A contract entitles the lender of a sum of money to cut a certain amount of flesh (or eye, head, limb, etc.) from the debtor’s body if the load is not repaid in time. The lender cannot cut out the flesh being unable to fulfill a condition that looks logical but is practically absurd
Several men take part in rescuing, creation or reanimation of a girl (rare: a bird) or several women take part in the reanimation of a dead man or they differetly express their grief. It is asked whose role was crucial (who behavior more noble) and/or who should be the spouse of the reanimated person. Or three men make something valuable and it is asked whose role in the corresponding enterprise was more important
Antagonist perishes falling into the water or trying to cross a water body
A man gives his last money for simple advices. Each of them saves his life or helps to achieve success or he does not follow the advices and gets into trouble
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
Person is suggested to fulfill tasks that are mortally dangerous or cannot be fulfilled without supernatural helpers or capacities. The person fulfills the tasks and remains alive. A contest between persons has form of a competition or game in which the loser is deprived of his status or life
Person or animal must eat (drink) enormous quantity of food (beverage) or eat or drink poisonous beverage or food
An ugly, old, lazy, etc. woman or (in Chaco) a male trickster comes to man under disguise of his wife or bride who is driven out, confined to the underworld, killed, etc.
To punish an antagonist, he or she is tied to a horse (camel, bull) and dragged or he or she is torn apart (usually by horses)
One who eats certain fruit (leave, etc.) gets horns (long nose, etc.) or turns into an animal. After eating another fruit (leave) person recovers his or her normal body
A man obtains an object that fulfills his wishes. The object is stolen but brought back by the animals (which had been saved by the man before)
For helping its children, their powerful mother or father who is a giant bird or (rare) other flying being helps the hero
A serpent or water monster regularly devours or injures children of a bird or other flying creature (almost always nestlings of giant bird). The hero kills the serpent (monster)
After the hero helps a powerful bird (usually does good to her nestlings), the grateful bird brings him to the place where he is eager to get or tells to do it one of her nestlings. (It is not the vertical movement between layers of the world. According to the Sumerian variant, the bird endows the hero with capability to move with extraordinary speed and directs him to his destination)
One of (step)sisters, co-spouses or young female neighbors meets a being that is able to reward and to punish. She behaves herself properly and is rewarded. Another (other) girl comes to the same being but behaves in a wrong way and is punished (not rewarded).
A girl who conceals her beauty and/or is poor and oppressed by her stepmother puts on a splendid attire and comes incognito to a feast where a man of high status falls in love with her. He marries her after identifying her by an object given to her or lost by her or (rare) seeing how she changes her clothes
Several companions have extraordinary abilities (one who runs fast, one who eats great quantities, one who produces or can withstand severe frost, etc.); a hero comes across and takes for companions several men, each of them being involved into a special and unusual activity
An object or a creature that emerged from remains, decorations, etc. of a killed person tells about his or her fate. Usually a reed grows from the person's grave and a pipe made from the reed tells the story
A man gets to see two fighting monsters or animals (usually of contrasted colors like red and black, black and white). He helps one of them and/or one of them helps him
After a series of adventures and victories, the hero gets into trouble. His twin brother or the best friend follows his traces, gets across the same persons but overcomes the last enemy and revives (liberates) the hero
Sleeping in one bed with a woman, man puts a sharp or thorny object between them as a sign of chastity (sometimes the woman herself puts the sword)
Person eats magic bird, fish, small animal, or fruit and becomes prosperous and powerful
Cow (ox, bull) helps an orphan child or a young woman who got into trouble
A man on a journey meets tree or two persons who are quarreling over the division of magic objects (a flying carpet, seven mile boots, etc.). The man promises to render a judgment, but he asks first to try our the objects or suggests the owners to run a race and uses opportunity to escape with the objects
A certain animal or (rare) man is predicted to become a cause of death of a certain person. When this animal (man) is already dead himself or itself or is faraway, its (his) remains or image becomes the cause of the person’s death
Step mother or more often father (persuaded by his wife) abandons children in a desolate place. Getting to the ogre or ogress, children (or at least one of them) survive and ultimately achieve success
Running away from a dangerous being, person throws small objects behind him or her which turn into mighty obstacles on the way of the pursuer
One-sided people have one leg and/or also one arm, one half of a head, etc. The second leg is not cut or burned off, preserved as a stump but is absent completely
Getting a task or by his own initiative, a trickster several times comes to a person (usually an ogre) and steals in succession objects in his possession or members of his family
Hunting a doe (a deer), hero gets to the place of a magician or demon; the doe is a bewitched person or demon
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
A man sends another one to top of a mountain or a tree to obtain treasure for him. To go back is impossible but the man survives
A man obtains knowledge of animal languages but if he reveals the secret, he must die. Once he hears animals talking and laughs. His wife thinks that he laughs at her or at her mother. The man is ready to open his secret and either does it and dies or hears how animals (usually a cock) blame him for being so foolish. So he keeps his secret.
