The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male
In the beginning it is dark. When the Sun first appears on the sky, primeval beings or part of them perish or turn into animals, spirits, stones
A woman (usually after a conflict with a man or remaining alone) or a man and a woman (married couple, lovers, brother and sister) turn into water mammals
Person paints birds or animals or they paint each other. Some of them are not satisfied with the result
Two birds decorate each other, one becomes worse than it was before
Certain stars or constellations are interpreted as hunters, their dogs and game that the hunters pursue
In the cosmic hunt tale the game pursued by the hunters is a bear
Ursa major (seven stars or only four stars of a dipper) is identified with an ungulate (elk, deer, mountain sheep, etc.)
Constellation of Orion or the Belt of Orion is identified with only one male person, usually with a warrior or hunter
Seven main stars of Ursa major are interpreted as a figure of a mammal: bear, deer, mountain sheep, camel, dog
Chips of wood, branches or pieces of bark thrown or fallen into the water turn into fish and/or aquatic animals
Person beats hares, foxes or other medium size animals who became helpless (usually closed in his house). Tale explains why tips of the animals' ears or tails have a particular color
Raven or other carrion-eating bird of dark color and a similar size was originally white
The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again)
The fire is personified as an elder man (alone or with his wife, mistress of fire)
Certain person is made of improper material and proves to be short-lived or unfit for fulfilling his functions
Certain person is made of human excrement or carrion
A lonely woman or married couple surprises childred who live nearby in guise of animals (plants, objects). After this the children preserve their human guise
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 suffests another a woman but does not have any or does not want to give her. He makes artificial girl (of wood, snow, etc.), sends servant girl instead of his daughter, turns into a woman himself, or recognizes his fault when he feels that it is save to do so
Woman is nursing a worm (caterpillar, reptile, fish) as her baby. People kill the monster
Certain woman or a group of women take for paramour a big water animal (caiman, otter, sea-lion, whale, anaconda; rare: water bird, crab), water spirit or monster. Husbands, brothers or (adoptive) children kill or maim paramour and/or (sometimes) the woman
Person who conceals his or her identity comes to his or her lover (at night). Next time, the lover puts a mark on the stranger's face, body or clothes doing this intentionally (to recognize him or her) or by chance (that leads to the identification)
To realize his or her secret desire (illicit sex, refusal to share food with relations), person pretends to die and is abandoned at a burial place
Person pretends to die. His or her wife or husband abandons him or her on a burial place. He or she marries his or her paramour
Man pretends to die because he does not want to share food with the others and eats it alone at his burial place
A man mistakes his own reflection in river for a beautiful woman and makes attempts to marry her
Person summons with a certain signal a non-human being (usually his or her sexual partner or his or her protégé). Another person spies, uses the same signal or pronounces the same words and kills the being who comes to him (or uses this being sexually himself)
A man lets his wife to be eaten up by worms. She either dies or has a narrow escape
Person or creature is transformed. Separate parts of its (his, her) body give origin to different objects or creatures (only etiological narratives are considered)
Demonic person turns into or consists of different household objects or tools (and into elements of a landscape)
Person has a series of suggestions how to make the world easy for living and free of hard work and death. His companion successively rejects them. Their dialogue forever defines conditions of human life
Person is sent by god to bring instructions or certain objects but distorts, forgets or replaces them. This has fatal consequences for humans or for a certain species of animals. (Lithuanian case can be a mistification)
God sends his messenger to tell people that they should eat only rarely (once in three days or the like). The messenger tells them that they should eat often (three times a day)
Creatures that produce rain and/or thunderstorms are birds or anthropomorphic beings with wings; or (rare) some or all birds are connected with thunder, lightning or rain though Thunder is not a bird
