Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K76C1 — A woman gave birth to a pumpkin.
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 woman gives birth to a pumpkin, inside which there is a person (many people) or which turns into a person.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
K76 has 9 other sub-motifs
RelatedK76. A boy who is born or found has a strange or ugly appearance (ball, nut, sack, half-human, dwarf, animal), but then demonstrates magical powers and turns out to be handsome (usually getting a bride of high status). The princess's magical spouse initially has a non-human or ugly appearance.
K76a. A frog or toad marries a beautiful woman, or a handsome young man marries a frog.
K76b. The son or foster son of snake spouses. He turns into a human. The snake is the princess's magical spouse, lost and returned.
K76c. The son (rarely â daughter) or foster child of a married couple emerges from a pumpkin (rarely: watermelon, nut) or is found inside it.
k76c1. A woman gives birth to a pumpkin, inside which there is a person (many people) or which turns into a person.
K76d. The son or foster child of a married couple is a hedgehog. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man.
K76e. The son (daughter) or foster child of a married couple is a pig. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man (she marries a handsome man).
K76f. A young man with the appearance of a calf marries and then turns into a handsome man.
K76g. The son or foster son of a married couple â a crab. He marries a princess and turns into a handsome man.
K76h. A young man, temporarily having a strange or monstrous appearance (freak, animal, etc.), woos a princess, but is rejected. Then he causes natural disasters or creates personal troubles for the king, who is forced to give up his daughter.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 0.00% | Another sun â less powerful or less favourable to humans â existed before the appearance of the current one. |
| A10 | 0.00% | The sun gets its sparkling eyes (eye) from an animal. |
| A11A | 0.00% | The visible sun or moon are their eyes; if the eyes of the luminaries were not damaged, it would be much brighter and hotter. |
| A11B | 0.00% | The sun or moon has one eye (usually the second eye is knocked out or sucked out, but sometimes the reason is not explained; among the Munduruku, the sun of the rainy season has lost both eyes, while the sun of the dry season has retained both). See motif 11A. |
| A11C | 0.00% | The Sun and Moon kill a monster whose eyes shine differently. At first, the Moon takes the brighter eye, but then swaps with the Sun. |
| A12 | 0.00% | A creature or creatures regularly (sunrise and sunset, winter and summer, night and day, phases of the moon) or occasionally (eclipses, eschatological catastrophes) attack the luminaries or block their light. |
| A12A | 0.00% | During an eclipse or under other circumstances, predators attack the luminaries: wolves, bears, jaguars, pumas, dogs, foxes, raccoons. See motif A12. |
| A12B | 0.00% | During an eclipse or at sunset (marked *), the luminaries are swallowed by a toad or frog. |
| A12C | 0.00% | Eclipses of the sun, moon or their setting (marked*) are caused by a snake, lizard, dragon, fish or crocodile; these creatures attack the luminaries now or attacked them at the beginning of time. See motif A12. |
| A12D | 0.00% | Birds attack the sun or moon during an eclipse (covering them with their wings) or (*) cover the sun during sunrise or sunset. See motif A12. |
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: Yao, Makua, Minahasa (incl. Tondano, Tentemboan), Bantik, Northern Taiwan: Atayal (Tayal; Taruko (Toda, Taokas, Torok, Taroko), Pazeh, Sedeq (Sediq, Seedeq, Sazek), Saisiyat (Saixia), Bahnar, Bana, Sedang, Por, Khmu (Kammu), Puoc, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Toda, Kota, Kuruba (Kurumba), Badaga, Maravar, Pulaya, Kadar, Sindhi, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Persians, Ossetians, Georgians, Anatolia Turks, Kurds, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Manchu, Lisu, Lolo (incl. Bai), Achang, Yi, Axi, Nasu, Jino, Taungyo, China
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