K38b2. A bird takes a hero, a hero kills a snake .28.33.46.55.

A character (almost always a giant bird) brings or leads the hero to his nest, after which he accidentally or at her request kills a monster that devoured the character's children ( usually chicks).

Poles, Kazakhs, Assiniboine, Crowe, Hidatsa, Arikara, Kogi.

Central Europe. Poles [every night a witch in the form of a huge falcon breaks the church windows; the older, middle brothers guard, but the witch sleeps and they fall asleep; the younger one puts thorns under his chin and wakes up when he starts to bite his nose; a shot hits a falcon in the wing, it falls on a stone, a hole opens in it and the witch goes underground; the young man tells his brothers to lower him on a rope; in the castle the princess combs her golden hair; explains that a witch can only be killed with a heavy sword that hangs on the wall in the next room; there the second sister combs her silver hair; the third comes out third room and gives the young man drops that make him strong; now he can raise a sword, kill a witch; sends princesses and treasures upstairs; fearing betrayal of his brothers, puts a stone in his place; After lifting it to half, the brothers let go of the rope; the young man walks along the blooming plain, towards the magician; he will carry the young man to the ground if he helps him save his children; they are on an apple tree; a young man climbs an apple tree; at midnight a huge worm crawls down the trunk to devour the children in the nest; the young man cut off the dragon's head; then the man put the young man on himself his back and carried him to the ground; the young man returned home, only the bride recognized him; the brothers returned the treasures and fled; the young man returned them, divided them equally and married the princess from the golden room]: Woycicki 1920:71-74.

Turkestan. Kazakhs [the golden eagle takes the mergen (shooter) to its cave; he lives there, eating with the golden eagle chicks the meat that their mother brings them; every year the Aydahar dragon comes to eat chicks; the mergen kills him with an arrow, makes belts out of his skin; ties himself to the grown chicks, they lower him to the ground; he returns home, where his relatives are preparing a wake; the mountain from this cave is since then it is called "Mergen Peak"]: Marchenko 1993:150-152.

