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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.
Anecdotes and Jokes 1200–1999
| ATU | Title | Summary | Arne Thompson | Thompson ▲ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1551 | The Wager that Sheep are Hogs | A trickster wagers with a sheep driver that the sheep he is driving are hogs. The next man to overtake them will act as umpire. The trickster's confederate now arrives and declares that they are hogs. [K451.2]. | 1551 | K451.2. |
| 1526 | The Old Beggar and the Robbers | The robbers dress an old beggar up in fine clothes. They take him in front of the shopkeeper's house. Get many goods on the credit of the fine gentleman. Disappear with the goods and leave the old man behind. [K455.3]. Cf. Types 1531, l920E. | , 1526A | K455.1., K455.2. |
| 1556 | The Double Pension (Burial Money) | A husband and wife are jointly under a pension from the king. She reports her husband dead and gets the whole pension. He likewise reports her dead and gets the whole money. [K441.1]. (Sometimes concerned with money for the burial.) (K482.1). | 1556 | K482.1. |
| 1589 | The Lawyer's Dog Steals Meat | The lawyer tells the butcher that the dog's owner (himself) is liable for damages. He asks double the amount of the damages as fee. [K488]. | 1589 | K488. |
| 1527 | The Robbers are Betrayed | The master and servant exchange places for a day. The servant in tar and feathers. Has his former master take him to the robbers' house. They flee in terror and leave their treasure behind. Cf. Types 1525H, 1650, 1653, 1654**. [K335.1, K335.1.8]. | , 1527A | K630., K724. |
| 1650 | The Three Lucky Brothers | Their inheritances: a cock, a scythe, a cat. The fortunate sales. I. The Inheritances. (a) The eldest brother inherits a cock, the second a scythe (see Type 1202), the youngest a cat (see Type 1651); or (b) they inherit a millstone, a musical… | , 1650 | N411., N411.1.1., N411.2., N411.2.1. |
| 1577 | Blind Men Duped into Fighting: Money to be Devided | Trickster says that he is giving one of them money to be divided with the others. Gives it to none. They quarrel and fight. [K1081.1]. (Cf. K1883.6.) | 1577* | N455.1. |
| 1241 | The tree is to be pulled down | Fools try to save tree on cliff. All on rope pull out tree. It pulls them down into pit. | 1241A | na |
| 1342 | Hot and Cold with the Same Breath | No examples in the Database yet | 1342 | NA |
| 1533 | The wise carving of the fowl | A clever person divides it symbolically head to head of house, neck to wife, wings to daughters, legs to sons; keeps rest for himself. (Cf. Type 875 II e.) [H601]. | 1533 | NA |
| 1535 | The Rich Peasant and the Poor Peasant | I. (a) Twee broers, (a1) mannen, (a2) boeren, (a3) neven, (a4) een boer en een jongen, (a5) zijn arbeider, (a6) een woonwagenbewoner. (b) Grote en Kleine Doeke, (b1) Klaas, (b2) Obe, (b3) Oege, (b4) Grote Arend en Kleine Hendrik, (b5) Hearke en… | 1535 | na |
| 1600 | The fool as murderer | The brothers put a he-goat in place of the body and thus save their brother. [H472.1, K661.1]. Cf. Type 1381B, C, E. | 1600 | NA |
| 1891 | The Great Rabbit-Catch | The rabbits freeze their feet fast to the ice at night [X1115.1]. | 1891B*, 1893A* | NA, X1114.1. |
| 1920 | Contest in lying | The one says, - and yet lies [X905.4]. The great catch of fish [X1150.1]. Cf. Type 1960C. | , 1920, 1920A, 1920B, 1920D, 1920E*, 1920F*, 1920H, 1920H* | NA, X1215.8., X904.1., X904.2., X905., X905.4., X908. |
| 1678 | The boy who had never seen a woman | When he sees a girl and asks his father what it is, the father tells him it is Satan. Asked what he most likes, he says »The Satans». [T371]. | 1678 | T371. |
| 1950 | The three lazy ones | Who is the laziest. Each recounts a proof of his laziness. [W111.1]. | , 1950 | W111.1., W111.1.1., W111.1.2., W111.1.3. |
| 1561 | The boy 'loses his sight' | No examples in the Database yet | 1561 | W111.2.6. |
| 1951 | Is Wood Split? | A lazy man asks if wood is split before he accepts it as a gift [W111.5.12]. Sometimes, if rice is cooked. | 1951 | W111.5.10. |
| 1348 | The Imaginative Boy | No examples in the Database yet | 1348 | W211.2. |
| 1894 | The man shoots a ramrod full of ducks | No examples in the Database yet | 1894 | X1111. |
| 1895 | A man wading in water catching many fish in his boots | No examples in the Database yet | 1895 | X1112. |
| 1916 | The Breathing Tree | A hunter cuts down a tree packed so full of animal that a crack opens as the animals inhale, closes when they exhale. | 1916 | X1116. |
| 1890 | The lucky shot | Discharge of gun kills the heath-cock, which falls on the sprouts on the tree, which kills the bear, etc. [X1124.3]. | 1890, 1890D, 1890E, 1890F | X1122.2., X1122.3., X1124.3. |
| 1896 | Hunting the wolves with rod and line | No examples in the Database yet | 1896 | X1132.1. |
| 1875 | The Boy on the Wolf's Tail | He hides himself in the mill and frightens the robbers from their treasure; cf. Type 1653. Is hidden in a barrel. Holds fast to the wolf's tail through a hole in the barrel. [X1133.3]. Cf. Types 169H*, 1229, 1900. | 1875 | X1133.3. |
| 1229 | If the Wolf's Tail Breaks | Trickster and companion are wolf hunting. The companion goes into the wolf hole. The wolf comes out. The other catches the wolf by the tail and the wolf scratches dust into the companion's eyes. »What a dust.» - »If the wolf's tail breaks, you… | 1229 | X1133.3.2. |
| 1940 | The Extraordinary Names | The place where animals and things have extraordinary names. | 1940 | X1506. |
| 1927 | The Cold May Night | A very cold night comes in May. Hearing of a much colder night long ago, a man sets out to find about it. In his travels he comes to (a) an otter lying in a deep hole on top of a rock: he has been so long lying there that the rock has been worn… | 1927 | X1620. |
| 1911 | Cart as Legs | Small cart serves as back legs for crippled sow. Pigs have also these carts. (Similar stories about other animals.) [X1202.1]. | 1911A | X1721.1. |
| 1882 | The Man who Fell out of a Balloon | Buried in the earth, he goes to get a spade to dig himself out. | 1882 | X1731.2.1., X1757. |
| 1965 | Lying tales | No examples in the Database yet | 1965 | X1791. |