Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J32F — Stolen apples.
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
OverviewWhile standing guard, the hero discovers who is stealing fruit (usually apples) from the garden.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
J32 has 7 other sub-motifs
RelatedJ32. Someone regularly steals livestock (horses, sheep, etc.) or crops (apples, hay, peas, flowers, etc.). Those who undertake to guard them (usually the older brothers) fail to catch the thief, and only the hero (usually the younger brother) discovers him.
J32a. When dying, a person orders that someone spend the night at his grave or bring something to the grave.
J32a1. But at night someone tramples the field, steals hay, etc. The hero learns that it is horses doing this.
J32b. In order to accomplish what he wants, the hero prolongs the night by changing the behaviour of the character on whom the alternation of day and night depends.
J32c. At night, a demonic character comes to the grave of the deceased, intending to harm him.
J32d. The girl will be won by the one who, on horseback or by some other means, quickly reaches a hard-to-reach place (the top of a tower, a mountain, the upper floor of a palace, the top steps of a staircase, a bridge, the bottom of a chasm, jumps over a moat, etc.). Usually, the girl herself is located where the suitor must climb or (rarely) descend. In Italian versions, the hero wins tournaments.
J32e. Every time a mare foals, the foal is stolen. The hero finds out who is doing this.
J32f. While standing guard, the hero discovers who is stealing fruit (usually apples) from the garden.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M106F | 99.92% | A stranger tells a woman that he has come from the other world. The woman gives him money and belongings with a request to pass them on to her deceased son, husband, etc. Usually, the woman's (new) husband (or son), upon learning of the deception, rides after him, and as a result, the deceiver steals his horse. |
| L114B | 99.92% | After receiving the task or on his own initiative, the trickster enters the character's house (usually that of the cannibal) several times, each time taking one of his belongings or one of his family members. |
| M157B | 99.86% | The husband drives his wife away, allowing her to take what is most precious to her. She takes her sleeping or intoxicated husband. He returns with her. {Traditions mentioned in El-Shamy 2004 are highlighted in bold; it is highly likely that this motif is indeed present in them; some traditions mentioned in ATU 875 are given in brackets; they are not included in the correlation table, the original publications are required}. |
| M191A | 99.86% | Mice decide to hang a bell around a cat's neck or tail so that they will know when it is approaching. Usually, none of the mice are able to do this. |
| M39A6G | 99.81% | person explains that he lends part of his earnings, and pays the debt in the other part, i.e. raises children and supports parents. |
| M163 | 99.80% | A man arrives in a country where there are many mice (rats, snakes) but no cats. He sells a cat there and receives a reward. |
| K120 | 99.77% | The girl's father (rarely: stepfather) intends to marry her (since she is the only one who meets the requirements for a bride). Usually, the girl manages to avoid the marriage. |
| K80B | 99.77% | The mother or stepmother kills the boy (rarely a girl) and usually feeds her husband, i.e. the child's father, his flesh. The boy is reborn, usually (at first) in the form of a bird that tells the story of what happened. Cf. motif K80A. Traditions in which the boy is killed by his own mother are highlighted in bold. |
| K67C | 99.77% | The character agrees that under certain conditions another person may tear the skin from his back or cause him some other bodily harm. |
| K77B | 99.75% | Having left their owners, domestic animals find an empty house or build a house. Robbers or predatory animals come there. Domestic animals attack or simply scare them away. Predators do not understand who they are facing and flee. |
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
60 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 60 traditions: Mehri; Harsusi, Jibbali (Shahri, Shauri), Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Berbers of southern Tunisia and adjacent part of Libya (Matmata and Ghadames areas), Western Sahara and Mauritania Arabs; Berbers of Mauritania (Zenaga), Algeria Arabs, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Swahili, Midjikenda (incl Giryama), Nyika, Duruma; Ngindo, Kiluguru and other Islamic groups of the Eastern Coast of Africa, Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Ireland, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Catalan, Maltese, Sicily, Sicilians, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Poles, Czech, Czechs, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, 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, Albanians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Norwegians, Western Ukrainians, Tajik, Persians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Karachays, Balkar, Ossetians, Nogai, Svans, Georgians, Armenians, Gagauz, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mordvins, Wallons, Picardie, Galicians, Kordofan, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Arakan, Chakma, Khyang, Bosnians, Russian Federation
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