| Motif | Name | Description |
| a12 | Eclipses: monster’s attack | 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 |
| a4 | Female sun | The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female |
| a5 | The Sun and the Moon are males | The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual |
| b33a | Person dies of cold in the spring | When it becomes warm, a person or animal (bird) decides that the winter is over (most often an old woman goes to graze her animals) but dies of cold or the animals that had been deiven to the pasture die |
| b33c | The borrowed days | When the winter ends and the spring begins certain month (usually March) borrows (rare buys, steals) several days from a neighbor month |
| b3a | Primeval waters | Water is the original element, the dry earth appears later |
| b42n | Orion is one person | Constellation of Orion or the Belt of Orion is identified with only one male person, usually with a warrior or hunter |
| e31a | Creators and rescuers of a girl | 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 |
| e31a1 | Three men construct a woman which becomes alive: to whom does she belong? | 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? |
| e9 | The mysterious housekeeper | 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 |
| e9h | Dove-wife | A man marries dove-woman |
| f3 | A man eats woman’s pregnancy medicine | A man gives birth after accidentally eating pregnency medicine. The child appears from a swelling on his leg or otherwise but the man remains alive |
| f35a | Feeding with the kin’s meat | Person does not know that he or she eats or cooks the meat of the member of his or her household (blood relation, more rare a spouse or servant) or serves it to his or her friends, or uses her or his bones for everyday needs, or slowly kills him ort her |
| f3a | The pregnant man | A man carries a child like a woman |
| f70 | Potiphar's wife: false accusation of sexual abuse | 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 |
| f70a | Disordered clothes as evidence against innocent man | To accuse a man or boy of (sexual) abbuse, a woman tears her clothes, smears or scratches her body pretending to be attacked |
| f70b | Revenge of a rejected woman | A woman revenges on a man who rejected her love but necessary not pretends to be an object of sexual harassment from his part |
| f71 | Susan and the old men (the innocent slandered maiden) | An innocent girl or young woman rejects a man who attempts to seduce her. The man accuses her of loose conduct, ultimately the truth comes to light |
| f9f1 | Snake inside woman | Poisonous snake (snakes, scorpions) comes out of the mouth of a woman {Motif F9f1 and K100c are almost identical but F9f1 links to a cluster of etiological/cosmological motifs related to the idea of a dangerous woman while K100c is related to adventures} |
| g6a | Tree of the year | Year is described as a tree with the number of branches, twigs, leaves etc. corresponding to the number of seasons, months, days, etc. |
| h49c | Faithful falcon killed | A tame bird (more rare: domestic animal) seems to be aggressive against its master (usually a falcon knocks the cup from the hand of a thirsty king). The master kills the bird (animal) only to find that the it saved his life |
| h49d | The poisoned fruit | A bird or a person brings fruit (seed, sprout) that makes people young (healthy). By chance or by evil intent the fruit becomes contaminated with poison. The man for whom the fruit had been brought kills (is going to kill) the helpful bird (person) and then discovers the truth |
| h7 | The personified Death | Death (also Old Age, Disease, etc.) is a particular person not identical with the Master of the Dead. He kills people usually carrying away their souls |
| i140 | The staff of Moses | A staff that was thrown on the ground turns into an alive snake |
| i20 | The undeground dwarfs | Race of dwarfs lives under the ground (deep under the earth or in hills and rocks) or at the horizon where the earth and the sky meet |
| i20c | Dwarfs live in the underworld | Dwarfs live in the underworld that somewhat reminds the world of humans. If the dwarfs and the humans meet, it is deep under the earther |
| i25 | The bribed guards | 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 |
| j26 | Babies come out of the water | Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water |
| j32 | To identify the night thief | Some valuables (foals, hay, apples, etc.) are regularly stolen. Nobody (the elder brothers) is able to catch the thief and only the hero (the younger brother) finds who it is |
| k100 | A faithful servant | A man gets to know about dangers that threaten another man (and often about turning into stone of anybody who would warn about these dangers). He helps the man to escape the dangers though his behavior seems strange or hostile |
| k100a | Tobias | A young man lets free a fish or an animal that was caught or he or his father renders a help to somebody. When the young man sets off for a journey, the grateful creature or person in guise of a stranger or animal becomes his companion and protector |
