Linked Motifs

Motif	Name	Description
a12	Eclipses: monster’s attack	Some creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, summer and winter, lunar phases) or irregularly (solar and lunar eclipses, eschatological events) attack the luminaries or shade their light
a12a	Eclipses: a predator animal	During an eclipse or at other circumstances the Sun or the Moon are attacked by a predator animal (a bear, a feline, a canine, a racoon)
a12c	Eclipses: reptiles and fish	During an eclipse or at the sunset the Sun or the Moon are attacked by a reptile (a snake, a lizard, a dragon, a crocodile) or a fish
a23a	Who will see the Sun first?	Two persons or animals argue about who of them will be the first to see the rising sun. One who seemed to have less chances wins
a23b	First beams on the tree tops	Two persons or animals argue who will see the rising sun first. One who got to see not the sun itself but its reflection or the first beams on trees or mountain tops wins
a23b	First beams on the tree tops	Two persons or animals argue who will see the rising sun first. One who got to see not the sun itself but its reflection or the first beams on trees or mountain tops wins
a3	Male sun and female moon	The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male
a32	Figure on lunar disc	A figure or an imprint of some being or object are seen in the Moon. (For statistical analysis motifs A32A – A32J are also included into A32)
a32d	Man in the Moon	Human being or imprint of human being is seen in the moon
a32d1	Cain and Abel in the Moon	Cain and Abel are related to the Moon, usually are seen (both or Cain only) in the shadows of the lunar disc
a32e	Person with an object in hands	Person who holds some object in his or her hands is seen in the moon (rare: in the sun)
a32f	Water-carrier in the Moon	Person who went to fetch water and/or holds in hands a container for liquid is seen in the moon
a35	Spots on the lunar disc	Dark spots on the lunar disc are dirt, blood, paint, traces of beating, burning, scratching, etc. on the Moon person's body or face (Kiliwa: spots on the Sun) and do not form any particular figure
a35b	To smear the Moon with pitch	To make the Moon less bright, some person tried to smear it with pitch
a39	The new sun every day	Suns are born and die every day
a39a	Twelve months	Each of calender units (usually the months) that make the year is a separate object or person
a4	Female sun	The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female
a44	Moon the protector	A person pursued by an enemy or tyrannized by others asks the Moon to take her or him to the sky. The request is granted and the person is now seen in the Moon
a45	The insulted Moon	Person who teases or insults the Moon is punished
a5	The Sun and the Moon are males	The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual
b1	Two male creators	Two male anthropomorphic creators compete in producing things. One of them is or becomes master of the underworld and/or spirits while another is associated with humans
b106	The sky cock	When the sky cock cries (or the underground cocks cry), all the cocks on earth cry after him, not before
b109	Person turns into bear	Person turns into a bear (origin of bears)
b117	The dogs' certificate	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
b122	The birds and the babies	Birds (usually storks or geese) carry small children to the other world or bring them from there
b123	The flies instead of nails on Christ’s heart	Flies look like nails and prevent more nails being driven in
b125	Animals exchange their organs	During the time of creation particular species of animals (rare: plants) exchanged certain organs or traits or one animal borrowed an organ from another one but never brought it back. Thence the characteristics of these animals now. In rare cases the back exchange and restoring of the initial situation or the passing of certain organ from one animal to another without compensation are described
b125a	Nightingale and blindworm	The nightingale (more rare somebody else) borrows the blindwoms’s eye and does not return them, the blindworm becomes blind
b125b	The party and the borrowed organ	Going to the feast, party, etc., animal person borrows from another one a part of the body that must make him more attractive
b16c	Salt-grinding mill	Magic mill is ordered to grind salt but not ordered to stop. It sinks into ocean and continues to work making the water salty
b2a	The female earth	The earth is a female person (alone or together with a male person); she is female being or associated with a woman
b2d	Marriage of the sky and the earth	The male Sky (the Sun, the Thunder, the creator of the sky) marries the female Earth (or its female creator) or the female Sky marries the male Earth
b33	Mother of wind	Female person is incarnation of wind, mother of winds, etc.
b33e	If February were like January	The last cold month wishes he were longer or would come earlier. In such a case he would freeze everybody to death
b33e1	To freeze an embryo in the womb	To describe the extreme cold, it is said that it is able to frees boiling water, an embryo in its mother womb and the like
b35a	Tree fulfills wishes and then transforms into bear	Tree grants a man the fulfillment of his wishes but ultimately transforms him into a bear
b3a	Primeval waters	Water is the original element, the dry earth appears later
b42q	Ursa major is a carriage	Ursa major is identified with a carriage, a cart
b49b	Teats of the cow	Initially cow had more teats than now
b52c	Earth bigger than sky	When the earth was created it proved to be bigger than the sky and had to be squeezed. This way mountains or swamps have appeared
b71	Aurora borealis	Aurora borealis is spirits (of the dead) who run holding burning torches, play or fight with each other
b75b	Sounds of the time of creation: a creaking of trees	Creaking of trees is a voice of a transformed person
b77	Primeval sky close to earth	Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
b79	Cosmic egg	From the primeval egg, eggs, or egg-like ball emerge the earth, the sky, sky bodies, different animals (all or part of the items of this list)
b79a	A bird laid an egg	In the beginning of time a bird flies, lays an egg or eggs, different objects and creatures emerge from them or a bird drops some solid substance on the waters and the dry land or an island appear
b82	The white raven	Raven or other carrion-eating bird of dark color and a similar size was originally white
b85a	Wind regulated	Wind stops to blow (after blowing too much). Person comes to him and creates the desirable balance. Since then, wind blows but usually not too much
b85b	Bag of winds	Wind was or is in a particular enclosure (bag, cave, etc.). It was released from it or comes out from time to time
b87	Alcor	Alcor (a weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper) is selected as a particular sky object
b87b	A harnessed wolf	Big Dipper is a cart with a harnessed wolf or bear. Usually it is explained that the handle of the Big Dipper is not straight because a wolf or a bear (identified with Alcor or with the last star of the handle, η) attacked an ox that was dragging a cart and was harnessed instead of it
b90	Master of wolves	There is an anthropomorphic patron or patroness of wolves. Usually he or she gives instructions to wolves on particular day of the year
b91a	Eyes borrowed and never returned	(Animal) person who became blind borrows eyes but never returns them to the owner
b94	Talking trees	Trees (and animals) could talk and asked people not to cut or kill them
b98	The bat between birds and animals	Bat (rare: ostrich) makes attempts to join sometimes animals and sometime birds or is excluded from both categories
b98a	Bat becomes an outcast	The bat becomes an outcast among other creatures (usually after it makes attempts to join first animals and then birds or vice versa)
c16	Processed objects turn into animals	Against person's will, butchered, dried or cooked meat, tanned hides, etc. turn back into animals or fish and escape.
c19	Acquisition of the sun	The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again)
c23	Tree eclipses sky-light	Growth and falling of giant tree defines the condition of the sky with luminaries on it (tree eclipses the light of the sun, can destroy the sky, tears the sun off the sky, etc.)
c26	Guardian at the border of the non-human world	Monsters or ghosts try to invade our world. Powerful person or creature is on guard and prevents the invasion
c32	Ship made of nails	Demons will make a ship of the cut off nails.
c32c (motif is not in the correlation table)	Beware of cut off nails	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
d1	Female spirit of fire	Fire is personified as an (elder) woman, alone or with her husband, master of fire
d1a4	The chat of two fires	Two fires from different dwellings meet each other and chat
d4a	Theft of fire	Fire is stolen from its original owner or brought back to the people from somebody who had stolen it before
d7a	Fire and spider	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)
e31a	Creators and rescuers of a girl	Several men take part in rescuing, creation or reanimation of a girl (rare: a bird) or several women take part in the reanimation of a dead man or they differetly express their grief. It is asked whose role was crucial (who behavior more noble) and/or who should be the spouse of the reanimated person. Or three men make something valuable and it is asked whose role in the corresponding enterprise was more important
e31c	Rescuers of an abducted girl	Every one of several men had learned a unique skill thanks to which they save a girl abducted by demon or animal
e36	Hard covering of the body	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)
e9i1	Swan-wife	A man marries supernatural woman who is a swan
f30	Snake paramour	A woman or a girl takes a snake, an eel (i.e. Pacific snake-eel), a lizard, or a worm for husband or paramour. People kill or badly injure him, the woman and/or her progeny or the woman herself is transformed into snake. Cf. motif k76b: the snake-husband becomes and remains a handsome man
f35a	Feeding with the kin’s meat	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
f5a	Woman created from a tail	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.
f62	Incognito at the feast	An (ostensibly) sick (ugly, weak, poorly clad) person remains at home when others go to the feast. The person comes by himself or herself looking like a handsome man or beautiful girl. The man (woman) does not recognize him (her) and feels against her (him) sexual interestю (All texts with motif k57, Chinderella, are also included into f62)
f63	Trickster poses as woman and marries man	A male person turns into woman and marries a man. He is either unmasked or abandons his "husband" by his own will
f71	Susan and the old men (the innocent slandered maiden)	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
f73b	The bear beliefs that vulva is a wound	The bear (wolf, lion, dragon) beliefes that vulva is a wound.
