The Mythology and Folklore Database
K73A2 - The child is replaced with a broom.




12 Myths, Legends and Folktales
12 Unique Narratives for Motif K73A2
8 Cultures & Traditions where K73A2 is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
21 Sub-Motifs of Motif K73A2


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 Motif Summary  -   Motifs with Simlar Dispersals  -    Map of Myth Distribution   -   List of Traditions  -   Myths



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 ill-wishers of the new mother replace the baby with a broom (they tell the father that his wife has given birth to a broom).

Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures


K73 has 21 other sub-motifs


K73.  A young wife (promises to give birth and) gives birth to wonderful children (or one son). In the absence of her husband, attempts are made to kill the wife or her child (usually by slandering them to the husband), but they remain alive. (For medieval European variants, see Newell 1906).
K73a.  Malicious women replace the newborn with an animal or an inanimate object (they tell the baby's father that his wife gave birth to an animal or an object). See motif K73.
K73a1.  After hiding or discarding a newborn baby, the woman's rivals replace it with an inanimate object and/or inform the father that his wife has given birth to a stone, a broom, etc. See motifs k73a2, k73a2a, k73a3.
K73a2.  The ill-wishers of the new mother replace the baby with a broom (they tell the father that his wife has given birth to a broom).
K73a2a.  After hiding or discarding a newborn baby, ill-wishers replace it with a piece of wood and/or inform the father that his wife has given birth to a piece of wood.
K73a3.  The midwife's ill-wishers replace the baby with a statue or doll (telling the father that his wife has given birth to a doll).
K73a4.  Malicious women replace the newborn with a puppy (telling the father that his wife has given birth to a puppy). See motifs K73, K73A.
K73a5.  Malicious women replace the newborn with a kitten (telling the father that his wife has given birth to a kitten). See motifs K73, K73A.
k73a5a.  Malicious women replace a newborn baby with a monkey (telling the father that his wife has given birth to a monkey).
K73a6.  Malicious women kill (throw away) her wonderful children. Trees (flowers) grow from their remains, later reincarnating into humans.
K73a7.  A woman gives birth to three (not two or many) miraculous children – two boys and a girl. They grow up and triumph over their enemies.
K73a8.  A woman gives birth to a miraculous boy and girl. They are replaced by animals or objects and thrown away, but they escape and triumph over their enemies.
k73a9.  Lying on the marital bed, the deceiver, who has taken the place of the real wife, hears the conversation of her rival or her children, and in the morning orders the bed to be destroyed.
K73b.  A woman falsely accused of murdering her newborn child, or of giving birth to a puppy instead of a child, etc., is subjected to cruel and humiliating punishment or execution. See motif K73.
K73b1.  A woman with her newborn son (pregnant with a boy) or a girl with a young man are placed in a barrel (box; rarely: in a boat) and lowered into the sea (river).
K73b2.  It is necessary to boil the pot by telling an incredible but nevertheless true story.
K73b3.  A person who is asked to count the nuts in a barrel (taking them out one by one) accompanies his actions with a revealing story.
K73b4.  A person is asked to fill a bag (cauldron) with truth (lies, fairy tales). He fulfils the request by telling a revealing story.
K73b5.  A woman is accused of actions that she could not have committed by her very nature. To refute the accusation, an example of something equally absurd and impossible is given, or it is pointed out that the interlocutor accepts the impossible but does not believe in the possible.
K73b6.  The wife of a powerful character gives birth to wonderful children. Her jealous sisters conspire to make her husband order her to be disposed of (usually by locking her and the child in a barrel and throwing it into the water). The boy immediately grows up and rescues his mother and himself. He himself (in the form of a bird, animal, insect, or flying in on a miraculous object) or his puppy brother enters his father's lair and, eavesdropping on the conversation, learns of the existence of miraculous objects. Upon returning, he obtains them or already possesses them and demonstrates them to his father when they meet (the objects may include the young man's brothers).
K73b7.  The hero saves the magical wife from her enemy at a time when both the future wife and the enemy have zoomorphic appearances. Later, the rescued woman becomes a woman.
K73c.  A girl finds herself in a bird's nest (usually the bird carries the baby girl away). The bird takes care of the girl, who grows up to be a beauty.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
M156A96.65%A dangerous animal is about to kill a human or another animal that helped it. The predator and its prey agree to ask passers-by (people walking or sailing by) which of them is right. Among those who respond are inanimate objects (most often trees).
M90A494.11%A tree is described on which jewelry or ornaments hang instead of fruits; individual parts of the tree are made of <i>different</i> metals or (semi) precious stones.
K56D194.02%A pumpkin or watermelon (grown from gifted seeds) given to a person turns out to contain treasures.
L10793.64%People have disproportionately large ears (rarely: lips): they cover themselves with them like a blanket, use them as an umbrella, can step on them, etc.
H43A93.39%Having created the human body, the creator leaves. At this time, another character tries to break the figure, which has not yet come to life.
M152A92.02%A strong predator (a giant cannibal) and a weak predator are tied together with a rope to feel more confident. The strong one flees and drags the weak one behind him.
K136A91.68%Seeing the girl's hair carried away by the water, the man decides to marry the girl to whom the hair belongs.
A691.65%The sun and moon are considered female characters (including cases – Tuscarora, Oneida, when the gender is not directly specified, but both arise from the body of a female character).
B116C91.61%In the past, the people possessed writing and knowledge, but these were lost, or the people missed the opportunity to acquire them.
M130A91.50%A trickster lures an animal into a hunter's trap. Another animal advises the victim to pretend to be dead and helps it escape.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 8 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Malagasy, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Northern Munda of Kharwar branch: Birhor, Ho, Mundari, Kol, Asur (including Agaria, Kol, Birjhia), Bhumij, Oraon (Kurukh), Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Gujarati, Mustang


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