The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female
Coming together of the Sun and the Moon is the reason of their eclipses
The lunar (and solar) eclipse or spots on the lunar disc are expained by the fact that the Sun or the Moon came to a wrong path or that their paths crossed
Certain stars or constellations are interpreted as hunters, their dogs and game that the hunters pursue
Three stars of the Belt of Orion are three persons or animals who pursue each other
Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
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
Formerly or in a certain country the sleep was not known; certain person possesses sleep, is its incarnation or teaches to sleep; the sleep is a particular substance
A man gets into the village of women. Usually he has to satisfy every woman against his will or every woman claims him for herself
There are (or were) women who live apart from men in their own village or villages
A male person turns into woman and marries a man. He is either unmasked or abandons his "husband" by his own will
Container with valuables or with dangerous creatures is opened (before time). Its content goes out of control or disappear
One cereal grain (cob, etc.) is enough to prepare a meal
Chameleon is responsible for introduction of permanent death or hard life; loses object that the deity trusted him to bring to the earth
Lizard is responsible for introduction of permanent death. (Lithuanian case can be a mistification)
Hare is responsible for introduction of permanent death
Rainbow is a reptile (usually a snake) or (more rare) a fish, or it is related to snake, to its tongue, breath, or to scorpion's tail
Rainbow is two creatures or persons, usually a male and a female
Stars are people, ghosts, anthropomorphic beings (interpretations of unique star objects like Venus or Polaris as persons not considered)
A man seeks a strong adversary to wrestle with and comes across person who is incomparably stronger than he
The Pleiades are a brooding hen, hen with its chickens, chickens
When person comes to the water body, waters are split apart so the person reaches the other bank walking on the dry ground
Son of the antagonist and the hero have the same father or mother (or they are nephew and uncle). When the antagonist conspires against the hero his (her) son becomes friend and companion of the hero
Persons shoot arrows (darts) which hit each other’s end forming a chain (rope, ladder). Persons climb by this chain to the sky or (rare) across an obstacle
A man maroons another because of jealousy or because he plans to take hold of his wife
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)
Person gets into the belly of ground animal or bird. He kills it from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
A boy is born whose father or (rare) mother is unknown. He himself points at his parent who as a rule occupies the lowest social position. Usually many men (women) come together and everyone hopes that the boy points at him (her)
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
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
Not the powerful person himself but his official or adviser tries to get rid of the hero and suggests that the person should give the hero difficult tasks
Maternal uncle or father (or grandfather if he replaces father who is not mentioned) of the young man is his rival or enemy and tries to kill him
Hero is asked to climb into a hole or pit. When he does it, they fill it with soil or throw down a post, a stone, etc. The hero demonstrates his magic capacities coming back uninjured
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 girl goes with her friends to a river, into a forest, etc. Other girls return home but the heroine has to remain or to go back to the forest, etc. She has a narrow escape from a dangerous creature. marries a supernatural being or a chief, or dies but is avenged
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
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
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
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
A despised wife gives birth to wonderful human children, other wives give birth to animals
A woman is abandoned by her magic husband. She finds him and becomes his wife again
Wife dies, husband revives her, she abandons him for another man and is punished
Master of the house allows person to feel himself (herself) free bit not to look into particular place. The person breaks prohibition
An animal saves a man or helps him but the ungrateful man humiliates the animal, kills or tries to kill it
Person of a small size (often a chicken) overcomes powerful adversary despite all attempts to destroy him thanks to objects and animals met on the way and preserved in his bag or inside his body
Rolling head is a dangerous mobster (pursues celestial bodies, people etc.)
A demonic being demands that a person would carry it permanently, clings to his shoulder or back
Person that looks weak and feeble asks a man to carry him or her on his back and refuses to leave him
Life of a person or creature is preserved outside of his (her, its) body. Person or creature dies after the corresponding object is destroyed
Person or creature has another face (another mouth) on the back of his (her, its) head
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
Person accidentally overhears secrets of animals or demons and thus gets to know the causes of his and other people's misfortunes
Hero hides in a tree from an ogre. Before the ogre gets to fell the tree, the hero flies away or a bird helps him to escape
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
Person devours his or her own flesh or disembowels himself or herself
A demonic woman or (rare) her paramour or a monster is going to kill a man usually after driving him up a tree. At the last moment the man's dogs or other animals or birds who are the man's pets come and kill the demon
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
Cunning fox, jackal or coyote saves particular person or many people, helps them
Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay
An antagonist makes a demand to the hero which is correct in form but really is unjustified. The hero fulfills the claims or is punished. Now antagonist takes an object or animal possessed by the hero, is unable to give it back and is punished
In search of a lost object, usually carried away by water or wind, a girl or (rare) a boy comes to a powerful person, gets the object back and/or is rewarded. The object is related to the everyday life, it has no ritual significance and is not a weapon
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
A predator animal (ogre, ogress) swallows people or animals. The goat (rare: the sheep) punishes him or her and usually saves the victims (most often opens the ogre’s belly open and the swallowed ones come out alive)
To make himself unrecognizable by the victim, a predator or ogre modifies his throat or tongue mechanically (oils or burns it, asks blacksmith to remake it, etc.)
