The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female
Both the Sun and the Moon are considered to be females (incl. cases when the gender is not directly specified but both emerge from parts of the body of a female person)
Some creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, summer and winter, lunar phases) or irregularly (solar and lunar eclipses, eschatological events) attack the luminaries or shade their light
A figure or an imprint of some being or object are seen in the Moon. (For statistical analysis motifs A32A – A32J are also included into A32)
Human being or imprint of human being is seen in the moon
Cain and Abel are related to the Moon, usually are seen (both or Cain only) in the shadows of the lunar disc
Person who holds some object in his or her hands is seen in the moon (rare: in the sun)
The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
Ursa major is identified with a carriage, a cart
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
Magic person reveals his true nature and/or remains with the real people after the object responsible for preserving the non-human appearance (usually an animal skin) is destroyed (usually burned)
A river (wave, lake, basin) of milk that exists on earth (and not among the stars) is mentioned in narratives (in different context)
Diseases are sisters (rare: brothers), usually children of evil spirit
Eyelids (eyelashes, eyebrows) of personage hang long down over his eyes. To make the eyes widely opened, the eyelids (eyelashes, eyebrows) should be propped up with poles, folks, sticks, etc. (rare: cut off)
Thunder is heard when a vehicle moves in the sky
Lightnings are fissures in the sky-vault and the sky light is seen through them for a moment
Way to the place of a certain person is guided by dangerous creatures (which often stand on the both sides of the pathway). Person placates them by gifts or nice talk, and they let him or her go the both ways, sometimes being punished for this by their master
Person sees that food put for certain animals is inedible for them and corrects situation (usually gives to herbivorous animals food that was given before to predators and vice versa)
Person who points at the Moon or a star or looks intently at them will get sick or die or his pointing finger will rot or wither
World is supported by fish or fish-like monster or the earth itself is such a monster
Thunder's enemies are evil spirits, reptiles, animals living in burrows. They hide from him in different objects, Thunder destroys these objects
Milky Way is a trace of people who spilled on their way something related to agriculture (straw, chaff, hay, more rare flour, peas)
Milky Way is the road to a remote city (Rome, Jerusalem, etc.)
On a certain moment, a crack, a window or the like opens in the sky vault (rains flows though it, the upper world is seen, communication with inhabitants of the upper world becomes possible)
Constellation are interpreted as agricultural tools or people occupied with agricultural works (mostly ploughing and haymaking)
A pig made of gold or having golden bristles is a treasure
Hero climbs up (e.g. to a tree) or down (e.g. into a deep cave) by ladder, rope, from branch to branch, etc. The rope etc. breaks or is intentionally destroyed and the hero cannot return to the ground. (All cases of motif K2A, besides the Koreans, also contain motif K2)
Hero is sent to the lower world though a well, precipice, etc. After he obtains valuables (young women), his envious companions cut the rope to get rid of him but he succeeds in returning back
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
Because containers with alive and dead water (one makes one stronger, another weaker) are imperceptibly exchanged, during the battle the hero drinks the alive water and overcomes his enemy who drinks the dead water
A lazy (stupid) boy releases a fish (frog, serpent, supernatural being) which gives him a power of making all his wishes come true; he marries a princess
A task-giver asks the hero to get for him a particular woman
Person builds a bridge (usually of gold etc.) during a very short time
Person is ordered to bathe in a (boiling) milk or other hot liquid or to jump into fire. He remains unharmed but his adversary usually dies
A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
Person who gives difficult tasks to the hero and/or person who demands the fulfillment of certain conditions from those who want to marry his daughter is a prominent figure in social hierarchy. He is a head of the socio-political unit of community or super-community level and is neither a member of the hero’s household nor a mythical being
Hero is sent to bring milk of a wild animal or milk in possession of a dangerous creature or person
When water in a spring is replaced with alcohol, honey, etc. or bottles of alcohol seem to be left without supervison, a creature of person becomes drunk and is caught
Flying person or creature abducts a woman but is ultimately killed or the woman escapes from him
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)
A young woman is transformed into an animal, pushed into the water, into the underworld or she herself has to plunge into water (acquire animal form). Her connection with the human world is not completely lost, however, and usually she is helped to return to the people
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)
On his way a man picks up a precious feather (often despite the warning of his magic horse). When a powerful person gets to know about the feather he tells the man to fulfill difficult tasks
To return or to get his or her son, wife, husband, domestic animal or (rare) object, person must recognize her, him or it among several identical persons, animals or objects
Person must recognize her (or his) son or husband among several identical persons or animals
For helping its children, their powerful mother or father who is a giant bird or (rare) other flying being helps the hero
Mighty bird or other flying creature helps a man because he took care of its youngs feeding them, warming, decorating, etc.
