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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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| J2093 | Valuables given away or sold for trifle. |
| J1061 | Value depends upon real use. |
| J1010 | Value of industry. |
| J1074 | Value of silence. |
| J829.3 | Vanquished ruler in disguise gets audience with victor. "What would you do if your enemy were to kneel before you and beg forgiveness?" "I would forgive him." Reveals identity and is pardoned. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J182 | Varieties of wisdom. |
| J1316 | Very small to be so old. Guest criticizes host's small serving of wine which he said was six years old. Spanish: Childers. |
| J1438 | Veterinarian becomes doctor. When he killed animals he had to pay for them; but he did not have to pay for killing people. Spanish: Childers. |
| J684.4 | Victorious ally feared by others. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J2511.1 | Wager as to who shall rise (speak) first in morning (last up to get reward). They are carried to funeral pyre before they will give in. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2214.3 | Waiting at the well for the thief. A thief has stolen a salted cheese. Since one always goes to the well after eating salted cheese, the thief will also come. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 243 No. 128. |
| J2214.3.2 | Waiting for the thief to return for the bolster. After the cover is stolen, the numskulls conclude that the thief will certainly return for the bolster. Clouston Noodles 14. |
| J2214.3.3 | Waiting for the thieves to return for invoice of goods stolen. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2214.3.1 | Waiting in the graveyard for the thief. He must eventually come here. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 243 No. 128. |
| J2066.3.1 | Waiting in vain for fruit to fall from a non-fruitbearing tree. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1888 | Wants the organ to come and play for her. An old woman enraptured with the sound of a cathedral organ prays for it to come to her house and gives it directions as to where she lives. Bolte Frey 235 No. 54. |
| J1945 | Warming hands across the river. Numskull stretches out his hands toward the fire across the river. Clouston Noodles 68. |
| J1873.3 | Warming the stove with wool. Type 1271A*. |
| J652.4 | Warnings against certain peoples. |
| J875 | Warrior having lost a city claims that he did not wish to sell it for a higher price. Wesselski Bebel I 118 No. 1. |
| J2366 | Warrior reveals camping place. Wishes his enemies to know that he is not afraid. Enemies go there before him. Irish myth: Cross. |
| J1395 | Was going to give it to him any way. Thus a hunter answers a thief who steals his hare. Wienert FFC LVI 84 (ET 504), 125 (ST 337); Halm Aesop No. 163. |
| J1743.3 | Wash Bee Day. Woman misinterprets calendar notation "February 22, Wash. B'day." Washes their bee-hives. North Carolina: Brown Collection I 697. |
| J1312.2 | Washed in the Rhine. Server of diluted Rhine wine thus taunted. Wesselski Bebel II 108 No. 29. |
| J1149.11 | Washing test: defendants given basin of water. Guilty one wastes it uselessly. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2465.4 | Washing the child. Fool uses boiling water and kills it. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 212 No. 431. |
| J2465.6 | Washing the room. Fool floods it. Norwegian: Christiansen Norske Eventyr 142. |
| J312.1 | Wasp twits butterfly with coming from ugly chrysalis: unimportant where you come from. Wienert FFC LVI 43 (ET 14), 144 (ST 497). |
| J1781.2 | Watch mistaken for the devil's eye. Knocked to pieces. Type 1321*; Christensen DF XLVII 187; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1679*. |
| J2465.1.1 | Watering the cow (by pouring water on it). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J425 | Weak fear company of strong. |
| J347 | Wealth and glory sacrificed for freedom and virtue. |
| J461.7 | Wealth and wisdom dispute as to who is greater. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J707 | Wealth is most important. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1289.5 | Wearing all his clothes. Shivering king (rich man) to tattered peasant: "Aren't you cold?" Peasant: "No, if you wore all your clothes as I do, you wouldn't be cold either!" Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J951.4 | Weasel paints self to deceive mice. Detected. Wienert FFC LVI *53 (ET 133), 87 (ST 7); Halm Aesop No. 87. |
| J1041.1 | Weather to please one only. Attempt to please everyone with weather unavailing. Weather given therefore without regard to men's desires. Type 1830; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 218 No. 51; Wienert FFC LVI 83 (ET 495), 121 (ST 304); Halm Aesop No. 166. |
