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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.
M - Adventures: Tricks and episodes
| Ref | Title | Summary | Traditions | Narratives ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M199b In M199 family | He did not throw a stone, but released a bird, ATU 1062. | A man and his opponent agree to test their strength by throwing a stone. The opponent throws the stone, and the man releases a bird he had hidden beforehand. The bird does not return, and the opponent admits defeat. | 47 | 36 |
| M38a1 In M38 family | Imitates relatives or wives, ATU 552B, J2411.3. | The character imitates the sisters' sons-in-law or husbands, or the wife's brothers (shoshone's) or wives (comox and chalkomel). {ATU combines a motive with another}. | 26 | 36 |
| M39e1 In M39 family | Iron eaten and boy kidnapped, ATU 1592, 1592A | A person appropriates property. The owner or his assistant puts the kidnapper in such a position that he is forced to return everything (usually the victim kidnaps the child of the deceiver). {Apparently, all references in Ting 1978 do not refer to Chinese, but to Tibetans; Uther 2004 refers to the Dagestan text in Levin 1978, No. 52, but it is not clear which group we are talking about; there is also a deaf reference to the “Code of Japanese fairy tales - Tsukan”, it needs to be checked}. | 44 | 36 |
| M184 | The slow overtakes the sleeping, ATU 275A. | The swift-footed and slow characters agree to race each other. The swift-footed is confident of victory and takes his time, while the slow one stubbornly moves towards the goal and arrives first. | 31 | 37 |
| M29p In M29 family | Trickster vs Spider | See the motives in square brackets. | 25 | 37 |
| M5a In M5 family | The passengers of the sinking boat | Small animal characters sail in the boat, it sinks, everyone escapes as best they can. | 31 | 37 |
| M106g In M106 family | Dragging a cow onto the roof, ATU 1210. | A man lifts a cow (donkey, ox, wife) onto the roof so that the animal can eat the grass growing there (the wife has gathered turnips, etc.) – usually by throwing a noose around the neck of the wife or animal. | 54 | 38 |
| M191 | Cat and wild animals, ATU 103A, 103A*. | The fox (dog, squirrel) lives with the cat and pretends to be a strong beast; forest predators are frightened and bring meat to appease the cat. | 39 | 38 |
| M197e In M197 family | Unknown beast, ATU 1091. | A man smears himself with resin, rolls around in feathers, crawls backwards on all fours, lets his hair down, etc. The demon thinks he is facing an unknown beast. The man escapes. | 36 | 38 |
| M29w In M29 family | Jaguar (ocelot, puma) is a loser and a loser | As a result of their stupidity or antisocial behavior, a jaguar (puma, ocelot) dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. The character is named if it is a puma or ocelot; otherwise, a jaguar. | 53 | 38 |
| M39a2c In M39 family | Salt is sown ATU 1200, J1932.3. | A fool (or a character pretending to be crazy) sows salt (small objects) like a grain. | 54 | 38 |
| M39a6a In M39 family | Clever daughter-in-law and captive khan | After a long search, the ruler finds an intelligent wife for his son. At the mercy of his enemies, he sends a message with one of them, the true content of which is understood only by his daughter-in-law. She destroys enemies and frees her father-in-law. (The boys have a younger wife instead of an intelligent daughter-in-law). | 24 | 38 |
| M44c In M44 family | Food thieves are a young hero | A young hero steals the older character's food. He is usually caught, but not punished, but invited into the house. | 27 | 38 |
| M81c In M81 family | Blind people in the sky | A person goes to heaven or (rarely) to the lower world, where he meets blind people (one or two), usually makes them sighted, and returns to earth himself. | 27 | 38 |
| M119 | Shown repeatedly, ATU 37. | A character repeatedly shows another person the same object or creature; the other person believes that there are as many objects or creatures as the character has shown them. Usually, the character takes care of the other person's young, eats them or they die due to his negligence, or he is hired as a shepherd and eats the other person's livestock. When checked, he shows the parent (the owner of the herd) the same un-eaten young (or the same sheep), and the parent believes that all the young (animals) are safe. In ATU, this is plot 37, but two other plots are included as variants, and the sources are indicated for all three collectively. | 33 | 39 |