Loci or objects of three (rare – four) different materials are mentioned in such a way that all of them have positive connotations though unequal value (copper, silver and gold; silver, gold and diamonds, etc.)
Coming from the underworld to the earth, princess puts objects that she used (clothes, house, “kingdom”) into a small container (an egg, a ball, etc.) and brings them with her
Person has to feed powerful creature (usually a giant bird) giving it regularly pieces of meat. When meat supply is exhausted, he cuts off a piece of his own flesh
Powerful person listens in conversation of three (rare: two or four) women. Each of them tells what she would do if the person marries her. One promises to bear his son (children) who would have wonderful qualities, two others promise to practice some kind of work or (more rare) marry people of lower status
A young woman promises to bear a wonderful children (wonderful son). In her husband's absence other people (co-wives, mother-in-law, etc.) try to kill the mother and/or the child, usually slandering the young woman
Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with an animal or an object (inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to an animal or an object)
Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with a pup (inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to a pup)
A woman with her new-born child (or a woman pregnant with a boy) or a young girl and a young boy is put into a barrel (box, skin bag, boat) and thrown into the sea (river)
Person (usually a young woman) turns into different objects or creatures which another person destroys one by one. However, the person is reincarnated again and again and ultimately acquires her or his original form
Hero’s horse asks his master to cover him with skins (smear with pitch and sprinkle with sand, etc.) that makes him invulnerable to other horse’ bites
Hero's dogs or horse or (rare) he himself fight with his adversary in the underworld (under the water). Those who are waiting for the outcome of the combat understand who overcomes whom by the color of water or foam that rises to the surface, or the color animal who comes first to the surface
After eating a fruit (usually an apple, in Northern traditions also an egg), the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
Mother tries to kill her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair
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
Father (step mother) abandons children in the forest. He (she) hangs a plank (gourd, shoe, etc.) on a tree that is striking trunk under the wind. Children believe that he is still nearby cutting woods
Person can transform himself or herself into an animal or an object. Being sold in this guise, he or she achieves his or her aims and becomes a human again
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Because telling the truth a stupid son (wife, husband)) can bring misfortune upon the family, his mother (wife; her husband) mystifies him (her) making him or her describe events that are definitely impossible. People take him (her) for a fool and let alone.
A man understands that if his wife let out the truth, it would bring them trouble. He tells her that sounds that she hears are screams of the landlord (official, etc.) because devils (or somebody else) beat him (carry him to the hell, etc.). Being summoned to the official, she repeats what her husband had told her and considered mad
Person lies that his name is so and so. Others understand it not as a name but as a common word and behave accordingly
After doing damage or inflicting injury, person lies that his name is Nobody, Myself or the like. Usually others believe that the injured one was the trouble-maker himself
An animal knows that food is in a trap or poisoned and tricks another to take it
A man sends others one after the other to pasture the goat. Back home, the goat always complains it did not get anything to eat. The man angrily sends away or kills his shepherds (who usually are his family members). When he himself pastures the goat he realizes that it lies. He is going to kill the goat, usually skins it, but it escapes
Using a trick the intruder occupies other person’s house and refuses to let the owner in
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller represents himself as being present at the wedding and/or feast, which were organized by characters of the tale
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller ate some food and/or drank some alcohol but it did not get into his mouth and/or stomach
Streams of honey and oil (oil and milk, milk and blood) instead of streams of water are mentioned as a sign of generosity and prosperity. Cf. motif K33F
Cain and Abel are related to the Moon, usually are seen (both or Cain only) in the shadows of the lunar disc
Among woman’s childen or among children of two women who live together are a boy and a puppy or woman’s son is substituted with a pup and thrown away. This puppy lives with the woman and helps her.