| J1289.13 | Weaver hearing of tax for every doorway of weavers takes his door to the khan: will not return for the sidewalls of his house. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J229.8.1 | Weaver prefers master with one hedgehog. Insists on his master putting hedgehog out of house. When master refuses, weaver leaves. Next master has two hedgehogs, and next has three. Weaver returns to first master. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 603. |
| J341 | Weight of bodily member chosen rather than its loss. (Cf. J351.) |
| J1561.3 | Welcome to the clothes. A man at a banquet is neglected because of his poor clothes. He changes clothes, returns, and is honored. "Feed my clothes," he says, "for it is they that are welcomed." *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 416; Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 222 No. 55; *Prato RTP IV 167; Herbert III 70; Italian Novella: Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2317 | Well man made to believe that he is sick. *Chauvin VI 138 No. 291; Clouston Noodles 161; Clouston Tales II 30ff.; Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 869. |
| J144 | Well-trained kid does not open to wolf. *Type 123; Wienert FFC LVI 63 (ET 262), 145 (ST 506, 535); *BP I 37; Dh IV 277f. |
| J1391.7 | Were merely measuring cup. King demands that each subject bring small amount of milk to put in his new cup. They plan to cheat him by bringing him water. Accused, they say that they were merely measuring the cup to see how much it would take to fill it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1761.1 | Whale thought to be island. Sailors light a fire on his back. *Chauvin VII 9 n. 1 No. 373A; *Fb "fish" I 296b, "[ö]" III 1159b; Gunter 84; *Gaster Beiträge 53ff.; *Reinhard PMLA XXXVIII 448 n. 84. — Icelandic: *Boberg; Jewish: *Neuman; Hindu: Penzer II 193; B[ö]dker Exempler 286 No. 34; Indonesian: DeVries's list No. 210. |
| J2271.2 | What becomes of the old moon? |
| J2485 | What is behind you. Woman tells husband she has cooked what is behind him. He sees the door there and tries to cook it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1311 | What is wanted, not what is asked. A servant is so trained that when the host asks for wine from a good cask he brings it from a cheap one. When the guest objects, the host says that the servant brought not what was asked for but what was wanted. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 370. |
| J2284 | What killed the wolf. Peasants find a dead wolf and debate what killed it. A learned man shows that it froze internally from eating cold flesh. Bolte Frey 236 No. 59. |
| J344 | What one has is neglected in search for other things. |
| J2461 | What should I have done (said)? The mother teaches the boy (the man his wife) what he should say (do) in this or that circumstance. He uses the words in the most impossible cases and is always punished. *Type 1696; *BP I 315, III 145; *Taylor JAFL XLVI 78 No. 1696; **Haavio FFC LXXXVIII 94ff.; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 251f. No. 169; *Fb "tosse" III 831b; Lithuanian: Balys Index Nos. 1691*, 1691A*; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC No. 1363A; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 286; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda; Indonesia: Coster-Wijsman 54ff. Nos. 79—82; Africa: Werner African 217f. |
| J1488 | What the bear whispered in his ear. Paid guide climbs tree and leaves traveler to mercy of a bear. Traveler feigns death and the bear sniffs at him and leaves. The guide: "What did the bear say to you?" "He said, never trust a coward like you." Wienert FFC LVI 68 (ET 319), 126 (ST 349); Halm Aesop No. 311; Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 422; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2378 | What will the robber do? A man curious as to what a robber is going to do waits to intervene and goes back to sleep. Chauvin II 82 No. 4; B[ö]dker Exempler 273 No. 4; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1495.2 | When Caleb comes. Man attempts to stay in haunted house all night. One cat after another enters, says, "Everything will be all right when Caleb comes, won't it?" (or something similar). Man finally says, "When Caleb comes, tell him I was here and left." He leaves. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J1563.6 | When hints do not get rid of unwelcome guests, force must be used. Thus man treats his sons-in-law. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J571.1 | When in anger say the alphabet. Man thus restrained from hasty judgment. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 257. |
| J1166.2 | When royal mace-bearer is attacked he throws away mace: attackers accuse him of insult to king. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1088 | When the sweet fails try the bitter. Man pleads with thief who is stealing his figs. When pleading fails he brings him down from tree with stones. (Cf. J1581.2, T251.5.) Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1714.3 | When with fools, act foolish. A wise man refuses to join a foolish crowd who stayed out in an unexpected rain after a long drought. He is punished by them for being a fool. *Wesselski Arlotto II 224 No. 91. |