| k100c | Girl’s bridegrooms are bitten by a snake | . The hero or his companion eliminate the source of danger |
| k102a1 | The false grave | To hide truth, person buries an animal or an object and tells that it is the burial of a bride (wife, sister, children, etc.) of another |
| k115 | Person saved thanks to the spider web | A man escapes from his (her, theirs) pursuers and hides in a cave. A spider spins its web over the hiding place. When the pursuers see the spider web they think the cave is unoccupied and do not enter it |
| k117a | To make a mute woman speak | A girl who keeps silence is promised to one who would make her speak; a man with much difficulty makes his magic wife speak |
| k118 | The prohibited room | Master of the house allows person to feel himself (herself) free bit not to look into particular place. The person breaks prohibition |
| k12 | Woman is lost and returned | By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back |
| k120 | The averted incest (daughter and father) | A man is going to marry his daughter (rare: his stepdaughter; sometimes certain conditions are put on his future marriage and only his daughter complies with them). The girl gets to escape |
| k123 | Old woman’s curse | A youth or (rare) girl offends an elder woman. Her words make him or her to be overcome by desire to undertake something dangerous (usually to get a particular marriage partner) |
| k123a | A broken vessel | A youth breaks or overthrows a vessel of a woman or girl. This episode is a trigger for the narrative |
| k133 | Foam-flecked horse | Every morning a horse is exhausted because animals or demonic creatures ride it at night |
| k14 | Precious advices | 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 |
| k14c | Man mistakes his son for his wife’s lover | Coming home after a long absence, a man understands that there is another man in his house but keeps patience and discovers that it is his own son or a close kin of his wife |
| k14e | The pretended inheritance | Sons of a man neglect their father (daughters-in-law neglect their father-in-law). He pretends to be hiding something (counts money conspicuously, etc.). The sons believe that their father has considerable inheritance and become to look after him carefully. When the father finally dies they find nothing valuable in his chest |
| k154 | A skull with an inscription | A man picks up a skull with an enigmatic and ominous inscription on it. Later its meaning becomes clear |
| k154a | Men in the harem | Solving a riddle, a boy or youth unmasks a daughter (wife, minister) of a powerful person: house-maids (or some of them) are men, the minister plans to kill his master) |
| k168a | Food turns into cut off limbs | A man believes that he holds something edible in his hands (a head of an animal, bread, melon, etc.) but these objects turn into cut off human heads or limbs |
| k173 | Placidas | A powerful and rich man loses everything that he has, is separated with his wife and children and they with each other. Later he obtains everything back, his family is united again |
| k176 | A man in search of the woman | A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife |
| k180 | The time of wolf and the time of fox | A ruler has a dream and demands to explain it. A snake tells a man that this dream signals the beginning or a time period when people act in particular way. The episode repeats with different dreams. Every time the man’s behavior towards the snake proves that the corresponding period really has begun |
| k2 | The destroyed ladder | 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) |
| 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) |
| k27n | Difficult tasks of the in-laws | A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage |
| k27q | Milk of the wild beast | Hero is sent to bring milk of a wild animal or milk in possession of a dangerous creature or person |
| k27r2 | The dancing apples | A task: to bring objects (usually fruits) that act like people, i.e. dance, sing and the like |
| k27z2a2 | Unrecognized wife visits her husband | A man marries a woman but abandons her without consummating his marriage. She visits him in disguise and ultimately he gets to know who was his beautiful companion. Usually the wife gives birth to his son (three sons) and upon seeing the boy, the man realizes that it is his own child |
| k27z2b | The killed doll | Complicated relations between a poor girl and a prince lead to his attempt to kill his bride in the nuptial night. The girl puts a doll in her bed, the prince pierces it with a sword and takes the sweet juice (honey, sugar) with which the doll was filled for the blood. He repents his deed but the real girl appears and the couple is happy |
| k27z8 | Insolvable riddles | The riddle refers to extraordinary or accidental events that happened to the person setting the riddle, and thus is unsolvable to outsiders |
