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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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| J1432 | No physician at all. A bad physician having predicted the immediate death of a patient meets him recovered. "How go things down below?" "They put you at the head of the list of bad physicians, but I maintained that you were no physician at all." Wienert FFC LVI 39; Halm Aesop No. 168. |
| J2178 | No room left for the feast. A peasant on the way to a feast drinks so much ditch-water that he has no room left for the feast. Herbert III 54, 82; Scala Celi 76a No. 433; Alphabet No. 245. |
| J1184 | No second punishment for same offense. |
| J1358 | No thanks to the messenger. A messenger tells a man that he has a newborn son. "Thanks are to God, but I am not beholden to you for it." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 223 No. 59. |
| J371 | No time for minor fights when life is in danger. |
| J921 | Noble and ugly holy man embraces man who calls him ugly, saying he loves those who see him as he really is. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J411.3.1 | Noble poets refuse to associate with truly good poet because of his lowly birth. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J552.2 | Noblemen being ruined by long lawsuit decide wisely to join their families in marriage and save their fortunes. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 402. |
| J552.1 | Noblemen who quarreled over a device. Wiser of the two shows foolishness of such a fight. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 168. |
| J1849.4 | Nobody can move it. Foolish soldier at guard by cannon therefore quits. Christensen DF XLVII no. 49. |
| J1782.3 | Noise in house thought to be ghost. England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J1812.4.1 | Noises fire is making misunderstood. Hunchback springs into it to burn to his death. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J262 | Noisy things often empty. |
| J1177.0.1 | None should interrupt or leave the room while story is told: treachery revealed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2119.3 | Noodles push parents over a rock as a favor to them. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| J2119.1 | Nose cut off to get it out of the light. Koryak, Eskimo: Jochelson JE VI 364. |
| J758.1.1 | Noseless man persuades fools to cut off noses. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1289.1 | Not a locksmith. A judge asks a pseudo-prophet to prove his powers by opening a difficult lock. "I am a prophet, not a locksmith." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 258 No. 198. |
| J1468 | Not in good form. A duke invites a notorious eater. The latter consumes eight fowls, forty eggs, and other things in proportion. In leaving he apologizes for eating so little as he had not felt well the night before. He will do better next time. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 249; Nouvelles Récréations Nos. 57, 73. |
| J1354 | Not in his line of business. At market a man enquires of another: "How is the moon, three-quarters or full?" "I don't know. I have neither bought nor sold one." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 209 No. 17. |
| J2499.2 | Not naked but with a hood on. She confesses that she has had relations with the priest. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 294. |
| J1803.1 | Not of legitimate birth. A cleric is asked whether he is of legitimate birth ("de legitimo thoro"). "No, I am not from that place; I am from Schmich." *Wesselski Bebel II 126 No. 80. |
| J1172.1 | Not the same purse as was lost. Finder of a purse containing 800 gulden returns it to owner for reward. Latter says that purse had 900 gulden in it. In court. Decision: The rich man speaks truth. The purse found is not the one he lost. The finder may keep it. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 115; Chauvin IX 26 No. 15; Scala Celi 21b No. 135; Alphabet No. 650; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 44; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J312 | Not what you were but what you are counts. |