There are objects which remaining on the same place are moving permanently or periodically (meet and part. rise and fall down, shut and open, rotate)
Migratory birds (or shamans in guise of birds) fly from our world to the outer world through the narrow opening, between clashing rocks, under the edge of the sky which is rising and falling, etc. Many birds perish; and/or the person who lives at this place feeds on these birds; the person can be mistress of birds, lives on another side of the pulsating obstacle
Thunder is produced by dragging behind a dry animal skin or (rare) a person (rare) or by shaking clothes
Thunder and lightning (two thunders, two lightings) are close relatives, spouses or in-laws
An ungulate animal (a horse, an elk, a moose) with six or more legs is described or represented in art
Demon tears off or devours one by one legs of aт animal who helps the hero, usually of his riding horse
The alive person who is travelling between the worlds is visible for inhabitants of one world and invisible for inhabitants of another
Shining sky objects or atmospheric phenomena are excrements of sky dwellers
The Pleiades are a group of girls or women (with children)
The Pleiades are any people (of any ages and sex, combined data of i99-i100a)
Orion and the Pleiades are opposed as a man or men and a woman or women. Orion is usually male
Spider person raises the hero to the sky, helps him or her to return back to earth or otherwise helps to overcome the borderlines between worlds
Spider-woman (rare: spider-man) is a patron of the hero who lives in her house and marries her daughter
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
A man turns into powerful bird or creates it. The bird carries away his enemy
Not being burned in a fire, person ascends to the sky or gets across a river on clouds of smoke
A man is marooned on an islet, a rock but survives thanks to helpful birds and animals. The next time the hero and the antagonist exchange roles. Usually the antagonist comes to the islet to see the bones of the abandoned man but the man takes the canoe of the antagonist and paddles away. The antagonist dies
Person is marooned on an islet or on another side of a sea or wide river
A man maroons another because of jealousy or because he plans to take hold of his wife
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)
Person gets into the belly of ground animal or bird. He kills it from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people)
By trick or by force, a rival or adversary kidnaps hero's wife or bride. The man gets her back
Inhabitants of a distant land who have different nature than (normal) human beings struggle from time to time with some non-human enemies. Man helps local dwellers because their enemies are not dangerous for the human beings
Finding a hole in the ground or making it, person gets to see below another world. Usually the earth is seen from the sky
Opening in the firmament is covered with a flat stone. When person puts the stone aside, he or she gets to see the earth
The hero must kill and bring an animal of special (often unusual) color or form
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
Flying person or creature abducts a woman but is ultimately killed or the woman escapes from 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.
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
For helping its children, their powerful mother or father who is a giant bird or (rare) other flying being helps the hero
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
A Man disappears or goes away for long time. His wife sets off, comes to a house where her husband lives now or first sends her son there. She gets to know that he has married another woman
A woman comes to her rival and kills her pushing her head into boiling liquid or pouring it into her ear
Two or three sisters are sent in succession to powerful person. The first or the first and the second sister behave in a wrong way, perish or do not succeed. The last one behaves correctly, gets a reward
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
To get know names of strangers, person finds or creates situations when the strangers call each other by name
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
Person kills girls (rare: his nephews or younger brothers of his wife) in succession (usually the male person kills his wives). The last of potential victims escapes, usually after finding remains of those who had been killed or imprisoned earlier
A bodiless head, face, or skull is a woman's husband, suitor or son. He is not dangerous but a good provider, saves people from hunger, etc.
Person or creature has another face (another mouth) on the back of his (her, its) head
Person discovers (rare:still fails to discover) another getting to see his or her shadow or reflection in water
An ogre or ogress catches a person and brings him to his or her home where he or she plans to cook and eat him. The hero escapes
A man hides in a shelter. An ogre wants him to give certain parts of his body. The man gives the ogre instead parts of the body of a killed animal. The ogre does not understand the deceit, gives in response parts of his own body and dies
A man kills (usually in a tree, on a rock, at the edge of a well, of a precipice) and/or throws down one of his enemies. The other enemies do not recognize their comrade and think that their prey is falling down
Running away from a dangerous being, person throws small objects behind him or her which turn into mighty obstacles on the way of the pursuer
Running away from a dangerous being, person throws objects that turn into mighty obstacles on the way of the pursuer. One of the thrown objects is a whetstone which turns into a mountain
The antagonist tries to drink a river or sea and bursts
One-sided people have one leg and/or also one arm, one half of a head, etc. The second leg is not cut or burned off, preserved as a stump but is absent completely
Cunning fox, jackal or coyote saves particular person or many people, helps them
Pursued by demonic creature (usually a whale or walrus), people throw behind piece by piece children’s or woman’s clothes. These attract the pursuer’s attention, he loses time, the runaways escape
Seriously of for fun, a girl or a woman names an animal or remains of an animal as her husband or steps on the animal’s bones. The animal (revives and) carries her away. Her human husband or brother comes after her and they run away. The animal husband pursues them but abandons the chase or dies
Treasure, or the like, is thrown back to tempt pursuer to delay
Being in a situation when his life depends on a good will of a demon or animal, person either resists or does not resist the temptation to insult or to beat, bite, etc. the latter
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is raven
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
Person sees how others act using magic or according to their animal nature. He or she imitates their actions and gets into trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and refer to everyday activity, mostly to providing and cooking food
Person loses his eyes because of his playfulness or negligence. He makes new eyes of some substance or/and takes eyes of another person
To kill or catch a monster, human figure of wood or clay or alive woman is exposed as a bait. Usually monster's claws or sharp leg get stuck in the wood
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
Hero wounds dangerous enemy (a monster, a robber) and then, in guise of a doctor, comes to him and kills his patient instead of curing him
An animal or a supernatural creature is wounded but escapes. Local doctors are helpless. The hero or his companion, masked as a doctor, comes to the wounded one and either cures or kills him.
The deceiver who promised to cure a sick or wounded person or animal devours him or suggests a remedy that makes the sick one to feel ever worse
One person or animal suggests another to slide downhill to kill or harm him or her
The bear answers the fox (rare sable or wolf) that he is not afraid of the men (often says that he is afraid of the partridges when they fly up suddenly). When the bear attacks a man, he is wounded or killed. Cf. motif M101A
Animal person puts his tail (penis) down and waits in hope to get something edible. The tail (penis) is torn or cut off, the person escapes or dies
Person pretends to eat his own innards or flesh and persuades the other to do the same. Other believes and kills themselves
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 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
Ursus major (seven stars or only four stars of a dipper) is identified with the game animal or anmials (usually pursued by the hunter)
Person who gives difficult tasks to the hero is associated with an animal, a bird or a fish
A woman (rare: a man) with transparent body is described: bones are seen through the skin and marrow through the bones. This transparence is an evidence of the beauty
A woman (rare: a man) with transparent body is described. This transparence is an evidence of the beauty
Inner organs of a girl or food that she swallowed are seen through her body. This transparence is an evidence of the beauty.
Being on a visit to other people or (more often) animals, an (animal)-person sees them act using magic or according to their animal nature. Back at home, he imitates their actions and gets in trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and mostly refer to providing and cooking food
The hero has to come unrecognized to the meeting place of his enemies. He meets an old woman (usually a shaman, a medicine-woman) who goes there, puts on her skin and acquires her appearance
Many animals of one species that all look identical together fulfill the task that would be impossible for any of them if he were alone; the competitors believe that the task was fulfilled by only one animal. Usually a slow and a fast animals agree to race. The slow one puts other animals of his species at the finish or along the distance, each one answering the fast one that he is ahead of him. The fast one accepts his loss
An animal (fox, wolf, leopard) runs along the shore while a fish (burbot, goby) swims in the water. The animal calls him and every time hears his voice from ahead. (Usually the fish puts other fish along the distance but in the Negidal version the competition motif is absent)
One animal person inconspicuously ties rattles to the tail of another. The latter thinks that he is pursued and runs in panic
An ogre puts children (usually they are mice) into his bag, tell a tree (post, etc.) to bend down, hangs the bag on the tree and tells the tree to straighten itself back. Another animal person (usually the fox) releases the children
Birds or an animals takes (animal) person into their boat but acquire their animal guise and leave him in water (when he breaks a taboo)
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the wolf suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Because of its stupidity or unsocial behavior, the bear suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
Animal person who cannot swim asks a good swimmer to carry him. The latter agrees only to throw his rider into the water
A shaman, wizard or other character with magical powers demonstrates his skill. The dwelling in which he and other people are situated begins to fill with water. It is sometimes said that this water is an illusion and that the people also see animals (waterfowl, fish or marine mammals) swimming around
Person gets to a place from which he cannot come out. He asks to help him different animals (fish) who pass by or come to him and choses the last one
The false wife who acquired guise and place of the real one is a smelling bug or a grub
Being irresponsible and light-minded, animal person slides downhill and dies or gets into trouble (falls on sharp pole, into the water, etc.)
