Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K55 — Rewarded chastity.
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 powerful character finds out whether his guest has made love to his daughter or wife (if the character is a woman: whether he has attempted to have sexual contact with her). A man who is impotent or (successfully pretends to be) chaste is rewarded (at least not punished). In most cases, the other character engages in sexual contact or is unable to hide what he has done and is punished as a result.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
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 |
|---|---|---|
| B22 | 98.91% | The character left under the tree is offended by those who climbed up the tree (usually they do not share their food with him or her). In retaliation, he or she knocks down the tree. The events described are of cosmic proportions. |
| H30 | 98.55% | When meeting two women (together or one after the other), the hero must or may choose one. Usually, he chooses either the less beautiful or the dangerous one, bringing trouble or misfortune upon himself or upon people in general. |
| L7 | 98.55% | While chasing a person, spirit, monster or beast, mistakenly chases after a large two-legged object passing by, usually an animal. |
| G5 | 98.31% | The fruits and shoots of various cultivated plants or the fruits of various wild plants grow on the branches of a single tree or on a single vine; the cultivated plant has a tree-like form that is not characteristic of it in nature. |
| B42D | 98.13% | In the cosmic hunting plot, the object of pursuit is a bear. See motif B42. |
| E9G | 98.13% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a vulture. |
| H38 | 98.13% | A supernatural character changes appearance and comes to the hero's children (less often to the hero himself). Unaware of the trick, they hand over the magical object they have obtained to its former owner, and the character disappears with it. |
| K11B | 98.13% | The bones of a huge bird are turned into reeds or bamboo for making arrows or sarbacanes. |
| M1A | 98.13% | The caiman transports one of the brothers or a group of brothers, who then turn into the Pleiades. It usually bites off the leg of the youngest. Cf. motif K13B. |
| F9B | 98.02% | A biting piranha in a woman's genitals. |
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
12 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 12 traditions: Alor, Solor, Wetar, Atauru, Mai Huna (Coto, Orejon), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Bora, Juruna, Xipaya, Mundurucu, Curuaia, Kayabi, Iranxe, Paresi
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