The Mythology and Folklore Database
J32E - Stolen Foals.
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Source Data from Berezkin's Analytics Catalogue, if using this data please acknowledge and link to it here:
Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of Motif
Every time a mare foals, the foal is stolen. The hero finds out who is doing this.Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
J32 has 7 other sub-motifsJ32. Someone regularly steals livestock (horses, sheep, etc.) or crops (apples, hay, peas, flowers, etc.). Those who undertake to guard them (usually the older brothers) fail to catch the thief, and only the hero (usually the younger brother) discovers him. J32a. When dying, a person orders that someone spend the night at his grave or bring something to the grave. J32a1. But at night someone tramples the field, steals hay, etc. The hero learns that it is horses doing this. J32b. In order to accomplish what he wants, the hero prolongs the night by changing the behaviour of the character on whom the alternation of day and night depends. J32c. At night, a demonic character comes to the grave of the deceased, intending to harm him. J32d. The girl will be won by the one who, on horseback or by some other means, quickly reaches a hard-to-reach place (the top of a tower, a mountain, the upper floor of a palace, the top steps of a staircase, a bridge, the bottom of a chasm, jumps over a moat, etc.). Usually, the girl herself is located where the suitor must climb or (rarely) descend. In Italian versions, the hero wins tournaments. J32e. Every time a mare foals, the foal is stolen. The hero finds out who is doing this. J32f. While standing guard, the hero discovers who is stealing fruit (usually apples) from the garden. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of J32's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K148 | 100.00% | Every night or every year, a mare gives birth to a foal, and every time someone steals it. |
| N6 | 99.59% | horse tells the rider to whip it so hard that his blood splashes, his skin peels off, the meat is cut to the bone, etc. The rider follows these instructions. |
| K159 | 99.52% | When two characters are fighting, someone nearby wants one of them to slip (while the other remains firmly on their feet) and throws something under their feet for this purpose. |
| M39A6A | 99.48% | After a long search, the ruler finds an intelligent wife for his son. At the mercy of his enemies, he sends a message with one of them, the true content of which is understood only by his daughter-in-law. She destroys enemies and frees her father-in-law. (The boys have a younger wife instead of an intelligent daughter-in-law). |
| K27L1 | 99.35% | Voluntarily subjecting himself to trials, the character allows himself to be frozen in ice and cannot free himself. |
| K80C3 | 99.32% | Before his death, a man asks his murderer to tell his pregnant wife to give their newborn a certain name. Upon hearing the unusual name of the child, a powerful figure begins to investigate the case, and the murderer confesses to his crime. (All texts containing motifs K80c3 and K80c4 also contain the more general motif K80c) |
| M148 | 99.21% | One zoomorphic character asks another to agree to be eaten – usually saying that he will be resurrected and compensated for the inconvenience caused. The animal agrees. |
| K123B | 99.19% | A boy or young man damages an elderly woman's spinning wheel or yarn. This episode forms the basis of the rest of the story. |
| L122A | 99.19% | The character is busy sewing up cracks in the earth, just as one would sew up torn fabric. (Motif identified by Ruslan Doutalieyev). |
| B73 | 99.14% | The character turns into a cuckoo. This happens so quickly that one foot remains unshod or one braid remains unbraided. Therefore, it is believed that the cuckoo's legs or wings are different. See motif A43A. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 18 traditions: Uzbek, Yagnobi, Iranian literary tradition (including Avesta, Pahlevi scripts, Sah-nameh, Marzban-nameh); Zoroastrians of Iran, Indian Parsees, Zoroastrianism, Abaza (Abazins), Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Ossetians, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Nogai, Kalmyk, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Turkmen, Bashkirs, Chuvash, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Daur (Daghur), Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori