The Mythology and Folklore Database
K32L - Horses are given for fattening.




14 Myths, Legends and Folktales
14 Unique Narratives for Motif K32L
12 Cultures & Traditions where K32L is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
21 Sub-Motifs of Motif K32L


Please log on to view the narratives.




 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

The ruler distributes horses (cows) to his subjects for fattening. Only the heroine returns hers well-fed.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes

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


K32 has 21 other sub-motifs


K32.  The man does not (immediately) notice that another woman, an evil spirit or (in Chaco) a male trickster has replaced his wife or bride, who is banished, imprisoned in the underworld, killed, etc.
K32a.  A man is carrying his wife or daughter. Another woman or demonic character replaces her when the man leaves on a journey (rarely: falls asleep).
K32b.  The man's mother takes on the appearance of his wife in order to take her place.
K32b1.  The man's mother-in-law takes on the appearance of her daughter to take her place. See motif K32.
K32c.  The deceiver takes the place of the real wife, and the real wife becomes an owl. See motif K32.
K32d.  As a result of the antagonist's intrigues, a noble girl (young woman) or boy (young man) is turned into a servant or servant, sent to graze cattle or chase birds in the field. Everything is revealed – usually after people hear a song in which the hero or heroine tells about the substitution. Most often, the hero or heroine goes to relatives or (less often) to the groom. The deceiver accompanies her or him and is accepted as a relative or bride. The deceiver is executed. Comoros: the deceiver becomes the mistress, turning the girl's parents into peacocks.
K32e.  A negative character, object or locus is contrasted with one or two positive ones, such as wood with gold and silver.
K32f.  A woman or girl raises a bird of prey chick, which brings her food and fire. This usually happens after an evil spirit leaves the girl or young woman in a tree or on an island.
K32g.  The antagonist is executed by being tied to a horse (camel, bull), which drags him along the ground or tears him to pieces.
K32g1.  The guilty party is offered a choice of items of utilitarian value (often forty, seven, three, etc. horses or the same number of knives). The person usually does not understand that these are methods of execution.
k32g2.  An authoritative character marries, and an evil woman replaces her with her daughter. After the false wife is exposed and executed, the woman receives cooked meat as a gift, not immediately realising that it is her daughter's body parts.
k32g3.  The villain is asked what punishment he deserves for committing the crime in question. Not knowing that they are talking about him, he decides for himself how he should be executed.
K32h.  The antagonist is executed by being buried alive.
K32h1.  The antagonist is executed by being placed in a barrel (with nails) and rolled down a hill or tied to a horse.
K32h2.  A man executes his wife by leaving her to be eaten by ants.
K32h3.  The antagonist is executed by being burned alive. (Episodes in which the burning of the character is not a punishment but a means of getting rid of him are not taken into account).
K32i.  A girl finds the body of a young man who shows no signs of life and must sit next to him for a certain amount of time so that he comes back to life and takes her as his wife. Usually, she leaves at the last moment and an impostor becomes the wife of the revived man.
K32j.  Upon learning from a young man that he has a beautiful sister, the ruler wants to marry her. The bride is replaced by an ugly woman. Usually, the ruler accuses her brother of deception and throws him into prison. The deception is revealed.
K32k.  The false wife, replacing the real one – a foul-smelling beetle or larva.
K32l.  The ruler distributes horses (cows) to his subjects for fattening. Only the heroine returns hers well-fed.
K32M.  To take the heroine's place, her rival turns her into an animal or bird without pushing her into the water. Cf. motif k33.
k32n.  The false wife, who replaces the real one, is a supernatural character - a zoomorphic creature, a deceased woman, a female spirit, etc. See motif K32.

 Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K32's motifs?



Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
I68A100.00%Once a year, water briefly acquires unusual properties.
K61E99.30%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.
K90B99.26%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.
K35C99.10%The dev (ajdaha, sea king) did not kill the man who descended to him, as people assumed, but rewarded him because he greeted him and/or answered his question correctly.
K35C199.01%The young man is not killed, but rewarded, because he answered correctly (evasively) the question of a powerful character – which of the two women he should marry, which is more beautiful, which object or material is more valuable, etc.
K85E98.51%Magical horses live in water.
K119E98.44%The poor young man who was helped by an animal assistant, who presented him to the king as a rich man, is a miller or a miller's son.
I35A197.85%The character claims the role of the thunder god and imitates him.
I87AD97.30%A giant hides a persecuted person in his mouth – usually (perhaps always) in a tooth cavity; or the person remains alive in the giant's mouth, hiding in a tooth cavity. Cf. motif M21a.
E4197.25%A skilled blacksmith, as a special gift, can take iron heated in a furnace with his bare hands, knead it like dough, and shape it as desired. Usually, he breaks a certain taboo and loses his gift. (The motif was identified and the material collected by Ruslan Doutalieyev).

 See more...

Please log on to view the narratives.



Map of Motif Dispersal

Click here for a clustered map

Drag the map around by clicking and using the mouse, use the wheel to zoom



This motif has been recorded in 12 traditions: Kabylia and other Berber of Northern and Central Algeria: Beni Snous, Beni Menacer (incl Zuav), Shaui, etc.), Spain, Spaniards, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Serbs, Monte Negro, Balkarians, Persians, Lezgians, Archin, Kürin; Khinalug, Tabasaran, Aghul, Laks, Avar, Andi, Akhvakh, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis)


Please log on to view the narratives.