K90. Black and red, (ATU 156B*).

.17.21.26.27.29.30.32.-.34.37.

A person sees two opposing monsters or animals (usually in contrasting colors: red and black, black and white) and helps one of them or one of the fighting helps a person. (Wed. ATU 156B, 738).

Arab literary tradition, Syrian Arabs, South Yemen, Tibetans, Tibetans (Amdo), Lepcha, Bhutan, Chinese, Greeks, Bosnians, Stavropol Turkmens, Ingush, Georgians, Pshavas, Armenians , Azerbaijanis, Turks, Kurds, Bakhtiyars, Uzbeks, Bukhara Arabs (Western Sami), Kazan Tatars, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Kyrgyz, Uighurs, Salars, Dungans, Altaians, Shors, Khakas, Tofalars, Buryats, Dongxiang, Ainu.

Western Asia. Arab literary tradition (One Thousand and One Nights) [(episode in the long story); Abu Muhammad sees the red snake fighting the white snake, the red serpent prevails, A. killed it with a stone; the white one crawled away , returned with 10 other white snakes, they tore the red corpse to pieces, crawled away; in a dream, devout genies (obviously they were white snakes} promise A. to help him]: Salle 2010 (1), night 303:946; Syrian Arabs [the merchant gave an apple to make the woman pregnant; she cut off a piece, the rest was accidentally eaten by a man; his ankle was swollen, a girl was born nine months later; she was carried away by a hawk, brought on a palm tree, began to bring food, the girl grew up; the prince drove up to the spring to give his horse a drink, saw a reflection, the girl refused to go down; the prince returned home, the old woman offered to help; began to do appearance that she cannot fry scrambled eggs on the fire (either a frying pan upside down or pours fuel into the fire); the girl came down to show, the prince took her away, hid her in his chambers; tells her mother to bring double portions food; goes to Mecca, the mother finds the girl, leads to the window, throws her out the window; below the black snake fought against the white snake, the girl wished black victory, she won, offered to fulfill any wishes; the girl she wanted a palace with servants and a vineyard in front of the prince's palace; when the prince returned, the mother pretended to be his wife; he asks why she has different eyes, mouth, nose, etc., every time replies that because of fatigue, waiting, etc.; and the mother allegedly died; the imaginary wife pretends to be pregnant, asks the prince to send the maid for grapes; the girl answers who she is, tells her to scissors they cut off the maid's tongue; the same with the second, with the third maid; the prince comes himself, everything is explained; he executed the mother, her long bones were made into the crossbars of the ladder; when the prince's wife along them rose, they creaked]: Kuhr 1993:218-224; South Yemen [when dying, a birdcatcher asks his pregnant wife to do the same craft as him; Ali, who has grown up, gets a snare from his mother, catches hoopoe; a Jew asks to sell, A. refuses; another person advises to take the bird to the Sultan; the Sultan pays generously; the Jew persuades A. to get a female for the hoopoe; he preys, is afraid of the farthest requests and invites the mother to go away, but the mother does not agree; the Jew advises to order to bring a tek wood cage; A. sees how the black snake fights the white snake and wins, kills the black one; white turns into a young man; says that his grandmother has a cage near the tek tree; brings him to his mother, tells her to venerate her breast, otherwise she will kill; grandmother gives a cage; a Jew advises to order a girl to get a girl by named Daughter of Lightning (DM); A. comes to that genie woman, she tells her to take a jar of butter, grains and 700 camels with her; he pours oil on a tied old woman, she frees herself from her fetters, gives her hair - if burned, he will come to the rescue; the young man gives grain to hungry ants, their king gives a lace - if burned, he will come to the rescue; gives hawks a hundred camels to eat; the king of hawks gives an invisible cloak; invisible, A. hears DM reading in the book: her husband will be A., he is close; A. opens; when he arrives at the Sultan, DM tells him to kill the Jew first, he does so; invites the Sultan and A. to jump off the cliff; A. jumps easily, the rock falls on the sultan; DM and A. live in his palace]: Canova 2002:231-237.

Tibet is the Northeast of India. Tibetans [the father sends three sons to learn skills; the eldest has learned to write, the middle has become a carpenter, the youngest has learned to play the violin; this is for the beggar and his father has expelled him; he is gone to travel; sees a black snake fighting white; a black snake prevails, but a boy saves a white one; an old woman has come: the lord of the lower world invites him to receive a reward for saving his son; the lord's daughter hides your beauty under chicken skin - you should ask the Lord for a chicken; the daughter asked her father to give her a gold pickaxe, a gold chain and a tin bowl that monks put on their heads if they bless anyone then; thanks to his sorceress wife, the violinist became rich; called the king to visit; he saw the violinist's wife and took her away; tells the violinist to level the mountain; wife: hit three times with a golden hoe; king: now turn a small pond in a large pond and a garden with birds along the banks; wife: take that bowl and pour water into the pond; scatter the seeds and feathers you have brought with you along the shore; now the king tells him to show him hell; wife: run that golden chain along the mountain; the mountain opened, hell looks like a beautiful temple from earth; the king and his entourage went there, and the violinist closed the door; returned his wife and began to reign]: Shelton 1925, No. 29:117-122; Tibetans (Amdo) [(same text in Krapivina 2001:15-33); the servant's son told his mother that he had dreamed of ascending the royal throne; the mother spilled out; the king expelled the young man, allowing him to return when he has erased his iron shoes; on the seashore, a young man sees a white snake fighting a black snake; a black snake wins, but a young man killed her by throwing an iron shoe at her; a moment a kite rushed at the serpent; the young man hid the white kite and carried the black kite away; said this to the 7 black horsemen who had come out of the sea, they disappeared; then 7 white horsemen came out, saying that the white snake was the son of the king nagas; a young man is brought into the world of the nagas; he leaves excess food at the hole; a woman comes out with her mouth sealed; the young man tears off the bandage; the woman is grateful that he gave her food; tells her to ask the king naga as a reward for a red knot puppy, a white bamboo cane and a multicolored curtain; on the seashore, a young man makes a tent out of a curtain and a stick, ties the puppy; when he returns, he sees a giant tent, inside full of different products; someone cooks; the young man saw: a beautiful woman comes out of the dog's skin; he throws the skin into the fire, takes the girl as his wife; she gives grains, tells them to scatter it over the mountains, the grain turns into cattle; contrary to his wife's advice, the young man calls the king to visit; the wife smears soot, but the streams of sweat washed away the soot, the king saw her face, demanded her as his wife; then decided that the victor would get the woman in competitions; 1) pouring yogurt from the mountain, which first flows down to the foot; the king orders to collect yogurt from all over the country, but the young man's wife tells her father to ask for help; he gives a bag of yogurt, his flow immediately reaches the foot; 2) who will collect the scattered mustard seeds faster; all his people help the king; the young man receives a box from the sea; opens it ahead of time, the pigeons will get rid of it, is left alone damaged wing; but he also manages to collect seeds before all the royal people; the wife tells her father to ask her father for a box of war; asks the king if he wants "in a way"; he says what he wants; they come out of the box warriors, kill the king, the young man reigns]: Kajihama 2004, No. 16:58-65; lepcha [the king's wife is mung (evil spirit); the two eldest sons are mung, the youngest is god; to get rid of him, the king's wife sends him marry the daughter of the snake king; his adopted daughter spins on the terrace, the young man climbs the thread, at night when he returns, the Snake turns into a fly, hides in a crack; the Serpent feels the man, the daughter says that the young man is her brother; the Serpent and the young man go hunting; the Snake (he is white) is attacked by the Black Serpent; overcomes, the young man kills him, the White Serpent gives his daughter to the young man; he and his wife return to his mother; she orders to bring the bull (? ) from the country of mungs; a bull swims in a lake, two friendly mungs drink all the water, a young man brings a bull; friendly mungs kill the boy's mother, brothers and father (they all became mungs), the young man reigns; revives his father from the bone, he is no longer a mung]: Siiger 1967, No. 7:227-229; Bhutan [a young man herds sheep and looks at lake ripples; he is considered lazy; he sees a black rat fighting a white rat and overcomes her; took the white woman in her arms, got drunk; a woman came out of the lake: the lord of the underworld wants to thank her son for saving her son; ask only for a dog at the door; do not stay longer than three days, otherwise you will forget the land; the underground lord (half dragon) reluctantly gave the dog; on earth, the young man went to herd his sheep; when he returned, the house was tidy, the food was ready; next time he saw: the dog threw off skin, became beautiful; he threw his skin into the fire; the king saw a beautiful woman, began to give the young man impossible tasks to take away his wife; every time she tells him to go to the lake and asks her father to give her box what you need; cut down a forest on the mountain (a box with swords, swords cut down themselves); create a buckwheat field on this site (a box of hoes, the young man sowed buckwheat himself); collect the sown grain (a box of birds, they are all assembled); the king declared war on the young man (a box with warriors, they killed the king, defeated his army); the young man is happy with his wife]: Choden 1994:45-50.

China - Korea. The Chinese [a person sees two fighting snakes (or dragons, if in a river) of contrasting color; white (or lighter) eventually wins with the help of man, gives man treasures, warns to beware of the dark snake; man forgets caution, the dark serpent kills him]: Ting 1978, No. 738:119.

