Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
J11 — Asks to pick flowers.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewThe son in his mother's womb asks her to pick flowers or fruit for him (usually when a woman picks flowers, she is bitten by an insect). See motif J9.
Berezkin category: Avenger heroes: The amerinday cycle
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| B28A | 99.99% | A character pinned to the ground by a rod, transported somewhere to the edge of the world and associated with an object that continues to influence people. |
| B32 | 99.99% | As a result of conflict with their husbands, women turn into fish. |
| J10 | 99.99% | A woman loses her way after being stung by a wasp (or bee, ant, snake). She slaps her stomach (either to kill the insect or to punish her unborn sons, because of whom she went to pick a flower and was stung; see motif J11). The offended sons fall silent, ceasing to show the way. See motif J9. |
| I5A | 99.94% | The tapir is associated with the upper world (thunder, sky, moon). |
| K13D | 99.94% | A group of boys reaches the sky, the last one's leg is cut off or torn off. |
| K19F | 99.94% | A star or many stars descend from the sky to work in the fields. See motif K19B. |
| M139 | 99.94% | The fox caught the birds and put them in a bag. Another character secretly replaced them with thorns. |
| C37 | 99.89% | The sloth causes a global catastrophe or saves people from it. |
| K27H | 99.89% | The hero must carve an image of the character's head, which he never shows. It usually adorns a wooden bench. |
| B99 | 99.85% | A person or their head left on a tree turns into an insect nest. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Cite this map
Distribution of the traditions attesting motif J11, ‘Asks to pick flowers.’, as recorded in the Berezkin–Duvakin Analytical Catalogue of Folklore Motifs (18 traditions mapped). Geolocation and cartography by Jonathan Fielder-White, Folklore Database, release 1.26206.1 (25 July 2026), https://www.folkloredatabase.com/motif/J11 (accessed 8 August 2026). Basemap © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Traditions
18 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 18 traditions: Yana, Yanomamo (Yanoama): Yanomam, Yanomami, Trio, Locono, Wayapi, Emerillon, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Zaparo, Tupinamba, Urubu (Urubu-Kaapor), Tenetehara, Machiguenga, Piro (Yine), Culina, Paumarí, Arauá, Apurina, Cuniba, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Chacobo, Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Kaingang, Xokleng, Guarani of Paraguay and Brazil: Caygua, Mbia, Apapocuva, Nyandewa, Chiripa
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How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
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