Folklore Database · Browse

Aarne–Thompson–Uther index

About this index and how to read it

The ATU index classifies international folktales by type. Each row gives the type number, its title and summary, followed by the references it inherits: Arne Thompson is the earlier Aarne–Thompson type number, and Thompson lists the motif references from Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature associated with that type.

Cross-references inside a summary open the relevant tale-type or motif record. Thompson motif references in the final column are linked directly to the corresponding entry in the Stith Thompson Motif Index when that reference exists in the database. Any column heading can be clicked to sort by it, and clicking again reverses the order. Following a type number opens that type on its own page.

Animal Tales 1–299

153 tale types

Sorted by title, ascending

Showing 1–50 of 153 · Page 1 of 4

ATU Title ▲ Summary Arne Thompson Thompson
8 "Painting" on the Haycock The bear (wolf) wants to be painted like the birds. The fox persuades him to lie on a haycock and sets fire to it. 8, 8A K1013., K1013.2
156 Androcles and the Lion In gratitude the lion later rewards the man. 156, 156A B301.8., B381.
78 Animal Allows himself to be Tied to Another for Safety Animal allows himself to be tied to another for safety. Carried to his death. , 78, 78A K713.1.1., K713.1.2.,               
20 Animals Eat One Another Up The fox persuades them to begin with the smallest. 20, 20A, 20C, 61A K1024., K2027., Z43.3.
214 Ass Tries to caress his Master like a Dog He is driven off. 214, 214A, 214B J2133.1., J2413.1., J951.1.
292 Ass Tries to Get a Cricket's Voice Asks cricket what they eat to get such a voice. They answer, >>dew.>> He tries it and starves. 292 J512.8.
289 Bat, Diver, and Thornbush Shipwrecked Bat brought money, bush put on clothes, and diver brought leather. All shipwrecked. Diver is looking for his leather. Bush looks for his clothes and holds fast to all passers-by. Bat is abroad only at night to escape creditors. (Cf. A2471.4,… 289 A2275.5.3.
110 Belling the Cat The mice buy a bell for the cat but no one dares tie it on her. 110 J671.1.
5 Biting the foot The fox to the bear, who is biting his foot: »You are biting the tree root.» The bear lets loose. 5 K543.
73 Blinding the Guard The rabbit, imprisoned in a hollow tree, induces his guard to look up at him. He spits tobacco juice into the guard's eyes and blinds the guard, and thus effects his escape. 73 K621.
159 Captured wild animals ransom themselves Bring horses, cows, etc. to the man. 159A, 159B NA, W185.6.
4 Carrying the Sham-Sick Trickster The fox shams sickness and is carried by the wolf. 4 K1241.
114 Chanticleer Believes that his Crowing Makes the Sun Rise Chanticleer believes that his crowing makes the sun rise. Disappointed when it rises without his aid.
38 Claw in Split Tree The fox (or man) persuades the bear to stick his claw in the cleft of a split tree. 38 K1111.
71 Contest of Frost and the Hare The hare lies on the frozen snow and says, »Oh, how warm!» 71 H1541.1.
50 Curing a Sick Lion The fox pretends to seek a remedy for the lion; advises him to skin the wolf . , 50, 50A, 50C J644.1., K961., W121.2.1.,           ,            
293 Debate of the Belly and the Members Debate as to their usefulness. All are mutually useful. 293 J461.1.
291 Deceptive Tug-of-war Small animal challenges two large animals to a tug-of-war. Arranges it so that they unwittingly pull against each other (or one end of rope is tied to a tree). 291 K22.
107 Dog Leader Fears Defeat Because his Forces are of Different Breeds. Dog leader fears defeat because his forces are of different breeds. Wolves are all of one kind.
21 Eating his own Entrails The fox persuades the wolf (bear) to eat his own entrails. 21 K1025.
247 Every Mother Thinks Her Child Is the Most Beautiful The snipe asks the sportsman to spare its small ones, easily recognized as being the prettiest in the forest. To be on the safe side the man shoots only the ugliest he can find. They are the young snipes. (Often told of the ape.) 247 T681.
59 Fox and the Sour Grapes Pretends that the grapes he cannot reach are sour. 59 J871.
132 Goat Admires his Horns in the Water Goat admires his horns in the water, and says, "I needn't be afraid of the wolf." Wolf behind him asks him what he was saying. Goat: "One talks such foolishness when one is drinking." 132 K1775.
160 Grateful Animals ; Ungrateful Man The rescue from the pit. A traveler saves a monkey, a snake, a tiger, and a jeweler from a pit. The monkey gives him fruit; the tiger a necklace of the princess he has killed. The jeweler accuses the rescuer before the king. The serpent saves him by biting the prince and then showing the man the proper remedy. 160 W154.8.
2 How the bear lost his tail The bear (wolf) is persuaded to fish with his tail through a hole in the ice. His tail freezes fast. When he is attacked and tries to escape, he loses his tail. 2, 2A, 2B, 64 K1021, K1021.1., K1021.2.