The Balkans. Greeks (Asia Minor) [hunter Murad brings a deer every day; a girl milks a deer, she knocks a bucket over; girl: M. shoot you! M. shot this deer; girl: to dry M.'s hands; M. can't even lift his gun; he sees black and gray snakes fighting; shot a gray one; the black one crawled away {but apparently hit by a bullet}; told her father (this is the king of snakes) that it was M. who shot her; the king sent two snakes to kill M.; they came disguised as two men and asked M.; he told how he shot the gray snake; the snakes returned to to the king and told him that his daughter was a harlot; the king rewarded him; {exactly how, it is not said: he told him a cunning device and told him not to tell anyone}]: Dawkins 1916:559-561; Bosnians [young man sees how the white snake fights the big black one; killed the black one; the white snake took him to her father, told him to be rewarded with a ring, rug and whip...]: Preindlsberger-Mrazovic 1905:27-28.

Caucasus - Asia Minor. Stavropol Turkmens [the young man saw a white snake crawling, followed by a black snake; wanted to kill a black snake with a stick, accidentally killed a white one; the snakes gathered, brought him to Azhdah; having found out what was going on, Azhdaha praised the young man for killing his daughter, but saved her from being scolded by a black snake, rewarded her understanding of the language of all living creatures; when he returned home, the young man did not find his sister there; from a conversation between a sheep and lambs finds out that she was taken away by a horseman; drives up to the mound, from there that black snake crawls out, turns into a horseman, refuses to return the girl; arrows do no harm to him, the young man calls Azhdaha, he wins Khan of black snakes; when he died, the snakes disappeared, the young man's aged sister appeared]: Bagriy 1930 (2): 70-74; Ingush [Ahmed sees a black snake fighting a white snake; shoots a black snake, hits a white snake , she disappears; A. finds out that black is the son of the king of Christian genies, and white is the daughter of the king of Muslim genies; the white father tells her to bite A.; she hears A. laments what he did, as a woman marries him, tells him to ask her father to spit under his tongue; after that A. understands the language of animals, gets rich; one day she laughs, listening to sparrows talking, the wife thinks that she is over is going to return to his father; A. hears a rooster saying that he can cope with 10 chickens, but the owner and one wife cannot; A. beat his wife with sticks]: Dalgat 2004:93-96; Georgians: Janashvili 1893, No. 10 (Ingiloyans) [a person sees four black snakes fighting with one white one; hits a black one with a stone, tearing off its tail, black ones crawl away; white leads to his father, who spits in the man's mouth, rewarding him with knowledge languages of animals and birds for saving his daughter; if he tells others about it, he will die immediately; a person laughs when a mare and a foal talk, the wife demands to tell, he says, dies]: 151-154; Chikovani 1954 (Dusheti District, Western 1940) [=1985, No. 16:61-62; Cacucha lives with her stepmother, she bullies him, he leaves; sees a black snake fighting a red snake, chasing her, she hides in a jug; H . replies black that the red one is gone; the red one gives him a scale that makes wishes come true; in the village of C. wants a beautiful woman to have a son, called him father; the beauty's father expels his daughter and newborn, they follow C.; C. wants an elm tree to rest on the way, garden, field, palace with servants; thrives with his wife], No. 16:96-98; pshavas [newspaper "Iveria" 1889, No. 82; Growth is present during the battle a black giant with red because of his beauty; black wins, R. remains his servant; while he slept, R. tried to kill the giant with a dagger, could not raise his dagger; cut off his legs, then killed him, took a beautiful woman; Zorab was born]: Miller 1891:173; Armenians [hunter Markós saw a black snake strangling a variegated snake; shot at a black one, but hit a variegated one and killed her; the snake king sent two snakes sting M. for killing his wife; but the snakes heard M. lament what had happened; advised him to ask the king to lick him with his snake tongue; the black snake was torn apart; M. has gained the ability to understand the language of animals, plants and stones, but should not talk about it; hearing dogs talk that wolves will attack at night, M. gives instructions to shepherds; hears a lamb speaking that his owner will own huge herds; buys lamb; neighbors