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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.

46,221 motifs

Page 20 of 185 · 250 per page
Thompson reference Description ▲
P511.1 Chooses to die of old age. Criminal given choice of deaths. (Cf. J1181.) Hdwb. d. Märchens s.v. "Friedrich der Grosse" n. 58.
T54 Choosing bride by horoscope. (Cf. B152.2, M302.4, T22.) Chinese: Chavannes 500 Contes I 376 No. 108.
J1263.6 Choosing his confessor. Ruler explains: "I want a lying priest so that if he repeats my confession he will not be believed." Italian Novella: Rotunda.
V222.3 Choral singing accompanies saint. Irish myth: Cross.
J1823.1.1 Christ accused of trying to fool the people. Fool sees the image of Christ elevated on Ascension Day to the beams of the church. He accuses Christ of having fooled the people into believing that he has gone to heaven. Wesselski Bebel II 158 No. 181.
V211.1.8.3 Christ as infant in mother's arms causes bare hillside to become field of wheat as protection. Irish myth: Cross.
T53.2 Christ as matchmaker. *Type 822. See references for T125.
V211.0.4 Christ as prophet. Irish myth: Cross.
D452.1.6.1 Christ asks woman what she is cooking; she replies that she is boiling stones to make her children think they are peas and that they will have food. Christ changes the stones to peas. England: Baughman.
V211.0.1 Christ born from crown of Virgin's head. Irish myth: Cross.
V211.0.5 Christ called "druid". Irish myth: *Cross.
V211.0.2 Christ conceived on same day He was crucified. Irish myth: Cross.
V211.2.1.2 Christ disguised as beggar. Irish myth: *Cross.
V211.2.1.1 Christ disguised as leper. Irish myth: *Cross.
J2477 Christ has too many debts. St. Peter is to give Christ to a woman as husband. She hears people say, when they are asked for money, "When Christ pays me, I will pay you." The woman says that Christ has too many debts. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 657; Irish: Beal XXI 305.
V211.1.8.2 Christ in form of an infant fondled by nuns. Irish myth: Cross.
V211.1.8.1 Christ in form of an infant nursed by saint. Irish myth: Cross.
V73.0.1 Christ in the desert overcomes devil by fasting. Irish myth: Cross.
V211.2.2 Christ leaves bachall after visit. (Cf. D1277.) Irish myth: *Cross.
V211.2 Christ on earth. Irish myth: Cross.
A2738 Christ puts knots in wood. Peter, angry at carpenters wants Christ to have iron knots in wood. Christ does make hard knots but not iron. (Cf. A2755.4.)—Dh II 174ff.
V211.10.1 Christ sends message to voyaging clerics. Irish myth: Cross.
T251.0.2 Christ, not having married, knew nothing about suffering. So thinks the man after hearing all about Christ's torments. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 129 No. 1516A.
V211 Christ. *DeVooys Middelnederlandse Legenden en Exempelen (Den Haag, 1926) 129ff.; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Jewish: *Neuman.
V211.9 Christ's ascent to Heaven (on May 5). Irish myth: Cross.
D1381.4.1 Christ's coat of mercy protects Pilate from punishment. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 323.
V211.7 Christ's descent to hell. Irish myth: Cross.
J1263.1.4 Christ's disciples did not pass the examination. Ignorant student unable to pass his examination thus consoles himself. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 856.
V73.6.1 Christ's forty-days' fast called "His Lent". Irish myth: Cross.
J1823.1.2 Christ's image has broken his arm. A man refuses to have anything to do with the crucifix because once an image of Christ has fallen on him in church and broken his arm. Reminded that this image is not the same, he replies that it is the son of the other and is just as bad. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 270.
V211.8 Christ's resurrection (on March 27). Irish myth: Cross.
V87 Christening.
V360 Christian and Jewish traditions about each other. *DeVooys Middelnederlandse Legenden en Exempelen (Den Haag, 1926) 199ff.
V61.6 Christian buried in stone coffin. Icelandic: *Boberg.
V61.7 Christian buried in wooden coffin. Icelandic: *Boberg.
V361 Christian child killed to furnish blood for Jewish rite. (Hugh of Lincoln.) (Cf. V254.7.) **V. Manzini La superstizione omicida e i sacrifici umani, con particolare riguardo alle accuse contro gli Ebrei (2d ed., Padua, 1930); **Berger Mélusine VIII 169ff.; *Ward II 656 No. 3; *Brown PMLA XXI 486ff. — English: Child III 240ff., IV 497a.
