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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M191a In M191 family | Bell on a cat's neck, ATU 110. | Mice decide to hang a bell around a cat's neck or tail so that they will know when it is approaching. Usually, none of the mice are able to do this. | 42 | 26 |
| M198b2 In M198 family | A fortune teller named Grasshopper. | An authoritative character asks a person whose name (or his wife's name) is the name of an insect (most often Grasshopper) to guess what is in his fist (in a box, etc.). The corresponding insect is there. The person says that now he, so-and-so, has been caught, while others think that he has guessed correctly. | 42 | 47 |
| M39a6i In M39 family | The servant hid part of the gift, ATU 875A | A person sends food or things to another and tells the messenger to give the recipient some words that the messenger does not understand. On the way, he stole or ate some of what he was supposed to bring. From the messenger's words, the recipient understands what exactly was transferred and accuses him of stealing. | 42 | 31 |
| 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 |
| M46a In M46 family | A picked up baby | The character turns into a baby, is picked up by the owners of valuables, and then steals valuables or converges with a woman. The baby is not a demonic creature and does not intend to kill those who pick it up (cf. Motive L60). | 42 | 53 |
| 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 |
| M89 | Melted wax | A character is humiliated after an object or creature made of wax, resin, or excrement that he made himself or that he thought was strong melts warmly, the present. | 42 | 45 |
| B71 | Dancing flashes. | The northern lights are people who play, dance, sit by the fire, fight or run with torches. | 43 | 50 |
| B75a In B75 family | Sounds of the Age of Creation: The Human Voice. | The voice of a character who once lived can still be heard (most often it is an echo; A1195, The origin of Echo). | 43 | 35 |
| D4e In D4 family | Coyote or fox obtains fire. | The thief or giver of fire, light or sun is a coyote or fox (indicated in square brackets). See motif 4A. | 43 | 48 |
| E36 | Hard covering of the body. | The human body was or could have been covered with a protective layer (bone, rarely wool), but it has only been preserved on the nails (head). | 43 | 57 |
| H46 | The dog's share. | A character (usually God) is about to deprive people of their food (most often grain), but does not do so for the sake of the dog (and/or cat; rarely for the sake of birds). Either God gave the ear of corn to the dog, and the man took it for himself. | 43 | 73 |
| I104 | Stars - fragments. | Stars are formed from particles of the body, fragments of a larger celestial body (usually the moon); stars (usually also the sun and moon) are formed from the body of a single being. | 43 | 66 |
| I20c In I20 family | Dwarves – inhabitants of the underworld. | Dwarves live in an underground world that partly resembles the earthly world. If dwarves and humans meet, it happens underground. | 43 | 64 |
| I4 | Thunder rides across the sky. | When a vehicle moves across the sky, thunder rumbles. | 43 | 65 |
| I87a In I87 family | One creature is larger than another. | A character of gigantic size turns out to be small in comparison with a character of even greater size, or the same character turns out to be small in some episodes and gigantic in others. | 43 | 63 |
| J55 | The unrecognised hero encounters enemies. | The hero encounters characters who, not recognising him, say that they are waiting for so-and-so (naming him) to kill him. He easily kills them or turns them into animals. | 43 | 56 |
| K103a In K103 family | The tree raises its branches. | A suddenly grown plant (tree, vine, lotus) bends (raises its branches, etc.), allowing only the hero or heroine to climb it or pick its fruits (flowers). | 43 | 53 |
| K157a In K157 family | The tavern where they feed for free, ATU 425D, (ATU 304). | In order to find a missing husband (wife, saviour), the character regularly gathers random people to tell stories (usually keeping a shop, bathhouse, etc. for this purpose). From the conversations, it becomes clear that one of the visitors is the person they are looking for, or his story helps to find the missing person. | 43 | 44 |
| K27x7 In K27 family | The lord of the animals summons them and questions them. | On the way to their destination, people meet characters who have power over animals (birds, fish) or demons. They summon the animals (demons) and ask if anyone knows the way to a certain place. Only one person knows, usually the last to appear. | 43 | 69 |
| L15d1 In L15 family | Imaginary container of the soul. | When a character is asked to reveal the location of his soul (death, power), he first gives an incorrect answer, and the questioner usually begins to show signs of attention to the corresponding locus or object. | 43 | 52 |
| L15e In L15 family | The life of a hero in a sword, ATU 302B. | The hero's life is in a certain object, usually his weapon. An enemy steals or discards this object, the hero weakens or dies, his friends or brothers return the object, and the hero comes back to life. {In ATU, this is motif 302B; at least some of the references cited by Uther do not contain the motif in our formulation (not found in Japan or Burma); original publications are required}. | 43 | 60 |
| L23 | Proteus. | Trying to free himself, the captured character successively transforms into various substances, materials or animals, or (Urarina, Setebo) orders various dangerous animals to successively attack the person who captured him. (In some cases, only one variant of transformation is mentioned, but in the same context as in typical variants with a series of transformations). | 43 | 80 |
