Linked Motifs

Motif	Name	Description
a12	Eclipses: monster’s attack	Some creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, summer and winter, lunar phases) or irregularly (solar and lunar eclipses, eschatological events) attack the luminaries or shade their light
a12a	Eclipses: a predator animal	During an eclipse or at other circumstances the Sun or the Moon are attacked by a predator animal (a bear, a feline, a canine, a racoon)
a12c	Eclipses: reptiles and fish	During an eclipse or at the sunset the Sun or the Moon are attacked by a reptile (a snake, a lizard, a dragon, a crocodile) or a fish
a14	Eclipses: relations between the Sun and the Moon	Coming together of the Sun and the Moon is the reason of their eclipses
a14a	The conflict between the Sun and the Moon	The Sun and the Moon are or were enemies, either permanently or in particular situations
a19c	The sun horse	The Sun is associated with a horseman or rides in a cart driven by horses (equids)
a19c1	The sun cart	The sun or the moon moves in a cart or sledge
a2a	The sun is a source of distructive heat	The world was or will be (almost) burned when several suns had (will) appear(ed) simultaneously; or the only sun was too hot (or bright)
a2b	Extra suns and moons annihilated	Other suns or moons besides present ones had been in the sky and were later annihilated
a2c	Extra suns are children of the present one	Extra suns who almost burned or could burn the world are children of the present one
a2c1	The Sun abandons his marriage plans	The Sun plans to have children. One of the animals sais that if the Sun (marries and) has children, the earth will burn. The Sun has to abandon his plans.
a32	Figure on lunar disc	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)
a32c1	Predator animal in the Moon	A predator animal (fox, wolf, dog, coyote, jaguar, lion) or its imprint is seen in the Moon
a32d	Man in the Moon	Human being or imprint of human being is seen in the moon
a32d1	Cain and Abel in the Moon	Cain and Abel are related to the Moon, usually are seen (both or Cain only) in the shadows of the lunar disc
a32e	Person with an object in hands	Person who holds some object in his or her hands is seen in the moon (rare: in the sun)
a35	Spots on the lunar disc	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
a35a	Dirty face of the Moon	Spots on the lunar disc are dirt thrown into the Moon's face by his/her sister/brother or mother
a39a	Twelve months	Each of calender units (usually the months) that make the year is a separate object or person
a45	The insulted Moon	Person who teases or insults the Moon is punished
a5	The Sun and the Moon are males	The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual
b1	Two male creators	Two male anthropomorphic creators compete in producing things. One of them is or becomes master of the underworld and/or spirits while another is associated with humans
b102a	Clouds are cows	Clouds are associated with cattle (and rain is the milk of the cloud coes)
b104	Chicken turns into tortoise	When a guest comes, a host hides from him a cooked chicken. When the host is going to eat it himself, he finds the chicken transformed into the tortoise (origin of tortoises) or a toad
b116	The first book eaten up	An animal or a person eats up the first book (writing, important document). (In some of European traditions the eating up of the book is not directly described but follows from the context)
b123	The flies instead of nails on Christ’s heart	Flies look like nails and prevent more nails being driven in
b124	Depression on human foot	Since a piece of flesh was torn off from somebody’s foot, there is a depression beteen toes and heel
b16c	Salt-grinding mill	Magic mill is ordered to grind salt but not ordered to stop. It sinks into ocean and continues to work making the water salty
b2a	The female earth	The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
b2d	Marriage of the sky and the earth	The male Sky (the Sun, the Thunder, the creator of the sky) marries the female Earth (or its female creator) or the female Sky marries the male Earth
b33	Mother of wind	Female person is incarnation of wind, mother of winds, etc.
b33a	Person dies of cold in the spring	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
b33a1	The offended March	Person or animal, bird teases, offends March or other month and are punished
b33c	The borrowed days	When the winter ends and the spring begins certain month (usually March) borrows (rare buys, steals) several days from a neighbor month
b33d	The old woman of winter	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
b33e	If February were like January	The last cold month wishes he were longer or would come earlier. In such a case he would freeze everybody to death
b33e1	To freeze an embryo in the womb	To describe the extreme cold, it is said that it is able to frees boiling water, an embryo in its mother womb and the like
b33h	The mother of the Sun	The Sun has the mother who shares with him (rare: her) his dwelling place
b42q	Ursa major is a carriage	Ursa major is identified with a carriage, a cart
b50	Whose blood is sweeter?	An insect feeds on human blood (flesh). Dangerous person asks it where it had sucked blood or whose blood (flesh) is the most delicious. Usually the insect lies or cannot answer (its tongue is cut off) and thanks to this dangerous person attacks certain plants or animals and not people
b51a	The snake is an enemy of the swallow	The snake is an enemy of the swallow (usually because swallow does not let snake to destroy people; the snake sends mosquito or other bloodsucking insect to get know whose blood is the most delicious; the insect flies back to report that human blood is the sweetest; swallow bites its tongue off and the snake gets to pull off feathers from the swallow's tail)
b52c	Earth bigger than sky	When the earth was created it proved to be bigger than the sky and had to be squeezed. This way mountains or swamps have appeared
b73b	The cuckoo: in search of lost family member	Two teenagers or young people are in search of each other, call each other (or one of them call another): a girl in search of her lost (or dead) brother or brother’s wife, a boy in search of his brother or sister, young parents in seach their child. One or both of them turn into birds with specific cry
b77	Primeval sky close to earth	Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
b77b	Sky touched with a long object	The sky rose to its present height and/or the direct relations of the sky deity with the people were broken off when the sky or the deity was touched or struck with a long object (a pestle, a broom, etc.)
