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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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| K991 | Dupe persuaded to go to dangerous place; killed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1045 | Dupe persuaded to oversalt (overpepper) food. Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 197. |
| K1023.2 | Dupe persuaded to pick up biting ants. Africa (Angola): Chatelain 161, 163. |
| K844 | Dupe persuaded to play for wedding party. Takes place of trickster, who sets fire and burns him up. Mexico: Boas JAFL XXV 207, 238, Mechling JAFL XXV 202; New Mexico: Espinosa JAFL XXIV 419. Cf. American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 90 No. 17. |
| K827 | Dupe persuaded to relax vigilance; seized. |
| K726 | Dupe persuaded to ride on trickster's back: captured. (Cf. J651.1.) Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 852. |
| K1045.2 | Dupe persuaded to rub salt on wounds. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1046 | Dupe persuaded to scald self with hot water in order to learn languages. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| K827.3 | Dupe persuaded to sing (dance) on trickster's body. When he approaches the mouth he is killed. American Negro (Georgia): Harris Remus 92 No. 19; Bahama: Parsons MAFLS XIII 109 No. 63. |
| K1023.3 | Dupe persuaded to sit on ant hole. Hindquarters eaten. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K1022 | Dupe persuaded to steal food: cannot escape. |
| K842 | Dupe persuaded to take prisoner's place in a sack: killed. The bag is to be thrown into the sea. The trickster keeps shouting that he does not want to go to heaven (or marry the princess); the dupe gladly substitutes for him. (Cf. K714.2.1.) *Types 1525A, 1535, 1737; *BP II 10ff., III 188, 192, 393; *Fb "sæk" III 720b; *Cosquin études 392; *Chauvin V 247 No. 147 n. 1. — Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1535A*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1535B*; French Canadian: Barbeau JAFL XXIX 23; Missouri French: Carrière; Spanish: Espinosa III Nos. 163-7, 172-4; New Mexican Spanish: Espinosa JAFL XXIV 419ff.; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda; Korean: Zong in-Sob 104 No. 56; Indonesia: Dixon 191 n. 14, De Vries's list No. 276, Coster-Wijsman 26 No. 5; Philippine: Fansler MAFLS XII 196, 438, 444; N. A. Indian: *Thompson CColl II 419ff.; Africa: Frobenius Atlantis II 220ff., VIII 54f., 61f., 175ff.; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Remus 111 No. 23, 140 No. 29, Nights 177 No. 31, 185, No. 32, (Alabama): Work JAFL XXXII 400; Bahama: Parsons MAFLS XIII 82 No. 39, Edwards MAFLS III 63, Finlay JAFL XXXVIII 293; Antigua, British West Indies: Johnson JAFL XXXIV 54. |
| K842.2 | Dupe persuaded to take prisoner's place in pit. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K842.1 | Dupe persuaded to take prisoner's place suspended in air. Type 1535; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1141 | Dupe persuaded to throw away his knife. Later must go hungry because he has no knife to cut the meat. Africa (Benga): Nassau 86 No. 4, (Ila, Rhodesia): Smith and Dale II 381 No. 6, (Kaffir): Theal 106, (Thonga): Junod 220; West Indies: Flowers 535. |
| K1062 | Dupe persuaded to transform self into animal. Cannot change back. Chinese: Graham. |
| K1111 | Dupe puts hand (paws) into cleft of tree (wedge, vise). *Type 38; *BP I 68, II 99 n. 1; Chauvin II 86 No. 20, III 77; Dh IV 231ff.; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) Nos. 18, 250; India: Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 64; New Britain: Dixon 195 n. 30; N. A. Indian (Tepoztlan): Boas JAFL XXV 247 No. 2; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 33 No. 7. |
| K1078 | Dupe sleeps on the "king's bed": falls into well beneath and dies. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1036.1 | Dupe told he can get meat by putting hand up animal's anus: animal drags him. (Cf. K952.1, K1022.1.1.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1171 | Dupe tricked in race into falling into a pit. *Type 30. |
| K1076 | Dupe tricked into breaking tabu by lying. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K714.3 | Dupe tricked into entering hollow tree. India: Thompson-Balys; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 74 No. 14; West Indies: Flowers 524. |
| K891.4 | Dupe tricked into jumping on supposed funeral pyre of beloved. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K891 | Dupe tricked into jumping to his death. |
| K890 | Dupe tricked into killing himself. Missouri French: Carrière. |
| K898 | Dupe tricked into measuring boar whose bristles are poisoned. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K1074 | Dupe tricked into sitting on hot iron. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K834.1 | Dupe tricked into sleeping. Killed. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K735.5 | Dupe tricked into well: left there. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K897 | Dupe tricked on to slippery road lined with knives. He kills himself. Africa (Gold Coast): Barker and Sinclair 36 No. 3. |