V356 Christian hero (saint) overthrows heathen idols. *Boje 82; *Toldo V 339; Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg.
P337.1 Christian king makes baptism a condition for hospitality during the winter. Icelandic: Boberg.
J1825.1 Christian laws are profitless, Turkish ambassador says. Good people do not need them; bad people do not reform as a result of them. Spanish: Childers.
A694.1 Christian paradise (Terra Repromissionis) corresponding to pagan Celtic otherworld (Ireland). Irish myth: Cross.
A694 Christian paradise. Irish myth: Cross.
F243.0.1 Christianized fairy woman refuses to eat fairy food. Irish myth: *Cross.
G303.16.18.1 Christians are prohibited from whistling in dark lest the devil appear. Sébillot France I 159.
R315.2 Christians crushed in cave where they take refuge from heathen. Icelandic: Boberg.
J1263.3 Christians have a merciful God. Jew so decides when he thinks of the scandalous life of the court of Rome. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 777; Boccaccio Decameron I No. 2 (Lee 2); Italian Novella: *Rotunda.
V72 Christmas. *Encyc. Rel. Ethics Index 121b; *Hdwb. d. Abergl. IX 979ff., IX Nachträge 864—968; Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg.
R325 Church (altar) as refuge. Fb "kirke" II 125b; Irish myth: *Cross; Greek: Frazer Apollodorus I 276 n. 4; Jewish: *Neuman; Gaster Thespis 303f.; Japanese: Ikeda.
F163.2 Church (chapel) in otherworld. Siuts 62.—English: Gawayne and the Green Knight.
F941.2.2 Church and congregation sink to bottom of sea. Finnish: Aarne FFC XXXIII 46 No. 86**; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 134 No. 86.
V115.1.3.2 Church bell cannot be raised because person blasphemes. England: *Baughman.
V115.1.3.1 Church bell cannot be raised because silence is broken. (Cf. C401.4.) Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 72f. Nos. 612, 613, 619.
D2141.1.1 Church bell rung as protection against storm. To thwart devil. (Cf. D1213.) *P. Sartori Das Buch von deutschen Glocken (Berlin, 1932); *Kittredge Witchcraft 158, 476 nn. 51—53; *Loomis White Magic 53.
D1610.15.1 Church bell speaks. (Cf. V115.) Fb "kirkeklokke" II 130a; *Sartori Das Buch von deutschen Glocken (Berlin, 1932).
V115.1 Church bell sunk in river (sea). (Cf. F993.) *Fb. "kirkeklokke" IV 260b; Wales, England: *Baughman; Finnish: Aarne FFC XXXIII 47 No. 88; Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 72 Nos. 608—11; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 135 No. 88.
V222.6.1 Church bells ring without aid of human hands at death of holy person. *Loomis White Magic 52.
V115 Church bells. Encyc. Rel. Ethics Index 69a; Hdwb. d. Abergl. III 868ff.; E. Lippert Glockenläuten als Rechtsbrauch (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1939); *P. Sartori Das Buch von deutschen Glocken (Berlin, 1932).—Irish myth: *Cross; Norwegian: Solheim Register 21.
Q273.4 Church built by usurer's money made to collapse by devil. Spanish Exempla: Keller.
P120 Church dignitaries. Irish myth: Cross.
H216.3 Church door opens magically, as proof of priest's innocence. Irish: O'Suilleabhain 29.
X909.1.1 Church member who has been called to task about his lying habits tells another lie in expressing his concern for his weakness. He says he has shed barrels of tears because of his weakness. U.S.: *Baughman.
D1134.1 Church produced by magic. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges.
F941.2 Church sinks underground.
F941.2.1 Church sinks: song heard from underground. *Fb "kirke" IV 258b; Finnish: Aarne FFC XXXIII 47 No. 87; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 134 No. 87.
D2143.2.1 Church spared in flood because of prayers. Alphabet No. 77; Spanish Exempla: Keller.
Q552.13.2.2 Church which refused to bury saint miraculously burned. (Cf. Q227.) Irish myth: Cross.
