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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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| J652.2 | Swallows warn other birds against roosting in tree with glue. They disregard and are caught. Wienert FFC LVI 62 (ET 249), 118 (ST 277); Halm Aesop No. 417; Dh IV 274ff. |
| J1822 | Sweeping with a stick instead of a broom. Köhler-Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. VI 63 (to Gonzenbach No. 13). |
| J2212.5 | Swift when only a calf. A numskull who rides an ox to a tournament is ridiculed. He says, "He is swifter than a horse. You should have seen him run when he was only a calf." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 228 No. 73. |
| J1821 | Swimming (fishing) in the flax-field. Peasants go to visit the sea. They see a waving flax-field, and, thinking it is the sea, jump in to swim. *Type 1290; *BP III 205; Köhler-Bolte I 112; Christensen DF XLVII 195 no. 20; Breton: Sébillot Incidents s.v. "lin", "pêche"; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1521 | Swindler's plans foiled. |
| J1881.1.4 | Table thrown out of the sledge; to go home by itself. Type 1291*. |
| J816 | Tact in reproving the great. |
| J461.1.1 | Tail and head of serpent quarrel as to usefulness. Wienert FFC LVI 58 (ET 187), 93 (ST 60); Halm Aesop No. 344; Jewish: Neuman; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J758.1 | Tailless fox tries in vain to induce foxes to cut off tails. *Basset RTP XXVI 267; Jacobs Aesop 215 No. 65. |
| J758.1.2 | Tailless jackal persuades other jackals to cut off tails. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1289.19 | Tailor caught resting his head on royal robe while he rests tells king there is no better resting place for king's robe, for "the head is the king of the body." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2623 | Tailor puts on thimble as protection from slug. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 142 No. 1710. |
| J229.11 | Take money instead of revenge. Fool advises uncle, in letter which he did not send, to take money from wife's paramour instead of revenge. Spanish: Childers. |
| J1628 | Taking cold in effigy. A traitor is hanged in effigy naked. Later the citizens sue for peace and arrange a meeting. They find him in a hot room swathed with many blankets. He says that he has taken cold when the night wind blew on him as he hung naked from the gallows. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 542. |
| J2469.2 | Taking the prescription. The fool eats the paper with the prescription on it. Clouston Noodles 119. |
| J2224 | Taking the seed out at night. Numskull plants seed in daytime and takes it out at night. "Man must guard his treasures" (or "Growing in the daytime is enough"). Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 245 No. 139. |
| J2119.2.1 | Taking the short-cut. Farmer takes a few feet off his journey and lifts a wheelbarrow over 22 stiles in so doing. Clouston Noodles 54; England: Baughman. |
| J2362 | Talkative animals incense master. He gives them twice-threshed straw to eat as punishment. Type 206. |
| J2352 | Talkative man betrays his companion. When his faults are pointed out he maintains that he is better than his companion, who is immediately investigated. |
| J2136.5.2 | Talkative thief caught. Zachariae Kleine Schriften 179; Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 22 No. 101; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas IV 66; India: Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: Coster-Wijsman 66 No. 112. |
| J1151.1.1 | Talkative wife discredited. Husband tells his talkative wife about treasure he has discovered. To discredit her report he tells her also of impossible things (woodcock in the fish net, fish in the bird trap, etc.). She repeats it all and whole story is disbelieved. Husband may keep his treasure. *Type 1381; BP I 527; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1564 | Talker keeps person from eating. |
| J487 | Tame dog prefers food basin to fleeing hare. Wienert FFC LVI *85 (ET 522), 145 (ST 503); Halm Aesop No. 390. |
| J683.2 | Tame doves close wild ones in trap and thus help common enemies. Wienert FFC LVI 52 (ET 112, 310), 143 (ST 493). |
| J683.3 | Tame fox helps dogs against wild foxes. Is no longer trusted by latter. Nouvelles Récréations No. 29. |
| J2107 | Taming the bull by cutting off his horns. It makes him the more violent. *Wienert FFC LVI 71 (ET 360), 116 (ST 263). |
| J1682 | Taunts of charioteer to rouse anger in master (who is losing battle) so that he may fight more vigorously. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| J1882.1 | Teaching chickens to talk. Fool believes they can be taught. *Type 1750; Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 843. |
| J2722 | Telling their horses apart. One fool docks the tail of his horse; the horse of the second gets tail caught in gate, is docked too. One notches ear of his horse; the second horse notches its ear on the fence. Finally they measure heights of their horses. The black horse is two inches taller than the white. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J2083.4 | Ten for the price of nine. A fool buys nine eggs and sells ten for the same price. He says that business is improving. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 209 No. 12. |
| J1179.8 | Tenant advised by landlord to steal in order to pay his taxes acquitted. Bolte Montanus' Gartengesellschaft 610 No. 67. |
| J1142.1 | Test of mother by weighing milk. The one with the heavier milk the mother of the boy; the other of the girl. *Chauvin VI 63 No. 231; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas IV 155. |
| J1151.1 | Testimony discredited by inducing witness to talk foolishly. |
| J1151.3 | Testimony gradually weakened. Witness agrees to the following facts in succession: that the person relating the facts may have been in anger, that he may have misunderstood, that he may not have heard it at all. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1151.4 | Testimony of unsuccessful suitor discredited. Adulteress is surprised in intrigue by unsuccessful suitor. He threatens to tell her husband. She tells her husband that the scorned suitor has accused her falsely of indiscretion with many men. When the suitor tells the husband he does not believe him. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1151 | Testimony of witness cleverly discredited. |
| J2376 | Testing the evidence by experiment: biting the ear off. The accused pleads that the plaintiff bit his own ear off. The judge takes time for consideration, tries to bite his own ear, but falls down and breaks his head. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 230 No. 76; *Clouston Noodles 86; U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1851.4 | Thankful numskull puts money in the anus of sheep which he supposes has helped him. Christensen DF XLVII 221 No. 84. |
| J2562 | Thankful that the recipe is left. A hawk steals the fool's meat. He is grateful that the recipe remains. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 231 No. 498. |
| J1615 | That which was promised him. A tenant promises his daughter to his master against her will. The master sends for "that which was promised him." The daughter sends the horse, and it is taken into the master's chamber. *Type 1440. |