| J1173.1 | Novel settlement of dispute. Judge orders woman's second husband to return her to the first in the same condition as he received her (with child). Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1173.1.1 | Novel settlement: snake's wife must wait to kill prince till princess bears as many sons as snake has. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1842.1 | Numskull (female devil) thinks her pubic hair has been telling her lies and pulls it out together with the skin. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2363 | Numskull amuses with his discursive nonsense. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2461.1.7.1 | Numskull as thief: tries to carry off grinding-stone when told by confederates to bring out heavy things. Told to bring shiny things; brings out looking glass. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2136.5.4 | Numskull as thief's assistant wakens owner. Pleads successfully that he was trying to awaken the household and prevent theft. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2021.1 | Numskull asks doctor which leg (own) is hurting him. Italian Novella: Rotunda; Nouvelles Récréations No. 11. |
| J1967 | Numskull bales out the stream. He comes to a stream but not wishing to get his feet wet he sits down to wait for the stream to run down. He helps to bale the stream out with a hazelnut shell and keeps it up for months. Italian: Gonzenbach No. 17, Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2131.1 | Numskull beaten. |
| J2311.1.3.1 | Numskull believes he is dead when pumpkin falls on his head. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2323 | Numskull believes that he is married to a man. Two men's hands joined in fun with words "I marry you." Fool thinks that he must get a bishop to annul the marriage. Wesselski Bebel II 142 No. 130. |
| J2136 | Numskull brings about his own capture. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J2022 | Numskull cannot find ass he is sitting on. *Type 1288A; *BP III 150; Christensen DF XLVII 182. |
| J2318 | Numskull convinced that he is a thief. An article is stolen. Declared that whoever does not eat all his cheese is the thief. A stone is put in the numskull's cheese so that he cannot eat it all. He admits the theft. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 679. |
| J2133.4 | Numskull cuts off tree-limb on which he sits. *Type 1240; Köhler-Bolte I 51, 135, 486ff.; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 216f. No. 49; Chauvin II 201 No. 47; Clouston Noodles 158; Fb "træ" III 967; Christensen DF XLVII 229; Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 293 No. 2; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1911.1 | Numskull does not understand about baby's skull. Sticks needle through it. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 215 No. 445; Spanish: Espinosa III 147; West Indies: Flowers 486. |
| J2023 | Numskull doesn't recognize his own horse. Finds it only when the rest ride away and he takes the only one left. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 234 No. 100; Italian Novella: Rotunda (J2043). |
| J2132 | Numskull dragged. |
| J2488.1 | Numskull dragon wants to see courage. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2133 | Numskull falls. |
| J1901.2 | Numskull feeds hens hot water so they will lay boiled eggs. *Clouston Noodles 120; England: Baughman. |
| J1851.1.2 | Numskull feeds his wheat to frogs. He has been sent to mill to have it ground. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 139 No. *1693, Espinosa III 147. |
| J2213.9 | Numskull finds that one feather makes a hard pillow, thinks a sackful would be unbearable. Canada: Baughman. |
| J1924 | Numskull forgets name of certain food and thinks that it has fallen into sand. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2131.5 | Numskull gets his head caught. (Cf. J2136.6.) |
| J2093.1 | Numskull gives away the old water bag in which the money is hid. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 201 No. 393. |
| J2133.5.2 | Numskull going to heaven holding on tail of divine elephant, looses his hold to make gesture. He and all holding on to him fall. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2131 | Numskull injured. U.S.: Baughman. |
| J2131.3 | Numskull injures his limbs. U.S.: Baughman. |
| J2199.4.1 | Numskull is glad to hurt his feet instead of his shoes. Christensen DF XLVII no. 58. |
| J2175.5 | Numskull is sent to fetch children. He either smothers them during conveyance or scalds them during bathing. (Cf. J2465.4.) Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *1677; Russian: Andrejev No. *1681 II. |
| J2311.1 | Numskull is told that he is to die when his horse breaks wind three times. When this happens he lies down for dead. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 216f. No. 49; *Fb "æsel"; Köhler-Bolte I 135, 486, 505. |
