Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M142 — The Punished Tail, ATU 154.
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 zoomorphic character accuses his tail of hindering his escape from pursuit (usually punishes it and dies as a result). (ATU data not entered; plot 154 includes several independent motifs; which of them are present in the traditions referred to by ATU cannot be determined without referring to the original sources).
Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
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.
M14 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedM14. A man brutally murders his wife (rarely: children, fiancée, sister) and/or eats her flesh himself, or brings her flesh to her relatives (if he kills children, he brings the flesh to his wife).
M14a. To take revenge on his wife or her relatives for (allegedly) causing him offence, the husband roasts his wife alive. See motif M14.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K67H | 99.86% | 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. |
| N15 | 99.76% | fairy-tale text ends with a formula that says that the narrator ate food and/or drinks, but they did not get into his mouth. |
| M199F | 99.71% | The character pretends to want to deprive the devils (water dwellers) of their habitat (pull the shores of the lake together, two mountains, muddy the lake, dry up the sea, build a church on the land of the devils, etc.). To avoid this, the devils (fish) comply with the character's demands. |
| K27X3A | 99.65% | When a husband sets off on a difficult mission, his magical wife gives him her towel or scarf, instructing him to use only those items (usually so that her relatives will recognise him as their son-in-law). |
| K181 | 99.65% | The hero finds a suitable horse in the dungeon (in the basement, in an empty castle, in deep mud, etc.), where it has stood for many years. |
| M154A1 | 99.64% | A man who understands the language of animals hears the mare say that she is carrying four (three): she has a foal in her belly, and the woman in the saddle is also pregnant. |
| M191 | 99.61% | The fox (dog, squirrel) lives with the cat and pretends to be a strong beast; forest predators are frightened and bring meat to appease the cat. |
| B33G | 99.59% | Horsemen or horses represent celestial bodies or different periods of the day. |
| I47A | 99.59% | The rainbow is associated with the wedding of a fox or jackal. |
| I87F | 99.59% | Before modern humans, there lived others who differed in strength, height, nobility, or other qualities. They disappeared after committing suicide. |
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
35 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 35 traditions: Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Catalan, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Latvians, Estonians, Setu, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Western Ukrainians, Tajik, Abaza (Abazins), Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Tats, Georgians, Armenians, Gagauz, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mordvins, Chuvash, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Galicians, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Lutsi (Ludza), Russian Federation
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