I61. Milk on the Milky Way, A778.5.

.15.16.24.27.-.30.33.34.

The Milky Way is a trail of spilled milk.

Latins, Italians (Friuli, Abruzzo), Sicilians, French (Dauphiné), (Irish?), Western Toraja, Ancient Greece, Bulgarians, Romanians, Hungarians, Belarusians, Ukrainians (Ekaterinoslav), Russians (Vladimir, Tula), Terek Cossacks, Armenians, Azerbaijanis (Chuvash?), Turkmens, Kyrgyz, Baikal Buryats.

Southern Europe. Latins [Ovid's Metamorphoses (turn of the eras): "There is a road on high, visible in the clear sky; / It is called the Milky Way, noticeable by its whiteness. / That is the road for the highest gods under the shelter of the Thunderer, / To the royal house of Jupiter" (translated by S.V. Shervinsky)]: Ovid. Met. I. 168-171; [Marcus Manilius's Astronomics (1st century); about the Milky Way: "I will not hide another old legend, not so terrible: once from the snow-white breast of the queen of the gods a stream of milk poured out and left its color in the sky; this place is called Milky: the name explains its origin. Or did a dense crowd of stars unite their light here, and it is all the brighter because it comes from the union of many luminaries? Or do the souls of heroes, freed from their bodies and leaving the Earth, rise up and live forever in the heavens, which they are worthy of? (translated by E.M. Shtaerman)]: Manil. Astr. I. 750-761; Italians (Friuli, Abruzzo, Sicily ) [the Milky Way was formed from a drop of milk spilled by the Madonna]: Volpati 1933b: 42; Italians (Abruzzo: Bari) [while feeding Jesus, the Madonna spilled a drop of milk; a swallow picked it up and carried it to God in heaven; he threw it across the sky, forming the Milky Way]: Kabakova 2006, no. 5B: 16, 16-17.

Western Europe. French (Dauphiné): Joister 2005 [the Virgin had too much milk for Jesus, some spilled, became the Milky Way]: 504; 2007 [the infant Gargantua suckled at the breast of his wet nurse, the milk spurted out, forming the Milky Way]; (cf. Irish [Dagda – the chief sun god, lord of knowledge; he mated with the goddess Boand, the White Cow, who is associated with the moon; the Milky Way is her trace, she sprinkled the sky with her milk, thus the stars appeared {it is unclear whether they are the stars of the Milky Way or any stars}]: Roberts 2016: 11-12).

Malaysia - Indonesia. Western Toraja [a fisherman noticed that the water in a pond was muddy; he stayed to watch, in the morning seven moon maidens came down and started swimming; the fisherman hid the clothes of one, married her, the maiden's name was Topitoe, she gave birth to a son; she cooked red food, the husband said that she was cooking blood; this was not true, the wife was offended, asked her parents to lower her a ladder, told her husband to take care of the child, she climbed the rainbow; the husband took the child, climbed a banyan tree, it grew to the moon; the wife allowed her husband to stay only for the night; when he woke up, he found himself on the ground; the child remained, T. began to breastfeed him, he soiled himself, his excrement is grasshoppers; T. took her breast away in fright, the milk spilled across the sky, became the Milky Way; The banyan tree now grows on the moon, visible there]: Kruyt 1938, no. 40: 390-391.