persuade M.'s wife to find out how he got rich; M. is preparing to die; M. hears a sheep inviting a ram to jump off hillock, then he will marry him; ram: I am not as stupid as M. to die; after that M. expelled his wife; the king is ill, he will be cured by a decoction from the head of the snake king, and only a man covered in his head can get it snake skin; this is M.; the snake king orders M. to cut off his head, drink one bowl of broth himself, give the other to the king; both are younger, the king made M. chief vizier]: Ganalanyan 1969:20-25; Azerbaijanis: Bagriy 1930 (1) (Nukha District, 1899) [the hunter sees a black snake strangling a white snake, shot a black one, hit a white one, she screamed, snakes crawled out from all sides, the queen of snakes asked wounded daughter, what was the matter; she replied that the hunter was not to blame, wanted to help her; the queen ordered the black snake to be brought to her, torn to pieces; the white one advises the hunter to spit as a reward in his mouth; after that, the hunter acquired the ability to turn stone and wood into gold]: 24-25; Bagriy, Zeynally 1935 [after the death of his father, Ahmed became a hunter, married Guller; saw a white and a black snake, shot a black snake, but hit a white one; the serpent king ordered the poisonous snake Shahmar to kill A., but she overheard his conversation with his wife, told the king that A. had accidentally made a mistake and mourned; Sh. advised A. to ask the king of snakes as a gift for the ability to understand animal language; to do this, the king spat in his mouth; but if A. talked about this, he would die; once A. and G., pregnant, returned from weddings riding a mare; her foal said he was tired; mare: I was wearing three and I was alone - how can I help here; A. laughed, G. began to demand an explanation; threatened to return to her father; A. was ready Tell me everything, but I heard a ram say to the sheep: I am not a hunter A. to listen to your wife; A. beat his wife and live well with her]: 243-248; Turks [because of bad behavior, the son of King Mehmed of Egypt received the nickname Mad; after the death of his father, he was left with nothing; lives with his mother, became a lumberjack; saw two snakes with human heads; snakes fought, M. cut off the head of a black one, who prevailed; the other {color is not specified, but it is clear from the context that he is not black, but some other} turned out to be the daughter of the serpent king, who was kidnapped by the court; told her father to ask her father for a hat, whistle and seal; it turned out that two genies come out of the whistle, ready to obey the order, the seal turns what he touches into gold, the hat is invisible; M. created a golden ship, sailed to another country, the king gave his daughter for him; she found out the secret of the whistle and seal, told the genies to take M. away; he returned, made his way to the king invisible; reopened to the princess, who sent him far away again; he ate apples, horns grew; ate figs, horns disappeared; came back, sold an apple to the princess, she, the queen and the vizier's wife grew horns; came disguised as a doctor: the princess cannot be cured as long as she has magic objects; she gave her everything back; he gave her a fig but refused to marry her again, began to rule his country]: Walker, Uysal 1966, No. 2:24-34; Kurds [Avci Ahmad hunts, the white snake asks him protect against the black snake, he shoots, but accidentally shoots off the white tail; the white one returns to her father, the snake shah; he sends cobras to sting AA, but they hear his story addressed to yeah tell the khan that AA is innocent; the Shah summons AA, orders the serpent to point to the culprit; AA indicates that he is being killed; the daughter of the Serpent Shah orders him to ask for poison from her father's mouth as a reward; AA has begun to understand the language of stones, plants, animals; the Shah's daughter tells her severed tail to be buried at home; a tree with unprecedented fruits has grown; AA asks everyone what kind of tree it is; the caravan persuaded AA's wife to find out the secret, AA answered that's right, so he won the argument, got his house and wife; the white snake tells him to sleep at the mazar; the saint buried there tells him to argue with the caravan that the sun will rise in the west, set in the east, gives mortgage a jug of gold; the sun has risen in the west, AA has regained its home; more on how AA understands animal words, gets into trouble and then avoids misfortune; finally dies]: Jalil et al. 1989, No. 23: 238-247.

Iran - Central Asia. Bakhtiyary [chief hunter Adagar and his three brothers went hunting; the black snake fights the white snake; the black snake is stronger, A. shoots at it, but misses and the arrow cuts off the white tail; A. mourns, promises never to hunt again; the white snake is King Peri's daughter, she tells her father everything; King Peri tells her to bite A. if he does not repent and return if he repents; after finding out what is going on, the king Peri sends a messenger in human form for A.; A. tells how it all happened; Peri offers to give him a gift; A. refuses where the black snake has crawled; white snakes tear the black to pieces; king peri gives A. the ability to understand the language of all creatures; if you talk about it, you will die; A. hears two dogs talking: a herd is lost with a calving sheep; tells the shepherd where his sheep are; a shepherd offers a reward, A. asks for a newborn female; the owner stigmatizes her; a few years later A. comes for his sheep; invites the shepherd to take some salt and walk in the same direction, and he and his lamb will go to another; half of the herd follows him; he laughs at the conversation between the sheep and the lamb; the wife demands an explanation of the reason for the laughter; A. warns that she will die if he tells, the wife insists; A. prepares her funeral; the dog grieves, reproaches the rooster for not worrying about the fate of the owner; the rooster calls the owner a fool: after his death, the wife will take possession of the property and marry another; A. talks about The behavior of her wife and her brothers, everyone approves the divorce; after a while, the wife stole money from her brothers, gave it to her ex-husband and he remarried her; everything is fine]: Lorimer, Lorimer 1919, No. 34: 225-231; Uzbeks [lazy Bald lets the white snake crawl into his bosom, replies black that the white one has crawled away; white gives him the right to fulfill any wishes in her name; he sends his mother to marry her daughter Shah, who orders the old woman to be executed twice, Bald revives her; fulfills the Shah's condition to bring the seven-headed Almauz-Kampir (for this purpose he turns her into a donkey); appears at the wedding of the Shah's daughter in the guise of a girl, tells those present to stick to each other, gets the Shah's daughter]: Afzalov et al. 1972:381-387; Bukhara Arabs [the son of a firewood seller sees a black snake defeat a white snake, he killed a black one; white - the daughter of the serpent emir, her father gives him a ring; the emir orders 1) to fill the house with gold, 2) build a palace; the angels do everything from the ring, the young man gets a wife; a poor woman comes to them, persuades his wife to find out her husband's secret, takes possession of the ring, moves the palace to the emir, the young man is buried waist-deep in the ground; a dog, a cat, two pigeons return the ring, the young man executes the beggar]: Vinnikov 1969, No. 7:59-62; (cf. Turkmens [large snakes that have not seen a person for 40 years (or another period) turn into ajdarha; after that they become huge, able to take the form of any creature, protect treasures; in legends say about villages devastated by Azhdaha; Musa Pihamber throws his hasa staff made of zeytun (olive) wood into Azhdaha's mouth, she chokes on it, and then swallowed people come out of her womb people; or the staff is called ak ("white") azhdaha, it swallows punishment ("black") azhdaha, i.e. ajdaha itself]: V.V. Ivanova, personal report, 2007).

(Wed. Baltoscandia. Estonians (Kodavere) [the ploughman was bitten by a louse, he put it in a snuffbox, then in the cellar, she kept growing; said that only the owner could kill her by piercing her heart, let her skin cover the roof, which of them three princes would guess whether his daughter would take him; the third answered correctly, brought his wife to the forest castle, ordered not to open the last room; the wife opened it, the horned monster came out, the castle was gone, the wife was left with as a maid, went to her husband's brothers, they drove them away; the women unfolded the tablecloth with food on it; saw gray and brown bears fighting, the brown one won, became the woman's husband; said that if she hadn't opened that door, he would have won more easily; the old bast shoes that were thrown at her husband's brother's women became the same castle; the couple are living well]: Hurt in Peebo, Peegel 1989, No. 133:172-174; Western Sami [a young hunter sees a bear-sized cat fighting a mountain troll; everyone asks for help; a young man shot and killed a cat; the troll put it in his pocket, carried it to his father's home; in He offers two boxes: gold and speckled; the troll's son tells him to take the specked one; takes the young man back to his country; one day a young man went to buy firewood, dragging firewood; opened the box; the voice asks what he needs; he asked the ox, who dragged the sleigh with firewood and the young man; the people he met: he left for something; the same princess; the young man tells the spirit to make the princess pregnant with him; she gave birth son; the king called all the men, the boy did not smile at anyone; when the young man came, the boy immediately laughed; the king ordered the daughter and child and the young man to be put in two compartments inside the barrel and thrown into the water; the young man told the spirit to turn his part of the barrel into a room with enough food; the same with part of the princess when she promised to be the young man's wife; the barrel was thrown onto land; on the other side of the fjord, the royal castle; the young man orders that his house be moved here and become better than the royal one; it turns out that the king recognized his son-in-law, the wedding; but the young man went to the sea, his box disappeared somewhere, and a mermaid appeared at this place; she demanded him as her husband; took him to her castle; but the young man saw his box on the table, opened it and carried himself back; the king moved in with his son-in-law, everything is fine]: Kohl-Larsen 1982:39-47).

Volga - Perm. Kazan Tatars: Zamaletdinov 2008a, No. 51 (2 entries in Tatarstan, 1 in the Tyumen region) [the hunter sees snakes fighting; shoots a black snake, but accidentally hits a white one; lamenting, tells his wife about it; the snakes hear; the queen of snakes summoned the hunter, ordered to identify the black snake, that's all confirmed; the queen of snakes told the hunter to touch the white one, she came to life, became a girl; the queen spat in the hunter's mouth, making it possible to understand the language of animals; if she says, she will die; the hunter hears the muttering of the sheep, laughs; the wife demands an explanation; preparing to die, the hunter tells me to heat the bathhouse, feeds the dog; she reproaches the rooster for not sparing the owner; the rooster: I have 40 wives, and the owner of one does not knows how to command]: 230-232; 2008b, No. 44 [the young hunter is lost; the fiery red and white winged snakes each ask to shoot the other; the hunter killed the red one; the white one fell asleep, the hunter tied her wings, so as not to fly away without rewarding him; the snake praises the hunter, gives a pen to make a whistle from which warriors come out waiting for an order; the other is a magic table; the third is horses and coachmen in it; the young man marries daughter of a padishah; warriors build a palace; a silver bridge; move houses, gardens, send ships through canals, etc.; a young man gets a wife; her mother tells her to find out the secret; the wife calls soldiers, tells her to transfer her husband to a distant island; he finds apples, which make wool and horns grow and disappear; sells them to the palace; being a healer, the husband beats and tortures his wife for a long time, then, returning the magic whistles, restores human form; takes his wife again, lives with her mother]: 367-383.

Turkestan. Kazakhs [Surmergen went hunting, saw two snakes fighting, killed a black one, helped a white one; she showed how to lick a stone; S. also licked and began to understand the language of all animals; the snake warned: if S. talks about his knowledge, he will die; gave a gold bar; after spending the night at bay, S. hears a conversation between a wolf and a dog; the dog promises to prevent the wolf from attacking the owner's sheep and the guest's horse; S. shared with her meat; in the morning after the snowstorm, the sheep and the horse are intact, the wolf is captured; the owner offers the guest a reward for bringing good luck; yarochka: in 5 years I will become a thousand sheep; in 5 years the owner refuses to recognize the contract; judge: how many sheep are turned on the road to S.'s house, let him take so many; turned a thousand after the spring; one day S. hears a conversation between a pregnant mare and a foal, laughs; the wife demands an explanation; S. ready to die; rooster: I'm not S., who is going to tell his wife a secret; S. did not say anything; once S. spent the night with caravans; the wolf howls that he was going to eat him; they dug a hole for S. felt; in the morning it turned out that the wolf dug through the side passage and ate S.]: Babalar sozi 2011:68-69; karakalpaks [{the appearance of another snake is not mentioned (translated?) ; but the text is still so similar to other Turkic ones that there are very likely to exist options with snakes of contrasting colors}; an old fisherman invites his sons to go to sea and catch only huge catfish; sailed to the island; a huge catfish was harpooned, he dragged the boat, rushed ashore near the fishermen's village; the neighbor's son was abandoned on the island; in the evening a golden-headed snake swam to the shore and ordered it sit down; they sailed to the shore, and then reached the cave on the mountain; another snake rushed to the golden-domed one; the young man hit her with a harpoon, finished her golden-domed; turned into a beauty; offered to pick her up from the cave any treasures; gave an invincible sword, a magic tablecloth and a jug that she cooks herself; becoming a snake again, she took her to the village; she also gave a large pearl and a spell, then disappeared behind the clouds; the young man forced a jug to make gold; everything is fine]: Volkov, Mayorov 1959:174-176; Kyrgyz [three thieves offered the poor man to take it with him to enrich him a little; they drove all night without benefit and left angrily poor man in a deserted place; it turned out that there was a serpent's lair underground; when he woke up in the morning, the poor man began to understand the language of animals; the big serpent told how he fought another snake over a gold bar ; if a person hits his opponent, he can take gold for himself; and so it happened; then the man pretended to be dead, grabbed one of the two magpies and they helped him catch the horse as a ransom; for the night the man stayed in a lonely yurt where bai lived; from a conversation between a dog and a wolf, he learned that at night the wolf would try to attack sheep; helped the dog protect the herd; buy offers a reward; from a lamb's conversation with as a sheep, a man finds out that the lamb is of Bai wealth; asks to give the lamb to him; when he wants to pick it up, the dog tore off and swallowed the tail of the lamb, prosperity passed to her; the man asked to give it to him dog; but from a dog, prosperity passed to a piece of felt, from felt to a slave; the man realized that the bay should have prosperity; the gold bar he received was enough for him]: Sabyr uulu 2008:250-253; Uighurs [Kasym sees a black snake defeat a white snake; kills a black one with ketman; a white one promises to reward him, carries him on her back to her father; tells him to ask his father for a magic ring as a reward; K. returns to his mother, asks her to marry the khan's daughter; the khan orders to build a palace of gold and silver, let ferocious animals guard him; K. gets a wife, becomes khan]: Kabirov 1963:297-303; salars (Ullagyl, Xunhua-Salar Autonomous County) [an orphan young man saw two snakes fighting on the road; one was black, the other was variegated; the young man threw a black snake into the bush and let the motley snake go; she brought him to her home; told her snake father that the young man had saved her from the black snake; the young man stayed there for several days, then was about to go home; the motley snake advised: "Tomorrow my father will ask you:" Do you want more silver or a small measure of gold?" You say, "I don't want a big measure of silver or a small measure of gold. I want chicken in the yard"; the young man did so, brought the chicken home; went to mow the grass in the morning, and when he returned home, he saw that the bread and tea were ready; the next day he stayed outside the door; the chicken took off its a feather cloak, turned beautiful, cooked food, and then put her raincoat back on; the young man ate dinner and stayed on guard at the door again in the morning; when the chicken threw off