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K27X9 - Retrieving an object from the bottom of the sea.
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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
The hero must retrieve a small object (often a ring or signet ring) thrown into deep water (often the sea). Cf. motif C6 ("The Diver").Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K27 has 106 other sub-motifsK27. The character receives tasks that are deadly dangerous or can only be accomplished with supernatural abilities or helpers; the hero completes the tasks and/or miraculously survives. The confrontation between the characters unfolds as a game or competition in which the loser loses their life or status. K27a. Test: spend the night in the cold (the antagonist tries to destroy the hero in this way). See motif K27. Compare motif M35: two zoomorphic characters compete to see which of them will sit out the night in the cold. K27b. Test: smoke a huge or poisonous pipe or breathe in clouds of poisonous smoke. See motif K27. K27c. Test: to remain alive when coming into contact with piercing, cutting, or crushing instruments. See motif K27. K27d. The test: to stay alive in a room full of predatory, poisonous and other dangerous creatures. See motif K27. K27e. The character is offered to eat or drink an unusually large amount or poison. K27f. An authoritative character demands that the hero obtain a woman. K27f1. A character builds a bridge (usually from precious materials) in an implausibly short time. K27f2. A girl demands that her fiancé get her the same pair of shoes (or other items) as hers. These items either exist in a single copy, or it is not known what they look like. Having become invisible, the hero either steals the items (and the owner has to make new ones herself), or finds out what they look like. K27f3. The character must quickly obtain enough feathers to fill a feather bed or pillow. K27f4. Task: to erect a building. See motif K27. K27g. The character is ordered to bathe in (hot) milk, in boiling water, to jump into the fire; he remains unharmed, while his opponent usually perishes. K27g1. The character must quickly clean the stable or barn of the manure that has accumulated there over a long period of time. K27g2. The character must build a house out of bird feathers or cover the roof, bridge, etc. with feathers. K27g3. To fell all the trees in the forest, a man fells one (lightly touching it with an axe), after which all the trees fall. K27g4. The character must complete all field work in an unimaginably short time and present the products of the new harvest. K27g5. A person tries or must try to chop or dig with a wooden (lead, felt) tool instead of a steel one. Cf. motif L84. K27h. The hero must carve an image of the character's head, which he never shows. It usually adorns a wooden bench. K27h1. The character is tasked with bringing the fruits of a tree that is difficult to reach. K27hh. The character is tasked with quickly separating small particles of different types (usually seeds of different plant species) mixed together in a single vessel, or counting the number of grains, or gathering scattered or already sown grain. K27i. Task: to drain a large body of water. K27k. Test: to dive underwater for a long time or deeply. See motif K27. K27l. After the hero dives in, the antagonist freezes the water body or covers the surface with a net. K27l1. Voluntarily subjecting himself to trials, the character allows himself to be frozen in ice and cannot free himself. K27m. Task: to kill and bring an animal of a certain (often unusual) colour or shape. See motif K27. K27n. A young man must complete difficult tasks or win a competition in order to obtain permission to marry. The person giving the tasks is indicated in square brackets. See motif K27. K27n1. A character who gives the hero tasks that are impossible for an ordinary person (subjecting the hero to difficult trials), or a character who requires the suitors of his daughter to fulfil certain conditions, is the head of a community or supra-community collective and is neither a member of the same family collective as the hero nor a mythical creature. See motif K27. K27n2. The character who gives the hero difficult tasks or subjects him to trials is a mythical creature or animal. See motif K27. K27n3a. The character who gives the hero difficult tasks or subjects him to trials is associated with the sun, moon, thunder or wind (cloud, downpour). See motif K27. K27n3a1. In the course of his courtship, the hero enters into a struggle with characters (more than two) who embody the elements, celestial bodies, and parts of the universe. K27n3b. The character who gives the hero or heroine difficult tasks or subjects them to trials lives in the sky, but is not associated with the sun, moon, thunder or wind. See motif K27. K27n3c. A character who gives the hero difficult tasks or subjects him to trials is associated with a land or water animal or a fish. See motif K27. K27n3c1. The inhabitants of the polar bear village – relatives of his wife – set the hero difficult tasks and trials. K27n3c2. The hero's father-in-law, the bear, sets him difficult tasks and trials. K27nn. Someone from the entourage of a powerful figure seeks to destroy the hero and persuades others to give him difficult tasks. K27o. The confrontation between heroes and antagonists unfolds in the form of a ball game. K27o1. Severed human heads are compared to balls. Either a character plays with a severed human head or skull as a ball. K27o2. To destroy the hero, his opponents play ball with him, throwing a heavy dangerous object (a ball made of ice, bone, stone, iron, a walrus head, a biting skull, etc.). K27o3. Two groups of characters compete in overcoming trials or play a game, divided into two teams (at least two episodes with different characters on both sides). The participants are either anthropomorphic but possess different unusual abilities, or they are different animals (natural phenomena, elements, etc.). Cf. motif K27xy (Characters with different properties in opposing camps). K27p. The antagonist sends the hero to places where he is attacked by dangerous creatures; the hero kills them and brings them to the antagonist. The creatures turn out to be relatives, pupils or helpers of the antagonist, whom he (or his close relatives) mourns or revives. See motif K27. K27p1. The father-in-law (less often the mother-in-law) orders the hero to kill or tame a dangerous animal or not to kill a certain animal while hunting. This animal is himself or his daughter (wife). K27p2. Demanding that the hero kill the bear, the father-in-law (rarely: mother-in-law) himself takes on the form of a bear or turns his daughter or wife (husband) into a bear (bear). K27q. Task: to obtain the milk of a wild animal or milk possessed by a dangerous creature. See motif K27. K27q1. The hero is sent to bring lioness milk in a wineskin made from a lion skin (usually from a lion cub's skin). k27q2. The hero is sent to obtain a musical instrument, usually a gusli-samogudy. K27r. The person giving the task requires an item or message to be brought from the world. K27r1. The antagonist believes that the hero was burned, but returned safely from the afterlife, so he orders himself or his representative to be burned. K27r2. Task: bring objects (fruit, wood, water, etc.) that perform actions characteristic of humans (sing, dance, yawn, laugh, etc.). K27s. Competition: running, racing. See motif K27. K27ss. A strong man must overtake a woman, often an old woman. This is difficult or impossible to achieve. K27t. Competition: climbing a pole. See motif K27. K27u. Task: to hide (the hero finds the antagonist, and/or the antagonist cannot find the hero). See motif K27. K27u1. Some people demand that the child be born the morning after conception or speak immediately after birth. K27u2. An authoritative character orders to find out where the tumbleweed is rolling or what news it brings. K27v. The character must hit the bird with an arrow or a stone. (Cf. motif K27M, where it is not the accuracy of the archer that is important, but the unusual appearance of the creature that needs to be caught). K27v1. The character must hit the eye of a needle with an arrow (the eye of a needle). K27v2. The character must hit an object or creature made of copper with an arrow. K27v3. The character must hit a small ring with an arrow or shoot it through several rings. (The main materials were identified by Y.V. Vasilkov and presented in Vasilkov 2018). K27w. The task giver demands that a dangerous creature be brought to him or that something belonging to a monster or deity be brought to him. The hero fulfils the task, but the beast, monster, deity or the object itself kills the task giver. See motif K27. K27x. A man marries a woman from another world; the wife leaves for her world, the man follows her; there, the woman has another fiancé(e) or husband, or the woman's brothers want to destroy the man; he undergoes trials and brings his wife back. See motif K27. K27x1. Having received a difficult task (usually: to bring an object or creature that has no specific characteristics, such as "something, I don't know what," "a strange wonder," etc.), the hero meets an invisible man who serves others; he is kind to him, and the man becomes his assistant. (This motif is certainly present in some texts of the ATU 465A plot, but it is not specifically highlighted in the definition). (Cf. motif K131B). K27x2. The character is able to get an egg or chick (and put them back) from under a bird in a nest, or change the bird's feathers (pluck feathers), or get a fruit from an animal's womb so that the bird or animal does not notice. K27x3. The ruler seeks to take possession of the wife or bride of a man of lower social status and, in order to get rid of him, gives him impossible tasks or secretly kills him. {Both ATU and some regional indexes (e.g., Cardigos 2006: 110) list texts that do not meet the definition of plot 465: the king's desire to take possession of the hero's wife is not explicitly stated as the reason why the king seeks to get rid of the hero}. K27x3a. 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). K27x4. The character is told to climb a tree (pole, mountain, etc.) while holding a full open vessel in his hand and not spilling a drop from it. K27x5. When setting out in search of a woman or miraculous objects, a person consistently encounters characters of a non-human (often demonic) nature who help him. The characters are similar, but usually each subsequent one is older (younger) than the other. K27x6. Setting out in search of a marriage partner, the hero or heroine successively encounters the embodiments (masters) of celestial bodies and atmospheric phenomena (the sun, moon, stars, wind). K27x6a. The character comes to the mother of the Sun when the Sun itself is not there. Cf. motif b33h ("Mother of the Sun"). k27x6b. Upon encountering the sun, moon (frost) and wind, a person greets only the latter. (In progress) K27x7. On the way to their