Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
M59A — Porcupine at the crossing
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewAfter asking a large animal to transport it across the river, a porcupine kills or damages it. See M59 motif.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior.
M59 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedM59. A small animal asks a large one to transport it across the river; consistently rejects all the seats on the carrier's body that he offers; climbs to where the carrier is You can kill when the crossing is over.
M59a. After asking a large animal to transport it across the river, a porcupine kills or damages it. See M59 motif.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| M29R | 100.00% | See the motives in square brackets. |
| H18A | 99.78% | The owner of the hunting animals hides them underground; one of the first ancestors turns into a puppy, which is picked up by the owner's children, and releases the animals. See motif H18. |
| M122 | 99.77% | In a difficult situation, the character asks for advice from his tail, penis, or some creatures in his stomach (these are excrement, intestinal parasites, his "sisters," etc.). |
| L80 | 99.75% | A demonic creature or animal is killed, but comes back to life or can come back to life if even a small piece of its flesh or blood is left behind, unnoticed. |
| M81A | 99.75% | The hero meets two blind women and makes them sighted. These women are birds (geese, ducks, hazel grouses, partridges). |
| K50 | 99.70% | A man approaches the enemy disguised as a woman and kills him at night (usually cutting off his head and taking it with him). |
| M59 | 99.70% | A small animal asks a large one to transport it across the river; consistently rejects all the seats on the carrier's body that he offers; climbs to where the carrier is You can kill when the crossing is over. |
| K25C | 99.68% | While digging roots, gathering shellfish, etc., a woman finds a baby. He grows up and enters into a struggle with dangerous characters. |
| M54 | 99.68% | The character lives or stays at someone else's house; then goes far away, falls asleep, but wakes up again in the same house. |
| J53 | 99.65% | The children of a character associated with a hoofed animal (deer, antelope) come into conflict with an enemy associated with a predator or a larger hoofed animal. They kill his children and/or run away from him. See motif J52. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Cite this map
Distribution of the traditions attesting motif M59A, ‘Porcupine at the crossing’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (17 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/M59A (accessed 8 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Traditions
17 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 17 traditions: Bella Coola (Nuxalk), Menominee, Kiowa Apache, Crow, Chilkotin, Nez Perce, Klamath, Modoc, Owens Valley Paiute, Northern Paiute (=Paviotso), Upland Yuma: Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai, Ute, Southern Paiute, Navajo, Jicarilla, Chiricahua, Tewa (San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Nambe; Hano), Tiwa (Taos, Picuris; Sandia, Isleta), Towa (Jemez), Lipan
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0009-0006-1672-4451
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