H27a1. Diseases and vermin from holes in the ground. .28.31.32.34.35.50.

From the hole made in the ground, reptiles and insects crawl out, and diseases emerge.

Russians (Olonets, Vyatka), Finns, Karelians (Olonets, eastern Finland, northern), Vepsians, Komi-Zyzryans, Udmurts, Chuvashes, Chulym Tatars, Altai, Shors, Khakass, Tofalars, Baikal Buryats, Mongols (Khalkha), northern and eastern Khanty, Mansi, Kets, Maricopa.

Central Europe. Russians (Olonets and Vyatka provinces) [Satan asked the God of the earth to at least stick a stick in; snakes, frogs, rats, mice, and harmful insects crawled out of the hole]: Kuznetsova 1998: 68.

Baltoscandia. Finns [The devil asked God for land - first a tithe, then the size of a bast shoe, but God did not give it; agreed to give the size of a stake; the devil took possession of the hole, began to release mosquitoes, flies, gadflies from it; God closed the hole with a firebrand; therefore, now the parasites are destroyed by fire and smoke]: Mansikka 1909: 172; Karelians : Stepanova 2000, No. 118 (northern, Tunguda district) [God created the sky, the devil - dense clouds; God threw the demons to the earth, those who fell into the water became water spirits, to the earth - wood spirits; they dug a hole in the ground, mosquitoes and other insects came out, God plugged the hole with a firebrand; therefore, mosquitoes are afraid of smoke]: 216 (=Lavonen 1992: 245-146); Kulikovsky 1893 (Olonetskaya) [God sent Karu (Kancho) to bring earth from the bottom; he was unable to hold on, the earth fell out through his fingers; God himself created the earth; K. asked for a piece to stick a peg in, vermin crawled out of the hole, until God forbade it]: 189-190; Mansikka 1909 (eastern Finland) [God does not give the Devil land, he asks for as much space as is needed to stick a peg in; mosquitoes and other harmful insects and vermin crawl out of this hole; they almost swallowed up the entire earth; God plugged the hole with a firebrand, so the parasites are destroyed by fire and smoke]: 172; Lavonen 1992 (Belomorsky district, 1937) [God created the sky; the devils did not like it, they did their own thing – clouds blocking the sky; God drove the devils away, they fell to the ground; some into the water – became water devils, some onto the ground – ordinary; the devils made a hole in the ground, mosquitoes flew out of it; God inserted a firebrand into it, since then mosquitoes are afraid of smoke]: 246; Veps [When God was creating the earth and living creatures, the devil interfered with Him out of envy. God became angry, grabbed the devil and threw him from heaven to the earth, into a swamp. In the swamp, in the place where the devil fell, a large hole formed; from this hole all sorts of “evil spirits” crawled out. Some went into lakes – vodyaniks, some into forests – lesoviki, some climbed into clouds and clouds and thus spread throughout the world. Even more of this “evil spirit” would have crawled out, if God had not guessed to plug the hole in the swamp with a burning log]: Kolmogorov 1913: 372.

Volga - Perm. Komi-Zyryans : Sidorov 1924 in Limerov 2016 [Yen was sailing in a boat, spat on the water, looked back - there was a man like him sailing behind him; they went together; his companion asked to be turned into a loon to get some land; he snatched a quarter of the land (from the bottom) and began to rise, but the surface of the sea turned out to be frozen; breaking the ice, the loon shook all the land out of its mouth; the same a second and third time; finally the loon spat out three grains of sand, from which Yen created the land and the useful creatures living on it, and gave his comrade only a hole from driving in a stake, from which he brought out all the creatures harmful to people]: 15; Sidorov 1924 in Plesovsky 1972 [ En (god) spat in the form of a swan, from the spit appeared Omol (devil) in the form of a loon, who dives and brings earth; En creates dry land; there are seven tiers in the sky, the odd ones were created by E., the even ones by O.; each sky is one of the colors of the rainbow (the same on Vym, noted by G.A. Startsev); O. asks to give him as much land as is needed to drive in a stake; insects and reptiles come out of the hole]: 42; Udmurts [having punished people for their greed, Inmar released harmful creatures from the hole from the driven stake; according to other versions, this was done by Keremet]: Vladykin 1994: 74; Chuvash [ Tur ă creates flat land, it grows; Shuittan spits out the silt hidden in his mouth, creates mountains, ravines, or causes a storm in the ocean before the earth has had time to harden; to make Sh. spit out the silt, T. hits him, and evil spirits emerge from the splashes of blood; T. begs for land, agrees to a patch of ground to lean on with his staff, makes a hole in the ground, falls into the lower world; diseases and reptiles come out of the hole; T. drives them back; Sh. clumsily imitates T.; T. makes apples, a cow, a sheep, Sh. - potatoes, a goat, a pig; predatory and harmful animals, reptiles, fish (throwing pebbles into the water); T. made a man, went for a soul, left a hairless dog to guard; Sh. brought on the cold, promised the dog a fur coat, spat on the man; T. turned a man inside out, ordered a dog to eat bones, and endure beatings]: Egorov 1995: 117-118.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Chulym Turks [water everywhere, a loon swims; God: what do you eat? - Earth. - Where is it? - Under water. - Get it, I will thank you. The loon brought earth three times, it turned out to be a flat cake, God lay down on it; the devil grabbed him by the leg and threw him into the water; God is on dry land, a lot of earth formed; the devil grabbed the sleeping God by the legs, pulled him into the water, and the earth expanded; he dragged until it became dry around; the devil asked for half the earth; God refused; well, at least to stick a stake in it; God allowed, the devil stuck the stake in and took it out, mosquitoes and midges came out of there; God plugged the hole; made a dog; made a man; he went for the soul, ordered the dog to guard the man; the devil asked to let him through: I will feed him and shower him with black wool; the dog let him through; the devil pierced the navel and spat there; God ordered the dog to serve the man; since then people have had diseases]: Lukina 2004, No. 5.1: 97-98; Altai [there is water everywhere, Kudai sent fish to look for land, only Pike brought it from the bottom; K. made it lighter than other fish; K. fell asleep, his brother Erlik grabbed a handful of land and ran; the land continued to be created; where E. jumped, a mountain appeared, where he stepped - a hollow, the land became uneven; K. agreed to give E. land the size of the end of his crutch; E. fell into this hole, from it came out all the reptiles and insects]: Khokholkov 1997: 21-22; Shors [ Ulgen' created man, went to look for a soul, left a dog to guard; Erlik gave it wool, spat on the man, smeared him with mud; U. agreed that E. would make a soul for man; he blew it into the man's mouth through an angelica stem; this is the soul "kut", which E. always takes for himself; there are three more; E. asked for the land to rest his staff on; fell into a hole, and reptiles and insects crawled out of it]: Khlopina 1978: 71-72; Khakass: Mindibayeva et al. 2016, No. 1 (Kachins) [a naked man without a soul lived on earth; Khudai went for the soul, assigned a naked dog to the man; when he left, Irlik Khan came, the dog would not let him go; he covered it with fur, it let him go to the man; Irlik Khan spat on the man; Khudai returned, was unable to cleanse the man, turned him inside out, the drool ended up inside; Khudai breathed a soul into the man; then I. began to ask H. for land; he does not give it; so that I. would leave him alone, H. gave land to stick a stake in; I. pulled out the stake, from that place snakes crawled away; so snakes and other worms and reptiles spread; having given a soul, H. made the man herbivorous; he released a mare with a foal and a woman with a child into the steppe; the mare nibbled the tops of the grass, and the woman ate the grass along with the earth; H. sees: after the woman even the grass will not grow; then H. made the man eat wheat; the ear of corn grew from the very root; the woman baked bread, the child soiled himself; she wiped it with pancakes; H. began to pluck the ear of corn, but the dog howled - what would it eat; H. took pity on it, left the top of the ear - the dog's share; the man knew the time of death; one was supposed to die in the fall, began to make a fence from grass - it would be enough for his life; H. decided that this way the man would drink everything away, leave nothing for the children; made it 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 earth to find out whose blood is tastier; it turned out that it was the man's; the mosquito sat down to rest, the swallow asked to show her tongue, tore it off; the mosquito tried to grab her, but only tore off part of her tail, now it is forked; the mosquito flew underground, but could not tell Irlik Khan anything; he got angry, hit him, ordered him to become a thousand mosquitoes; that is how mosquitoes appeared]: 77-81; Butanaev 2003 (Sagays, Beltirs; author's west) [Akh-Khudai said that there would be no place on earth for Irlik Khan, but agreed to leave him a piece of land on which to place his staff; I. pierced the ground with his staff and went down; while going down, he cut off his sides, his blood splashed onto the sky and the earth; in the sky it turned into the Milky Way - Khyro chola (Road of Frost); in the fall, frost falls from the Milky Way and freezes the earth; snakes, frogs, worms and lizards crawled out of the punched hole, the surface of the earth became dirty with unclean creatures; AH was disgusted and ascended to the sky]: 112-113; Tofalars : Katanov 1891: 67-68 [ Purhan wore a white fur coat, Aza – a black one; A. asked for some earth with a cane stuck into it; a snake crawled out from there; P. chased after A., ​​who turned into a mulyavka (small fish) in the sea; P. – into a taimen, began to eat fish; then A. became rye grains, P. – a chicken, began to peck; one grain rose to the sky, became the witch chel-paga (Tuvan: Chylbyga , Kachin, Sagaysk and Beltirsk: Chelbygen); hid behind the sun; the moon told P. about it; the moon was eclipsed, began to complain to P.; now the witch is on the moon, sometimes the moon is eclipsed because of her; (the same in Rassadin 1996, No. 5, 6: 13, 14-15)], 89 [The Devil asks God for land, receives as much as his cane took up; he dug up the earth, snakes and frogs crawled out of it; God and the Devil began to chase each other, God hid behind the sun; the Devil asks the Moon where God was hiding, she refuses to tell; the Devil turns into a witch chulan-paga (= chel-bagá ), swallows the Moon; God hit the witch on the throat, the Moon came out; during a lunar eclipse, people shoot upward to help the Moon]; Sherkunaev 1975 [God was decorating the earth, the Devil began to beg for a share, God agreed to give enough for him to rest his cane; snakes crawled out of the hole; God chased the Devil, he became a witch, grabbed the moon, God hit him with a bell; when God chases the Devil, he climbs onto the moon, eclipsing it; people shot up to drive the Devil away]: 308-309; Baikal Buryats : Khadakhne 1926 [(Obusy river, Osinsky district of Irkutsk region); Ekhe burkhan (Mother Goddess) created a son named Budarga under a golden willow, and a friend for him, the bird Ankhata shubuun , from the willow bark ; she created the fish Abarga zagahan in the sea , and created the sun from the light of fire; the demon Arkhang-Shotkhor emerged from the sea foam ; he did not get the earth; the bird ASH brought a handful of clay from the bottom of the sea in its claws, EB on the back of AZ made the earth out of it; at night the demon ASH began to pull the sleeping ones into the water, but only stretched the earth, which became large; he offered to squeeze the earth, and so mountains appeared; he began to ask for a share for himself; they agreed to give him enough to put up a cane; insects, snakes, worms, etc. crawled out of the hole; Sharakshinova 1980: 24 [ Esege Malan tengriy, Oy Harkhan and the devil Arkhan shukher decided to create the earth; Arkhan went to the outer sea, dived to the bottom, got a mouthful of earth; from it they created the earth; it was smooth and even; A. began to ask for his share (a hectare, half a hectare, a quarter, etc.); just to put up a cane, they did not give it; in the end EM and OH gave the earth the size of a small twig; A. stuck the twig into the ground, reptiles, insects and worms crawled out of the hole; EM plugged the hole with a burning log], 25 [(according to Zhamtsarano, ed.) the world was created by a thousand heavenly burkhans; in search of land the Swan flew through the air, and the Raven was under water; they saw the Golden Turtle, which held the earth in its paws; they reported to Khukhudei Mergen , he shot at the Turtle, it overturned, a firmament was formed, on which the earth with vegetation was created; a thousand heavenly burkhans basked on the earth - Ulgen and in the sky - Under; Arkhan shukherbegan to ask for a piece of land for himself, the size of a thin twig; stuck the twig into the ground, and mosquitoes, flies, midges and other harmful insects began to crawl out of the hole]; the Mongols [recorded by the missionary Vas. Postnikov from the Khalkha; there was water everywhere, Ochurmany lived in the sky; decided to make land, looked for a comrade, found Chagan-Shukuty ; both went down to the water; the Frog, having noticed them, dived; O. sent ChSh to find her in the water; he got the Frog, placed her belly up on the water; O. sat on her, told ChSh to dive and get some earth; he brought an armful of liquid earth from the bottom, said O., If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t get some earth ; the earth immediately fell out of his hands and fell into the water; O. told him to dive again, take the earth and carry it on his behalf; O. poured the earth he had brought onto the Frog, the earth began to grow, both sat down on it and fell asleep; Shulmus grabbed them to throw them into the water, but the earth grew faster than he could run to its edge; he threw them; Sh. asked for some earth for himself, and received as much as he could fit on the end of his stick; he stuck it into the earth, and worms, snakes, and reptiles crawled out]: Potanin 1883, No. 46b: 220-223.

