I22D. Living water behind the crushed rocks. .27.-.29.

To obtain the miraculous reviving (healing) remedy, one must penetrate into the space behind the crushed rocks.

Romanians, Greeks, Greek Cypriots, Albanians, Bosnians, Russians (place of recording unknown; conditionally - Olonetskaya), Ukrainians (Transcarpathia, Boykivshchyna), Slovaks, Balkars, Avars.

The Balkans. Romanians [a king has three daughters, and he must send his son to serve the Red King; the daughters are called upon in turn to put on men's clothing and go; the father scares the eldest in a bear's skin, she turns back; the same with the middle one; the youngest is not frightened; at court, a supposed youth cooks better than the king's sons and is made a cook; the envious sons tell their father that the youth boasted of bringing dates from the bear's garden; the horse helps to do this; they say that the youth promised to bring a stallion from a herd of wild mares in the Sahara; the horse orders that a buffalo skin be put on him and a noose given; fighting with the stallion, he throws the noose on him and brings him; to bring living and dead water from behind the crushing mountains ; the horse says that at midday the mountains stop for a short time; the girl got the water, but hears a voice behind her: whoever does this will change his sex; get an aurochs with a star on its forehead; the horse tells him to dig a hole, hide in it, jump out, cut off the aurochs's head and sit in the hole until dawn, until the aurochs dies; the former girl returns, and now the young man tells the Red Tsar that his sons boasted about sitting in a burning haystack and telling stories; they burned, and the young man returns to his father and inherits the throne]: Bîrlea 1966: 430-431; Romanians [the queen has three daughters: with the sun on their foreheads; with the moon on their backs; with the Morning Star above their eyebrows; went swimming, a whirlwind carried them away; the queen swallowed a grain of pepper, Fat-Frumos was born; he grew up quickly; out of mischief, he pierced two gourds of water that an old woman was carrying with an arrow; she wants the same whirlwind to carry him away too; FF forced the mother to tell about the sisters; and about the father: he fought for 9 years with the Fire-breathing Serpent; his weapon is buried under a poplar, the horse is grazing somewhere; the sorcerer orders to swing the bridle in the meadow; a nag dragged herself along, orders to give her milk from 300 cows to drink: the fire-horse galloped; then 600; snakes ahead; the horse orders to pull an arrow out of his ear, to shoot at the snakes; they missed; FF came to the first sister; the club of her husband-snake flew in; FF threw her back, waits under the bridge, drove the snake into the ground; turned the silver palace into a nut, took it with him; then the golden palace (snake, nut - the same); the topaz palace; the snake turned into yellow flame, FF - into scarlet; both ask the raven to sprinkle them with fat, the enemy - with water; the raven sprinkled FF with fat, because he promised him the bodies of three snakes; the horse warned not to eat fruits, grapes, not to drink from the spring, but to hit them with a saber - these are the transformed wives of the snakes; the mother of the snakes is chasing; the horse with FF manages to fly to Tsvetovik-Silkbeard (TS); the snake made a hole, FF threw a red-hot club into its mouth; FF fell in love with the daughter of TS; he asks for living water for her from behind the crushing mountains ; FF meets, takes with him the Drinker, the Glutton, the Jumper with millstones on his legs; the horse rushed between the mountains, FF got some water; TS tells to drink a lot; to eat (the Drinker and the Glutton obey); to get a carnation that smells fragrant for 9 kingdoms; FF takes the carnation from the glass palace of the snake, he pursues, FF takes it out of the horse's ear and throws soap (slippery road), a brush (forest), a whetstone (mountain); the snake overcame the obstacles; the horse took off and trampled the snake; wedding; the Jumper spent the night in the bedroom; at night a snake crawled out of the mouth of TS's daughter, then two more; the Jumper killed them; all the other husbands died; the Jumper demands half of the wife, swings his sword, the fourth dragon crawls out of his mouth; Jumper: take your wife, leave only one little devil in her, there should be one in every woman; at home FF turned three nuts into palaces, the father married off his daughters]: Sadetsky 1972: 105-116; Greeks (Siros) [in the evening while working, the eldest sister says that she would like to marry the tsar's cook, the middle one - the treasurer, the youngest - the prince and bear him three children, the Sun, the Moon and the Morning Star; the prince, disguised as the Sun, stood under the window and heard, fulfilled the wishes of the sisters; went off to war, leaving his wife pregnant; the mother-in-law told the midwife to throw the children into the river, replacing them with a puppy, a kitten and a mouse; the midwife put the babies in a basket; the shepherd noticed that one goat was returning with an empty udder; found three children, raised them, placed them in a tower; the mother-in-law sent the daughter-in-law to the chicken coop, and the prince no longer asked about his wife; One day he saw a tower, a girl in the window, two young men taming horses near the tower; the prince thought that his children should be like that; the mother told the prince that he saw elves; she scolded the midwife, ordered her to destroy the survivors; she came disguised as a beggar and told the girl that she was missing a branch that makes music; the brothers went to look for it; a monk he met explained that