The Mythology and Folklore Database
M143 - The fox in the well, ATU 31, 32.
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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
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.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
M14 has 1 other sub-motifsM14. A man brutally murders his wife (rarely: children, fiancée, sister) and/or eats her flesh himself, or brings her flesh to her relatives (if he kills children, he brings the flesh to his wife). M14a. To take revenge on his wife or her relatives for (allegedly) causing him offence, the husband roasts his wife alive. See motif M14. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of M14's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| I110 | 99.07% | Constellations are associated with agricultural tools or with people engaged in agricultural work (most often ploughing and haymaking). See motifs I110A (plough), I110B (haymaking). |
| M120B | 98.79% | The character is looking for a nanny (nurse, wet nurse, shepherd, husband) and consistently rejects those whose voice he does not like. He settles on the one with the most beautiful voice, but the choice turns out to be unsuccessful (usually the nurse eats the child, the sick person, the sheep, etc.). |
| K27X9 | 98.79% | 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"). |
| F54E | 98.77% | Not knowing who is in front of him, a young man kills his father. |
| A23C | 98.66% | Birds argue about which of them will fly higher or arrive first. The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely (he hides in the feathers of a strong bird and flies away with it). |
| H54B | 98.50% | The character's gaze brings death (and destruction). |
| K56E | 98.40% | Two people have the same physical defect (a bump, a hump). The first one finds himself in a place where spirits gather, and they rid him of his defect. The second comes to the spirits, and they double his defect, giving him what they took from the first person. (Uther 2004 mentions Kasevich, Osipov 1976, No. 171; the Karen text is published there and does not correspond to the definition of the motif). |
| I41B | 98.26% | The rainbow drinks (draws into itself) water (and living creatures). |
| E9I2 | 98.06% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper, adopted daughter) takes the form of a duck. |
| K151 | 98.02% | 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}. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 42 traditions: Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Algeria Arabs, Fula (Fulbe, Fulani, Pular), Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Dusun, Murut, Kelabit, Tombonuwo, Bajau, Tidong, Bahnar, Bana, Sedang, Por, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Malayali; Kannikaran, Marathi (incl. Bhamta; incl. Mumbai area), Koreans, Ireland, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Catalan, Ancient Italy: Latins, Etruscans, Magna Graecia, Dutch, Flemish, Czech, Czechs, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Macedonians, Balkarians, Slovenians, Slovenes, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Latvians, Livonians, Estonians, Finns, Karelians, Western Sami, Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Danish, Western Ukrainians, 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), Persians, Kurds, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Wapishana (incl Ataroi); Mapidian; Taruma, Witoto, Ocaina, Wallons, Picardie, Icelanders, Frisians