I24. Snake Bridge .13.18.19.21.22.29.34.37.43.44.46.48.
.55.58.59.62.63.66.-.68.
Asnake (or fish) forms a bridge across the river.
Sudan-East Africa. Mbuti pygmies [the girls went for firewood, began to cross the river along the trunk of a fallen tree; it was a water creature klima (Rainbow); when everyone crossed and the last girl with the man who joined her, klima sank into the water; these man and girl were sometimes seen on a rock in the middle of the river]: Turnbull 1959:56.
Australia. New South Wales (Illawarra Group) [The Milky Way is the road that the souls of the dead go to heaven; the Magellanic Cloud is a hole formed during the catastrophe that shook the world; on its way souls must squeeze between the trees and cross the turtle bridge; one deceased returned and told how he had gone to the middle of the turtle, but it moved, he was carried by a stream into the dungeon; when he carried it out outside, people on the shore did not see him, but heard him and were frightened; the river carried him into the sea, he came to life; the sorcerer chief took an ax, went with his men to make a free passage, but could not get through little men in the forest; climbed a tree, saw the turtle grab some passing with its hind legs, eating; the sorcerer came back, plunged a bone into his leg, died, returned to the trees again, but instead There was a snake there; he cut off its head, walked over the turtle, cut off its tail on the other side, cut off its head and placed the snake in its place; since then, turtles have no tails, and heads like snakes]: Peck 2010:27-30.
Melanesia. Murua [the dead go to the island, the terrible Dikinikan awaits them on the shore; a snake bridge leads to the island, allowing those with two thin tattooed lines to pass; if there is no tattoo, the snake sinks into the water, the shark eats the passing one]: Haddon 1894:318.
Tibet is the Northeast of India. Pavi [brothers Liando and Thalsial are poor, the village leader despises them; they were the last to go hunting; everyone crossed the river on a log, and the brothers realized it was a boa constrictor; the hunters killed the boa constrictor, the brothers were given only giblets; they found expensive jewelry in them (apparently, the boa constrictor ate the woman earlier); the leader's daughter fell in love with L. and he, unexpectedly, was able to pay dowry; then the leader himself offered the youngest daughter T., but he rejected her]: Borgohain, Roy Chaudhury 1975:85-87.
Burma - Indochina. Thais [Prince Chau Nuti came to the lake, there are 7 peacock girls, he hid his youngest's clothes, brought her into the house with his wife, her name is Namarona; the vizier wanted to pass off his daughter as an emergency, persuaded a neighbor attack the king, the emergency went to war; the vizier spread the rumor that the enemies had won, and the witch N. was to blame; before her execution, she asks for permission to dance in her clothes, flies away; the emergency returned victorious, left to look for a wife; she gave her bracelet to a hermit, ordered her to give it to her husband and tell her about the road; the hermit gave a pet monkey as his companions; the snake lay down as a bridge over the hot river, and even a sword melted in the short one; the arrow fired pushed the mountains apart, the travelers managed to slip through; cannibal birds fell into the hollow, they ate the monkey, did not notice the emergency; he hid in the pen of one of them, the bird brought him to the kingdom, where peacock sisters; ES threw a ring into the bucket of maid N.; she is happy, but her father offers tests: 1) break the stone that dammed the river with an arrow (the emergency broke; 2) find out his wife's finger when 7 sisters they put their fingers in the holes (a firefly sat on their finger); emergency situations with N. returned home]: Kornev 1963:35-51; ahem [an orphan young man lived with an old man, hunted birds, saw girls going down to swim birds, fell in love with the youngest, who was the last to arrive; the old man advised him to hide her wings; he hid them in the quiver; at first he could not defeat the girl, found strength by chewing the old man's bethel, tied this an old man with a rope; took the heavenly maiden as his second wife, she gave birth to a child; looking up, she saw her wings hidden under the roof, put them on, flew away, returned to the child, invited her aunt to fly, but she just jumped and fell; flew away altogether; the domestic monkey put a wand in the dog's paw to show the owner which way the wife had flown; the dog had seven tails, it led the owner and the monkey to rivers; the young man put his sword in the jets, the river parted, forming two channels; there are seven in total; the dog told me to hold on to its tail, not to laugh, otherwise the tail will come off; the young man and the monkey laugh every time the dog makes an indecent sound, another tail comes off; when there is only one tail left, the dog went home, but the young man and the monkey stayed; the last stream crossed the body of the river dragon lying across the body; They came to the Foot of Heaven rock, where the door opens and closes; the monkey began to throw fruits from the tree, the young man threw them into the hole in the rock, the rock stopped; they climbed the rock to the banyan ( ficus), there the monkey said that he did not know beyond the road, returned; the young man saw two big birds, one said to the other that she would fly to peck for buffalo meat at the festival in honor of the return of the virgin bird; young man carved the feather of one bird, hid in the hole with his child, the birds flew to the field, where buffalo bones were thrown away, the young man went out; there was a river, the women replied that they had come to bathe the maiden for water a bird; the young man threw bracelets and necklaces into the jug, asked to pour the jug over the girl's head; she recognized her things; at the festival, the young man pinched the child, the wife recognized his son's cry; all three returned to the ground, the house overgrown with vines there during this time]: Wrigglesworth 1991, No. 8:294-298.
Caucasus - Asia Minor. Georgians (Khevsuri) [Western 1914; 12 carcasses led by Mekobauri lost their way, spent the night; a huge hangers wrapped around them; led them, lay down for them as a bridge over the river; from the lake another hanger came out, they began to fight, the carcasses took swords, helped the first to win, killed the second's cubs; the hangers took his gun and armor out of the same hole, distributed them to the carcasses]: Chikovani 1985, No. 138:316; Abaza [every year someone steals millet crops in the Iskhak field; the eldest son of Hajibekir goes to guard and falls asleep; the same middle Mhamat; the younger Solman roared the stallion, the leader of the herd; he gives for three horses, hairs, if burned, will come to the rescue; S. horses are bought for a lot of money; the prince calls him to him, S. summons his magic horse; on the way, despite the horse's warning, picks up an eagle's feather; the prince likes S.; the envious adviser suggests that S. give him a pen; then 1) bring that eagle; the horse tells you to dig a hole, pour grains, all the birds flock, S. catches eagle; 2) the golden fat tail of a ram living in the river; the horse teaches you to lure the ram with salt, cut off the tip of the kurlyuk; 3) a puppy of a female who sits between two seas; the horse teaches you to throw pieces of cloth to the bushes, saying that this is for them on their pants and shirt, like walking across the bridge through the bushes, picking up a puppy; 4) the daughter of the Sun and Moon, living in the womb of a whale; she leaves the whale to watch the goods brought by S., he brings it to the prince; 5) a chest daughters of the Sun and Moon; S. climbs into the whale's mouth when he returns a day later, takes out the chest; 6) the bride makes a condition to bring her the golden ring of her Sun Father and Mother Moon; the horse advises that do; bridge fish over the sea; agrees to walk along it if S. asks how much longer it has to hang like this bridge; Summer and Winter fight, let them pass between them if S. asks how much more they have to fight; The moon first hides S., then shows her husband; they say that Summer and Winter will fight forever, the fish will always hang as a bridge; S. sends answers to them, passing between Summer and Winter, across the fish bridge; the bride tells the groom to bathe in boiling milk; the prince tells S. to swim, the bride gives him her ring, he leaves the cauldron unharmed; the prince is cooked; S. marries the daughter of the Sun and Moon, becomes a prince]: Tugov 1985, No. 47:131-138.
Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Shors: Dyrenkova 1940, No. 97 [the soul of the deceased crosses two rivers; the remaining houses cry; tears from the right eyes form the Kanchul River, from the left eyes - Chashchul], 98 [on the way to the land of the Yuzyuts (dead) - the Kanchul and Chashchul rivers; a shaman carries his soul through them in a birch bark boat; through K. on a half boat, across C. on a one-sided one; if there is no bridge, connects snakes and puts them across the river; red through C., black - via K.]: 333, 335.
Amur - Sakhalin. The Udege people [neighbors complain to the old man that his son will kill all the animals, there will be nothing to eat; the old man makes a coffin, tells his son that it is good to rest in it, pushes him into the river; the white dog is a young man follows him along the shore to the house where the girl lives; she drags the coffin out of the water, the hook breaks off; the same with another girl; she tells the dog to run to the snake, she will lie down as a bridge to the island, there will be another girl ; seven days later, she catches a coffin, inside a turtle; the girl hangs her leg on a branch, she spits the young man's fingers in the sun; the girl sews them to the doll, the young man comes to life; the turtle says that we must go to seventh heaven; there he hides the boy's toy, he takes him to his sick sister, the young man heals her, takes her as his wife; they go down, he takes his second wife, who revived him, refuses Unable to pull out the coffin, she hangs herself; his parents are starving at home, he lowers their meat, kills them both with a knife; happy with his wives]: Lopatin 1933, No. 3:247-250.
The coast is the Plateau. Quarry: Jenness 1934, No. 9 [the shaman's wife dies; he tells her not to burn her, but to bury her; his soul goes east with her soul; along the way he does not allow her to eat berries growing by the side of the road drink water; across the river there are black and red dwellings of the dead and robins (as in No. 1); by the river she yawns, a black boat rushes after her; he screams, a red one swims towards him; he puts his wife with him; an old woman warns the dead not to eat food; blueberries are actually the eyes of the dead, meat is snake, lizard, frog; the old woman eats everything herself while standing behind the shaman; two paths lead back to the ground; one dirty, dead dogs come along it; the other is barely visible; it leads to a snake thrown like a bridge over the river; the snake rises and falls; the shaman and his wife have time to run across; relatives they dig up the grave, the shaman and the wife come to life; but for the wife the opposite is true: it freezes in summer, she is hot in winter; she eats pine bark, not fruits; the husband lets her die again and for all], 10 [the young man walks along the road dead; snake bridge, yawning, black and red houses as in No. 9; see motive H12]: 143-145, 145-146.
