H6bb. Lost items .11.-.14.21.-.23.27.30.34.38.61.

The character is sent to give people an object or substance that is essential for them to possess. The messenger loses these items or brings others. It's usually about being able to respawn after death. An asterisk* indicates traditions that are not related to explaining human mortality.

Elixir or amulet of life: chuka (along with embu, emberre, mwimbe), limba, Liberia, kachi, kone (Sierra Leone), malgashi, lepcha, sora, Ancient Greece, Tajiks, Altaians, Khakas, Buryats, Mongols, Japanese (Tohoku), Miyako Islands, Amami Islands.

Others: Joluo, Kabily*, Burmanes*, Palaung*, Shuar, Aguaruna

Bantu-speaking Africa. Chuka, Embu, Amberre, Mwimbe [The Sun sent the Mole to bring people the elixir of life; he met Hyena on the way; fearing that she would have nothing to eat, Hyena begged him give her the elixir of life, gave her the Elixir of Death instead; The mole confessed what he had done to the Sun, who told him to live underground]: Abrahamsson 1951:19.

West Africa. 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 people are mortal]: Scheub 2000:103; Liberia [people send Cat to the sorcerer for the elixir of immortality; on the way back, he puts what he has received on a stump, swims in the river, forgets the errand; he is sent to find the loss, but the elixir has already soaked into the stump; therefore, the felled tree It grows out of a stump again, but people die irrevocably]: Bundy 1919, No. 3:408; krachi [the cannibal toucan killed people; Wulbari convened his people for everyone to choose their subjects; the goat said that her the people are grass, the dog is what people are; V. sent the dog to give people the elixir of life to revive those killed by the toucan; it found a bone, began to gnaw, put the elixir aside; the goat passed by, took elixir, poured grass on her people; so people die forever, and grass is reborn every year]: Scheub 2000:263 (Abrahamsson 1951:6 in brief); kone (Sierra Leone) [God said to husband, wife and their child, that in old age they would change their skin and rejuvenate; sent new skins with the Dog; other animals invited the dog to eat rice and pumpkins; at this time the Snake stole the package, distributed the skin to snakes; Man and Dog came to God, but it was too late; snakes were punished by driving them out of settlements and people are killing them]: Parrinder 1967:54 (=Scheub 2000:268-269).

Sudan - East Africa. 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, giving 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; malgashi [1) Bara; big-winged bird and the big-headed ant descended to the ground to Revalu, who burned his father's corpse; the bird told him not to do so, flew to God for the elixir of life; on the way back, began to swim, lost its elixir; bones the man was buried, death became final; 2) Antimerina; Zanahary's son threw what life gives into the water; 3) Betsimisaraka God sent a goose to bring people the amulets of life, who dropped them into the water]: Abrahamsson 1951:126-127.

North Africa. Berbers Zuahua (Kabylia) [The raven was white; God gave him a parcel of money to give to Muslims and a parcel of lice to Europeans; because the money was heavier, the Raven gave it to the first people he met who turned out to be Europeans; Muslims got lice; God punished the Raven by making him black]: Basset 1887:11 (retelling in Kabakova 2010:161).

Tibet is the Northeast of India. Lepcha [see motif H36A; Nazong-Ngyu has prepared two graves - for Mung (evil spirits) and for Rum (this is also the name of the supreme god); sent two birds to her brother and husband Takbo-thing to fetch the water of life and with the water of death; T. dal, ordered to pour water of life on Rum's grave, death on Mung's grave; they poured the opposite; therefore, they die and come to life in Rum when incarnated, and Mung is born only once (and do not die)]: Stocks 1925, No. 1:345-354.

