Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L94B — Give back what you don't know at home!
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 person promises to give to a supernatural character the first thing that comes their way (either something they have not yet seen in their own home, or something that is behind the door, etc.). The person thinks that they will have to give something of little value, but it turns out to be their own child.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
L94 has 6 other sub-motifs
RelatedL94. A demon or animal helps a person or agrees to let them go, but in return takes a promise to give them a daughter or son.
L94a. When a person leans over the water, a demon grabs him by the beard and releases him on the promise that he will fulfil his demand.
L94b. A person promises to give to a supernatural character the first thing that comes their way (either something they have not yet seen in their own home, or something that is behind the door, etc.). The person thinks that they will have to give something of little value, but it turns out to be their own child.
L94b1. A man receives a box (bag, horn, etc.) as a gift, which he must open only at home. Driven by curiosity, he opens it on the way, and everything that should make him wealthy (houses, livestock, etc.) spills out. The demon who appears agrees to return everything, but sets a condition, the severity of which the man does not immediately understand.
L94c. If a deity grants victory, a person promises to sacrifice to it the first person who comes out to meet them at home. A son or daughter comes out.
L94d. A demonic character accuses a man of stepping on (tearing off) the tail of a fairy tale. Cf. motif K100E, "Dangerous Fairy Tales".
L94e. A supernatural character who helps the hero or heroine under certain conditions – the white wolf.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| L120A | 99.87% | The hero hides in a smithy from the dragon chasing him. When the monster breaks through and rubs the door (with its tongue), the blacksmith (or the hero himself) burns it (usually clamping its tongue with red-hot tongs or throwing a red-hot club into its mouth). |
| K80A3 | 99.86% | Members of the same family (girls, young women or children) go to the forest to pick berries and kill (bewitch) the one who is the object of their envy. |
| B90 | 99.81% | There is an anthropomorphic patron, master or mistress of wolves; he usually gives instructions to the wolves on a certain day of the year. |
| M57D4 | 99.80% | A person receives a reward from a character who is associated with frost. |
| M197E1 | 99.75% | The demon claims that the harvest in a field belonging to a human belongs to him. But if the human brings him an animal unknown to him, he will renounce his claims. The man brings his wife, smeared with something sticky and covered in feathers, standing on all fours, with her hair loose, etc. The demon admits defeat. |
| K128 | 99.73% | A character orders the hero to graze animals (or birds) and promises to execute him (deprive him of his reward) if even one animal is lost. Cf. K128B (ATU 570). |
| J41D | 99.70% | The strongman orders an iron club (sword, etc.) of monstrous size to be made, but breaks it and demands a new one, even heavier (often throwing it into the air and exposing his forehead, etc. – the club breaks). |
| M39A8A | 99.68% | A fool or buffoon climbs a tree taking a heavy objects with him and then drops it frightening those who are under the tree |
| M168 | 99.67% | Hares are desperate because they are more cowardly than everyone else, but they rejoice when they learn that there are animals (frogs, sheep) that are afraid of them. |
| M199D | 99.66% | A man and his opponent agree to compete in wrestling and running. The man sends his "relatives" – a bear and a hare – to compete in his place. (ATU numbers 1071 and 1072 are combined, as they are almost always paired.) |
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
54 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 54 traditions: Old and New Testament, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Hungarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Nogai, Tats, Georgians, Armenians, Gagauz, Anatolia Turks, Kazakh, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Chuvash, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Khakas, Southern Selkups, Northern Selkups, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Dolgans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Chechens, Wallons, Picardie, Icelanders, Southern Altai: Teleut, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Lutsi (Ludza), Russian Federation
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