Folklore Database · Browse
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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| J21.43 | "A country not examined in disguise will always be ruined": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J401.0.1 | "A friend is known in need." Irish myth: Cross. |
| J21.41.2 | "A stranger does not close his eyes in sleep lest he close them in death": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.5.3 | "A way short yet long": counsel proved wise by experience. (Cf. J266.) Jewish: Neuman. |
| J1741.2 | "Agnus dei" as a prayer for money. An ignorant schoolmaster interprets many of the texts of scripture as commands for the priests to live lives of luxury. Bolte Frey's Gartengesellschaft 213 No. 8. |
| J21.33 | "Bathe by yourself and not in the common bathing place": counsel proved wise by experience. Man forgets purse in bath house. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.41 | "Be cautious before allowing yourself to fall asleep in a strange place": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.42 | "Before eating food at a strange place throw some at an animal and watch": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1261.9 | "Better a live confessor than a dead martyr." So answers a preacher when asked whether he preferred to stay at home and confess his flock or go to war against the infidels. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J2489.3 | "Bite the ear" (speak secretly). Fool interprets literally. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J865.1 | "But by a fine fellow!" Dying toad thus comforts his paramour, the frog, whom he is leaving neither married nor widow nor maiden and pregnant. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 38 No. 288A*. |
| J1576 | "Cause liberality to be depicted." Answer of hungry man when host asks for suggestion for a picture to be painted of something that has not been seen. Boccaccio Decameron I No. 8 (Lee 23), Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2465.10 | "Collect goats under tree." Fool piles up their carcasses. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.1 | "Consider the end": counsel proved wise by experience. Barber hired to cut king's throat sees on the bottom of the basin the words "Whatever you do, do wisely and think of the consequences." He drops the razor and confesses. *Type 910C; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 20 No. 69; Alphabet No. 156; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas IV 172, 283; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.2.6 | "Control your anger at the beginning": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2489.8 | "Cover with straw." Fool covers his mistress with straw and suffocates her. Should have thatched roof. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2489.4 | "Cutting the paper of the accounts" (falsifying accounts). Fool cuts up account books. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1433 | "Do as I say and not as I do." Doctor forbids patient to drink wine. When patient reproves doctor for drinking wine the latter says: "Just now it is bad for you and good for me." Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.2 | "Do not act when angry": counsel proved wise by experience. Man returns home and sees someone sleeping with his wife. Though he thinks it is a paramour, he restrains himself and finds that it is a newborn son. *Type 910B; Chauvin II 157; Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: Boberg; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys. Cf. Wienert FFC LVI 37; Phaedrus III No. 10. |
| J21.27 | "Do not adopt a child": counsel proved wise by experience. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *911; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.6 | "Do not ask questions about extraordinary things": counsel proved wise by experience. Those who ask question killed. Köhler-Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. VI 169ff. (Gonzenbach No. 81); Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J21.8.1 | "Do not bet": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.7 | "Do not cross a bridge without dismounting from your horse"; counsel proved wise by experience. Man breaks leg. Type 910B; Wesselski Märchen 219 No. 32. |
| J21.21 | "Do not cross a swollen stream until it has run down": counsel proved wise by experience. Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 100, 304, Neuman. |
| J21.2.3 | "Do not draw your sword against the innocent": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.36 | "Do not go alone on journey": counsel proved wise by experience. Helpful crab saves from attack by crocodile. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.3 | "Do not go where an old man has a young wife": counsel proved wise by experience. Discovers a murder in an inn. *Type 910B; Christiansen Norske Eventyr 115; Irish myth: *Cross. |
| J21.25 | "Do not keep bad company": counsel proved wise by experience. Breaking of father's first counsel causes the breaking of all the others. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2516.4 | "Do not leave my side." The youth obeys the command to such an absurd extent that he is a nuisance to his master. *Wesselski Morlini 317 No. 74. |
| J21.5 | "Do not leave the highway": counsel proved wise by experience. Robbers encountered. *Type 910B; Scala Celi No. 788; Herbert III 99; Irish myth: *Cross; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J21.10 | "Do not lend out your horse": counsel proved wise by experience. Type 910A; Christiansen Norske Eventyr 115. |
| J21.24 | "Do not make a horse run down hill": counsel proved wise by experience. Horse breaks its neck. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 52; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J21.46 | "Do not make friends with a policeman (soldier)": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.4 | "Do not marry a girl from abroad": counsel proved wise by experience. *Type 910A; Christiansen Norske Eventyr 115; Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 52; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J21.31 | "Do not marry a woman before seeing her and finding her to be your equal": counsel proved wise by experience. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.32 | "Do not marry more than one woman". Man who wanted three, marries one and is weakened greatly. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J21.5.1 | "Do not prefer a new road to an old one." Those who take the new one are killed by robbers. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.9.1 | "Do not prolong a friendly visit." Guest stays so long that host gives him black bread instead of white. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 52; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J21.47.1 | "Do not send your wife for a long visit to her parents": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.2.5 | "Do not shed the blood of women": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.34.2 | "Do not sit on a bed without touching it first": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.51 | "Do not stand and watch two people fighting": counsel proved wise by experience. Man does so and is called by both parties to depose in favor of both or he will be beheaded. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.37 | "Do not take a woman's advice": counsel proved wise by experience. (Cf. J21.22.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.22 | "Do not tell a secret to a woman": counsel proved wise by experience. Nouvelles de Sens No. 7; Irish myth: *Cross; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *911; Italian Novella: Rotunda; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 100, 304, *Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.39 | "Do not travel without money": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.28 | "Do not trust a ruler who rules by reason alone": counsel proved wise by experience. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *911; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.18 | "Do not trust the over-holy": counsel proved wise by experience. Wife so modest she will not travel with husband (adulteress); priest so pious he will not tread on worm (thief). Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas IV 22, 275, Neuman. |
| J21.2.4 | "Do not uncover weapon in an assembly": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.45 | "Do not undertake to be an arbitrator without being asked": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.9 | "Do not visit your friends often": counsel proved wise by experience. At last the man is treated shamefully. *Type 910A; Christiansen Norske Eventyr 115. |
| J21.11 | "Do not walk half a mile with a man without asking his name": counsel proved wise by experience. Man runs race unwittingly with his wife's paramour and loses his wife on the wager. (Cf. J21.8.) *Type 910B; Wesselski Märchen 219 No. 32. |
| J2516.3 | "Do nothing but attend to the horse." The youth obeys the command to such extent that he almost lets his master drown. *Wesselski Morlini 317 No. 74. |
| J2489.11 | "Don't allow paint to wear off my daughter's feet." Bridegroom carries her upside down across river and drowns her. (Cf. J2412.6.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.26 | "Don't be too greedy in making a trade": counsel proved wise by experience. Man refuses fifty ducats for horse. Horse suddenly dies. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.48 | "Don't do anything without investigation": counsel proved wise by experience. A purse full of money was found in dead man's pocket by gravedigger. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2541 | "Don't eat too greedily." Fool starves himself at table. Later hunts food in house and gets into trouble. India: *Thompson-Balys. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1691*, 1691A*; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC No. 1363A*; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 286. Cf. the same story with risque ending: U.S. (Ozarks): Randolph Who Blowed Up the Church House (New York, 1952) 16, 185. J2550—J2599. |