| K1125 | Dupe tries to dig up alleged treasure buried in ant hill: bitten by snake and killed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1111.0.1 | Dupe wishing to learn to play fiddle has finger caught in cleft of tree. *Type 151, 1159; *BP I 68; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1147A*. |
| K1111.0.1.1 | Dupe wishing to learn to play flute puts tongue in split bamboo. Java: Dixon 188 n. 4. |
| K335.0.4.1 | Dupe, made to believe that trickster becomes a wolf when he yawns three times, flees and leaves his clothes behind him. *Wesselski Gonnella 103 No. 5; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1440 | Dupe's animals destroyed or maimed. Type 1007; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K401.1 | Dupe's food eaten and then blame fastened on him. Trickster eats the common food supply and then by smearing the mouth of the sleeping dupe with the food escapes the blame. *Type 15; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 21; Africa (Angola): Chatelain 173, 177, 179, (Zulu): Callaway 164, (Ila, Rhodesia): Smith and Dale II 366 No. 17, (Hottentot): Bleek 18 No. 9, (Gold Coast): Barker and Sinclair 48 No. 5, (Basuto): Jacottet 10 No. 1, (Benga): Nassau 93 No. 4, (Kaffir): Theal 95, 96, 114, Kidd The Essential Kaffir (London, 1904) 384, (Fang): Tessman 57; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Remus 80 No. 17, Friends 147 No. 20, (South Carolina): Parsons JAFL XXXVIII 222; Jamaica: *Beckwith MAFLS XVII 238. See all references to K372. |
| K1410 | Dupe's goods destroyed. West Indies: Flowers 539. |
| K812.1 | Dupe's house set afire so that he is burned in trying to put out fire. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1400 | Dupe's property destroyed. Type 1002. |
| K891.5.4 | Dupes deceived into falling over precipice. U.S.: Baughman (K894.4, K894.5); India: Thompson-Balys (K894.4); Tonga: Gifford 101. |
| K983.2 | Dupes lured onto tree-trunk bridge; fall to death. S. A. Indian (Kaigang): Métraux RMLP XXXIII 148. |
| K843.1 | Dupes persuaded to be burned, thinking they will be sent back with gifts. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K891.5.3 | Dupes persuaded to be thrown over precipice. (Cf. K842.) Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K1672 | Dwarf himself falls in love with girl he has seduced by magic love, and loses her as he is forced to remove his magic. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K553.2.1 | Dwarf persuaded to wait for ram. Lamb and ewe escape. Ram butts dwarf into river. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2382.2 | Dwarf-deer pastes other animal's eyes shut and pretends that hunters are coming. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 36. |
| K1555.0.1 | Dying woman lures paramour into chest. Asks husband to bury chest with her. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1626.1 | Earl killed in combat with man he has undertaken to kill. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K144.2 | Earthen pot with rice water on top of which clarified butter had been poured sold as a pot of clarified butter. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1025 | Eating his own entrails. The fox persuades the wolf to do so. *Type 21; Krohn Bär (Wolf) und Fuchs (JSFO VI) 85; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K464 | Eavesdropping sexton duped into giving suppliant money. The trickster prays to the Virgin for a certain sum of money and promises repayment of double at the end of the month. The sexton throws the money to him, but never receives it back. Type 1543*. |
| K1887.1 | Echo answers. Spanish: Espinosa Jr. No. 172; Greek: Pauly-Wissowa s.v. "Echo"; Chinese: Graham. |
| K1271.1.3 | Educated chickens tell of woman's adultery. A trickster undertakes to teach a woman's chickens to talk. When he reports that they are saying that she has slept with the priest, she pays him off. *Type 1750; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 843; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1676*. |
| K444.1 | Egg as reward of appropriate saying. First brother (knocking egg against wall): "Casca cascorum." Second (breaking shell and sprinkling dirt over it): "Sar, sale, sapiensa". Third (eating egg): "Consumatus es." Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 153 No. 1942; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| K407.3 | Elephant cuts piece from own leg and puts it on shelf, lest he be accused of stealing meat. Africa (Cameroon): Lederbogen 3. |
| K2351.4 | Elephant drunk with toddy sent to attack enemy. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera I 1108, II 527. |
