The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male
Two persons or animals argue about who of them will be the first to see the rising sun. One who seemed to have less chances wins
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)
Human being or imprint of human being is seen in the moon
The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
Magic mill is ordered to grind salt but not ordered to stop. It sinks into ocean and continues to work making the water salty
When it becomes warm, a person or animal (bird) decides that the winter is over (most often an old woman goes to graze her animals) but dies of cold or the animals that had been deiven to the pasture die
Person or animal, bird teases, offends March or other month and are punished
When the winter ends and the spring begins certain month (usually March) borrows (rare buys, steals) several days from a neighbor month
Seven main stars of Ursa major are interpreted as a figure of a mammal: bear, deer, mountain sheep, camel, dog
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
Man takes or attempts to take a wife who is connected with the underwater world (fish, crab, snake, water animal and the like)
Animal person comes to children of a big predator and tells them that he will copulate with their mother (or that he will beat her)
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
Man receives from Death (Fortune, some spirit) knowledge will the patient recover or die. He becomes a doctor and receives rich rewards. Usually he gets the ability to see Death near the bed of a patient and considering a particular place where Death stands, gets to know perspectives of recovering
Person finds a land where there is no death. Setting off to visit his home country, he does not come to this land again
Milky Way is the path over which souls travel to the beyond or a path of the funeral procession
The Pleiades or stars in general are associated with kids or lambs
Two constellations (usually Ursa major and Ursa minor) are interpreted as twin objects of the same type (two animals, two carts, etc.)
Person transforms people who come to him or her into inanimate objects, usually stones
A man gives his last money for simple advices. Each of them saves his life or helps to achieve success or he does not follow the advices and gets into trouble
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 or animal must eat (drink) enormous quantity of food (beverage) or eat or drink poisonous beverage or food
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
A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
When father-in-law (rare: mother-in-law) asks the hero to killl or to tame a dangerous animal or not to kill certain animal during a hunt, he (she) turns into this animal himself or transforms into it his daughter(s) or wife (husband)
Hero demonstrates his supernatural abilities remaining alive in a burning hot chamber, stove, bonfire, among burning vegetation
An ugly, old, lazy, etc. woman or (in Chaco) a male trickster comes to man under disguise of his wife or bride who is driven out, confined to the underworld, killed, etc.
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
Siblings (most often younger brother and elder sister) leave their home. One of them (most often the brother, most rare several brothers) turn into animal (usually an ungulate) or (rare) a bird but (in the most cases) ultimately acquires his or her human form again
Young man gets a girl who is inside of a fruit or (rare) a flower or an egg
A man discovers that a beautiful girl hides herself under a guise of an ugly and dirty servant, under a skin of an animal or in an object that is brought into his house
To return or to get his or her son, wife, husband, domestic animal or (rare) object, person must recognize her, him or it among several identical persons, animals or objects
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
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
Person gets into dwelling of master of animals or monstrous shepherd. The host can kill him. The hero escapes sticking to hair of one of the animals who are going out
Person blinds sleeping ogre or ogress and escapes from him or her
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
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
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
Domestic animals abandon their masters. They find an empty house or build a house. Robbers or the predator animals come there. The domestic animals attack (or just frighten) them. The robbers (predators) do not understand who are their enemies, are scared and run away
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)
Person in a desperate situation gets to see how a snake or other small animal uses remedy to revive or to cure itself or other animals. The person uses the remedy, succeeds
An object or a creature that emerged from remains, decorations, etc. of a killed person tells about his or her fate. Usually a reed grows from the person's grave and a pipe made from the reed tells the story
The (step)mother kills or orders to kill her small (step)son, eats him or feeds his flesh to her husband. The son revives, usually in the form of a bird who tells about the crime.
For minor offence or because of false accusation a young girl or woman is maimed and expelled from home (rare: killed or she kills herself). The maimed person magically obtains her body integrity (the dead revives)
To cure a sick person or to make him (rare: her) young again it is necessary to bring a remedy from a distant country. The medicine is brought and the sick person is cured (becomes young)
After a series of adventures and victories, the hero gets into trouble. His twin brother or the best friend follows his traces, gets across the same persons but overcomes the last enemy and revives (liberates) the hero
Sleeping in one bed with a woman, man puts a sharp or thorny object between them as a sign of chastity (sometimes the woman herself puts the sword)
Person eats magic bird, fish, small animal, or fruit and becomes prosperous and powerful
A young man or (rare) a girl has a (day-)dream that predicts his or her future triumph. The dreamer either conceals or reports its contest to his family and in both cases is punished for too high opinion of himself. In the beginning the dreamer sometimes sells his dream to another young man, who becomes the protagonist of the tale. Adventures that follow explain the contest of the dream. The youth becomes rich and happy (e.g. marries heiresses of two kingdoms, that in the dream were symbolized by two suns or a sun and a moon), the girl marries king's son
A man gets to know about dangers that threaten another man (and often about turning into stone of anybody who would warn about these dangers). He helps the man to escape the dangers though his behavior seems strange or hostile
Every morning girl' or (rare) boy’s clothes are in disorder, the boy looks very tied. People spy on her (or on him) and discover that she or he spends nights in the non-human world
A woman who initially is friendly to the hero (his mother, sister, more rare his wife, sexual partner) begins to cooperate with his enemy. For this she provokes the hero to do something that is mortally dangerous for him
To get rid of a baby child or of the magic cock, they throw him into enclosure for animals, but cows or other animals do not trample the child or cock down
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
Several young men (usually three brothers) decide to choose wives (usually shooting arrows or throwing objects on the off-chance). The wife of the youngest initially is ugly or non-human (a frog, a snake) but proves to be beautiful enchantress. She and her husband triumph. Or girls choose their husbands and the youngest one gets a youth who has guise of a snake
A woman should marry a man who would be able to make her laugh; a man promises a reward to the person who make laugh his wife or mother
Master of the house allows person to feel himself (herself) free bit not to look into particular place. The person breaks prohibition
To make a poor man rich (usually to marry him to a rich girl or to marry a poor girl to a prince), an animal makes other people believe that the groom is rich already. The man becomes prosperous indeed
An animal saves a man or helps him but the ungrateful man humiliates the animal, kills or tries to kill it
A man is going to marry his daughter (rare: his stepdaughter; sometimes certain conditions are put on his future marriage and only his daughter complies with them). The girl gets to escape
A wolf (lion, etc.) or a demon eats up hero's horse but gives him a fair compensation (usually provides a wife)
A girl has many (more than three) brothers, they turn into birds or animals (rare: into plants; killed by magic), ultimately become human again
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
A weak and timid man or boy overcomes accidentally powerful enemies and gets high esteem
Person kills girls (rare: his nephews or younger brothers of his wife) in succession (usually the male person kills his wives). The last of potential victims escapes, usually after finding remains of those who had been killed or imprisoned earlier
Life of a person or creature is preserved outside of his (her, its) body. Person or creature dies after the corresponding object is destroyed
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
A man hides in a shelter. An ogre wants him to demonstrate certain parts of his body. The man demonstrates or parts of the body of an animal or some objects. The ogre believes that his adversary is a powerful creature
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
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
Cunning fox, jackal or coyote saves particular person or many people, helps them
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
The hero and his bride get to escape from the pursuer. The youth goes to visit his home, leaving his bride behind for a time and forgets her. When the youth is going to marry another girl, the forgotten fiancée reawakens his memory by performing magic actions. Or the girl herself forgets her magic husband as soon as she gets to her parents’ home
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)
A cannibal (old man, Gipsy, etc.) carries away a girl. He walks from village to village forcing her sing or dance. People recognize her (or her voice) and release her
(Animal) person provokes another to put a part of his body into a split log (between two planks, etc.) and removes the wedge
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
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.)
