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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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1545 | The boy with many names | A man gets lodging in a beautiful woman's house. He pretends not to know how to sleep in bed; she must go with him. | 1545, 1545B | K1327., K602. |
| 1548 | Stone Soup | No examples in the Database yet | 1548 | K112.2. |
| 155 | Ingratitude Is the World's Reward | A man rescues a serpent (or a bear), who in return seeks to kill the rescuer. Fox, as judge, advises the man to put the serpent back into captivity. | 155 | J1172.3. |
| 1551 | The Wager that Sheep are Hogs | A trickster wagers with a sheep driver that the sheep he is driving are hogs. The next man to overtake them will act as umpire. The trickster's confederate now arrives and declares that they are hogs. [K451.2]. | 1551 | K451.2. |
| 1555 | Milk in the Cask | Order to put a small vessel of milk into huge container. Of a small shrewd group each by himself pours water thinking this will not be detected if the others pour milk. [K231.6.1.1]. (Sometimes told of wine.) | 1555A, 1555B | K231.6.2.2., K233.4. |
| 1556 | The Double Pension (Burial Money) | A husband and wife are jointly under a pension from the king. She reports her husband dead and gets the whole pension. He likewise reports her dead and gets the whole money. [K441.1]. (Sometimes concerned with money for the burial.) (K482.1). | 1556 | K482.1. |
| 1557 | Box on the Ear Returned | At table each gives his neighbor a box on the ears. The soldier is to give it to the king, but he returns it to the courtier from whom he has received it. [K2376]. | 1557 | K2376. |
| 1558 | Welcome to the Clothes | A man at a banquet is neglected because of his poor clothes. He changes clothes, returns, and is honored. »Feed my clothes,» he says, »for it is they that are welcomed.» [J1561.3]. | 1558 | J1561.3. |
| 156 | Androcles and the Lion | In gratitude the lion later rewards the man. | 156, 156A | B301.8., B381. |
| 1561 | The boy 'loses his sight' | No examples in the Database yet | 1561 | W111.2.6. |
| 1562 | "Think Thrice before you Speak." | The youth obeys literally the precept even when he sees the master's coat on fire. [J2516.1, cf. J571.1]. | 1562, 1562A, 1562B* | J1269.12., J2516.1., NA |
| 1565 | Agreement Not to Scratch | In talking, the trickster makes gestures and scratches without detection. [K263]. | 1565 | K263. |
| 157 | Learning to Fear Men | The fox undertakes to persuade the wolf of the frightfulness of men. They see an old man. The fox says this was a man but is no longer one. Likewise a boy (will be a man). Next a man with a gun. The wolf approaches and is shot. He tells the fox he could have defeated the man but for the man's spitting fire. [J17]. | 157, 157A | J17., J22.1. |
| 1574 | The flattering foreman | A tailor dreams that at Judgment Day he sees a flag made up of all the pieces of cloth he has stolen. Upon waking he asks his servants to warn him if they ever see him tempted to steal again. This happens. He replies, »The piece I am about to steal… | 1574 | J1401. |
| 1577 | Blind Men Duped into Fighting: Money to be Devided | Trickster says that he is giving one of them money to be divided with the others. Gives it to none. They quarrel and fight. [K1081.1]. (Cf. K1883.6.) | 1577* | N455.1. |
| 1579 | Carrying Wolf, Goat, and Cabbage across Stream | A man is to set across a stream, in a boat that will hold himself and only one other object, a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage. He must do this so that the wolf doesn't eat the goat, nor the goat the cabbage. Two solutions: (1) (a) take goat over, (b)… | 1579 | H506.3. |
| 1589 | The Lawyer's Dog Steals Meat | The lawyer tells the butcher that the dog's owner (himself) is liable for damages. He asks double the amount of the damages as fee. [K488]. | 1589 | K488. |
| 1591 | The Three Joint Depositors | Money is left with a banker by three joint depositors. The money is to be delivered only on demand from all three. One of the men steals the money. The others sue the banker for the money. He agrees to deliver it when all three jointly demand it.… | 1591 | J1161.1. |
| 1592 | The Iron-eating Mice | The trustee claims that mice have eaten the iron scales confided to him. The host abducts the trustee's son and says that a falcon has carried him off. [J1531.2]. | 1592, 1592B | J1531.2., J1531.3. |
| 159 | Captured wild animals ransom themselves | Bring horses, cows, etc. to the man. | 159A, 159B | NA, W185.6. |
| 160 | Grateful Animals ; Ungrateful Man | The rescue from the pit. A traveler saves a monkey, a snake, a tiger, and a jeweler from a pit. The monkey gives him fruit; the tiger a necklace of the princess he has killed. The jeweler accuses the rescuer before the king. The serpent saves him by biting the prince and then showing the man the proper remedy. | 160 | W154.8. |
| 1600 | The fool as murderer | The brothers put a he-goat in place of the body and thus save their brother. [H472.1, K661.1]. Cf. Type 1381B, C, E. | 1600 | NA |
| 161 | Peasant Betrays Fox by Pointing | The peasant has hidden the fox in a basket, and promised not to tell. When the hunters come, he says, »The fox just went over the hill,« but points to the basket. [K2315]. | 161, 161A* | K2315., NA |
| 1610 | To Divide Presents and Strokes | The boy (peasant) promises the soldier what the king has promised to give him. The soldier receives a beating in place of the boy. [K187]. Cf. Types 1642, 1689. | 1610 | K187. |