The Midwest. Chippewa [Brother Venebojo dies; makes his way to another world; puts a log across the river; it jumps and falls; this log is a snake]: Barnouw 1977:18; ojibwa [after burial, the soul of the deceased walks along a path between huge strawberry bushes; the deceased eats it; the wriggling Ko-go-gaup-o-gun lies a bridge over a fast stream; crossing and looking around, the deceased sees that this bridge - snake; comes to the world of the dead, where everyone is happy and happy]: Beck et al. 2001:202.
Plains. Sarsi: Dzana-gu 1921, No. 4 [the man has a wife and two sons; he combs his wife, paints her face, but every time she goes for brushwood and comes back, her hair is tangled, the paint is blurred, the clothes are in the mud; he watches her approach the rotten tree, knocks, says that she has come, snakes crawl out, wrap around her body; the husband tells his sons about this, tells them to run, goes to the tree, calls snakes with the same signal, kills with a stick, throws the bodies into the ravine, one escaped but lost its tail; the wife finds only one snake, returns, her husband cuts off her head, she falls into the tipi, the body outside, the husband runs away in the opposite direction than the sons; they ran to the river, asked the water monster to transport them; he invited them to eat his parasites; they are frogs; the brothers snapped seeds, from whom they have necklaces, the monster is happy, lay down like a bridge, the brothers crossed to the other side; the mother's head chased, saw through the frog, spat in disgust, the monster invited her to cross the river, threw it into water, his head drowned; the brothers saw a raft, put a board from there, offered to take food, the elder stepped, threw him on the fruit, sailed; he shouted to the youngest not to go anywhere, wait for him; he returned, but his brother turned into a wolf; they hunt together; the wolf rushed after the deer into the river, something dragged him under the water; the old man brought his older brother to the river, where there are fish on the shore; they shot at them, wounded the leader; The shaman frog goes, saying that she was called to treat the wounded fish chief; the old man killed him, dressed up like him, went down to the fish, found the wolf's skin, revived it, he returned to the shore; the old man told everyone to close eyes, while he heals the leader, killed everyone, returned to the shore; other fish caused a flood; the old man on the raft tells the animals to dive; only the Muskrat dived, surfaced dead; the old man took out grains of earth from under her claws and teeth, revived the Muskrat; this is how she dived four times; the old man invited the animals to run around a lump of earth, only the Wolf and Otter agreed; the earth grew, they returned old, their Old Man rejuvenated; so three times, after the fourth they did not return, the land was big], 32 [two hunters spent the night in a cave; in the morning one saw something lying in front of the entrance, warned the other not to touch it, but he touched his hands slightly and then put his fingers in his mouth; the next evening he began to turn into a snake ("a whale", but really a snake), asked his companion to take him to the river; said that if on the fourth if a man does not get out, the snake will lie like a bridge over the river, through which a spider can cross to the other side; let him donate a red flannel; a friend was frightened three times and returned, for the fourth time went over, told people]: 6-8, 41; crowe [two young men return from a campaign; a giant snake is on the way; they burn a passage in it, one eats roasted meat; turns into a horned and hairy snake; asks a friend to take him to the river; demands that he throw his girlfriend at his wife and bison; gives him military luck and makes any ford small for him]: Lowie 1918:214-216; arikara [two hunters return from the campaign; a giant snake killed in a steppe fire blocks the way; they spend the night with her, one eats baked meat, it looks like fish; turns into a snake, asks to be taken to Missouri; if people want to cross the river, they should throw cornballs at him; he'll pop up and become a bridge]: Parks 1996, #15:206-209.
California. Monache [The bear chases the deer; the caterpillar bridges the river; the deer pass, the bear falls into the water]: Gifford 1923, No. 359.
The Northern Andes. Inga: Levinsohn 1976a: 122; 1976b: 119.
