The Mythology and Folklore Database
H36H - Unsuccessful jump (frog and death).
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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
Creatures, including a frog or toad, must cross an obstacle. This does not go as planned and results in humans becoming mortal.Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life
H36 has 17 other sub-motifsH36. A character is sent to deliver instructions or certain items. The messenger distorts the message, brings the wrong items, loses what he is carrying, delays (and is overtaken by another messenger). This has important consequences for him and for the future lives of the people. H36a. The character distorts the message conveyed to him, deliberately lies, brings the wrong thing, loses what he is carrying, delays (and is overtaken by another messenger). As a result, people become mortal (they do not revive after death). H36aa. The messenger must tell people what they should do if they want to avoid death, but he distorts the instructions and people become mortal. In Mesoamerican variants, it is not about people in general, but about a specific character. H36b. The chameleon is to blame for the fact that man is mortal or that he must labour; he loses the trust placed in him by the deity. See motif H36. H36c. The lizard is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. See motif H36. H36d. The hare distorts God's command and/or is responsible for the fact that humans are mortal. See motif H36. H36e. The rat is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. H36f. The raven is sent to deliver an important item or message. He distorts the message or loses what has been entrusted to him. H36ff. The raven (crow) or other large bird of prey tries to kill people and/or is responsible for the fact that humans (tigres: domestic animals) are mortal or susceptible to disease. H36g. God sends a messenger to the people to tell them to eat infrequently (once a day, once every three days, etc.). The messenger says that one should eat often – at least two or three times a day. H36g1. When a bull (ox, cow) is ordered to convey certain instructions to people, he confuses them or deliberately distorts them. H36g2. When a character, who later became a dung beetle, was ordered to convey certain instructions to people, he distorted them. H36gg. The coyote is to blame for the fact that humans are mortal. H36h. Creatures, including a frog or toad, must cross an obstacle. This does not go as planned and results in humans becoming mortal. H36hh. The frog or toad is to blame for the fact that humans are mortal. H36i. The goat or sheep is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. See motif H36. H36j. The lark is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. h36k. Trees try to prevent humans from appearing on earth, fearing that they will cut them down. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of H36's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| L42H | 99.83% | A cannibal catches the hero and invites other cannibals to a feast. The hero escapes, and the cannibals eat the one who invited them. |
| L106 | 99.29% | A person takes an object belonging to another and loses it; the owner demands that the object be returned; the hero goes after it (to another world), usually finds it and brings back what was lost. See motifs K56a3 and L105. |
| H34D1 | 98.97% | 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. |
| K61B | 98.64% | In order to learn the names of strangers, the character finds or creates a situation in which they call each other by name aloud. |
| H25 | 97.98% | People are offered a choice between two objects, one of which represents death and the other life, or they are asked whether they want to be reborn or die forever. Death is chosen. |
| M129 | 97.66% | A parent intends to transfer primogeniture (royalty, other privileges) to a chosen son. Another son or brother comes under the guise of the chosen one and receives primogeniture. |
| M29V | 97.14% | The character defeats or deceives strong opponents using cunning. The protagonists are dwarf ungulates, usually duker or deer - taxonomically distant from each other, but similar in appearance. In some publications on African traditions, it is difficult to determine which animal we are talking about, but it is certain that these are small cloven-hoofed animals, usually (always?) dukers. See the motives in square brackets. |
| H34D | 96.97% | A zoomorphic character climbs or attempts to climb up to the sky or the moon to bite off a piece of them. |
| H36HH | 96.83% | The frog or toad is to blame for the fact that humans are mortal. |
| I82C1 | 96.49% | The Moon has two wives (usually the Morning Star and the Evening Star). With the caring one, he grows fat, with the other, he starves and grows thin. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Mangbetu (Ngbetu), Mangbutu, Moru, Madi, Lugbara, Lendu (=Bale), Zande (Azande, incl Nzakara), Banda, Gbaya (Baya), Manja, Ngbandi, Mbum (incl Mbaye), Fali; Mündü, Timor: Amarasi, Tetum, Meto, Atoni (incl Mollo), Kedang (Lomblen island), Leti Islands (Leti, Moa, Lakor), Kono (=Kone), Wai