The Mythology and Folklore Database
K140 - Demonstratively ungrateful.




12 Myths, Legends and Folktales
12 Unique Narratives for Motif K140
9 Cultures & Traditions where K140 is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
7 Sub-Motifs of Motif K140


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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

Travelling with his sister or brother, the young man regularly kills his saviours and helpers, exposing himself to ever new dangers.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures


K14 has 7 other sub-motifs


K14.  A person receives or buys simple advice, the meaning of which is initially unclear (travel with a companion, do not skip breakfast, etc.) and either follows it, achieving success, or violates it, getting into trouble.
K14a.  The antagonist orders the killing of the first person to arrive at the agreed place in the morning. The hero is accidentally delayed, and the antagonist himself or his wife or son are killed.
K14b.  A man is advised not to do anything until he is expressly asked to do so. He unwisely offers to let someone use his knife and is subsequently accused of a crime.
K14c.  Returning after a long absence and seeing signs that there is another man in the house, a man thinks that his wife has a lover, but does not rush to act and convinces himself that it is his own son or his wife's relative.
k14c1.  A man who has gone away to work sends his wife a pomegranate, unaware of its value. His wife finds treasures in the pomegranate.
K14d.  Testing his wife (household member, acquaintance), a man pretends to have committed a crime or performs incomprehensible actions that could be interpreted as a crime. Usually, his wife (friend) betrays him, and he presents evidence of his innocence.
K14e.  The sons do not care for their elderly father (rarely: the daughter-in-law does not care for her mother-in-law). He pretends to be hiding something. The sons believe that these are valuables that their father will leave them, and they begin to care for him.
K14F.  After his father's death, the son consistently violates his father's instructions. Having preserved material evidence of what happened, he presents it to those gathered, proving his father's rightness and/or his wife's wrongness.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
M17299.01%To show that a strong character is his slave, a riding animal, the weak one adjusts so that the strong one takes him along. Those around them are convinced of the truthfulness of the weak one.
M29X98.89%As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the hyena dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets.
L106A98.47%The antagonist makes formally justified but essentially unfair demands on the hero. The hero either fulfils them or is punished by the antagonist. Then the antagonist takes an object or animal belonging to the hero, but cannot return it and is punished equally or more severely.
M18198.47%Two characters are invited to a festival. (On the way and) upon arriving at the destination, one deceives the other.
F70D98.37%A girl pretends to be a man or a eunuch, or a girl hides a disability, or a man pretends to be a girl. Someone reveals a secret. At the last moment, the hero or heroine magically gets rid of the disability (acquires male or female nature), the informer is disgraced (executed).
H36D98.10%The hare distorts God's command and/or is responsible for the fact that humans are mortal. See motif H36.
B2G98.02%The chameleon walked on the ground when it had not yet hardened.
B98B98.02%The Bat comes into conflict with other creatures in connection with someone's death or funeral.
B98C98.02%The heavenly deity could have healed the bat's mother or child, but did not do so, and they died.
C30B98.02%In response to the claims of an animal or spirit, a person offers to remove their traces from the field or to walk without leaving any traces. The spirit is unable to do so.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 9 traditions: Arabs of Egypt, Mandingo (Manden, incl San, Samo), Kagoro, Bambara (Bamana), Malinke, Kassonke, Diula, Kru: Kru proper, Sapo (Sapã), Grebo, Kran (Krahn, Guere-Krahn; incl. Putu, Tchien), Bete, Neyo, Wobe, Devoin (Dey), Belle (Kuwaa), Bassa, Sikon, Songhai, Northern Gur (Oti-Volta): Mamprussi, Dagomba, Dagari (Dagara; incl Lodaga), Bassari, Mosi, Nankanse, Konkomba, Moba; Ditammari, Nyende, Bulsa (pl Builsa, Bulo), Akan, Ashanti, Akwapim; Ga (Accra), Kra, Twi (Chwi, Chi), Temne (Timne), Kpelle (incl Kono), Wolof


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