the branch was guarded by two dragons; at midnight they would fall asleep and it was necessary to shoot them in the mouths; the brothers killed the dragons, brought the branch; seeing the young men, the king rejoiced, and the mother again said that they were elves; the midwife persuades the girl to ask the brothers to get an all-seeing mirror; the monk: 40 dragons guard it, they sleep in turns; the brothers killed them all, brought a mirror; the midwife: the Dikjeretto bird is missing; when she looks in the mirror, she says what all people in the world say in any language; the brothers left their sister a shirt each: if they turn black, they are in trouble; the monk refused to help - why does the girl send her brothers to their death on a whim; they approached the bird and it turned them into stone; the shirts turned black, the sister went to look for her brothers; the monk: you need to strip naked, approach the bird from behind and grab its legs; the captured bird told you to go for living water between the crushed rocks ; the girl slipped through, the rocks tore off only a piece of her dress; the sister revived her brothers, they all returned, the shepherd made a feast; the prince came, the girl showed him the branch, the mirror and the bird; the prince called them to him; the bird told him to take her with him and let the girl offer the prince to try what she had prepared: eggplants, and diamonds inside; the prince: how can there be diamonds in eggplants; the bird: and how can a woman give birth to a puppy, a kitten and a mouse? the bird told everything; the prince returned his wife from the henhouse; the midwife was beheaded, the queen was burned]: Hahn 1864(2), No. 69: 47-58; Greeks [the king is sailing on a ship, finds himself on a foreign shore, goes to see a shepherd; baptizes his newborn son; leaves a ring and a note; in it he does not order to take a lame, blind, beardless (baldchin) as companions; the young man goes to look for his godfather; takes the lame, blind, but they hesitate, he leaves them behind; the beardless man offers to lower him into the well for water; he raises him after an oath that he will give him a ring and a note, will be silent until death; the king sends the young man to pasture cows, takes the deceiver for his son; the young man understands the language of birds and animals, laughs at swallows; the deceiver persuades the king to send him to bring 1) the Pipiree bird from India; the servant teaches him to fly on a flying horse, to bypass fire, the young man brings the bird; 2) to bring the Golden-haired; the servant explains what to take with him; the horse wakes the young man, he kills the snake that was devouring the eagle's chicks; at first she thinks that it was the young man who killed the chicks, the chicks explain; The eagle gives a feather; the horse orders not to trample the ants, the young man feeds them grain; the ant gives its wing; the young man saves a fish in the shallows, it gives a bone; he saves bees from the water, feeds them honey, they give a sting; the king promises to give his Golden-haired daughter if the young man 1) gets the ring thrown into the sea (the fish bring it), 2) separates the mixture of different grains (the ants do), 3) brings the water of life; the eagle orders to go to the pounding mountains , fills the young man's golden vessel with water; the king believes, ordering to kill the Moor and reviving him; 4) to identify the bride among 40 girls (a bee sits on her); the young man brings the Golden-haired; the beardless man orders him to get an apple from the very top, the young man falls, breaks, the beardless man buries him; the Golden-haired one revives with living water; the youth is released from his oath; the beardless man is tied to the tail of a horse]: Megas 1970, No. 33: 83-93; Greeks [upon learning of the water of immortality, Alexander rides Bucephalus between the crushing rocks , kills the dragons, fills a vessel with the immortal water , returns, and falls asleep; his sister, seeing the vessel with water, pours it on wild onions, so they never wither; A. turns his sister into a siren with a fish tail so that she will suffer forever; but she loves her brother; asks the sailors if A. is alive; if they say that he is dead, he will raise a storm out of grief, and the ship will sink; they must answer that he is alive and reigns]: Megas 1970, No. 75: 200-202; Greeks [at first the Nereids were ordinary women, the first Nereid Callo was the smartest of all; she learned from her grandmother that somewhere far away there was the water of immortality; on the way there were crushed rocks ; K. managed to fly between them, collect water and drink it; she also sprinkled this water on the onion (that is why in the fall only the stem dies, but the bulb remains); she also sprinkled amaranth, that is why it can grow on bare rocks; she gave drink to the eagle, which grows old, hides in a cave, sheds its feathers, another eagle takes care of it at this time; when the feathers grow back, the eagle is young again; the same with the raven]: Zochios 2023, No. 4: 122-123; Greek Cypriots [the king boarded a ship and with his only companion sailed to an unknown destination; landed at Cyprus; they went out to a light, there was a shepherd; he had a son and the king became his godson; gave him a ring and a letter; when the youth grows up, let him come to him; but do not take a lame, cross-eyed or bald man as a companion; the youth went, imposed himself on the lame man, but fell behind; the same with the cross-eyed man; the bald man suggested that the youth go down into the well to get water; he pulled him out only after he gave him the ring and letter and swore until his death to call himself a servant, and