Folklore Database · Browse
Berezkin/Duvakin Catalogue of Motifs
English translation, enhancements and additional metadata by Jonathan Fielder-White
Source: Berezkin and Duvakin's Analytical Catalogue · Original catalogue (Russian)
About the catalogue and its sources
Unless otherwise stated, narrative and tradition data comes from Berezkin and Duvakin's Thematic classification and distribution of folklore and mythological motifs by area (Analytical catalogue).
Original Berezkin/Duvakin catalogue (Russian)
The English translation uses AI assistance alongside manual verification. Errors may occur; consult the original source when in doubt.
H - Paradise Lost
| Ref | Title ▲ | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H36gg In H36 family | The coyote betrays man. | The coyote is to blame for the fact that humans are mortal. | 37 | 64 |
| H42 | The creator leaves. | Having created human bodies or conceived creation, the creator or his representative leaves for a time. Another character, out of malice or incompetence, spoils or tries to spoil the results of the work, creating something that the creator would have done better. Most often, this leads to humans being mortal or susceptible to disease. See motif H40. | 70 | 76 |
| H12b In H12 family | The dead feed on excrement. | In the afterlife, the dead or demons feed on excrement. | 7 | 11 |
| H49b In H49 family | The debtor gives his dog as collateral, Th B221.2.2; ATU 178B. | A man gives his dog to another man. The dog is of great use to him (it finds stolen goods and drives away thieves). The man who received the dog sends it back with a letter of thanks. The owner thinks that the dog has run away, kills it, and only then finds the letter. | 17 | 18 |
| H51 | The Devil's Horse. | The horse is a predator or is associated with God's enemy. | 48 | 101 |
| H34a In H34 family | The dispute over the fate of people. | The character believes that people should live easily (without labour and suffering) and makes appropriate suggestions. The interlocutor rejects them. This dialogue forever determines the conditions of people's lives. Those traditions in which the dialogue is conducted by two anthropomorphic brothers or companions are highlighted in bold in the list. | 87 | 218 |
| H46a In H46 family | The dog and the ear of corn. | The possibility of using cereals for food is determined by the behaviour of the dog in the era of creation. See motif H46. | 24 | 38 |
| H41 | The dog betrays man. | Because of the dog, man is weak, mortal, and wicked. Usually, the antagonist bribes the dog with warm wool, and it betrays human figures to him for desecration. | 64 | 101 |
| H40 | The dog guards the man. | The dog guards and protects (successfully or unsuccessfully) a human figure that has not been completely finished by the creator, or the entrance to paradise. | 60 | 113 |
| H46 | The dog's share. | A character (usually God) is about to deprive people of their food (most often grain), but does not do so for the sake of the dog (and/or cat; rarely for the sake of birds). Either God gave the ear of corn to the dog, and the man took it for himself. | 43 | 73 |
| H6b In H6 family | The elixir of immortality is spilled on plants. | The elixir of immortality, intended for humans, is not delivered to its destination, but falls on plants, which become evergreen, capable of regeneration or bearing fruit. (Traditions in which the "elixir of immortality" is linked to the motif of false news are marked with an asterisk. Cf. motif B115). | 33 | 51 |
| H1e In H1 family | The first to die opens the way for the rest. | A certain character is the first to enter the world of the dead, after which all people follow the same path; he paves the way to the world of the dead; the first to die becomes the master or guardian of the afterlife. | 15 | 14 |
| H56 | The forbidden fruit: people become mortal, C621. | After eating certain food, the first humans become mortal or lose their human nature. Cf. motif F97 (humans become sexually mature). | 30 | 32 |
| H36hh In H36 family | The frog betrays the man. | The frog or toad is to blame for the fact that humans are mortal. | 25 | 32 |
| H36i In H36 family | The goat betrays man. | The goat or sheep is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. See motif H36. | 12 | 15 |
| H36d In H36 family | The hare betrays man. | The hare distorts God's command and/or is responsible for the fact that humans are mortal. See motif H36. | 9 | 25 |
| H6c In H6 family | The immortal raven. | The raven (crow, vulture) is associated with death or contrasted with humans as immortal among mortals (sent to bring the elixir of immortality or water that revives the dead; drinks this water himself; teaches people funeral rites; etc.). | 54 | 86 |
| H49c In H49 family | The Innocently Slain Falcon, Th B221.2.2; ATU 178C. | A tame bird (rarely: a domestic animal) shows visible aggression towards its owner (usually a falcon knocks a bowl out of the hands of a thirsty man). The man kills the bird (animal) and then discovers that they saved him from death. | 22 | 28 |
| H49d In H49 family | The Innocently Slain Parrot, ATU 916(4). | A character (usually a bird) brings a healing (rejuvenating) fruit (seed, branch). Accidentally or maliciously, poison gets into the fruit. The person whom the fruit-bearer wanted to help kills or is about to kill his benefactor, and then learns of his mistake. | 14 | 19 |
| H52 | The Land of Immortality, ATU 470B. | A man finds a land where there is no death. Having decided to visit his native places, he never returns to it. | 29 | 31 |
| H36j In H36 family | The lark betrays man. | The lark is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. | 7 | 9 |
| H12 | The living go to the dead after someone's death, F81. | The living visit the afterlife to bring back the dead (except for texts about a shaman bringing back the soul of a sick person), or, without a specific goal, go there accompanied by or following in the footsteps of the recently deceased. | 186 | 321 |
| H36c In H36 family | The lizard betrays man. | The lizard is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. See motif H36. | 37 | 31 |
