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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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| K547.10 | Queen hiding king disguised as child tells ogress she has borne child with moustache: ogress frightened. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2213.3.4 | Queen in love with own brother kills her husband. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2213.13 | Queen kills her husband as revenge of his killing of her father and brother. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K1923.6 | Queen passes off girl-child as boy by having pandits say raja must not see his son for twelve years. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2357.4 | Rabbi feigns death to be carried out of the besieged city and to approach enemy. Jewish: Neuman. |
| K131.1 | Rabbit sold as letter-carrier. Alleged to be a swift deliverer of letters. *Type 1539; *BP II 10; Köhler-Bolte I 323; *Herbert III 35; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K11.7 | Race won by deception: blinding opponent by spitting pepper into face. Africa (Bankon): Ittman 97. |
| K11.8 | Race won by deception: bow and arrow. Certain goal to be touched. Man shoots arrow and wins. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K11.4 | Race won by deception: chariot disabled. A rival in a chariot race inserts linchpins of wax instead of those of bronze in the hero's chariot. The latter is dragged to death. Greek: *Frazer Apollodorus II 161 n. 3. |
| K11.6 | Race won by deception: rabbit as "little son" substitute. A man challenged by an ogre to a running race persuades the ogre to race with his little son instead. By this he means a rabbit. (Cf. K12.2, K15.1.) *Type 1072; *Köhler-Bolte I 58, 477ff. |
| K11.1 | Race won by deception: relative helpers. One of the contestants places his relatives (or others that resemble him) in the line of the race. The opponent always thinks the trickster is just ahead of him. (Told of animals or of men; often of the hare and the turtle.) *Type 1074; *Dh IV48; Chauvin III 32; *Parsons JAFL XXI 221 n. 2; BP III 340ff., *343. — North Carolina: Brown Collection I 703; Finnish-Swedish: Hackman FFC VI No. 275*; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 92*; Spanish: Espinosa III 457f.—India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Basset Contes Berbères 139; Japanese: Ikeda. — Indonesia: *Dixon 192, 334 n. 18, DeVries's list No. 120; Philippine: Fansler MAFLS XII 445, (Tinguian): Cole 198. — N. A. Indian: *Boas BBAE LIX 307, (Oaxaca, Mexico): Boas JAFL XXV 214; S. A. Indian (Araucanian): Lehman-Nitsche Int. Cong. Americanists XIV 686, (Amazon): Alexander Lat Am. 288.—Africa (Cameroons): Mansfield 224, (Benga): Nassau 95 No. 5, (Kaffir): Kidd 239 No. 8, (Ila, Rhodesia): Smith and Dale II 390 No. 15, (Suk): Mervin The Suk 38, (Ibo, Nigeria): Basden 274, Thomas 153, (Vai): Ellis 199 No. 16; Bahama: Edwards MAFLS III 69; Cape Verde Islands: *Parsons MAFLS XV (1) 308 n. 1; Jamaica: *Beckwith MAFLS XVII 261 No. 60, Jekyll 39ff.; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Remus 86 No. 18, (Virginia): Parsons JAFL XXXV 271, (North Carolina): Backus JAFL XI 284, Parsons JAFL XXX 174, (South Carolina): Stewart JAFL XXXII 394, Parsons MAFLS XVI 79, (Florida): Parsons JAFL XXX 225f. |
| K11.2 | Race won by deception: riding on the back. One contestant rides on the other's back. (Cf. K25.1.) *Types 221, 250, 275; *Dh IV 72ff., 91, 160ff.; Wienert FFC LVI *54 (ET 139), 114 (ST 248); BP III 278, *339.—Italian Novella: Rotunda; Chinese: Graham; Japanese: Ikeda; Indonesia: DeVries's list Nos. 102, 121; N. A. Indian: Thompson CColl II 441, (Kalispel): Curtis N. A. Indian VII iii, (Jicarilla Apache): Goddard PaAM VIII 236 No. 45; Africa (Vai): Ellis 189 No. 5, (Gold Coast): Barker and Sinclair 155 No. 30; Jamaica: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 261 No. 60; American Negro (Virginia): Parsons JAFL XXXV 270f., (Pennsylvania): ibid. XXX 209, (North Carolina): ibid. XXX 189. |
| K11.5 | Race won by deception: sham-sick trickster. The trickster feigns lameness and receives a handicap in the race. He then returns and eats up the food which is the prize. N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 298 n. 90. |
| K11 | Race won by deception. *Dh IV 46ff.; *BP III 339ff.; *Von den Steinen Zs. f. Vksk. XXV 275; *Fb "væddeløb"; Icelandic: MacCulloch Eddic 93, Boberg; Missouri French: Carrière; N. A. Indian (Southern Ute): Lowie JAFL XXXVII 70 No. 40. |
| K959.3.1 | Rafter supporting giant's house cut half through, so that it can be drawn down from the outside, and the giant killed. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K842.4 | Raja substitutes himself for condemned man. Made to believe that this will take him to heaven. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K553.3 | Ram promises to jump into wolf's belly. Gives him a hard knock. The stunned wolf thinks he has swallowed the ram. (Cf. K579.5.1.) Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 122E*. |
| K443.13 | Rascal extorts money for silence about breach of food tabu. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K443.10 | Rascal extorts money for silence about companion's poverty. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1854.1 | Rascal in dead man's place in bed makes dead man's will. Wesselski Theorie 14. |
| K1938 | Rascal pretends to be dead man's heir and receives money. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1285 | Rascals pull off judge's breeches and leave him exposed. Boccaccio Decameron VIII No. 5; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1371.3 | Rat changes name and wins wife intended for leopard. Africa (Mpongwe): Nassau 41ff. N. 6. |
| K1182 | Rat leaves serpent behind, through spared to rescue him. The two are imprisoned together in a sevenfold cloth covering. The serpent refrains from eating the rat so that the latter can gnaw the cloth for them. The rat gnaws his own way out and leaves the serpent. Köhler-Bolte I 535. |
| K562 | Rat persuades cat to wash face before eating: escapes. *Type 122B; *Dh III 237f.; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2172 | Rats cause cats to be killed. The rats unite and all go to houses together, increasing or decreasing their ravages with the increase or decrease in the number of cats. Thus the cats are suspected of the damage and are killed. *Chauvin II 110 No. 74. |
| K1985 | Rearing the large-headed and large-eyed bird. When the one rearing the owl learns its age he kills it. Type 230. |
| K621.1 | Red ants' nest broken and thrown down on ogre's head. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K286 | Reduced prices but false weights. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1872.2 | Reeds make ships appear like island. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K231.3 | Refusal to make sacrifice after need is past. In distress a person promises a sacrifice to a god (saint) but disregards the promise when the danger passes. Wienert FFC LVI 78f. (ET 438, 448), 139 (ST 442); Halm Aesop Nos. 49, 58; *Crane Vitry 177 No. 102; Herbert III 8, 36; Scala Celi 56b. No. 316; Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 305; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: *Thompson-Balys; West Indies: Flowers 501. |
| K231.1 | Refusal to perform part in mutual agreement. |
| K232 | Refusal to return borrowed goods. Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 68, 375, (Hottentot): Bleek 50 No. 24, (Benga): Nassau 198 No. 29; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 349 No. 61. |
| K239 | Refusal to tell about the Rhine treasure, though condition demanded is fulfilled when the only one who knows where it is is killed. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K1911.3 | Reinstatement of true bride. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K3.1 | Relative substitutes in contest. Africa (Hottentot): Bleek 32 No. 16. |
| K1010.1 | Remedy: covering with dry leaves. Victim burned up. (Cf. K1013.2.) Africa (Wakweli): Bender 88f. |
| K1415 | Repairing the house. House or furniture destroyed. *Type 1010. |
| K1837.3 | Repentant nurse disguises as hermit. Spanish: Childers; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K416 | Repentant thief pretends to have found stolen cow. Upbraids owner for not guarding her better. *Wesselski Mönchslatein 119 No. C; Mensa Philosophica No. 52. |
| K649.2 | Rescuer disguised as officer gains custody of prisoner. Pierre Faifeu No. 19. |
| K551.17 | Respite from death for drink of water. India: Thompson-Balys; Korean: Zong in-Sob 174 No. 75. |
| K555.2 | Respite from death gained by long-drawn-out song. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 113. |
| K555.1 | Respite from death gained by long-drawn-out speech. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K555.1.2 | Respite from death gained by tale of the preparation of bread. *BP I 222; 331; Rumanian: Schullerus FFC LXXVIII No. 1199 I*. |
| K555.1.1 | Respite from death gained by tale of the preparation of flax. *BP I 222; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 365A*, Legends Nos. 349, 360. |
| K551.1.1 | Respite from death granted until confession is made. Herbert III 48, 78. |
| K551 | Respite from death granted until particular act is performed. *Type 122A; U.S.: Baughman; West Indies: Flowers 515. |
| K551.1 | Respite from death granted until prayer is finished. It lasts till rescue comes. *Types 122A, 227, 332, 955, 1199; *BP I 381, 404ff., II 164; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.18 | Respite from death granted until wolf reads horse's passport. Wolf kicked to death. (Cf. J1608.) Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| K551.19 | Respite from death granted while wolf counts hairs in horse's tail. Wolf kicked to death. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| K551.14 | Respite from death until captive has taken six steps toward God. Takes prodigious ones and escapes. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K551.4.1 | Respite from death until clothes are changed. *Chauvin VI 72 No. 238. |