the bald man - master; the youth was given cows to graze; he laughs at the conversation of swallows; the deceiver complains to the king that he is being treated; and since the shepherd understands the language of birds, then let him go to India for the Pipiris bird; the old servant warns that hundreds of people tried to get the bird and did not return; you must wait until two huge fires go out; then grab the bird on a golden branch of a tree and jump away; the youth brought the bird; bald: let him get the golden-haired girl; the servant tells him to take a lot of honey, millet and money with him; the young man fell asleep at a halt, his horse woke him up: a snake crawls to the eagle's nest; the young man hacked it to death; the eagle flew in, the chicks explained that the young man saved them; she gave him a feather to call her; the horse tells him to be careful, not to trample the ants; the young man poured out millet for the ants, feeding them; the queen of the ants gave her a wing to call her; the young man released a fish that had found itself on dry land into the sea (hereinafter, a scale); he pulled a swarm of bees out of a stream and poured honey for the bees; their queen gave her a sting to call her; the father of the golden-haired princess threw a ring into the sea and told them to get it (the fish got it); during the night, sort out the grain from all over the kingdom, separating it by type of cereal (ants sorted it out); bring living water; the young man called the eagle; living water is inside the crushed mountains ; the young man gave the eagle a golden cup and she brought water in it; the king cut off the head of the servant and tried the water: the servant came to life; identify the golden-haired one among 39 others (a bee was circling around her); the young man brought the princess; the bald man: his path will climb a tall apple tree and pick apples; a branch broke, the young man fell and crashed to his death; the bald man buried the body; the girl orders the body to be dug up, revived the young man with living water; the young man is released from the oath and told everything; the king ordered the bald man to be tied to the horse's tail; the young man married the girl and after the death of the king received the throne]: Herreros 2007, no. 40: 103-108 (= Megas 1970, no. 33: 83-93); Albanians [the king spent the night with a rich Wallachian shepherd; that night the hostess gave birth; the king ordered the boy to learn languages, and gave him a cross; when the youth turns 15, let him come to him and show the cross; the youth grew up, went to the king, went down to the spring; the servant, threatening to throw a stone at him, forced him to exchange clothes and status; to swear that the youth would not expose him; he promised that he would be freed from the oath only by dying and resurrecting; the king kindly received the deceiver, and the youth found himself among the servants; the deceiver pretended to be ill, asked to send his servant (i.e. the youth) for cabbage, which Lubi guards; an old man appeared to the youth in a dream; he ordered him to take 14 measures of honey, 14 milk and come at noon, when Lubi is not at home; on the way the youth met the old man; he teaches: in Lubi's house, clean the walls of the tannery, hide, leave honey and milk; Lubi will eat and ask the one who brought such a delicacy to show himself; ask for cabbage; eat three cabbage heads, and he, the old man, will give a head of cabbage on the way back for the deceiver; and so it all happened; the deceiver again pretended to be ill: it is necessary to get the Beauty of the Earth; the old man orders to ask the king to give him a thousand lambs, rams, a hundred measures of wheat and honey and 10 brooms; it is necessary to throw lambs to the eagles, wheat to the ants, honey to the bees, rams to the lions, clean the walls and the door to the chambers of the Beauty of the Earth with brooms; the animals will ask what reward the young man would like; ask the lions, bees, ants and the catch for a strand of wool, a feather, etc.; if the strand of wool, etc. is burned, the animals will come to the rescue; The Beauty of the Earth asks the guards why they did not stop the young man; the guards: you did not feed us like this, did not clean us; she tells the young man to separate the mixture of wheat, barley, rye and earth during the night (the ants separated it); to bring living water from behind the crushing mountains (eagles: at midday the mountains stop for half an hour; they brought the young man, he got water and they brought him back); to identify her among the 12 girls (a bee sat on her); the deceiver asks the king to kill the young man, he did it himself; The Beauty of the Earth sent a servant to bring the dead man, revived him with living water; the young man was able to tell the king everything; the deceiver was torn apart by four trees; the young man went to visit his parents, leaving the king's wife with the robe he had bought for the Beauty of the Earth; he ordered not to give it to her until his return; there were dances and the Beauty of the Earth refused to participate without this robe; the king's youngest daughter secretly gave it to her; she tells the young man to tell him that he will find her after wearing out three pairs of iron shoes; after wearing out the shoes, he stops at a tavern where they feed you for free: you just have to tell him what you saw along the way; one man tells how he dropped a bottle of water, went down into a ravine and saw 12 girls bathing; the young man went to the ravine, grabbed his wife's clothes and threw them into the fire; the beauty stayed with the young man forever]: Dozon 1991, No. 12: 83-96; Albanians [three brothers have sisters