The Mythology and Folklore Database
B116B - The wet book.
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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 book containing sacred knowledge falls into the water at a crossing or gets wet in some other way. After that, the book disappears or the text becomes unreadable. Either the book is ruined (damaged) when it is dried. Or it is ruined while left unattended on the shore while the people who kept it are swimming; or it burns, although traces remain.Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 6, Origin and interpretation of culture elements, in particular related to agriculture, inadequate forms of subsistence and economic activity before the establishment of the present norms
B11 has 2 other sub-motifsB11. A river (rarely: a chain of lakes, a narrow strait) or its current course is created by humans or animals. See motifs B12, B13. This section covers other variants of the motif. B11a. The mammoth, represented as an underground fish-like creature, creates rugged terrain on wet ground and digs river beds. B11B. At the beginning of time or during the flood, the mammoth drowned or sank into the ground, and since then it has not been seen on earth. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of B11's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M130B | 99.83% | A herbivorous animal falls into a hunter's trap. The predator does not want to release it, as it hopes to eat its entrails, but the bird helps it to escape. The hunter tries to kill the bird, but instead kills the predator. |
| M29W2 | 99.74% | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the tiger dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. |
| K116A | 99.62% | The king takes or is about to take the poor man's wife. She suggests that the king put on clothes that are not his own (usually those that belonged to her husband). After that, the king is killed by his own soldiers (dogs), who believe him to be a poor man (jester, devil). |
| B116A | 99.22% | A person or animal eats a sacred book or its remains. During the ritual, this knowledge is actualised in oral speech, in the sounds of a musical instrument made from part of an animal's body, or in parts of an animal's body used for divination. |
| K56D1 | 99.14% | A pumpkin or watermelon (grown from gifted seeds) given to a person turns out to contain treasures. |
| A2 | 98.91% | There was a time when several, i.e. more than two, suns shone in the sky at the same time. |
| A12F | 98.72% | The stars fade because the moneylender demands that they repay their debt. |
| A37C | 98.72% | The character shoots an arrow into the sky, aiming to hit a celestial body or deity, but the arrow hits an obstacle blocking the target. |
| K33C1 | 98.72% | A character thrown into the water is transformed into a flower (usually a lotus). |
| K76H | 98.72% | A young man, temporarily having a strange or monstrous appearance (freak, animal, etc.), woos a princess, but is rejected. Then he causes natural disasters or creates personal troubles for the king, who is forced to give up his daughter. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 18 traditions: Bidayuh (incl. Maloh), Iban (Sea Dayak), Sakarram; Brunei, Mindanao and Sulu: Blaan (Bilaan), Bagobo, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Hiligáynon, Binukid, Magindaan (=Magindanao: main Muslim population), Mandaya, Mansaka, Manobo (Agusan, Ata, Dibabawon, Sarangani, Ilianen), Maranao, Samal, Subanon (=Subanun), Subanen, Tboli, Ami, Karen, Pa-O, Padaung, Kayah, Thai of Vietnam, Tai Lue, Khao (Kho, Tai Don, White Tai), Tai Dam (Black Tai), Nung; Zhuang, Buyi; Shui, Palaung (De Ang, Deang), Khasi, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Lahu, Kucong, Nosu, Nisu, Nusu, Sani, Jino, Early Chinese written sources, Turkmen, Daur (Daghur), Southern Altai: Altai proper (Altai-Kiji), Telengit, Altaians, Northern Altai: Chelkan, Kumanda, Tubalar, Altaians, Nivkh, Lisu, Lolo (incl. Bai), Achang, Yi, Axi, Nasu, Jino, Taungyo, Southern Altai: Teleut