b87	Alcor	Alcor (a weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper) is selected as a particular sky object
b87b	A harnessed wolf	Big Dipper is a cart with a harnessed wolf or bear. Usually it is explained that the handle of the Big Dipper is not straight because a wolf or a bear (identified with Alcor or with the last star of the handle, η) attacked an ox that was dragging a cart and was harnessed instead of it
b89	Owl as a king of birds	Owl was or wanted to be king of birds or it behaved itself in a wrong way during the elections of the king. Now it avoids other birds and/or other birds chase it
b90	Master of wolves	There is an anthropomorphic patron or patroness of wolves. Usually he or she gives instructions to wolves on particular day of the year
c18a	The cock lures out the Sun from its hiding place	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
c19	Acquisition of the sun	The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again)
c25b	A spinner in the Moon	In the sky, on the Moon (rare: on the Sun), i.e. somewhere outside of our world certain person is spinning, weaving, plaiting, or embroidering
c29	A listened in secret	People or God get know a secret thanks to listening in its possessor when he speaks aloud with himself or with his relations. The received knowledge is related to cosmogony or acquisition of cultural values
c30c	To swallow the ocean	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
c31	The wise hedgehog (cosmology)	A hedgehog proves to be smarter than gods and than other animals; he possesses the knowledge that is of crucial importance for survival of humans
c33a	The restored chain	During a year somebody tries to break, to make thinner a chain or rope with which the person himself or somebody else is tied. In a certain day when the chain is almost broken it is restored or a post to which the person is tied sinks into the ground again
c35	Cosmic marriage cancelled	It becomes known that if the Sun or the Sky marry, great calamity is inevitable. The marriage plans are given up
c5a	Bird-scouts	Birds or humans later changed to birds are sent to explore the earth (is it dry, are any survivals, to investigate why smoke rises to the sky, etc.) or to bring some soil to make the land that would be good for living
d4a	Theft of fire	Fire is stolen from its original owner or brought back to the people from somebody who had stolen it before
e11	The burned skin	Magic person reveals his true nature and/or remains with the real people after the object responsible for preserving the non-human appearance (usually an animal skin) is destroyed (usually burned)
e1b	Person of unfit materials	Certain person is made of improper material and proves to be short-lived or unfit for fulfilling his functions
e31a	Creators and rescuers of a girl	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
e31c	Rescuers of an abducted girl	Every one of several men had learned a unique skill thanks to which they save a girl abducted by demon or animal
f20	A strong embrace	Man and woman embrace each other forever or for a long time
f45	The Amazons	There are (or were) women who live apart from men in their own village or villages
f62	Incognito at the feast	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)
f70e	A girl turns into a man	A girl poses as a man, her sex is magically transformed and the man is happily married
f73b	The bear beliefs that vulva is a wound	The bear (wolf, lion, dragon) beliefes that vulva is a wound.
f9	A dangerous woman	For different reasons, sexual contact with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man
f9a	Vagina dentata	There are teeth, blades or sharp stones in woman’s genitals, vagina is the biting mouth. (Only texts that are believed to correspond to reality are considered but not anecdotes and jokes)
f9a1	The pike's mouth	A woman pretends that her vagina is a mouth with teeth. (It is not suggested that women’s genitals are really dangerous)
f9f	Asmodeus	Demon (snake) regularly kills woman’s husbands during the first night, the woman herself being ignorant about the reason of their death
f9f1	Snake inside woman	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}
g8	Restored tree	A deep notch in the tree (or in the sky support) is magically restored as soon as persons or creatures who cut or gnaw it stop working
g8d	Falling or growing up of a tree is dangerous to the world	To save the world (gods, king, etc.) certain persons or creatures try to cut or gnaw a tree (post, mountain) or do not permit the others to do. The notch disappears and the tree (post, etc.) becomes intact
h28	Plagues from the body of a person or creature	Killed and destroyed (often burned) person or creature (usually ogre, fierce animal, powerful shaman) turns into a multitude of biting insects or into other small molesting creatures
h34d	Piece of sky bitten off	Animal person climbs (or attempts to climb) to the sky or to the Moon to bite off a piece of it
h34h	Firewoods come by themselves	Firewood, brushwood arrived to the house themselves, no work was needed to cut and carry them
h43	One creates the body, another the soul	One supernatural creates the body of the first people, another revives them
h51	The demonic horse	A horse eats people or is associated with antagonist of the God
h52	The land of immortality	Person finds a land where there is no death. Setting off to visit his home country, he does not come to this land again
h54	The eyelids of Viy	Eyelids (eyelashes, eyebrows) of personage hang long down over his eyes. To make the eyes widely opened, the eyelids (eyelashes, eyebrows) should be propped up with poles, folks, sticks, etc. (rare: cut off)
h55	Sinners in other world	Person who visits the other world gets to see different people punished or rewarded according to their behavior when they were alive on earth
h6c2	Water of life in the land of darkness	There is a land of darkness at the edge of the world. Those who are eager to get water of immortality or gold go there
h6c2	Water of life in the land of darkness	There is a land of darkness at the edge of the world. Those who are eager to get water of immortality or gold go there
h7	The personified Death	Death (also Old Age, Disease, etc.) is a particular person not identical with the Master of the Dead. He kills people usually carrying away their souls
h7a	The Death and a doctor	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
h7b1	Devil (Death) captured in sack	Getting a magic sack into which any being must climb according to the wish of the owner, a man acquires power over the Death (Devil)
h7e	Humans knew the time of their death	In the year before they were to die, people neglected their responsibilities (they repair fences with temporary materials). Therefore, God decided that they should not know in advance when they will die
i100b	The Pleiades are a group of people	The Pleiades are any people (of any ages and sex, combined data of i99-i100a)
i108	The Pleiades are a person	The Pleiades are only one anthropomorphic being, not several persons
i110	Night sky agriculturalists	Constellation are interpreted as agricultural tools or people occupied with agricultural works (mostly ploughing and haymaking)
i110a	The star plough	Orion (rare: other constellation) is a plough
i110b	Orion is mowers	(Belt of) Orion is (three) mowers or agricultural tools related to mowing and harvesting
i114	The golden fleece	A ram (lamn, sheep) who has golden fleece or the skin of such a ram is described
i121	Twin constellations	Two constellations (usually Ursa major and Ursa minor) are interpreted as twin objects of the same type (two animals, two carts, etc.)