| K825.2 | Elephant killed by cutting off trunk which is poked into cave after victims. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1042.1 | Elephant offers to let chameleon hold on to his tail: it is oiled and chameleon falls off. Africa (Cameroon): Mansfield 225. |
| K499.5 | Embarrassing gift. Trickster unwilling to pay for burial fee of aged cow, gives cow to unwitting Brahmin as gift. Cow dies soon and Brahmin must pay. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K50 | Endurance contest won by deception. |
| K2378.3 | Enemies deceived through shammed flight. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K2364.1 | Enemies defeated by setting forest afire. Africa (Fang): Trilles 202. |
| K1082.0.1 | Enemies duped into fighting each other. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K941.3 | Enemies each burn own houses to be able to sell ashes. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K1715.4 | Enemies frightened away by making them think they will be eaten. Chauvin V 23 No. 13 n. 1; Spanish: Espinosa III Nos. 255f., 266. |
| K811.1 | Enemies invited to banquet and killed. (Cf. K871.2.) *Pauli (ed. Bolte) Nos. 661, 662; *BP II 85, III 106; Gaster Thespis 211, 328; Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg; Greek: Grote I 150; India: Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Yanagita Folklore Studies XI 2 No. 2; Tuamotu: Stimson MS (z-G. 13/555). |
| K811.1.2 | Enemies invited to feast and poisoned. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K1886.2.1 | Enemies magically caused to lose sight of each other while hunting. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K2373 | Enemies reconciled by gifts which the one's son tells are sent from the other. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K783.1 | Enemy blinded with chili powder and overpowered. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2368 | Enemy deceived into overestimating opponents: retreat. (Cf. K548.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K607 | Enemy in ambush (or disguise) deceived into declaring himself. |
| K2368.4 | Enemy induced to give up siege by making it look as if the besieged have got reinforcement. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K2365.1 | Enemy induced to give up siege by pretending to have plenty of food. Grimm Deutsche Sagen 460, 470, 504; Von der Leyen Sagenbuch III 1 No. 75, 2 No. 278; Lübbing Friesische Sagen 65; Laport FFC LXXXIV 182; Herodotus I ch. 22; Ovid Fasti VI 349ff.; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| K2365 | Enemy induced to give up siege. |
| K2365.2 | Enemy induced to surrender city by show of wealth on part of besiegers, who shoot golden apples over walls. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K2013 | Enemy invited for marriage with relative attacked. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2013.1 | Enemy invited to meeting and attacked. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K2369.12.1 | Enemy leaders invited to banquet and poisoned. (Cf. K871.1.) Krappe Romanic Review XVI. |
| K2365.3 | Enemy soldiers persuaded by show of great wealth and generosity of king to desert to his side. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K2364 | Enemy's ships fired by use of fireship. English: Malory X 32; Greek: Iliad XVI 84. |
| K2377 | Entering a garden by swimming down a stream that flows into it. Malone PMLA XLIII 399. |
| K476.1 | Entrails substituted for meat. Prometheus divides slain ox so that bones and entrails seem to be choicest part. (Zeus is not deceived.) Greek: Fox 13. |
| K1340 | Entrance into girl's (man's) room (bed) by trick. |
| K317.2 | Entrance into wine cellar by removing lock during absence of mother. Pierre Faifeu No. 7. |
| K1342 | Entrance into woman's (man's) room by hiding in chest. *Type 882; Köhler-Bolte I 211f.; Fb "kiste" II 134; Boccaccio Decameron II No. 9 (Lee 57); Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. Cf. Shakespeare's Cymbeline. |
| K1342.0.2 | Entrance into woman's room in lamp stand. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1349.8 | Entrance into woman's room through concealed door. Heptameron No. 2, 4. |
| K1341.1 | Entrance to woman's room in golden ram. Princess's curiosity aroused and the golden ram carried into the room. The youth is concealed inside. *Types 854, 900; *BP I 443ff., 446 n. 2; *Krappe Balor 12 n. 41; Köhler-Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. VI 166 (to Gonzenbach No. 68, cf. No. 23); Rösch FFC LXXVII 109; Philippson FFC L 30. -Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 860*; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; N. A. Indian: Thompson CColl II 428. |
| K1341 | Entrance to woman's room in hollow artificial animal. |
