H52A. Death provokes to touch the ground. .15.16.27.28.34.36.

Returning from the land of immortality, a person should not touch the ground. However, he gets off his horse to help an old man (woman). Death, having taken the form of the old man, immediately kills him. Rare: at the last moment, the hero decides not to perform actions that are fatal for him.

Portuguese, Italians (Veneto, Piedmont, Tuscany, Rome), Sardinians, Corsicans, French (Beauce, Nivernais), (Irish), Hungarians, Romanians, Moldovans, Poles, Khakassians, Ilimpiysky Evenks.

Southern Europe. Portuguese [while hunting, a prince chased a deer and got lost; it was already night when he came to a house and knocked; the old woman warned her that she was the mother of the four man-eating winds; the eldest, the Southern, came first; he promised not to harm the prince, who crawled out of hiding; then the North-East wind came, then two more; each one tells what mischief he had done; the Northern one visited the Happy Beauty (Bela Felicidade, BF); he agreed to take the prince there, giving him an invisibility cap and a cloak that makes him weightless; the prince is constantly near BF, but she does not notice his presence; this went on for a long time, but one day the prince's invisibility cap fell off in a dream; BF fell in love with him, they got together; the prince wanted to visit his homeland; wife: not a year has passed, but centuries; but the prince insists; the wife gave her a white horse and warned that the prince should not get off it; the prince was already returning when he saw an ox-cart with an old man underneath it; he called for help; the prince dismounted and old Time killed him on the spot; the North Wind carried the body to BF's garden; she buried the prince and wrote on the tombstone: There is no complete happiness, time puts an end to everything]: Cardigos, Correia 2015(2), no. 470B: 222-225; Italians (Piedmont: Montferrat) [the son of a poor widow goes to seek his fortune; an old hermit in the forest reports that Destiny comes there once every hundred years; at midnight three girls appear at a stream, take off their clothes and start bathing; the young man hid the clothes of the middle one and returned them in exchange for a "libro del comando"; thus Destiny became his wife; he brought her to his mother; one day he was not at home, and his wife asked her mother-in-law to give her the book that the son was hiding - she wanted to go to church with it; having received the book, she ordered to look for it on the Island of Happiness, where there is no death; the young man goes in search; three robbers cannot divide the self-assembled tablecloth, seven-league boots and an invisibility cloak; the young man took possession of the items and arrived at Thunder, he sends Lightning to his brother, Lightning - to the 7 Winds; only Sirocco knows where the Island of Happiness is; on the island, the young man enters the room where his wife is; at first he is in an invisibility cloak, then he reveals himself; one day he wants to visit his mother; wife: not two months have passed, but 200 years; the wife accompanies him; a skinny old woman pretends that she cannot get up; the wife stops: it is Death; a horse fell under a noble gentleman, the man again wants to help; wife: it is the devil! in his native village, the man was convinced that on earth they grow old and die; returned with Destiny to the Island of Happiness]: Comparetti 1875, no. 50: 212-216 (=Kóhler 1900: 412-413); Italians: Calvino 1980, no. 27 (Veneto, Verona) [a young man sets out to find a country where people don't die; he meets an old man with a wheelbarrow of stones; he says that until he moves the entire mountain, the young man will not die, it will take at least a hundred years; the young man does not agree to stay with the old man, because a hundred years is not immortality; then he sees an old man pruning tree branches; he will not die until he has pruned all the trees in the forest, it will take two hundred years; the same; a third old man points to a duck: until it drinks the sea, the young man will not die, it will take three hundred years; the same; finally, the young man comes to a palace where a fourth old man lives; he replies that the newcomer has achieved his goal; the young man lives in the palace for a long time, but one day decides to visit his relatives; the old man says that the last of them has already died; but if the young man insists, he can take a white horse that gallops like the wind; but if he gets off his horse and touches the ground, he will die instantly; on the way, the young man sees a steppe instead of the sea and the bones of the old man who showed him the duck; then he sees a forest cut down to the roots and a plain in place of the mountain; the young man's hometown has changed beyond recognition, no one has heard of his relatives; on the way back, a man asks for help to pull out a cart stuck in the mud; as soon as the young man touched the ground, the owner of the cart grabbed him and said that he is Death; in the cart there are shoes that had to be worn out catching up with the young man; he immediately died]: 77-79; Kotrelev 1991 [=Ilyin, Kazakova 1960: 203-211; the scientist Grantesta went to visit his mother, spoke contemptuously about a beggar, but the beggar reminded him of death; he forgot about his mother and science, went to look for the land of immortality; found a valley where