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Stith Thompson Motif Index
About this index and how to read it
Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature classifies recurring narrative elements in folktales, myths, legends, ballads and related traditional narratives. Each entry below gives Thompson's motif reference and the description recorded in the index.
The index is large, so this browser displays 250 entries per page. You can search by motif reference or by words in the description, restrict the results to one of Thompson's main letter categories, and click motif references mentioned inside descriptions to follow cross-references. Individual motif pages also show any ATU tale types whose concordance explicitly cites that Thompson reference.
All
A
Mythological Motifs
B
Animal Motifs
C
Motifs of Tabu
D
Magic
E
The Dead
F
Marvels
G
Ogres
H
Tests
J
The Wise and the Foolish
K
Deceptions
L
Reversals of Fortune
M
Ordaining the Future
N
Chance and Fate
P
Society
Q
Rewards and Punishments
R
Captives and Fugitives
S
Unnatural Cruelty
T
Sex
U
The Nature of Life
V
Religion
W
Traits of Character
X
Humor
Z
Miscellaneous Groups of Motifs
| Thompson reference | Description ▲ |
|---|---|
| J2199.1 | Alarm sounded foolishly. |
| J1293.5 | All appurtenances included. Butcher buyer demands saddle and ornaments along with camel (or the like). Seller later buys all heads in butcher shop: demands heads of butcher's family. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J755 | All aspects of a plan must be foreseen. |
| J1743.1 | All sins since the birth of Christ. A stupid man at confession says, "I confess myself guilty of all sins that I have committed since Christ's birth." "Are you so old?" "Yes, and I have a brother who is three years older than I." Wesselski Bebel II 106 No. 17; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 295. |
| J1813.9 | All the beans cooked for one meal. They fill the room. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J2326.4 | Alleged messenger from relatives in distress given goods to deliver. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2411.5 | Alleged return from land of dead with bags of gold persuades dupe to try to imitate. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J681 | Alliances which make both parties more vulnerable. |
| J685 | Alliances with the intelligent. |
| J684 | Alliances with the strong. |
| J956 | Ambitious branch chosen king of trees. Vine and fig tree have refused. Scala Celi 8b No. 55; Judges 9: 8. |
| J263 | Among many vain words may be found some of wisdom. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1631 | An expensive joke. A shoemaker's apprentice greases boots as he would grease a fowl. The owner in anger returns and breaks a window. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 642. |
| J1458 | An oath to break oaths. Village called on to join in war deliberates in meeting. A man says, "We have taken oaths not to go to war. We must now take an oath to break all the oaths we have taken." Wesselski Bebel I 205 No. 88. |
| J1357 | Ancient and modern ancestors. To a prince who boasted that he was descended from the Trojans a doctor replies: "My people are of Nurenberg. Everyone knows who they are; but of the Trojans no one knows anything except that Aeneas was a traitor and Romulus a robber." *Wesselski Bebel II 114 No. 46. |
| J225.4 | Angel (Jesus) kills man. Done because man is plotting a murder. *Type 759; Wesselski Mönchslatein No. 79; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J225.0.1 | Angel and hermit. Angel takes hermit with him and does many seemingly unjust things. Later shows why each of these was just. *Type 759; *BP IV 326 No. 3; **DeCock Studien en Essays 178ff.; *Crane Vitry 179 No. 109; Herbert III 8; Fb "uskyldig"; Alphabet Nos. 68, 411; Scala Celi 15a No. 85; Hdwb. d. Märchens I 508b nn. 9—11; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 32; **O. Rohde Die Erzählung vom Einsiedler und dem Engel (Leipzig, 1894); *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 682. — Irish: Beal XXI 336; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 23, *296, Goebel Jüdische Motive in märchenhaften Erzählungsgut (Gleiwitz, 1932) 116ff., *Neuman. |
| J225.0.1.1 | Angel explains to hermit why God lets a sinner die in peace and have big funeral while holy hermit is slain by a wild beast. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J225.0.3 | Angel in form of young man shows skeptical hermit that ways of providence are inscrutable. Irish myth: Cross. |
| J225.5 | Angel kills man because he loves his child too much. Type 759; Wesselski Mönchslatein No. 79. |
| J225.3 | Angel takes cup from old man. Done lest he love the cup too much. *Type 759; Wesselski Mönchslatein No. 79. |
| J2132.5 | Animal allows himself to be tied to another's tail and is dragged to death. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1117 | Animal as trickster. N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 294. |
