Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K19C — Mistress in a handbag.
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
OverviewA man brings home a small creature with which he makes love at night. The man's mother, sister or wife finds the creature in his bed or purse.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms.
K19 has 7 other sub-motifs
RelatedK19. A man or woman marries a star. See motifs K19A, K19B.
K19a. A man marries a star woman.
K19b. The star man takes an earthly woman as his wife.
K19c. A man brings home a small creature with which he makes love at night. The man's mother, sister or wife finds the creature in his bed or purse.
K19d. Once in the sky, the husband of the star suffers from the cold. He freezes to death or perishes after touching forbidden fire.
K19e. Returning from the sky to earth, a woman or two sisters encounter a male wolverine who tries to capture them. Usually, the women who have descended first find themselves in a tree. Some animals cannot or will not help them descend to the ground. The wolverine descends to take the sisters as wives; they run away from him. See motif K19B.
K19f. A star or many stars descend from the sky to work in the fields. See motif K19B.
K19g. One star is an old man, the other is a young man; both stars differ in brightness or colour, but it is impossible to determine the age of the star-man by these characteristics (a dim star may be young and vice versa); usually two girls want to marry stars of different types (one bright, the other dim, one red, the other blue, etc.). See motif K19B.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B28A | 99.05% | A character pinned to the ground by a rod, transported somewhere to the edge of the world and associated with an object that continues to influence people. |
| B32 | 99.05% | As a result of conflict with their husbands, women turn into fish. |
| J10 | 99.05% | A woman loses her way after being stung by a wasp (or bee, ant, snake). She slaps her stomach (either to kill the insect or to punish her unborn sons, because of whom she went to pick a flower and was stung; see motif J11). The offended sons fall silent, ceasing to show the way. See motif J9. |
| J11 | 99.04% | The son in his mother's womb asks her to pick flowers or fruit for him (usually when a woman picks flowers, she is bitten by an insect). See motif J9. |
| C37 | 99.00% | The sloth causes a global catastrophe or saves people from it. |
| K27H | 99.00% | The hero must carve an image of the character's head, which he never shows. It usually adorns a wooden bench. |
| I63 | 98.95% | The Milky Way is the tapir's trail; the tapir can be seen on the Milky Way. |
| I5A | 98.94% | The tapir is associated with the upper world (thunder, sky, moon). |
| K13D | 98.94% | A group of boys reaches the sky, the last one's leg is cut off or torn off. |
| K19F | 98.94% | A star or many stars descend from the sky to work in the fields. See motif K19B. |
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
17 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 17 traditions: Southern Taiwan: Rukai, Paiwan, Puyuma, Saaroa, Ketangalan, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Makiritare (Yecuana), Ticuna (Tucuna), Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Suruí, Gaviâo, Zoro, Arua, Cinta Larga, Kamayura, Cayapo (incl. Kubenkranken, Pau d’Arco, Shikrin or Xikrin), Craho, Apinaye (Apinage, Apinaje), Sherente, Chamacoco (Ishir), Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), Chorote
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