Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
E31 — Imaginary Pygmalion.
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
OverviewA man makes a wooden doll and behaves as if it were alive. It does not come to life, or comes to life only partially or temporarily. A real woman replaces the figure and marries the carver.
Berezkin category: The origins of people and culture
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 5, Origin of human beings, ethnic groups, etiology of human anatomy, strange body configuration, ways of behavior, marriages before the establishment of the present norms.
E31 has 5 other sub-motifs
RelatedE31. A man makes a wooden doll and behaves as if it were alive. It does not come to life, or comes to life only partially or temporarily. A real woman replaces the figure and marries the carver.
E31a. Several men (women) participate in the rescue, creation or revival of a girl (man), or mourn her (his) death. The question arises as to whom the revived person should belong to or who contributed more to the revival. Alternatively, three men create something valuable, each contributing their part. The question arises as to whose contribution is more important.
E31a1. Three (rarely four or two) men participate in the creation of the girl: one carves the figure out of wood, another dresses her, and the third brings her to life. To whom should the animated girl belong?
E31a2. The girl must be given to one of several men. She herself or someone else explains that one of the suitors can be called her father, another her brother (etc.), and only one can be her husband.
E31b. Several women participate in reviving a dead man and argue about who did more to revive him.
E31c. Several men, each possessing a unique skill, bring a (kidnapped) girl from a distant country.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A32 | 92.37% | A figure or imprint of some creature or object is visible on the lunar disc. Statistical calculations also include motifs A32A â A32J (a rabbit, frog, predatory animal, human, tree, etc. are visible on the moon). |
| K12 | 91.97% | The hero returns the woman whom his enemy or rival tried to take away from him. |
| K1F | 91.81% | One man traps another, driven by jealousy or the desire to possess his rival's wife. See motifs K1A, K1E, K2A. |
| M81 | 91.62% | Wandering, the hero finds himself in a place where blind or blind (two or more) live. |
| I22G | 91.58% | Mountains (rocks) are mentioned that constantly collide and diverge, or a crevice or gap in a vertical rock that opens and closes. Cf. motif I22g1, Colliding rocks. |
| K176 | 90.83% | A man sets out on a journey to find or bring back a bride or wife. |
| L56 | 90.24% | A large animal or monster perishes from a fire kindled in its belly. See motif K8A. |
| I23 | 90.21% | The door of the house opens and slams shut by itself, crushing those entering or leaving. See motif I22. |
| C16 | 90.03% | Contrary to human desire, processed skins, tools, and (meat) food (again) turn into (those) animals (from whose body parts they were made). Cf. motif M84. |
| A32D | 89.70% | The figure or imprint of an anthropomorphic creature is visible on the lunar disc. |
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
14 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 14 traditions: Yap, Maria, Muria, and other South-Central Dravidians: Binjhwar, Bacop, Bhattra, Bom, Jhoria (=Jhodia), Gadaba (in Koraput, neighbors of Munda-speaking Gadaba), Duruwa (Parji), Mehtar; Pardhan, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Persians, Mansi, Daur (Daghur), Inland Tlingit, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw), Bella Coola (Nuxalk), Greece, Halkomelem (Snaymuk)
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