i131	The thread of life	Life of every man is related to certain thread. When the thread is cut, the man dies
i138	The glass mountain	A glass mountain (tower, bridge) is mentioned as a an unusual (difficult to be reache) place
i25	The bribed guards	Way to the place of a certain person is guided by dangerous creatures (which often stand on the both sides of the pathway). Person placates them by gifts or nice talk, and they let him or her go the both ways, sometimes being punished for this by their master
i25b	To clean an oven with her own hair	It is told about women who had no tools at all and were using parts of their body instead
i25b1	They use their own hair instead of a rope	It is told about women who use their own hair instead of a rope to lift bucket with water from a well
i27c	The four-eyed dog	Dogs having spots over the eyes are called the four-eyed and believed to have special properties (e.g. to see ghosts)
i38	The dog-heads	Some beings are half-men and half-dogs (usually anthropomorphic with heads of dogs)
i39	Rainbow road or bridge	Rainbow is a road, a bridge or a ladder
i39a	Souls of the dead walk upon the rainbow	Souls of the dead walk upon the rainbow to the other world
i4	Thunder rides in the sky	Thunder is heard when a vehicle moves in the sky
i41	Rainbow serpent	Rainbow is a reptile (usually a snake) or (more rare) a fish, or it is related to snake, to its tongue, breath, or to scorpion's tail
i41b	Rainbow drinks water	Rainbow drinks (soaks up) water
i44	Chthonic serpent	Giant serpent lies on the perimeter of the earth or supports the earth
i45c	Not to count stars	Person who counts stars will suffer diseases and misfortunes
i46	Rainbow belt	Rainbow is the ornamented part of the clothes, its decoration, a belt
i46b	Rainbow predicts future harvest	Intensity of particular colors of rainbow predicts good or bad harvest of particular crops
i51a	Bull the earth-holder	Big mammal supports the earth
i52	Fish the earth-holder	World is supported by fish or fish-like monster or the earth itself is such a monster
i57	Thunder pursues his enemy	Thunder's enemies are evil spirits, reptiles, animals living in burrows. They hide from him in different objects, Thunder destroys these objects
i59	Milky Way is spilled straw	Milky Way is a trace of people who spilled on their way something related to agriculture (straw, chaff, hay, more rare flour, peas)
i59a	Thief in the sky	Astral objects or lunar spots are associated with a story of a stealing and the value of the stolen objects is low (straw, firewoods, cabbage, etc.)
i68	Opening of the sky	On a certain moment, a crack, a window or the like opens in the sky vault (rains flows though it, the upper world is seen, communication with inhabitants of the upper world becomes possible)
i68b	Night of the fulfilled wishes	In a certain night of the year any wish that was thought of or voiced is fulfilled
i7	The cloud serpent	A flying reptile produces rain, thunderstorm
i76a	Snake turns into dragon	After certain time a snake or fish turn into a dragon
i77	The lame thunder	Powerful person connected with thunder and rain is lame (usually after falling down from the sky)
i78	The square earth	The earth is square, the sky is usually round
i82b	Venus is female	Morning and/or Evening Star is a female personage
i82c	Venus is the Moon’s wife	Venus or some other bright star seen near the eastern or western horizon is female and wife of the Moon
i82f	Venus is the Wolf star	(Evening) Venus is associated with a predator animal, usually with a she-wolf
i82g	Venus is the star of the shepard	Venus or other bright star (Arcturus, Sirius, etc.) is the star of the shepard (herdsman, swine-herd, etc.)
i87	Skull as a cave	Personages use a shelter which proves to be an object related to the world of the giants (a skull, a shoulder-blade, a mitten)
i87a	Series of creatures ever greater in size	Personage of gigantic dimensions in respect to normal humans and animals proves to be tiny dwarf in respect to another personage
i87ad	Hidden in a hollow tooth	A giant hides the pursued man in his moith – usually (or always) in a hollow tooth; or a man survives after getting into the giant's mouth hiding himself in a hollow tooth
i89	The lost caravan	There is an evil star or constellation that brings death and misfortune; usually travelers mistake at night some star for Morning Star, set off, take a wrong direction and perish or get into trouble
i8e1	Four supports of the world	The sky or the earth rests upon four or five (cardinal points and the center) supports of any kind (poles, mountains, giants)
i8f	One support of the world	Only one pole or mountain supports the earth or the sky
i9	Colors of the cardinal directions	Four cardinal directions and/or some objects associated with them are associated with different colors
i92	Rainbow transforms sex	Person who gets to walk under, over or through the rainbow changes his or her sex
i95c	Orion is a staff	Orion is a staff, a crook
i98a	The Pleiades are a hen with its chickens	The Pleiades are a brooding hen, hen with its chickens, chickens
i99	The Pleiades are boys or men	The Pleiades are a group of boys or men, or a group of different people but predominantly males
j17	Frogs in hair	Instead of lice, there are other (bigger or dangerous) creatures in the hair of some persons or he or she pretends that his or her hair is infested with them
j23	A late son kills monsters	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
j23c	Youngest brother kills monsters	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
j26	Babies come out of the water	Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water
j31	Father’s weapon	A young hero obtains and uses weapons or other powerful objects which belonged to his murdered father
j32	To identify the night thief	Some valuables (foals, hay, apples, etc.) are regularly stolen. Nobody (the elder brothers) is able to catch the thief and only the hero (the younger brother) finds who it is
j32a	To guard father’s grave	Before passing away a man asks his sons to guard his grave for a certain time or to bring something to his grave. The youngest son goes and obtains valuables
j32d	Princess in a tower (The glass mountain)	The girl will marry a man who (riding on a horse or otherwise) would quickly reach a place that is almost inaccessible (the top of a tower, a mountain, the upper floor of a palace, the top of a staircase, bridge, the bottom of a deep cavity, etc.). Usually the girl herself is in the corresponding place
j32f	The stolen apples	Being on guard, the hero gets to know who steals regularly fruits (usually apples) from the garden
j41d	Strong man throws his iron cudgel and lets it fall on his head	To test his iron cudgel, sword or the like, strong man throws them into the air and catches (lets them fall on his head, etc.)
j42	Waters split apart	When person comes to the water body, waters are split apart so the person reaches the other bank walking on the dry ground
j62	People turned into stones	Person transforms people who come to him or her into inanimate objects, usually stones
j69	The mock and the real beheading	Person is killed (with the cold weapon, with water of death) and then revived. Another person asks to be exposed to the same procedure but is not revived
k100	A faithful servant	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
k100b	A grateful dead	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
k100c	Girl’s bridegrooms are bitten by a snake	. The hero or his companion eliminate the source of danger
k100f2	After quenching his thirst, person breaks his chains	The imprisoned supernatural person breaks his chains and escapes after they give him some water (or wine, etc.)
k101	Night dances of girls	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
k101a	The princess in the coffin	A man has to send several nights near the girl who died and became a dangerous demonic being. After this the girl is disenchanted
k102	Woman associated with the hero conspires in favor of his enemy	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
k102a2	Conflict between mother and son	Mother tries to kill her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair
k103	Helpful cow	Cow (ox, bull) helps an orphan child or a young woman who got into trouble
k103b	Cow the spinner	A cow (goat) magically spins or weaves: eats the yarn and extracts the thread, suggests to wind the yarn over its horns, etc.