| J2311.1.2 | Numskull is told that he will die when his mouth bleeds. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2175.6 | Numskull kills his children trying to cure their illness. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1823.1.4 | Numskull knocks the figure of Jesus from the ass. Sees the waving of palms on Palm Sunday and thinks the people are trying to knock the figure from the ass. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 768; *Wesselski Bebel I 200 No. 78. |
| J2131.5.2 | Numskull licks out pot: gets it caught on his head. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 263, Coster-Wijsman 62 No. 98. |
| J2013.4 | Numskull made to believe he is an evil spirit. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2134 | Numskull makes himself sick (uncomfortable). |
| J2427 | Numskull praises his daughter as being pregnant. He tries in vain to sell his cow and succeeds only when he says that she is with calf. When suitors come wooing his daughter, he tries the same plan disastrously. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 223 No. 57. |
| J1846 | Numskull prepares brother's wedding (father's funeral). On the way home from town he destroys his purchases. (Cf. J1851, J1856, J1871.) Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1677*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1681 I*; Prussian: Plenzat 75. |
| J2428 | Numskull puts money into the exchange so as to participate in the business. He hears that great lords take a part in the business of the exchange where he sees great heaps of money. He throws down a penny and says, "You may like it or not, but I want money in the exchange, too." *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 566. |
| J2131.4 | Numskull puts out his eyes. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1903.2 | Numskull puts the milk back. When the customer refuses to take the milk he puts it back into the goat's mouth so that it will flow back into the udder. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 247 No. 550. |
| J1805.3 | Numskull referring to a forgotten name keeps saying "I have lost it." People dive into tank to recover treasure they think he has lost. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2024 | Numskull rides backward. "I didn't get on backward but the horse seems to be left-handed." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 235 No. 100. |
| J2132.4 | Numskull rides on tiger's back. (Cf. J1758.1.1.) Dragged to his death (or injured). India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1852.1 | Numskull sells cow to bird. When he comes for his money the bird flies to a trash pile, where the fool finds a treasure. (Cf. J1853.1.1.) *Clouston Noodles 147. |
| J2124.1 | Numskull sends meat home through kite (bird); kite devours it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1833.1 | Numskull shoots grasshopper which lighted on the shoulder of his friend and kills friend. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1902.1 | Numskull sits on eggs to finish the hatching. Cautions people to be quiet and not frighten the eggs. (Sometimes puts on honey and feathers before sitting on the eggs.) Type 650; *BP I 316; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 212 No. 433; *Wesselski Bebel II 146 No. 148; Christensen DF XLVII 210 No. 63; Breton: Sébillot Incidents s.v. "oeuf"; Spanish: Espinosa III 147 Nos. 181—188; Italian: Basile Pentamerone I No. 4. |
| J2135 | Numskull starves himself. |
| J1814 | Numskull stays till he has finished. As he is making water he hears a brook flowing and mistakes what it is. He waits for a day and a half. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 210 No. 23; U.S.: Baughman. |
| J2131.5.3 | Numskull sticks his head in the branches of a tree. Type 1241; Christensen DF XLVII 192ff. no. 19. |
| J2131.5.4 | Numskull sticks his head into the hole of a millstone. It rolls into the lake. *Type 1247. |
| J1849.3 | Numskull strikes all matches in order to try them. Christensen DF XLVII 207 no. 60. |
| J2131.2 | Numskull stung. |
| J2355 | Numskull talks about his secret instructions and thus allows himself to be cheated. Told not to serve a man with a red beard or to keep sausage for the long winter, etc. *Type 1541; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 53 No. 400*B. |
| J1812.5.1 | Numskull thief thinks snoring sleeper is asking for food. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1813.10 | Numskull thinks boiling pot is threatening him: breaks pot. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1759.3 | Numskull thinks fireflies are mosquitoes carrying lanterns to find victims. England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J1813.2.1 | Numskull thinks his prayers have stopped milk boiling over. Actually his wife has added cold water. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1790.1 | Numskull thinks his shadow is a man pursuing him. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1833 | Numskull thinks the bishop's snoring is his death rattle. He strikes at a fly on the bishop's nose because it seems to be killing the bishop. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 712. |
