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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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| X1811 | Lies about loaves of bread. |
| X1210 | Lies about mammals. |
| X1226 | Lies about mice. U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1526 | Lies about mountain roads. U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1520 | Lies about mountains and hills. |
| X1242 | Lies about mules. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1710 | Lies about numbers. |
| X1743 | Lies about occupying space. |
| X1213 | Lies about panthers. U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1400 | Lies about plants, fruits, vegetables, and trees. |
| X1435 | Lies about potatoes. U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1650 | Lies about precipitation and dampness. |
| X1606.1 | Lies about quick change from cold to warm. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1606.2 | Lies about quick change in weather from warm to cold. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1654 | Lies about rain. |
| X1227 | Lies about rats. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1321.3 | Lies about remarkable kinds of snakes. |
| X1530 | Lies about remarkable soil. |
| X1545 | Lies about remarkable underground channels. |
| X1320 | Lies about reptiles. |
| X1243 | Lies about sheep. |
| X1733 | Lies about sinking. |
| X1815.2 | Lies about slow trains. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1345 | Lies about snails. U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1321 | Lies about snakes. |
| X1653 | Lies about snow. |
| X1523 | Lies about steep slopes of mountains. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1785 | Lies about stretching or shrinking. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1237.1 | Lies about strong oxen. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1721 | Lies about surgical operations. |
| X1723 | Lies about swallowing. (Cf. F910.) |
| X1611 | Lies about the wind. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1233.3 | Lies about thin hogs. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1470 | Lies about trees. |
| X1431 | Lies about turnips. Type 1920A. |
| X1420 | Lies about vegetables. |
| X1755 | Lies about watches. |
| X1540 | Lies about water features. |
| X1600 | Lies about weather and climate. |
| X1212 | Lies about wildcats. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1610 | Lies about winds and storms. |
| X1216 | Lies about wolves. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1346 | Lies about worms. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1796 | Lies concerning speed. |
| X1206 | Lies: animals trained to respond to certain sounds: absurd result. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1700 | Lies: logical absurdities. (Cf. J2200.) |
| X905 | Lying contests. Italian Novella: Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| X133 | Man calls convention of all long noses. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X1154.1.1 | Man catches fish with larger fish inside. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X584.1 | Man chased by bear to camp claims that he brought it in thus since he did not want to carry it. (Cf. K1741.) U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X12.1 | Man continually interrupted from eating answers in rhymed monosyllables. Nouvelles Récréations. |
| X1723.3.1 | Man crawls into body of animal (after killing it) to escape cold. The animal freezes back together; man must eat his way out. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1787 | Man cures rheumatism: puts mosquito milk in a cat's horn, stirs it with duck's crotch. U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1726.2 | Man cuts off own head, picks it up and replaces it. (First ed. X927.1.) (Cf. E783.) Type 852; BP II 514; Missouri French: Carrière. |
| X1726 | Man cuts off own head. |
| X953.1 | Man draws sixty (300) carts of wood. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X31.1 | Man dreams that he is rich. Finds cat's excrements. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X1133.2 | Man escapes from bear by running for a long time, from summer to winter. Bear chases man in July; he finally crosses a river on the ice. The bear falls in or stops following (in December). U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1133.4 | Man escapes from bee's nest on bear's tail. (First ed. X911.2.) Type 1900. |