Two male anthropomorphic creators compete in producing things. One of them is or becomes master of the underworld and/or spirits while another is associated with humans
Water is the original element, the dry earth appears later
Original earth was small and later increased in size or the fertile soil grew from a small amount of original substance
Person spits out earth that he swallowed or concealed otherwise. This way the broken landscape is created
Persons or animals dive or otherwise decend to the lower world to get a desired object and to bring it to earth (besides episodes in the fairytales, cf. motif k27x9)
The dry land (the earth) grows from a small amount of solid substance (sand, clay, dirt and the like) brought from the lower world (usually from the bottom of the ocean)
Birds or humans later changed to birds are sent to explore the earth (is it dry, are any survivals, to investigate why smoke rises to the sky, etc.) or to bring some soil to make the land that would be good for living
The antagonist tries to drink a river or sea and bursts
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
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
Before coming in, a guest gets to notice that the housewife is with her lover. When the husband comes home, the guest pretends to possess magic object or the like that helps him to reveal where the good food and the lover are hidden
Person pretends that a person (often his or her mother, spouse or lover) who recently died is alive, claims that the death of the false alive resulted from negligence of others and gets a reward
A man goes to sell a skin of domestic animal and on his way, by trick or thanks to chance, gets a big sum of money. Usually coming back he explains that this was the price of the skin but when other people kill their animals they cannot sell skins for such a sum. (In India the hero sometimes pretends to sold cow meat to brahmins for whom it is forbidden)
Person gets other person’s possessions by trick (or pretends to get it; usually another person is drowned instead of him) and then demonstrates his possessions (usually a herd) and explains that he had received everything at the river bottom. His enemies believe him
Person is put into a bag (a cage, tied up, etc.) to be drowned, burned, etc. He pretends to be in this situation by his own will or because he refuses to marry a princess, to become a chief and the like. Another person is willing to take his place and is killed
Animals, demons or people stand one on another making a tower. The lowest one jumps off (bends, jerks), all the rest fall to the ground
When a predator is going to eat a man, the latter asks permission first to measure him and beats with his (feigned) measuring tool
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
While person is asleep, another smears with excrements or something that reminds excrements his or her bed or clothes. The ashamed person runs away or agrees to make what the trickster wants in exchange of his silence
Tiny boy as small as a thumb, a pea and the like taunts people, predator animals, ogres
When a woman falls asleep, the trickster (usually a tiny boy) puts animal embryo or entrails (or something that looks like this) near her to make her or other people believe that she has had a miscarriage or her own entrails have fallen out
When household members fall asleep, the trickster (usually a tiny boy) ties them in pairs to make a mess when they get up
The fox (dog, squirrel) lives with the cat and poses him as a strong and dangerous animal. The wild predator animals are scared and bring him meat
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
A king (landlord, etc.) suggests to guess what he has in his hand (in a box). It is an insect there (usually a grasshopper). The man says that now you, Grasshopper, is caught. People think that he gave the correct answer
There is an anthropomorphic patron or patroness of wolves. Usually he or she gives instructions to wolves on particular day of the year
To make a poor man rich (usually to marry him to a rich girl or to marry a poor girl to a prince), an animal makes other people believe that the groom is rich already. The man becomes prosperous indeed
Helpful trickster (usually the fox or the cat) deceives wild animals and brings them to the king saying that they are presented to him by a rich person
A cat marries a poor boy to a princess (poor girl to a prince)
Person gets one by one magic objects that bring food or treasure. Other people replace them with common objects or take them away by force. The person takes his property back (usually beating the thieves with magic cudgel or whip)
After warning his wife about the planned trick, person lets free a wild animal or bird asking it to pass a message to his wife. Seeing the same (actually another) animal or bird in his companion’s house another man buys the animal for a lot of money
Person pierces a bladder with blood or red juice, simulates murder or suicide
An animal (ass, cow, horse, goat, bear, leopard) extracts gold or food from its body or person makes others believe that it is so
A task: to sort a large amount or small particles of different kind (usually seeds of different plants) mixed in container or to count such particles or to pick up the spilled grains
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)
After the heroine’s rival transforms her into a forest animal of medium size (lynx, wolf, deer), she makes attempts to contact her children or husband
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).