Guiana. Varrau [Dauarani is the Mother of the Forest; her soul is on SE world mountain and her body is on Yuz-oh; her companion is a snake bridge from the zenith to her world; he is straight as an arrow, his mouth is always open, eight horns, four in front and four in the back; two pairs on the right are red and green, two on the left are yellow and blue; a psychopomp leads the souls of the dead across this bridge]: Wilbert 1975b: 166, 175; 1976:338; taulipan [ Makunaíma and his brother Manápi climbed a tree where all kinds of fruits grew to shoot monkeys; Man. warned his brother not to respond to the voice of the spirit; Piamáng called, Mac. answered, P. noticed his finger shot, killed; ordered Man. to throw him off; he threw the monkeys, but his brother's corpse had to be thrown off; P. carried Mac. to him, Man crept behind, the wasp collected the dripping blood; the lizard lay down a bridge over river; said that his magic weapon hung at the entrance to P.'s house; Man. killed P. and his wife with it, put his brother's body parts in a basket, blood there, revived it]: Koch-Grünberg 1924, No. 11:48-50; pemon { arecuna?} [a man with wives and children went to hunt turkeys; while her husband is away, Piaimá comes up, the wives ask for turkeys; he does not pay attention, the second P. says that the third will give, he gives; the children are all they told their father, who hid his wives and children in a tree; P. came for them, noticed, killed them with arrows, forced the Indian to climb and throw off his bodies; carried him away; the man followed a bloody trail; P. crossed the river along a snake hanging like a vine; the lizard agreed to transport the man across the river on his back; the man came to P.'s house when he was not there, pulled the wives' bodies out of the cauldron, revived them; the lizard transported everyone across the river back]: Armellada 1988, No. 44:114-115; kalinha [Aramari snake skin lies as a bridge over the Akawali River; souls walk along it into the world of Tamusi; fallen sinners are torn in half by two huge fish then they connect the parts so that the soul continues its journey; it is difficult for old people to cross, babies cross easily; Tamushi sits on a caiman bench, sees what is happening on earth in the mirror]: Goeje 1943, no. a13:13- 14; vaiwai [husband cries for his dead wife; her spirit comes and leads; by the river, the husband calls the boat in vain; the wife makes sounds like the voice of a throat; an anaconda rises out of the water by a bridge; they they cross; on the site, the husband drives away the opossum - it turned out that it was his late mother-in-law; the man sees the dead shaman asking Thunder to use his mirror, scourge and fan against those who killed him; there is a thunderstorm on the ground ; person comes home]: Fock 1963:82-85.
NW Amazon. Barasana: S.Hugh-Jones 1979, No. 4E: 279; Yagua [swallows a person passing through it]: Powlison 1959:13; 1972a: 81.
Central Amazon. Mura [the rainbow is the mouth of a huge snake; the souls of the dead enter it on their way to the afterlife in heaven; a coin is placed in the deceased's mouth so that the deceased can pass, and if he is poor, the fruit]: Nimuendaju 1948: 265; munduruku [Karusakaibe lives in the village of Huakupari; sends his son Korumtau to his sisters for meat; they do not give it; Kar. tells him to fill their house with feathers; fumigates home, screams, Eat your own food! they hear, Copulate! , turn into wild pigs; Kar. kills pigs one at a time; turns into a tapira, lets people shoot at themselves, carries away pierced arrows, turns into a human again; Daira persuades Cor. show where the pigs are, he lets them all out at once; they are chasing Cor. , kill him; K. covers the pigs with a hill; the rest run away into the forest; they put an anaconda across the river; it pulls the shores closer together like a rope]: Murphy 1958, No. 1:70-73.
Montagna - Jurua. Shipibo [the anaconda snake was the mother of all aquatic creatures, including the freshwater dolphin; everything was in his stomach; it was a bridge that people crossed the river; when it went a menstruating woman, blood dripped, the anaconda shook all the people off her; there's no bridge like this anymore]: Roe 1982:120-121.
Bolivia - Guaporé. Tupari [a soul crosses a river over a bridge of two snakes; then over a bridge of two caimans]: Caspar 1975:199.
Southern Amazon. Iranshe [husband, wife and little daughter go for honey; expanding the hollow, the husband injures himself with an ax, turns into the spirit of Ajna; the woman grabs her daughter, runs; Anaconda lies down as a bridge over lake, other snakes form a rope to hold on, the woman crosses; when A. crosses, Anaconda throws it into the water; snakes kill it, Anaconda swallows]: Pereira 1985, No. 21:110-112; paresi: Pereira 1986, No. 21 [all relatives have died; his brother's soul in the guise of a maned wolf comes after him; they cross the river on an anaconda bridge with a black snake as the railing; this bridge is visible to the west in the shape of a rainbow; if you point your finger at it, you will die; a wide path leads to bad places, a narrow path leads to good places; at night souls turn into snakes; a man copulates with his brother's wife, she becomes a snake wraps around his penis; his brother turns her back into a woman; when he returns to the world of the living, a person is bitten by snakes, a centipede, he dies]: 306; 1987, No. 179 [on the way to the land of the dead, the soul crosses the river anaconde bridge; the Master of the Spiders tickles it (letters, runs along it); if the soul laughs, it will eat it; evil Yarev and fire block the way; the soul of a good person safely overcomes these obstacles]: 680