once every thousand years a monster flies to take one grain of sand; the mountain says that everything here will be scattered grain by grain; he thinks that he has come to the lake of true immortality, but a monster flies there too to take one drop; by the sea an old woman asked him to cure her son, but a fairy gave her a feather that she had to show to an eagle, who would take her to the land of immortality; G. forgot about the child, the eagle took him to the fairies; one day G. remembered his mother; the fairy gave him a horse, but G. must not touch the ground with his foot; in the village a man speaks of G. as a nonentity who sought immortality only for himself and forgot about his mother; G. jumped off his horse in anger and crumbled to dust]: 315-320; Corsicans[Grandesta learned a lot, went to visit his elderly mother; on the way he refuses to help an old beggar; he turns into a young man, says that G. himself will die and not a trace will remain; G. goes to look for the land of immortality; at night he sees an inscription in fiery letters in the mountains: They do not die here; G. stays there to live; one day a storm began; when it was over, a griffin flew in, dropped its bloody prey, swallowed a grain of sand, flew away; the mountain told G. that there would be no death in this country until it, the mountain, became level with the plain; but G. wants eternal immortality, so he goes further; remains by a beautiful lake; the oak says that everything here is immortal; a storm begins, a black bird flies in, swallows a drop of water: it comes once every thousand years, when nothing remains of the lake, immortality will end; G. goes further; meets a beautiful woman, she brings him in a chariot to the land of true immortality; one day G. remembered his mother and decided to visit her; his wife gave him a winged horse: under no circumstances should he get off it; no one on earth remembers either his mother or himself; on the way back he meets a driver, who asks him to help; G. jumped off his horse, turned into a skeleton; Death: finally caught you]: Ortoli 1883, no. 28: 224-234; Italians (Piedmont: Montferrat) [the son of a poor widow goes to seek his fortune; an old hermit in the forest reports that Destiny comes here once every hundred years; at midnight three girls appeared at a stream, undressed and began to bathe; the young man hid the clothes of the middle one and returned them in exchange for a "libro del comando"; thus Destiny became his wife; he brought her to his mother; one day he was not at home, and his wife asked her mother-in-law to give her a book that her son was hiding - she wanted to go to church with it; having received the book, she told him to look for it on the Island of Happiness, where there is no death; the young man goes to look for it; three robbers cannot divide the magic tablecloth, the seven-league boots and the cloak of invisibility; the young man took possession of the items and came to Thunder, who sends Lightning to his brother, Lightning - to the 7 Winds; only Sirocco knows where the Island of Happiness is; on the island the young man enters the room where his wife is; {p. 413 is omitted, on p. 414 there is already the next text; probably the same as in other Italian versions}]: Kóhler 1900: 412-413; Italians(Rome, 1868-69) [night and bad weather caught the king out hunting; he went out into the light and knocked at the door; an old woman: her sons, the 7 winds, are dangerous; the king begged him to let him in; the winds did no harm, everyone tells what they saw; the last to appear was a zephyr, he was in the land of Happiness {p. 409 is missing; it is clear that the zephyr brought the king there, and he met a woman there}; the king wanted to visit the land, his wife told him not to linger, or she would die; on the ground the king saw an old man lying under an overturned cart of worn-out shoes; after hesitating, the king dismounted to help; the old man (this is Death) grabbed him: I have been looking for you for a century and a half; on the cart are shoes, worn out during this time; the zephyr found the king's body and carried him to the land of Happiness; Having found the body, the woman locked herself in the room and never came out]: Köhler 1900, no. 55.2: 408-410; Italians (Tuscany: Pistoia, 1880) [the only son of wealthy parents, who was called "the philosopher", went wandering at the age of 20; at night during bad weather he found himself in the forest, went into an uninhabited castle, there the table was set; in the morning the table was set again; at night a girl comes to him, but every time before dawn she disappears; one day he managed to light a candle while she was sleeping; a drop of wax fell on her cheek; she said that now she would leave him; let him look for her in the earthly paradise; he managed to get there; having crossed the bridge, he found himself in a beautiful garden in front of the castle; there was that beauty and other girls; after a while he wanted to visit his parents; his wife said that they had died long ago; but gave him a horse, telling him not to get off it, otherwise he would die; having crossed the bridge, he saw an old peasant on the road, from whose cart a bale had fallen and got stuck between the wheels; the man went down to help, and the peasant grabbed him: he is Death; “I have been looking for you for so many years and finally caught you”]: Köhler 1900, No. 55.3: 410-411.