his cloak, threw it into the fire; the chicken remained beautiful and became the young man's wife; an imperial hunter approached him in the mountains; he tasted the bread that the young man had given him and took a piece for the emperor; he ordered him to give it to the young man: "Let's arrange horse competition; if your horse fails, the emperor will take your wife for himself!" ; the young man told his wife about this, she told him to go to her father's house and bring a little white horse from there; the young man did this, won the contest; the emperor: "Tomorrow you level this mountain, and my army will level that mountain. If you fall behind, I will take your wife away"; the wife told me to go to her father's house and bring a white chest; the young man did it; a flock of pigeons flew out of the chest, which leveled the mountain before the imperial one army; the emperor warned the young man that he would come for his wife tomorrow; the wife: "If she comes for me, I will go. You wait seven days. Then tie your feathers with wool, make a cloak, hang a bag on your shoulders, pick up a stick and go to the imperial door to ask for bread!" ; the emperor's warriors took the young man's wife, he waited seven days and did as she ordered; his wife laughed when she saw him; the emperor: "I'm so beautifully dressed! Why don't you laugh at me?" ; the woman replied that she would laugh when he dressed like a beggar; the emperor invited the young man to come in, took his clothes and stick; then went outside and came back; the woman ordered the guards to kill him; the young man became emperor, the woman remained his wife]: Tenishev 1964, No. 54:108-109; Dungans: Riftin et al. 1977, No. 1 [young man Jeong Dajyo sees a black snake fighting a white snake, winning; he hits a black snake with a whip, she lets go of the white one; in a dream, the old man tells him to follow not a black man on a black horse, but for a white man on a white horse; he tells his father to ask his father for a throat pumpkin that hangs on the wall; having received a pumpkin, he spends the night in the steppe; someone cooks; he spies, sees three girls (daughters of the white snake father) come out of the pumpkin, cook; at home, the young man's younger sisters hide in a pumpkin and with it return to their father, leave the eldest young man as his wife; people from the spring build a new home for their spouses; the official is jealous, demands 1) plant trees before the government, 2) shoot pheasants, 3) win races mules (bet - wife); wife teaches what to do; BH refuses the official's wife he won; the mule throws fireballs, the official burns with the administration], 2 [stepmother takes care of her own son, Jeong's stepson tyrannites; he sees a black serpent bite through a white head, pulls them aside; a white-bearded man from the lake calls to him, advises him to ask for a pumpkin; on the ground, returning to the pumpkin, C. finds a house, a wife in it; stepmother tells me to arrange 1) donkey races between C. and her son, the winner will get a wife; 2) cockfight; 3) dig a hole, fill it with boiling water; the wife tells you to jump into the hole, pulls out from there, C. along with bags of gold; stepmother's son cooked, she decided that he could not pull out the gold, jumped after him]: 35-40, 40-46.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Altaians: Garf, Kuchiyak 1978 [old Tanzagan sees two giant frogs fighting; kills a brown horse with an arrow; at the request of a white horse, his blood, once in the lake, kills other brown frogs; the white frog sends T. whatever he wants; he asks his wife, sees a white goose, she turns into a beautiful girl, Kurbustan's youngest daughter; people set fire to T.'s house out of envy; wife and three children rise to the sky with geese, turn into a constellation of the White Goose; T. makes a wife for himself; the head turns into an old woman, gives birth to T. Altaians]: 205-212; Demchinova 2003 [Eskus-Uul, After destroying the yellow frog, he receives a lasso from the black frog; catches a golden bird with it, gives it to the hero he meets; he promised wealth, but deceived; EU defeats it, returns the bird; it becomes beautiful, this is the daughter of Uch-Kurbustan; the newlyweds receive a blessing]: 155; Shors [an episode of the struggle between white and black snakes on p. 515-516; hunter Panyugesh will find a huge white snake in his house; he tells him to close his eyes, brings him to the clearing; tells him to shoot at the black snake he will fight against; P. shot him, at the site of the struggle of snakes, the earth is red hot; the snake brings P. to his parents; tells snakes and frogs to eat - what they will serve (the food was delicious); take a dirty wooden cup as a gift; P. throws it on the ground, two warriors appear; P. tells them to take it home, to build a palace, a hard-working heavenly maiden as a wife; in the absence of P., a man comes, calls himself brother P., gives a golden cup, asks P.'s wife to give the wooden one, leaves; the next morning the palace, wealth disappear; P. goes hunting, comes to the elderly, stays