V111 Churches. *Encyc. Rel. Ethics Index 123c; Irish: *Cross, Beal XXI 335, O'Suilleabhain 112.
E501.2.5 Churchmen in wild hunt. Plischke 29.
E273 Churchyard ghosts. Fb "spøgelse" III 519b; Lappish: Qvigstad FFC LX 40 No. 8; North Carolina: Brown Collection I 675.
D1500.1.6.2 Churchyard mould as remedy. (Cf. D1278.1.) Seligmann 148; *Fb "grav" IV 184a; Irish myth: *Cross (D1500.1.28.1).
D1323.8 Churchyard mould gives clairvoyance. Placed in pocket in order to see witches. (Cf. D1278, G250.)—Fb. "kirkegaardsmuld".
D1385.11 Churchyard mould in hat prevents witchery. (Cf. D1278.1.) Fb "kirkegaardsmuld".
D1355.6 Churchyard mould produces love. Girl takes three handfuls and passes it over churn. (Cf. D1278.1.)—Fb "kirkegaardsmuld" II 129b.
D1364.19 Cigar causes magic sleep. (Cf. D1261.)—Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 56 No. 408*A.
B522.4.1 Circling cranes carry away girl. Eskimo (Bering Strait): Nelson RBAE XVIII 480.
F771.2.6.1 Circular house rotating on cock's claw. *Halliday in Penzer VII xx; Köhler-Bolte I 405; *Solymossy Ethnographia XL (1929) 133ff.
V82 Circumcision. (Cf. F81.3.) *Encyc. Rel. Ethics Index 126c; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Jewish: *Neuman.
G302.6 Circumstances of demons' appearance.
S330 Circumstances of murder or exposure of children.
H150 Circumstances of recognition. Missouri French: Carrière.
E150 Circumstances of resuscitation.
E722.3 Circumstances of soul on leaving dead body.
K1911.1 Circumstances of substitution of false bride.
G303.6 Circumstances of the devil's appearance. Jewish: Neuman.
P518 Cities of refuge. Jewish: *Neuman.
R345 Cities of refuge. Jewish: *Neuman.
F769.2 Cities of sin. Jewish: *Neuman.
D2178.1 City built by magic. Penzer VII 73f.; India: Thompson-Balys.
S112.0.1 City burned with all inhabitants. Irish myth: *Cross.
B155.2 City founded on spot where cow lies down. Greek: Frazer Apollodorus I 315 n. 1, II 38 n. 1; India: Thompson-Balys.
F767.3 City inaccessible to death. Jewish: *Neuman.
G307.4 City infested by jinns deserted. India: Thompson-Balys.
F765 City inside a tree. (Cf. F811.) Penzer VI 130; Hdwb. d. Märch. I 207a n. 12.
X1563 City into which only married and mothers may enter. India: Thompson-Balys.
F948.5 City is buried under sand. England: *Baughman.
K2366 City is falsely promised to enemy. When they enter they are attacked and defeated. Italian Novella: Rotunda.
F761.2 City of brass. Chauvin V 33 No. 16; Burton Nights IV 176, VI 83ff., 101ff., VII 49.
F402.3 City of demons. Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas I 229.
F769.3 City of elephants. Africa: Stanley 305ff.
F761.4.1 City of emerald. India: Thompson-Balys.
F768.2 City of enchanted people. Apparently dead. Chauvin V 34 No. 16; Kittredge Gawain 238, 246; India: Thompson-Balys.
F762 City of extraordinary color.
F768 City of extraordinary people.
F763 City of fire. (Cf. F702, F753, F756.1, F771.1.11, F785.3.) Chauvin VII 57 No. 77.
A151.5 City of gods (God). Icel.: MacCulloch Eddic 329; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera I 290, II 961, 1195.
F761.1 City of gold. (Cf. F771.1.1.) Penzer II 171—238 passim, VI 130, VII 49; Irish myth: *Cross.
F761.4 City of jewels. Penzer II 175 n. 2.
Q552.13.2.1 City of king who opposed saint miraculously burned. (Cf. Q227.) Irish myth: Cross.
F761.3 City of onyx. Chauvin V 27 No. 13.
F768.1 City of petrified people. Chauvin V 2 No. 2, 4 No. 443; India: Thompson-Balys.
F761 City of precious metals and stones. Jewish: Neuman.