| k27z9 | Why the fish laughed | A (dried) fish (water-spirit, satyr, etc.) laughs, smiles or spits because a man disguised as a woman lives in the house |
| k2a | Hero marooned in the underworld | 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 |
| k32 | The false wife | 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. |
| k32b | Mother-in-law substitutes her daughter | Mother-in-law of a man takes the appearance of her daughter to replace her |
| k32g | Punishment: torn apart by horses | 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) |
| k32h3 | Punishment: burned alive | 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) |
| k33 | Drowned woman remains alive | 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 |
| k33d1 | The princess in the chest | The youth does not know that a beautiful girl hides inside an object that is brought to him |
| k33f | Basin of honey and basin of oil | Two or more different kinds of valuable edible liquids like oil, honey, milk, etc. are available or imaginable. Cf. motif n34 |
| k33f1 | Fountain of oil is promised to be created | Person promises to create a fountain from which a valuable product (usually oil) is flowing and really creates it (rare: promises to share a large amount of such a product) |
| k33h | The cat, the dog and the magic object | 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) |
| k35a | Hero brands his rivals | In exchange for temporal advantages, person agrees to be maimed or branded |
| k35c1 | The best is one whom you love | A mighty person asks a man which of two women is prettier, what is the most beautiful thing, and the like. Giving a correct answer, the man is not killed like those who were before him but receives a reward |
| k38e | Of copper, of silver, of gold | 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.) |
| k48 | Singing bird of the hero | An antagonist wants that a wonderful bird of the hero sing but it remains mute or cries differently. The bird begins to sing when the hero triumphs over his adversaries |
| k56f2 | One woman, two men and five eggs | To divide a certain (often five) number of eggs between people of different sex, a clever woman takes into consideration that every man has already two eggs |
| k64 | Escape from Polyphemos’ cave | 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 |
| k66c | The bear takes human spouse | The bear (lion) takes a woman for sexual partner or the she-bear takes a man. They have children who look like humans or bear cubs. More rare the woman gives birth to her son in the bear den because being abducted by the bear she was pregnant |
| k67b | Bargain not to become angry | Person of a low social position (a man) makes an agreement with a person of high social position (an ogre) that the master must never become angry with the servant. The servant abuses the master until the latter erupts in anger and has to be severely punished or to pay a great fee |
| k67c | Skin ribbon ripped off from the back | Person agrees that under certain conditions another may rip off some skin from his back or cut off his ears, nose, etc. |
| k73 | Children of the youngest wife | 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 |
| k73a | Baby child substituted with object or animal | 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) |
| k73a5 | Baby child substituted with a kitten | Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with a kitten (inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to a kitten) |
| k73b | Innocent woman punished | A woman who was falsely accused of killing her new-born child or giving birth to pups and the like is punished in such a way that she must suffer from filth and be taunted by passers by |
| k74 | Hero, his companions and a dwarf | The hero and his companion or companions live together. Every morning one stays at home while another or others go to hunt, etc. A demonic person comes, eats up all the food and beats the cook. Or the man who remained at home comes to the demon himself in search of fire and is maltreated by him. The hero kills or neutralizes the demon |
| k75 | The youngest daughter is willing (The loathsome bridegroom) | 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 |
| k75a | Thrown apple hits the chosen one | 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 |
| k75a1 | The youngest son-in-law should live in the stable | 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 |
| k75a2 | The gardener | The unrecognized hero works as a gardener at the powerful person |
| k80a | A bird or an object tell about a murder | 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 |
| k80a1 | Bird tells about a murder | 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 |
| k80b | My mother slew me, my father ate me | The (step)mother kills or orders to kill her small (step)son, eats him or feeds his flesh to her husband. The son revives, usually in the form of a bird who tells about the crime.
