Linked Motifs

Motif	Name	Description
b86	Babylonian tower	To reach the sky (the Sun, Moon, particular star), people build a ladder or tower that consists of separate modules (bricks, logs, sticks, etc.). This construction collapses
c29	A listened in secret	People or God get know a secret thanks to listening in its possessor when he speaks aloud with himself or with his relations. The received knowledge is related to cosmogony or acquisition of cultural values
j42	Waters split apart	When person comes to the water body, waters are split apart so the person reaches the other bank walking on the dry ground
j46	Enemy drowns	Antagonist perishes falling into the water or trying to cross a water body
k120a	The averted incest (sister and brother)	A man is going to marry his sister (often puts certain condition on his future marriage, only his sister complies with them). The girl gets to escape
k120a2	Not my mother but my mother-in-law	Members of the girl’s family want to marry her to a man who should not be her marriage partner (usually it is her own brother). They ask her to name them as her in-laws or the girl herself tells that they are not anymore her mother, sister, etc. but her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc. or her worst enemies
k166	Forty girls	A group of girls forms a community or an armed contingent and acts independently from the men
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
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)
l53	Stones into the maw	A monstrous being is killed or neutralized by (burning hot) stones (pieces of metal, heavy fruits, etc.) thrown into its maw or anus or the being retreats when they menace to throw a stone into its maw
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
m132a	Ears, not horns	Other animal believes that an ungulate has dangerous horns and is scared
m134	A tower of wolves	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
m157	The impossible giving birth	Person claims that a man or a male animal had given birth (or is menstruating) or that a female gave birth to a young of another species or that a woman gave birth to an animal
m157a1	Father is giving birth	Person proves the absurdity of the claims of another person saying that his or her father (or other man or a male animal) had given or is giving birth or is menstruating
m157a2	Bull or cart gives birth	Person claims that a calf (colt, kid, etc.) was born (brought to the place) not by the cow (mare, etc.) of another person but by his own male animal (bull, stallion, etc.), his own animal of another species or by inanimate object (usually a cart)
m176	A test: to jump across an obstacle	(Animal) persons agree to jump across a brook, hole, fire or other obstacle or to walk upon a log, a rope and the like. One or all of them fall down
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
m29w3	The lion is a failure	Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the lion suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
m29x	The hyena is a failure	Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the hyena suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
m39a4	Fool and his shadow	Fool takes his own shadow for a person who pursues him and gives it his possessions
m51	Meat in a tree	One of two animal-persons kills game. In the absence of the stronger one, the weaker one hides the meat to eat it alone later
m85	The fox bluffs	An animal person (usually a fox or a jackal) threatens to cut down a tree on which mother bird (squirrel) made its nest unless she will throw down one of her nestlings (squirrel children) or eggs. Another bird lets the mother bird know that the predator is unable to realize his threat

Similar traditions based on Cosmology and Etiology motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Luba (Baluba, Luba-Katanga, Shaba), (Ba)Holoholo, Tumbwe, Bena-Piana, Tabwa, Benabena-Mitumba, Zela, Bene-Marungu
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Greeks (modern)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Bulgarians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Arabs of Sudan
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Latvians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Kara Kalpak
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Buryats: Western (Cis-Baikal)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples

Similar traditions based on Adventures and Tricks motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 6 Tradition: Arabs of Sudan
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Kirghiz
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Lithuanians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Latvians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Tunisia Arabs
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Kabylia and other Berber of Northern and Central Algeria: Beni Snous, Beni Menacer (incl Zuav), Shaui, etc.)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Finns
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Georgians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Persians