F112.2 City of women. (Cf. F566.2.) Jewish: *Neuman.
F761.5 City paved with precious seeds.
F761.5.3 City paved with seeds of brass. Irish myth: Cross.
F761.5.1 City paved with seeds of gold. Irish myth: Cross.
F761.5.2 City paved with seeds of silver. Irish myth: Cross.
D1628 City populated by wooden automata. Penzer III 58f., 281ff.
F767.2 City protected by red-hot iron floor around it. India: Thompson-Balys.
Q152 City saved from disaster as reward. Jewish: *Neuman; Chinese: Graham; Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 63, 70.
F944.1 City sinks in sea or lake as punishment. England, Scotland, U.S.: *Baughman.
F944 City sinks in the sea. Schmersel Die Sage von der versunkenen Stadt; Schütte Danske Studier (1925) 117; Le Braz Légende de la Mort (Paris, 1902); **Smyser Harward Studies and Notes Phil. and Lit. XV (1933) 49ff.; England: Baughman; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3610.
F761.1.1 City with hundred palaces and gardens; in one everything is of gold, in another, silver, etc. India: Thompson-Balys.
J712.1 City without provisions but with much money starves. Chauvin V 34 No. 16; Jewish: Neuman.
A412 City-gods. Chinese: Werner 403, Eberhard FFC CXX 42, 67.
D692 City's inhabitants transformed to fish. Different classes to different colored fish.—Chauvin VI 57 No. 222 n. 3.
Z136 Civilization personified. India: Thompson-Balys.
X905.3 Claim of property based on unusual lie. India: Thompson-Balys.
K730.1.1 Claim that a trap is a prayer house. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 19; Africa (Jaunde): Heepe 249.
J1214.1 Claim that dog-head captured game. Two hunters, one with dog and other with dog-head, dispute. The claim that the dog-head captured the game is allowed and then the alarm is raised that the owner of the, game is coming to punish the theft. Jamaica: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 243 No. 19.
D1323.12 Clairvoyance by looking at object filled with water. Marquesas: Handy 109, 118; Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 528; Tuamotu: Stimson MS (z-G. 13/420).
D1323.18 Clairvoyance from prayer. India: Thompson-Balys.
D1323.12.1 Clairvoyant spring. Lady whose lover is absent to look in spring each day. If she sees his shadow, he is about to marry another. (Cf. D927.) —English: Child I 192.
D1323.9 Clairvoyant tube. (Cf. D1255.)—*Chauvin VI 133 No. 286 n. 2.
G308.7 Clam shell invites man down into sea so he can be eaten. Eskimo (Greenland): Rasmussen III 97.
H1521 Clam test. Hero is sent to capture a giant clam, so that he can be killed. N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 313 n. 130.
H58.2 Clandestine lover identified by scratches left on face by lady. Heptameron No. 4.
H81 Clandestine lover recognized by tokens.
H81.3 Clandestine visit of lover to queen betrayed by token. Icelandic: Boberg.
H81.2 Clandestine visit of princess to hero betrayed by token. *Type 851; BP I 197; India: Thompson-Balys.
H1525 Clashing rocks test: hero to pass between them. S. A. Indian (Tupinamba): Métraux BBAE CXLIII (3) 132.
D1812.5.1.17.2 Clashing shields in heavens as evil omen. Irish myth: Cross.
C550 Class tabu. Missouri French: Carrière.
A963.9 Clay soil dropped from sky to form hill. Tonga: Gifford 39.
K619.1.1 Cleanest girl to be eaten by ogress: clever girl shakes sesame into fire to simulate sound of burning lice. Chinese: Graham.
K1424.1 Cleaning out manure: piles it high. India: Thompson-Balys.
K1461.1 Cleaning the child. Intestines taken out and cleaned. Type 1012; India: Thompson-Balys.
K1461.3 Cleaning the children. Impales them. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1013A*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1012 I.
J2104.1 Cleaning the church by moving it. A cow fouls a church. Numskulls try to move the church with ropes. Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 293 No. 4.
K1443 Cleaning the horse. Washing him in boiling water or currying him with a razor. Type 1016; Fb "hest" IV 211b.
A661.0.4 Cleansing fountain in heaven. Irish myth: Cross.
K1421 Clearing land: axe broken. *Types 650, 1050; BP II 285ff.
