Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
K90A — Aimed at the black one, hit the white one.
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
OverviewSeeing two snakes of contrasting colours fighting, a man tries to strike one, but accidentally hits the other. The relatives of this snake gather to punish him, but upon learning what happened, they reward him.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
K90 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedK90. A person sees two opposing monsters or animals (usually of contrasting colours: red and black, black and white) and helps one of them, or one of the combatants helps the person. (Cf. ATU 156B, 738).
K90a. Seeing two snakes of contrasting colours fighting, a man tries to strike one, but accidentally hits the other. The relatives of this snake gather to punish him, but upon learning what happened, they reward him.
K90b. The antlers of a deer or the tusks of an elephant, which a snake or dragon is trying to swallow, get stuck in its mouth.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L37B3 | 99.77% | From the birds' conversation, humans learn that their bodies or secretions have miraculous properties. |
| K95A | 99.33% | The lovers are buried in the same grave or nearby. Two plants grow in this place, reaching towards each other, and between them is a thorny bush, embodying the character who separated the lovers. |
| I95A | 99.31% | Orion (probably always Orion's Belt) is Libra. |
| K99A3 | 99.18% | A person sees the sun, moon and stars (all together or some of them) in a dream. At the end of the story, the meaning of the dream becomes clear: these are people who love or worship him (often two wives and a child). |
| E41A | 99.12% | The first ticks were made as a result of observing animals (a dog's crossed paws, two snakes, snake jaws, etc.). |
| M114C | 99.01% | The character is puzzled as to how the other person's clothes (firewood, etc.) remained dry after the rain â the other person covered them with their body (hid them in a vessel, waited out the rain in a shelter). |
| M100B | 98.98% | One of the characters persuades another to jump from a high cliff or tree, because, allegedly, the other's ancestor did so. The other jumps, crashes or falls into the clutches of the first. |
| K27Z7 | 98.81% | The character promises to fulfil a request if the other person reveals the secret behind someone's strange behaviour. |
| K133 | 98.76% | A man notices that his horse (donkey) looks tired and learns that an animal or demonic creature is riding it. Cf. motif M182a. |
| I35A | 98.69% | Thunder is produced by an old woman in the sky. |
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
11 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Ingush, Tats, Georgians, Armenians, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Turkmen, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Luri, Bakhtiari, Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang Chinese; Manchuria Chinese (data not specified on particular provinces)
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