k107	Lost husband found	A woman is abandoned by her magic husband. She finds him and becomes his wife again
k107a	Iron shoes to be worn out	Wandering to the purpose of her or his travel person has to worn out her or his iron shoes or staff
k107a1	Head of the household is asked to bring presents	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
k107a3	The beauty and the beast	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
k107d	The girl cannot wake her fiancé	Failed attempts to wake magic husband
k107d1	Magic wife’s failed attempts to wake a youth	A youth has a date with a woman who belongs to supernatural world but he falls asleep and she is unable to wake him
k107e	The long pregnancy	Woman is pregnant for many years and gives birth not until her enchanted husband who had abandoned her or somebody else let her do it
k117b	Stuck together	Using a magic object or spell, hero makes people (and animals) attached to the object or to each other
k117c	Magic fiddle makes people dance	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
k118	The prohibited room	Master of the house allows person to feel himself (herself) free bit not to look into particular place. The person breaks prohibition
k119	Animal helper marries a poor boy to a princess	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
k119a	The ungrateful master	An animal saves a man or helps him but the ungrateful man humiliates the animal, kills or tries to kill it
k119e	A success story of a miller	A poor boy whom his animal helper has made rich passing him off as a rich man at the king’s court, is a miller or son of a miller
k12	Woman is lost and returned	By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
k120	The averted incest (daughter and father)	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
k120a3	Jewelry in a nut	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
k120a5	Luring a woman to a ship	To trap a desired woman, person lures her to a ship (boat, flying machine, etc.) and carries away
k122	Queen of the other world comes to identify the hero	A man gets to the powerful woman who lives in the world unreachable without the supernatural helpers, and then returns back. An imposter claims hero's deeds for himself. The powerful woman comes and finds the real hero, punishes (rejects) the imposter
k128	Grazing animals to be preserved by a herdsman	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)
k129	The disenchanted beauty	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
k130	Am I the most beautiful?	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
k130a	Girl in house of several brothers	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
k131b	Magic objects are exchanged and returned	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
k132a	Husband's cock and wife's hen	Husband (rare: wife) sends his cock to earn money and the cock brings it. Wife (husband) sends her hen (cat, her half of a cock, etc.) and it brings filth. Or the cock brings to the wife not money but something bad or does not bring anything
k14	Precious advices	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
k144	The predestined death because of an animal	A certain animal or (rare) man is predicted to become a cause of death of a certain person. When this animal (man) is already dead himself or itself or is faraway, its (his) remains or image becomes the cause of the person’s death
k145	The predestined death because of the wolf	A wolf is predicted to become a cause of death of a person or the person must die at his wedding day. The prophesy becomes true. If it is about the marriage, the bride herself turns into a wolf and kills her bridegroom
k145b	The bride devours her bridegroom	When a girl and a man remain alone (usually during their wedding night), the girl turns into a predator animal or a monster and devours the man
k146	Life-medicine brought by the hero is used to revive him	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
k14c	Man mistakes his son for his wife’s lover	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
k14e	The pretended inheritance	Sons of a man neglect their father (daughters-in-law neglect their father-in-law). He pretends to be hiding something (counts money conspicuously, etc.). The sons believe that their father has considerable inheritance and become to look after him carefully. When the father finally dies they find nothing valuable in his chest
k151	The fisherman and his wife	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)
k152	The devil is frightened and runs away	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
k152a	The evil woman and the devil in one pit	A man throws his evil wife into the pit or well. The devil (snake, predator animal, etc.) who had been there before is grateful when the man pulls him to the surface or jumps our himself: even he is afraid of the shrewish woman
k154	A skull with an inscription	A man picks up a skull with an enigmatic and ominous inscription on it. Later its meaning becomes clear
k155b	Climbing up to the girl by her hair	A girl lets down her long hair and another person uses it as a rope to climb up to her
k157	Robbers killed one by one	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
k160a	Demon’s answers to his wife’s questions	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
k161	The liberated dragon	Person imprisoned a dragon (demon, Thunder, etc.) and warns the other not to open a certain room (not to give water to the prisoner, etc.). The instruction is broken and the demon liberates himself that has undesirable consequences
k164	Wife is not the best friend	A man himself or somebody else creates situation that demonstrates that his wife is not his best friend. Often a treacherous wife is contrasted with a true dog
k165	The youth who wanted to learn what fear is	A youth who does not know what fear is tries various frightful experiences without becoming afraid
k168	An illusory life as long as a second	Person gets to live a long life rich in events but eventually finds himself in the same place and moment from which the story begins.
k174	Fingering thrown into a pitcher	A person puts (usually inconspicuously) his or her fingering or other small personal object into a pitcher with which a servant (girl) has come to take water. The servant's mistress or master finds the ring and understands that the person is nearby
k176	A man in search of the woman	A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
k177	The travelling heroine	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
k181	The horse from the cellar	The hero finds the horse that fits his needs in a cellar (cave, tower, etc.) where it had been preserved for a long time
k182a	The sleeping defender	Mighty hero is retired to the cave (tomb etc.) will come back to the world (to help his people) or he could come but decided not to do it
k184	When the forest will get in motion	Person associates the arrival of an event that he considers impossible with the time when trees of the forest will get in motion like people
k18d	A lazy boy and a fish	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
k1f	Conflict because of a woman	A man maroons another because of jealousy or because he plans to take hold of his wife
k2	The destroyed ladder	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)
k24a	Supernatural male hides clothes of human girl	Supernatural male person (often a snake, a dragon) hides clothes of a human girl or sits on it. To return her clothes she had to become his wife
k25	Magic wife	A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
k25a1	Magic wife finds her clothes	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)
k25a1	Magic wife finds her clothes	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)
k27 (motif is not in the correlation table)	Competitions and difficult tasks	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
k27e	Eating or drinking contest	Person or animal must eat (drink) enormous quantity of food (beverage) or eat or drink poisonous beverage or food
k27f	The task: to get a woman	A task-giver asks the hero to get for him a particular woman
k27f	The task: to get a woman	A task-giver asks the hero to get for him a particular woman
k27g4	To plow, to sow and to reap in one day	During impossibly short time person must to realize all works of agricultural cycle and to present food made of new crops
k27k	Diving contest	A contest: to dive deep or for a long time
k27n	Difficult tasks of the in-laws	A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
k27n1	Task-giver is a king or a chief	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
k27nn	Envious minister	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
k27s	Contest: a race	Contest: a race
k27ss	To win a race with an (old) woman	A strong man has to race with a woman (often with an old woman). He cannot surpass her or does it with much difficulty
k27x6	The Sun, the Moon and the Wind direct the hero	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
k27x6a
k27z1	Bird, horse and princess	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
k27z3	Cat with a lamp	A man trains a cat (monkey, dog) to hold lighted candle (lamp) on its head or to extinguish the light by a signal. When a mouse (a rat) runs through the room, the cat drops the candle (forgets about the lamp) and chases the mouse
k27z8	Insolvable riddles	The riddle refers to extraordinary or accidental events that happened to the person setting the riddle, and thus is unsolvable to outsiders
k29a	Surviving in a fire	Hero demonstrates his supernatural abilities remaining alive in a burning hot chamber, stove, bonfire, among burning vegetation
k29d	The drunk elephants	When water in a spring is replaced with alcohol, honey, etc. or bottles of alcohol seem to be left without supervison, a creature of person becomes drunk and is caught
k2a	Hero marooned in the underworld	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
k2a3	Hero marooned on a mountain	To maroon hero on a mountain, his companions destroy the rope or chain by which he climbed there or which he let down from there
k30	Flying enemy abducts woman	Flying person or creature abducts a woman but is ultimately killed or the woman escapes from him
k30b	Abducted as soon as she went to the courtyard	A girl or a woman is prohibited to go outdoors and is abducted by the flying creature as soon as she does it
k32	The false wife	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.
