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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 ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M114b In M114 family | Come neither naked nor clothed (ATU 875). | When a character is asked to do and not do something at the same time, or not to do it in any of the possible ways (to come dressed and not naked, with a gift and without a gift, etc.), they figure out a solution. | 79 | 125 |
| M57a2 In M57 family | The male character exudes values | Instead of common body discharges a a man urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular male person. See motif m57a | 92 | 125 |
| M1 | Dangerous crossing. | The character crosses a body of water on the back of a monster or animal that agrees to be a carrier but may or intends to drown or eat its passenger. | 65 | 126 |
| M11c In M11 family | Removes fat from the body. | Without harming himself, a male character cuts off, pierces, roasts, holds over a fire, etc. a part of his body (or his wife's body). The character cooks the meat, fat, etc. obtained in this way and treats his guest to it. This food is not perceived as unclean (cf. motifs M11B and M38). | 82 | 126 |
| M46 | An imaginary baby | Some creatures steal or own valuables. To return (get) them, the character turns into a small object, from contact with which a woman becomes pregnant, or into a baby. A picked up or born baby takes on its true appearance and steals valuables (including making the girl who picked it up pregnant, if that was his goal). | 65 | 126 |
| M29b2 In M29 family | The bear is a loser and a loser | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the bear dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. | 183 | 131 |
| M81 | Blind people | Wandering, the hero finds himself in a place where blind or blind (two or more) live. | 103 | 133 |
| M75 | Taken from vultures | The character attracts and catches corpse eaters (usually birds) and as a result obtains valuables or returns something valuable (fire, woman, animals, etc.). | 74 | 134 |
| M39 | Misunderstood instructions | After receiving instructions, the character understands (or pretends to understand) them incorrectly or too literally, committing absurdly ridiculous or violent acts. | 109 | 136 |
| M158 | Tops and roots, ATU 1030. | A human and an animal (devil) or two animals decide to cultivate a field and divide the harvest so that one gets the above-ground part and the other gets the underground part. One of the characters (always) loses out. | 87 | 139 |
| M84 | Revived from bones, E32, E33 | A person, animal, fish, or (rarely) a large fruit is killed and eaten. After a meal, what is eaten revives, usually after the bones (seeds) are put together. Cf. motive C16. | 96 | 142 |
| M29g1 In M29 family | Trickster - Hare, Rabbit (main trickster) | In episodes involving deception, ridiculous, obscene, or antisocial behavior, the hare or rabbit is the main trickster. Traditions in which 1) a hare or rabbit occurs only once as a trickster, and another trickster (usually a fox/jackal/coyote) is typical; 2) Mesoamerican traditions in which a small rabbit is associated with a small a set of episodes and a high probability of recent African influences. See the motives in square brackets. | 110 | 146 |
| M11 | Unclean food. | The character gives others food extracted from his or someone else's body or contaminated with bodily secretions, without revealing the source of the food. | 114 | 148 |
| M182 | Smolyan doll, ATU 175, Th K741. | A character threatens to hit another character and, as a result, gets stuck with all his limbs. Usually, it is a doll covered with something sticky, which the character mistakes for a living creature. | 93 | 148 |
| M106 | Significant name, ATU 1135, 1137, 1138, 1541. | The character calls himself by a fictitious name, which others understand not as a proper name, but as a common noun with a specific meaning. | 107 | 150 |
| M109 | Tail in the ice hole, K1021, ATU 2. | A zoomorphic character sits down, lowering his tail (penis) so that something edible will stick to it, but as a result he is left without a tail (penis) or dies. Cf. motifs M109A, M109C. | 102 | 151 |
| M49 | A hero in someone else's skin | The hero meets a character from the enemy camp and, taking on his form, penetrates enemies. Usually, the hero kills the person he meets and puts on his skin. | 102 | 152 |
| M23 | Feigned fear of imaginary danger, ATU 1310–1310C; K581. | The character pretends to be afraid of only one method of killing, which in reality is not dangerous for him (K581: turtle: If you throw me into the water, I will drown! ). {All American variants with a rabbit are most likely of African origin and are not included in the correlation table}. | 100 | 154 |
| M152 | Why only one wolf? ATU 1149. | Seeing a predator (a giant, etc.) approaching, the weak character pretends to thank the one who is leading the predator for his promise to bring prey, or his wife and children (rarely: he himself) begin to talk aloud about how they are going to eat the predator or how they have eaten his companions before. | 96 | 155 |
| M85 | Fox is bluffing, ATU 56A | character unable to climb a tree threatens to knock it down or climb a trunk if a bird or squirrel does not drop a cub or egg. The third character explains that the threat is untenable. | 88 | 159 |
