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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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| A2422.4 | Why tortoise has no voice. (See A2421.4.)—Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 378. |
| A2378.4.4 | Why tortoise has short tail. (See A2216.4.)—Dh III 52ff.—Jewish: Neuman. |
| A2433.6.1.1 | Why tortoise lives in logs in stream. (See A2282.)—Benga Nassau 139, 207 Nos. 15, 32. |
| A2351.5 | Why tortoise's neck is outstretched toward the sky: is looking for his wife, the star. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A2343.2.2 | Why toucan's beak is black. S. Am. Indian (Chiriguano): Métraux RMLP XXXIII 178. |
| A2771.8 | Why tree has bitter fruit. |
| A2791.1 | Why trees do not talk. All ask to be spared when man begins cutting them. Esthonian: Aarne FFC XXV 151 No. 75; Livonian: Loorits FFC LXVI 94 No. 107; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3215, Legends No. 302f.; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A2774 | Why trees remain fixed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A2457.1 | Why tumble-bug rolls in dung. Jamaica Negro: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 258 No. 46. |
| A2332.5.5 | Why turkey has red eyes. Dh III 61. |
| A2466.2 | Why turtle beats with forelegs when caught. Gold Coast: Barker and Sinclair 87 No. 15. |
| A2433.6.1.2 | Why turtle lays eggs on beach. (Cf. A2486.)—Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 22. |
| A2521.1 | Why turtle-dove is sad. Sébillot RTP III 159. |
| A1555.3 | Why umbrellas are used to welcome bride to new home. Chinese: Graham. |
| A2761.2 | Why vine-leaves are hand-shaped. Flemish: DeMeyer FFC XXXVII 91 No. 132b. |
| A2317.7 | Why vulture is bald. Dh. III 14.—Menomini: Skinner und Satterlee PaAm XIII 78; S. Am. Indian (Toba): Métraux MAFLS XL 161. |
| A2479.1 | Why wagtail moves tail up and down. Dh III 226. |
| A2432.2 | Why wasp has nest. Dh III 189. |
| A2531.1 | Why water serpents are not venomous. (Cf. A2532.1.)—India: Thompson-Balys; Pueblo: Parsons JAFL XXXI 250; Congo: Weeks 213 No. 9. |
| A2356.2.5 | Why water-hen has broad back. Plains Cree: Skinner JAFL XXIX 349. |
| A2332.5.3 | Why water-hen has red eyes. Plains Cree: Skinner JAFL XXIX 349. |
| A915 | Why waters do not engulf the earth. Jewish: Neuman. |
| A1854.1 | Why we have rats: one escapes from slaughter of rats. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A2493.35 | Why we know that the parrot comforts and helps man. Africa (Wakweli): Bender 70. |
| A2411.1.2.1.1 | Why weasel is part black. Chinese: Graham. |
| A2411.1.2.1 | Why weasel is white with dark tip to tail. Plains Cree: Skinner JAFL XXIX 350. |
| A2320.1.1 | Why weaver bird's head is small. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| P445.1 | Why weavers are the most unhappy of men. They gave a nail for the Crucifixion. Flemish: DeMeyer FFC XXXVII 84 No. 27C. |
| P445.2 | Why weavers have patience. Flemish: DeMeyer FFC XXXVII 84 No. 27d. |
| A2776.2 | Why weeping-willow is cursed. Flemish: DeMeyer XXXVII 91 No. 132d. |
| A2793.2.1 | Why wheat must be planted in one year and harvested in the next. Chinese: Graham. |
| A2522.3 | Why white ants are a pest. Africa (Gold Coast): Barker and Sinclair 67 No. 7. |
| A2422.3 | Why white crow is dumb. Hottentot: Bleek 45 No. 22. |
| T291 | Why widow does not remarry. (1) Only her property is wanted; (2) her husband is still in her heart; (3) if new husband is bad it will not be well, if he is good there will be the fear that he will die. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 222. |
| A2332.5.7 | Why wild duck has red eyes. Dances for trickster. *Dh III 61. |
| A2545.5 | Why wild pigs ravage rice-fields. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A2435.3.15 | Why wildcats come and eat chickens. Chinese: Graham. |
| A2771.10 | Why willow flowers do not bear fruit. Chinese: Graham. |
| A2356.2.2 | Why wolf has straight back. (See A2211.3.)—Dh III 43. |
| A2455.1 | Why wolf is thief. Dh III 295. |
| A2433.3.14 | Why wolf lives in woods. Africa (Gold Coast): Barker and Sinclair 153 No. 29. |
| A2356.3.3 | Why wolverine has peculiar marks on back. Kaska: Teit JAFL XXX 458. |
| A2364.1 | Why wolverine has red hair on loins. Tahltan: Teit JAFL XXXII 248. |
| A2455.5 | Why wolverine is a thief. Kaska: Teit JAFL XXX 470f. |
| A1557 | Why woman is master of her husband. (Cf. A1372.9.) Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 98. |
| A1371 | Why women are bad. Irish myth: Cross; Jewish: Neuman. |
| A1372.5 | Why women are deceitful. Kaska: Teit JAFL XXX 462. |
| A1589.1 | Why women are disqualified as witness in court. Jewish: Neuman. |
| A1372.1 | Why women are prattlers. Flemish: DeMeyer FFC XXXVII 83 No. 11a. |
