The Mythology and Folklore Database
D4D - The opossum obtains fire.
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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 opossum obtains fire for humans. See motif D4A.Berezkin category: Fire and Laughter
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar
D4 has 22 other sub-motifsD4a. Fire is stolen from its original owner, returned to people by the thief, or (the motif of theft is not expressed) brought with difficulty from a distant place. D4a1. A certain character possesses fire or steals it. His attention is attracted or distracted by singing, music, dancing, unusual gifts, indecent or strange behaviour, offers of sex, food and/or alcohol. D4aa. Moths try to steal the fire that humans possess. D4b. Those who stole or asked for fire and/or those who received fire are punished by the deity. D4c. Characters obtain the warm season from its original owners. D4c1. Animal-people come to steal summer from its owners. One of them, in the guise of an elk or caribou, distracts the owners' attention or floats a log or stump down the river, which the owners of summer mistake for an elk and rush after. D4d. The opossum obtains fire for humans. See motif D4A. D4e. The thief or giver of fire, light or sun is a coyote or fox (indicated in square brackets). See motif 4A. D4e1. The thief or giver of fire, light or sun is the dog. See motif 4A. D4f. Once in the fire, the beaver (in North America) or fish (in South America) scatters and/or carries the fire away from its original owners. See motif D4A. D4g. Hummingbird steals, finds or spreads fire. See motif D4A. D4h. The swallow obtains fire for people. See motif D4A. D4h1. A small songbird (redstart, robin, wren) obtains fire for humans. D4i. The beaver obtains fire for humans. See motif D4A. D4j. The thief, the thief's assistant, or the owner of fire is a rabbit, a hare, or (ofaye) a guinea pig. See motif D4A. D4k. The deer obtains fire for humans. See motif D4A. D4l. The first fire is brought down to earth from the sky; the first ancestors go to the sky and bring back fire or warmth. See motif D4A. D4m. The thief comes to the owners of fire or light. They feast or dance. He joins them and steals their valuables when the moment is right. See motif D4A. D4n. A boy or (among the Kutené) a woman cries, demanding the absent elements - summer, fire, rain. See motif D4A (demand for summer). D4o. In order to steal fire from its owner, the character pretends to be wet and cold, and after receiving permission to dry off, runs away, bringing fire to the people. D4p. The parrot obtains fire for humans. See motif D4A. Australian data is not taken into account, as the common origin of the motif in America and Australia is excluded. D4q. The fly rubs its legs together and produces fire. D4q1. The bat participates in obtaining fire. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of D4's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L58 | 98.31% | A man refuses to give food to his closest relatives or spouse; as punishment, he or his food changes its nature. |
| K16A | 98.14% | In an effort to show that he is a good hunter, a man regularly walks in front of a girl, pretending to carry prey. Once he slips, and the imaginary prey turns out to be a scarecrow stuffed with ashes or a bundle of termites. |
| G14 | 97.91% | A man swallowed by a water monster is carried away to an underwater or overseas world, obtains plants, and returns to people. |
| K11 | 97.91% | Brothers (brother and sister) kill a monstrous bird. Its eyes turn into heavenly bodies (among the Oaxacan Indians) or something else (among the present-day Condors of the Yokuts). |
| J33 | 96.90% | A boy, a young man, or two children live in the house of an older character. In order to elicit a certain reaction from him, they kill a person or a large animal, stuff the scarecrow with insects, worms, ashes, grass, or inflate it. |
| F36 | 96.85% | (Adopted) children of a woman or man kill the lover (or spouse of non-human nature) of their father or (adoptive) mother. |
| A23 | 96.06% | The first ancestors come together to choose who will become the sun, to raise the sun to the sky, to see the sun rise for the first time, and to name the sun correctly. See motif A22. |
| A24 | 95.48% | The first ancestors live in twilight. When they first find themselves in the rays of the sun, they (spontaneously or by someone's will) perish, turning into animals, spirits, or stones. |
| J24 | 95.43% | The hero, ground into powder, is reborn. |
| L26 | 93.83% | During the (first) initiation, supernatural beings teach boys rituals and kill them for violating rules related to the consumption and distribution of food. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 6 traditions: Choctaw, Chicasaw, Salinan, Huichol, Tepecano, Western Mexico Nahuatl, Zapotec, Chatino