Precipice test. Hero is pushed over a precipice

Motif

Precipice test. Hero is pushed over a precipice.

Tests. · Other tests. · Tests of endurance and power of survival. · Tests of power to survive. · view the constellation · filed as H1535

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“Then they exchanged arrows, the Sun giving him four arrows of his own. The points of these arrows were made of coal." Now the young man began to climb the mountain. When he came up to the goats, he took one of the arrows, aimed it, and shot. It struck the animals, but fell down without killing it. The same happened with the other arrows. When he had spent all his arrows, they rushed up to him from the four sides, intending to kill him.”

— Tales of the North American Indians, Tale 39 · served from our shelf receiptuncorrected OCR — being verified against the scan

Attested across traditions

North American IndigenousTales of the North American Indians, Tale 39 receipt

Scholars’ trail — 3references

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

Irish mythCross
N. Am. Indian*Thompson Tales 312 n. 122, (California): Gayton and Newman 95
Africa (Basuto)Jacottet 72 No. 11.

Within the index

Filed under Tests of power to survive. Vain attempts to kill hero.

1 finer motif beneath it

Pit test. Hero thrown into pit

Filed beside it

Heat test. Attempt to kill hero by burning him in fire Cold test. Attempt to freeze hero to death Poisoned food test. Attempt to kill hero by feeding him poisoned food Poisoned clothing test. Attempt to kill hero by poisoning clothing Test: bite of poisonous snake Clam test. Hero is sent to capture a giant clam, so that he can be killed Killing trees threaten hero Clashing rocks test: hero to pass between them Spine test. Attempt to kill hero by throwing him on sharp spine or spike Wedge test. Hero is caught in cleft of tree Hanging test. Unavailing attempt to kill hero by hanging Plank test. Attempt to kill hero by letting plank fall on him Toboggan test. Attempt to kill hero on dangerous toboggan Test: playing game with ferocious beast Drowning test. Unavailing attempt to drown hero

Keeps company with — shares receipted episodes

Sun father-in-law Animal bribed with food. (Sop to Cerberus.)Animal as guard of person or house Guardian animals evaded Transformation: man to feather Protean beggar: Person assumes successive forms in order to beg Transformation combat. Fight between contestants who strive to outdo each other in successive transformations Transformation to reach difficult place Transformation to escape difficult situation Transformation to receive food Burning magically evaded. (Cf. D1656.)Resuscitation by arrangement of members. Parts of a dismembered corpse are brought together and resuscitation follows. (Sometimes combined with other methods.)

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