The Sun is female, the Moon is male or (more rare) also female
Modest Sun-woman dazzles (usually pricks with needles, i.e. the sun rays) eyes of those who look at her
Birds argue who of them will fly higher. One who seemed to have less chances wins (he hides himself in feathers of a strong bird using it as a vehicle)
Dark spots on the lunar disc are dirt, blood, paint, traces of beating, burning, scratching, etc. on the Moon person's body or face (Kiliwa: spots on the Sun) and do not form any particular figure
Spots on the lunar disc are dirt thrown into the Moon's face by his/her sister/brother or mother
A girl (with her brother; two small brothers) is (are) in search of the horse or cattle or the girl is in search of her lost brother. She (alone or with her brother; both brothers) turns into a bird (usually a cuckoo; or both siblings turn into birds) that cries in specific way
Two teenagers or young people are in search of each other, call each other (or one of them call another): a girl in search of her lost (or dead) brother or brother’s wife, a boy in search of his brother or sister, young parents in seach their child. One or both of them turn into birds with specific cry
Bat (rare: ostrich) makes attempts to join sometimes animals and sometime birds or is excluded from both categories
Father- or mother-in-law gets to see his or her daughter-in-law in an improper situation (combing her hair, taking a bath, etc.). She is ashamed in turns into a bird (usually a hoopoe) or a turtle
A zoomorphic person gives wise advise concerning the ways that the Sun should follow. His advise is accepted but he himself is punished by the Sun
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)
Person cannot or do not want to give his daughters in marriage to all the men who claim them for wives and transforms animals into girls. (Usually in the beginning of times or after the flood many men come to marry the only daughter of God or patriarch)transforms animals into girls
A strong woman overcomes and kills suitors. Hero or his helper tames her (usually whips in the wedding night). The hero marries her
Woman makes vain overtures to young man and/or falsely accuses him of sexual abuse. Her husband believes that the young man is guilty, kills or tries to kill him
To accuse a man or boy of (sexual) abbuse, a woman tears her clothes, smears or scratches her body pretending to be attacked
A woman revenges on a man who rejected her love but necessary not pretends to be an object of sexual harassment from his part
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
Mortal humans are contrasted with (almost) immortal trees that shed their bark, become green again after winter sleep or propagate by sprouts
The life-medicine is accidentally spilled not on men but on plants which become evergreen, capable for regeneration or producing fruits
The lightning (and thunder) is (produced with) an object (axe, sword, mirror, belt, stones, skin, etc.) in hands of anthropomorphic being
Different sky levels or different categories of clouds have different colors
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)
When a leave or a fruit of a certain tree drops, one of the people on the earth dies
Rainbow is the ornamented part of the clothes, its decoration, a belt
An ungulate animal (a horse, an elk, a moose) with six or more legs is described or represented in art
World is supported by fish or fish-like monster or the earth itself is such a monster
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)
There is an evil star or constellation that brings death and misfortune; usually travelers mistake at night some star for Morning Star, set off, take a wrong direction and perish or get into trouble
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
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
A man gives his last money for simple advices. Each of them saves his life or helps to achieve success or he does not follow the advices and gets into trouble
Women who possess supernatural power and usually come from a non-human world (from sky, from under the water, they are winged beings, bird- or animal-persons) take off their clothes (feather skins and the like) or part of it. Because a man hides the clothes (of one of them), their owner(s) have (has) to marry him or help him
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
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
Hero is sent to bring milk of a wild animal or milk in possession of a dangerous creature or person
A task: to bring object or news from the land of the dead
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
An ugly, old, lazy, etc. woman or (in Chaco) a male trickster comes to man under disguise of his wife or bride who is driven out, confined to the underworld, killed, etc.