| A1372.3 | Why women are roving. Lithuanian: Balys Legends No. 73; Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 114. |
| A1372.9 | Why women are subservient to men. Lithuanian: Balys Legends No. 70ff.; India: Thompson-Balys; S. Am. Indian (Munderucú): Horton BBAE CXLIII (3) 282. |
| A1373 | Why women attract men. |
| A1551 | Why women do not woo. Esthonian: FFC XXV 142 No. 18; Jewish: Neuman; S. Am. Indian (Toba): Métraux MAFLS XL 54. |
| A1372.4 | Why women have a treble voice. Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 141 No. 13; Livonian: Loorits FFC LXVI 84 No. 34. |
| A1310.4 | Why women have marks on the belly. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A1372.10 | Why women keep washing themselves. St. Andrew, sent to get salt to keep people clean, gets drunk and forgets. There is only enough for men.—Venezuela: Dominguez Collection II No. 33 (Archive of Venezuelan Institute of Folklore). |
| A1372.2 | Why women laugh much. When Eve sees her first child she laughs over its smallness.—Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 141 No. 16. |
| A1372.8 | Why women never have leisure. Because they refused to show God the way, saying they had no time.—Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 3046, Balys Legends Nos 74-78. |
| A1599.3 | Why women wear veils in India. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A2456.2 | Why wood-worm bores wood. Tahltan: Teit JAFL XXXII 243. |
| A2332.5.6 | Why wooddove has green eyes. Dh III 61. |
| A2456.1 | Why woodpecker bores in wood. Am. Negro (North Carolina): Brown Collection I 633; Jamaica Negro: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 259 No. 53. |
| A2343.3.2 | Why woodpecker has sharp beak. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A2332.6.4 | Why worm is blind. (See A2284.3.)—Japanese: Ikeda. |
| A2482.3 | Why wren does not migrate. Flemish: DeMeyer FFC XXXVII 87 No. 86a. |
| A2435.4.11.1 | Why wren eats no berries. Africa (Wakweli): Bender 69f. |
| A2522.6 | Why wren is disliked. Irish myth: Cross. |
| A2794.2 | Why yams are small but plentiful in certain place. New Hebrides: Codrington No. II 3. |
| A2313.5 | Why young ravens have white feathers. Jewish: Neuman. |
| A2332.3.2 | Why zabi's eyes are narrow: because he laughs so hard. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A2325.5 | Why zebra has long ears. Ila (Rhodesia): Smith and Dale 368 No. 19. |
| A2478.1 | Why zebra is continually eating. Ila (Rhodesia): Smith and Dale 369 No. 19. |
| A2341.2.2 | Why zebra's mouth is large. Ila (Rhodesia): Smith and Dale 368 No. 19. |
| A1687.1 | Why Zuсi girls rub flour on their faces as they grind. Zuсi: Parsons JAFL XXIX 394. |
| C771.1.1 | Wicked man constructs tower neither too large nor too high. (Santa Barbara.) Der Heiligen Leben u. Leiden (Leipzig, 1921) 101ff. |
| P232.1 | Wicked mother and her sons do everything to prevent daughter's marriage with beloved. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| Q451.7.5 | Wicked son blinded. Irish myth: Cross; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| Q433.9 | Wicked son confined on island. Irish myth: Cross. |
| M431.6 | Wicked stepmother cursed to have fire lit under her. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| N384.3 | Wicked stepmother falls into the fire because of fright. (Cf. M431.6.) Icelandic: Boberg. |
| V39.2 | Wicked woman unable to endure presence of host at mass. English: Wells 151 (Richard Coer de Lyon). |
| A1002.1 | Widespread calamity when feast of John the Baptist shall fall on certain day. Irish myth: Cross. |
| T320.3.1 | Widow dons late husband's armor to put would-be ravisher to flight. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| T131.4 | Widow may not remarry. *Frazer Pausanias III 198. |
| H479.1 | Widow prepared for suttee can lift by little finger heavy stone by temple. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J482.1.2 | Widow refuses second marriage so her brother cannot kill a second husband. Heptameron No. 40. |
| L111.3 | Widow's son as hero. *Jacobs's list s.v. "Widow's son"; *Krappe Balor 126ff.; Garnett FL III 265; Missouri French: Carrière; India: Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham. |
| G691.2 | Widow(s) of ogre's victims seen at ogre's house. N. A. Indian (California): Gayton and Newman 69. |
| T211.6 | Widowed she-fox rejects suitors who do not resemble her deceased husband. *Type 65; BP I 362; *Taylor JAFL XLVI 78; Fb "ræv" III 113b. |
| P263.1 | Widower marries wife's sister. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| Z24.1 | Widower tells of his courtship, his marriage, and the death of his wife, all in a week. (First ed. Z21.4.1.) *Taylor JAFL XLVI 80 No. 2012A. |