k32g	Punishment: torn apart by horses	To punish an antagonist, he or she is tied to a horse (camel, bull) and dragged or he or she is torn apart (usually by horses)
k32h3	Punishment: burned alive	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)
k32l	Horses handed out among people to feed them	The king hands his horses (cows) among people to feed them. Only the heroine returns her horse well fed
k33c	Girl from a fruit	Young man gets a girl who is inside of a fruit or (rare) a flower or an egg
k33c6	Only one girl is preserved	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
k33h	The cat, the dog and the magic object	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)
k35a1	Not to pick up a feather of fire-bird	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
k35a4	Thrown into the sea	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}
k37	Recognition-test	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
k38	Hero helps the nestlings	For helping its children, their powerful mother or father who is a giant bird or (rare) other flying being helps the hero
k38b	The nestlings and the aggressive snake	A serpent or water monster regularly devours or injures children of a bird or other flying creature (almost always nestlings of giant bird). The hero kills the serpent (monster)
k38d	Monster blocks waters	A monster blocks sources of water (or sends floods) and usually gives some (promises not to send floods) in exchange for human victims or valuables. Hero kills the monster
k38d1	A girl sacrificed to a dragon	To appease a water monster (water spirits, gods) or to put an end to the drought or flood, a girl is sacrificed or descends into the water by her own will
k38e	Of copper, of silver, of gold	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.)
k38e	Of copper, of silver, of gold	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.)
k38f	The dragon-slayer	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
k38f4	Fire-breathing monster	From the mouth of a monstrous creature or person who is the enemy of the hero fire is coming out; its breath is fire
k38f6	The fire-creature	A creature that consists of fire is mentioned
k39	Man feeds his own flesh to a creature who helps him	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
k56	The kind and the unkind girls	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).
k56a2b	To bath lizards and bugs	Supernatural person asks a girl to bath (to feed) his or her children. These are lizards, bugs, or wild animals. The girl does it well and is rewarded
k56a4c	To wash something black making it white	Person must wash something black making it white or vice versa (yarn, clothes, board, etc.)
k56a5b	Any weather is good	A person speaks friendly with embodiments of the weather peculiar for particular times of the year (praises the corresponding weather) and is rewarded. Another person scolds them and is punished
k56a6	Food asks to be eaten	On the way to the non-human world people or objects ask a child (a young girl) to taste certain food or to fulfill some work. The child (girl) does (rare: does not) what she was asked to do and thanks to this achieve his or her destination and safely returns
k56a7	Strawberries under the snow	In the winter time a girl (rare: a boy) is sent to bring something that is available only in summer. She brings it
k56b	The worthy man is rewarded, the unworthy punished	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
k57	Cinderella	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
k57e	Young girl is provoked to kill her mother	Because of her simple-heartedness or by chance a young girl becomes a cause of her mother’s death
k60b	Invitation to coffin	Person is lured into a trap being invited to lie in a box or a hole to measure it. Being unable to liberate himself from the box etc., the person remains in power of his enemies
k61a	To get know a secret	To get know the precise number of certain units, to select certain object among many others, to get know a name of particular person or a reason of particular phenomenon, person tries to surprise (or unintentionally surprises) the possessor of the knowledge who becomes to speak aloud and so provides the hero with necessary information
k64	Escape from Polyphemos’ cave	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
k64a	Blinded cyclopes	Person blinds sleeping ogre or ogress and escapes from him or her
k64b	Object sticks to person	Hero's adversary provokes him to touch an object that proves to be sticky. The hero sticks to it, sometimes has to cut off his finger
k65c	The various children of Eve	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
k65c1	Separating the rich from the poor	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
k66	Extraordinary companions	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
k66a	The land and water ship	The man who is able to build (to get) a ship which can fly (travel on land) marries the princess (inherits property)
k66c	The bear takes human spouse	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
k66d	The bear’s (adopted) son	The (adopted) human child of a bear has superhuman strength
k67a	A drowned wife	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
k67b	Bargain not to become angry	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
k67c	Skin ribbon ripped off from the back	Person agrees that under certain conditions another may rip off some skin from his back or cut off his ears, nose, etc.
k67d	Flight of the master with his goods in the bag	A master (ogre, devil, wife) tries to get away from his farmhand (her husband). The farmhand hides in the master’s bag (chest) so that the master unwittingly takes him along
k72	Three maidens	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
k73	Children of the youngest wife	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
k75	The youngest daughter is willing (The loathsome bridegroom)	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
k75a	Thrown apple hits the chosen one	Boy or girl selects one person among many throwing an object (usually an apple) into him or her. This way a girl makes a choice of a husband, a young man of a bride, a boy identifies his father
k75a2	The gardener	The unrecognized hero works as a gardener at the powerful person
k76	A strange son	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
k76b	Snake son and snake husband	An (adoptive) son is a snake who turns into handsome man. The snake is the magic spouse of princess, lost and returned
k77b	The animals in night quarters (Bremen town musicians)	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
k77c	Ones who hide in a house frighten dangerous enemy	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)
k80a6	Speaking pipe made from a recently grown plant	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
k80c	The cranes of Ibycus	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.