| J1545.3.2 | Where are the shoes? Fault-finding husband threatens to hit wife with shoes. She: "You will have to have some shoes first." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1321.1 | Where did he get the wine? Father shows drunkard son a drunk man being mocked on the street. Instead of taking it as a warning the son says "Where does one get such good wine?" *Pauli (ed. Bolte) Nos. 21, 814; Italian Novella: Rotunda; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas II 115, 344, *Neuman. |
| J1483.2 | Where his mule will. A man on a runaway mule is asked, "Where are you going?" "Wherever my mule wants to." *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 181 No. 343; Italian Novella: Rotunda; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J1919.2 | Where the ducks ford. A fool is asked where the river is fordable. He says, "Everywhere." The man tries to ride across and is almost drowned. The fool, "Those little ducks were able to cross here; why couldn't a big fellow like you?" Wesselski Bebel II 146 No. 146. |
| J1424 | Where the foxes will meet. Two foxes in a trap converse: "Where shall we meet again?" "In three days at the furrier's." Chauvin III 77 No. 51. |
| J1381 | Where you got it last year. Parson tells borrower to get the corn at the same place as he got it last year. There is none there. "Then you didn't return it as you said you would, and there is none to lend you this year." *Wesselski Arlotto II 259 No. 186; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1545.3.1 | Which does the more work. Wife shows that she does many more tasks in one morning than the husband. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1664.1 | Which is coldest season? Rainy season or winter (debate between animals). Solution by man as umpire: neither as cold as windy season. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1141.1.7 | Which is man and which demon in man's shape? Decision to go to whichever can go through end of reed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1171.4 | Which mare is mother of colt: colt taken in boat to the middle of river; mother will swim to it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2062.1 | Which way the sheep shall return. One man plans to buy sheep; another says that he shall not drive them across the bridge. They quarrel over the sheep, which have not yet been acquired. A third numskull to convince them of their foolishness pours all his meal out in the water so as to show them the empty sack. "How much meal is in the sack?" he asks. "None." "There is just that much wit in your heads." *Clouston Noodles 26; Field Pent Cuckoo 2; England: Baughman. |
| J2013.1 | White man made to believe that he is a negro. Sleeps with a negro. His friends blacken him during the night. When he is waked up, he complains that they have waked the wrong man. Clouston Noodles 7; L. Schmidt Oesterr. Zs. f. Vksk. 1954, 130; England, U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1761.2 | White mare thought to be church. Type 1315**. |
| J1961 | White sheep-skin used as a source of light. Type 1245*. |
| J1269.9 | Who bore the Savior on his back? (St. Christopher.) Parishioner: "The ass, for he bore both the son and his mother." Bolte Frey's Gartengesellschaft 245 No. 81. |
| J1451 | Who gets the beehive. Badger: "I was a hundred years old when grama grass first grew." Crane: "My daughter was a hundred years old when grama grass first grew." Wolf: "I am only eight years old, but we shall see who gets the beehive." Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 31 No. *80, Espinosa III Nos. 268—270, Espinosa Jr. Nos. 26, 27. |
| J2183.2 | Who shall go first? Train leaves overpolite travelers. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1262.5.1 | Whoever gives alms in God's name will receive tenfold: preacher's wife gives sweetmeats away. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2174.2 | Wholesome food for the day of hanging. A man about to be hanged is very particular about his bread lest it impair his health. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 28. |
| J1353 | Whom it concerns. There is someone carrying a goose. How does that concern me? He is carrying it to your house. How does that concern you? *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 231 No. 497. |
| J2183.6.1 | Whose duty to put out fire? Officers investigate; meanwhile fire burns town. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2231 | Why can't we have holidays the year round? *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 222 No. 56. |
| J1494 | Why captain takes lame and one-eyed soldiers into army. The lame cannot flee from the enemy; the one-eyed soldiers will not see enough to make them afraid. Spanish: Childers. |