Burma - Indochina. The Burmese [The sun descended to the daughter of the dragon king Naga; returned to heaven, Naga gave birth to three eggs; the Naga sent the white Raven to tell the Sun that children were coming soon; the Sun let him carry the ruby to buy the kingdom for the children; on the way, the Raven, along with other birds, began to peck leftovers at the rest of the merchant caravan, hid the burden under the bush; the merchant replaced the ruby with manure; unfolding the bundle, the princess died of grief; the Sun scorched the Raven's feathers, which turned black; the abandoned eggs floated along the river, broke; one turned into placers of rubies, the other a tiger came out, and the third was a crocodile]: Aoun 1957:99-100; palaung: Obayashi 1966:51-54 [(Milne 1924:379-383); the naga princess I-ran-ti took the form of a girl, went to earth, met the Sun; 7 days later he returned to heaven, leaving her chariot ; I. laid three eggs; the Sun sent I. a bag with a letter and a wonderful gem, giving it to the golden crow (crow); he stopped pecking the carrion, the fisherman found the bag, replaced the treasure with a pebble; The raven brought I.'s bag, who found a simple stone inside, threw it at the Raven; the Sun, as punishment, painted the Raven black, told her to live on earth; I., naked, returned underground, throwing her hairpin and three eggs; a barrette and two eggs turned into placers of gold and precious stones; the third egg was stuck at the fork in a tree floating along the river; it was found by elderly spouses, raised by a born Kok-ya boy; his Sun Father sent him a bow; his naga mother sent her daughter to earth from her naga marriage, K. married her, she gave birth to a daughter; K. killed an ogre bird; his naked wife forgot that she should not be completely immersed in water, became a snake again while bathing; told her daughter to make clothes striped on the pattern of snakeskin, gave the clothes the color of snakeskin scales by touching it; people began to copy these patterns; K. became progenitor and king of Palaung], 54-55 [(Scott 1918:276-277); snake princess Thusandi lived in a mountain lake, met Hsuriya (from Sanskt. Surya is the Sun), the son of the Sun King; when T. gave birth to three eggs, the Sun called his son back to heaven; he sent T. a letter and a gem, letting them be taken to two parrots; parrots chatted with others Taunghtu caunghtu is a gem, letting two parrots carry them; parrots chatted with others, a boy on the ground; the son replaced the stone with bird droppings; the princess threw her eggs in anger; one sailed upstream of Ayeyarwady, picked up by a gardener and his wife, who was born a boy, married the daughter of the Shan Prince, one son became Emperor of China, the other became the leader of the Palaung; the other the egg floated downstream, was also picked up, and the boy born from it became the ruler of Pagan; the third crashed, turning into rubies].

South Asia. Sora (Lanjhia Saora) [brothers Bhimo and Ramo survived the flood; B. lived in heaven, R. on earth; B. sprayed the water of immortality into lakes and rivers, people drank and did not die; he was tired, he asked R. take a vessel of water and distribute it himself; R. sent Leech, who drank everything herself on the way back, said that B. did not give water; B. found out, burned the Leech, but the drops remained in her stomach and she came to life; and for people did not have the water of immortality left, they began to die]: Elwin 1948, No. 21:425.

The Balkans. Ancient Greece [(due to the existence of snakes that are terribly thirsty to bite); Rumor claims that Prometheus stole fire, and the myth tells us that Zeus got angry and gave a cure for old age to those who caught the thief. So as far as I know, those who received this product put it on a donkey. And he set off, carrying the load, it was spring, and the donkey, feeling thirsty, went to the spring in need of a drink. But the snake guarding the spring did not let him in and drove him away, and he, thirsty, gave her the medicine he had been carrying as payment for the health cup. Thus, gifts were exchanged: the donkey received a drink, and the snake took off its old age, in addition, as history says, a thirst for a donkey]: Elian, Animal History, VI. 51.

Iran - Central Asia. Tajiks [Khudovand gave the crow water from the Zumzum/Zamzam well in the Mecca area to deliver it to a person so that the person could live for a thousand years; the raven croaked, dropped it water from the mouth, drops fell on juniper, since then it has been evergreen, growing for a thousand years]: Rakhimov 2007:79-80.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. 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 revive them; on the way back tempted 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 everyone on it creatures; the devil (Ainá) tells his wife to give him water, not to board the raft until he says in his hearts, "Sit down, hell"; the mammoth and the eagle refused to sit down, decided to pull it out anyway; but the birds and the eagle 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; 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 corpse of a cow, 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; Nikiforov 1915 [Kudai sends The crow brings the immortal souls of people to the ground to Ulgen; he sees the corpse of a cow, screams, What eyes! , scatters what is carried over forests and mosses]: 240-241; Buryats [The raven drinks eternal black water and is therefore durable; God sent him to take it to man; he sat on a pine tree on the way; the Owl frightened him screaming, he spilled water; since then, the pine tree 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. 43:210-211; Mongols: Potanin 1881, No. 25c [was a llama who created all animals and birds; having drawn beautiful water into a cup, he ordered the Raven to pour it drop by drop on each person's head so that people would be immortal; ways to people, the Crow sat on the cedar, croaked, the water fell out of its mouth; three evergreens grew in that place: cedar, ephedra and juniper; other trees, like humans, are mortal, die every winter; llama dal The crow's name Hara-kire (black crow), ordered to feed on the eyes of dead people]: 166-167; 1883, No. 43c [Burkhyn-Bakshi gave the Raven the drink of immortality he had prepared arashan, ordered him to pour it on his head man; she sat on a spruce tree, waited for a man; Owl frightened her with a scream, she spilled an arashan; since then, the spruce has been evergreen]: 210.

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]: Yoko Naono Fukasawa, personal report; Miyako Islands [The month gives Akariyazagama a tub of living water and a tub of dead water, sends to the ground, tells pour live water on a person, a snake is dead; when he reaches the ground, A. falls asleep, the serpent splashes living water on himself; frightened A. pours the dead person, returns to heaven; the Month punishes him, ordering from now on stand on the moon with a tub in your hands]: Nevsky 1996:269-270; Amami Islands [Journey and Tradition Magazine 6-5, 1933, article by Shomu Nobori; In ancient times, people were immortal because every year On January 1, the Chinchin bird (probably a mountain wagtail), God's messenger, 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 wanted eat; the bird flew away and at that moment spilled water on the tree. People have been dying since then, and this tree is rejuvenating (shedding its bark) every year]: Yoko Naono Fukasawa, personal report..

Western Amazon. Shuar: Pelizzaro 1990:169 [=1993:169; to make a man, Ayumpúm sent Hummingbird to bring clay, Cricket a tree, a Beetle (Sesenk) a stone; Hummingbird and Cricket brought, but the Beetle did not returned; A. created a man out of clay and wood, breathing life into him, but without a stone, man became mortal, dies at any age], 172-173 [the person fell ill; Ayumpúm ordered to call the shaman Stone and did not call the shaman Langust; Sesenk was sent for the Stone, who walked slowly, skirting obstacles; then Cricket was sent for the Lobster, who quickly got there and brought him; Langust told people to be sick in any age and even before birth; then the Stone came in, turned into a mysterious Namur stone; A. said that only shamans who knew how to find this stone would be able to heal a little; people trampled the beetle, lobster and cricket, giving them their current shape]; Rueda 1987, No. 5 [Etsa (The Sun) ordered the Sesenk to bring the stone, he lingered, so people are not made of stone and are mortal; Bat E. ordered to bring a bundle with a woman, a duck with gray hair; the first opened the bundle when he smelled a woman, the second out of curiosity; the first turned into a bat, the second into a duck whose feathers resemble gray hair], 6 [to make a man, Etsa (Sun) sent Cricket to bring the stone, but Sesenk volunteered to do so; she walked slowly, and Cricket quickly brought clay; E. made a man out of clay, so He is mortal; the man met the Beetle dragging the stone and crushed it with it]: 60, 61; Aguaruna [The cricket was sent to bring a tree that dies quickly, the Beetle (Sesen) to bring the stone; the Beetle went for a long time The cricket brought a tree, man is made of rotten wood and is therefore mortal]: Chumap Lucía, García-Rendueles 1979, No. 247-251.