f83a	Indecent proposal made through children	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)
f83b	The stuck between trees she animal is rapes	A strong she animal pursues a weaker one male but is stuck netweem trees or stones. The male taunts (usually rapes) her
f87b	Snake’s wife and her children: transformation into trees	A snake crawls on the clothes of a bathing girl and lets her take them not before she gives a promice to marry him. He takes her to the underwater world. She is happy and they have children. She visits her kin taking her children with her. Her relations summon the snake and kill him. After this his wife transforms their childred and/or herself into trees
f9f1	Snake inside woman	Poisonous snake (snakes, scorpions) comes out of the mouth of a woman {Motif F9f1 and K100c are almost identical but F9f1 links to a cluster of etiological/cosmological motifs related to the idea of a dangerous woman while K100c is related to adventures}
f9g	Brunhilde	A strong woman overcomes and kills suitors. Hero or his helper tames her (usually whips in the wedding night). The hero marries her
g6	Primeval tree	One of the trees is the principal, original one (emerged before all the other; ancestor of wild or cultivated plants; ocean or rivers inside it; world axis; higher than all the others; overshadows sky)
g6a	Tree of the year	Year is described as a tree with the number of branches, twigs, leaves etc. corresponding to the number of seasons, months, days, etc.
g8	Restored tree	A deep notch in the tree (or in the sky support) is magically restored as soon as persons or creatures who cut or gnaw it stop working
h16b	The basin of milk	A river (wave, lake, basin) of milk that exists on earth (and not among the stars) is mentioned in narratives (in different context)
h18b	Cattle returns into water	After getting domestic animals from supernaturals a person immediately loses the animals or most of them (usually because of a broken taboo like to look, to speak in a loud voice, etc.; the animals disappear in water, remain in the sky, scatter in various directions, etc.)
h24	Container opened too early	Container with valuables or with dangerous creatures is opened (before time). Its content goes out of control or disappear
h26	Mosquitoes had to be drowned	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
h27	Mosquitoes let lose	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
h28b	Mosquitoes from animal hair	The cut off hair from the aniaml hide (ash and smoke of the burned hide) turn into blood-sucking insects
h34e	The edible snow	Snow was edible or something edible was falling from the sky instead of the snow
h42	Creator goes away for a while	After creating the bodies of the first people or after getting a conception how to do it the Creator goes away for a while. During his absence another person, because of his or her ignorance or intentionally, spoils the creation or makes himself or herself what the Creator would make in a better way. Usually because of this people are mortal and subject to diseases
h46	The dog’s part	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)
h48	Daughters of evil spirit	Diseases are sisters (rare: brothers), usually children of evil spirit
h51	The demonic horse	A horse eats people or is associated with antagonist of the God
h52	The land of immortality	Person finds a land where there is no death. Setting off to visit his home country, he does not come to this land again
h7	The personified Death	Death (also Old Age, Disease, etc.) is a particular person not identical with the Master of the Dead. He kills people usually carrying away their souls
h7a	The Death and a doctor	Man receives from Death (Fortune, some spirit) knowledge will the patient recover or die. He becomes a doctor and receives rich rewards. Usually he gets the ability to see Death near the bed of a patient and considering a particular place where Death stands, gets to know perspectives of recovering
h7b	The Death is stuck to a tree or a bench	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
h7b1	Devil (Death) captured in sack	Getting a magic sack into which any being must climb according to the wish of the owner, a man acquires power over the Death (Devil)
h7c1	Cunning man gets into paradise	Cunning man first deceives Death (Devil) and then, also using a trich, gets into the Paradise
h7e	Humans knew the time of their death	In the year before they were to die, people neglected their responsibilities (they repair fences with temporary materials). Therefore, God decided that they should not know in advance when they will die
h7g1	Death is more fair and rich than God	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)
i102	Milky Way is a tree	Milky Way is a tree or a trace of a tree
i104	Stars are fragments	Stars are fragments of a bigger luminary (usually the Moon); or stars, the sun and the moon are formed from one and the same primeval person or creature
i107	Stars are nails	Stars are nails in the firmament or pegs, or stars are nailed to the sky
i110	Night sky agriculturalists	Constellation are interpreted as agricultural tools or people occupied with agricultural works (mostly ploughing and haymaking)
i110b	Orion is mowers	(Belt of) Orion is (three) mowers or agricultural tools related to mowing and harvesting
i121	Twin constellations	Two constellations (usually Ursa major and Ursa minor) are interpreted as twin objects of the same type (two animals, two carts, etc.)
i138	The glass mountain	A glass mountain (tower, bridge) is mentioned as a an unusual (difficult to be reache) place
i13c	Snake’s crown	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
i13d	Hibernating with snakes	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
i141	The magic stick	A stick is a tool to initiate processes which results have no rational explanation
i20	The undeground dwarfs	Race of dwarfs lives under the ground (deep under the earth or in hills and rocks) or at the horizon where the earth and the sky meet
i20a	The sky giants	Anthropomorphic inhabitants of the upper world are giants
i20c	Dwarfs live in the underworld	Dwarfs live in the underworld that somewhat reminds the world of humans. If the dwarfs and the humans meet, it is deep under the earther
i20c2	Dwarfs live at the horizon	The denizens of the country at the horizon (where the sky and the earth meet) are dwarfs
i25a	Bones to cows	Person sees that food put for certain animals is inedible for them and corrects situation (usually gives to herbivorous animals food that was given before to predators and vice versa)
i27c	The four-eyed dog	Dogs having spots over the eyes are called the four-eyed and believed to have special properties (e.g. to see ghosts)
i3	Weapon of Thunder	The lightning (and thunder) is (produced with) an object (axe, sword, mirror, belt, stones, skin, etc.) in hands of anthropomorphic being
i38	The dog-heads	Some beings are half-men and half-dogs (usually anthropomorphic with heads of dogs)
i40	Rainbow bow	Rainbow is a bow
i41b	Rainbow drinks water	Rainbow drinks (soaks up) water
i42g3	Edible house	In the forest person comes across a house that is made, completely or partly, of edible matter
i45a	Not to point at the Moon or a star	Person who points at the Moon or a star or looks intently at them will get sick or die or his pointing finger will rot or wither
i45b	Not to point at the rainbow	It to point at the rainbow, pointing finger or entire arm will rot, wither or become crooked
i46	Rainbow belt	Rainbow is the ornamented part of the clothes, its decoration, a belt
i49	The running earthquake	Earthquake is a person. Whenever he or she runs or walks, the earth trembles
i4d	Theft of the Thunder-Instrument	Thunder’s instrument is stolen from him. He or his helper comes unrecognized to the thief, gets his instrument and kills the enemies
i55	Stars are openings	Stars are openings in the firmament; holes in dwelling's covering are thought to be stars
i57	Thunder pursues his enemy	Thunder's enemies are evil spirits, reptiles, animals living in burrows. They hide from him in different objects, Thunder destroys these objects
i58	Milky Way is the way of birds	Milky Way is the path of migratory birds (especially wild geese)
i59a	Thief in the sky	Astral objects or lunar spots are associated with a story of a stealing and the value of the stolen objects is low (straw, firewoods, cabbage, etc.)
i68	Opening of the sky	On a certain moment, a crack, a window or the like opens in the sky vault (rains flows though it, the upper world is seen, communication with inhabitants of the upper world becomes possible)
i82a	Venus is male	Morning and/or Evening Star is a male personage
i85	Polaris is a pole, a nail	Polaris is a (tethering) pole or a nail
i85c	Containers with weather	A person rises to the sky and finds there containers with different (two or more) types of precipitations, atmospheric phenomena, seasons and/or celestial bodies
i85c1	The rain stored in the sky	In the sky there is a special container (vessel, skin, box, etc.) for storing the rain
i86a	Down turns into snow	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
i87a2	What is Two?	Antagonist names numbers from one to seven or nine, every time asking what it is. The hero gives answers that the antagonist accepts as correct ones.
i87a2	What is Two?	Antagonist names numbers from one to seven or nine, every time asking what it is. The hero gives answers that the antagonist accepts as correct ones.
i87aa	The big bull	Huge bull (rare: horse) is described: its head is in one field, its tail in another; a bathhouse on its tale, a lake on its back; person who is near the head walks a long time till he meets another neat the tail; etc. Usually the bull is killed and eaten (by people in Baltic Finnish traditions and in Russian bylina from Olonets area; by bird in most of southern traditions)
i87b	The quest for a strong adversary	A man seeks a strong adversary to wrestle with and comes across person who is incomparably stronger than he
i8c	The suspended earth	The earth does not fall down or swing because it is suspended to ropes
i8e1	Four supports of the world	The sky or the earth rests upon four or five (cardinal points and the center) supports of any kind (poles, mountains, giants)
i8f	One support of the world	Only one pole or mountain supports the earth or the sky
i94	The Pleiades are openings	The Pleiades are holes in the firmament
i95	The Pleiades are a sieve for grain	The Pleiades are a sieve to process agricultural products
i95c	Orion is a staff	Orion is a staff, a crook
j15	Woman gets to dangerous creatures	Walking in search of her husband, boyfriend, kinsmen, shelter woman or girl gets to the house of dangerous creatures where she is injured or killed
j26	Babies come out of the water	Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water
j32	To identify the night thief	Some valuables (foals, hay, apples, etc.) are regularly stolen. Nobody (the elder brothers) is able to catch the thief and only the hero (the younger brother) finds who it is
j32a	To guard father’s grave	Before passing away a man asks his sons to guard his grave for a certain time or to bring something to his grave. The youngest son goes and obtains valuables
j32d	Princess in a tower (The glass mountain)	The girl will marry a man who (riding on a horse or otherwise) would quickly reach a place that is almost inaccessible (the top of a tower, a mountain, the upper floor of a palace, the top of a staircase, bridge, the bottom of a deep cavity, etc.). Usually the girl herself is in the corresponding place
j47a	Beanstalk to the sky	A plant (usually not a tree in nature and often a leguminous) grows in no time and person climbs by it to the sky
j47a1	Goats possess the food	Person gets into a house inhabited by the goats. He secretly eats the food found there but is ultimately discovered
j62	People turned into stones	Person transforms people who come to him or her into inanimate objects, usually stones
j7	The changed signs	A woman or a girl is in search of her husband (lover) or kinsmen or a man sets out on a journey to his bride. She (he) loses her (his) way because signs that should direct her or him to the right place had been changed
j7a	To bring a lunch for the father	A girl (rare: a boy) has to carry the lunch for her father or brothers who work in the field (in the forest) but gets to the ogre
k100	A faithful servant	A man gets to know about dangers that threaten another man (and often about turning into stone of anybody who would warn about these dangers). He helps the man to escape the dangers though his behavior seems strange or hostile
k100a	Tobias	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
k100b	A grateful dead	A young man helps to bury a man (pays the debts of the dead man, honors a saint). When the young man sets off for a journey, the grateful dead (the saint) in guise of a stranger becomes his protector
k100c	Girl’s bridegrooms are bitten by a snake	. The hero or his companion eliminate the source of danger
k100d	Helpful animal becomes a prince	At the end of the tale helpful animal (horse, lion, etc.) turns himself or herself into a prince (princess)
k100f1	The wild man	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
k100f2	After quenching his thirst, person breaks his chains	The imprisoned supernatural person breaks his chains and escapes after they give him some water (or wine, etc.)
