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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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| K929.11 | Concealed weapons in food basket sent king: kills servant who opens it. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K365.1 | Confederate allows self to be sold as slave. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K451.5 | Confederate answers for corpse. Man poses as returned heir to dead man; pretends to address corpse for identification. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K649.9 | Confederate causes confusion so that prisoner can escape. Icelandic: Bуsa saga 47—48, Boberg. |
| K647 | Confederate cuts rope almost in two so that prisoner breaks it and flees. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K649.1 | Confederate hides fugitive. |
| K649.7.3 | Confederate in disguise as "troll" frightens king's men, while his daughter helps prisoner to escape. (Cf. F455.) Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K649.7.1 | Confederate in disguise as beggar helps to escape. Icelandic: FSS 21—24, 27—32, Boberg. |
| K649.7 | Confederate in disguise helps man escape. |
| K649.12 | Confederate persuades captor to throw away disguised trickster. West Indies: Flowers 520—2. |
| K649.8 | Confederate saves fugitive by shammed pursuit. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K643 | Confederate sings and delays pursuers so that fugitive escapes. Africa (Basuto): Jacottet 160 No. 23. |
| K649.1.3 | Confederate sits on hero and saves him. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 231. |
| K235.4 | Conquered warrior kills victor instead of paying. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K437.4 | Conqueror of robber discovers his money-stick. Thinking that he has killed the robber, the man takes his stick or knife with big handle. The robber recovers and, disguised as a beggar, inquisitively looks at the stick. The man is suspicious and by examining finds much money inside it. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 962*; Russian: Andrejev No. 961 I*. |
| K63 | Contest in biting a stone. The ogre bites a stone; the man a nut. *Types 1061, 1640; BP I 68 n. 1, II 528; India: Thompson-Balys; Africa (Ila, Rhodesia): Smith and Dale II 387 No. 13. |
| K48 | Contest in bridge-building won by deception. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K25.2 | Contest in flying with load. One animal chooses cotton; the other, seeing that a rain is coming, chooses salt and wins. Dh III 142. |
| K86 | Contest in hearing. *Type 238. |
| K17.2 | Contest in jumping from the church tower. The devil is not to look behind him. The man runs downstairs (or otherwise cheats). Type 1075*; *Bolte Frey 222 No. 19. |
| K17.3 | Contest in jumping into a trap. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 134. |
| K61 | Contest in pushing hole in tree: hole prepared beforehand. Hero and ogre to vie in pushing a hole in a tree with their heads. *Type 1085, 1640; BP I 163; Köhler-Bolte I 86. |
| K83.2 | Contest in scratching skin off each other: covering self with several ox-hides. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1098*. |
| K52.2 | Contest in seeing sunrise first: sleeper wins. One keeps awake, the other sleeps. The first thinks that he sees the sun and cries out prematurely, thus waking the other, who wins. *Dh III 147f. |
| K52.1 | Contest in seeing sunrise first: sun on the trees. The fox places himself on a hill facing the east; the hog in a lower place facing the high trees to the west. The sun shines on the top of the trees, and the hog wins. (Sometimes told with human actors.) *Type 120; Dh III 147ff., 150ff.; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 269; Irish: Jackson FL XLVII 285; Japanese: Ikeda. Cf. Harris Friends 3 No. 1. |
| K52 | Contest in seeing sunrise first. |
| K85 | Contest in seeing. *Type 238. |
| K84.1 | Contest in shrieking or whistling. *Type 1084; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 107. |
| K62 | Contest in squeezing water from a stone. The ogre squeezes a stone; the trickster a cheese or egg. *Types 1060, 1640; *BP I 148; *Fb "sten" III 554a, "øst" II 763a; Danish: Kristensen Danske Sagn I (1892) 438; Philippine: Fansler MAFLS XII 51; Caucasian: Dirr Kaukasische Märchen 7 No. 2; Malay: Hambruch Malaiische Märchen 109; Africa: Frobenius Atlantis IX 289; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Remus 146 No. 30. |
| K305 | Contest in stealing. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K70 | Contest in strength won by deception. |
| K69.1 | Contest with magician in bringing grain out of closed bamboo: trickster brings culm-borers to make holes. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K5 | Contest with magician won by deception. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K0 | Contest won by deception—general. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K1 | Contest won by magic. India: Thompson-Balys; S. A. Indian (Chincha, Peru): Alexander Lat. Am. 231. |
