Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
C29 — Overheard secret.
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
OverviewPeople (God) learn a secret by overhearing (spying on) a character talking to himself or his relatives (or performing actions that should be remembered). The knowledge gained is related to cosmogony or the acquisition of cultural values.
Berezkin category: Disasters
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 3, Cosmogony, the earth and the sky, etiology of the elements, natural and biological phenomena (fire, water, soil, thunderstorms, dream, etc.), cataclysms and cosmic threats, spirits of nature.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| N30 | 99.43% | formula that describes the confusion of feelings: when a character looks in one direction, he cries, and when he laughs or smiles in the other direction. |
| C31 | 99.00% | The hedgehog is wiser or more cunning than all the gods and animals; it possesses knowledge that is vital for human existence. |
| K100C | 98.60% | A woman (rarely a young man) does not know that inside her (him) there is something dangerous for her (his) marriage partner (usually a snake), or that on her wedding night she will turn into a snake, or that a snake will crawl in on her wedding night. The hero or his companion eliminates the danger. {Motif K100C is similar to F9f1, but the latter belongs to the cosmological-etiological category and is associated with the idea of a dangerous woman, while K100C is adventurous}. |
| M98 | 98.60% | The character counts the number of members in two huge and alternative sets (dead and alive, men and women, etc.). Usually numbers are distributed equally, and one term (or some) is endowed with the properties of both. By referring it to one of the sets, the character proves a thesis. |
| B83 | 98.59% | A character attempts to lift a small object or creature, which turns out to be gigantic and unliftable. Cf. motif I87ab. |
| B51A | 98.41% | The snake is the enemy of the swallow (usually because the swallow prevents the snake from destroying people â the snake sends a mosquito or other blood-sucking insect to find out whose blood tastes better; the mosquito returns to report that it is human blood; the swallow bites off its tongue, and the snake plucks the feathers from the swallow's tail). |
| N10B | 98.40% | A girl or (rarely) a young man with a transparent neck is described, through which you can see the drinks and/or food that this girl or boy swallows. This neck is a sign of beauty. |
| M57D1 | 98.36% | bird consistently gives a person magical objects (or gives one, with which he receives the rest) or consistently fulfills his wishes. |
| F9F1 | 98.36% | Inside the woman there is a snake (snakes, scorpions, just poison) that comes out of her mouth. {Motifs F9f1 and K100C are almost identical, but the first can be included in the cosmological-etiological category and is associated with the idea of a dangerous woman, while the second belongs to the adventure category}. |
| I128 | 98.33% | The Big Dipper â a ladle, a scoop. |
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
29 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 29 traditions: Bilin (Blin, Bilen), Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Lahu, Kucong, Nosu, Nisu, Nusu, Sani, Jino, Namuci (Namuyi), Naxi; Pumi (Primi), Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Latvians, Setu, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Nogai, Tats, Armenians, Kalmyk, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mari (Cheremis), Chuvash, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Khakas, Shor, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Nivkh, Chukchi, Lisu, Lolo (incl. Bai), Achang, Yi, Axi, Nasu, Jino, Taungyo, Southern Altai: Teleut, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori
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