| J2311.2 | The "poisoned" pot. The wife tells the husband that a certain pot of preserves is poison. He decides to kill himself and eats the preserves. He believes that he is poisoned and lies down for dead. *Type 1313; *BP III 337; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 237 No. 522; *Wesselski Morlini 49; *Bolte Frey 214; *Clouston Noodles 122; Italian: Basile Pentamerone I No. 4. |
| J1473.1 | The 999 gold pieces. A man prays for a thousand gold pieces and says that he will not accept one less. A joker sends him 999. He says that he will trust God for the other coin. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 220ff. No. 54. |
| J1478.1 | The abbot burns his mouth. Says that he is crying because so many have left the monastery. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1651 | The abbot cannot find his needle. An undesirable abbot furnishes adequate grounds for his dismissal when he cannot find the needle that all monks are supposed to carry with them. If careless in little things he will be careless in great. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 62. |
| J1263.4.1 | The abbot's luxury and the cardinal's. Cardinal rebukes abbot for living in luxury beyond that of the founder of his order. Abbot asks cardinal if the cardinals of St. Peter traveled in the luxury he does. *Wesselski Bebel II 115 No. 48. |
| J1371 | The account-book of mistakes. A king, hearing that a man keeps an account-book of people's mistakes asks to see about his own record. He reads that the king has made a mistake in trusting a certain sum of money to a servant. King: "How if he comes back with it?" "I shall cross off your name and put him down for making a mistake." *Wesselski Arlotto I 181 No. 5; Chauvin II 153 No. 20; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1747 | The archbishop's wife and family. Fool asks what he is to talk about when guests arrive. Is told: "Their wives and family." He asks the archbishop about his family. (Cf. J2461.2.) Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1882.2 | The ass as mayor. Fool made to believe that his ass (ox) has been educated and has become mayor. *Type 1675; *BP I 59; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 224 No. 63; *Fb "tyr" III 908b; Christensen DF XLVII 229; England: Baughman; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1169.4 | The ass beheaded. King vows to sacrifice first thing he meets. It is a miller driving an ass. Miller pleads that the ass preceded him. They behead the ass. Pauli (ed. Bolte) Nos. 507, 733; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1552.1 | The ass consulted about the loan. A man wants to borrow an ass. The owner goes to see what the ass says. The ass is unwilling. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 223 No. 60. |
| J1862 | The ass deprived of his saddle. A man's coat is stolen when he leaves his ass for a moment. He takes the saddle off the ass and says that he will give it back if the ass will return the coat. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin *223 No. 61. |
| J1552.1.1 | The ass is not at home. A man wants to borrow an ass. The owner says that the ass is not at home. The ass brays and the borrower protests. "Will you believe an ass and not a graybeard like me?" *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 224 No. 65; L. Schmidt Oesterr. Zs. f. Vksk. 1954, 128; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2612 | The attack on the hare (crayfish). Seven men make strenuous plans for the attack on the fierce animal. One screams with fright and the animal runs away. (Cf. J1736.1.) *BP II 556, III 286; Christensen DF XLVII 220 No. 82; Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 307 No. 34. |
| J2665 | The awkward servant. |
| J2171.4 | The axes thrown away. The first lets his axe fall. The others throw theirs in the same place. Type 1246; Fb "hammer" IV 199a; Christensen DF XLVII 194. |
| J2237 | The bathroom in the minaret. The fool can sing in the small bathroom but cannot be heard from the minaret. He wants a bathroom built on the minaret so that his voice will carry. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 206 No. 4. |
| J1762.2.1 | The bear mistaken for a saint. The godless man is cheated and attacks a bear thinking it is a saint, and barely escapes with his life. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *1705; Russian: Andrejev No. *2103. |
| J2187 | The bear riding the horse lets his paws fall on the horse's flanks. He is caught on a tree and leaves his claws in the horse's flesh. Type 117*. |
| J461.1 | The belly and the members. Debate as to their usefulness. All mutually useful. *Prato Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari IV (1885) 25ff.; Penzer V 135 n.; Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 399; Wienert FFC LVI *43 (ET 6), 92 (ST 59); Halm Aesop No. 197; Jacobs Aesop 206 No. 29; *Crane Vitry 167 No. 73; *H. Gombel Die Fabel vom Magen und den Gliedern (Beihefte zur Zs. f. romanische Philologie LXXX [Halle, 1934]).—Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 71, *301f., *Neuman; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 139; Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 393. |
| J1545.4.1 | The besieged women's dearest possession. (Women of Weinsberg.) Permitted to carry from the city their dearest possession, they take their husbands. *DeVries FFC LXXIII 278ff.; *Gaster Germania XXV 285ff.; *Wehrhan Die Sage 31ff.; *Bolte Montanus Gartengesellschaft 615 No. 80. |
| J1343.1 | The best music. What music do you like best? The sound of plates and spoons. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 244 No. 133. |
| J1552.1.1.1 | The bigger fool. When told by servants their master is not at home, man says it is a fool that goes out in such midday heat. Whereupon master sticks his head out of the window, saying "Thou who art moving about at this time art the big fool: I have been seated all day in my house." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2173.3 | The bird boasts about capturing the rabbit. Meantime other birds eat the rabbit. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 172. |
| J1622 | The blacksmith's and the horse-trader's dreams. They are forced to sleep together because of lack of room. The blacksmith tells the horsetrader that he often dreams that he is striking the bellows and that he may accidently strike him in the night. The horsetrader retaliates by dreaming that he is riding a horse and drives the spurs into the blacksmith. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 109. |
| J1884 | The boat gets tired. The woman tries to tire out her rival's boat so as to win the race, but only tires herself. Type 1277; Christensen DF XLVII 190. |
| J251.1 | The bookman and the boatman: each ignorant of other's work. Bookman's swimming saves their lives. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1561.4.2 | The boy "loses his sight." No butter on the bread. Type 1561*. |
| J2661.4 | The boy's disasters. Foolishly kills his horse and throws his axe into the lake to kill a duck. Undresses to recover axe. Clothes stolen. Goes into barrel of tar to hide. In tar and feathers. *Type 1681. |
| J1192 | The bribed judge. *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 38; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1192.3 | The bribed judge's ancestors. Clever animal says in court that she drops dung on ancestors of judges who take bribes (unless they confess). Judges confess. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2425 | The bungling host. A trickster (animal) visits various animals who display their peculiar powers in obtaining food (often magic). He returns the invitation and tries to provide food in similar ways. He fails and usually has a narrow escape from death. (Cf. J2411.3.) N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 301 n. 103, Speck U Pa I 141 n. 2; Lepers Island: Dixon 128; Cape Verde Islands: Parsons MAFLS XV (1) 27 n. 1; Jamaica: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 280 No. 97. |
| J2666 | The bungling speaker. |
| J1352.1 | The burden of two asses. A king and his son hunting on a hot day put their fur coats on the fool's back. King: "You have an ass's load on you." Fool: "Rather the burdens of two asses." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 239 No. 527; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1269.6 | The capon and the hen. Bishop refuses a favor to an abbess on the ground that he does not love her. Abbess: "I can well believe that. The capon never loves the hen." Wesselski Mönchslatein No. 59; Mensa Philosophica No. 115. |
| J1908.1 | The cat and the candle. A man has a cat trained to hold up lighted candles on its head. The king has a mouse let loose. The cat drops the candle and chases the mouse. *Type 217; **Cosquin études 403ff.; *Fb "kat" IV 255a; *Wesselski Arlotto II 238 No. 131; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2103.1.1 | The cat and the eel-pie. Woman puts cat in flour bin to catch a mouse. The cat eats the pie in the bin and loses interest in the mouse. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1175.1 | The cat in the warehouse. One of four companions is left in a warehouse to care for a cat which has a broken leg. Cat scratches self near flame and sets warehouse afire. The three must pay the one left behind. Broken leg could not walk and it was the three legs belonging to the three traders which caused the fire. *Zachariae Zs. f. Vksk. XXXIII—XXXIV 72; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2103.1 | The cat to guard the cheese. A farmer troubled with mice eating his cheese places a cat in the tub with the cheese. She eats the mice and the cheese. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 35; *Crane Vitry 138 No. 11; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1662 | The cat's only trick. She saves herself on a tree. The fox, who knows a hundred tricks, is captured. *Type 105; *BP II 119; *Fb "kat" II 108b, "ræv" III 114a; *Krohn Am Urquell III 177ff.; Magoun California Folklore Quarterly IV 390ff., Jacobs Aesop 209 No. 38; Wienert FFC LVI 66 (ET 303), 143 (ST 492); Halm Aesop 65; *Chauvin III 54 No. 10; *Herbert III 36ff. — Roumanian: Schullerus FFC LXXVIII No 33 I*; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: *Thompson-Balys; cf. Africa (Angola): Chatelain 215 No. 37 (turtle goes into hole). |
| J1461 | The cause of grayness. Fool asked what made him gray-headed replies, "My hair." *Wesselski Bebel I 228 No. 133. |
| J1510 | The cheater cheated. |
| J1276 | The child born too soon. |
| J1264.1 | The church his wife. Priest accused of being too intimate with parishioners' wives says that the church is his wife and that the men treat her far more shamefully than he treats any woman. Bolte Frey's Gartengesellschaft *253 No. 96. |
| J1731.1 | The city girl: Do turnips grow in the ground or on trees? Type 2010*. |
| J1731 | The city person ignorant of the farm. |
| J1061.1 | The cock and the pearl: prefers a single corn to a peck of pearls. Wienert FFC LVI 45 (ET 28), 130 (ST 375); Jacobs Aesop 198 No. 1; Crane Vitry 157 No. 54; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J2088 | The considerate seller. A numskull having an over-short turban for sale at auction warns the prospective buyer that it is too short. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 223 No. 58. |
| J1448 | The contagious yawns. A husband planning to punish his wife, who has yawned in church at the same time as a man, sees his error when his wife in the woods calls out, "The squirrels hop from bough to bough as the yawns from mouth to mouth." Finnish: Aarne FFC VIII 6 No. 23; XXXIII 52 No. 23; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 141 No. 12; Livonian: Loorits FFC LXVI 84 No. 35. |
| J1397 | The cost price recovered. A man takes a shirt to market for a friend who has stolen it. At market it is stolen from the seller. He tells his friend that the market was bad and that he was able to get back only the cost price (nothing). *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 230 No. 491. |
| J1742 | The countryman in the great world. |
| J1193.2.1 | The Court keeps the change. Man is fined half-ducat. Judge has no change. Defendant strikes judge for the change. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2665.1 | The cup with two and three handles. When the servant girl presents the cup to the emperor she holds the handle herself. When there are two handles she holds one in each hand, and when there are three she holds the third one toward her. Type 1327*. |
| J1442.9 | The cynic and the bald-headed man. His only reply to the baldheaded man's slanders is to compliment the hair that has left such a horrible head. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802. |
| J1442.7 | The cynic and the bastard stone-thrower. Cynic: "Be careful; you might hit your father." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1442.6 | The cynic and the big gates. Coming to a little town with big gates, he says, "Close the gate so that the town won't run away." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802. |
| J1442.10 | The cynic and the deceiver. When the deceiver calls him wicked, he says, "I am glad that you are my enemy; for you do good to your enemies and evil to your friends." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802. |
| J1442.11 | The cynic and the fig tree. Man tells friend that his wife has hanged herself on a fig tree. Friend: "Give me a shoot of that tree!" Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1442.3 | The cynic and the pale gold. "Why is gold so pale?" "It is in great danger." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802. |
| J1442.5 | The cynic as judge of wine. Asked which wine tastes best, he says, "That belonging to other people." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802. |
| J1442.2 | The cynic at the bath. Leaving an unclean bath house: "Where can I go now to wash?" Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802. |
| J1442.8 | The cynic discusses heaven. Hearing a man discoursing at great length about heaven, he asks, "When did you come down from there?" Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802. |
| J1442.1 | The cynic wants sunlight. King (to cynic): "What can I do for you?" "Get out of my sunlight. Don't take away from me what you can't give me." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1442.4 | The cynic's burial. Asked who will carry him to his grave if he has no friends: "He who needs my house." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 802. |