married to the Sun, the Moon and the South; they decide to visit them; they spend the night three times, each time one brother guards the others' sleep; the eldest killed the lamia, without telling his brothers; the same with the middle one; the youngest too, but the lamia managed to put out the fire with her tail; the young man sees a light in the distance, they go there; on the way he meets the mother of the night, asks her to prolong the darkness; she promises to do this, but he does not believe and ties her up; approaching the source of the light, he sees a huge cauldron with 12 ears standing on the fire; he picked it up, lit a torch, and put it back; 12 robbers are amazed by this strength: they can only lift the cauldron together; they lead the young man to rob the king; having broken through the wall, they climbed into the stable; the young man remained outside; raised the alarm, cut off the heads of the robbers as they got out; left his knife there; on the way back he freed the mother of the night; The king found the dead robbers and a knife; he ordered an inn to be set up where they would feed them for free, but each one had to tell about what he had done; the eldest and middle brothers told how each one had killed the lamia, the youngest also about the robbers; the king gave him his daughter in marriage; on the occasion of the royal wedding, the prisoners were released; among them was a man half made of iron; the young man persuaded the king to release him too; as soon as the king broke the shackles, the monster swallowed the princess and flew away; the young man asks the king for iron shoes and a staff, promises to return the princess in a year; he comes to his sister, whose husband is the Sun; she hid her brother, the Sun senses human flesh, but promises not to touch his brother-in-law; she advises him to ask the Moon; he sends him to the South; the South also does not know where the iron man is, directs him to a huge falcon, orders him to approach him from behind and threaten to kill him if he does not tell where the iron man is; the falcon orders to prepare meat and repair his wings - he is too old; they fly to a high mountain, the last piece of meat the young man cut off from his thigh; having flown there, the falcon regurgitated this piece and grew it back; the wife hid the young man, but the iron one found him, drank his blood, and spat out his skin and bones; the falcon saw, flew between the crushed mountains, collected swallow's milk in his beak, revived the young man with it ; he taught the wife to pretend to be dead and ask her husband where his strength is; iron; in a broom; the wife burned the broom, but nothing happened; pretended to be sick again; iron: on the mountain there is a boar, he has a silver tusk, in the tusk a hare, in the hare there are three doves, in them is strength; the young man came to the shepherd, began to ask about the boar, he heard, the young man began to fight with him; boar: I would like to sharpen my tusks with a racine de gouet; youth: I would like some flour, fried fish and wine; the shepherd brought everything, the youth killed the boar, got the doves; having twisted the heads of two, the youth came to the iron man, killed the third, the iron man died; the falcon brought the youth and the princess to the king; everyone is happy]: Dozon 1991, No. 15: 121-134; Bosnians [dying father orders his three sons to give their three sisters to the first ones who come for them; the elders do not go to give their sisters to strangers, the youngest Mula-Mustafa gives them; the brothers go to look for them; they spend the night by the lake, on the first night the eldest brother watches, a dragon crawls out of the lake, the young man chops off its head, cuts off its ears, throws the head and body into the lake; on the second night the same middle brother - a two-headed dragon; on the third MM - three-headed; when he threw the body into the lake, a wave poured out the fire; MM sees fire in the distance, comes to the giants' fire; they will give fire if MM kills the Sultan in Istanbul; the giant carries MM to the Sultan's chambers, but MM kills the giant himself, takes the Sultan's ring, leaves; the awakened Sultan orders to find his savior, for this purpose to set up inns, where to ask those who come about their adventures; three brothers meet in such a courtyard, tell what happened to them, recognize each other; the sultan gives his daughter in marriage to MM; having left, he orders not to unlock the room where Atesch Perischa is; MM unlocks it, AP carries away his wife (i.e. the sultan's daughter); MM goes in search; arrives at the tower where the eldest sister is married to the king of ravens; he sends a raven to the middle sister, she for the king of dragons, he to the youngest - for the king of eagles; the king of eagles calls the eagles, only one old sick man can deliver MM to AP, but first he must bathe in the living water, it is between the rocks that open once a year; MM feeds the eagle with rams, the eagle manages to rejuvenate before the rocks slam shut ; AP arrives on a three-legged horse; in his absence MM makes an agreement with his wife so that she will find out what AP's life is; he says that it is in a broom, in a pipe, in a mug; MM tells his wife to decorate them every time; AP admits that it is in a three-legged horse; whoever kills the mare that comes out of the lake once a year and takes her foal will defeat him; he himself did not kill the mare, but wounded the foal, that is why it is three-legged; MM killed, took the foal, his wife gave it cow's milk to drink, it became a powerful horse; MM killed AP, put his wife on the three-legged horse, returned with her to the sultan]: Schütz 1960, No. 4: 31-48.

