for this, those people promised him living (eternal) water; the man returned home, told women prepare to meet eternal people; when women saw hares riding hares, they laughed; eternal people did not give water, but splashed it out on cedar, spruce, pine; these trees became evergreen; people are mortal, therefore that those women laughed]: Katanov 1891:89-90 (=Rassadin 1996, No. 39:95-96); Buryats [The Raven drinks eternal black water and is therefore durable; God sent him to take it to man; he sat on the way on pine tree; Owl frightened him with a scream, he spilled water; since then, pine has been evergreen; water must be taken from the spring in the morning before the raven can get drunk; he arrives early and gains immortality]: Potanin 1883, No. 43 g: 210-211; Mongols: Benningsen 1975 (g. Zain Hure, Sede) [The swallow took out a few drops of living water, carried it in her mouth to sprinkle people and give them immortality; the wasp bit her, the Swallow dropped the water, the drops fell on pine, cedar and lingonberries, now they always green; The swallow bit off Ose's tongue, now she doesn't sing but buzzing]: 21 (retelling referring to another Mongolian source in Yeongdong 1989:56; see below Taube 2004); Yeongdong 1989 [gods and asuras they foamed the ocean of milk, from there the sun, the moon, and a jug of nectar appeared; the asuras took the nectar, Hormusta and Vishnu stole it from them; the ruler of the asurs Rahu became one of the gods, took a place among celestials; when nectar was offered to him, the moon god recognized him, Vishnu cut off his head; garlic appeared from drops of blood, juniper from nectar; the etiological ending is characteristic of Mongolian text (apparently absent in Indian and Tibetan versions)]: 54-56; Potanin 1881, No. 25c [In ancient times, there was only water: there was no land. One llama descended from the sky and began to interfere with the ocean with his stick... Because of that interference, a ball of earth thickened from the middle of the ocean: further interference hardened the earth into a quadrangle. After that, two swans descended to that land: the llama turned the female's nail into a woman, and the male's leg into a man. In ancient times, there was a llama (the narrator thought it was the one that interfered with the ocean with a stick). He created all animals and birds, including the crow. After drawing beautiful water in a cup, he handed the crow and said, "Put this water one drop on every person's head so that they are immortal." The crow flew and sat in one place on the cedar. Croaking - a precious cup fell out of my mouth, water spilled: three plants grew in that place, eternally green, always fresh, not dying: kosh, cedar, dzergen and artsa, juniper... The crow returned to the llama . He asked her, "Where is the water?" - "Spilled". Then the lama said to the crow: Well, let you have Hara-kire (Black Crow) for this name: You will have no other food but the eyes of dead people]: 166-167; 1883, No. 43c [Burkhyn-Bakshi gave the Raven his drink of immortality, arashan, ordered him to pour it on the man's head; she sat on a spruce tree, waited for a man; Owl frightened her with a scream, she spilled arashan; since then, the spruce has been evergreen]: 210; Taube 2004 , No. 7 (Sukhebator aimag, eastern Mongolia) [The swallow decided to bring people the water of immortality; on the way she was bitten by a Bumblebee (Hummel), the Swallow screamed, dropped drops of living water from her beak, they fell on pine, cedar and ephedra, so those are evergreen; The swallow pulled out Bumblebee's tongue, the bumblebee now only buzzes]: 20.

Japan. Japanese (Tohoku, Fukushima Prefecture; 2 entries) [Buddha Shakyamuni sent a crow to deliver the medicine for immortality to man; while resting on a tree, the crow croaked and the medicine spilled on the tree root . That's why trees live for a thousand years and people die early. When people die, crows croak and apologize]: Naono Fukasawa 2015; Amami Islands [Journey and Tradition Magazine 6-5, 1933, article by Shomu Nobori; In ancient times, humans were immortal because everyone On January 1, the Chinchin bird (probably a mountain wagtail), a messenger of God, brought the water of youth; people washed their faces with it and rejuvenated themselves; one day a bird was resting in a tree, and a crow attacked it and I wanted to eat; the bird flew away and at that moment spilled water on the tree. People have been dying ever since, and this tree is rejuvenating (shedding its bark) every year]: Naono Fukasawa 2015

The coast is the Plateau. Vasco [Coyote's wife is dead; an eagle takes him to a river island; when a big frog swallows the moon, the dead get up to make love; the Coyote kills the frog, pulls its skin; the dead they suspect that he is not a frog, because it jumps worse; the Coyote suddenly releases the moon, the Eagle grabs the dead, shoves them into the box; already at home he hears voices from the box, opens it, the souls fly away; he is left alone crippled; if I did, people would revive like trees in spring]: Spier, Sapir 1930:277-278.

Southern Venezuela. Sanema; yanomam.

Western Amazon. Sekoya; Mayhuna [when a gray-haired old woman came to the river to clean the fish that Ñukečik ("great caiman", "father of corn", "making earthquakes") gave her, he touched her, the old skin is gone, the old woman is young; her daughter has come to her, her house is full of fish; Ñ. tells the woman's daughter not to sleep before dawn; calls her, but she sleeps, and snakes, lizards and trees respond ; they have since changed their skin or bark and rejuvenated, but people don't]: Bellier 1991b, No. 12:232-233.

NW Amazon. Carijona; yagua.

Central Amazon. Middle Amazon; katavishi.

Eastern Amazon. Spiking; urubu.

Montagna - Jurua. Ashaninka; amahuaca; cachinahua.

Araguaia. Karazha.

Chaco. Ayoreo.