Folklore Database · Browse

Aarne–Thompson–Uther index

About this index and how to read it

The ATU index classifies international folktales by type. Each row gives the type number, its title and summary, followed by the references it inherits: Arne Thompson is the earlier Aarne–Thompson type number, and Thompson lists the motif references from Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature associated with that type.

Cross-references inside a summary open the relevant tale-type or motif record. Thompson motif references in the final column are linked directly to the corresponding entry in the Stith Thompson Motif Index when that reference exists in the database. Any column heading can be clicked to sort by it, and clicking again reverses the order. Following a type number opens that type on its own page.

Animal Tales 1–299

153 tale types

Sorted by earlier references, ascending

Showing 1–50 of 153 · Page 1 of 4

ATU Title Summary Arne Thompson ▲ Thompson
39 The Bear Pulls Mountain Ashes apart so that the Fox's Old Mother can Get Berries The fox eats the berries himself.
58 The Crocodile Carries the Jackal The jackal, who wants to eat fruit or carrion on the other bank, persuades a crocodile to carry him across the river by saying he will find a bride for the crocodile. He makes a dummy and, safe back on shore, sends the crocodile to that.
64 Tailless Fox Tries in Vain to Get Foxes to Cut off Tails No examples in the Database yet
81 Too cold for hare to build house in winter Too cold for hare to build house in winter, not necessary in summer: must go without a house. Cf. Types 43, 1238.
90 The Needle, the Glove, and the Squirrel The needle at first has little success; receives blows from the others. Finally it slips into an elk's stomach andkills the elk.
96 When the hare was married No examples in the Database yet
104 The Cowardly Duelers War between the domestic and wild animals. The cat raises her tail; the wild animals think it is a gun and flee. Cf. Type 222.
107 Dog Leader Fears Defeat Because his Forces are of Different Breeds. Dog leader fears defeat because his forces are of different breeds. Wolves are all of one kind.
114 Chanticleer Believes that his Crowing Makes the Sun Rise Chanticleer believes that his crowing makes the sun rise. Disappointed when it rises without his aid.
115 The Hungry Fox Waits in Vain for the Horse's Lips (Scrotum) to Fall Off The hungry fox waits in vain for the horse's lips (scrotum) to fall off .
116 The Bear on the Hay-Wagon The bear on the hay-wagon (or on the horse) is mistaken for the preacher .
118 The Lion Frightened by the Horse The horse strikes sparks with his hooves. The wolf (bear) boasts of having eaten horses. The lion thereupon picks up the wolf to show him the horse and squeezes him to death.
158 The wild animals on the sleigh The sleigh comes in two. The animals get satisfactory material for repairs from the forest. [B831]. While the owner goes for good material they eat the horse.
165 The wolf in the company of saints Promises to give up slaying animals. After wringing the gander's neck, excuses himself, saying: »He should not have hissed at the saint.« [K2055.1].
168 The musician in the wolf-trap There he encounters a wolf already trapped, and saves himself by playing music. [B848.1]. Cf. Types 160A, 1652.
171 The Three Bears No examples in the Database yet
176 The farmer tricks the jackals I. Farmer vs. jackal. (a) A jackal forces a woman carrying food to her husband to give him food. (b) The husband disguises as a woman carrying food and beats the jackal, etc. (c) The jackal threatens to defecate on the man's plow. The man affixes…
180 The rebounding bow A hunter kills several animals but is in turn bitten by a snake. A jackal comes by, nibbles at the hunter's bow, and is killed when the bow rebounds.
182 The helpful animal and the snake The helpful animal sees a snake bite his master. He catches the crow, who is the snake's confederate, and forces the snake to revive his master by sucking out the poison.
217 The Cat and the Candle A man has a cat trained to hold up lighted candles on its head. The king has a mouse let loose. The cat drops the candle and chases the mouse. (Often used as a method of cheating in a game [N7].)
220 The Council of Birds The eagle as judge assigns each his place and work.
223 The Bird and the Jackal
  • I. The jackal asks the bird to obtain food. The bird flies near men carrying baskets of food. They drop them to pursue bird and jackal eats food. See Type 1*.
  • II. The jackal asks the bird to make him laugh. The bird alights on the men's heads so that they strike one another. III. The jackal asks the bird to make him cry. The bird leads men or dogs to his hiding place. IV. The jackal asks the bird to save its life. The bird entices the jackal into power of the crocodile, then strikes crocodile so that jackal escapes.
    		•
    224 Wedding of the Turkey and the Peacock All birds are invited to the wedding except the eagle. This omission starts a great conflict.
    226 The Goose Teaches the Fox to Swim Shakes him off in the water.
    229 The Hawk Frightened at the Snipe's Bill No examples in the Database yet
    230 The Rearing of the Large-headed and Large-eyed Bird When the one rearing the owl learns its great age he kills it.
    238 The Keen Sight of the Dove and the Keen Hearing of the Frog They boast to each other.
