The Mythology and Folklore Database
M60A1 - The shepherd explains how to cross
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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
The hero meets a servant (usually a shepherd) and takes his form, after asking how he acts, how he talks to the hostess (usually finds out what to say in order transport the herd across the river).Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
M60 has 7 other sub-motifsM60. After injuring a demon (robber), the hero goes to his locus. There he, or (rarely) his assistant, pretends to be a doctor and finishes off an opponent. M60a. The creature/character runs away or swims away with a hook, harpoon, arrow, or other object thrown by the hero in his body. Local shamans can't heal an existence/character. The hero or his friend comes to the wounded man's village, takes out the object that caused the injury, or drives him even deeper into the body. The patient recovers or dies accordingly. See L105 and M60 motifs. M60a1. The hero meets a servant (usually a shepherd) and takes his form, after asking how he acts, how he talks to the hostess (usually finds out what to say in order transport the herd across the river). M60a2. The servant must lick the master or mistress's feet or wound. The hero comes disguised as a servant and instead of licking his heels, touches them with the animal's cut off tongue. M60a3. Avenging the seized property (a pet or a bird), the hero repeatedly comes to the offender in different guises (girl, doctor, etc.) and brutally mocks him. M60b. The deceiver, promising to cure a wounded or sick person, finishes him off and eats him or offers a remedy that is only worse for him. M60b1. The crow promises to cure the fish, and eats it herself. M60b2. A large predator asks (agrees with the proposal) to make his skin beautiful (variegated). The deceiver burns it (scalds it, burns his eyes, etc.). Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of M60's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K136C | 99.49% | Upon leaving, the demon temporarily kills or puts the girl to sleep, and upon returning, revives her. |
| K27Z2D | 99.19% | 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. |
| M114B2 | 99.17% | 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. |
| M188 | 99.14% | The character is honoured after accidentally acquiring an unusual appearance – getting paint on himself or attaching an object to himself that he cannot remove. |
| M83C | 99.06% | Animals argue who of them gets drunk easier. The last one falls down because he becomes drunk as soon as somebody talks about alcohol |
| K27V1 | 98.92% | The character must hit the eye of a needle with an arrow (the eye of a needle). |
| C31C | 98.78% | The bat turns out to be smarter and wiser than other living creatures. |
| I50C | 98.78% | 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 | 98.78% | One tooth (fang) of the creature touches the sky, the other reaches the earth or the underworld. |
| M195B | 98.78% | 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). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 10 traditions: Shan, Ahom, Khampti, 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), Yazgulami, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Mongols (Khalkha), Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Oroch, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Morocco