| J1442.11.1 | The cynic's wish. When he learns that a woman has hanged herself from a tree he explains: "Would that all trees bore such fruit!" Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J2066.2 | The daw waits in vain for the figs to ripen in winter. Wienert FFC LVI 45 (ET 25), 119 (ST 288); Halm Aesop 199. |
| J2621 | The dead girl frightens father and lover. The girl dies. The lover, thinking that she is asleep, talks to her. When he hears the father speak of her as dead he is frightened that he has talked to the dead. The father hears the lover talk and thinks that it is the girl's spirit. Both flee. Africa (Vai): Ellis 204 No. 21. |
| J2311.5 | The dead man in spite of himself. Neighbors who have heard of the numskull's death insist on the funeral although he is alive and well. He is persuaded and is carried on a bier. They meet a busy man whom they try to persuade to join them. He pleads business. The "dead" man speaks: "It's no use, friend, to try to dissuade them." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 239 No. 121; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2311.4 | The dead man speaks up. A numskull who has lain down thinking he is dead is carried off in a bier. The carriers lose their way. He speaks up, "I always went that way when I was alive." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 216f. No. 49; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. Cf. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 860. |
| J81 | The dishes of the same flavor. Man thus shown that one woman is like another and dissuaded from his amorous purpose. *Basset 1001 Contes II 25; *Wesselski Märchen 209; Boccaccio Decameron I No. 5 (Lee 17), Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *981; Russian: Andrejev No. *981 (II); Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2241 | The doctor no longer needed. As the fool starts for the doctor the wife changes her mind. He continues to the doctor so as to tell him about it and to say that now he need not come. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 233 No. 456. |
| J2183.1 | The dog between the two castles. In castles on opposite hills guards play different tunes during meals. The dog goes toward the music in one castle but when he is about half way up the hill the music begins on the other. He keeps alternating and running up and down until the meals are over and he gets nothing. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 24; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2413.5 | The dog imitates a wolf. Wants to kill a horse. He asks the cat: "Is my back bristled, etc." The horse kills him with a kick. (Cf. K1121.) Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *106; Russian: Andrejev No. *119. |
| J2462.1 | The dog Parsley in the soup. The foolish bridegroom is told to put parsley in the soup. He throws in his dog, which is named Parsley. *Type 1685; *BP I 311; Köhler-Bolte I 65; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *1006A; Russian: Andrejev No. *1012 II. |
| J1531.2.1 | The dog-eating bugs. Man keeps dog for boy, tells him when he comes for it that the chinch bugs have eaten it. The boy borrows a mule from the man, later tells him that a buzzard has carried it away. He gets his dog back. U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1393 | The double fool. A numskull caught changing meal from others' sacks into his own. Miller asks him what he is doing. "I am a fool." "Why then don't you put your meal into their sacks?" "I am only a simple fool. If I did that I should be a double fool." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 181 No. 342. |
| J1212.1 | The doubly-bribed judge. One of the disputants keeps the hens he is to give the judge in his hand and when the decision begins to go against him makes the hens cry out. *Wesselski Arlotto I 208 No. 48. |
| J1211.2.1 | The drunken officer's stolen mantle. Thief confronted by the officer tells all the circumstances of the drunkenness (with many shameful additions). The officer denies the ownership. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 239 No. 120. |
| J2700 | The easy problem made hard. |
| J1351.2 | The envious accuser. A woman accuses another of being a harlot. The second: "You would like to be in my place but no one wants you." *Wesselski Bebel II 127 No. 83. |
| J1471 | The eunuch's defense. Reproached with his mutilation, the eunuch says that his ill fortune is no shame. The only shame is to merit what you suffer. Wienert FFC LVI 82 (ET 485), 149 (ST 546). |
| J1545.4 | The exiled wife's dearest possession. A wife driven from home is allowed by her husband to take her one dearest possession. She takes her sleeping husband and effects reconciliation. *Type 875; *DeVries FFC LXXIII 275—284 passim; *Fb "kjæreste" II 153a; *BP II 349; Fansler MAFLS XII 63; Jewish: *Neuman, *Gaster Exempla 224 No. 196; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J2423 | The eye-juggler. A trickster sees a man throwing his eyes into the air and replacing them. He also receives this power but he must not use the power beyond a specified number of times. When he does so, he loses his eyes. He usually gets animal eyes as substitutes. N. A. Indian: *Thompson-Tales 299 n. 92. |
| J1472 | The fairest thing in the garden. Three brothers asked by princess what is the most beautiful thing in the garden. The youngest replies, "Yourself." He wins the princess. Type 925*. |
| J1826 | The falcon not so good as represented. A nobleman praises his falcon. His fool, supposing they were praising the falcon as food, kills the bird, but is disappointed in the taste. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 52; *Wesselski Bebel I 194 No. 64; Alphabet No. 239. |
| J1474 | The fatal bed. A sailor says that all his ancestors have drowned. Citizen: "Aren't you afraid of drowning?" Sailor: "How did your ancestors die?" Citizen: "All of them in bed." Sailor: "Aren't you afraid to go to bed?" *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 264. |
| J1515.1 | The father of an illegitimate child must walk in front of the cross. Condemned man insists that the priest, who is guilty also, shall lead the way. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 71. |
| J2713 | The father of Noah's sons. The fool seeks advice as to how to answer this question: Who is the father of Stoffer's three sons? Stoffer, of course. Then who was the father of Noah's three sons? Stoffer. Danish: MS (SK 41 in Dansk Folkemindesamling). |
| J1447 | The favored swine. Dog reproaches sow that Venus will not allow those who have eaten swine to enter her temple. Sow says that it is because the goddess abhors those who kill swine. Wienert FFC LVI 56 (ET 161), 107 (ST 191); Halm Aesop No. 408. |
| J1604 | The fish in the sleeve. A particularly obnoxious man delays others while he haggles over prices with a butcher. Meanwhile a parson takes the three fish the man has laid down and puts them into his large sleeves. The man is angry and searches in vain for them. The parson then shows them and advises him not to let people cheat him. *Wesselski Arlotto I 190 No. 10. |
