The Mythology and Folklore Database
K32I - Two nurses beside a sleeping man, ATU 894.
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Source Data from Berezkin's Analytics Catalogue, if using this data please acknowledge and link to it here:
Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of Motif
A girl finds the body of a young man who shows no signs of life and must sit next to him for a certain amount of time so that he comes back to life and takes her as his wife. Usually, she leaves at the last moment and an impostor becomes the wife of the revived man.Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures
K32 has 21 other sub-motifsK32. The man does not (immediately) notice that another woman, an evil spirit or (in Chaco) a male trickster has replaced his wife or bride, who is banished, imprisoned in the underworld, killed, etc. K32a. A man is carrying his wife or daughter. Another woman or demonic character replaces her when the man leaves on a journey (rarely: falls asleep). K32b. The man's mother takes on the appearance of his wife in order to take her place. K32b1. The man's mother-in-law takes on the appearance of her daughter to take her place. See motif K32. K32c. The deceiver takes the place of the real wife, and the real wife becomes an owl. See motif K32. K32d. 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. K32e. A negative character, object or locus is contrasted with one or two positive ones, such as wood with gold and silver. K32f. A woman or girl raises a bird of prey chick, which brings her food and fire. This usually happens after an evil spirit leaves the girl or young woman in a tree or on an island. K32g. The antagonist is executed by being tied to a horse (camel, bull), which drags him along the ground or tears him to pieces. K32g1. The guilty party is offered a choice of items of utilitarian value (often forty, seven, three, etc. horses or the same number of knives). The person usually does not understand that these are methods of execution. k32g2. An authoritative character marries, and an evil woman replaces her with her daughter. After the false wife is exposed and executed, the woman receives cooked meat as a gift, not immediately realising that it is her daughter's body parts. k32g3. The villain is asked what punishment he deserves for committing the crime in question. Not knowing that they are talking about him, he decides for himself how he should be executed. K32h. The antagonist is executed by being buried alive. K32h1. The antagonist is executed by being placed in a barrel (with nails) and rolled down a hill or tied to a horse. K32h2. A man executes his wife by leaving her to be eaten by ants. K32h3. The antagonist is executed by being burned alive. (Episodes in which the burning of the character is not a punishment but a means of getting rid of him are not taken into account). K32i. A girl finds the body of a young man who shows no signs of life and must sit next to him for a certain amount of time so that he comes back to life and takes her as his wife. Usually, she leaves at the last moment and an impostor becomes the wife of the revived man. K32j. Upon learning from a young man that he has a beautiful sister, the ruler wants to marry her. The bride is replaced by an ugly woman. Usually, the ruler accuses her brother of deception and throws him into prison. The deception is revealed. K32k. The false wife, replacing the real one – a foul-smelling beetle or larva. K32l. The ruler distributes horses (cows) to his subjects for fattening. Only the heroine returns hers well-fed. K32M. To take the heroine's place, her rival turns her into an animal or bird without pushing her into the water. Cf. motif k33. k32n. The false wife, who replaces the real one, is a supernatural character - a zoomorphic creature, a deceased woman, a female spirit, etc. See motif K32. Click here if would you like to see a distrbution map combining all of K32's motifs? |
Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns
| Motif | Similarity | Motif Summary |
|---|---|---|
| K123 | 99.17% | 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). |
| K123A | 98.78% | 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. |
| K168 | 98.32% | A person experiences an eventful long period of life. Everything turns out to be an illusion, and he finds himself back in the same place and at the same moment in time from which the story began. |
| F71 | 98.01% | After being rejected, the man falsely accuses the woman of promiscuity; others believe him and try to punish her severely. |
| K27Z3 | 97.78% | The character taught the cat (monkey, dog) to hold a candle (lamp) or to extinguish it on command. Seeing a mouse (rat), the cat rushes after it and as a result drops (does not extinguish) the candle. |
| K24B | 97.65% | A magical wife deceives her naive mother-in-law into giving her wonderful clothes or some other item that enables her to leave the human world. |
| L100D | 97.61% | A man or several men pursue the love of a beautiful woman. Having agreed in advance with her husband, she pretends to agree, arranging a date (with each) for a specific time. Before the first suitor's desires are satisfied, the second arrives. The woman hides the first, then the second, and so on. The husband enters and the couple mocks the admirers who find themselves in a humiliating position. |
| K94 | 97.50% | Those who eat a miraculous bird, fish, animal or fruit gain wealth and power. |
| I35C | 97.41% | One of the mythological characters who, using his craft skills, first makes (usually forges) tools and natural objects; he is the patron of craftsmen (usually blacksmiths). |
| M116A | 97.36% | 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). |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 27 traditions: Yemen, Berbers of southern Tunisia and adjacent part of Libya (Matmata and Ghadames areas), Tunisia Arabs, Garo (Atchik), Kachari (Bodo, incl. Lalung), Dimasa, Tripuri, Riang (of Tripura), Khami, Riga, Mori, Kannada, Lingayat, Halakki, Bengali, Hindi-speaking peoples and casts (incl. Teli, Parahiya; incl. Chhattisgarhi) of Northern and West-Central India, Himachali-Pahari (Western Pahari), Konkani (incl Goa), Assamese, Greeks (modern), Balkarians, Bulgarians, Balkarians, Albanians, Balkarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Uzbek, Tajik, Persians, Armenians, Anatolia Turks, Azeris (Azerbaijanis), Kurds, Uyghur, Chechens, Arabs of Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, Emirates, Oman,, Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio), Egypt