236 Imitating bird sounds, The dove keeps saying >>I know>> and persists in building her small nest. (Imitation of bird's sounds.) Cf. Type 2075. 236, 236* A1952., A2271.1.
155 Ingratitude Is the World's Reward A man rescues a serpent (or a bear), who in return seeks to kill the rescuer. Fox, as judge, advises the man to put the serpent back into captivity. 155 J1172.3.
157 Learning to Fear Men The fox undertakes to persuade the wolf of the frightfulness of men. They see an old man. The fox says this was a man but is no longer one. Likewise a boy (will be a man). Next a man with a gun. The wolf approaches and is shot. He tells the fox he could have defeated the man but for the man's spitting fire. [J17]. 157, 157A J17., J22.1.
173 Man and animals readjust span of life Cf. 828 AT first, 30 years are given to all animals and to man. For the animals it is too long, for man too short. Man is given a portion of animal's lives. [A1321]. 173 A1321.
113 Mice Choose Cat as King Mice choose cat as king. 113A, 113B B342., K815.13.
70 More cowardly than the hare The hare finds a (sheep, fish, frog, etc.) who is afraid of him and laughs till his lip splits. 70 J881.1.
65 Mrs. Fox's Suitors The widowed she-fox proves her faithfulness by rejecting suitors who do not resemble her deceased husband. 65 N681.
151 Music lessons for wild animals He tricks them by catching their claws in a cleft tree. Similarly betrays many other animals. The freed animals try in vain for revenge. 151 K1111.0.1.
130 Outcast Animals Find a New Home They drive away an intruder. , 130, 130A B296., K1161., K335., NA
62 Peace Among the Animals – The Fox and the Cock The fox tries to beguile the cock by reporting a new law establishing peace among the animals. Dogs appear and the fox flees saying that the dogs have not yet heard of the new law. 62 J1421.
244 Peacock Plumes No examples in the Database yet 244, 244A*, 244C* , J267.1., J951.2.
161 Peasant Betrays Fox by Pointing The peasant has hidden the fox in a basket, and promised not to tell. When the hunters come, he says, »The fox just went over the hill,« but points to the basket. [K2315]. 161, 161A* K2315., NA
278 Rat and Frog Tie Paws Together A rat and a frog get their paws entangled and get c arried off by a falcon. 278, 278A*, Frog J652.1., J681.1., J752.1.
57 Raven with a Cheese A raven/crow has some cheese/meat in his mouth. The fox flatters the raven into singing. He drops his food and the fox gets it. 57 K334.1.
207 Rebellion of the Work Animals Cock as leader punished. 207, 207A, 207B, 207C B271.3., J2413.1., K1633., NA
53 Reynard the Fox at Court The fox is summoned to appear before the court of justice, but he does not come and laughs at the messengers. When he is caught at last and about to be hanged, he escapes again. 53 J864.2.
3 Sham Blood and Brains The fox covers his head with buttermilk (blood, urine, etc.) and says that his brains have been knocked out. Frightens the bear. 3 K473.
204 Sheep, duck and cock in peril at sea The duck swims; the cock flies to the mast and crows that he sees the shore. 204 J1711.1.
283 Spider Invites Fly to Rest on her Curtain Eats her. 283 K815.2.
15 Stealing the Partner's Butter The fox (the hen) pretends that he has been invited to be godfather and steals the butter stored by him and the bear (the cock) for the winter. He smears butter on the mouth (tail) of the sleeping bear. 15 K372.
206 Straw Threshed a second Time The animals eating at night say they have good food because the straw has not been well threshed. The master hears and threshes it a second time. They grow hungry. (Animals' voices imitated in telling story.) Cf. Types 106, 2075. 206 J2362.
250 Swimming Match of the Fish The perch hangs on to the tail of the salmon and wins. Cf. Types 221, 275. 250A A2231.1.2.
64 Tailless Fox Tries in Vain to Get Foxes to Cut off Tails No examples in the Database yet
245 Tame Bird and Wild Bird The tame bird advises the wild bird to look about him. The wild bird is shot. Cf. Type 112.
106 The Animal's Conversation Animals' conversation (imitation of animal sounds). 106 NA

Showing 1–50 of 153 · Page 1 of 4





If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help

How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com ORCID iD 0009-0006-1672-4451
Please cite the relevant sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including the Folklore Database, Berezkin-Duvakin Catalogue, ATU, Thompson, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed. Please respect copyright and licenses.

Editorial annotations and database enhancements © Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-Duvakin derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.

Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.

Designed and Developed by Jonathan Fielder-White.
© 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.