To lure his potential victim down from a tree, a predator pretends not to be dangerous (usually announces that it has been decreed that all animals are united in piece). The victim is dubious and usually asks the predator to announce the same news to the dogs. The predator runs away
Many animals of one species that all look identical together fulfill the task that would be impossible for any of them if he were alone; the competitors believe that the task was fulfilled by only one animal. Usually a slow and a fast animals agree to race. The slow one puts other animals of his species at the finish or along the distance, each one answering the fast one that he is ahead of him. The fast one accepts his loss
When three brothers (rare: a person) are Invited to khan (judge, king, etc.) and served delicious food, they claim that the food and drink have a taste (smell) of a corpse, dog, goat etc. and/or their host is of a low descent or a bastard. Investigation confirms that their deduction was correct
A person promises to fulfill somebody’s request if another gets to know why certain man or woman acts regularly in a strange way
King’s wife is extremely touchy and cannot suffer a slightest pain. She does not say a word, however, when her lover who is a servant or a demon is beating her
In succession and unintentionally a man causes a series of accedents. The injured parties bring him before a judge. In each case the judge makes decisions that are formally logical but patently unacceptable and saves the man
A wolf is predicted to become a cause of death of a person or the person must die at his wedding day. The prophesy becomes true. If it is about the marriage, the bride herself turns into a wolf and kills her bridegroom
Three (rare two or four) men take part in creation of a girl: one cuts her body of wood, another puts clothes on her, the third one makes her alive. To whom does she belong?
A man hides in a skin or carcass of a big animal. A bird carries it to its nest without knowing that the man is inside
Body part of a murdered person or a plant that grew on the place of the crime tells people about the crime
A man travels to get know why he is poor (unlucky). Other persons, animals, plants ask him to investigate the reason of their own misfortunes. God (fate) tells that the wolf (bear, lion) should eat the most stupid man. Other problems can be resolved if the queen gets a husband, a treasure is taken from under the fruit tree, etc. The man does not use opportunity to become a king, to receive gold, etc. because did not receive direct instructions to do it. The wolf decides that the man is a real fool and he must eat him
A bird (that usually emerges from the remains of a murdered person or being incarnation of his or her soul) punishes the murderer or tells people about the crime
After eating a fruit (usually an apple, in Northern traditions also an egg), the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller says that the characters attained their desires, goals and/or happiness or that God satisfied their desires
Three brothers in succession and without obvious reason describe an object or a person which or whom they have never seen
A man gets to see how two serpents of contrast color fight. He tries to hit one f them but injures another by mistake. The injured snake’s kinfolk come to punish the man but they give him presents after getting know that he regrets his mistake
Running away from a dangerous being, person throws salt creating an obstacle on the way of the pursuer
Woman makes vain overtures to young man and/or falsely accuses him of sexual abuse. Her husband believes that the young man is guilty, kills or tries to kill him
A monster blocks sources of water (or sends floods) and usually gives some (promises not to send floods) in exchange for human victims or valuables. Hero kills the monster
A reptile monster demands humans (usually virgins) as a sacrifice or abducts a girl or closes sources of water. Hero kills him. Monster’s victims do not play an active part in the plot
Hero kills the dragon and saves the girl who had to be sacrificed. She smears the youth with the dragon’s blood. The imposter claims the deed to himself but is exposed when the hero demonstrates stains of the dragon’s blood on his body
Travelling from one place to another, hero lets his companions live there (usually presents to each one a princess that he received for his deeds) and continues his journey. When he gets into trouble, companions rescue him
Person tricks his enemies to leave their enclosure one by one and cuts off their head as soon as the next one appears before him. In rare cases the multi-headed enemy thrusts his heads on by one and the hero cuts them off
Hero's life is in certain object, usually in his weapon. When antagonist steals the object, the hero dies but revives after his friends or brothers find the object and bring it back
Before passing away a man asks his sons to guard his grave for a certain time or to bring something to his grave. The youngest son goes and obtains valuables
To find the lost husband (and other men who were helpful or cruel to her), a woman demonstrates her portrait in a public place and calls to her everybody whose reaction shows that they recognized who was represented
One animal person promises to sew a fur coat (or boots) for another and asks to bring him ever more sheep. He eats the meat and sews nothing
Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
A healthy animal tricks an injured one (a wolf, a bear) into carrying him on his back by pretending to be injured himself
After losing his tail (ear) an (animal) person tries to trick other animals of his species or other people of his group to lose their tails (ears) too
Wolf (rare: jackal, fox) comes to different domestic animals (rare: only to one animal) to eat them but agrees to fulfill their demands. As a result he remains hungry and usually beaten and accuses himself that his ways were so stupid (“Am I a mollah to read?”)
