The Mythology and Folklore Database
K67 - Burnt moccasins, K1615.




34 Myths, Legends and Folktales
34 Unique Narratives for Motif K67
13 Cultures & Traditions where K67 is told
123 Mythemes Indexed
9 Sub-Motifs of Motif K67


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 Motif Summary  -   Motifs with Simlar Dispersals  -    Map of Myth Distribution   -   List of Traditions  -   Myths



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

At night, one person intends to throw another person's shoes or clothes into the fire, but ends up burning his own shoes or clothes. Usually, the father-in-law throws his son-in-law's shoes into the fire at night in order to freeze him out, but the son-in-law has already switched shoes, so the father-in-law burns his own.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Acts of heroes

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior


K67 has 9 other sub-motifs


K67.  At night, one person intends to throw another person's shoes or clothes into the fire, but ends up burning his own shoes or clothes. Usually, the father-in-law throws his son-in-law's shoes into the fire at night in order to freeze him out, but the son-in-law has already switched shoes, so the father-in-law burns his own.
K67a.  A character of low status annoys characters of high status. Learning of the intention of the characters of high status to drown him or his property (rarely: to strangle him), he arranges for one of them or their property to be drowned instead.
K67b.  A character of low social status (without supernatural abilities) takes a job with a character of high social status (with supernatural abilities) on the condition that the employer will not get angry with the employee. By repeatedly annoying the employer, the employee causes him to become angry and, as a result, be severely punished or pay a large sum of money.
K67c.  The character agrees that under certain conditions another person may tear the skin from his back or cause him some other bodily harm.
K67d.  The worker (rarely – the husband) annoys the master (wife) so much that he or she decides to run away, taking his or her property with him or her. The worker hides in a sack (chest) with his or her property and ends up back where he or she started.
K67e.  Someone promises to fulfil their duties until they hear a bird singing at a certain moment in a temporal cycle (annual or daily). Another character imitates the bird. The first recognises the deception.
K67f.  A fool or a rogue is instructed to slaughter the sheep (cow, bull) that looks at him, i.e. any one. He slaughters them all, because they all looked at him.
K67g.  Pretending to carry out his master's orders, the worker cuts off the animals' lips (to make them look like they are smiling).
K67h.  When a worker is sent to a place where he is to be torn apart by a predator, he tames it and lets it into the barn (stable) at home. As a result, the predator destroys the owner's livestock.
k67i.  The worker is instructed to follow a straight line or overcome the obstacle without breaking it. He kills and cuts up the animals entrusted to him, throws the pieces over the fence or breaks the fence, even though there is a passage nearby.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
D4C199.34%Animal-people come to steal summer from its owners. One of them, in the guise of an elk or caribou, distracts the owners' attention or floats a log or stump down the river, which the owners of summer mistake for an elk and rush after.
K32B199.29%The man's mother-in-law takes on the appearance of her daughter to take her place. See motif K32.
K19E99.25%Returning from the sky to earth, a woman or two sisters encounter a male wolverine who tries to capture them. Usually, the women who have descended first find themselves in a tree. Some animals cannot or will not help them descend to the ground. The wolverine descends to take the sisters as wives; they run away from him. See motif K19B.
B42S98.81%The Big Dipper or Polar Star – a small animal (ermine, marten, forest marmot) or anthropomorphic character with animal features, struck by a spear or arrow.
B10198.80%Angry at the birch tree, the character beats or cuts it, leaving stripes on the bark that remain to this day.
J41A98.64%The son returns and finds his mother, who has been humiliated and tortured in his absence. The son turns his mother (and usually himself as well) into a bird of a certain species.
M30A97.95%The character flying over the village falls, is tied up, and defecated on him.
K18C97.35%The man in whose arms the boy urinates will be recognised as his father. See motif K18.
B9696.87%The heroes' enemy turns into a large commercial fish (usually a sturgeon) or (rarely) a commercial aquatic mammal.
K5496.86%When encountering a giant or a snake, a person is afraid of it, but it becomes his friend and asks for help when he is fighting another giant or snake. The person fulfils the request.

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 13 traditions: Kalmyk, Tutchone, Tagish, Tahltan, Gwich'in (Kuchin, Loucheux), Beaver, Montagnais, Menominee, Iowa, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Assiniboine, Navajo


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