| J1823.3 | Numskull thinks the extinguishing of lights at the church presages a fight. Draws his sword. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 849. |
| J1851.1.1 | Numskull throws money to frogs so that they can count it. *Type 1642; *BP I 59. |
| J1851.1.3 | Numskull throws money to frogs to repay them. They have frightened his fleeing ass from the water. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 226 No. 69. |
| J1831 | Numskull throws the dishes out. A landlord in anger throws a dish out the window. The numskull throws the rest out, thinking that the landlord wanted to eat outdoors. *Wesselski Bebel I 194 No. 65. |
| J2132.2 | Numskull ties the rope to his leg as the cow grazes on the roof. The cow falls off and the man is pulled up the chimney. *Type 1408; *BP I 321. |
| J2126 | Numskull to water roots of tree. Digs up the tree to find the roots. Von der Leyen Das Märchen 78 and Herrigs Archiv CXIV 20 n. 2. |
| J2461.5 | Numskull told not to forget to get the handsel (a little token extra in the bargain); brings it but leaves what he has been sent to buy. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2461.9 | Numskull told to attract girl's attention by throwing pebble at her flings large stone which breaks her head. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2461.1.7 | Numskull told to steal something heavy brings millstone. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1933 | Numskull tries to dig up a well (spring). He wants to take it home. Köhler-Bolte I 533; Clouston Noodles 67. |
| J1902.2 | Numskull tries to hatch out a calf from a cheese. *BP I 317. |
| J2131.1.1 | Numskull tries to preach while the priest is preaching: beaten. U.S.: Baughman; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 138 No. 1690. |
| J1909.3 | Numskull tries to shake birds from tree like fruit. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 238 No. 526. |
| J1909.6 | Numskull tries to wash black hen white. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 246 No. 142. |
| J2426 | Numskull wants to be shaved too. He sees another man being shaved and thinks that the man is having his ears cut off. He orders his wife to cut off his ears. Africa (Bushman): Bleek and Lloyd 205. |
| J2488 | Numskull wants to see an abstract quality. |
| J2331 | Numskull with unimportant office boasts of it. |
| J2012.1 | Numskull's beard cut off: does not know himself. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 274 No. 298; Christensen DF XLVII 27, 221 No. 83; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1976 | Numskulls are affected by heat from stove which has no fire in it. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J2271.4 | Numskulls attempt to capture moon and bring it home in a sledge. They get to the top of the hill a few minutes too late to reach it. England, Scotland: *Baughman. |
| J2495.5 | Numskulls believing that God has reposed on a leaf want to cross river on one. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2119.4 | Numskulls bore hole in boat in order to make water run out. Christensen DF XLVII no. 45. |
| J2037.1 | Numskulls buy church in common: each pays full price. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1336*. |
| J2037 | Numskulls buy things in common: each pays full price. |
| J2021 | Numskulls cannot find their own legs. A stranger helps them with a switch. (Usually get them mixed up when they sit down to bathe their feet.) Type 1288; BP III 150 n. 1; *Fb "ben" IV 32b; Clouston Noodles 32; Christensen DF XLVII 183. |
| J2163.1 | Numskulls carry one another through mud and the others back in order that not all get dirty. Christensen DF XLVII No. 32. |
| J2031.1 | Numskulls count selves by sticking their noses in the sand. They then count the holes. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 268 No. 261. |
| J2134.2.1 | Numskulls eat medicine that physics them. Biscayans pour medicine into rice for broth with which to cook rice. Spanish: Childers. |
| J1711 | Numskulls go a-travelling. (Cf. J1742.) *BP II 555; **Field Myth of the Pent Cuckoo. |