| K42.0.1 | Contest: harvesting the hay. The man calls out, "The wolves are coming!" The ogre is intimidated. Type 1053*. |
| K17.1 | Contest: jumping into the ground. A hole is already dug and covered with boughs. *Type 1086. |
| K64 | Contest: pulling on steak with teeth. Two men take an end of a steak in their teeth; each attempts to pull it away from the other. After each has a good hold, the Irishman says (with clenched teeth) "Noo're ready?" The Dutchman says, "Yah!", loses the steak. (Cf. K22, K561.1.) U.S.: *Baughman. |
| K31.1 | Contest: shooting an unheard-of bird. The man sends his wife on all fours in tar and feathers. The ogre has never heard of such a bird. *Type 1092. |
| K17.1.1 | Contest: who can go deepest into the earth? Wren goes into mouse hole. *Type 221; *BP III 278; *Dh IV 169. |
| K81.4 | Contest: who will eat least. Food secretly furnished one, but plan detected and foiled. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1568A*. |
| K80 | Contests in other physical accomplishments won by deception. |
| K447 | Contraband gold discovered when king offers large price for gold. Wesselski Archiv Orientální I 77. |
| K825.1 | Cormorant's tongue pulled out by putting louse on it. Dh III 28; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 306 n. 109aa. |
| K2321 | Corpse set up to frighten people. *Type 1536; *Taylor MPh XV 225 n. 1; Parsons MAFLS XV (1) 73, 360; Icelandic: *Boberg; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K335.1.2.1 | Corpse thrown among robbers frightens them from treasure. *Type 1653B. |
| K487 | Counselor accuses conspirators in order to confiscate their estates. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1812.20 | Count in disguise. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| K275 | Counting out pay. Hole in the hat and hat over a pit. *Type 1130; *BP III 421; Lithuanian: Balys Legends No. 752. |
| K302.1 | Courtesan runs away with men's goods. (Cf. K306.3.) Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 350f. |
| K521.3.1 | Covering self with clay so as to escape. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K1425 | Covering the whole wagon with tar. Type 1017. |
| K361.6 | Covetous husband desiring wife's jewels tells her he has vowed to offer them to deity. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 356. |
| K366.1.2 | Cow enticed away by calf. Brothers are given the choice of a cow or a calf. One chooses the cow and thinks that he has the best of the bargain. The cow longs for the calf and returns to it. Indo-Chinese: Scott Indo-Chinese 296. |
| K366.1.1 | Cow makes a hundred-fold return. The trickster has a cow that leads the parson's cows to him. He thus tests the parson's text, "He who gives in God's name shall have it back a hundred-fold." *Type 1735; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 324; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 25; *Wesselski Mönchslatein 167 No. 129. |
| K335.1.1.2 | Cow-hide falls on robbers from tree. They flee and leave money. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K1953.1 | Coward boasts that he has frightened bear away. His wife has killed it and he has fled. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K941.1 | Cows killed for their hides when large price is reported by trickster. *Type 1535; *BP II 1ff.; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda; Indonesia: Coster-Wijsman 27 No. 5. |
| K366.1.4 | Cows turned into rice field. Later made to disgorge rice. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K347 | Cozening. Trickster's claim of relationship causes owner to relax vigilance. Goods stolen. Type 314*; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K953.3 | Crab carried by crane, clings round his neck and cuts off his head with pincers. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 260. |
| K255.2 | Crab demands seven patas as payment for four patas of paddy frog has borrowed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K772.1 | Crabs induced to take moonlight walks: eaten. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K455.8 | Credit based on forgery. |
| K242 | Creditor falsely reported insane when he demands money. *Wesselski Arlotto II 225 No. 92; Gonnella 98 No. 2; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1525L*; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K235 | Creditor killed or driven away. |
| K238.1 | Creditor to wait till debtor is shaved. The debtor refuses to finish shaving. Wesselski Bebel I 227 No. 132. |
| K2272 | Crippled villain. Malone PMLA XLIII 417 n. 9. |