| K551.4.4 | Respite from death until hero bathes and drinks. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K551.24 | Respite from death until hero climbs tree. He flies away in machine stored there. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.1.2 | Respite from death until mass is said. Herbert III 84, 508; Chauvin II 191; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K551.21 | Respite from death until minister shows king how to reap pearls. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.4.6 | Respite from death until mouth is washed; crow slain with arrow as he goes to wash mouth. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.12 | Respite from death until muddy victim may dry self in sun. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.13 | Respite from death until one pays a last visit. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.2 | Respite from death until prisoner has finished drinking his glass. It is left half finished. BP I 381. |
| K551.15 | Respite from death until prisoner is healed by magic object. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K551.4 | Respite from death until toilet is made permits escape. Malone PMLA XLIII 410; Breton: Sébillot Incidents s.v. "toilette"; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 116 No. 970; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.27 | Respite from death until victim can fall asleep. Chinese: Graham (K551.5). |
| K551.3 | Respite from death until victim has blown on a horn (three times). Rescuers come. *Types 592, 920; *BP II 501; *Wesselski Märchen 199; DeVries FFC LXXIII 41ff., 324; *Thien Motive 36f.; *Child V 483 s.v. "horn"; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.13.1 | Respite from death until visit is finished. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.3.2 | Respite from death while captive plays music (whistles). Rescue arrives. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 173; Wienert FFC LVI 52 (ET 113), 99 (ST 127); Halm Aesop No. 134. |
| K551.3.5 | Respite from death while one plays the bagpipe. Rescued. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K551.3.1 | Respite from death while one plays the fiddle. Rescue arrives. Type 592; *BP II 501. |
| K551.3.2.1 | Respite from death while one sings song. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.3.6 | Respite from death while victim dances. India: Thompson-Balys; Africa (Ndau): Curtis Songs and Tales from the Dark Continent (Boston, 1920) 45ff. |
| K1227.3 | Respite from wooer while he brings clothes all night. The girl wastes time trying them on. BP I 221; *Roberts 175; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 120 No. 31; Lithuanian: Balys Legends Nos. 345f., 363, 398. |
| K579.5 | Respite while captor acts as umpire between captives. |
| K1667.1.1 | Retrieving the buried treasure. Buried money is stolen. Blind owner pretends that he is going to bury more. Thief returns the money hoping to get all. Blind man recovers original treasure. Spanish: Childers; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1815.1 | Return home in humble disguise. *Type 935. |
| K1514.4 | Returning husband beaten by servants. Mistaken for lover whom he has told them to beat. Von der Hagen II xiii No. 27. |
| K231.2 | Reward for accomplishment of task deceptively withheld. Irish myth: Cross; Greek: Fox 81, 94 (Herakles); India: Thompson-Balys; Tuamotu: Stimson MS (z-G. 13/420). |
| K476.2.2 | Reward for the bag of lead. A man sews up lead in a bag and feigns to have found it. A merchant claims it and thinking it filled with gold pays him a large reward. *Wesselski Bebel I 204 No. 83. |
| K442.1 | Reward offered for stolen object (princess). Thief (abductor) returns and enforces reward. *Type 575; *BP II 131. |
| K2113.2 | Rich woman, when her advances are repulsed by an ascetic (really a girl in man's clothes) accuses her of adulterous assault. *Loomis White Magic 111. |
| K27 | Riding contest won by substitution. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K362.2 | Ring to put on corpse's finger. A thief holds a corpse up to a lord's window. The lord shoots the corpse and leaves to bury it. The thief goes to the lady and gets a sheet to bury the corpse in and a ring to put on his finger. *Type 1525A; BP III 379; Missouri French: Carrière; Jewish: Neuman. |
| K1916 | Robber bridegroom. Robber marries girl under pretence of being a fine gentleman. *Type 955; *BP I 370; *Fb "r[ö]ver" III 131b, 132a; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K437.1 | Robber cheated by substitution. Spending the night in company with a suspicious-looking stranger, the man does not go to sleep, but leaves his clothes in bed and waits to see what will happen. When the stranger wakes up in the night, he stabs at his sleeping companion, who shoots him down. (Cf. K525.1.) Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 965*. |
