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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| M171a In M171 family | Mena: gets a girl, ATU 1655. | A character (often zoomorphic) gets a girl (boy) by successively exchanging smaller values for larger ones. | 83 | 83 |
| M171d In M171 family | Mena: receives a drum. | The character exchanges one thing for another and ultimately receives a musical instrument (usually a drum). | 13 | 14 |
| M39e1a In M39 family | Mice ate iron, ATU 1592, 1592A | The character claims that the mice ate iron (gold). | 27 | 22 |
| 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 |
| M39a9 In M39 family | Misunderstood instructions: a play on words | The character asks a member of his family to bring vegetable products, cook food, and feed someone. He understands words as if he must kill a child (dog, etc.) and serve his meat. [section incomplete] | 10 | 14 |
| M39aa In M39 family | Misunderstood instructions: a play on words | 26 | 29 | |
| M39a2 In M39 family | Misunderstood instructions: a sharp object | The character does ridiculous things, understanding the instructions too literally or one episode late (i.e., doing what was relevant to the previous episode). One episode involves improper handling of a needle and other sharp objects. | 17 | 19 |
| M39a1 In M39 family | Misunderstood instructions: one step behind, ATU 1696 | character misunderstands the first instruction, promises to do the right thing next time; literally follows a memorized rule that does not correspond to the new situation; so multiple times. | 88 | 88 |
| M39a6 In M39 family | Misunderstood instructions: shorten the road | During the journey, a person allegorically asks someone else to say something, sing, etc., so that time on the road passes faster. He understands instructions literally by doing ridiculous actions. | 40 | 48 |
| M39a7 In M39 family | Misunderstood instructions: washing with boiling water, ATU 1013 | When instructed to wash the old man with warm water, the fool steams him with boiling water. | 23 | 14 |
| M163C In M163 family | Money thrown into the sea. | A person is advised to throw money into the water and take only what floats up. This brings him happiness. | 4 | 4 |
| M204 | Money will go to those who are destined to receive it, ATU 841, 947A. | When a deity (an authoritative figure) tries to convey values to a person, they either get them or they don't, despite the unlikely circumstances (such is their fate, such is the will of God). | 52 | 29 |
| M111 | Monkey on a banana. | Two animals (usually a monkey and a turtle) agree to gather fruit. The one who can climb trees eats the good fruit and throws one peel or rotten fruit to its companion. The companion takes revenge. | 20 | 24 |
| M17a In M17 family | Mother or grandmother deceives a blind man. | The mother or grandmother of a blind man or boy secretly eats (the meat or fish he has caught), pretending that there is no food in the house. | 13 | 19 |
| M94 | Mountain riding | One character invites the other to roll down the mountain to destroy him. Cf. Motive L42C. | 31 | 59 |
| M94a In M94 family | Mountain riding: antagonist victims | The demonic character kills his victims, provoking them to slide down the mountain. | 11 | 20 |
| M94a1 In M94 family | Mountain riding: trickster animals | By stupidity or negligence, a zoomorphic character rolls down a mountain and as a result dies or suffers damage (attacks the edge, falls into the water, etc.). | 31 | 53 |
| M38e In M38 family | Mushroom and oak, ATU 293B* | mushroom (pumpkin) thinks that it is as durable as a tree. | 16 | 8 |
| M199m In M199 family | My grandmother's distaff. | A man explains to a demon that the heavy objects lying by the roadside, such as a harrow or a millstone, are just things used by his grandmother or mother, such as a spindle or a comb. | 7 | 8 |
| M106c In M106 family | My name is "Guest". | Telling his companions that his name is "Guest," "For Guests," etc., the character appropriates the food intended for all who have come. | 16 | 21 |
| M106d In M106 family | My name is "Son-in-law". | By saying that his name is "Son-in-law" ("Husband," "Uncle," etc.), the character deceives others. The victims find no sympathy, since as a relative he has the right to behave in this manner. | 8 | 9 |
| M50 | Next to the stars | The character tries to join a group of stars (usually the Pleiades) or catch up with characters who run away from him and turn into stars; the goal of the persecution is sexual contact or the desire to be reunited with family. | 41 | 55 |
| M6 | Night with a partridge | A young man or girl spends night in the forest. The forest partridge (Tinamus sp.) provides him or her a fire, a shelter and/or a hammock but takes them away and flies away itself when the person does something wrong | 11 | 20 |
| M201 | Oak and mushroom. | A rapidly growing mushroom (melon) believes that it will soon outgrow the oak tree. The mushroom (pumpkin vine) soon rots, while the oak tree remains standing. | 7 | 5 |
| M18b In M18 family | Obtaining a hook, spear. | The character turns into a fishing object in order to carry away the hook with which he is caught or the spear with which they try to harpoon him, or he turns into a hook to catch fish. See motif M18. | 18 | 2 |
| M18a In M18 family | Obtaining arrows. | The character becomes the object of fishing or hunting, presenting himself as a target for enemies. Numerous arrows, darts, and harpoons stick into his body without causing harm, and he carries them away. See motif M18. | 0 | 0 |
| M160 | Offence by word and deed, ATU 159B. | A strong wild beast and a man become friends. The man breaks a promise he made to the beast or speaks contemptuously of it. The beast asks to be physically hurt and says that the insult inflicted by words is more painful (the wound on the body has healed, but the wound on the soul has not; or the beast dies of grief). | 37 | 27 |