| X1731.2.1 | Man falls and is buried in earth: goes for spade and digs self out. (First ed. X917.) *Type 1882; Köhler-Bolte I 323; Gardner JAFL XXVII 305; U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1731.2 | Man falls from height, goes into solid rock up to knees. Ireland, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1737.1 | Man falls through ice, has to swim two miles to come out at an air hole. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1606.2.1 | Man freezes to saddle. Must be thawed out by the stove. (First ed. X924.) Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 746. |
| X53 | Man given ride on a hemp-dresser. Cheremis: Sebeok-Nyerges. |
| X907 | Man has servant corroborate his lies. Rewards him poorly. Servant exposes him. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| X459.1 | Man heeds what he thinks to be call to the ministry. |
| X1133.3 | Man in barrel grabs wolf by the tail and is drawn out of danger. (First ed. X911.) *Type 1875; Köhler-Bolte I 410; *Fb "tønde" III 935a, "ræv" III 114a. |
| X1854 | Man in hollow tree defends himself successfully from leopard and bear. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X1851 | Man in moon lets himself down. (First ed. X915.) (Cf. A751.) Fb "mеne" II 660a. |
| X12 | Man interrupted each time he tries to eat something. *Basset 1001 Contes I 273. |
| X1114 | Man lays bag by fencehole and all the hares run into it. (First ed. X921.11.) Type 1893. |
| X1237.1.1 | Man plows through stump which catches the back of his pants in cleft. His oxen continue to pull; he holds onto the plow, pulls the stump out of the ground. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1737 | Man stays under water for long time. |
| X1737.1.1 | Man under the ice. Falls through ice with his horse, wanders around on the river bottom, pushes his spear through ice from below and rises to the surface. (First ed. X918.) *Wesselski Bebel I 171 No. 8. |
| X372.4.1 | Man with cheeks stuffed with food operated on to remove swellings. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| X751 | Marriage forbidden outside the parish. An order is read in church forbidding the young people to marry girls from other parishes. *Type 1475. |
| X905.1 | Master brought to say, "You lie!" Type 1920C; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1920D*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1920D*; Prussian: Plenzat 78; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV 119 No. 27; Livonian: Loorits FFC LXVI 51 No. 89; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| X371 | Master of seven liberal arts begs from wagoner. With his one art latter supports his family. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 855. |
| X211 | Millers as thieves. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 785; Fb "møller" II 649; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| X319 | Miscellaneous jokes about lawyers. |
| X1233.4 | Miscellaneous lies about hogs. |
| X1800 | Miscellaneous lies and exaggerations. |
| X1119 | Miscellaneous stories of plentiful game. |
| X113 | Misunderstanding and quarrels in family of deaf. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X111.7 | Misunderstood words lead to comic results. In some the people are not really deaf but fail to catch a word; in some they are deaf. Type 1698G; Aarne FFC XX 40, 76.—Spanish: Espinosa Jr. No. 189; India: Thompson-Balys; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 296. |
| X214 | Monks get revenge on millers. Drunken millers force monks to dance. Millers are enticed to monastery and beaten. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X1503.4 | Mountain of grain to be eaten through on way to Schlaraffenland. (First ed. X950.2.) (Cf. X1712.) BP III 250. |
| X1528 | Mountain of unusual material. |
| X351 | Music teacher charges double for those who have taken music before. One fee for teaching and one for making them forget the old teaching. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 314. |
| X435.4 | Names of persons in the Trinity. The priest's example: the three cows. The boy: "The Holy Ghost has just had a calf." Type 1833D; England: Baughman. |
| X124 | Nearsighted knight mistakes own servant for one of the enemy. Runs lance into his posterior. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X316 | Nero has reserved place in hell for lawyers. Crane Vitry 148 No. 36; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| X1721.1 | New backbone for the horse made from a stick. (First ed. X935.) Type 1911**. |
