Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K67C — Skin torn from the back.
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
OverviewThe character agrees that under certain conditions another person may tear the skin from his back or cause him some other bodily harm.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior.
K67 has 9 other sub-motifs
RelatedK67. At night, one person intends to throw another person's shoes or clothes into the fire, but ends up burning his own shoes or clothes. Usually, the father-in-law throws his son-in-law's shoes into the fire at night in order to freeze him out, but the son-in-law has already switched shoes, so the father-in-law burns his own.
K67a. A character of low status annoys characters of high status. Learning of the intention of the characters of high status to drown him or his property (rarely: to strangle him), he arranges for one of them or their property to be drowned instead.
K67b. A character of low social status (without supernatural abilities) takes a job with a character of high social status (with supernatural abilities) on the condition that the employer will not get angry with the employee. By repeatedly annoying the employer, the employee causes him to become angry and, as a result, be severely punished or pay a large sum of money.
K67c. The character agrees that under certain conditions another person may tear the skin from his back or cause him some other bodily harm.
K67d. The worker (rarely – the husband) annoys the master (wife) so much that he or she decides to run away, taking his or her property with him or her. The worker hides in a sack (chest) with his or her property and ends up back where he or she started.
K67e. Someone promises to fulfil their duties until they hear a bird singing at a certain moment in a temporal cycle (annual or daily). Another character imitates the bird. The first recognises the deception.
K67f. A fool or a rogue is instructed to slaughter the sheep (cow, bull) that looks at him, i.e. any one. He slaughters them all, because they all looked at him.
K67g. Pretending to carry out his master's orders, the worker cuts off the animals' lips (to make them look like they are smiling).
K67h. When a worker is sent to a place where he is to be torn apart by a predator, he tames it and lets it into the barn (stable) at home. As a result, the predator destroys the owner's livestock.
k67i. The worker is instructed to follow a straight line or overcome the obstacle without breaking it. He kills and cuts up the animals entrusted to him, throws the pieces over the fence or breaks the fence, even though there is a passage nearby.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M173A | 99.86% | A character throws one of a pair of objects onto the path of another. The traveller passes by, but when the deceiver throws the second object, he leaves his belongings and returns for the first. At this time, the deceiver steals the belongings. |
| M39A6G | 99.83% | person explains that he lends part of his earnings, and pays the debt in the other part, i.e. raises children and supports parents. |
| M191A | 99.83% | Mice decide to hang a bell around a cat's neck or tail so that they will know when it is approaching. Usually, none of the mice are able to do this. |
| J32F | 99.77% | While standing guard, the hero discovers who is stealing fruit (usually apples) from the garden. |
| L100 | 99.76% | A young man and woman fleeing from their pursuers take on the appearance of different but associatively related creatures or objects (a pond and a duck, a minaret and a muezzin, etc.). Usually, their pursuers do not recognise them. |
| M106F | 99.72% | A stranger tells a woman that he has come from the other world. The woman gives him money and belongings with a request to pass them on to her deceased son, husband, etc. Usually, the woman's (new) husband (or son), upon learning of the deception, rides after him, and as a result, the deceiver steals his horse. |
| K120 | 99.70% | The girl's father (rarely: stepfather) intends to marry her (since she is the only one who meets the requirements for a bride). Usually, the girl manages to avoid the marriage. |
| F70E | 99.68% | A girl pretends to be a man, magically acquires male nature and lives with his wife. Cf. motif K137 (in Uther 2004, plot 514 mistakenly includes a Karakalpak text with our motif K137). |
| L114B | 99.64% | After receiving the task or on his own initiative, the trickster enters the character's house (usually that of the cannibal) several times, each time taking one of his belongings or one of his family members. |
| K93B3 | 99.61% | To have a child, a woman eats fish, an apple or something else. Part of it (often the peel, broth, skin, etc.) is eaten by a mare, dog or other animals. The woman gives birth to a son (twins), the mare to a foal (foals), the dog to a puppy (puppies). |
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
56 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 56 traditions: Soqotri, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Northern Munda of Kharwar branch: Birhor, Ho, Mundari, Kol, Asur (including Agaria, Kol, Birjhia), Bhumij, Maria, Muria, and other South-Central Dravidians: Binjhwar, Bacop, Bhattra, Bom, Jhoria (=Jhodia), Gadaba (in Koraput, neighbors of Munda-speaking Gadaba), Duruwa (Parji), Mehtar; Pardhan, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Catalan, Aragon, Maltese, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, 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, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Norwegians, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Baluch, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Laks, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Tats, Armenians, Kalmyk, Anatolia Turks, Kirghiz, Turkmen, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mordvins, Chuvash, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Lebanon, Russian Federation
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