Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B62 — Man and vulture.
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
OverviewMan believes that vultures live better than humans, changes his appearance to that of a vulture. The former vulture lives with the man's wife, and the man usually does not like his new life.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A22A | 99.59% | Two characters burn; one turns into the present sun, and the other into a less significant celestial object. See motif A22. |
| I27B | 99.54% | A dog carries a person across a river to another world. See motif I27. |
| L26 | 99.22% | During the (first) initiation, supernatural beings teach boys rituals and kill them for violating rules related to the consumption and distribution of food. |
| M121 | 99.22% | A louse or other similar creature (flea, tick, firefly) is sent to follow a certain character. |
| B67 | 99.15% | A fallen tree and/or its stump turns into a mountain (mountain range) or rocks. (Usually, the branches of this tree bear the fruits and shoots of various cultivated plants, see motif G5). |
| A13B | 98.75% | During an eclipse or at the first appearance of night, ants eclipse the sun. |
| A9 | 98.75% | The moon-woman does not allow her son or husband, the Sun, to destroy people. |
| L3A | 98.75% | Left alone, a woman carelessly calls for someone to help her with the housework; a demon comes and kills the woman or her child. |
| A22B | 98.57% | The sun and its companion burn up. The companion burns in a less intense fire (is thrown into the ashes, etc.); therefore, the moon (or star) is cold. See motif A22. |
| K30A | 98.43% | The wife of the first ancestor flies away with the vultures (usually voluntarily, after she has already cheated on her husband), and the chief (Uito: her brother) brings her back. See motif K30. |
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: Ngbakka, Mbum (incl Mbai), Mundang, Fali, Tupuri, Maya (=Bali), Nyong, Cherokee, Mayo, Yaqui, Sinaloa, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Popoloca; Tlapanec, Mam, Ixil, Aguatec, Avakatec, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Tzutujil, Tepehua, Totonac, Huastec (Teenek), Gulf Nahuatl, Zapotec, Chatino, Tzotzil, Chorti, Yucatec, Itza, Kekchi; Mopan, Xipaya, Kayabi, Caraja
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements © Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jon Fielder-White.
© 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.