Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M45C — Plant boiled tubers
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
OverviewThe character advises the other person to plant or sow boiled or roasted seeds or tubers, who follows the advice.
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.
M45 has 3 other sub-motifs
RelatedM45. When a zoomorphic character falls asleep or pretends to be dead (seriously ill), the animals he usually hunts gather to meet him. He catches or kills them, or they run away at the last minute.
M45a. A person is sleeping or pretending to be asleep or dead. Animals take him for a dead man - they mourn him, carry him to bury him, they are going to eat it, etc. A person beats the crowd and/or obtains benefits.
M45b. The old man carries a trough and lies down to rest, covered with it. The animals take the trough to the table and bring food. The old man gets up, the animals run away, the old man gets the food.
M45c. The character advises the other person to plant or sow boiled or roasted seeds or tubers, who follows the advice.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| F51B | 98.89% | To find out the nature or location of a character's locus, another person secretly attaches a long thread to it and follows it. |
| G8E | 98.41% | A character unsuccessfully cuts down a tree growing on the moon. |
| A2B | 95.26% | In addition to the current sun and/or moon, other suns and moons shone in the sky, which were then destroyed. See motif A2A. |
| M30D | 94.76% | To get into the air, a character without wings (usually a turtle or a frog) grabs a stick with the ends held in their beaks by two birds. |
| E38B | 94.68% | After a global catastrophe or at the beginning of time, a pumpkin appears on earth, from which the ancestors of humans emerge. |
| M198B4 | 94.55% | The fake fortune teller, expecting to be exposed, utters words that reflect his state of mind. The thieves standing nearby perceive some of the words as their names, believe that the fortune teller has found out about them, and ask him not to reveal them. |
| A2A | 94.48% | The world was or will be (almost) burned when several suns lit up or will light up simultaneously; or destructive heat (or light) once emanated from one sun. |
| A4B | 94.39% | The sun decided to walk across the sky during the day because it is afraid of the night. |
| B43 | 94.35% | Elements of the landscape or parts of the universe are created from the body of the original being. |
| H6D | 94.33% | Having obtained a means of ensuring immortality, the character falls asleep or leaves the means unattended. At this time, another character steals the means. |
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
15 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 15 traditions: Nuba, Yoruba; incl Ife), Nupe, Bini (Edo), Engenni, Chamba, Dakka, Kukuruku, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Mikir (Karbi), Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Assamese, Slovenians, Slovenes, Ancient Greece, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Toto, Rabha (northern Western Bengalia)
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