Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

L70 — Aborted fruit.

197 Myths, legends and folktales

197 Unique narratives for motif L70

125 Cultures & traditions where L70 is told

0 Sub-motifs of motif L70

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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

Overview

The character is killed or maimed by an object dropped from above, the fall of which he expects, but has a false idea of its nature or weight (fruit, piece of bark, turtle, log, etc.).

Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits

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.

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny

Motif	Similarity	Motif summary
B7B	95.48%	The sea (flood, river) flows out of a small container.
A5	94.56%	The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (rarely) has no gender.
D4A	94.43%	Fire is stolen from its original owner, returned to people by the thief, or (the motif of theft is not expressed) brought with difficulty from a distant place.
J4	94.39%	The heroes avenge the death (enslavement) of their father, uncle, grandfather, or mother and father, or in general their descendants, with the loss of men being the most painful.
M8A	93.85%	Animals, and more often birds, find it difficult to break through a rock from the outside or inside, make a hole in the tree, in the body of an absorber creature, tear fetters, etc., to help a character or get out of the confined space by yourself. The list <b><i>includes</i></b> groups whose texts deal with the exit of the first ancestors to earth from a confined space.
M11	93.62%	The character gives others food extracted from his or someone else's body or contaminated with bodily secretions, without revealing the source of the food.
M76	93.34%	A woman cuts off a man's leg when he climbs a tree; a man cuts off a woman's leg when she climbs a tree. See K13A motif.
J50	92.92%	The father or mother of twin heroes dies or is killed. An attempt to revive the deceased fails.
J29	92.78%	Murdered parents themselves inform their children about the circumstances of their death.
I47	92.70%	The rainbow smells disgusting, is associated with foul-smelling animals, is a stream of excretions, is associated with the lower body, causes inflammation or skin diseases, and is associated with death.

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Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

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Traditions

125 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 125 traditions: Dinka, Atuot, Nuer, Ngbakka, Mbum (incl Mbai), Mundang, Fali, Tupuri, Maya (=Bali), Nyong, Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Kalenjin; including Sabaot, Nandi (Nande), Arusha, Kipsigis, Pokot (Suk), Keiyo (Elgeiyo), Marakwet, Sebeei, Yao, Makua, Tonga, Kikuyu, Chuka, Embu, Emberre, Mwimbe, Songe (Kisonge), Bena-Matembo, Sakata, Mbundu (Umbundu, Kimbundu, Chimbundu, Ovimbundu), Kwanyama, Owambo (=Ambo), Herero (Herrero), Khoekhoe (=Hottentot; incl Nama, Korana); Damara, Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Batak (Toba, Dairi), Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Lepcha, France, Yazgulami, Sarikoli, Georgians, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Kets, Reindeer Koryak, Maritime Koryak (Alyutor), Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Yankton/Yanktonai, Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, Assiniboine, Crow, Carrier, Chilkotin, Shuswap, Thompson (Nlaka'pamux), Lillooet, Nez Perce, Quinault, Tillamook, Kalapuya, Oregon Athabaskans: Lower Umpqua, Tututni (incl Joshua), Upper Coquille, Galice, Tolowa, Okanagon, Sanpoil, Klamath, Modoc, Choctaw, Chicasaw, Cherokee, Pomo, Yana, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Western Shoshone, Gosiute, Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Ute, Southern Paiute, Chemehuevi, Navajo, Jicarilla, Western Apache (White Mountain, San Carlos), Zuni, Tewa (San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe; Hano), Tiwa (Taos, Picuris; Sandia, Isleta), Towa (Jemez), Huichol, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Popoloca; Tlapanec, Mam, Ixil, Aguatec, Avakatec, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Pipil, Gulf Nahuatl, Chontal, Zapotec, Chatino, Huave, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chorti, Kekchi; Mopan, Paya (Pech), Sumu, Misquito, Cuna; XVI century data on Eastern Panama, Makiritare (Yecuana), Piaroa, Wapishana (incl Ataroi); Mapidian; Taruma, Wayapi, Emerillon, Cañari, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Karijona, Barasana, Taibano, Macuna, Desana, Siriano; Tatuyo, Bara, Tuyuca, Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Kabiyari, Yukuna (Yucuna), Tariana, Juruna, Xipaya, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Tenetehara, Lima dep: Costa and adjacent Sierra (Spanish, Kechua, and Jacaru-speaking communities, mostly in Pachacamac, Cajatambo, Canta, Huarochirí; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries), Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Tacana, Chacobo, Tupari, Makurap, Sakirap, Ajuru (Wayoro), Mundurucu, Curuaia, Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Rikbaktsa, Kayabi, Paresi, Bororo, Chamacoco (Ishir), Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), Toba (incl Pilagá), Caduveo, Mbaya, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Manao, Katawishi (Teffe lake); groups of uncertain affiliation mostly from Rio Jamunda, Tonga (Tsonga; incl, Soli, Sala, Lenje), Upper Chinook: Wasco, Wishram, Clackamas, Kathlamet, Oriya (incl. Dom/Domba/Dombo, Ghasi, Bhat and other Oriya-speaking castes of Odisha), Lisu, Lolo (incl. Bai), Achang, Yi, Axi, Nasu, Jino, Taungyo, Wallons, Picardie, Hani, Akha, Yughs, Morocco, Angola, China

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