The world was or will be (almost) burned when several suns had (will) appear(ed) simultaneously; or the only sun was too hot (or bright)
The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female
The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual
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
During an eclipse or at the sunset the Sun or the Moon are attacked by a reptile (a snake, a lizard, a dragon, a crocodile) or a fish
As a result of some intimate contacts and/or love affair, the Moon acquires its present appearance (often, the stains on his face) and/or ascends to the sky
A figure or an imprint of some being or object are seen in the Moon. (For statistical analysis motifs A32A – A32J are also included into A32)
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
The Sun and Moon (Rig-Veda: the Sun only) appear from eyes of an anthropomorphic being
The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
The male Sky (the Sun, the Thunder, the creator of the sky) marries the female Earth (or its female creator) or the female Sky marries the male Earth
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
Certain stars or constellations are interpreted as hunters, their dogs and game that the hunters pursue
In the cosmic hunt tale the game pursued by the hunters is an ungulate (elk, deer, mountain sheep, etc.)
Parts of the body of the primeval person or creature are transformed into different elements of the landscape and parts of the universe
Every one of the seven main stars of the Ursa mayor is a an adult man
Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
One or several (animal)-persons push sky up to its present height
From the primeval egg, eggs, or egg-like ball emerge the earth, the sky, sky bodies, different animals (all or part of the items of this list)
Person tries to pick up a small object or creature but it proves to be of enormous weight (and size)
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
Inhabitans of the Middle World are (partly) destroyed (or will be destoyed) once by fire or draught, another time by a flood or the world is destroyed with a flood of fire or boiling water
Persons or animals dive or otherwise decend to the lower world to get a desired object and to bring it to earth (besides episodes in the fairytales, cf. motif k27x9)
The dry land (the earth) grows from a small amount of solid substance (sand, clay, dirt and the like) brought from the lower world (usually from the bottom of the ocean)
A wild boar brings the earth from under the water and/or spills it over the water
The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again)
Gods fight with their powerful adversaries at the decisive battle that changes fate of the world
First fire is sent to earth from the sky or the ancestors ascend to the sky and bring from there fire or warmth
Magic person reveals his true nature and/or remains with the real people after the object responsible for preserving the non-human appearance (usually an animal skin) is destroyed (usually burned)
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
Woman gives birth to a gourd, a bag (with eggs), a piece of meat. The flesh is cut into pieces which turn into people or many people come out of the gourd or bag
After the world cataclysm or in the beginning of times a gourd survives or appears, new people come out of it
In the beginning of times, a particular person or children in general was or were conceived and grown up in pots, heaps of mud, etc. and not in a womb
There are (or were) women who live apart from men in their own village or villages
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
To accuse a man or boy of (sexual) abbuse, a woman tears her clothes, smears or scratches her body pretending to be attacked
A woman revenges on a man who rejected her love but necessary not pretends to be an object of sexual harassment from his part
Anthropomorphic god descends from the sky and copulates with a cow
A baby son turns into an adult man, copulates with his mother, then acquires his baby guise
A magic medicine demonstrates that the only chaste woman is a servant girl, orphan, etc. King chooses the chaste one
Reptiles or invertebrates possess the medicine of immortality; are contrasted with men as immortal with mortals and/or are responsible for originating of death; or a snake's bite inflicts the first 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
Certain creatures (snakes, insects) get access to special substance that proved to be out of control and become poisonous or immortal; creatures obtain their characteristics (usually becomes poisonous) after drinking or licking a particular medicine
A dog or other animal kills dangerous creature who was going to attack the child. The master thinks that the assailant was the pet and kills it
Person who visits the other world gets to see different people punished or rewarded according to their behavior when they were alive on earth
The sky or the earth rests upon four or five (cardinal points and the center) supports of any kind (poles, mountains, giants)
Only one pole or mountain supports the earth or the sky
