The Mythology and Folklore Database
M91C7 - Tell them I'm dead
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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
When enemies come to kill a person, he pretends to be dead.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
M91 has 12 other sub-motifsM91. Pretending that the deceased has just been alive for a relatively long time, the character accuses others of his death, receives a ransom and gifts. M91a. The character pierces a container of animal blood or other red liquid, simulating murder or suicide. Cf. motifs K10C (wrapped in giblets) and M199H (Giant's ripped belly). M91b. A person manages to fraudulently sell or exchange ash for gold and money. Others are unsuccessfully offering ash for sale. M91b1. A man is going to sell a pet skin. On the way, he gets big money by deception or by chance. Usually, upon return, a person says that he received money for the skin, after which others slaughter their livestock and try unsuccessfully to sell the skins for money they are not worth. (In India, the hero sometimes supposedly sells not skin, but beef, which is forbidden to brahmanas). M91c1. The character (pretends to) take possession of someone's property (usually setting the owner to be killed instead of him), says that he got everything at the bottom of the river, in the abyss, etc., to him they believe. M91c2. character is placed in a bag or chest, locked in a cage, tied, etc., to drown, burn, etc. When left for a while, the character pretends to be in the bag voluntarily or because he does not want to become a chief, marry, etc.; the other agrees to take his place. See M91c1 motif. M91c3. A person releases an animal or a bird - supposedly with his wife instructing his wife to cook food, etc. Another does not understand deception and buys an animal. M91c4. A person removes the pot from the fire, its contents continue to boil, or the person prepares food in advance, puts it in a pot or pit. Another believes that the pot cooks without fire or incredibly fast (or that a stick, if it hits the ground or the pot, creates food), buys a pot (stick). M91c5. The person himself or his little son goes to the bazaar to sell a cow (or another large pet). The crook convinces him that it is a sheep (or another animal that is smaller and cheaper). Each of the crook's friends confirms the score or gives an even lower grade. A man at a loss sells a cow for the price of a sheep. M91c6. A person sells a hat to others, convincing them that it pays the bill, you just have to lift it up (throw it on the floor, etc.). He actually paid the innkeeper in advance. M91c7. When enemies come to kill a person, he pretends to be dead. M91d. The character deceives others by passing off the dead as alive, directing suspicions of murder to innocent people, etc. When a shaman (less often a shaman) is ready to discover the truth, he succeeds in it kill and avoid being charged with murder. M91E. The ruler, the leader, believes that a man who escaped death by cunning returned from the world where he received benefits. It tells you to burn, drown, etc. yourself or your close associates. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of M91's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K119 | 99.49% | An animal promises to make a poor man rich (usually by marrying him to a rich bride; or by marrying a poor girl to a prince) and, resorting to deception, fulfils its promise. |
| K27X2 | 98.70% | The character is able to get an egg or chick (and put them back) from under a bird in a nest, or change the bird's feathers (pluck feathers), or get a fruit from an animal's womb so that the bird or animal does not notice. |
| H45 | 98.39% | A woman or child treats food disrespectfully by smearing it with excrement. For this, people (rarely: only the culprit) are punished. |
| L93A | 98.26% | The fox, jackal or coyote, resorting to cunning, helps the hero, heroine or people in general, saving them. |
| H16B | 98.21% | The narratives (in various contexts) mention a milk pond (river, lake, wave in the sea) existing on earth (but not among the stars). Cf. motifs H16, K33F, N34. |
| K73A4 | 98.13% | Malicious women replace the newborn with a puppy (telling the father that his wife has given birth to a puppy). See motifs K73, K73A. |
| K102 | 97.89% | A woman who is initially friendly to the hero (his sister, mother, less often his wife or lover) then tries to destroy him by acting in concert with his enemy. To this end, she persuades the hero to take actions that are fatal to him. |
| K106 | 97.79% | The hero (a miraculous infant, a magical rooster) is thrown at the feet of animals, but they do not trample him. |
| K32G | 97.78% | The antagonist is executed by being tied to a horse (camel, bull), which drags him along the ground or tears him to pieces. |
| M29B1 | 97.77% | As a result of his stupidity or antisocial behavior, the wolf dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 30 traditions: Morocco Arabs, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Bengali, Lepcha, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Lithuanians, Karelians, Western Ukrainians, Persians, Ossetians, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Tats, Georgians, Gagauz, Kazakh, Turkmen, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Mordvins, Mansi, Eastern Khanty (Ostyaks), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Eastern Ukrainians, Northern Ukrainians, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Germans: South (Upper German dialects): Alsace (Elsass), Baden-Württemberg, Bawaria, Swabia, Switzerland, Bohemia, Sudeten, Austria, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori, China, Russian Federation