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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 ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M57d1 In M57 family | Donor Bird | bird consistently gives a person magical objects (or gives one, with which he receives the rest) or consistently fulfills his wishes. | 37 | 56 |
| M45 | The predator pretends to be dead | When a zoomorphic character falls asleep or pretends to be dead (seriously ill), the animals he usually hunts gather to meet him. He catches or kills them, or they run away at the last minute. | 42 | 57 |
| M74b In M74 family | Who ate the fat? | The character adjusts so that the sign that identifies the thief who ate supplies or who should be eaten is not on him, but on another character (smears with leftovers or with the secretions of your body of another, replaces secretions, etc.). | 53 | 57 |
| M156a In M156 family | Answering objects. | A dangerous animal is about to kill a human or another animal that helped it. The predator and its prey agree to ask passers-by (people walking or sailing by) which of them is right. Among those who respond are inanimate objects (most often trees). | 45 | 58 |
| M198a In M198 family | The Clever Brothers (The Lost Camel), (ATU 655A). | Brothers (rarely: one person) determine the characteristics of a domestic animal they have not seen, or of the person who stole the animal, based on subtle clues. {In ATU, plots 655 and 655A are combined; in Aarne, Thompson 1961 and in regional indexes, our motif M198A corresponds to plot 655A} (Type 655A only in Aarne, Thompson 1984. In ATU mixed with 655). | 56 | 58 |
| M39c In M39 family | Horse egg, ATU 1319 | A fool is told that a round fruit is a mare's egg (donkeys, elephants, etc.). A fool buys fruit for a lot of money. When he throws it or drops it, a small animal (usually a hare) jumps out of the thickets. A person believes that this is a foal (donkey, etc.) that has hatched. | 64 | 58 |
| M199d In M199 family | Competition with the devil in wrestling and running, ATU 1071, 1072. | A man and his opponent agree to compete in wrestling and running. The man sends his "relatives" – a bear and a hare – to compete in his place. (ATU numbers 1071 and 1072 are combined, as they are almost always paired.) | 45 | 59 |
| M46e In M46 family | The Sun is a Toy | They (promise to) give a child the Sun (and or the Moon) to play with | 26 | 59 |
| M94 | Mountain riding | One character invites the other to roll down the mountain to destroy him. Cf. Motive L42C. | 31 | 59 |
| M29b3 In M29 family | The fox (jackal, coyote) is a loser and a loser | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the fox (jackal) dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. If it is not specified that a “jackal”, then the protagonist is a fox. | 125 | 60 |
| M39g In M39 family | Crying for an unborn child, ATU 1450 | The girl weeps, imagining the dangers that threaten her future child; remembering an incident that could end badly; jealous of the fiancé she does not have; distracted from urgent matters, considering the name of the future child instead of meeting the groom. | 58 | 60 |
| M38d In M38 family | Item characters die one after another, ATU 85, 295 | Two or more characters, which are small objects or small animals, live or travel together and die one by one while committing protozoa actions. | 55 | 61 |
| M63 | An enumeration of body members | Before reaching the part of the body that is most suitable for certain purposes, others are named or tried. (Cf. Motive F22: The enumeration is related to finding the partner's genitals). | 52 | 61 |
| M99 | The threat to exterminate birds, AA 981.1. | The character is going to abuse all birds or (less commonly) animals, but after hearing wise advice, he abandons his intention. | 43 | 61 |
| M101a In M101 family | Predators learn to fear humans, ATU 157A. | Learning that humans are supposedly stronger than him, a large predator finds a human and challenges him to a contest of strength. This ends badly for him. Cf. motif M101. | 67 | 62 |
| M14 | Brutal murder of wife or son. | A man brutally murders his wife (rarely: children, fiancée, sister) and/or eats her flesh himself, or brings her flesh to her relatives (if he kills children, he brings the flesh to his wife). | 39 | 62 |
| M169 | Medicine from a wolf's skin, ATU 50. | In the presence of an authoritative figure, one of the subordinates plots against another. The latter says that the problem can be solved by maiming the former (usually using a part of his body as medicine). The schemer is killed or maimed. | 54 | 62 |
| M44b In M44 family | Food thieves are women | The character discovers that someone is stealing game or fish from his trap, mountain, etc. or ravages his garden, vegetable garden, field; he or his messengers wait and catch the thief. The kidnappers are women, or the aquatic animal is the kidnapper, but when caught, it gives the hero a woman. | 47 | 62 |
| M8 | A destroyed obstacle | Some characters (not humans) are struggling to break a strong barrier that prevents access to the desired location or to a high-value object. See also M8A - M8D motifs; they are included in the M8 motif in the correlation tables. | 42 | 62 |
