Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M189 — Threading a string through a shell, H506.4.
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
OverviewTo thread a string through a spiral-shaped shell (a stone with a hole, a horn), the character ties the string to an ant and sends it into the hole.
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
RelatedM18. 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.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M192 | 93.64% | A scavenger who has climbed into an animal carcass or put on a fresh animal skin cannot get out of it (usually because the skin has dried out in the heat). He gets out when the skin becomes soft again or someone helps him. |
| K27Z4A | 93.49% | The cripple claims that the father of the visitor is to blame for his physical disability. The man's wife or the man himself, on someone's advice, promises to return the leg (eye) if the cripple gives him the other one as a sample or brings him a part of a dead person's body and demands money. |
| A4A | 93.10% | So that people do not look at it, the Sun blinds their immodest eyes (usually with needles, which are its rays). |
| M171D | 92.87% | The character exchanges one thing for another and ultimately receives a musical instrument (usually a drum). |
| H6D | 92.51% | Having obtained a means of ensuring immortality, the character falls asleep or leaves the means unattended. At this time, another character steals the means. |
| K27Z2A | 92.45% | Noticing the woman's pregnancy, her relatives or in-laws accuse her of promiscuity, because, according to their calculations, she could not have conceived by her husband or fiancé. After severe trials, the woman meets again the father of the boy she gave birth to. |
| K167 | 91.07% | A boy plays, pretending to be a king and demonstrating wisdom and/or magical abilities. |
| M195A | 90.62% | A character sends a long object that either looks the same at both ends or is inside a small object, and asks which end of the object is the top and which is the bottom. The guesser gives the correct answer. |
| M130A | 90.35% | A trickster lures an animal into a hunter's trap. Another animal advises the victim to pretend to be dead and helps it escape. |
| A4B | 90.18% | The sun decided to walk across the sky during the day because it is afraid of the night. |
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
13 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 13 traditions: Saudi Arabia, Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Viet, Muong, Koreans, Kalmyk, Anatolia Turks, Kurds, Uyghur, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Greece, Japan
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