A turtle, toad, or frog supports the earth (sky) or is its embodiment
Giant water-chthonic or sky serpent or dragon has horns or antlers on its head
There are objects which remaining on the same place are moving permanently or periodically (meet and part. rise and fall down, shut and open, rotate)
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
Giant serpent lies on the perimeter of the earth or supports the earth
An ungulate animal (a horse, an elk, a moose) with six or more legs is described or represented in art
Milky Way is a sky river, water body, chain of beings that swim
Stars are people, ghosts, anthropomorphic beings (interpretations of unique star objects like Venus or Polaris as persons not considered)
Before present world, several (two or more) other worlds or races of people existed
The Pleiades are a group of girls or women (with children)
The Pleiades are any people (of any ages and sex, combined data of i99-i100a)
Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water
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)
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
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)
Person (often an animal-person) gets into the belly of anthropomorphic being. He kills it from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
Supernatural male person (often a snake, a dragon) hides clothes of a human girl or sits on it. To return her clothes she had to become his wife
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
Person must recognize her (or his) son or husband among several identical persons or animals
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
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 is a snake who turns into handsome man. The snake is the magic spouse of princess, lost and returned
Small objects and animals (rare: animals alone but including those who really are harmless) revenge on a powerful enemy making attack on him in succession (usually they hide in his or her house); the enemy is badly injured, runs away or dies
Objects and/or domestic animals live in a house. When dangerous enemy comes, they attack him, he dies or escapes (all texts with K77A and K77B included)
Wife dies, husband revives her, she abandons him for another man and is punished
Rolling head is a dangerous mobster (pursues celestial bodies, people etc.)
A small creature (often a worm or a reptile) is brought home and reared up or it becomes to live by itself in an artificial body of water. When big, it goes out of human control or becomes something huge and/or dangerous. Cf. motif L13A (The reared up monster attacks people)
Person or creature has another face (another mouth) on the back of his (her, its) head
A bird with two or more heads on top of one body is described in tales or represented in art
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 sticks to an object, usually touching it one by one with his body members. The object is a trap of demonic creature or is a non human creature itself
Person devours his or her own flesh or disembowels himself or herself
Running away from a dangerous being, person throws small objects behind him or her which turn into mighty obstacles on the way of the pursuer
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
Person is born as half of a child or loses his or her half in an accident. The person does not belong to any category of supernatural beings and usually turns into normal girl or young man
Monster's upper lip (fang, horn, etc.) touches the sky, lower touches the ground
A youth and a girl who run away from pursuer transform themselves into a pair of persons, creatures or objects (pond and duck, church and priest, etc.) in order to escape detection by the pursuer
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
Anthropomorphic beings have huge ears (use them for blankets, umbrellas, etc.)
A boy is born having only half of a body or only a head. Ultimately he obtains normal body
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
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is a monkey
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
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
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
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
An animal is tricked to be carried across the water by those who are going to eat or to use as a medicine a part of its body. The animal tells that forgot to take just that part which is needed, is carried back to take it, escapes
Person is suggested to twist (or he really twists) a rope or make other object of sand, ash, smoke, etc.
Fox or other predator asks a bird what does it do when the wind blows. When the bird demonstrates how it puts its head under its wing, the fox kills it
The weak predator tries to imitate the strong one but is unable to accomplish actions that the strong one does easily
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
Dangerous animal pretends to be an inanimate object, dead or absent. The potential victim sais aloud that the real dead (object, place) has to act in a particular way or to say particular words. The animal does accordingly betraying himself.
