Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M60B1 — The crow eats fish
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 crow promises to cure the fish, and eats it herself.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 9, Identification of protagonists of the stories with particular animals or persons with particular qualities.
M60 has 7 other sub-motifs
RelatedM60. After injuring a demon (robber), the hero goes to his locus. There he, or (rarely) his assistant, pretends to be a doctor and finishes off an opponent.
M60a. The creature/character runs away or swims away with a hook, harpoon, arrow, or other object thrown by the hero in his body. Local shamans can't heal an existence/character. The hero or his friend comes to the wounded man's village, takes out the object that caused the injury, or drives him even deeper into the body. The patient recovers or dies accordingly. See L105 and M60 motifs.
M60a1. The hero meets a servant (usually a shepherd) and takes his form, after asking how he acts, how he talks to the hostess (usually finds out what to say in order transport the herd across the river).
M60a2. The servant must lick the master or mistress's feet or wound. The hero comes disguised as a servant and instead of licking his heels, touches them with the animal's cut off tongue.
M60a3. Avenging the seized property (a pet or a bird), the hero repeatedly comes to the offender in different guises (girl, doctor, etc.) and brutally mocks him.
M60b. The deceiver, promising to cure a wounded or sick person, finishes him off and eats him or offers a remedy that is only worse for him.
M60b1. The crow promises to cure the fish, and eats it herself.
M60b2. A large predator asks (agrees with the proposal) to make his skin beautiful (variegated). The deceiver burns it (scalds it, burns his eyes, etc.).
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B109A | 100.00% | Originally, the (human) bear lived in the sky, then descended to earth (and became a bear). |
| K89 | 99.93% | After getting married, the heroine and her rival (witch, frog) must bring gifts from their relatives. The heroine finds her brother, brothers or sister who went missing at the beginning of the story and receives rich gifts from them, while the gifts brought by her rival are worthless. |
| K25A5 | 99.65% | The older brother is a hunter, the younger brother (rarely a sister) is a housekeeper. Learning that bird maidens come down to the younger brother, the older brother teaches the younger brother what he must do so that the older brother can catch one of them and make her his wife. The wife finds feather clothing and flies away (often the younger brother, out of simplicity, gives it to her), and the husband sets off in search of her. |
| L65C | 99.65% | The eldest of three or more sisters turns out to be a cannibal, devouring her younger sisters and other people. |
| B112 | 99.23% | The character is called upon to help perform a task (usually to transport property or provisions across a river) and takes away what has been entrusted to him. A woodpecker or titmouse returns the stolen goods. The owner of the property paints or dresses the bird, hence the colour of its plumage |
| M108B | 99.23% | The deceiver takes away someone else's property in a boat or carries it away. A bird (usually a woodpecker) deceives him and returns the property to its owners. |
| K56A3 | 99.00% | A wandering girl or young girl should not tie her shoelaces or the laces on her shoes or clothing. If she does so, she will get into trouble. |
| N10C | 99.00% | A girl is described, through whose body you can see her internal organs or the food she has swallowed. This is a sign of beauty. |
| D13I | 99.00% | The character amuses the audience in order to identify the deceiver and thief by his broken tooth. The latter laughs and gives himself away. |
| M74AB | 98.29% | Travelling in a boat or on a sledge, animal person (always the fox) steals food supplies or ruins objects and accordingly to his deeds, names different places. These names seem strange to the person’s companions (“River of broken arrows” and the like) |
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
2 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 2 traditions: Nenets, Nanai
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