| K1223.3 | Wife (mistress) substitutes for mistress (wife). The woman has been asked for a rendezvous. She tells the suitor's wife and they exchange places. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K579.1 | Wife accused of plan to escape weeps and threatens suicide so as to allay suspicion and escape. Africa (Fjort): Dennett 51 No. 8. |
| T215.7.1 | Wife alone does not desert leprous husband. Jewish: Neuman; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 1060. |
| T230.1 | Wife and husband believe each unfaithful at the slightest provocation. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J155.4 | Wife as adviser. (Cf. J21.37.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| N2.6 | Wife as wager. *Fb "spille" III 487b; Irish myth: *Cross; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 216 No. 165; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 354 n. 276. |
| H934.1 | Wife assigns husband tasks. Irish myth: Cross. |
| S411.4 | Wife banished because she eats by stealth. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| S411.2 | Wife banished for some small fault. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| S411 | Wife banished. India: *Thompson-Balys; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 526. |
| T251.10 | Wife beats her husband and eats up everything he earns. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T251.2.3 | Wife becomes obedient on seeing husband slay a recalcitrant horse. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1971.4.1 | Wife behind tree advises husband against having his wife work. *Type 1405; BP III 44; *Hdwb. d. Märchens II 148a nn. 381-391. |
| K1971.6.1 | Wife behind tree advises the husband about his marital duties. Von der Hagen II xv No. 29. |
| K2213.16 | Wife betrays husband in revenge for his once having taken a second wife. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| T450.1 | Wife born to be prostitute. Husband unable to change her ways, submits to them. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 91. |
| N134.1.2 | Wife brings bad luck to the husband's family. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T296 | Wife buys (sells) privilege of sleeping one night with husband. (Cf. D2006.1.4.) Jewish: Neuman. |
| J1545.6 | Wife by cleverness wins back fortune overbearing husband has foolishly lost and humbles him. India: Thompson-Balys |
| T274 | Wife cannot keep secret. 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. |
| T215.1 | Wife carries mutilated husband on her back so that he may beg. Paris Zs. f. Vksk. XIII 4. |
| P211.1 | Wife chooses father rather than husband or son. (Cf. P253.3.) Only one can be saved; he alone is irreplaceable. Spanish: Childers. |
| P211 | Wife chooses father's side in feud. Must choose between husband and father. S. A. Indian (Carib): Alexander Lat. Am. 266. |
| J414.1 | Wife chosen instead of fairy mistress. They let man choose between them. Irish: MacCulloch Celtic 88. |
| P214.1 | Wife commits suicide (dies) on death of husband. (Cf. P16.4.1.) Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1528 | Wife confesses to disguised husband. She suspects the fraud and persuades him that she knew the ruse and was testing him. He begs forgiveness. Bédier Fabliaux 290, 453*; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| F950.2.1 | Wife cures self of catarrh by calling to husband fondling maid at bedside. Heptameron No. 71. |
| T288.1 | Wife curses unbeloved husband who attempts to force her. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| C12.5.7 | Wife curses wicked husband: "May devil take you!" Devil does. (See M432.) U.S.: Baughman. |
| K1843 | Wife deceives husband with substituted bedmate. Icelandic: Boberg; Jewish: *Neuman; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| B335.4 | Wife demands magic parrot who has accused her. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T211.9.1 | Wife dies of grief for death of husband. (Cf. T81.7.) Irish myth: Cross. |
| T211.1 | Wife dies so that husband's death may be postponed. Greek: Euripides' Alcestis. *Grote I 108. |
| N343.2.1 | Wife dies, believing husband dead. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1814.3 | Wife disguised as fakir makes her husband, the king, fulfill her will. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1837.5 | Wife disguises as a man and outwits landlord of inn when he tries same trick he has played on her husband to get all of his goods, etc. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1112.2 | Wife dismisses maid who is husband's mistress and tells him she has fled. Husband understands and reforms. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| P214 | Wife drinks blood of slain husband. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1514.17.1 | Wife drugs husband and visits paramour. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T320.4 | Wife escapes lust of king by shaming him. Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T257.2.1 | Wife exposes bald head of second wife to disgrace her. Hair marvelously regrows. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1538.1 | Wife feigns death and slips out to lover. Heptameron No. 60, 61. Italian Novella: Rotunda (K1862). |