Person is sent to receive something of relatively low value. He asks to give him quite different object (to provide a service) and asks one who had sent him to confirm the demand. Usually a person or animal comes to a wife or a son of a powerful one and tells her or him that her (his) husband or father tells to give him food, to make love to him, to marry him, etc.
An animal (ass, cow, horse, goat, bear, leopard) extracts gold or food from its body or person makes others believe that it is so
Person gets one by one magic objects that bring food or treasure. Other people replace them with common objects or take them away by force. The person takes his property back (usually beating the thieves with magic cudgel or whip)
An animal person pretends to be invited to be godfather or he gives names to different places along which he travels in a sledge, boat, etc. The names look strange but become understandable when other people or animals get to know that their companion has devoured all the supplies
An animal person pretends (several times) that he has to make a visit (that he has been invited to be godfather at a baptism or invited to a funeral or wedding) but instead eats secretly food supplies
To demonstrate that the thief who had eaten food supplies is somebody else or to declare somebody else as a victim to be eaten up, animal person smears his sleeping companion with remains of the food or body excretions (exchanges the excretions)
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
Somebody suggests to guess what sort of material a certain object is made of. Another person (usually a monster) gets to know the secret and the hero or the heroin must do what they have promised
It should be guessed the nature of a big animal or its skin, the content of a box. The correct answer is that the animal is a louse (or a flea), a louse is in the box
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
After warning his wife about the planned trick, person lets free a wild animal or bird asking it to pass a message to his wife. Seeing the same (actually another) animal or bird in his companion’s house another man buys the animal for a lot of money
A weaker person asks the stronger one to take present to his or her kin and hides himself or herself in a bag. The stronger one brings the bag to the weaker one's relatives thinking that there are but some objects inside. Usually a girl deceives the ogre into carrying her sisters and then herself in a sack (chest) back to their home
Person lies that his name is so and so. Others understand it not as a name but as a common word and behave accordingly
A healthy animal tricks an injured one (a wolf, a bear) into carrying him on his back by pretending to be injured himself
Person buries a tail or head of a bull or other domestic animal with a tail or horns outside. He explains that the animal sank into the ground and usually asks the others to pull the tail (horns). When they are “torn off”, he tells that people are guilty of the animal being lost
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
Trickster animal asks a bird to make him laugh. The bird sits on the head of a woman (child, cow, etc.), other person tries to kill the bird, hits the wife (breaks cow's horn, etc.). Or the bird distracts person attention to let the trickster steal the person’s food
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
Grain is harvested with inappropriate tools. Seeing sickle for the first time, people take it for a dangerous animal
Trickster pretends to be dead, sick or weak and is picked up by those who carry something edible in a cart (sledge, boat, bag, etc.). The trickster secretly eats the food, often after throwing it out of the cart (sledge, etc.)
Fox blames his tail for being useless when escaping from the pursuers (usually he punishes his tail and gets killed himself as a result)
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
Getting to see a donkey (horse, deer) for the first time, a strong predator thinks that this animal is dangerous. His further interpretation of the herbivorous’ behavior supports this impression
A weak companion of a big predator pretends to be strong and brave. Almost drowned сrossing a river and saved by the predator, he pretends to be angry (“Because of you I let a fish go”, etc.)
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)
Two animals (an animal and a person, an ogre and a person, etc.) agree to divide a crop in such a way that one would take what is above the ground and another what is beneath ground. One of them (several times makes a wrong choice (takes turnip tops and wheat roots)
Animal person refuses to enter the den of a strong predator seeing that all tracks go into it but none come out
One animal person promises to sew a fur coat (or boots) for another and asks to bring him ever more sheep. He eats the meat and sews nothing
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
The hare is in despair because he is afraid of all creatures but is delighted when he sees other animals (sheep, frogs, dusks) being afraid of him
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
An animal person invites another and serves his food in such a way that he is unable to taste it. Then the other invites the first animal and puts him in similar situation
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
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
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
A snail (other mollusk, trepang, etc.) participates in the race and wins
Two (or more) (animal)-persons agree that whichever of them has the most wonderful dream may eat all the food. The first one tells about a feast that he participated in his dream. His companion answers that he was sure that after such a feast (after getting into the paradise, etc.) the first one would not need the food, so he has eaten it alone
Person who gives difficult tasks to the hero and/or person who demands the fulfillment of certain conditions from those who want to marry his daughter is a prominent figure in social hierarchy. He is a head of the socio-political unit of community or super-community level and is neither a member of the hero’s household nor a mythical being
Person finds precious stones or miraculous flowers (usually in a river) and gets to know whence they originate
Because of the female antagonist, a girl faints and is taken for dead but her body is not decomposed. A valuable marriage partner breaks the charms, she revives
A girl poses as a man, her sex is magically transformed and the man is happily married
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
Predator animal/ogre blows and destroys a fragile house but cannot destroy a strong one. Usually two or three weak personages build three houses only one of which is strong enough.
To pass unnoticed dangerous animals on his or her way back, person crawls into a gourd, a big cattle, etc. and is rolling inside it along the road, or he walks transforming his appearance in a bizarre way
An object that contains the life (soul) of a person is inside two or more creatures or other objects (like an egg in a duck, a duck in a hare, etc.) or the zoomorphic soul container tries to escape and turns in succession to other animals (three or more transformations)
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
Young woman’s bridegroom or husband gets to believe that she is extraordinarily industrious. To conceal the deception, she herself or somebody else makes the man believe that because of hard work women become ugly or change into animals. The man prohibits his wife to work anymore
An old or ugly woman is transformed into a young beauty or becomes rich. Usually another old woman tries to imitate her but dies or suffers a reverse
One who eats certain fruit (leave, etc.) gets horns (long nose, etc.) or turns into an animal. After eating another fruit (leave) person recovers his or her normal body
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
A woman gives birth to many children but conceals part of them from God. The concealed children become ancestors of the people of the lower social status while those that had been shown to God become ancestors of the high status people
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
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 girl is promised to a man who would know her name or whose finger would fit her ring, or who would guess a material from which certain object is made or grown. Person finds a correct answer by deception
Person gets to a country where rats or mice are a plague and receives a fortune selling a cat
A man who has a low social position is a nuisance for persons of high position. He gets to know that they plan to drown him or his preperty (rare: to strangle him) and tricks them to drown instead one of them or their own property
Death promises to take a man after he has finished a prayer. The man begins to pray but does not finish his prayer and the Death cannot take him
The first and rejected or taken later wife acts using magic. Other wives try to imitate her but perish are maimed or disgraced
Babies disappear but are ultimately returned to their mother or father grown up and in good health
Seriously or demonstrating absurdity of the situation, a person tries to cook something using a fire (a source of light) that is far away from the object to be cooked
Young man gives his sisters to the first bridegrooms who claim them. These are demons or animals who usually later help him
A man on a journey meets tree or two persons who are quarreling over the division of magic objects (a flying carpet, seven mile boots, etc.). The man promises to render a judgment, but he asks first to try our the objects or suggests the owners to run a race and uses opportunity to escape with the objects
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)
A girl answers her father (rare: brother) that she loves him like she loves salt (or that salt is the most valuable, etc.). He becomes angry (usually drives her away) but later satisfies himself that she was right
A man puts his children questions that seem easy to answer (how they love him, who is the elder in the family, etc.). The elder children flatter, the youngest daughter (rare: son) is reserved and her father drives her away or deprives of inheritance. Later her noble nature becomes evident to him
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)
Person or animal gets to exchange less valuable goods for ever more valuable. The last or the next to last one is a girl
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
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
Person has to feed powerful creature (usually a giant bird) giving it regularly pieces of meat. When meat supply is exhausted, he cuts off a piece of his own flesh
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
Every time a demon commits an outrage upon one of the men who remains at home. When it is the hero’s turn, he overcomes the demon and follows his track to his 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
Several animals (often a lion, an eagle, an ant) argue because of an animal carcass or a living place. A man settles their argument, they give him capacity to acquire their form (their qualities)
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.