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)
To lure his potential victim down from a tree, a predator pretends not to be dangerous (usually announces that it has been decreed that all animals are united in piece). The victim is dubious and usually asks the predator to announce the same news to the dogs. The predator runs away
During the night a strong predator (a tiger, a lion, etc.) and a thief not knowing about each other get into stable to steal a domestic animal. The thief takes the predator for domestic animal or for a person and acts accordingly
A weak predator eats part of a body of a killed animal and explain to the strong one that this animal did not have such a part at all
Every main star of the Big Dipper is interpreted as a particular person or animal
Bird or animal returns from the lower world smeared with dirt. It shakes itself or the dirt is scraped off. The dirt turns into the earth
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 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
King’s wife is extremely touchy and cannot suffer a slightest pain. She does not say a word, however, when her lover who is a servant or a demon is beating her
An antagonist orders to kill the first one who will come in the morning to a certain place. The hero becomes late by chance, the antagonist or his wife or son come and are thrown into the fire
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
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 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.
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
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
The Belt of Orion is the animal or three animals, other star (of the Orion or outside of this constellation) is the hunter
Alcor (a weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper) is selected as a particular sky object
One of the stars of the Pleiades was separated from others (usually abducted) by stars of Big Dipper and now is seen among them)
In context of the Cosmic Hunt myth one of the stars (group of stars) is an arrow or a bullet which hit the animal or three animals identified with the Belt of Orion
Antagonist names numbers from one to seven or nine, every time asking what it is. The hero gives answers that the antagonist accepts as correct ones.
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
One of the spouses prohibits another to see him or her. When the other breaks the taboo (intentionally or by chance) the first one disappears (is in trouble)
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)
To get a girl in his possession, the antagonist creates a situation when her relations must put her in a box (barrel, bag, etc.) and then abandon, throw it into the river or give it to him. The girl is imperceptibly replaced with a ferocious dog or other animal. Usually when the antagonist opens the box, the animal kills or injures him
Person gives another (often a fox) a bag putting inside a dog instead of food; or he makes free a girl who was kept in the bag and replaces her with a dog. The dog attacks the one who opened the bag
Hoofed animals are walking around Polaris or the movement of stars is compared with the movement of animals around a post
During the hottest month of the summer or permanently birds of certain species are prohibited to drink from the water bodies. Usually they can quench their thirst only from rain drops and dew on leaves and cry calling for rain
A girl (rare: boy) turns into bird and flies away when her mother (father or other adult person in whose house she lives) does not give her food, water or makes her feel offended in other way
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.
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
Человек оказывает услугу нескольким (потенциально опасным) животным и другому человеку. Благодарные животные помогают ему, а человек предает и вредит
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)
A man comes into the power of a yogi or demon. He asks the man to walk round the boiling pot of oil or to prostrate himself before the image of a deity. The man asks him to show how to do it and pushes him in or the pot or beheads him
Every one of several men had learned a unique skill thanks to which they save a girl abducted by demon or animal
A married woman is eager to get rid of her husband and usually asks a spirit (God, saint, etc.) to make him blind. The husband hides in a tree, behind the alter, etc. and usually tells her that good food will make her husnad blind, or the husband himself tells his wife that the good food is dangerous for him. He pretends to become blind, kills the love (and his wife)
Person gets an ability to enter a dead body and revive it. His own body remains dead for this time. Another person takes it for himself while the first one remains in an animal’s body
A man or a weak animal and an ogre (giant, devil) have a contest to see which of them can squeeze a stone. The man squeezes a cheese (egg, turnip) and thus intimidates the ogre
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)
After eating a fruit (usually an apple, in Northern traditions also an egg), the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
One animal person persuades another to agree to be eaten up, usually promising a reward after the resurrection. The fool agrees and is eaten up
A man gives his dog to another man. The dog proves to be brave and intelligent (drives off thieves, finds stolen treasure). The man who received the dog sends it back with a message of thanks. The owner, thinking the dog has run away, kills it and after this finds the letter
A turtle explains that before to be eaten he has to be soaked in water in order to soften his shell. When he gets into water, he swims away
Animal person is highly respected by others after he changes his looks by chance; is smeared with a paint or gets a necklace-like object around his neck which he is unable to pull off
When a lion (tiger, bear, elephant, man) gets into a trap, a mouse (rat) makes him free (usually bites through the ropes)
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the lion suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
A big predator (bear, lion, tiger) boasts about being stronger than a man. Being told that it’s not so, he finds a man and suggests to struggle but is killed or badly injured as a result. Cf. motif M101
Person must shoot an arrow through a small ring or several rings
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
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
A life-size or larger than life-size figure of a horse or a bull is demonstrated to enemies. They do not understand that this is a stratagem and carry the figure to their territory. As a result, the invasion becomes possible and the enemies are defeated
A small bird or animal (chicken, cat, mouse, etc.) takes a trivial event (a leaf or an acorn falls, etc.) for a catastrophe (a war, the end of the world, the fall of the sky, etc.) and flees. Other animals share its fear and go along with it.
