Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M207 — The Mouse in the Bowl, ATU 1416.
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 poor blame Adam and Eve for their misfortunes. An authoritative character gives them the opportunity to live comfortably on the condition that they do not violate a certain prohibition (usually not to open a certain vessel). They are unable to resist the temptation and are then returned to their previous state.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| K107D | 99.95% | After overcoming difficulties, a girl (rarely a boy) finds a magical spouse, but at first cannot wake him (her) up. |
| M136A | 99.93% | People try to bring light, darkness, smoke, etc. into or out of a room. |
| K27X6 | 99.93% | Setting out in search of a marriage partner, the hero or heroine successively encounters the embodiments (masters) of celestial bodies and atmospheric phenomena (the sun, moon, stars, wind). |
| K32J | 99.91% | Upon learning from a young man that he has a beautiful sister, the ruler wants to marry her. The bride is replaced by an ugly woman. Usually, the ruler accuses her brother of deception and throws him into prison. The deception is revealed. |
| M39G1 | 99.91% | fool does not pull pants or boots over his feet, but jumps in them from above. |
| K75C | 99.90% | The devil promises a person wealth if he does not wash (cut his hair, etc.) for a certain period of time; both keep their promises. |
| I110B | 99.90% | Orion – people or agricultural tools associated with harvesting or haymaking. |
| K25A4 | 99.90% | A man (rarely a woman) finds himself in the power of an aquatic-chthonic creature (usually a siren, fish, sea monster, sometimes a sorcerer). The captive is lifted above the water (above the ground; usually after the antagonist lifts him) several times. After that, the captive escapes (most often by flying away as a bird). |
| K101A | 99.90% | A man spends several nights next to a dead girl who has become a dangerous demonic creature. As a result, the girl is exorcised. |
| K100D | 99.89% | At the end of the story, the animal helper (horse, lion, etc.) turns into a prince (princess) itself. |
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
30 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 30 traditions: Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Catalan, France, Dutch, Flemish, 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, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Vepsians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Armenians, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Frisians, Bosnians, Russian Federation
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