| K551.22.3 | Crocodile grants boy five days respite from death. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1055.1 | Crocodile hides in strawstack and is burned to death. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K607.2.1 | Crocodile in ambush betrays self by talking. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K607.2 | Crocodile masking as a log obeys suggestion that he move upstream. He thus betrays himself. Indonesia: *DeVries's list No. 29, *Dixon 190 n. 12. |
| K561.3 | Crocodile persuaded to open his mouth. When he does, he shuts his eyes automatically and monkey escapes. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 853. |
| K2061.8 | Crocodile tells dog to drink in river without fear: plan detected. Wienert FFC LVI 53 (ET 130), 96 (ST 101). |
| K2026 | Crow accepts owl's hospitality then burns owls to death. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K642.1 | Crow and rat release deer from snare. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K354.1 | Crow asks hospitality of sparrow and gradually takes possession of nest and kills young. (Often told of camel and tent.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K401.2.1 | Crow causes serpent to try to swallow a stolen collar and thus be accused of the theft. Chauvin II 87 No. 23; Penzer V 47 n. 3, 214, 226f. |
| K255.3 | Crow demands young swan in payment for helping swan find feed for its young. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2042 | Crow gets to owls pretending crows have cast him out. Having learned secret retreats of owls, he returns to crows and leads them to victory over owls. B[ö]dker Exempler 293 No. 52; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K359.4 | Crow makes friends with pigeon so as to be able to steal food in household to which he belongs. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera I 557. |
| K811.3 | Cruel king lured to enemy's power by invitation to false execution. He comes to see a girl die and is killed himself. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K1501.2 | Cuckold feigns to be asleep when paramour calls. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K1514.4.2.1 | Cuckold husband hides under bed. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 4. |
| K1566.1 | Cuckold unwittingly lies with wife on chest containing her hidden paramour. Italian Novella: Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1501 | Cuckold. Husband deceived by adulterous wife. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1566 | Cuckolded man shuts wife's paramour in chest and lies on the chest with latter's wife. Boccaccio Decameron VIII No. 8 (Lee 261); Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K91 | Cursing contest. Arrow sent as a curse. Aarne FFC III 44 No. 1094. |
| K247 | Customer takes invitation to buy as invitation to receive the goods free. England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| K1512.1 | Cut-off finger proves wife's chastity. A chaste wife substitutes a maidservant for seducer. A finger and ring are cut off as proof of wife's unfaithfulness (chastity wager with husband). Refuted by husband, who knows they are not his wife's. Cf. Type 882; Köhler-Bolte I 375; Child V 497 s.v. "Substitution"; Wesselski Märchen 213 No. 19; Irish myth: Cross; Welsh: MacCulloch Celtic 110. |
| K678 | Cutting rope to kill ogre who is climbing the rope to reach his victim. Indonesia: Dixon 227; Marquesas: Handy 41; Africa (Gold Coast): Barker and Sinclair 97ff. No. 18. |
| K637 | Cutting thongs of sleds prevents pursuit. Eskimo (Greenland): Rink 131, 448, 469, (Central Eskimo): Boas RBAE VI 634, (Smith Sound): Kroeber JAFL XII 167. |
| K251.3 | Damages claimed for loss of a charm. Princess lets trickster's fly (alleged to be a charm) escape. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K251.5 | Damages for accidentally broken water pot: to pay for elephant. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K251.4 | Damages for supposedly lost horse. Horse concealed by owner in loft of stable at inn. Pierre Faifeu No. 46. |
| K916 | Dancer stabs spectator. Uses one of the figures of the dance as a ruse. *Chauvin V 84 No. 24 n. 1; India: Thompson-Balys; N. A. Indian (Blackfoot): Wissler and Duvall PaAM II 57. |
| K231.2.1 | Dancers given one coin instead of ten and have this taken away. Interpreter says they are complaining that the coin is bad. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2260 | Dark traitors. Persons darks by race, habitual occupation, or complexion, or even marvelously colored, are frequently traitors in folk-tales. |
| K2214.1.1 | Daughter has aged father cremated with dead husband to honor the latter. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K976 | Daughter pulls out father's magic life-containing hair. As soon as it is taken out he dies. Greek: Frazer Apollodorus II 117 n. 3 (Nisus). |