Man sitting on branch of a tree cuts it off and similar variants (man climbs a rope and cuts it off; men cut a tree and climb on it to fell it; man climbs with difficulty on a dead branch of a tree, which breaks off)
Considering indirect signs or somebody’s word, a numskull thinks that he is dead and lies motionless
A man (a boy) drives his cow (or any other domestic animal of a big size) to market. A trickster who would like to buy the animal cheaply tries to convince him that it is a sheep (or any other smaller and cheaper animal). Trickster’s accomplices confirm his opinion and the man sells his cow for the price of a sheep
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
Two persons, one of whom is connected with the sky (water, spirit world) and another with the earth (human world), divide their child or people created by them. Sky (spirit, Water) takes the imperishable part, and Earth (person), the perishable one
An animal (usually a tortoise) is carried up into the air by two birds who hold onto a stick which the tortoise holds in its mouth
Person claims that iron or gold disappeared being eaten by mice
A reptile monster demands humans (usually virgins) as a sacrifice or abducts a girl or closes sources of water. Hero kills him. Monster’s victims do not play an active part in the plot
A man loses a magic object that he got before but gets it back thanks to another object (a cudgel, a box with soldiers, etc.) that is exchanged for the first one or obtained by the man’s brother. The episode can be repeated several times
Person inserts a spike (thread, wire, etc.) into the ear of every of the two or three dolls (skulls). Each time the result is different, the spike comes out of different openings (or does not enter, or sticks inside, etc.). The dolls (skulls) represent different sorts of persons (inattentive and superfluous, wise, etc.)
Dogs having spots over the eyes are called the four-eyed and believed to have special properties (e.g. to see ghosts)
A strong predator (usually a tiger) overhears a person saying that he fears something worse than a tiger The word is unknown to the tiger (twilight, etc). Thinking it must be a terrible thing he hides and then runs away
A living creature or a lump of alive flesh is cut into pieces which are diepersed around. After some time every piece turns into human being
A turtle (tortoise, toad, frog) behaves foolishly creating serious problems for himself
Person tries to eclipse the Moon because the Moon has reported on the person’s crime
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
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
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the fox, jackal or coyote suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
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
Different body parts of a being turn into people of different ethnic affiliation or such people receive their names and characteristics according to body parts that they got
A woman who lives in the house of a supernatural person conceals the man who had come to her and puts questions to this person. The answers that are received and became known to the man are of great importance for him
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the monkey suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Thanks to activity of a person (usually the old woman who winds or unwinds yarn, threads, etc.), the night and the day alternate with each other
There are creatures who hibernate having frozen snot under their noses
Clouds are associated with cattle (and rain is the milk of the cloud coes)
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
One of mythological characters using his skills in crafts creates for the first time tools and valuable cultural and natural objects; is a patron of craftsmen (usually of blacksmiths)
Rivers (lakes) of blood (also of puss, bones, sweat or water used for washing of corpses) are mentioned in narratives (in different context)
Committing particular acts, an (old) woman defines alternation of night and day
The Sun is associated with a horseman or rides in a cart driven by horses (equids)
(While the earth is still absent or liquid), a bird buries its relative in its own head that usually explains its appearance (a swell on its beak, a crest of feathers) or unpleasant smell
Описывается или изображается чудовище (обычно змей) о семи головах. При перечисления существ по мере возрастания у них числа голов ряд заканчивается на семи
A (dried) fish (water-spirit, satyr, etc.) laughs, smiles or spits because a man disguised as a woman lives in the house
A man picks up a skull with an enigmatic and ominous inscription on it. Later its meaning becomes clear
