Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
F37 — Calabash on the water.
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
OverviewTo summon her lover, the character taps on a calabash placed on the water.
Berezkin category: Gender and sex
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 |
|---|---|---|
| K13B | 99.98% | A man crosses a body of water on the back of a caiman. The caiman bites off his leg. The cripple undergoes a metamorphosis, turning into a constellation or an animal. |
| B66 | 99.55% | Characters climb to the sky using a rope or chain of arrows; when it falls to the ground, it turns into forest vines. See motif J47. |
| C15 | 99.55% | A monstrous jaguar (puma) is locked in a cave or tree trunk. |
| C34A | 99.55% | A supernatural character goes with people to catch fish or lives on the sand by the river; he is buried in the sand or thrown into the river, into a swamp, or otherwise persecuted. Usually, he himself or his father sends a flood. |
| H32B | 99.55% | A girl and/or boy, who are the children of a deity, come to live with humans, leading to an abundance of food/resources. Due to the hurt they have caused, the children return to their own world, and human life becomes difficult or meagre. |
| L1D | 99.55% | The jaguar-werewolf kills most people and is killed by the woman who survives. |
| F19 | 99.08% | After copulating with a frog, a man's penis is crippled (unless otherwise stated: it becomes long, see motif F18A). |
| M9A | 99.08% | A character who eagerly sucks honey from a hollow and/or gets stuck in a hollow turns into a tree frog. See M9 motif. |
| B56 | 98.88% | The crocodile/caiman is left without a tongue after swallowing or losing the fire (which it previously possessed); something associated with heavenly fire (lightning, sunbeams, etc.) emerges from the crocodile's severed tongue. |
| G7 | 98.48% | The first ancestors need to cut down a giant tree or (rarely) a rock. Their axes become blunt or break, and/or they obtain a special axe suitable for such work. If not otherwise: a tree with cultivated plants at the top, see motif G5A. |
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
13 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 13 traditions: Sicuani, Chayahuita , Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Wanana, Tucano proper, Pira-Tapuya, Arapaso, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena , Tariana, Andoque, Tenetehara, Shipibo, Conibo, Setebo, Mundurucu, Curuaia, Manao, Katawishi (Teffe lake); groups of uncertain affiliation mostly from Rio Jamunda
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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