k80c4	Mute witnesses of the crime	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)
k81	The handless girl	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)
k83	The sons on a quest for a wonderful remedy for their father	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)
k84	Sisters married to animals	Young man gives his sisters to the first bridegrooms who claim them. These are demons or animals who usually later help him
k84a	To give a sister to the first male who comes marry her	On his deathbed, father orders his son to give his sister(s) in marriage to the first male(s) who come(s) to take her (them)
k85	Horses-brothers	An antagonist possesses a horse which can overtake any other. Hero obtains the brother (sister) of this horse who is the only one to win the race with the antagonist's horse
k86	Weeping child stolen	Because a small child is ignored or punished by its parents (usually it cries late in the evening), bush spirit or animal carries it away
k88	The two travellers (Truth and Falsehood)	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
k88a	The blinded bride	Wicked stepmother (aunt, a rival) blinds a young woman. The heroine returns her eyes (often gets them back in exchange for some values)
k8c	Jonah: swallowed by terrestrial animal	Person gets into the belly of ground animal or bird. He kills it from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
k90b	Stag antlers stuck in serpent’s throat	Antlers of a stag or tusks of an elephant who a serpent tries to swallow are stuck in its throat
k93	Twin brothers and a woman	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
k93a	Sword of chastity	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)
k93b1	Conception from eaten fish	After eating a fish, the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
k93b2	Conception from eaten fruit	After eating a fruit (usually an apple, in Northern traditions also an egg), the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
k93b3	Boys, colts and puppies are born the same day	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
k93b6	The sword that grows in the garden	A woman becomes pregnant eating a fish. The fish bones (entrails, tail, etc.) are buried in a garden, and at this place grows something related to her son: either a weapon (a sword) or an object which appearance depends on her son’s wellbeing (a plant or a spring)
k94	Bird of luck (eaten up head)	Person eats magic bird, fish, small animal, or fruit and becomes prosperous and powerful
k95	The twining branches (united in death)	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.)
k96	Fifty sons	Many brothers marry or have to marry in such a way that all their wives are (were) sisters
k99	Prophecy of future sovereiniy	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
k99a1	Smart man is rescued from prison	An imprisoned man is rescued and exalted because only he gets to resolve problems that trouble the king or to save the princess (prince, the king himself)
l100d	The entrapped suitors	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.
l103	Obstacle flight (Atalanta type)	Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay
l104	Fugitive and pursuer change guises	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
l108	The wolf and the kids	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
l108e	Children of the mother-fox	The fox has a child or children (usually she adopts a lamb, foal, etc.), cares for it. The wolf finds and eats it, the fox revenges on him
l110	The devourer	A demonic being swallows a multitude of people and animals. When it is killed and cut open, the swallowed ones come out alive or are revived
l114b	To bring ogre's property	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
l114b1	A task: to bring the ogre	Person has to bring a certain ogre and does it luring the ogre into a cage, a box, etc.
l114c	To exchange clothes with ogre's daughters	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
l118	Caught in a split log	(Animal) person provokes another to put a part of his body into a split log (between two planks, etc.) and removes the wedge
l15d	The external soul	Life of a person or creature is preserved outside of his (her, its) body. Person or creature dies after the corresponding object is destroyed
l15d1	The feigned location of soul	Being asked where his soul (death) is located, person initially gives a false answer. The inquirer usually becomes to show concern to corresponding object or locus (decorates it, etc.)
l15h	The external soul: three or more objects one inside the other	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)
l15h2	Person’s soul is in a bird	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 a (small) bird (a nestling, several nestlings of birds)
l19b	Beings with odd number of heads	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
l19b1	The seven-headed monster	Описывается или изображается чудовище (обычно змей) о семи головах. При перечисления существ по мере возрастания у них числа голов ряд заканчивается на семи
l19b2	The nine-headed monster	A monster with nine heads is mentioned either alone or at the end of the row of creatures with ever bigger number of heads
l37a	To get know causes of problems
l37a2	Who will become the ferryman	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
l37b	Secrets accidentally overheard	Person accidentally overhears secrets of animals or demons and thus gets to know the causes of his and other people's misfortunes
l37c	Bad and Good Lucks	A man comes across persons who incorporate his own or somebody’s else Bad and Good Lucks. He gets to influence their behavior and change course of events (for himself) for better
l37c1	Luck (good or bad) as a person	Good or bad luck of a man are particular persons with whom the man meets
l4	The unmasked murderer (Blue Beard)	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
l42g	Hansel and Gretel	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
l4b	The stain of blood is impossible to wipe off	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)
l57a	Hero's body part is returned by his companion	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)
l65b3	The escape on the tree	Persons climbs a tree and thanks to this escapes from a demon (who usually tries to fell the tree)
l72	The obstacle flight	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
l72a	Comb becomes a thicket	Running away from a dangerous being, person throws a comb (a brush) that turns into mighty obstacle (usually a thicket) on the way of the pursuer. (In South America the motif is probably of European origin)
l72c	Obstacle flight: the thrown mirror	Running away from a dangerous being, person throws a pair of scissors behind him or her creating an obstacle on the way of the pursuer
l73c	A towel opens or blocks the pass	Waving a piece of cloth (throwing it on the ground, putting on water, etc.) person creates obstacles (on the way of the pursuer) or a means to overcome them (bridge, dry path between waters, etc.)
l81	Demon’s fire	Person sets off in search of fire and finds it in the house of a demon. The demon makes harm to the person
l90	Mouth from the earth to the sky	Monster's upper lip (fang, horn, etc.) touches the sky, lower touches the ground
l90e	Heads on stakes	Stakes with human head on them stand near the house of a dangerous person but one stake is empty. It is supposed that this one is prepared for the head of the hero
l93a	Helpful fox	Cunning fox, jackal or coyote saves particular person or many people, helps them
l96	Sold in animal’s guise and comes back	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
l96c	What did you learn? – Nothing	A youth studies magic but answers his master that he has learned nothing. Thank to this, the master lets him go
m100	Sleep at the edge of a cliff	Animal persons lie to sleep at the edge of a bluff or cliff. At night one of them tells another (others) to move a little, the companion (companions) falls down and dies
m106	Meaningful name	Person lies that his name is so and so. Others understand it not as a name but as a common word and behave accordingly
m106g	The cow is taken to the roof to graze	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
m109	The tail-fisher	Animal person puts his tail (penis) down and waits in hope to get something edible. The tail (penis) is torn or cut off, the person escapes or dies
m109a1	Sham brains	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
m109b	Sick animal carries the healthy one	A healthy animal tricks an injured one (a wolf, a bear) into carrying him on his back by pretending to be injured himself
m112	Animals dig a well	An animal person refuses to dig or clean a source of drinking water together with other animals or birds but takes advantage of the results of the work
m113	For certain bird water is taboo	During the hottest month of the summer or permanently birds of certain species are prohibited to drink from the water bodies. Usually they can quench their thirst only from rain drops and dew on leaves and cry calling for rain
m113a	Bird sees blood instead of water	Bird of a certain species cannot drink from rivers and lakes because sees there blood (fire, etc.) instead of water
m114b	Not clothed and not naked	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
m114b1	What is the fattest, sweetest, swiftest?	Answering to a question what is the fatties, sweetest, swiftest, etc., the clever person names abstract notions and non-material values (and a fool names particular objects or creatures)
m114b3	Cloth from a handful of yarn and loom from three sticks	When a girl is asked to prepare cloth from a handful of yarn, she asks to prepare for her weaving tools from a straw (chip, small stick, etc.)