| K312.2 | Entry by master thief into closely guarded city in wood-gatherer's basket. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K477.3 | Entry into enemy's presence by pretending to be a messenger from a relative. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2131.2 | Envious jackal makes lion suspicious of his friend, the bull. The lion kills the bull. Chauvin II 86 No. 18; Penzer V 42-63, 130 n. 1; B[ö]dker Exempler 277 No. 17; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K563 | Escape because of plea that leaves means of egress open. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K544 | Escape by alleged possession of external soul. Monkey caught for his heart (as remedy) makes his captor believe that he has left his heart at home. *Dh IV 1ff.; *Chauvin II 99 No. 57; *Penzer V 127 n. 1; Bødker Exempler 298 No. 62; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Jewish: Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 852; Japanese: Ikeda; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 3, Dixon 193; Philippine: Fansler MAFLS XII 374 No. 56; Africa (Zanzibar): Bateman 17 No. 1. |
| K686 | Escape by announcing great catastrophe (end of world or the like). India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K634 | Escape by arranging captor's clothes so as to delay him. |
| K551.10 | Escape by asking a last kiss. Uses the opportunity to attack adversary. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 30 No. 69*. |
| K573.1 | Escape by asking girl about to murder him if she will have to assume all the guilt. She reconsiders. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K558.1 | Escape by asking to die falling from a tree. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.6 | Escape by asking to die on a horse. Jones PMLA XXIII 563. |
| K551.6.1 | Escape by asking to ride on sacred buffalo. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K573 | Escape by asserting that captor will have ill luck after killing victim. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K621 | Escape by blinding the guard. Pepper or tobacco thrown into his eyes. *Type 73; *Thompson CColl II 440f.; Dh IV 184; Spanish: Espinosa Jr. Nos. 2, 124; Louisiana Creole: Fortier MAFLS II 115; Alu: Wheeler 42, 48; N. A. Indian (California): Gayton and Newman 95; Africa (Mpongwe): Nassau 45f. No. 6, (Wute): Sieber ZsES XII 174, (Cameroon): Meinhof 89; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Remus 30 No. 7, 47 No. 10, Nights 95 No. 18, 280 No. 47, (Virginia): Parsons JAFL XXXV 262, (North Carolina): Parsons JAFL XXX 178, (South Carolina): Parsons JAFL XXXVIII 219; Jamaica: *Beckwith MAFLS XVII 240 No. 13, 247 No. 23. |
| K626 | Escape by bribing the guard. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K685 | Escape by catching hold of limbs of tree while passing under it. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K649.11 | Escape by cutting fetters on stones, etc. Icelandic: Lagerholm 38, *Boberg. |
| K629 | Escape by deceiving the guard—miscellaneous. |
| K620 | Escape by deceiving the guard. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K630 | Escape by disarming (making pursuit difficult). Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K521 | Escape by disguise. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K521.4.3.1 | Escape by disguising as a washerman. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K521.1 | Escape by dressing in animal (bird, human) skin. *Types 311, 510B, 1137; *BP I 399ff., III 375 (incident B2); *Hackman Polyphemsage 160ff.; *Fb "hest" I 599b; English: Wells 20 (William of Palerne); Africa (Fang): Einstein 76, Trilles Proverbs 203. |
| K521.1.2 | Escape by dressing in bear's skin. Þiðriks saga I 261—72 (cf. 339—40); Asbjørnsen and Moe No. 58 (type 590); Gonzenbach No. 68 and Köhler's notes. |
| K550.1 | Escape by equivocal oath. (Cf. K475.) Irish myth: Cross. |
| K579 | Escape by false plea—miscellaneous. |
| K551.23 | Escape by false plea: jackal asks to be able to clasp tree before crocodile kills it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K550 | Escape by false plea. A captive makes a request or proposes an action that permits him eventually to escape. *Type 122A; *BP II 207; India: Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 246; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 306 n. 109cc; West Indies: Flowers 515. |
| K575 | Escape by false prophecy: if corpses are buried in city, it will become a ruin: king releases condemned man. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K545 | Escape by falsely reporting approach of rescuers. Philippine: Fansler MAFLS XII 276. |
| K542 | Escape by falsely reporting one's ability to escape. "I should be caught if there were not an escape at the back." When the captors run to the rear, the captive escapes. Type 66**. |
| K547.12 | Escape by frightening tiger into thinking goat in cave is the ghost of his father. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K547 | Escape by frightening would-be captors. (Cf. K1710.) Pierre Faifeu No. 27. |
