The Mythology and Folklore Database
M186 - Competition in speed: fish and animal.
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Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of Motif
An animal (fox, wolf, leopard) runs along the shore, while a fish (burbot, goby, catfish) swims in the water. The animal calls out to the fish, which is always ahead (usually keeping other fish at a distance, but in the Negidal variant, the motif of competition is omitted).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
M18 has 2 other sub-motifsM18. The character turns into an object of fishing or hunting and presents himself as a target. The fisherman or hunter does not harm them, but they take away what they use: arrows, darts, harpoons, hooks, bait; or they catch fish, having turned themselves into hooks; or they are caught but escape death by taking on human form again. M18a. The character becomes the object of fishing or hunting, presenting himself as a target for enemies. Numerous arrows, darts, and harpoons stick into his body without causing harm, and he carries them away. See motif M18. M18b. The character turns into a fishing object in order to carry away the hook with which he is caught or the spear with which they try to harpoon him, or he turns into a hook to catch fish. See motif M18. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of M18's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K89C | 99.95% | A girl parts with her brother or sister. He or she becomes the wife or husband of a bear and helps the girl. |
| B11A | 99.71% | The mammoth, represented as an underground fish-like creature, creates rugged terrain on wet ground and digs river beds. |
| K52C1 | 99.71% | Demonstrating his power, a shaman, sorcerer or other character with magical abilities causes the dwelling in which he and other people are located to begin to fill with water. Sometimes it is said that this water is an illusion. One episode: the magical specialist orders those present to catch the birds or fish that have appeared with the water, or they begin to catch them on their own initiative; when the water disappears, people see that they are holding not caught animals, but their penises or something else. |
| B81 | 99.66% | The creator and his opponent consider whether to give the dog the ability to shoot (with a bow or a gun). |
| I56A | 99.15% | When a person who has entered another world touches the local inhabitants, they become ill or die. |
| J27B | 99.09% | An infant is thrown into a lake or river and occasionally comes ashore. In addition to his earthly parents, he has a father (and mother) in the underwater world. He does not want to part with them, nor do they want to let him go. |
| I84A | 99.01% | Contrary to the warning of his father or mother, a young man or woman sets off on a journey in winter and freezes to death. Cf. motif B33A ("Frozen in Spring"). |
| M140A | 99.01% | The fox cunningly ties up the wolf or man and runs away. |
| K89A | 98.99% | Having escaped danger, the girl or boy goes with their sister or brother. The sister or brother is crippled, rejects a number of places where they are to be left, and remains in the last place offered. See motif K89. |
| K56A8A | 98.86% | A girl goes to another world, behaves correctly, returns with an animal or an object, inside which her groom is found. Usually, another girl behaves incorrectly and suffers damage. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 11 traditions: Talysh, Chuvash, Buryats: Western (cis Baikal), Nganasans, Central Yakuts (Sakha), Tungus (Evenki): Baikal region, Evenks, Negidal, Forest (Upper Kolyma) Yukaghir, Asiatic Eskimo (Sirenek, Naukan, Chaplino), Sauk (Sak, Mesquakie), Fox, Kickapoo, Buryats: Eastern (trans Baikal), i.e. Khori