M136D — Shattered dreams, ATU 1430.

A person dreams of gradually becoming rich and forgets that this has not yet happened. As a result, he loses the initial source of future prosperity (breaks a jug, scares away a hare he was about to shoot, etc.) or senselessly causes harm to himself or 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.

M13.  A person appeals to higher powers with a request, without considering that his words may have a different meaning than he intended. Either a person accidentally utters the wrong word or accidentally and hastily expresses an empty or absurd desire. As a result, something happens that he did not want at all. Cf. motifs I58B and M13A.Most of the references in ATU 775 (Midas' short-sighted wish) are either incorrect or impossible to verify. In connection with this plot, the reference to Uther 2000 is taken into account only for the Lithuanian variant, since there is a summary of the Latvian one, and for the Greek one, since the motif exists in Ancient Greece and among the neighbouring South Slavs. For ATU 750A, the reference to Bäcker 1988 in connection with the "Chinese" is incorrect; these are Manchus, not Chinese, and the stated motif is not present in the text.
M13a.  A deity and a human meet so that the former can fulfil the latter's request. As a result, the human is turned to stone. Usually (except for the Squamish), one of the supplicants wants eternal life and is turned to stone. See motif M13.
M13B.  People are promised the fulfilment of two (three, four) wishes. Without thinking, they wish for something they do not want at all. The last wish is spent on returning to the original state.

This motif has been recorded in 73 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Kabylia and other Berber of Northern and Central Algeria: Beni Snous, Beni Menacer (incl Zuav), Shaui, etc.), Morocco Arabs, Tunisia Arabs, Malagasy, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Santali, Turi, Mahli, Gondi (mostly Northern Gondi), Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Telugu (incl. Yanadi, Chenchu), Malayali; Kannikaran, Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Bengali, Punjabi, Seraiki (Multani), Sinhalese; Vedda, Koreans, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Maltese, Sicily, Sicilians, 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, Slovakians, Slovaks, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Persians, Georgians, Armenians, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Chuvash, Udmurt, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Kumaoni (Central Pahari), incl. Garhwali, Icelanders, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Early Russian written sources, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Frisians, Berbers of Algeria, China, Japan, Russian Federation