| J2274.1 | Why everyone doesn't live in the same place. The earth would become unbalanced. *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 245 No. 140. |
| J1261.1.2 | Why God has few friends. Priest consoles sick man by saying that God chastens those whom he loves. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 778. |
| J25 | Why great man plays with children. This is to be learned only when one has children himself. Anecdote of Agesilaus. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 738. |
| J2721 | Why he couldn't see. One fool to another: "What would happen if you cut off your nose?" "I couldn't smell." "What would happen if you cut off your ears?" "I couldn't see." "Why couldn't you see?" "My hat would fall down over my eyes." U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J1345 | Why he did not eat the bread. When host inquires, he replies, "If thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread." Mensa Philosophica No. 171. |
| J1452 | Why he was thin. Philosopher explains that with his own blood he was nourishing as large a population as that of the Roman Emperor (lice). *Wesselski Bebel II 145 No. 140. |
| J1263.1.1 | Why ignorant priests are favored. They can always find patrons as ignorant as they are. *Wesselski Bebel II 100 No. 4. |
| J1291.1.1 | Why is it that black cow eats green grass, gives white milk and yellow butter? Answer: The same reason blackberries are red when they are green. U.S.: Baughman. |
| J1369.5 | Why soldier is silent before king: is always so when questioned by stupid person. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1304 | Why the black clothes. A man goes forth in black clothes. People are curious as to the reason. "I am wearing mourning for the father of my son." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 211 No. 27. |
| J1733 | Why the pigs shriek. The sheep does not understand why the pig being carried to slaughter shrieks. Wienert FFC LVI 60 (ET 222), 91 (ST 32); Halm Aesop No. 115. |
| J2211.2 | Why the sow was muddy. A magpie is punished by his master, who throws him into a mud puddle. The magpie sees a muddy sow. He says, "You also must have had a quarrel with your master." Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 669; U.S.: Baughman. |
| J482.1.2 | Widow refuses second marriage so her brother cannot kill a second husband. Heptameron No. 40. |
| J155.4 | Wife as adviser. (Cf. J21.37.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1545.6 | Wife by cleverness wins back fortune overbearing husband has foolishly lost and humbles him. India: Thompson-Balys |
| J2133.5.1 | Wife carried up tree to sky in bag in husband's teeth. She asks question and he drops her when he answers. Clouston Noodles 48, 51. |
| J414.1 | Wife chosen instead of fairy mistress. They let man choose between them. Irish: MacCulloch Celtic 88. |
| J1112.2 | Wife dismisses maid who is husband's mistress and tells him she has fled. Husband understands and reforms. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2516.3.1 | Wife follows written instructions. She is to follow instructions which the husband has written down on a card. He falls into a brook and is about to drown. She goes home to see what his instructions on this point are. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 139; Christensen DF XLVII 226 No. 92. |
| J2075.4 | Wife granted wish for beauty, elopes with prince. Husband wishes her into a pig; son must use third wish to restore her. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2315.1 | Wife leaves home, offers self to lover. Returning persuades husband that she has not been away. Irish myth: Cross; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2311.0.1 | Wife makes her husband believe that he is dead. (Cf. J2301.) *Type 1406; Bédier Fabliaux 475; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 866; *Clouston Noodles 166; Christensen DF L 59; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J2349.2 | Wife makes husband believe that her paramour is Death. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J155.5 | Wife of usurer saves husband through her prayers. Nouvelles de Sens No. 26. |
| J1545 | Wife outwits her husband. |
| J2324 | Wife persuades her husband to have a good tooth pulled. Type 1406; Bédier Fabliaux 266ff.; Herbert III 20; *Crane Vitry 238 No. 248; Boccaccio Decameron VII No. 9 (Lee 231); Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J2315 | Wife persuades husband that she has returned immediately. She goes to a neighbor's to cook a fish. She is gone a week. She gets a new fish and cooks it and returns home with the hot fish. She convinces her husband of her short absence. Type 1406; Bédier Fabliaux 265, 458. |