| K625 | Escape by giving narcotic to guards. Boje 112ff.; Italian Novella: Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K649 | Escape by help of confederate—miscellaneous. |
| K640 | Escape by help of confederate. |
| K515.4 | Escape by hiding in kettle. Philippine (Tinguian): Cole 105. |
| K515.5 | Escape by hiding in rice-bin. Philippine (Tinguian): Cole 184. |
| K515.6 | Escape by hiding in the earth. Africa (Fang): Einstein 151. |
| K515 | Escape by hiding. |
| K608 | Escape by laughing and crying at same time. Captured bird cries in thinking of her little ones and laughs under pretext that the hunter is wasting his time instead of taking the treasure which she pretends is in her house. The hunter leaves her. *Chauvin II 172 No. 2, V 135 No. 64 n. 1. |
| K525.10 | Escape by leaving behind false images made of spittle. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 176. |
| K548 | Escape by making attacker believe there are many defenders. (Cf. K2368.) |
| K521.4.6 | Escape by making sheaths of bark for fingers: hero leaves without awakening nymph wives who make him sleep with fingers in mouth. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K625.2 | Escape by making the watchmen drunk. Irish myth: Cross (K649.1); U.S.: Baughman; Icelandic: *Boberg; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K540 | Escape by overawing captor. |
| K561 | Escape by persuading captor to talk. |
| K606.2 | Escape by persuading captors to dance. Africa (Wachaga): Gutmann 36. |
| K606.1.1 | Escape by playing magic music. Captor is compelled to dance while victims escape. Africa (Gold Coast): Barker and Sinclair 100 No. 18. |
| K606.1 | Escape by playing music. Fb "spille" III 488a. |
| K606.1.2 | Escape by playing sleep-bringing music. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K601 | Escape by posing as member of murderer's family or tribe. India: *Thompson-Balys; Africa (Kaffir): Theal 130, (Basuto): Jacottet 2 No. 1, (Fjort): Dennett 106 No. 30. |
| K601.1 | Escape by posing as preceptor of tiger's deceased father. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K629.1 | Escape by pretended bathing of guard. Boiling water used. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K611.2 | Escape by pretended cooking. Girl pretends to be cooking meal for animal husband: escapes. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K622.1 | Escape by pretended debate as to which must be judged. Jackals thus induce leopard to permit them to enter their cave, while he waits in vain. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K611.1 | Escape by pretended lousing. Captive pretends to louse the captor but deceives him by cracking berries in the teeth (or the like). India: Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 326 n. 174; S. A. Indian (Yuracare): Alexander Lat. Am. 314, Métraux BBAE CXLIII (3) 502. |
| K571 | Escape by pretending to dance so as to be untied. Africa (Kaffir): Theal 44; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 12 No. 3. |
| K551.4.7 | Escape by pretending to go for bath. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K551.4.5 | Escape by pretending to go to river and wash clothes. India: Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham. |
| K567 | Escape by pretending to perform errand (do work) for captor. Africa (Thonga): Junod 212, (Kaffir): Theal 188, (Ekoi): Talbot 233; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Friends 60 No. 8, Nights 366 No. 65. |
| K551.4.8 | Escape by pretending to return for hair ribbon. N. A. Indian: *Thompson Star Husband 133. |
| K611 | Escape by putting captor off guard. |
| K521.1.4 | Escape by putting on old woman's skin. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K541 | Escape by reporting oneself invulnerable and overawing captor. *Chauvin VIII 136 No. 132; India: Thompson-Balys; West Indies: Flowers 513f.; Philippine (Tinguian): *Cole 195. |
| K534.1 | Escape by reversing horse's (ox's) shoes. *Fb "sko" III 288b, "gе" IV 194b, "hestesko" IV 214a; Laport FFC LXXXIV 49; Köhler-Bolte II 381; *Child III 476n., 479f., 487, 489; *Babler Sudetendeutsche Zs. f. Vksk. VII (1934) 77; England: Baughman; Icelandic: *Boberg; Greek: *Frazer Apollodorus II 8 n. 1; Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 324 No. 155; Chinese: Chavannes 500 Contes II 407; Africa: Frobenius Atlantis VII 6. |
| K534 | Escape by reversing shoes (boat). |
| K534.2 | Escape by reversing snowshoes. U.S.: Baughman. |
| K534.4 | Escape by rowing boat stern foremost. Irish myth: Cross (K534.1). |
| K522.5 | Escape by shammed burial. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K522.6 | Escape by shammed drowning; wrecked boat or coffin lands. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K522.8 | Escape by shammed hanging. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K522.1 | Escape by shamming death: blood and brains. The trickster covers himself with paint (or the like) so that he will be thought to have bled to death (or with milk so that it will be thought that his brains have been knocked out). *Type 3; Dh IV 243; Krohn JSFO VI 55ff.; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 329 n 191a; Africa (Kaffir): Kidd 242 No. 9. |
| K522 | Escape by shamming death. *Type 33; *BP II 120, III 345; *Chauvin VIII 136 No. 132; Liebrecht Zur Volkskunde 112 No. 23; *Penzer V 79 n. 3; Icelandic: *Boberg; India: *Thompson-Balys; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera I 1013, 1019; Korean: Zong in-Sob 18 No. 9; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 106, *Dixon 191 n. 13; Philippine: Fansler MAFLS XII 384; Eskimo (Central): Boas RBAE VI 584, (Greenland): Rasmussen III 75; Africa (Yoruba): Ellis 273 No. 6, (Basuto): Jacottet 120 No. 27, (Benga): Nassau 228 No. 34, (Bushman): Bleek and Lloyd 175, (Fang): Trilles 205. |
| K523 | Escape by shamming illness. Maori: Clark 167; Africa (Zulu): Callaway 78, (Angola): Chatelain 99 No. 6. |
| K523.2 | Escape by shamming leprosy. *Chauvin VIII 136 No. 132. |
| K523.1 | Escape by shamming madness. (Cf. K523.0.1.) Malone PMLA XLIII 400; Icelandic: Herrmann Saxo II 258ff., *Boberg; Jewish: Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K555.2.2 | Escape by singing an endless song. The soldier's bargain with Death. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1084A*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1084 I*; Rumanian: Schullerus FFC LXXVIII No. 1615*. |
| K606 | Escape by singing song. Captive gradually moves away and at last escapes. Africa (Kaffir): Theal 109; Cape Verde Islands: Parsons MAFLS XV (1) 137 n. 1. |
| K606.1.2.1 | Escape by singing watchmen to sleep. Icelandic: Herrmann Saxo 92, 101, *Boberg. |
| K527 | Escape by substituting another person in place of the intended victim. *Type 953; Irish myth: *Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys; Korean: Zong in-Sob 126 No. 60; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 149; Tuamotu: Stimson MS (z-G. 3/1314); Africa (Benga): Nassau 89ff. No. 4, (Ila, Rhodesia): Smith and Dale II 382 No. 2, (Ekoi): Talbot 33, (Wute): Sieber ZsES XII 188, (Fang): Tessman 46, (Bankon): Ittman, ZsES XVII 9; West Indies: Flowers 512. |
| K527.2 | Escape by substituting brother for intended victim, namely self. Pierre Faifeu No. 1; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K528.2 | Escape by substituting self for another condemned to die. Holy man substitutes self for deacon held by heathen. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K533 | Escape by successive disguises. Chinese: Graham. |
| K606.0.2 | Escape by teaching song to watchman. India: Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 277. |
| K634.1 | Escape by throwing captor's clothes on the fire. Type 67*. |
| K626.1 | Escape by throwing money (treasure) so that guards fight over it. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K525 | Escape by use of substituted object. The object is attacked rather than the intended victim. *Types 160*, 311; *BP I 398ff.; Irish myth: *Cross; Missouri French: Carrière, Italian Novella: Rotunda; Greek: *Frazer Apollodorus I 8 n. 2 (Zeus and Kronus); India: *Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 37, Dixon 200, *201 n. 38; Philippine: Fansler MAFLS XII 51; Chinese: Graham; Eskimo (Greenland): Rasmussen III 65, Rink 107, (West Hudson Bay): Boas BAM XV 194; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 355 n. 282; Africa (Basuto): Jacottet 226 No. 33. |
| K621.2 | Escape from animals by blowing ashes into their faces. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K531 | Escape from battle by magic invisibility. Irish: MacCulloch Celtic 66, *Cross; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; Greek: Fox 127 (Paris). |
| K572 | Escape from captor by means of flattery. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K622.2 | Escape from captor by throwing objects to great distance which captor tries to procure. India: Thompson-Balys; Africa (Wute): Sieber ZsES XII 172. |
| K500 | Escape from death or danger by deception. *Chauvin VIII 136 No. 132; Wienert FFC LVI 52 (ET 113—118); Irish myth: Cross; Missouri French: Carrière; India: *Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: DeVries's list Nos. 1—8. |
| K611.2.1 | Escape from madman by sending him for cooking water. (Cf. K605.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K579.3.1 | Escape from pursuers by pretending to be one of them. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| K579.3 | Escape from robbers by pretending to be going the same way but separating at the first opportunity. Jewish: Neuman, Gaster Exempla 198 No. 66. |
| K661 | Escape from suspicion of crime. |
| K551.25 | Escape from threatened captivity by pretending to send for object for captor. Irish: Cross (K1231). |