Plains. Assiniboine: Lowie 1909a, No. 25b [On the way home, two brothers find a piece of burnt snake meat; the elder eats it, turns into a snake, crawls into the river; the Thunderbird arrives at the youngest , asks to sit on her tail, brings her to his house on the mountain; a person sees a pile of bones, these are the remains of the Bird's chicks; she asks a man to kill an iron monster that devours her children, promises to help for this return the brother; only the monster's mouth is vulnerable; the person equips the arrows with Thunderbird feathers; hits the monster with an arrow; the snake brother turns into a turtle, then goes ashore, becomes human again] , 25c [Thunderbird brings Sitkonsky to the top of the mountain; S. sees the bones of baby birds; they are devoured by an iron monster with horns and a second person on the back of his head; only his neck and mouth are vulnerable; S. hits him with an arrow, the Bird throws the corpse down the mountain; S. and his friend meet a huge snake blocking the path; burn a passage in his body, his friend eats meat, turns into a snake; orders those passing by threw gifts into the river, otherwise he would eat him; Thunder unsuccessfully tries to kill a snake; S. creates frogs, they kill the turtle that the serpent has become]: 181-182, 182-183; (cf. grovantre [The snake eats the Swallows chicks; they ask for help from various birds; the Snake kills each with its yellow breath; the last bird is Thunder; yellow, red, blue, black breath The Snake does not harms him; he kills the Snake with his beak]: Kroeber 1907b, No. 30:111); crowe: Lowie 1918, No. 1 [after touching something in the grass, the hunter feels hit, finds himself on a rock near the Thunder's nest Birds; two chicks cover it when their mother arrives and then their father, each bringing a rain cloud; a bald eagle brings a deer to a person to eat; explains that chicks are swallowed two monsters crawling out of the lake; a man kills monsters by throwing hot stones into their mouths and pouring water on top; Thunder summons all birds, asking them to cut their bodies; Blue Heron succeeds; birds they eat monsters], 2 [after touching something in the grass, the hunter feels hit, finds himself on a cliff in the middle of the lake; two chicks tell him to hold on to their wings; first their mother arrives with rain, then their father arrives with hail; the condor brings him a deer; the male thunderbird explains that every summer the chicks are devoured by two snakes crawling out of the lake (letters, "long otters"); further as in (1); Thunder invites man to become a condor; one day an elk drags him into the river, where he is beaten by underwater inhabitants, made him human again; he returns home]: 144-145, 146-148; hidatsa [like a crowe; Thunderbirds bring the hunter to nest on a rock in the middle of the lake; chicks say that every year a snake crawls out of the lake with heads at both ends of the body, devours chicks; a person hits both heads with arrows, hitting vulnerabilities]: Beckwith 1938, No. 7:92-94; Arikara: Dorsey 1904d, No. 21 [the son of poor parents received power from the gods of the four sides of the world; the Tree Rats gave him a bow and arrow, he easily kills game; he goes to west; in a dream, two Thunderbirds carry him to their nest on a rock; there are four chicks; their mother says that the monster from the lake devours chicks, he is not afraid of lightning; promises power over birds, lightning will fly out of his eye, mouth, joints; he descends, kills, roasts deer, feeds thunder chicks; their parents are happy; a two-headed snake crawls out of the lake, lightning is powerless even when hit In her mouth; a young man hits both monster heads with arrows; all birds peck meat; two young men in the village hunt birds; one shoots at something like a white mushroom that rises and falls; both they find themselves on an island in the sea from where the sun rises; an old woman invites them to her place, gives them five corn tortillas, one for them, four for their grandfather, who will transport them across the water; three must be rejected snakes, which one by one offer to cross, sail on the fourth; give him cakes; collect and give him his lice - freshwater turtles; jump ashore only when he rests on it; the undrained jumped earlier, swallowed; the other asked the snake to open its mouth, pulled out his comrade; on the way on the path there was a long serpent; the stupid young man cut through it, ate a piece; in four nights he turned into a snake, told take him to Missouri; the young man who helped the Thunderbirds chased the serpent with the birds; he carried him to the bottom, made him regurgitate all the strength received from the Thunderbirds, except lightning from his eyes; let him go ; the young man closed his eyes all his life to prevent lightning from sparkling; the serpent gave people songs and witch doctor rituals]: 73-78; Parks 1996, No. 15 [while a person sleeps, the Thunderbirds chicks (male and female) carry it to the top of the cliff; lightning flies out of their eyes, sparks from flapping wings; they give him two arrows, asking him to kill a snake with heads at both ends of the body that comes out of the lake and devours thunder chicks; they tell you to aim at the spot under the jaw of each head; a person kills a snake, Thunderbirds tell you to cut the corpse into pieces, the birds eat them; they also ask to kill the snake that the man who ate the snake became meat (see motive L28); but he swallows a person; lets him go home, but deprives him of almost all his strength; in summer, when a thunderstorm approaches, this story was not told]: 209-215.

The Northern Andes. Kogi [Saldáhui is married to his daughter Kimáku; sends dry land to his father-in-law's field, the harvest dies, K. asks his son-in-law for food, he does not give; then he sends wild pigs to the field of S. goes to the forest to shoot them; he meets the owner of the pigs four times, copulates with her, his arrows turn into a snake every time; he falls asleep in her house, wakes up in the quicksand, climbs on him from everywhere wild pigs; S. climbs a tree, it begins to sink into clay; the Ulubue bird saves it, brings it to its nest, asks for help defeat snakes that regularly devour its chicks; a tree with a nest stands in the middle of a snake-infested lake; S. asks W. to bring him meat and fire, W. himself eats meat raw; S. asks for machetes; at night snakes crawl up the trunk, S. kills them; in the morning W. eats snakes, for him they are cassava; after nine years in a tree, S. is released home, puts up with his father-in-law]: Reichel-Dolmatoff 1985 (2), No. 32:76-79.