The Moon, unlike people, revives or rejuvenates every month; or those who live in the Moon are immortal; or the Moon makes decision if people should die forever or regularly revive
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
A worm obtains the earth (from the underworld), it emerges from the worm's excrements, is extracted from inside of the worm
Darkness is a particular object that can be carried (usually brought from its original owner in a container)
People had trouble making love before night came into being
Person paints birds or animals or they paint each other. Some of them are not satisfied with the result
Two birds decorate each other, one becomes worse than it was before
Fish grows on branches of a tree or leaves of a tree turn into fish
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
First man (a group of brothers) or first human couple come out from the underworld (a cave) or from a small enclosure on its surface (tussock, reed, tree, rock, gourd)
The first people or first anthropomorphic divine beings descend to earth from the sky.
First people are born by trees or come out of a tree, flower, reed
Cesarean operation upon a woman at childbirth as a custom
One of the trees is the principal, original one (emerged before all the other; ancestor of wild or cultivated plants; ocean or rivers inside it; world axis; higher than all the others; overshadows sky)
Star-person is a giver of cultivated plants
People are mortal because they have been likened to something subject to decay and easy destruction (e.g. to the soft wood and not to the stone)
People are likened to plants which are mortal but revive in their offsets
Container with valuables or with dangerous creatures is opened (before time). Its content goes out of control or disappear
Rat is responsible for introduction of permanent death
First human beings have no mouth, anus or genitals, their women do not know how to give birth
Stars are openings in the firmament; holes in dwelling's covering are thought to be stars
Stars are roots of the plants which grow in the upper world
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 man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
Person lets be firmly tied up when another one say that it's only a joke (e.g. a test to see can the first one break bonds)
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
Anthropomorphic beings have huge ears (use them for blankets, umbrellas, etc.)
Person or creature pretends to be afraid of a particular sort of treatment that really cannot do him any harm
Being smart and witty, a small ungulate overcomes strong adversaries. The hero is a duiker, a mouse-deer or other small even-toed ungulates that are not very close biologically but look similar. In some publications on African folklore it is difficult to say what species is meant in particular case
One animal person gets to convince another that dangerous or disgusting objects are attractive and delicious (a wasp nest is a drum, a snake is a girdle, a heap of dung is a delicacy, etc.)
Many animals of one species that all look identical together fulfill the task that would be impossible for any of them if he were alone; the competitors believe that the task was fulfilled by only one animal. Usually a slow and a fast animals agree to race. The slow one puts other animals of his species at the finish or along the distance, each one answering the fast one that he is ahead of him. The fast one accepts his loss
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the tiger suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Constellation of Orion or the Belt of Orion is identified with only one male person, usually with a warrior or hunter
One or several (animal)-persons push sky up to its present height
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.)
A dog is the lord, guard or guide of/to the land of the dead; or dogs live on the way to the land of the dead
Stars are openings in the firmament; holes in dwelling's covering are thought to be stars
Stars are roots of the plants which grow in the upper world
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 must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
Person who gives difficult tasks or tests to the hero or heroine lives in the sky but is not associated with the Sun, Moon, Thunder or Wind
Person or creature is transformed. Separate parts of its (his, her) body give origin to different objects or creatures (only etiological narratives are considered)
Person or creature is transformed. Separate parts of its (his, her) body give origin to different plants, mostly edible or cultivated
Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
Being smart and persistent, the turtle (toad, frog) overcomes strong adversaries
Beings (any besides birds) with even but not more than ten number of heads are described in tales or represented in art. Beings that with even number of heads named in a row with other multi-headed beings and the highest number is even or bigger than ten are not considered
First seeds (sprouts, tubors) of cultivated plants or of important edible wild plants are brought from the sky (received from the sky-dwellers)
A crab participates in the race and wins
In the beginning of time or after the natural disaster brother and sister, mother and son, or father and daughters are the only human beings. They marry and the present day people are their descendents
Two zoomorphic personages decorates each other or somebody decorates each of them
In the beginning of time or after the natural disaster brother and sister are the only human beings. They marry and the present day people are their descendents