The Mythology and Folklore Database
K154A - Men in the harem.
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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
By solving a riddle, a boy or young man (rarely a girl) exposes the daughter, wife or assistants of an authoritative character: the daughter or wife has a lover; the assistant is plotting a conspiracy.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K15 has 3 other sub-motifsK15. A woman swears that she has not been with anyone except (her husband and) a dirty beggar. Others do not know that her lover has taken on the appearance of a beggar. K15a. The hero secretly replaces the weapon or magical tool of a powerful character with a worthless fake. Traditions in which the replaced weapon belongs to Grom are highlighted in bold. K15b. By secretly switching the vessels containing living and dead (giving and taking away strength) water (rarely: oil, etc.), from which the combatants drink during a duel, the hero defeats his opponent. K15c. The owner of stone (ice) clothing kills people. By hiding or replacing his clothing, the hero kills him. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K15's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K154 | 99.03% | A person finds a skull on which a mysterious and gloomy prophecy is written or which utters it. Then it becomes clear what it means. |
| M127C | 98.84% | Seeing an object that has been deliberately left behind or accidentally dropped, or hearing a sound it makes, the character sees it as a sign of danger and reacts inappropriately. |
| K73B5 | 98.66% | A woman is accused of actions that she could not have committed by her very nature. To refute the accusation, an example of something equally absurd and impossible is given, or it is pointed out that the interlocutor accepts the impossible but does not believe in the possible. |
| K158 | 98.46% | In order to find her missing husband (and other men who helped her or caused her harm), a woman displays her image and calls to her those who, by their behaviour, show that they are familiar with the features in the portrait. |
| K75B | 98.13% | Wanting to show that it is time for them to marry, daughters of different ages send their father fruits of varying degrees of ripeness (bread baked in different ways). |
| K61E | 98.00% | Seeing an absurd situation, a powerful (supernatural) character laughs and is thereby usually cured of his ailment. For this, the people involved in the situation are rewarded and saved from danger. |
| L40B | 97.81% | To make the character come closer, absurd actions are performed in front of him. The character does not understand the deception and comes closer to explain how to act correctly. |
| L72C | 97.69% | Fleeing for his life, the character throws a mirror behind him, which turns into an obstacle for his pursuer (ice, lake, etc.) or attracts his attention and causes him to lose time. (In the Udmurt version, objects destroy obstacles in the character's path). |
| K75A | 97.35% | The character chooses one of many suitors (a woman chooses a husband, a boy chooses a father, a young man chooses a bride) by throwing an object (often an apple) at him. Cf. motif K113A (throwing an object at random, not at a person who is nearby). |
| K90B | 97.24% | The antlers of a deer or the tusks of an elephant, which a snake or dragon is trying to swallow, get stuck in its mouth. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 24 traditions: Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Santali, Turi, Mahli, Indian literary tradition (Vedic, Brahman, Purana, Indian Buddhism, Hinduism, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panchtantra, Jatakas); iconography of Hindu temples, Kashmiri, Burusho (Hunza), Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Lithuanians, Tajik, Persians, Cherkassians, Adyghe, Kabardin, Karachays, Balkar, Ingush, Tats, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Kurds, Kara Kalpak, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Kazan (Middle Volga) Tatars, Bashkirs, Khakas, Kordofan, Russian Federation