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| k80c1 | The tell-tale calf’s head | A person brings to a king or has at his home something edible. At the decisive moment fruits or meat turn into human remains. The person imprisoned (and executed) |
| k80c4 | Mute witnesses of the crime | In a deserted place, a man kills another. After some time he is exposed thanks to circumstances and facts that do not seem important and do not report on the crime directly (the victim’s last words; objects or live beings that were or appeared on the place of the murder). (All texts that contain motifs K80c, K80c1, K80c3, K80c4, also contain a more general motif K80c4) |
| k82 | Evil sister-in-law | Wife of a man or wives of a group of brothers envy his (their) sister and tries (try) to destroy her |
| k82a | Pregnancy from the snake eggs | An ill-disposed elder woman makes a young woman or girl to swallow snake eggs (a snake, something else). Her stomach becomes to swell and the man believes that the victim has become pregnant because of her dissoluteness (rare: to make snakes, worms, etc. to kill her from inside) |
| k83 | The sons on a quest for a wonderful remedy for their father | To cure a sick person or to make him (rare: her) young again it is necessary to bring a remedy from a distant country. The medicine is brought and the sick person is cured (becomes young) |
| k84 | Sisters married to animals | Young man gives his sisters to the first bridegrooms who claim them. These are demons or animals who usually later help him |
| k85e | The sea horses | Magic horses live under the water |
| k93a | Sword of chastity | 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) |
| k94 | Bird of luck (eaten up head) | Person eats magic bird, fish, small animal, or fruit and becomes prosperous and powerful |
| k96 | Fifty sons | Many brothers marry or have to marry in such a way that all their wives are (were) sisters |
| k99a1 | Smart man is rescued from prison | An imprisoned man is rescued and exalted because only he gets to resolve problems that trouble the king or to save the princess (prince, the king himself) |
| k99a3 | The happy dream: Sun, Moon and stars | A young man has a dream: he sees the Sun, the Moon and a star (all of them or some of these luminaries). When the narrative come to the end, the man understands the meaning of the dream: these are people who love or adore him |
| l100d | The entrapped suitors | A pretty, faithful wife is courted by one or several men, one of them usually a clergyman. With her husband’s consent, she invites the suitor(s) to a private rendezvous. Before the first man’s wishes are gratified, the next one arrives and then the husband himself. The suitor or suitors are caught in an uncomfortable position and then killed, punished in some other manner, ridiculed, made to pay ransom, to work, etc. |
| l100e | The lover, the husband and the guest | 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 |
| l100f | Guest runs away from the host | In the absence of the host, the guest is told that the host is going to kill or to maim him. The guest runs away, the host runs after him with good intentions but the guest believes that the received warning had a reason |
| l114 | The youngest one saves siblings from demon | A group of young people comes to a demon. The youngest brother of sister or a person whom others take for a sick, unpleasant, invalid one and who often accompanies the others against their wish saves them all |
| l15a | Vulnerable place on the body | The only vulnerable spot is near the surface of person’s or creature’s body and not in his inner organs |
| l19b | Beings with odd number of heads | 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 |
| l19b1 | The seven-headed monster | Описывается или изображается чудовище (обычно змей) о семи головах. При перечисления существ по мере возрастания у них числа голов ряд заканчивается на семи |
| l37b | Secrets accidentally overheard | Person accidentally overhears secrets of animals or demons and thus gets to know the causes of his and other people's misfortunes |
| l40b | Absurd actions to lure person out | 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 |
| l40c | Pays for the bridle and claims the camel | Thanks to ambiguity of the saying, person pays for a cheap object but claims the much more valuable |
| m106f | A guest from the paradise | A stranger tells a woman that he comes from the other world and had seen there her dead relative. The woman gives him money and goods for the latter. Usually when her husband goes after the trickster to retrieve the money, the trickster steals his horse |
| m114k | Water which is not from the earth and not from the sky | A liquid which usually should not be used for drinking or cooking once is used for these purposes. A person who is told that this liquid is neither from the earth must guess what is the source of this liquid |
