Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M17 — A woman lies, pretending that a man has missed his target.
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
OverviewA wife, mother or grandmother directs the arrow of a blind man or boy at game, lies that he missed, cooks and eats the meat herself. See motif M16 (man is blind, K333.1).
Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
M17 has 2 other sub-motifs
RelatedM17. A wife, mother or grandmother directs the arrow of a blind man or boy at game, lies that he missed, cooks and eats the meat herself. See motif M16 (man is blind, K333.1).
M17a. The mother or grandmother of a blind man or boy secretly eats (the meat or fish he has caught), pretending that there is no food in the house.
M17b. The wife directs the blind man's arrow at game, lies that he has missed, and eats the meat herself.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M20 | 99.10% | The character does something unacceptable, is caught, and his beak or jaw is damaged. Usually (except for the Koryaks), people keep the torn-off beak (jaw) in their homes, and the character comes and takes it back. |
| L102 | 98.99% | A girl or woman (for various reasons, jokingly or seriously) calls an animal or animal remains her husband, or steps on bones and addresses them. The animal (comes to life and) carries her away. Her human husband, parents or brother come for her, and they flee; usually the animal husband pursues them, but stops the chase or dies. |
| L10 | 98.71% | The character has a sharp (biting) tail or a protrusion on its back. See motif L9, cf. motif L9C. |
| A13A1 | 98.69% | The raven rescues or obtains the hidden or stolen sun (daylight). |
| M29F | 98.58% | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the wolverine dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. |
| K53 | 98.18% | A character temporarily transforms into an animal or bird of a certain species by putting on its skin, or skins taken along with them come to life and serve the hero. |
| B97A | 97.95% | A strip of light or dark feathers (rarely: wool) on the neck of a bird (animal) is its necklace (scarf). |
| I6A | 97.89% | The male and female of a huge bird carry different types of precipitation (for example, the eagle carries snow, and the eagle carries rain). Or (Buryats of Mongolia) the same bird carries different types of precipitation depending on whether it is angry or not. See motif i6. Traditions associated with Na-Dene languages are highlighted in italics in the list. |
| C19A | 97.47% | The character (except Quileut: Raven) turns into a child, asks for and receives heavenly bodies to play, or (Chukchi) comes to play with the little daughter of the owner of the stars. |
| M16A | 97.26% | A character (usually a loon) restores a person's sight and/or health by diving into the water with them. See motif M16. |
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
33 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 33 traditions: Western Sami, Eastern Sami (including Skolts), Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Tundra Nenets, Oirats (incl Torgouts, Derbets, Oilots), Nganasans, Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Tungus (Evenki) of China (Solon, Birar, Oroqen, Manegir), Evenks, Tungus (Evenki): Russian Far East, Evenks, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Hare (K'ahsho Got'ine), Upper Tanana (Nebesna), Tanacross, Tutchone, Tahltan, Kaska, Tanana, Bering Strait Inupiat (incl. King Island), North Alaskan Inupiat, Copper, Netsilik, Caribou, Iglulik, Polar Inuit, Baffin Land Inuit, West Greenland, Labrador Inuit (Koksoagmiut), Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Arapaho, Osage, Iowa, Lkungen (Straits; including Samish, Songish, Sooke, Lummi), Klallam, Tillamook, Northern Shoshone
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