The wolf (lion, etc.) is going to eat a horse (mule, etc.). The horse asks him to look at his hoof (for different reasons) or eat him from his hindquarters forward; then he kicks him
Person tricks another to crawl into a basket and closes it. One in a basket is killed or badly injured (usually rolled down a hill)
In exchange for temporal advantages, person agrees to be maimed or branded
Person gets into dwelling of master of animals or monstrous shepherd. The host can kill him. The hero escapes sticking to hair of one of the animals who are going out
Person blinds sleeping ogre or ogress and escapes from him or her
To kill a boy (a girl), the antagonist first needs to get rid of his or her horse. When they are ready to kill the horse, the boy (the girl) rides on his horse away saving his or her life
Being (any besides birds) with more than ten heads or with odd (but more than one) number of heads are described in tales or represented in art. If beings with ever more number of heads are named, the row ends with a being that has odd (or more than ten) number of heads
The antagonist (robber, wizard, witch) penetrates into the house of a girl or young woman hiding in a state (in cupboard, etc.) and/or putting her husband (guards) to sleep using a medicine. At the last moment he is destroyed
A demon helps a man or a woman or lets him or her free. As a reward, the person is forced to promise to give the demon his child
An ogre (a dragon, king of the sea) has not killed a man who descended to him as other people had thought but rewarded because the greeted him and/or gave a correct answer to his question
A boy born into a family or found by his adoptive parents has a strange guise (ball of meat, nut, bag, half of a man, an animal). He possesses magic power, becomes a handsome man and usually marries a girl of high social status. The magic spouse of a princess originally has a non-human or monstrous appearance
A girl born to the family or found proves to be a monster, devours people. Her brother escapes, (usually marries and returns home, finds that everybody had been eaten up), runs away, she pursues him but cannot get
A youth and a girl who run away from pursuer transform themselves into a pair of persons, creatures or objects (pond and duck, church and priest, etc.) in order to escape detection by the pursuer
A fugitive turns in succession into different animals or objects. A pursuer does the same, every time becoming an animal or a person who is dangerous for the fugitive in his given guise
Person observes traces of some activity that takes place in his (rare: her) house in his (her) absence and then takes by surprise the responsible one
A girl gets into a bird’s nest (usually the bird carries away a baby-girl). The bird cares for her like her parent, the girl becomes a beauty
Somebody acts in absurd way to lure person out of his or her place. The person does not understand the deception and comes to explain how to act correctly
A wayfarer asks his companion in an allegorical for to tell a story. The companion takes his words in the direct sense and acts stupidly or thinks that his companion is a fool
Person asks a servant to bring another some food or object and to pass certain words which for the servant have no meaning. Hearing these words, the recipient understands that the servant had appropriated part of what he had to bring
Women who possess supernatural power and usually come from a non-human world (from sky, from under the water, they are winged beings, bird- or animal-persons) take off their clothes (feather skins and the like) or part of it. Because a man hides the clothes (of one of them), their owner(s) have (has) to marry him or help him
Person builds a bridge (usually of gold etc.) during a very short time
A powerful person coverts a beautiful bride or wife of a man and gives him impossible tasks to get rid of him
A man obtains an object that fulfills his wishes. The object is stolen but brought back by the animals (which had been saved by the man before)
Person has a dream, another person buys it and acquires the fortune that the dream promised
At night a girl’s lover has to carry her away but falls asleep or is late. She is carried away by another man who happened to be on the place
The thief drops first one, then the other, of a pair of matched objects (shoes, boots, sword and sheath, knife and folk) in the road. A person passes by the first object but, when he sees the second, he goes back for the first, leaving the animal (or other possessions) behind. The thief takes the animal
A person who has not a bit of a skill to expose thieves and find the lost objects does it successfully thanks to a series of lucky coincidences
Powerful person leaves a token (letter) for a small boy to demonstrate it when he becomes adult and comes to him
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
To appease a water monster (water spirits, gods) or to put an end to the drought or flood, a girl is sacrificed or descends into the water by her own will
Being smart and persistent, the turtle (toad, frog) overcomes strong adversaries
Person is going to kill anyone who gets to know why he punished his former wife so brutally
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the fox, jackal or coyote suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Persons climbs a tree and thanks to this escapes from a demon (who usually tries to fell the tree)
Getting to the world that is beyond the world of the human beings, a man marries there a woman. She gives him permission to visit his home but he must avoid particular words or deeds. He breaks the taboo triggering an (irretrievable) trouble
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
A palace (castle, crypt, church, bridge) made of gold and silver modules (usually bricks, more rare planks) is mentioned in narratives (in different context)
An object (usually the bride) purchased for the sum of money equivalent (or bigger) than its weight in gold (silver) or a heap of valuables as high as the corresponding person
Person must wash something black making it white or vice versa (yarn, clothes, board, etc.)
