Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
I76A — The snake becomes a dragon.
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
OverviewAfter a certain period of time, a snake or fish transforms into another creature, usually a dragon.
Berezkin category: Supernatural objects, objects and creatures
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects.
I76 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedI76a. After a certain period of time, a snake or fish transforms into another creature, usually a dragon.
I76b. After a certain amount of time or after performing certain actions, an ordinary mouse turns into a bat.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K38 | 98.87% | For doing good to chicks (rarely: young of non-ornithomorphic flying creatures), their mother or father does a favour for the person. |
| M202 | 98.60% | A man pulls a thorn out of the paw (a bone out of the throat) of a strong and dangerous animal or demon, who is grateful. |
| K119 | 98.41% | An animal promises to make a poor man rich (usually by marrying him to a rich bride; or by marrying a poor girl to a prince) and, resorting to deception, fulfils its promise. |
| M149 | 98.30% | A strong enemy is ready to kill the hero (a human or a weak animal). Someone, seemingly unaware of this, loudly announces that the hero's enemy is being sought in order to kill him. The hero is saved. Usually, the enemy asks not to be betrayed, saying that he is a stump, a log, etc. This allows him to be treated as such – thrown, chopped, etc. (ATU data not entered; plot 154 includes several independent motifs; which of them are present in the traditions referred to by ATU cannot be determined without referring to the original sources). |
| M170 | 98.24% | Pretending to be concerned only with performing religious rituals or following rules (confessing sins, going on pilgrimages, giving up meat, etc.), a zoomorphic character kills those who trust him. |
| M39A4 | 98.13% | fool takes his own shadow for a character chasing him and gives her his property. |
| J41C | 97.94% | The character goes to fight a dangerous enemy. Along the way, he is given tasks to complete. This is a sign that he will defeat his enemy. Usually, the same tasks were previously given to another character who was unable to complete them and was defeated by the enemy. |
| I35A1A | 97.91% | The character considers himself equal to the deity, imitating him, mocking him or trying to kill him. |
| K106 | 97.83% | The hero (a miraculous infant, a magical rooster) is thrown at the feet of animals, but they do not trample him. |
| K36 | 97.81% | The hero (heroine) is temporarily transformed into an animal (usually a dog/coyote or a donkey, with the face of the former]: 151-152t to the ground; and the strength of 99 men; if she had taken the hundredth, she would have remained a woman; if the young man had ground, a horse). When he or she is helped to regain their former appearance, the antagonist is transformed into an animal. In some texts, either only the hero or only the antagonist undergoes metamorphosis. Cf. motifs K62B, J62b1 (the character transforms many people into animals). |
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
34 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 34 traditions: Thai of Vietnam, Tai Lue, Khao (Kho, Tai Don, White Tai), Tai Dam (Black Tai), Nung; Zhuang, Buyi; Shui, Viet, Muong, Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Kashmiri, Dards (Kalash, Kho, Kohistani, Shina, Pashai), Koreans, Poles, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Wakhi, Ishkashimi (including Sanglich), Munji, Persians, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Karachays, Balkar, Tats, Armenians, Kazakh, Uyghur, Turkmen, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Mongols (Khalkha), Warihio (Guarijío), Tarahumara, Maldives, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians
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