The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male
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
As a result of some intimate contacts and/or love affair, the Moon acquires its present appearance (often, the stains on his face) and/or ascends to the sky
A figure or an imprint of some being or object are seen in the Moon. (For statistical analysis motifs A32A – A32J are also included into A32)
Dark spots on the lunar disc are dirt, blood, paint, traces of beating, burning, scratching, etc. on the Moon person's body or face (Kiliwa: spots on the Sun) and do not form any particular figure
Original earth was small and later increased in size or the fertile soil grew from a small amount of original substance
When it becomes warm, a person or animal (bird) decides that the winter is over (most often an old woman goes to graze her animals) but dies of cold or the animals that had been deiven to the pasture die
Old woman is incarnation of winter, is associated with snow, or there are several cold days between winter and spring (or fall) associated with a certain old woman
Every one of the seven main stars of the Ursa mayor is a an adult man
An insect feeds on human blood (flesh). Dangerous person asks it where it had sucked blood or whose blood (flesh) is the most delicious. Usually the insect lies or cannot answer (its tongue is cut off) and thanks to this dangerous person attacks certain plants or animals and not people
The snake is an enemy of the swallow (usually because swallow does not let snake to destroy people; the snake sends mosquito or other bloodsucking insect to get know whose blood is the most delicious; the insect flies back to report that human blood is the sweetest; swallow bites its tongue off and the snake gets to pull off feathers from the swallow's tail)
Alcor (a weak star near the second star of the handle of the Big Dipper) is selected as a particular sky object
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
Magic person reveals his true nature and/or remains with the real people after the object responsible for preserving the non-human appearance (usually an animal skin) is destroyed (usually burned)
Several men take part in rescuing, creation or reanimation of a girl (rare: a bird) or several women take part in the reanimation of a dead man or they differetly express their grief. It is asked whose role was crucial (who behavior more noble) and/or who should be the spouse of the reanimated person. Or three men make something valuable and it is asked whose role in the corresponding enterprise was more important
Human body was or could be protected with a hard layer (rare: with hair) but it has been preserved only on fingers and toes (on the head)
A strong woman overcomes and kills suitors. Hero or his helper tames her (usually whips in the wedding night). The hero marries her
After eating certain fruit, berry, tuber, etc. people become sexually aware
Game animals were concentrated in one single place. Certain person lets them disperse in the world
Dog guards (successfully or unsuccessfully) the (still unfinished) physical body of man or the entrance to paradise
Way to the place of a certain person is guided by dangerous creatures (which often stand on the both sides of the pathway). Person placates them by gifts or nice talk, and they let him or her go the both ways, sometimes being punished for this by their master
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)
Dogs having spots over the eyes are called the four-eyed and believed to have special properties (e.g. to see ghosts)
Rainbow is the ornamented part of the clothes, its decoration, a belt
Milky Way is a trace of people who spilled on their way something related to agriculture (straw, chaff, hay, more rare flour, peas)
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)
Ursa major or other circumpolar constellation is a stretcher on which a dead or sick person is carried, a dead body ready for the burial, a tomb
Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water
When person comes to the water body, waters are split apart so the person reaches the other bank walking on the dry ground
Person or animal is eaten up or destroyed otherwise. His bones are put together and he or it is revived. Because one bone was broken, swallowed or lost (or a drop of blood, a small piece of flesh lost), the person or animal cannot be revived or being revived misses some part of his or its body
A man maroons another because of jealousy or because he plans to take hold of his wife
Hero climbs up (e.g. to a tree) or down (e.g. into a deep cave) by ladder, rope, from branch to branch, etc. The rope etc. breaks or is intentionally destroyed and the hero cannot return to the ground. (All cases of motif K2A, besides the Koreans, also contain motif K2)
Hero is sent to the lower world though a well, precipice, etc. After he obtains valuables (young women), his envious companions cut the rope to get rid of him but he succeeds in returning back
Person gets into the belly of water being or into the belly of giant creature which appearance and living place remain vague. He kills the monster from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
Women who possess supernatural power and usually come from a non-human world (from sky, from under the water, they are winged beings, bird- or animal-persons) take off their clothes (feather skins and the like) or part of it. Because a man hides the clothes (of one of them), their owner(s) have (has) to marry him or help him