When the kind girl returns home, a dog barks saying that everything is well with her and when the unkind girl returns (or her dead body is brought home), the dog barks that everything is bad
Using a bell (drum, etc.) an animal (usually a mouse) produces sounds which the antagonist who is blind or is outdoors takes for the sounds produced by the hero (heroine). Thanks to this the hero escapes
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
Cow (ox, bull) helps an orphan child or a young woman who got into trouble
A plant (tree, vine, lotus) that has grown up rapidly does not let anybody besides the hero or the heroine to climb it or to pick its fruits (flowers)
A cow (goat) magically spins or weaves: eats the yarn and extracts the thread, suggests to wind the yarn over its horns, etc.
Persons or creatures with ever bigger number of eyes guard a man or a woman. The latter makes eyes asleep one by one but forgets about the last one
An animal (a demonic being) asks the hero or heroine to take objects necessary for him (her) from its ear or to enter its ear to make himself or herself handsome, to sleep. etc.
Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water
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)
Prince brings a shoe to marry a girl whose foot it fits. To meet such a standard, some girls cut off their toes or heel
The unrecognized hero works as a gardener at the powerful person
To fulfill their mission, persons sons must reach a place where he never been (or which he reached in his time)
To reach his or her destination, person follows a ball of threads (rare: some ball, apple) which is rolling in front of him or her
Rainbow drinks and together with water swallows fish, people, etc. Sometimes this fish falls on earth from the sky
Mighty bird (more rare other creature/mythological person) helps a man (rare: a woman) because he (she) warms/covers from bad weather its/hers nestlings (children)
A poor married couple (a poor man) bemoans life’s harshness and blame Adam and Eve who through their disobedience and curiosity brought sin into the world. A powerful person hears their complaint and put them into the place where they can live in luxury. He stipulates only that they must not break certain taboo (usually to open a covered vessel). They break taboo and are returned to their old way of life
Person sees how others act using magic or according to their animal nature. He or she imitates their actions and gets into trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and refer to everyday activity, mostly to providing and cooking food
While travelling on earth, God (a saint) asks his companion to prepare a slaughtered animal (chicken). The companion secretly eats liver (heart, etc.) and explains that the animal did not have such an organ. He confesses his wrong deed when God (a saint) promises him a treasure
Wife of a powerful person gives birth to wonderful child(ren). Her envious sisters play a trick to make her husband order to get rid of her (usually to put her and her child into the barrel which is thrown into the sea). The wonderful son saves her and himself. Imperceptibly (usually in guise of an animal or an insect, or sending his brother who has guise of a puppy) he gets into his father’s house and listens in what people are are talking about
The sun and/or the moon are inanimate objects thrown up to the sky or fixed in the sky
A girl gets to the house in the forest. The bear comes and tells her to prepare him a bed of stones and logs
God sends his enemy to bring earth from the bottom of the waterbody. In the beginning, the enemy or also the god can have guise of birds. When the earth is brought up and dry land created, two persons, now always anthropomorphic, are engaged into confrontation
An insect feeds on human blood (flesh). Dangerous person asks it where it had sucked blood or whose blood (flesh) is the most delicious. Usually the insect lies or cannot answer (its tongue is cut off) and thanks to this dangerous person attacks certain plants or animals and not people
The snake is an enemy of the swallow (usually because swallow does not let snake to destroy people; the snake sends mosquito or other bloodsucking insect to get know whose blood is the most delicious; the insect flies back to report that human blood is the sweetest; swallow bites its tongue off and the snake gets to pull off feathers from the swallow's tail)
When person touches her or his eye with the magic substance, she or he sees supernatural beings unseen for the people. Usually the beings understand it and make this eye blind
A woman hides in a chip of wood (in a twig) that was brought to house and comes out when nobody is nearby
A man travels with his wife or daughter. Another woman or a demonic person replaces her when the man goes away for a short time or (rare) falls asleep