| J703.2 | "Eat small fish now if you wish larger ones later." Bishop refuses to eat small fish as he used to when an abbot. "Then I used small fish to catch big ones I have now!" Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1511.16 | "Eat spiritual food, not material," say monks to lazy brother who criticizes them for working in the garden. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J2516.9 | "Foresee the possible event." Asked to call a doctor when his master falls ill, fool also calls the undertaker. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J182.1 | "Forty-nine gates of wisdom" open to Moses (and Solomon). Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J21.16 | "Go to Goosebridge": counsel proved wise by experience. Man with disobedient wife finds mules beaten there and made to cross bridge. Boccaccio Decameron IX No. 9 (*Lee 289); Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J2499.5 | "God is everywhere." Fool therefore trusts that he is in angry elephant. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2475 | "Greasing the judge's palms." The woman puts butter on his hands. *Crane Vitry 149 No. 38; *Herbert III 68; Hervieux IV 301 No. 93; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 124; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 22; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1141.1.4 | "Guilty man's stick will grow during night." Guilty man chops end off stick. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2516.5 | "Hang out lanterns." Officer calls to householders to hang out lanterns. One hangs out lantern but does not light it. The next night the officer calls to them to hang out lanterns and candles. He hangs out a lantern with a candle in it but unlighted. The next night the officer calls out to hang out lanterns and candlelight. England: Baughman. |
| J21.52.3 | "Hardened clay is hard to mold": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2489.7 | "Have a black look" (i.e., frown). Fool blackens face with charcoal. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.41.3 | "He who lies awake gains; he who sleeps loses": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.52.9 | "He who throws himself against a wave is overthrown by it": proved true. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J1551.11 | "Here is half of picture and you must imagine other half." Jester later redecorates house in fragments of pictures. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J814.3 | "High-born alone recognizes one of equal rank with himself." Jackal sees man with instrument he is unfamiliar with, comes up to him and salutes him "Lord of Delhi." Man calls him Lord of Jungle and tells above. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2497 | "Honey is sweet." A wayward son, asked by his mother to give her a sweet word, thus answers. *Köhler-Bolte I 3. |
| J1309.2 | "How often do you kill your ducks?" Answer: "Only once." England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J2666.1 | "I am as good as you are." One woman says to another, "You are an adulteress and a thief, and I know that I am just as good as you are." *Wesselski Bebel I 136 No. 38. |
| J2496 | "I don't know" thought to be a person's name. A man in a country that cannot speak his language hears "I don't know" so frequently that he thinks it must be the name of the owner of all the places he inquires about. *Type 700*; Africa (Gold Coast): Barker an Sinclair 95 No. 18. |
| J1802.1 | "I don't understand." Foreigner asks who owns property, clothing, servants; whose wife an attractive woman is; whose funeral is in progress? Answer to each question is "I don't understand," which foreigner takes to be a person's name. (Cf. J1152, J1741, X111.7.) Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. III (N.F.) 173-8. |
| J21.50 | "Idleness begets woe; work brings happiness": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1513.1 | "If he does not live, let him die." The student as healer hangs this sign around the neck of a sick calf. Later as parson he is sick. It is proposed to heal him with the same remedy. *Type 1845. |
| J1281 | "If I were a tyrant you would not say so." Answer made by emperor to one who calls him a tyrant. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 733; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J2185.1 | "If you had hanged me you would have really been in trouble." (Similar to J2185.) Nouvelles Récréations No. 44. |