To punish an antagonist, he or she is tied to a horse (camel, bull) and dragged or he or she is torn apart (usually by horses)
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
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 monster blocks sources of water (or sends floods) and usually gives some (promises not to send floods) in exchange for human victims or valuables. Hero kills the monster
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
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
Person lets be firmly tied up when another one say that it's only a joke (e.g. a test to see can the first one break bonds)
Person gets into dwelling of master of animals or monstrous shepherd. The host can kill him. The hero escapes sticking to hair of one of the animals who are going out
Person blinds sleeping ogre or ogress and escapes from him or her
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
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
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)
Two men travel or argue about whether truth or falsehood (justice or injustice, etc.) is more powerful. The evil one abandons the good one robbing or blinding (maiming) him but the good one gets back his sight and becomes rich. The evil one usually perishes
A man gets to see two fighting monsters or animals (usually of contrasted colors like red and black, black and white). He helps one of them and/or one of them helps him
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)
A young man or (rare) a girl has a (day-)dream that predicts his or her future triumph. The dreamer either conceals or reports its contest to his family and in both cases is punished for too high opinion of himself. In the beginning the dreamer sometimes sells his dream to another young man, who becomes the protagonist of the tale. Adventures that follow explain the contest of the dream. The youth becomes rich and happy (e.g. marries heiresses of two kingdoms, that in the dream were symbolized by two suns or a sun and a moon), the girl marries king's son
A 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
. The hero or his companion eliminate the source of danger
Several young men (usually three brothers) decide to choose wives (usually shooting arrows or throwing objects on the off-chance). The wife of the youngest initially is ugly or non-human (a frog, a snake) but proves to be beautiful enchantress. She and her husband triumph. Or girls choose their husbands and the youngest one gets a youth who has guise of a snake
A young man shoots an arrow or throws an object on the off-chance He finds the girl to be married or something that helps to obtain her at the place where his arrow (other object) falls
Master of the house allows person to feel himself (herself) free bit not to look into particular place. The person breaks prohibition
To make a poor man rich (usually to marry him to a rich girl or to marry a poor girl to a prince), an animal makes other people believe that the groom is rich already. The man becomes prosperous indeed
A weak and timid man or boy overcomes accidentally powerful enemies and gets high esteem
Life of a person or creature is preserved outside of his (her, its) body. Person or creature dies after the corresponding object is destroyed
Person accidentally overhears secrets of animals or demons and thus gets to know the causes of his and other people's misfortunes
A baby or small child proves to be a demon, devours or injures people
Monster's upper lip (fang, horn, etc.) touches the sky, lower touches the ground
Cunning fox, jackal or coyote saves particular person or many people, helps them
Cunning rabbit or hare saves person, helps him or her
A demon helps a man or a woman or lets him or her free. As a reward, the person is forced to promise to give the demon his child
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
When person sighs or utters an interjection, another one (usually a demon) emerges because his name is spelled like Ahh, Ohhoi, etc.
A man marries a beauty but catches her in a situation when her not human nature is revealed. After this their marriage breaks down
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
A turtle (tortoise, toad, frog) behaves foolishly creating serious problems for himself
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is a mouse
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
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
An animal person pretends to be invited to be godfather or he gives names to different places along which he travels in a sledge, boat, etc. The names look strange but become understandable when other people or animals get to know that their companion has devoured all the supplies
An animal person pretends (several times) that he has to make a visit (that he has been invited to be godfather at a baptism or invited to a funeral or wedding) but instead eats secretly food supplies
Person tricks another to crawl into a basket and closes it. One in a basket is killed or badly injured (usually rolled down a hill)
Person is suggested to twist (or he really twists) a rope or make other object of sand, ash, smoke, etc.
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
Getting to see a donkey (horse, deer) for the first time, a strong predator thinks that this animal is dangerous. His further interpretation of the herbivorous’ behavior supports this impression
A weak companion of a big predator pretends to be strong and brave. Almost drowned сrossing a river and saved by the predator, he pretends to be angry (“Because of you I let a fish go”, etc.)