m114d1	The boiled eggs: chicken should hatch tomorrow	Person wants another to receive chickens from (boiled) eggs (and grow a hen) during one day. The opponent suggests equally impossible task
m114h	To build a house in the air	Powerful person orders to build a house in the air. The man finds a clever solution for this puzzle
m114i	Asked about their relatives, girl or boy answers with wit	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
m116	Wisdom of hidden old man saves kingdom	People are ordered to kill their fathers or (rare) mothers (the Nyoro: to deprive them of power and property; the Baluch: not to take them setting off for the journey). An old man concealed by his son helps to resolve difficult problem
m118	Source of values is destroyed imprudently	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
m118a	Forty thieves and jars with oil	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)
m127	Lost tail of the fox	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
m128	Speckled animals	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
m13	The short-sighted wish is granted	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
m130c	The mouse and the lion (the help of the weak)	When a lion (tiger, bear, elephant, man) gets into a trap, a mouse (rat) makes him free (usually bites through the ropes)
m131	Biting tree-root	A stronger (animal)-person gets to seize a leg or tail of a weaker one. To get free the weaker one pretends that his pursuer got hold of a tree root, and the pursuer lets his enemy free
m135	Wolf and two rams	Two ungulate animals (rams, bull, etc.) run from the opposite directions and butt the wolf killing or injuring him
m135a	The wolf's reverses	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)
m135b	Wolf regrets for being so stupid	Wolf (rare: jackal, fox) comes to different domestic animals (rare: only to one animal) to eat them but agrees to fulfill their demands. As a result he remains hungry and usually beaten and accuses himself that his ways were so stupid (“Am I a mollah to read?”)
m136b	Cutting off the branch	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)
m136d	The air castles	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
m138	Human and animal life spans are readjusted	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
m140	The theft of fish	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.)
m147a	Foxes will meet at the bazaar	When two foxes (wolves) meet, one of them asks another when their next meeting will be. Another one answers that at the bazaar where pelts are sold (at the fur-dresser, etc.)
m149	Tell them that I am a stump	Strong antagonist is going to kill the hero (a person or a weak animal). Another person or animal pretends not to know about the situation and tells that the antagonist is in search to be killed. The hero is saved. Usually the latter asks the man not to give him out and answer that it is a stump, a log and the like near him. This opens possibility to treat the antagonist as a corresponding object (to cut it with an axe, to tie up, etc.)
m151a	Holding up the rock	(Animal) person pretends to hold up a rock, tree etc. and explains that otherwise it will fall
m152	Why only one wolf?	When a weak animal or a person gets to see a predator animal or an ogre, he says in a loud voice (or asks to say his wife or children) something that frightens the predator (ogre): why the predator (ogre) brought to him is lean (small; only one instead of several), or it is good that more food gets to his house, etc. The predator (ogre) runs away
m153	Letter on the hoof	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
m154	The animal language and the stubborn wife	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.
m154b	The man who does his wife's work	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
m156	The ungrateful one returned to captivity	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)
m157	The impossible giving birth	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
m157a6	You imagine that you speak with the abbot	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.)
m157b	To take the one thing she holds dearest	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
m158	Tops or buts	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)
m160	Unkind words are more painful than wound	A strong predator animal and a man become friends. The animal hears how the man or his wife complains about him (e.g. criticizes the bad smell of his mouth) and asks the man to strike him with an axe, knife and the like. Later he comes to demonstrate his healed wound and explains that the physical wound can be healed unlike the psychological one. Or the animal dies because of his wounded feelings as soon as he understands that the man betrayed him
m163	The precious cat	Person gets to a country where rats or mice are a plague and receives a fortune selling a cat
m166	Piece among animals	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
m168	More cowardly than the hare	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
m170	Pilgrimage of the animals	An animal person pretends to have no other interests than to fulfill religious rules and prescriptions (to confess his sins, to make a pilgrimage, to become vegetarian, etc.) and kills those who have believed him
m171	The profitable exchange: from a pea to a horse	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)
m171a	The profitable exchange: getting a girl	Person or animal gets to exchange less valuable goods for ever more valuable. The last or the next to last one is a girl
m173a	The thief drops matched objects	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
m178	The lying goat	A man sends others one after the other to pasture the goat. Back home, the goat always complains it did not get anything to eat. The man angrily sends away or kills his shepherds (who usually are his family members). When he himself pastures the goat he realizes that it lies. He is going to kill the goat, usually skins it, but it escapes
m179a	The owner driven out of his house	Using a trick the intruder occupies other person’s house and refuses to let the owner in
m185	On the tail of the fast one (animals)	A slow and a fast animals (or not flying bird) agree to race. The slow one imperceptibly sticks to the fast one’s body (or to a vehicle) and getting to the finish pretends to come there simultaneously with the fast one or before him
m185a	On the tail of the winner (all versions)	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
m187c	A crab is a participant of the race	A crab participates in the race and wins
m191	Cat and wild animals	The fox (dog, squirrel) lives with the cat and poses him as a strong and dangerous animal. The wild predator animals are scared and bring him meat
m191a	Belling the cat	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
m191b	Ingratitude and injury are hard to forget	A man feeds a snake (rare: a fish; does not do it any harm) and the snake makes him rich (is friendly). His son (rare: someone else or the man himself) injures the snake (kills its young) and dies (if son; because of the bite). The snake refuses to keep former friendship with the man: both of them remember the inflicted pain
m193a	The fleeing pancake	Колобок
m196	The silence wager	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
m196a	Corpses that became to speak	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
m197	The effectiveness of fire	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
m197a	The pot has a child and dies	A borrower returns a cattle (pot) together with a small one, claiming that the cattle gave birth to a child. He borrows the pot again but does not return it, claiming that the pot dies
m197e	The unknown animal	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
m198a3	Who did steal the ruby?	One of the brothers steals a treasure for which all of them have equal rights or he is a bastard. Brothers come to a powerful person and want him to say who of them is the thief or the bastard. Usually the person tells a story and discovers the guilty one considering his reaction
m198a4	Which was the noblest act?	Listeners of a story must answer whom they liked more: a husband who let his wife go to another man, a robber who did not harm her, or the other man who immediately sent her back to her husband
m198b	The pretended astrologer	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
m199g1	Carrying a tree with an ogre	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
m200	The miller, his son, and the donkey	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).