To punish an antagonist, he or she is burned alive. (Episodes in which the burning of the dangerous being is not a punishment but an effective way to get rid of him or her are not considered)
When a girl and a man remain alone (usually during their wedding night), the girl turns into a predator animal or a monster and devours the man
The swiftest runner must receive the harvest
Wolf (more rare other predator animal) comes to different (more than two species) domestic animals (animals and people) to eat them but agrees to fulfill their requests and remains without his meal and usually becomes beaten (killed)
An (ostensibly) sick (ugly, weak, poorly clad) person remains at home when others go to the feast. The person comes by himself or herself looking like a handsome man or beautiful girl. The man (woman) does not recognize him (her) and feels against her (him) sexual interestю (All texts with motif k57, Chinderella, are also included into f62)
A demonic person devours in succession parts of the hero’s horse, each time coming back to the hero and returning again to the horse. (Often asking the hero, if he has ridden on a three-. two-. one-legged horse)
Person extracts his or her tooth to use it as a weapon or a tool (often an axe)
A youth (a girl) lives in the house of an ogress. To get rid of him (her) the ogress asks him (her) to bring some object from other ogres (often from her mother) who must kill him or her. The hero or heroine escapes and kills all the ogres
When a deity (powerful person) attempts to pass some money to a certain man, he either gets it or not thanks to his fate while all other factors play no role
Two animal persons work their land together and agree to share the profits. While one is working hard, another only pretends to be useful but claims for himself (greater) part of the harvest
After the death of her or his mother, a girl or a boy suggests her or his father to marry another woman who is her or his teacher, neighbor etc. and who usually persuaded the girl (boy) to give such an advice. As soon as she is married, the step-mother becomes to persecute her step-daughter (stem-son)
A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
Instead of common body discharges a man or a woman urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular person
Instead of common body discharges a a man urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular male person. See motif m57a
A girl (usually the youngest of several sisters) does not reject but marries a poor, sick, dirty, old, too young, non-human, etc. man who later demonstrates his supernatural qualities
Boy or girl selects one person among many throwing an object (usually an apple) into him or her. This way a girl makes a choice of a husband, a young man of a bride, a boy identifies his father
The sovereign orders his youngest daughter (together with a man chosen by her) to live in conditions that do not correspond to her high status. Her father does not know that her chosen one is not a poor wretch as he seems to be but a prince
The unrecognized hero works as a gardener at the powerful person
To show their father that he must marry them, his daughters of different age send him fruits of the same kind but of different degree of ripeness (or bread that is differently baked)
A pipe or other musical instrument is made from a plant that has grown on a place where certain person was killed (fell, touched ground). When the instrument plays, people hear a particular message
The supernatural person does not like the behavior of the unkind girl and punishes her making her ugly (disfigured)
Young man gets a girl who is inside a fruit of the pomegranate
One man asks another if the grain that they see is already eaten up? Is the dead body alive? It becomes clear that his questions have sense
Young man gets a girl who is inside of a fruit or (rare) a flower or an egg
Because of her simple-heartedness or by chance a young girl becomes a cause of her mother’s death
After her visit to the supernatural person the unkind girl gets ugly outgrowths on her face or head (tail, horns, warts, etc.)