| M90a1 In M90 family | Lice skin, H522.I.I,ATU857. | It is required to sew clothes from the skin of lice (fleas) or guess the origin of a large animal, a large skin, the contents of the box; the animal (skin) arose from lice (fleas), in the box - louse. | 72 | 63 |
| M159 | The Lion's Share, ATU 51. | The strongest character (usually a lion) offers to divide the spoils (harvest). The more cunning character refuses his share, but remains unharmed. Usually a wolf (hyena, jackal) divides the spoils, giving the lion the larger share, but the lion beats him. The third character gives the lion everything. The lion asks who taught him to divide so well and receives the answer: the one whom the lion mauled. | 61 | 64 |
| M163 | Dear Cat, ATU 1281, 1651. | A man arrives in a country where there are many mice (rats, snakes) but no cats. He sells a cat there and receives a reward. | 67 | 64 |
| M196 | Who will speak first? ATU 1351. | A husband and wife agree to award a small prize to the one who remains silent the longest. Both or one of the spouses continue to remain silent even when others mistake them for dead or commit violence against them. | 63 | 64 |
| M25 | A holiday in heaven, K1041 | To take part in a festival in heaven or visit a deity, a flightless character manages to climb high into the sky. He usually cannot go down the same way, falls and as a result dies, maims or metamorphoses. | 40 | 64 |
| M39a4a In M39 family | Sells a lizard a cow, ATU 1643 | fool sells or gives an animal (plant, statue) meat, pet, cloth, etc., believing that the buyer will pay; or the fool works where no one asked him to, and takes the animal for its owner. When he comes for money, he beats an animal (a tree, a statue, follows an animal) and as a result finds a treasure. | 72 | 64 |
| M60 | Imaginary physician: finished off enemy, K824, K1955 | After injuring a demon (robber), the hero goes to his locus. There he, or (rarely) his assistant, pretends to be a doctor and finishes off an opponent. | 38 | 64 |
| M199c In M199 family | Whoever throws the club higher, ATU 1063. | A person pretends to throw or is about to throw an object somewhere from which it cannot be retrieved (often into the sky, the clouds, or the sea). The opponent asks them not to do so and to stop the contest. | 44 | 65 |
| M29a In M29 family | Trickster - Raven (a) | See the motives in square brackets. | 80 | 65 |
| M90a In M90 family | Marry a guesser | The girl will marry the person who guessed her name, or someone who will fit the ring, or someone who says what material a particular object is made of or originated, etc. The deceiver fulfills the condition. | 65 | 65 |
| M113 | Birds are forbidden to drink. | In summer, during the height of the heat, or constantly, birds of a certain species are not allowed to drink from ponds and springs. It is generally believed that they drink only rainwater and cry out, begging for rain. See motif M112. | 52 | 66 |
| M116a In M116 family | I also rested here, ATU 980. | A man drags his father, intending to leave him to die in a deserted place, give him to an almshouse, throw him into a precipice, etc. He stops on the way. The father says that he also stopped at this place when he was dragging his father. Or the boy asks to keep the sledge, the skin, etc., on which his father is dragging his grandfather (or takes half of the cloak with which his father covered the old man): it will come in handy when he drags his father himself. Or the old man is given a wooden (broken, etc.) plate to eat from, and the boy says that he will give his father the same one when he grows old. The man brings his father home (begins to take care of him). | 53 | 67 |
| M134 | Tower of Wolves, ATU 121. | Animals, demons or people stand on top of each other to reach something. The one at the bottom jumps off (leans, jerks), and everyone falls after him. | 54 | 68 |
| M149 | Say that I am a stump, ATU 154. | A strong enemy is ready to kill the hero (a human or a weak animal). Someone, seemingly unaware of this, loudly announces that the hero's enemy is being sought in order to kill him. The hero is saved. Usually, the enemy asks not to be betrayed, saying that he is a stump, a log, etc. This allows him to be treated as such – thrown, chopped, etc. (ATU data not entered; plot 154 includes several independent motifs; which of them are present in the traditions referred to by ATU cannot be determined without referring to the original sources). | 50 | 68 |
| M161 | Dog in a bag. | A character gives another a sack that is supposed to contain food, but in fact contains a dog; or frees a girl (boy) from a sack or chest and replaces her with a dog or other dangerous animal. The animal attacks the person who opened the sack. | 45 | 68 |
| M29x In M29 family | The hyena is a loser and a loser | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the hyena dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. | 66 | 68 |