k100g	The son must be sacrificed	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
k101	Night dances of girls	Every morning girl' or (rare) boy’s clothes are in disorder, the boy looks very tied. People spy on her (or on him) and discover that she or he spends nights in the non-human world
k101a	The princess in the coffin	A man has to send several nights near the girl who died and became a dangerous demonic being. After this the girl is disenchanted
k102	Woman associated with the hero conspires in favor of his enemy	A woman who initially is friendly to the hero (his mother, sister, more rare his wife, sexual partner) begins to cooperate with his enemy. For this she provokes the hero to do something that is mortally dangerous for him
k102a3	The tooth of death	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
k102a5	To fill a vessel with tears	A woman must fill a vessel or two with her teas (rare: blood). Usually after this the time of her punishment will come to the end or the punishment depends on which of the vessels will contain more tears
k103	Helpful cow	Cow (ox, bull) helps an orphan child or a young woman who got into trouble
k106	Thrown to cows	To get rid of a baby child or of the magic cock, they throw him into enclosure for animals, but cows or other animals do not trample the child or cock down
k107	Lost husband found	A woman is abandoned by her magic husband. She finds him and becomes his wife again
k107a1	Head of the household is asked to bring presents	When the head of the household goes for a journey his daughter, those who remain at home ask to bring them presents. The elder ones want something practical (usually clothes or decorations) while the younger one asks for something unusual (a flower, a bird, etc.). Thanks to this object, the younger one attains great success though after overcoming great difficulties
k107a3	The beauty and the beast	When a man sets off for the journey, his daughter asks him to bring her a certain flower (leave, etc.). The man picks it up in a garden of the enchanted prince who has monstrous appearance. The monster claims from the man his daughter and thanks to her acquires his real guise
k108	A revived wife betrays her husband	Wife dies, husband revives her, she abandons him for another man and is punished
k113	The animal bride	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
k117	Woman who never laughs (a bride)	A woman should marry a man who would be able to make her laugh; a man promises a reward to the person who would make laugh his daughter, mother or son
k117b	Stuck together	Using a magic object or spell, hero makes people (and animals) attached to the object or to each other
k117c	Magic fiddle makes people dance	As soon as a person plays his flute (fiddle, horn, etc.), people and animals become to dance and cannot stop without the person’s permission
k117d	Two bridegrooms in one bed with a princess	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
k118	The prohibited room	Master of the house allows person to feel himself (herself) free bit not to look into particular place. The person breaks prohibition
k119	Animal helper marries a poor boy to a princess	To make a poor man rich (usually to marry him to a rich girl or to marry a poor girl to a prince), an animal makes other people believe that the groom is rich already. The man becomes prosperous indeed
k119a	The ungrateful master	An animal saves a man or helps him but the ungrateful man humiliates the animal, kills or tries to kill it
k119b	Wild animals presented to the king	Helpful trickster (usually the fox or the cat) deceives wild animals and brings them to the king saying that they are presented to him by a rich person
k119c	The Thunder king and the Lightning queen	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)
k119d	Puss in boots	A cat marries a poor boy to a princess (poor girl to a prince)
k12	Woman is lost and returned	By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
k120	The averted incest (daughter and father)	A man is going to marry his daughter (rare: his stepdaughter; sometimes certain conditions are put on his future marriage and only his daughter complies with them). The girl gets to escape
k120a4	To fill a vessel with tears	Person must fill a vessel (to cover a floor) with tears
k121	Wanderer at a crossroad	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
k122	Queen of the other world comes to identify the hero	A man gets to the powerful woman who lives in the world unreachable without the supernatural helpers, and then returns back. An imposter claims hero's deeds for himself. The powerful woman comes and finds the real hero, punishes (rejects) the imposter
k128	Grazing animals to be preserved by a herdsman	A man had to graze animals or birds. If at least one is lost, the master would kill (not reward) him. Cf. K128B (ATU 570)
k128b	The rabbit-herd	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.
k129	The disenchanted beauty	Because of the female antagonist, a girl faints and is taken for dead but her body is not decomposed. A valuable marriage partner breaks the charms, she revives
k12b	Husband of magic wife breaks her taboo	Getting to the world that is beyond the world of the human beings, a man marries there a woman. She gives him permission to visit his home but he must avoid particular words or deeds. He breaks the taboo triggering an (irretrievable) trouble
k130	Am I the most beautiful?	A woman (rare: a man) asks if she (he) is the most beautiful among female (men) folk and always receives a positive answer. It continues till she or he receives the negative one
k130a	Girl in house of several brothers	A group of young men live apart. A girl comes to them or is born magically. The men keep her as their sister. After some time she is separated from them and is in danger but ultimately she is rescued
k131	Men fight over magic objects	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
k131a	Hero settles argument of animals	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)
k131b	Magic objects are exchanged and returned	A man loses a magic object that he got before but gets it back thanks to another object (a cudgel, a box with soldiers, etc.) that is exchanged for the first one or obtained by the man’s brother. The episode can be repeated several times
k131d	Seven-league boots	The boots (shoes, sandals) which allow the person wearing them to move with extraordinary speed are mentioned
k132	Invincible chicken	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
k135	Seven with one stroke	A weak and timid man or boy overcomes accidentally powerful enemies and gets high esteem
k14	Precious advices	A man gives his last money for simple advices. Each of them saves his life or helps to achieve success or he does not follow the advices and gets into trouble
k142	Corpse buried many times	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
k145	The predestined death because of the wolf	A wolf is predicted to become a cause of death of a person or the person must die at his wedding day. The prophesy becomes true. If it is about the marriage, the bride herself turns into a wolf and kills her bridegroom
k149	The three knots	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.
k14a	Thrown into the oven himself	An antagonist orders to kill the first one who will come in the morning to a certain place. The hero becomes late by chance, the antagonist or his wife or son come and are thrown into the fire
k14d	The make believe crime	To test his wife (friend, member of his household), a man pretends to commit a crime or his behavior seems to be strange and deserved to be punished. At the last moment he presents evidence that proves his innocence
k14e	The pretended inheritance	Sons of a man neglect their father (daughters-in-law neglect their father-in-law). He pretends to be hiding something (counts money conspicuously, etc.). The sons believe that their father has considerable inheritance and become to look after him carefully. When the father finally dies they find nothing valuable in his chest
k151	The fisherman and his wife	Supernatural creature fulfills a poor man’s moderate request. After this he or his wife asks for ever bigger gifts till the angry helper punishes them (usually takes all his gifts away)
k152	The devil is frightened and runs away	A man saves a devil (snake, dangerous animal) who suffers from proximity of certain object or person. The grateful devil promises to enter a princess and abandon her as soon as the man comes to cure her. The man will get a reward but he should not try such a trick again. The man scares the devil forever telling him that the object or person of which the devil is afraid will be near soon
k15b	Substituted barrel of water	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
k160	Three hairs from the devil’s beard	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
k160a	Demon’s answers to his wife’s questions	A woman who lives in the house of a supernatural person conceals the man who had come to her and puts questions to this person. The answers that are received and became known to the man are of great importance for him
k161	The liberated dragon	Person imprisoned a dragon (demon, Thunder, etc.) and warns the other not to open a certain room (not to give water to the prisoner, etc.). The instruction is broken and the demon liberates himself that has undesirable consequences
k165	The youth who wanted to learn what fear is	A youth who does not know what fear is tries various frightful experiences without becoming afraid
k167a	The son of the king and the son of the smith	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
k175	The wind blows the flour away	A person carries some flour, the wind blows it away. The person appeals to a powerful person and usually gets compensation
k176	A man in search of the woman	A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
k177	The travelling heroine	A girl or young woman sets off to find or return her fience or her husband or she escapes from a fanger and ultimately marries happily
k181	The horse from the cellar	The hero finds the horse that fits his needs in a cellar (cave, tower, etc.) where it had been preserved for a long time
k18d	A lazy boy and a fish	A lazy (stupid) boy releases a fish (frog, serpent, supernatural being) which gives him a power of making all his wishes come true; he marries a princess
k1f	Conflict because of a woman	A man maroons another because of jealousy or because he plans to take hold of his wife
k2	The destroyed ladder	Hero climbs up (e.g. to a tree) or down (e.g. into a deep cave) by ladder, rope, from branch to branch, etc. The rope etc. breaks or is intentionally destroyed and the hero cannot return to the ground. (All cases of motif K2A, besides the Koreans, also contain motif K2)
k24	Stolen clothes of supernatural woman	Women (rare: men) 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; rare: a girl of higher social status than the hero) take off their clothes (feather skins and the like) or part of it. Because a person hides the clothes (of one of them), their owner(s) have (has) to marry him or help him (rare: her)
k25	Magic wife	A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
k25a1	Magic wife finds her clothes	Magic wife abandons her mortal husband when she finds her clothes (often, her feathers if she is a bird-woman), makes herself the new clothes, receives them from her kin or her husband gives her her clothing believing that she will not abandon him. (Versions with magic wife abandoning her husband because she feels herself offended is not alternative to the “found clothes but in most of the texts these motifs are not combined)
k27 (motif is not in the correlation table)	Competitions and difficult tasks	Person is suggested to fulfill tasks that are mortally dangerous or cannot be fulfilled without supernatural helpers or capacities. The person fulfills the tasks and remains alive. A contest between persons has form of a competition or game in which the loser is deprived of his status or life
k27f	The task: to get a woman	A task-giver asks the hero to get for him a particular woman
k27f1	To build a bridge	Person builds a bridge (usually of gold etc.) during a very short time
k27f2	To get an identical object	A man should acquire a pair of shoes (or other objects) that would be identical to those in possession of a girl. These objects are either unique or it is not known how they look like. Making himself invisible, the man steels the objects (and the owner must acquire the new ones for herself) or becomes informed concerning their appearance
k27g4	To plow, to sow and to reap in one day	During impossibly short time person must to realize all works of agricultural cycle and to present food made of new crops
k27n	Difficult tasks of the in-laws	A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
k27n1	Task-giver is a king or a chief	Person who gives difficult tasks to the hero and/or person who demands the fulfillment of certain conditions from those who want to marry his daughter is a prominent figure in social hierarchy. He is a head of the socio-political unit of community or super-community level and is neither a member of the hero’s household nor a mythical being
k27x5	Helpful persons of different age	Setting off for a search of a woman or magic objects, a man comes across several (usually three) supernatural (often demonic) persons who help him. All the persons are similar but usually every next one is older (younger) than another
k27x7	Master of animals calls them together to question them	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
k27z1	Bird, horse and princess	Helpful animal instructs the hero how to steal an object he needs to get but not to take anything else (bird, but not cage, horse but not bridle, etc.) The hero breaks prohibition, is caught but released on condition that he brings another wonderful object. Situation is repeated and the last task is to bring a girl. Ultimately the hero gets both the girl and all the objects
k27z8	Insolvable riddles	The riddle refers to extraordinary or accidental events that happened to the person setting the riddle, and thus is unsolvable to outsiders
k29a	Surviving in a fire	Hero demonstrates his supernatural abilities remaining alive in a burning hot chamber, stove, bonfire, among burning vegetation
k2a	Hero marooned in the underworld	Hero is sent to the lower world though a well, precipice, etc. After he obtains valuables (young women), his envious companions cut the rope to get rid of him but he succeeds in returning back
k32	The false wife	An ugly, old, lazy, etc. woman or (in Chaco) a male trickster comes to man under disguise of his wife or bride who is driven out, confined to the underworld, killed, etc.