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
Step mother or more often father (persuaded by his wife) abandons children in a desolate place. Getting to the ogre or ogress, children (or at least one of them) survive and ultimately achieve success
Person of a low social position (a man) makes an agreement with a person of high social position (an ogre) that the master must never become angry with the servant. The servant abuses the master until the latter erupts in anger and has to be severely punished or to pay a great fee
A man sends another one to top of a mountain or a tree to obtain treasure for him. To go back is impossible but the man survives
Person kills several people. asks somebody to bury only one and then tells that the dead man has returned. The grave-digger buries several people but believes that it was one and the same corpse
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
When a person is suggested to make something and simultaneously not to make it or to make it differently than it could be made at all (to come clothed and naked, with and without a gift, etc.), he or she finds the solution
Food and clothes are extracted from the horn of a cow or goat
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.)
Person travels across a forest with trees of two or more kinds of metal (copper, silver, etc.)
An animal or (rare) a person that gave birth to the hero or supported him for a long time asks his master or son to kill him or her. Its (her) remains turn into a house with a household where the hero can live
At the end of the tale helpful animal (horse, lion, etc.) turns himself or herself into a prince (princess)
Person removes part of his or her body (head, scalp, lungs) and then puts it back
In order to delay a wedding with an undesirable suitor (her own brother or father, a monster), a girl asks him to give her a dress (often three dresses in succession) of unusual material (like gold, of fly wings, etc.). He does it but the girl runs away
Getting a task or by his own initiative, a trickster several times comes to a person (usually an ogre) and steals in succession objects in his possession or members of his family
A man escapes from his (her, theirs) pursuers and hides in a cave. A spider spins its web over the hiding place. When the pursuers see the spider web they think the cave is unoccupied and do not enter it
Husband casts his wife out but allows her to take the one thing she holds dearest. She takes her sleeping or drunk husband with her and thus moves him to forgive her
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 eats a meal of eggs and leaves without paying. Some years later when he returns to pay his debt, the innkeeper claims the value of all chickens that would have hatched from the eggs in the meantime. On the day of the trial another person pretends to have cooked seeds for planting and the judge agrees that chicken could not be hatched from the boiled eggs
A numskull finds or buys an unknown fruit (pumpkin, melon, etc.). He mistakes it for an egg of a donkey (mare. camel, etc.). When he drops it or throws it off he scares a hidden hare (rabbit, fox, mouse, etc.). The fool thinks the fugitive is a young animal hatched from the egg
A blacksmith is (seems to be) able make people young, cure maimed people and animals
When domestic animals meat the predators, they – deliberately or unintentionally – behave in such a way that the predators escape in panic
A person who has not a bit of a skill to expose thieves and find the lost objects does it successfully thanks to a series of lucky coincidences
Old woman is incarnation of winter, is associated with snow, or there are several cold days between winter and spring (or fall) associated with a certain old woman
Venus or other bright star (Arcturus, Sirius, etc.) is the star of the shepard (herdsman, swine-herd, etc.)
A man (usually of high social position) learns by a prediction that a (newborn) girl will be his future wife or a girl from rich family gets to know that her future husband is a poor man. The man (the girl, something else) attempts to kill the predestined marriage partner but only wounds her or him. After the wedding it becomes clear that the prediction is fulfilled
Because telling the truth a stupid son (wife, husband)) can bring misfortune upon the family, his mother (wife; her husband) mystifies him (her) making him or her describe events that are definitely impossible. People take him (her) for a fool and let alone.
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
Using trick, a man sells or exchanges for treasure ashes. Another person tries to sell ashes and is ridiculed
Person gets other person’s possessions by trick (or pretends to get it; usually another person is drowned instead of him) and then demonstrates his possessions (usually a herd) and explains that he had received everything at the river bottom. His enemies believe him
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
Man takes a pot from the fire but it is still boiling or he cooks the food beforehand and tells that his pot cooks it in no time (or that his stick touching ground creates the food). Another man buys the pot (the stick)
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.
A group of young men live apart. A girl comes to them or is born magically. The men keep her as their sister. After some time she is separated from them and is in danger but ultimately she is rescued
A man pretends that he had thrown or is going to throw a heavy object to the sky (to the clouds). His adversary asks him not to do it.
An ogre (devil etc.) pretends to throw a stone or other heavy object so far that it will destroy people beyond the sea (mountains, etc.) (where ogre’s relatives live)
An ogre (devil etc.) and a man compete to determine who can throw a stone higher or to a greater distance. The man throws not a stone but a bird.
Coming home after a long absence, a man understands that there is another man in his house but keeps patience and discovers that it is his own son or a close kin of his wife
Milky Way is the way of St. Jacob (the way to Santiago de Compostela, etc.)
A king (landlord, etc.) suggests to guess what he has in his hand (in a box). It is an insect there (usually a grasshopper). The man says that now you, Grasshopper, is caught. People think that he gave the correct answer
Supernatural creature fulfills a poor man’s moderate request. After this he or his wife asks for ever bigger gifts till the angry helper punishes them (usually takes all his gifts away)
While person is asleep, another smears with excrements or something that reminds excrements his or her bed or clothes. The ashamed person runs away or agrees to make what the trickster wants in exchange of his silence
A woman pretends that her vagina is a mouth with teeth. (It is not suggested that women’s genitals are really dangerous)
Person or animal is eaten up or destroyed otherwise. His bones are put together and he or it is revived. Because one bone was broken, swallowed or lost (or a drop of blood, a small piece of flesh lost), the person or animal cannot be revived or being revived misses some part of his or its body
The servant is asked to prepare a goose (chicken, etc.), eats one leg and maintains that the goose had only one leg enforcing his point by showing geese who stand on one leg. The master shoots away the geese so that they use both legs. Usually the servant replies that if he had frightened the roasted goose, it would have showed its second leg as well
A man hides in a skin or carcass of a big animal. A bird carries it to its nest without knowing that the man is inside
Complicated relations between a poor girl and a prince lead to his attempt to kill his bride in the nuptial night. The girl puts a doll in her bed, the prince pierces it with a sword and takes the sweet juice (honey, sugar) with which the doll was filled for the blood. He repents his deed but the real girl appears and the couple is happy
Person agrees that under certain conditions another may rip off some skin from his back or cut off his ears, nose, etc.