| K2152.1 | Dead dog set up so that woman knocks it over. Must pay damages. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1885 | Dead made to appear alive. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K557 | Death cheated by moving bed. The man who has chosen Death as his godfather has his bed turned around when he sees Death standing at the foot of his bed. He thus escapes death. *Type 332; *BP I 377ff.; Wesselski Märchen 214 No. 17; **Christiansen Danske Studier (1915) 72ff.; Icelandic: Sveinsson FFC LXXXIII No. 332; Jewish: *Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| K520 | Death escaped through disguise, shamming, or substitution. |
| K511.1 | Death evaded by persuading executioner that another victim was ordered. (E.g., boy has been ordered to kill hare. Hare persuades the boy that the father said, "Kill the rooster for the hare.") Africa (Nyika): Bachmann ZsKS VI 84f., Meinhof Afrikanische Märchen 95ff. No. 18, (Namwanga): Dewar Chinamwanga Stories (Livingstonia, 1900) 57ff., (Kaffir): Alexander und Mohl Mitt. d. Sem. f. Orient. Sprachen VIII 15ff. No. 5. |
| K1861 | Death feigned in order to be carried. India: Thompson-Balys; N. A. Indian (Klikitat): Jacobs U Wash II 35; Africa (Bayaka): Johnson Grenfell 823. |
| K1866 | Death feigned in order to enter land of dead. Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 147. |
| K1538.2 | Death feigned so man can live with mistress. Eskimo (Aleut): Golder JAFL XXII 10. |
| K246 | Death feigned to avoid paying debts. Pierre Faifeu No. 36; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K522.3 | Death feigned to escape from husband's death plot. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K522.0.1 | Death feigned to escape unwelcome marriage. (Cf. K523.0.1.) *Chauvin V 134 No. 63; *Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. XXI 284; Child II 355—367, III 517, IV 482ff., V 234a, 296b; *Wesselski Märchen 198; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 857*; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV No. 885*; Russian: Andrejev No. 885*; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1865 | Death feigned to establish reputation of false relic. False resuscitation. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1863 | Death feigned to learn how soldiers are resuscitated. Icelandic: Boberg; Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1862 | Death feigned to meet lover. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1538 | Death feigned to meet paramour. Meetings in the grave (grave box). *Wesselski Märchen 197; *Child V 3f., 6, 280; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 876; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 305 n. 109t. |
| K1352 | Death feigned to woo maiden. She shows remorse when she hears of his death. |
| K2313 | Death message softened by equivocations. Various false explanations are given to prepare the hearer. English: Child I 376—387 passim. |
| K510 | Death order evaded. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K231.12 | Debt to be paid "tomorrow". Tomorrow never comes. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K231.5 | Debt with worthless bond repudiated. |
| K231 | Debtor refuses to pay his debt. |
| K231.7 | Debtor tells creditor that he has had his reward in the hope of payment. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 741. |
| K714.9 | Deceived lion stuck in cave entrance; becomes food for hare. Africa (Wachaga): Gutmann 190. |
| K1601 | Deceiver falls into his own trap (literally). Arranges a trap or pitfall but is himself caught. Type 1117; Africa: Werner African 214, (Hottentot): Bleek 78; Jamaica: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 254 No. 33; West Indies: Flowers 539. |
| K1610 | Deceiver falls into his own trap—miscellaneous incidents. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1600 | Deceiver falls into own trap. Indonesia: DeVries's list Nos. 59-79; Philippine: Fansler MAFLS XII 264f. |
| K1618 | Deceiver in swinging contest killed. Old woman planning to kill hero in swinging game by cutting rope is killed when hero cuts the rope first. N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 324 n. 169. |
| K2371 | Deceiving the higher powers (God, the saints, the gods, fate). U.S.: Baughman. |
| K1800 | Deception by disguise or illusion. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K1810 | Deception by disguise. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K2319 | Deception by equivocation—miscellaneous. |
| K2310 | Deception by equivocation. Irish myth: *Cross; Missouri French: Carrière. |
| K1860 | Deception by feigned death (sleep). India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K2320 | Deception by frightening. Missouri French: Carrière; Spanish: Espinosa Jr. No. 5; West Indies: Flowers 536. |
| K773 | Deception by having victim pick trickster's teeth. Cape Verde Islands: Parsons MAFLS XV (1) 7 n. 1, 15, 60. |
| K818.4 | Deception by hiding weapons. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1892 | Deception by hiding. Icelandic: *Boberg; Missouri French: Carrière. |