Supernatural male person (often a snake, a dragon) hides clothes of a human girl or sits on it. To return her clothes she had to become his wife
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
The hero must kill and bring an animal of special (often unusual) color or form
A task: to bring object or news from the land of the dead
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)
For helping its children, their powerful mother or father who is a giant bird or (rare) other flying being helps the hero
Getting to the underworld, hero should take a white ram (horse) which would carry him back to earth. By chance, he takes the black one which carries him even deeper to the lower level of the underworld. Or the hero grabs not the right but the left horn of the animal and because of this gets to the wrong place
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)
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
One man puts another into a box, closes the lid (or ties him to a board, to canoe, etc.) and puts the box adrift. It floats to another land, man is released there, returns home, revenges on his enemy
Several companions have extraordinary abilities (one who runs fast, one who eats great quantities, one who produces or can withstand severe frost, etc.); a hero comes across and takes for companions several men, each of them being involved into a special and unusual activity
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
A young woman promises to bear a wonderful children (wonderful son). In her husband's absence other people (co-wives, mother-in-law, etc.) try to kill the mother and/or the child, usually slandering the young woman
Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with a pup (inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to a pup)
The hero and his companion or companions live together. Every morning one stays at home while another or others go to hunt, etc. A demonic person comes, eats up all the food and beats the cook. Or the man who remained at home comes to the demon himself in search of fire and is maltreated by him. The hero kills or neutralizes the demon
Every time a demon commits an outrage upon one of the men who remains at home. When it is the hero’s turn, he overcomes the demon and follows his track to his world
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
Boy or girl selects one person among many throwing an object (usually an apple) into him or her. This way a girl makes a choice of a husband, a young man of a bride, a boy identifies his father
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
After a series of adventures and victories, the hero gets into trouble. His twin brother or the best friend follows his traces, gets across the same persons but overcomes the last enemy and revives (liberates) the hero
Sleeping in one bed with a woman, man puts a sharp or thorny object between them as a sign of chastity (sometimes the woman herself puts the sword)
Two persons who loved each other (usually a man and a girl) are buried in one grave or not far from each other. After the burial something related to this event takes place (two plants grow up and stretch their branches to each other, smoke of two funeral pyres is merged, two birds flu out from the grave, two stars appear on the sky, etc.)
A woman who initially is friendly to the hero (his mother, sister, more rare his wife, sexual partner) begins to cooperate with his enemy. For this she provokes the hero to do something that is mortally dangerous for him
To get rid of a baby child or of the magic cock, they throw him into enclosure for animals, but cows or other animals do not trample the child or cock down
A woman is abandoned by her magic husband. She finds him and becomes his wife again
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
Life of a person or creature is preserved outside of his (her, its) body. Person or creature dies after the corresponding object is destroyed
Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay
An (animal) person gives a signal (special song, etc.) to his relative or friend who lets him or her in. Antagonist imitates the person's voice or guise and the relative lets him in
A predator animal (ogre, ogress) swallows people or animals. The goat (rare: the sheep) punishes him or her and usually saves the victims (most often opens the ogre’s belly open and the swallowed ones come out alive)
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
Hero comes across a (animal-)person from an enemy group and takes his or her appearance, usually dressing himself in a skin of his victim; after this he penetrates the enemy camp
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
To come unnoticed to his adversaries, the hero takes the guise of a servant (usually a herdsman) and before that gets know from the real herdsman how to act and to speak with his masters (usually what should be said to ferry the cattle across a river)
A servant has to lick soles or a wound of his master or mistress. The hero comes disguised as the servant and instead of licking the soles rubs them (rubs the wound) with a cut off animal tongue
Person, animal, fish or (rare) a fruit is eaten up and then revived, usually after all bones (all seeds) being put together
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)
