The Mythology and Folklore Database
M170 - Animals at repentance, ATU 20D*, 61A.
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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
Pretending to be concerned only with performing religious rituals or following rules (confessing sins, going on pilgrimages, giving up meat, etc.), a zoomorphic character kills those who trust him.Berezkin category: Adventures: Tricks and episodes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior
M17 has 2 other sub-motifsM17. A wife, mother or grandmother directs the arrow of a blind man or boy at game, lies that he missed, cooks and eats the meat herself. See motif M16 (man is blind, K333.1). M17a. The mother or grandmother of a blind man or boy secretly eats (the meat or fish he has caught), pretending that there is no food in the house. M17b. The wife directs the blind man's arrow at game, lies that he has missed, and eats the meat herself. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of M17's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| M202 | 99.33% | A man pulls a thorn out of the paw (a bone out of the throat) of a strong and dangerous animal or demon, who is grateful. |
| L37B | 99.19% | By accidentally overhearing a conversation between animals or spirits, a person learns how to help themselves and others. |
| K119 | 99.15% | An animal promises to make a poor man rich (usually by marrying him to a rich bride; or by marrying a poor girl to a prince) and, resorting to deception, fulfils its promise. |
| L104 | 99.09% | The fleeing character successively takes on the appearance of various creatures or objects; the pursuer also changes his appearance, each time transforming into someone who is dangerous to the pursued in his current form. |
| K27X2 | 98.85% | The character is able to get an egg or chick (and put them back) from under a bird in a nest, or change the bird's feathers (pluck feathers), or get a fruit from an animal's womb so that the bird or animal does not notice. |
| K106 | 98.77% | The hero (a miraculous infant, a magical rooster) is thrown at the feet of animals, but they do not trample him. |
| K27Q | 98.64% | Task: to obtain the milk of a wild animal or milk possessed by a dangerous creature. See motif K27. |
| H45 | 98.61% | A woman or child treats food disrespectfully by smearing it with excrement. For this, people (rarely: only the culprit) are punished. |
| K14A | 98.58% | 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. |
| M137 | 98.58% | A weaker predator tries to imitate a stronger one, but cannot perform the actions that the strong one performs easily. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 52 traditions: Aramaic (Syrians), Western Sahara and Mauritania Arabs; Berbers of Mauritania (Zenaga), Zaghawa, Fula (Fulbe, Fulani, Pular), Burmese, Intha, Kuki, Chiru, Falam (Hallam), Chin (Meitei =Manipuri, Khami, =Kumi), Lakher, Mizo (Lushei), Anal, Pawi (Lai), Purum, Koireng, Milhiem, Kolhen, Mru, Telugu (incl. Yanadi, Chenchu), Bengali, Punjabi, Seraiki (Multani), Gujarati, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Sinhalese; Vedda, Spain, Spaniards, Portuguese, Portugal, Basques, Catalan, Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, Dutch, Flemish, Germans: North (Low- and Central German dialects): Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Pommern, Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony, incl East Frisia and Oldenburg), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Thüringen, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen, Brandenburg, Rügen, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Ancient Greece, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Byelarusians, Belarusians, Russians: Central part of ethnic territory as in A.D. 1500 (Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk provinces; in case of absence in other areas also Russians in Vyatka, Perm, Kazan provinces), Tajik, Baluch, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Ossetians, Ingush, Georgians, Kalmyk, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Anatolia Turks, 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), Chuvash, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Mongols (Khalkha), Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Oriya (incl. Dom/Domba/Dombo, Ghasi, Bhat and other Oriya-speaking castes of Odisha), Chechens, Kumaoni (Central Pahari), incl. Garhwali, Maldives, Arabs of Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, Emirates, Oman,, Mukulu (Mokilko), Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Frisians, Berbers of Algeria, Egypt