A gourd proves to be a cannibal or grows from remains of a monster
A demonic being swallows a multitude of people and animals. When it is killed and cut open, the swallowed ones come out alive or are revived
A girl (rejects suitors for a long time but at last) falls in love with a handsome man who proves to be a demon or animal. Usually she eventually escapes from him
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
A girl who rejected suitors finds at last a really handsome man. He escorts her to his place and distributes on the way all his clothes and body parts that he loaned before. Only his skull (head) remains
When a man goes to marry, an evil spirit joins him, helps him in the village of his bride, etc. but then claims at least half of the bride for himself. (In Gola story a man gets a wife for a spirit and claims a half of her)
A wild animal, ogress or ogre turns into woman and marries a hunter with a special aim to kill him. Usually she goes with the hunter to the forest and acquires there her real guise
Person pursued by an enemy asks somebody whom he meets to help him. The helper hides him
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is a spider
Person or creature who has no wings or is unable to fly on a long distance attempts to ascend to the sky or to fly far away but falls down or, deprived of his wings, remains in a place from which he is unable to return
Fool follows instructions that were reasonable in every previous episode but become absurd in every next one
Fool puts a small sharp object (needle, pin, nail) in a place when it is impossible later to find it (a cart-load of hay, a bag of flour. etc.)
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
A weak animal-person agrees separately with two strong ones to pull a rope with him. They do not know that are engaged into tug-of-war with each other or that the rope is tied to a tree. (In New World motif borrowed from Afroamericans)
Trickster puts on a rotten hide of an animal and, being unrecognized, pretends to be victim of hare’s magic. Animals are frightened and decide not to pay the hare back for his tricks
A weak person makes a separate agreement with two strong ones to cultivate a field. The strong ones do not know about each other, and ultimately the weak one takes all the harvest himself.
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
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
Person reckons up number of members in two enormous and alternative multitudes (alive trees and dead trees, men and women, etc.). Usually numbers prove to be equal but one member possesses the qualities of the both multitudes. Adding it to one of them, person demonstrates his case
Person is going to exterminate birds but decides not to do thanks to a wise adviser
Person conceals his or her close relatives (children, mother, brothers) and tells another that he or she has killed them. Another believes and agrees to kill his or her own children, mother, etc.
Person conceals her children and tells another one that she has killed them. Another person really kills her own
Person lies that his name is so and so. Others understand it not as a name but as a common word and behave accordingly
Person tells his companions that his name is “The Guest”, “For the Guests” etc. and eats alone all the food prepared for all of them
An animal person refuses to dig or clean a source of drinking water together with other animals or birds but takes advantage of the results of the work
Trickster suggests to be a nurse or a shepherd, kills and eats children or animals, demonstrates to the parent (the owner) one and the same child or animal as many times as was their number in the beginning
Enemy is ready to cease person who asks him first to throw away his clothes and shoes and exposes his ears. The enemy takes him by ears and throws away, the person escapes
A weak (animal) person demonstrates a strong one his reflection in water. The latter believes that an animal like he contests his supremacy, invites him for a visit, etc., usually jumps in and drowns
An animal knows that food is in a trap or poisoned and tricks another to take it
An animal person becomes a herdsman but eats the entrusted animals up
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.
An (animal) person saves a dangerous animal from a snare or the like. The saved one is going to kill his savior but the third person saves the second (usually tricks the first one to captivity again)
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
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
In the presence of powerful person one of his subjects is plotting against the other. The other answers that the problem can be resolved if the first one would be maimed (usually a part of his body used as a medicine). The schemer is killed or injured
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)
To demonstrate that a strong animal is his slave or his riding animal, a weak animal tricks the strong one to carry him. People believe that the strong one is really a slave of the weak one
Two animal persons are invited to a feast. Both along the way and at the place of destination one deceives another
The (animal) person threatens another to beat him and sticks to him with all his limbs in succession. Usually it is a figure smeared with some sticky substance that the person takes for somebody alive
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
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
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is a ground squirrel (Xerux sp.)
Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
The sky rose to its present height and/or the direct relations of the sky deity with the people were broken off when the sky or the deity was touched or struck with a long object (a pestle, a broom, etc.)
Animal person climbs (or attempts to climb) to the sky or to the Moon to bite off a piece of it
Animal person climbs (or attempts to climb) to the sky or to the Moon to bite off a piece of it
Thunder looks like a quadruped mammal (pig, buffalo, camel, anteater, tapir, dog, cat, leopard, monkey, etc.)
