Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H24G — Woman in a vessel.
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 woman returned from the other world or obtained there disappears when a man opens the vessel in which she is kept prematurely.
Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
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.
H24 has 7 other sub-motifs
RelatedH24. A vessel or other small container with valuables or living beings (creatures) is opened (prematurely). Its contents get out of control or disappear.
H24a. Opening the bag, the character releases stars that rush chaotically into the sky.
H24b. The character must open the vessel containing the soul of the deceased when he reaches the place or after a certain time has passed; if he opens it before the time is up, the soul flies away. See motif H24.
H24c. People open a vessel (a bundle, a basket, etc.) containing death (or old age, illness), and therefore they are mortal.
H24d. An animal character who released the contents (darkness, insects, reptiles) from a vessel is still trying to gather everything back (etiology of the behaviour of a certain species of animal).
H24e. Having brought the seeds of humanity into our world, the character drops or prematurely opens what he has brought. (Sometimes this explains the inequality of people and disorder in society).
H24f. The character has the ability to put a large amount of meat or fish into a bag or container that is easy to carry.
H24g. A woman returned from the other world or obtained there disappears when a man opens the vessel in which she is kept prematurely.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A12B | 94.28% | During an eclipse or at sunset (marked *), the luminaries are swallowed by a toad or frog. |
| F18D | 92.64% | Female genitals were enormous in size. |
| A37 | 92.31% | The character deliberately and by resorting to special means (usually shooting with a bow) strikes the sun or several suns or attempts to do so. |
| H1E | 91.92% | A certain character is the first to enter the world of the dead, after which all people follow the same path; he paves the way to the world of the dead; the first to die becomes the master or guardian of the afterlife. |
| F47 | 91.54% | Pieces of a creature cut into many parts or a lump of living flesh are scattered or dispersed. After that, people emerge from them. Cf. motifs E38A and K98. |
| E38C | 91.28% | The first humans were mute and began to speak after being struck by something, made to laugh, etc. |
| B6 | 89.61% | The first or only remaining man and woman move towards each other, going around a mountain, a pole or otherwise following a circle from opposite sides, and when they meet, they get married. |
| D13D | 89.09% | One character tries to make another character, who is hiding somewhere in the house, laugh in order to find them. |
| A2C2 | 89.04% | The catastrophe threatening the earth is associated with the appearance of not only several suns, but also several moons. |
| H36G | 88.68% | God sends a messenger to the people to tell them to eat infrequently (once a day, once every three days, etc.). The messenger says that one should eat often â at least two or three times a day. |
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
5 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, Gondi (mostly Northern Gondi), Maria, Muria, and other South-Central Dravidians: Binjhwar, Bacop, Bhattra, Bom, Jhoria (=Jhodia), Gadaba (in Koraput, neighbors of Munda-speaking Gadaba), Duruwa (Parji), Mehtar; Pardhan, Cherokee, Huichol
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