| N681.1 | Wife finds lost husband just as he is to marry another. Type 425; Tegethoff 52; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| R227.1 | Wife flees from animal husband. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| R227 | Wife flees from husband. (Cf. P210, T200.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| 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. |
| R152.4 | Wife gets back her husband from land of serpents by charming him with her beautiful dance. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T299.2 | Wife gives wise warning to husband. |
| F81.1.1 | Wife goes to land of dead to procure dead husband's heart. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| 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. |
| T211.3.2 | Wife hangs self because her husband has been killed. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K1514.7 | Wife has hiding husband carried off in basket by thieves. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1516.8 | Wife has husband look for hole in pot she has bought, allowing lover to escape unseen. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K1843.4 | Wife has maidservant impersonate her while she goes to her lover. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 35; B[ö]dker Exempler 280 No. 24; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| T222 | Wife hides husband's unfaithfulness from emperor and even shelters his mistress. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K1521.4.1 | Wife hides lover under bed. When husband comes in she drops candle and sends him out for another, allowing lover to escape unseen. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| T381.0.2 | Wife imprisoned in tower (house) to preserve chastity. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| E322.3 | Wife in heaven by day, with husband by night. Hindu: Tawney II 577. |
| T258.2 | Wife insists upon knowing husband's secret. Type 670; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| W152.17 | Wife keeps half of the money she plans to give for a shrine. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T291.1 | Wife keeps vow never to wed after her husband's death. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| 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. |
| P212 | Wife more merciful than blood relations. They refuse to ransom condemned man; wife does so. Child II 349f., III 516, IV 481, V 231ff., 296. |
| K1510.2 | Wife of philanderer gets revenge by having an affair herself. Heptameron No. 15. |
| W152.16 | Wife of stingy man prays that her husband become sick so that she can get better food. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J155.5 | Wife of usurer saves husband through her prayers. Nouvelles de Sens No. 26. |
| T215.2 | Wife offers starving husband (father) milk from her breasts. Irish: MacCulloch Celtic 179, *Cross. |
| T211.1.3 | Wife offers to sacrifice her right arm for husband's safe return. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| P216 | Wife only one able to persuade her husband. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| 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. |
| K2213.3.2.2 | Wife plots to kill her husband, but her paramour answers that he could never touch murderess. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1613.2 | Wife poisons husband who in turn poisons her. Before he dies he forces her to drink from the same cup. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| T211.2.1.1 | Wife prefers to be burned together with husband even though she was forced to marry him and she has helped to prepare the revenge. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| 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. |
| T211.2.2 | Wife promises to die with husband. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T318 | Wife proves her faithfulness. Had substituted for husband's mistress. Proves legitimacy of her child by producing tokens and by child's missing toe (like her husband's four-toed foot). Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| T215.4 | Wife puts out one of her eyes to show sympathy with her husband. He has lost an eye in a tournament and is ashamed to return to her. She shows that it makes no difference in her love. Von der Hagen I cxxiv; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| T315.2.2.1 | Wife reforms continent husband by having walls of bedroom painted with erotic scenes. 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. |