| J21.15 | "If you wish to hang yourself, do so by the stone which I point out": counsel proved wise by experience. Father has left money which will fall out when the spendthrift son goes to hang himself in despair. "The Heir of Linne." *Type 910D; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 709; Chauvin V 133 No. 63, *VIII 94 No. 65; Child V 12f.; Clouston Tales II 53; Italian: Basile Pentamerone IV No. 2, Rotunda; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J1291.4 | "In this sesame flower where is the oil?" "When your mother conceived where were you?" India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2234 | "Is that you or your brother?" Clouston Noodles 12; Nouvelles Récréations No. 71; Christensen DF XLVII 224 No. 87; England, Scotland: Baughman. |
| J21.29 | "Keep head dry, feet warm, and eat meat": counsel proved wise by experience. King recovers from illness. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2489.2 | "Keep locks of everyone in your hand" (keep control of them). Fool interprets literally. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.44 | "Lean upon no relation in the hour of distress": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2516.6 | "Let no one in." When lizard comes in fool burns house down to drive it out. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.38 | "May God spare you from an evil man or evil woman." To teach a friend the wisdom of this greeting a man borrows money and then his creditor's coat from him. In court the lender is discredited. Spanish: Childers. |
| J21.34 | "Move stool before sitting on it": counsel proved wise by experience. Man thus saves self from falling into well. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.35.1 | "Neglect not what four or five people say": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.2.1 | "Never attack anyone before unsheathing and returning sword three times": counsel proved wise by experience. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.52.2 | "Never be rude to a self-made man of low birth": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.13 | "Never believe what is beyond belief": counsel proved wise by experience. Man believes when bird tells him that she has a precious gem in her body. (Cf. J21.12, K604.) *BP IV 149 n. 2; Alphabet No. 191; Gaster Exempla 256 No. 390; Paris Légendes du moyen âge 225ff.; Oesterley Gesta Romanorum No. 167; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J21.52.5 | "Never dismiss and old servant for his first fault": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.49 | "Never give a cup made of a single ruby as a present to the king": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.30 | "Never have to do with a woman unless wed to her": counsel proved wise by experience. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.52.4 | "Never publish a man's sin if you can help it": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2489.13 | "Never show your head again." Jester soon appears with large pot over head. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.14 | "Never try to reach the unattainable": counsel proved wise by experience. (Cf. K604.) *BP IV 149 n. 2; Alphabet No. 191; Gaster Exempla 256 No. 390; *G. Paris Légendes du moyen âge 225ff. |
| J21.8 | "Never wager more than a groat": counsel proved wise by experience. Man loses wife on wager. Wesselski Märchen 219 No. 32. |
| J21.52.8 | "Nothing happens that does not work for one's good": counsel proved wise is experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2516.3.4 | "Only light the fire." Fool allows the house to burn down. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J281.1 | "Only one, but a lion". Lioness thus answers fox (hog) who twits her that she has only one cub. Wienert FFC LVI 44 (ET 20), 142 (ST 477); Halm Aesop No. 240. |
| J2516.2.1 | "Pick up everything!" Fool loads his master with horse dung. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2516.2 | "Pick up everything!" The youth so instructed picks up too much. The master then tells him to pick things up only when the master gives the signal. The master falls into a hole and cannot give the signal. *BP III 151; Christensen DF XLVII 226 No. 92; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J2465.13 | "Plowing out potatoes." Fool plows them out of ground. North Carolina: Brown Collection I 698. |
| J21.20 | "Prepare for night camp while it is still day": counsel proved wise by experience. Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 100, 304, Neuman. |
| J2489.5 | "Quieting the patient." Fool does so by killing. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.23 | "Rise earlier": counsel proved wise by experience. Man seeking explanation for being in debt arises earlier and catches his servants stealing. (Cf. H588.1.) Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.12 | "Rue not a thing that is past": counsel proved wise by experience. Man lets bird go and then, having listened to bird's false declaration that she had a precious gem in her body, he tries to climb a tree after her and falls. *BP IV 149 n. 2; Gaster Exempla 256 No. 390; *Paris Légendes du moyen âge 225ff.; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 24; Alphabet No. 191; Oesterley Gesta Romanorum No. 167. |