Western Europe. The French (Bosse: between the Loire and the Seine) [Pierre, a young peasant, decided to become a soldier, rose to the rank of military leader, then appointed chief minister; one of the courtiers reproached him for his lowly origins; P. asked the king to throw him in prison; courtier: you can't escape death anyway; then P. went to look for the land of immortality; he found it and stayed there; after 300 years, a huge bird flew in; the inhabitants said that it fed on sand and earth; when it ate everything, the end of the world would come for the inhabitants; P. went to look for another country; he lived on the island of immortality for 600 years; left it when he was shown a huge fish; when it drank the sea, life would end; one day he freed a fly from the web of a spider; it turned into a fairy and offered to fulfill a wish; P. wished for immortality; the fairy transferred him to the world of stars, where there is no death; but one day he grew tired of his endless happiness and wanted to return to his village; the fairy advised him against it, but nevertheless gave him a horse, warning him that if he got off it and touched the ground, he would die; the horse flew to Pierre's native place; instead of a village - a big city, nothing is recognizable; P. came across a man whose cart was stuck in the mud; he asked him to help him pull it out; as soon as P. got down, the cart turned into a pile of shoes, and the man - into Death; she said that she had been looking for Pierre for a long time. - What kind of shoes are these? - I wore them out while looking for you]: Delarue, Tenèze 1964, No. 470B: 163-165; French (Nivernais) [having lost his way while hunting, the prince ended up with the Mother of the Four Winds; he is well received; every day one of the winds spends time with him; he thinks that only a few days have passed, but the Mother of the Winds tells him that a hundred years; she gives him a horse and tells him not to get off it; on the road he sees a cart harnessed to oxen; the driver has fallen asleep and is about to roll under the wheels; the prince rushes to his aid and immediately Death seizes him; the horse returns to the Mother of the Winds without a rider]: Delarue, Tenèze 1964: 166; (cf. Irish [west. in Irish settlement in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, Illinois; the King of France wants to marry; a monk says that three swans flying to the lake are girls; gives the king ten-mile boots, he steals the girls' clothes; gives them for a promise to take him with him; the eldest, middle, youngest sister carry him in turns; he wants to marry the youngest, must identify her; she warns that she will sit with her knees pressed together; in a few years the king wants to visit the house; the wife warns him not to do so; gives a flying ship, tells him not to get out of it; the king gets out, Death immediately seizes him ; the king asks to take the old men instead, but Death wants only him; the king asks Death to get into the box first, attaches the lid, returns to his wife, wants to open the box, his wife won't let him; they throw the box into the sea, the waves wash it to Ireland; the people open the box, Death starts killing everyone; that's why the Irish moved to America]: Neely 1944: 90-91; the Irish [Bran ("raven") hears the sound of music and falls asleep; when he wakes up, he finds a silver branch behind him; at home he finds a woman playing {apparently on a harp}; she says she has brought the branch from a wonderful land; disappears; Bran goes to sea in search; he sees Manannan riding on a chariot over the waves - for him it is a plain, and the salmon are cows and lambs; they sail to the Land of Joy, which no one wants to leave; arrived at Nu na mBan, where a woman rules; they live with her for many years, but it seems to them that only a year has passed; after this they decide to visit Ireland, although the woman warns them that they will repent; at home they are told of Bran, who sailed away to sea in time immemorial; one of Bran's companions jumped off the ship and turned to dust; Bran sailed back]: Coghlan 2019: 17-18).