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
Bat (rare: ostrich) makes attempts to join sometimes animals and sometime birds or is excluded from both categories
Life of a man depends on an object that can be burned. He dies as soon as the object is burned
An ogre (devil, a strong animal, etc.) and a man (a weaker animal) carry a tree. The man tricks the ogre who carries the heavy bottom-end while the man sits on a branch or walks pretending to carry his burden
The riddle refers to extraordinary or accidental events that happened to the person setting the riddle, and thus is unsolvable to outsiders
Two men have a similar defect (a hump, a lump). One spends a night in a place where spirits free him from his defect. Another comes to the same place but spirits double his defect giving him what they had taken off from the first man
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)
A man finds a mortar (rare a bell, etc.) of gold (rare: of marble, etc.) and brings it to a powerful person. The latter is not thankful at all but orders the man to bring a pestle too (the bell’s clapper, etc.)
A woman (rare: a man) asks if she (he) is the most beautiful among female (men) folk and always receives a positive answer. It continues till she or he receives the negative one
Person demonstrates the absurdity of the claims of another person saying that he (or somebody else) was fishing on a hill, putting out a fire spilling straw, looking how the fish fly etc. or he is imitating such an activity. Either the place chosen for the activity or the means are irrational
A stranger tells a woman that he comes from the other world and had seen there her dead relative. The woman gives him money and goods for the latter. Usually when her husband goes after the trickster to retrieve the money, the trickster steals his horse
A man has accumulated a store of provisions (saved some money, etc.) and tells his wife that it is for the long winter (Christmas, emergencies, etc.). A trickster (beggar) comes to the woman and tells her that his name is Long Winter, etc. She gives him the provisions
King asks a commoner to pluck (skin, milk, cut) a goose (geese, other birds, animals) that he sends him. The commoner understands correctly that he is allowed to fleece a courtier
Making a wager because of a trivial thing, spouses (or only one of them) lie without movement and are taken for dead. People bury them but at the last moment they become to speak, people run in panic
Person is eager to get a child (spouse) who would be likened to blood and snow (milk)
Before coming in, a guest gets to notice that the housewife is with her lover. When the husband comes home, the guest pretends to possess magic object or the like that helps him to reveal where the good food and the lover are hidden
A man goes to sell a skin of domestic animal and on his way, by trick or thanks to chance, gets a big sum of money. Usually coming back he explains that this was the price of the skin but when other people kill their animals they cannot sell skins for such a sum. (In India the hero sometimes pretends to sold cow meat to brahmins for whom it is forbidden)
Cow (ox, bull) helps an orphan child or a young woman who got into trouble
Wandering to the purpose of her or his travel person has to worn out her or his iron shoes or staff
At night a girl remains alone in an isolated house (mill, bath-house, etc.). When a demon comes, she asks him to bring her ever new pieces of attire, jewelry, etc. till it dawns and the demon disappears
A lad or a girl (often after having a prophetic dream) claims that he (she) will achieve extraordinary social position (usually that his or her parents, brothers, sisters will demonstrate signs of high respect to him or her). The lad (girl) is expelled out of the family but the prophecy is fulfilled
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)
To accuse a guest of theft, a host plants a treasure into his guest’s bag
Girl bewails the loss of her future child before she has any; thinking about an event that could have been tragic; is jealous of her sisters before any of them have fiancée; thinks out the name of her child that does not exist instead of coming to meet her fiancée.
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.)
Every one of several men had learned a unique skill thanks to which they save a girl abducted by demon or animal
Person sees how others act using magic or according to their animal nature. He or she imitates their actions and gets into trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and refer to everyday activity, mostly to providing and cooking food
When assessing the swiftness of a horse, the speed of thought (lightning) and the speed of wind are compared
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
Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with a pup (inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to a pup)
Children or youths (usually a group of brothers) exchange clothes (headgears, ornaments, blankets, sleeping places) with their enemy’s children. The enemy kills his or her own children by mistake. Usually brothers get to the ogre or ogress and the youngest advices to exchange places (clothes, etc.) with ogre’s daughters). Outside of Europe the actors can be animals
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 or animal puts food into a bag and hides it under his clothes. Cutting the bag open he pretends to disembowel himself. His adversary tries to do the same and kills himself
Person or animal gets access to values that are inside an animal, a tree, a rock or other enclosure. Later he himself or more often somebody else tries to do the same but destroys source of values, blocks access to it or makes it too dangerous
Chief of thieves (demonic person) brings his men (other demons) into some people’s yard hiding them in empty jars, casks, etc. The plan to kill members of the household at night. A girl (a young woman; rare: somebody else from the family) gets to know about the danger and kills the thieves one by one (usually pouring boiling water into the jars)
Animal person covers his head with a milky substance or dough and convinces another that he has been so badly injured that his brains are coming out
After eating a fish, the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
To have children, a woman eats a fish, apple or something else. A mare, a bitch or other domestic animals eat part of this food (often skin, broth, etc.). The woman gives birth to a boy (twins) a mare to colts, a bitch to puppies
Noble youth falls in love with a beautiful girl but does not recognize her as a kitchen maid whom he gave a harsh treatment. When he asks the beauty where she is from, he does not understand her cryptic answers related to corresponding episodes. Or younger brother gives a cryptic answer when his elder brothers first beat him and then do not recognize in a guise of a handsome hero
When it is necessary to get an object from a place that is difficult to reach, a girl asks to cut her into pieces (or only to cut off her fingers and toes) and then to put pieces together again. She revives
Killing a monster or an animal, the hero cuts of and hides a piece of its body, usually a tongue. (In most of the cases, the imposter claims the deed to himself and when he cannot demonstrate the cut off piece, the hero unmasks him)
A man has to send several nights near the girl who died and became a dangerous demonic being. After this the girl is disenchanted
A lazy (stupid) boy releases a fish (frog, serpent, supernatural being) which gives him a power of making all his wishes come true; he marries a princess
Person can transform himself or herself into an animal or an object. Being sold in this guise, he or she achieves his or her aims and becomes a human again
Person transforms people who come to him or her into animals. Thanks to the hero, victims are disenchanted
A young man helps to bury a man (pays the debts of the dead man, honors a saint). When the young man sets off for a journey, the grateful dead (the saint) in guise of a stranger becomes his protector
To revive or to cure his friend (rare: himself) or to fulfill a vow person is ready to sacrifice his small (young) son (children). The son revives or the supernatural powers are satisfied with the very willingness of the person to commit sacrifice
When a girl or a boy is asked where are her or his father, mother, brother or other relations or what they are doing she or he answers in such a way that only a smart person is able to understand what it is about (father went to make an enemy from a friend, mother went to make one out of two, etc.); or the girl explains corresponding answers of other person
Person gets a nut with valuables inside (precious clothes, jewelry, animal helpers, etc.) or he or she himself or herself puts valuable into a nut to use them later
A girl gets into a bird’s nest (usually the bird carries away a baby-girl). The bird cares for her like her parent, the girl becomes a beauty
After eating a fruit (usually an apple, in Northern traditions also an egg), the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
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)
In the feasting hall, the heroine who has magic capacities throws food around (puts it under her bodice, etc.) but arouses admiration among the guests. Other women try to imitate her but only make the room and themselves look unsightly
When a man comes to a beautiful woman she tricks him by asking to finish some trivial task, keeping him by her magic in an awkward or ridiculous position until daylight. Episode is repeated next nights with other or (rare) the same suitor. Usually the first suitor being ashamed tells the other that everything was nice, so all of them are humiliated the same way
People (elder brothers, elder siblings, elder sister) disappear (one by one). A lonely woman has a baby or finds a baby or she becomes pregnant magically and gives birth to a boy or twins. The boy grows up, exterminates the antagonists, usually revives and releases those who had disappeared
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
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 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
Person becomes a victim of a murder. Just before dying he or she calls on some birds (celestial bodies, animals, plants, etc.) to bear witness for the crime. Getting to see these birds (this plant, the Sun, the Moon, etc.) the murderer reveals himself without thinking. Or the birds, being the only witnesses, bring the investigators to the murderers.
