Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K8C3 — Not through the mouth, but through the side.
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
OverviewOne (zoomorphic) character refuses to use any part of another's body except the one he uses to kill him.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior.
K8 has 11 other sub-motifs
RelatedK8a. The character enters the belly of an aquatic creature or a giant creature whose appearance and habitat are not precisely described. He kills the creature from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. Upon emerging from the belly, he often finds himself bald (K921). Cf. motifs I81B (Charybdis) and L110 (Devourer).
K8aa. A huge bird swallows people. The hero kills it, freeing those who have been swallowed, or, if he himself has been swallowed, he manages to get out alive.
K8b. A raven finds itself in the belly of a whale; the woman inside asks it not to touch a certain organ of the whale (usually the heart) or a burning lamp. The raven breaks the prohibition, the woman disappears, and the whale dies.
K8c. The character enters the belly of an ordinary land animal, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help. Cf. motif M118.
K8c1. A tiny man is first accidentally swallowed by a large herbivore, then carried off by a wolf that began to eat the carcass of this animal.
K8c2. The mouse is swallowed by a large land animal and comes out by cutting it open from the inside.
K8c3. One (zoomorphic) character refuses to use any part of another's body except the one he uses to kill him.
K8c4. A small animal (bird, mouse, porcupine, fox) or (rarely) a tiny human being allows itself to be swallowed by a large ungulate (elk, deer, bison, tapir) in order to rip open its belly (and eat it).
K8c5. A zoomorphic character no larger than a fox allows itself to be swallowed by a bear and kills it by tearing it apart from the inside.
K8d. The character enters the body of an anthropomorphic creature, kills it from within (K952) and/or returns to the outside without outside help.
K8e. The character penetrates inside the creature through the anus.
K8f. The swallowed one discovers a living deer in the belly of the monster. See motif K8A.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M54 | 99.85% | The character lives or stays at someone else's house; then goes far away, falls asleep, but wakes up again in the same house. |
| L80 | 99.83% | A demonic creature or animal is killed, but comes back to life or can come back to life if even a small piece of its flesh or blood is left behind, unnoticed. |
| H18A | 99.71% | The owner of the hunting animals hides them underground; one of the first ancestors turns into a puppy, which is picked up by the owner's children, and releases the animals. See motif H18. |
| M59 | 99.69% | A small animal asks a large one to transport it across the river; consistently rejects all the seats on the carrier's body that he offers; climbs to where the carrier is You can kill when the crossing is over. |
| M29R | 99.54% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| J53 | 99.54% | The children of a character associated with a hoofed animal (deer, antelope) come into conflict with an enemy associated with a predator or a larger hoofed animal. They kill his children and/or run away from him. See motif J52. |
| M59A | 99.53% | After asking a large animal to transport it across the river, a porcupine kills or damages it. See M59 motif. |
| A32B1 | 99.47% | A woman sits (jumps) on the face (back) of the Moon Man and is now visible in the silhouette of the moon spots. |
| D4M | 99.25% | The thief comes to the owners of fire or light. They feast or dance. He joins them and steals their valuables when the moment is right. See motif D4A. |
| A5A | 99.24% | The younger brother (usually the Sun) is made from the urine and swaddling clothes of his older brother (usually the Moon), who was kidnapped as a baby. See motif A5. |
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
25 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 25 traditions: Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Chukchi, Menominee, Osage, Wichita; Spiro Mound iconography, Kiowa Apache, Comanche, Tillamook, Oregon Athabaskans: Lower Umpqua, Tututni (incl Joshua), Upper Coquille, Galice, Tolowa, Lower Chinook (Chinook proper), Klamath, Modoc, Owens Valley Paiute, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Northern Shoshone, Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Eastern Shoshone, Ute, Southern Paiute, Navajo, Jicarilla, Chiricahua, Tewa (San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe; Hano), Tiwa (Taos, Picuris; Sandia, Isleta), Towa (Jemez), Lipan, Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet
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