Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K159 — Peas underfoot.
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 two characters are fighting, someone nearby wants one of them to slip (while the other remains firmly on their feet) and throws something under their feet for this purpose.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K15 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedK15. A woman swears that she has not been with anyone except (her husband and) a dirty beggar. Others do not know that her lover has taken on the appearance of a beggar.
K15a. The hero secretly replaces the weapon or magical tool of a powerful character with a worthless fake. Traditions in which the replaced weapon belongs to Grom are highlighted in bold.
K15b. By secretly switching the vessels containing living and dead (giving and taking away strength) water (rarely: oil, etc.), from which the combatants drink during a duel, the hero defeats his opponent.
K15c. The owner of stone (ice) clothing kills people. By hiding or replacing his clothing, the hero kills him.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J32E | 99.52% | Every time a mare foals, the foal is stolen. The hero finds out who is doing this. |
| K148 | 99.52% | Every night or every year, a mare gives birth to a foal, and every time someone steals it. |
| N6 | 99.50% | horse tells the rider to whip it so hard that his blood splashes, his skin peels off, the meat is cut to the bone, etc. The rider follows these instructions. |
| M83A | 99.34% | The characters are arguing which one is older. After some people tell us how long they were born, the latter says that this and that happened in his memory at that time. |
| B115 | 99.30% | Conifers and some other trees and shrubs (small shrubs) became evergreen after the elixir of immortality was accidentally spilled on them. Cf. motif H6b. |
| M109A | 99.26% | One zoomorphic character advises another to sit on the ice for a long time â usually until food falls from the sky. The one who sits on the ice freezes to it. |
| I87A1 | 99.24% | Two people engage in a dialogue, contradicting each other in their descriptions of the sizes of creatures and objects. |
| M39A6A | 99.22% | After a long search, the ruler finds an intelligent wife for his son. At the mercy of his enemies, he sends a message with one of them, the true content of which is understood only by his daughter-in-law. She destroys enemies and frees her father-in-law. (The boys have a younger wife instead of an intelligent daughter-in-law). |
| K27ZZ4 | 98.92% | A conceited prince (the son of a merchant) beats his wife every day (he marries on the condition that he will beat his wife every day). She saves him by demonstrating her superiority. |
| L81A1 | 98.92% | Noticing a red bead (pebble) that has fallen into the hearth, the character thinks it is a coal and does not understand that the fire in the hearth has gone out. |
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
29 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 29 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Vepsians, Western Ukrainians, Uzbek, Yagnobi, Tajik, Mingrelians (Megrelians), Laz, Kalmyk, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Uyghur, Turkmen, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori
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