Stith Thompson motif index · Motif

Thompson J1815 — Did the calf eat the man? A fool, liking the shoes on the feet of a man hanged on a gallows, cuts off the swollen feet in order to carry off the shoes

J1815
Thompson motif reference
J
The Wise and the Foolish
1
Associated ATU tale types

Description

Motif

Did the calf eat the man? A fool, liking the shoes on the feet of a man hanged on a gallows, cuts off the swollen feet in order to carry off the shoes. In the room in which he sleeps that night is a newborn calf. The next morning the man takes the shoes but leaves the feet. Peasants agree that the calf has eaten the man all but the feet. They burn the house to destroy the calf. Type 1281; *Wesselski Bebel I 231 No. 144; Danish: Christensen DF L 65, Nyrop Dania I (1890) 283ff., cf. II 68ff.; U.S.: Baughman.

Associated ATU tale types

Concordance

These links are derived from the Thompson motif references stored in the Folklore Database's ATU concordance.

ATUTitle
ATU 1281A Burning the Barn to Destroy an Unknown Animal