The Balkans. Ancient Greece [Parmenides' "On Nature" (late 6th – first half of the 5th century BC): "...as the earth, and the sun, and the moon, / And the co-existent ether, and the heavenly milk, and that / Farthest Olympus, and the ardent stars in their hot power / Rushed to come into being" (trans. M.L. Gasparov)]: Parm. Fr. 11 (DK); [commentary by M.L. Gasparov: "Heavenly milk" – the Milky Way, "Farthest Olympus" – the firmament]: Gasparov 1999: 469; ["Phenomena" by Aratus of Solia (c. 315 – c. 240 BC): "If your heart is suddenly filled with wonder / When you see a circle splitting the whole firmament from edge to edge / Or if someone directs your gaze to this / Hoop filled with stars, then know that it is called Milky" (trans. A.A. Rossius)]: Arat. Phaen. 473-476; ["Catasterisms" by Pseudo-Eratosthenes (1st-2nd centuries): "This circle is one of those noticeable in the sky and is called Milky. The fact is that the sons of Zeps could not receive heavenly honors unless they tasted from the breasts of Hera. That is why, they say, Hermes brought Heracles to heaven as soon as he was born and placed him at Hera's breast. The infant began to suck, but Hera, noticing this, shook him off, and the remainder of the milk poured out and formed the Milky Circle" (translated by A. A. Rossius)]: Ps.-Erat. Cataster. XLIV; ["Astronomy" attributed to Gaius Julius Hyginus (turn of the eras): "There is also observed among the constellations a white circle, which some call the Milky Way. Eratosthenes in "Hermes" relates that Juno, not knowing who it was, fed the infant with milk. When she discovered that it was the son of Maia, she pushed him away from her, and therefore the spilled milk sparkled among the constellations. Others say that Hercules was placed at the breast of the sleeping Juno, and when she awoke, she did as we have said above. Some relate that through excessive greed Hercules sucked too much milk from the breast and was unable to hold it in his mouth; it flowed out of his mouth, and thus a circle was formed. Others say that this happened at the time when Ops gave Saturn a stone instead of a baby, and he ordered him to be fed with milk. She squeezed her breast, and the milk that spurted out formed the aforementioned circle” (translated by A.I. Ruban)]: Hyg. Astr. II. 43; Bulgarians [Milky Way – milk on the moon and stars (“mljakto na Mesichinata i na zvezdite”)]: Stoynev 2006: 176; Romanians: Mladenova 2006 [in Europe, besides Ancient Greece, only the Romanians have explanations for the name "Milky Way"; 1) milk flowed from the breast of a woman looking for her child, carried off by an eagle; 2) a girl carrying buckets of milk was attacked by pagans; 3) a shepherd, holding buckets of milk, hit a snake]: 178; Murgoci, Murgoci 1929 [a man harnessed oxen, took his belongings, went to consult with God; on the way he was attacked by the Devil, who sent a dragon, a snake, a bear, a scorpion, a wild horse, a skull; the battle in heaven continues to this day; a little dog grabbed the horse's leg, it galloped away; a shepherd hit the dragon with the yoke on which he carries buckets of milk; a shepherd chases a snake, dancers help him; the charioteer chops off the skull with an axe; the scorpion's bile spilled out of anger, its eyes turned red; the man is the constellation Hercules; the Milky Way is milk spilled from overturned buckets]: 153-155; the Hungarians [in many areas the Milky Way is called the "Milky Way" (téjút); in the village of Banatsko-Aranđelovo (Oroszlámos) they say that their ancestor Árpád saw his mother in a dream; milk began to flow from her breast; Árpád headed with his army in the direction in which this milk spread across the sky; the milk is still visible in the heavens; A similar story about Almos is reported by the anonymous author of the “Deeds of the Hungarians” (Anonymus Belae regis Notarius, turn of the 12th-13th centuries)]: Kálmány 1893: 29.