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
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)
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
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
Person must guess which of two horses or cows is older. He does it considering peculiarities of the habits of these animals
A fugitive turns in succession into different animals or objects. A pursuer does the same, every time becoming an animal or a person who is dangerous for the fugitive in his given guise
At night a girl’s lover has to carry her away but falls asleep or is late. She is carried away by another man who happened to be on the place
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}
When a person is suggested to make something and simultaneously not to make it or to make it differently than it could be made at all (to come clothed and naked, with and without a gift, etc.), he or she finds the solution
A 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
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
Young man gets a girl who is inside of a fruit or (rare) a flower or an egg
Supernatural women make harm to people. Hero overcomes them and usually marries them
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
Person (a devil or a bear) thinks that because the Cornus mas tree (European cornel, male cornel) blossoms before all other fruit trees do, it also brings its fruits early. The cornel fruits become ripe very late, so the person is disappointed and gets no fruits
Babies disappear but are ultimately returned to their mother or father grown up and in good health
Antlers of a stag or tusks of an elephant who a serpent tries to swallow are stuck in its throat
Hero's life is in certain object, usually in his weapon. When antagonist steals the object, the hero dies but revives after his friends or brothers find the object and bring it back
A man on a journey meets tree or two persons who are quarreling over the division of magic objects (a flying carpet, seven mile boots, etc.). The man promises to render a judgment, but he asks first to try our the objects or suggests the owners to run a race and uses opportunity to escape with the objects
A man puts his children questions that seem easy to answer (how they love him, who is the elder in the family, etc.). The elder children flatter, the youngest daughter (rare: son) is reserved and her father drives her away or deprives of inheritance. Later her noble nature becomes evident to him
Person gets to a country where rats or mice are a plague and receives a fortune selling a cat
Wife of a man or wives of a group of brothers envy his (their) sister and tries (try) to destroy her
To accuse a guest of theft, a host plants a treasure into his guest’s bag
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
Person pierces a bladder with blood or red juice, simulates murder or suicide
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
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
Animal person agrees to put on a fresh skin of another animal or to be tied up with raw straps. The skin or straps inflict sufferings (usually after they become dry)
Wandering to the purpose of her or his travel person has to worn out her or his iron shoes or staff
Protagonist of the story is a bird-catcher (bird-hunter) or a son of a bird-catcher (bird-hunter)
An ogre (a dragon, king of the sea) has not killed a man who descended to him as other people had thought but rewarded because the greeted him and/or gave a correct answer to his question
A man obtains an object that fulfills his wishes. The object is stolen but brought back by the animals (which had been saved by the man before)
A girl driven away from home or married to a poor man become prosperous
A girl answers her father (rare: brother) that she loves him like she loves salt (or that salt is the most valuable, etc.). He becomes angry (usually drives her away) but later satisfies himself that she was right
Hero or his helpers cut or gnaw through bow- and other strings of the enemies, make holes in their canoes in order to forestall pursuit
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
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 man discovers that a beautiful girl hides herself under a guise of an ugly and dirty servant, under a skin of an animal or in an object that is brought into his house
To kill a boy (a girl), the antagonist first needs to get rid of his or her horse. When they are ready to kill the horse, the boy (the girl) rides on his horse away saving his or her life
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
Person builds a watercourse or digs a well as a condition of marriage. (Usually the woman breaks her promise to marry the winner and she or her bridegroom die)
Anthropomorphic beings have huge ears (use them for blankets, umbrellas, etc.)
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 finds precious stones or miraculous flowers (usually in a river) and gets to know whence they originate
One who eats certain fruit (leave, etc.) gets horns (long nose, etc.) or turns into an animal. After eating another fruit (leave) person recovers his or her normal body
Person or animal must eat (drink) enormous quantity of food (beverage) or eat or drink poisonous beverage or food
Baby heroes, embryos or objects from which they emerge are found in a river or lake or come to people out of the water
Powerful person listens in conversation of three (rare: two or four) women. Each of them tells what she would do if the person marries her. One promises to bear his son (children) who would have wonderful qualities, two others promise to practice some kind of work or (more rare) marry people of lower status
Hostile women substitute baby of the newly made mother with a pup (inform the baby’s father that his wife has given birth to a pup)
A woman who was falsely accused of killing her new-born child or giving birth to pups and the like is punished in such a way that she must suffer from filth and be taunted by passers by
Person claims that a man or a male animal had given birth (or is menstruating) or that a female gave birth to a young of another species or that a woman gave birth to an animal
A 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
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
Being (any besides birds) with more than ten heads or with odd (but more than one) number of heads are described in tales or represented in art. If beings with ever more number of heads are named, the row ends with a being that has odd (or more than ten) number of heads
Person reckons up number of members in two enormous and alternative multitudes (alive trees and dead trees, men and women, etc.). Usually numbers prove to be equal but one member possesses the qualities of the both multitudes. Adding it to one of them, person demonstrates his case
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
Person is suggested to make clothes of stone or iron or to skin a stone
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
Using trick, a man sells or exchanges for treasure ashes. Another person tries to sell ashes and is ridiculed
Person pretends that a person (often his or her mother, spouse or lover) who recently died is alive, claims that the death of the false alive resulted from negligence of others and gets a reward
Person 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
Person pierces a bladder with blood or red juice, simulates murder or suicide
Many brothers marry or have to marry in such a way that all their wives are (were) sisters
A task: to sort a large amount or small particles of different kind (usually seeds of different plants) mixed in container or to count such particles or to pick up the spilled grains
A task-giver asks the hero to get for him a particular woman
Wandering to the purpose of her or his travel person has to worn out her or his iron shoes or staff
When a boy and a girl are still small children, a bird gets to know about their predetermined marriage. All its attempts to prevent the marriage fail
A person gives order to kill the young man’s sister (mother, wife). The young man saves her but later regrets about it
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.