| X452.1 | No need to give sermon about saint again. "Last year I told you all about his life and works. He has performed no new miracles." *Wesselski Arlotto I 188 No. 8; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X901 | One lie a year. A man who tells but one lie a year is believed because of his general truthfulness. Amusing results. Chauvin V 278 No. 161; *BP II 371, 509; Köhler-Bolte I 322; India: Thompson-Balys; Africa (Vai): Ellis 239 No. 46. |
| X122 | One-eyed man as appraiser of horse. Has appraised it at half a mark. "He saw only half a horse; otherwise he would have valued it at a mark." Bédier Fabliaux 123; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X413 | One-eyed parson in dimly lighted church joins the wrong couples. Marries the old man to the girl and the old woman to the boy. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| X521 | Only prostitutes can carry the corpse of a prostitute. (Cf. X514.) Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 405. |
| X514 | Only usurers can carry the corpse of the usurer. It refuses to be moved by anyone else. (Cf. X521.) Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 190; Irish: Beal XXI 326, cf. O'Suilleabhain 74. |
| X1790 | Other logical absurdities. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X130 | Other physical disabilities. |
| X909 | Other stories about liars. |
| X1850 | Other tall tales. |
| X221 | Oversight of the thievish tailor. Sews the stolen piece of cloth on the outside of his coat, thinking that it is on the inside. Type 2005*. |
| X1235.3 | Owner provides cow with green goggles, feeds her sawdust or snow. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X435.2 | Parson "Where did the father stay?"—"He stayed to hold the oxen." *Type 1833B. |
| X441 | Parson and sexton at mass. Parson intones instructions to the sexton (cook) as a part of the mass. *Type 1831; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 147 No. 1831A*. |
| X418 | Parson is to let a dove fly in the church. It dies in his pocket. *Type 1837. |
| X416 | Parson preaches so that half the congregation weeps and half laughs. Has clothes torn in the back. Those that see this laugh. He wins the wager. *Type 1828*; Wesselski Morlini 297 No. 44. |
| X411 | Parson put to flight during his sermon. Type 1785. |
| X445 | Parson refreshes himself during the sermon. |
| X414 | Parson rides ox into church. He wants to show how Christ rode into Jerusalem. Sexton sticks ox with needle. *Type 1786. |
| X417 | Parson smears his hand with butter. Rascals have spread butter on the altarbread. The parson preaches, "What is the life of man?" and therewith brings his hand down on the altar-bread: "Pure butter!" Type 1836*. |
| X445.2 | Parson takes a chew of tobacco during the sermon. Fb "kardus" II 91a. |
| X445.1 | Parson takes a drink of liquor during the sermon. (Cf. X111.13.) *Type 1827. |
| X435.3 | Parson: Where was Christ when he was neither in heaven nor on earth?—He was in the willow-grove looking for a stick to beat those who ask foolish questions. *Type 1833C. |
| X443 | Parson's poor horsemanship. |
| X1723.3 | Person enters animal's body. U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1731.1 | Person falls from great height without injury. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1741.2 | Person or animal jumps back to starting place (from midair). U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1741.1 | Person or animal rises into the air in defiance of gravity. (Cf. D2135.0.1.) U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1761.1 | Person pulls up old oil wells and sells them for post holes after sawing them up into short lengths. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1739.1 | Person swallows pin or needle; it later emerges through skin of relative. England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X31.2 | Pig licks sleeping man's lips: man thinks he is being kissed. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X212.1 | Priest commends the poor miller. If he had been like the rest of the congregation he would have become rich. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 825. |
| X1296.1 | Rag so full of lice it can move. Irish myth: *Cross (X1049.1). |
| X11 | Red pepper for the slow ass: man tries it on himself. When, on the advice of a friend, he gives the ass red pepper, the ass runs away. Then he tries it on himself. He runs so fast that he passes the ass. Arriving at home, he says to his wife, "Unload the ass when he comes. I must run through the village a couple of times more." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 224 No. 64. |
