The Mythology and Folklore Database
K61A - Learn the secret, ATU 500*.
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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
In order to find out the exact number, a specific object in a certain set, the name of a specific character, or the reason for a certain phenomenon, the character tries to surprise (or unintentionally surprises) the owner of such knowledge. The latter begins to talk to himself, involuntarily revealing the necessary information to the hero standing nearby.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K61 has 7 other sub-motifsK61a. In order to find out the exact number, a specific object in a certain set, the name of a specific character, or the reason for a certain phenomenon, the character tries to surprise (or unintentionally surprises) the owner of such knowledge. The latter begins to talk to himself, involuntarily revealing the necessary information to the hero standing nearby. K61a1. A dangerous character mistakes two people sleeping (hiding) in a sack or two people lying with their feet towards each other for a single creature. K61b. In order to learn the names of strangers, the character finds or creates a situation in which they call each other by name aloud. K61c. A demon agrees to help (agrees not to harm) a person on condition that the person guesses his name. At the last moment, the person accidentally learns the demon's name, and the demon disappears or rewards the person. K61c1. A person will die if they cannot find the answer to the demon's question. A person or their acquaintance accidentally learns the answer by overhearing the demon talking to himself or to another demon. See motif C29. K61d. A young woman accidentally gives her fiancé, husband or mother-in-law the impression that she works a lot. To prevent the deception from being revealed, she or someone else makes others believe that women's work makes them ugly or turns them into animals. The husband forbids his wife to work. K61e. 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. K61f. Fearing her husband's wrath, a childless woman pretends to have given birth. Her husband believes that he has a daughter or son, and after some time marries her off (marries him off). During the wedding ceremony, a doll or animal is placed under the veil (in the palanquin), but at the last moment, a supernatural character transforms the supposed bride (groom) into a girl or boy. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K61's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| B104 | 98.75% | A guest arrived, the host hid the chicken, and when he wanted to eat it, it turned out that it had turned into a turtle. |
| I120 | 98.56% | Food and clothing can be obtained from the horns of domestic animals (oxen, cows, goats). |
| L94 | 98.44% | A demon or animal helps a person or agrees to let them go, but in return takes a promise to give them a daughter or son. |
| K119A | 98.13% | An animal saves a human, does him a favour, and he humiliates or kills it. See motifs K119, M161. |
| L108A | 97.82% | A predator or cannibal swallows people and animals. A goat (rarely a sheep) punishes it and usually rescues those who have been swallowed (most often by cutting open its belly, allowing those who have been swallowed to escape alive). |
| M74B | 97.71% | The character adjusts so that the sign that identifies the thief who ate supplies or who should be eaten is not on him, but on another character (smears with leftovers or with the secretions of your body of another, replaces secretions, etc.). |
| M169 | 97.34% | In the presence of an authoritative figure, one of the subordinates plots against another. The latter says that the problem can be solved by maiming the former (usually using a part of his body as medicine). The schemer is killed or maimed. |
| M179A | 96.99% | One character deceives another or, in the absence of the other, occupies his dwelling and refuses to return it. |
| M91A | 96.93% | The character pierces a container of animal blood or other red liquid, simulating murder or suicide. Cf. motifs K10C (wrapped in giblets) and M199H (Giant's ripped belly). |
| K38F | 96.92% | A reptilian monster demands human sacrifices (devours people; kidnaps a girl; blocks water sources). The hero kills it. The monster's victims do not play an active role in the action. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 22 traditions: Acoli (Acholi), Lur (Alur, Luri), Lango, Duala (Douala), Basa (Basaá), Kwiri (Kweli), Isubu, Kachin (Singpho), Chak, Basques, Sicily, Sicilians, Poles, Slovakians, Slovaks, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Romanians, Moldavians, Aromanians, Moldovans, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Latvians, Ossetians, Hui (Dungan) of Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan (Dungan texts from Southern and Eastern China are clustered with the Chinese ones), Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Darkhad, Tuvinians of Tuva, Tuvans, Khakas, Wallons, Picardie, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)