m202	Thorn removed from lion’s paw	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
m204	Money gets one who is destined to get it	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
m206	One half of the gift	A guard (courtier) agrees to open a man an access to a powerful person after a promise to share with him the expected reward. The man asks to be bitten (from the very beginning expected the punishment)
m21	A protector hides fugitives	The protagonist pursued by an enemy comes across a person, an animal or an object to help him and receives help
m29b	Trickster-fox, jackal or coyote	In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
m29b1	The wolf is a failure	Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
m29b2	The bear is a failure/enemy	Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
m29b3	The fox (jackal, coyote) is a failure	Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the fox, jackal or coyote suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
m29z3	The Gipsy is an enemy or a failure	The Gipsy (more often a female than a male) is an enemy overcome by the hero (heroine) or (rare) a weak failure
m30	Trickster falls down	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
m39a1	Misunderstood instructions: a step behind	Fool follows instructions that were reasonable in every previous episode but become absurd in every next one
m39a2c	The sowing of salt	Fool (or a person who pretends to be mad) sows salt (small objects) like grain
m39a4a	Fool’s customer is an animal or an object	A fool gives meat, a domestic animal, cloth etc. to an animal (plant, inanimate object) and thinks that the latter will pay him later or asks an animal to do some work. Claiming money or products of the work, he finds treasure
m39a5a	The sausage rain	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.
m39a5b	Husband discredited by absurd truth	A woman plants fish in the field where her husband is sure to plow them up. He finds them and believes that the fish got there by itself. People take him for mad.
m39a6g	Four coins (The sharing of bread and money)	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
m39a6h	Plucking geese	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
m39a6i	Answer betraying a theft	Person asks a servant to bring another some food or object and to pass certain words which for the servant have no meaning. Hearing these words, the recipient understands that the servant had appropriated part of what he had to bring
m39a8	A fool carries a door on his back	A fool or a buffoon takes the door of the house and carries it on his back
m39f	He had a hat, had he a head?	A fool loses his head (usually bitten off by a bear). His wife or companions cannot say had he his head before but remember that he certainly had a hat (beard)
m39g	Girl bewails the loss of her child before she has any (Clever Elsie)	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.
m39g1	Jumping into the breeches	A fool does not know how to pull on his breeches (boots) and jumps down into them from a high place
m39g2	Shoveling nuts with a pitchfork	Numskulls try to shovel nuts with a pitchfork. F stranger shows them how to do this work more easily with a shovel (a basket)
m39h	Husband pretends to become blind (The faithless wife)	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)
m40	The distorted instructions	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.
m57a	Beads discharged from the body	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
m57a1	Flowers blossom where she puts her feet	Where the beautiful woman steps, treasure appears, flowers blossom, etc.
m57a3	Female person is the producer of valuables	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
m57c	Gold producing animal	An animal (ass, cow, horse, goat, bear, leopard) extracts gold or food from its body or person makes others believe that it is so
m57d	Beat, cudgel!	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)
m74aa	Theft of food by playing godfather	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
m74b	Who has eaten up the fat?	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)
m75b1	Marco the Rich	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
m75b1a	The predestined wife	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
m78	A tiny boy (Thumbling)	Tiny boy as small as a thumb, a pea and the like taunts people, predator animals, ogres
m81e	Not to graze animals on the ogre's land	The young man takes the job of grazing animals and is warned not to cross the border of the ogre’s land. The hero ignores the warning and overcomes the ogre
m81e1	The hero brings to the old man his stolen eyes	Young man lives with an old man whose eye(s) were stolen by an ogre. The youth comes to the ogre, kills him, brings the stolen eyes and the old man gets to see again
m83b	Whose dream is better?	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
m85	The fox bluffs	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
m90a5	The golden apples	Golden fruits (in rare cases only leaves) of a certain tree are mentioned in tail. Usually these are golden apples
m91a	Simulated killing (a bag with blood)	Person pierces a bladder with blood or red juice, simulates murder or suicide
m91c1	Herd from the river bottom	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
m91c2	Put into the bag	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
m91c3	Hare the messenger	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
m95	To bring a present for person's kin	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
m95	To bring a present for person's kin	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
m98	Who are more numerous?	Person reckons up number of members in two enormous and alternative multitudes (alive trees and dead trees, men and women, etc.). Usually numbers prove to be equal but one member possesses the qualities of the both multitudes. Adding it to one of them, person demonstrates his case
m99	Intention to exterminate birds	Person is going to exterminate birds but decides not to do thanks to a wise adviser
m99a	Palace of birds bones	Person is going to build a palace (tower, etc.) made of bird bones
n10	The transparent body	A woman (rare: a man) with transparent body is described. This transparence is an evidence of the beauty
n10b	The transparent neck	A girl (rare: a youth) with transparent neck is described, food or drinks swallowed by her or him are seen. Such a neck is an evidence of the beauty
n11	As snow and blood	Person is eager to get a child (spouse) who would be likened to blood and snow (milk)
n22	If they are not dead, they are still alive	Closing formula of the folktale: the teller says that the characters are still alive if they are not already dead

Warning! The followed motifs has no type selected:
k27x6a

Similar traditions based on Cosmology and Etiology motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 4 Tradition: Bulgarians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Ukrainians: Eastern dialects
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Ancient Greece
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Slovakians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Georgians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Mingrelians (Megrelians), Laz
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Estonians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Abkhaz
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Macedonians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia

Similar traditions based on Adventures and Tricks motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Laks
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Ossetians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Lithuanians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Greeks (modern)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Slovakians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Anatolia Turks
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Byelarusians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Georgians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Estonians