Demon (snake) regularly kills woman’s husbands during the first night, the woman herself being ignorant about the reason of their death
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
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
An old man needs a son to accomplish a man’s work or service. (Only the youngest) daughter sets to do it (successfully passing her father’s test and) guised as a man
A girl poses as a man, her sex is magically transformed and the man is happily married
A man trains a cat (monkey, dog) to hold lighted candle (lamp) on its head or to extinguish the light by a signal. When a mouse (a rat) runs through the room, the cat drops the candle (forgets about the lamp) and chases the mouse
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
Person cannot understand why the clothes (firewood, etc.) of another are dry after the rain – he protected them with his own body (during the rain was in a shelter)
A borrower returns a cattle (pot) together with a small one, claiming that the cattle gave birth to a child. He borrows the pot again but does not return it, claiming that the pot dies
Person always wins a game thanks to a cat (or a mouse) who carries the lamp (or puts the light out in a certain moment). The hero releases a mouse (or correspondingly a cat), the cat runs after it and the person loses the game
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
Asking about minor details of the case, a judge demonstrates that the plaintiff (or the defendant) lies because he does (not) know about them
When a powerful (supernatural) person gets to see a ridiculous situation, he or she laughs (and thus is cured from his disease). People involved into the situation are rewarded (saved from a danger)
A man or a weak animal and an ogre (giant, devil) have a contest to see which of them can squeeze a stone. The man squeezes a cheese (egg, turnip) and thus intimidates the ogre
A person sends to his or her kinsmen or spouse through other persons a text or an object. Only the receiver understands the real meaning of words or of the object, saves the sender and/or destroys his enemies
A master builder gets to know that the king is going to kill or maim him. He asks to send a messenger to his home to bring an ostensibly forgotten tool or something else. His daughter-in-law understands the real meaning of the message, takes the messenger as a prisoner and saves her father-in-law
Milky Way is the road to a remote city (Rome, Jerusalem, etc.)
A man (usually of high social position) learns by a prediction that a (newborn) girl will be his future wife or a girl from rich family gets to know that her future husband is a poor man. The man (the girl, something else) attempts to kill the predestined marriage partner but only wounds her or him. After the wedding it becomes clear that the prediction is fulfilled
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.)
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.
Two men agree to marry their future children if a girl and a boy will be born. The girl’s parents evade the given obligation. The boy grows up and finds his bride
Coming home after a long absence, a man understands that there is another man in his house but keeps patience and discovers that it is his own son or a close kin of his wife
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)
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?
In the absence of the host, the guest is told that the host is going to kill or to maim him. The guest runs away, the host runs after him with good intentions but the guest believes that the received warning had a reason
The servant is asked to prepare a goose (chicken, etc.), eats one leg and maintains that the goose had only one leg enforcing his point by showing geese who stand on one leg. The master shoots away the geese so that they use both legs. Usually the servant replies that if he had frightened the roasted goose, it would have showed its second leg as well
Two ungulate animals (rams, bull, etc.) run from the opposite directions and butt the wolf killing or injuring him
A man marries a woman but abandons her without consummating his marriage. She visits him in disguise and ultimately he gets to know who was his beautiful companion. Usually the wife gives birth to his son (three sons) and upon seeing the boy, the man realizes that it is his own child
The name of an object of the night sky (usually Venus) is like Zakhra, Zukhra, Zura, etc.
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
A huckster sells powder that he guarantees will kill fleas (rats, etc.). When someone asks how to use it, he relies that one has to catch the flea, hold its mouth (eyes) open and put powder in it. When the customer says that it would be easier simply to crush, the seller agrees with him
In succession and unintentionally a man causes a series of accedents. The injured parties bring him before a judge. In each case the judge makes decisions that are formally logical but patently unacceptable and saves the man
A 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
A man obtains knowledge of animal languages but if he reveals the secret, he must die. Once he hears animals talking and laughs. His wife thinks that he laughs at her or at her mother. The man is ready to open his secret and either does it and dies or hears how animals (usually a cock) blame him for being so foolish. So he keeps his secret.
