Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K144 — Predicted death by an animal, ATU 934A, 934B.
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
OverviewWhen the animal, object, or person that was supposed to cause the character's death has already died or is far away, the character's remains or images become the cause of death.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K14 has 7 other sub-motifs
RelatedK14. A person receives or buys simple advice, the meaning of which is initially unclear (travel with a companion, do not skip breakfast, etc.) and either follows it, achieving success, or violates it, getting into trouble.
K14a. The antagonist orders the killing of the first person to arrive at the agreed place in the morning. The hero is accidentally delayed, and the antagonist himself or his wife or son are killed.
K14b. A man is advised not to do anything until he is expressly asked to do so. He unwisely offers to let someone use his knife and is subsequently accused of a crime.
K14c. Returning after a long absence and seeing signs that there is another man in the house, a man thinks that his wife has a lover, but does not rush to act and convinces himself that it is his own son or his wife's relative.
k14c1. A man who has gone away to work sends his wife a pomegranate, unaware of its value. His wife finds treasures in the pomegranate.
K14d. Testing his wife (household member, acquaintance), a man pretends to have committed a crime or performs incomprehensible actions that could be interpreted as a crime. Usually, his wife (friend) betrays him, and he presents evidence of his innocence.
K14e. The sons do not care for their elderly father (rarely: the daughter-in-law does not care for her mother-in-law). He pretends to be hiding something. The sons believe that these are valuables that their father will leave them, and they begin to care for him.
K14F. After his father's death, the son consistently violates his father's instructions. Having preserved material evidence of what happened, he presents it to those gathered, proving his father's rightness and/or his wife's wrongness.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B125B | 98.94% | A zoomorphic character goes to a festival and asks another to lend him a part of his body, which will make him look more attractive. |
| B79 | 98.46% | In the world ocean or in the world abyss, from an egg (eggs) or egg-like sphere, shell, etc., the earth, sky, luminaries, and creator gods arise. |
| M145 | 96.87% | One character (usually zoomorphic) shows another his reflection in a body of water. The latter believes that a beast resembling him is challenging his seniority, invites him to visit, etc.; usually throws himself into the water and perishes. |
| K27HH | 96.54% | The character is tasked with quickly separating small particles of different types (usually seeds of different plant species) mixed together in a single vessel, or counting the number of grains, or gathering scattered or already sown grain. |
| K56B | 96.53% | Two men take turns meeting a character who can reward and punish. One behaves correctly and is rewarded, the other (or two others) behave incorrectly and are punished (rarely: not rewarded). |
| H18B | 95.60% | Having received livestock from supernatural characters, a person (usually due to violating a prohibition on looking, shouting, etc.) immediately loses all or most of the animals (they go into the water, into the sky, scatter, etc.). |
| B116 | 95.56% | The first book (writing, important document) is eaten by an animal or a person. (In some European traditions, the eating of the book is not described, but is implied from the context). Cf. ATU 200. Cf. Thompson 1955-1958. †A2219.2. Cow swallows book; cause of maniplies in stomach. |
| K80 | 95.23% | The character transforms into objects or creatures, which another character systematically destroys. However, the character (usually a young woman) is reborn each time in a new form and eventually in her original form. |
| M193 | 94.98% | To avoid predators (suitors) on the way back, the character climbs inside a pumpkin, a round cauldron, etc. and rolls down the road or walks, disguised beyond recognition. |
| L44 | 94.91% | A demon or powerful beast demands that a person or weak animal show certain parts of their body. The person shows parts of a large animal's body or certain objects. The opponent decides that the hero is more frightening and powerful than them. |
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
25 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 25 traditions: Soqotri, Shilluk, Anuak, Somali, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Oraon (Kurukh), Telugu (incl. Yanadi, Chenchu), Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Gujarati, Koreans, England, British, Bretons, 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, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Ancient Greece, Scandinavians: early written sources ("Edda"; Saxo Grammaticus etc.); Gothland picture stones; Ancient Germans (Late Bronze Age in Scandinavia), Persians, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Gagauz, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Lao, Luri, Bakhtiari, Early Russian written sources, Russian Federation
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