    239 The Crow Helps the Deer Escape from the Snare The deer aids the jackal, but when the deer is caught in a snare the jackal refuses to help him. On the advice of the crow the deer feigns death. When the hunter releases him, he bounds away.
    241 The Officious Bird and the Monkey A bird, sitting in its nest during a cold rain, asks shivering monkey why it doesn't build a house since it has hands like a man. The enraged monkey destroys the bird's nest.
    243 The Parrot Pretends to be God Cf. Types 1380, 1422. I. The Tell-tale Parrot. (a) A parrot decides a lawsuit against a woman,or (b) reports a woman's infidelity to her husband. (c) The woman orders the…
    245 Tame Bird and Wild Bird The tame bird advises the wild bird to look about him. The wild bird is shot. Cf. Type 112.
    246 The Hunter Bends the Bow One bird escapes; other remains and is shot. (Told also of fish.)
    252 The Pike and the Snake Race to Land The winner is to remain on land.
    123 The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids The wolf comes in the absence of the mother and eats up the kids . The old goat cuts the wolf open and rescues them . Cf. Type 333. , 122E, 123, 123B F913., K1832., K553.2., K828.1., Q426.
    130 Outcast Animals Find a New Home They drive away an intruder. , 130, 130A B296., K1161., K335., NA
    150 The Bird's Three Precepts A man releases a fox (bird) if the latter will give him three counsels: "When you have a fox, don't let him loose." , 150 J21.12., J21.13., J21.14., K604.
    50 Curing a Sick Lion The fox pretends to seek a remedy for the lion; advises him to skin the wolf . , 50, 50A, 50C J644.1., K961., W121.2.1.,           ,            
    68 The Jackal Trapped in the Animal Hide
  • I. Entering the Elephant. (a) An elephant lets his friend the jackal enter his body to drink water. The jackal eats the internal organs and the elephant dies. The jackal is trapped in the carcass. (b) A jackal eats its way into a carcass which it finds and is trapped inside when the skin dries.
  • II. Jackal and the God. (a) A god passes and the jackal challenges him to a rain-making contest. The god sends rain, the carcass swells, and the jackal escapes. (b) The jackal pretends to be a god and frightens people into bringing sacrifice and pouring water over the carcass.
    		•  , 68, 68*, 68A J2131.5.7., J655.2., K1022.1.1., K565.2.
    78 Animal Allows himself to be Tied to Another for Safety Animal allows himself to be tied to another for safety. Carried to his death. , 78, 78A K713.1.1., K713.1.2.,               
    92 The Lion in the Water The hare, sent to be the lion's dinner, says he has been detained by a more powerful enemy and shows the lion his own reflection in a well. The lion leaps in and is drowned. Cf. Types 34, 34A, 1168A, 1336, 1383. , 92 K1715.1.,              
    1 The theft of fish The fox plays dead; a man throws him on his wagon of fish. The fox throws the fish off and carries them away. The wolf imitates and is caught. 1, 1* K371.1., NA
    100 The Wolf as the Dog's Guest Sings The wolf as the dog's guest sings. Has drunk too much. Sings in spite of the dog's objections. Is killed. 100 J581.1.
    101 The old dog rescues the child A farmer plans to kill a faithful old dog. The wolf makes a plan to save the dog. The latter is to rescue the farmer's child from the wolf. The plan succeeds. The wolf in return wants to steal the farmer's sheep. The dog objects and loses the wolf's friendship. 101 K231.1.3.
    102 The Dog as Wolf's Shoemaker The dog as wolf 's shoemaker. He demands material for the shoes and then successively eats up the cow, hog, etc. furnished him. 102 K254.1.
    103 War between Wild Animals and Domestic Animals The cat shrieks; the bear falls out of the tree and breaks his backbone. 103, 103A, 103A*, 104 B262., B281.9.1., NA
    105 The fox and the cat The cat has only one trick and saves herself in a tree. The fox who knows a hundred tricks is captured. 105, 105* J1662., K522.
    106 The Animal's Conversation Animals' conversation (imitation of animal sounds). 106 NA
    43 The Bear Builds a House of Wood; the Fox, of Ice In summer the fox wants to drive the bear out of his house Cf. Types 81, 1097, 1238. 1097, 43 J741.1.
    110 Belling the Cat The mice buy a bell for the cat but no one dares tie it on her. 110 J671.1.
    111 The Cat and the Mouse Converse The mouse tells the cat a tale. The cat answers, »Even so, I eat you up.» 111, 111A, 111A* K561.1.1., NA, U31.

    Showing 1–50 of 153 · Page 1 of 4





    If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help

    How to cite: Fielder-White, Jonathan (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com ORCID iD 0009-0006-1672-4451
    Please cite the relevant sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including the Folklore Database, Berezkin-Duvakin Catalogue, ATU, Thompson, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed. Please respect copyright and licenses.

    Editorial annotations and database enhancements © Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-Duvakin derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
    All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.

    Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.

    Designed and Developed by Jonathan Fielder-White.
    © 2024–2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.