k32g	Punishment: torn apart by horses	To punish an antagonist, he or she is tied to a horse (camel, bull) and dragged or he or she is torn apart (usually by horses)
k32h1	Punishment: rolled down a hill in a barrel	A person who has committed a serious crime is put in a (nailed) barrel which is rolled down a slope or is tied to the tail of a horse
k33	Drowned woman remains alive	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
k33a	Younger brother transformed into animal	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
k33a4	The heroine is transformed into a forest animal	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
k33a5	The heroine is transformed into duck	The heroine’s rival transforms her into a duck (goose). The duck makes attempts to contact her children or husband
k33a7	The widower, his daughter or son and their teacher	After the death of her or his mother, a girl or a boy suggests her or his father to marry another woman who is her or his teacher, neighbor etc. and who usually persuaded the girl (boy) to give such an advice. As soon as she is married, the step-mother becomes to persecute her step-daughter (stem-son)
k33g	Fruits of two kinds	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
k33h	The cat, the dog and the magic object	A man obtains an object that fulfills his wishes. The object is stolen but brought back by the animals (which had been saved by the man before)
k35a	Hero brands his rivals	In exchange for temporal advantages, person agrees to be maimed or branded
k35a3	The master becomes the servant	To obtain privileges of his master, his servant creates situation that results in exchange of their social positions
k35a4	Thrown into the sea	To get rid of the hero and to get his social and family position, the imposter pushes him into the sea or maroons him on a faraway island. The hero survives and comes back {The circum-Pacific versions which are geographically remote from the Western European ones are excluded. See motif K1E}
k35c	Ogre in a well	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
k35c1	The best is one whom you love	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
k35c2	Man descends to the sea bottom	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
k35c3	The ship suddenly stops	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)
k36	Bewitched into animal	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
k37	Recognition-test	To return or to get his or her son, wife, husband, domestic animal or (rare) object, person must recognize her, him or it among several identical persons, animals or objects
k37a	To recognize a man	Person must recognize her (or his) son or husband among several identical persons or animals
k38	Hero helps the nestlings	For helping its children, their powerful mother or father who is a giant bird or (rare) other flying being helps the hero
k38b	The nestlings and the aggressive snake	A serpent or water monster regularly devours or injures children of a bird or other flying creature (almost always nestlings of giant bird). The hero kills the serpent (monster)
k38b3	Hero takes care of nestlings	Mighty bird or other flying creature helps a man because he took care of its youngs feeding them, warming, decorating, etc.
k38b3a	Hero feeds the nestlings	Mighty bird helps a man because he had given food to its nestlings
k38b3b	Hero warms and covers the nestlings	Mighty bird (more rare other creature/mythological person) helps a man (rare: a woman) because he (she) warms/covers from bad weather its/hers nestlings (children)
k38c	Bird brings the hero to his destination	After the hero helps a powerful bird (usually does good to her nestlings), the grateful bird brings him to the place where he is eager to get or tells to do it one of her nestlings. (It is not the vertical movement between layers of the world. According to the Sumerian variant, the bird endows the hero with capability to move with extraordinary speed and directs him to his destination)
k38e	Of copper, of silver, of gold	Loci or objects of three (rare – four) different materials are mentioned in such a way that all of them have positive connotations though unequal value (copper, silver and gold; silver, gold and diamonds, etc.)
k38e1	Forest of metal trees	Person travels across a forest with trees of two or more kinds of metal (copper, silver, etc.)
k38e2	The packed kingdom	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
k38f	The dragon-slayer	A reptile monster demands humans (usually virgins) as a sacrifice or abducts a girl or closes sources of water. Hero kills him. Monster’s victims do not play an active part in the plot
k38f1	The cut off tongues	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)
k39	Man feeds his own flesh to a creature who helps him	Person has to feed powerful creature (usually a giant bird) giving it regularly pieces of meat. When meat supply is exhausted, he cuts off a piece of his own flesh
k47b	Dog turns into handsome man	A girl marries a handsome man whom she had first seen in guise of a dog
k49	Dead mother returns to nurse her baby	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
k56	The kind and the unkind girls	One of (step)sisters, co-spouses or young female neighbors meets a being that is able to reward and to punish. She behaves herself properly and is rewarded. Another (other) girl comes to the same being but behaves in a wrong way and is punished (not rewarded).
k561	The wise carving of the fowl	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.
k56a	The unworthy girl fails, the worthy one succeeds	Two or three sisters are sent in succession to powerful person. The first or the first and the second sister behave in a wrong way, perish or do not succeed. The last one behaves correctly, gets a reward
k56a2	If asked to do in a bad way, do otherwise	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
k56a4	Dog the messenger	When the kind girl returns home, a dog barks saying that everything is well with her and when the unkind girl returns (or her dead body is brought home), the dog barks that everything is bad
k56a4a	The girl sends the demon to bring her new clothes	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
k56a4e	The unkind girl is burned	After meeting the supernatural person, the good human person receives valuables but the bad one after coming back home is burned
k56a4f	The unkind girl becomes ugly	The supernatural person does not like the behavior of the unkind girl and punishes her making her ugly (disfigured)
k56a4g	The ugly girl: outgrowths on her face	After her visit to the supernatural person the unkind girl gets ugly outgrowths on her face or head (tail, horns, warts, etc.)
k56a7	Strawberries under the snow	In the winter time a girl (rare: a boy) is sent to bring something that is available only in summer. She brings it
k56a9	Helpful mouse rings a bell	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
k56b	The worthy man is rewarded, the unworthy punished	First one, then another man meets a powerful person or persons. The first man is worthy and rewarded with treasure, prestige or the like. The second man (or two men) follows him, behaves in a wrong way and is punished
k56c	Golden axe	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
k56f	To divide a chicken	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.).
k56f1	To divide several chicken	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.
k57	Cinderella	A girl who conceals her beauty and/or is poor and oppressed by her stepmother puts on a splendid attire and comes incognito to a feast where a man of high status falls in love with her. He marries her after identifying her by an object given to her or lost by her or (rare) seeing how she changes her clothes
k60b	Invitation to coffin	Person is lured into a trap being invited to lie in a box or a hole to measure it. Being unable to liberate himself from the box etc., the person remains in power of his enemies
k61c	To name a demon	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
k61c1	Listen in secret of demon	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
k61d	Hard work made her ugly	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
k62a	Quarrel of mouse and bird	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)
k64	Escape from Polyphemos’ cave	Person gets into dwelling of master of animals or monstrous shepherd. The host can kill him. The hero escapes sticking to hair of one of the animals who are going out
k65	Genii loci	Being thrown out, put into certain places, born by primeval couple some beings turn into spirits of particular loci
k65a	Spirits fall from the sky	Being thrown down (usually from the sky), some beings get to different places and turn into spirits or animals with particular functions and names
k65b	Humans and spirits	Spirits or unpleasant animals (reptiles, worms, etc.) are (often: concealed from the eyes of God or deformed) children or miscarriages of the same human couple or the same primeval ancestor who produced first human beings
k67a	A drowned wife	A man who has a low social position is a nuisance for persons of high position. He gets to know that they plan to drown him or his preperty (rare: to strangle him) and tricks them to drown instead one of them or their own property
k67b	Bargain not to become angry	Person of a low social position (a man) makes an agreement with a person of high social position (an ogre) that the master must never become angry with the servant. The servant abuses the master until the latter erupts in anger and has to be severely punished or to pay a great fee
k67c	Skin ribbon ripped off from the back	Person agrees that under certain conditions another may rip off some skin from his back or cut off his ears, nose, etc.