| K311.6.1 | Robber disguised as bear is killed. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K335.1.5 | Robber frightened from his goods by playing of bagpipe. Type 1706*. |
| K439.7 | Robber induced to give respite and come to man's office to get promised larger sum. Cheated. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K421 | Robber mistakenly carries off worthless goods and leaves valuable. Chauvin II 83 No. 8; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K437 | Robber overcome. |
| K1054 | Robber persuaded to climb down moonbeam. A man hearing a robber enter tells his wife aloud that he always makes a prayer and then enters the house by climbing down a moonbeam. The thief tries it and falls. *Chauvin II 84, IX 31 No. 22; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 231 No. 81; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 628; Günter 104 and note 226; Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 21; Bødker Exempler 274 No. 10; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K437.2 | Robber with hand of glory killed. A robber disguised as a beggar gets night's lodging at a farm house. Using a candle made of human fat or hand of a corpse, he tries to charm the household into a deep sleep (D1162.2.1). One man who is suspicious and has not gone to sleep sees this and kills the robber. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 963*. |
| K335.1.9 | Robbers coming to steal from stable frightened away by bear staying the night there with his keeper. Type 957. |
| K437.5 | Robbers enslaved. Youth told by two robbers to go to town and sell bracelet for each. He goes and offers to sell two slaves. Goes back with buyer and cries out "Did you say both?" "Yes." Youth is paid; robbers are enslaved. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K439.6 | Robbers fed poisoned food. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K335.1.10 | Robbers frightened by pretended cannibalism. Tricksters threaten to cook a robber. All the robbers flee in terror, leaving them their booty. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 967*. |
| K335.1.6 | Robbers frightened from goods by hidden man. Type 1875; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K335.1.8 | Robbers frightened from goods by man in tar and feathers. Type 1527. |
| K335.1.3 | Robbers frightened from goods by man's outcry. Trickster hits a slain ox and cries out, "Those others did it!" The thieves flee and leave their treasure. Type 1525D; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K335.1.2.2 | Robbers frightened from goods by sham-dead man. Type 1654**; DeVries Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche Taal- en Letterkunde XLV 213; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 211 No. 429; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1654*, 1654A; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV No. 1654*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1654*; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 130 No. 1532, 137 No. 1654*, 142 No. 1716*; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham. |
| K335.1.2 | Robbers frightened from goods by the dead. (Cf. K335.0.5.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K335.1.6.2 | Robbers frightened from goods by Thumbling. They can hear him but cannot see him. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K335.1 | Robbers frightened from goods. Trickster steals the goods. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 211 No. 428, 215 No. 446; Missouri French: Carrière; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K897.3 | Robbers make stairs slippery so that bathing prince falls. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K912.0.2 | Robbers' (giants') hands cut off as they enter house. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K912 | Robbers' (giants') heads cut off one by one as they enter house. *Types 304, 956AB; *BP I 373; *Fb "hoved" I 654b, "røver" III 132a; Icelandic: *Boberg; Missouri French: Carrière; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| K912.0.1 | Robbers' (giants') noses cut off as they enter house. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K914.2 | Rock hurled down hill slays enemy passing below. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 433. |
| K476.1.1 | Rock substituted for ham by trickster. Pierre Faifeu No. 24. |
| K963 | Rope cut and victim dropped. Man is being hauled up on the rope. *Type 301; *BP II 300ff.; Icelandic: Boberg; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 115 No. 960; India: Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda; Africa (Zulu): Callaway 78; Jamaica: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 242 No. 17; West Indies: Flowers 532. |