A person who has not a bit of a skill to expose thieves and find the lost objects does it successfully thanks to a series of lucky coincidences
A girl has a minor body defect. A man tells that the house is nice but the chimney is somewhat crooked. The girl answers that this chimney has a good draught
Only a young boy gives clever answers to the questions or riddles of a powerful man. When this man asks why they sent to him a boy and not a higher and elder person, the boy says that if the man needs somebody who are high and whose beard is long, these are camel and goat
Person is asked to choose between objects that have utilitarian value, often forty (seven, etc.) horses or forty knives. Usually the person does not understand that the question is about different kinds of execution
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
A woman is thrown into a well (pond, hole, etc.) or transformed into a water bird. Being in water, she gives birth to a son (children) or she had been thrown together with her baby. Ultimately she and her children are saved
Food and clothes are extracted from the horn of a cow or goat
Instead of lice, there are other (bigger or dangerous) creatures in the hair of some persons or he or she pretends that his or her hair is infested with them
One of (step)sisters, co-spouses or young female neighbors meets a being that is able to reward and to punish. She behaves herself properly and is rewarded. Another (other) girl comes to the same being but behaves in a wrong way and is punished (not rewarded).
Person has a dream, another person buys it and acquires the fortune that the dream promised
Every time when a demonic person goes away he kills or puts asleep a woman reviving her when he comes back
When water in a spring is replaced with alcohol, honey, etc. or bottles of alcohol seem to be left without supervison, a creature of person becomes drunk and is caught
Every time when a demonic person goes away he kills or puts asleep a woman reviving her when he comes back
Closing formula of the folktale: three apples fell from heaven or a tree; the storyteller got at least one of them. Or it is said that somebody gives / ought to give to the storyteller one or three apples
Person observes traces of some activity that takes place in his (rare: her) house in his (her) absence and then takes by surprise the responsible one
Person (usually a young woman) turns into different objects or creatures which another person destroys one by one. However, the person is reincarnated again and again and ultimately acquires her or his original form
A lad or a girl (often after having a prophetic dream) claims that he (she) will achieve extraordinary social position (usually that his or her parents, brothers, sisters will demonstrate signs of high respect to him or her). The lad (girl) is expelled out of the family but the prophecy is fulfilled
A young woman or (rare) a youth falls dead when her necklace (rare: an organ) is stolen from her and revives again as soon as she gets it back or when the antagonist takes it off
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)
A person promises to fulfill somebody’s request if another gets to know why certain man or woman acts regularly in a strange way
Person eats magic bird, fish, small animal, or fruit and becomes prosperous and powerful
In the feasting hall, the heroine who has magic capacities throws food around (puts it under her bodice, etc.) but arouses admiration among the guests. Other women try to imitate her but only make the room and themselves look unsightly
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
Young man gives his sisters to the first bridegrooms who claim them. These are demons or animals who usually later help him
Person is ordered to bathe in a (boiling) milk or other hot liquid or to jump into fire. He remains unharmed but his adversary usually dies
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
Person is ordered to bathe in a (boiling) milk or other hot liquid or to jump into fire. He remains unharmed but his adversary usually dies
King asks a commoner to pluck (skin, milk, cut) a goose (geese, other birds, animals) that he sends him. The commoner understands correctly that he is allowed to fleece a courtier
Being a victim of the injustice and after much suffering, a young woman speaks with a certain inanimate objects (often it is “the stone of pity”) telling it her sad story or her husband does it. The woman is rescued and the justice reinstated
A girl finds a body of a sleeping youth who will wake up at a certain time and marry the girl who would sit nearby. Usually at the last moment the girl goes away for a time and the impostor takes her place.
Several brothers leave home immediately after their mother gives birth to a girl. Usually they do not want to have another brother and hope that this time a girl will be born but chance or by evil intent a signal is given that not a girl but a boy is born again. The brothers are disappointed and leave, the girl grows up and travels in search of them
Person sets off in search of fire and finds it in the house of a demon. The demon makes harm to the person
A horse tells his rider to whip him with such force that his blood would splash out, skin would come off, flesh would be gashed to the very bone, etc. The rider follows these instructions
Person commits something shameful, obscene. Presumably, nobody could see him doing it. When he asks people, "What's the news?", they answer that so-and-so (this person) has done such a thing
Antagonist perishes falling into the water or trying to cross a water body
When domestic animals meat the predators, they – deliberately or unintentionally – behave in such a way that the predators escape in panic
An animal saves a man or helps him but the ungrateful man humiliates the animal, kills or tries to kill it
Before coming in, a guest gets to notice that the housewife is with her lover. When the husband comes home, the guest pretends to possess magic object or the like that helps him to reveal where the good food and the lover are hidden
A group of young people comes to a demon. The youngest brother of sister or a person whom others take for a sick, unpleasant, invalid one and who often accompanies the others against their wish saves them all
A member (usually the youngest) of a group of boys or girls gets with them to a cannibal. The cannibal plans to kill people when they fall asleep. The youngest boy or girl every time answers the cannibal why he or she is still awake and forces him or her to be engaged into different activities instead of killing the sleeping people. Brothers (sisters) run away and return home
A man sends another one to top of a mountain or a tree to obtain treasure for him. To go back is impossible but the man survives
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
Animal person promises to take care of another animal's children but do not fulfill obligations and usually eats the young ones
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)
Strong antagonist is going to kill the hero (a person or a weak animal). Another person or animal pretends not to know about the situation and tells that the antagonist is in search to be killed. The hero is saved. Usually the latter asks the man not to give him out and answer that it is a stump, a log and the like near him. This opens possibility to treat the antagonist as a corresponding object (to cut it with an axe, to tie up, etc.)