| m116a | Ungrateful son reproved by naive actions of own son | When an aged father is banned from the table and served his meals in a wooden cup by his son and his daughter-in-law, the little grandson starts to build a similar cup for his parents to use when they grow old. Thereupon the couple starts to reflect on their undignified behavior. Thinking of their own old age, they bring the old father back to the family table (previously type 980B). A son gives his father half a blanket (carpet, cape, cloth) to keep warm. Thereupon the little grandson keeps the other half of the blanket and explains that he will save it for his parents for when they are old (previously type 980A.). An aged father is abandoned by his son in the wilderness (abyss) in a cart (sledge, basket). The grandson keeps it in order to use it in the same way for his parents when they have grown old. They reflect on their behavior. (previously type 980C). The ungrateful son drags his old father out of the house. At the threshold the father says, "Do not drag me further; I dragged my own father only this far!". The son reflects on his bad behavior |
| m127 | Lost tail of the fox | 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 |
| m130c | The mouse and the lion (the help of the weak) | When a lion (tiger, bear, elephant, man) gets into a trap, a mouse (rat) makes him free (usually bites through the ropes) |
| m136d | The air castles | A person plans to turn his (future) possessions into a great wealth (milk, eggs, small money, animal to be killed, etc.) but imagining this wealth, he destroys what he already has (eggs are broken, the animal runs away, etc.). Or two persons are involved into quarrel about possessions that they do not yet have |
| m146 | The fox gets bait from trap by luring wolf into it | An animal knows that food is in a trap or poisoned and tricks another to take it |
| m147a | Foxes will meet at the bazaar | When two foxes (wolves) meet, one of them asks another when their next meeting will be. Another one answers that at the bazaar where pelts are sold (at the fur-dresser, etc.) |
| m154a | A donkey induces overworked ox to feign sickness | One of domestic animals (usually the donkey) induces another who is overworked to feign sickness. When the next day he must do the work of the “sick” one, he tells that the master has decided to slaughter the one who is unable to work and persuades him to stop being ill |
| m158 | Tops or buts | Two animals (an animal and a person, an ogre and a person, etc.) agree to divide a crop in such a way that one would take what is above the ground and another what is beneath ground. One of them (several times makes a wrong choice (takes turnip tops and wheat roots) |
| m159 | The lion’s share | The strongest predator (usually a lion) suggests one of his companions to shares the booty. He is not satisfied by results and beats the companion. When another companion becomes to divide, he gives everything to the strongest one and explains that the injured one taught him the right way of sharing |
| m163 | The precious cat | Person gets to a country where rats or mice are a plague and receives a fortune selling a cat |
| m163a | What cats feed on? | A man sells a cat (a cock) to the people who have never seen cats or chicken. When they get the marvellous creature they do not know what they should give it to eat and think that it eats people |
| m165 | Fur coat for the wolf | 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 |
| m168 | More cowardly than the hare | The hare is in despair because he is afraid of all creatures but is delighted when he sees other animals (sheep, frogs, dusks) being afraid of him |
| m171 | The profitable exchange: from a pea to a horse | Person or animal stays for a night and the next morning declares that his possessions (which value is none or negligible) are lost. Or other persons whom the trickster meets really use or spoil objects that the trickster gives them. Every time he receives in compensation objects or animals with ever bigger value, the last acquisition usually being a costly animal or a girl. (All texts with motifs M171A and M171C contain also the motif M171) |
| m171a | The profitable exchange: getting a girl | Person or animal gets to exchange less valuable goods for ever more valuable. The last or the next to last one is a girl |
| m180 | Fox and crane invite each other | An animal person invites another and serves his food in such a way that he is unable to taste it. Then the other invites the first animal and puts him in similar situation |
| m182a | Wild animals stick to horse | Person smears with pitch a domestic animal (a stuffed animal, an object); wild animals or demons stick to it |
| m184 | The slow one is ahead of the sleeping one | A slow and a fast animals agree to race. The fast one is sure that he will win and is not in a hurry at all while the slow one is moving persistently to his aim and wins |
| m185 | On the tail of the fast one (animals) | A slow and a fast animals (or not flying bird) agree to race. The slow one imperceptibly sticks to the fast one’s body (or to a vehicle) and getting to the finish pretends to come there simultaneously with the fast one or before him |
| m185a | On the tail of the winner (all versions) | Birds, animals or fish compete as about who is the fastest or can fly higher than others. A weak one imperceptible sticks to the body of the fastest or strongest and wins |
| m187b | The swiftest runner must receive the harvest | The swiftest runner must receive the harvest |
| m187c | A crab is a participant of the race | A crab participates in the race and wins |
| m191a | Belling the cat | The mice decide to tie a bell on the cat, so they can hear when the cat comes. Usually they cannot find anyone to tie it on her |
