Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
F51B — Finds by the thread.
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 find out the nature or location of a character's locus, another person secretly attaches a long thread to it and follows it.
Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
F51 has 4 other sub-motifs
RelatedF51. Someone under cover of night/incognito approaches a person of the opposite sex. The marriage partner deliberately (to determine who it is) or accidentally (thereby exposing the visitor) makes a mark on his/her body (clothing). See motif A31.
F51a. After incest is discovered, the sister openly demands her brother as her husband, turns into a monster, and kills people.
F51b. To find out the nature or location of a character's locus, another person secretly attaches a long thread to it and follows it.
F51c. Upon learning that her unknown lover is her own brother, the girl shows him her genitals or bare breasts, offering him what he so desired. After that, she runs away, and he rushes after her.
F51d. Ginseng roots â boys or girls who help the hero.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M45C | 98.89% | The character advises the other person to plant or sow boiled or roasted seeds or tubers, who follows the advice. |
| G8E | 98.80% | A character unsuccessfully cuts down a tree growing on the moon. |
| K29C | 97.25% | They hope to kill the hero by knocking a tree down on him or tying him to a tree. He comes back alive, dragging the tree behind him. |
| A2B | 97.12% | In addition to the current sun and/or moon, other suns and moons shone in the sky, which were then destroyed. See motif A2A. |
| A4B | 96.91% | The sun decided to walk across the sky during the day because it is afraid of the night. |
| B43 | 96.78% | Elements of the landscape or parts of the universe are created from the body of the original being. |
| A2B1 | 96.65% | Two or more suns shine in the sky. When the extra ones are destroyed, there is a danger that the last one will be destroyed along with them and darkness will ensue. |
| E38B | 96.65% | After a global catastrophe or at the beginning of time, a pumpkin appears on earth, from which the ancestors of humans emerge. |
| M167A | 96.60% | A strong predator mistakes an unfamiliar word for the name of a creature that is stronger than him and flees. |
| H6D | 96.60% | Having obtained a means of ensuring immortality, the character falls asleep or leaves the means unattended. At this time, another character steals the means. |
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
22 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 22 traditions: Sangir Islands, Namuci (Namuyi), Naxi; Pumi (Primi), Koreans, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Lithuanians, Western Ukrainians, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Kets, Manchu, Tlingit, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, China, Japan
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