A man tells that there are dangerous animals inside him (or in a box he has) that can come out. A predator who was going to eat the man up (or to bite him) believes him and runs away
Person or animal gets to exchange less valuable goods for ever more valuable. The last or the next to last one is a girl
Somebody pulls out a thorn from a person’s body (cuts off the end of the animal’s tail, etc.) and throws it away or slightly injures the person. As a result the person is compensated with something more valuable than the lost object
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
A king (landlord, etc.) suggests to guess what he has in his hand (in a box). It is an insect there (usually a grasshopper). The man says that now you, Grasshopper, is caught. People think that he gave the correct answer
A man travels to get know why he is poor (unlucky). Other persons, animals, plants ask him to investigate the reason of their own misfortunes. God (fate) tells that the wolf (bear, lion) should eat the most stupid man. Other problems can be resolved if the queen gets a husband, a treasure is taken from under the fruit tree, etc. The man does not use opportunity to become a king, to receive gold, etc. because did not receive direct instructions to do it. The wolf decides that the man is a real fool and he must eat him
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
Somebody acts in absurd way to lure person out of his or her place. The person does not understand the deception and comes to explain how to act correctly
Father sends his daughters or sons to carry out a difficult task. At the very beginning their courage is tested. Only the youngest son or the youngest daughter passes the test successfully. Usually father takes guise of a robber or a predator animal and charges but only the youngest son or the youngest daughter is not scared.
A conflict breaks out among a pair of birds (sparrows, doves, etc.) in which the male bird is (to some extent) guilty. This episode forms the outset of a story in which noble persons participate
When an unusual fish (rare: bird or some water being) is caught, the (young) man lets it go. His father (the king) drives him away or the man goes away by his own initiative. The saved fish (bird) helps him
A young woman (in the burial chamber) is now alive and now dead but after all she is disenchanted
Person asks a servant to bring another some food or object and to pass certain words which for the servant have no meaning. Hearing these words, the recipient understands that the servant had appropriated part of what he had to bring
Father (step mother) abandons children in the forest. He (she) hangs a plank (gourd, shoe, etc.) on a tree that is striking trunk under the wind. Children believe that he is still nearby cutting woods
A man comes into the power of a yogi or demon. He asks the man to walk round the boiling pot of oil or to prostrate himself before the image of a deity. The man asks him to show how to do it and pushes him in or the pot or beheads him
A man (usually a king) isolates his son (daughter) in a closed room, Once the boy (girl), usually because of some chance event gets to see the world outside and his (her) isolation comes the end
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
After eating a fruit (usually an apple, in Northern traditions also an egg), the sterile woman gives birth to a son or twins
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
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller represents himself as being present at the wedding and/or feast, which were organized by characters of the tale
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller ate some food and/or drank some alcohol but it did not get into his mouth and/or stomach
A girl who keeps silence is promised to one who would make her speak; a man with much difficulty makes his magic wife speak
Person becomes a master of another after winning a game (game of chance or Intellectual game but not a sport tournament)
Closing formula of the folktale: the teller says that the characters attained their desires, goals and/or happiness or that God satisfied their desires
Animal person is tricked to creep under the mill wheel, he is killed or badly injured
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
To choose a companion, the youth suggests each of the candidates to make something simple (to eat the served food, to set off). The chosen one demonstrates that he cares for the hero while others keep in mind only their own interests
Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the lion suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the tiger suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Person tricks his enemies to leave their enclosure one by one and cuts off their head as soon as the next one appears before him. In rare cases the multi-headed enemy thrusts his heads on by one and the hero cuts them off
Thanks to activity of a person (usually the old woman who winds or unwinds yarn, threads, etc.), the night and the day alternate with each other
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
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
Wicked stepmother (aunt, a rival) blinds a young woman. The heroine returns her eyes (often gets them back in exchange for some values)
The hero is sent to bring a life-medicine. On his way back a friendly woman replaces the real medicine with a useless one or keeps part of it for herself. Using the medicine she revives the hero when he is treacherously killed
For finding the lost husband (wife, benefactor), person regularly assemble together the chance people to hear what they are saying (usually sets up an inn, bakery, bathhouse and the like where guests are stimulated to talk). One of the people proves to be the lost one or his or her story helps to find the lost one
Person must fill a vessel (to cover a floor) with tears
The girl becomes beautiful or ugly after washing herself in the water of particular color
A fool loses his head (usually bitten off by a bear). His wife or companions cannot say had he his head before but remember that he certainly had a hat (beard)
A man gets to see how two serpents of contrast color fight. He tries to hit one f them but injures another by mistake. The injured snake’s kinfolk come to punish the man but they give him presents after getting know that he regrets his mistake
Птице или человеку, который становится птицей, дано задание принести палку не прямую и не кривую. Эта птица до сих пор ее ищет
A reptile monster demands humans (usually virgins) as a sacrifice or abducts a girl or closes sources of water. Hero kills him. Monster’s victims do not play an active part in the plot
A man goes away, comes across a deceiver and loses freedom and property. His wife comes unrecognized in the man’s guise, punishes the deceiver and saves her husband
Bird’s (hen’s) milk is mentioned in fairy tales, riddles and proverbs as something very rare and difficult to obtain
To have enough time for realizing his plans, hero makes the night longer changing behavior of the person or creature responsible for the day cycle
An ogre puts a man on his back to carry him across the river. Believing that the man is strong, the ogre is amazed why he is so light. The man answers that he keeps most of his weight off, otherwise the ogre would be crushed under it. The ogre wants to try if it is so. The man thrusts an awl (knife, nail) into the ogre’s neck and the ogre asks to keep his weight off again.
On his way a man picks up a precious feather (often despite the warning of his magic horse). When a powerful person gets to know about the feather he tells the man to fulfill difficult tasks
Mother tries to kill her son (children) because he interferes with her love affair
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
A man marries a woman who is really a demon. Her real nature is revealed when in the night being thirsty and unable to find any water inside the house she turns into a snake (flies away letting her body members, etc.)
To appease a water monster (water spirits, gods) or to put an end to the drought or flood, a girl is sacrificed or descends into the water by her own will
An owl proves to be smarter and wiser than other beings
A bat proves to be smarter and wiser than other beings
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
A powerful and rich man loses everything that he has, is separated with his wife and children and they with each other. Later he obtains everything back, his family is united again
A youth comes to an old man (rare: old woman) who instructs him how to obtain magic wife hiding her feather-clothing. For the first time, the youth usually gives her her clothes back, the girl disappears and he lives with the old man till the next opportunity
Being asked where his soul (death) is located, person initially gives a false answer. The inquirer usually becomes to show concern to corresponding object or locus (decorates it, etc.)
