Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M198B4 — The imaginary fortune teller: names of thieves.
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 fake fortune teller, expecting to be exposed, utters words that reflect his state of mind. The thieves standing nearby perceive some of the words as their names, believe that the fortune teller has found out about them, and ask him not to reveal them.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| M84D | 99.57% | A person hears trees talking, one of which is (fatally) ill and suffers. |
| A12G | 98.29% | The character tries to eclipse the moon for telling on him. |
| K56D | 97.45% | One man treats a bird, which brings a seed, and something valuable grows. Another deliberately cripples a bird, then treats it, and it brings a seed, and something harmful and terrible grows. |
| H6D | 96.82% | Having obtained a means of ensuring immortality, the character falls asleep or leaves the means unattended. At this time, another character steals the means. |
| K76A | 96.79% | A frog or toad marries a beautiful woman, or a handsome young man marries a frog. |
| M196A | 96.72% | Arguing over a trivial matter, a husband and wife (or one of them) lie down and do not move, and people gather to bury them. At the last moment, the supposed dead person opens their mouth, and people think that the dead have come back to life; or the supposed dead person is actually buried in the ground. |
| M30D | 96.69% | To get into the air, a character without wings (usually a turtle or a frog) grabs a stick with the ends held in their beaks by two birds. |
| M171D | 96.24% | The character exchanges one thing for another and ultimately receives a musical instrument (usually a drum). |
| K73A6 | 95.78% | Malicious women kill (throw away) her wonderful children. Trees (flowers) grow from their remains, later reincarnating into humans. |
| B116 | 95.55% | The first book (writing, important document) is eaten by an animal or a person. (In some European traditions, the eating of the book is not described, but is implied from the context). Cf. ATU 200. Cf. Thompson 1955-1958. â A2219.2. Cow swallows book; cause of maniplies in stomach. |
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
19 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 19 traditions: Viet, Muong, Santali, Turi, Mahli, Oraon (Kurukh), Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Bengali, Kashmiri, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Assamese, Sinhalese; Vedda, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Koreans, Hungarians, Karelians, Mongols (Khalkha), Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Kumaoni (Central Pahari), incl. Garhwali, Arakan, Chakma, Khyang, China, Russian Federation
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