Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K115 — Spider web at the entrance, B523.1, ATU 967.
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
OverviewWhen a character hides in a shelter, a spider immediately weaves a web at the entrance. Enemies decide that no one has entered the cave or room for a long time and leave.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| K129 | 99.46% | (Due to the intrigues of an antagonist) a girl falls into a deep swoon, but is not dead. A male character of high status (either the girl's spouse or blood relative) revives her. {In sub-Saharan Africa, except for Swahili, borrowing from Europeans is more likely than from Arabs}. |
| M39A7 | 99.40% | When instructed to wash the old man with warm water, the fool steams him with boiling water. |
| M204 | 99.40% | When a deity (an authoritative figure) tries to convey values to a person, they either get them or they don't, despite the unlikely circumstances (such is their fate, such is the will of God). |
| K32H3 | 99.36% | The antagonist is executed by being burned alive. (Episodes in which the burning of the character is not a punishment but a means of getting rid of him are not taken into account). |
| L100F | 99.34% | While the host is away, the guest is told that the host is going to kill or maim him, and imaginary evidence is presented. The returning host tries to stop the fleeing guest, who is convinced that he was warned for good reason. |
| K80C2 | 99.28% | Two (or more) people find (steal) valuables. Unwilling to share, one kills the other, but dies himself, poisoned by the poison that the victim manages to slip into his food. |
| K33C | 99.19% | A young man obtains a girl who is inside a fruit or (rarely) a flower, stem, leaf, or egg. |
| K80C | 98.94% | Before dying, the murderer's victim turns to birds (stars, animals, plants, etc.). Later, seeing these birds (the moon, the sun, this plant, etc.), the murderer recalls his deed aloud or otherwise gives himself away. Or the birds, being the only witnesses to the crime, lead the investigators to the murderers. |
| I141 | 98.80% | The wand is an instrument for performing actions whose results cannot be explained rationally. |
| M158 | 98.76% | A human and an animal (devil) or two animals decide to cultivate a field and divide the harvest so that one gets the above-ground part and the other gets the underground part. One of the characters (always) loses out. |
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
50 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 50 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Kabylia and other Berber of Northern and Central Algeria: Beni Snous, Beni Menacer (incl Zuav), Shaui, etc.), Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Swahili, Midjikenda (incl Giryama), Nyika, Duruma; Ngindo, Kiluguru and other Islamic groups of the Eastern Coast of Africa, Gogo, Kaguru, Luguru, Zigula, Taveta, Shambala (Sambala), Bondei, Taeta, Dabida; Zaramo, Luba (Baluba, Luba-Katanga, Shaba), (Ba)Holoholo, Tumbwe, Bena-Piana, Tabwa, Benabena-Mitumba, Zela, Bene-Marungu, Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Khmer, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Maltese, Dutch, Flemish, 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, Latvians, Livonians, Finns, Vepsians, Western Sami, Norwegians, Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Karachays, Balkar, Tabasaran, Aghul, Laks, Armenians, Talysh, Uyghur, Mongols (Khalkha), Catawba, Tutelo, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Frisians, Saudi Arabia, Japan
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