k67d	Flight of the master with his goods in the bag	A master (ogre, devil, wife) tries to get away from his farmhand (her husband). The farmhand hides in the master’s bag (chest) so that the master unwittingly takes him along
k67e	The woman as cuckoo in the tree	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
k72	Three maidens	Powerful person listens in conversation of three (rare: two or four) women. Each of them tells what she would do if the person marries her. One promises to bear his son (children) who would have wonderful qualities, two others promise to practice some kind of work or (more rare) marry people of lower status
k73	Children of the youngest wife	A young woman promises to bear a wonderful children (wonderful son). In her husband's absence other people (co-wives, mother-in-law, etc.) try to kill the mother and/or the child, usually slandering the young woman
k73a	Baby child substituted with object or animal	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)
k73b1	Mother and child in a barrel	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)
k73b3	Throw one nut as a keepsake	A person must count a number of nuts in a barrel (take nuts one by one). He does it accompanying his actions with a denunciating story
k74	Hero, his companions and a dwarf	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
k74a	Only the hero gets to overcome the demon whose track he then follows	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
k75	The youngest daughter is willing (The loathsome bridegroom)	A girl (usually the youngest of several sisters) does not reject but marries a poor, sick, dirty, old, too young, non-human, etc. man who later demonstrates his supernatural qualities
k75a3	The groom	The unrecognized hero works as a groom for the powerful person
k75c	Seven years without washing	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
k76	A strange son	A boy born into a family or found by his adoptive parents has a strange guise (ball of meat, nut, bag, half of a man, an animal). He possesses magic power, becomes a handsome man and usually marries a girl of high social status. The magic spouse of a princess originally has a non-human or monstrous appearance
k76d	Son the hedgehog	An (adoptive) son is a hedgehog. He marries a princess, turns into handsome man.
k77a	Small objects and animals defeat the ogre	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
k77b	The animals in night quarters (Bremen town musicians)	Domestic animals abandon their masters. They find an empty house or build a house. Robbers or the predator animals come there. The domestic animals attack (or just frighten) them. The robbers (predators) do not understand who are their enemies, are scared and run away
k77b1	The wolf flees from the wolf-head	When domestic animals meat the predators, they – deliberately or unintentionally – behave in such a way that the predators escape in panic
k77c	Ones who hide in a house frighten dangerous enemy	Objects and/or domestic animals live in a house. When dangerous enemy comes, they attack him, he dies or escapes (all texts with K77A and K77B included)
k79	Snake serves an example of resuscitation	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
k80a	A bird or an object tell about a murder	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
k80a2	Pipe tells about a murder	Body part of a murdered person or a plant that grew on the place of the crime tells people about the crime
k80a5	A wild boar and the fratricide	Brothers who are rivals as bridegrooms or successors must kill a wild boar. The youngest does it. The elder brother kills him and takes the boar. The crime is uncovered
k80a6	Speaking pipe made from a recently grown plant	A pipe or other musical instrument is made from a plant that has grown on a place where certain person was killed (fell, touched ground). When the instrument plays, people hear a particular message
k80c	The cranes of Ibycus	Person becomes a victim of a murder. Just before dying he or she calls on some birds (celestial bodies, animals, plants, etc.) to bear witness for the crime. Getting to see these birds (this plant, the Sun, the Moon, etc.) the murderer reveals himself without thinking. Or the birds, being the only witnesses, bring the investigators to the murderers.
k80c4	Mute witnesses of the crime	In a deserted place, a man kills another. After some time he is exposed thanks to circumstances and facts that do not seem important and do not report on the crime directly (the victim’s last words; objects or live beings that were or appeared on the place of the murder). (All texts that contain motifs K80c, K80c1, K80c3, K80c4, also contain a more general motif K80c4)
k81	The handless girl	For minor offence or because of false accusation a young girl or woman is maimed and expelled from home (rare: killed or she kills herself). The maimed person magically obtains her body integrity (the dead revives)
k83	The sons on a quest for a wonderful remedy for their father	To cure a sick person or to make him (rare: her) young again it is necessary to bring a remedy from a distant country. The medicine is brought and the sick person is cured (becomes young)
k84	Sisters married to animals	Young man gives his sisters to the first bridegrooms who claim them. These are demons or animals who usually later help him
k85	Horses-brothers	An antagonist possesses a horse which can overtake any other. Hero obtains the brother (sister) of this horse who is the only one to win the race with the antagonist's horse
k88	The two travellers (Truth and Falsehood)	Two men travel or argue about whether truth or falsehood (justice or injustice, etc.) is more powerful. The evil one abandons the good one robbing or blinding (maiming) him but the good one gets back his sight and becomes rich. The evil one usually perishes
k88b	Food exchanged for eyes	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
k8c	Jonah: swallowed by terrestrial animal	Person gets into the belly of ground animal or bird. He kills it from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
k8c1	First swallowed by herbivorous animal and then by wolf	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
k93b1	Conception from eaten fish	After eating a fish, the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
k93b4	Woman, mare, and bitch birth give birth to human boys	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
k94	Bird of luck (eaten up head)	Person eats magic bird, fish, small animal, or fruit and becomes prosperous and powerful
k96	Fifty sons	Many brothers marry or have to marry in such a way that all their wives are (were) sisters
k97	Now you are grieved as I was	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
k99	Prophecy of future sovereiniy	A young man or (rare) a girl has a (day-)dream that predicts his or her future triumph. The dreamer either conceals or reports its contest to his family and in both cases is punished for too high opinion of himself. In the beginning the dreamer sometimes sells his dream to another young man, who becomes the protagonist of the tale. Adventures that follow explain the contest of the dream. The youth becomes rich and happy (e.g. marries heiresses of two kingdoms, that in the dream were symbolized by two suns or a sun and a moon), the girl marries king's son
k99a	The father will humble himself before the son	A lad or a girl (often after having a prophetic dream) claims that he (she) will achieve extraordinary social position (usually that his or her parents, brothers, sisters will demonstrate signs of high respect to him or her). The lad (girl) is expelled out of the family but the prophecy is fulfilled
k99a1	Smart man is rescued from prison	An imprisoned man is rescued and exalted because only he gets to resolve problems that trouble the king or to save the princess (prince, the king himself)
l100	Transformation flight	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
l100d	The entrapped suitors	A pretty, faithful wife is courted by one or several men, one of them usually a clergyman. With her husband’s consent, she invites the suitor(s) to a private rendezvous. Before the first man’s wishes are gratified, the next one arrives and then the husband himself. The suitor or suitors are caught in an uncomfortable position and then killed, punished in some other manner, ridiculed, made to pay ransom, to work, etc.
l100f1	Lover runs away from the husband	A farmhand (a young son of the peasant) arranges a situation a series of tricks to the love affair between the wife of his master and another man. The wife is going to bring food outdoor to her lover but gets to her husband. Seeing the master coming with an axe (stones, etc.), the lover believes, that he is going to attack him and runs away
l101	Pieces of clothes thrown to pursuer	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
l103	Obstacle flight (Atalanta type)	Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay
l106b	Journey to the other world in search of the lost object	In search of a lost object, usually carried away by water or wind, a girl or (rare) a boy comes to a powerful person, gets the object back and/or is rewarded. The object is related to the everyday life, it has no ritual significance and is not a weapon
l108	The wolf and the kids	An (animal) person gives a signal (special song, etc.) to his relative or friend who lets him or her in. Antagonist imitates the person's voice or guise and the relative lets him in
l108a	Goat kills the antagonist	A predator animal (ogre, ogress) swallows people or animals. The goat (rare: the sheep) punishes him or her and usually saves the victims (most often opens the ogre’s belly open and the swallowed ones come out alive)
l108b	The thin voice	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.)