| X1261 | Remarkable ducks. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1267 | Remarkable hawk. |
| X941 | Remarkable lifter. (Cf. F624.) Canada, England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1286 | Remarkable mosquitoes. |
| X1546 | Remarkable pond. |
| X1551 | Remarkable road. |
| X1061.1 | Remarkable size of great ship. (First ed. X1031.) Type 1960H; BP II 516; U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1521 | Remarkably narrow valleys. U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1532.1 | Rich land: corn grows so fast that it pulls up its own roots. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1532 | Rich soil produces remarkable crop. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X52 | Ridiculous nakedness or exposure. |
| X1551.1 | Roads go over roofs of houses. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X1208.1 | Roast pigs run around with knife and fork in back ready for eating. U.S.: Baughman. |
| X424.1 | Robbers mistake man for devil (the "sheep" speaks, "Gently, gently!"). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X1757.1 | Rope of dry dust. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| X1757 | Rope of sand (chaff). (First ed. X961.2.) (Cf. F843.) Type 852; BP II 513; Missouri French: Carrière. |
| X1712 | Schlaraffenland lies three miles beyond Christmas. (First ed. X950.1.) BP III 250. |
| X1503 | Schlaraffenland. (Land of Cockaygne.) Land in which impossible things happen. (First ed. X950.) (Cf. X1712.) *Type 1930; *BP III 244ff.; Boccaccio Decameron VIII No. 3 (Lee 254); Irish myth: Cross; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X1724 | Seeing without eyes. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X435.5 | Sermon about the rich man. A boy rides with a rich man. Goes into church and leaves his coat lying on the sled. When the parson preaches about the rich man who went to hell, the boy calls out, "Then he took my coat along!" *Type 1832. |
| X411.3 | Sexton arranges wasp-nest so that parson sits on it. Wasps chase him. *Type 1785C. |
| X411.2 | Sexton puts needle in sacramental bread: parson sticks his hand. *Type 1785B. |
| X411.1 | Sexton's dog steals sausage from parson's pocket: parson flees. *Type 1785A. |
| X1651.2 | Ship sails on thick fog. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X242 | Shoemaker drinks more than his portion of "drink of lies", which has been prepared for all to partake of equally. Wienert FFC LVI 39; Halm Aesop No. 136. |
| X1124.1 | Shooting off the leader's tail. (First ed. X921.8.) An old blind bear is being led by a young bear, whose tail the old bear has in his mouth. The hunter shoots off the young bear's tail and seizes it. Thus leads the old bear home. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 748; U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X142.4 | Short magistrate wears a high helmet. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X151.1 | Six short, fat husbands married to six tall, fat wives try absurdly to kiss them at the threshold on their wedding day. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X1202.1 | Small cart serves as back legs for crippled sow. Pigs also have these carts. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1205.1 | Snake strikes object, causing it to swell. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X431.1 | Stupid man tries to take honey from jug at night while visiting. Series of accidents. Chinese: Graham. |
| X135.2 | Stutterer tries to give alarm. Amusing results. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1723.1 | Swallowed person is discovered in animal's stomach still alive. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X222 | Tailor always associated with goat. **B. Salditt Hessische Blätter f. Vksk. XXX—XXXI 88. |
| X223 | Tailors cowards as warriors: go home to their needles. (Cf. W121.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X253.1 | Talkativeness of the fishwives of Paris. Anecdotes of their invective. Nouvelles Récréations No. 63. |
| X1810 | Tall tales about miscellaneous objects. |
| X412 | Tame bear tied to church bells. Rings alarm. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X1071 | The big wedding. Giant with sixty daughters. (First ed. X1045.) Type 1961. |