Central Europe. {In Polish and German sources the cosmonym "Milky Way" is recorded from the 16th century, literary influence is highly probable. It is also probable for Belarusians and Russians, however, as for Romanians, in these cases there is not only the cosmonym itself, but also an elementary accompanying ideology}. Russian : Dobrovolskaya 2010 (Vladimirskaya) [The Virgin Mary was feeding a baby, and her milk splashed out; or St. Anna was feeding Mary; Nicholas drank, and St. Andrew the First-Called, because of his haste, spilled most of it; a poor orphan tripped and spilled milk, and her stepmother suspected her of stealing; St. Nicholas placed milk in the sky; a baby bit his mother on the breast, and the milk splashed out]: 151-152; Ermolov 1905b (Tulskaya) [“in the old days a goddess walked across the sky and spilled milk – that is how the Milky Way came into being]: 309 (cited in Svyatsky 1913: 164); cf. also Svyatsky 1913 [the source (Sakharov 1836: 63) is somewhat dubious and does not indicate the place of recording; “Once upon a time, at the Stanovishche, an infidel mother fed her child with breast milk, but the infidel offspring did not know how to suck milk and it spilled across the sky. Then from this milk, old servicemen developed in the Stanovishche, who lived to such an extent that in their old age they could not use either their arms or legs”]: 163; Belarusians : Avilin 2015 [1) The Milky Way is called the road to the south ( па ў дёвай dear), God spilled the milk and created the road; 2) Three saints spilled the milk; 3) A man was milking a cow, God told him not to give milk to the devil, so the man sold it; God chased the devil and he spilled the milk; 4) An orphan girl was carrying milk to her sisters and brothers and spilled it; the Milky Way was formed, and the girl's tears became large stars]: 62; Pyatkevich 2004 [The Milky Way is a Milky or Goose Road; the milk yield of dairy cows decreases when the Milky Way is less clearly visible in the sky; “When all the milk has flown down the Goose Road, it will turn so white that every foreign bird will know where to fly to warmer climes”]: 283; Ukrainians(Ekaterinoslavskaya) [So, they said that "God often walks at night with angels, knocking to be accepted for the night, and when they refuse, the angel writes down the yard in the book, and then the owners are punished. He once went to one man, and he said to the woman: "Well, receive the guests! Four have come! "How can we receive, you know, we only have one cow, and it has almost stopped giving milk, and we still have three children!" - "And you go, bless yourself, and milk the cow, maybe a jug or two will run out for the good fortune of the travelers." The woman went, since she never contradicted her husband, blessed herself: "Grant, O God, good fortune to Thy travelers!" and began to milk, and she milked a bucket, but it still needed milking. The milk was thick, full, just like from a young cow on the first day. The woman brought the bucket, and the eldest of the travelers said: "And you, woman, God's servant, milk some more!" - "How else," she objected, "when no cow gives so much as it is!" - "And you go with God, and try." She went, blessed herself again and milked another bucket. She began to make donuts, and such donuts came out, exactly like pure cream! She gave all the milk from the stove, no matter how many jugs there were, and said: "Eat, God's pilgrims! The Lord has given us profit, so we give it all to you, for it has been blessed for your happiness." The pilgrims thanked and began to eat hot milk with bread, and then they tried the donuts. In the evening it began to get dark, the woman wanted to shine a light, and the pilgrims said: "Everything is visible anyway!" And indeed, it was visible as if it were day. The woman made beds for two on the stove, and for two on the bed, she herself with her husband and children on the floor, and lay down on the straw. She wakes up early before dawn, and the travelers are already dressed, and the elder says to her: "We have a long way to go, and we ask you, God's servant, to milk some milk, take a bucket and bring it, so that we have something to eat when it gets light!" The woman took the bucket, went to milk, and the milk was even better than yesterday's. She brought the bucket and asked: "How far should we carry it?" The elder replies: "Let's go with God, about ten minutes or so." They set out, fog all around, and the stars are visible as they shine. The travelers walk quickly, the woman keeps up with them, but the milk splashes over the edge of the bucket, spills onto the path, the whole path turns white. "Well, may God grant you happiness too!" – said the elder, blessed her, and only then did she see that she was standing in the very sky, on Stozhary, and that where she had spilled the milk, the Heavenly Belt was visible! The woman was frightened, but the angel caught her and lowered her to the ground. She came home, and there was milk, milk, milk everywhere: in pots, and in a barrel for water, and in jugs - and all thick, strong! Until the children grew up, the cow gave three buckets every day, morning and evening]: Mirolyubov 1996: 475-476.

Caucasus – Asia Minor. Terek Cossacks (Naurskaya) [The Milky Way ("Bokeeva Doroga") was formed because a huge witch was defeated by angels, and milk oozed from her breasts]: Vostrikov 1907: 4; Armenians : Ganalanyan 1979, no. 340 [a werewolf daughter-in-law went to bite a guest; he stabbed her in the breast, the milk from her breasts splashed across the sky, becoming the Milky Way]: 127 (= Harutyunyan 2007: 21-22; = Abeghyan 2012: 773); Lisitsyan 1992 (Nagorno-Karabakh, notes from the 1920s) [The Milky Way is "the path of the thief who decorated the adobe"; The peasant did not have enough adobe for oxen (according to another version, for camels - Mardakert village) and no one wanted to lend it to him; then the peasant stole the adobe from his neighbor, but when he was carrying the sacks home, a storm arose and he was lifted into the sky; the adobe was scattered along the way: it is its trace that is now visible in the sky (Aterk village); this explanation is given in the Khachen and Jraberd districts; in the Varandy and Dizak districts, the Milky Way is called the "Path of adobe" and, simultaneously with the story that someone stole the adobe and scattered it along the road, it is said that a werewolf woman, who turned into a wolf at night, was washing a guest's feet and noticed how fat they were; at night, when everyone was sleeping, she climbed into his room to devour him; the guest, defending himself, stabbed her in the chest with a dagger; milk gushed from the breast - the trace is still visible in the sky (v. Sos)]: 169; Azerbaijanis [the only Turkic language that has a calque from the European designation of the Milky Way (most likely from Russian) - Azerbaijani (südyolu); {considering the Armenian data, this may be an early substrate, and not a late Russian borrowing; then the Terek Cossacks also have a local borrowing]: Gyarmati 1993: 225.