| K1227.10 | Escape from undesired lover by alleging menstrual period. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K521.5 | Escape in huge pumpkin shell. (Attempted.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K521.4.3 | Escape in humble disguise. (Cap o' Rushes.) *Type 510B; *Cox Cinderella; *BP II 45; *Saintyves Contes de Perrault 187, 196ff.; Icelandic: *Boberg; Japanese: Ikeda; N. A. Indian: Thompson CColl II 385ff., (Ojibwa): Laidlaw Ontario Arch. Rep. (1918 reprint) 36. |
| K532.1 | Escape in mist of invisibility. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K521.1.3 | Escape in monkey-skin. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K625.1 | Escape of girl foiled by hero's refusal to take narcotic. Type 306; Africa (Ronga): Junod Les Chants et les Contes des Ba Ronga (Lausanne, 1897) 317ff. No. 30. |
| K611.3 | Escape on ship on wheels after having deceived the captor into laying away sword and helm to receive pretended gift. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K532 | Escape under mantle of invisibility. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K603 | Escape under ram's belly. By hiding under the belly of a ram the hero escapes under the legs of the blind ogre. *Type 1137; **Hackman Polyphemsage 160ff.; *BP III 375; Spanish: Espinosa III Nos. 163—7; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K525.6 | Escape, leaving dog as substitute. Icelandic: Herrmann Saxo II 569—70. |
| K1517.12 | Escaping paramour said to be a deity. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2155 | Evidence of crime left so that dupe is blamed. Irish: O'Suilleabhain 26, 44, Beal XXI 307, 316; India: *Thompson-Balys; West Indies: Flowers 555. |
| K657 | Exaggerated tales about escapes. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| K144 | Exchange of alleged ghee (liquid butter) for goat (cow). India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K527.3 | Exchange of clothes between master and his servant. Lithuanian: Balys Historical. |
| K555 | Executioner kept busy or interested until rescue comes. Sometimes until he changes his mind. |
| K512.2.2.1 | Executioner makes substitution when victim escapes. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K255 | Exorbitant price demanded and received. |
| K1011 | Eye-remedy. Under pretence of curing eyesight the trickster blinds the dupe. (Often with a glowing mass thrust into the eye.) *Type 1135; *BP III 375; **Hackman Polyphemsage; *Herbert III 40ff.; Hervieux IV 204 No. 29; Icelandic: Boberg; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: Thompson-Balys; Africa (Ibo, Nigeria): Basden 140. |
| K512.2.0.2 | Eyes of animal substituted as proof for eyes of children. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K512.2.0.3 | Eyes, ears, fingers of corpse substituted for those demanded of victim. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1887.3 | Fairies cause sound to appear to come from various directions. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K821 | Fairies in animal form persuaded they will hear music better in own shapes. Are killed. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K232.2.1 | Fairy (god?) loses stronghold by consenting to lend it for "a day and a night." Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K602.1 | Fairy child injured by man who says that his name is "Self". Child tells mother, "Self did it." England, Scotland: *Baughman. |
| K1072 | Fairy induces hero to dive into lake which makes person old. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2369.9 | Fairy mist mistaken for smoke of enemy's burning ships. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1844.4 | Fairy visits queen in her husband's shape and begets son with her. Icelandic: Þiðriks saga I 319—20, Boberg. |
| K786 | Fairy wins kiss in game; embraces woman and flies off with her through skylight (smokehole). Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K1596 | Faithful wife in disguise saves husband from punishment for adultery. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2213.8 | Faithless queen aids lover to dispossess king. Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: *Boberg, FSS 209—12. |
| K2213.2 | Faithless wife and paramour throw hero overboard. *Type 612; *BP I 126ff., 129. |
| K2213.7 | Faithless wife betrays husband to her father. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K2213.3.3 | Faithless wife deceives husband while she searches for lover. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2213.3.1 | Faithless wife has husband and children killed so that she can be with paramour. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K2213.9 | Faithless wife incites sons to make war upon father. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1591.0.1 | Faithless wife kills magic parrot which has betrayed her. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2213.3 | Faithless wife plots with paramour against husband's life. (Cf. K2213.5.) Malone PMLA XLIII 413, 419, 432; Boje 62; Irish myth: *Cross; Spanish: Espinosa Jr. No. 103; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K2213.3.2 | Faithless wife poisons husband to be with paramour. Paramour fearing a like fate refuses to go to her. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K713.1.7 | Faithless wife ties sleeping husband's hair to bed, allowing lover to kill him. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K2213.6 | Faithless wife transforms husband. Malone PMLA XLIII 421; *Penzer VI 8. |
