Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B38A — Two birds adorn each other.
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
OverviewTwo birds agree to paint each other. One of them does not become more beautiful as a result and often becomes uglier. See motif B36A.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar.
B38 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedB38. The character decorates birds or animals, or they decorate each other. Some are dissatisfied with the result.
B38a. Two birds agree to paint each other. One of them does not become more beautiful as a result and often becomes uglier. See motif B36A.
B38b. Two quadrupeds (or a quadruped and another creature) adorn each other themselves or are adorned by someone else.
B38c. The raven and the loon paint each other.
B38d. The Raven and the Owl paint each other.
B38e. The character kicks a loon or other waterfowl. Since then, it has had a flattened tail and finds it difficult to walk on land.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B42O | 95.10% | A certain constellation is represented by a person who has been struck or wounded in the back. |
| B38 | 93.66% | The character decorates birds or animals, or they decorate each other. Some are dissatisfied with the result. |
| L102A | 91.26% | A seagull kidnaps a girl or woman, but she manages to return to people. |
| B38D | 91.15% | The Raven and the Owl paint each other. |
| E9A | 87.59% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a fox. |
| M46D | 85.87% | A small child cries and calms down only after being given a valuable item hidden in the house to play with. After receiving an item, a child or an associated character takes it away. |
| A44 | 84.96% | A character fleeing from pursuit, wronged or suffering on earth, asks the Moon to take him to her, or climbs up to the moon himself using a ladder or rope that has descended from there. |
| M29A | 83.09% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| K51 | 82.03% | The husband feigns death, disappears or leaves home for a long time. The wife learns that he has married another woman, finds and, as a rule, kills her husband and/or rival, who often turns out to be a creature of non-human nature. |
| L5F | 81.95% | Head, face or skull – a woman's husband, fiancé or son; not dangerous to her, brings wealth, saves from hunger, etc. |
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
37 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 37 traditions: Central Vanuatu: Espiritu Santo, Araki, Aore, Maewo, Malekula, Vao, Efate (Vate), Nguna, Mae, Ambrim, Pentecost, Oba (=Aoba, East Ambae, Lepers'), Omba, Kapingamarangi, Nukuoro, Malay; Temuan (incl Mantra or Mentra), Jakun (Moken), Kayan, Bahau, Kenja, Aoheng, Punan (Bukat, Basap, Oloh Ot, etc); "Klemantan", Bidayuh (incl. Maloh), Iban (Sea Dayak), Sakarram; Brunei, Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, Khmer, Viet, Muong, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Yazgulami, Karachays, Balkar, Tats, Mongols (Khalkha), Central Yakuts (Sakha), Evens (Lamuts), Reindeer Koryak, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Asiatic Eskimo (Sirenek, Naukan, Chaplino), Chugach, Athna, North Alaskan Inupiat, Mackenzie Delta, Copper, Netsilik, Caribou, Iglulik, Polar Inuit, Baffin Land Inuit, East Greenland (Angmassalik, Kulusuk), Labrador Inuit (Koksoagmiut), Eyak, Kodiak, Evens (Lamuts) of Kamchatka, Papua-New Guinea Southern Lowland Papuan groups (Trans New Guinea and unclassified): Gimi, Kiwai, Bina, Mawabula, Mawatta, Keraki, Gambadi (incl. Kwavaru), Purari River delta, Masingara, Wiram (=Suki), Ngain, Daga, Elema, China, Japan
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