Central Europe. Russians (location of recording not specified) {the motif of the headscarf, with which the sister waves it to create a bridge for her demonic lover, is found only in the Russian North and the Pskov Region; the execution of the antagonist "by firing squad" - only in the Russian North; therefore, in the correlation table, the text is conditionally attributed to the Olonetsk Province.} [Ivan Tsarevich and his sister went to live in a state where the people had died out; they come to Baba Yaga; she has a revolving hut on chicken legs; she advises I. not to take his sister with him; gives him a ball of yarn and tells him to follow it; the ball rolls to the second Baba Yaga, who is in the same hut; gives him a towel, with which he can wave it to create a bridge across the river; wave it again, and the bridge will disappear; she also advises not to take his sister; I. ​​hunts with dogs; the Serpent Gorynych arrives and becomes a fine fellow; advises Ivan's sister to ask him for a handkerchief, as if to wash it; then the Serpent will cross the bridge to her; in order to get rid of I., the Serpent advises his sister to pretend to be ill, to ask for wolf's milk; the she-wolf gives milk and a wolf cub; the same with the she-bear; with the lioness; (further insertion, var. 2: 459-460: the serpent suggests to his mistress to send her brother for living water to the kingdom where two mountains diverge once a day, after 2-3 minutes they come together again; between those mountains living and healing waters are kept; the prince rode on horseback between the mountains, scooped up two bubbles of water, but on the way back the mountains crushed the horse's (hind) legs; the prince sprinkled him with water and he became whole); now the Serpent came up with the idea of ​​sending I. to the mill for flour dust; there are 12 iron doors there, they will slam shut themselves; I. managed to get out, but his hunt remained locked up; I. asks to be allowed to take a steam bath before dying; does everything slowly; the raven reports how many doors the hunt gnawed through; the animals managed to run up and tore the Serpent apart; I. put his sister in a stone pillar; left an empty vat, a vat of water and a bundle of hay; he will let her go when she eats the hay, drinks the water and cries a vat of tears; I. went on; half the people in the city are crying, half are having fun; old woman: the 12-headed serpent flies to eat people from different ends; the people of the end where he will not fly today are having fun; it is the princess's turn to be eaten; I. chopped off the snake's heads, cut out the tongues, fell asleep on the princess's lap; the water carrier cut off Ivan's head and ordered him to say that he is the savior; the animals found the body, the lion caught the young raven, made the raven bring living and dead water; first he tore apart and revived the little raven, then he fused Ivan's head with his body and revived him; I. came to the wedding, showed his tongues; the water carrier was shot; the wedding; I. went to his sister; she ate the hay, drank the water, cried a tear in the vat; he forgave her and brought her to live with him]: Afanasyev 1985, No. 204(2): 100-106; Ukrainians (Transcarpathia, Mukachevo) [a childless woman asks to give her at least some boy; gave birth to a little one, they christened him Alamik; he grew up, made a cannon and a sabre out of wood, brought animals from hunting every day; came to a castle where there were 12 robbers; beat them at cards, chopped up 11, and on the 12th put them on bread and water; brought his mother to the castle; forbade opening one door; she came to the door, the robber said where the key was, she let him out; in order to ruin her son and stay with her lover, the mother pretends to be ill, asks to bring her wolf, bear, lion's milk; the she-wolf, bear, lioness give milk and a cub each; sends for flour to the devil's mill; then for a piglet from God's pig; he comes on Friday; she orders to leave the animals with her, gives a horse, teaches to grab a piglet without taking his foot out of the stirrup; on the way there to promise the drowned ferrywoman to find out how long it will take her to ferry across the river; on the way back, when she has ferryed, to say that until she drowns the animal; this animal turned out to be God's pig, it drowned; Friday kept God's piglet for herself, replacing it with another; the mother asks for God's wine ; Friday: you will reach two crushed fiery mountains, wave a towel, they will let you through ; they will ask to find out how long they will fight; 12 women will be sleeping, grab one terrible one, without taking his foot out of the stirrup; having passed the crushing mountains, say that they will fight until someone is crushed; they crushed 12 women; Friday replaced the wine; A.'s mother suggested that he bathe him and tie his little fingers together to test his strength; when she tied them with a silk thread, A. could not tear them apart; a robber jumped out; A. asks before he dies to be allowed to squeak his pipe three times, and to give the pieces of his body to the animals; the animals came running to the sound of the pipe; the robber chopped up A., hid his heart, and the animals brought the sacks with the remains to Friday; she ordered the animals