Western Siberia. Khanty (eastern, clarified by N.V. Lukina, December 2016) [ Kyn-lung ( Kul-otyr ), taking advantage of Numi-Torum's dream, began to drag him along the ground, trying to drown him; in the process, hills, valleys, pits, hummocks, and swamps arose; K. went into his underground world through a hole left by a staff stuck into the ground; blood-sucking mosquitoes and spirits of disease rose to the ground through the hole, but the goddess Mykh-imi blocks it]: Petrukhin, Khelimsky 1982: 567; Mansi [when creating the world, kul asks God for permission to introduce animals into the world; he does not allow it, but allows him to make a hole in the ground; lizards, snakes, and wolves come out of there]: Sadovszky 1995: 161; Kets [there was only water; Es dove, grabbed some earth (mud) in his mouth, put it in his cheeks; emerged, blew – earth appeared; the Devil spins, does nothing; E. dove again, grabbed some mud in his cheeks, blew – a deciduous, cedar forest grew; E. collected what was crawling, dug a hole, lowered them in, dug a post so that they would not crawl out; Ch. sees a post, decides to pull it out – everything crawling scattered across the ground]: Alekseenko 1976: 72.

The Great Southwest. Maricopa [water floods the world; Cucumat and Isasipas (hereinafter also Sipas ) sink to the bottom; I. surfaces first, answers K. that he kept his eyes open; K. goes blind from the salt water; both float on a log, the water gradually recedes, but there is a swamp all around; one of them digs a hole, gets sand, scatters it, the earth dries; I. rolls his hair into a ball, places it in the eastern sky, making the sun; from a fingernail - the moon; places it in different directions, it slides off; when to the west, it remains in the sky; throwing sand into the sky, he creates stars; I. and K. make people out of clay, K.'s people have webbed fingers; I. and K. argue whose creations are better; K. falls into the ground in anger , breaks what he has created, throws the fragments into the sea, from which ducks, beavers and other creatures with webbed feet emerge; falling through , I. pulled the sky with him; left a hole in the ground, from which blood flowed (i.e. diseases) ; I. covered the hole with his foot, but left a small stream so that people would not become too numerous; now they sometimes get sick; further see motif B1]: Spier 1937: 345-352.