| T217 | Wife refuses to become unfaithful although she knows her husband to be so. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| T254.6.1 | Wife refuses to bring husband warm water: is beaten. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T288 | Wife refuses to sleep with detested husband. |
| T257.7.1 | Wife repays husband's supposed adultery by doing likewise. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T315.2.2 | Wife reproves continent husband by showing conduct of cock and hens. Nouvelles Récréations No. 32. |
| R152 | Wife rescues husband. Type 316; Missouri French: Carrière; Greek: Grote I 462f.; Jewish: Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| P336.2 | Wife scolds husband's hospitality, as he really has nothing to give. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| T481.4 | Wife seduces husband's servant (pupil). Irish myth: *Cross. |
| V515.1.2 | Wife sees moon enter mouth of husband; husband sees star enter mouth of wife: famous child (saint) will be born. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1843.1.1 | Wife sends mistress to her husband disguised as herself. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| T320.6 | Wife sets fire to house to escape undesired lover. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| 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. |
| K1516.9 | Wife shows husband her milk-filled breasts and squirts milk in his eyes allowing lover to escape unseen. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| T292 | Wife sold unwillingly by husband. *Hibbard 8; Irish myth: *Cross. |
| Q252.1 | Wife stealing punished with death. (Cf. K1371.) Marquesas: Handy 103. |
| K1843.3 | Wife substitutes an old woman for herself in her husband's bed. Italian Novella: Rotunda; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K1843.2.4 | Wife substitutes for her sodomist husband. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1814.2 | Wife substitutes for princess, who has been jailed with husband. Before judge says: "What harm is there in a man being with his own wife?" India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1549.2 | Wife surprised in adultery feigns death. Comes "back to life" on hearing husband say he has seen nothing. (Cf. K1538.) Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1271.3.1 | Wife surprises husband in adultery and shames him into giving her all she desires. Heptameron No. 59. |
| 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. |
| T81.8 | Wife swallows hot coal and dies because her husband is unfaithful. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| T211.9.1.1 | Wife swoons realizing her husband is dead. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1218.10 | Wife takes lover beneath tree where she has told husband to hide. When he begins to kiss her, husband shouts "Keep a little for me." Lover, shamefaced, runs away. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1843.2.2 | Wife takes mistress's place in bed but is deceived in turn. Husband had tired of the mistress and had previously substituted servant. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1843.2.1 | Wife takes mistress's place in husband's bed: husband sends message of death. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1843.2 | Wife takes mistress's place in husband's bed. Brings about reconciliation. *Penzer I 162; Boccaccio Decameron III No. 9 (Lee 101); Heptameron No. 8; Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 9; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys; Africa (Ekoi): Talbot 183. |
| K1843.2.3 | Wife takes mistress's place in husband's bed. The husband, unaware of the substitution, asks his friends to share his good fortune. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1585 | Wife takes servant's place and discovers husband's adultery. The husband says that he is going into a state of meditation with a cloth over his face. He substitutes a servant and goes to his mistress. The wife finds the deceit and takes the servant's place. On his return the husband tells the supposed servant of his adultery. Japanese: Anesaki 361. |
| H1556.4.2.1 | Wife tests her husband's fidelity by tempting him in the guise of another woman. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| H479 | Wife tests—miscellaneous motifs. |
| H460 | Wife tests. Chinese: Graham. |
| T252.3 | Wife threatens husband with death if he will not tell secrets. *Type 670; **Aarne FFC XV 48ff.; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| T252.6 | Wife threatens suicide if she does not have her own way. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| N339.14 | Wife throwing husband's corpse into river (according to custom) is caught by corpse's arm and drowned. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T211.2.1 | Wife throws herself on husband's funeral pyre. Icelandic: *Boberg; Greek: Frazer Apollodorus I 375 n. 3 (Evadne); Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K1514.8 | Wife throws husband down precipice so she can be with lover. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera I 886. |