Trickster animal asks a bird to make him laugh. The bird sits on the head of a woman (child, cow, etc.), other person tries to kill the bird, hits the wife (breaks cow's horn, etc.). Or the bird distracts person attention to let the trickster steal the person’s food
Animal person attaches a vessel or its part to his body, puts it into the water, the vessel is heavy and drags him into the water
An animal person mistakes an object abandoned by chance or intentionally for an evidence of a danger and behaves inadequately
An animal knows that food is in a trap or poisoned and tricks another to take it
Every main star of the Big Dipper is interpreted as a particular person or animal
Person finds precious stones or miraculous flowers (usually in a river) and gets to know whence they originate
Every time when a demonic person goes away he kills or puts asleep a woman reviving her when he comes back
In exchange for temporal advantages, person agrees to be maimed or branded
Hero gives his rivals the food provided by him by order of the king but the king finds this food poisonous, useless or tasteless while the food presented by the hero is excellent even if it looks not so good
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
A powerful person coverts a beautiful bride or wife of a man and gives him impossible tasks to get rid of him
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)
Wandering to the purpose of her or his travel person has to worn out her or his iron shoes or staff
A task: to bring objects (usually fruits) that act like people, i.e. dance, sing and the like
Person is suggested to fulfill tasks that are mortally dangerous or cannot be fulfilled without supernatural helpers or capacities. The person fulfills the tasks and remains alive. A contest between persons has form of a competition or game in which the loser is deprived of his status or life
A youth gets to know that a woman (usually his mother) conceals from him important information about his father, brothers or bride. He causes her pain (usually putting hot scone, handful of hot grain, etc. into her hand) making her tell him the truth
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
Three (rare two or four) men take part in creation of a girl: one cuts her body of wood, another puts clothes on her, the third one makes her alive. To whom does she belong?
The name of an object of the night sky (usually Venus) is like Zakhra, Zukhra, Zura, etc.
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller says that the characters attained their desires, goals and/or happiness or that God satisfied their desires
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
People are ordered to kill their fathers or (rare) mothers (the Nyoro: to deprive them of power and property; the Baluch: not to take them setting off for the journey). An old man concealed by his son helps to resolve difficult problem
When an aged father is banned from the table and served his meals in a wooden cup by his son and his daughter-in-law, the little grandson starts to build a similar cup for his parents to use when they grow old. Thereupon the couple starts to reflect on their undignified behavior. Thinking of their own old age, they bring the old father back to the family table (previously type 980B). A son gives his father half a blanket (carpet, cape, cloth) to keep warm. Thereupon the little grandson keeps the other half of the blanket and explains that he will save it for his parents for when they are old (previously type 980A.). An aged father is abandoned by his son in the wilderness (abyss) in a cart (sledge, basket). The grandson keeps it in order to use it in the same way for his parents when they have grown old. They reflect on their behavior. (previously type 980C). The ungrateful son drags his old father out of the house. At the threshold the father says, "Do not drag me further; I dragged my own father only this far!". The son reflects on his bad behavior
Maternal uncle or father (or grandfather if he replaces father who is not mentioned) of the young man is his rival or enemy and tries to kill him
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
Master of the house allows person to feel himself (herself) free bit not to look into particular place. The person breaks prohibition
Person tricks his enemies to leave their enclosure one by one and cuts off their head as soon as the next one appears before him. In rare cases the multi-headed enemy thrusts his heads on by one and the hero cuts them off
Person accidentally overhears secrets of animals or demons and thus gets to know the causes of his and other people's misfortunes
Dark spots on the Moon are scars and wounds on her face
Several (usually three) small animated objects travel but fail to cross a river (usually perish attempting to cross it)
An animal (ass, cow, horse, goat, bear, leopard) extracts gold or food from its body or person makes others believe that it is so
Person gets other person’s possessions by trick (or pretends to get it; usually another person is drowned instead of him) and then demonstrates his possessions (usually a herd) and explains that he had received everything at the river bottom. His enemies believe him
Person is put into a bag (a cage, tied up, etc.) to be drowned, burned, etc. He pretends to be in this situation by his own will or because he refuses to marry a princess, to become a chief and the like. Another person is willing to take his place and is killed
