Another sun, usually less benevolent and/or powerful, existed before the present one
The Moon is female or bisexual, the Sun is male
Visible sun and/or moon are the Sun's and/or the Moon's eyes. If these eyes were not injured, light and heat would be more intense
Darkness is a particular object that can be carried (usually brought from its original owner in a container)
Day light (also warmth, the sun, the moon) is kept as a particular object in a container, under a cover, etc.
People had trouble making love before night came into being
After being engaged into a conflict or breaking a tabou, people are transformed into wild pigs or peccaries
Person makes a circle of bird feathers around a group of people or throws feathers into their dwelling, people turn into wild pigs
Persons ponders over what object, feature, or creature it would be appropriate for him or her to turn into. When the choice is made, the persons transforms himself or herself
After a conflict with their husbands women turn into fish
When night escapes from container where it was originally preserved, men surprised by the darkness turn into birds or animals
Birds, fish, reptiles, mammals intentionally or by chance are smeared with colorful substances or divide among themselves parts of somebody's body thus acquiring their present characteristics
Birds obtain their voices after pecking big reptile and smearing themselves with liquids from its body
After the crocodile or caiman swallows or loses fire (that he possessed before), he remains without his tongue; or the crocodile's tongue is cut off to make something related to celestial fire (thunderbolt, sun beams, etc.
Originally the sky was close to the earth, then it has risen up
Inhabitans of the Middle World are (partly) destroyed (or will be destoyed) once by fire or draught, another time by a flood or the world is destroyed with a flood of fire or boiling water
Birds or humans later changed to birds are sent to explore the earth (is it dry, are any survivals, to investigate why smoke rises to the sky, etc.) or to bring some soil to make the land that would be good for living
Fire is stolen from its original owner or brought back to the people from somebody who had stolen it before
Female person is the owner or inventor (but not the personification) of the fire
Badly burned person turns into caiman or crocodile
Two companions or brothers live together. The elder conceals his wife from the younger. In his absence, the younger tries to make the woman laugh and this way to get know her hiding place
To find a person who is hiding somewhere inside the house, another one tries to make her or him laugh
The first people (or only the first men or the first women) are not created but come to earth from the underworld (from a cave) or from a small enclosure under the earth or on its surface (tree trunk, rock, gourd, etc.). Many people of both sexes and of different ages or people and different species of animals come out together
The first people or (the first) woman (wife of a primeval ancestor) are made of wood
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
Man marries monkey-woman; supernatural woman takes form of a monkey or the man pretends that the house-keeper is a monkey
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)
Sacred knowledge, objects and rituals are initially obtained from the denizens of the underwater world
Entering water, certain person makes fish die. From parts of his body or from his grave grows plant used to prepare fish poison (timbo)
Woman has no vagina and it is later made by bird or animal
Man takes or attempts to take a wife who is connected with the underwater world (fish, crab, snake, water animal and the like)
For different reasons, sexual contact with a woman is deadly dangerous for a man
There are teeth, blades or sharp stones in woman’s genitals, vagina is the biting mouth. (Only texts that are believed to correspond to reality are considered but not anecdotes and jokes)
After contact with a non-human or prohibited partner (close kin, animal, spirit) man's penis becomes so long that he had to carry it in a basket, etc.
After copulation with a frog, man's penis is injured
Man and woman embrace each other forever or for a long time
A girl or young woman who is usually occupied with domestic work (is cooking, weaving, etc.) sits on the ground and copulates with a penis-like creature that crawls from below into her vagina
A woman or a girl takes a snake, an eel (i.e. Pacific snake-eel), a lizard, or a worm for husband or paramour. People kill or badly injure him, the woman and/or her progeny or the woman herself is transformed into snake. Cf. motif k76b: the snake-husband becomes and remains a handsome man
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
Certain woman or a group of women takes for a paramour a big land animal. Husbands, brothers or (adoptive) children kill or maim paramour and (sometimes) the woman
Person knocks the gourd vessel that floats above the water to call water monster or serpent. Usually a woman calls this way her monstrous paramour
Women were possessors of the sacred knowledge, sanctuaries or ritual objects which are now taboo for them or they made attempts to acquire such a knowledge or objects
The women dominated over the men in the past or in a far away land, were the active part in marriage relations, practiced activities which now are reserved of the men only. Or the women could obtained supremacy but failed to do it for some reason
An anthropomorphic male or an androgyne is the only possessor or leader of women
The women of the ancestral community kill or abandon the men
The women and the men of the primeval community quarrel and abandon each other
In the beginning of time two or more men (animal people) have only one woman
Different women are not similar physically because pieces of the first woman's flesh distributed between men were of unequal quality or because males who copulated with her had different nature
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)
Initially women's genitals were fragrant or had no smell. Because of a bad chance they acquire unpleasant odor or do not acquire fragrant odor
Two companions or brothers live together. One has a wife which he conceals. Another suspects her existence, destroys her or tries to get a wife also for himself
A girl (wife) rejects an ugly youth (her husband). He becomes handsom (usually thanks to the help of a supernatural person). Those who were evil to him are punished
Before acquisition of cultivated plants people ate fungi. Fingi is a food of non-human beings. Fungi is a false food of inferior quality
A person asks people to abandon him or her in the forest, to burn or drag him or her around the future garden plot, to burn her in her house, etc. People fulfill the person's wish and find cultivated plants growing on the place
Food crops emerge from remains of a woman or girl
Person or creature is transformed. Separate parts of its (his, her) body give origin to different objects or creatures (only etiological narratives are considered)
Person or creature is transformed. Separate parts of its (his, her) body give origin to different plants, mostly edible or cultivated
Game animals were concentrated in one single place. Certain person lets them disperse in the world
Person possesses game animals or fish. A boy or a girl knows this secret or is used as a luring device. Another person asks or forces the boy or girl to serve him the same way or the boy himself makes an attempt to hunt or fish. As a result, the boy or girl is killed or carried away by animals or fish
Container with valuables or with dangerous creatures is opened (before time). Its content goes out of control or disappear
Only one pole or mountain supports the earth or the sky
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)
Snake, lizard or worm is a bridge or a rope over the river
Game animals live inside a mountain, in a cave or in the underworld where they often look like humans and have a master
Big game animals disappear under the earth and produce earthquakes
Trees or reeds grow on the back of a monstrous reptile
A tree-frog kills or neutralizes dangerous person or creature who chases heroes
Hero's parents are killed by turtle who pulled them under the water
A man turns into powerful bird or creates it. The bird carries away his enemy
A mighty bird thrust its talons into a big fish, whale, water monster, etc. Talons get stuck, the bird is either pulled down under the water or makes itself free with great difficulty
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
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 woman marries a dog, gives birth to the ancestors of present dogs who are people's helpers and friends
A powerful supernatural wants to check if his guest made love with his wife or daughter. The person is impotent or (successfully pretends to be) chaste and is rewarded or at least gets no harm. Usually the same episodes repeats with another person who is dissolute or unable to control himself. This person is punished
First one, then another man meets a powerful person or persons. The first man is worthy and rewarded with treasure, prestige or the like. The second man (or two men) follows him, behaves in a wrong way and is punished
A demon takes appearance of a man and comes to his wife or (rare) to other woman. The woman (alone or with her child) runs away and/or kills the monster (herself or with somebody's help)
Instead of chasing a person, a bush spirit, a monster or a dangerous animal follows by mistake an object or animal that moves nearby
Person's leg is injured intentionally or by chance. The loss of one leg does not bother him. He uses the sharpened bone as a thrust weapon
A cannibal under a tree plans to eat up a man who has climbed the tree. The man throws down and afar his pray or some object and escapes while the cannibal rushes to this object or is eating the pray
An ogre or ogress catches a person and carries his or her prey home but the person escapes on the way or immediately after reaching the ogre's house
Hero escapes from the demon's basket or bag letting stone (a piece of wood, some sand) instead of him