| M53 | Game dances around the hunter, K826 | The character invites others to gather around him, focusing on an activity (usually dancing with their eyes closed or lowered), and then kills the crowd (usually one at a time). | 58 | 162 |
| M171 | Mena: from a pea to a horse, ATU 170, 1655, 2034F. | The character stops at a house and in the morning claims that the worthless object or animal he brought has disappeared; either he or other characters use or spoil what the deceiver gives them. Each time, the character receives something more valuable in return and, repeating his trick several times, obtains a truly valuable object, an expensive animal, or a person. (All texts of motifs M171A and M171C are also included in motif M171). | 131 | 165 |
| M29b1 In M29 family | The wolf is a loser and a loser | As a result of his stupidity or antisocial behavior, the wolf dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. | 162 | 168 |
| M183 | Running race: one against many, ATU 275C, 1074. | Numerous relatives of the character, who all look the same, work together to accomplish a task that is impossible for one person to do alone, while their competitors believe that the task was accomplished by only one person. Usually, the fast and slow characters agree to race (jump over an obstacle). The slow one places others who look like him at the finish line or along the entire distance, and they respond to the fast one on his behalf. The fast one does not notice the substitution and admits defeat. | 141 | 175 |
| M57a3 In M57 family | The female character exudes values | Instead of common body discharges a a woman urinates, spits, etc. beads, flowers, gold and other valuables; valuables are produced by the very presence of particular female person. See motif m57a | 112 | 187 |
| M91 | Dead twice, ATU 1537 | Pretending that the deceased has just been alive for a relatively long time, the character accuses others of his death, receives a ransom and gifts. | 137 | 192 |
| M57c In M57 family | The animal defecates with gold | An animal (donkey, bull, horse, goat, bear, leopard) or inanimate object makes gold or food stand out, or a character makes others believe that this is the case. | 127 | 197 |
| M29g In M29 family | Trickster - Hare, Rabbit | See the motives in square brackets. They include traditions in which the hare/rabbit appears only as a trickster, and another trickster (usually a fox or jackal) often occurs. | 176 | 199 |
| M57d In M57 family | Bay, baton, ATU 563, 564 | A person consistently receives magical items that bring wealth. Others replace them or take them away. A person returns what has been taken - usually by receiving another wonderful object (baton, whip) that hits the kidnappers. | 120 | 202 |
| M157 | Impossible births, (ATU 875E). | The character claims that a man, male animal or object gave birth (or had a period), or that an animal of one species gave birth to a young of another species, or that a woman gave birth to an animal or inanimate object. | 154 | 234 |
| M91c1 In M91 family | The herd from the bottom | The character (pretends to) take possession of someone's property (usually setting the owner to be killed instead of him), says that he got everything at the bottom of the river, in the abyss, etc., to him they believe. | 150 | 236 |
| M91c2 In M91 family | Seated in a bag | character is placed in a bag or chest, locked in a cage, tied, etc., to drown, burn, etc. When left for a while, the character pretends to be in the bag voluntarily or because he does not want to become a chief, marry, etc.; the other agrees to take his place. See M91c1 motif. | 170 | 236 |
| M156 | The Ungrateful One is Punished, ATU 155. | A dangerous animal (rarely: a spirit) is about to kill a human or another animal – usually the one who freed it from a trap. A third character acts as a judge and saves the human – most often by luring the ungrateful back into the trap. | 169 | 250 |
| M21 | The fugitive hides with his protector. | The character runs away from his pursuer. The person, animal or object that the character asks for help hides him (and kills the pursuer). | 170 | 258 |
| M38a In M38 family | Inept imitation: visiting, Th J2425 | On a visit, the character sees how the owner acts with magic or techniques that suit his nature (in Africa, too, deception). He imitates their actions but fails. Actions are not tests or competitions and are not related to performing feats. This is mainly getting or preparing food. | 150 | 265 |
| M57a In M57 family | Beads are like body secretions | Instead of the usual secretions from the human body, beads, flowers, gold and other valuables pour in. | 143 | 284 |
| M30 | The trickster falls, (ATU 225, 225A) | character who has no natural wings or can't fly long distances rises into the air, but falls or, having lost its wings, stays where he can't return from. (The motive includes several options, but even when taken together, they don't cover the whole world. Texts with M25 and M28 motifs are counted as including the M30 motif). | 226 | 343 |
| M38 | Inept imitation | Person sees how others act using magic or according to their animal nature. He or she imitates their actions and gets into trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and refer to everyday activity, mostly to providing and cooking food | 203 | 348 |
| M29b In M29 family | Trickster - Fox, Jackal, Coyote | Fox (a), Jackal, Coyote (or Wolf when, apparently, we mean a steppenwolf, i.e. the same coyote). See the motives in square brackets. | 352 | 447 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.