| J1834 | Numskulls lose corpse and bury live person instead. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2511.2 | Numskulls make silence wager. Arrested as thieves. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1712 | Numskulls quarrel over a greeting. Three men greeted by a stranger. Quarrel as to whom he greeted. "I greeted the biggest fool among you." A contest is held in which tales are told to decide which is the biggest fool. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 263 No. 237; Christensen DF L 91; India: *Thompson-Balys; West Indies: Flowers 484. |
| J1932.1 | Numskulls sow cooked grain. *DeVries FFC LXXIII 246; *Fb "sе" Penzer V 67 n. 3; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J1738.3 | Numskulls surprised at news that God has a son. Christensen DF XLVII 205 No. 53A; U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1738.4 | Numskulls surprised to hear that God's son has died. Christensen DF XLVII 205 No. 53B; U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1944.1 | Numskulls try to get pears from an oaktree. They accuse each other of eating all the pears. Wesselski Bebel II 147 No. 149. |
| J2131.0.1 | Numskulls try to kill mosquitoes with bows and arrows: only injure themselves. Clouston Noodles 95. |
| J2271.3 | Numskulls try to throw the moon over a cliff. England: *Baughman. |
| J1264.6 | Nun claims her child is by the Holy Ghost. Defense accepted. Bolte Frey's Gartengesellschaft *218 No. 6. |
| J1919.5.2 | Nun tells friar to get rid of offending member. He does so. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1162.1 | Nurse's false plea admitted: child demanded. A nurse falsely demands pay for caring for a child which she says is the hero's. In court: "The child is indeed mine; give him to me." The child belongs to a peasant. Nurse confesses and is punished. Wesselski Märchen 229 No. 40. |
| J2523.1 | Obedient husband hangs his wife. Wife had wished only to test her husband's love for her. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *1378. |
| J2523.2 | Obedient husband walks slowly. Arrives home after dawn when wife's lover has gone. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2411.9 | Obedient woman's pestle remains magically suspended in air. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1891 | Object foolishly blamed. |
| J1881.1 | Object sent to go by itself. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 272 No. 281; Missouri French: Carrière; Spanish: Espinosa III 147; Indonesia: Coster-Wijsman 72 No. 130. |
| J1771.3 | Object thought to be a turkey. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1771 | Object thought to be animal. |
| J1875 | Objects ascribed human feelings. |
| J1896 | Objects supposed to be born, grow, and die like animals. (Cf. J1932.) Christensen DF XLVII 189—190 no. 15. |
| J1781 | Objects thought to be the devil. |
| J1770 | Objects with mistaken identity. England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J62 | Observation of dying people for a year takes man's thoughts from lust. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 265. |
| J2347 | Occupational tricks on new employees. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J34 | Odor of the wine cask. How fine wine must been been to leave so good an odor. Wienert FFC LVI 76 (ET 416), 122 (ST 313); Phaedrus III No. 1; Jacobs Aesop 220 No. 81. |
| J1526.1 | Officer disarmed by sentry. Army major approaches sentry, takes away his rifle, and reproaches him for allowing himself to be disarmed. Sentry draws pistol from inside shirt, demands return of unloaded rifle. U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1309 | Officiousness or foolish questions rebuked—miscellaneous. |
| J1300 | Officiousness or foolish questions rebuked. Irish myth: Cross. |
| J1791.6.2 | Ogre sees beautiful woman reflected in water. Attempts to drink the lake dry. (Cf. J1791.3.1.) Type 1141*; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J2465.7 | Oh bother! put it on my head! Numskulls asking old woman where to put grain obey and smother her. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2214.7 | Oil is cheap (or spilling oil is good luck). Man hearing this breaks oil vessels. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1852.1.2 | Oil sold to iguana. Treasure found. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1511.13 | Oisin's poor diet in Patrick's house—pancake size of ivy leaf, measure of butter only size of rowan berry. Later Oisin gives Patrick quarter of a wild boar, servant ivy leaf and rowan berry. Irish myth: Cross. |
| J761 | Old age must be planned for. |