Persons who are dangerous for the hero (demons, robbers, merchants) take for something pleasant and edible those objects, creatures or matters (excrements, snakes, insects, etc.) that are disgusting (not edible)
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
An ogre or a stronger animal catches a man or a weaker animal or drives him into a small enclosure and goes away for a time leaving a watchman. The hero dupes the watchman, escapes. (Most, though hardly all American cases can have post-Columbian African origin)
A monstrous being is killed or neutralized by (burning hot) stones (pieces of metal, heavy fruits, etc.) thrown into its maw or anus or the being retreats when they menace to throw a stone into its maw
Person or animal is killed or injured with a heavy object dropped from a tree (or rock, etc.). The person or the animal knows that the objects will fall but has falls ideas about its character and weight
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
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
A young man or girl spends night in the forest. The forest partridge (Tinamus sp.) provides him or her a fire, a shelter and/or a hammock but takes them away and flies away itself when the person does something wrong
Non-human persons work hard to destroy a strong and durable obstacle that blocks access to some place or object
Birds and sometimes also animals work hard to break from the outside or from the inside a rock, a tree truck, bonds, etc. to release some beings or themselves from confinement in a small enclosure or trap
Birds work hard to peck through the substance that covers some beings' body or to reach its entrails
A male person cuts or roasts his own body to extract meat, lard or blood, cooks it and serves to his guest without injuring himself. Such a food is not considered to be unclean
Not to return home empty-handed, a hunter or (rare) a fisherman cuts off a piece of flesh from his body (usually from his calf) or (more rare) extracts his blood or entrails. Usually he brings his flesh or blood to other people pretending that is a good game or fish; or a woman cuts off a piece of flesh from her calf to feed her husband
Person transforms himself into an object of hunting or fishing, provokes hunters of fishermen to catch or shoot him and carries way the tools that they use (arrows, darts, harpoons, hooks, baits). Or he fishes by turning himself into a hook. Or he is caught but escapes turning back into a person
Person pursued by an enemy asks somebody whom he meets to help him. The helper hides him
Acquiring possibility to fly, person ultimately falls to the ground or remains in a faraway place being unable to fly any more
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is owl
In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is an opossum
Person or creature who has no wings or is unable to fly on a long distance attempts to ascend to the sky or to fly far away but falls down or, deprived of his wings, remains in a place from which he is unable to return
Person sees how others act using magic or according to their animal nature. He or she imitates their actions and gets into trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and refer to everyday activity, mostly to providing and cooking food
Person imitates actions of his son- or brothers-in-law or (among Comox and Halcomelem) of his wives
Person loses his eyes because of his playfulness or negligence. He makes new eyes of some substance or/and takes eyes of another person
Person loses his eyes, makes new ones of gum and is able to see again (though usually not well)
Person puts (for different reasons) his or her hand into the anus of a tapir or other herbivorous animals and is unable to extract it back. Animal starts to run and drags the person behind him for a long time
Person dies or is humiliated after some object that he or she made of wax, resin, excrements and/or took for something worthy are melted down
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
Because of its stupidity and unsocial behavior, the jaguar (ocelote, puma) suffers a reverse, is injured or dies
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
Body members of a person has the form of cutting or piercing weapon
Two brothers (companions) live In the epoch of the creation. One of them is smart and selfconfident, another is weak and makes mistakes. They are not enemies and demonstrate their qualities in two or more episodes
The Sun and/or the Moon are cut off heads of anthropomorphic beings
When the Sun descends below the horizon, it shines to the anthropomorphic denizens of the netherworld (the dead, dwarfs, etc.)
Person feeds others a food that is extracted from his, hers or somebody else’ body or is polluted by body extractions not informing about the source of the food
Male person leaves his home and gets to unfamiliar places. On his way, he comes across different strange creatures. After all, he returns home or leaves the earth for the other world. (Rather often a long string of episodes breaks off or the story lacks the beginning and does not explain why the hero is travelling)
Persons ponders over what object, feature, or creature it would be appropriate for them to turn. When the choice is made, persons turn into stars
The Sun or the Moon is one-eyed (usually another eye was knocked or sucked out but sometimes this defect is not explained
Penis is so long that he can turn it round his waist or send into a woman who is at a long distance from him. (Only texts considered to describe real events and beings and not anecdotes are included)
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
Before the cultivated plants or edible wild plants become known, people ate (decomposed) wood, bark, mud, stones, fungi
A woman is murdered. Her son or children (rare: grandchildren, nephews) revenge for her death
Persons avenge the death of their father, mother or other relatives who are one (rare two) generations older than they
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
A person spends a night in the forest. One of the forest dwellers has fire. After the person does something wrong, this fire is lost
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