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)
From the mouth of a monstrous creature or person who is the enemy of the hero fire is coming out; its breath is fire
Dangerous animal seeks to kill a person or other animal who rescued it from captivity. The dangerous animal and its victim agree to ask somebody else if a good deed should be repayed with a bad one. Inanimate objects are among those who answer to this question
The bargain between two persons is to end when a bird whose call is related to particular time of a temporal cycle will be heard. In order to hasten the contract’s end, another person imitates the bird. The first one recognizes the trick
In the sky there is a special container (vessel, skin, box, etc.) for storing the rain
Severed human heads are compared with balls or used as balls
After seeing a portrait of an unknown beauty, a man is eager to meet her
To get a girl, a minister of religion persuades her father to put her into the box (barrel) and throw it into the river or abandon in a wilderness
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
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)
Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with a doll or statue (inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to a doll)
Coyote or fox bring people the fire, the daylight or the Sun
In a certain time in the past three or more suns were on the sky simultaneously
Some person makes a wish not taking in mind that his words can have other meaning or accidentally replacing one word with another. As a result, something quite undesirable takes place
Person gets to a place from which he is unable to come out. Several (more than two) different celestial bodies rise and move near him or above him. He puts attention to them (and asks their help)
An ungulate animal with an additional set of legs on its back runs using in turns legs under its belly and on its back. Thanks to this it is indefatigable
An anthropomorphic sky-god (associated with the thunder and rain) rides on the clouds (uses them as a vehicle)
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
There are mountains or rocks which permanently collide and separate again from each other or a crack (jaws) in a vertical cliff which is opening and closing
The Sun and Moon (Rig-Veda: the Sun only) are associated with eyes of an anthropomorphic being (the motif of their emergence, creation from his eyes is not obligatory)
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
Person who gives difficult tasks to the hero is associated with the Sun, Moon, Thunder, or Wind (Cloud, Rain)
From the mouth of a horse fire is coming ot the horse itself is of fire
Person removes a thorn from the paw (bone from the throat) of a strong and dangerous animal or a demon, the animal (demon) is grateful
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.)
At night a girl’s lover has to carry her away but falls asleep or is late. She is carried away by another man who happened to be on the place
Two cripples with different injuries quarrel and fight after overcoming a demon that makes them unexpectedly healthy
Some person makes a wish not taking in mind that his words can have other meaning or accidentally replacing one word with another. As a result, something quite undesirable takes place
Two men hide a treasure together but one of them steals it and accuses another. He suggests the judge to interview the tree and asks his father to hide in the hollow of the tree and to tell that another man is the thief. When the tree is ordered to be burned and the old man cries, the real thief is exposed
When a man is going to fell a tree, the tree itself or the being who lives in (on) it asks him not to do it and grants the man’s wishes
The fire is personified as an elder man (alone or with his wife, mistress of fire)
Originally the earth was unstable and swung, then it was fixed up
Person flies across the air but falls down when, despite warning, looks down to earth, flies above villages, becomes to talk, etc.
Woman gives birth to a gourd which turns into person or which contains a person or people inside
God, animal, some person warns one of the people about the catastrophy (usuallly the flood) that will become soon and in which most of the people must perish
Persons of high status cannot reveal the hidden difference between two or more objects or creatures (or two sides of an objects of creature) which look similar. A smart or lucky person of lower status does it
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
Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with inanimate object and/or inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to a stone, broom, doll, etc.