l110	The devourer	A demonic being swallows a multitude of people and animals. When it is killed and cut open, the swallowed ones come out alive or are revived
l113	The ogre bridegroom	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
l114b	To bring ogre's property	Getting a task or by his own initiative, a trickster several times comes to a person (usually an ogre) and steals in succession objects in his possession or members of his family
l114c	To exchange clothes with ogre's daughters	Children or youths (usually a group of brothers) exchange clothes (headgears, ornaments, blankets, sleeping places) with their enemy’s children. The enemy kills his or her own children by mistake. Usually brothers get to the ogre or ogress and the youngest advices to exchange places (clothes, etc.) with ogre’s daughters). Outside of Europe the actors can be animals
l118	Caught in a split log	(Animal) person provokes another to put a part of his body into a split log (between two planks, etc.) and removes the wedge
l120	Snake-women turn into apple-trees	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
l120a	Tongue of dragoness and the smith’s pincers	Hero hides in a smithy from a dragoness who pursues him. She destroys the door or wall (with her tongue) but the hero (smith) burns her (usually grips tight her tongue with his hot pincers or throws hot iron club in her mouth)
l122	Riding a cock	A (demonic) person is riding a cock
l125b	Spouse who eats the dead	Spying on his wife (her husband), the man (woman) gets to see that she (he) goes to eat the dead bodies
l129	Why so big teeth? (Little Red Riding Hood)	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
l15d	The external soul	Life of a person or creature is preserved outside of his (her, its) body. Person or creature dies after the corresponding object is destroyed
l15h	The external soul: three or more objects one inside the other	An object that contains the life (soul) of a person is inside two or more creatures or other objects (like an egg in a duck, a duck in a hare, etc.) or the zoomorphic soul container tries to escape and turns in succession to other animals (three or more transformations)
l15h1	Person’s soul is in the egg	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
l17a1	One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes	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
l19a	Beings with even number of heads	Beings (any besides birds) with even but not more than ten number of heads are described in tales or represented in art. Beings that with even number of heads named in a row with other multi-headed beings and the highest number is even or bigger than ten are not considered
l19b	Beings with odd number of heads	Being (any besides birds) with more than ten heads or with odd (but more than one) number of heads are described in tales or represented in art. If beings with ever more number of heads are named, the row ends with a being that has odd (or more than ten) number of heads
l19b3	The twelve-headed monster	A monster with twelve heads is mentioned either alone or at the end of the row of creatures with ever bigger number of heads
l27	Girl eaten up	Two girls or young women meet a demon. One or both are not aware of danger. One is eaten up, another escapes
l37a	To get know causes of problems
l37b	Secrets accidentally overheard	Person accidentally overhears secrets of animals or demons and thus gets to know the causes of his and other people's misfortunes
l37b1	Toad under a stone	To cure a sick person or to save a household from misfortunes a toad or frog hidden in the house should be killed or removed
l37c	Bad and Good Lucks	A man comes across persons who incorporate his own or somebody’s else Bad and Good Lucks. He gets to influence their behavior and change course of events (for himself) for better
l37c1	Luck (good or bad) as a person	Good or bad luck of a man are particular persons with whom the man meets
l4	The unmasked murderer (Blue Beard)	Person kills girls (rare: his nephews or younger brothers of his wife) in succession (usually the male person kills his wives). The last of potential victims escapes, usually after finding remains of those who had been killed or imprisoned earlier
l40	Reflection and shadow	Person discovers (rare:still fails to discover) another getting to see his or her shadow or reflection in water
l42g	Hansel and Gretel	Step mother or more often father (persuaded by his wife) abandons children in a desolate place. Getting to the ogre or ogress, children (or at least one of them) survive and ultimately achieve success
l42g3	Edible house	In a far-away place person comes across a house that is made, completely or partly, of edible matter
l4b	The stain of blood is impossible to wipe off	Person gets to know that the heroine has broken his or her prohibition to enter a certain room because the corresponding evidence is preserved on her body or on an object given to her (e.g. the blood on the key)
l53	Stones into the maw	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
l57b	Demon comes to get his body part back	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
l5c	Rolling head is a dangerous monster	Rolling head is a dangerous mobster (pursues celestial bodies, people etc.)
l65b	Dogs save their master	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
l65b2	Dogs with the meaningful names	Hero’s dogs have names that tell about their strength and deftness
l65b3	The escape on the tree	Persons climbs a tree and thanks to this escapes from a demon (who usually tries to fell the tree)
l72	The obstacle flight	Running away from a dangerous being, person throws small objects behind him or her which turn into mighty obstacles on the way of the pursuer
l72a	Comb becomes a thicket	Running away from a dangerous being, person throws a comb (a brush) that turns into mighty obstacle (usually a thicket) on the way of the pursuer. (In South America the motif is probably of European origin)
l72e	Pursuer goes back to take his axe	The pursuer cannot break with his hands obstacles created by heroes and must return home after the needed tools
l72e1	Pursuer is hiding his axe	The pursuer uses tools to destroy obstacles created by heroes. Before he continues the chase, he is wasting time hiding these tools or carrying them back to his home because birds and animals can steal them
l73	Ogre tries to drink a river dry and bursts	The antagonist tries to drink a river or sea and bursts
l90	Mouth from the earth to the sky	Monster's upper lip (fang, horn, etc.) touches the sky, lower touches the ground
l90e	Heads on stakes	Stakes with human head on them stand near the house of a dangerous person but one stake is empty. It is supposed that this one is prepared for the head of the hero
l93a	Helpful fox	Cunning fox, jackal or coyote saves particular person or many people, helps them
l94	Child promised to demon	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
l94b	Give me what you do not know at home!	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
l94b1	Demon puts the spilled treasure back into bag	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
l96	Sold in animal’s guise and comes back	Person can transform himself or herself into an animal or an object. Being sold in this guise, he or she achieves his or her aims and becomes a human again
l9f	Golden nose	The nose of anthropomorphic being is like a beak of copper or iron
m101a	Animals learn to fear men	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
m101b	Three men: the former, the future, the present one	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
m106	Meaningful name	Person lies that his name is so and so. Others understand it not as a name but as a common word and behave accordingly
m106a	“Myself” and “Nobody” in demon’s house	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
m106e	For the long winter	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
m106f	A guest from the paradise	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
m106g	The cow is taken to the roof to graze	A cow (donkey, ox, etc.) is taken to the roof to graze grass that was grown there. Or the wife is raised with a rope on her neck
m109	The tail-fisher	Animal person puts his tail (penis) down and waits in hope to get something edible. The tail (penis) is torn or cut off, the person escapes or dies
m109a1	Sham brains	Animal person covers his head with a milky substance or dough and convinces another that he has been so badly injured that his brains are coming out
m109b	Sick animal carries the healthy one	A healthy animal tricks an injured one (a wolf, a bear) into carrying him on his back by pretending to be injured himself
m112	Animals dig a well	An animal person refuses to dig or clean a source of drinking water together with other animals or birds but takes advantage of the results of the work
m113	For certain bird water is taboo	During the hottest month of the summer or permanently birds of certain species are prohibited to drink from the water bodies. Usually they can quench their thirst only from rain drops and dew on leaves and cry calling for rain
m114	Rope of sand	Person is suggested to twist (or he really twists) a rope or make other object of sand, ash, smoke, etc.
m114d	The boiled eggs: eaten last year	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
m114e	To tether a horse to the summer	A girl asks a man who arrived by horse to tether it to the summer or to the winter, i.e. to a sleigh or to a cart
m114i	Asked about their relatives, girl or boy answers with wit	When a girl or a boy is asked where are her or his father, mother, brother or other relations or what they are doing she or he answers in such a way that only a smart person is able to understand what it is about (father went to make an enemy from a friend, mother went to make one out of two, etc.); or the girl explains corresponding answers of other person
m114i1	Throwing away the killed ones, bringing home the unnoticed ones	Person answers that his father (brother, etc.) is hunting; those animals that he gets to see. kills (throws away) and the unnoticed ones lets live (brings with him). Person speaks about lice or fleas.
m118	Source of values is destroyed imprudently	Person or animal gets access to values that are inside an animal, a tree, a rock or other enclosure. Later he himself or more often somebody else tries to do the same but destroys source of values, blocks access to it or makes it too dangerous
m118a	Forty thieves and jars with oil	Chief of thieves (demonic person) brings his men (other demons) into some people’s yard hiding them in empty jars, casks, etc. The plan to kill members of the household at night. A girl (a young woman; rare: somebody else from the family) gets to know about the danger and kills the thieves one by one (usually pouring boiling water into the jars)
m120	Cannibal baby-sitter	Animal person promises to take care of another animal's children but do not fulfill obligations and usually eats the young ones
m120b	Baby-sitter with a nice voice	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.)
m124	A bull’s tail	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
m127a	The quail makes the fox laugh	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
m128	Speckled animals	Hero comes to an agreement with antagonist that he can take animals of particular appearance or with particular behavior and takes all or most of them
m13	The short-sighted wish is granted	Some person makes a wish not taking in mind that his words can have other meaning or accidentally replacing one word with another. As a result, something quite undesirable takes place
m130c	The mouse and the lion (the help of the weak)	When a lion (tiger, bear, elephant, man) gets into a trap, a mouse (rat) makes him free (usually bites through the ropes)
m134	A tower of wolves	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
m134b	Wolf measured by tailor	When a predator is going to eat a man, the latter asks permission first to measure him and beats with his (feigned) measuring tool
m134c	The wolf overeats in the cellar	The wolf or other wild animal gets into the cellar (storehouse, vineyard, etc.) and eats so much that cannot leave
m135	Wolf and two rams	Two ungulate animals (rams, bull, etc.) run from the opposite directions and butt the wolf killing or injuring him
m135a	The wolf's reverses	Wolf (more rare other predator animal) comes to different (more than two species) domestic animals (animals and people) to eat them but agrees to fulfill their requests and remains without his meal and usually becomes beaten (killed)
m136	Sickle as an unknown beast	Grain is harvested with inappropriate tools. Seeing sickle for the first time, people take it for a dangerous animal
m136a	Sunlight carried in a bag	Fools carry sunlight (darkness, smoke) in bags, sieves, etc. and carry it into the room or out of it
m136b	Cutting off the branch	Man sitting on branch of a tree cuts it off and similar variants (man climbs a rope and cuts it off; men cut a tree and climb on it to fell it; man climbs with difficulty on a dead branch of a tree, which breaks off)
m136c	The man takes seriously the prediction of death	Considering indirect signs or somebody’s word, a numskull thinks that he is dead and lies motionless
m136d	The air castles	A person plans to turn his (future) possessions into a great wealth (milk, eggs, small money, animal to be killed, etc.) but imagining this wealth, he destroys what he already has (eggs are broken, the animal runs away, etc.). Or two persons are involved into quarrel about possessions that they do not yet have
m138	Human and animal life spans are readjusted	God originally gives 20 or 30 years to everybody. Some animals refuse some of their years because of their sufferings. Man wants to have more years and takes them from the animals
m140	The theft of fish	Trickster pretends to be dead, sick or weak and is picked up by those who carry something edible in a cart (sledge, boat, bag, etc.). The trickster secretly eats the food, often after throwing it out of the cart (sledge, etc.)
m141	Animals in a pit	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
m142	Fox blames his tail	Fox blames his tail for being useless when escaping from the pursuers (usually he punishes his tail and gets killed himself as a result)
m143	Fox in a well	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
m147a	Foxes will meet at the bazaar	When two foxes (wolves) meet, one of them asks another when their next meeting will be. Another one answers that at the bazaar where pelts are sold (at the fur-dresser, etc.)
