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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.
All motif categories
| Ref ▲ | Title | Summary | Traditions | Narratives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K116 | Choosing a companion (ATU 516C). | To choose an assistant, a young man asks the candidates to perform simple tasks (eat bread, set off on a journey). The behaviour of the chosen candidate shows that he will take care of the hero, while the behaviour of the others shows that they will only think of themselves. | 16 | 18 |
| K116a In K116 family | Nesmeyana (the disguised tsar perishes). | The king takes or is about to take the poor man's wife. She suggests that the king put on clothes that are not his own (usually those that belonged to her husband). After that, the king is killed by his own soldiers (dogs), who believe him to be a poor man (jester, devil). | 20 | 24 |
| K116b In K116 family | A dog instead of a beauty in the chest. | In order to take possession of the girl, the antagonist creates a situation in which her relatives are forced to put her in a chest (barrel, sack, etc.) and leave her there. The girl is secretly replaced by a ferocious dog or other animal. When the antagonist opens the chest, the animal usually kills or mauls him. | 20 | 24 |
| 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 |
| K117 | Nesmeyana (bride, young man), ATU 559, (571). | A woman will marry the man who makes her laugh; a man promises a reward to anyone who makes his daughter, mother or son laugh. | 51 | 69 |
| K117a In K117 family | Making the silent speak. | A girl who is constantly silent is promised to the one who can make her speak; or a husband struggles to make his magical wife speak. | 44 | 45 |
| K117b In K117 family | Stuck Together, ATU 571, 571B. | The hero causes various people (and animals) to stick to each other (or to objects). | 69 | 58 |
| K117c In K117 family | Dancing against their will, ATU 592. | When a character plays a pipe (violin, horn, etc.), people and animals begin to dance against their will. | 59 | 60 |
| k117c1 In k117 family | To play before death. | A man sentenced to death asks to be given something from his possessions, usually a musical instrument. Once he has it, he gains power over those gathered and is saved. | 12 | 12 |
| K117d In K117 family | Two in bed with the princess, ATU 850. | The princess, lying between two suitors, must choose blindly the one she likes best. The suitor of low birth arranges things so that his noble rival emits a foul odour (while he himself emits a pleasant fragrance). The princess turns to him. | 40 | 22 |
| 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 |
| K118a In K118 family | Portrait of an unknown beauty. | Upon seeing the portrait of a beauty, a man strives to meet her. | 53 | 76 |
| K119 | Animal marries a princess, ATU 545B. | An animal promises to make a poor man rich (usually by marrying him to a rich bride; or by marrying a poor girl to a prince) and, resorting to deception, fulfils its promise. | 120 | 152 |
| K119a In K119 family | The Ungrateful Master. | An animal saves a human, does him a favour, and he humiliates or kills it. See motifs K119, M161. | 84 | 113 |
| K119b In K119 family | Animals as gifts to the king. | After tricking wild animals, the fox brings them to the king as a gift from her rich master. | 27 | 35 |
| K119c In K119 family | Tsar-Thunder and Tsarina-Lightning. | The antagonist believes that he has been attacked by the lord of thunder (the father of the bride, whom a zoomorphic assistant has tricked into marrying a poor young man, motif K119). | 12 | 16 |
| K119d In K119 family | Puss in Boots. | A cat helps a poor young man marry a princess (a girl marry a prince). | 22 | 24 |
| K119e In K119 family | The Miller: A Success Story. | The poor young man who was helped by an animal assistant, who presented him to the king as a rich man, is a miller or a miller's son. | 20 | 25 |
| K120 | Prevented incest (daughter and father), (ATU 510B, 510B*), 706C. | The girl's father (rarely: stepfather) intends to marry her (since she is the only one who meets the requirements for a bride). Usually, the girl manages to avoid the marriage. | 64 | 98 |
| K120a In K120 family | Prevented incest (sister and brother), (ATU 313E). | A man is going to marry his sister (often it turns out that she is the only one who meets the requirements for a bride). Usually, the girl manages to avoid such a marriage. | 62 | 67 |
| K120a1 In K120 family | Three dresses, (ATU 510B). | To get rid of an unwanted suitor (her own father, brother, monster), a girl demands that he obtain a dress for her (usually three dresses in succession) made of unusual material (gold, fly wings, etc.), and when the condition is fulfilled, she runs away. | 35 | 60 |
| K120a2 In K120 family | Not by her mother, but by her mother-in-law. | Family members want to marry their daughter off to a man who is unacceptable to her (usually they want to marry her off to her own brother). The girl refuses to address her father, mother, etc. as close relatives, but calls them in-laws (mother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc.) or enemies; or the relatives themselves demand that the girl address them as in-laws. | 23 | 22 |
| K120a3 In K120 family | Dress in a nut. | The character receives a nut containing valuables (beautiful clothes, jewellery, animal helpers, etc.), or (Germans, Latvians) hides the valuables in the nut himself to use them later. | 38 | 64 |
| K120a4 In K120 family | Fill the vessel with tears. | The character must fill a vessel with tears (pour them on the floor). | 30 | 34 |
| K120a5 In K120 family | Luring a woman onto a ship. | To obtain a woman, a man lures her onto a ship (boat, flying machine, etc.) and takes her away. | 28 | 34 |
| K121 | The knight at the crossroads. | At the crossroads, it is indicated that one road is safe, another is neutral, and the third is deadly dangerous. There can only be two roads – dangerous and safe. The hero travels along the dangerous road. | 57 | 95 |
