The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual
The first or the only survived man and woman move in different directions around a post, a hill, etc. When they come together they marry each other
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
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
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
The first people (or only the first men or the first women) are not created but come to earth from the underworld (from a cave) or from a small enclosure under the earth or on its surface (tree trunk, rock, gourd, etc.). Many people of both sexes and of different ages or people and different species of animals come out together
The first people or first anthropomorphic divine beings descend to earth from the sky.
First people or animals ascend or descend to earth. The two-headed monster attempts to follow them but is prevented from coming to the earth
To descend from the sky, ascend from the underworld or come out of the cave, people must pass through narrow hole. A person is stuck in the hole blocking forever communication between different parts of the universe
People learn to copulate after they see birds, fish or animals doing it
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
Chameleon is responsible for introduction of permanent death or hard life; loses object that the deity trusted him to bring to the earth
The lightning (and thunder) is (produced with) an object (axe, sword, mirror, belt, stones, skin, etc.) in hands of anthropomorphic being
A giant crab produces earthquakes or floods, stops or can stop flow of the waters into the chasm or on the contrary prevents waters from being dammed.
The Pleiades are a brooding hen, hen with its chickens, chickens
The Pleiades are only one anthropomorphic being, not several persons
Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water
Person gets into the belly of water being or into the belly of giant creature which appearance and living place remain vague. He kills the monster from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
Getting to a nest of a monstrous bird, a man finds there kidnapped people, helps them to return home
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)
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
After having sexual contact with a dog, a woman gives birth to his children. The puppies turn into humans and usually become ancestors of particular groups of people
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).
First one, then another man meets a powerful person or persons. The first man is worthy and rewarded with treasure, prestige or the like. The second man (or two men) follows him, behaves in a wrong way and is punished
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
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
A boy born into a family or found by his adoptive parents has a strange guise (ball of meat, nut, bag, half of a man, an animal). He possesses magic power, becomes a handsome man and usually marries a girl of high social status. The magic spouse of a princess originally has a non-human or monstrous appearance
An (adoptive) son (rare daughter) emerges from a gourd (rare water melon, coco nut) or is found inside it
A small creature is reared up by people. When it is grown up, it becomes harmful and dangerous
Person who have eaten a prohibited meat or fish turns into monstrous snake or fish
Person accidentally overhears secrets of animals or demons and thus gets to know the causes of his and other people's misfortunes
Person sets off in search of fire and finds it in the house of a demon. The demon makes harm to the person
Cunning rabbit or hare saves person, helps him or her
Non-human persons work hard to destroy a strong and durable obstacle that blocks access to some place or object
Birds and sometimes also animals work hard to break from the outside or from the inside a rock, a tree truck, bonds, etc. to release some beings or themselves from confinement in a small enclosure or trap
Person or creature pretends to be afraid of a particular sort of treatment that really cannot do him any harm
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 hare or rabbit
A man falls asleep or pretends to be sleeping or dead. Animals take him for dead: mourn, carry to bury, are going to eat up, etc. The man kills a lot of animals or obtain valuables otherwise
Getting into a well or pit and being unable to climb out animal person tricks another to descend and thanks to this gets out while the second person remains below
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
A man, light-mindedly or against his own wish, makes an agreement with a dangerous predator. He does not want (cannot) keep it or breaks it and the predator is going to kill him but the man remains alive
Animal person refuses to enter the den of a strong predator seeing that all tracks go into it but none come out
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
In most of the episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is hare or rabbit. Not considered are traditions in which 1) trickster hare/rabbit is rare while other trickster (usually fox/jackal/coyote) typical; 2) Mesoamerican traditions in which episodes with trickster rabbit are not many and could be borrowed in post-Columbian time being of African origin
An animal or a person eats up the first book (writing, important document). (In some of European traditions the eating up of the book is not directly described but follows from the context)
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the tiger suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Woman gives birth to a boy after unwittingly drinking urine of a he-animal or she-animal gives birth to a boy drinking urine of a man
In the past a particular groups of people possessed scripture and knowledge that were later lost or the people missed opportunity to obtain them
Being smart and persistent, the turtle (toad, frog) overcomes strong adversaries
Animals ask God to make people mortal because people would be too numerous and step on the animals, deprive them of their food and habitat, or because the animals want to feast on the human corpses
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
Monstrous bird (giant bat) predates on humans. Heroes fight with it
After the world cataclysm, in the beginning of time or coming to a new land a woman marries her son and produce people
A young man kills somebody and later gets to know that ut was his father
Two zoomorphic personages decorates each other or somebody decorates each of them
During the flood or in the beginning of times persons (usually brother abd sister) are floating in a big bottle gourd
Woman gives birth to a gourd which turns into person or which contains a person or people inside
A girl becomes pregnant without her knowledge thanks to the contact with body liquids of a male person or with objects touched by him (not because of the normal sexual contact, or a wish expressed by the father of her future child, or her mistical contact with a deity). The happy marriage of the girl with her child’s father follows
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