Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

B98 — The bat between beasts and birds, ATU 222A.

100 Myths, legends and folktales

100 Unique narratives for motif B98

72 Cultures & traditions where B98 is told

3 Sub-motifs of motif B98

Please log on to view the narratives.

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

Overview

The bat (rarely: ostrich) tries to join either the beasts or the birds, or finds itself excluded from both.

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.

B98 has 3 other sub-motifs

B98.  The bat (rarely: ostrich) tries to join either the beasts or the birds, or finds itself excluded from both.
B98a.  The bat becomes an outcast among other creatures (usually after trying to join either the animals or the birds).
B98b.  The Bat comes into conflict with other creatures in connection with someone's death or funeral.
B98c.  The heavenly deity could have healed the bat's mother or child, but did not do so, and they died.

🌐 See a combined distribution map for all of B98’s motifs

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny

Motif	Similarity	Motif summary
L108	98.42%	Each time the departed character returns, he or she sings a song or gives a signal to a relative (usually a child) or friend who remained at home, who then lets him or her in. The antagonist pretends to be the departed person, imitating his or her voice, showing his or her hand, etc. Cf. motif L27a.
M157	96.37%	The character claims that a man, male animal or object gave birth (or had a period), or that an animal of one species gave birth to a young of another species, or that a woman gave birth to an animal or inanimate object.
L65B	96.33%	A demonic woman, less often her lover or another monster, is ready to kill or kills the hero. Dogs (or animals and birds that replace them – lions, bears, eagles, etc.) come running (flying), rescue the hero and kill the demon.
K32D	96.27%	As a result of the antagonist's intrigues, a noble girl (young woman) or boy (young man) is turned into a servant or servant, sent to graze cattle or chase birds in the field. Everything is revealed – usually after people hear a song in which the hero or heroine tells about the substitution. Most often, the hero or heroine goes to relatives or (less often) to the groom. The deceiver accompanies her or him and is accepted as a relative or bride. The deceiver is executed. Comoros: the deceiver becomes the mistress, turning the girl's parents into peacocks.
K56	95.95%	One of the girls, young women or young girls (wives of one man) meets a character who is able to reward and punish. She behaves correctly and receives a reward. Another (others) tries to repeat everything, but behaves incorrectly and is punished (rarely: not rewarded).
L106B	95.92%	A girl, a young girl or (rarely) a boy loses an everyday object, usually carried away by water or wind. In search of the lost object, she (he) encounters powerful characters, returns the object and/or receives valuables. Traditions recorded only in Roberts 1994: 103-110 are highlighted in italics.
M157A2	95.64%	The character claims that the calf (kid, etc.) was not born (brought) by a cow (goat, etc.) belonging to another owner, but by his own animal of a different species or male sex, or by an inanimate object (usually a cart).
M124	95.64%	The character buries the tail (head, ears) of a domestic animal, claiming that it has fallen into the ground. Usually, he asks others to pull on the tail (head), and when it "breaks off," he accuses others of stealing the animal.
M156	95.63%	A dangerous animal (rarely: a spirit) is about to kill a human or another animal – usually the one who freed it from a trap. A third character acts as a judge and saves the human – most often by luring the ungrateful back into the trap.
M154	95.13%	A man who has learned the language of animals laughs when he hears them talking. His wife or mother-in-law (rarely someone else) demands that he explain what is going on. The man is ready to comply with his wife's demand, even though he knows he will die if he reveals the secret. Usually, he hears the domestic animals condemning their master's stupidity and decides not to say anything.

See the 100 most similar distributions →

Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

Drag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below

🌐 Open as Airocean (Dymaxion) map ↗

Traditions

72 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 72 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Amhara; Zay, Harari; Silte, Gogot, Tonga, Gogo, Kaguru, Luguru, Zigula, Taveta, Shambala (Sambala), Bondei, Taeta, Dabida; Zaramo, Songe (Kisonge), Bena-Matembo, Sakata, Congo (Koongo, Bacongo; incl Vili, Fioti, (Ma)Yombe, MuKunyi), Ndombo, Luango (Loango), Zombo (Sambo), Laadi (Laari), (Ba)Fioti, Woyo (Kiwoyo), Ronga, Boa, Komo, (Ba)Nyanga, Mbole, Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Hausa, Igbo (Ibo); Isoko, Urhobo, Yoruba; incl Ife), Nupe, Bini (Edo), Engenni, Chamba, Dakka, Kukuruku, Kru: Kru proper, Sapo (Sapã), Grebo, Kran (Krahn, Guere-Krahn; incl. Putu, Tchien), Bete, Neyo, Wobe, Devoin (Dey), Belle (Kuwaa), Bassa, Sikon, Kposso, "Togo-Restvölker" (Adele, Akebu, Akposso, Bowiri/Bowili, Santrokofi, Lelemi, Borada Akrade, Teteman, Baakwa, Bowiri), Akan, Ashanti, Akwapim; Ga (Accra), Kra, Twi (Chwi, Chi), Niue, Burmese, Intha, Mon, Viet, Muong, Nicobarese, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Rawang, Dulong; Anong, Drung, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Lepcha, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Maltese, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, 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, Hungarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Vepsians, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Tats, Georgians, Kalmyk, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kazakh, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Khakas, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Tlingit, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Yuchi, Coos, Klamath, Modoc, Cherokee, Western Keres (Acoma, Laguna), Eastern Keres (Cochiti, Sia, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Santa Ana, Paguate, Seama), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Prussians, Early Russian written sources, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Congo, Czech Republic, China, Japan

Please log on to view the narratives.

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.