Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M100B — Jumping off a cliff.
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 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.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
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 |
|---|---|---|
| K90A | 98.98% | 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. |
| K99A3 | 98.75% | 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). |
| K27Z7 | 98.54% | The character promises to fulfil a request if the other person reveals the secret behind someone's strange behaviour. |
| K95A | 98.53% | 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. |
| K75A1 | 98.42% | The ruler orders his youngest daughter (and her chosen husband) to live in conditions that do not correspond to her status. He does not know that her chosen one is not a poor wretch, as he seems, but a mighty warrior and a handsome man. |
| L37B3 | 98.40% | From the birds' conversation, humans learn that their bodies or secretions have miraculous properties. |
| I35A | 98.29% | Thunder is produced by an old woman in the sky. |
| M199A | 98.20% | A man buried something soft and liquid in the ground, and when he stamped on it (shot an arrow into it) and the buried object splashed onto the surface, he said that he had squeezed the brain (innards) out of the earth. |
| E41A | 98.10% | The first ticks were made as a result of observing animals (a dog's crossed paws, two snakes, snake jaws, etc.). |
| K27X4 | 98.06% | The character is told to climb a tree (pole, mountain, etc.) while holding a full open vessel in his hand and not spilling a drop from it. |
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: Mehri; Harsusi, Jibbali (Shahri, Shauri), France, Sarikoli, Tajik, Baluch, Persians, Tabasaran, Aghul, Kurds, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Turkmen
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
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