The Mythology and Folklore Database
M114B2 - How many steps did your horse take?
Please log on to view the narratives.
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
A man (an authoritative character) asks a girl (a subordinate) a question about the number of routine actions she has performed (or small items she has), which no one counts. She asks a counter-question about the number of similar actions performed by the questioner.Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior
M11 has 4 other sub-motifsM11. The character gives others food extracted from his or someone else's body or contaminated with bodily secretions, without revealing the source of the food. M11a. The character gives others the fish extracted from his body. M11b. A woman feeds a man with good-quality meat or fat, which she cuts from her own flesh or extracts from her body, and stops doing so when he learns about the source of the food. M11c. Without harming himself, a male character cuts off, pierces, roasts, holds over a fire, etc. a part of his body (or his wife's body). The character cooks the meat, fat, etc. obtained in this way and treats his guest to it. This food is not perceived as unclean (cf. motifs M11B and M38). m11d. The character makes food taste good by adding salt to it. Another character learns that the cook extracts this salt from his own body (it is contained in his bodily secretions). Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of M11's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K27Z2D | 99.98% | 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. |
| M83C | 99.95% | Animals argue who of them gets drunk easier. The last one falls down because he becomes drunk as soon as somebody talks about alcohol |
| M188 | 99.86% | The character is honoured after accidentally acquiring an unusual appearance – getting paint on himself or attaching an object to himself that he cannot remove. |
| K27V1 | 99.85% | The character must hit the eye of a needle with an arrow (the eye of a needle). |
| B47A | 99.62% | A cow steps on the Pleiades stars lying on the ground, which were demonic creatures. Some of the stars slipped through her split hoof. |
| C31C | 99.39% | The bat turns out to be smarter and wiser than other living creatures. |
| I50C | 99.39% | Describes a hoofed animal with a second set of legs on its back that runs either normally or upside down. This makes it tireless. |
| L90B | 99.39% | One tooth (fang) of the creature touches the sky, the other reaches the earth or the underworld. |
| M195B | 99.39% | A person sticks a needle (thread, stick) into the ear of two or three dolls (skulls). In different dolls or skulls, the object comes out of different holes (or does not go inside at all, remains inside, etc.). This refers to people who react differently to what they hear (inattentive, talkative, wise). |
| M23A | 99.39% | The turtle says that before eating it, it must be properly soaked in water, but once in the water, it swims away. |
See more...
Please log on to view the narratives.
Map of Motif Dispersal
Click here for a clustered map
Drag the map around by clicking and using the mouse, use the wheel to zoom
This motif has been recorded in 9 traditions: Viet, Muong, Kumyk, Terekemen, Kalmyk, Mari (Cheremis), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, Japan