| J215.1.4 | Old man chooses to be annoyed by occasional and loud chirp of swallows than by never-ending but soft chirp of sandpipers. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1221 | Old man in love with young woman puts his critics out of countenance. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1714.5 | Old man silent in king's presence asks king what he himself does when in company with a fool. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J151.2 | Old men preferred as councillors. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 538. |
| J441.1 | Old ox yoked with young ox. Thus kept in order. Wienert FFC LVI 85 (ET 516), 146 (ST 511). |
| J14 | Old racehorse in mill laments vanity of youth. Wienert FFC LVI *72 (ET 365), 140 (ST 466); Babrius No. 29; Halm Aesop No. 174. |
| J1771.2 | Old sausage (roll) taken for frightening animal. Christensen DF XLVII 174 no. 2. |
| J2129.5 | Old shoes patched with new. Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 319 No. 18. |
| J955.4 | Old simpleton resolves to become a senator. He is made to believe that he is wanted as an archer and is so frightened that he dies. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J491 | Old sweetheart chosen in preference to new. Type 886. |
| J1313 | Old wine. Man given his choice of old or new wine says, "We must honor old age." Wesselski Bebel I 163 No. 100. |
| J2072.6 | Old woman demands something that she would remember all her life: her nose cut off. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J215.2.1 | Old woman prays for safety of cruel tyrant for fear a worse one will succeed him. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1809.1 | Old woman's sneeze mistaken for gunfire. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1539 | One absurdity rebukes another—miscellaneous. |
| J1530 | One absurdity rebukes another. Brown JAOS XXIX 43 n. 40, Penzer III 241, 250f., V 64ff., IX 152, 155; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1750 | One animal mistaken for another. |
| J1662.1 | One basket of wit better than twelve carloads of it. Female jackal saves herself and husband by quick thinking. (Cf. K622.1.) India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J641.1 | One bird escapes as hunter bends his bow; other remains and is shot. (Told also of fish.) *Type 246; Wienert FFC LVI 61 (ET 233), 108 (ST 205); Halm Aesop No. 85; Chauvin II 88. |
| J1881.1.2 | One cheese sent after another. Numskull lets one roll down hill; sends the other to bring it back. *Type 1291; BP I 521. |
| J972 | One cock takes glory of another's valor. Victor in cock fight crows over his victory. He is taken off by eagle. A second cock then comes out from hiding and struts about among the hens. Wienert FFC LVI 57 (ET 180), 92 (ST 56); Halm Aesop No. 21. |
| J2119.2.2 | One contestant chooses straight path through stones; other circles about and wins. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1217.1 | One dueller fights with God's help; the other with his brother's. First claims that the odds are unfair; second agrees that he will fight without his brother if the first will fight without God. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 312. |
| J1289.8 | One ear saved for other litigant. Judge stops up one ear while first litigant presents his case. He is saving one ear for the second litigant. Spanish: Childers. |
| J163.3 | One eye exchanged for wisdom. (Odin.) Icelandic: Boberg. |
| J2566 | One fewer to pay for. A man carries blind men over a stream at a certain price per head. One falls down and drowns. He comforts the others that there is one fewer to pay for. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 207 No. 14. |
| J1833.1.2 | One man strikes at partridge which has lighted on second man's head. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1772 | One object thought to be another. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1766 | One person mistaken for another. |
| J513 | One should let well enough alone. |
| J511 | One should not attempt to change his color. |
| J514 | One should not be too greedy. Type 555. |
| J1800 | One thing mistaken for another—miscellaneous. |
| J133.1 | One wild goat steps over another. They thus pass each other uninjured on a cliff. This shows advantage of peaceableness. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 403. |
| J2661.3 | One woman to catch squirrel; the other to get the cooking pot. One falls from the tree and kills herself; the other breaks the pot. *Type 1227. |
| J1605 | One wrong and five hundred good deeds. A man steals a large sum, keeps half and distributes the rest among five hundred persons. He says that he has committed one wrong but has done five hundred good deeds. Chauvin II 208 No. 76. |