| J134 | Animal behavior teaches man what to avoid. |
| J2351 | Animal betrays himself to his enemies by talking. |
| J2136.6 | Animal caught in animal carcass. (Cf. J2131.5.) |
| J1811 | Animal cries misunderstood. |
| J2413.4 | Animal dupe cuts off limb. Thinks he is imitating another animal. |
| J133 | Animal gives wise example to man. Jewish: *Neuman; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J17 | Animal learns through experience to fear men. In spite of the warning of another animal he approaches man and is shot. *Type 157; BP II 96; India: *Thompson-Balys; Africa (Hottentot): Bleek 47 No. 23; American Negro: Harris Nights 33 No. 7, 330 No. 57; Jamaica: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 262 No. 62. |
| J1860 | Animal or object absurdly punished. |
| J1881 | Animal or object expected to go alone. |
| J1760 | Animal or person mistaken for something else. |
| J1881.2 | Animal sent to go by itself. |
| J512 | Animal should not try to change his nature. |
| J1144.2 | Animal thief of eggs detected when he comes to a spring to drink. All animals must tell why they are thirsty. Cape Verde Islands: Parsons MAFLS XV (1) 27 n. 1. |
| J1762 | Animal thought to be a person. |
| J1761 | Animal thought to be object. |
| J1782.5 | Animal with lighted candle thought to be ghost. (Cf. K335.0.5.1.) U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1818 | Animal's action misunderstood. |
| J953.15 | Animals each think moon shines for his benefit. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1711.1 | Animals helpless in sea-voyage together. Sheep, duck, and cock in peril The duck swims; the cock flies to the mast. *Type 204; *Fb "and" IV 12. |
| J1762.0.1 | Animals mistaken for messengers. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1873 | Animals or objects kept warm. |
| J1880 | Animals or objects treated as if human—miscellaneous. |
| J1172.3.2 | Animals render unjust decision against man since man has always been unjust to them. India: Thompson-Balys; Africa (Bushman): Honey South African Folk Tales (New York, 1910) 101f., (Tumbuka-Kamanga): Young Customs and Folklore of the Tumbuka Kamanga (Livingstonia, 1931) 233ff., (Shilluk): Oyler Sudan Notes and Records II 221f., (Tschi): Bellon Mitt. d. Sem. f. Orient. Spr. XVII (3) 20ff. No. 4, (Saho): Reinisch Die Saho-Sprache (Wien, 1889) I (5) 205ff. No. 17, (Senegal): Colin RTP I 140f., Zeltner Contes du Senegal et du Niger (Paris, 1913) 81ff. |
| J1420 | Animals retort concerning their dangers. |
| J1785 | Animals thought to be the devils or ghosts. Lithuanian: Balys Legends Nos. 886ff. |
| J571.7 | Answer questions of a fool the next day. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1255 | Answering only "yes" and "no". India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J711.1 | Ant and lazy cricket (grasshopper). Lazy bird is put to shame by thrift of industrious bird. In winter he is in distress. *Type 249; *Chauvin III 58 No. 19; Wienert FFC LVI 55 (ET 156, 157), 126 (ST 347); Halm Aesop No. 295, 401; Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 845; Jacobs Aesop 208 No. 36.—Italian Novella: Rotunda; N. A. Indian: Thompson CColl II 451. |
| J2175.1 | Anticipatory whipping. A schoolmaster whips his pupils to keep them from wrong-doing. He does not wait until after the deed is done. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 231 No. 499. |
| J1593 | Any boon desired. Stingy king insists on trickster asking any boon desired. By asking king to perform disgusting act, trickster compels king to give expensive gift. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J369.2 | Ape throws away nut because of its bitter rind. *Crane Vitry 188 No. 127; Herbert III 11, 36ff.; Hervieux Fabulistes latins I 218 No. 47. |
| J264 | Apparent beauty may be of the least importance. Ruler admires jewels's beauty but neglects to inquire about their marvelous virtues. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J655 | Approaching danger too familiarly. |
| J2032 | Are there nine or ten geese? Ten men are called in; each is to take a goose. If all have a goose, there are ten. One man is left without one. Numskull: "You should have taken one before they were all gone." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 246 No. 143. |
| J1625 | Armies like seeds and peppercorns. One king sends large sack of seed to the other to represent the number of his soldiers. The second replies with a small bag of peppercorns: "My army is small compared to yours but has all the power of the peppercorn compared to your lifeless seed." *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 722. |
| J673.1 | Armor ordered thin in front and thick in back, since it would be most needed in flight. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 543. |