Other animal believes that an ungulate has dangerous horns and is scared
Animal person agrees to put on a fresh skin of another animal or to be tied up with raw straps. The skin or straps inflict sufferings (usually after they become dry)
The sky rose to its present height and/or the direct relations of the sky deity with the people were broken off when the sky or the deity was pushed up, touched or struck with a pestle or with a ladle during the preparation of food
Sky or sky objects were edible but later this source of food became inaccessible or used only by the inhabitants of the distant land where the sky and the earth meet
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
Animal are guarding some food or water or come after water. The deceiver takes what he needs or does not let the others to use the water. Turtle, toad or frog proves to be smarter than the deceived and catches him
Person or creature pretends to be afraid of a particular sort of treatment that really cannot do him any harm
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
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
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)
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 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
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
Person comes across speaking head, skull or tortoise and tells others about his experience. When the information is controlled, the skull keeps silence and the man is punished as a liar
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)
Bat (rare: ostrich) makes attempts to join sometimes animals and sometime birds or is excluded from both categories
Person is able to steal an egg (a nestling, to put it back) from under the bird (to change the bird’s feather; to steal an embryo from animal’s womb, etc.)
When domestic animals meat the predators, they – deliberately or unintentionally – behave in such a way that the predators escape in panic
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is hare or rabbit
An ogre or a stronger animal catches a man or a weaker animal or drives him into a small enclosure. He goes away for a while leaving a watchman. The watchman is unable to fulfill his duty and the man (the weak animal) escapes (usually he dupes the watchman). Most, though hardly all American cases can have post-Columbian African origin
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
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
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
Asking about minor details of the case, a judge demonstrates that the plaintiff (or the defendant) lies because he does (not) know about them
Spirits or unpleasant animals (reptiles, worms, etc.) are (often: concealed from the eyes of God or deformed) children or miscarriages of the same human couple or the same primeval ancestor who produced first human beings
A woman conceals from God part of her children (rare: all of them) or part of domestic animals that are under her care. The concealed children become poor people or non-human beings and the concealed domestic animals become wild
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)
Person invites others to help him in his work. Every next one is stronger than the one who came before and eats him up, the last two perish when they begin to fight
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
Man explains that one part of his incomes he puts out at interest while another part is used to pay debts, i.e. he cares for his children and keeps up his parents
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
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)
Person demands from the other to bring him an offspring or milk of a male animal
Человек оказывает услугу нескольким (потенциально опасным) животным и другому человеку. Благодарные животные помогают ему, а человек предает и вредит
Raven or other carrion-eating bird of dark color and a similar size was originally white
Magic bridegroom who comes as bird or other guise and then changes into a man meets regularly with a young woman. Her jealous sisters (stepmother, brother, etc.) wound him (usually putting knives of broken glass around the window). He disappears, the girl goes to find him.
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the lion suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
The wolf or other wild animal gets into the cellar (storehouse, vineyard, etc.) and eats so much that cannot leave
Three or four brothers (rare: one man) see the track of a domestic animal and are able to deduce how it looked like (lame, had no tale, carried oil and honey, etc.) or they deduce how the man who had stolen the animal looks like
Two men travel or argue about whether truth or falsehood (justice or injustice, etc.) is more powerful. The evil one abandons the good one robbing or blinding (maiming) him but the good one gets back his sight and becomes rich. The evil one usually perishes
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
Person or animal gets to exchange less valuable goods for ever more valuable. The last or the next to last one is a girl
A hunter can transform himself into different objects. His demonic wife tries to identify them and kill the hunter
Each of three companions uses his own magic way to cross a river
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)
Being smart and persistent, the turtle (toad, frog) overcomes strong adversaries
Stars are children of the Moon and/or the Sun
When the head of the household goes for a journey his daughter, those who remain at home ask to bring them presents. The elder ones want something practical (usually clothes or decorations) while the younger one asks for something unusual (a flower, a bird, etc.). Thanks to this object, the younger one attains great success though after overcoming great difficulties
Persons climbs a tree and thanks to this escapes from a demon (who usually tries to fell the tree)
Dark spots on the lunar disc are dirt, blood, paint, traces of beating, burning, scratching, etc. on the Moon person's body or face (Kiliwa: spots on the Sun) and do not form any particular figure
A task-giver asks person to bring fruits of a tree that is difficult to be reached
A girl or young woman sets off to find or return her fience or her husband or she escapes from a fanger and ultimately marries happily
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)
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
The Sun and the Moon are or were enemies, either permanently or in particular situations
People break ground but in the morning it is intact again
When a man sets off for the journey, his daughter asks him to bring her an object or creature which is the incorporation of the magic bridegroom. The man does it having vague idea on what does it means
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