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.
Being a victim of the injustice and after much suffering, a young woman speaks with a certain inanimate objects (often it is “the stone of pity”) telling it her sad story or her husband does it. The woman is rescued and the justice reinstated
Person is bewitched (transformed into a bird, faints) when a pin or other sharp object is stuck into her (rare his) body
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
Body part of a murdered person or a plant that grew on the place of the crime tells people about the crime
A man (usually a king) isolates his son (daughter) in a closed room, Once the boy (girl), usually because of some chance event gets to see the world outside and his (her) isolation comes the end
When a (married) man cultivate a (married) woman she demonstrates him that all women are alike (like eggs painted in different colors). The man is ashamed and let the woman in piece
A girl who keeps silence is promised to one who would make her speak; a man with much difficulty makes his magic wife speak
Using a magic object or spell, hero makes people (and animals) attached to the object or to each other
Two ungulate animals (rams, bull, etc.) run from the opposite directions and butt the wolf killing or injuring him
Old or ugly woman wants to be flayed alive to become a beauty. Cf. motif H4
Two or three different grains talk with one another, act together, etc.
Two persons or animals argue who will see the rising sun first. One who got to see not the sun itself but its reflection or the first beams on trees or mountain tops wins
A man lures Death (Devil) to climb a tree or sit on a bench to which they are stuck and can free themselves not before the man gives them such a permission
To choose a companion, the youth suggests each of the candidates to make something simple (to eat the served food, to set off). The chosen one demonstrates that he cares for the hero while others keep in mind only their own interests
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf 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
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
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
Being smart and witty, the hedgehog overcomes overcomes strong adversaries
Hair of the head of a person turns into grass (thorns, bamboo, shrub)
To get rid of the hero and to get his social and family position, the imposter pushes him into the sea or maroons him on a faraway island. The hero survives and comes back
{The circum-Pacific versions which are geographically remote from the Western European ones are excluded. See motif K1E}
Person tricks his enemies to leave their enclosure one by one and cuts off their head as soon as the next one appears before him. In rare cases the multi-headed enemy thrusts his heads on by one and the hero cuts them off
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
The mice decide to tie a bell on the cat, so they can hear when the cat comes. Usually they cannot find anyone to tie it on her
A person who has committed a serious crime is put in a (nailed) barrel which is rolled down a slope or is tied to the tail of a horse
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
Hero must bring hairs, feathers, scales, etc. of a dangerous person and does it thanks to the helps of a wife or (grand)mother of this person
To cure a sick person or to save a household from misfortunes a toad or frog hidden in the house should be killed or removed
Person comes to God (Fate, Sun, etc.) and puts questions that asked him to put those whom he met on the way. Somebody wanted to know for how long he must fulfill his duties. The answer: he or she must put other person on his or her place
The animals (usually dogs) got a certificate which was lost because of the cat (is swallowed by the cat, burned, eaten by mice). Since them dogs and cats are enemies, usually also cats and mice
Person gets one by one magic objects that bring food or treasure. Other people replace them with common objects or take them away by force. The person takes his property back (usually beating the thieves with magic cudgel or whip)
A big predator is eager to see a man. He comes across a boy but gets to know that he will be a man later, then an old person who is not a man anymore. The encounter with the real man (hunter, soldier) has for the animal the unpleasant consequences
Cunning fox, jackal or coyote saves particular person or many people, helps them
Husband remains home instead of his wife (rare: son instead of his mother) but does everything wrong so as he suffers a series of accidents
A cow (donkey, ox, etc.) is taken to the roof to graze grass that was grown there. Or the wife is raised with a rope on her neck
Wicked stepmother (aunt, a rival) blinds a young woman. The heroine returns her eyes (often gets them back in exchange for some values)
The wolf (lion, etc.) is going to eat a horse (mule, etc.). The horse asks him to look at his hoof (for different reasons) or eat him from his hindquarters forward; then he kicks him
Person must recognize her (or his) son or husband among several identical persons or animals
For finding the lost husband (wife, benefactor), person regularly assemble together the chance people to hear what they are saying (usually sets up an inn, bakery, bathhouse and the like where guests are stimulated to talk). One of the people proves to be the lost one or his or her story helps to find the lost one
Rivers of tears exist in the other world. Tears shed on earth fill there big containers
Person who visits the other world gets to see different people punished or rewarded according to their behavior when they were alive on earth
A ruler gets to know from a young man that this man’s sister is extraordinary beautiful. On the way to the ruler beautiful girl is replaced by the ugly one. Usually the ruler thinks that the young man is a deceiver and throws him in prison
The antagonist (robber, wizard, witch) penetrates into the house of a girl or young woman hiding in a state (in cupboard, etc.) and/or putting her husband (guards) to sleep using a medicine. At the last moment he is destroyed
Modest Sun-woman dazzles (usually pricks with needles, i.e. the sun rays) eyes of those who look at her
Coming together of the Sun and the Moon is the reason of their eclipses
Person who carries a bundle of brushwood or firewood is seen in the moon.
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
Spots on the lunar disc are dirt thrown into the Moon's face by his/her sister/brother or mother
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
Person is sent by god to bring instructions or certain objects but distorts, forgets or replaces them. This has fatal consequences for humans or for a certain species of animals. (Lithuanian case can be a mistification)
Person distorts instructions that he must pass to others, intentionally lies, forgets or replaces certain objects that must be given to others. Because of this human beings become mortal (do not revive after death)
God originally gives 20 or 30 years to everybody. Some animals refuse some of their years because of their sufferings. Man wants to have more years and takes them from the animals
A young man and a woman (Konkani: a young girl and a man) marry and later get to know that they commited incest
Fools carry sunlight (darkness, smoke) in bags, sieves, etc. and carry it into the room or out of 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 farmhand (a young son of the peasant) arranges a situation a series of tricks to the love affair between the wife of his master and another man. The wife is going to bring food outdoor to her lover but gets to her husband. Seeing the master coming with an axe (stones, etc.), the lover believes, that he is going to attack him and runs away
Three (two, more) men find (rob) a treasure. One of them goes away for a while. Those who stay kill him when he returns but die later from eating food (drinking wine) which he had poisoned
During the first meeting(s) between the prince and the princess one of them (sometimes adopting an unusual guise) takes objects (decorations) in possession of another. Either the girl of the boy falls ill. Thanks to the new meeting the sick ones become healthy again, the disappeared objects are recognized and the couple married
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
When God intends to create Eve from Adam’s rib, an animal (dof, cat, monkey, fox, snake) or a devil steals it. God (or his angel) pursues it and catches its tail. The tail tears off, God creates Eve from it. Or God made Eve from edible material and a dog devoured it, so God had to make Eve from Adam’s rib. Or God cut off Adam’s tail and made Eve from it.
