Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M153A — The Washed Pig, ATU 122G(1).
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 predator is about to eat a human or herbivorous animal. The intended victim asks to be allowed to wash first, and as a result is saved. (Among the Transylvanian Saxons, this involves being baptised with water).
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.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M39A4 | 98.69% | fool takes his own shadow for a character chasing him and gives her his property. |
| K27Q | 98.62% | Task: to obtain the milk of a wild animal or milk possessed by a dangerous creature. See motif K27. |
| L37B | 98.58% | By accidentally overhearing a conversation between animals or spirits, a person learns how to help themselves and others. |
| H45 | 98.41% | A woman or child treats food disrespectfully by smearing it with excrement. For this, people (rarely: only the culprit) are punished. |
| L118A | 98.13% | In order to get rid of a dangerous but foolish character, a person performs certain actions, which the character imitates, not realising that he is harming himself. |
| K73A | 98.10% | Malicious women replace the newborn with an animal or an inanimate object (they tell the baby's father that his wife gave birth to an animal or an object). See motif K73. |
| M170 | 98.07% | Pretending to be concerned only with performing religious rituals or following rules (confessing sins, going on pilgrimages, giving up meat, etc.), a zoomorphic character kills those who trust him. |
| K33H | 97.96% | A person finds a magical object that grants any wish. This object is stolen. It is returned by animals (which the hero had previously saved). |
| M57C | 97.88% | An animal (donkey, bull, horse, goat, bear, leopard) or inanimate object makes gold or food stand out, or a character makes others believe that this is the case. |
| K73 | 97.87% | A young wife (promises to give birth and) gives birth to wonderful children (or one son). In the absence of her husband, attempts are made to kill the wife or her child (usually by slandering them to the husband), but they remain alive. (For medieval European variants, see Newell 1906). |
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
22 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 22 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Algeria Arabs, Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Santali, Turi, Mahli, Sindhi, Spain, Spaniards, Catalan, Finns, Swedes, Karachays, Balkar, Laks, Udmurt, Mongols (Khalkha), Daur (Daghur), Khakas, Ute, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Salars, Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Transylvanian Saksons, Iraq, Russian Federation
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