| J21.35 | "Ruler should follow advice of majority" (not his own fancy): counsel proved wise by experience. Thus finds money on body of dead traveler. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2465.9 | "Sew shirts for servants." Fool sews them to trees. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2472 | "Skinning farmers". A master tells his servant that he is going to skin some farmers (i.e., cheat them). When a farmer inquires for a tanner, the servant directs him to his master. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 720. |
| J21.41.1 | "Sleep not in an inn": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.19 | "Start your journey early in the day": counsel proved wise by experience. Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 100, 304, Neuman. |
| J21.17 | "Stay at church till mass is finished": counsel proved wise by experience. Delay saves youth from death. *Cosquin études 73ff.; Irish: Beal XXI 314, O'Suilleabhain 38; Icelandic: Boberg; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J2489.9 | "Stick fast to everything you undertake." Foolish son seizes an ass by tail and gets kicked. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.5.2 | "Take side road rather than main one where three roads meet": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2471 | "Taking a pattern (picture) of conduct" from other people. Fool steals a picture from the church. Wesselski Bebel I 128 No. 27. |
| J2569 | "Thank Fortune I'm out of business." Philosopher loses all his wealth at sea. Thanks Fortune for taking him out of business. Can now devote his life to philosophy. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2571 | "Thank Fortune it wasn't a melon." Man contends that melons should not grow on slender vines but on tall trees. He is hit on the nose by a falling nut. Is thankful it wasn't a melon. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2568 | "Thank God it's over!" Man who has been promised a beating lives in constant dread. Is eventually beaten. He thanks God. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2564 | "Thank God that camels have no wings." They might fly about and kill people. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 205 No. 2. |
| J2563 | "Thank God they weren't peaches!" A 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. *Type 1689; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 227 No. 71; *Clouston Tales II 407ff.; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1191.1.1 | "The sea is on fire"—not more absurd than the decision about the colt. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1155 | "Then I woke up": man discredits his confession by declaring it all a dream. *Type 1790; Wesselski Märchen 187 No. 2; *Toldo Zs. f. Vksk. XV 69f.; *Hilka and Soederhjelm Neuphilologische Mitteilungen (Helsingfors, 1913) 15ff.; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1141.1.2 | "Thief has grease from stolen fowl on him": thief begins to feel his beard and is detected. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1141.1.5 | "Thief has the feathers sticking on his head": guilty woman immediately passes her hand over her head. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2499.1 | "Till the front sweats." A mother orders her daughter to knead the dough until the front of the oven (stirn) sweats. She does so till her forehead (stirn) sweats. Type 1445*. |
| J2712 | "What do I hold in my hand?" (Ring). "In its first state it was in the mountains; it is round and flat." Fool: "A millstone." Chauvin VIII 170 No. 188. |
| J21.52.6 | "When a man attacks you, kill him whether he be king or prince": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.34.1 | "When in a strange place look about you": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1309.3 | "Where did dirt go when canal was dug?" Disgusted father-in-law: "I have eaten half and your father half, to have such a fool son-in-law." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1483.4 | "Why didn't you stay on the horse?" The rider: "I couldn't; you see, it ended there" (pointing to horse's head). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.47 | "You can only call your wife your own so long as she is with you": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1262.6 | "You don't blame a toolmaker for making all manner of tools, both harmful and helpful, so why blame God for making bad beasts as well as good ones?" Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J321.1 | A bird in the hand foolishly given away in hope of greater gain. Wienert FFC LVI 50 (ET 94), 105, 147 (ST 175, 525); Halm Aesop No. 9. |
| J1561.6 | A box connection. Man refused hospitality tells rich man he is a relative. Asked for the "connection," he tells him there is a box connection. Rich man not understanding, man explains his cart is made of box wood and is tied to a rich man's box tree. Rich man, ashamed, entertains him with all due respect. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1442 | A cynic's retorts. |