Trees (and animals) could talk and asked people not to cut or kill them
After the wedding a wife does not speak with her husband until he says particular words related to her origin (the name of her adoptive father, her own name that reveals her superhuman nature, and the like)
A companion promises to share water or food with a thirsty or hungry person on condition that he or she allows to blind him or her
A man (usually a king) catches a strange (anthropomorphic) creature. His son frees the prisoner, is afraid of his father’s anger and leaves home or is driven away. The released prisoner helps him
As soon as a person plays his flute (fiddle, horn, etc.), people and animals become to dance and cannot stop without the person’s permission
A liquid which usually should not be used for drinking or cooking once is used for these purposes. A person who is told that this liquid is neither from the earth must guess what is the source of this liquid
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
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
An animal or a bird who makes use of a peasant’s property (lives in his field) does it till the very moment when the danger becomes critical. Usually a mother fox or bird does not command her children to leave a field (vineyard) until the master himself (and not his sons, farmhands, etc.) comes to cut the vines or to harvest the field
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
Running away from a dangerous being, person throws salt creating an obstacle on the way of the pursuer
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
A girl marries monster and challenges him to shed (one of) his skin(s) every time she takes off (one of) her shirt(s). The girl remains alive and the monster turns into handsome man (usually because she has more shirts than he has skins)
To have enough time for realizing his plans, hero makes the night longer changing behavior of the person or creature responsible for the day cycle
Walking person creates a trace behind him or her throwing seeds, stones, etc. or the trace is produced because blood drops behind the person. The traces is destroyed unintentionally by birds, animals, wind etc.
To divide a certain (often five) number of eggs between people of different sex, a clever woman takes into consideration that every man has already two eggs
When he spends his entire fortune, a man is going to hang himself but finds treasure (intentionally put in the corresponding place by his father)
A youth who does not know what fear is tries various frightful experiences without becoming afraid
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)
To get rid of a young man, his female antagonist uses a stratagem. She tells his sister (rare: tells directly him) about some wonderful objects and the girl is overcome with the desire to have them. An attempt to obtain these objects entails a risk for one’s life. The youth sets off to obtain the objects
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)
(Belt of) Orion is (three) mowers or agricultural tools related to mowing and harvesting
A pea (bean, grain) or a pellet of cheep’s dung turns into a tiny boy (rare: girl); a child is as small as a pea. Or his mother conceived him after eating a pea
Each of calender units (usually the months) that make the year is a separate object or person
A man pays in advance and invites his enemies to eat with him. When he turns his hat (throws it on the floor, etc.), they believe that it is the hat that makes the innkeeper say that the bill has been settled
Being smart and persistent, the turtle (toad, frog) overcomes strong adversaries
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
A man is not wise enough to answer questions put by a king (prince, etc.). His servant or friend takes his place and guise and gives clever answers. Usually one of the questions is like “What I think now?” and the answer, “You think that you speak with the abbot (minister, etc.) but I am a shepherd (a miller, etc.)
A man had to graze animals or birds. If at least one is lost, the master would kill (not reward) him. Cf. K128B (ATU 570)
King offers his daughter in marriage to whoever can herd (catch, tame, train) a particular number of rabbits (roosters, sheep, goats, geese, partridges) without losing any. A poor boy receives a magic whistle or other device with which he can summon the rabbits. In order to avoid the marriage, members (deputies) of the royal family (in disguise) try to but pne of his rabbits. The young man demands a degrading humiliating act and after the demands are fulfilled, the rabbit comes back to him.
A man defecates, covers the pile with his hat and pretends that there is something valuable under it. Another man believes the deceiver and loses his money or property
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
A woman with her new-born child (or a woman pregnant with a boy) or a young girl and a young boy is put into a barrel (box, skin bag, boat) and thrown into the sea (river)
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the fox, jackal or coyote suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Golden fruits (in rare cases only leaves) of a certain tree are mentioned in tail. Usually these are golden apples
An elder man and a boy travel with one donkey (horse). They try all possible ways but are always blamed (a man rides on the donkey and the boy walks; the boy on the donkey and the man walks; both on the donkey; both walk or they carry the donkey).
Person summons with a certain signal a non-human being (usually his or her sexual partner or his or her protégé). Another person spies, uses the same signal or pronounces the same words and kills the being who comes to him (or uses this being sexually himself)
An enemy asks house utensils or personal objects where their master hid himself or herself or what direction he or she ran away. One of the objects, not treated by the master in a proper way, betrays him or her
Person discovers (rare:still fails to discover) another getting to see his or her shadow or reflection in water
Person transforms people who come to him or her into trees (or flowers). Hero escapes transformation and revives the victims
Father (step mother) abandons children in the forest. He (she) hangs a plank (gourd, shoe, etc.) on a tree that is striking trunk under the wind. Children believe that he is still nearby cutting woods
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
A woman who was falsely accused of killing her new-born child or giving birth to pups and the like is punished in such a way that she must suffer from filth and be taunted by passers by
Travelling in search of the marriage partner, the hero (heroine) comes in succession to several supernatural persons related to luminaries and atmospheric phenomena (the Sun, the Moon, Stars, Wind). The last of them gives him or her necessary information
A man exchanges his sheep (goats) for dogs. The deal looks like unprofitable but the dogs help him to reach success
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
The bat becomes an outcast among other creatures (usually after it makes attempts to join first animals and then birds or vice versa)
A poor girl receives a doll (goose) that defecates money. An envious neighbor steals or borrows the doll but it soils her house and the doll is thrown out. The king (prince) uses the doll (goose) to wipe himself and it sticks to his backside (or bites him when he passes by). He announces that anyone who can release him will get a reward. Only the girl is able to do it and he marries her
Ursa major is identified with a carriage, a cart
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
Person who swallowed his prey alive falls asleep and does not feel anything when his belly is cut and the prey is replaced with stones
A cat marries a poor boy to a princess (poor girl to a prince)
Fool (or a person who pretends to be mad) sows salt (small objects) like grain
Year is described as a tree with the number of branches, twigs, leaves etc. corresponding to the number of seasons, months, days, etc.
A man (usually a king) keeps his daughter (rare: his son) in a closed room, servants bring the girl (boy) meat without bones. Once she or he finds a bone in the meat, uses it to make an opening in the wall and gets to see the world outside
Person gets to see a lot of burning candles or lamps. As soon as one of them goes out, somebody dies
Using a trick the intruder occupies other person’s house and refuses to let the owner in
To take part in a feast or to visit God or celestial object, person ascends to the sky. To return, he either uses a rope but falls before reaching ground or jumps (falls) down from the sky and is badly hurt, dead, and/or transformed
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
Somebody pulls out a thorn from a person’s body (cuts off the end of the animal’s tail, etc.) and throws it away or slightly injures the person. As a result the person is compensated with something more valuable than the lost object
Animal person gets to exchange less valuable goods for ever more valuable and ultimately gets a drum
Each of three brothers carry to the princess some fruits (rare: fish, etc.).
She will marry a man whose fruits are better (more numerous) or can cure her. On their way two brothers treat roughly a person who possesses supernatural power and are punished while the youngest brother is polite and rewarded. He (after additional tests) marries the princess
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
The nose of anthropomorphic being is like a beak of copper or iron
Mother tries to kill her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair
The hero is sent to bring a life-medicine. On his way back a friendly woman replaces the real medicine with a useless one or keeps part of it for herself. Using the medicine she revives the hero when he is treacherously killed
Enemy cuts hero’s body into pieces and ties them to his horse or the horse itself picks them up and brings to his master’s friends. They revive him.
