Motif
Animal body explained by ancestral punishment
animal_body_explained_by_ancestral_punishment
A motif of the Shapeshifter and Transformation family, within the sub-family Punitive Transformations. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.
1 occurrences
1 traditions
japanese
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Japanese Fairy Tales THE SAGACIOUS MONKEY AND THE BOAR / THE HAPPY HUNTER AND THE SKILLFUL FISHER / THE STORY OF THE OLD MAN WHO MADE WITHERED TREES TO FLOWER / THE JELLY FISH AND THE MONKEY; lines 5081-5179 confidence: high
The Dragon King orders a severe punishment: the jelly fish’s bones are drawn out, he is beaten with sticks by palace servants, thrown into the water, and left to adjust to bonelessness.
The passage explicitly explains the present soft, boneless state of jellyfish as the result of punishment imposed on the ancestor of jellyfishes.
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