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Aarne–Thompson–Uther index
About this index and how to read it
The ATU index classifies international folktales by type. Each row gives the type number, its title and summary, followed by the references it inherits: Arne Thompson is the earlier Aarne–Thompson type number, and Thompson lists the motif references from Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature associated with that type.
Cross-references inside a summary open the relevant tale-type or motif record. Thompson motif references in the final column are linked directly to the corresponding entry in the Stith Thompson Motif Index when that reference exists in the database. Any column heading can be clicked to sort by it, and clicking again reverses the order. Following a type number opens that type on its own page.
| ATU | Title | Summary | Arne Thompson ▲ | Thompson |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1288 | 'These are not my feet' | A stranger helps them with a switch. [J2021]. | 1288 | J2021. |
| 1290 | Swimming in the Flax-field | Peasants go to visit the sea. They see a waving flax field, and thinking it is the sea, jump in for a swim. [J1821]. | 1290 | J1821. |
| 1291 | Sending One Cheese After Another | One cheese falls and rolls down the hill. She sends the second to bring back the first. [J1881.1.2]. | 1291, 1291B, 1291C | J1871., J1881.1.2., J1881.1.3. |
| 1294 | Getting the Calf's Head out of the Pot | A calf gets its head caught in the pot. A fool cuts off the calf's head and then breaks the pot to get it out. [J2113]. | 1294 | J2113. |
| 1296 | Fool's Errand | People sent to get imaginary things. (Left-handed monkey wrench and the like.) [J2346]. | 1296 | J2346. |
| 131 | Tiger as False Friend to the Cow | A tiger and a cow become friends and both bear offspring. The tiger drinks water downstream from the cow, decides her flesh would be sweet, and kills and devours her. The calf has been forewarned (lifetoken: cup of milk). The cub, ashamed of its… | 131 | J427. |
| 1314 | The Buttercask Taken for a Dead Man | Fools knock it in two. [J1783.1]. | 1315 | J1771.1. |
| 1319 | Other mistaken identities | No examples in the Database yet | 1319, 1319A*, 1319J* | J1761.11., J1772.1., J1781.2. |
| 132 | Goat Admires his Horns in the Water | Goat admires his horns in the water, and says, "I needn't be afraid of the wolf." Wolf behind him asks him what he was saying. Goat: "One talks such foolishness when one is drinking." | 132 | K1775. |
| 1321 | Fools frightened | Cf. Type 1677. | 1321, 1321C | J2600., J2614.1. |
| 1326 | Moving the church | The stolen coat. To see whether the church is moving someone lays down his coat in front of it. It is stolen. They think the church has passed over it. [J2328]. | 1326 | J2328. |
| 1327 | Emptying the Meal Sack | To convince arguers of the emptiness of their quarrel he empties sack of meal (pot of oil). [J2062.1]. | 1327 | J2062.1. |
| 1333 | The Shepherd who Cried "Wolf!" too often | When the wolf really comes no one believes him [J2172.1]. | 1333 | J2172.1. |
| 1334 | The Local Moon | A numskull greets the old moon as if it were new. »I haven't seen it before, for I have just come to the city.» (Each town thought to have a different moon.) [J2271.1]. | 1334 | J2271.1. |
| 1335 | The Eaten Moon | The numskull sees a cow drink from a pool where the moon is reflected. The moon goes under a cloud. He thinks the cow has eaten the moon and slaughters her to recover it. [J1791.1]. | 1335, 1335*, 1335A | J1791.1., J1791.2., J1806. |
| 1336 | Diving for Cheese | Man (animal) sees moon reflected in water and, thinking it a cheese, dives in for it. [J1791.3]. This is Type 34 with human actors. | 1336A | J1791.7. |
| 1342 | Hot and Cold with the Same Breath | No examples in the Database yet | 1342 | NA |
| 1347 | Living Crucifix Chosen | Peasants take their old crucifix to an artist for a new one. The artist asks them whether they want a living or dead crucifix. Argument: living God takes less for upkeep and he can be killed later. [J1738.2]. | 1347, 1347* | J1738.2., NA |
| 1348 | The Imaginative Boy | No examples in the Database yet | 1348 | W211.2. |
| 136 | Wolf Surprises Pig in Apple Tree | Wolf surprises pig in apple tree. Will release him in return for one of his harms. Pig throws down a piece of thorny wood instead, which splits wolf's gullet. | 136 | K1043. |
| 137 | The Filthy Hog and the Clean Fish | The hog: "People will spit when they eat you, whereas in my case all will lick their fingers." | 137 | NA |
| 1380 | The faithless wife | Asks God how she can fool her husband. The husband from the tree (or rafters) tells her that she can make him blind by feeding him milk-toast. The husband feigns blindness and slays the lover. The body is thrown into the river. Cf. Types 1324*, 1375,… | 1380 | K1553. |
| 1381 | The talkative wife and the discovered treasure | The wood-cock in the fish-net and the fish in the bird-trap. The woman under the bath tub (for fear of rumored war). The woman is considered mad and the man can keep his treasure. The husband has foolishly told his talkative wife of discovered… | 1381, 1381B, 1381C, 1381D, 1381E | H472.1., J1151.1.1., J1151.1.3., J2353., NA |
| 1384 | The husband hunts for three persons as stupid as his wife | Cf. Types 1450, Clever Elsie; 1385, The Foolish Wife's Pawn. The man finds three as foolish [H1312.1]. Cf. Type 1540, The Student from Paradise. This type combines with many others, particularly 1310, 1245, 1265, 1286, 1326, 1371*, 1385, 1386, 1387… | 1384 | H1312.1. |
| 1385 | A Woman Loses Her Husband's Money | The wife sells cows. Gets one of them back as pledge for the unpaid purchase price [J2086]. Cf. Types 1382, 1384. | 1385, 1385* | J2086., na |
| 1386 | Meat as food for cabbage | The wife places pieces of meat on a growing cabbage. [J1856.1]. Cf. Type 1642. | 1386 | J1856.1. |
| 1407 | The Miser | Gives his wife too little to eat. On the advice of the servant boy, he spies on her from inside the chimney, under the bolster, etc. Gets burned in the chimney, beaten in the bed. [W153.2]. Cf. Types 1373, 1458. | 1407, 1407A | K1155., W153.2. |
| 1410 | Four Men's Mistress | A husband disguises as a priest to hear his wife's confession. She says that she has been the mistress of a servant, a knight, a fool, and a priest; i.e., her husband when he was her servant, and later her knight. He had then been a fool for… | 1410 | J1545.2. |
| 1415 | Trading Away One's Fortune | Foolish bargains. He trades his horse for a cow, the cow for a hog, the latter for a goose, until finally he has nothing left [J2081.1]. Wins the wager when his wife does not get angry [N11]. | 1415 | J2081.1. |
| 1418 | The Equivocal Oath | A husband insists that his wife take oath that she has been intimate with no one but himself. The paramour masks as ass-driver. She hires an ass from him, falls down, and lets him pick her up. She swears no one has touched her except the husband and… | 1418 | K1513. |
| 1422 | The Parrot and the Adulterous Woman | No examples in the Database yet | 1422 | J1154.1. |
| 1423 | The Enchanted Pear Tree | The wife makes the husband, who has seen her adultery from the tree, believe that the tree is magic (or that he has seen double) [K1518]. | 1423 | K1518. |
| 1425 | Putting the Devil into Hell | Obscene trick used to seduce woman. [K1363.1]. | 1425, 1425B* | K1363.1., na |
| 1450 | Clever Elsie | The girl is to get beer from the cellar. Falls into a study as to what her first child's name shall be. Likewise the girl's father and mother. The suitor departs. [J2063]. Cf. Types 1384, 1387, 1430A. | 1450 | J2063. |
| 1451 | A suitor chooses the thrifty girl | The thrifty girl makes herself a dress from the flax the lazy fiancé has thrown on the floor. The young man chooses the thrifty girl. [H381.1]. | 1451 | H381.1. |
| 1452 | Choosing a Bride by How She Cuts Cheese | Three girls tested. First eats rind and all, second cuts away good cheese, third cuts away just enough. [H381.2]. | 1452 | H381.2. |
| 1453 | Bride test: key in flax reveals laziness | Suitor hides key in flax on spinning wheel. Finds it there next day. [H382.1]. | 1453 | H382.1. |
| 1459 | Keeping up appearances | No examples in the Database yet | 1459** | K1984. |
| 1462 | Clean and tidy | No examples in the Database yet | 1462 | K1971.6. |
| 1476 | The Prayer for a Husband | The old maid prays in church that she may get a husband [X761]. The (supposed) advice of God (the church janitor) [K1971.9]. She must raise her foot to her neck (or other disgraceful act). Cf. Type 1462. | 1476, 1476A, 1476B | G303.12.5., K1971.9., NA |
| 15 | Stealing the Partner's Butter | The fox (the hen) pretends that he has been invited to be godfather and steals the butter stored by him and the bear (the cock) for the winter. He smears butter on the mouth (tail) of the sleeping bear. | 15 | K372. |
| 151 | Music lessons for wild animals | He tricks them by catching their claws in a cleft tree. Similarly betrays many other animals. The freed animals try in vain for revenge. | 151 | K1111.0.1. |
| 1528 | Holding Down the Hat | A rascal stands by the side of a road near his hat under which he has hidden dung. When the dupe arrives he offers to pursue the rascal with the dupe's horse if the latter will guard his hat under which is a beautiful bird. He escapes with the horse.… | 1528 | K1252. |
| 1529 | Thief Claims to have been Transformed into a Horse | While the owner sleeps, the peasant steals his horse. He hitches himself to the owner's wagon and says that he is a horse transformed to a man. [K403]. | 1529, 1529A* | K403., na |
| 153 | The Gelding of the Bear and the Fetching of Salve | The man tells the bear that the horse is strong because he is gelded. The bear has the man geld him to make him strong. He is to geld the man the next day. The man substitutes his wife and sends her with salve; the bear in disgust throws the salve into the tree. Cf. Type 1133. | 153 | K1012.1. |
| 1530 | Holding up the Rock | The rascal puts his shoulder under a great rock and pretends to hold it up. He persuades a man to take his place and then runs away with the dupe's goods. [K125.1]. Cf. Types 9A, 1731. | 1530 | K1251. |
| 1533 | The wise carving of the fowl | A clever person divides it symbolically head to head of house, neck to wife, wings to daughters, legs to sons; keeps rest for himself. (Cf. Type 875 II e.) [H601]. | 1533 | NA |
| 1535 | The Rich Peasant and the Poor Peasant | I. (a) Twee broers, (a1) mannen, (a2) boeren, (a3) neven, (a4) een boer en een jongen, (a5) zijn arbeider, (a6) een woonwagenbewoner. (b) Grote en Kleine Doeke, (b1) Klaas, (b2) Obe, (b3) Oege, (b4) Grote Arend en Kleine Hendrik, (b5) Hearke en… | 1535 | na |
| 154 | The Jackal and the Farmer | The fox helps the man; his reward. He converses with his members. | 154 | J2351.1. |
| 1543 | The man without a member | No examples in the Database yet | 1543*, 1543A*, 1543C* | J1919.8., NA |
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