| K1871 | Deception by legerdemain. Irish: MacCulloch Celtic 60, *Cross; Jewish: *Neuman; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1981 | Deception by playing deaf and dumb. |
| K1818.6 | Deception by pretended faint. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K874 | Deception by pretended lousing. Irish myth: Cross: India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda; N. A. Indian (Klikitat): Jacobs U Wash II 12; S. A. Indian (Yuracare): Métraux BBAE CXLIII (3) 502, RMLP XXXIII 144. |
| K1868 | Deception by pretending sleep. Malone PMLA XLIII 406; Irish myth: Cross; India: *Thompson-Balys; Hawaii: Beckwith Myth 382. |
| K1875 | Deception by sham blood. By stabbing bag of blood (or otherwise) trickster makes dupe think that he is bleeding. *Types 3, 1535, 1539; *BP II 1ff., 10ff.; Missouri French: Carrière; Japanese: Ikeda; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 287; West Indies: Flowers 547. |
| K1847 | Deception by substitution of children. |
| K1846 | Deception by substitution: wife substitutes calf for beggar whom drunken husband wants to catch and abuse. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| K1840 | Deception by substitution. Irish myth: Cross; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1500 | Deception connected with adultery. |
| K200 | Deception in payment of debt. |
| K24 | Deception in swinging contest. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 24. |
| K713 | Deception into allowing oneself to be fettered. |
| K715 | Deception into allowing oneself to be hanged. ("Show me how!") Executioner must show the hero how to use the gallows. The hero hangs the executioner. M. Bloomfield in Penzer VII xiii; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K713.1 | Deception into allowing oneself to be tied. Irish myth: Cross; Spanish: Espinosa III Nos. 163—67; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 20; West Indies: Flowers 522f. |
| K717 | Deception into bottle (vessel). Insects (or a spirit) having escaped from a bottle are told that they cannot return. They accept the challenge and go back into the bottle. *Type 331; *BP II 414ff. (spirit); Jewish: *Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Graham; Africa (Gold Coast): Barker and Sinclair 29 No. 1 (bees). |
| K1020 | Deception into disastrous attempt to procure food. |
| K711 | Deception into entering bag. Spanish: Espinosa Jr. Nos. 163—167; India: *Thompson-Balys; West Indies: Flowers 522. |
| K714 | Deception into entering box (or prison). |
| K840 | Deception into fatal substitution. |
| K455 | Deception into giving false credit. |
| K1240 | Deception into humiliating position—miscellaneous. |
| K1200 | Deception into humiliating position. |
| K940 | Deception into killing own family or animals. |
| K477.2 | Deception into listening to speaker. He secures the audience's attention by beginning a tale. He then launches into his speech. Wesselski Mönchslatein 74 No. 64; Wienert FFC LVI 38; Halm Aesop Nos 177, 339. |
| K711.1 | Deception into magic bag which closes on prisoner. Irish myth: Cross; Welsh: MacCulloch Celtic 94. |
| K713.2 | Deception into putting on a collar. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 11. |
| K1000 | Deception into self-injury. Japanese: Ikeda; Indonesia: DeVries's list Nos. 9—20. |
| K1700 | Deception through bluffing. |
| K1010 | Deception through false doctoring. Type 1136; Chinese: Graham. |
| K170 | Deception through pseudo-simple bargain. |
| K1871.1 | Deception: climbing silk thread tossed upward in air. Irish: MacCulloch Celtic 60, *Cross. |
| K1883.7 | Deception: mirror-reflection convinces dupe he is trickster's captive. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K249 | Deceptions in payment of debt—miscellaneous. |
| K1110 | Deceptions into self injury-miscellaneous. |
| K944 | Deceptive agreement to kill wives (children). Trickster shams the murder; dupe kills his. *Beckwith MAFLS XVII 241; India: *Thompson-Balys; Africa: Weeks Jungle 384, (Thonga): Junod 217, (Fang): Einstein 155, (Cameroon): Meinhof 70, 73, Lederbogen 77, (Fjort): Dennett 85 No. 20, (Wute): Sieber ZsES XII 56, (Jaunde): Heepe 105, (Wachaga): Gutmann 186f. |
| K193 | Deceptive bargain based on an unusual name. Japanese: Ikeda; West Indies: Flowers 498. |
| K186 | Deceptive bargain with ogre: buying trees. Trees to be neither straight nor crooked. *Type 1048. |
| K181 | Deceptive bargain: a peck of grain for each stack. The man who is to receive this share of the crop makes very small stacks. *Type 1155. |
| K174 | Deceptive bargain: a sack of corn as reward. Trickster has an enormous sack made. *Wesselski Gonnella 131 No. 25. |
| K182 | Deceptive bargain: an ox for five pennies. A woman who has been left the ox on condition that she give the proceeds to the poor offers it for five pennies, but it must be bought along with a cock at twelve florins. She gives the five pennies to the poor and keeps the twelve florins. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 462; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 188 No. 370; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *2449. |