with them; they have a dog and a fox, accompany P. on the hunt; they praise the elderly, but do not know why P. climbs the cedar and cries; when P. accompanies the kitten, he says that P. saw a distant palace from the top of the cedar; old people send P. to the palace to return the cup, animals to help; the kitten took the cup, animals at the river crossing quarreled over who to carry the cup, she drowned; the old fisherman had a net, P. caught a cup with it; wealth, his wife returned; P. sent assistant soldiers to help the poor]: Arbachakova 2010, No. 2:513-551; Khakas : Butanaev 2003 [the snake kingdom is ruled by the snake king wearing the crown; he lives in a palace where snakes spend the winter; the story of the battle between the snake khan and the king of frogs is one of the most common Khongors; the battle takes place on a foggy morning on the shore of the lake; the snake king appears as a red flame or red foam, and the frog king appears as a white flame or white foam; the snake khan helps defeat the Khongor shooter with a shot from a gun loaded with a bronze button; in gratitude, he treats the hunter in his palace; offers to lick a white stone that serves as eternal food; if he lick, you will be full all winter, and the man who licks him will recognize the language of snakes, birds and animals; then the snake khan took the man home and told him not to tell anyone about what happened; the hunter's wife gave him an araka and he spilled out; the snake khan flew in for reprisal, but the hunter treated him to Araka, and the serpent fell unconscious; the snake khan cannot resist the wine invented by a woman]: 71-72; Katanov 1907, No. 581 [one of the three hunters can't get anything; the serpent asks for help: he will fight the frog king, he will be black, and he will be yellow mist, he must shoot yellow; the man has shot; the snake brought for himself, asks for a reward; someone advises asking for a puppy; a snake tells me to take care of the puppy as a person; in the morning there is a girl next to him in a yurt; they have three sons; the wife wants to visit their father, for this purpose falls asleep for 7 days; her husband wakes her up on the 6th day; she leaves her children at sunrise, they turn into three rivers (Tuba, Kazir and Kezir); disappears herself; the person is again as poor as he was before meeting the magic wife]: 515-521; Tofalars [the blue serpent calls the hero to shoot his opponent a yellow snake when they fight; he stole his wife; after winning, the blue serpent gave the hero something white from his forehead yellow snake; the man got rich, a girl appeared in the cradle, grew up and became his wife]: Katanov 1907:652-653; Buryats (Bokhansky District, Irkutsk Region) [7 guys hunt; one day, when they wake up, they see that are surrounded by the body of a snake; 6 got out, the seventh, the most dexterous, remains; the snake lets him swallow a white ball so that he can understand the snake's tongue; asks for help defeat the yellow snake that devours it children; puts the guy on his back, flies to a rock, tells that snake to shoot into a shiny spot under his wing; covers him, saving him from the spread of poison; takes him home; tells him to remain silent about the fact that the guy went to snake hane and killed a yellow snake; after getting drunk, the guy tells everything; a snake appears to swallow him; the guy says that he did not tell, but an "all-powerful guy"; puts three barrels of araki; sees a snake in each his reflection, thinks that this is an all-powerful guy, drinks everything; falls asleep; the guy ties him up and hits him; the snake allows him to talk about everything]: Barannikova et al. 1993, No. 13:203-215; Dongxiang [ a young man sees black and white snakes fighting, raises them with a stick; old man: black is a monster, white is the youngest son of the sea Lunwang; if a man in black clothes invites them, do not go, if in white, go; son Lunwana advises to ask her father for a wish-fulfilling gold ring; a girl comes out of it, cooks everything, then hides; he stops her, marries; the old woman asks the woman about the ring; after receiving it, moves the palace and farm to the shallows at sea, takes the woman for his son, the young man stays with his mother; the dog and the cat come to the kidnapper, the cat makes the mouse gnaw through the old woman's box a hole and get a ring; across the sea, the cat swims on the dog's back; the dog went to eat, and the cat brought the ring to the owner; the man returned everything, killed the old woman; beat the dog, since then dogs have not been allowed into the house]: Todayeva 1961, No. 6:98-101.

Japan. Aina [the hunter sees two men fighting; one in black and the other in red; black tells to run; red kills black, chases the hunter; he has a fall to the sky; the hunter jumps into her, cuts the red insides; he dies]: Pilsudski 1912a, No. 19:168-170; (cf. Etter 1949 [a whale has a mouth from ground to sky; one of six brothers jumps into it, cuts the monster from the inside, goes through its mouth; cuts the whale into two halves, they turn into rocks]: 168-169).