The Mythology and Folklore Database
M198B2 - A fortune teller named Grasshopper.
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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
An authoritative character asks a person whose name (or his wife's name) is the name of an insect (most often Grasshopper) to guess what is in his fist (in a box, etc.). The corresponding insect is there. The person says that now he, so-and-so, has been caught, while others think that he has guessed correctly.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
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K100A | 99.66% | Setting off on a journey, a young man releases a caught fish or animal, or he or his father does someone a favour. As a reward for their help, a person or creature in the guise of a stranger or animal comes to the young man, becomes his companion and protector. |
| K121 | 99.66% | At the crossroads, it is indicated that one road is safe, another is neutral, and the third is deadly dangerous. There can only be two roads – dangerous and safe. The hero travels along the dangerous road. |
| K85E | 98.75% | Magical horses live in water. |
| K29D | 98.72% | To catch an animal or supernatural character, the water in a reservoir is replaced with wine, honey, etc., or containers with alcohol are left in plain sight. The creature, having lost control of itself, is captured. |
| K96 | 98.70% | Several (more than three) brothers marry or must marry in such a way that their wives are sisters. |
| I35A1 | 98.64% | The character claims the role of the thunder god and imitates him. |
| M75B | 98.64% | A person hides in the skin or carcass of a large animal. A bird brings a skin or carcass to the nest without knowing what it brought the person. |
| J32A | 98.55% | When dying, a person orders that someone spend the night at his grave or bring something to the grave. |
| K35C | 98.34% | 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. |
| L96A | 98.33% | A person sighs, after which a character named Oh, Uh, Hey-way, etc. appears. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 29 traditions: Ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Aramaic (Syrians), Algeria Arabs, Assamese, Portuguese, Portugal, Sicily, Sicilians, Poles, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Latvians, Western Ukrainians, 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), Uzbek, Tajik, Persians, Abaza (Abazins), Nogai, Georgians, Crimean Tatars, Karaims, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Uyghur, 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), Mongols (Khalkha), Kumaoni (Central Pahari), incl. Garhwali, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Tajik of Sistan, Terek Cossacks, Morocco