Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
F70D — The disgraced informer.
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 girl pretends to be a man or a eunuch, or a girl hides a disability, or a man pretends to be a girl. Someone reveals a secret. At the last moment, the hero or heroine magically gets rid of the disability (acquires male or female nature), the informer is disgraced (executed).
Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
F70 has 8 other sub-motifs
RelatedF70. A woman falsely accuses a man of assaulting her.
F70a. Accusing a man or young man of assaulting her (usually sexually), a woman presents fabricated material evidence (tearing her clothes, scratching her body, etc.). See motif F70.
F70b. A woman takes revenge on a man who rejected her love (but does not necessarily pretend that the man tried to force himself on her).
F70c. A young man loses his male organ, but restores it with magic (and marries happily). Cf. ATU 750K. In ATU 318, this episode is described as one of many possible ones related to the theme of the unfaithful wife.
F70d. A girl pretends to be a man or a eunuch, or a girl hides a disability, or a man pretends to be a girl. Someone reveals a secret. At the last moment, the hero or heroine magically gets rid of the disability (acquires male or female nature), the informer is disgraced (executed).
F70e. A girl pretends to be a man, magically acquires male nature and lives with his wife. Cf. motif K137 (in Uther 2004, plot 514 mistakenly includes a Karakalpak text with our motif K137).
F70e1. An old man needs a son to do men's work. (Only the youngest) daughter takes on this task (successfully passing the test set by her father), pretending to be a man.
F70e2. The father sends his daughters or sons on a difficult task one by one. At the very beginning of the journey, their courage is put to the test. Only the youngest son or daughter passes the test. Usually, the father stands in their way, taking the form of an enemy or a predator, but only the youngest son or daughter bravely enters the fight.
F70f. Finding themselves in a deserted place, people accidentally change their gender.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M29X | 99.72% | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the hyena dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. |
| K33B | 99.55% | A girl goes with her friends to the forest, to the river; everyone returns home, but she is forced to stay or return. She escapes from a dangerous creature, becomes the wife of a supernatural character, a leader, etc., or dies, but is avenged. |
| M118B | 99.37% | Climbing inside the animal, the character obtains food there without harming the animal. |
| M172 | 99.37% | To show that a strong character is his slave, a riding animal, the weak one adjusts so that the strong one takes him along. Those around them are convinced of the truthfulness of the weak one. |
| M56D | 99.25% | The character promises to fill the vessel with small flying living creatures. He bets with them that they will not be able to fill the vessel. Creatures climb inside, the character closes the lid. Cf. K60B motif. |
| L106A | 99.09% | The antagonist makes formally justified but essentially unfair demands on the hero. The hero either fulfils them or is punished by the antagonist. Then the antagonist takes an object or animal belonging to the hero, but cannot return it and is punished equally or more severely. |
| B2G | 98.79% | The chameleon walked on the ground when it had not yet hardened. |
| B98B | 98.79% | The Bat comes into conflict with other creatures in connection with someone's death or funeral. |
| B98C | 98.79% | The heavenly deity could have healed the bat's mother or child, but did not do so, and they died. |
| C30B | 98.79% | In response to the claims of an animal or spirit, a person offers to remove their traces from the field or to walk without leaving any traces. The spirit is unable to do so. |
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: Mehri; Harsusi, Jibbali (Shahri, Shauri), Soqotri, Kabylia and other Berber of Northern and Central Algeria: Beni Snous, Beni Menacer (incl Zuav), Shaui, etc.), Nuba, Enenga, Mpongwe, Kuta (Koto), Nkomi, Masango, Mindumu, Mbede, Mitsogo, Bawunga, Ndumu (Ndumbo), Duma, Teke, (B)wende, Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Other West Chadic: Ngas, Bolanchi, Tangale, Yoruba; incl Ife), Nupe, Bini (Edo), Engenni, Chamba, Dakka, Kukuruku, Soninke, Kru: Kru proper, Sapo (Sapã), Grebo, Kran (Krahn, Guere-Krahn; incl. Putu, Tchien), Bete, Neyo, Wobe, Devoin (Dey), Belle (Kuwaa), Bassa, Sikon, Ewe, Dogon, 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
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