| J1675.4 | One-eyed king has rocks counted on pain of death. Clever man avoids saying "one" (which king considers a curse on his one eye) by saying that first is the rock that must not be called by name. Africa (Vai): Ellis 216 No. 30. |
| J2083.1 | One-third for the price of one-fourth. In the grain sale the fool sells a third of a cask for the price of a fourth, thinking that he is cheating the buyer. Type 1266*. |
| J416 | One's own kind preferred to strangers. |
| J2236 | Only fault with the house. The latrine is too small for the dining room table to go in. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 282 No. 334. |
| J2342.5 | Only husband remains ignorant about his wife's infidelity. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J551.6 | Only youngest son tells king truth when asked where they got their food: banished. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2027 | Opium-smoker on journey asks his way about; ends up at his own house. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J917 | Opposing wise men humble themselves and become friends. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J1960 | Other absurd disregard of facts. |
| J2280 | Other absurd scientific theories. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| J2132.5.1 | Other animal's tail tied to tiger's (leopard's): killed when tiger flees. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1756 | Other animals thought to be a giant cat. Hero in search of monster brings home a dog, zebra, etc. thinking it is the animal he seeks. Zanzibar: Bateman 160 No. 8. |
| J191.2 | Other biblical heroes as wise men. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J480 | Other choices. |
| J1769 | Other creatures with mistaken identity. |
| J2220 | Other logical absurdities. |
| J171.3 | Other maxims. |
| J179 | Other means of acquiring wisdom (knowledge)—miscellaneous. |
| J150 | Other means of acquiring wisdom (knowledge). |
| J1759 | Other mistaken animals. England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J1824.1 | Other misunderstandings of the communion. Christensen DF XLVII 202f. no. 44. |
| J1805 | Other misunderstandings of words. |
| J2160 | Other short-sighted acts. |
| J1812 | Other sounds misunderstood. |
| J1809 | Other things with mistaken identities. |
| J2212.9 | Our children know local road; odd that grown stranger does not. French: Irwin Verville No. 210. |
| J1546 | Overcurious wife learns of the senate's deliberations. Husband (son) tells her that they have decided that each man may have many wives. Gullible wife believes it. *Crane Vitry No. 235; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 392; Herbert III 19; Alphabet No. 141; Gesta Romanorum No. 126; Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 46; Scala Celi 46b No. 260; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1517.2 | Overheard conversation: "Money hidden in wall (field)." Thieves take box filled with stone (or dig up field). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1517.1 | Overheard conversation: "Mustard has advanced in price." Thieves steal mustard and leave all else. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1517.3 | Overheard conversation: "My money is hanging in the tree." Thieves stung by hornets. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J953.16 | Owl thinks echoes of his hoots are sounds of praise. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1811.1 | Owl's hoot misunderstood by lost simpleton. *Wesselski Bebel II 158 No. 183. Cf. BP II 535. |
| J1162.3 | Own name inscribed on a stolen object as sign of property. Irish myth: Cross. |
| J1392.2.1 | Owner advises thieves to return later. He is not yet in bed Spanish: Childers. |
| J1392 | Owner assists thief. |
| J1392.4 | Owner laughs at thief who finds nothing in house. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1511.17 | Ox bought; buyer also claims load of wood attached. Later deceived man disguises and sells sharper another ox for "handful of coppers." He is allowed by court to claim the hand as well. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J215.2 | Oxen decide not to kill butchers, since inexpert killers might replace them. Wienert FFC LVI 65 (ET 289), 115 (ST 254). |
| J955.2.1 | Page dreams of being king. Master asks: "What would you do for me if you were king?" Answer: "Give you 100 ducats." Master beats him for insufficient consideration. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J951.4.1 | Painted jackal admitted neither to the peacocks nor to the jackals. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J646.1 | Palamides, having injured Ulysses, seeks advice from him. Following the advice proves fatal. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No 441. |