| J216.1 | Army faces enemy rather than the anger of their king who would kill them if they returned in flight. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 529. |
| J53 | Army saved from ambush by observation of birds' movements. Birds fly from part of woods in which ambushed men lie. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 541; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J32 | Arrow as man's message shows lion how terrible man himself must be. Wienert FFC LVI 67 (ET 316), 122 (ST 312); Babrius No. 1; Halm Aesop No. 403; BP II 99. |
| J1935 | Articles sent by telegraph. U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1491 | Artist paints too few birds. Is engaged to decorate room. Owner: "You did not paint as many birds as I told you to." Artist: "The windows were left open and most of them flew out." Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1946 | As tired as if he had walked. So says the numskull after riding to town on his stick horse. *Wesselski Bebel II 158 No. 182. |
| J1481 | As you surely will. After her husband's death a woman cannot find a hammer and anvil. She goes to a dying neighbor and says, "If you die, as you surely will, and go to Heaven, as you surely will not, ask my husband where he left the hammer and anvil." The dying man's wife replies, "If you go to Heaven, as you surely will, if you die as you surely will not, do not run around and get into trouble, but sit down by the Eternal Father and observe and keep still." Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 93 No. 805. |
| J2415.5 | Ascetic imitates Brahmin's practices. Brahmin goes to heaven, ascetic to hell. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1338 | Asking costs nothing. So says beggar who asks goldsmith to plate his club with gold. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2461.8 | Asking favor when master is in good humor. Fool waits till master is laughing at servant's stupidity. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1341.2 | Asking the large fish. Parents serve boy a small fish and keep back a large one for themselves. Knowing this, the boy puts the fish to his ear. He says that he has asked the fish a question; the fish cannot answer but tells him to ask the large fish under the bed. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 247 No. 158; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 700; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *1565; Italian Novella: Rotunda; L. Schmidt Oesterr. Zs. f. Vksk. 1954, 134. |
| J2211.4 | Ass brays on hearing a conch shell. Owner thinks he must have been a saint in a former life. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J451.1 | Ass buyer returns ass which has associated with lazy companions. Wienert FFC LVI 72 (ET 376), 120 (ST 294); Halm Aesop No. 320; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J212.1 | Ass envies horse in fine trappings. Horse killed in battle; ass content. Jacobs Aesop 220 No. 78; Scala Celi 135a No. 744; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J952.2 | Ass follows after lion and is punished. Ass and cock are surprised by lion. Cock crows and scares lion, who runs. Ass thinks that he has scared lion and pursues. Wienert FFC LVI 57 (ET 174), 92 (ST 53); Halm Aesop No. 323. |
| J833 | Ass foolish to kick against the pricks. Wienert FFC LVI 71 (ET 357), 140 (ST 468). |
| J2413.1.1 | Ass imitating dog brays so as to wake master when thieves are robbing him. Beaten for his pains. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J951.1 | Ass in lion's skin unmasked when he raises his voice. **DeCock Volkssage 184ff.; Wienert FFC LVI 57 (ET 175, 176), *91 (ST 38), 93 (ST 69); Halm Aesop Nos. 333, 336; Jacobs Aesop 211 No. 49; *Chauvin II 224 No. 22. — Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: Thompson-Balys, Penzer V 99 n. 3. |
| J973 | Ass in the potter's shop. (Bull in china shop.) Only breaks the pots *Wienert FFC LVI 40; Halm Aesop No. 190. |
| J1881.2.1 | Ass loaded and commanded to go home. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 272 No. 281; Spanish: Espinosa III 147. |
| J133.2 | Ass refuses to drink after it has had enough. Thus teaches lesson to master. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 239. |
| J1754 | Ass thought to be hare. Type 1316****. |
| J1785.3 | Ass thought to be the devil. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J512.4 | Ass tries in vain to play lyre. *Wienert FFC LVI 45 (ET 26), 130 (ST 373). |
| J2413.1 | Ass tries to caress his master like the dog. He is driven off. *Crane Vitry 139 No. 15; Oesterley Gesta Romanorum No. 79; Jacobs Aesop 202 No. 10; Wienert FFC LVI 46 (ET 45), *90 (ST 19); Halm Aesop No. 331; Spanish Exempla: Keller; West Indies: Flowers 489f. |
| J512.8 | Ass tries to get a cricket's voice. Asks crickets what they eat to get such a voice. They answer, "dew." He tries it and starves. Wienert FFC LVI 46 (ET 43), 90 (ST 24); Halm Aesop No. 337. |
