Linked Motifs

Motif	Name	Description
b73b	The cuckoo: in search of lost family member	Two teenagers or young people are in search of each other, call each other (or one of them call another): a girl in search of her lost (or dead) brother or brother’s wife, a boy in search of his brother or sister, young parents in seach their child. One or both of them turn into birds with specific cry
b77	Primeval sky close to earth	Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
f51b	Following the thread	To get know the nature or locality of a person, another fastens a thread to his body and follows it
h4	The shed skin	Those who change their skin become young again
h5	People and snakes	Reptiles or invertebrates possess the medicine of immortality; are contrasted with men as immortal with mortals and/or are responsible for originating of death; or a snake's bite inflicts the first death
i108	The Pleiades are a person	The Pleiades are only one anthropomorphic being, not several persons
i7	The cloud serpent	A flying reptile produces rain, thunderstorm
j18a	Mother is eaten up, children escape	An ogress devours a woman, gets into her house. Her daughters (daughter and son, one daughter) run away, climb a tree or a rope that hangs from the sky. Ogress pursues them and perishes
j25b	Dead mother fetches food for her baby	Mother dies and is buries. Her spirit comes out of the grave to fetch food for her baby. The baby is found and remains alive
j47	Pursuer falls from height	Person ascends to the sky (rare: descends from the sky; ascends the cliff) by a rope, a ladder, etc. Another person tries to follow him or her but the rope (the ladder) is broken or severed
k176	A man in search of the woman	A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
k24	Stolen clothes of supernatural woman	Women (rare: men) 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; rare: a girl of higher social status than the hero) take off their clothes (feather skins and the like) or part of it. Because a person hides the clothes (of one of them), their owner(s) have (has) to marry him or help him (rare: her)
k25	Magic wife	A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
k25a1	Magic wife finds her clothes	Magic wife abandons her mortal husband when she finds her clothes (often, her feathers if she is a bird-woman), makes herself the new clothes, receives them from her kin or her husband gives her her clothing believing that she will not abandon him. (Versions with magic wife abandoning her husband because she feels herself offended is not alternative to the “found clothes but in most of the texts these motifs are not combined)
k27 (motif is not in the correlation table)	Competitions and difficult tasks	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
k27n3b	Task-giver lives in the sky but is not the Sun, Moon, Thunder or Wind	Person who gives difficult tasks or tests to the hero or heroine lives in the sky but is not associated with the Sun, Moon, Thunder or Wind
k38f	The dragon-slayer	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
k47a	A woman and a dog	After having sexual contact with a dog, a woman gives birth to his children. The puppies turn into humans and usually become ancestors of particular groups of people
k77a	Small objects and animals defeat the ogre	Small objects and animals (rare: animals alone but including those who really are harmless) revenge on a powerful enemy making attack on him in succession (usually they hide in his or her house); the enemy is badly injured, runs away or dies
k95	The twining branches (united in death)	Two persons who loved each other (usually a man and a girl) are buried in one grave or not far from each other. After the burial something related to this event takes place (two plants grow up and stretch their branches to each other, smoke of two funeral pyres is merged, two birds flu out from the grave, two stars appear on the sky, etc.)
l108	The wolf and the kids	An (animal) person gives a signal (special song, etc.) to his relative or friend who lets him or her in. Antagonist imitates the person's voice or guise and the relative lets him in
l130	One eye for three persons	Two or more persons have only one eye for all
l27a	One is eaten up, another escapes	Two or three children get to the house of a demon or the latter comes to their house. They do not know that the person is a cannibal or are not sure about it. The demon eats up one of the children. Another child (children) escapes, the demon pursues him or them and perishes. Usually the demon is a female, and if he is male, his victims do not arouse in him sexual interest
m167	A tiger taken for a bull	During the night a strong predator (a tiger, a lion, etc.) and a thief not knowing about each other get into stable to steal a domestic animal. The thief takes the predator for domestic animal or for a person and acts accordingly
m167a	A tiger who is afraid of Twilight	A strong predator (usually a tiger) overhears a person saying that he fears something worse than a tiger The word is unknown to the tiger (twilight, etc). Thinking it must be a terrible thing he hides and then runs away
m29o1	The monkey is a failure	Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the monkey suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
m29w2	The tiger is a failure	Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the tiger suffers a reverse, is injured or dies

Similar traditions based on Cosmology and Etiology motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 9 Tradition: Jiangsu and Zhejang Chinese
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Viet, Muong
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Tjam, Ede, Jörai (Jarai)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Hunan and Guixhou Chinese
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Barée (=Eastern Toraja)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Mentawai
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Simeulue, Nias
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Lisu, Achang, Taunyo

Similar traditions based on Adventures and Tricks motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 9 Tradition: Guangdong, Guanxi and Yunnan Chinese
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 9 Tradition: Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 9 Tradition: Koreans; Goguryeo
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 8 Tradition: Henan and Hubei Chinese
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 7 Tradition: Shandong Chinese
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 7 Tradition: Northern Ryukyu Islands (with southern Kyusyu in case of absence across the rest of Japan
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Lisu, Achang, Taunyo
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Sichuan Chinese
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Jiangsu and Zhejang Chinese
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru