The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female
The sun and/or the moon are inanimate objects thrown up to the sky or fixed in the sky
Birds argue who of them will fly higher. One who seemed to have less chances wins (he hides himself in feathers of a strong bird using it as a vehicle)
A figure or an imprint of some being or object are seen in the Moon. (For statistical analysis motifs A32A – A32J are also included into A32)
Human being or imprint of human being is seen in the moon
Person who holds some object in his or her hands is seen in the moon (rare: in the sun)
Person who went to fetch water and/or holds in hands a container for liquid is seen in the moon
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
The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
The male Sky (the Sun, the Thunder, the creator of the sky) marries the female Earth (or its female creator) or the female Sky marries the male Earth
Water is the original element, the dry earth appears later
Original earth was small and later increased in size or the fertile soil grew from a small amount of original substance
Magic mill is ordered to grind salt but not ordered to stop. It sinks into ocean and continues to work making the water salty
Ursa major is identified with a carriage, a cart
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
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)
Aurora borealis is spirits (of the dead) who run holding burning torches, play or fight with each other
There is an anthropomorphic patron or patroness of wolves. Usually he or she gives instructions to wolves on particular day of the year
Trees (and animals) could talk and asked people not to cut or kill them
When a hole is opened in the arch (rare: in the ground) from which a torrent of water flows, a snake (eel, frog) stops it up with its own body
Persons or animals dive or otherwise decend to the lower world to get a desired object and to bring it to earth (besides episodes in the fairytales, cf. motif k27x9)
The dry land (the earth) grows from a small amount of solid substance (sand, clay, dirt and the like) brought from the lower world (usually from the bottom of the ocean)
Against person's will, butchered, dried or cooked meat, tanned hides, etc. turn back into animals or fish and escape.
The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again)
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
The cut off nails (and hair) have special significance for the fate of the soul in the beyond or for the future of the entire world
Fire is stolen from its original owner or brought back to the people from somebody who had stolen it before
Certain person is made of improper material and proves to be short-lived or unfit for fulfilling his functions
Magic person reveals his true nature and/or remains with the real people after the object responsible for preserving the non-human appearance (usually an animal skin) is destroyed (usually burned)
Several men take part in rescuing, creation or reanimation of a girl (rare: a bird) or several women take part in the reanimation of a dead man or they differetly express their grief. It is asked whose role was crucial (who behavior more noble) and/or who should be the spouse of the reanimated person. Or three men make something valuable and it is asked whose role in the corresponding enterprise was more important
Human body was or could be protected with a hard layer (rare: with hair) but it has been preserved only on fingers and toes (on the head)
A strong woman overcomes and kills suitors. Hero or his helper tames her (usually whips in the wedding night). The hero marries her
A male person turns into woman and marries a man. He is either unmasked or abandons his "husband" by his own will
An innocent girl or young woman rejects a man who attempts to seduce her. The man accuses her of loose conduct, ultimately the truth comes to light
Animal person comes to children of a big predator and tells them that he will copulate with their mother (or that he will beat her)
Death (also Old Age, Disease, etc.) is a particular person not identical with the Master of the Dead. He kills people usually carrying away their souls
Man receives from Death (Fortune, some spirit) knowledge will the patient recover or die. He becomes a doctor and receives rich rewards. Usually he gets the ability to see Death near the bed of a patient and considering a particular place where Death stands, gets to know perspectives of recovering
Container with valuables or with dangerous creatures is opened (before time). Its content goes out of control or disappear
Animal person who let lose the content of a container entrusted to him or her (darkness, insects, reptiles, etc.) still tries to pick up what was let lose (etiology of behavior of certain animal species)
The right way to dispose of container with stinging insects would be to throw it into the river or sea or bury in a far away place, but it was not done
Stinging insects (rare diseases) had been inside a container or some enclosure. They escaped to the world when the container or enclosure was foolishly opened
Children walked or could walk from the very birth but this ability was lost or never obtained
A woman did not allow God to throw her baby across a hedge, roof, etc. Because of this babies lost or never got ability to walk from the very birth
A woman or child demonstrate no respect for bread soiling it with excrements. For this God punishes all the humanity
Somebody (usually God) is going to deprive humans of their staple food (usually cereals) but does not do it thanks to the dog (and/or cat; rare – birds)
Properties of the cereals (usually the size of the spike) are defined by what the dog did in time of creation
A horse eats people or is associated with antagonist of the God
The lightning (and thunder) is (produced with) an object (axe, sword, mirror, belt, stones, skin, etc.) in hands of anthropomorphic being
Thunder’s instrument is stolen from him. He or his helper comes unrecognized to the thief, gets his instrument and kills the enemies
Reptiles possess treasure which a person gets or tries to get. Usually it is a crown, jewel or small horns on the snake's head
Some beings are half-men and half-dogs (usually anthropomorphic with heads of dogs)
Thunder's enemies are evil spirits, reptiles, animals living in burrows. They hide from him in different objects, Thunder destroys these objects
Milky Way is the path of migratory birds (especially wild geese)
Animals use for shelter or transportation a small object related to the human world (skull, mitten, sieve, etc.)
The Pleiades are a sieve to process agricultural products
Life of every man is related to certain thread. When the thread is cut, the man dies
Person transforms people who come to him or her into inanimate objects, usually stones
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)
The sky chief discovers or thinks that his wife, sister or lover is untrue or incestuous. He throws her down from the sky. She becomes the mistress of the lower or middle world or a part of it or one of her sons gets power over the lower world
A man gives his last money for simple advices. Each of them saves his life or helps to achieve success or he does not follow the advices and gets into trouble
Women who possess supernatural power and usually come from a non-human world (from sky, from under the water, they are winged beings, bird- or animal-persons) take off their clothes (feather skins and the like) or part of it. Because a man hides the clothes (of one of them), their owner(s) have (has) to marry him or help him
Supernatural male person (often a snake, a dragon) hides clothes of a human girl or sits on it. To return her clothes she had to become his wife
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
Person or animal must eat (drink) enormous quantity of food (beverage) or eat or drink poisonous beverage or food
A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
A task: to bring object or news from the land of the dead
Hero demonstrates his supernatural abilities remaining alive in a burning hot chamber, stove, bonfire, among burning vegetation
An ugly, old, lazy, etc. woman or (in Chaco) a male trickster comes to man under disguise of his wife or bride who is driven out, confined to the underworld, killed, etc.
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)
A young woman is transformed into an animal, pushed into the water, into the underworld or she herself has to plunge into water (acquire animal form). Her connection with the human world is not completely lost, however, and usually she is helped to return to the people
Siblings (most often younger brother and elder sister) leave their home. One of them (most often the brother, most rare several brothers) turn into animal (usually an ungulate) or (rare) a bird but (in the most cases) ultimately acquires his or her human form again
Young man gets a girl who is inside of a fruit or (rare) a flower or an egg
Person is temporary transformed into animal (usually into a dog or coyote or into donkey, ox, etc.). When he acquires his human guise again, the antagonist suffers similar transformation. In some texts only the hero or only the antagonist is transformed
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
A woman who is transformed into animal or driven out of the human world returns to her baby to feed and to care for him
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).
Person (usually a girl) gets to the powerful person (usually an old woman) who asks her to act in a strange and harsh way (to put room in disorder, to bring unclean water, and the like). The person does not according to order but in a rationale and polite way and is recompensed. Another person acts according to the direct sense of the words and is 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
A man loses an axe. A spirit or a powerful official suggests him a golden axe but the man does not accept it. The spirit (official) gives him axes of gold and silver as a reward for his honesty. Usually another man intentionally loses his axe, claims the golden one but receives nothing
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
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
A demon agrees to help a person (usually to fulfill some difficult work that a girl must do herself) if a person tells him his name. At the last moment the person gets know the name by chance, the demon disappears and the person is rewarded
A mouse (rat, mole, etc.) and a small bird quarrel because they cannot divide supplies for the winter. (Usually this episode initiates the story about the war between animals and birds)
Several companions have extraordinary abilities (one who runs fast, one who eats great quantities, one who produces or can withstand severe frost, etc.); a hero comes across and takes for companions several men, each of them being involved into a special and unusual activity
A young woman promises to bear a wonderful children (wonderful son). In her husband's absence other people (co-wives, mother-in-law, etc.) try to kill the mother and/or the child, usually slandering the young woman
A girl (usually the youngest of several sisters) does not reject but marries a poor, sick, dirty, old, too young, non-human, etc. man who later demonstrates his supernatural qualities
A boy born into a family or found by his adoptive parents has a strange guise (ball of meat, nut, bag, half of a man, an animal). He possesses magic power, becomes a handsome man and usually marries a girl of high social status. The magic spouse of a princess originally has a non-human or monstrous appearance
Small objects and animals (rare: animals alone but including those who really are harmless) revenge on a powerful enemy making attack on him in succession (usually they hide in his or her house); the enemy is badly injured, runs away or dies
Domestic animals abandon their masters. They find an empty house or build a house. Robbers or the predator animals come there. The domestic animals attack (or just frighten) them. The robbers (predators) do not understand who are their enemies, are scared and run away
Objects and/or domestic animals live in a house. When dangerous enemy comes, they attack him, he dies or escapes (all texts with K77A and K77B included)
Person in a desperate situation gets to see how a snake or other small animal uses remedy to revive or to cure itself or other animals. The person uses the remedy, succeeds
An object or a creature that emerged from remains, decorations, etc. of a killed person tells about his or her fate. Usually a reed grows from the person's grave and a pipe made from the reed tells the story
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)
Young man gives his sisters to the first bridegrooms who claim them. These are demons or animals who usually later help him
A man puts his children questions that seem easy to answer (how they love him, who is the elder in the family, etc.). The elder children flatter, the youngest daughter (rare: son) is reserved and her father drives her away or deprives of inheritance. Later her noble nature becomes evident to him
Person eats magic bird, fish, small animal, or fruit and becomes prosperous and powerful
A young man or (rare) a girl has a (day-)dream that predicts his or her future triumph. The dreamer either conceals or reports its contest to his family and in both cases is punished for too high opinion of himself. In the beginning the dreamer sometimes sells his dream to another young man, who becomes the protagonist of the tale. Adventures that follow explain the contest of the dream. The youth becomes rich and happy (e.g. marries heiresses of two kingdoms, that in the dream were symbolized by two suns or a sun and a moon), the girl marries king's son
A man gets to know about dangers that threaten another man (and often about turning into stone of anybody who would warn about these dangers). He helps the man to escape the dangers though his behavior seems strange or hostile
Every morning girl' or (rare) boy’s clothes are in disorder, the boy looks very tied. People spy on her (or on him) and discover that she or he spends nights in the non-human world
A woman who initially is friendly to the hero (his mother, sister, more rare his wife, sexual partner) begins to cooperate with his enemy. For this she provokes the hero to do something that is mortally dangerous for him
Cow (ox, bull) helps an orphan child or a young woman who got into trouble
A woman is abandoned by her magic husband. She finds him and becomes his wife again
Wife dies, husband revives her, she abandons him for another man and is punished
A woman should marry a man who would be able to make her laugh; a man promises a reward to the person who make laugh his wife or mother
Master of the house allows person to feel himself (herself) free bit not to look into particular place. The person breaks prohibition
To make a poor man rich (usually to marry him to a rich girl or to marry a poor girl to a prince), an animal makes other people believe that the groom is rich already. The man becomes prosperous indeed
A man is going to marry his daughter (rare: his stepdaughter; sometimes certain conditions are put on his future marriage and only his daughter complies with them). The girl gets to escape
A girl has many (more than three) brothers, they turn into birds or animals (rare: into plants; killed by magic), ultimately become human again
A man on a journey meets tree or two persons who are quarreling over the division of magic objects (a flying carpet, seven mile boots, etc.). The man promises to render a judgment, but he asks first to try our the objects or suggests the owners to run a race and uses opportunity to escape with the objects
Person of a small size (often a chicken) overcomes powerful adversary despite all attempts to destroy him thanks to objects and animals met on the way and preserved in his bag or inside his body
A weak and timid man or boy overcomes accidentally powerful enemies and gets high esteem
Life of a person or creature is preserved outside of his (her, its) body. Person or creature dies after the corresponding object is destroyed
Person gets hold of another. Trying to free himself, the latter turns into different materials, elements, animals or (Urarina and Setebo) orders different dangerous creature to attack the person
Person accidentally overhears secrets of animals or demons and thus gets to know the causes of his and other people's misfortunes
Good or bad luck of a man are particular persons with whom the man meets
An ogre or ogress catches a person and brings him to his or her home where he or she plans to cook and eat him. The hero escapes
Hero hides in a tree from an ogre. Before the ogre gets to fell the tree, the hero flies away or a bird helps him to escape
A monstrous being is killed or neutralized by (burning hot) stones (pieces of metal, heavy fruits, etc.) thrown into its maw or anus or the being retreats when they menace to throw a stone into its maw
Person cuts off and uses for his own needs a part of the body of predator animal or demonic creature. The demon (the animal) comes after it and usually kills or maims the person
Cunning fox, jackal or coyote saves particular person or many people, helps them
An (animal) person gives a signal (special song, etc.) to his relative or friend who lets him or her in. Antagonist imitates the person's voice or guise and the relative lets him in
A 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
(Animal) person provokes another to put a part of his body into a split log (between two planks, etc.) and removes the wedge
Person or creature pretends to be afraid of a particular sort of treatment that really cannot do him any harm
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
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
Person sees how others act using magic or according to their animal nature. He or she imitates their actions and gets into trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and refer to everyday activity, mostly to providing and cooking food
Person imitates actions of his son- or brothers-in-law or (among Comox and Halcomelem) of his wives
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
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)
Hero imperceptibly causes detriment to two persons or creatures. They accuse each other and fight
To get valuables (food, fire) concealed by their owner, person pretends that the valuables are already in his possession
An animal person pretends to be invited to be godfather or he gives names to different places along which he travels in a sledge, boat, etc. The names look strange but become understandable when other people or animals get to know that their companion has devoured all the supplies
An animal person pretends (several times) that he has to make a visit (that he has been invited to be godfather at a baptism or invited to a funeral or wedding) but instead eats secretly food supplies
To demonstrate that the thief who had eaten food supplies is somebody else or to declare somebody else as a victim to be eaten up, animal person smears his sleeping companion with remains of the food or body excretions (exchanges the excretions)
Tiny boy as small as a thumb, a pea and the like taunts people, predator animals, ogres
A man travels and comes to two or several blind (usually old) persons
Person, animal, fish or (rare) a fruit is eaten up and then revived, usually after all bones (all seeds) being put together
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
Person pretends that a person (often his or her mother, spouse or lover) who recently died is alive, claims that the death of the false alive resulted from negligence of others and gets a reward
Person lies that his name is so and so. Others understand it not as a name but as a common word and behave accordingly
After doing damage or inflicting injury, person lies that his name is Nobody, Myself or the like. Usually others believe that the injured one was the trouble-maker himself
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
A healthy animal tricks an injured one (a wolf, a bear) into carrying him on his back by pretending to be injured himself
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
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
Person is suggested to twist (or he really twists) a rope or make other object of sand, ash, smoke, etc.
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
Fox or other predator asks a bird what does it do when the wind blows. When the bird demonstrates how it puts its head under its wing, the fox kills it
Person buries a tail or head of a bull or other domestic animal with a tail or horns outside. He explains that the animal sank into the ground and usually asks the others to pull the tail (horns). When they are “torn off”, he tells that people are guilty of the animal being lost
Trickster animal asks a bird to make him laugh. The bird sits on the head of a woman (child, cow, etc.), other person tries to kill the bird, hits the wife (breaks cow's horn, etc.). Or the bird distracts person attention to let the trickster steal the person’s food
Animal person attaches a vessel or its part to his body, puts it into the water, the vessel is heavy and drags him into the water
An animal person mistakes an object abandoned by chance or intentionally for an evidence of a danger and behaves inadequately
Animals, demons or people stand one on another making a tower. The lowest one jumps off (bends, jerks), all the rest fall to the ground
Grain is harvested with inappropriate tools. Seeing sickle for the first time, people take it for a dangerous animal
The weak predator tries to imitate the strong one but is unable to accomplish actions that the strong one does easily
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
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.)
Several different animals get into a pit (well) and cannot climb out from it, They eat each other up until only one (usually the fox) is left and escapes from the pit
Fox blames his tail for being useless when escaping from the pursuers (usually he punishes his tail and gets killed himself as a result)
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.)
A man, light-mindedly or against his own wish, makes an agreement with a dangerous predator. He does not want (cannot) keep it or breaks it and the predator is going to kill him but the man remains alive
An animal person becomes a herdsman but eats the entrusted animals up
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
An (animal) person saves a dangerous animal from a snare or the like. The saved one is going to kill his savior but the third person saves the second (usually tricks the first one to captivity again)
Two animals (an animal and a person, an ogre and a person, etc.) agree to divide a crop in such a way that one would take what is above the ground and another what is beneath ground. One of them (several times makes a wrong choice (takes turnip tops and wheat roots)
The strongest predator (usually a lion) suggests one of his companions to shares the booty. He is not satisfied by results and beats the companion. When another companion becomes to divide, he gives everything to the strongest one and explains that the injured one taught him the right way of sharing
Person pretends to eat his own innards or flesh and persuades the other to do the same. Other believes and kills themselves
One animal person promises to sew a fur coat (or boots) for another and asks to bring him ever more sheep. He eats the meat and sews nothing
To lure his potential victim down from a tree, a predator pretends not to be dangerous (usually announces that it has been decreed that all animals are united in piece). The victim is dubious and usually asks the predator to announce the same news to the dogs. The predator runs away
The hare is in despair because he is afraid of all creatures but is delighted when he sees other animals (sheep, frogs, dusks) being afraid of him
In the presence of powerful person one of his subjects is plotting against the other. The other answers that the problem can be resolved if the first one would be maimed (usually a part of his body used as a medicine). The schemer is killed or injured
An animal person 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
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)
(Animal) persons agree to jump across a brook, hole, fire or other obstacle or to walk upon a log, a rope and the like. One or all of them fall down
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
Two animal persons live nearby, the house of one of them is destroyed, he asks another to let him in and usually drives the host out of his house. Strong animals are afraid of the intruder but a weak or small one succeeds to return the house to its original owner
Using a trick the intruder occupies other person’s house and refuses to let the owner in
An animal person invites another and serves his food in such a way that he is unable to taste it. Then the other invites the first animal and puts him in similar situation
Wild animals ride on a sleigh, which breaks. To repair it the animals bring unsatisfactory material from the forest. When the sleigh owner goes for good material they eat the horse (or the bull) and build a dummy to replace it
Many animals of one species that all look identical together fulfill the task that would be impossible for any of them if he were alone; the competitors believe that the task was fulfilled by only one animal. Usually a slow and a fast animals agree to race. The slow one puts other animals of his species at the finish or along the distance, each one answering the fast one that he is ahead of him. The fast one accepts his loss
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
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
When a man is going to fell a tree, the tree itself or the being who lives in (on) it asks him not to do it and grants the man’s wishes
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
At the end of the tale helpful animal (horse, lion, etc.) turns himself or herself into a prince (princess)
Loci or objects of three (rare – four) different materials are mentioned in such a way that all of them have positive connotations though unequal value (copper, silver and gold; silver, gold and diamonds, etc.)
Person 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
Because of the female antagonist, a girl faints and is taken for dead but her body is not decomposed. A valuable marriage partner breaks the charms, she revives
A girl poses as a man, her sex is magically transformed and the man is happily married
A contract entitles the lender of a sum of money to cut a certain amount of flesh (or eye, head, limb, etc.) from the debtor’s body if the load is not repaid in time. The lender cannot cut out the flesh being unable to fulfill a condition that looks logical but is practically absurd
Tiny boy is first swallowed by chance by a big herbivorous animal and then carried away by a wolf began to eat the animal's offal
Somebody claims that he has been born before present world came into being. His opponent claims the same, and they argue who of them is the older
An 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)
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
Stars are openings in the firmament; holes in dwelling's covering are thought to be stars
A fugitive turns in succession into different animals or objects. A pursuer does the same, every time becoming an animal or a person who is dangerous for the fugitive in his given guise
Young woman’s bridegroom or husband gets to believe that she is extraordinarily industrious. To conceal the deception, she herself or somebody else makes the man believe that because of hard work women become ugly or change into animals. The man prohibits his wife to work anymore
A girl answers her father (rare: brother) that she loves him like she loves salt (or that salt is the most valuable, etc.). He becomes angry (usually drives her away) but later satisfies himself that she was right
An old or ugly woman is transformed into a young beauty or becomes rich. Usually another old woman tries to imitate her but dies or suffers a reverse
Hero receives a difficult task (usually to bring an object or creature that have no particular indications and properties) and comes across an invisible person who is a powerful and well-disposed servant to anybody who becomes his master. The hero is kind with him and the person helps him
Person who carries a bundle of brushwood or firewood is seen in the moon.
A man and his wife make a wager: Whoever speaks first must do certain trivial work or get a bigger portion of some simple food. They or one of them continue to keep silence even being exposed to violence or taken by others as the dead
A man obtains knowledge of animal languages but if he reveals the secret, he must die. Once he hears animals talking and laughs. His wife thinks that he laughs at her or at her mother. The man is ready to open his secret and either does it and dies or hears how animals (usually a cock) blame him for being so foolish. So he keeps his secret.
Animal person refuses to enter the den of a strong predator seeing that all tracks go into it but none come out
Person gets to a country where rats or mice are a plague and receives a fortune selling a cat
A man who has a low social position is a nuisance for persons of high position. He gets to know that they plan to drown him or his preperty (rare: to strangle him) and tricks them to drown instead one of them or their own property
Hero and his adversary play hide-and-seek. The hero finds his adversary but the adversary cannot find him
Babies disappear but are ultimately returned to their mother or father grown up and in good health
Seriously or demonstrating absurdity of the situation, a person tries to cook something using a fire (a source of light) that is far away from the object to be cooked
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)
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
When a predator is going to eat a man, the latter asks permission first to measure him and beats with his (feigned) measuring tool
A demon helps a man or a woman or lets him or her free. As a reward, the person is forced to promise to give the demon his child
A man discovers that a beautiful girl hides herself under a guise of an ugly and dirty servant, under a skin of an animal or in an object that is brought into his house
Hazel-grouse was big and dangerous. He is torn to pieces which are shared between other birds and animals. What remains is the present grouse
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
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
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.
Fool kills a person, throws the body into a pond or a well. His relation throws there a dead goat. Searching for the corpse in the pond, the fool asks if the killed person had horns, etc. People see that he is really crazy and do not suspect him of a crime
For helping its children, their powerful mother or father who is a giant bird or (rare) other flying being helps the hero
Coming from the underworld to the earth, princess puts objects that she used (clothes, house, “kingdom”) into a small container (an egg, a ball, etc.) and brings them with her
Person has to feed powerful creature (usually a giant bird) giving it regularly pieces of meat. When meat supply is exhausted, he cuts off a piece of his own flesh
The hero and his companion or companions live together. Every morning one stays at home while another or others go to hunt, etc. A demonic person comes, eats up all the food and beats the cook. Or the man who remained at home comes to the demon himself in search of fire and is maltreated by him. The hero kills or neutralizes the demon
Every time a demon commits an outrage upon one of the men who remains at home. When it is the hero’s turn, he overcomes the demon and follows his track to his world
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
Person has to bring a certain ogre and does it luring the ogre into a cage, a box, etc.
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
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
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)
Because containers with alive and dead water (one makes one stronger, another weaker) are imperceptibly exchanged, during the battle the hero drinks the alive water and overcomes his enemy who drinks the dead water
A man maroons another because of jealousy or because he plans to take hold of his wife
Hero climbs up (e.g. to a tree) or down (e.g. into a deep cave) by ladder, rope, from branch to branch, etc. The rope etc. breaks or is intentionally destroyed and the hero cannot return to the ground. (All cases of motif K2A, besides the Koreans, also contain motif K2)
Hero is sent to the lower world though a well, precipice, etc. After he obtains valuables (young women), his envious companions cut the rope to get rid of him but he succeeds in returning back
When father-in-law (rare: mother-in-law) asks the hero to killl or to tame a dangerous animal or not to kill certain animal during a hunt, he (she) turns into this animal himself or transforms into it his daughter(s) or wife (husband)
One who eats certain fruit (leave, etc.) gets horns (long nose, etc.) or turns into an animal. After eating another fruit (leave) person recovers his or her normal body
Person travels across a forest with trees of two or more kinds of metal (copper, silver, etc.)
Step mother or more often father (persuaded by his wife) abandons children in a desolate place. Getting to the ogre or ogress, children (or at least one of them) survive and ultimately achieve success
Person of a low social position (a man) makes an agreement with a person of high social position (an ogre) that the master must never become angry with the servant. The servant abuses the master until the latter erupts in anger and has to be severely punished or to pay a great fee
A man sends another one to top of a mountain or a tree to obtain treasure for him. To go back is impossible but the man survives
Person kills several people. asks somebody to bury only one and then tells that the dead man has returned. The grave-digger buries several people but believes that it was one and the same corpse
A poor man brings his master a chicken (goose, etc.) as a present. The master asks him to divide the bird appropriately among the members of his household. The poor man does it considering the symbolic meaning of particular parts (gives the master the head, his daughters the wings, etc.) and receives rich compensation. A neighbor brings the master five chickens but is unable to divide them approppriately. The first man does it again.
Hero escapes from the demon's basket or bag letting stone (a piece of wood, some sand) instead of him
Person pierces a bladder with blood or red juice, simulates murder or suicide
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
A plant (usually not a tree in nature and often a leguminous) grows in no time and person climbs by it to the sky
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
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
A man escapes from his (her, theirs) pursuers and hides in a cave. A spider spins its web over the hiding place. When the pursuers see the spider web they think the cave is unoccupied and do not enter it
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
Man takes a pot from the fire but it is still boiling or he cooks the food beforehand and tells that his pot cooks it in no time (or that his stick touching ground creates the food). Another man buys the pot (the stick)
Person eats a meal of eggs and leaves without paying. Some years later when he returns to pay his debt, the innkeeper claims the value of all chickens that would have hatched from the eggs in the meantime. On the day of the trial another person pretends to have cooked seeds for planting and the judge agrees that chicken could not be hatched from the boiled eggs
A numskull finds or buys an unknown fruit (pumpkin, melon, etc.). He mistakes it for an egg of a donkey (mare. camel, etc.). When he drops it or throws it off he scares a hidden hare (rabbit, fox, mouse, etc.). The fool thinks the fugitive is a young animal hatched from the egg
A man or a weak animal and an ogre (giant, devil) have a contest to see which of them can squeeze a stone. The man squeezes a cheese (egg, turnip) and thus intimidates the ogre
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
A blacksmith is (seems to be) able make people young, cure maimed people and animals
Asking about minor details of the case, a judge demonstrates that the plaintiff (or the defendant) lies because he does (not) know about them
Fool follows instructions that were reasonable in every previous episode but become absurd in every next one
Person catches birds by tying a bait to a string which they swallow and become tied one after another to the same string; or he immobilizes many birds with one bullet; or gives them liquor and ties to a string. Usually the birds all fly up at once and lift the man up in the air
Person ascends to the sky (rare: descends from the sky; ascends the cliff) by a rope, a ladder, etc. Another person tries to follow him or her but the rope (the ladder) is broken or severed
Two men travel or argue about whether truth or falsehood (justice or injustice, etc.) is more powerful. The evil one abandons the good one robbing or blinding (maiming) him but the good one gets back his sight and becomes rich. The evil one usually perishes
A girl or young woman is bewitched to be mute or must keep silence for a period of time. Just when she has to be put to death, the period of her muteness is over and she is saved
In order to delay a wedding with an undesirable suitor (her own brother or father, a monster), a girl asks him to give her a dress (often three dresses in succession) of unusual material (like gold, of fly wings, etc.). He does it but the girl runs away
The antagonist tries to drink a river or sea and bursts
To make himself unrecognizable by the victim, a predator or ogre modifies his throat or tongue mechanically (oils or burns it, asks blacksmith to remake it, etc.)
A group of young people comes to a demon. The youngest brother of sister or a person whom others take for a sick, unpleasant, invalid one and who often accompanies the others against their wish saves them all
Person pursued by an enemy asks somebody whom he meets to help him. The helper hides him
An animal (ass, cow, horse, goat, bear, leopard) extracts gold or food from its body or person makes others believe that it is so
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
A man (usually of high social position) learns by a prediction that a (newborn) girl will be his future wife or a girl from rich family gets to know that her future husband is a poor man. The man (the girl, something else) attempts to kill the predestined marriage partner but only wounds her or him. After the wedding it becomes clear that the prediction is fulfilled
Because telling the truth a stupid son (wife, husband)) can bring misfortune upon the family, his mother (wife; her husband) mystifies him (her) making him or her describe events that are definitely impossible. People take him (her) for a fool and let alone.
After a series of adventures and victories, the hero gets into trouble. His twin brother or the best friend follows his traces, gets across the same persons but overcomes the last enemy and revives (liberates) the hero
Sleeping in one bed with a woman, man puts a sharp or thorny object between them as a sign of chastity (sometimes the woman herself puts the sword)
Person is able to steal an egg (a nestling, to put it back) from under the bird (to change the bird’s feather; to steal an embryo from animal’s womb, etc.)
. The hero or his companion eliminate the source of danger
A demonic woman or (rare) her paramour or a monster is going to kill a man usually after driving him up a tree. At the last moment the man's dogs or other animals or birds who are the man's pets come and kill the demon
Wife of a man or wives of a group of brothers envy his (their) sister and tries (try) to destroy her
A young man lets free a fish or an animal that was caught or he or his father renders a help to somebody. When the young man sets off for a journey, the grateful creature or person in guise of a stranger or animal becomes his companion and protector
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
Being seized, person changes his or her guise in succession, the last transformations is into a spindle
In succession and unintentionally a man causes a series of accedents. The injured parties bring him before a judge. In each case the judge makes decisions that are formally logical but patently unacceptable and saves the man
A plant (tree, vine, lotus) that has grown up rapidly does not let anybody besides the hero or the heroine to climb it or to pick its fruits (flowers)
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
Getting into a well or pit and being unable to climb out animal person tricks another to descend and thanks to this gets out while the second person remains below
Being a victim of the injustice and after much suffering, a young woman speaks with a certain inanimate objects (often it is “the stone of pity”) telling it her sad story or her husband does it. The woman is rescued and the justice reinstated
A girl finds a body of a sleeping youth who will wake up at a certain time and marry the girl who would sit nearby. Usually at the last moment the girl goes away for a time and the impostor takes her place.
During the day and/or the night (in the underworld, beyond the horizon etc.) the Sun and/or the Moon regularly travel in a boat.
Female person is incarnation of wind, mother of winds, etc.
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
When person or creature shakes himself or itself, shakes his or her bed, clothes, plucks birds, etc., snow falls down to earth
An ogre (devil, etc.) challenges a man to a wrestling and/or running contest. The man sends his “relative” – a bear to wrestle and a hare to run
An ogre (devil, etc.) and a man take turns in carrying a horse. The ogre carries it on his back and is soon exhausted and the man “takes the horse between the legs”, i.e. rides it
A man pretends that he had thrown or is going to throw a heavy object to the sky (to the clouds). His adversary asks him not to do it.
An ogre (devil etc.) pretends to throw a stone or other heavy object so far that it will destroy people beyond the sea (mountains, etc.) (where ogre’s relatives live)
An ogre (devil etc.) and a man compete to determine who can throw a stone higher or to a greater distance. The man throws not a stone but a bird.
A king (landlord, etc.) suggests to guess what he has in his hand (in a box). It is an insect there (usually a grasshopper). The man says that now you, Grasshopper, is caught. People think that he gave the correct answer
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.
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
Raven or other carrion-eating bird of dark color and a similar size was originally white
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
Fire is personified as an (elder) woman, alone or with her husband, master of fire
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
When animals build a rode, some of them (mole, shrew, earthworm) refuses to take part in the work and are punished: cannot live under the sunshine
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
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
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)
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
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
Personage of gigantic dimensions in respect to normal humans and animals proves to be tiny dwarf in respect to another personage
A man seeks a strong adversary to wrestle with and comes across person who is incomparably stronger than he
A man steals money or property. The owner gets his property back after he or his helper puts the theft in such a position when the best choice for him becomes to return what he has stolen (usually the first man kidnaps a child of the second one)
The servant is asked to prepare a goose (chicken, etc.), eats one leg and maintains that the goose had only one leg enforcing his point by showing geese who stand on one leg. The master shoots away the geese so that they use both legs. Usually the servant replies that if he had frightened the roasted goose, it would have showed its second leg as well
A man hides in a skin or carcass of a big animal. A bird carries it to its nest without knowing that the man is inside
Several (usually three) small animated objects travel but fail to cross a river (usually perish attempting to cross it)
Person agrees that under certain conditions another may rip off some skin from his back or cut off his ears, nose, etc.
Man explains that one part of his incomes he puts out at interest while another part is used to pay debts, i.e. he cares for his children and keeps up his parents
Bat (rare: ostrich) makes attempts to join sometimes animals and sometime birds or is excluded from both categories
Persons or objects swallowed by pike become part of its body (bones in its head, liver)
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
Person threatens the devils (water dwellers, etc.) that he will deprive them of their home (pull together or stir up a lake, dry the sea, build a church where the devils live, etc.). The devils (fish, etc.) fulfill person’s demands
The lion asks animals does his mouth stink (or his den dirty) and kills both those who answer, Yes, and flatterers who answer, No. The smart one tells that he has the sniffles and is unable to answer
A huckster sells powder that he guarantees will kill fleas (rats, etc.). When someone asks how to use it, he relies that one has to catch the flea, hold its mouth (eyes) open and put powder in it. When the customer says that it would be easier simply to crush, the seller agrees with him
The riddle refers to extraordinary or accidental events that happened to the person setting the riddle, and thus is unsolvable to outsiders
Two men have a similar defect (a hump, a lump). One spends a night in a place where spirits free him from his defect. Another comes to the same place but spirits double his defect giving him what they had taken off from the first man
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
Person claims that a calf (colt, kid, etc.) was born (brought to the place) not by the cow (mare, etc.) of another person but by his own male animal (bull, stallion, etc.), his own animal of another species or by inanimate object (usually a cart)
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
A stranger tells a woman that he comes from the other world and had seen there her dead relative. The woman gives him money and goods for the latter. Usually when her husband goes after the trickster to retrieve the money, the trickster steals his horse
A man has accumulated a store of provisions (saved some money, etc.) and tells his wife that it is for the long winter (Christmas, emergencies, etc.). A trickster (beggar) comes to the woman and tells her that his name is Long Winter, etc. She gives him the provisions
Человек оказывает услугу нескольким (потенциально опасным) животным и другому человеку. Благодарные животные помогают ему, а человек предает и вредит
A bird (that usually emerges from the remains of a murdered person or being incarnation of his or her soul) punishes the murderer or tells people about the crime
An old man has to carry a heavy load of wood. Tired and exhausted, he wishes for death. When Death appears he asks her to help him with the load
Person will be ruined if he or she would not find an answer for a riddle of a demon. The answer is found accidentally when the person or somebody else hears how the demon talks by himself or with another demon. See motif C29
Children or youths (usually a group of brothers) exchange clothes (headgears, ornaments, blankets, sleeping places) with their enemy’s children. The enemy kills his or her own children by mistake. Usually brothers get to the ogre or ogress and the youngest advices to exchange places (clothes, etc.) with ogre’s daughters). Outside of Europe the actors can be animals
A man travels to get know why he is poor (unlucky). Other persons, animals, plants ask him to investigate the reason of their own misfortunes. God (fate) tells that the wolf (bear, lion) should eat the most stupid man. Other problems can be resolved if the queen gets a husband, a treasure is taken from under the fruit tree, etc. The man does not use opportunity to become a king, to receive gold, etc. because did not receive direct instructions to do it. The wolf decides that the man is a real fool and he must eat him
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
Before coming in, a guest gets to notice that the housewife is with her lover. When the husband comes home, the guest pretends to possess magic object or the like that helps him to reveal where the good food and the lover are hidden
A man goes to sell a skin of domestic animal and on his way, by trick or thanks to chance, gets a big sum of money. Usually coming back he explains that this was the price of the skin but when other people kill their animals they cannot sell skins for such a sum. (In India the hero sometimes pretends to sold cow meat to brahmins for whom it is forbidden)
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)
Person or animal puts food into a bag and hides it under his clothes. Cutting the bag open he pretends to disembowel himself. His adversary tries to do the same and kills himself
At night a girl remains alone in an isolated house (mill, bath-house, etc.). When a demon comes, she asks him to bring her ever new pieces of attire, jewelry, etc. till it dawns and the demon disappears
A boy is born whose father or (rare) mother is unknown. He himself points at his parent who as a rule occupies the lowest social position. Usually many men (women) come together and everyone hopes that the boy points at him (her)
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.
Every one of several men had learned a unique skill thanks to which they save a girl abducted by demon or animal
A man (rare: woman) gets into power of a demonic person related to the lower world (usually a siren, fish, sea monster, rarely wizard). The antagonists raises the prisoner above water (or earth) a restricted number of times (usually being provoked or bribed to do so) and thanks to this the prisoner escapes (usually flies away turning into the bird)
Several animals (often a lion, an eagle, an ant) argue because of an animal carcass or a living place. A man settles their argument, they give him capacity to acquire their form (their qualities)
Hunting a doe (a deer), hero gets to the place of a magician or demon; the doe is a bewitched person or demon
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)
Old man and woman make a child of clay (wood, straw). The doll becomes alive, devours everybody who comes across. Usually a goat (sheep) breaks it, swallowed people come our alive
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
Person or animal gets access to values that are inside an animal, a tree, a rock or other enclosure. Later he himself or more often somebody else tries to do the same but destroys source of values, blocks access to it or makes it too dangerous
Chief of thieves (demonic person) brings his men (other demons) into some people’s yard hiding them in empty jars, casks, etc. The plan to kill members of the household at night. A girl (a young woman; rare: somebody else from the family) gets to know about the danger and kills the thieves one by one (usually pouring boiling water into the jars)
A blind trickster steals from (does not return some money to) a harmless man. The injured man follows the blind man and steals his whole hoard of money. Often he robs (tricks) several blind men
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
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
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
A pig made of gold or having golden bristles is a treasure
In exchange for temporal advantages, person agrees to be maimed or branded
Using a bell (drum, etc.) an animal (usually a mouse) produces sounds which the antagonist who is blind or is outdoors takes for the sounds produced by the hero (heroine). Thanks to this the hero escapes
Hero listens in conversation of demonic beings who plan to turn into something edible, attractive, etc. and to destroy those who touch them. The hero neutralize the demons beforehand
After eating a fish, the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
When a woman gives birth to a boy (twins), a mare (a bitch and/or other domestic animals) also gives birth to human boys. When the boys come of age. they leave for a journey
A demon carries away a little boy but his sister finds him, takes and back escapes from the pursuer. Usually the boy has three sisters but only the youngest one is successful
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
Closing formula of the folktale: characters put the storyteller into a cannon or rifle and made the shot or he jumped onto a cannonball that has been shot from a cannon and so arrived at the place of performance
Person must quickly clean a stable or cattle-shed from dung accumulated there for a long time
Killing a monster or an animal, the hero cuts of and hides a piece of its body, usually a tongue. (In most of the cases, the imposter claims the deed to himself and when he cannot demonstrate the cut off piece, the hero unmasks him)
A man has to send several nights near the girl who died and became a dangerous demonic being. After this the girl is disenchanted
An antagonist wants that a wonderful bird of the hero sing but it remains mute or cries differently. The bird begins to sing when the hero triumphs over his adversaries
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
A wolf (lion, etc.) or a demon eats up hero's horse but gives him a fair compensation (usually provides a wife)
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
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
A man is going to marry his sister (often puts certain condition on his future marriage, only his sister complies with them). The girl gets to escape
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
To revive or to cure his friend (rare: himself) or to fulfill a vow person is ready to sacrifice his small (young) son (children). The son revives or the supernatural powers are satisfied with the very willingness of the person to commit sacrifice
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.
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
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
A man (boy) and an ogre (devil, bear, etc.) have a screaming or whistling context. The man uses a trick (binds ogre’s eyes and strikes him on his head with a heavy object; blows a horn at the ogre’s ear; pretends to bind their heads that they would not break because of his whistling, etc.). The ogre acknowledges the man to be stronger than he
A house that stands on one or several legs of a bird or small animal and/or is turning (capable to turn) is described
The animals (usually dogs) got a certificate which was lost because of the cat (is swallowed by the cat, burned, eaten by mice). Since them dogs and cats are enemies, usually also cats and mice
Body part of a murdered person or a plant that grew on the place of the crime tells people about the crime
In the pike’s head are (seen) tool used by people
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller represents himself as being present at the wedding and/or feast, which were organized by characters of the tale
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller had a horse and/or harness of wax, ice, flax, vegetables, etc. Usually they are melt, eaten, etc.
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller met characters of the tale and had clothes made of paper, glass, butter, etc.
When a (married) man cultivate a (married) woman she demonstrates him that all women are alike (like eggs painted in different colors). The man is ashamed and let the woman in piece
Being in search of a baby-sitter (mourner, shepherd, etc.) person rejects those whose voice does not like. The one chosen by him or her has a nice voice but later eats up the baby (the deceased, sheep, etc.)
Person receives a rope, reins or the like with three knots. If untied, person can move more or less rapidly. Usually untying the first two knots he makes his ship or his horse move more rapidly but, besides warning, he (being near to his destination) unties the third knot too and because of it he looses his ship or his horse, does not reach his destination, etc.
Using a magic object or spell, hero makes people (and animals) attached to the object or to each other
When a lion (tiger, bear, elephant, man) gets into a trap, a mouse (rat) makes him free (usually bites through the ropes)
Two or several animated objects or small animals and live or travel together and perish one after another when they make the most simple acts
Old or ugly woman wants to be flayed alive to become a beauty. Cf. motif H4
Two or three different grains talk with one another, act together, etc.
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.)
The bear (wolf, lion, dragon) beliefes that vulva is a wound.
An animal knows that food is in a trap or poisoned and tricks another to take it
A man lures Death (Devil) to climb a tree or sit on a bench to which they are stuck and can free themselves not before the man gives them such a permission
Several young men (usually three brothers) decide to choose wives (usually shooting arrows or throwing objects on the off-chance). The wife of the youngest initially is ugly or non-human (a frog, a snake) but proves to be beautiful enchantress. She and her husband triumph. Or girls choose their husbands and the youngest one gets a youth who has guise of a snake
A young man shoots an arrow or throws an object on the off-chance He finds the girl to be married or something that helps to obtain her at the place where his arrow (other object) falls
In the feasting hall, the heroine who has magic capacities throws food around (puts it under her bodice, etc.) but arouses admiration among the guests. Other women try to imitate her but only make the room and themselves look unsightly
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Child is born from a tumor or swelling on person's body (on thigh, knee, finger, etc.) or is temporarily placed there or child grows from blood that flew out from a cut
After eating a fruit (usually an apple, in Northern traditions also an egg), the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
A girl gets into a bird’s nest (usually the bird carries away a baby-girl). The bird cares for her like her parent, the girl becomes a beauty
Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
A man gives birth after accidentally eating pregnency medicine. The child appears from a swelling on his leg or otherwise but the man remains alive
The wolf or other wild animal gets into the cellar (storehouse, vineyard, etc.) and eats so much that cannot leave
A big predator is eager to see a man. He comes across a boy but gets to know that he will be a man later, then an old person who is not a man anymore. The encounter with the real man (hunter, soldier) has for the animal the unpleasant consequences
A big predator (bear, lion, tiger) boasts about being stronger than a man. Being told that it’s not so, he finds a man and suggests to struggle but is killed or badly injured as a result. Cf. motif M101
Being smart and witty, the hedgehog overcomes overcomes strong adversaries
An animal saves a man or helps him but the ungrateful man humiliates the animal, kills or tries to kill it
A man catches several wild animals but lets them go after they promise to bring him something valuable or to help him. The animals fulfill their promise
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
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
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
When foxes (wolves) meet and dogs begin to chase them, one of the foxes says that their next meeting will be at the bazaar where pelts are sold
A couple (son) intends to eat a roasted chicken (meat). When the man’s old father passes by unexpectedly, they hide the chicken in order not to share it with him. When the old man continues on his way and they replace the chicken on the table, it has turned into a toad (snake) and humps onto the son’s face where it stays until his death
The man who is able to build (to get) a ship which can fly (travel on land) marries the princess (inherits property)
Mighty bird or other flying creature helps a man because he took care of its youngs feeding them, warming, decorating, etc.
Hero must bring hairs, feathers, scales, etc. of a dangerous person and does it thanks to the helps of a wife or (grand)mother of this person
Husband (mother) understands that his stupid wife (her son) can report about certain deeds of the family members and inflict a severe punishment. The fool is put into a hole (barrel, etc.), covered with a skin and the domestic fowl is let to pick up the grain above it. The fool takes the knocking for the attack of the birds, the rain of stones, etc. See motif m39a5a
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.
When an aged father is banned from the table and served his meals in a wooden cup by his son and his daughter-in-law, the little grandson starts to build a similar cup for his parents to use when they grow old. Thereupon the couple starts to reflect on their undignified behavior. Thinking of their own old age, they bring the old father back to the family table (previously type 980B). A son gives his father half a blanket (carpet, cape, cloth) to keep warm. Thereupon the little grandson keeps the other half of the blanket and explains that he will save it for his parents for when they are old (previously type 980A.). An aged father is abandoned by his son in the wilderness (abyss) in a cart (sledge, basket). The grandson keeps it in order to use it in the same way for his parents when they have grown old. They reflect on their behavior. (previously type 980C). The ungrateful son drags his old father out of the house. At the threshold the father says, "Do not drag me further; I dragged my own father only this far!". The son reflects on his bad behavior
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
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
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
A boy rides in a boat. The witch lures him to the shore and carries to her home. The boy escapes
Person who visits the other world gets to see different people punished or rewarded according to their behavior when they were alive on earth
A girl is promised to a man who would know her name or whose finger would fit her ring, or who would guess a material from which certain object is made or grown. Person finds a correct answer by deception
It should be guessed the nature of a big animal or its skin, the content of a box. The correct answer is that the animal is a louse (or a flea), a louse is in the box
Raven is associated with death or contrasted with people as an immortal with mortals (is sent to the medicine of immortality; drinks itself water of immortality; gives instructions concerning funeral rites; etc.)
Person transforms people who come to him or her into trees (or flowers). Hero escapes transformation and revives the victims
A man is going to kill but spares a giant bird. Later when the bird carries him high in the air it pretends to drop him or to abandon him on a rock. This way the bird wants him to feel the same terror that it felt when the man was going to kill it. Or the bird first drops and picks up a man and he later makes the bird feel a similar terror
Several brothers leave home immediately after their mother gives birth to a girl. Usually they do not want to have another brother and hope that this time a girl will be born but chance or by evil intent a signal is given that not a girl but a boy is born again. The brothers are disappointed and leave, the girl grows up and travels in search of them
A youth and a girl who run away from pursuer transform themselves into a pair of persons, creatures or objects (pond and duck, church and priest, etc.) in order to escape detection by the pursuer
The hero and his bride get to escape from the pursuer. The youth goes to visit his home, leaving his bride behind for a time and forgets her. When the youth is going to marry another girl, the forgotten fiancée reawakens his memory by performing magic actions. Or the girl herself forgets her magic husband as soon as she gets to her parents’ home
It is written at a crossroad that following one of the paths person will safely return and following another it will not return (there is often a third path following which person either returns or not). Hero follows the dangerous path
Person builds a bridge (usually of gold etc.) during a very short time
Fool takes his own shadow for a person who pursues him and gives it his possessions
A small bird or animal (chicken, cat, mouse, etc.) takes a trivial event (a leaf or an acorn falls, etc.) for a catastrophe (a war, the end of the world, the fall of the sky, etc.) and flees. Other animals share its fear and go along with it.
A young man and a woman (Konkani: a young girl and a man) marry and later get to know that they commited incest
Fools carry sunlight (darkness, smoke) in bags, sieves, etc. and carry it into the room or out of it
A magician orders a boy to fetch a magic object (often a lamp). The boy finds the object (but refuses to give it to the magician). A helpful genie appears and fulfills the boy’s wishes
Man sitting on branch of a tree cuts it off and similar variants (man climbs a rope and cuts it off; men cut a tree and climb on it to fell it; man climbs with difficulty on a dead branch of a tree, which breaks off)
Considering indirect signs or somebody’s word, a numskull thinks that he is dead and lies motionless
An ogre (giant) challenges a man to a climbing contest. The man persuades the ogre to compete with the man’s child – a squirrel – instead of himself. The squirrel wins
Three (two, more) men find (rob) a treasure. One of them goes away for a while. Those who stay kill him when he returns but die later from eating food (drinking wine) which he had poisoned
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
Enemy cuts hero’s body into pieces and ties them to his horse or the horse itself picks them up and brings to his master’s friends. They revive him.
Person (usually a young woman) turns into different objects or creatures which another person destroys one by one. However, the person is reincarnated again and again and ultimately acquires her or his original form
God gives instructions according to which particular categories of people must die or suffer. Person who receives these instructions distors them out of sympathy for the people
When God intends to create Eve from Adam’s rib, an animal (dof, cat, monkey, fox, snake) or a devil steals it. God (or his angel) pursues it and catches its tail. The tail tears off, God creates Eve from it. Or God made Eve from edible material and a dog devoured it, so God had to make Eve from Adam’s rib. Or God cut off Adam’s tail and made Eve from it.
Animal person promises to take care of another animal's children but do not fulfill obligations and usually eats the young ones
A dialogue is based on fact that the beard of the young men is black while the beard of the old men is grey. Usually a man answers the question why the hair of his head is grey and the hair of his beard is black. “The hair of the head is twenty years older than the beard”
A companion promises to share water or food with a thirsty or hungry person on condition that he or she allows to blind him or her
A man (usually a king) catches a strange (anthropomorphic) creature. His son frees the prisoner, is afraid of his father’s anger and leaves home or is driven away. The released prisoner helps him
As soon as a person plays his flute (fiddle, horn, etc.), people and animals become to dance and cannot stop without the person’s permission
The thief drops first one, then the other, of a pair of matched objects (shoes, boots, sword and sheath, knife and folk) in the road. A person passes by the first object but, when he sees the second, he goes back for the first, leaving the animal (or other possessions) behind. The thief takes the animal
An animal or a bird who makes use of a peasant’s property (lives in his field) does it till the very moment when the danger becomes critical. Usually a mother fox or bird does not command her children to leave a field (vineyard) until the master himself (and not his sons, farmhands, etc.) comes to cut the vines or to harvest the field
One animal person asks another (or a man) for a temporal refuge (because of rain, cold, approaching hunter, etc.). Soon he makes the life difficult for the owner. Usually when the owner reproves him, the intruder shows him the way out since he is unhappy where he is
Person claims that iron or gold disappeared being eaten by mice
A reptile monster demands humans (usually virgins) as a sacrifice or abducts a girl or closes sources of water. Hero kills him. Monster’s victims do not play an active part in the plot
A man loses a magic object that he got before but gets it back thanks to another object (a cudgel, a box with soldiers, etc.) that is exchanged for the first one or obtained by the man’s brother. The episode can be repeated several times
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
Several characters who are the embodiments of small objects die one after another. The last of them laughs so much that he bursts (breaks his head, etc.)
Walking person creates a trace behind him or her throwing seeds, stones, etc. or the trace is produced because blood drops behind the person. The traces is destroyed unintentionally by birds, animals, wind etc.
A divides the chicken among the members of a household (and guests) considering the symbolic meaning of particular parts (gives the master the head, his daughters the wings, etc.).
A poor man brings his master a chicken (goose, etc.) as a present. The master asks him to divide the bird appropriately among the members of his household. The poor man does it considering the symbolic meaning of particular parts (gives the master the head, his daughters the wings, etc.) and receives rich compensation. A neighbor brings the master five chickens but is unable to divide them appropriately. The first man does it again.
The Sun and the Moon are two persons one of which is pursuing another in the sky or pursued him or her when they were rising to the sky from the earth
The mushroom (gourd) imagines himself to be as lasting and durable as a tree
When he spends his entire fortune, a man is going to hang himself but finds treasure (intentionally put in the corresponding place by his father)
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
A mighty person asks a man which of two women is prettier, what is the most beautiful thing, and the like. Giving a correct answer, the man is not killed like those who were before him but receives a reward
A woman is summoned to help supernatural beings as a midwife (to baptize a baby, to be a babysitter) and returns to the human world after rendering her assistance
A youth who does not know what fear is tries various frightful experiences without becoming afraid
Frog or toad marries a girl or a handsome youth marries a frog or road
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
Powerful person listens in conversation of three (rare: two or four) women. Each of them tells what she would do if the person marries her. One promises to bear his son (children) who would have wonderful qualities, two others promise to practice some kind of work or (more rare) marry people of lower status
Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with an animal or an object (inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to an animal or an object)
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)
A man pays in advance and invites his enemies to eat with him. When he turns his hat (throws it on the floor, etc.), they believe that it is the hat that makes the innkeeper say that the bill has been settled
Animals (mostly domestic) and/or people attempt to do a job (usually to pull up a root crop). The first one cannot do it and ever more participants join him. The aim is achieved when the last one (who is usually the weakest) comes to help
Failed attempts to wake magic husband
Person promises to give (sacrifice) to a supernatural the being that will be the first to come to him when he will return home (or something that he has never seen in his house, or an object that he will first see behind the door; etc.). The person thinks that it will be something insignificant but it is his own child
Stars are people, ghosts, anthropomorphic beings (interpretations of unique star objects like Venus or Polaris as persons not considered)
Stars are children of the Moon and/or the Sun
Persons or creatures with ever bigger number of eyes guard a man or a woman. The latter makes eyes asleep one by one but forgets about the last one
When the head of the household goes for a journey his daughter, those who remain at home ask to bring them presents. The elder ones want something practical (usually clothes or decorations) while the younger one asks for something unusual (a flower, a bird, etc.). Thanks to this object, the younger one attains great success though after overcoming great difficulties
A man is not wise enough to answer questions put by a king (prince, etc.). His servant or friend takes his place and guise and gives clever answers. Usually one of the questions is like “What I think now?” and the answer, “You think that you speak with the abbot (minister, etc.) but I am a shepherd (a miller, etc.)
Somebody (usually his sister or mother) puts a poisonous tooth (bone, nail, etc.) into the bed of the hero. The young man dies but is revived
King offers his daughter in marriage to whoever can herd (catch, tame, train) a particular number of rabbits (roosters, sheep, goats, geese, partridges) without losing any. A poor boy receives a magic whistle or other device with which he can summon the rabbits. In order to avoid the marriage, members (deputies) of the royal family (in disguise) try to but pne of his rabbits. The young man demands a degrading humiliating act and after the demands are fulfilled, the rabbit comes back to him.
A woman with her new-born child (or a woman pregnant with a boy) or a young girl and a young boy is put into a barrel (box, skin bag, boat) and thrown into the sea (river)
An ogre (a dragon, king of the sea) has not killed a man who descended to him as other people had thought but rewarded because the greeted him and/or gave a correct answer to his question
A man defecates, covers the pile with his hat and pretends that there is something valuable under it. Another man believes the deceiver and loses his money or property
A bird gives a man several magic objects in succession (or one object which helps to get others) or fulfills in succession a series of his wishes
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
Walking together, a man and a demon come across heavy objects like a harrow or a quern that lie on the ground. The man explains that they are but small decorations or working tools used by his (grand)mother like a comb or a spindle whorl
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
In the forest person comes across a house that is made, completely or partly, of edible matter
A man whose feet were cut off lives with two others, one of whom lost his hands and another eyes (or with one of them). Acting in cooperation, they become health again
In a far-away place person comes across a house that is made, completely or partly, of edible matter
To detain a beauty who runs away from the palace (church, etc.) the man who is in love with her smears the threshold (steps) with a glue (tar). The girl’s shoe remains stuck in it, all the girls are asked to put it on and it fits only to the heroine
Roots (belt) of rocks (stones, mountains) are mentioned in myths, riddles, proverbs, charms and songs as something that does not exist
Year is described as a tree with the number of branches, twigs, leaves etc. corresponding to the number of seasons, months, days, etc.
Golden fruits (in rare cases only leaves) of a certain tree are mentioned in tail. Usually these are golden apples
An elder man and a boy travel with one donkey (horse). They try all possible ways but are always blamed (a man rides on the donkey and the boy walks; the boy on the donkey and the man walks; both on the donkey; both walk or they carry the donkey).
A man understands that if his wife let out the truth, it would bring them trouble. He tells her that sounds that she hears are screams of the landlord (official, etc.) because devils (or somebody else) beat him (carry him to the hell, etc.). Being summoned to the official, she repeats what her husband had told her and considered mad
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
A mushroom (a melon) grows rapidly and thinks that it will not be long before it will become bigger than an oak. Soon the mushroom (the melon) is decayed but the oak is on its place
Hero is sent to bring milk of a wild animal or milk in possession of a dangerous creature or person
A glass mountain (tower, bridge) is mentioned as a an unusual (difficult to be reache) place
A person carries some flour, the wind blows it away. The person appeals to a powerful person and usually gets compensation
The bat becomes an outcast among other creatures (usually after it makes attempts to join first animals and then birds or vice versa)
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
The antagonist believes that he is attacked by the commander of thunder-storm (who married his daughter to a poor boy thanks to a stratagem of a helpful animal; see k119)
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
A weak (animal) person demonstrates a strong one his reflection in water. The latter believes that an animal like he contests his supremacy, invites him for a visit, etc., usually jumps in and drowns
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the lion suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is hare or rabbit
A fool does not know how to pull on his breeches (boots) and jumps down into them from a high place
Spying on his wife (her husband), the man (woman) gets to see that she (he) goes to eat the dead bodies
Being smart and witty, the crab overcomes strong adversaries
A cat marries a poor boy to a princess (poor girl to a prince)
Devil is ready to make a man rich if he would not wash (and comb) himself for a long time. The man is willing, both fulfill their promise
The adversary receives magic object that protects the hero and kills him. The hero is revived, changes his appearance and provokes the adversary to put the object on the ground. He takes it back and kills the adversary
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
Persons climbs a tree and thanks to this escapes from a demon (who usually tries to fell the tree)
After the heroine’s rival transforms her into a forest animal of medium size (lynx, wolf, deer), she makes attempts to contact her children or husband
It is said that someone is only lacking bird’s milk or that somewhere the only thing missing is bird’s milk
A tree or a chain of reeds by which people have ascended to the sky is destroyed. On their way back they fall to the ground. Some of them remain in the sky for ever or longer than others
Bird’s (hen’s) milk is mentioned in fairy tales, riddles and proverbs as something very rare and difficult to obtain
Fool (or a person who pretends to be mad) sows salt (small objects) like grain
Person asks the smith to make his voice thin
Two different fish (a fish and a whale, dolphin, squid, squid and dolphin, etc.) agree to have a race
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
During impossibly short time person must to realize all works of agricultural cycle and to present food made of new crops
The demon has to give the man a hat (boot, bag or other container) full of gold. The man plans his hat (pot etc.) with a hole in it in such a way that the gold falls out of the container as soon as it is put into it. The man gets enormous treasure
An old man goes through the forest, lies down to rest, and draws a trough over himself. Animals admire the fine little table and bring food. Then the man moves, the animals run away and the man gets all their food
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)
A girl or young woman sets off to find or return her fience or her husband or she escapes from a fanger and ultimately marries happily
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
Body parts of a person or pieces of his flesh are thrown down one by one. (In American Indian versions those who are on the ground usually take them for game, honey, fish)
In a series of three (rare: four) loci or objects that have high but different value the highest value is related to the precious stone (usually a diamond; crystal, glass)
Person in search of the remote and inaccessible place comes to the master (mistress) of animals (birds, fish) or demons who summon all of them and asks about the way to this place. Only (the last) one knows the way
The hero (heroine) is in search of the place that is not achievable for common people. Only the frog (toad) knows the way (and helps to achieve destination)
Rivers (lakes) of blood (also of puss, bones, sweat or water used for washing of corpses) are mentioned in narratives (in different context)
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)
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
A fool or a buffoon takes the door of the house and carries it on his back
A poor man looks for a light for his fire. An old man gives him embers. When he takes them home, they turn to gold. An envious wealthy neighbor (brother) purposely extinguishes his fire and asks the old man to give him some coals. His homestead burns to ashes
Supernatural person grants wishes of a man (or several men) and later visits him (each of them) again. The man or most of them demonstrate ingratitude and drive the person away. In response to this he deprives them of all that they got thanks to his generosity
While travelling on earth, God (a saint) asks his companion to prepare a slaughtered animal (chicken). The companion secretly eats liver (heart, etc.) and explains that the animal did not have such an organ. He confesses his wrong deed when God (a saint) promises him a treasure
Thunder is heard when a vehicle moves in the sky
The king’s wife hates her son whom she should give birth and decides to get rid of him. As a result, the baby prince and the son of a commoner are interchanged. The prince is smart and inherits his father throne anyway
Person or animal is asked why his or her body parts or tools are such as they are. He or she gives the answers (or one who is asking answers for him). Ultimately one of them kills or badly injures the other
Wolf or demon is asked why his body parts do look like they are. Every time the wolf gives the explanation
By his singing (threats, compliments) the wolf compels an old man to surrender his cattle (and members of his family)
God charges a man with the task of magaging the weather. The man sends rain and heat in a due propotion but is unable to consider all relevant factors (usually forgets the wind). As a result, the man gets no harvest at all all the breads has a bad taste
The hero is fighting with a dragon and calls for help but he is not heard but when he throws his shoe (mitten) and his brothers (his horse) come and save him
Person changes (forges, boils, cuts into pieces and joins them back) old (sick, dead) people into the young (healthy, alive) ones or pretends to do so. Another one unsuccessfully tries to imitate him
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)
One of mythological characters using his skills in crafts creates for the first time tools and valuable cultural and natural objects; is a patron of craftsmen (usually of blacksmiths)
To trap a desired woman, person lures her to a ship (boat, flying machine, etc.) and carries away
After entering the ear of an animal (usually a horse or a cow) and coming back person becomes handsome (sated, well clad)
To kill a boy (a girl), the antagonist first needs to get rid of his or her horse. When they are ready to kill the horse, the boy (the girl) rides on his horse away saving his or her life
Somebody from the enemies’ camp is constantly weaving (forging) ever new warriors (rare: weapons)
A man receives a box or bag as a gift and is told that he should open it not before he comes to his place. The curious man opens it before time and everything that must make him rich (cattle, houses, etc.) falls out. A demon puts everything back but under certain condition. Usually the man does not understand that he promised to the demon his child
Being on guard, the hero gets to know who steals regularly fruits (usually apples) from the garden
From the mouth of a monstrous creature or person who is the enemy of the hero fire is coming out; its breath is fire
Being forced to promise his daughter (son) to a demon (monster, predator animal), a noble man (king) tries but in vain to replace his child with another girl or boy
A monster with twelve heads is mentioned either alone or at the end of the row of creatures with ever bigger number of heads
After meeting the supernatural person, the good human person receives valuables but the bad one after coming back home is burned
Pursued by demonic creature (usually a whale or walrus), people throw behind piece by piece children’s or woman’s clothes. These attract the pursuer’s attention, he loses time, the runaways escape
Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay
Person pretends to die. His or her wife or husband abandons him or her on a burial place. He or she marries his or her paramour
Demon claims form himself the harvest from the field possessed by a man. He agrees to renounce his rights if the man brings him an animal which he would be unable to recognize. The man brings his wife who is covered with tar (honey) and feathers, moves on her hands and knees backward, etc. The demon recognizes his defeat
A young man kills somebody and later gets to know that ut was his father
An animal (a demonic being) asks the hero or heroine to take objects necessary for him (her) from its ear or to enter its ear to make himself or herself handsome, to sleep. etc.
To gain a woman, a man hides inside a hollow figure or a carcass of a big animal (horse, bull, etc.). Person who guards the woman brings it to her. The man comes outside and becomes the woman’s lover. Or a woman hides inside the figure of the horse that is brought into the room of a man
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
The hero’s wife (mother, servant) does not know about the magic qualities of an object in their house and exchanges it for something that looks likes more expensive but actually has low value
An (ostensibly) sick (ugly, weak, poorly clad) person remains at home when others go to the feast. The person comes by himself or herself looking like a handsome man or beautiful girl. The man (woman) does not recognize him (her) and feels against her (him) sexual interestю (All texts with motif k57, Chinderella, are also included into f62)
The unrecognized hero works as a gardener at the powerful person
A man rides a ship that stops suddenly and does not move for a long time. The man agrees to descend to the bottom, behaves himself in a proper way with the sea dwellers and returns to the ship
The bargain between two persons is to end when a bird whose call is related to particular time of a temporal cycle will be heard. In order to hasten the contract’s end, another person imitates the bird. The first one recognizes the trick
The master of the underworld receives or is going to receive the celestial bodies of fire but thanks to a trick or a chance, they are not given to him (her) or returned back
Two men sleep (hide themselves) in one bag or lie with their soles touching each other. Dangerous creature or spirit takes them for an unknown monster
A fool (trickster) is told to slaughter any sheep (cow, ox) that will look at him, i.e. it’s all the same which one. He kills all the sheep because all of them looked in his direction
When the hero goes to fulfill a difficult task, his magic wife gives him her towel or handkerchief and orders to use only them (usually her relatives recognize him as their son-in-law when they see the object in question)
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.)
Because of the reason that for some time remains unclear a ship stops in the middle of the sea (rare: a horse stops on the road)
Person obtains some wild animals (of two or more different species) who serve him like dogs
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.)
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)
Fool sells property to a tree (stump, pole, a cross in the countryside) and believes that it will pay him. Trying to get his money, he finds treasure
Pretending that he is acting according his master’s instructions, the farmhand cuts off the lips of domestic animals (because they “must smile”)
The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual
Person does not know that he or she eats or cooks the meat of the member of his or her household (blood relation, more rare a spouse or servant) or serves it to his or her friends, or uses her or his bones for everyday needs, or slowly kills him ort her
(Animal) person who tried to scare the God (people) with his/its, behavior, strange look or sudden appearance is punished being transformed into an animal (of different characteristics than it was before)
Person (who is usually in search of the godgather for the newborn child) rejects God (saints) and devil but accepts Death who is more fair (or rich)
Each of calender units (usually the months) that make the year is a separate object or person
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
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
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)
A woman is summoned to help supernatural being as a midwife (to baptize a baby). In the human world, this being has a form of a toad or frog
The hero must bring a small object (often a finger ring) from the bottom of a deep waterbody (often the sea)
Mother tries to kill her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair
A princess who lies or stands between two pretenders for her hand must choose one of them without seeing him. The bridegroom of low social position tricks the noble one to be smeared by filth and the princess turns to one who smells aromatically
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
A man gets into the dwelling of snakes and after a long time escapes or is permitted to go. In While in the dwelling of snakes, he usually licks a special stone that allows to live without water and food
Food and clothes are extracted from the horn of a cow or goat
At night a demonic person comes to the tomb to harm the dead
Riding a bull or an ox, a lad or a lassie run away from the stepmother’s house. On the way the bull fights with the other bull (monsters) and is usually killed by the last of them
Person who represents something fat (a sausage, a piece of fat, etc.) prepares a rich soup adding to it its own fat. Another person tries to repeat the trick and dies
A girl (rare: boy) is walking to her or his relations or to her bridegroom. On the way the imposter lures her (him) to exchange clothes and takes her (his) place while the real girl (boy) is sent to look after crops or fee domestic fowl or animals. People hear her (his) song in which all the story is told. The deception is disclosed, the imposter killed
After seeing a portrait of an unknown beauty, a man is eager to meet her
A girl marries a handsome man whom she had first seen in guise of a dog
Person must wash something black making it white or vice versa (yarn, clothes, board, etc.)
Every night somebody tramples down the grain field, steals hay, etc. The hero discovers that horses do it
A dog (cat, hare) tries to drive away a demon (usually an old ogres). The demon (or her victims themselves being unaware of the danger) cut off or break one by one the animal’s body parts and ultimately kills it that gives her the power over her victims
Maternal uncle or father (or grandfather if he replaces father who is not mentioned) of the young man is his rival or enemy and tries to kill him
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.
The nose of anthropomorphic being is like a beak of copper or iron
A girl (rejects suitors for a long time but at last) falls in love with a handsome man who proves to be a demon or animal. Usually she eventually escapes from him
Money is intentionally thrown in front of a man to be used by him. At this moment he closes his eyes and passes by
One person asks another to cook a soup with parsley and onions. The latter understands (pretends to understand) that he must cook a child or a dog whose names sound similarly
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
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)
A crab participates in the race and wins
The boots (shoes, sandals) which allow the person wearing them to move with extraordinary speed are mentioned
A poor married couple (a poor man) bemoans life’s harshness and blame Adam and Eve who through their disobedience and curiosity brought sin into the world. A powerful person hears their complaint and put them into the place where they can live in luxury. He stipulates only that they must not break certain taboo (usually to open a covered vessel). They break taboo and are returned to their old way of life
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.
Person must recognize her (or his) son or husband among several identical persons or animals
Spider possesses the fire or steals it from original owner (texts in which spider acts together with other animals and does not play the leading role are not included)
Birds first give their feathers to a certain person to make him be able to fly or to make him beautiful and then take them back
Wife of a powerful person gives birth to wonderful child(ren). Her envious sisters play a trick to make her husband order to get rid of her (usually to put her and her child into the barrel which is thrown into the sea). The wonderful son saves her and himself. Imperceptibly (usually in guise of an animal or an insect, or sending his brother who has guise of a puppy) he gets into his father’s house and listens in what people are are talking about
A monster with nine heads is mentioned either alone or at the end of the row of creatures with ever bigger number of heads
The heroine’s rival transforms her into a dove. The dove makes attempts to contact her children or husband
An object thrown into person becomes his tail and the person himself an animal
In the first marriage night, the bride that has supernatural strength thrusts her weight upon her bridegroom to suffocate him
The Sun is associated with a horseman or rides in a cart driven by horses (equids)
The pastimes or only names of the hero’s companions are unusual and different but their specific qualities that they must possess considering their names are irrelevant for the plot. Cf. motif K66, “Extraordinary companions”
A strong she animal pursues a weaker one male but is stuck netweem trees or stones. The male taunts (usually rapes) her
Person summons with a certain signal a non-human being (usually his or her sexual partner or his or her protégé). Another person spies, uses the same signal or pronounces the same words and kills the being who comes to him (or uses this being sexually himself)
Hero’s dogs have names that tell about their strength and deftness
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
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)
Running away from a dangerous being, person throws objects that turn into mighty obstacles on the way of the pursuer. One of the thrown objects is a whetstone which turns into a mountain
The beard or hair of a man are of unusual color. This is a sign of his demonic nature
Snow is created from bird's down when certain bird in the sky shakes itself or certain person shakes his or her clothes made of bird down
Instead of common body discharges a a man urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular male person. See motif m57a
Instead of common body discharges a a woman urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular female person. See motif m57a
Person has only a bast-shoe (or later asserts that he/she had the bast-shoe with him/her). He/she asks for the night-lodge and in the morning tells that he/she had something more valuable. This way he/she continues a series of profitable exchanges
A girl with the cut off hands comes to the fruit tree (into the vegetable garden) to find food. A princes gets to see her there and marries her
Being seized by a person, a female person turns into different materials, elements or animals (Urarina and Setebo: sends different dangerous creature to attack the one who caught her)
Fool sells property to the dogs and believes that they will pay him. Trying to get his money, he finds treasure
Being seized, person changes his or her guise in succession, one of the transformations is into the fire (and also into the water)
A stick is a tool to initiate processes which results have no rational explanation
God sends his enemy to bring earth from the bottom of the waterbody. In the beginning, the enemy or also the god can have guise of birds. When the earth is brought up and dry land created, two persons, now always anthropomorphic, are engaged into confrontation
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
When mighty person or animal loses his strength (self-control) after being made drunk he recognizes the superiority of the alcoholic intoxication over him
A pipe or other musical instrument is made from a plant that has grown on a place where certain person was killed (fell, touched ground). When the instrument plays, people hear a particular message
An object that contains certain person’s soul / death is inside other object, the latter is in the third one (etc.). The last receptacle of the life is an egg
Young man gets a girl who is inside a fruit the citrus tree, usually an orange
Lying on the nuptial bed, the false wife who took place of the real one hears the voice of the latter or her children and in the morning orders to destroy the bed
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
The adversary destroys in succession objects and creatures in which the hero is incorporated. The hero wins after he turns from a chip of wood into a waterfowl (a duck or a goose)
To reach his or her destination, person follows a ball of threads (rare: some ball, apple) which is rolling in front of him or her
A task: to sort a large amount or small particles of different kind (usually seeds of different plants) mixed in container or to count such particles or to pick up the spilled grains
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)
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
A man travels with his wife or daughter. Another woman or a demonic person replaces her when the man goes away for a short time or (rare) falls asleep
Being on a visit to other people or (more often) animals, an (animal)-person sees them act using magic or according to their animal nature. Back at home, he imitates their actions and gets in trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and mostly refer to providing and cooking food