| M122 | Advisors inside. | In a difficult situation, the character asks for advice from his tail, penis, or some creatures in his stomach (these are excrement, intestinal parasites, his "sisters," etc.). | 33 | 39 |
| M141b In M141 family | Animals flee from the end of the world, ATU 20C. | An insignificant event (a falling leaf, acorn, etc.) is taken by an animal as the beginning of a catastrophe (the end of the world, war, the falling of the sky, etc.) and it flees. Other animals join the fleeing animal. | 44 | 39 |
| M173a In M173 family | Returning for the second boot (ATU 1525D). | A character throws one of a pair of objects onto the path of another. The traveller passes by, but when the deceiver throws the second object, he leaves his belongings and returns for the first. At this time, the deceiver steals the belongings. | 38 | 39 |
| M29a1 In M29 family | Raven(s) - main trickster | In three or more different episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is raven (crow) | 37 | 39 |
| M30b In M30 family | Birds take the feathers they have given | Birds give a non-flying or ugly character feathers so that he can fly or become beautiful, but then take them away. | 30 | 39 |
| M43 | Bait figure | To kill or catch a monster, he sees a figure made of wood or clay or a living person. Most often, a monster's claws or sharp leg get stuck when they pierce a tree. | 31 | 39 |
| M75b1a In M75 family | Intended wife, ATU 930A | A high-ranking person finds out that a (just born) poor or ugly girl is intended for him, or the girl herself finds out that she is destined to become a man's wife of high origin. A betrothed or someone else tries to kill a girl, but only hurts her and the prediction is fulfilled; if the girl is ugly, she becomes beautiful. | 33 | 39 |
| M9 | Trapped in a hollow | The character puts his head or hand in a hollow or (rarely) another hole), gets stuck in it, or falls into a hollow. Usually, as a result, the character dies or undergoes a metamorphosis. | 30 | 39 |
| M90a4 In M90 family | The jewel tree | A tree is described on which jewelry or ornaments hang instead of fruits; individual parts of the tree are made of different metals or (semi) precious stones. | 33 | 39 |
| M154b In M154 family | Husband performs his wife's work, ATU 1408. | The husband (rarely: son) stays at home instead of his wife (mother), but does everything poorly and ineptly. | 56 | 40 |
| M144 | The King's Drum, ATU 49A. | One character manages to convince another that dangerous and inedible objects are attractive and delicious (a wasp's nest is a drum, a snake is a flute, dung is a delicacy, etc.). | 28 | 41 |
| M157a6 In M157 family | You think you are looking at an abbot, ATU 922. | To help a person answer the ruler's questions, a servant or friend impersonates him and gives witty answers. Most often, the ruler asks, among other things, what he is thinking at the moment. Answer: you think you are looking at one person, but in fact it is another. | 45 | 41 |
| M187c In M187 family | Race: crab/crayfish – participant. | Participating in a race, the crab defeats its faster opponent. | 35 | 41 |
| M199f In M199 family | Threat to wrinkle the lake with a rope, ATU 1045(1). | The character pretends to want to deprive the devils (water dwellers) of their habitat (pull the shores of the lake together, two mountains, muddy the lake, dry up the sea, build a church on the land of the devils, etc.). To avoid this, the devils (fish) comply with the character's demands. | 29 | 41 |
| M39a6h In M39 family | Pluck a goose, ATU 921F* | The king tells the commoner to pluck a goose (geese, shear a ram, etc.). He understands correctly: to rob the vizier. | 37 | 41 |
| M39h In M39 family | Husband pretended to be blind, ATU 1380 | The wife wants to get rid of her husband and usually asks the spirit to blind him. The husband hides in a hollow, behind an altar, etc., and answers on behalf of the spirit (usually advises to kill her husband with good food), or the husband tells his wife that delicious food can make you blind. Pretending to be blind, the husband kills his lover (and wife). | 58 | 41 |
| M83b In M83 family | Whose sleep better? ATU 1626 | Two (or more) characters agree to give food to whoever has the best dream. One talks about a feast he went to in a dream (or says he was in a different world), the second admits that he ate everything alone - he was sure that after the feast, the first one would not qualify for food (which someone who finds himself in a different world does not need food). | 56 | 41 |
| M84a In M84 family | A revived goat | After supernatural characters put the bones of a dead and eaten deer, cow, ram, or goat in its skin, the animal is whole (and usually comes to life). See M84 motif. | 45 | 41 |
| M114b1 In M114 family | What is the fattest, sweetest, fastest? | When answering the question of what is the sweetest (fattest, fastest, etc.), a clever person names abstract concepts and entities (while a foolish person names specific objects or creatures). | 41 | 42 |
| M157a3 In M157 family | The demand to milk the bull. | A character demands that another provide him with offspring or milk from a male animal. | 35 | 42 |
| M197 | Cooking on a distant fire, ATU 1262. | Seriously or demonstrating the absurdity of such actions, the character tries to fry or cook something on a fire (source of light) located far from the object that needs to be heated. | 58 | 42 |
| M38c1 In M38 family | Converting old to young: an unsuccessful imitation, ATU 753 | The character (supposedly) forges a person, rejuvenating or reviving him, the other unsuccessfully tries to imitate him. | 37 | 42 |
| M73 | Excretion substitution: who is stronger, K1721 | Two characters compare their excrement or vomit to learn about each other's diet and decide which of them is the more powerful beast. One of them manages to replace the selections. (Traditions in which vomiting is substituted are greasy). | 32 | 42 |
| M100 | Dream on the edge of a cliff, ATU 10***. | Zoomorphic characters lie down to sleep on the edge of a cliff. At night, one of them suggests moving (turning), and his companion (companions) falls and breaks. | 25 | 43 |
| M109a1 In M109 family | Head in the dough, ATU 3. | A zoomorphic character smears his head with dough (sour milk, butter, etc.) to make it look as if his brains are spilling out from the beatings. | 43 | 43 |
| M38c In M38 family | Converting old to young, ATU 753 | blacksmith (supposedly) forges a person, rejuvenating or revitalizing him. | 44 | 43 |
| M97 | A blind man asks trees, D1313.4. | Blinded or far from the target, the character walks, bumping into trees of various species and asking everyone a question or request. He eventually achieves his goal. | 32 | 43 |
| M146 | The wolf was lured into a trap, ATU 35B*. | Knowing that the meat is in a trap or poisoned, or that there is a trap ahead, a zoomorphic character provokes another to try the meat first or to go ahead. | 38 | 44 |
| M150 | The deceitful shepherd. | Having taken on the task of herding a flock, the character eats the animals entrusted to him. | 37 | 44 |
| M52 | Mascara fresheners | The character (by deception) kills an ungulates. He asks another to refresh the carcass, looks for a knife to do it, or a fire to fry the meat. The other freshens the carcass, gives fire or a knife, but takes or tries to take all the meat for himself. | 38 | 44 |
| M74aa In M74 family | An imaginary visit | The character (several times) pretends to be his name (that he is going to visit), and eats up supplies himself. See M74A motif. | 71 | 44 |
| M81d In M81 family | Healed blind people | A person meets (most often in the sky) one or two blind people and restores their sight. | 34 | 44 |
| M134c In M134 family | Having eaten his fill in the storeroom, he cannot get out, ATU 41. | A zoomorphic character climbs into a cellar (pantry, garden, etc.) and eats so much that he cannot get out. | 49 | 45 |
| M29g2 In M29 family | Cancer is a cunning winner | Cancer (crab) defeats or deceives strong opponents by cunning. | 30 | 45 |
| M46b In M46 family | A born infant | The character turns into a tiny object or creature, swallowing or touching which a woman (usually a virgin) becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy. He steals valuables or gets along with a woman. See M46 motif. | 40 | 45 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.