| J1341.3 | A dog to scent the rice. Given very thin rice soup, wit inquires about the master's dogs. "He should have one to scent the rice in this soup." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 259 No 206, Arlotto II 75 No. 105. |
| J2282 | A drunkard cannot drown. A drunken man falls overboard but the skipper refuses to pick him up. "A man who is soaked in wine cannot drown. No part of his body will absorb water." Wesselski Bebel II 143 No. 134. |
| J2182 | A fleeing fox loses an eye in the briars. Returns the next day and eats it, thinking that it tastes like chicken. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 33 No. *135B. |
| J1805.4 | A fool given money to buy something to eat; goes around asking for a thing called "something." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1715 | A fool objects to fools as companions. Leaves when placed between two fools at table. Wesselski Bebel I 179 No. 25. |
| J2191 | A fool releases a bear while the master is away. The bear plays havoc. The master threatens to cut off the ears of the meddler. The fool asks his dog not to tell on him. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 696. |
| J2671.1 | A fox or a hare? A servant is sent by his master to find a girl for him. If he returns with one he is to say, "I have a fox"; if without, "I have a hare." When he returns he has forgotten the agreement. "I don't know whether it is a fox or a hare, but the girl is down stairs. *Wesselski Bebel I 195 No. 69. |
| J1937.2 | A healthy place for a tomb. Numskull objects to unhealthy place for his tomb. Clouston Noodles 9. |
| J2083.5 | A heaping measure given for a level measure. *Fb "skjæppe" III 276a. |
| J1934 | A hole to throw the earth in. Numskull plans to dig a hole so as to have a place to throw the earth from his excavation. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 227 No. 480; Christensen DF XL VII 201 no. 37; Jewish: Neuman. |
| J2469.1 | A lentil in the soup. You said you wished a lentil soup; so I put one in. If you had wished more lentils you should have said so. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 605. |
| J1463 | A long beard and sanctity. Told that a forest dwarf with a long beard is a saint, a man replies: "If a long beard indicates sanctity, the goat is a saint." *Wesselski Bebel I 129 No. 30. |
| J2431 | A man undertakes to do his wife's work. All goes wrong. *Type 1408; *BP I 321; Bolte Frey 222 No. 20; Fb "øl" III 1175a; Nouvelles Récréations No. 45. |
| J2072.4 | A man without a stomach. The man complains that he is a mere slave of his stomach. His wish is granted and the stomach taken away from him. He discovers soon that life has become very uninteresting to him, and recovers his stomach again. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *716. |
| J2466.1 | A pebble for each sin. A man cannot remember the number of his sins. The priest has him put a pebble in a sack for each of his sins. He comes to confession with three large sacks of pebbles. Type 1848*. |
| J1559.1 | A present or a retaining fee. An abbot presents a lawyer with a fine horse. Later the abbot comes to Rome and calls on the lawyer for help. The latter returns the horse. "I did not know that you had a lawsuit in Rome." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 126. |
| J2213.2 | A profitable fight: three for one! A priest boasts of his profitable fight with the peasants, where he has received three blows for every one given. *Wesselski Bebel I 173 No. 11. |
| J1511 | A rule must work both ways. |
| J1563.7 | A sham fight to frighten away the guests. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2415.7 | A snake for the real daughter. Stepdaughter, married to a snake, appears decorated with jewels. Stepmother desires a snake be procured for her daughter. She is swallowed instead. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J817 | A soft answer turneth away wrath. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1573.1 | A step-ladder for setting the table. Servant who leaves off the salt is instructed to bring in the step-ladder so as to see what is missing. Wesselski Bebel II 71 No. 159. |
| J1384 | A three thousand year old debt. Guests in inn discuss reincarnation. "Since we shall come back in three thousand years, the host might trust us till then." Host: "You still owe me what you didn't pay three thousand years ago." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 858. |
| J1176.4 | A two-headed man is only one man. Two-headed man claims double inheritance. Hot water poured over one head. Other head cries out with pain. He is declared to be one man and to merit only one share. Jewish: Gaster Exempla 206 No. 113, bin Gorion Born Judas III 73, 302, *Neuman. |
| J1714.1 | A wise man follows a fool against his better judgment. Both are put to death for their foolishness. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 26; Herbert III 192; Alphabet No. 722; Oesterley No. 67; Scala Celi 75a No. 428; Africa (Vai): Ellis 242. |