A man dies or loses his strength (or pretends that it is so) if (some) hair on his head is cut off
Getting to the world that is beyond the world of the human beings, a man marries there a woman. She gives him permission to visit his home but he must avoid particular words or deeds. He breaks the taboo triggering an (irretrievable) trouble
During impossibly short time person must to realize all works of agricultural cycle and to present food made of new crops
A cow (goat) magically spins or weaves: eats the yarn and extracts the thread, suggests to wind the yarn over its horns, etc.
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
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
Body parts of a person or pieces of his flesh are thrown down one by one. (In American Indian versions those who are on the ground usually take them for game, honey, fish)
Person in search of the remote and inaccessible place comes to the master (mistress) of animals (birds, fish) or demons who summon all of them and asks about the way to this place. Only (the last) one knows the way
Rivers (lakes) of blood (also of puss, bones, sweat or water used for washing of corpses) are mentioned in narratives (in different context)
A river (wave, lake, basin) of milk that exists on earth (and not among the stars) is mentioned in narratives (in different context)
Person must fill a bag (bowl) with truth (falsehood, tales). He fulfills the demand telling a denunciating story
Committing particular acts, an (old) woman defines alternation of night and day
A man saves a devil (snake, dangerous animal) who suffers from proximity of certain object or person. The grateful devil promises to enter a princess and abandon her as soon as the man comes to cure her. The man will get a reward but he should not try such a trick again. The man scares the devil forever telling him that the object or person of which the devil is afraid will be near soon
After seeing a portrait of an unknown beauty, a man is eager to meet her
Hero comes to an agreement with antagonist that he can take animals of particular appearance or with particular behavior and takes all or most of them
Disguised as a bird, small animal or insect, a man penetrates into the place of a girl (into her father’s house)
An ornitomorphic hero impregnates a girl magically or imperceptibly for her
A demon helps a man or a woman or lets him or her free. As a reward, the person is forced to promise to give the demon his child
An ogre sends a man to bring water giving him an enormous skin. The man is unable to carry such an amount of water but does not reveal his weakness using a ruse (he is digging around the well and explains that he wants to carry all the water at once; or says that he brought the skin with the water but drank it already up, etc.)
A small creature is reared up by people. When it is grown up, it becomes harmful and dangerous
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)
To make himself unrecognizable by the victim, a predator or ogre demonstrates clothes, limb, etc. that look like clothes or limb of his victim's mother, etc.
To get rid of a dangerous but stupid demon or animal, a man commits certain acts. His adversary repeats them without understanding their meanings and makes harm to himself
Описывается или изображается чудовище (обычно змей) о семи головах. При перечисления существ по мере возрастания у них числа голов ряд заканчивается на семи
While travelling on earth, God (a saint) asks his companion to prepare a slaughtered animal (chicken). The companion secretly eats liver (heart, etc.) and explains that the animal did not have such an organ. He confesses his wrong deed when God (a saint) promises him a treasure
A girl lets down her long hair and another person uses it as a rope to climb up to her
Person or animal is asked why his or her body parts or tools are such as they are. He or she gives the answers (or one who is asking answers for him). Ultimately one of them kills or badly injures the other
A young woman follows an enchanted man to his underground place, becomes pregnant but breaks a taboo and is chased away. She finds lodging in a rich house, her husband finds her and is disenchanted
To iron a horse or a donkey, Jesus (a saint) cuts its leg off, irons it and puts the leg back, the horse is not injured. Another person imitates him with no success
The antagonists acquire person’s organ or body part (his remains) . Another person gets back what has been stolen and the first one revives (becomes strong again)
Several brothers are transformed into bulls (oxen) but ultimately disenchanted
Prince putы his ring on the beauty’s finger but does not know that she is the same girl who works in his kitchen. She plants the ring in a dish of food prepared for the prince and he recognizes it
A man who has visited hell (met the God) tells the robber about tortures prepared for him in the future. The robber accepts this news with resignation, does penance and ultimately is saved. Usually a hermit who decides that God is unjust in this case is punished
Riding a bull or an ox, a lad or a lassie run away from the stepmother’s house. On the way the bull fights with the other bull (monsters) and is usually killed by the last of them
Being on guard, the hero gets to know who steals regularly fruits (usually apples) from the garden
A princess who lies or stands between two pretenders for her hand must choose one of them without seeing him. The bridegroom of low social position tricks the noble one to be smeared by filth and the princess turns to one who smells aromatically
A man complains that large trees have small fruits. When an acorn (nut, pear) falls on his head, he understands the order of the natural phenomena
Poisonous snake (snakes, scorpions) comes out of the mouth of a woman {Motif F9f1 and K100c are almost identical but F9f1 links to a cluster of etiological/cosmological motifs related to the idea of a dangerous woman while K100c is related to adventures}
A woman revenges on a man who rejected her love but necessary not pretends to be an object of sexual harassment from his part
Magic wife abandons her mortal husband when she finds her clothes (often, her feathers if she is a bird-woman), makes herself the new clothes, receives them from her kin or her husband gives her her clothing believing that she will not abandon him. (Versions with magic wife abandoning her husband because she feels herself offended is not alternative to the “found clothes but in most of the texts these motifs are not combined)
Person has to build a house of the birds’ feathers or to make roof of feathers
A girl finds a body of a sleeping youth who will wake up at a certain time and marry the girl who would sit nearby. Usually at the last moment the girl goes away for a time and the impostor takes her place.
From the mouth of a monstrous creature or person who is the enemy of the hero fire is coming out; its breath is fire
A king notices that his ban to kindle any light during the night is broken
. The hero or his companion eliminate the source of danger
Supernatural person grants wishes of a man (or several men) and later visits him (each of them) again. The man or most of them demonstrate ingratitude and drive the person away. In response to this he deprives them of all that they got thanks to his generosity
Person pretends to die. His or her wife or husband abandons him or her on a burial place. He or she marries his or her paramour
An old man needs a son to accomplish a man’s work or service. (Only the youngest) daughter sets to do it (successfully passing her father’s test and) guised as a man
Person must drink all the water in the sea (count all drops of sea water) but asks his opponent first to separate the sea water from the water of rivers that flow into it
Two persons who loved each other (usually a man and a girl) are buried in one grave or not far from each other. After the burial something related to this event takes place (two plants grow up and stretch their branches to each other, smoke of two funeral pyres is merged, two birds flu out from the grave, two stars appear on the sky, etc.)
A man and his adversary have a contest to see who can make a (deeper) hole in a tree (stump) with his finger (fist, penis, head). The man cuts the hole beforehand with an instrument and replaces it with a bark or leaves (makes a cut in a tree)
Person is covered with tar (honey) and feathers, moves on his or her hands and knees backward, etc. A demon believes that he sees un unknown animal. The persons is saved
A fool or a buffoon takes the door of the house and carries it on his back
A young man kills somebody and later gets to know that ut was his father
The hero must bring a small object (often a finger ring) from the bottom of a deep waterbody (often the sea)
Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water
A task-giver asks the hero to get for him a particular woman
Helpful animal instructs the hero how to steal an object he needs to get but not to take anything else (bird, but not cage, horse but not bridle, etc.) The hero breaks prohibition, is caught but released on condition that he brings another wonderful object. Situation is repeated and the last task is to bring a girl. Ultimately the hero gets both the girl and all the objects
An antagonist wants that a wonderful bird of the hero sing but it remains mute or cries differently. The bird begins to sing when the hero triumphs over his adversaries
The young man forgets his magic bride and meets another woman. At the last moment a bird tells the story about his real bride and he recalls everything. Usually two birds, a male and a female, have a dialogue in which the female can tell the male that he will be as cruel with her as this youth who has forgotten his bride.