| H20a In H20 family | The mistress of the fish loses it. | A woman or several women keep fish or water in some kind of container; a man releases all the fish into rivers or the sea, releases the water. See motif H20. | 24 | 9 |
| H1d In H1 family | The one who returned to the people was rejected. | The deceased returns, but people send him back, dissatisfied with his appearance, refusing to accept him or burying him again. From then on, death is final. | 21 | 23 |
| H38 | The owner of the valuables comes to retrieve them. | A supernatural character changes appearance and comes to the hero's children (less often to the hero himself). Unaware of the trick, they hand over the magical object they have obtained to its former owner, and the character disappears with it. | 5 | 5 |
| H18a In H18 family | The puppy releases the animals. | The owner of the hunting animals hides them underground; one of the first ancestors turns into a puppy, which is picked up by the owner's children, and releases the animals. See motif H18. | 0 | 0 |
| H36e In H36 family | The rat betrays man. | The rat is to blame for the fact that man is mortal. | 11 | 12 |
| H36ff In H36 family | The raven betrays man. | The raven (crow) or other large bird of prey tries to kill people and/or is responsible for the fact that humans (tigres: domestic animals) are mortal or susceptible to disease. | 39 | 57 |
| H19 | The raven interferes with hunting. | The raven hides game animals in a pen or cave or scares them away from hunters. See motif H18. | 29 | 40 |
| H36f In H36 family | The raven – an unsuccessful messenger. | The raven is sent to deliver an important item or message. He distorts the message or loses what has been entrusted to him. | 15 | 19 |
| H55b In H55 family | The Repentant Robber, ATU 756B. | From a man who visited hell (and met a deity), the robber learns of his future fate, humbly accepts the inevitability of retribution in the afterlife, and is ultimately saved. The robber is usually contrasted with a self-confident righteous man who is punished for his pride. | 30 | 13 |
| H13 | The returned dead come back to life. | The character comes to the underworld, brings back the dead person or brings back their remains. The dead person comes back to life and (for a while) remains among the living. | 37 | 47 |
| H34b In H34 family | The river flows in both directions. | Somewhere there is or was a river that flowed or, according to the plan, was supposed to flow in two directions at once. | 25 | 30 |
| H52b In H52 family | The search for immortality, ATU 470B. | Setting out in search of a land where there is no death, a man encounters characters engaged in tasks that can only be completed in an impossibly long time. However, the man needs eternal life, and so he continues on his way. | 12 | 12 |
| H2 | The selfish animal. | Animals ask God to make humans (tigers: domestic animals) mortal or otherwise reduce their numbers, as they fear that humans will trample them, deprive them of food or habitat, force them to work, etc. | 33 | 42 |
| H54a In H54 family | The shaven old man. | A man meets an old man whose face is completely covered with hair or snot. He cuts (wipes) it off and receives a reward for doing so. | 9 | 7 |
| H50 | The sky god and the mistress of the dead. | A pair of deities or first ancestors diverge. The man remains on earth or goes to heaven (remains in heaven), the woman becomes the mistress of the world of the dead, the earth, the underworld, usually associated with disease and poisonous animals. | 13 | 19 |
| H49 | The slain dog sought to save the child, Th B524.1.4.1; B221.2.2; ATU 178A. | A dog or other animal kills a creature that threatened a small child. The owner or other people mistake the saviour for an aggressor and kill it. | 47 | 40 |
| H43ab In H43 family | The spat upon is mortal. | Man is mortal because he was spat upon at creation. | 10 | 5 |
| H37 | The spirit's superweapon falls into the hands of the hunter. | A magical item that makes hunting or fishing easy and reliable falls into the hands of a character who is unable to control it or abuses it. | 33 | 47 |
| H45 | The Stained Flatbread, ATU 779G. | A woman or child treats food disrespectfully by smearing it with excrement. For this, people (rarely: only the culprit) are punished. | 61 | 86 |
| H6c3 In H6 family | The stork and the otherworld. | Large birds that fly in wedge formations (storks, cranes, swans, geese – German: Zugvögel) are associated with the otherworld (they bring children from there, carry children away to the non-human world, control living and dead water, etc.). | 11 | 18 |
| H10 | The sunken stone. | People are mortal, as they are likened to a stone thrown into water; they usually miss the opportunity to resemble organic matter that floats in water. | 29 | 47 |
| H7c1 In H7 family | The trickster enters paradise. | The trickster first deceives Death (the devil), and then, also by deception, enters paradise. | 16 | 19 |
| H53 | The wolf – lord of the dead. | The wolf participates in the creation of the earth or is the brother of the creator and/or conqueror of the demons of the underworld. He dies and/or is considered the first to die and/or becomes the lord of the land of the dead. | 13 | 28 |
| H14 | The woman flies back. | A woman who has returned from the world of the dead flies back, becoming a bird or a fly. | 10 | 9 |
| H1bb In H1 family | They did not spare the dog. | One character refuses to resurrect another's beloved dog, and this conflict is linked to the loss of the ability to resurrect people. | 5 | 5 |
| H8 | Those who did not pass the test. | Unable to bring themselves to touch something unclean, poisonous, dangerous or hot, people lost their immortality (var.: did not receive the blessings that came to Europeans). | 21 | 27 |
| H33a In H33 family | Throwing children over the roof. | God wanted to throw a newborn baby (over a fence, house, etc.) so that it would immediately stand up and start walking, but the woman was frightened and did not allow it. Therefore, children do not walk from birth. See motif H33. | 14 | 16 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.