Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K166 — Forty girls.
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 group of girls forms a community or troop and acts independently of men. Cf. motif F39.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K16 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedK16. Taking the form of a bird, bat, insect, small animal, or fish, the man enters the young woman's home (her father's house).
K16a. In an effort to show that he is a good hunter, a man regularly walks in front of a girl, pretending to carry prey. Once he slips, and the imaginary prey turns out to be a scarecrow stuffed with ashes or a bundle of termites.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K33A1 | 94.59% | A woman is thrown into a well (pond, pit, etc.) or becomes a water bird. In the water, she gives birth to a child (twins, triplets) or is thrown into the water with her baby. She is rescued along with her children. |
| M177 | 92.45% | A weak predator eats part of its victim's body and explains to the strong one that this part did not exist at all (otherwise he would not have come to a place where he knew he would be eaten). |
| K27H1 | 87.75% | The character is tasked with bringing the fruits of a tree that is difficult to reach. |
| K14D | 87.71% | 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. |
| L40C | 87.04% | Relying on the ambiguity of the statement, the buyer of a cheap item claims rights to a much more valuable one. |
| K38F2 | 86.60% | The girl saved by the hero smears him with the blood of the monster he has slain. When the deceiver claims that he killed the dragon, the hero shows the bloodstain on his body, thus proving that he is the victor. |
| I13E | 85.63% | The snake agrees to let the man go on condition that he does not tell anyone about their meeting. Under threat of death, the man breaks his promise. The snake teaches him to drink a broth made from its flesh and takes revenge not on the man, but on those who forced him to break his word. |
| K102A | 85.63% | A man orders the killing of a young man's sister, wife or mother. The young man does not allow such an order to be carried out, and then repents of this. |
| K56A2A | 85.46% | A girl becomes beautiful or ugly after washing herself with water of a certain colour. |
| K117A | 85.42% | A girl who is constantly silent is promised to the one who can make her speak; or a husband struggles to make his magical wife speak. |
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
18 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 18 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Nuba, Bilin (Blin, Bilen), Dinka, Atuot, Nuer, Shilluk, Anuak, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Tajik, Armenians, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Kordofan, Yemen
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