Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
F54C — Recognised by nail marks.
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
OverviewA husband sees someone's fingernail marks on his wife's body and gathers the men to find out who left the marks.
Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms.
F54 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedF54. Unaware of this, the son and mother (Konkani: daughter and father) engage in sexual relations and later learn of the incest they have committed. Cf. motifs c8c, f54e.
F54a. In her husband's appearance, the woman discovers signs that are not immediately noticeable, indicating that he has hidden his true nature from her and is not the right marriage partner (he is an animal, or her son, brother or father); or the husband discovers in the same way that his wife is his sister.
F54b. A young man or boy copulates with his mother or sister. This becomes known from the remains of paint or feathers with which he was covered during sexual intercourse.
F54c. A husband sees someone's fingernail marks on his wife's body and gathers the men to find out who left the marks.
F54d. A woman gives birth to a boy after accidentally drinking animal urine, or a female animal gives birth to a boy after drinking a man's urine.
F54e. Not knowing who is in front of him, a young man kills his father.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M187A | 99.43% | Two fish (a fish and a whale, a dolphin, a squid and a dolphin, etc.) agree to race each other. |
| M29G2 | 95.72% | Cancer (crab) defeats or deceives strong opponents by cunning. |
| M187C | 95.64% | Participating in a race, the crab defeats its faster opponent. |
| F54 | 94.63% | Unaware of this, the son and mother (Konkani: daughter and father) engage in sexual relations and later learn of the incest they have committed. Cf. motifs c8c, f54e. |
| M39B1 | 92.33% | Once in the boat, some people row in one direction and others in the opposite direction, the boat remains in place. |
| L41A1 | 92.19% | When the demon tries to shake the meat out of the bag over the cauldron, stones fall from the bag into the cauldron and it splits, or the boiling water spills out and scalds the demon. |
| L23D | 90.02% | A man captures a desirable woman. Trying to free herself, she transforms into various substances, materials, animals or (urarina, setebo) orders various dangerous animals to attack the man who captured her. |
| L23 | 90.01% | Trying to free himself, the captured character successively transforms into various substances, materials or animals, or (Urarina, Setebo) orders various dangerous animals to successively attack the person who captured him. (In some cases, only one variant of transformation is mentioned, but in the same context as in typical variants with a series of transformations). |
| M143 | 88.89% | Finding himself in a pit or well, one character persuades another to climb down to him, thanks to which he gets out, leaving the other at the bottom. |
| A23C | 88.24% | Birds argue about which of them will fly higher or arrive first. The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely (he hides in the feathers of a strong bird and flies away with it). |
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
3 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 3 traditions: Kapingamarangi, Nukuoro, Ulithi, Ngulu, Truk, Eastern Fayu, Losap, Pulap, Puluwat, Mortlock (incl. Satawan)
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