Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B40 — The rabbit as a substitute for the deer.
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 hare/rabbit is a false deer, a former deer, a brother of the deer, a former or failed owner of antlers, its ears are false antlers.
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.
B40 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedB40. The hare/rabbit is a false deer, a former deer, a brother of the deer, a former or failed owner of antlers, its ears are false antlers.
B40a. Nowadays, hornless animals lose their horns or are deprived of the opportunity to grow them. See motif B40.
B40b. The horse changes with the cow, gives up its horns and/or gets teeth.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L65 | 92.12% | An infant or small child turns out to be a demon and kills people. |
| K27D | 92.10% | The test: to stay alive in a room full of predatory, poisonous and other dangerous creatures. See motif K27. |
| I7A | 90.09% | Lightning is associated with a snake. |
| I69 | 88.36% | Luminous celestial objects or atmospheric phenomena are bodily secretions of celestial beings. |
| L17B | 87.78% | A character or creature has a second face or a second mouth on the back of its head. |
| F22 | 87.78% | The character asks a person of the opposite sex about the purpose of the part of the body used for sexual intercourse (usually after asking questions about other parts). Alternatively, the character tries out different parts of the body for sexual intercourse or for placing the genitals. Cf. motif M63. |
| I36 | 87.31% | Thunder and lightning (two thunders, two lightnings) – characters related by kinship, marriage or property. |
| L53 | 86.30% | The terrifying creature is killed or neutralised by throwing (red-hot) stones, pieces of iron, etc. into its mouth or anus, or the creature retreats when threatened with a stone being thrown into its mouth. |
| F17 | 86.27% | Human genitals were initially located, should have been located, or could have been located under certain circumstances not where they are now; either there were no genitals initially, or people did not know their purpose and copulated using other parts of the body. |
| E1B | 86.07% | A character made of unsuitable material and turns out to be short-lived or poorly suited to performing his functions. |
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
44 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 44 traditions: Nuba, Dinka, Atuot, Nuer, Bemba (Wemba, Babemba; incl Ambo, Lala, Lamba, Bisa), Holoholo, Kaonde, Yoruba; incl Ife), Nupe, Bini (Edo), Engenni, Chamba, Dakka, Kukuruku, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Bhuiya (now Aryans, originally Munda; Rahman 1955: 203), Baiga, Bhaina, Bhumia (subgroup of Baiga, incl Bharia, formerly Munda, now speak Indo-Aryan languages of neighboring groups), Konds (Khonds; language is Kui, incl Kuttia, Konda-Dora), Koya; Pengo, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Ireland, Lithuanians, Mansi, Mongols (Khalkha), Ainu, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Chuvans, Russian-speaking Creols of Markovo, Chipewyan, Tutchone, Tagish, Inland Tlingit, Kaska, Tlingit, Western Ojibwa (Chippewa), Eastern Ojibwa (Missisauga, Timagami and other groups in eastern Ontario), Northern Ojibwa (=Severn Ojibwa, Sandy Lake Cree), Plains Ojibwa, Western Sahaptin (Upper Cowlitz, Klikitat, Tenino, Umatilla, Yakima, Wallawalla), Tillamook, Alcea, Yurok, Cherokee, Pomo, Maidu, Nisenan, Konkov, Sierra Miwok, Lake Miwok, Plains Miwok, Coastal Miwok, Mayo, Yaqui, Sinaloa, Huichol, Tepecano, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Popoloca; Tlapanec, Tojolabal, Chuj, Jacalteca, Kanjobal, Mocho (incl Tuzantec), Acatec, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Tzotzil, Chol; pre-Columbian Mayan iconography outside of Yucatan
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