Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K35A5 — A sign by which the patron recognises the visitor.
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
OverviewAn authoritative character leaves an object (a letter) for a little boy, by which he will be able to recognise him when he grows up and comes to him.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K35 has 13 other sub-motifs
RelatedK35. The deceiver pretends to be a hero in order to take his place (to possess his woman). (This motif includes all texts with motif K35a3).
K35a. In exchange for improving his current situation, the character agrees to have his body injured or branded.
K35a1. Setting off on a journey, a person (often against the advice of their horse) picks up a precious feather. Upon learning of this, an authoritative character gives them difficult tasks.
K35a2. A man kills an animal with glowing fur. Upon learning of this, an authoritative figure gives him difficult tasks.
K35a3. In order to obtain the privileges enjoyed by the hero, the deceiver manages to swap status with him.
K35a4. In order to get rid of the hero and take his place, the deceiver pushes him into the sea or leaves him on a distant island. The hero survives and returns.
K35a5. An authoritative character leaves an object (a letter) for a little boy, by which he will be able to recognise him when he grows up and comes to him.
K35a6. The character illuminates the room with a light-emitting object (usually a feather) that he has found.
K35a7. A character finds a feather, the touch of which brings health and beauty.
K35b. The hero gives his rivals the food that the king sent them all to get, but what the rivals got turns out to be poisonous, useless, or tasteless, while what the hero brought, regardless of how it looks, gets praised.
K35c. The dev (ajdaha, sea king) did not kill the man who descended to him, as people assumed, but rewarded him because he greeted him and/or answered his question correctly.
K35c1. The young man is not killed, but rewarded, because he answered correctly (evasively) the question of a powerful character â which of the two women he should marry, which is more beautiful, which object or material is more valuable, etc.
K35c2. When the ship unexpectedly stops, the hero descends to the bottom of the sea, behaves correctly with the local inhabitants, and returns to the ship.
K35c3. For reasons that are not immediately clear, the ship stops in the middle of the sea (rarely: a horse stops in the middle of the road).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M39I | 99.92% | After going broke, a person decides to hang himself, but finds gold (specially put by the father where his son hangs). |
| I92 | 99.65% | A person who has come into contact with a rainbow in a certain way (walked under it, drunk water where the rainbow drinks, etc.) changes their gender. |
| I59B3 | 99.60% | The Milky Way â the road of salt traders, "Chumak Way". |
| M182A1 | 99.59% | A man catches several wild animals and releases them on the promise that they will bring gifts or prove useful. The animals fulfil their promise. |
| K56A4D | 99.52% | A stepmother sends her stepdaughter to a house in the forest, giving her ashes, sand, etc. instead of food. The stepdaughter turns them into flour, groats, etc. |
| I46B | 99.47% | The colour of the rainbow can be used to predict the harvest of individual crops. |
| F70E | 99.38% | A girl pretends to be a man, magically acquires male nature and lives with his wife. Cf. motif K137 (in Uther 2004, plot 514 mistakenly includes a Karakalpak text with our motif K137). |
| I22D | 99.38% | To obtain a miraculous life-giving (healing) remedy, one must penetrate the space behind the shifting rocks. |
| M39A4G | 99.38% | Fool sells property to the dogs and believes that they will pay him. Trying to get his money, he finds treasure |
| M39F | 99.34% | A fool is left headless (usually trying to get into a bear's den). When asked whether the deceased had a head, wife or someone else, they say that there was a hat (beard), but they definitely do not remember the head. |
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
9 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 9 traditions: Greeks of Cyprus, England, British, Bretons, France, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Western Ukrainians, Abaza (Abazins), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)
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