| 1611 | Contest in Climbing the Mast | The boy falls from the mast and lodges in the rigging: »You do the same thing!» The sailors are persuaded that he is an expert sailor. [K1762]. | 1611 | K1762. |
| 1612 | The Contest in Swimming | The swimmer takes a knapsack of provisions on his back. His rival is afraid and gives up. [K1761]. | 1612 | K1761. |
| 1613 | "Playing-Cards are my Calendar and Prayerbook." | A soldier reproved for playing cards during church service answers thus and shows so cleverly the symbolic meanings of each of the cards that he receives a reward. [H603]. | 1613 | H603. |
| 1626 | Dream Bread | The most wonderful dream. Three pilgrims agree that the one who has the most wonderful dream shall eat the last loaf. One eats it. He declares he dreamed the others were dead and would not need it. [K444]. | 1626 | K444. |
| 1628 | The learned son and the forgotten language | Having left the seminary, a son speaks only Latin, pretending to have forgotten his own language. When a rake strikes him in the forehead, he screams in his own tongue »Devilish rake!» [J1511.11]. Cf. Type 1641 C. | 1628* | J1511.11. |
| 163 | The singing wolf | By his singing the wolf compels the old man to surrender his cattle, his children and grandchildren, and finally his wife. The old woman goes into the wolf's service. She returns home bringing butter, etc. [Z33.4.2]. | 163 | Z33.4.2. |
| 1635 | Eulenspiegel's tricks | No examples in the Database yet | 1635 | K300. |
| 1643 | The Broken Image | The fool sells his cow to a crucifix [J1853.1.1]. He knocks it to pieces because it will not pay him. He finds a treasure inside [N510]. | 1643 | J1853.1.1. |
| 1678 | The boy who had never seen a woman | When he sees a girl and asks his father what it is, the father tells him it is Satan. Asked what he most likes, he says »The Satans». [T371]. | 1678 | T371. |
| 1682 | The groom teaches his horse to live without food | It dies. [J1914]. | 1682 | J1914. |
| 1142 | Hot Tin under the Tail of the Ogre's Horse | The smith promises to make the horse wild. The ogre on the horse's back. [K11811]. | 1682* | K1181. |
| 1687 | The forgotten word | No examples in the Database yet | 1687 | D2004.5. |
| 1689 | Thank God They Weren't Peaches | The man plans to take peaches as a present to the king. He is persuaded rather to take figs. They are green and the king has them thrown in his face. He is thankful that they weren't peaches. [J2563]. | 1689, 1689A | J2415.1., J2563. |
| 1693 | The Literal Fool - the Burning of Lanka | Pots broken; fire set. A fool (or trickster) follows instructions literally and disastrously. He is taken before a judge or rajah, but is freed. (a) An oil seller tells a fool (or a trickster), who has spilled a little oil, that spilt oil brings good… | 1693 | J2450. |
| 1697 | "We Three; For Money" | Three travelers in a foreign land know only three expressions in the foreign language. By the use of these they get themselves accused of murder. [C495.2.2] Cf. Type 360. | 1697 | C495.2.2. |
| 170 | The fox eats his fellow-lodger | The fox spends the night with a cock in a house. He eats the cock but in the morning he accuses the sheep of having eaten it. In the next inn likewise the ox has eaten the sheep, etc. In compensation he demands a larger animal each time. .… | 170, 171 | K443.7., NA |
| 1700 | "I don't Know." | The man thinks that »I don't know» is a person's name [J2496]. | 1700 | J2496. |
| 1705 | Talking Horse and Dog | A person is frightened by animals successively replying to his remarks. Example: The man riding the horse and followed by the dog tells the horse to jump over a hole. Horse says, »I will not.» Man turns to dog and says, »Isn't that strange, a… | 1705 | B210.1. |
| 173 | Man and animals readjust span of life | Cf. 828 AT first, 30 years are given to all animals and to man. For the animals it is too long, for man too short. Man is given a portion of animal's lives. [A1321]. | 173 | A1321. |
| 175 | The Tarbaby and the Rabbit | The rabbit, who has been stealiug fruit from a garden, is captured by means of a tarbaby, an image with tar. The rabbit tries to make the tarbaby talk and finally becomes so angry that he strikes it. He sticks to the tarbaby and is captured. Usually… | 175 | K741. |
| 178 | The Faithful Animal Rashly Killed | See AT 0178A and AT 0178B. | 178, 178A | B331.2., NA |
| 179 | What the bear whispered in his ear | Paid guide climbs tree and leaves traveler to mercy of a bear. Traveler feigns death and the bear sniffs at him and leaves. The guide: »What did the bear say to you?« »He said, never trust a coward like you.« | 179 | J1488. |
| 1875 | The Boy on the Wolf's Tail | He hides himself in the mill and frightens the robbers from their treasure; cf. Type 1653. Is hidden in a barrel. Holds fast to the wolf's tail through a hole in the barrel. [X1133.3]. Cf. Types 169H*, 1229, 1900. | 1875 | X1133.3. |
| 1882 | The Man who Fell out of a Balloon | Buried in the earth, he goes to get a spade to dig himself out. | 1882 | X1731.2.1., X1757. |
| 1890 | The lucky shot | Discharge of gun kills the heath-cock, which falls on the sprouts on the tree, which kills the bear, etc. [X1124.3]. | 1890, 1890D, 1890E, 1890F | X1122.2., X1122.3., X1124.3. |
| 1891 | The Great Rabbit-Catch | The rabbits freeze their feet fast to the ice at night [X1115.1]. | 1891B*, 1893A* | NA, X1114.1. |