Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H32B — Lost abundance: the offended child.
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 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.
Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life.
H32 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedH32a. A young woman is the embodiment of fertility; she comes to live with people, and food becomes readily available. The woman is wronged, she leaves, and the superabundance ends.
H32b. 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.
H32C. The woman's husband has a non-human nature and possesses magical knowledge and values. He is wronged, he leaves, and his knowledge and abilities can no longer be used by humans.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B66 | 100.00% | 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 | 100.00% | A monstrous jaguar (puma) is locked in a cave or tree trunk. |
| C34A | 100.00% | 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. |
| L1D | 100.00% | The jaguar-werewolf kills most people and is killed by the woman who survives. |
| K13B | 99.70% | 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. |
| L1E | 99.65% | A monstrous bird is created from a small amount of human or animal flesh (usually from the heart) or from lumps of manioc starch. |
| F37 | 99.55% | To summon her lover, the character taps on a calabash placed on the water. |
| G11 | 99.54% | The squirrel plays an important role in cutting down a giant tree (usually chopping or trying to chop the vine that holds it, see motif G10). |
| G10 | 99.00% | A tree whose trunk has been cut down remains hanging because it is held up from above. |
| B7D | 99.00% | Water pours from a broken bone, flooding the earth. |
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
8 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Gogo, Kaguru, Luguru, Zigula, Taveta, Shambala (Sambala), Bondei, Taeta, Dabida; Zaramo, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Shuar, Achuar (Shiwiar), Aguaruna, Huambiza, Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena , Tupari, Makurap, Sakirap, Ajuru (Wayoro), Ayoreo, Chamacoco (Ishir)
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