| K122 | The queen of the other world finds the hero (ATU 551). | Having penetrated the world of a powerful woman, unattainable without the support of supernatural helpers, the man returns. The deceiver tries to take credit for the feat. The woman whom the hero met in her world finds him and punishes (rejects) the deceiver. | 45 | 72 |
| K123 | The old woman's curse. | A boy, a young man, or, less commonly, a girl deliberately or accidentally offends an elderly woman (or a cripple). She utters words that cause him or her to want to do something dangerous (most often to find a marriage partner). | 51 | 94 |
| K123a In K123 family | The broken jug. | A boy or young man accidentally, or more often out of mischief, breaks or overturns a vessel belonging to a woman or girl. This episode forms the basis of the rest of the story. | 41 | 64 |
| K123b In K123 family | Broken spinning wheel. | A boy or young man damages an elderly woman's spinning wheel or yarn. This episode forms the basis of the rest of the story. | 10 | 8 |
| K124 | It's not a miracle! | An animal killed by a hunter runs away. The animal itself or someone else explains that this is not a miracle (or that it is not a tragedy), but that the real miracle (tragedy) happened somewhere else. A story about what happened follows. | 11 | 26 |
| K125 | One of the subjects is a traitor. | The pursuer asks various objects where the hero is hiding or where he has run. Everyone remains silent, but one of the objects betrays the hero. | 45 | 53 |
| K126 | The wolf pays for the horse it ate. | A predatory beast or demon eats the hero's horse, but in return is forced or voluntarily helps him. | 31 | 37 |
| K127 | Animal brothers, ATU 451. | A girl has many brothers, who are turned into birds or animals (rarely: into plants; killed by witchcraft), then usually disenchanted (brought back to life; usually all of them, in the Georgian version – one). See motif K127A. | 60 | 58 |
| K127a In K127 family | The silent heroine. | The heroine must remain silent for a long time and therefore cannot respond to the accusations. They want to execute her, but at that moment the restrictions expire and she is saved. | 19 | 29 |
| K127b In K127 family | Brothers turned into oxen. | A group of brothers are turned into bulls (oxen) and then enchanted. | 8 | 8 |
| K128 | Graze without loss. | A character orders the hero to graze animals (or birds) and promises to execute him (deprive him of his reward) if even one animal is lost. Cf. K128B (ATU 570). | 59 | 92 |
| K128a In K128 family | The best apples for the princess, ATU 610. | Each of the three brothers brings the princess (prince) a gift of fruit (less often fish, etc.) and encounters a character who punishes rudeness and rewards politeness. As a result (after additional trials), the youngest brother enters into the desired marriage. | 23 | 21 |
| K128b In K128 family | The Hare Shepherd, ATU 570. | The ruler will give his daughter to the one who can herd (gather, train) hares (squirrels, sheep, poultry, partridges) without loss. A poor young man accomplishes the task with the help of a magic device. To have an excuse to refuse, the ruler's family members try to buy one hare (a magic pipe, etc.) so that the suitor cannot fulfil his promise, but as a result they find themselves in a humiliating position. | 53 | 46 |
| K129 | Enchanted and brought to life, ATU 709, 709A. | (Due to the intrigues of an antagonist) a girl falls into a deep swoon, but is not dead. A male character of high status (either the girl's spouse or blood relative) revives her. {In sub-Saharan Africa, except for Swahili, borrowing from Europeans is more likely than from Arabs}. | 71 | 95 |
| K129a In K129 family | Half-living in the tomb. | A young woman (lying in a tomb) comes back to life, then appears dead again, but is ultimately freed from the spell. | 6 | 7 |
| K130 | Who is the sweetest in the world? | A woman (rarely: a man) asks who is the most beautiful of all and receives the answer that she (he) is. One day she (he) is told that someone else is more beautiful. | 46 | 56 |
| 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 |
| K131 | Three Wonderful Objects, ATU 518. | Certain characters argue over the possession of magical objects, but the objects go to the hero. Usually, he suggests that the disputants race each other or asks them to let him try out the objects, after which he hides, taking the objects with him. | 94 | 142 |
| K131a In K131 family | The hero divides the carcass, ATU 159*. | Several animals (often a lion, a falcon, an ant) argue (usually over prey or habitat). The hero resolves their dispute, and they grant him the ability to take on their form (to possess their qualities). | 24 | 47 |
| K131b In K131 family | Magical objects exchanged and returned, ATU 569. | Having received and then lost a magical object, the hero returns it with the help of a new one (a club, a box with an army, etc.), received in exchange for the first or obtained by the hero's brother. The episode may be repeated several times. | 54 | 64 |
| K131c In K131 family | The kidnapped woman runs away while the archers compete. | A woman offers her captors to shoot arrows – she will marry the winner. While they are figuring out whose arrow flew farther, the kidnapped woman runs away. | 2 | 2 |
| K131d In K131 family | Seven-league boots. | Mention is made of footwear that allows the character to quickly cover enormous distances. | 34 | 47 |
| K132 | The Invincible Rooster, ATU 715, 715A. | A small character (usually a rooster) comes to a powerful enemy. Thanks to creatures and objects that he encounters along the way and hides in his body or bag, the character remains unharmed after all attempts to destroy him. Cf. motif L126. | 64 | 86 |
| K132a In K132 family | The husband's rooster and the wife's hen, ATU 219E*, 715A. | The husband (rarely: the wife) sends the rooster out to earn money, and it brings back money. The wife (husband) sends the hen (cat, her half of the rooster, etc.) and receives only mice, filth, etc. Or, instead of money, the rooster brings the wife something bad or nothing at all. | 20 | 15 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.