Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif

N15 — It flowed down the mustache, but did not get into the mouth

129 Myths, legends and folktales
129 Unique narratives for motif N15
27 Cultures & traditions where N15 is told
0 Sub-motifs of motif N15
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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

fairy-tale text ends with a formula that says that the narrator ate food and/or drinks, but they did not get into his mouth.

Berezkin category: Fabulous and epic formulas

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 13, Formulae.

Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns

Phylogeny
MotifSimilarityMotif summary
K27X3A99.81%When a husband sets off on a difficult mission, his magical wife gives him her towel or scarf, instructing him to use only those items (usually so that her relatives will recognise him as their son-in-law).
M14299.76%A zoomorphic character accuses his tail of hindering his escape from pursuit (usually punishes it and dies as a result). (ATU data not entered; plot 154 includes several independent motifs; which of them are present in the traditions referred to by ATU cannot be determined without referring to the original sources).
M74AA99.75%The character (several times) pretends to be his name (that he is going to visit), and eats up supplies himself. See M74A motif.
K18199.74%The hero finds a suitable horse in the dungeon (in the basement, in an empty castle, in deep mud, etc.), where it has stood for many years.
K16199.72%A character who has deprived a dragon (demon, thunder) of its freedom orders others not to unlock the dungeon (not to enter a certain room, not to give the chained creature anything to drink, etc.). The prohibition is violated, the chained creature is freed, which leads to disaster. Cf. motif K100f1.
K156A99.68%People suspect that the young man is a girl in disguise. Tests are proposed to determine this, but the girl manages to avoid exposure (for a long time).
L19B399.66%A creature with 12 heads is mentioned โ€“ either singly or at the end of a series of creatures with fewer heads.
K67H99.64%When a worker is sent to a place where he is to be torn apart by a predator, he tames it and lets it into the barn (stable) at home. As a result, the predator destroys the owner's livestock.
M199F99.58%The character pretends to want to deprive the devils (water dwellers) of their habitat (pull the shores of the lake together, two mountains, muddy the lake, dry up the sea, build a church on the land of the devils, etc.). To avoid this, the devils (fish) comply with the character's demands.
F70E199.54%An old man needs a son to do men's work. (Only the youngest) daughter takes on this task (successfully passing the test set by her father), pretending to be a man.

See the 100 most similar distributions →

Map of motif dispersal

Distribution

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Traditions

27 recorded

This motif has been recorded in 27 traditions: Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thรผringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rรผgen, Poles, Slovenians, Slovenes, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Lithuanians, Karelians, Vepsians, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Lezgians, Archin, Kรผrin; Khinalug, Tats, Gagauz, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Mordvins, Komi (Zyrians and Permyaks), Mansi, Chechens, Urums, Rumei, Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Lutsi (Ludza), Russian Federation

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