destination, people meet characters who have power over animals (birds, fish) or demons. They summon the animals (demons) and ask if anyone knows the way to a certain place. Only one person knows, usually the last to appear. K27x8. Only the frog (toad) knows the way to the object that is unattainable for ordinary people, which the hero is looking for (and helps him get there). K27x9. The hero must retrieve a small object (often a ring or signet ring) thrown into deep water (often the sea). Cf. motif C6 ("The Diver"). K27xy. Several men (animals), each of whom can do something better than the others, work together to accomplish difficult tasks set before them by their opponents. The competition is not intended to find a worthy suitor for a girl or to get rid of an unwanted suitor. Cf. motif K27o3 (Competition between two teams). K27y. The hero is sent or, knowing the danger, goes himself to obtain various (at least two) materials for making a bow and arrows (shafts, feathers, bowstring, flint for arrowheads, paint for colouring arrows, resin and fibres for attaching the arrowhead or feather to the shaft, etc.). See motif K27. K27y1. The character believes or pretends that arrowheads should be made of bark, coal, grass, and similar materials. K27yy. The hero is sent to a tree that is supposed to fall on him. K27yy1. The hero brings the feather (feathers) of a dangerous bird. K27yy2. The hero is sent to bring the chick of a dangerous bird. K27yy3. The hero must bring the fruits growing on a tree that is dangerous to approach. K27yy4. The hero must obtain tree bark, which is fraught with danger. K27z. A character gains power over another by winning a game of chance or an intellectual game (not a sporting competition). The motif includes all texts with motif K27z4. K27z1. The assistant teaches how to steal the desired object, but not to take anything else (take the bird, but not the cage, the horse, but not the bridle, etc.). The character takes what he should not, is caught, released on the promise to deliver another object, then the girl. In the end, the hero keeps both the girl and everything he stole. {ATU 550 includes a much wider range of texts; in particular, the Indian, Burmese and Persian variants mentioned in Uther 2004 do not correspond to our definition}. K27z2. A noble woman is forced to leave her home, gives birth to a son, and is separated from him. The young man grows up and almost marries his mother, but at the last moment everything is explained. {The Sudanese text, attributed to this plot in el-Shamy 2004 and subsequently in Uther 2004, does not fit the definition; it is quite possible that the Latvians, Romanians and Ukrainians are also mentioned incorrectly in Uther 2004}. K27z2a. Noticing the woman's pregnancy, her relatives or in-laws accuse her of promiscuity, because, according to their calculations, she could not have conceived by her husband or fiancé. After severe trials, the woman meets again the father of the boy she gave birth to. K27z2a1. Noticing that a woman is pregnant, her relatives or in-laws accuse her of promiscuity, because, according to their calculations, she could not have conceived by her husband or fiancé. After severe trials, the woman meets again the father of the boy she gave birth to. k27z2a2. The husband leaves his wife without agreeing with her. The wife visits her husband incognito, and in the end he realises who is with him. Usually, the wife spends the night with her husband, gives birth to a son (three children), and the husband is convinced that the son is his. K27z2b. The complicated relationship between a simple girl and a prince leads to the prince intending to kill his bride on their wedding night. The girl substitutes a doll for herself, the prince stabs the doll with his sword, mistakes the spurting juice (syrup, honey) for blood, and repents of the murder. The real girl appears, and the young couple are happy. K27z2c. After marrying a poor girl, the prince locks her up. She turns out to be more cunning than him. K27z2d. A conflict arises between a pair of birds (sparrows, pigeons, etc.), in which the male is more likely (and more often clearly) to be at fault. This episode serves as the starting point for a story about the relationships between people of noble origin. K27z2e. During a meeting (sometimes not in their true form), a young man or woman takes certain objects (jewelry) from the other. One of those who met falls ill. A new meeting leads to the healing of the sick person, the identification of the objects, and a wedding. K27z2f. A poor girl buys a doll (goose) that defecates gold. When the neighbours take the doll, it only dirties their house. They throw it away, and the prince uses it to wipe himself, and it sticks to his backside. No one can help, but the poor girl easily solves the problem. The prince marries her. K27z3. The character taught the cat (monkey, dog) to hold a candle (lamp) or to extinguish it on command. Seeing a mouse (rat), the cat rushes after it and as a result drops (does not extinguish) the candle. K27z4. The character always wins bets or outplays others thanks to a trained cat (mouse, rat) that holds (or extinguishes in time) a lamp, turns dice, etc. The hero releases the mouse (or cat, mongoose, respectively), the cat rushes after it (or the mouse is afraid to come out), and the character loses. K27z4a. The cripple claims that the father of the visitor is to blame for his physical disability. The man's wife or the man himself, on someone's advice, promises to return the leg (eye) if the cripple