| J1356 | The flatterer's retort. Two men meet a homely girl. One of them: "Who wouldn't call that girl pretty?" The girl overhears and says, "No one would say it of you." The man: "Anyone might say it who would lie as I have lied about you." *Wesselski Bebel II 148 No. 155; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1541.2 | The flute makes more noise. A man overcomes his quarrelsome wife by playing the flute as long as she is scolding. *Wesselski Bebel I 228 No. 139; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2661.1 | The fool accidentally kills his child and loses the body. Indonesia: DeVries's list no. 266. |
| J2088.1 | The fool advises the buyer that the horse is worth little or his father would not sell it. *Wesselski Bebel I 208 No. 95. |
| J2512 | The fool and the visitor's large nose. The fool asks where he got the large nose. Is removed from the room. He comes back to mend matters. He says, "What a small nose you have!" He is again taken from the room. The third time: "What difference does it make whether you have a nose or not?" *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 41. Cf. Type 2014. |
| J2668 | The fool betrays his brothers. They escape but he is captured and stupidly betrays their hiding places. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 432. |
| J2482 | The fool is told that his son has given up the ghost. He wonders. He didn't know that the son had a ghost to give up. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 250 No. 166. |
| J1963 | The fool puts but one stick of wood in the stove. "Several others have burned up." Type 1260*. |
| J2661.2 | The fool seeks a midwife. Accidentally strikes the dog dead, drowns the midwife, and kills the child. *Type 1680. |
| J2421 | The fool spits in the hot porridge. He has seen the smith spit on the hot iron. Type 1262*. |
| J2667 | The fool testifies: "I had been drinking and was lying on the bench asleep. I saw him hit him over the head with an axe but don't know whether he hit him or not." *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 816. |
| J2083 | The foolish attempt to cheat the buyer. |
| J2463 | The foolish bride. |
| J2086 | The foolish pawn. The woman sells cows and gets one of them back as a pledge for the unpaid purchase price. *Type 1385; *BP II 440; Christensen DF L 35. |
| J1443 | The fools in the city. Man ordered to number the fools in the city replies, "It is easier to number the wise men." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 241 No. 535; Chauvin VII 126 No. 393bis. |
| J1614 | The forehanded servant. A parson boasts that when he asks his maid if certain work is done she always answers that it has been done long ago. A guest wagers that she can be trapped if she is asked whether she has thrown the parson's suit of clothes into the tub of water. She overhears the wager and has the suit in the water before he asks the question. Bolte Frey's Gartengesellschaft 252 No. 92. |
| J2671 | The forgetful fool. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1445 | The forgotten traditions. A man has been told by a seer that there are two ways in which a believer may be distinguished. But he has forgotten one of them and the seer had forgotten the other. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 186 No. 353. |
| J755.1 | The forgotten wind. Man allowed to manage the weather forgets to ask help of the wind. All goes wrong and he must give up management. *Type 752B; *Fb "vind" III 1059a. |
| J2283 | The four-footed bishop. A fool finding a nun in bed with a bishop and not seeing her face concludes that the bishop must have four feet and so announces it. Bolte Frey 247 No. 86; Nouvelles Récréations No. 2; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J871 | The fox and the sour grapes. Pretends that the grapes he cannot reach are sour. Wienert FFC LVI 63 (ET 267), 125 (ST 336); Halm Aesop No. 33; Scala Celi 52b No. 292; Jacobs Aesop 207 No. 31; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 30 No. 66a*; Jewish: Neuman. |
| J1191.3 | The funeral for the ineligible husband. A king awards a young woman to a gardener, who is already married. The young woman performs a funeral ceremony for him. The king is pleased with the jest and takes her into the harem. Chauvin V 245 No. 146. |
| J2415.1.1 | The gift of the donkey. Ruler rewards the gift of a clever donkey. Greedy nobleman seeking a like reward sends ruler two donkeys in rich trappings. Ruler advises the donor that he is sorry that his gift will deprive him of worthy companionship. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1272 | The gift of the fool. Of three brothers the shoemaker makes shoes for the queen and princess; the tailor, clothes; the fool—children. Type 1548*; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 654A. |
| J1174.3 | The girl screams when she is robbed. Accuses young man of raping her. When he tries to rob her of money she summons help. Decision: if she had shouted as loud before, the man could not have raped her. Youth acquitted. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 15; Herbert III 21; *Crane Vitry 242 No. 255. |
| J1541.1 | The good words. A man pledged to give his wife only good words hits her with a prayer book. *BP III 278. |
| J83 | The gray and the black hairs: enemies reconciled. Duke summons two inveterate enemies. Has them tear out one of his hairs, one a gray, the other a black. Both pain him equally. He shows how their quarrels hurt him. They are reconciled. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 401. |
| J1457 | The gray fox. An old husband tells his young wife, who is concerned about his gray hair, "A gray fox is as good as a red one." "But an old gray fox is not so good as a young red one." Bolte Frey 242 No. 75. |
| J1322 | The great thirst. |
| J1473 | The greedy dreamer. He dreams that he receives nine coins. He demands ten. He wakes and finds that he has dreamed. He is willing to accept the nine. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 206 (No. 5); Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1562 | The greedy host. |
| J1563.1 | The guest who could not keep warm. He keeps calling for more bed clothes. The host finally piles a ladder, a trough, etc., on top of him until he calls for help. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 259 No. 200; Wesselski Arlotto I 130 No. 51. |
| J1141.9 | The guilty protests his innocence. Animals put to graze in man's garden. Owner greets everyone with: "I know about you!" No one pays any attention to him except the guilty one who says: "I did not do it." Confesses. (Cf. N275.) Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1085.1 | The happy friar becomes unhappier as he receives ever more and more money. Gets rid of money and is happy as before. *Type 754; *Toldo Zs. f. Vksk. XIII 420; *Crane Vitry 162 No. 66; Herbert III 281; Alphabet No. 276; Scala Celi 80b No. 459; Nouvelles Récréations No. 19; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 258 No. 204. |
| J1551.6 | The hare at third remove. A man receives a present of a hare. Later a crowd comes to him for entertainment saying that they are friends of the man who presented the hare. This happens a second time. He serves them clear water. "It is the soup from the soup of the hare." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 234 No. 97. |
| J2616 | The hawk frightened at the snipe's bill. The snipe: "It is a bill, but it is good for nothing (weak)." The hawk is no longer afraid. Type 229*; Russian: Andrejev No. 229. |
| J1411 | The hay wagon and the gate. A parson arriving late at a city gate asks if he can get in. Guard sees that he is fat and in fun says that he doesn't know. The parson: "Why not; doesn't the hay wagon get in?" *Wesselski Arlotto II 265 No. 209; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1179.2 | The hog belongs to whichever place he goes of his own accord. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 121. |
| J1875.3 | The homesick wave. Numskulls try to take home a wave of the sea in a bamboo rod. At home when it refuses to wave they say that it is homesick for its mother, the sea. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 252. |
| J2481 | The horse that went like a ship. Men have been assured that a horse will "go like a ship". When they spur the horse, it will not move. A man takes a pole and hits the horse. It goes. "See, it goes like a ship. It is started by a pole, not by spurs." *Wesselski Arlotto I 188 No. 9. |
| J2483 | The house without food or drink. A fool and his son meet women mourning a dead man. "He goes to the place where there is darkness and nothing to eat or drink." The son: "They must be coming to our house." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 262 No. 229; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2066.1 | The hungry fox waits in vain for horse's scrotum (lips) to fall off. Type 115. |
| J2474 | The hunter's mass. A count instructs his chaplain to read a hunter's mass (i.e., a short one). The chaplain searches the prayerbook in vain for a hunter's mass. *Wesselski Bebel I 175 No. 19. |
| J2498.1 | The imitative choir. Minister tells congregation that he has forgotten his spectacles, that he cannot line out the hymn as he customarily did. The choir sings his words. He tries to explain, apologizes. The choir repeats the apology in song. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J2222 | The inconvenience of having a father: The numskull to his father: "If you had never been born I would get my grandfather's estate." Clouston Noodles 4. |
| J2035 | The interrupted calculation. While the merchant is making calculations, he asks the age of his youngest daughter, the elder daughter, and the mother, and always adds this to the number he has reached. Type 1592*. |
| J1671 | The inventive coachman. Makes the horses run by binding a bundle of hay to the shaft. Type 1576*. |
| J1170.2 | The Irish Solomon (Cormac mac Airt). Famed for his clever decisions. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| J1531.2 | The iron-eating mice. 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. *BP II 372; Chauvin II 92 No. 37; B[ö]dker Exempler; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys, Penzer III 250, V 62, *64; Indonesian: DeVries's list No. 299. |
| J1179.9 | The judge pays fine himself. Tires of the bickering of two men over a trifling sum. Italian Novella: Rotunda; Spanish: Childers. |
| J2372 | The judge wants to know how the theft was committed. The witness tells. The judge: "You are wonderful; I have tried it thirty times and succeeded only once." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 266 No. 248. |
| J829.1 | The king and the cheap slippers. Steward buys the king a pair of slippers. King thinks not enough has been paid for them and refuses them. Steward buys another like the first and charges a good price. Learns that this is the way to deal with kings. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 162. |
| J1827 | The king no priest's son. A pope in writing to a king says, "To our dear son Frederick." Upon hearing this the fool cries out, "That is a lie; he is no priest's son. I knew his father and mother and they were both honest people." *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 51. |
| J1391.2 | The ladder market. A thief climbs over a wall by means of his ladder. When caught in the garden he says that he is a seller of ladders. Owner: "Is this a ladder market?" "Can't one sell ladders everywhere?" Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 210 No. 18. |
| J1169.5 | The laughing ass. King has trickster's horse's tail cut off. Trickster retaliates by cutting off part of upper lip of king's ass. At trial the animals are brought forth. Everyone laughs at the ass. Trickster: "If everyone laughs at the ass, how could the ass help laughing at her companion without a tail?" Freed. *Wesselski Gonnella 116 No. 12; U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1612 | The lazy ass repaid in kind. Loaded with salt, he falls down in the river and lightens his burden. His master then loads him with sponges so that the next time the ass tries the trick he increases his load. Type 211***; Wienert FFC LVI 72 (ET 372), 98 (ST 126); Halm Aesop No. 322. |
| J1456 | The liar. A man attempts to lie out of having called another a liar: "You lie if you say that I said you lied." The other: "It's a good thing for you that you didn't call me a liar." (Cf. J817.) *Wesselski Bebel I 204 No. 85. |
| J1343 | The liking for food and drink. |
| J1454 | The lion and the statue. A man points out the statue to show the supremacy of man. The lion: "If it had been a lion sculptor, the lion would have been standing over the man." Wienert FFC LVI 70 (ET 343), 101 (ST 145); Halm Aesop No. 63; Jacobs Aesop 208 No. 35. |
| J811.1 | The lion's share. Ass divides booty equally between himself, fox, and lion. Lion eats ass. Fox then divides: gives lion meat and he takes bones. *Type 51; Wienert FFC LVI 59 (ET 213), 110 (ST 220); Halm Aesop No. 260; Jacobs Aesop 200 No. 4; Herbert III *14, 39ff.; *Crane Vitry 199 No. 158. — Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: Rotunda; American Negro: Harris Nights 334 No. 58. |
| J2476 | The literal host: bread and salt. Guest finds that his host spoke literally when he invited him to share his bread and salt. Later, when the host threatens an importunate beggar, the guest advises the beggar to flee since the host means what he says. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 240 No. 532. |
| J1341.8 | The little lumps of sugar are sweeter, says the hostess. The servant says that he doesn't like sweets and takes the large lumps. Type 1389*. |
| J2271.1 | The local moon. Numskull greets 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.) *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 218 No. 52; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2466.3 | The long day. If the clock is still striking it must be 50 o'clock. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 207 No. 9; Scotland, U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1823.1.3 | The Lord has departed. Maidservant on way to church on Palm Sunday meets priests leading ass on which Jesus rode. The maid runs home and tells her mistress that the Lord has mounted and has just gone away. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 865. |
| J1399.1 | The Lord has Risen. A parson hides his money in a holy place and leaves a sign, "The Lord is in this Place." A thief takes the money and leaves a sign, "He is risen and is no longer here" Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 74. |
| J2137.1 | The louse invites the flea. The flea bites the man and jumps away. The bed is searched and the louse killed. Chauvin II 89 No. 27; Spanish Exempla: Keller; B[ö]dker Exempler 283 No. 29; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1887 | The mad wheelbarrow. Fools chain a wheelbarrow, bitten by a mad dog, lest it bite others. Field Pent Cuckoo 15. |
