Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K72A — Prohibition on lighting fires.
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
OverviewThe king notices that his prohibition on lighting fires at night has been violated.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K72 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedK72. A character of high status meets or marries three (less often two or four) women. One (promises to bear and) bears him a son (children) with unusual qualities, the other two (promise to engage in and) engage in crafts or housekeeping, or intend to marry men of lower status.
K72a. The king notices that his prohibition on lighting fires at night has been violated.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M170A | 99.20% | The predator accuses the herbivore of sin and eats it. |
| L72I | 98.91% | Fleeing for his life, the character throws soap behind him, which turns into an obstacle for his pursuer (a slippery mountain, river, etc.). |
| B104B | 98.58% | A woman refuses to share bread with Jesus, who has come to her, and he turns her into a woodpecker. |
| K130 | 98.52% | A woman (rarely: a man) asks who is the most beautiful of all and receives the answer that she (he) is. One day she (he) is told that someone else is more beautiful. |
| K120A5 | 98.39% | To obtain a woman, a man lures her onto a ship (boat, flying machine, etc.) and takes her away. |
| M206 | 98.30% | A guard (nobleman) agrees to let a man pass to an authoritative figure on condition that he gives him half of the expected reward. The man asks for a beating as a reward or expected it from the outset. |
| K56AB | 98.24% | A girl marries a monster. On their wedding night, he orders her to take off her shirt, and she orders him to take off his skin. The girl survives, and the monster becomes handsome – usually because she has more shirts (or skins worn in advance) than he does. |
| K22AA | 98.22% | There is a country whose inhabitants are migratory birds that live with us in the summer and turn into people when they fly away to their own country. |
| K155B | 98.18% | A girl lets down her hair, which another character uses to climb up to her. |
| M134C | 98.18% | A zoomorphic character climbs into a cellar (pantry, garden, etc.) and eats so much that he cannot get 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
21 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 21 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Portuguese, Portugal, 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, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Tajik, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Tats, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Kurds, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Russian Federation
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