| J81.3 | Parable comparing canons to a stew made of their individual meals. Nouvelles Récréations No. 3. |
| J581.2 | Paramour who insists on quarreling with mistress about escape caught by her husband. He finds the escape different from that which had been described to him. Chauvin II 84 No. 12; Bødker Exempler 275 No. 11; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1198 | Pardon in return for confession. |
| J2311.8 | Parents made to believe that they are dead and are married to each other again. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 270, Coster-Wijsman 73 No. 11. |
| J125 | Parents's misdeeds innocently betrayed by children. Italian Novella: Rotunda; West Indies: Flowers 474. |
| J1262.5 | Parishioner hears preacher say that alms are returned "100 to 1". Chops down crucifix and takes money from box. Is told that such return would take place in other world. "I won't need money then, but I can use it now." Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1154.1 | Parrot unable to tell husband details as to wife's infidelity. Wife has parrot describe a storm very realistically. Husband observes contrast in the two tales. (Cf. J1152.) *Chauvin VIII 35f. No. 3; Bødker Exempler 286 No. 35; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2321.1 | Parson made to believe that he will bear a calf. In having his urine examined by a doctor, a cow's is substituted by mistake. (Or he dreams that he has borne a calf.) When a calf comes into the house he thinks that he has borne it. (Cf. J1734.1, K1955.2.) *Type 1739; *BP I 317 n. 1; *Fb "kalv"; *Wesselski Bebel I 232 No. 148. |
| J1074.1 | Parson's apology for not answering challenge: I have never regretted silence but have often regretted speech. *Wesselski Arlotto II 265 No. 208; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 478. |
| J1382 | Payers of cash favored. |
| J2489.10 | Payment with "something or other." Offered money, fools insist on "something or other." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1172.2 | Payment with the clink of the money. Man sued for payment for enjoyment of the flavor of meat when roasting. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No 48; Nouvelles de Sens No. 9; Italian Novella: Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 297. |
| J1421 | Peace among the animals. (Peace fable.) The fox tries to beguile the cock by reporting a new law establishing peace among the animals. Dogs appear; the fox flees. "The dogs have not heard of the new law." *Type 62; *BP II 207; Wienert FFC LVI 52 (ET 120), 98 (ST 125); Halm Aesop No. 225; Jacobs Aesop 214 No. 59; *Chauvin II 202 No. 51, V 241 No. 141; *Lancaster PMLA XXII 33; *Graf FFC XXXVIII 26; Fb "ræv" III 114a.—Spanish: Espinosa III No. 225; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J242.5 | Peacock and crane in beauty contest. Better be able to soar like crane than to strut about like peacock. Wienert FFC LVI 43 (ET 3), 142 (ST 479); Halm Aesop No. 397. |
| J242.4 | Peacock proved to be bad king. Chosen because of beauty; too weak to defend his flock. Wienert FFC LVI 47 (ET 63), 90 (ST 22), 142 (ST 480); Halm Aesop No. 398; Dh IV 185ff. |
| J515 | Peacock spends so much time preening for coronation that birds become impatient and make the owl king instead. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2214.1 | Peas will burn. Fool warns those who ride through a field of peas. "You will burn your horses' feet. I burned my mouth with hot peas the other day." Clouston Noodles 77; French: Irwin Verville No. 83. |
| J411.4 | Peasant ashamed of being thrown off by ass. Shameful to be thrown by such a creature. Wienert FFC LVI 73 (ET 378), 120 (ST 299); Halm Aesop No. 3. |
| J955.3.1 | Peasant asks to be knighted. Is told that he can be made rich but not noble. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J241.2 | Peasant leaves honey tree standing. Sparrows and crickets ask peasant to leave tree standing. He refuses, but when he finds honey in the tree he consents. Wienert FFC LVI 71 (ET 350), 143 (ST 494); Halm Aesop No. 102. |
| J2212.8 | Peasant no longer wants a horse since the new born foal is so heavy to carry. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2473 | Peasant opens his mouth. He tells his wife about the good things he gets to eat at the rich man's house. The wife says, "Open your mouth for me once so that I may get some too." The peasant gets up after the next large meal and opens his mouth to the astonishment of all present. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 519. |
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