| J1511.12 | The man in place of a watch-dog. The master orders his serf to watch the manor at night in place of the dog. When the thieves come, the serf barks: "Dress, dress .... They take, take .... They lead, lead .... " The master does not understand the barking and pays no heed to it — is robbed of his property. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *2421. |
| J2521.1 | The man is accused of maintaining a brothel. He has a bull for breeding purposes. *Wesselski Bebel I 141 No. 53. |
| J2188 | The man who wanted to be dead one day. A husband tells his wife that he has provisions for every day in the year but one. He proposes to play dead for that one day, thinking that the servants will be overcome with grief and cannot eat. After brief mourning, however, they eat more than usual. The man then thinks to frighten them by rising from the dead. One servant thinking the dead man suffering from devils kills him. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 176. |
| J1919.8 | The man without a member: foolish wife gives her husband money to buy himself one. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *2911; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV No. 1543*. |
| J2192 | The messenger without the message. A fool is told that he is to go to a neighboring castle the next morning. He is to take letters, but the next morning without reporting for instructions the fool goes on the journey. He is given a bag of stones to carry back. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 731; Christensen DF XLVII 201 no. 38, 204, 221; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1632 | The minstrel repays the cobbler. The cobbler learns the minstrel's songs and sings them so that the minstrel loses his trade. He in turn sews the cobbler's leather into crazy shapes. He has done no worse than the cobbler, who marred his songs. When they sing together the people realize the contrast and patronize the minstrel. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 139 No. 1695A*, Keller. |
| J344.1 | The monkey and the lost lentil. Lets all others he has in his hand fall in order to search for it. *Chauvin II 104 No. 67; Bødker Exempler 302 No. 70; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J2328 | The moving church tower. To see whether the church is moving someone lays down his coat in front of it. It is stolen. They think that the church has passed over it. Type 1326; Köhler-Bolte I 324; Christensen DF L 218 No. 79. |
| J2211.3 | The murderous master. Dogs flee from their master because in time of famine he has killed his cattle. If he kills the cattle, he will surely kill the dogs. Wienert FFC LVI 73 (ET 377), 106 (ST 189); Halm Aesop No. 95. |
| J1921 | The needle (or the like) falls into the sea: sought the next summer. Type 1280. |
| J1289.4 | The needy philosopher. Philosopher asks ruler for money Ruler says that philosophers do not need money. Philosopher: "If I am rewarded, I will say that you are right; I will no longer need money." Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J2478 | The numskull buys water at market. He looks at bread. The merchant: "It is as good as butter." He decides on butter. The merchant: "It is as sweet as oil." He decides on oil. The merchant: "It is as clear as water." He decides on water. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 241 No. 536. |
| J2523 | The obedient husband: the leave of absence. His wife says, "You may go away for a little while." He stays away for days and then sends a messenger to his wife asking if he has been away long enough. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 232 No. 84; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1828 | The obedient log. A fool sees a boat (with rowers) obedient to commands, "Right! Left!" etc. He asks what kind of wood the boat is made of. Later he gets a log of that wood and tries to make it obey commands. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 258. |
| J2171.1.2 | The ogre tars the hero's boat, thinking to injure him. Type 1156. |
| J1811.1.1 | The old maid answers the owl's hoot, saying "Anybody, Lord!" or giving the name of the young man she wants. (Cf. X750.3.) U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J1521.2 | The old man nods "Yes". A monk at an old man's deathbed asks if he hasn't promised this and that to the church. The old man from weakness rather than understanding nods "Yes". The son standing by asks, "Shall I throw this fellow down stairs?" The old man nods "Yes". *Wesselski Bebel I 154 No. 81; Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 497. |
| J1355 | The one exception. "You are a good man; there is not your equal on the earth. You have everything for yourself alone; only your wife is public property." Wesselski Bebel II 135 No. 104. |
| J1382.1 | The one to blow the whistle. Many persons request a man on the way to market to buy them a whistle. Finally one hands him a coin with the request. "You are the one who shall blow the whistle." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 246 No. 146. |
| J1618 | The one word petition. A guardian of monks in need of food approaches the prince The prince is busy and says that he will permit the guardian but a single word. The guardian says, "Soup", and secures all the food he wants from the prince. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 64. |
| J753.1 | The only person in the bath. Servant reports to master that there is but one person in the public bath Master finds three hundred. Only one person had removed stone from his path; rest had stubbed toes. He was only one worthy of the name of man. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 604. |
| J1901.1 | The overfed hen. A woman wants her hen to lay many eggs. Overfeeds her and she stops laying altogether. Wienert FFC LVI 72 (ET 362), 106 (ST 184); Halm Aesop No. 111. |
| J1302 | The overloaded mule. Priest complains that miller's mule is overloaded. "No, he isn't; he can still carry all your and your brothers' patience." *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 473. |
| J1269.1 | The parson's share and the sexton's. During the sermon the parson bids the sexton see if anyone is coming. The sexton: "A man is coming with a wheel on his shoulder"—Parson: "God gives it to you." — Sexton: "Now a man is coming with half a hog on his shoulder." — Parson: "God gives it to me." Type 1829*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1829*. |
| J1562.2 | The peasant's share is the chicken. He serves small birds and a roast chicken to his guests. Guests each take a small bird, leaving only the chicken when the plate reaches the host. He takes the whole chicken saying: "Since everyone has a bird, I must have one too." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 583. |
| J1582.1 | The penny baked in the wafer. A peasant always puts a bad penny into the offering. The priest has a penny baked in a wafer and gives it to the peasant at communion. The peasant, unable to swallow it, thinks that he is possessed of the devil. The priest asks whether he has ever done wrong with a penny, secures confession and a pledge of reform. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 73. |
| J1904.2 | The pent cuckoo. Fools build an enclosure to keep in the cuckoo. She flies over the hedge. They say that they have not built the hedge high enough. **Field Pent Cuckoo; Clouston Noodles 27; England: Baughman. |
| J2087 | The persuasive auctioneer. The auctioneer praises the man's worthless cow so much in his speech that the man takes her back himself. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 276 No. 309; Clouston Noodles 72; U.S.: Baughman. |
| J2377 | The philosophical watchman. A master sets his servant to keep watch over his horse at night. He soon asks the servant if he is asleep. "No, I was thinking of who created so many stars in the sky." The second time the servant answers, "No, I was thinking of who dug the sea. Where did he put the soil?" The third time: "I was wondering who would carry the saddle now that the horse is stolen." *Zachariae Zs. f. Vksk. XXX-XXXII 51; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 23. |
| J2516.3.2 | The polite rescuers. Pupils are taught to clap their hands and say "God bless you" when one sneezes. As they are rescuing a drowning man by a rope he sneezes. They all clap their hands and he falls back into the water. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 227 No. 477. |
| J2184 | The polluted clothes. A Brahmin washes clothes to purify them. As they hang to dry, a dog walks under them and the Brahmin fears that they are polluted. By putting himself on all-fours like a dog and fastening a leaf like a dog's tail he experiments and decides that the dog must have touched the clothes. He therefore destroys them instead of rewashing them. Clouston Noodles 176. |
| J1511.6 | The porter's revenge for the three wise counsels. A man offers a porter three wise counsels for carrying his goods. "When anyone tells you that hunger and satisfaction are the same, don't believe him." The second and third are similar and equally valueless. The porter throws down the load: "When anyone tells you that any part of this load is not broken, don't believe him." *Basset 1001 Contes II 391; Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 260 No. 211; Chauvin VIII 139 No. 136; *Fb "sandhed". |
| J1531.3 | The pot has a child and dies. A borrower returns a pot along with a small one saying that the pot has had a young one. The pots are accepted. He borrows the pot a second time and keeps it. He sends word that the pot has died. *BP II 372 n. 2; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 213 No. 35; DeVries FFC LXXIII 273 n. 1; Rumanian: Schullerus FFC LXXVIII No. 1705*; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J310 | The present preferred to the past. |
| J1551.10 | The priest administers to a man sick with infectious disease. Shows him the Host through window, and says: "Have hope and imagine you receive it." The man shows the priest a coin through the window, and repeats the same phrase. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *1844. |
| J1624 | The priest makes the omen come true. A woman crosses herself when she meets a priest, as if he were the devil. She says that meeting a priest always brings her bad luck. The priest knocks her down and steps on her. "As ye believe, so shall it be." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 151. |
| J1289.6 | The prince's excuse. King to son who has been accused of rape: "I never did anything like that." Prince: "Your father was not king!" King: "Your son will never be one if you keep that up!" Spanish: Childers; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1369.2 | The prodigy's retort. An old man says of a youthful prodigy: "He will be an idiot in old age because perfection before maturity brings on deterioration of the mind." Youth: "You must have been very wise in your youth!" Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1169.8 | The prophet's first disciple. Judge demands that a pseudo-prophet show a miracle. Latter offers to cut off judge's head and resuscitate him. Judge agrees to be the first disciple. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 257 No. 197. |
| J1476 | The proud hide humbled. A hide is in the river. River: "What is your name?" Hide: "Hard hide." River: "Hunt another name; I'll soon soften you." Wienert FFC LVI 75 (ET 403), 101 (ST 148); Halm Aesop No. 381. |
| J1021 | The quarreling sons and the bundle of twigs. Peasant puts twigs together and cannot break them. Separately they are easily broken. His sons apply the lesson. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 861; Wienert FFC LVI 83 (ET 491), 111 (ST 228); Halm Aesop No. 103; Jacobs Aesop 217 No. 72.—Jewish: *Neuman; India: Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J2466.2 | The reckoning of the pot. A man counts the days of the fastmonth by throwing a pebble each day into a pot. His daughter throws a handful of pebbles in. Asked the day of the month, he says that it is the 125th. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 207 No. 9. |
| J2212.4 | The reef is old, the ship new. They think the vessel will endure the shocks better than the reef. Type 1277*. |
| J1923 | The rejected bread resought. Numskull looks for bread that he threw away a year before. Africa (Zulu): Callaway 359. |
| J1919.1 | The remodelled stork. A trickster cuts off the bill and legs of a stork to make him look more like a real bird. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 213 No. 37. |
| J1613 | The rescuers' Sabbath. A Jew, fallen into a pit, refuses to be rescued on Saturday, his Sabbath. The next day he calls for help but the Christians refuse to rescue him on Sunday, their Sabbath. Wesselski Mönchslatein 100 No 84; Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 389. |
| J1171.1.1 | The ring to be cut in two and divided between quarreling persons: real owner laments the waste of the gold. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1314 | The road to Heaven. To doctor: "If this is the way to get to Heaven (drinking) I don't want to know any other!" Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1261.2.1 | The sacrament for sale. Sick woman calls the parson but recovers meanwhile He insists on her taking the sacrament and charges for it. "Set it here on the table; perhaps I can sell it again." *Wesselski Bebel II 110 No. 36. |
| J1265.3 | The same company of fools. An abbot calls the monks together and asks, "Whom from all you fools can I appoint as steward?" A monk answers, "That should not be difficult since an abbot was found from the same company of fools." Wesselski Bebel II 119 No. 58. |
| J1151.1.3 | The sausage rain. (Or rain of figs, fishes, or milk.) A mother in order to discredit testimony of her foolish son who has killed a man makes him believe that it has rained sausages. When he says that he killed the man on the night it rained sausages his testimony is discredited. Chauvin VI 126, VIII 35, 69; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 184, 195, 204 Nos. 347, 383, 407; *BP I 527; Italian: Basile Pentamerone I No 4; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2422 | The scythe cuts one man's head off. All have theirs cut off. *Type 1203. |
| J2215.2 | The servant of God beaten. A man who says that he is the servant of so and so is treated with great consideration. His companion, who says that he is a servant of God is put to work. He cannot understand why God's servant should not be more important than the other. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 249 No. 162. |
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