| J1563.5.1 | Wife prepares the pestle. Tells guests husband uses it against guests. They flee. Tells husband they left because she refused to give them pestle. Husband pursues to give them the pestle, but they run the faster. (Cf. K2137.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1112.1 | Wife reforms wayward husband. Makes gift to husband's mistress so that she may receive him fittingly. Husband is shamed into reforming. Heptameron No. 38; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1545.9 | Wife shows deep water. Husband declares that he will drown himself. The wife shows him a deep spot in the stream. England: Baughman. |
| J1511.19 | Wife surrendered to king. Vizier advises doctor to give up his wife to love-sick prince since everything belongs to a sovereign. Doctor then tells him prince is in love not with his (the doctor's) wife but with the vizier's. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2079.1 | Wife wishes to be turned to gold. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J674.1 | Wild-boar sharpens tusks when no enemy is in sight. Tells fox that when enemy comes there are other things to do. Wienert FFC LVI 61 (ET 237), 108 (ST 203); Halm Aesop No. 407. |
| J1261.3 | Will lunch with Christ. Priest tells condemned man after confession that he will dine with Christ that evening. Mule that carries him to scaffold goes very fast and criminal says, "At this rate I shall lunch with Christ." Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 150 No. 1855*. |
| J1289.3 | Will not try to correct them. Pope calls persistent courtier a fool. Latter says that there are people who call the pope the same thing and that he for one will not try to correct them. Frey (ed. Bolte) 222 No. 17. |
| J1261.5 | Will spend the funeral money now. King asks how much his funeral will cost. "Give me the three hundred ducats now and when I am dead throw me into the Tiber." *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 187. |
| J1322.1 | Will take care of the thirst. Doctors consult how to rid fever-stricken drunkard of his great thirst. "You take care of the fever; I shall take care of the thirst." *Wesselski Arlotto II 267 No. 217; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1545.1 | Will work when beaten. A wife whose husband has beaten her sends a rumor to the sick king that her husband is a skilled physician but will practice only when he is well beaten. He is seized and whipped. Wesselski Mönchslatein 117 No. 98; Mensa Philosophica No. 73. |
| J1789.1 | Windmill thought to be holy cross (church, God). Type 1322**; Christensen DF XLVII 212 No. 68; Russian: Andrejev 1322**; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1318 | Wine gives ambassador courage to address Pope. "Another drink and I could have slapped his face!" Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J130 | Wisdom (knowledge) acquired from animals. |
| J10 | Wisdom (knowledge) acquired from experience. |
| J30 | Wisdom (knowledge) acquired from inference. |
| J50 | Wisdom (knowledge) acquired from observation. |
| J157 | Wisdom (knowledge) from dream. Icelandic: *Boberg; Jewish: *Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J152 | Wisdom (knowledge) from sage (teacher). Irish myth: *Cross; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J155 | Wisdom (knowledge) from women. Icelandic: *Boberg; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J100 | Wisdom (knowledge) taught by necessity. |
| J99 | Wisdom (knowledge) taught by parable. |
| J80 | Wisdom (knowledge) taught by parable. Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg; Bødker Exempler 272 No. 1; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J140 | Wisdom (knowledge) through education. |
| J162 | Wisdom acquired by hanging in a tree. *BP III 192. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| J18 | Wisdom acquired from beating. Incognito prince, beaten for his courtesy, realizes his folly and returns home. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J231 | Wisdom chosen above all else. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J192.1 | Wisdom from "Children of the East." Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J158 | Wisdom from angel. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J166.1 | Wisdom from books bought at great price. (Sibylline). Nine books first offered at certain price. Finally after this is refused and the owner throws six of them into the fire, the king pays the same price for three of them. Finds them filled with wisdom. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 588. |
| J166.2 | Wisdom from books of the antediluvians. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J166 | Wisdom from books. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J177 | Wisdom from brother-in-law. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J167 | Wisdom from continual reminder of foolishness in the past. Unjust judge skinned and his skin stretched over a footstool kept in the presence of judges, so as to remind them to be just. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 118; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J157.1 | Wisdom from dream: the leper with the cup of water. Man in dream willing to receive sacrament from unworthy priest. Wesselski Mönchslatein 98 No. 80; Alphabet No. 687. |
