Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M143 — The fox in the well, ATU 31, 32.
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
OverviewFinding himself in a pit or well, one character persuades another to climb down to him, thanks to which he gets out, leaving the other at the bottom.
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.
M14 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedM14. A man brutally murders his wife (rarely: children, fiancée, sister) and/or eats her flesh himself, or brings her flesh to her relatives (if he kills children, he brings the flesh to his wife).
M14a. To take revenge on his wife or her relatives for (allegedly) causing him offence, the husband roasts his wife alive. See motif M14.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I110 | 99.07% | Constellations are associated with agricultural tools or with people engaged in agricultural work (most often ploughing and haymaking). See motifs I110A (plough), I110B (haymaking). |
| M120B | 98.79% | The character is looking for a nanny (nurse, wet nurse, shepherd, husband) and consistently rejects those whose voice he does not like. He settles on the one with the most beautiful voice, but the choice turns out to be unsuccessful (usually the nurse eats the child, the sick person, the sheep, etc.). |
| K27X9 | 98.79% | The hero must retrieve a small object (often a ring or signet ring) thrown into deep water (often the sea). Cf. motif C6 ("The Diver"). |
| F54E | 98.77% | Not knowing who is in front of him, a young man kills his father. |
| A23C | 98.66% | Birds argue about which of them will fly higher or arrive first. The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely (he hides in the feathers of a strong bird and flies away with it). |
| H54B | 98.50% | The character's gaze brings death (and destruction). |
| K56E | 98.40% | Two people have the same physical defect (a bump, a hump). The first one finds himself in a place where spirits gather, and they rid him of his defect. The second comes to the spirits, and they double his defect, giving him what they took from the first person. (Uther 2004 mentions Kasevich, Osipov 1976, No. 171; the Karen text is published there and does not correspond to the definition of the motif). |
| I41B | 98.26% | The rainbow drinks (draws into itself) water (and living creatures). |
| E9I2 | 98.06% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper, adopted daughter) takes the form of a duck. |
| K151 | 98.02% | A magical helper grants a poor man's simple wish. The poor man or his wife ask for more and more. In the end, the helper punishes the beggar (usually by taking away everything that was given). {Many references to texts outside Europe in Uther 2004 are not related to the plot of ATU 555 and do not contain the K151 motif. This applies in particular to the Arabic and Ossetian variants}. |
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
63 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 63 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Berbers of Morocco and adjacent parts of Algeria, Fula (Fulbe, Fulani, Pular), Toraja (Toradja), To Mori, Baree (=Eastern Toraja), Malay; Temuan (incl Mantra or Mentra), Jakun (Moken), Lampung (Lampong); South Sumatra Malays (incl. Bengkulu), Dusun, Murut, Kelabit, Tombonuwo, Bajau, Tidong, Shan, Ahom, Khampti, Bahnar, Bana, Sedang, Por, Viet, Muong, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Malayali; Kannikaran, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Koreans, Ireland, England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, 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, Czech, Czechs, Hungarians, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Finns, Karelians, Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, Persians, Tats, Kurds, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Wallons, Picardie, Icelanders, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Toto, Rabha (northern Western Bengalia), Frisians, Transylvanian Saksons, Berbers of Algeria, Russian Federation
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 © 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.
© 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.