M114I — What do your relatives do? ATU 875(4), 921.

When asked where her father, mother, brother, etc. are, the girl or boy answers in such a way that only an intelligent person can guess what is meant (father went to make an enemy out of a friend, mother went to make one out of two, etc.); or the girl explains the meaning of similar phrases uttered by others.

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.

M11.  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.
M11a.  The character gives others the fish extracted from his body.
M11b.  A woman feeds a man with good-quality meat or fat, which she cuts from her own flesh or extracts from her body, and stops doing so when he learns about the source of the food.
M11c.  Without harming himself, a male character cuts off, pierces, roasts, holds over a fire, etc. a part of his body (or his wife's body). The character cooks the meat, fat, etc. obtained in this way and treats his guest to it. This food is not perceived as unclean (cf. motifs M11B and M38).
m11d.  The character makes food taste good by adding salt to it. Another character learns that the cook extracts this salt from his own body (it is contained in his bodily secretions).

This motif has been recorded in 63 traditions: Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Yoruba; incl Ife), Nupe, Bini (Edo), Engenni, Chamba, Dakka, Kukuruku, Fula (Fulbe, Fulani, Pular), Santali, Turi, Mahli, Kashmiri, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Assamese, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Scotland, Scots, Picts, Scotti, Scottish, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Maltese, Sicily, Sicilians, France, Dutch, Flemish, 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, Poles, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Setu, Finns, Karelians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Swedes, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, Pashto, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Abkhaz, Abkhazians, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Tats, Svans, Georgians, Armenians, Gagauz, Anatolia Turks, Kazakh, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Khakas, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Southern Altai: Teleut, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Frisians, Russian Federation