| K173 | Deceptive bargain: as much bread as he wants to eat. The baker fixes his price at the rate for twenty loaves. The trickster eats thirty. *Chauvin II 125 No. 124. |
| K199.1 | Deceptive bargain: as much gold in reward as sticks to poet's hair when poured over him: he smears it with tar. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K174.1 | Deceptive bargain: as much grain as will go in a rope. Trickster encloses whole crop. Scotch: Campbell-McKay No. 30. |
| K177 | Deceptive bargain: fasting together. The servant girl eats secretly; the miser starves. Danish: Kristensen Jyske Folkeminder VII No. 30; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1568A*. |
| K178 | Deceptive bargain: felling the tree. The ogre and the trickster agree to fell a large tree. The trickster purposely dulls his axe on a stone and then asks the ogre to exchange. Rather than work with a dull axe, the ogre does all the work. *Type 1050. |
| K176 | Deceptive bargain: first to say "Good morning." The first to give the greeting shall have the disputed property. The trickster is early on the scene and witnesses the other's adultery. He may keep the property without saying good morning. *Type 1735; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 324. |
| K183 | Deceptive bargain: the ogre and the copper coins. Every time the copper coin is paid out, the ogre must make a new one. The man buys an extensive property and pays with a large number of copper coins. He threatens to buy another and the ogre goes back on his contract. Type 1182*. |
| K175 | Deceptive bargain: three wishes. The ogre is to fulfill three wishes of the peasant. The latter wishes for all the tobacco and brandy in the world and then some more brandy in addition. The devil must admit failure. Type 1173*. |
| K100 | Deceptive bargains. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K72 | Deceptive contest in carrying a horse. The ogre carries it on his back and soon tires; the man carries it between his legs (rides). *Type 1082; Köhler-Bolte I 473. |
| K71 | Deceptive contest in carrying a tree: riding. The trickster has the dupe carry the branches of a tree while he carries the trunk. He rides on the trunk. *Type 1052; *BP I 149; Africa (Dzalamo): Meinhof ZsES XI 280. Cf. Type 1640. |
| K44.1 | Deceptive contest in chopping: iron in bamboo. Hero challenged to cut down bundles of bamboo suspended in air but a strip of iron is treacherously inserted in each. Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 266. |
| K44 | Deceptive contest in chopping. Type 1065*. |
| K82.3 | Deceptive contest in drinking whisky. The man drinks water, the devil is given vinegar. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1089*. |
| K53 | Deceptive contest in fasting. Irish myth: *Cross; Louisiana Creole: Fortier MAFLS II 34ff.; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 133; Africa (Nigeria): Dayrell 153ff.; Bahama: Parsons MAFLS XIII 97 No. 51; Jamaica: *Beckwith MAFLS XVII 261f. No. 61; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 370 No. 66. |
| K74 | Deceptive contest in pulling fingers. The man has an iron finger. Type 1064*. |
| K73 | Deceptive contest in squeezing hands. The man has an iron glove on. Type 1060*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1060*. |
| K171.1 | Deceptive crop division: above the ground, below the ground. Of root crops the ogre (stupid animal) chooses the tops; of other crops the roots. (Cf. J242.8.) *Type 1030; *BP III 355, 363 n. 1; **J. Hackman "Sagan om skördelningen" Folkloristika och etnografiska studier III 140ff.; *Krohn "Bar (Wolf) und Fuchs" JSFO VI 104ff.; Wünsche Teufel 70ff.; Taylor PMLA XXXVI 58 n. 34; *Köhler-Bolte I 69; **Hdwb. d. Märchens I 193a, 593b; *Fb "rød".—Danish: Kristensen Danske Sagn I (1892) 441, (1928) 271; Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 324 No. 161; Missouri French: Carrière; Spanish Exempla: Keller; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda; West Indies: Flowers 497; N. A. Indian: Thompson CColl II 441, 447ff.; American Negro: Parsons JAFL XXX 175. |
| K1889.2 | Deceptive cure by illusion. Man told that he can be cured only with blood of his own child. He is made to believe that the child is killed. When he learns that the child is still alive, the excess of joy cures him. *Chauvin VIII 133 No. 126. |
| K251 | Deceptive damage claims. |
| K171.5 | Deceptive division of animals for shearing. The trickster shears the sheep; the dupe the pig. *Type 1037. |
| K171.4 | Deceptive division of pigs: curly and straight tails. All with curly tails belong to the trickster, others to the dupe. *Type 1036. |
| K171 | Deceptive division of profits. |
| K171.7 | Deceptive division of shared wife. Evil takes lower half of wife, Good takes upper half. Child begotten by Evil not permitted to nurse the top half which belongs to Good. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K171.7.2 | Deceptive division of sheep. Evil chooses lambs, leaving milk to Good. Lambs drink up all milk. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| K82.1 | Deceptive drinking contest: hole for water. The trickster lets the water run out through a hole; the dupe drinks himself to death. (Cf. K81.1.) *Type 1088; Icelandic: MacCulloch Eddic 93; Indonesia: DeVries's list Nos. 49, 94. |
| K82.4 | Deceptive drinking contest: pretended swallowing. One bullock keeps mouth in water. Other drinks self to death. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K82.2 | Deceptive drinking contest: relative helpers. (Cf. K81.2.) Africa (Mpongwe): Nassau 66 No. 14; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K82.1.1 | Deceptive drinking contest: rising and falling tide. Buffalo and heron wager as to which can drink the sea until the water falls. The buffalo drinks as the tide is coming in; the heron drinks in the falling tide and wins. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 98. |
| K82 | Deceptive drinking contest. |
| K81.1 | Deceptive eating contest: hole in bag. The hero slips his food into a bag and makes the ogre believe that he is the greater eater. (In many versions the hero cuts open the bag; the ogre imitates and kills himself.) (Cf. K82.1.) *Type 1088; Saintyves Perrault 282; Krohn Tutkimuksia Suomalaisten Kansansatujen alalta 220ff.; Köhler-Bolte I 86; *Fb "æde" III 1139b.—Icelandic: Flateyjarbуk I 211, MacCulloch Eddic 93, Boberg; Danish: Kristensen Danske Sagn I (1892) 439; French Canadian: Barbeau JAFL XXIX 21; India: Thompson-Balys; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 330 n. 191b; Africa: Frobenius Atlantis IX 368, XII 349. |
| K81.3 | Deceptive eating contest: inexhaustible food. Hero can produce unlimited food which opponents must eat. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K81.2 | Deceptive eating contest: relative helpers. Trickster wins with the aid of substitutes. (Cf. K82.2.) N. A Indian (California): Gayton and Newman 69; Africa (Congo): Weeks 214 No. 10. |
| K81 | Deceptive eating contest. Koryak: Jochelson JE VI 128; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 314 n. 137b; Eskimo (West Hudson Bay): Boas BAM XV 313, (Greenland): Rink 108. |
| K140.1 | Deceptive exchange: useless for magic object. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 280. |
| K869.3 | Deceptive game: "Eat me up!" Camel is killed by lion. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K855.1 | Deceptive game: bear cubs sway in tree. N. A. Indian (California): Gayton and Newman 95. |
| K851 | Deceptive game: burning each other. Dupe burned (boiled) to death. Indonesia: Dixon 197; N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 340 n. 226; Africa (Kaffir): Theal 98, (Ila, Rhodesia): Smith and Dale II 378 No. 3, (Basuto): Jacottet 14 No. 1, 18 No. 12, (Thonga): Junod 215, (Zulu): Callaway 6; Jamaica: *Beckwith MAFLS XVII 242 No. 16; West Indies: Flowers 530. |
| K868 | Deceptive game: butting one another like rams. Robbers kill selves. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| K869.1 | Deceptive game: fox wants to be frightened; titmouse whistles for dogs and the fox is nearly caught. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| K852 | Deceptive game: hanging each other. Dupe really hanged. *Penzer I 157; *Köhler-Bolte I 210, 585; Icelandic: Boberg; Danish: Christensen DF XLVII 200 No. 36; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 122 Nos. 40-42; Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 326 No. 19; Africa (Basuto): Jacottet 30 No. 3. |
| K857 | Deceptive game: throwing away knives. (Not fatal.) Africa (Fang): Tessman 40; Jamaica: Beckwith MAFLS XVII 239 No. 11. |
| K171.2 | Deceptive grain division: the corn and the chaff. The bear chooses the chaff because of its greater bulk. At the mill the fox's grain makes a different sound from the bear's. *Type 9B; *Dh IV 249ff.; *Krohn "Bar (Wolf) und Fuchs" JSFO VI 97ff.; Hdwb. d. Märchens I 193b. |
| K869.2 | Deceptive hide and seek game. Hide and seek game proposed by seven demons so as to kill hero. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K134 | Deceptive horse-sale. |
| K185.13 | Deceptive land bargain: saints agree that the one who casts his staff far enough to reach distant island shall be owner of land. Staff of one contestant transformed to spear (or dart) and so alone reaches island. When saint touches weapon, it becomes staff again. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K185.4 | Deceptive land purchase: as much land as a shawl will cover. An immense shawl prepared. Harou RTP XXIII 169; Java: Bezemer Fabelen en Legenden 216ff. |