| K2213.10 | Faithless wife tricks husband into setting lover free. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1812.18 | Fallen king in disguise recognized by former ally and helped. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1172 | Falling beam in cave kills travelers lured within. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 344. |
| K2112.2.4 | False abortion placed in innocent woman's bed. Korean: Zong in-Sob 202 No. 97. |
| K2127 | False accusation of theft. Icelandic: Boberg; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2100 | False accusation. Missouri French: Carrière; Jewish: Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham; West Indies: Flowers 555. |
| K484.3 | False alarm of robbery causes cheated man to be imprisoned. Boccaccio Decameron IX No. 4; Italian Novella: Rotunda; Persian: Lorimer Persian Tales (London, 1919) 321 No. 52. |
| K476.2 | False articles used to produce credit. |
| K2058.2 | False ascetic in partnership with tiger shares his prey. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 819. |
| K1013 | False beauty-doctor. The trickster pretends to make the dupe beautiful. Injures him. *Cosquin études 385ff.; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham; Indonesia: DeVries's list Nos. 73, 74; Eskimo (Bering Strait): Nelson RBAE XVIII 467; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 352 n. 271, (California): Gayton and Newman 83; Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 387, (Kaffir): Theal 99, (Wute): Sieber ZsES XII 69f., 172. |
| K1766.1 | False boasting of having killed his foster-brother makes his men follow the boaster. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K1911.3.3 | False bride fails when husband tests her. Uses slipper test, jumping test, or the like. *Type 510; *Cox passim; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 22f.; Africa (Zulu): Callaway 122, 315, (Angola): Chatelain 43. |
| K1911.3.3.2 | False bride fails when magician tests her. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1911.1.4 | False bride finishes true bride's task and supplants her. The true bride must perform a certain task to win her husband and, being exhausted, commits the task to a slave. *Arfert Unterschobene Braut; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 446*; Russian: Andrejev No. 533B*; Italian: Basile Pentamerone Introduction; India: *Thompson-Balys; Africa (Angola): Chatelain 35, 43. |
| K1911.1.8.1 | False bride makes child cry and demand mother's clothes and ornaments. Chinese: Graham. |
| K1911.1.8 | False bride steals true bride's garments in bath. Africa (Hottentot): Karutz Des schwarzen Menschen Märchenweisheit (London, 1929) 140f. No. 27. |
| K1911.1.3 | False bride takes true bride's place at fountain. The true bride, left by her husband for a short time at a fountain, is supplanted by a moor or gypsy, who transforms her. *Type 408; *Arfert Unterschobene Braut; Spanish: Espinosa II Nos. 120f., Espinosa Jr. Nos. 106—110; Italian: Basile Pentamerone Introduction; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| K1911.1.1 | False bride takes true bride's place on the way to the wedding. *Arfert Unterschobene Braut; *Type 533; **Liungman Tvе Folkminnesundersökningar 41ff.; Cosquin Contes indiens 69ff.; BP II 273; Spanish: Espinosa II No. 113; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 403D*; Rumanian: Schullerus FFC LXXVIII No. 403D*; Missouri French: Carrière; India: *Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 178; Africa (Zulu): Callaway 118, 303, 313, (Kaffir): Theal 134, 145f., (Thonga): Junod 231, (Fjort): Dennett 128; Jamaica: *Beckwith MAFLS XVII 266 No. 74. |
| K1911.1.2 | False bride takes true bride's place when child is born. *Types 403, 450, 480; *BP I 79ff., 99ff., II 284 n. 2; *Arfert Unterschobene Braut; India: Thompson-Balys; N. A. Indian: *Thompson CColl II 383ff. |
| K1911.3.3.1 | False bride's mutilated feet. In order to wear the shoes with which the husband is testing the identity of his bride, the false bride cuts her feet. She is detected. *Type 510; *Cox 1—79, 87—121 passim; Spanish: Espinosa II Nos. 111f., Espinosa Jr. No. 119; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K442 | False claim of reward. Africa (Gold Coast): Barker and Sinclair 159 No. 31, (Ekoi): Talbot 387. |
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