| K963.1 | Rope of mountain-climber cut and victim dropped. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K14.1 | Rowing contest won by deception: magic boat. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K14 | Rowing contest won by deception. The boat is already sawed through. Type 1087. |
| K1812.6 | Ruler disguises as goblin to frighten uxorious priest. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K2381 | Ruler diverts attention from misgovernment by beginning a war. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 443. |
| K1848.2 | Ruler has favorite perform tasks so that he may himself win a bride. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K929.3 | Ruler promises minister that he will not kill him "on any day of his life." Dispels his suspicions. Has him killed at night. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1951.2.1 | Runaway cavalry hero tears out limbs of dead trees. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1951.2 | Runaway cavalry-hero. When the sham hero goes to war his horse runs away with him. To save himself he grasps a cross from a graveyard and waves it from side to side, putting the enemy to flight. *Type 1640; *BP I 148ff.; Missouri French: Carrière; India: *Thompson-Balys; N. A. Indian: *Thompson CColl II 430ff. |
| K2286 | Sage as villain. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1673 | Sage's advice followed: he is killed so that sacrifice can be mixed with his blood. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K231.3.1 | Sailor offers saint a candle as large as a mast. But he knows that after the storm he will not try to find such a candle. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 304; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K2319.3 | Saint hides fugitive from king underground. When king demand fugitive, saint (who never lies) replies, "Verily, I know not where he is, if he is not under thee even where thou art." The king is satisfied and departs. Later suspects trick and arrests fugitive. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K236.3.1 | Saint ransoms prince for much gold and silver. Later all the money vanishes. Saint replies that since the money had been created from nothing, it had simply to return to that state. *Loomis White Magic 127. |
| K499.2.1 | Saint who desires broth containing no butter receives broth into which butter has been poured surreptitiously through hollow mixing-stick. (Cf. K498.) Irish myth: Cross. |
| K499.2.2 | Saint who desires pottage of nettles containing no milk receives pottage into which milk has been poured surreptitiously through pipe. The secret is revealed, and the saint blesses the cook's successors. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2312.2 | Saint, when forced to return to his monastery after swearing not to "come with his face before him," comes walking backwards. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K141 | Sale of a sausage filled with blood. Type 480*; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 656*. |
| K114.4 | Sale of alleged oracular bamboo cup. Chinese: Graham. |
| K136 | Sale of dead buffalo by making him seem alive. Indonesia: Coster-Wijsman 24 No. 1. |
| K135.1.3 | Sale of dog supposed to excrete sweet dung: dupe deceived. Korean: Zong in-Sob 178f. No. 77. |
| K143 | Sale of dung. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K120 | Sale of false treasure. |
| K123 | Sale of gilded (plated) ware as gold or silver. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K122 | Sale of gilded mudcakes. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K119 | Sale of other pseudo-magic objects. |
| K140 | Sale of other worthless objects. |
| K112.3 | Sale of pseudo-magic cake tree. Korean: Zong in-Sob 179 No. 77. |
| K110 | Sale of pseudo-magic objects. French Canadian: Barbeau JAFL XXIX 23; Missouri French: Carrière. |
| K119.1.2 | Sale of reputed self-operating sickle. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K118.1 | Sale of tree alleged to produce clothes. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K118 | Sale of tree with alleged magic fruit. Indonesia: Coster-Wijsman 24 No. 1. |
| K130 | Sale of worthless animals. |
| K142 | Sale of worthless glass as diamond. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K149 | Sale of worthless objects—miscellaneous. |
| K150 | Sale of worthless services. |
| K2034 | Same reward promised to many helpers. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1823.5 | Satan disguised as deer. (Cf. K1811.) Jewish: Neuman. |
| K437.3 | Sausage as revolver. Man scares robber with sausage; later boasts of event at inn. Robber hears this. Innkeeper secretly lends man a real revolver; robber is shot down when boldly attempting a second attack. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 970*. |
| K1818.2 | Scald-head disguise. To avoid having his gold hair seen, the hero covers his head with a cloth and says that he has the scaldhead. *Types 314, 502; *BP III 109; *Chauvin VI 51 No. 217 n. 3; Missouri French: Carrière. |
