M78E — Baby ear

A tiny boy comes from an animal's ear, compared in size to an ear, his name is “ear”.

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.

M78.  A tiny little man performs a series of tricks, mocks people he meets and opponents.
M78a.  A tiny little man emerges from the severed tail of a goat or sheep.
M78b.  Wishing a baby, a childless woman gives birth to many tiny boys. She or her husband kill them or throw them away, but she stays alone and helps their parents.
M78c.  A tiny little man emerges from a severed finger.
M78d.  A tiny boy (rarely a girl) comes from a pea (bean, seed) or from a spool of goat droppings, he is almost as tall as a pea. Or he was born after his mother ate a pea.
M78e.  A tiny boy comes from an animal's ear, compared in size to an ear, his name is “ear”.
M78f.  When a woman falls asleep, a joker (usually a tiny boy) places an embryo or the entrails of an animal or something similar next to her to make the woman herself or others think she has a miscarriage or that her viscera has fallen out.
M78g.  When the inhabitants of the house fall asleep, a joker (usually a tiny boy) ties them together in pairs so that when they wake up, they quarrel.

This motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Nogai, Kazakh, Turkmen, Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians