Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
F81 — The bride in the river.
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
OverviewThe character does not recognise his reflection in the water, thinks that a person (usually a woman, with whom he immediately falls in love) is looking at him, and jumps into the water. (Cf. J1793, "Diving for a woman's reflection"; among the Kwinolts, diving for a real reflection of a woman; among the Menominee, diving for a woman in the water).
Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I55A | 99.68% | Stars â lakes on one of the heavenly tiers. |
| M101 | 98.69% | The bear tells the fox (rarely the sable or the wolf) that he is not afraid of people (usually saying that he is afraid of flying partridges). After trying to attack people, he is killed or wounded. Cf. motif M101A. |
| B64D | 97.57% | Certain bones in the bodies of living creatures (usually birds and fish) are arrows shot into them. |
| B42M2 | 97.09% | The stars of the Big Dipper's handle are three hunters chasing a beast. Each has a distinct character (one is boastful, another is hasty, etc.). In Siberia, the hunters are identified with people of different nationalities, and in the North American Northeast, with birds of different species. |
| A32J | 97.01% | A shaman with a tambourine ascends to the moon and remains there, visible in the silhouette of the lunar spots. |
| B42M1 | 97.01% | The three main stars of the Big Dipper's handle are associated with people of three different nationalities. |
| B64A | 97.01% | Fish and birds fight (usually by shooting arrows at each other). Since then, fish have had many small bones in their bodies and/or birds' legs have taken on their current form. |
| B72D | 97.01% | A woman makes herself wings (beak, tail) from clothing accessories and turns into a bird or a flying creature. |
| B74A | 97.01% | Red cloths are sewn over the character's eyes (threads, eyelids are painted red) or he does it himself. He sees everything in red or his eyes have turned red forever. |
| D1A1 | 97.01% | Because a woman offended the fire, its mistress takes her child away. |
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
18 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 18 traditions: Torricelli family: Valman, Samap, Arapesh (Upper, Coastal), Monumbo, Lilau, Ngaimbom; Moando (Banara); Menya, Olo, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Kerek, Reindeer Koryak, Maritime Koryak (Alyutor), Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Chuvans, Russian-speaking Creols of Markovo, Chukchi, Central Yupik, Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Tahltan, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Tundra (Lower Kolyma) Yukaghir, Itelmen
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