The Mythology and Folklore Database
K32B - Mother-in-law replaces daughter-in-law.
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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
The man's mother takes on the appearance of his wife in order to take her place.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 |
|---|---|---|
| M74E | 98.06% | Two characters ask the third to share something edible between them. He bites off a little bit from each of the halves, because one or the other is slightly larger. As a result, it eats everything. |
| K102A1 | 91.65% | To hide the truth, a person buries an animal or an inanimate object and says that the grave supposedly contains the remains of another person's wife (bride, mother, daughter, sister, children). |
| I140 | 83.21% | The staff thrown to the ground turns into a living snake. |
| N39 | 83.21% | The image of a three-ply rope is used to describe the invincibility of two close-knit friends |
| M39A4D | 78.94% | Fool sells property a lizard and believes it will pay him. Trying to get his money, he finds treasure |
| M38B1 | 78.85% | After the wedding, the wife is silent until her husband says certain words that indicate her origin. {In North Africa, the Pyrenees and the Arabs of Western Asia, the motive is very popular, which suggests that the list of traditions in which it is known may include some records that have so far been supported only with links to pointers, but not by the texts themselves}. |
| K33F | 77.25% | Sources of at least two valuable liquid edible products (honey, oil, etc.) are available or imagined. Cf. motif N34. |
| F3 | 76.39% | A man accidentally eats a magical remedy intended for a woman to become pregnant and gives birth to a child. The child comes out of a tumour on the man's leg, or in some other way, but the man remains alive. |
| M138A | 75.26% | At the beginning of time, the supreme deity or his messengers decided that the maximum lifespan of a human being would be 120 years. |
| K180 | 74.42% | The ruler demands an explanation of his dream. The snake tells the man that this dream signifies the coming of a time when people tend to behave in a certain way. This happens several times. Each time, the man's behaviour towards the snake confirms her words. |
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Map of Motif Dispersal
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This motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Arabs of Levant (Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan); Bedouins of Sinai, Arabs of Iraq, Iraqi, Arabs of Egypt, Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Armenians