| X435 | The boy applies the sermon. Makes a present application of the words of the parson. *Type 1833; U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1854.1 | The boy in the hollow tree. He frightens the woodchopper who leaves behind his horse. (First ed. X913.1.) Type 1877*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1877*. |
| X1116 | The breathing tree. Hunter cuts down tree packed full of animals. The tree is so full of animals that a crack in tree opens as animals inhale, closes when they exhale. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X422 | The corpse with his feet cut off. The coffin-maker has fitted him to the coffin. The parson: "On the last day he will arise." One of the coffin-makers: "Did I say that?" Type 1699*. |
| X111.13 | The deaf bishop. The drunken priest says, "In the morning I take a drink of rum and afterwards four or five little drinks." Type 1698M. |
| X111.6 | The deaf man and the proud nobleman. A nobleman amuses himself at the expense of the deaf man. Finally—Nobleman: I wish you a thousand gallows and ropes around your neck.—Peasant: My lord, I wish you twice as many. Type 1698F; *Aarne FFC XX 39ff. |
| X111.8 | The deaf man with the bird in the tree. A traveller asks the way and the man keeps telling him about the bird he has caught. (The questions and answers often rhyme.) Type 1698H; Aarne FFC XX 41ff. |
| X111.12 | The deaf parson. The youth answers unintelligibly but is praised nevertheless. Type 1698L. |
| X424 | The devil in the cemetery. A sexton hears thieves in the cemetery cracking nuts and thinks it is the devil cracking bones. With the gouty parson on his back he comes upon the thieves who, thinking it is their companion with the sheep, call out, "Is he fat?" The sexton: "Fat or lean, here he is!" *Type 1791; *BP III 395; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 82; Scala Celi 101b No. 547; Alphabet No. 333; U.S., England: *Baughman; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1791, Legends No. 889. |
| X31 | The dream of marking the treasure. A man dreams that he finds treasure and that he marks the spot with his excrements. Only the latter part of the dream is true. *Wesselski Arlotto II 267 No. 216, Hodscha Nasreddin I 278 No. 314; Lithuanian: Balys Legends No. 788f.; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X438 | The dream: all parsons in hell. The smith tells the parson whom he has summoned that he has dreamed of going to heaven where St. Peter would not admit him before he saw a parson. There were no parsons in heaven, but all in hell. *Type 1738. |
| X1506 | The extraordinary names. A place where animals and things are designated by senseless names. (First ed. X951.) (Cf. Z32.2.1.) Type 1940; BP IV 183; Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. XXVII 135; Wisser ibid. XXVIII 135; West Indies: Flowers 585. |
| X1030.1 | The great building. (First ed. X1033.) Type 1960E. |
| X1150.1 | The great catch of fish. (First ed. X1022.) Type 1960C. |
| X1342.1.1 | The great frog. Eaten by one larger and this in turn by crow. (First ed. X1021.5.) *BP II 515. |
| X1244.3 | The great he-goat. (First ed. X1021.2.) BP II 515. |
| X1241.1 | The great horse. (First ed. X1021.6.) Fb "stud" III 619b. |
| X1424 | The great mushroom. (First ed. X1024.3.) Type 852; *BP II 516. |
| X1233.1.2 | The great wild-boar. Tusks go through tree and come out on other side. (First ed. X1021.4.) *Wesselski Bebel II 137 No. 114. |
| X415 | The hog in church. Locked in church all week by mistake. When the congregation comes, the hog runs between the parson's legs and carries him out. *Type 1838; Fb "svin". |
| X212 | The honest miller. Baker cannot understand how a man who has been a miller can be a beggar. It is a wonder that the farmers are not beggars instead. Wesselski Bebel I 118 No. 3. |
| X142 | The humor of small stature. (Cf. F535.1.) Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X135 | The humor of stuttering. U.S.: Baughman; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X431 | The hungry parson and the porridge-pot. Overnight at the peasant's house. The hungry parson hunts the porridge in the dark, guided by a rope the sexton has given him. Series of accidents. *Type 1775; Fb "seng" III 187a. |
| X909.1 | The incorrigible liar. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X434.1 | The large loaves need a large oven. Parson says that the loaves with which Jesus fed the people in the wilderness were as large as the mountains. The mason asks what kind of oven they were baked in. Type 1834*. |
| X909.2 | The liar outdoes the tricksters who try to catch him in a lie. He continues the lie the tricksters have made up to catch him. (Cf. K306, L142.1.) U.S.: Baughman. |
