Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J67 — Stones on the eyes.
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
OverviewAt night, the character places light-coloured stones or shells over his eyes. Thinking that the character's eyes are open, the antagonist either does not dare to attack him or takes the stones away instead of gouging out his eyes.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| G8A | 93.05% | A man cuts down a tree to make a boat or something else from the trunk (Yap: a board for building a house; one of the texts from Ulithi: a wooden bird), goes away to rest, and upon returning finds the tree intact again. Usually, the character who restored the tree in the man's absence then cuts down the tree himself and makes what the hero needs. |
| J23C | 92.58% | People in general or older brothers (siblings, older sister) disappear one after another. A woman raises a boy from infancy or, left alone, miraculously conceives a son or finds a baby. He defeats the antagonists, usually reviving or freeing the missing ones. |
| D13E | 92.11% | Hunters perish because they laughed at the killed (and revived) animal. |
| J64 | 91.11% | Without touching the fire or burning, the character rises into the sky or crosses the river on clouds of smoke. |
| M115 | 88.60% | The character kills an animal that is dangerous to him by cunning. Relatives or friends of the killed animal find out about this and come to take revenge. The character escapes. |
| A21A | 87.29% | The moon is an object that was accidentally released by its owners or stolen from them and ended up in the sky. |
| B118 | 87.29% | A character who was unable to reach the sky or returned from the sky to earth becomes an owl. |
| B74B | 87.29% | The owl is forced to part with the moon and now cries out when it sees the moon. Usually, the story tells how the marriage of the owl and the moon fell apart or did not take place. |
| E39A | 87.29% | An animal (snake, pig) conceives from a man's urine and gives birth to a human child (or twins). |
| F43C | 87.29% | The husbands of the first women, Amazons or single women are small animals - usually flying foxes. |
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
8 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Rwanda (incl Hutu, Tutsi, Kiga), Rundi, (Ma)Shi, Banyabungu; Rega, Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Tuvalu (Ellice), Marshall Islands, incl Ailinglapalap, Arno, Jaluit, Kili, Lae, Maloelap, Majuro, Ratak, Wotho, Ujae, Jaluit (=Jalooj), Namdrik, Natchez (incl Avoyel), Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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