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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.
K - Adventures: Acts of heroes
| Ref | Title ▲ | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K107a4 In K107 family | The daughter asks for a magical groom to be brought to her. | When her father leaves, the daughter asks him to bring her an object or creature that embodies a magical groom. The father does not understand the meaning of her request. | 16 | 24 |
| K172 | The deaf bride without arms and legs. | A man describes his daughter to a potential groom as ugly and crippled. The groom agrees to the marriage, and the bride turns out to be beautiful. | 5 | 5 |
| K182 | The deceived protector. | A supernatural defender comes to the rescue upon hearing the alarm, but stops doing so after the alarm has been raised in vain. | 5 | 13 |
| K51 | The deceived wife. | The husband feigns death, disappears or leaves home for a long time. The wife learns that he has married another woman, finds and, as a rule, kills her husband and/or rival, who often turns out to be a creature of non-human nature. | 34 | 49 |
| K1g In K1 family | The deer gores its enemy. | The hero turns into a deer or creates a deer to gore the relative who sent him into a trap. | 7 | 6 |
| K160a In K160 family | The demon's answers to his wife's questions, ATU 461. | A woman living in the house of a supernatural character hides a man who has come to her and asks the character questions, the answers to which the man must find out. | 72 | 93 |
| K35c In K35 family | The Dev in the Well, ATU 677, 677*, 986. | 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. | 36 | 47 |
| K152a In K152 family | The Devil and His Wife in the Pit, ATU 1164. | A man saves a devil (snake, predator) suffering from the proximity of a certain character or object. To reward his saviour, the devil promises to possess a princess and leave her when the man comes to treat her. The devil either breaks his promise or warns the man not to try to cure those whom the devil will later possess. The man informs the devil that the character or object he fears so much is approaching again. The devil flees and never returns. | 53 | 53 |
| K152 | The devil runs away in terror, ATU 1164. | A man saves a devil who is suffering from the proximity of a certain character or object. To reward his saviour, the devil promises to possess a princess and leave her when the man comes to treat her. The devil either breaks his promise or warns the man not to try to cure those whom the devil will possess later. The man informs the devil that the character or object he fears so much is approaching again. The devil flees and never returns. | 61 | 53 |
| K38e3 In K38 family | The Diamond Kingdom. | Among three (less often two or four) loci or objects associated with materials of high but varying degrees of value, the highest belongs to precious stones (usually diamonds, but also glass and crystal). | 27 | 44 |
| K27z4 In K27 family | The dice player's trained animal. | The character always wins bets or outplays others thanks to a trained cat (mouse, rat) that holds (or extinguishes in time) a lamp, turns dice, etc. The hero releases the mouse (or cat, mongoose, respectively), the cat rushes after it (or the mouse is afraid to come out), and the character loses. | 28 | 24 |
| K2 | The discarded ladder. | The hero climbs or descends a ladder, rope, pole, etc. The rope, etc. breaks or is cut. Usually, another character deliberately throws away the ladder, cuts the rope, or breaks off the lower branches of the tree, making return impossible. See motif K1A. {Statistical calculations for this motif also include all texts from motif K2A, except for Koreans}. | 102 | 67 |
| K56f1 In K56 family | The division of roosters, (ATU 1533.2). | Five chickens (geese, etc.) must be divided among six eaters (other numbers are possible). The solution is to give each pair of participants one chicken and take two for oneself (two chickens and one person – three, two people and one chicken – also three). | 24 | 23 |
| K56f In K56 family | The division of the rooster, ATU 1533. | A man divides a roasted rooster (goose) according to the social ranks of those present (the head to the host, the wings to the daughters, etc.), usually taking the least prestigious but meatiest part for himself. | 33 | 39 |
| K47b In K47 family | The dog becomes handsome. | A woman marries a man who originally had the appearance of a dog. The birth of children from a dog is not essential to the plot. | 35 | 43 |
| K47d In K47 family | The dog fulfils the condition of marriage. | A girl gives herself to a dog because it fulfils the condition of marriage set by her or her father for her future husband. See motif K47A. | 14 | 7 |
| K43c In K43 family | The dog unties the children. | The bound children (a young man and his sister) are left alone in an empty camp, and the animal frees them. | 9 | 13 |
| K56aa In K56 family | The dog-groom tests the bride. | Two or three sisters successively become the dog's brides. The first or the first two act incorrectly, perish or fail to achieve their goal. The last one acts correctly and succeeds. | 7 | 7 |
| K38f In K38 family | The dragon slayer, ATU 300. | 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. | 148 | 287 |
| K67a In K67 family | The Drowned Wife, ATU 1120. | A character of low status annoys characters of high status. Learning of the intention of the characters of high status to drown him or his property (rarely: to strangle him), he arranges for one of them or their property to be drowned instead. | 67 | 71 |
| K26 | The earth seen from the sky. | Approaching an opening or making one, the character sees the world below (usually seeing the earth from the sky). See motif K25. | 76 | 102 |
| K8c4 In K8 family | The elk dies after swallowing a mouse. | A small animal (bird, mouse, porcupine, fox) or (rarely) a tiny human being allows itself to be swallowed by a large ungulate (elk, deer, bison, tapir) in order to rip open its belly (and eat it). | 41 | 60 |
| K178 | The enchanted husband drives away and finds his wife again, ATU 425E, 425L. | A girl descends into the underworld to her magical husband, and when she breaks the ban, he drives her away (sends her away with a task). She comes to live with other people, she has a child from her magical husband. Her husband finds her, the spouses are reunited, the spell is broken. {Motif in the work} | 17 | 14 |
| K102a6 In K102 family | The enemy and a woman blind the hero. | The hero's wife, sister or mother participates in a conspiracy against him and helps to blind him. | 9 | 8 |
| K27p2 In K27 family | The enemy father-in-law takes the form of a bear. | Demanding that the hero kill the bear, the father-in-law (rarely: mother-in-law) himself takes on the form of a bear or turns his daughter or wife (husband) into a bear (bear). | 14 | 15 |
| K27p1 In K27 family | The enemy father-in-law takes the form of an animal. | The father-in-law (less often the mother-in-law) orders the hero to kill or tame a dangerous animal or not to kill a certain animal while hunting. This animal is himself or his daughter (wife). | 51 | 71 |
| K27n3c2 In K27 family | The enemy – the father-in-law bear. | The hero's father-in-law, the bear, sets him difficult tasks and trials. | 7 | 11 |
| K27nn In K27 family | The Envious Vizier. | Someone from the entourage of a powerful figure seeks to destroy the hero and persuades others to give him difficult tasks. | 88 | 178 |
| K82 | The evil sister-in-law. | A man's wife or another woman tries to destroy his sister. | 68 | 97 |
| K133 | The exhausted horse. | A man notices that his horse (donkey) looks tired and learns that an animal or demonic creature is riding it. Cf. motif M182a. | 22 | 31 |
| K11 | The eyes of a monstrous bird: metamorphosis. | Brothers (brother and sister) kill a monstrous bird. Its eyes turn into heavenly bodies (among the Oaxacan Indians) or something else (among the present-day Condors of the Yokuts). | 8 | 11 |
| K100 | The Faithful Servant, ATU 516. | A person learns about the dangers threatening another (and usually that by warning his friend/master, he will turn to stone). The person eliminates the dangers, despite the fact that his behaviour upsets the person he has saved. | 82 | 114 |
| K44 | The false mother is rejected. | The character kidnaps the boy or hides him from his mother or father, pretending to be his mother or father. The kidnapped boy learns the truth and leaves the kidnapper. | 35 | 67 |
| K116c In K116 family | The father was persuaded to leave his daughter in a chest, ATU 896. | In order to take possession of the girl, the priest arranges for her father to agree to place her in a chest (barrel) and lower it into the river (leave it in a deserted area). | 16 | 20 |
| K30 | The flying enemy carries off the woman. | A flying creature carries a woman away. The kidnapper is killed and/or the woman escapes from him. See also motif L102A (Escape from a seagull husband). | 95 | 142 |
| K66a In K66 family | The flying ship as a condition of marriage, ATU 513B. | The princess (inheritance) is given to the one who builds (obtains) a ship capable of moving on land (flying through the air). | 40 | 39 |
| K118 | The forbidden room, C611. | Upon leaving, the character allows another to take charge of the house, but not to look into a certain room or container. The other violates the prohibition. | 105 | 202 |
| K25d In K25 family | The forbidden tuber in the heavens. | After digging up the root, a person pierces the sky or the earth, sees the world below, and descends there. Usually, the hole is made by a woman who has fallen into the sky; her husband, a sky dweller, or his relatives forbid her to dig up a certain root; breaking the ban, the woman sees the earth below and decides to descend. See motif K19B. | 31 | 38 |
| K27x In K27 family | The former husband of a magical wife. | A man marries a woman from another world; the wife leaves for her world, the man follows her; there, the woman has another fiancé(e) or husband, or the woman's brothers want to destroy the man; he undergoes trials and brings his wife back. See motif K27. | 19 | 9 |
| K44a In K44 family | The frog pretends to be a mother. | A frog or toad (coastal Koryaks: triton) kidnaps or finds a boy and lies that she is his real mother. See motif K44. | 4 | 5 |
| K113b In K113 family | The Frog Princess – Mistress of the Storm. | The younger prince marries a frog. She must first arrive at his parents' house. A thunderstorm begins. Rain, lightning, and thunder signify that the prince's wife is washing, dressing, travelling, etc. | 5 | 3 |
| K76a In K76 family | The frog son and the frog husband. | A frog or toad marries a beautiful woman, or a handsome young man marries a frog. | 25 | 34 |
| K89 | The girl and the witch: gifts from relatives. | After getting married, the heroine and her rival (witch, frog) must bring gifts from their relatives. The heroine finds her brother, brothers or sister who went missing at the beginning of the story and receives rich gifts from them, while the gifts brought by her rival are worthless. | 20 | 31 |
| K73c In K73 family | The girl in the bird's nest, (ATU 705A, 709A). | A girl finds herself in a bird's nest (usually the bird carries the baby girl away). The bird takes care of the girl, who grows up to be a beauty. | 27 | 28 |
| K130a In K130 family | The Girl in the Brothers' House, (ATU 709A). | Several young men (brothers) live far away from other people. A girl comes to them, or she is miraculously born in their house, and they treat her like a sister. After some time, the girl finds herself in danger, but is ultimately saved. | 77 | 108 |
| K155c In K155 family | The girl on the scales. | The father regularly weighs his daughter and learns of her pregnancy when she becomes heavier. | 4 | 4 |
| K101a In K101 family | The girl rising from the coffin, ATU 307. | A man spends several nights next to a dead girl who has become a dangerous demonic creature. As a result, the girl is exorcised. | 41 | 38 |
| K56ab In K56 family | The girl takes off her shirts, the snake takes off its skin (ATU 433B). | A girl marries a monster. On their wedding night, he orders her to take off her shirt, and she orders him to take off his skin. The girl survives, and the monster becomes handsome – usually because she has more shirts (or skins worn in advance) than he does. | 12 | 12 |
| K136a In K136 family | The girl's floating hair. | Seeing the girl's hair carried away by the water, the man decides to marry the girl to whom the hair belongs. | 48 | 61 |
| K77b3 In K77 family | The goat with three bellies. | Goats encounter a wolf. One goat has one stomach, the second has two, the third has three, and so on. The goat with the most stomachs kills or scares away the wolf. | 5 | 7 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.