| J192.2 | Wisdom from Egypt. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J176 | Wisdom from evil spirits. Icelandic: Hjálmthèrs saga ok ölvis 491. |
| J179.4 | Wisdom from fasting. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J156.2 | Wisdom from fool: absurdity of tight-rope walker's performance. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 40. |
| J156.4 | Wisdom from fool: heaven refused. Fool says he does not want to go to heaven for he wants to stay with his master, who everyone says is going to hell. Master repents. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 46. |
| J156.1 | Wisdom from fool: make peace before rather than after the war. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 39. |
| J156.3 | Wisdom from fool: the present returned. Nobleman gives fool a present; he is to give it to no one who is not a greater fool. Master is dying; doctor tells fool that master is going to take long journey. Since master is making no preparation, fool gives him the present. Master thus brought to repentance. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 45. |
| J156 | Wisdom from fools. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 610; Irish myth: Cross. |
| J151.3 | Wisdom from god as old (one-eyed) man. Icelandic: Olrik Sakses Oldhistorie I (1892) 30, *Boberg. |
| J164 | Wisdom from God. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J155.8 | Wisdom from harlot to a king. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J153 | Wisdom from holy man. Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J179.3 | Wisdom from neighbors. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J151.4 | Wisdom from old man: always say, "if it pleases God." Spanish: Childers. |
| J151 | Wisdom from old person. Irish myth: *Cross; Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J152.5 | Wisdom from philosopher: give separate greetings to infants, youths, and old people. Spanish: Childers. |
| J152.6 | Wisdom from philosopher: worldly honor like shadow. If one goes toward it, it flees; if one turns his back on it, it follows and at times catches up with one. Spanish: Childers. |
| J178 | Wisdom from robbers (thugs) who disguise selves and show cruel princess how she should treat her husband. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J192.3 | Wisdom from the Greeks. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J192.4 | Wisdom from the Hebrews. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J175 | Wisdom from young man. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| J120 | Wisdom learned from children. *Chauvin VIII 62 No. 27; Penzer I 186. |
| J137 | Wisdom learned from example of insects. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J179.2 | Wisdom learned in underground kingdom: the passions of a human being could not be satisfied on earth. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J186 | Wisdom lost by accepting bribes and gifts. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J580 | Wisdom of caution. |
| J123 | Wisdom of child decides lawsuit. King in disguise sees child's game which represents the case. *Wesselski "Der Knabenkönig und das kluge Mädchen" (Sudetendeutsche Zs. f. Vksk. [1930] Beiheft 1) passim; *Chauvin V 86 No. 26 n. 1; DeVries FFC LXXIII 323ff.; Scala Celi No. 895; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J811 | Wisdom of concessions to power. |
| J572 | Wisdom of deliberation in fight. West Indies: Flowers 476. |
| J570 | Wisdom of deliberation. |
| J151.1 | Wisdom of hidden old man saves kingdom. In famine all old men are ordered killed. One man hides his father. When all goes wrong in the hands of the young rulers, the old man comes forth, performs assigned tasks, and aids with his wisdom. Type 981*; *Anderson FFC XLII 182 n. 1; *DeVries FFC LXXIII 220ff.; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 446, cf. No. 538; Fb "gammel" IV 174a; Scala Celi No. 281; *Paudler FFC CXXI.—Irish myth: *Cross; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *995; Russian: Andrejev No. 981*; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV No. 995*; Rumanian: Schullerus FFC LXXVIII No. 910F*; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: Rotunda; Jewish: *Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 115ff. No. 71. |
| J163 | Wisdom purchased. |
| J88 | Wisdom taught by parable: cloud which gives rain to thirsting crops or drops it in ocean. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J173 | Wisdom taught by suicidal example. Man is ordered by Senate to make tyrant stop bloodshed. He kills himself and family to satiate tyrant of blood. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J185 | Wisdom wins contest of wisdom and wealth. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2073.1.1 | Wise and foolish wish: help in whatever one is doing. One gets help in work, other in striking his wife (etc.). *Jamaica: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 262 No. 65. |
