Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M146 — The wolf was lured into a trap, ATU 35B*.
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
OverviewKnowing that the meat is in a trap or poisoned, or that there is a trap ahead, a zoomorphic character provokes another to try the meat first or to go ahead.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| K102B | 99.91% | In order to destroy the hero (heroine), the antagonist must first get rid of his beloved animal (usually a horse). When the animal is about to be slaughtered, the hero (heroine) mounts it, rides away and escapes. |
| L96C | 99.20% | A young man is learning magic. In order for the sorcerer to let him go, he must pretend that he is incapable of learning. |
| K75B | 99.19% | Wanting to show that it is time for them to marry, daughters of different ages send their father fruits of varying degrees of ripeness (bread baked in different ways). |
| J32C | 98.68% | At night, a demonic character comes to the grave of the deceased, intending to harm him. |
| E41 | 98.58% | A skilled blacksmith, as a special gift, can take iron heated in a furnace with his bare hands, knead it like dough, and shape it as desired. Usually, he breaks a certain taboo and loses his gift. (The motif was identified and the material collected by Ruslan Doutalieyev). |
| I87AD | 98.51% | A giant hides a persecuted person in his mouth – usually (perhaps always) in a tooth cavity; or the person remains alive in the giant's mouth, hiding in a tooth cavity. Cf. motif M21a. |
| M91C3 | 98.47% | A person releases an animal or a bird - supposedly with his wife instructing his wife to cook food, etc. Another does not understand deception and buys an animal. |
| B46A1 | 98.38% | The stars of the Big Dipper – thieves or robbers. |
| M198A | 98.32% | Brothers (rarely: one person) determine the characteristics of a domestic animal they have not seen, or of the person who stole the animal, based on subtle clues. {In ATU, plots 655 and 655A are combined; in Aarne, Thompson 1961 and in regional indexes, our motif M198A corresponds to plot 655A} (Type 655A only in Aarne, Thompson 1984. In ATU mixed with 655). |
| I89 | 98.20% | There is a star that brings death and misfortune; it is usually told how people mistake a star or constellation rising at night for the Morning Star, set off on a journey and lose their way. |
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
37 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 37 traditions: Berbers of Morocco and adjacent parts of Algeria, Berbers of southern Tunisia and adjacent part of Libya (Matmata and Ghadames areas), Western Sahara and Mauritania Arabs; Berbers of Mauritania (Zenaga), Hausa, 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, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Latvians, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Uzbek, Sarikoli, Tajik, Persians, Ossetians, Ingush, Lezgians, Archin, Kürin; Khinalug, Tabasaran, Aghul, Dargin (Dargwa), incl. Müregin, Khürkilin, Kubachi, Laks, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Kumyk, Terekemen, Georgians, Armenians, Kalmyk, Gagauz, Anatolia Turks, Kurds, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Turkmen, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Terek Cossacks, Russian Federation
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