Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B100 — Obtaining sleep.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewIn the past or in a distant land, sleep was unknown; a certain character embodies sleep, possesses it or teaches how to sleep; sleep is a special substance.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J22D | 95.92% | Foreigners or animals of two different species emerge from a single person or animal cut in half. |
| M21A | 95.71% | The character is pursued by an enemy. An animal hides the fugitive in its mouth or on its body, and when the pursuer appears, it refuses to open its mouth or expose part of its body. (Usually simulates illness â toothache, etc.). Cf. motif i87ad. |
| G8C | 95.70% | The first ancestors try to cut down a tree (less often a high rock) to get useful plants hanging on the branches (at the top) or water or fish in the trunk. The damage disappears as soon as the workers are distracted from their work, or periodically. |
| L83 | 95.54% | A character who has only a head left (motif L5) or who has burned his leg (motif L82) turns into lightning/thunder (or emits lightning/thunderclaps). |
| G10 | 95.46% | A tree whose trunk has been cut down remains hanging because it is held up from above. |
| B67 | 94.97% | A fallen tree and/or its stump turns into a mountain (mountain range) or rocks. (Usually, the branches of this tree bear the fruits and shoots of various cultivated plants, see motif G5). |
| F28A | 94.96% | A penis grows out of the ground or out of the water in a lake. Women summon it as needed. |
| B66 | 94.87% | Characters climb to the sky using a rope or chain of arrows; when it falls to the ground, it turns into forest vines. See motif J47. |
| C15 | 94.87% | A monstrous jaguar (puma) is locked in a cave or tree trunk. |
| C34A | 94.87% | A supernatural character goes with people to catch fish or lives on the sand by the river; he is buried in the sand or thrown into the river, into a swamp, or otherwise persecuted. Usually, he himself or his father sends a flood. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Traditions
15 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 15 traditions: Berbers of southern Tunisia and adjacent part of Libya (Matmata and Ghadames areas), Hausa, Bunak, Upper Kuskokwim (Kolchan), Tsimshian, Guajiro, Yaruro, Chayahuita , Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena , Andoque, Witoto, Ocaina, Bakairi, Kamayura, Nambikwara
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