H7E. People knew when they were going to die, ATU 934H (4).
.15.16.26.-.28.31.34.
People used to know when they were going to die, so they stopped doing business or doing their duties somehow before they died.
Basques, French (Upper Brittany, Nièvre), Germans (Austria), Irish, Chinese (Henan), Belarusians (Smolensk), Ukrainians (Ugric Russia, Ternopil, Volyn, Galicia, Kharkiv) , Poltava), (Russians: one entry from immigrants, Leningrad Region), Luzhitans, Lithuanians, Estonians, Livons, Swedes (Vormsi), Khakas.
Southern Europe. The Basques [people used to know in advance that death was coming; once the Lord and St. Peter saw a peasant plug a hole in the fence with reeds; the Lord asked why he was using such short-lived material; the farmer replied that in three days he would die and that there would be enough time for that; The Lord made people lose their knowledge of the time of their death]: Köhler 1882:71.
Western Europe. The French: Sébillot in Delarue, Tenèze 1985:290 (Nièvre) [during Methuselah's time, people knew how long they were going to live; M. knew he was given 900 years; but since the deadline is so insignificant, M. decided not to build a house; God sent wind and rain, but M. climbed into the tub and only turned it so that the wind would not blow out; when God sent the winds from four sides, M. climbed under the tub; after This is what God has deprived people of their ability to know when they die], 291 (Haute-Brittany) [two farmers (laboureurs) know they will die tomorrow; one has made a solid son talus, the other has piled up a fern; the first carried away by a white dog, the second by a black dog]; Irish: Cross in Thompson 1955-1958, No. A1593; Germans (Lower Austria) [people used to know exactly when they would die; Lord and St. Peter walked on the ground; saw a man fill holes in the wattle fence with bunches of dry nettles; when asked why he did this, the man replied that he would die tomorrow; let those who remain after me do more and more carefully; then the Lord took away people's knowledge of the time of his death]: Köhler 1882:71.
China - Korea. Chinese (Henan, Wu. Queshan) [The Fuxi statue in the Temple of the People's Forefather has two horns on their heads. All people had horns like this. In young people, they were soft, and by old age they hardened. People often grabbed their horns to see if they were bending, and if they didn't bend, it meant that in three years the person would die. Many people quit their jobs and started crying or running back and forth in panic. The ancestor had just risen to heaven and became a deity. He decided that people should not know that they were about to die. Therefore, he submitted a report to the Lord of Heaven, and His Eminence ordered people to be deprived of their horns. Since then, people have been unable to know when they are destined to die]: Zhou 2001b, No. 17:26.
The Balkans. Serbs [people knew the time of their own death; Christ was wandering and seeing a man weaving his wattle fence with straw; man: I have three days left to live - I will stand; Christ: how do you know? man: Yes God said the other day; after that, Christ asked God not to tell people the time of death]: Eschker 1992, No. 70:247.
Central Europe. Belarusians (Smolenskaya) [Ilya and Nikolai Ugodnik walked on the ground; they see a girl reaping sweat like a stream, and under an apple tree waiting for the wind to throw off his apple; N.: why so? I.: If both are equal, God will also be forgotten; man ties the fence stakes with straw; why not with a vine? - I will die soon; the apostles extended his life span and made sure that people did not know about the time of his death]: Dobrovolsky 1891, No. 13:319-320; Ukrainians (Ugric Russia, Ternopil, Volyn, Galicia, Kharkiv) [God or God with his companions (or saints) see a person who is building a fragile fence of straw (grass, nettles, quinoa, tops, branches, reeds, etc.); the person replies that he will soon die (through three days, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, this fall, etc.); sometimes God asks, "What about the kids?" ; man: let children take care of themselves; then God took away knowledge of the date of death so that people could work for the benefit of others]: Belova et al. 2019:315-317 (indication of areas of fixation also in SUS 1979, No. 793*: 200); Ukrainians (Poltava) [God and Peter see a person building a fence in 3 days, God sends Peter to find out what he is doing. The man says he is building such a fence that "enough for his lifetime", Peter asks what his age is, the man replies that he will die next month. God says a man shouldn't be talking about this. Peter comes to the man again and sees that he is building a stronger fence, asks how long the fence will last, and the man answers "God knows." God says fathers don't let children know when they died]: Strizhevsky 1905, No. 22:40-42; (cf. Russians (Leningrad Region; it is not known where they were resettled from) [the old man built the fence somehow; God asks why he is making the fence dilapidated; old man: I have three days left to live; God extended life is an old man, he had to put up a good fence; since then people do not know when they would die]: Bakhtin, Shiryaeva 1976, No. 66:211); Luzhitsy (Nizhnyaya Luzhitsa) [at first people knew how long they would live; Jesus saw a man plug holes in the fence with straw; he explained that it would be enough for his lifetime; Jesus took away people's knowledge of the time of his death]: Köhler 1882:72.
Baltoscandia. Lithuanians [because people knew in advance that they were going to die tomorrow, they repaired wattle fences with reeds {custom changed when men began to repair fences with stalks when they knew they were to die the next day}]: Balys 1936, No. 3062:185; Estonians: Aarne FFC 25, No. 19:142 in Thompson 1955-1958, No. A1593; Livs: Aarne FFC 64, No. 37:84, No. 19:142 in Thompson 1955-1958, No. A1593; Swedes ( Wormsi) [people used to know when they were going to die; one person was asked by the children to help them build a house, but he knew he would not survive the next spring, so he refused; another filled the holes in the wattle fence with straw, because he knew he would die in the fall; after that, the Lord took away people's knowledge of the time of his death]: Köhler 1882:71.
Southern Siberia. Khakasy: Butanayev 2003 [people originally knew their date of death; Ah-Khudai saw one man slaughtering cattle, drinking araka and not repairing a fallen fence; AH asked why; man: I will die in the fall; the Ah decided that this way people will destroy property and leave nothing to their children; ordered "to give birth to children without measure, to die without a deadline"]: 112; Mindibayeva et al. 2016, No. 1 (Kachins) [a naked man lived on earth without a deadline" souls; Thin went for his soul, put a naked dog to the man; when he left, Irlik Khan came, the dog did not let him in; he covered it with hair, she let him go to the man; Irlik Khan spat on the man; Thin returned, failed to cleanse the man, turned him inside out, drooling inside; Thin breathed soul into the man; then I. began to ask X. for land; he did not give; for I. to fall behind, H. gave land to stick a stake; I. pulled out the stake, the snakes crept out of this place; so snakes and other reptile worms spread; giving a soul, H. made man a herbivore; let a mare with a foal and a woman with a foal into the steppe as a child; the mare pinched the tops of the grass, and the woman ate the grass along with the ground; H. sees: after a woman, even the grass will not grow; then H. made man eat wheat; the ear grew from the very root; the woman was baking bread, the child got dirty; she wiped it off with pancake pancakes; H. began to cut off his ear, but the dog howled what it would eat; H. felt sorry for her, left the top of the ear, the dog's share; the man knew time of death; one was supposed to die in the fall, began to make a grass hedge - enough for his life; H. decided that this way a person would drink everything, leave nothing for the children; he did so that now the man does not know the time of his death; Irlik Khan sent a mosquito the size of a bull to the ground to find out whose blood tastes better; it turned out that the person had a mosquito to rest, the swallow asked to show his tongue tore it off; the mosquito tried to grab it, but only tore off part of its tail, now it is split; the mosquito flew underground, but could not tell Irlik Khan anything; he got angry, hit him, told him to become a thousand mosquitoes; this is how mosquitoes appeared]: 77-81.