| W111.3.5 | Wife too lazy to spin. Supposed dead husband comes back to life and gives his wife a beating, because there was no shirt even in the event of death. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1370B*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1370B*. |
| T215.7 | Wife travels for years with sick husband in order to have him cured. Icelandic: Lagerholm 107—15, Boberg. |
| M292 | Wife undertakes man's penances for him: also to go to heaven for him? He has a dream and when he sees that she also goes to heaven for him he decides against the bargain. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 287. |
| T211.8 | Wife unwilling to deceive her husband for the man she loves. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| T299.2.2 | Wife warns departing hero against seductions of women. Chinese: Graham. |
| K1516.7 | Wife washes husband's hair hiding his eyes while lover escapes unseen. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| T211.4.2.1 | Wife will not give up dead body of husband to God of Death. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2079.1 | Wife wishes to be turned to gold. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T283 | Wife withholds intercourse from husband to enforce demand. Cf. Aristophanes' Lysistrata. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2338 | Wife, to drive away parasite priest, tells him husband has gone to get drunk and will kill him with rice mortar on his return. He leaves in haste. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1549.6 | Wife's attendants on trip chase wrong man as suspected lover and miss real lover. Heptameron No. 15. |
| T211.4.1 | Wife's corpse kept after death. Type 612; Wesselski Märchen 188, 191; BP I 463f.; Moth Danske Studier (1915) 97ff.; Pauls Der Ring der Fastrada (Aachen, 1896); Chauvin II 201ff.; Cowell Jataka II 108. |
| H467.2 | Wife's faithfulness tested by proposal in another's name. Olrik Zs. f. Vksk. II (1892) 254ff.; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| Q473.2.1 | Wife's paramour tied to horse's tail and conducted through streets. (Cf. Q241.) Malone PMLA XLIII 413. |
| T211.2 | Wife's suicide at husband's death. (Cf. T81.7.) Icelandic: *Boberg; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| L451 | Wild animal finds his liberty better than tame animal's ease. |
| B771 | Wild animal miraculously tamed. |
| B771.5 | Wild animal performs for king. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K133 | Wild animal sold as watch-dog. |
| B771.3 | Wild animal will not attack royal person. Dickson Valentine and Orson 198 n. 86. |
| B771.0.1 | Wild animal will not harm chaste woman. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| B251.2.7 | Wild animals as saint's disciples. *Loomis White Magic 63. |
| B845 | Wild animals herded. *Fb "hare" IV 201a; *Type 570; Irish myth: Cross. |
| B575.1 | Wild animals kept as dogs. Icel.: *Boberg; N. A. Indian: Thompson Tales 308 n. 113d; Eskimo (E. Greenland): Rasmussen I 318, 363, Rink 248 (fox), (Central Eskimo): Boas RBAE VI 599 (walrus). |
| A2294 | Wild animals lose their ferocity through fear of Behemoth. Jewish: Neuman. |
| A2531.0.1 | Wild animals lose their ferocity. Jewish: Neuman. (Cf. A2295.) |
| B558.6 | Wild animals yoked by saint to his plough. *Loomis White Magic 60. |
| L451.2 | Wild ass envies tame ass until he sees his burdens. Wienert FFC LVI 59 (ST 198), 124 (ST 328); Halm Aesop No. 321. |
| B291.3 | Wild beast as messenger. |
| G352 | Wild beast as ogre. |
| B251.4.1.1 | Wild beast seeks protection of saint against hunters. *Loomis White Magic 61f. |
| A165.2.1.1 | Wild beasts as messengers of the gods. Jewish: Neuman. |
| G352.2 | Wild boar as ogre. Cook Islands: Beckwith Myth 471. |
| K551.3.4 | Wild boar given permission to squeal before wolf eats him. Rescue arrives. *Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. IX 87; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 173; Rumanian: Schullerus FFC LXXVIII No. 91; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| D2156.4 | Wild boar reprimanded about its maraudings by saint. The command is obeyed. *Loomis White Magic 62. |
| E501.1.7.3 | Wild Edric as leader of Wild Hunt. England: *Baughman. |
| K2351.7 | Wild fawn sent by saint into hostile army, so that all follow it and leader (enemy of saint) is slain. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K2351.6 | Wild horses with bags containing stones tied to their tails, driven into enemy's camp to cause stampede. Irish myth: Cross. |
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