| J2413.2 | Ass tries to jump on the roof like the ape. Wienert FFC LVI 46 (ET 44), *90 (ST 18); Halm Aesop No. 338. |
| J683.1 | Ass turns on his driver who would save him from falling over the precipice. Wienert FFC LVI 72 (ET 375), 118 (ST 283); Halm Aesop No. 335. |
| J953.4 | Ass who carried divine image thinks people bow before him. Wienert FFC LVI 57 (ET 177), 94 (ST 74); Halm Aesop No. 324. |
| J952.4 | Ass who has worked with ox thinks himself equal to ox. Wienert FFC LVI 57 (ET 178), 91 (ST 39); Halm Aesop No. 104. |
| J1608 | Ass's charter in his hoof. The ass absents himself from the parliament of beasts. The lion sends the fox and the wolf to summon him. He pleads his charter of exemption and invites the fox to read it in his hoof. (Cf. K551.18.) Herbert III 53; Crane Vitry 147 No. 33; Baum MLN XXXVII 350; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J429.2 | Associating with a bad friend is fatal: swan and crow. Swan is blamed when crow drops filth. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J427 | Association of cow and tiger: tiger eats cow as soon as she is hungry. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J410 | Association of equals and unequals. |
| J426.1 | Association of mouse with cat ceases as soon as mutual danger has passed. Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J426 | Association of rat with cat ceases as soon as mutual danger has passed. The rat threatened by the weasel and the owl allies himself with a cat caught in a net. Saved by the cat, he rescues the cat with precaution and then prudently renounces further relations with her. Chauvin II 101 No. 61; Bødker Exempler No. 66; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J429 | Association of strong and weak—miscellaneous. |
| J420 | Association of strong and weak. |
| J429.1 | Association of swan and swallow: swan unable to fly away from danger. Type 246*. |
| J450 | Association of the good and the evil. |
| J428 | Association of tiger and crane. They soon quarrel. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1714 | Association of wise men with fools. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J440 | Association of young and old. |
| J1710 | Association with fools. |
| J241.1 | Athena chooses olive tree because of fruitfulness. Wienert FFC LVI 76 (ET 417), 143 (ST 488). |
| J2171.1.3.1 | Attempts to make canoe of sand. (Cf. H1021.3.) Marquesas: Handy 45, 91. |
| J1050 | Attention to warnings. |
| J1714.4 | Author believes that his book must be stupid. Stupid people and gossipers are praising it. Spanish: Childers. |
| J647.1 | Avoid enemies' revenge either by making peace and friendship or by killing them all. So says old man to conqueror. Pauli (ed. Bolte) Nos. 544, 545. |
| J571 | Avoid hasty judgment. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J571.4 | Avoid hasty punishment. |
| J640 | Avoidance of others' power. |
| J647 | Avoiding enemy's revenge. |
| J644 | Avoiding places which have been fatal to others. |
| J645 | Avoiding power of future enemy. |
| J656 | Avoiding things which are harmful by nature. |
| J1141.1.12 | B warns A not to tie his horse near B's. Horses fight and A's is killed. In court B plays dumb. A says B could talk the day before, and repeats conversation. Judge blames A for not taking advice. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J452 | Bad associates bring death to bishop. Doctor loses his life for him and lawyer his soul. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J229.6 | Bad choice between poor and miserly man. Neither makes good leader. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 571. |
| J953.2 | Bad singer thinks he is talented: driven from theatre. Wienert FFC LVI 82 (ET 481), 93 (ST 72); Halm Aesop No. 193. |
| J953.2.1 | Bad writer who praises himself reprimanded. Wienert FFC LVI 85 (ET 515), 91 ST 41). |
| J1251 | Baffling malice with ready answers. English: Child I 20—22, 485, III 496, IV 440. |
| J2102.3 | Bald man aims at a fly: hurts his head. Jacobs Aesop 204 No. 18; Wienert FFC LVI 67 (ET 313), 128 (ST 361). |
| J1062.2.1 | Bald man tries to sell hair restorer. Scorned. Penzer V 83f. |
| J1061.2 | Baldheaded man finds the comb: it is useless. Wienert FFC LVI 45 (ET 29), 130 (ST 374). |
| J1661.1.9 | Banker able to recognize honest merchant by a single hair of his mustache. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1312.3 | Baptized wine. Christ's making wine from water has made all landlords try to do it too. Man prefers Jewish wine to the baptized kind. *Wesselski Bebel I 169 No 3. |
| J342.1 | Barber leaves inexpensive village for high wages in city. Finds cost of living more than enough to take all his profit. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 602; Scala Celi 60a No. 332; Alphabet No. 448. |