| L42e In L42 family | Captured again, ATU 327C. | A demon catches the hero, carries him home, but the hero escapes on the way. The demon returns, catches the hero again, and this time brings him to his home. Or the demon catches and carries several children, but they escape on the way, leaving only one, whom the demon brings to his home. | 43 | 50 |
| L44 | Show your head! ATU 1152 | A demon or powerful beast demands that a person or weak animal show certain parts of their body. The person shows parts of a large animal's body or certain objects. The opponent decides that the hero is more frightening and powerful than them. | 43 | 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 |
| M29gg In M29 family | The hedgehog is a cunning winner | hedgehog defeats or deceives strong opponents by cunning. | 43 | 79 |
| 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 |
| B40 | The rabbit as a substitute for the deer. | The hare/rabbit is a false deer, a former deer, a brother of the deer, a former or failed owner of antlers, its ears are false antlers. | 44 | 48 |
| B42g In B42 family | The Great Bear – a hunted animal. | The Big Dipper (as a whole or only the dipper) is identified with an animal (animals) pursued by hunters / attacked by other characters. | 44 | 94 |
| C3 | The snake plugged the hole in the ark, A1853.1, (ATU 825). | The snake (eel, frog) saved the ship (or the whole world) by plugging the hole from which water was pouring with its body. | 44 | 56 |
| C6b In C6 family | Diver – muskrat (beaver, otter). | The desired object is brought up from the bottom by a muskrat (rarely a beaver or otter). | 44 | 92 |
| I15 | Creatures without mouths. | Creatures without mouths. Usually, their mouths are cut open later. | 44 | 50 |
| J28b In J28 family | Hot flatbread. | Upon learning that a woman (usually the hero's mother) is hiding the truth about his father, mother, brothers, or bride, a young man (rarely a young woman) causes her pain, forcing her to tell the truth (usually by pressing hot bread into her palm or sticking her fingers into hot food). | 44 | 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 |
| K32d In K32 family | The replaced one grazes cattle. | As a result of the antagonist's intrigues, a noble girl (young woman) or boy (young man) is turned into a servant or servant, sent to graze cattle or chase birds in the field. Everything is revealed – usually after people hear a song in which the hero or heroine tells about the substitution. Most often, the hero or heroine goes to relatives or (less often) to the groom. The deceiver accompanies her or him and is accepted as a relative or bride. The deceiver is executed. Comoros: the deceiver becomes the mistress, turning the girl's parents into peacocks. | 44 | 62 |
| K32M In K32 family | The heroine is transformed into an animal (not drowned). | To take the heroine's place, her rival turns her into an animal or bird without pushing her into the water. Cf. motif k33. | 44 | 73 |
| K93b1 In K93 family | Conception from eaten fish. | After eating fish, a childless woman gives birth to a boy or twins. | 44 | 81 |
| L22 | Deep sleep. | Having broken some taboo, seen an unusual object or a strange character, people fall into a deep sleep; at night, while asleep, they are killed or maimed. | 44 | 80 |
| M12 | The unlucky hunter. | Unable, unwilling or unable to obtain game (fish), the hunter (fisherman) cuts flesh from his own body, removes his own entrails and collects his blood. He usually offers this to others under the guise of animal meat or fish. Alternatively, a woman cuts flesh from her own leg to feed her husband. | 44 | 48 |
| M135b In M135 family | The wolf regrets his own stupidity. | The wolf (rarely a bear, jackal, or fox) approaches various domestic animals in order to eat them, but, agreeing to fulfil their request, remains hungry and usually beaten, and in conclusion blames himself ("Am I a mullah to read?" etc.). In the Persian version, the fox tells him this. | 44 | 49 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| M38c In M38 family | Converting old to young, ATU 753 | blacksmith (supposedly) forges a person, rejuvenating or revitalizing him. | 44 | 43 |
| 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 |
| A32b In A32 family | Moon toad, A751.3. | The figure or imprint of a toad or frog is visible on the lunar disc; the moon is associated with this animal. | 45 | 56 |
| B10 | Drunk water, A1013. | The character drinks a lake or all the water in the world, or the only water is in his stomach. They pierce his stomach or remove the plug, forcing him to burp up the water - the water pours out. See motif B7. | 45 | 58 |
| C6j1 In C6 family | The earth is brought by the antagonist of the deity. | An anthropomorphic deity sends someone to fetch earth from the bottom of his enemy. At first, the enemy or both characters sometimes have the appearance of birds. After the enemy brings the earth, a confrontation begins between the two characters, who now always have anthropomorphic appearances. | 45 | 84 |
| F54e In F54 family | Unintentional killing of a father. | Not knowing who is in front of him, a young man kills his father. | 45 | 28 |
| F70e In F70 family | Girl turns into a man, ATU 514. | A girl pretends to be a man, magically acquires male nature and lives with his wife. Cf. motif K137 (in Uther 2004, plot 514 mistakenly includes a Karakalpak text with our motif K137). | 45 | 35 |
Tradition and narrative counts are the stored catalogue totals for each entry.