| J2073.1 | Wise and foolish wish: keep doing all day what you begin. One begins pulling linen out of a box; other in anger begins throwing water on the pig and must do so all day. *Type 750A; *Fb "[ö]nske" III 1179a; *BP II 214; *Dh II 140ff. |
| J613 | Wise fear of the weak for the strong. |
| J911 | Wise man acknowledges his ignorance. |
| J611 | Wise man before entering a quarrel considers how it will end. Wesselski Bebel II 110 No. 35; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 765. |
| J612 | Wise man considers whom he is attacking. |
| J622.1 | Wise man destroys serpent's eggs. *Fb "hugorm"; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J912 | Wise man humble in death. |
| J342.2 | Wise man refuses income of half a kingdom since expenses will outweigh gain. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J2051 | Wise man short-sightedly scorned for his advice. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| J711.4 | Wise man stores grain against coming famine. Jewish: *Neuman; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J191 | Wise men. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J192 | Wise nations. Jewish: Neuman. |
| J154 | Wise words of dying father. Counsel proved wise by experience. |
| J155.6 | Wise words of dying woman (queen). (Cf. J154.) Icelandic: Völsunga saga ch. 33 (31); Þiðriks saga II 254—56, Boberg. |
| J154.0.1 | Wise words of father. Irish myth: Cross. |
| J835 | Wit interprets unfavorable decision of court as doing him great honor. Nouvelles Récréations No. 37. |
| J817.3 | With a silent person one is alone. Angered bishop will not answer when addressed. Relents when priest says, "Since there is no one here I may heed the call of Nature." Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1141.13 | Witness always to answer "No." Thus gets self condemned. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1152 | Witness cannot speak language of accusation: discredited. Two parrots taught accusation of mistress in a particular dialect. They know nothing more of the language. (Cf. G1154.1.) Chauvin II 93 No. 41; Bødker Exempler 290 No. 44; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1158 | Witness claims not to have seen crime. |
| J1151.2 | Witness claims the borrowed coat: discredited. Trickster summoned to court on Jew's complaint refuses to go unless he has a new coat: Jew lends him his. In court the trickster says that the Jew is a liar: "He will even claim that I am wearing his coat." The Jew does so and no one believes him. *Type 1642; *BP I 65; Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 220ff. No. 54; *Chauvin VI 126 No. 280; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *1642A; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1154 | Witness discredited by inability to tell details. (Cf. J1153.1.) |
| J1158.1 | Witness says that dust storm blew and shut his eyes so that he did not see. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1154.2 | Witnesses to make image of diamond they claim to have seen. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1112.4 | Wives prevent war by placing themselves and their children between two armies. Nouvelles de Sens No. 16. |
| J2351.4 | Wolf (bear) boasts of having eaten horses. When the horse strikes sparks with his hoofs the lion is frightened and picks up the boastful wolf to show him the horse. He squeezes the wolf to death. Type 118; Spanish: Espinosa Jr. No. 28. |
| J2172.2.1 | Wolf almost locked up in the stable by the shepherd. The dog: "What good to lock us up from the wolf when he is with us?" Wienert FFC LVI 68 (ET 327), 135 (ST 411); Halm Aesop No. 371. |
| J581.1 | Wolf as dog's guest sings. He has drunk too much and sings in spite of the dog's warning. He is killed. *Type 100; *BP II 111. |
| J352.1 | Wolf does not mind the dust. Told that dust from flock of sheep will annoy him; he finds it useful. Chauvin III 41 No. 7. |
| J2172.2.2 | Wolf locked up with the sheep. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| J1863.2 | Wolf punished for his father's misdeeds. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J2066.4 | Wolf scorns salt meat (etc.) in false expectation of other booty. Wesselski Märchen 250 No. 58; Spanish: Espinosa Jr. No. 3. |
| J1752 | Wolf thought to be colt. In the man's absence eats the mare. *Type 1311. |
| J1761.5 | Wolf thought to be log of wood. Breton: Sébillot Incidents s.v. "bыche". |
| J512.5 | Wolf tries in vain to be doctor. Only increases patient's suffering. Wienert FFC LVI 46 (ET 40), 122 (ST 309). |
| J1791.3.1 | Wolf tries to drink well dry to get cheese. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 29 No. 34. |