to wash them, folded them, put the heart of God's piglet in, washed it with God's wine and A. came to life; chopped up the robber; put 12 barrels in front of his mother: until she cries enough, he will not free her; A. came to a city in mourning; the dragon blocked the water, gives them in marriage to girls, it's the princess's turn; the tsar will give his daughter and half the kingdom to the savior; A. sent a woman for water: let her tell the dragon that it is for A.; the dragon gave it; on the way the woman drank the water; but the dragon gave it again; when A. fell asleep at the well, the princess pinned her ring to his hair; at first the princess did not move from fear, then she shuddered, A. woke up, cut off 20 heads of the dragon; a gypsy saw this, who climbed a willow; A. sent the princess to her father, cut out the tongues from the heads; as soon as the dragon was killed, water flowed throughout the city; the gypsy picked up the heads, brought them to the tsar; first a wolf, then a bear, a lion run to the princess, she recognized them and fed them; A. came, put the princess's ring on a plate, she recognized it; A. showed his tongues, the gypsy was torn apart by horses; wedding; A.'s mother came, put a robber's bone in his bed, he died, they buried him; animals dug up and brought it to Friday, she revived him with God's wine; A. returned, the bone was found in the bed; his mother was torn apart by four horses; A. inherited the kingdom; maybe they are still alive, if they did not die]: Dei 198: 19-31; Ukrainians (Transcarpathia) [a widower marries a neighbor; she makes it a condition that he get rid of their children - Ivan and Marika; he takes them into the forest, leaving a log to beat against a tree in the wind, as if he were chopping firewood; they returned home; the next time the father took them further, the children remained in the forest; they bake wild horseradish, go to bed with their heads in different directions; a bear and a wolf come, are amazed by the strange beast, leave; in the morning there is good bread in the ashes; a magic shirt, gun, and sabre are on the sycamore; I. gets them, becomes a strongman; breaks into a robber's den, the princess is there; kills 11 robbers, the 12th pretends to be dead, I. leaves the body, lets the girl go to her father, leaves; the robber asks M. to bring living water, pour it into the keyhole; opens the door, the robber's severed ear grows back, M. takes the robber as a husband; in order to destroy his brother, he pretends to be sick, asks for wolf, then bear and other meat; the she-wolf, then the bear and other animals ask them not to kill them, gives a wolf cub, a bear cub, etc.; the robber suggests M. to send his brother for water from a spring between crushed mountains ; at midday they stop, I. got water; to bring flour from the mills that grind human bones, open once every 12 years; I. collects flour, manages to jump out, the doors slam shut, his animals remained inside; M. bathes I. in fresh milk, he grew languid, she tied him with horse hair, the robber took the shirt in which is strength; they gouged out I.'s eyes, threw them into the well; people pulled him out; he wandered through the forest, fell head first into a swamp, there is living water there, he regained his sight; bought good clothes, swapped clothes with his grandfather; he gave him bottles of water, one makes you look younger, the other makes you look older; came to M. and the robber disguised as a beggar; when they fell asleep, he took his shirt, saber, gun; ordered them to give him his flute; began to play, the animals broke out of the mill, came running, tore the robber to pieces; left M. two barrels for tears, one to cry for him, the other for the robber; in the neighboring kingdom a snake locked up the water; I. ​​killed him, freed the princess whom the gypsy was carrying the snake, cut off the snake's tongues, the gypsy cut off a piece from each tongue, demanded the princess as a wife from the tsar; at home almost all the tears were cried for the robber; I. ​​shows the tsar not the tips of the tongues, but the tongues themselves, the animals tore the gypsy to pieces, I. took the princess; M. came, poisoned I., locked the animals; they broke free, the Fox brought living water; the next time M. locked the gate again, put a pitchfork in I.'s bed; the same; the animals tore M. to pieces]: Verkhovyna's Tales 1970: 232-243; Ukrainians (Hutsulshchyna) [the king grew old; he dreamed that there was living water that turned old men into eighteen-year-olds ; the older brothers went on a quest, went on a spree; the youngest ended up in the wooded mountains; the old man in the hut; "If the soul is pure, then let the doors open, and if impure, then let it scatter like poppy seeds"; the doors opened; the old man: there had been no pure soul for 300 years; he put the prince on a dove and sent him to his brother, who was 600 years old; he sent the same to his brother, who was 900 years old; he sent to the princess, she was sleeping, the prince got some water, lay down with the princess and left a note about who he was and when he came; at the entrance there were sabers that only stopped for half a minute ; when the prince jumped out, they cut off the heel of his boot ; A 900-year-old grandfather went to bed and told