The Balkans. Hungarians [a young man goes to look for a country where there is no death; he sees an eagle trying to break the branches of a tree; it turns into a man, says that he will die when he manages to uproot the tree, it will take 600 years; offers his daughter in marriage, but the young man says that he does not need a long life, but eternal life; the eagle's daughter gives a box with her portrait, if you look at it, you will be transported where you need to go; a bald man carries earth in a basket, he will die when he knocks down a mountain; his daughter gives a ring (if you put it on, you will end up wherever you want); the daughter of a dead king offers the young man her hand and a throne; the floor in her room is strewn with needles, her family will die when everyone goes mad; gives a golden twig (will turn into whatever you wish); the young man walks along the river, beyond which the sky adjoins the earth; enters a padlock, stays with the queen, there is no death in the castle; a thousand years later, a young man goes to visit his parents, the queen gives him bottles of living and dead water; the young man revives the already dead princess with needles (they had all gone dull), the old man who knocked down a mountain, the eagle who tore out a tree; the old woman Death sees his parents' house and gives chase; Death and the queen of Life both lay claim to the young man, the queen of Life lets Death in; they agree that the queen of Life will throw the young man into the sky behind the back of the Morning Star; if he falls into her garden, he will stay with her, if outside the fence, with Death; he falls on the wall, but then into the garden, he stays with the queen]: Gidaš 1953: 24-32 (=Ortutai 1974, no. 1: 63-72); Romanians [an old man promises a childless emperor the birth of a son; A boy cries in his mother's womb; falls silent and is born when his father promises him immortality and eternal youth; the young man grows up, chooses a skinny little horse, which turns into a four-winged steed; they come to a field strewn with bones; the young man shoots off the leg of a woman who has become a monstrous woodpecker; she promises peace, the young man puts his leg back; the woodpecker's sister was also cursed by her parents, became a scorpion, the two sisters are at odds; the scorpion has one cheek in the sky, the other on the ground, and breathes flame; the young man shoots off one head, the scorpion promises peace, the young man puts his head back; the horse carries him through a forest with monsters to a castle of eternal life; the mistress of the castle does not allow the monsters to attack those who flew in; there are two women in the castle, the young man marries the younger one; the women warn him not to go to the Valley of Sorrows; pursuing a hare, he enters it, he is overcome by a desire to visit home; the women explain that his parents have long since died; on the way back they do not find the Scorpion and the Woodpecker, the people say that they have heard tales about them from old people; the horse leaves the youth at the ruins of his father's castle, returns to the land of immortality; the youth turns into an old man; Death comes out of the deck, says that if he had come later, even she would have died; takes the hero]: Kremnitz 1882, no. 2: 16-29 (=Kúnos 1901: 260-275, =Browne 1915: 312-320); Romanians[the sorcerer promises the queen and the king that they will have a son, Fat-Frumos, but this will only bring them grief; the newborn cries when he is promised a beauty, but stops when he is promised youth without old age and life without death; FF quickly grew up, refuses the throne, goes to the land of immortality; as he puts his hand on the horse's back, it falls down; the pitiful little horse says that he has finally waited for his master; orders to feed him oats boiled in milk for 6 weeks; FF found his father's rusty weapon, cleaned it, it sparkled; the horse became four-winged; they flew into the domain of the witch Genoaia; she attacked, FF cut off her leg with an arrow; then G. greeted him, he put her leg back; refused to take one of her three beautiful daughters; they flew into the domain of the three-headed witch Scorpia; she spews resin and flame; FF cut off her head, she accepted him even more generously than G., he returned the head; the horse carried them through the forest with monsters and they found themselves in the palace of the mistress of the land of immortality; her two older sisters are just as young; they forbade going to the Valley of Tears; FF chased a hare and got there; immediately felt homesick; his wife does not allow him to go back there; the horse warns that when he gets there, he will immediately turn back; but FF insists; where G. and S. lived, nothing of the old way remains; his father's palace has collapsed; the horse galloped back; FF is weak, his beard reaches his knees, his eyelids need to be lifted with his hands; in the basement he found a chest with dried-up death in it; if he had been late, it would have come to an end; FF crumbled to dust]: Sadetsky 1972: 117-127.