| J514.2 | Wolf tries to eat bowstring. Finds hunter, gazelle, and wild boar dead. Tries first to eat the bowstring, and is mortally wounded. Chauvin II 95 No. 47; Bødker Exempler 292 No. 51; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J411.5 | Wolf tries to make friends with lion: killed. Wienert FFC LVI 49 (ET 82), 92 (ST 54); Halm Aesop No. 280. |
| J2131.5.5 | Wolf trying to catch tongue of camel puts head in camel's mouth: killed. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2066.5 | Wolf waits in vain for the nurse to throw away the child. She has threatened to throw the child to the wolf. Wienert FFC LVI 68 (ET 320), 102 (ST 156); Halm Aesop No. 275; Jacobs Aesop 211 No. 46; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J2133.6 | Wolves climb on top of one another to tree: lowest runs away and all fall. Type 121; *BP II 530 n. 3; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J1142.4.1.2 | Woman breaks milk jars so that weeping for thief will seem natural. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2025.2 | Woman cannot find pastry which is sticking to her posterior. Mensa Philosophica No. 48. |
| J1261.1.5 | Woman causes disturbance in church, is carried out forcibly. She remarks. "Well I am more favored than my Lord. He had but one ass to ride, while I have two." U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J2075.3 | Woman disdainfully throws away pills; punished with sores on body, must use the pills to restore herself. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1791.6.0.1 | Woman dives in water three times after reflected image of man peering down from a tree. Marquesas: Handy 46. |
| J2099.1 | Woman exchanges a horse for a sack of bones. She has been falsely told that the sack is filled with gold. Type 2007*. |
| J2093.2 | Woman gives a jewel for a salad. The recipient is also a numskull and doesn't know its value. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 30. |
| J2342.2.1 | Woman gives birth to child fourteen months after husband's departure. The latter is made to believe it is legitimate. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J953.8 | Woman in finery in church thinks people are standing up to see her when they rise at gospel reading. Wesselski Bebel II 138 No. 119. |
| J2012.3 | Woman in tar and feathers does not know herself. *Type 1383; Fb "tjære" III 811a; Christensen DF XLVII 35; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1732.3 | Woman is unacquainted with tea, serves the boiled leaves with butter. Scotland: Baughman. |
| J482.1.1 | Woman refuses second marriage. Her husband abides in her heart. Spanish: Childers. |
| J482.1 | Woman refuses second marriage. If husband is good she will fear to lose him; if bad she will repent. Alphabet No. 565; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1541.3 | Woman repulses ugly husband's advances. He placates her by telling her that he wants a handsome child. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1955.1 | Woman runs after guest to tell him he must restore her husband whom he has unintentionally killed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J816.4 | Woman tactfully restrains amorous king. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1075.1 | Woman tests enduring power of gossip by having a servant ride through streets on a flayed ass. By the third day he has ceased to attract attention. She concludes that it will be the same way in connection with her intended marriage. Köhler-Bolte II 571 No. 4; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J1895 | Woman thinks calf's bleating has accused her of stealing from harvest. Begs that people not believe what calf said. (Cf. N611.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1786.2 | Woman thought to be devil; thieves flee. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2199.1.2 | Woman to sound bell for help in childbirth persuaded to sound false alarms: not heeded when help is needed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2133.12 | Woman tries to climb rope of excrement and urine. (Cf. H1021.1.) Marquesas: Handy 40. |
| J133.4 | Woman will not follow donkey on safe path: attacked by robbers. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 630. |
| J2012.2 | Woman's garments cut off: does not know herself. *Type 1383; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 274 No. 298; Christensen DF XLVII 35. |
| J1351 | Women call each other prostitutes. |
| J2212.3 | Wooden anchor would hold if it were only large, thinks the fool. Type 1277**. |
| J1851.1.4 | Wool taken to pond for frogs and toads to weave. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1802 | Words in a foreign language thought to be insults. Type 1322*; Nouvelles Récréations No. 65. |
| J1217 | Worldly man puts religious man out of countenance. |
| J1269.3 | Would be first in all things. Chaplain accused of being first to start all knavery thus defends himself. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 56. |
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