Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H34E — Edible snow.
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 snow was edible.
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.
H34 has 9 other sub-motifs
RelatedH34. Work did not require effort. Some people do not believe that this is possible, or do not consider it to be right, or do not fulfil the necessary conditions, which is why people have to work. See motifs H34A – H34H; H34 contains only texts that are not classified in more detail.
H34a. The character believes that people should live easily (without labour and suffering) and makes appropriate suggestions. The interlocutor rejects them. This dialogue forever determines the conditions of people's lives. Those traditions in which the dialogue is conducted by two anthropomorphic brothers or companions are highlighted in bold in the list.
H34b. Somewhere there is or was a river that flowed or, according to the plan, was supposed to flow in two directions at once.
H34c. Rice flew (came) from the field to the house.
H34d. A zoomorphic character climbs or attempts to climb up to the sky or the moon to bite off a piece of them.
H34d1. The sky or celestial objects were edible, but then this source of food became inaccessible or is now only used by inhabitants of a country beyond the human world.
H34e. The snow was edible.
H34f. Baskets or clay vessels carried heavy loads themselves.
H34g. One grain was enough to prepare a meal.
H34h. Firewood and brushwood came by themselves, flying into the house; there was no need to specially harvest and deliver them.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I73 | 92.52% | Stars (rarely suns and moons) – sparks, hot coals. |
| M29B3 | 91.58% | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the fox (jackal) dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. If it is not specified that a “jackal”, then the protagonist is a fox. |
| K176 | 89.06% | A man sets out on a journey to find or bring back a bride or wife. |
| E11 | 89.05% | The future family member reveals himself or remains with the person after the object that defines the character's non-human appearance is destroyed. After the person destroys (usually burns) the discarded animal skin, the character retains his human appearance. See motif E9. |
| L1C2 | 89.01% | Fleeing from a demonic creature, the characters hide their children (younger brother or sister) in a camouflaged pit, usually under the hearth. See motif L1C. |
| M77 | 88.67% | The character stains another's clothes or bed with sewage or something that looks like sewage, threatens to ruin the air and accuse the other, etc.; taking advantage of the victim's confusion, achieves the goal. |
| B46D | 88.14% | Men, each of whom excels others in a particular art, turn into stars. |
| K12 | 88.06% | The hero returns the woman whom his enemy or rival tried to take away from him. |
| K145A | 87.56% | A person is predicted to die at the hands of an animal. He is killed (or attempted to be killed) by a living image of an animal or a statue in the form of an animal that falls on him. |
| A32C | 86.96% | The figures of a man and a dog are visible (or should have been visible) on the lunar disc. |
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
23 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 23 traditions: Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Estonians, Karachays, Balkar, Kumyk, Terekemen, Nogai, Tats, Kirghiz, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Mongols (Khalkha), Daur (Daghur), Shor, Manchu, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Kiowa Apache, Wintu, Patwin, Nomlaki, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Western Apache (White Mountain, San Carlos), Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), China
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