The Mythology and Folklore Database
K67H - Bear in the barn
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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
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.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior
K67 has 9 other sub-motifsK67. At night, one person intends to throw another person's shoes or clothes into the fire, but ends up burning his own shoes or clothes. Usually, the father-in-law throws his son-in-law's shoes into the fire at night in order to freeze him out, but the son-in-law has already switched shoes, so the father-in-law burns his own. K67a. A character of low status annoys characters of high status. Learning of the intention of the characters of high status to drown him or his property (rarely: to strangle him), he arranges for one of them or their property to be drowned instead. K67b. A character of low social status (without supernatural abilities) takes a job with a character of high social status (with supernatural abilities) on the condition that the employer will not get angry with the employee. By repeatedly annoying the employer, the employee causes him to become angry and, as a result, be severely punished or pay a large sum of money. K67c. The character agrees that under certain conditions another person may tear the skin from his back or cause him some other bodily harm. K67d. The worker (rarely – the husband) annoys the master (wife) so much that he or she decides to run away, taking his or her property with him or her. The worker hides in a sack (chest) with his or her property and ends up back where he or she started. K67e. Someone promises to fulfil their duties until they hear a bird singing at a certain moment in a temporal cycle (annual or daily). Another character imitates the bird. The first recognises the deception. K67f. A fool or a rogue is instructed to slaughter the sheep (cow, bull) that looks at him, i.e. any one. He slaughters them all, because they all looked at him. K67g. Pretending to carry out his master's orders, the worker cuts off the animals' lips (to make them look like they are smiling). K67h. 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. k67i. The worker is instructed to follow a straight line or overcome the obstacle without breaking it. He kills and cuts up the animals entrusted to him, throws the pieces over the fence or breaks the fence, even though there is a passage nearby. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K67's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M142 | 99.86% | 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). |
| K181 | 99.79% | 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. |
| M199F | 99.73% | 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. |
| N15 | 99.64% | 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. |
| M199D | 99.61% | A man and his opponent agree to compete in wrestling and running. The man sends his "relatives" – a bear and a hare – to compete in his place. (ATU numbers 1071 and 1072 are combined, as they are almost always paired.) |
| I139 | 99.59% | Two (rarely three) men or women are at a distance from each other, but regularly throw or pass something to each other. This is a sign of their unusual size, strength, and agility. |
| I120B | 99.59% | The character takes food, clothing, and other valuables from the ear of an animal (most often a horse or cow). |
| L120 | 99.47% | After overhearing a conversation between demonic characters who are planning to turn themselves into something edible, attractive, and safe, and to destroy anyone who touches them, the hero neutralises the demons. |
| L37C1 | 99.42% | The happiness (misfortune, hardship, etc.) of each person is represented by specific characters with whom they interact. |
| K27X3A | 99.40% | 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). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 9 traditions: Kashubians, Hungarians, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Western Ukrainians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Kalmyk, Mordvins, Chuvash