Iran - Central Asia. Turkmen [milk of a she-camel looking for her baby camel (reported to the author in 1975 by Redzhep Kuliev, a resident of the village of Meana)]; Turkmen [seven hunter brothers tell a pregnant mother to hang a doll on the gate if a daughter is born; evil neighbors replace her with a bow and arrows; the brothers do not return; Ak-Pamyk, who is born, does not know that she has brothers; neighbors tell her to squeeze her mother's palm when she takes hot grains of wheat, tells her mother about her brothers, gives her a rolling flatbread showing the way; AP cleans up the brothers' cave; the youngest does not fall asleep, grabs AP, she tells him who she is; eats a berry promised to the cat, who blows out the fire; AP comes to the div for fire; he gives it, and upon arriving, kills the brothers; the old woman says that only the milk of the man-eating camel Ak-Maya can revive them; her baby camel helps AP, sucks, pouring into a wineskin; AM chases after AP, she spills some of the milk, the Milky Way is formed; AP revives the brothers, but the youngest is missing a shoulder blade; the brothers got married, the wives hate AP, pour lead into her ears, she is dumb and deaf; she is sent on a camel to look for a husband; the prince takes her as a wife, and the vizier's son takes the camel; advises the prince to look for a second wife; the son pushes AP, the lead falls out of her; having learned that his wife had recovered, the prince sent a new one back; Uncle Bayram meets AP's son; she sends bags of scorpions to the brothers’ wives, and they die]: Sokali et al. 1955: 69-81 (=Erberg 1953: 92).

(Cf. Volga – Perm. Chuvashi [material sent by K. Yu. Rakhno. A Chuvashi fairy tale says that in the Milk Lake there lived a girl and it was possible to catch her only if the hero saddled a heroic mare. (Further link to the archive). Before the departure of the hero (the future soldier), his parents blessed him with the words: Set çulĕpe kaysa çu çulĕpe tavran "Go along the milky path and return along the oily path." Another soldier's song sings about the paths that await the heroes that run through the stars: Çăltăr vitĕr çul kuranat, / Epir kayas çul mar-shi. This path for the hero, who compares himself to a flying away swan, is a milky path that runs through the stars. The following are lines: "A girl is seen through the sun, / Is she our betrothed?" Based on this, it can be assumed that the recruitment songs incorporated a myth with a cosmic plot. The hero sets off along the Milky Way to the Milky Lake]: Rodionov 2017: 68-69).

Turkestan. Kirghiz [Milky Way - Kush zholu, Kustin zhul ("road of birds") or Ak Mayanyng syudi ("milk of the white camel")]: Fielstrup 2002: 217, 227.

Southern Siberia - Mongolia. Baikal Buryats : Khangalov 1959c (balaganskie) [the Chinese king's beloved wife died; he began to mourn her and ordered his subjects to do the same, abandoning their work; the youngest of the seven Black Smiths brothers is sent to Abai-Geser-Bogdo-Khan for help; he says that he needs the severed heads of the seven Black Smiths; the messenger lets it slip to his wife, the demand becomes known, people send Geser the required seven heads; he makes cups from the skulls, fills them with wine, ascends to heaven to his grandmother Manzan-Gërmë , gets her drunk, steals erdeni (magic objects), begins to descend to earth; MG discovers the loss, orders his grandson to fall into the courtyard of the Albin tama sinkhole (tama is hell); then takes pity on him, squeezes milk from his right breast, throws it after him; G. appears at home, the milk turns into the Milky Way; the cups thrown by MG form the Big Dipper; G. comes to the sleeping king, orders to bury the dead, to put a dog in her place; tells the one who has woken up that it is a sin to mourn; the king orders to place G. in tama with lice, small lice, snakes, frogs, worms, fire, frost, tar, in a burning tama; with the help of erdeni G. destroys tama each time; the king gives him his daughter as a wife]: 221-226; Abai Geser (Osin version of "Geser"), verses 960-975 in Sharakshinova 1980 [ Abai Geser went to Mount Sumeru and from there up the ladder of the gods to heaven; his wife Almad Mergen followed him ; his grandmother Manzan Gurman saw that an earthly woman was climbing after her grandson, cursed G., he began to fall to the ground; she felt sorry if he would break, she sprinkled the heavenly space with her breast milk; the milk, which formed the Milky Way, held G., he smoothly descended]: 60; Balagan Buryats [ Manzan-Gërmë-ëtëdë , having milked her milk, threw it away, it became the Milky Way; others say that this is the road along which the heavenly Burkhans judge and walk]: Khangalov 1960, No. 5: 13.