Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K114 — Brothers leave after the birth of their sister (ATU 451).
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
OverviewSeveral brothers leave home immediately after or shortly before their mother gives birth to a girl (usually they want a brother and wait for news about who their mother has given birth to, but accidentally or maliciously a signal is given that a boy has been born). The girl grows up and goes in search of her brothers.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K11 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedK11. Brothers (brother and sister) kill a monstrous bird. Its eyes turn into heavenly bodies (among the Oaxacan Indians) or something else (among the present-day Condors of the Yokuts).
K11a. Plucked feathers of a (huge) bird turn into actual birds (or their plumage) or humans emerge from them.
K11a1. Pieces of flesh or feathers from a monstrous/unusual bird turn into present-day birds (or their plumage).
K11b. The bones of a huge bird are turned into reeds or bamboo for making arrows or sarbacanes.
K11C. The plucked feathers of a huge bird turn into plants.
K11D. Pieces of flesh from a huge creature that has fallen apart or been cut into pieces turn into ordinary animals, birds or fish.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| F9G | 99.55% | A powerful woman defeats and kills her suitors. The hero or his assistant defeats her (usually on their wedding night, subduing her with rods or a whip). The hero marries the heroine. |
| M165 | 99.39% | One zoomorphic character promises another to sew a coat (boots), asks him to bring sheep, eats them, and does not sew anything. |
| K33A | 99.32% | Young siblings (most often a brother and sister) leave home. One of them (rarely: several brothers) accidentally breaks a taboo and is transformed into an animal (usually a hoofed animal) or (rarely) a bird; later, the spell is usually broken. |
| M39A6H | 99.27% | The king tells the commoner to pluck a goose (geese, shear a ram, etc.). He understands correctly: to rob the vizier. |
| K33A6 | 99.10% | A kid (lamb, gazelle, etc.) runs up to a pond into which its owner has pushed it and says that knives are being sharpened and water is being boiled to slaughter and cook it. |
| K168A | 99.02% | A person thinks that they are holding something intended for food (a calf's head, a melon, bread, etc.), but these objects turn into human heads or limbs. Cf. motif K80c1. |
| K157 | 98.88% | The character lures his opponents out one by one and cuts off each one's head as soon as they appear. Less commonly, a multi-headed opponent sticks out its heads one by one, and the hero cuts them off. |
| L85C | 98.86% | A character with half a body – a hen, a chick. Sometimes it is only a name, and the character's appearance is more anthropomorphic. |
| K88A | 98.81% | The stepmother (aunt, rival) blinds a young woman. The latter regains her eyesight (often by exchanging them for some valuable item). |
| M90A6 | 98.74% | Owning some apples ensures eternal youth. |
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
26 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 26 traditions: Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, 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, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Latvians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Norwegians, Tajik, Persians, Lezgians, Archin, Kürin; Khinalug, Tats, Georgians, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Turkmen, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Lutsi (Ludza), Frisians, Russian Federation
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