The swiftest runner must receive the harvest
Wolf (more rare other predator animal) comes to different (more than two species) domestic animals (animals and people) to eat them but agrees to fulfill their requests and remains without his meal and usually becomes beaten (killed)
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)
The bear (lion) takes a woman for sexual partner or the she-bear takes a man. They have children who look like humans or bear cubs. More rare the woman gives birth to her son in the bear den because being abducted by the bear she was pregnant
A person (often a fool or buffoon) drops a (heavy) object from a tree. Those who are under the tree (usually robbers or demons) are frightened and run away abandoning their goods and valuables
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
Person gets to know that the heroine has broken his or her prohibition to enter a certain room because the corresponding evidence is preserved on her body or on an object given to her (e.g. the blood on the key)
To reach his or her destination, person follows a ball of threads (rare: some ball, apple) which is rolling in front of him or her
Pretending that he is acting according his master’s instructions, the farmhand cuts off the lips of domestic animals (because they “must smile”)
The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual
Person does not know that he or she eats or cooks the meat of the member of his or her household (blood relation, more rare a spouse or servant) or serves it to his or her friends, or uses her or his bones for everyday needs, or slowly kills him ort her
Person (who is usually in search of the godgather for the newborn child) rejects God (saints) and devil but accepts Death who is more fair (or rich)
The (adopted) human child of a bear has superhuman strength
A man gets to see dwarfs (ghosts, witches) who dance and sing. They mention some days of the week in their song. The man joins the singing and mentions other days of the week which the dwarfs like. He receives a reward. (Usually another man tries to receive the same reward but mentions days of the week which the dwarfs do not like and is punished
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
To punish an antagonist, he or she is burned alive. (Episodes in which the burning of the dangerous being is not a punishment but an effective way to get rid of him or her are not considered)
On his way a man picks up a precious feather (often despite the warning of his magic horse). When a powerful person gets to know about the feather he tells the man to fulfill difficult tasks
To trap a desired woman, person lures her to a ship (boat, flying machine, etc.) and carries away
Person asks which key is better: the old one that was lost and found or the new one. By this the marriage partner is meant
The Gipsy (more often a female than a male) is an enemy overcome by the hero (heroine) or (rare) a weak failure
When a deity (powerful person) attempts to pass some money to a certain man, he either gets it or not thanks to his fate while all other factors play no role
Two animal persons work their land together and agree to share the profits. While one is working hard, another only pretends to be useful but claims for himself (greater) part of the harvest
Person called Poverty makes Death to promise him/her that he, the Death, will never come to him. Because of this poverty cannot be eradicated
Coming back from the land of immortality, the hero should not touch the ground. However, he comes down from his horse to help an old man (old woman). It was Death in guise of an old man and he kills the hero on the spot. Rare: at the last moment the hero decides not to commit fatal acts and returns to the land of immortality
People suspect that a young man is a disguised girl and suggest tests to identify the real sex of this person
The boots (shoes, sandals) which allow the person wearing them to move with extraordinary speed are mentioned
A poor married couple (a poor man) bemoans life’s harshness and blame Adam and Eve who through their disobedience and curiosity brought sin into the world. A powerful person hears their complaint and put them into the place where they can live in luxury. He stipulates only that they must not break certain taboo (usually to open a covered vessel). They break taboo and are returned to their old way of life
There is a treasure under the extremities of the rainbow
During the time of creation particular species of animals (rare: plants) exchanged certain organs or traits or one animal borrowed an organ from another one but never brought it back. Thence the characteristics of these animals now. In rare cases the back exchange and restoring of the initial situation or the passing of certain organ from one animal to another without compensation are described
A youth studies magic but answers his master that he has learned nothing. Thank to this, the master lets him go
After the death of her or his mother, a girl or a boy suggests her or his father to marry another woman who is her or his teacher, neighbor etc. and who usually persuaded the girl (boy) to give such an advice. As soon as she is married, the step-mother becomes to persecute her step-daughter (stem-son)
The heroine’s rival transforms her into a dove. The dove makes attempts to contact her children or husband
Cunning man first deceives Death (Devil) and then, also using a trich, gets into the Paradise
The pastimes or only names of the hero’s companions are unusual and different but their specific qualities that they must possess considering their names are irrelevant for the plot. Cf. motif K66, “Extraordinary companions”
A strong she animal pursues a weaker one male but is stuck netweem trees or stones. The male taunts (usually rapes) her
The beard or hair of a man are of unusual color. This is a sign of his demonic nature
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
Instead of common body discharges a a woman urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular female person. See motif m57a
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)
Clashing stones are among strange creatures and objects, which the hero sees In the other world. They do not block his way, however
Roasting meat or baking bread for his master, a servant sees a girl (rare: small boy) and is so impressed with her (or his) beauty, that the meat or bread get burnt
A man must recognize blindly the woman that he is eager to marry. He does it knowing that one of her fingers is absent or injured
When a man is dying, he leaves his son (each of his sons) something that does not have any significant value. The son comes to a country where the corresponding object or animal is unknown and sells it for great money
The cock lures out the Sun from its hiding place or people beliefe that the Sun will not rise if the cock would not cry
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
A man sells a cat (a cock) to the people who have never seen cats or chicken. When they get the marvellous creature they do not know what they should give it to eat and think that it eats people
A stick is a tool to initiate processes which results have no rational explanation
The Sun and the Moon are or were enemies, either permanently or in particular situations
A woman gives birth to a son after being impregnated by the sun(shine) or sun(beam)
Man marries monkey-woman; supernatural woman takes form of a monkey or the man pretends that the house-keeper is a monkey
When a man sets off for the journey, his daughter asks him to bring her a certain flower (leave, etc.). The man picks it up in a garden of the enchanted prince who has monstrous appearance. The monster claims from the man his daughter and thanks to her acquires his real guise
A monster with nine heads is mentioned either alone or at the end of the row of creatures with ever bigger number of heads
A pipe or other musical instrument is made from a plant that has grown on a place where certain person was killed (fell, touched ground). When the instrument plays, people hear a particular message
An object that contains certain person’s soul / death is inside other object, the latter is in the third one (etc.). The last receptacle of the life is an egg
The supernatural person does not like the behavior of the unkind girl and punishes her making her ugly (disfigured)
In a series of three (rare: four) loci or objects that have high but different value the highest value is related to the precious stone (usually a diamond; crystal, glass)
Fugitive throws an object behind himself and thus creates fog or darkness in front of pursuer
Young man gets a girl who is inside a fruit the citrus tree, usually an orange
Young man obtains several (usually three) fruits (eggs, pieces of reed). When he opens the first one, a girl who comes out from it immediately disappears because something was wrong (usually the drinking water for her is not available). Only the girl who has come out of the last fruit remains with the man. Cf. motif k33c7
People (elder brothers, elder siblings, elder sister) disappear (one by one). A lonely woman has a baby or finds a baby or she becomes pregnant magically and gives birth to a boy. The boy grows up, exterminates the antagonists, usually revives and releases those who had disappeared
Person flies across the air but falls down when, despite warning, looks down to earth, flies above villages, becomes to talk, etc.
A man travels with his wife or daughter. Another woman or a demonic person replaces her when the man goes away for a short time or (rare) falls asleep
The Sun has the mother who shares with him (rare: her) his dwelling place