| J1166.1 | Barber operating on child's skin kills it: blames mother for child's thin skin. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1161.6 | Barber paid to change color of woman's face burns her with acid. He has fulfilled contract. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 414. |
| J513.2 | Barber tries unsuccessfully to become a trader. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1521.5.1 | Bargain: to render service for "something". Claimant has called dead cricket "something" and must be content. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1582 | Base money in the offering. |
| J706.1 | Be diligent and spend little: how to become wealthy. Advice of a self-made man. Nouvelles Récréations No. 53. |
| J741.1 | Bear builds house of wood; fox of ice. Fox's house fails him in summer. *Type 43; Missouri French: Carrière. |
| J102 | Bear learns how to catch crabs with his hairy claws. Wienert FFC LVI 63 (ET 263), 106 (ST 185). |
| J1761.9 | Bear mistaken for a floating log (blanket). India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1762.8 | Bear mistaken for a foreigner. The strong man meets a bear in the forest, takes it for a German and struggles with it. Having strangled the bear, fears he has killed a man. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1283*. |
| J1762.2 | Bear on haywagon (on horse) thought to be the preacher. *Type 116. |
| J1753 | Bear thought to be dog. Type 1312*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1313. |
| J351.1 | Beaver sacrifices scrotum to save life. Cuts it off and leaves it for pursuers. Wienert FFC LVI 63 (ET 264), 141 (ST 475); Halm Aesop No. 189. |
| J2137.3 | Bee rests on water lily which closes over it at night and kills it. *Chauvin II 89 n. 1. |
| J1762.5 | Bees (wasps) mistaken for Jutlanders, etc. Christensen DF XLVII 222 No. 85. |
| J2131.2.1 | Bees caught in sack which is opened at home. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 268. |
| J1343.2 | Before, during, and after. A priest, asked when he would have certain choice wine served, before or after the meal, replies, "The holy Mary was Virgin before, during, and after the birth." *Wesselski Arlotto I 202 No. 33. |
| J1337 | Beggar claims to be emperor's brother. (All men are descended from Adam.) Emperor gives him small coin. Beggar protests. Emperor: "If all your brothers gave you that much you would be richer than I." Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1334 | Beggar tells stingy to go beg. They say they have no meat, no bread, no wine, etc. "Then go beg; you have more need than I." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 236 No. 519. |
| J1332 | Beggar wants bread. A numskull tells his mother that a beggar is below asking for bread. Mother: "Tell him I am not at home." Numskull: "He doesn't want you, he wants bread." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 239 No. 528. |
| J2287 | Belief that island may be towed by ships to new location. Irish myth: Cross. |
| J671.1 | Belling the cat. Mice decide that a bell should be put on the cat but can find no one to tie it on her. *Type 110; Wienert FFC LVI 53 (ET 128), 96 (ST 97); Halm Aesop No. 15; Jacobs Aesop 216 No. 67; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 260 No. 213, *Arlotto II 226 No. 93; *Baum MLN XXXIV (1919) 462; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 634; Dh IV 145ff.; Herbert III 36ff. — Spanish Exempla: Keller; American Negro: Harris Nights 311 No. 53. |
| J346 | Better be content with what you have, than try to get more and lose everything. Icelandic: [A]ns saga bogsv. 361, Boberg. |
| J229.4 | Better send an ugly woman to the devil than a pretty one. Man chooses ugly mistress. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 404. |
| J1552.4 | Better to donate half of what is asked than lend all. Two farmers ask a priest to lend two measures of grain to each of them. The priest refuses to lend them any but donates one measure to each. Thus he saves two measures. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J482.2.1 | Better to marry a man lacking money than money lacking a man. Spanish: Childers, Keller. |
| J482.2 | Better to marry ugly than fair wife. Less hard to satisfy. Alphabet No. 798. |
| J2198 | Bewailing a calamity that has not occurred. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J758 | Beware of following an interested adviser. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J133.6 | Big fish eat little: robber will plunder weak neighbors. Scottish: Campbell-McKay No. 12. |
| J1771.1 | Big tree thought to be snake. Killed with guns and spears. Type 1315. |