m147b	The fox rids himself of fleas	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
m149	Tell them that I am a stump	Strong antagonist is going to kill the hero (a person or a weak animal). Another person or animal pretends not to know about the situation and tells that the antagonist is in search to be killed. The hero is saved. Usually the latter asks the man not to give him out and answer that it is a stump, a log and the like near him. This opens possibility to treat the antagonist as a corresponding object (to cut it with an axe, to tie up, etc.)
m149a	Treaty with the tiger	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
m150	The deceitful herdsman`	An animal person becomes a herdsman but eats the entrusted animals up
m152f	The one whose voice is lowest, should be eaten	Animals agree to eat up one of them whose voice is the lowest
m153	Letter on the hoof	The wolf (lion, etc.) is going to eat a horse (mule, etc.). The horse asks him to look at his hoof (for different reasons) or eat him from his hindquarters forward; then he kicks him
m154	The animal language and the stubborn wife	A man obtains knowledge of animal languages but if he reveals the secret, he must die. Once he hears animals talking and laughs. His wife thinks that he laughs at her or at her mother. The man is ready to open his secret and either does it and dies or hears how animals (usually a cock) blame him for being so foolish. So he keeps his secret.
m154b	The man who does his wife's work	Husband remains home instead of his wife (rare: son instead of his mother) but does everything wrong so as he suffers a series of accidents
m156	The ungrateful one returned to captivity	An (animal) person saves a dangerous animal from a snare or the like. The saved one is going to kill his savior but the third person saves the second (usually tricks the first one to captivity again)
m157	The impossible giving birth	Person claims that a man or a male animal had given birth (or is menstruating) or that a female gave birth to a young of another species or that a woman gave birth to an animal
m157a4	To fish on a hill	Person demonstrates the absurdity of the claims of another person saying that he (or somebody else) was fishing on a hill, putting out a fire spilling straw, looking how the fish fly etc. or he is imitating such an activity. Either the place chosen for the activity or the means are irrational
m157a5	The golden mortar	A man finds a mortar (rare a bell, etc.) of gold (rare: of marble, etc.) and brings it to a powerful person. The latter is not thankful at all but orders the man to bring a pestle too (the bell’s clapper, etc.)
m157a6	You imagine that you speak with the abbot	A man is not wise enough to answer questions put by a king (prince, etc.). His servant or friend takes his place and guise and gives clever answers. Usually one of the questions is like “What I think now?” and the answer, “You think that you speak with the abbot (minister, etc.) but I am a shepherd (a miller, etc.)
m157b	To take the one thing she holds dearest	Husband casts his wife out but allows her to take the one thing she holds dearest. She takes her sleeping or drunk husband with her and thus moves him to forgive her
m158	Tops or buts	Two animals (an animal and a person, an ogre and a person, etc.) agree to divide a crop in such a way that one would take what is above the ground and another what is beneath ground. One of them (several times makes a wrong choice (takes turnip tops and wheat roots)
m158a	Dividing the harvest (The unjust partner)	Two animal persons work their land together and agree to share the profits. While one is working hard, another only pretends to be useful but claims for himself (greater) part of the harvest
m159	The lion’s share	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
m161	A dog in the bag	Person gives another (often a fox) a bag putting inside a dog instead of food; or he makes free a girl who was kept in the bag and replaces her with a dog. The dog attacks the one who opened the bag
m162	Eating his own innards	Person pretends to eat his own innards or flesh and persuades the other to do the same. Other believes and kills themselves
m163	The precious cat	Person gets to a country where rats or mice are a plague and receives a fortune selling a cat
m163b	Father’s heritage brings fortune	When a man is dying, he leaves his son (each of his sons) something that does not have any significant value. The son comes to a country where the corresponding object or animal is unknown and sells it for great money
m164	All tracks going into the den and none coming out	Animal person refuses to enter the den of a strong predator seeing that all tracks go into it but none come out
m164a	Stinking mouth of the lion	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
m165	Fur coat for the wolf	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
m166	Piece among animals	To lure his potential victim down from a tree, a predator pretends not to be dangerous (usually announces that it has been decreed that all animals are united in piece). The victim is dubious and usually asks the predator to announce the same news to the dogs. The predator runs away
m168	More cowardly than the hare	The hare is in despair because he is afraid of all creatures but is delighted when he sees other animals (sheep, frogs, dusks) being afraid of him
m168a	The master taken seriously	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
m169	Medicine for the sick lion	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
m170	Pilgrimage of the animals	An animal person pretends to have no other interests than to fulfill religious rules and prescriptions (to confess his sins, to make a pilgrimage, to become vegetarian, etc.) and kills those who have believed him
m171	The profitable exchange: from a pea to a horse	Person or animal stays for a night and the next morning declares that his possessions (which value is none or negligible) are lost. Or other persons whom the trickster meets really use or spoil objects that the trickster gives them. Every time he receives in compensation objects or animals with ever bigger value, the last acquisition usually being a costly animal or a girl. (All texts with motifs M171A and M171C contain also the motif M171)
m171a	The profitable exchange: getting a girl	Person or animal gets to exchange less valuable goods for ever more valuable. The last or the next to last one is a girl
m171c1	In exchange for a bast-shoe	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
m176	A test: to jump across an obstacle	(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
m178	The lying goat	A man sends others one after the other to pasture the goat. Back home, the goat always complains it did not get anything to eat. The man angrily sends away or kills his shepherds (who usually are his family members). When he himself pastures the goat he realizes that it lies. He is going to kill the goat, usually skins it, but it escapes
m179	A house of bark and a house of ice	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
m179a	The owner driven out of his house	Using a trick the intruder occupies other person’s house and refuses to let the owner in
m179b	Guest makes the house unfit for its owner	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
m180	Fox and crane invite each other	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
m182a	Wild animals stick to horse	Person smears with pitch a domestic animal (a stuffed animal, an object); wild animals or demons stick to it
m182a1	Captured wild animals ransom themselves	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
m182b	The wild animals on the sleigh	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
m183	A race: one against many	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
m183	A race: one against many	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
m184	The slow one is ahead of the sleeping one	A slow and a fast animals agree to race. The fast one is sure that he will win and is not in a hurry at all while the slow one is moving persistently to his aim and wins
m185	On the tail of the fast one (animals)	A slow and a fast animals (or not flying bird) agree to race. The slow one imperceptibly sticks to the fast one’s body (or to a vehicle) and getting to the finish pretends to come there simultaneously with the fast one or before him
m185a	On the tail of the winner (all versions)	Birds, animals or fish compete as about who is the fastest or can fly higher than others. A weak one imperceptible sticks to the body of the fastest or strongest and wins
m187	Snail is a participant of the race	A snail (other mollusk, trepang, etc.) participates in the race and wins
m187c	A crab is a participant of the race	A crab participates in the race and wins
m191	Cat and wild animals	The fox (dog, squirrel) lives with the cat and poses him as a strong and dangerous animal. The wild predator animals are scared and bring him meat
m191a	Belling the cat	The mice decide to tie a bell on the cat, so they can hear when the cat comes. Usually they cannot find anyone to tie it on her
m191c	The singing wolf	By his singing (threats, compliments) the wolf compels an old man to surrender his cattle (and members of his family)
m195	Two horses: which is older?	Person must guess which of two horses or cows is older. He does it considering peculiarities of the habits of these animals
m195a	Which end of a stick is a butt?	Person sends a long object that looks identical from each end or is inside a box. Another person is smart enough to give a correct answer
m195c	Smart or lucky one solves problems	Persons of high status cannot reveal the hidden difference between two or more objects or creatures (or two sides of an objects of creature) which look similar. A smart or lucky person of lower status does it
m197	The effectiveness of fire	Seriously or demonstrating absurdity of the situation, a person tries to cook something using a fire (a source of light) that is far away from the object to be cooked
m197e	The unknown animal	Person is covered with tar (honey) and feathers, moves on his or her hands and knees backward, etc. A demon believes that he sees un unknown animal. The persons is saved
m198	Wise brothers (the king is bastard)	When three brothers (rare: a person) are Invited to khan (judge, king, etc.) and served delicious food, they claim that the food and drink have a taste (smell) of a corpse, dog, goat etc. and/or their host is of a low descent or a bastard. Investigation confirms that their deduction was correct
m198a	Wise brothers (the strayed camel)	Three or four brothers (rare: one man) see the track of a domestic animal and are able to deduce how it looked like (lame, had no tale, carried oil and honey, etc.) or they deduce how the man who had stolen the animal looks like
m198b	The pretended astrologer	A person who has not a bit of a skill to expose thieves and find the lost objects does it successfully thanks to a series of lucky coincidences
m199	Squeezing the (supposed) stone	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
m199b	Not a stone but a bird is thrown	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.
m199c	Throwing a club	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.
m199d	Wrestling and running contests	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
m199e	Carrying the horse	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
m199g1	Carrying a tree with an ogre	An ogre (devil, a strong animal, etc.) and a man (a weaker animal) carry a tree. The man tricks the ogre who carries the heavy bottom-end while the man sits on a branch or walks pretending to carry his burden
m199i	Screaming or whistling context	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
m199n	Counting out pay	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
m199o	Making a hole in a tree	A man and his adversary have a contest to see who can make a (deeper) hole in a tree (stump) with his finger (fist, penis, head). The man cuts the hole beforehand with an instrument and replaces it with a bark or leaves (makes a cut in a tree)
m200	The miller, his son, and the donkey	An elder man and a boy travel with one donkey (horse). They try all possible ways but are always blamed (a man rides on the donkey and the boy walks; the boy on the donkey and the man walks; both on the donkey; both walk or they carry the donkey).