| m191b | Ingratitude and injury are hard to forget | A man feeds a snake (rare: a fish; does not do it any harm) and the snake makes him rich (is friendly). His son (rare: someone else or the man himself) injures the snake (kills its young) and dies (if son; because of the bite). The snake refuses to keep former friendship with the man: both of them remember the inflicted pain |
| m196 | The silence wager | A man and his wife make a wager: Whoever speaks first must do certain trivial work or get a bigger portion of some simple food. They or one of them continue to keep silence even being exposed to violence or taken by others as the dead |
| m197b | The neighing stallions and the mares who foaled | A powerful man claims that after his stallions neighed his neighbor’s mares foaled, that all foals in his land are born by his mare, etc. A youth comes to kill dogs of the man because they did not drive wolves in due time (because they scared game, etc.). The dogs were far away from the place of the event and the man recognizes that his trick failed |
| m198 | Wise brothers (the king is bastard) | 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 |
| m198b | The pretended astrologer | 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 |
| m198b3 | Roof of the mosque falling in | A pretended diviner finds by chance stolen objects, he is generously rewarded. Once he, for some reason, pushes in the most impolite way the ruler (the people) out of the building. Immediately after this the roof of the building falls in. The prestige of the diviner becomes higher than ever |
| m23 | Mock plea | Person or creature pretends to be afraid of a particular sort of treatment that really cannot do him any harm |
| m29b | Trickster-fox, jackal or coyote | In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote |
| m29b1 | The wolf is a failure | Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf suffers a reverse, is injured or dies |
| m29z1 | The Bald-headed | A bald person acts in narratives (thence his usual name: Taz, Tazchi, Kal, Keloglan, Kechal etc.) |
| m38d | Animated objects perish one after another | Two or several animated objects or small animals and live or travel together and perish one after another when they make the most simple acts |
| m38d1 | Neck like a hair | Persons whose body parts are obviously vulnerable (head like a bladder, neck like a hair, leg like a straw, etc.) attempt to behave normal people and perish one after the other. |
| m39a1 | Misunderstood instructions: a step behind | Fool follows instructions that were reasonable in every previous episode but become absurd in every next one |
| m39a6f | To sell a sheep and to bring the sheep and the money | Father tells his son to sell a sheep (goat) and to bring back both the sheep and the money. Usually a girl teaches the boy to sell the wool |
| m39d | Series of clever unjust decisions | 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 |
| m39e1 | The eaten up iron and the kidnapped child | A man steals money or property. The owner gets his property back after he or his helper puts the theft in such a position when the best choice for him becomes to return what he has stolen (usually the first man kidnaps a child of the second one) |
| m39e1a | The iron-eating mice | Person claims that iron or gold disappeared being eaten by mice |
| m39f | He had a hat, had he a head? | A fool loses his head (usually bitten off by a bear). His wife or companions cannot say had he his head before but remember that he certainly had a hat (beard) |
| m57a | Beads discharged from the body | 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 |
| m57a2 | Male person is the producer of valuables | 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 |
| m57c | Gold producing animal | An animal (ass, cow, horse, goat, bear, leopard) extracts gold or food from its body or person makes others believe that it is so |
| m57d | Beat, cudgel! | 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) |
| m75b1 | Marco the Rich | A respected man gets to know that a poor boy must inherit all his property or become a king and tries to prevent it, but the fate cannot be changed |
| m81e1 | The hero brings to the old man his stolen eyes | Young man lives with an old man whose eye(s) were stolen by an ogre. The youth comes to the ogre, kills him, brings the stolen eyes and the old man gets to see again |
| m83 | Who is older? | Somebody claims that he has been born before present world came into being. His opponent claims the same, and they argue who of them is the older |
| m83 | Who is older? | Somebody claims that he has been born before present world came into being. His opponent claims the same, and they argue who of them is the older |
| m90a6 | Apples of immortality | Certain apples make their owner eternally young |
| m91b1 | The sold skin | 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) |
| m91c1 | Herd from the river bottom | 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 |
| m91c1 | Herd from the river bottom | 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 |
| m91c2 | Put into the bag | 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 |
| n34 | Honey and oil | 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 |