Central Europe. Poles : Dąbrowski 1992 [a merchant is shipwrecked and finds himself on an unfamiliar shore; there is a garden, a palace, beauties drinking wine; they cannot see or hear him because he is wearing an invisibility cloak; the merchant eats and drinks; one day he touches a girl, who shies away in fear; one day his cloak falls off, but the girls allow him to live in their land of immortality; in two months he wants to visit his parents, but the girls say that 200 years have passed in his country; the girls give him a horse that will carry him across the sea; the merchant will live if he does not get off it; at the market he is told that the coin he shows was in circulation 200 years ago; an old woman with a cart loaded with tattered fenders comes towards him; the cart is stuck, she asks for help; when the merchant gets off, she rushes to him - she is Death, she has worn out many wings over 200 years while looking for the merchant; he died]: 142-150; Shcherbakov 1980 [having taken a soldier, the prince went to look for the land of immortality; three robbers did not share a diamond ball, an invisibility cloak and a horse that gallops through the clouds; the prince threw the ball, told the robbers to run a race; they fell, killed themselves; the prince gave the ball to the soldier, told him to take it home and not to return; he himself flew to the land of immortality, married the daughter of the local king; one day he decided to visit his homeland; he hears his former servant wondering where his master had disappeared to; the maid: the devils took him to hell; he went down to beat her, and it was Death; the wife galloped up, found the body and also died; and the horse returned to the land of immortality]: 81-83.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Khakass [an elderly hunter advises a young man not to hunt until late - he will get lost; he disobeyed, wandered for forty days, ate all his clothes except for a felt coat; his wife prepares funeral food, he inhales a little of the smell; finally, he comes out to the aal, stops with a woman; she washes him, dresses and feeds him, hid him from her two sons; they returned, promised not to harm the man, married him to their mother; they have a child; the wife tells him not to go to the high peaks; the man again disobeyed and remembered the country where he lived before; the wife explains that in her country they do not grow old, and if the man returns, he will quickly grow old and die; his death in the form of an old man is crushed in the mud by a cart wheel, will ask to pull it out - it is impossible to pull it out; the man took pity on the old man, lifted the cart wheel with the handle of a whip; old man: tomorrow you will die; a man saw his wife and children and died]: Torokova, Sychenko 2014, No. 24: 425-431.

Eastern Siberia. Ilimpiysky Evenks (Ingarigdovskie, 1931) [{preliminary information from Vasilevich 1959: 187 and Mamontova 2023: 112-118: Charchikan saved the children of the Kingit bird (the iron man-eating bird), who were threatened by the thunderbird Agdy; K. is ready to deliver Ch. to any land for this; he wants to go to the heavenly opening}; in the upper world the land is good, only grass, there is no one; there is a beautiful woman in the yurt; at first she does not see K., only hears the fire crackling; she saw him after Ch. got together with her; she asks who delivered Ch.; K. warned her not to tell about her, so Ch. replies that he came himself; woman: you will not live here - there is no earth (dust, clay); bring earth from the middle earth; gave a winged horse; if you meet someone, do not listen to what he tells you; scoop up some earth and return, the horse will bring it; they flew to the ground, the horse fell on the path; there the old woman overturned the sled and could not straighten it; she asked to help lift the sled; Ch. untied himself from the horse, began to help the old woman; she grabbed him: she had been looking for you for three years, wearing out her fur boots; the horse flew away, Ch. remained, death ate him; when the horse flew up, the words were heard: “You have forbidden me. I told you, you did not listen to me”]: Vasilevich 1959: 167-168.