After warning his wife about the planned trick, person lets free a wild animal or bird asking it to pass a message to his wife. Seeing the same (actually another) animal or bird in his companion’s house another man buys the animal for a lot of money
When a weak animal or a person gets to see a predator animal or an ogre, he says in a loud voice (or asks to say his wife or children) something that frightens the predator (ogre): why the predator (ogre) brought to him is lean (small; only one instead of several), or it is good that more food gets to his house, etc. The predator (ogre) runs away
A stronger and a weaker predator animals (ogre and an animal) tie together for safety. When the stronger one runs away, he drags the weaker one along with him
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
Person transforms people who come to him or her into inanimate objects, usually stones
A task-giver asks the hero to get for him a particular woman
A task: to sort a large amount or small particles of different kind (usually seeds of different plants) mixed in container or to count such particles or to pick up the spilled grains
Many brothers marry or have to marry in such a way that all their wives are (were) sisters
Every night or every year a mare gives birth to a colt but every time it is stolen
When two persons are fighting, somebody wants one of them fall (while another be firm on his feet) and for this throws something under his feet
Person sets off in search of fire and finds it in the house of a demon. The demon makes harm to the person
While the men of the household are not at home, a demonic person comes to drink blood of a girl or young woman. Initially the men do not understand why the girl becomes thin
Hero’s companions cut off his legs and abandon him (usually they put a sword in front of his tent and when the hero runs out in a hurry, he is wounded by the blade)
Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
A young woman is transformed into an animal, pushed into the water, into the underworld or she herself has to plunge into water (acquire animal form). Her connection with the human world is not completely lost, however, and usually she is helped to return to the people
Siblings (most often younger brother and elder sister) leave their home. One of them (most often the brother, most rare several brothers) turn into animal (usually an ungulate) or (rare) a bird but (in the most cases) ultimately acquires his or her human form again
Person kills others inviting them to sit on a swing and launching them into water, on rocks, etc.
A man is going to marry his sister (often puts certain condition on his future marriage, only his sister complies with them). The girl gets to escape
Members of the girl’s family want to marry her to a man who should not be her marriage partner (usually it is her own brother). They ask her to name them as her in-laws or the girl herself tells that they are not anymore her mother, sister, etc. but her mother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc. or her worst enemies
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).
A girl is told to clean (to spin) yarn (to weave, etc.). The yarn (spindle, a piece of fabric, etc.) is carried away by the wind. In search of it the girl comes to a person who makes her beautiful (gives precious gifts and the like)
A wayfarer asks his companion in an allegorical for to tell a story. The companion takes his words in the direct sense and acts stupidly or thinks that his companion is a fool
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)
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
A boy is born whose father or (rare) mother is unknown. He himself points at his parent who as a rule occupies the lowest social position. Usually many men (women) come together and everyone hopes that the boy points at him (her)
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
Not the powerful person himself but his official or adviser tries to get rid of the hero and suggests that the person should give the hero difficult tasks
When a demonic person or a predator animal gives his name, the hero or a herbivorous animal invents such a name for himself that suggests his superiority over his opponent
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the lion suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
A weak predator eats part of a body of a killed animal and explain to the strong one that this animal did not have such a part at all
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
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
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
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Person gets one by one magic objects that bring food or treasure. Other people replace them with common objects or take them away by force. The person takes his property back (usually beating the thieves with magic cudgel or whip)
A bird gives a man several magic objects in succession (or one object which helps to get others) or fulfills in succession a series of his wishes
A person promises to fulfill somebody’s request if another gets to know why certain man or woman acts regularly in a strange way
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)
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