the prince to collect all the dust in a heap; he did it; the grandfather gave the dust: it will be of great benefit; the same with a 600- and 300-year-old; they want to hang the prince's brothers, because they owe a lot, but have nothing to pay with; the prince volunteered to pay, but did not have enough money, they want to hang him too; he spilled some of that dust - it turned out to be money; while the youngest was sleeping, the elders took the living water and everything else, and urinated in the youngest's flask; they brought water to the father, he became younger; the youngest came - the king's eyes only stung from that "water"; the princess's son grew up, he wants to know who his father is; she found a note; the princess sent a letter to send her the child's father; the eldest prince came; the boy: he does not walk on carpets, but along the edge; they beat him and kicked him out; the same with the middle one; the brothers had to admit that they stole water from the younger one; the younger one walks on carpets, shows a sabre mark on his heel; a wedding; the narrator drank vodka there]: Zinchuk 2006a, no. 4: 15-24; Ukrainians (Hutsulshchyna) [a stepmother tells her husband to take his stepdaughter and stepson to the forest; the first time the girl scatters ashes; the father hangs a piece of wood on a tree, it knocks in the wind, as if he were chopping wood, and he himself left; the brother and sister returned along the trail; the second time there was not enough ashes, the girl took dust, the wind carried it away; the boy noticed a fire from the tree; the brother and sister came to the fire, there were two loaves of bread and two eggs; then they came to the house; there were 24 robbers there, 12 come at night, 12 during the day; the boy cuts off each one's head as they stick it in the window; only one is wounded, asks a girl to bandage his head, takes him as a wife; in order to get rid of her brother, the sister pretends to be ill: wolf's milk will help; now she needs living water; the old woman: the water is behind the crushing mountains , you have to run through and back; the old woman tells her to leave the living water with her, and bring the one she gives; the sister: she needs a guinea pig; the old woman: it is also behind the crushing mountains; leaves that one with her, tells her sister to bring a simple one; the sister: let me tie your fingers, see if you can tear it; a robber came in, chopped the young man into pieces, put him in a sack, and threw him into the forest; the old woman's horse picked up the sack and brought it to her; she folded the limbs of the body, revived him with living water; cooked the piglet, gave him to eat, the young man felt enormous strength; the old woman turned him into a bird, he flew to the robber, sat on a tree; the robber climbed after the bird, leaving his saber on the ground; the bird flew off, became a young man, he chopped up the robber; put a sack on the horse, tied his sister alive behind the horse; the horse dragged her, trampled the remains of the robber]: Zinchuk 2006a, No. 91: 267-272; Slovaks [a mother breastfeeds her son three times for seven years; when she is convinced that he is able to uproot a beech tree, she says that it is enough - let him take care of her now and provide her with a home; the son found a dragon's castle in the forest, broke into it, killed the dragons; in the tenth room another one is chained to the wall; he asks to be freed, other dragons have chained him; the young man refuses, brings his mother to live in this castle; forbids entering the tenth room; she goes in, agrees to free the chained one; for this it is necessary to bring wine from the barrel in the basement; after each cup one of the hoops falls off; in order to get rid of her son, the dragon advises the mother to pretend to be ill, to bring a piglet of an earthen pig; the young man came to St. Nedelka; she orders him to mount her horse named Tatoshik, gives her a pike to prick the piglet; it will squeal, the pig will chase it; the second time the piglet will not squeal out of fear of the sow, it can be taken away; the next time the mother, on the advice of the dragon, asks for living and dead water; Nedelka teaches: the water of life is in the right mountain, it will rise at noon; death is in the left, it will rise at midnight; the mountains almost crushed the young man's hands ; Nedelka kept the living and dead water for themselves, and gave the youth some ordinary water; the dragon suggests sending for a pelican; Nedelka: the wind tears out trees from the flapping of the pelican's wings; the youth brought the pelican, Nedelka kept it for herself, and gave the youth a simple eagle for his mother; bring a golden apple from the dragon's garden; Nedelka gives a ring: if you turn it around and think about it, your strength will increase a hundredfold; the horse carried it over the garden wall; the apples are guarded by a princess kidnapped by dragons; if they are stolen, she will be killed; she also gives a ring that multiplies strength a hundredfold; the dragon under the apple tree; they began to fight, the dragon drove the youth into the ground up to his ankles; raven: who will I help? dragon: me, he promises gold; youth: me, he promises the carcasses of all the horses grazing in the