Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K136A — The girl's floating hair.
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
OverviewSeeing the girl's hair carried away by the water, the man decides to marry the girl to whom the hair belongs.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K13 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedK13a. The character's leg (rarely: both legs) is cut off, bitten off, torn off, or damaged. The character ascends to the sky: to the moon; becomes the moon; turns into a star or constellation; becomes the sun; blood flowing from the leg colours the sky.
K13b. 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.
K13c. The cannibal's daughter takes revenge on her husband for her mother's death and manages to cut off his leg. See motif K13A.
K13d. A group of boys reaches the sky, the last one's leg is cut off or torn off.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K27ZZ1 | 94.87% | Several wives are thrown into a dungeon (banished), each gives birth to a child, but only one manages to save hers. The boy grows up and rescues the women. |
| K92A | 94.82% | A girl who has been driven from her home or has become the wife of an insignificant pauper becomes rich and respected. |
| K27ZZ | 93.28% | A man does not suspect that his (new) wife (less often his mother) is a cannibal/witch/treacherous woman; she persecutes (former) wives (his wife) and/or blinds them or throws them into a pit, or her husband does so at her instigation. Contrary to the cannibal's plans, the son of one of the wives survives, kills the cannibal, and rescues his mother and sisters. |
| I127 | 92.71% | Ursa Major – bed, couch. |
| K120A2 | 92.62% | Family members want to marry their daughter off to a man who is unacceptable to her (usually they want to marry her off to her own brother). The girl refuses to address her father, mother, etc. as close relatives, but calls them in-laws (mother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc.) or enemies; or the relatives themselves demand that the girl address them as in-laws. |
| M152A | 92.37% | A strong predator (a giant cannibal) and a weak predator are tied together with a rope to feel more confident. The strong one flees and drags the weak one behind him. |
| M60A1 | 92.10% | The hero meets a servant (usually a shepherd) and takes his form, after asking how he acts, how he talks to the hostess (usually finds out what to say in order transport the herd across the river). |
| L81A | 91.99% | A girl offends a cat (rarely: a dog, a rooster) and the cat takes revenge by causing misfortune to befall the girl (usually by extinguishing the fire, after which the girl falls into the hands of a demon). |
| K73A2 | 91.68% | The ill-wishers of the new mother replace the baby with a broom (they tell the father that his wife has given birth to a broom). |
| H49B | 91.43% | A man gives his dog to another man. The dog is of great use to him (it finds stolen goods and drives away thieves). The man who received the dog sends it back with a letter of thanks. The owner thinks that the dog has run away, kills it, and only then finds the letter. |
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
47 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 47 traditions: Mehri; Harsusi, Jibbali (Shahri, Shauri), Soqotri, Arabs of Egypt, Berbers of Morocco and adjacent parts of Algeria, Kabylia and other Berber of Northern and Central Algeria: Beni Snous, Beni Menacer (incl Zuav), Shaui, etc.), Algeria Arabs, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Somali, Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Mindanao and Sulu: Blaan (Bilaan), Bagobo, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Hiligáynon, Binukid, Magindaan (=Magindanao: main Muslim population), Mandaya, Mansaka, Manobo (Agusan, Ata, Dibabawon, Sarangani, Ilianen), Maranao, Samal, Subanon (=Subanun), Subanen, Tboli, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Toda, Kota, Kuruba (Kurumba), Badaga, Maravar, Pulaya, Kadar, Punjabi, Seraiki (Multani), Sindhi, Kashmiri, Nepali; Tharu, Rajasthani (Radjasthan and Madhya Pradesh), Konkani (incl Goa), Sinhalese; Vedda, Dards (Kalash, Kho, Kohistani, Shina, Pashai), Lepcha, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Swedes, Tajik, Baluch, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Nogai, Tats, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Mongols (Khalkha), Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Kumaoni (Central Pahari), incl. Garhwali, Arabs of Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, Emirates, Oman,, Berbers of Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait
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