A person puts (usually inconspicuously) his or her fingering or other small personal object into a pitcher with which a servant (girl) has come to take water. The servant's mistress or master finds the ring and understands that the person is nearby
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
Certain apples make their owner eternally young
At night a demonic person comes to the tomb to harm the dead
To show their father that he must marry them, his daughters of different age send him fruits of the same kind but of different degree of ripeness (or bread that is differently baked)
The girl will marry a man who (riding on a horse or otherwise) would quickly reach a place that is almost inaccessible (the top of a tower, a mountain, the upper floor of a palace, the top of a staircase, bridge, the bottom of a deep cavity, etc.). Usually the girl herself is in the corresponding place
A 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
Person discovers (rare:still fails to discover) another getting to see his or her shadow or reflection in water
It is said that someone is only lacking bird’s milk or that somewhere the only thing missing is bird’s milk
A tree or a chain of reeds by which people have ascended to the sky is destroyed. On their way back they fall to the ground. Some of them remain in the sky for ever or longer than others
Fool (or a person who pretends to be mad) sows salt (small objects) like grain
A man (usually a king) keeps his daughter (rare: his son) in a closed room, servants bring the girl (boy) meat without bones. Once she or he finds a bone in the meat, uses it to make an opening in the wall and gets to see the world outside
A task-giver asks person to bring fruits of a tree that is difficult to be reached
During the thunderstorm supernatural person beats somthing or somebody with a whip. This is the lightning
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
A palace (castle, crypt, church, bridge) made of gold and silver modules (usually bricks, more rare planks) is mentioned in narratives (in different context)
The king hands his horses (cows) among people to feed them. Only the heroine returns her horse well fed
When a potential bridegroom comes to a man, the latter tells that his daughter is a deformed cripple. The bride proves to be a beauty
A young man has a dream: he sees the Sun, the Moon and a star (all of them or some of these luminaries). When the narrative come to the end, the man understands the meaning of the dream: these are people who love or adore him
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
After seeing a portrait of an unknown beauty, a man is eager to meet her
Person named as the Beardless (Kusa, Kesa, Kose, Kysa, Kusu, etc.) acts in narratives
A man who understand language of animals hears how a pregnant mare says that she carries four (three) persons because the woman on her back is also pregnant
The antagonists acquire person’s organ or body part (his remains) . Another person gets back what has been stolen and the first one revives (becomes strong again)
To trap a desired woman, person lures her to a ship (boat, flying machine, etc.) and carries away
After entering the ear of an animal (usually a horse or a cow) and coming back person becomes handsome (sated, well clad)
Being on guard, the hero gets to know who steals regularly fruits (usually apples) from the garden
It is written at a crossroad that following one of the paths person will safely return and following another it will not return (there is often a third path following which person either returns or not). Hero follows the dangerous path
Person gets to know that the blood (brain, etc.) of a dog who guards sheep nearby can cure the sick princess (prince). He applies this medicine and is rewarded
An animal (a demonic being) asks the hero or heroine to take objects necessary for him (her) from its ear or to enter its ear to make himself or herself handsome, to sleep. etc.
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)
Person finds an objects (usually a feather) with which he illuminates his room
The unrecognized hero works as a gardener at the powerful person
A bald person acts in narratives (thence his usual name: Taz, Tazchi, Kal, Keloglan, Kechal etc.)
In a certain night of the year any wish that was thought of or voiced is fulfilled
A woman is accused of doing something that she could not do by her very nature. To reject accusation, another example of something absurd and impossible is suggested or it is told that the person believes in impossible though rejects possibility of the possible
A youth studies magic but answers his master that he has learned nothing. Thank to this, the master lets him go
Overhearing conversation of two snakes or raven, person gets to know the cause of a sickness of another person: a snake has crawled into him. He snake out and the person regains his health
At night, the fire fades away, and the hero goes in search of it. On his way, he ties up an old woman or an old man (usually, they are responsible for the duration of night and day)
A strong she animal pursues a weaker one male but is stuck netweem trees or stones. The male taunts (usually rapes) her
A woman who was thrown into the water is swallowed by a fish (whale) but ultimately saved
Instead of common body discharges a a man urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular male person. See motif m57a
Instead of common body discharges a a woman urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular female person. See motif m57a
Overhearing conversation of animals or ghosts, person gets to know that the meat (brain, blood) of a dog of a nearby shepherd has magic effect
A man (a boy) drives his cow (or any other domestic animal of a big size) to market. A trickster who would like to buy the animal cheaply tries to convince him that it is a sheep (or any other smaller and cheaper animal). Trickster’s accomplices confirm his opinion and the man sells his cow for the price of a sheep
Woman gives birth to wonderful boy and girl. Being substituted with animals or objects and thrown away, they survive and triumph over their enemies
The supernatural person does not like the behavior of the unkind girl and punishes her making her ugly (disfigured)
A coward or lazy-bones irritates his household so much they expel him home. He travels and overcomes mighty enemies thanks to his ingenuity or good luck
Young man gets a girl who is inside a fruit of the pomegranate
Young man obtains several (usually three) fruits (eggs, pieces of reed). When he opens the first one, a girl who comes out from it immediately disappears because something was wrong (usually the drinking water for her is not available). Only the girl who has come out of the last fruit remains with the man. Cf. motif k33c7
Young man obtains a fruit from which a girl comes out (rare: two girls from two fruits, both remain with the man). The episode of the loss of girls who were inside other fruits is absent, Cf. motif k33c6
A woman hides in a chip of wood (in a twig) that was brought to house and comes out when nobody is nearby
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
A man travels with his wife or daughter. Another woman or a demonic person replaces her when the man goes away for a short time or (rare) falls asleep