| J1446 | Aaron's censer. A man strikes a priest with a cane: "This is Moses' staff." The priest shoots with a pistol: "This is Aaron's holy censer." Type 1847*. |
| J1264.9 | Abbess has twenty-four nuns for twelve monks: twelve nuns therefore for the guests. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 65. |
| J1675.5 | Abbot gives king unique concert. Separates hogs into tenors, bassos, etc. So arranges them that when he pricks them they render a tune. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J916 | Abbot to avoid vainglory receives judge in rags. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J2175.3 | Absent-minded nurse lets child down into well instead of bucket. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2040 | Absurd absent-mindedness—miscellaneous. U.S.: Baughman. |
| J2270 | Absurd astronomical theories. |
| J1908 | Absurd attempt to change animal nature. Wienert FFC LVI 45ff. (ET 31, 37, 38, 39, 54, 241, 420, 422), 87ff. (ST 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 504); Halm Aesop Nos 149, 360, 373, 374, 375; Pauli (ed. Bolte) Nos. 427, 430. |
| J1909 | Absurd disregard of animal's nature or habits—miscellaneous. |
| J1959 | Absurd disregard of natural laws—miscellaneous. |
| J1930 | Absurd disregard of natural laws. |
| J1900 | Absurd disregard or ignorance of animal's nature or habits. |
| J2518 | Absurd extreme of discouragement. |
| J2214 | Absurd generalization from a particular incident. U.S., England: *Baughman. |
| J1937 | Absurd ideas about the dead. |
| J1905 | Absurd ignorance about milking animals. (Cf. J1903.2.) |
| J1906 | Absurd ignorance about slaughtering animals. |
| J1903 | Absurd ignorance concerning animal's eating and drinking. |
| J1904 | Absurd ignorance concerning place for animal to be kept. |
| J1902 | Absurd ignorance concerning the hatching of eggs. |
| J1901 | Absurd ignorance concerning the laying of eggs. |
| J1745 | Absurd ignorance of sex. |
| J1748 | Absurd ignorance of the use of spectacles. Christensen DF XLVII 226 No. 89. |
| J1749 | Absurd ignorance—miscellaneous. |
| J1730 | Absurd ignorance. |
| J2030 | Absurd inability to count. Christensen DF XLVII 181ff.; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2200 | Absurd lack of logic—general. Missouri French: Carrière. |
| J2060 | Absurd plans. Air-castles. *Type 1430; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 249 No. 163; *Chauvin V 162 No. 85. |
| J1932 | Absurd practices connected with crops. Christensen DF XLVII 207. |
| J1214 | Absurd pretence, when allowed, puts pretender out of countenance. |
| J2215 | Absurd reasoning about God. |
| J2371 | Absurd scientific speculations. |
| J2260 | Absurd scientific theories—general. |
| J1920 | Absurd searches for the lost. |
| J2050 | Absurd short-sightedness. *Wienert FFC LVI 108 (15*). |
| J2199 | Absurd shortsightedness—miscellaneous. |
| J1879 | Absurd sympathy for animals or objects—miscellaneous. |
| J1870 | Absurd sympathy for animals or objects. |
| J2277 | Absurd theories about clouds. |
| J2274 | Absurd theories about the earth. |
| J2275 | Absurd theories about the stars. |
| J2271 | Absurd theories concerning the moon. |
| J2273 | Absurd theories concerning the sky. |
| J2272 | Absurd theories concerning the sun. |
| J2276 | Absurd theories concerning time. |
| J2079 | Absurd wishes—miscellaneous. |
| J2070 | Absurd wishes. |
| J1533 | Absurdities concerning birth of animals, or men. (Cf. J1531.3.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1536.1 | Absurdity of entrusting military mission to bishop. Courtier rebukes king by asking that he be given an ecclesiastical post. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1536.2 | Absurdity of trying to convert king to Hinduism—like making cow of donkey or black dog into white. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1293.1.1 | Absurdity: sea (river) is on fire. Not more absurd than crow claiming swan as wife. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2076.1 | Absurdly modest wish: no lights on certain night except in her own house. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2076 | Absurdly modest wish. Granted any wish, the fool chooses a trifle. Penzer V 96. |
| J172 | Account of punishments prepared in hell brings about repentance. Type 756B; Andrejev FFC LXIX 120ff.; Irish: Beal XXI 324, 330, 332, O'Suilleabhain 63, 95, 100; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1141.1.8 | Accused woman to go three times around building naked: guilty one begins to strip off her clothes. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J190 | Acquisition and possession of wisdom—miscellaneous. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| J0 | Acquisition and possession of wisdom. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J706 | Acquisition of wealth. |