| M116 | The undead father helps with advice, ATU 981. | People must kill their fathers (or mothers; Nyoro: deprive them of power and property; Baluchi: do not take them with you on a journey). One young man hides his father, and his wise advice helps to avoid trouble. | 66 | 69 |
| M3 | Human chain | The character crosses a water or air barrier on the backs of chained animals, birds, or fish. | 39 | 69 |
| M62a In M62 family | Incitement to quarrel (action) | The hero quietly damages each of the two characters; they accuse each other, quarrel, fight. | 73 | 69 |
| M198 | The Clever Brothers (the illegitimate khan), ATU 655. | In the house of the khan (judge, king, etc.), three brothers (rarely one person) determine that the food and drink served to them smell of dead flesh, dog, goat, etc., and (or that) the host who receives them is illegitimate or of low birth. After questioning the servants and his mother, the host is convinced that the brothers are right. | 65 | 70 |
| M39a In M39 family | Deer don't want to wet their shoes | fool lives with his brother (and mother), is sent on business, does ridiculous things (all or part of the above): releases animals from the trap, kills (trapped) mother ; cuts off the pet's legs or skins; takes the fontanel on the baby's skull for a boil and squeezes it out; tears a large piece of cloth and ties the pieces to swaying reeds; hearing the murmur of water, throws food into the water; puts the plague in the water; wants to salt the water and pours all the salt into the river. (There are other common episodes as well). | 33 | 71 |
| M157b In M157 family | Take the most precious thing (ATU 875). | The husband drives his wife away, allowing her to take what is most precious to her. She takes her sleeping or intoxicated husband. He returns with her. {Traditions mentioned in El-Shamy 2004 are highlighted in bold; it is highly likely that this motif is indeed present in them; some traditions mentioned in ATU 875 are given in brackets; they are not included in the correlation table, the original publications are required}. | 69 | 72 |
| M95 | Take the gift home, ATU 311 | weaker character asks a stronger character to take the gift to his family and climbs into a basket, bag, etc. A strong character brings and leaves a gift without knowing that brought whoever sent this gift. Usually a girl hides her sisters in a bag (chest), and next time she sits there herself, and the cannibal believes that there are gifts for the girls' parents in the bag and carries the bag. | 55 | 72 |
| M45a In M45 family | The old man and the beasts | A person is sleeping or pretending to be asleep or dead. Animals take him for a dead man - they mourn him, carry him to bury him, they are going to eat it, etc. A person beats the crowd and/or obtains benefits. | 50 | 73 |
| M13 | God does as he is asked, ATU 750A, 775. | A person appeals to higher powers with a request, without considering that his words may have a different meaning than he intended. Either a person accidentally utters the wrong word or accidentally and hastily expresses an empty or absurd desire. As a result, something happens that he did not want at all. Cf. motifs I58B and M13A.Most of the references in ATU 775 (Midas' short-sighted wish) are either incorrect or impossible to verify. In connection with this plot, the reference to Uther 2000 is taken into account only for the Lithuanian variant, since there is a summary of the Latvian one, and for the Greek one, since the motif exists in Ancient Greece and among the neighbouring South Slavs. For ATU 750A, the reference to Bäcker 1988 in connection with the "Chinese" is incorrect; these are Manchus, not Chinese, and the stated motif is not present in the text. | 73 | 74 |
| M98 | Who's more? AA 981.1. | The character counts the number of members in two huge and alternative sets (dead and alive, men and women, etc.). Usually numbers are distributed equally, and one term (or some) is endowed with the properties of both. By referring it to one of the sets, the character proves a thesis. | 54 | 74 |
| M180 | The Fox and the Crane, ATU 60. | A zoomorphic character invites another to visit, but serves food in such a way that the other cannot take it in his mouth. The other, inviting the first to visit, puts him in a similar position. | 60 | 75 |
| M29w3 In M29 family | Leo is a loser and a loser | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the lion dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. | 115 | 75 |
| M46d In M46 family | The child asks for a toy | A small child cries and calms down only after being given a valuable item hidden in the house to play with. After receiving an item, a child or an associated character takes it away. | 41 | 75 |
| M202 | Pulling a splinter out of a lion's paw, ATU 156. | A man pulls a thorn out of the paw (a bone out of the throat) of a strong and dangerous animal or demon, who is grateful. | 83 | 76 |
| M91b In M91 family | Ash sold, (ATU 1535) | A person manages to fraudulently sell or exchange ash for gold and money. Others are unsuccessfully offering ash for sale. | 60 | 76 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.