gives him the other one as a sample or brings him a part of a dead person's body and demands money. K27z4b. The husband leaves, meets a swindler and loses everything he has to him. The wife comes disguised as a man, punishes the swindler and rescues her husband. K27z5. Two men agree to marry their children if one has a son and the other has a daughter. The girl's parents do not fulfil the agreement. The boy grows up and finds his betrothed. K27z6. Having fallen victim to injustice and endured suffering, a young woman tells her story to certain inanimate objects (often a "stone of patience"), or her husband tells the story after learning of his wife's fate. The woman is saved, justice is restored. K27z7. The character promises to fulfil a request if the other person reveals the secret behind someone's strange behaviour. K27z7a. A man is going to kill the person who found out why he severely punished his ex-wife. K27z8. A person poses a riddle that can only be solved by knowing the circumstances in which he found himself. K27z9. (Dried) fish (water, satyr, etc.) laughs, smiles or spits. The reason is that there is a man dressed as a woman in the house. K27zy. A young man (woman) lives in the house of a cannibal (witch). In order to destroy him or her, the cannibal orders that a certain object be brought from other cannibals (often from his or her mother or sister). The hero or heroine escapes (and destroys all the cannibals). K27zz. A man does not suspect that his (new) wife (less often his mother) is a cannibal/witch/treacherous woman; she persecutes (former) wives (his wife) and/or blinds them or throws them into a pit, or her husband does so at her instigation. Contrary to the cannibal's plans, the son of one of the wives survives, kills the cannibal, and rescues his mother and sisters. K27zz1. Several wives are thrown into a dungeon (banished), each gives birth to a child, but only one manages to save hers. The boy grows up and rescues the women. K27zz2. Several wives of one man (several sisters) go blind – the older ones in both eyes, and the younger one in one eye. K27zz3. The father or stepmother (werewolf) pushes/locks the sisters (the girl and her servants) into a pit. The heroine manages to escape and triumphs over her antagonists. K27zz4. A conceited prince (the son of a merchant) beats his wife every day (he marries on the condition that he will beat his wife every day). She saves him by demonstrating her superiority. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K27's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K73A5 | 98.82% | Malicious women replace the newborn with a kitten (telling the father that his wife has given birth to a kitten). See motifs K73, K73A. |
| M143 | 98.79% | Finding himself in a pit or well, one character persuades another to climb down to him, thanks to which he gets out, leaving the other at the bottom. |
| I41B | 98.64% | The rainbow drinks (draws into itself) water (and living creatures). |
| K33C | 98.53% | A young man obtains a girl who is inside a fruit or (rarely) a flower, stem, leaf, or egg. |
| M101A | 98.51% | Learning that humans are supposedly stronger than him, a large predator finds a human and challenges him to a contest of strength. This ends badly for him. Cf. motif M101. |
| K142 | 98.16% | After killing several people, a man asks a gravedigger to bury the dead and each time says that the dead man has returned. The gravedigger buries everyone, but believes that there is only one dead man. |
| H55 | 98.12% | A person going to the other world sees people who are punished or rewarded for their actions in life. |
| K81 | 98.12% | For a minor offence or on false charges, a young woman is maimed and expelled from her home (rarely: she is killed or maims herself). The cripple miraculously recovers (the dead woman is resurrected). |
| K151 | 98.12% | A magical helper grants a poor man's simple wish. The poor man or his wife ask for more and more. In the end, the helper punishes the beggar (usually by taking away everything that was given). {Many references to texts outside Europe in Uther 2004 are not related to the plot of ATU 555 and do not contain the K151 motif. This applies in particular to the Arabic and Ossetian variants}. |
| K35A3 | 98.12% | In order to obtain the privileges enjoyed by the hero, the deceiver manages to swap status with him. |
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This motif has been recorded in 35 traditions: Arabs of Egypt, Lampung (Lampong); South Sumatra Malays (incl. Bengkulu), Dusun, Murut, Kelabit, Tombonuwo, Bajau, Tidong, Mindanao and Sulu: Blaan (Bilaan), Bagobo, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Hiligáynon, Binukid, Magindaan (=Magindanao: main Muslim population), Mandaya, Mansaka, Manobo (Agusan, Ata, Dibabawon, Sarangani, Ilianen), Maranao, Samal, Subanon (=Subanun), Subanen, Tboli, Northern Munda of Kharwar branch: Birhor, Ho, Mundari, Kol, Asur (including Agaria, Kol, Birjhia), Bhumij, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, England, British, Bretons, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Sicily, Sicilians, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Czech, Czechs, Slovakians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Albanians, Balkarians, Latvians, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Bashkirs, Mari (Cheremis), Udmurt, Southern Selkups, Dolgans, Udeghe, Kumaoni (Central Pahari), incl. Garhwali, Wallons, Picardie, Galicians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Sundanese