| J1262.3 | Acting according to the note. A Jew slaps a Christian and tells him to turn the other cheek. The Christian beats the Jew, who says, "You do not act according to your Gospel."—"I am acting in accordance with the note."—"The note is worse than the text." *Wesselski Bebel II 118 No. 56. |
| J2041 | Actor forgets and speaks in his own person. |
| J1179.12 | Actual rescuer gets woman. Watchers could never have got her merely by watching. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J830 | Adaptability to overpowering force. |
| J125.2 | Adulteress betrayed by little child's remark. Jewish: Neuman; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1184.1 | Adulteress hurled from high rock escapes injury: she may not be punished again. Herbert III 211; Oesterley Gesta Romanorum No. 3. |
| J2338 | Adulteress makes husband believe that the birth of her mulatto child has been due to suggestion. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J761.3 | Adulteress prepares for old age. Charges a pair of shoes to consort with men. When old she pays with shoes the men who will consort with her. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1532 | Adulteress's absurdity rebuked. |
| J1142.3 | Adultery detected by spit marks on the wall. Too high to have been made by husband. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J756 | Advice after the event valueless. |
| J152.2 | Advice from dervish. Malone PMLA XLIII 400. |
| J647.2 | Advice not to rob women while they are alone, for fear of returning husbands' revenge. Icelandic: örvar-Odds saga 24—27, Boberg. |
| J1303 | Aesop with the lantern. Aesop goes for fire to a neighbor's in the daytime and lights a lantern so as to bring the fire back. Fool asks him what he is hunting for with the lantern in the daytime. "I seek a man" (not a busybody). *Wienert FFC LVI 38, 40; Italian Novella: Rotunda (J1442.11). |
| J553.1 | Aesop with the unbent bow. Upbraided when found playing with children, he unstrings a bow and shows how good relaxation is. Wienert FFC LVI 40; Phaedrus III No. 14; Thiele Hermes XLI 585; Alphabet Nos. 6, 671. |
| J2617 | Afraid of his knees. A man awakes with his knees in the air. He thinks the knees are a lion and splits them with his axe. Africa (Ila, Rhodesia): Smith and Dale II 407 No. 5. |
| J1071.1 | After laboring to make a brazen head, artist loses labor in moment of procrastination. Dickson 211 n. 137. |
| J977 | After one day of schooling children are ordered by their father to cease associating with the unlearned. Wesselski Bebel I 170 No. 5. |
| J1285 | Against his will. A thief condemned to the gallows tells the king, "I do what you do and it is against my will." King: "You shall also be hanged against your will." *Basset 1001 Contes I 507. |
| J1352.2 | Age is relative. Young rival derides old one for his age. Oldster: "An ass of twenty is older than a man of seventy." Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J2061 | Air-castle shattered by lack of forethought. |
| J2061.1.2 | Air-castle: basket of eggs to be sold. In her excitement she breaks all the eggs. *BP III 265; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 520; *Fb "æg" III 1141b; *Gerould MLN XIX 226; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2061.1.1 | Air-castle: basket of glassware to be sold. In his excitement he breaks the glassware. BP III 264. |
| J2061.1.4 | Air-castle: jar of oil to be sold. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2061.2 | Air-castle: pail of milk to be sold. Proud milkmaid tosses her head (or kicks the pail in her sleep) and spills the milk. *BP III 264; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 520; *Crane Vitry 154f. No. 51; **Gerould MLN XIX 225; Jacobs Aesop 219 No. 77; Nouvelles Récréations No. 12; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas IV 55, 277. |
| J2061.1 | Air-castle: the jar of honey to be sold. In his excitement he breaks the jar. *BP III 261f.; *Chauvin II 101 No. 60; *Gerould MLN XIX 229; B[ö]dker Exempler 300 No. 65; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella; *Rotunda; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas IV 55, 277; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2061.3 | Air-castle: to sell hide of sleeping deer. In his excitement he wakes the deer, who runs off. *BP III 265. |
| J2061.2.1 | Air-castles: pail of milk to be sold. Old woman thinks about the horse she is finally to get from the sale. In her imagination she spurs it and spills the milk. *Gerould MLN XIX 225. |
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Please cite the relevant sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including the Folklore Database, Berezkin-Duvakin Catalogue, ATU, Thompson, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed. Please respect copyright and licenses.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements © Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-Duvakin derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jonathan Fielder-White.
© 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.