Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

M180 — The Fox and the Crane, ATU 60.

87 Myths, legends and folktales

87 Unique narratives for motif M180

59 Cultures & traditions where M180 is told

2 Sub-motifs of motif M180

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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

Overview

A zoomorphic character invites another to visit, but serves food in such a way that the other cannot take it in his mouth. The other, inviting the first to visit, puts him in a similar position.

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.

M18 has 2 other sub-motifs

M18.  The character turns into an object of fishing or hunting and presents himself as a target. The fisherman or hunter does not harm them, but they take away what they use: arrows, darts, harpoons, hooks, bait; or they catch fish, having turned themselves into hooks; or they are caught but escape death by taking on human form again.
M18a.  The character becomes the object of fishing or hunting, presenting himself as a target for enemies. Numerous arrows, darts, and harpoons stick into his body without causing harm, and he carries them away. See motif M18.
M18b.  The character turns into a fishing object in order to carry away the hook with which he is caught or the spear with which they try to harpoon him, or he turns into a hook to catch fish. See motif M18.

🌐 See a combined distribution map for all of M18’s motifs

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny

Motif	Similarity	Motif summary
L114C	99.23%	Children or young men (usually brothers) exchange clothes (headgear, jewellery, blankets, sleeping places) with the children of a hostile character, who then kills his own children instead of them at night. Usually, the brothers end up with a cannibal, and the younger brother orders them to swap places (clothes, etc.) with his daughters for the night. Outside Europe, the protagonists are animals.
K80C2	98.78%	Two (or more) people find (steal) valuables. Unwilling to share, one kills the other, but dies himself, poisoned by the poison that the victim manages to slip into his food.
K56A6	98.07%	On the way to another world, people or objects ask a child (girl) to taste the food they offer or to do some work. The child (girl) does everything (rarely does not do) and therefore achieves the goal.
K129	97.91%	(Due to the intrigues of an antagonist) a girl falls into a deep swoon, but is not dead. A male character of high status (either the girl's spouse or blood relative) revives her. {In sub-Saharan Africa, except for Swahili, borrowing from Europeans is more likely than from Arabs}.
M74B	97.91%	The character adjusts so that the sign that identifies the thief who ate supplies or who should be eaten is not on him, but on another character (smears with leftovers or with the secretions of your body of another, replaces secretions, etc.).
K80C	97.87%	Before dying, the murderer's victim turns to birds (stars, animals, plants, etc.). Later, seeing these birds (the moon, the sun, this plant, etc.), the murderer recalls his deed aloud or otherwise gives himself away. Or the birds, being the only witnesses to the crime, lead the investigators to the murderers.
K32H3	97.76%	The antagonist is executed by being burned alive. (Episodes in which the burning of the character is not a punishment but a means of getting rid of him are not taken into account).
I141	97.73%	The wand is an instrument for performing actions whose results cannot be explained rationally.
M141B	97.68%	An insignificant event (a falling leaf, acorn, etc.) is taken by an animal as the beginning of a catastrophe (the end of the world, war, the falling of the sky, etc.) and it flees. Other animals join the fleeing animal.
K33D	97.65%	A man discovers that a beautiful girl is hiding under the guise of an ugly hag or under the skin of an animal.

See the 100 most similar distributions →

Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

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Traditions

59 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 59 traditions: Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Malagasy, Geez, Tigrai, Tigre, Shone (Shona, =Mashona, =Karanga), Makoni (Shoni dialect), Remba (=Hungwe, Wahungwe); Zezuru, Rozwi, Ndau (Vandau), Gogo, Kaguru, Luguru, Zigula, Taveta, Shambala (Sambala), Bondei, Taeta, Dabida; Zaramo, Safwa, Mkulwe, Ngonde, Kinga, Nyakusa, Nyamwanga, Luba (Baluba, Luba-Katanga, Shaba), (Ba)Holoholo, Tumbwe, Bena-Piana, Tabwa, Benabena-Mitumba, Zela, Bene-Marungu, Kete, Luba-Kasai, Bena (Bene) Lulua; (Bena-)Kanioka, Fang (Pangwe), Eton, Bafia, Batanga, Benga, Bube (Bubi), Buheba, Yaunde (Ewondo), Yebekolo, Koko, Bulu, Beti (Beti-Bulu), Sekiani, Eghap, Tiv, Bamum (Bamun), Mungaka (Mgaka, Bali), Beba, Anaguta, Bete (Mbete, Karang), Ekoi, Nyang, Vute (Wute), Jukun, Chamba, Bamileke, Kwotto, Kirri; Denya (Nyang), Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Gola, Santali, Turi, Mahli, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Bengali, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Ireland, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Aragon, 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, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Latvians, Estonians, Karelians, Vepsians, Norwegians, Swedes, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Tajik, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Georgians, Armenians, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Udmurt, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tsimshian, Arabs (literary tradition; incl. One Thousand and One Nights), Bedja, Galicians, Mukulu (Mokilko), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Early Russian written sources, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Morocco, Russian Federation

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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com

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