m201	The oak and the mushroom	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
m202	Thorn removed from lion’s paw	Person removes a thorn from the paw (bone from the throat) of a strong and dangerous animal or a demon, the animal (demon) is grateful
m203	Great Pan is dead	A supernatural person or creature asks a man (woman) to pass a message for an unknown adressée. The man does it or retells all the story to his family member. The story provokes such a reaction of another supernatural being (who usually lives in the man’s house) that is totally unexpected for the man
m204	Money gets one who is destined to get it	When a deity (powerful person) attempts to pass some money to a certain man, he either gets it or not thanks to his fate while all other factors play no role
m206	One half of the gift	A guard (courtier) agrees to open a man an access to a powerful person after a promise to share with him the expected reward. The man asks to be bitten (from the very beginning expected the punishment)
m207	The mouse in the jug	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
m23	Mock plea	Person or creature pretends to be afraid of a particular sort of treatment that really cannot do him any harm
m26a	Ducks rise hunter into the air (threaded on a string)	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
m27	Coming back from the sky	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
m29b	Trickster-fox, jackal or coyote	In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
m29b1	The wolf is a failure	Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
m29b2	The bear is a failure/enemy	Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
m29g	Trickster-hare or rabbit	In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is hare or rabbit
m29g2	A crab wins thanks to his smartness	Being smart and witty, the crab overcomes strong adversaries
m29gg	The hedgehog wins thanks to his smartness	Being smart and witty, the hedgehog overcomes overcomes strong adversaries
m29k1 Not used in statistics	The turtle (toad, frog) is a tricky failure	A turtle (tortoise, toad, frog) behaves foolishly creating serious problems for himself
m30	Trickster falls down	Person or creature who has no wings or is unable to fly on a long distance attempts to ascend to the sky or to fly far away but falls down or, deprived of his wings, remains in a place from which he is unable to return
m30b	Birds give and take back their feathers	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
m34	Thrown object turns into tail	An object thrown into person becomes his tail and the person himself an animal
m38	Stupid imitation (all versions)	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
m38c	Superb blacksmith	A blacksmith is (seems to be) able make people young, cure maimed people and animals
m38c1	Old people forged into young ones: unhappy imitation	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
m38c3	Old woman transformed into monkey	A conceited smith attempts to rejuvenate an old woman (man). His magic helper tries to save the victim but all that he do is to transform the woman into an animal, usually a monkey
m38d	Animated objects perish one after another	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
m38d2	The bean, the straw and the coal	Several (usually three) small animated objects travel but fail to cross a river (usually perish attempting to cross it)
m38d5	The grains talk with one another	Two or three different grains talk with one another, act together, etc.
m38d6	Bursting from laugh	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.)
m38e	The mushroom reviles the young oak	The mushroom (gourd) imagines himself to be as lasting and durable as a tree
m39a1	Misunderstood instructions: a step behind	Fool follows instructions that were reasonable in every previous episode but become absurd in every next one
m39a2c	The sowing of salt	Fool (or a person who pretends to be mad) sows salt (small objects) like grain
m39a3	Had your daughter horns?	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
m39a4a	Fool’s customer is an animal or an object	A fool gives meat, a domestic animal, cloth etc. to an animal (plant, inanimate object) and thinks that the latter will pay him later or asks an animal to do some work. Claiming money or products of the work, he finds treasure
m39a4e	Fool’s customer is a tree	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
m39c	Pumpkin sold as a donkey’s egg	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
m39d	Series of clever unjust decisions	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
m39g	Girl bewails the loss of her child before she has any (Clever Elsie)	Girl bewails the loss of her future child before she has any; thinking about an event that could have been tragic; is jealous of her sisters before any of them have fiancée; thinks out the name of her child that does not exist instead of coming to meet her fiancée.
m39g1	Jumping into the breeches	A fool does not know how to pull on his breeches (boots) and jumps down into them from a high place
m39h	Husband pretends to become blind (The faithless wife)	A married woman is eager to get rid of her husband and usually asks a spirit (God, saint, etc.) to make him blind. The husband hides in a tree, behind the alter, etc. and usually tells her that good food will make her husnad blind, or the husband himself tells his wife that the good food is dangerous for him. He pretends to become blind, kills the love (and his wife)
m39i	The treasure of the hanging man	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)
m40	The distorted instructions	Person is sent to receive something of relatively low value. He asks to give him quite different object (to provide a service) and asks one who had sent him to confirm the demand. Usually a person or animal comes to a wife or a son of a powerful one and tells her or him that her (his) husband or father tells to give him food, to make love to him, to marry him, etc.
m57a	Beads discharged from the body	Instead of common body discharges a man or a woman urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular person
m57a3	Female person is the producer of valuables	Instead of common body discharges a a woman urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular female person. See motif m57a
m57c	Gold producing animal	An animal (ass, cow, horse, goat, bear, leopard) extracts gold or food from its body or person makes others believe that it is so
m57d	Beat, cudgel!	Person gets one by one magic objects that bring food or treasure. Other people replace them with common objects or take them away by force. The person takes his property back (usually beating the thieves with magic cudgel or whip)
m57d2	Tree grants a wish	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
m57d3	Wind grants a wish	Wind person grants a wish to a man
m74b	Who has eaten up the fat?	To demonstrate that the thief who had eaten food supplies is somebody else or to declare somebody else as a victim to be eaten up, animal person smears his sleeping companion with remains of the food or body excretions (exchanges the excretions)
m74d	Who ate the lamb’s heart?	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
m75b1	Marco the Rich	A respected man gets to know that a poor boy must inherit all his property or become a king and tries to prevent it, but the fate cannot be changed
m75b4	The Trojan Horse: gaining of the woman	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
m78	A tiny boy (Thumbling)	Tiny boy as small as a thumb, a pea and the like taunts people, predator animals, ogres
m7b	The last one is chosen	Person gets to a place from which he cannot come out. He asks to help him different animals (fish) who pass by or come to him and choses the last one
m7c	The helper is eaten up	Animal person wants to be transported across a body of water or lowered down. Different animals or fish suggest their help. The person accepts the help of the last one, he was waiting for him to eat him
m81f	Blind robber paid back	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
m83b	Whose dream is better?	Two (or more) (animal)-persons agree that whichever of them has the most wonderful dream may eat all the food. The first one tells about a feast that he participated in his dream. His companion answers that he was sure that after such a feast (after getting into the paradise, etc.) the first one would not need the food, so he has eaten it alone
m84	Revived from bones	Person, animal, fish or (rare) a fruit is eaten up and then revived, usually after all bones (all seeds) being put together
m84a	Goat resuscitated	Supernatural beings kill and eat an animal and then put all the bones together (in the animal's skin). After the feast the animal becomes whole (and usually revives)
m85	The fox bluffs	An animal person (usually a fox or a jackal) threatens to cut down a tree on which mother bird (squirrel) made its nest unless she will throw down one of her nestlings (squirrel children) or eggs. Another bird lets the mother bird know that the predator is unable to realize his threat
m90	Snake gives a correct answer of what material the object is made	Somebody suggests to guess what sort of material a certain object is made of. Another person (usually a monster) gets to know the secret and the hero or the heroin must do what they have promised
m90a	To marry a man who would give a correct answer	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
m90a1	The louse skin	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
m91	The killed corpse	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
m95	To bring a present for person's kin	A weaker person asks the stronger one to take present to his or her kin and hides himself or herself in a bag. The stronger one brings the bag to the weaker one's relatives thinking that there are but some objects inside. Usually a girl deceives the ogre into carrying her sisters and then herself in a sack (chest) back to their home
m97	The blind is directed by trees	Person is lost or becomes blind. He walks asking different trees their names and makes decisions according to their answers reaching ultimately his destination
m97a1	The blind person asks trees their names to get the new eyes	The blind person walks asking different trees their names till he finds one that is needed to make (receive) the new eyes
n11	As snow and blood	Person is eager to get a child (spouse) who would be likened to blood and snow (milk)
n22	If they are not dead, they are still alive	Closing formula of the folktale: the teller says that the characters are still alive if they are not already dead
n27	The milk of birds	Bird’s (hen’s) milk is mentioned in fairy tales, riddles and proverbs as something very rare and difficult to obtain
n27c	The bird has no milk	It is claimed that the bird has no milk and/or breasts
n28a	The roots of rocks	Roots (belt) of rocks (stones, mountains) are mentioned in myths, riddles, proverbs, charms and songs as something that does not exist
n28f	Water has no boughs	It is said that water has no boughs or twigs
n31	Birds leave for the South	Coming of the late fall and then winter is signaled by successive migration to the South of two or three species of birds which fly wedge-like (Zugvogel)
n35	Milk river with kissel banks	In a remote country rivers of milk have banks of kissel. It is a sign of abundance
n38	Which key is better	Person asks which key is better: the old one that was lost and found or the new one. By this the marriage partner is meant

Similar traditions based on Cosmology and Etiology motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Finns
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Byelarusians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Serbs, Monte Negro,
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Russians: Central part of Russian ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500: Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, eastern part of Smolensk provinces (most of Smolensk province is Belorussian ethnic territory)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 1 Tradition: Karelians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 1 Tradition: Abkhaz
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 1 Tradition: Swedes
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 1 Tradition: Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 1 Tradition: Ukrainians: Western dialects to the East of Carpathians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 1 Tradition: Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin

Similar traditions based on Adventures and Tricks motifs:
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 5 Tradition: Byelarusians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Ukrainians: Northern dialects
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 3 Tradition: Setu
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Karelians
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Poles
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Mari (Cheremis)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Eastern Sami (including Inari, Skolts)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Rusyns, Hutsuls
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 2 Tradition: Lutsi (Ludza)
Shared motifs (from a list of 10 less used): 1 Tradition: Western Sami