Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L85C — Polukurochka, B171.1, ATU 715.
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 character with half a body â a hen, a chick. Sometimes it is only a name, and the character's appearance is more anthropomorphic.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 8, Queer and monstrous beings, creatures, objects and loci, folk beliefs related to particular phenomena and objects.
L85 has 7 other sub-motifs
RelatedL85. The character has only half a body (vertically). See also L85C, "Half-chicken".
L85a. The character is born as half a person or becomes one as a result of an accident. He or she does not belong to a special category of mythical half-beings and usually regains physical completeness. See motif L85, cf. motif L112.
L85b. A pregnant woman curses the Sun, Rain or another powerful character. Because of this, the child is born physically disabled. He possesses magical powers and usually acquires a normal body.
L85b1. After ascending to the sky (meeting God, returning from the sky to earth), a physically disabled young man (usually with only half a body) becomes whole.
L85c. A character with half a body â a hen, a chick. Sometimes it is only a name, and the character's appearance is more anthropomorphic.
L85d. The hero encounters a giant and a strongman (usually a ploughman) with one arm, one leg, or one eye. He was crippled by a character who turned out to be much bigger and stronger than him.
L85e. The character is temporarily split vertically into two halves and then rejoined.
L85F. The character has only one leg (and one arm), which does not prevent him from moving. Unlike motif L85 (half-creatures), the character has a complete body, not divided in half vertically.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| K114 | 98.86% | Several brothers leave home immediately after or shortly before their mother gives birth to a girl (usually they want a brother and wait for news about who their mother has given birth to, but accidentally or maliciously a signal is given that a boy has been born). The girl grows up and goes in search of her brothers. |
| M39A6H | 98.58% | The king tells the commoner to pluck a goose (geese, shear a ram, etc.). He understands correctly: to rob the vizier. |
| K33A | 98.50% | Young siblings (most often a brother and sister) leave home. One of them (rarely: several brothers) accidentally breaks a taboo and is transformed into an animal (usually a hoofed animal) or (rarely) a bird; later, the spell is usually broken. |
| M166 | 98.37% | A predator suggests that its potential prey, which is sitting in a tree, come down (usually telling a bird that there is peace among the animals and there is no need to be afraid). The prey is in no hurry to come down and usually advises the approaching dogs to spread the word about the peace among the animals. The predator runs away. |
| L114B1 | 98.27% | The character sequentially steals various items from the cannibal's house and finally catches or kills him. |
| K147 | 98.27% | The enemy dismembers the hero's body. The remains are tied to the horse's saddle, or the horse itself picks them up and brings them to friendly characters. They revive the hero. |
| M39D | 98.21% | A person consistently and unintentionally harms others. The victims take him to a judge. He saves a person from punishment by making a formally logical but clearly unacceptable decision in each case. |
| K102A5 | 98.13% | A woman must fill one or two vessels with tears (less often with blood). Usually, after this, her punishment must end, or the punishment depends on which of the vessels contains more tears. |
| F9G | 97.98% | A powerful woman defeats and kills her suitors. The hero or his assistant defeats her (usually on their wedding night, subduing her with rods or a whip). The hero marries the heroine. |
| K100G | 97.98% | In order to revive or heal a friend (to heal oneself, to fulfil a vow), the character agrees to sacrifice his son (children). The slain person usually comes back to life, or the person's willingness to make the sacrifice is sufficient to satisfy supernatural forces. |
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
22 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 22 traditions: Arabs of Egypt, Berbers of southern Tunisia and adjacent part of Libya (Matmata and Ghadames areas), Malawi (incl Nyanja, Banyanja, Manganja), Tumbuka (incl Henga), Nsenga, Matengo, (Ba)Wenda, Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Aragon, France, Albanians, Balkarians, Western Ukrainians, Ingush, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Georgians, Anatolia Turks, Wallons, Picardie, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Malawi, Tunisia
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements Š Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jon Fielder-White.
Š 2024â2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.