King’s wife is extremely touchy and cannot suffer a slightest pain. She does not say a word, however, when her lover who is a servant or a demon is beating her
Using trick, a man sells or exchanges for treasure ashes. Another person tries to sell ashes and is ridiculed
The time required to perform an action or the time that has passed since the described event is estimated by comparing with the time required to boil the water and / or to cook a food
Frog or toad marries a girl or a handsome youth marries a frog or road
Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with an animal or an object (inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to an animal or an object)
To get rid of a young man, his female antagonist uses a stratagem. She tells his sister (rare: tells directly him) about some wonderful objects and the girl is overcome with the desire to have them. An attempt to obtain these objects entails a risk for one’s life. The youth sets off to obtain the objects
Person is going to kill anyone who gets to know why he punished his former wife so brutally
A man whose feet were cut off lives with two others, one of whom lost his hands and another eyes (or with one of them). Acting in cooperation, they become health again
Two lovers are buried in one grave or nearby. Two plants that grow up on the place stretch their branches to each other but a thorn grows in between them as an incarnation or symbol of a person who prevented the happy marriage
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
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
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
Clouds are associated with cattle (and rain is the milk of the cloud coes)
The antagonist believes that the hero was burned but returned from the other world alive and prosperous therefore he asks burn him (her) or his representatives
The demon swallows and vomits maimed and disfigured persons that makes them healthy and handsome
A girl or young woman sets off to find or return her fience or her husband or she escapes from a fanger and ultimately marries happily
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
The sovereign orders his youngest daughter (together with a man chosen by her) to live in conditions that do not correspond to her high status. Her father does not know that her chosen one is not a poor wretch as he seems to be but a prince
After seeing a portrait of an unknown beauty, a man is eager to meet her
Son of the antagonist and the hero have the same father or mother (or they are nephew and uncle). When the antagonist conspires against the hero his (her) son becomes friend and companion of the hero
Описывается или изображается чудовище (обычно змей) о семи головах. При перечисления существ по мере возрастания у них числа голов ряд заканчивается на семи
A kid (lamb, gazelle, etc.) comes to a well (see, etc.) where his mistress was pushed down and says that they sharpen knives and boil water to kill and cook him
Supernatural person comes to help every time when he hears a signal of alarm but refuses to do it since the signal was given without a reason
Dangerous animal seeks to kill a person or other animal who rescued it from captivity. The dangerous animal and its victim agree to ask somebody else if a good deed should be repayed with a bad one. Inanimate objects are among those who answer to this question
First seeds (sprouts, tubors) of cultivated plants or of important edible wild plants are brought from the sky (received from the sky-dwellers)
Person tries or must try to cut or to dig with the wooden (plumb, felt) tool instead of the iron one
Powerful bird has its nest on the tree that stands in or nearby the body of water. The serpent (reptilian monster) comes out of it to devour the nestlings
An (ostensibly) sick (ugly, weak, poorly clad) person remains at home when others go to the feast. The person comes by himself or herself looking like a handsome man or beautiful girl. The man (woman) does not recognize him (her) and feels against her (him) sexual interestю (All texts with motif k57, Chinderella, are also included into f62)
The bear (lion) takes a woman for sexual partner or the she-bear takes a man. They have children who look like humans or bear cubs. More rare the woman gives birth to her son in the bear den because being abducted by the bear she was pregnant
Mighty hero is retired to the cave (tomb etc.) will come back to the world (to help his people) or he could come but decided not to do it
The imprisoned supernatural person breaks his chains and escapes after they give him some water (or wine, etc.)
The (adopted) human child of a bear has superhuman strength
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
The Sun and the Moon are or were enemies, either permanently or in particular situations
On her or his way to the destination, person (on his or her way back) names dangerous or repulsive objects and beings beautiful and nice, thus securing their loyalty
Woman gives birth to wonderful boy and girl. Being substituted with animals or objects and thrown away, they survive and triumph over their enemies
An object that contains certain person’s soul / death is inside other object, the latter is in the third one (etc.). The last receptacle of the life is a (small) bird (a nestling, several nestlings of birds)
Because of her simple-heartedness or by chance a young girl becomes a cause of her mother’s death