meadow; the raven sprinkled the youth with water so that the dragon's heat would not burn him; When the youth turned the second ring, he drove the dragon into the ground up to his shoulders; chopped off his head; the princess herself plucked an apple for the youth; the youth promises to come for her in a year; he brought a golden apple to his mother; she offered to tie him up: is he strong like his father? the youth broke the rope; then she tied him with a silk cord: he did not break it; the dragon chopped him into pieces, they loaded them onto T. and drove him away; T. came to Nedelka, she revived the youth with dead and living water; but there was no heart: his mother took it out and hung it from the ceiling; Nedelka ordered him to dress up as a beggar, come to the castle to play the bagpipes and ask for the heart as a reward; the mother began to dance with the dragon; the piper said that he was too old to take money, but he would like the heart; Nedelka washed the heart with living and dead water and ordered the pelican to put it back in the youth's place; after this she let the pelican go; turned the youth into a dove: let him fly to find out what his mother was doing; in order to become a man again, he must think of her; the mother tells the dragon to shoot the dove, but it turns into a youth and cuts off the dragon's head; he takes the mother out into the yard, throws up a sword; falling, it pierces her heart; the youth comes to the king, whose daughter he saved, and marries her; if they did not die, then they are still alive]: Wenzig 1857: 144-156.

Caucasus – Asia Minor. Balkars (west 1959) {It is not directly stated that this is about living water, but the context is the same; perhaps the definition of the motive should be clarified} [the wife died, the husband began to look for the same, did not find one, decided to take the daughter who was most like her mother; the daughter ran away, climbed an apple tree, ate an apple, became pregnant, gave birth to a son, he grew up quickly; the deer ordered to kill him, a house will arise from the skin, greyhounds from the buds, a bridge from the tail, if necessary; across the river, an emegen asks the woman to bring him to her; she does not want to take him as a son, agrees to take him as her husband; she put down the deer tail, the emegen crossed the river on the bridge; the emegens taught the woman to pretend to be ill: you need 1) meat of ram-horned aurochs; the young man got it; 2) water from a rock that sometimes opens and sometimes closes (one girl helped to get it); 3) to bathe in a cauldron (the Emegens set the table with the second one, began to cook the young man; the aurochs knocked down the upper cauldron, the girl pulled the young man out; the young man killed the Emegens and his mother, married the girl]: Malkonduev 2017: 470-472; Avars [the khan built a glass palace for his son and fed him boneless meat and crustless bread; one day, by mistake, they brought meat with bones and crustless bread; the prince pricked himself on the bone, threw it away and broke the glass; told his parents to let him leave the house; fell asleep in the meadow; the father came, woke him up; the son: why did you interfere with my beautiful dream! ran away; another khan found him in the forest; the prince called himself a Foundling, began to herd pigs; the khan fell in love with him; others are envious; they advise sending N. for a pearl that could illuminate everything around; N. released a fish into the sea, it brought a pearl; confidants They suggest sending N. for living water ; he pulled out a chick of a huge bird that was stuck in a hollow; the bird took the wineskin and flew between the crushing rocks that were belching flames , brought water; the khan and his wife grew younger; the nukers advise sending N. for a shining beauty - the daughter of another khan; on the way N. meets and takes as a companion the Man who cuts plane trees (he replies that it is N. who is strong, not he; having learned that N. is in front of him, he goes with him); the same Man who runs faster than the arrow he himself shot; Man who throws a stick to the sky; Man who listens to underground ants; the princess shows the heads of the suitors on stakes; gives a scarf: with its help, the felt axe, which they will offer to chop the stump, will become steel; the water in the jug, with which they will offer to climb the tower, will freeze without spilling a drop; when the prince lifted the jug, he thought of his parents and shed a tear; but the inspectors were convinced that it was not a drop of water, but something salty; slaughter a huge bull (the giant slaughtered it); overtake a woman; she put Runner to sleep, Listener heard snoring, Metal threw his staff, waking Runner, who brought a jug of water before the woman; the friends were locked in an iron house, the wood was set on fire around, Vodokhleb poured water on everything; Thrower threw the khan into the sky, he is still falling; N. returned to the khan who sent him, who married him to the beauty he had captured; he visited his parents, rejuvenated them with living water; he explained the dream to his father: at the moment when his father woke him up, he saw that the sun and moon had risen nearby, and there were many stars around]: Atayev 1972, No. 89: 140-147.