| K1816.0.4 | Scholar disguised as a rustic along road answers questions of school inspector in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. England, Scotland, Wales: *Baughman. |
| K83.1.1 | Scratching contest with devil: man's wife shows scratches in her oak table. Hdwb. d. Märchens I 193b. |
| K83.1 | Scratching contest: man's wife shows wounds. The man sends his wife to meet the ogre with whom he is to have a scratching contest. She tells the ogre that her husband has gone to have his nails sharpened. She shows him deep wounds that her husband has scratched on her body (obscene). The ogre leaves in terror. *Type 1095; BP III 356, 363; *Penzer III 34; *Bolte Zs. f. vgl. Litgsch. n. F. VII 456; Danish: Kristensen Danske Sagn I (1892) 454. |
| K1366 | Second daughter won by representing first as dead. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1577 | Second lover burns paramour at window with hot iron. *Type 1361; Chaucer's Miller's Tale; *Thompson The Miller's Tale (Bryan and Dempster 106ff.); Italian Novella: Rotunda. See references for K1225. |
| K1165 | Secret learned by intoxicating dupe. Penzer V 1f. 3 n. 1; Siberian: Holmberg Siberian 363. |
| K975.2 | Secret of external soul learned by deception. *Type 302; Scottish: Campbell-McKay No. 1; Spanish: Espinosa Jr. Nos. 65—67; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K975 | Secret of strength treacherously discovered. *Type 590; BP I 551, III 2 n. 1; *Frazer Old Testament II 480; Huet Contes Populaires 134; MacCulloch Childhood 58; Krappe Revue Archéologique (1933) 195—211.—Irish myth: *Cross; Missouri French: Carrière; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Jewish: Neuman; N. A. Indian: *Thompson CColl II 392, (Pawnee): Dorsey CI LIX 104 No. 25, (Arikara): Dorsey CI XVII 84ff. Nos. 25, 26, (Crow): Simms FM II 309 No. 20. |
| K2213.4.1 | Secret of vulnerability disclosed by hero's wife. Huet 134; Irish: MacCulloch Celtic 97, *Cross; Missouri French: Carrière; Jewish: Neuman; Persian: Carnoy 302; India: Thompson-Balys; Africa (Cameroon): Ittman 77. |
| K1321.1.2 | Seducer successfully disguised as washerwoman for fifteen years. Finally exposed. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 45; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1335 | Seduction (or wooing) by stealing clothes of bathing girl (swan maiden). *Types 313, 400; Penzer VIII 58 n. 2, 213ff., IX 20 n. 1; Hdwb. d. Märchens I 433b. nn. 92—105; Irish myth: *Cross; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham; Japanese: Ikeda; Korean: Zong in-Sob 22 No. 11; Philippine (Tinguian): Cole 109. See all notes to D361.1. |
| K1334 | Seduction (or wooing) on an aerial journey. Jones PMLA XXIII 563. |
| K1315.3.2 | Seduction attempted on promise of magic transformation: woman to mare. Finishing the tail. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1315.6.2 | Seduction attempted on threat of performing miracle. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1375 | Seduction by alleged vision promising woman to man. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| K1326.1 | Seduction by asking for sham cure for sham illness. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 95; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1354 | Seduction by bearing false order from husband or father. |
| K1354.4 | Seduction by bearing false order from lover. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 31. |
| K1354.3 | Seduction by bearing false order from mother. |
| K1361.3 | Seduction by begging into woman's room to get warm. (Cf. K1393.) Korean: Zong in-Sob 13 No. 6. |
| K1354.2 | Seduction by bringing false order from husband. Jewish: Gaster Exempla 220 No. 159, *Neuman. |
| K1310 | Seduction by disguise or substitution. Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K1332.2 | Seduction by enticing woman to inspect wares in tent. Jewish: Neuman. |
| K1325 | Seduction by feigned death. The girl comes to the man's wake or funeral. Child I 242—253, 506f., II 502a, III 503a, IV 453, V 212, 299a. |
| K1326 | Seduction by feigned illness. S. A. Indian (Toba): Métraux MAFLS XL 147; West Indies: Flowers 536f. |
| K1325.1 | Seduction by feigned sleep. The guest in the conjugal bed feigns sleep as he effects seduction. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1327 | Seduction by feigned stupidity. Cautious farmer seeks laborer who knows nothing about sex. Trickster makes silly explanation of copulation of animals. When admitted into service, seduces both farmer's wife and daughter. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 2907*; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV No. 1544*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1544A*. |
| K1315.3.1 | Seduction by feigning enchantment. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1395 | Seduction by giving aphrodisiac. Woman tricked into standing naked in stream; medicine put into water. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1333 | Seduction by having maiden placed in floating chest. *Hertel Zs. f. Vksk. XIX 83ff.; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1315 | Seduction by impostor. |