| J646.2 | Bird hears voices from within unhatched eggs and flies away: voices plot to dine on their bird-mother when they are born. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2171.5 | Bird nest of salt melts away. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2183.3 | Bird overcareful about food suitable to its color is killed by eagle. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1842.3 | Bird protruding from king's stomach cut out with swords: king killed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J416.1 | Bird refuses to maintain friendship with bird of different habits. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2273.1 | Bird thinks that the sky will fall if he does not support it. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 606; *Chauvin II 112 n. 2; Liebrecht *Zur Volkskunde 102; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J955.1.2 | Bird tries to puff itself up to look like peacock. Kills itself. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J551.1.1 | Bird warns mistress against committing adultery: gets neck wrung. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J655.1 | Birds discuss the trap. One of them is caught in it. Type 245*; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 110. |
| J645.1 | Birds flee from cuckoo who, they believe, will later become a hawk. Wienert FFC LVI 55 (ET 149), 119 (ST 290); Halm Aesop No. 198. |
| J65 | Birds having learned their possible dangers are forced from nest by mother. Nouvelles Récréations No. 87. |
| J513.1 | Birds seeking richer lands are nearly all killed. Survivors advise their friends to let well enough alone. *Wesselski Arlotto I 201 No. 31. |
| J1289.2 | Bishop and prince. Peasant tells bishop, who rides by with forty horses, that he wonders if St. Kilian at Würzburg is also riding with forty horses. Bishop excuses extravagance by saying that he is also a prince and that it is the prince, not the bishop, who is using the horses. "If the prince should become a fool, what would the bishop do then?" Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 158. |
| J552.2.1 | Bishop fond of lawsuits is ordered by king to settle them: bishop pleads for a few to be left so that he will have something to live for. Nouvelles Récréations No. 34. |
| J1161.8.1 | Bishop orders priest to wear his beard and his robe "not too long and not too short." Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 94. |
| J1823.2 | Bishop struck for breaking the peace. At a wedding after a period of silent prayer the bishop begins an antiphony. The fools walks up and strikes the bishop: "You have made this shouting in the church." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 49. |
| J1391.3.1 | Bitten by the sheep. Man caught just as he knocks sheep in the head: The sheep bit me (or: I'm not going to let sheep butt me to death). U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J1291.1 | Black beans, white soup. Question: How can black beans make a white soup? Answer: How can a white whip on the naked flesh make black welts. *Wesselski Arlotto II 252 No. 168. |
| J1785.7 | Black sheep thought to be the devil. Christensen DF XLVII no. 64. |
| J1261.4 | Blessing not worth a penny. Beggar woman asks pope for shilling and, being refused, for a penny. Finally asks for his blessing, which he gives. Old woman: "If your blessing had been worth a penny, you wouldn't have given me that." *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 344. |
| J2133.9 | Blind leading blind falls into pit. Chauvin II 157 No. 34; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J33 | Blind man who feels young wolf recognises his savage nature. Wienert FFC LVI 69 (ET 329), 122 (ST 314); Halm Aesop 57. |
| J1761.10 | Blind men and elephant. Four blind men feel an elephant's leg, tail, ear and body, respectively, and conclude it is like a log, a rope, a fan, and something without beginning or end. *Taylor English Riddles in Oral Tradition (Berkeley, 1951) 582 n. 11; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J411.1 | Boar refuses to fight with lowly ass. Wienert FFC LVI *76 (ET 158), 120 (ST 298). |
| J552.6 | Boast at home. In Castile a Spaniard maintains to a Portuguese that the Spanish king is best of all. In Portugal, that the Portuguese king is best. "Each cock crows in his own barnyard." Spanish: Childers (J500). |
| J978 | Boaster of victory over a weaker person reprimanded. Wienert FFC LVI 85 (ET 517), 91 (ST 40). |
| J2631 | Boastful coward frightened when he sees strong adversaries. Hides in trousers of plowman who fights the men. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *650B; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV No. 650B; Finnish: Aarne FFC V, XXXIII No. 650B; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 261f. No. 129. |
| J2212.7 | Boat expected to grow into ship. Christensen DF XLVII 189 No. 15. |
| J351 | Bodily member(s) sacrificed to save life. (Cf. J341.) Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1813.2 | Boiling milk thought to be overflowing. Simpleton lets it run over. Type 1328*. |
| J1813.4 | Boiling pot on the floor thought to be self-cooking. Christensen DF XLVII 177 No. 5, cf. 192 No. 18. |