| K185.4.1 | Deceptive land purchase: as much land as can be covered by saint's hood. Only by snatching up hood does seller prevent it from covering whole territory. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K185.10 | Deceptive land purchase: as much land as can be shadowed by a tree. Bought just before sunset. Japanese: Ikeda; Indonesia: L. de Backer L'Archipel Indien (Paris, 1874) 334. |
| K185.7 | Deceptive land purchase: as much land as can be surrounded in a certain time. Fb "ride" III 52b; Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K185.2 | Deceptive land purchase: as much land as Vishnu can lie upon (or can step over in three steps). His worshippers claim for him the whole earth. Hindu: Keith 79. |
| K185.3 | Deceptive land purchase: boundary fixed by flight of a goose. Subject given as much land as a goose can fly over without lighting. The man carries the goose with its wings extended over an enormous territory. Harou RTP XXIII 169. |
| K185.5 | Deceptive land purchase: bounds fixed by a race. One man has supernatural speed. RTP XXI 166. |
| K185.6 | Deceptive land purchase: bounds fixed by throwing object (axe, spear). Thrower has extraordinary strength. RTP XVIII 222; Harou RTP XI 524. |
| K185.11 | Deceptive land purchase: enough to raise certain plant. This is a rapidly spreading weed which overruns the country. Indonesia: Snouck Hurgronje De Atjèhers (Leiden, 1893) II 84. |
| K185.9 | Deceptive land purchase: fields that crackle when burnt are to be his. He puts bamboo on the fields before they are burnt so that they crackle. Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 289. |
| K185.7.3 | Deceptive land purchase: king, as reward for help in winning battle, promises wounded chieftain as much land as his chariot can travel around; bribes charioteer to turn back whenever chieftain faints from loss of blood. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K185.1 | Deceptive land purchase: ox-hide measure. As much land bought as can be surrounded by an ox-hide. The hide is cut into very small strips. *Type 2400; *Basset Revue d'ethnographie et des trad. pop. IV 97; Köhler-Bolte II 319ff.; Katanoff "Türkische Sagen über Besitznahme v. Ländern nach Art der Dido" Keleti Szemle III (1902) 173ff.; *Fb "ride" III 52b; Basset RTP VI 335, *VII 549, VIII 409; Rosières RTP VI 52; Sébillot RTP V 186; Cordier RTP II 295, 354.—Icelandic: Gering Islendsk æventyri (Halle, 1883) II 92ff., Herrmann Saxo II 656, Boberg; French: Sébillot France IV 111, 180, 214; Estonian: Loorits, Some Notes on the Repertoire of the Estonian Folk-Tale, Tartu 1937, 23ff.; Greek: Aly Volksmärchen bei Herodot 114, 117; Egyptian: Legrain Louqsor sans les Pharaons (Paris, 1914) 64; N. A. Indian (Wyandot): Barbeau GSCan XI 271 No. 91. |
| K185.12 | Deceptive land purchase: saint's enemy promised as much land as he can see from certain point. Saint causes cloud to obstruct vision. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K185 | Deceptive land purchase. (Dido.) |
| K87 | Deceptive laughing contest. Type 42*; Russian: Andrejev No. 42. |
| K1887.2 | Deceptive nocturnal noise. Wood-spirits imitate falling of trees, etc. Slavic, Hindu: Máchal 265. |
| K171.3 | Deceptive nut and olive division: inside and outside. The clever man chooses the kernel of the nuts and the outside of the olive. BP III 363. |
| K170.1 | Deceptive partnership between man and ogre. *Types 1030—1059; India: Thompson-Balys; Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K1847.1.1 | Deceptive report of birth of heir. Queen tells king anxious for an heir that she is to give birth to a son, but that ill will befall the son if king looks upon him. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K238 | Deceptive respite in payment obtained. |
| K171.3.1 | Deceptive sacrifice of nuts and dates. Trickster sacrifices only the shells of the nuts and the inside of the dates. Wienert FFC LVI 80 (ET 456), 103 (ST 164); Halm Aesop No. 315. |
| K252.1 | Deceptive sale of another as slave. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K83 | Deceptive scratching contest. N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 306 n. 109ee. |
| K23 | Deceptive shinny match. N. A. Indian: *Thompson Tales 314 n. 141, (California): Gayton and Newman 74. |
| K867.1 | Deceptive sword-game: brother killed. Icelandic: Boberg. |
| K22 | Deceptive tug-of-war. Small animal challenges two large animals to a tug-of-war. Arranges it so that they unwittingly pull against each other (or one end of rope is tied to a tree). Africa (Mpongwe): Nassau 37 No. 5, (Ibo, Nigeria): Basden 277, Thomas 145, (Ila, Rhodesia): Smith and Dale II 377 No. 2; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Remus 124 No. 26; Bahama: Parsons MAFLS XIII 74 No. 34, Edwards MAFLS III 65; South American Negro: C. F. Hartt Amazonian Tortoise Myths (Rio de Janeiro, 1875) 20, Cape Verde Islands: Parsons MAFLS XV (1) 83 No. 27; West Indies: Flowers 495ff. |
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