K13B. The caiman bites off the leg. .57.59.61.62.66.

A man crosses a pond on the back of a caiman. He bites off his leg. A cripple experiences metamorphosis, becoming a constellation or animal. See motif K13A, M1A.

Southern Venezuela. Makiritare.

Guiana. Yaruri.

Western Amazon. Siona, Sekoya; Napo; Canelo; (cf. napo or canelo [see motif A31; the girl became pregnant with her brother; he went to heaven, became a month old; she became an ilucu bird (nightjar? ; but then the story continues; the same below with the mother of the jaguars, who became a toad but continues to act as before) has left home; the Cuillor (younger) and Docero twins from her womb show the way; ask her to pick a flower, then a leaf, a fruit; when she picked the fruit, she was bitten by a wasp; she clapped her stomach because of you; the twins fell silent; the parrot on her shoulder began to point the road, but he was carried away by a falcon; the woman came to the mother of the jaguars; she hid her under the roof, warned her not to spit; the jaguars came, she spat, the eldest climbed, did not find it, the youngest found the woman, they spit her they were torn to pieces, the twins were given to their mother (tender meat), but they asked them not to eat; the mother of the jaguars hid them, a month later they had already grown up; the old woman asked them to prepare firewood; they collected a huge pile, told pull from below, the old woman filled up the firewood; the next time she asked for water, they directed the river, when the old woman opened the door, the water carried her; the twins told the old woman to collect corn in the middle fields, made it endless; she can't find her way back; the voice of the toad "ooh" can be heard; since then, where corn grows, the toad unculu screams; the brothers brought the old woman home; the elder brother tells the younger not throw the leftovers wrapped in leaves into the water; he threw them away, they turned into a stingray, and when he started fishing, the stingray plunged his thorn into it; the mother of the jaguars asked them to make a bridge over the river for them; brothers turned into birds, made clubs, came back; the elder told the youngest to cut off the bridge at the signal, but he said there was no need for a signal; when all the jaguars stepped on the bridge, the elder cut off his end, and the younger he fiddled for a long time and a pregnant jaguariha ran away; her traces are still visible on the river rocks; the brothers told the Old Jaguar about their adventures; he asked them to set traps and the brothers caught almost all birds and animals; the Old Jaguar decided to eat them; his brothers killed him, took out his spine, filled him with ash, put insects in his eyes; shouted that the jaguar wanted to eat them; the old mother of jaguars ran, hit the scarecrow with a stick, the ash blinded her, the brothers washed her eyes; the ancient Jaguar devoured everyone; the brothers made a room inside Mount Galera, put a lot of food and musical instruments there, they lured Jaguar with a game; he started playing himself, did not notice how the brothers came out; they told the hole to close; the Jaguar started rushing, one leg was left outside; there was still a roar; other jaguars brought him food; a huge harpy eagle devoured everyone; Cuillor hid in a rubber bag; the eagle could not tear it, threw it on the clouds; C. does not know how to go down; the old man Uchitican says he is also from the ground; ordered sit on his back, close his eyes, open him after the second whistle, flew; but C. opened after the first one, fell into the forest; Docero went to look for him; began to pick edible mushrooms from the trunk; scream from the trunk {apparently mushrooms are C.'s ears, but it's not directly said}; the woodpecker cut the hole; for this D. gave him a red handkerchief over his head; C. made glue, the eagle stuck, D. broke his wing with a blow of the club; the brothers turned him into stone; it is visible now - it looks like an eagle with a broken wing; a huge anaconda devoured people; the brothers made a trap, persuaded them to climb into it, turned the anaconda into stone; the thunder killed many; the brothers found him sleeping on a tree branch; they cut his neck with an ax, told him to petrify; there are thunderstones in this place now; the evil frog spirit ("devil") took the form of a mother, told the children to dance; the brothers hid, told him to become a stone; the brothers asked the caiman to transport them across the sea; when the first one sailed, he answered the caiman every time that it smelled like fragrant flowers; when he jumped ashore, he said that he was like a caiman; But when the Cayman took the second one, but he had time to bite off the young man's leg; the bees pasted his leg with wax; the brothers made a fire, the smoke rose to the sky, became a staircase, and the brothers climbed into heaven; C. became a morning star, and D. an evening star]: Orr, Hudelson 1971, No. 2-15:7-49).

NW Amazon. Bora.

Montagna - Jurua. Shipibo; conibo; amahuaca.

Bolivia - Guaporé. Takana (kavinya) [shaman sends 10 men to hunt; they kill monkeys, tapirs, wild boars; fried their prey and went to bed; only one did not sleep; the night monkey came, ate his sleeping eyes; not the sleeper said that his eyes were where the anus was; in the morning people sailed in a boat across the river; the boat capsized, the blind drowned; the sighted asked the bird to make a boat for him, but it sank into the water when he stepped on it; Cayman took him across the river, started wagging; the man said he should relieve himself; Cayman offered to do it on his back, promised to eat it; the man grabbed a branch, but Cayman bit off his leg; the man turned into an insect like a cockroach, squeaks thinly; flew home; the shaman heard and understood that the man would not return]: Nordenskiöld 1924:288.