| J1813.3 | Boiling pumpkin thought to be talking. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2238 | Book gives wisdom. A man believes himself wise because he has a book which he uses but does not understand. Chauvin II 82 No. 3; B[ö]dker Exempler 273 No. 3; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1772.11 | Boot mistaken for an axe-sheath. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1282*. |
| J1935.1 | Boots sent by telegraph. A peasant hangs boots and an accompanying letter on a telegraph wire, expecting them to reach the city. Type 1710; Christensen DF XLVII 204 no. 50; U.S. (Ozarks): *Randolph Devil's Pretty Daughter (New York, 1955) 195. |
| J1556.1 | Borrower of butter receives pot of cowdung with little butter on top: repays by lending wooden sword covered with thin iron. (Cf. J1511.20.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1531 | Borrower's absurdities. England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1169.2 | Bought behind the village. Lawyer declares unjustly that stolen horse has been bought and paid for. Angry farmer: "Yes, behind the village he bought and paid for it" (meaning that he stole it from the pasture). Lawyer pleads successfully that it is as well to buy a horse outside as inside the village. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 838. |
| J2469.4 | Boy asked to do something to cool women's ears breaks vessels they carry so milk in them can cool their ears off. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2258 | Boy cannot read a book written with smaller letters than those he was reading at school. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1511.11 | Boy pretends to speak only Latin. Father, chastising his lazy son, also speaks in "Latin". Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *2423; Russian: Andrejev No. *2082. |
| J2093.3.1 | Boy refuses pearls for worthless stones; jeweler recognizes them for what they are. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J92 | Boy saves life by showing father foolishness of plowing up his crop. Father has been persuaded to kill child. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1833.1.1 | Boy strikes at a fly on his sister's breast: it turns into nipple and girl thinks it due to brother's caress. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2355.2 | Boy talks about his secret instructions and brings his father's theft to light. He is to avoid his companions lest they smell what he has been eating. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1772.1.1 | Boy thinks terrapin hatches from bedbug eggs. Small boy examines bedbug eggs under pillow every morning. One morning he finds a terrapin there. "I don't see how we raised this so quick." U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1742.5.1 | Boy who has never seen a real carpet, hops around the side of the room to avoid stepping on the cloth on the floor. U.S.: Baughman. |
| J21.52.7 | Boy who says "I know" gets into all sort of difficulties; now says "I don't know." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2496.1 | Boy who worked for "nothing at all" goes to town and demands "nothing at all." (Cf. J2489.10.) Penzer V 97. |
| J572.1 | Bravest know how to wait. Three men are pursued in battle. First throws himself on enemies; second waits a little; third does not fight until the enemy begins. Latter is bravest. *Chauvin II 152 No. 15; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1563.3 | Bread baked with onions for an undesirable guest. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2522 | Breaking the glassware to prevent others from doing so. A king thus removes temptation from his subjects. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 622. |
| J1801 | Breath in the cold thought to be tobacco smoke. Type 1320. |
| J1909.4 | Breeding fine horses from an ass. Fool says, "Just as soon as the body of a colt bred from this mare is in proper proportion to its ears you will have a fine horse." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 763. |
| J1157 | Bribed witnesses nonplussed when judge asks wrong question. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1744.1 | Bridegroom does not know what to do on his wedding night. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1744.1.1 | Bridegroom gets into bed. The numskull groom on his wedding night does not know how to get to the bed, the curtains being drawn. He scales one of the posts, clambers to the canopy, falls upon his bride below, who screams for help. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1392.5 | Bridegroom promises thief spoils later if he will not interfere with wedding. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2499.4 | Brings back all stolen cattle possible. Simple monk eats all he can of abbey's stolen cattle so as to bring them back home. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 61; Alphabet No. 718; Mensa Philosophica No. 187. |
