Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M195 — Two horses: which one is older?
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 must guess which of the two horses or cows is older. He does this by knowing the behavioural characteristics of these animals.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| M171C | 99.31% | At the request of a character, another character removes a thorn from his body (cuts off the tip of his tail, etc.). The thorn (tip of the tail) disappears, or when it is removed, the character is wounded. As a result, he receives something more valuable than what he has lost. |
| F9F | 98.62% | Without the woman's knowledge, the demon regularly kills her suitors on their wedding night. |
| L90 | 98.62% | One lip (one fang, horn, etc.) of the creature reaches the sky, while the other drags along the ground. |
| K38B | 97.65% | A snake or monster of aquatic-chthonic or indeterminate nature eats or maims the young of a bird or other flying creature – in most cases, the chicks of a huge bird. A man kills the snake (monster). See motif K38. |
| L15E | 97.63% | The hero's life is in a certain object, usually his weapon. An enemy steals or discards this object, the hero weakens or dies, his friends or brothers return the object, and the hero comes back to life. {In ATU, this is motif 302B; at least some of the references cited by Uther do not contain the motif in our formulation (not found in Japan or Burma); original publications are required}. |
| K158 | 97.59% | In order to find her missing husband (and other men who helped her or caused her harm), a woman displays her image and calls to her those who, by their behaviour, show that they are familiar with the features in the portrait. |
| K38C | 97.58% | After the hero helps the bird (usually by doing good to its chicks), it takes him to the place he desires, or instructs its chicks to do so. (This does not involve movement between levels of the universe; in the Sumerian version, the bird gives the hero the ability to move with lightning speed and directs him to his goal). |
| K82 | 97.52% | A man's wife or another woman tries to destroy his sister. |
| L116A | 97.41% | While chasing a roe deer (fallow deer, deer), the hero finds himself in the lair of a demon or wizard; the roe deer is an enchanted person or demon. |
| F14 | 97.17% | The hero is born as a result of the union of a man with a stone or rock. |
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
24 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 24 traditions: Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Koreans, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Estonians, Wakhi, Ishkashimi (including Sanglich), Munji, Persians, Ingush, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Tats, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Uyghur, Turkmen, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Japan
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