Woman gets to the sky and marries a sky-dweller
A man consciously marries a woman related to the non-human world
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, animal, fish or (rare) a fruit is eaten up and then revived, usually after all bones (all seeds) being put together
A man must fulfill difficult tasks (to win competition) to receive the permission for a marriage
Aurora borealis is spirits (of the dead) who run holding burning torches, play or fight with each other
First one, then another man meets a powerful person or persons. The first man is worthy and rewarded with treasure, prestige or the like. The second man (or two men) follows him, behaves in a wrong way and is punished
A man bereaves vultures of their hunting weapons or amulets
A baby or small child proves to be a demon, devours or injures people
A demonic or animal person steals a boy and pretends to be his real mother or father. The boy gets to know the truth, leaves the false parent
A (young) man sets off to find or to return his bride or his wife
When a person or creature who lives in the upper world urinates, it rains (dew falls) on earth
Monstrous bird (giant bat) predates on humans. Heroes fight with it
Person attracts and catches the carrion-eaters (usually some birds) and thanks to this obtains valuables retrieves valuables (fire, woman, animals, etc.)
From the mouth of a monstrous creature or person who is the enemy of the hero fire is coming out; its breath is fire
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
When a man who had got to the land of spirits touches a local dweller the latter dies or becomes sick
Person does not know that he or she eats or cooks the meat of the member of his or her household (blood relation, more rare a spouse or servant) or serves it to his or her friends, or uses her or his bones for everyday needs, or slowly kills him ort her
Person draws a line on the ground creating an obstacle that the pursuer is unable to cross
Mighty bird or other flying creature helps a man because he took care of its youngs feeding them, warming, decorating, etc.
Mighty bird helps a man because he had given food to its nestlings
Mighty bird (more rare other creature/mythological person) helps a man (rare: a woman) because he (she) warms/covers from bad weather its/hers nestlings (children)
An ungulate animal with an additional set of legs on its back runs using in turns legs under its belly and on its back. Thanks to this it is indefatigable
A girl (rejects suitors for a long time but at last) falls in love with a handsome man who proves to be a demon or animal. Usually she eventually escapes from him
To kill the hero, his enemies involve him into a game with a dangerous ball (or ice, stone, bone, iron, a walrus head, a biting skull, etc.)
Person succeeds in getting through the opening which is going to bang shut but the stern of his boat, the tail of an animal or a bird, the body of his horse, or his own heel is flatterned, torn off, etc.
Some migratory birds (or shamns in guse of birds) perish when they reach the border of our world
Man marries a polar bear or grizzly who becomes a woman or a woman who becomes a bear
Inhabitants of the village of the polar bears who are relations of the hero’s wife give him difficult tasks and tests
A girl (a woman, a group of women) intentionally takes a penis-being, a snake, an eel, a lizard, a worm, a big water animal or water monster or a big terrestrial mammal for paramour. People kill or maim the paramour, the woman and/or her progeny or she is transformed herself into an animal. She is blamed for her behavior
Inhabitants of a distant land who are birds (the bird-people) are afraid of birds or animals, which are not dangerous for humans and which usually attack them regularly
In three or more different episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is raven (crow)
Inhabitants of a distant land who are birds (the bird-people) are afraid of birds or animals, which are not dangerous for humans and which usually attack them regularly
Two zoomorphic personages decorates each other or somebody decorates each of them