| J815.2 | Brother who conforms to naked people's customs honored. Two brothers go to the land of Naked People. One of the brothers wears clothes and is punished. Wesselski Archiv Orientální I 80. |
| J1633 | Brotherly love and patience both dead. A man failing to receive alms in a village, rings the bell for mass. He tells the sexton that he is ringing because of the death of brotherly love. The sexton rings another bell. It is for the death of the other man's patience. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 474. |
| J552.5 | Brothers compose quarrel and save umpire's fee. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1192.1.1 | Buffalo has eaten up turban. Judge decides for greater bribe. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J425.2 | Buffalo refuses tiger's invitation to dinner. He sees fire prepared to cook him. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1565.2 | Bugs unable to eat honey at banquet of bees, and bees unable to eat dung at bug's dinner. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J741 | Build shelter for the whole year. |
| J2171.3 | Builders throw away beams from the scaffolding until it all falls down. Type 1245***. |
| J2171.1.3.2 | Building boat of clay. Tuamotu: Beckwith Myth 267. |
| J1759.4 | Bull mistaken for horse. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J371.1 | Bull refuses to fight goat. Bull being pursued by lion tries to go into cave. Goat refuses to let him in. Bull must go on, for with lion pursuing he has no time to fight goat. Wienert FFC LVI 56 (ET 168), 112 (ST 234); Halm Aesop 396. |
| J1906.1 | Bullock struck on hindquarters instead of head in attempt to kill it. (Only frightens it.) India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2671.3 | Bungling fool forgets what elephant is called. Says it is an "earth egg" (confused with name for potatoes). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2661 | Bungling fool has succession of accidents. Irish myth: Cross; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2650 | Bungling fool. Type 1690*; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2675 | Bungling rescuer caught by crab. He tries to rescue woman caught by crab. Is caught himself and found in embarrassing position. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 178 No. 313; Indonesia: Coster-Wijsman 43 No. 44. |
| J2532 | Bureaucrats debate as to who shall put out palace fire: meantime palace burns. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2212.2 | Burial in old grave to deceive angel. Fool thinks that the angel who comes to question him will pass him by since he has apparently been dead a long time. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 210 No. 22. |
| J2162.1 | Burning the temple to attain notoriety. *Crane Vitry 143 No. 27. |
| J2102.5 | Burning the wasp nest. The house catches fire and burns. Clouston Noodles 40 n. 1; England: Baughman. |
| J2181 | Burning up the seal. Numskulls buy a charter from their lord. In celebration they get drunk and use the seal as a candle and forfeit their charter. Clouston Noodles 17; England: Baughman. |
| J1771.4 | Bush thought to be elephant. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1783.1 | Butter cask thought to be a dead man. Fools knock it in two. Type 1314. |
| J2685 | Buyer draws picture of grindstone on his order list. The grocer sends him a cheese. The buyer has forgotten to draw the hole. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J155.3 | Caesar's scorn of his wife's advice leads to disaster. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 445. |
| J1759.4.1 | Calf mistaken for colt. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2137.6 | Camel and ass together captured because of ass's singing. *Chauvin III 49 No. 1; Spanish: Espinosa III Nos. 199-201, 204-5; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J512.11 | Camel and jackal exchange food: camel is led by his good friend to thorny fruit and thorn sticks in his throat. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J512.3 | Camel tries in vain to dance. Wienert FFC LVI 46 (ET 46, 47), *88, 90 (ST 10, 20); Halm Aesop No. 182, 365. |
| J2133.1 | Camel with ass on his back dances. Falls and is killed. *Chauvin III 49 No. 1; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1511.15 | Can drink only one kind of wine at a time. Priests come to an inn where host gives them good wine and bad. They insist on having all good since they must drink only one kind of wine. On their return he serves them with all bad. They claim to have had the rule changed. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 245. |
| J2122 | Candle put in the stove to dry: melts. Type 1270. |
| J1269.13 | Cannot leave court of God: reply of saint when king invites him to court. India: Thompson-Balys. |
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