The Mythology and Folklore Database
H34G - Porridge from a grain.
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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
One grain was enough to prepare a meal.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life
H34 has 9 other sub-motifsH34. Work did not require effort. Some people do not believe that this is possible, or do not consider it to be right, or do not fulfil the necessary conditions, which is why people have to work. See motifs H34A – H34H; H34 contains only texts that are not classified in more detail. H34a. The character believes that people should live easily (without labour and suffering) and makes appropriate suggestions. The interlocutor rejects them. This dialogue forever determines the conditions of people's lives. Those traditions in which the dialogue is conducted by two anthropomorphic brothers or companions are highlighted in bold in the list. H34b. Somewhere there is or was a river that flowed or, according to the plan, was supposed to flow in two directions at once. H34c. Rice flew (came) from the field to the house. H34d. A zoomorphic character climbs or attempts to climb up to the sky or the moon to bite off a piece of them. H34d1. The sky or celestial objects were edible, but then this source of food became inaccessible or is now only used by inhabitants of a country beyond the human world. H34e. The snow was edible. H34f. Baskets or clay vessels carried heavy loads themselves. H34g. One grain was enough to prepare a meal. H34h. Firewood and brushwood came by themselves, flying into the house; there was no need to specially harvest and deliver them. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H34's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| B77B | 95.75% | The sky moved away and/or the connection between people and the deity ceased after the sky or the heavenly deity was touched or struck with a long object (a pestle, a broom, etc.) during work. Cf. motifs B77b1 and B77b2. |
| M105A | 94.66% | A character hides his children, but tells another that he has killed them. The other believes him and kills his own children. See motif M104. |
| F40B | 94.34% | A single man finds himself in a village of women. Usually, he is forced to satisfy a woman against his will, or each woman demands to have sex with him. |
| B77B1 | 93.17% | The sky receded and/or the connection between humans and the deity ceased after the sky or the heavenly deity was touched or struck during work with a pestle used to pound in a mortar or with a spoon used to stir porridge (Ewe, Nubians, Nyiman). |
| B77 | 92.87% | The sky was close to the ground, then rose. |
| B86 | 92.84% | To reach the sky (the moon, stars, sun), people build a ladder or tower consisting of separate modules (logs, poles, bricks, etc.), but the structure collapses. |
| I72A | 92.81% | Stars – children of the moon and/or sun. |
| L93C | 92.73% | The monkey, resorting to cunning, helps the hero or heroine, saves them. |
| A36 | 92.20% | The moon (month) is contrasted with humans as immortal to mortals; it decides whether humans will be mortal; those who live on the moon are immortal. (Cf. Latvians, Dolgans). |
| E5B | 92.16% | The first human (a group of brothers) or the first human couple emerge from underground (from a cave) or from a small object on the surface (a mound, a reed, a tree, a stone, a pumpkin). Cf. motif E5A: people from the underworld. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 26 traditions: Dinka, Atuot, Nuer, Bongo, Fipa (Bafipa), Iramba, Bende, Safwa, Mkulwe, Ngonde, Kinga, Nyakusa, Nyamwanga, Hausa, Songhai, Tenda (incl Bedik, Basari), Biafada, Nalu, Pajadinka, Badyara (Badiaranke), Ontong Java, Nukumanu, Takuu, Nukuria, Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Roti, Flores, incl Mangarai (Western Flores), Nage, Keo, Riung, Ngada or Nad'a (Central Flores), Sika (Eastern Flores), Northern Luzon: Apayao, Bontoc, Nabaloi (Ibaloi), Ifugao, Igorot (highland people, not specified), Ilocan, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankanay, Tingian (Tinggian, Bilongan Itneg); Ibanag, Kasiguran Agta, Keley-i Kallahan, Central Taiwan: Bunun (Vonum), La'arua, Tsou, Kanabu, Kanakanabu, Tamil, Muthuvan, Marvar, Tamils, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Miao (Hmong) and Yao of Southern China, Early Chinese written sources, Japanese folklore outside of Ryukyu, Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Aztec; Aztec and Teotihuacan iconography, Nivakle (=Chulupi, Ashluslay, Ajlujlay), Chorote, Lao, Shandong Chinese, Liberia, Morocco