The Mythology and Folklore Database
L42B1 - Frying pans are placed on top of each other.




10 Myths, Legends and Folktales
10 Unique Narratives for Motif L42B1
6 Cultures & Traditions where L42B1 is told
0 Mythemes Indexed
16 Sub-Motifs of Motif L42B1


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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

A character kidnapped by a demon advises him to stack pots, pans and other kitchen items on top of each other and climb up them. He does so, falls and breaks.

Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits

This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part group 10, Adventures


L42 has 16 other sub-motifs


L42.  After capturing the character, the enemy brings the prey home or to the place where he intends to eat it. The character runs away and escapes.
L42a.  The cannibal steals fresh corpses from graves.
L42b.  After capturing the hero, the antagonist brings him home and leaves him in the care of a family member. The latter believes the hero's words and follows his instructions. See motif L42.
L42b1.  A character kidnapped by a demon advises him to stack pots, pans and other kitchen items on top of each other and climb up them. He does so, falls and breaks.
L42c.  The character hides from someone stronger, sometimes inside the house, sometimes outside, and the stronger character cannot catch him.
L42d.  A man runs away from a cannibal across the ice, the cannibal pursues him, licks the blood spilled on the ice, his tongue freezes, he dies, or falls to his death after slipping on the ice.
L42e.  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.
L42f.  The character intended for consumption slips away unnoticed. The master of the house thinks that his wife has eaten him alone and cuts open her stomach.
L42g.  The stepmother, and more often the father (usually at the insistence of his new wife), leaves the children in a deserted place or sends them into the forest. They end up in the house of a cannibal or cannibals, all (or at least one of them) survive and achieve success.
L42g1.  Father (stepfather) takes children into the forest and slips away unnoticed. To make the children think he is nearby chopping wood, father hangs a board, pumpkin, etc. on a tree, which bangs against the trunk in the wind.
L42g2.  A person leaves traces behind by dropping seeds, pebbles, etc., or leaving drops of blood. These traces are unintentionally destroyed by birds, animals, wind, etc.
L42g3.  In the forest or in the sky, the character sees a house that is made entirely or partially of edible materials.
L42h.  A cannibal catches the hero and invites other cannibals to a feast. The hero escapes, and the cannibals eat the one who invited them.
L42i.  Creatures from another world carry off a little boy. His sister takes him and safely escapes from their pursuers. Usually the boy has two or three sisters, and only the youngest succeeds.
L42i1.  A boy is rowing a boat. A witch lures him out and carries him away. The boy escapes.
L42j.  The ogre catches children (usually mice), puts them in a bag, orders a tree (pole, crossbar in the house) to bend over, hangs the bag, orders the tree to straighten up again, and leaves. Another character (usually a fox) orders the tree (pole, etc.) to bend over and frees the children.
L42k.  A demonic character regurgitates an axe (adze) to cut down a tree.

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Top 10 Motifs with similar dispersal patterns

MotifSimilarityMotif Summary
K119C100.00%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).
L23A100.00%In an attempt to free himself, the captured character sequentially changes his appearance, in particular turning into fire (and water).
L37C99.92%A person encounters the incarnations of Fortune (and Misfortune) – his own or someone else's. He manages to influence their behaviour and change (for himself) the course of events for the better.
K38F599.79%Flames burst from the horse's mouth and/or nostrils, or the entire horse is engulfed in fire.
M17999.78%Two zoomorphic characters live nearby, one's house is destroyed, he asks the other to shelter him. Usually he breaks in and drives out the owner, strong animals fear the invader, while weak or small ones drive him away.
K15199.69%A magical helper grants a poor man's simple wish. The poor man or his wife ask for more and more. In the end, the helper punishes the beggar (usually by taking away everything that was given). {Many references to texts outside Europe in Uther 2004 are not related to the plot of ATU 555 and do not contain the K151 motif. This applies in particular to the Arabic and Ossetian variants}.
K35A399.68%In order to obtain the privileges enjoyed by the hero, the deceiver manages to swap status with him.
K14299.64%After killing several people, a man asks a gravedigger to bury the dead and each time says that the dead man has returned. The gravedigger buries everyone, but believes that there is only one dead man.
M106A99.61%The character who caused the damage calls himself by a fictitious name such as "Nobody," "I Myself," etc. Usually, others decide that the victim himself is to blame for what happened.
M120B99.60%The character is looking for a nanny (nurse, wet nurse, shepherd, husband) and consistently rejects those whose voice he does not like. He settles on the one with the most beautiful voice, but the choice turns out to be unsuccessful (usually the nurse eats the child, the sick person, the sheep, etc.).

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Map of Motif Dispersal

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This motif has been recorded in 6 traditions: Sardinia, Corsica, Sardinians, Corsicans, France, Croatians, Croats; Italians of Dalmatia (if the motif is absent among other Italians), Karachays, Balkar, Central Tibetans (Yu Tsang, incl. Sikkim Tibetans, Tichurong of NW Nepal), Italians: Central (Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Lazio)


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