| M39a3a In M39 family | Oiled soil | fool sees cracked objects (stumps, earth, ice), sympathizes with them and oils them. | 8 | 10 |
| M185 | On the tail of the fastest (animals), ATU 275B. | A fast-footed animal (a flightless bird) and a slow character agree to compete in running or jumping. The slow character secretly clings to the fast-footed one (or to a vehicle) and at the finish line pretends that he has run at the same time as him (jumped just as far) or before him. | 69 | 112 |
| M185a In M185 family | On the tail of the winner (all versions). | Birds, animals and fish compete to see which of them can run or swim fastest or climb highest. A weak character secretly clings to the winner and wins. There are 3 key versions: A. Birds argue about which of them will fly higher or arrive first. The winner is the one whose victory seemed unlikely, ATU 221A. See motif A23C.B. A fast and a slow animal (insect) agree to compete in speed or long jump. The slow one secretly clings to the fast one, ATU 275B. See motif M185.C. Two fish (fish and whale, dolphin, squid and dolphin, etc.) agree to race each other. The weaker one secretly clings to the tail (fin) of the stronger one and wins, ATU 250. See motif M186A. | 90 | 49 |
| M62f In M62 family | One assistant eats another | The character asks others to come to him (to help him with his work or get a debt). Those called come, each next one is stronger than the previous one and eats it (or the previous one runs away when they see him), the last two die when they fight each other. | 7 | 15 |
| M62e In M62 family | One field and two employees | A weak character alternately negotiates with two strong ones to cultivate the site. Each of the strong works in due time and does not know about the existence of the other. As a result, a weak character takes the entire crop. | 6 | 7 |
| M138a In M138 family | One hundred and twenty years of life. | At the beginning of time, the supreme deity or his messengers decided that the maximum lifespan of a human being would be 120 years. | 7 | 7 |
| M39e2 In M39 family | Oracle tree, ATU 1543E* | Two people hid their valuables together, and one of them secretly took them. He suggests asking the tree that grew in this place for clarification and hides his father in a hollow to broadcast from there. The tree is set on fire and the deception comes out. | 9 | 8 |
| M61a In M61 family | Owners quarrel to get valuables | To get valuables, the character provokes a quarrel between their owners. When they start fighting each other, valuables fall out of their bodies and end up at the character's disposal. | 10 | 14 |
| M124 | Ox Tail, ATU 1004. | The character buries the tail (head, ears) of a domestic animal, claiming that it has fallen into the ground. Usually, he asks others to pull on the tail (head), and when it "breaks off," he accuses others of stealing the animal. | 99 | 99 |
| M39a5a In M39 family | Pancakes on trees, ATU 1381, 1381B | Realizing that a stupid son, wife or (rarely) husband, after telling the truth, will cause trouble for the family, the mother or husband (wife) adjusts that the son, wife or husband describes events that They obviously couldn't have happened. They're mistaken for crazy, the message is ignored. | 84 | 97 |
| M93 | Part of the body as a watchman | When falling asleep or going to do something else, the character tells a certain part of his body to wake him up in case of danger. The organ did not give a signal or the character himself did not listen to it, as a result, the misfortune happened. | 36 | 52 |
| M78d In M78 family | Pea child | A tiny boy (rarely a girl) comes from a pea (bean, seed) or from a spool of goat droppings, he is almost as tall as a pea. Or he was born after his mother ate a pea. | 17 | 25 |
| M45c In M45 family | Plant boiled tubers | The character advises the other person to plant or sow boiled or roasted seeds or tubers, who follows the advice. | 16 | 13 |
| 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 |
| M59a In M59 family | Porcupine at the crossing | After asking a large animal to transport it across the river, a porcupine kills or damages it. See M59 motif. | 18 | 1 |
| 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 |
| M75b2 In M75 family | Predetermined marriage: a bird tries to prevent | bird tries in vain to prevent the marriage, which she learned was inevitable when the future spouses were still children. | 17 | 16 |
| M154a1 In M154 family | Pregnant wife on a pregnant mare. | A man who understands the language of animals hears the mare say that she is carrying four (three): she has a foal in her belly, and the woman in the saddle is also pregnant. | 11 | 11 |
| M53f In M53 family | Pretending to be a monster, it eats supplies | The character is involved in preparing food supplies. After leaving under some pretext, he returns in the form of a monster or predator. Everyone runs away, the deceiver eats supplies, and then returns as usual. As a result, it was exposed. | 2 | 5 |
| M173 | Pretends to be dead several times. | A zoomorphic character pretends to be dead where a traveller carrying luggage is supposed to pass. The traveller passes by, but the deceiver quietly runs ahead and repeats his trick. The traveller puts his luggage on the ground and returns to pick up the first dead person (for the skin or meat), and the deceiver takes the luggage away. | 6 | 6 |
| M5 | Provoked insult | Once in a situation where his life depends on the will of a demon or animal, the hero feels like insulting or hitting him. See M1 motif. | 11 | 95 |
| 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 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.