| K1339.2.1 | Seduction by luring woman to platform to look for distant ship. Tonga: Gifford 29, 46. |
| K1368 | Seduction by making woman jealous of co-wife. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1321 | Seduction by man disguising as woman. Nouvelles de Sens No. 8; Irish myth: *Cross; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1315.13 | Seduction by masking as soldier. Herrmann Saxo II 239. |
| K1311.0.1 | Seduction by masking as woman's husband: "Why—you have just left!" After the seduction the husband comes and the wife shows surprise. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1311 | Seduction by masking as woman's husband. *Penzer II 45 n. 4, III 126f.; Boccaccio Decameron III No. 6 (Lee 79); Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 30; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; Jewish: Neuman, bin Gorion Born Judas I 364; India: *Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: Coster-Wijsman 33 No. 11; N. A. Indian (Klikitat): Jacobs U Wash II 31. |
| K1315.9 | Seduction by offering protection against non-existing danger. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1315.1 | Seduction by posing as a god. (Cf. K1301.) Jones PMLA XXIII 577; Penzer I 145; Icelandic: Boberg; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; Jewish: Neuman, bin Gorion Born Judas I 365; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1315.4 | Seduction by posing as a relative. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1315.1.1 | Seduction by posing as Angel Gabriel. Boccaccio Decameron IV No. 2 (Lee 123); Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1315.10 | Seduction by posing as beggar. Herrmann Saxo II 578. |
| K1315.2 | Seduction by posing as doctor. Icelandic: Herrmann Saxo II 239, Boberg; Italian Novella: Rotunda; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 305 n. 109r. |
| K1315.6 | Seduction by posing as holy man (churchman). Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 2906*. |
| K1315.11 | Seduction by posing as leper. Icelandic: Sturlaugs saga St. 641-45 ch. 25, Boberg. |
| K1315.3 | Seduction by posing as magician. (Sham incantation, etc.) Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1315.12 | Seduction by posing as merchant. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K1315.5 | Seduction by posing as nobleman. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1315.6.4 | Seduction by posing as saint. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1315.7 | Seduction by posing as teacher or instructor. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1315.2.4 | Seduction by pretending to give childless man's wife medicine. When husband comes at cockcrow as he was told, trickster says he came too late and they must do it again. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1315.7.1 | Seduction by pretending to instruct (or to need instruction) in marital duties. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1339.6 | Seduction by priest who insists on woman having confession in his own house. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 2917*. |
| K1332.3 | Seduction by promise of jewels. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K1332.1 | Seduction by scattering jewels. Girl seized when she tries to take jewels. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1339.4 | Seduction by sham beauty test. Trickster dupes two girls into submitting to test. Both seduced. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1315.2.3 | Seduction by sham process of repairing vagina. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 3. |
| K1315.2.2 | Seduction by sham process of retrieving lost gem. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 3; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1332 | Seduction by taking aboard ship to inspect wares. *Type 516; **Rosch FFC LXXVII 103; Köhler-Bolte I 464; *Hdwb. d. Märchens I 551a nn. 221—295; Panzer Hilde-Gudrun 268ff.; *Schoepperle I 193 n. 1; Italian: Basile Pentamerone IV No. 9; India: Thompson-Balys. Cf. bin Gorion Born Judas I 187. |
| K1314 | Seduction by wearing coat of invisibility. (Cf. D1361.12.) Chinese: Graham. |
| K1363 | Seduction of person ignorant of sexual intercourse. |
| K1375.1 | Seduction of wife by alleging that husband's vision compels him to leave home. Jewish: Neuman. |
| K1315.1.2.1 | Seduction on feigned orders from angel to engender a pope. Girl born. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 14; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1315.1.2 | Seduction on promise that issue will be the fifth Evangelist. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1315.7.2 | Seduction under pretence of teaching a game. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1315.8 | Seduction upon false promise of marriage. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1399.3 | Seduction: trickster shows girl how to store up warmth for winter. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| K1315.14 | Seduction: weaver posing as king. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1300 | Seduction. |
| K1380 | Seductions—miscellaneous. |
| K366.1.3 | Self-returning cow. A cow allows itself to be sold; then returns to its master. Hindu: Keith 90. |
| K1684 | Seller of pardons robbed by man whom he has pardoned beforehand. The defence declared good by the judge. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 301; Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 63; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K196 | Selling by trickery: literal bargain. (Cf. K134.1.) |
| K252 | Selling oneself and escaping. *Type 700; BP I 389; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K134.6 | Selling or trading a balky horse. (Cf. K134.2.) U.S.: *Baughman. |
| K815.18 | Serpent asks his victim to feed him with honey, then seizes and swallows him. S. A. Indian (Toba): Métraux MAFLS XL 71. |
| K928.1 | Serpent transforms self to staff, is picked up and bites enemy. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K1058.1 | Serpent's jewel is covered with spiked helmet so that when he tries to recover it he strikes and is spiked to death. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1854 | Servant impersonates dead master and makes a false testament. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K2134 | Servant lays skin of dead dog in the bed of his mistress and master. Makes trouble between them. Type 1573*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1573*. |
| K1969.3 | Servant poses as master. |
| K231.9 | Servant refused payment because of single mistake. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1952.0.2 | Servant takes prince's horse and clothes and passes self off as prince. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K335.0.11 | Servants frightened by ferocious actions of robbers; give up masters' food. Pierre Faifeu No. 13. |
| K1831.2.1 | Service in disguise in order to seduce king's daughter by putting love charm in her food. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K1831.2 | Service in disguise. Icelandic: *Boberg; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1831 | Service under a false name. *Dickson 220f. nn. 13, 14; Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K1317.1 | Serving-man in his master's place. Chauvin II 92 No. 38; Bødker Exempler 289 No. 41; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K113.0.1 | Seven devils' wives imitate ritual of death and resuscitation done over hero; not having the real water of life and death, the seven enemy devils are killed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1591 | Seventy tales of a parrot prevent a wife's adultery. The parrot keeps her interested until her husband's return. *Schmidt Cukasaptati (Kiel, 1894, Stuttgart, 1896); Köhler-Bolte I 47, 336, 513; Clouston Tales II 196ff.; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 59 No. *435. |
| K407 | Severed limb prevents detection. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K47.1 | Sewing contest won by deception: the long thread. The ogre sews with the whole length of the thread. When he returns from the first stitch, the tailor has his task finished. *Type 1096; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K47 | Sewing contest won by deception. |
| K1971.8.1 | Sexton behind crucifix tells old maid she will have no husband; she tells Christ Child that he knows nothing about it, she is praying to his mother. Type 1476; BP III 120. |
| K1971.9 | Sexton behind statue tells old maid praying for a husband to raise her foot to her neck. *Type 1476; BP III 120. |
| K1541 | Sexton's own wife brings her offering. The priest grants to the sexton the offerings brought by all women whom the priest has loved. The priest always calls out "Take" when these women offer. The sexton's own wife comes. The priest calls out "Take!" (Cf. Q384.) Wesselski Bebel I 185 No. 40. |
| K1961.5 | Sham abbot. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1964 | Sham astrologer. *Wesselski Gonnella 106 No. 9; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1961.4 | Sham bishop. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2165 | Sham blind man throws suspicion on real blind. He admits his deception so that his companion, who is really blind, is punished. *Chauvin V 159 No. 83. |
| K473 | Sham blood and brains. Fox covers his head with milk and says that his brains have been knocked out. Frightens bear. *Type 3; Dh IV 243; Krohn Bar (Wolf) und Fuchs (JSFO VI) 59ff.; Japanese: Ikeda; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 287; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 21 No. 5, 377 No. 68. |
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