K1424 Clearing out manure: digs hole. Type 1035*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1035.
J2465.5 Clearing out the room. Fool throws out all the furniture. *Type 1685; Italian Novella: Rotunda.
J1263.5 Clergy in no need of spectacles. Many do not pray at all, many know their prayers by heart, and the great prelates look through their fingers *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 514.
P426 Clergy.
N846 Cleric as helper.
H561.8 Cleric as solver of riddles. Irish myth: Cross.
B159.3 Cleric goes with saint whom his cow follows. Irish myth: Cross.
V463.1 Cleric surrenders life that body may consecrate land. Irish myth: Cross.
Q537.2 Cleric tempts self among beautiful women, lives chastely. Irish myth: Cross.
D1601.18.1.1 Cleric's tongueless bell rings. Irish myth: Cross.
V465 Clerical vices.
V461.7 Clerical virtue of absolute faith. Man captured by robbers is so confident that God will protect him that he is saved. Spanish Exempla: Keller.
V461 Clerical virtue. Irish myth: *Cross.
V460 Clerical virtues and vices.
V472 Clerical vows because of disappointment in love.
V470 Clerical vows. *Encyc. Rel. Ethics Index 634a.
F1088.3.1 Clerics and property cast safely on shore when enemies attempt their drowning. Irish myth: Cross.
F986.1 Clerics catch fish with regularity. Irish myth: Cross.
P551.3 Clerics exempted from military service. Irish myth: Cross.
P623.0.1.1 Clerics fast against God for revelation. Irish myth: Cross.
F234.2.4.1 Clerics mistaken for fairies. Irish myth: *Cross.
C841.0.1 Clerics' voyage unsuccessful because they sailed in boats of skin. Irish myth: Cross.
K362.8 Clerk mistranslates order given by master to maid, so that pie goes to clerks. Nouvelles Récréations No. 14.
N347.1 Clerk who enters tavern arrested with others for murder. Scala Celi 59a No. 326; Chauvin IX 19; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Icelandic: Boberg.
B710.2.1 Clever and swift horse fed with worms' milk on the gold mountain Tecklen in India. Icel.: *Boberg.
B710.2.2 Clever and swift horse of dromedary-family. Göngu-Hrуlfs saga 239.
B710.2 Clever and swift horse of fanciful origin.
K427.1 Clever animal betrays thief. Horse catches arm of thief and holds on until help comes. Spanish Exempla: Keller.
K427 Clever animal betrays thief. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 48; West Indies: Flowers 509.
J1115.3 Clever barber. Penzer III 99ff.
J1118 Clever bird.
J1113 Clever boy. India: *Thompson-Balys.
J1124 Clever court jester. India: Thompson-Balys.
H561.1.1.1 Clever daughter construes enigmatic sayings. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1111.3 Clever daughter-in-law. India: *Thompson-Balys.
J1675 Clever dealing with a king.
J1174 Clever decisions concerning kissing and rape.
J1661.1.10 Clever deduction of wise man: the theft of a cauldron detected. Cauldron has been buried in river. Thief has no taste of salt on his body: he must have been immersed in fresh water recently. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1661.2 Clever deductions by eating, smelling, drinking, etc. Penzer VI 285; India: Thompson-Balys.
J1661 Clever deductions.
J1241 Clever dividing which favors the divider. India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda; West Indies: Flowers 481.
J1249 Clever dividing—miscellaneous.
H599.3 Clever flatterer: Sir, you are a full moon, and my sovereign is a new moon (the full moon will decline, but the new moon has but started on its growth). India: Thompson-Balys.
J1115.1 Clever gambler. Penzer IX 25 n. 1; Pierre Faifeu No. 10.
K434 Clever girl discovers robber and cheats him.
J585.1 Clever girl refrains from eating figs which would bring on magic sleep. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 116 No. 970.
J1111 Clever girl. **DeVries FFC LXXIII; *Chauvin VII 118 No. 387; Köhler-Bolte II 602 No. 1; *BP III 202; Bloomfield JAOS XXXVI 65.—Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: Boberg; Jewish: Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham.
J1115.10.1 Clever governor. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1675.7 Clever hero feigns dullness so as to avenge himself on king. India: Thompson-Balys.
K432.1.1 Clever husband being robbed induces wife to make outcry and summon help. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1193 Clever interpretation of judge's statement.
J873.2 Clever jackal covers up his clumsiness in catching cows by saying he was running to and fro because he was looking for the fattest calf. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1171.3.1 Clever judgment: man must belong to the third wife because the first had buried him and the second did not protect him. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1179 Clever judicial decisions — miscellaneous. Africa (Angola): Chatelain Nos. 10, 42, 49.
J1170 Clever judicial decisions.
P12.7 Clever king knows everything in advance. Icelandic: Boberg.
J1545.7 Clever laughter and response of wife stops husband from fondling maid. Heptameron No. 54.
J1116.1 Clever madman. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1111.6 Clever maidservant. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1210 Clever man puts another out of countenance.
J1189 Clever means of avoiding legal punishment—miscellaneous.
J1180 Clever means of avoiding legal punishment.
J1115.7.1 Clever merchant profits by being robbed. Monkeys steal his caps. Traps monkeys and sells them. Italian Novella: Rotunda.
J1115.7 Clever merchant.
J1115.10.2 Clever minister. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1111.5 Clever minister's daughter. India: *Thompson-Balys.
J1115.5.1 Clever minstrel gets a new robe. Has tattered robe mended with scarlet. Ridiculed "I wish the rest of the robe were of the same material". Is given one. Italian Novella: Rotunda.
J1115.5 Clever minstrel. Thien Motive 28.
J1115.10 Clever official.
J1118.1 Clever parrot. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1111.4 Clever peasant daughter. *Type 875, *BP II 349; **DeVries FFC LXXIII; India: *Thompson-Balys.
H561.1 Clever peasant girl asked riddles by king. *Type 875; **De Vries FFC LXXIII 52ff.; *Hdwb. d. Märchens I 195a; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda.
H561.1.0.1 Clever peasant wife asks king riddles. India: Thompson-Balys.
J1115.6 Clever peasant. *Hdwb. d. Märchens I 187b.
J885 Clever person's defeat pleases inferior.
J1110 Clever persons. Irish myth: *Cross; Missouri French: Carrière.
J1115.2 Clever physician. Penzer II 2 n. 1; Irish myth: *Cross.
J1169 Clever pleading—miscellaneous.
J1164 Clever pleading: fighting for King of Kings. Knight hailed before king for fighting blasphemer, tells king that he would fight to protect the honor of the king's name so why not for the name of the King of Kings? Spanish Exempla: Keller.
J1162.4 Clever pleading: youth in court for calling king a fool, proves truth of statement because king allowed self to be duped by alchemist. Spanish Exempla: Keller.
J1160 Clever pleading.
J1500 Clever practical retort.
H561.9 Clever prince interprets enigmatic statements. Icelandic: Boberg.
J123.1 Clever prince overrules seemingly just decisions of king. Jewish: Neuman.
J1115 Clever professions.
J1115.8 Clever prostitute. Gives advice on many questions. Spanish: Childers.
P20.1 Clever queen. Icelandic: *Boberg.
J1114 Clever servant. (Cf. J1111.6, J1341, J1561.4, N25, P360, W111.2.)
J1115.9 Clever shepherd. India: *Thompson-Balys.
P253.8 Clever sister saves life of brother. Irish myth: Cross.
J1111.6.1 Clever slave girl. Jewish: Neuman.
J1114.0.1 Clever slave. (Cf. J1111.6.1.) Jewish: *Neuman. Cf. Aesop.
F663.2 Clever smith makes needle that pierces anvil. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 1273.
J1664 Clever solution of debated question.
J1142.4.1.1 Clever son falls from tree, so mother's tears over dead body of father being carried through street will seem natural. India: *Thompson-Balys.
J1115.4 Clever tailor. *Type 1640; Breton: Sébillot Incidents s.v. "tailleur".
J1211.2 Clever thief may keep booty. He has seen his victim in a disgraceful position and is allowed the booty as a price for his silence. *Köhler-Bolte II 594; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 263 No. 236; Italian Novella: *Rotunda.
J1672 Clever use of human weakness. Penny demanded of every bad man, two pennies of every good man. Thus two pennies received from every man. Irish myth: Cross.
J1250 Clever verbal retorts—general. Boccaccio Decameron Day 6 (Lee 176ff.); Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys.
J1675.1 Clever ways of attracting the king's attention.