| X904.1 | The liar reduces the size of his lie when his brother steps on his toes to remind him of his lying habits. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X905.4 | The liar: "I have no time to lie today"; lies nevertheless. Type 1920B; India: Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 308ff. No. 18, FFC CXXVIII 260ff. No. 160. |
| X1653.3 | The man who sold dried snow for salt. (First ed. X944.) Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 747. |
| X754 | The meal of beans. One of the old maid's three teeth breaks off. Type 1478. |
| X756 | The mother trains the old maid to speak properly. Absurd results. Types 1485*, 1486*. |
| X1132.1 | The nailed wolf's tail. Wolf's tail nailed to tree. Wolf runs away and leaves his skin hanging. (First ed. X922.) Type 1896; U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X752 | The old maid in bed. On one side is a bundle of straw (her husband) and on the other a dog (her child). She gives the straw bundle a push and thereupon falls on the floor herself. Type 1480*. |
| X1862 | The over-hasty toad (beetle). Is years ascending steps. On last step falls and curses haste. (First ed. X938.) Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 38 No. 288C*, Espinosa Jr. Nos. 59, 60; West Indies: Flowers 585. |
| X452 | The parson has no need to preach. Those who know may teach those who don't know. *Type 1826. |
| X434 | The parson put out of countenance. |
| X436 | The parson sings like a goat. The parson sees an old woman weeping and believes that she is touched by his singing. When spoken to she says that she has been reminded of her old goat which she has lost. *Type 1834; Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 243 No. 539; *Crane Vitry 157 No. 56; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 576; Fb "prædiken" II 882; Scala Celi 25a No. 164;—Italian Novella: Rotunda; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X425 | The parson who said there is no devil. The bear-showman lets the bear climb up the pulpit. The parson thinks the bear is the devil. Type 1745*. |
| X1115.1 | The rabbit-catch: rabbits freeze feet fast to ice at night. (First ed. X921.2.) Type 1891. |
| X907.1 | The second liar corroborates the lie of the first. Canada, U.S.: Baughman. |
| X121.1 | The squint-eyed son and the bottle. Sent by his father to get the only bottle of rare wine, he sees two. Not wishing to show his father to be a liar, he breaks one—really the only one. Chauvin II 196 No. 22. |
| X904 | The teller reduces the size of his lie. |
| X1295.1 | The tragic death of the three gnats. One of them meets his death between the horns of two struggling oxen, another because of two restless stallions, the third during a tussle between two giants. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 291* (X1021.9). |
| X1110.1 | The unlucky hunt. (First ed. X921.0.1.) Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 313. |
| X121 | The wife who saw double. Sees two plates where there are one, etc. Thinks two men are with her. Husband: "See everything double except your husband." Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin II 186 No. 358. |
| X1216.1 | The wolf harnessed. Eats the horses, is harnessed and runs in the harness. (First ed. X936.) *Type 1910. |
| X755 | The wolf steals the old maid. She keeps him for a husband. Type 1477. |
| X453 | The woman whose name was "Worthy." Refuses to say, "I'm not worthy" at communion. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X1110 | The wonderful hunt. (First ed. X921.) *Types 1890—1909; Wesselski Märchen 226f.; Indonesia: DeVries's list No. 312. |
| X131 | The wry-mouthed family. Each member has mouth turned in a different way. Unavailing attempts to blow out the light. U.S.: *Baughman; Danish: MS in Danske Folkemindesamling (Grundtvig No. 166). |
| X221.2 | Thieving tailor can hide stolen cloth even in needle-and-thread tube. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X221.1 | Thievish tailor cuts a piece of his own coat. Type 2005**; Nouvelles Récréations No. 46. |
| X1114.2 | Tiger lies in water with mouth open: cat drives fish in. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X1133.5 | Tigers stand on each other's heads trying to reach man in tree. His tears form a stream. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X142.3 | Tiny ambassador put on horse with long stirrups. Cannot say anything as he is too busy trying to keep his seat. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X1505 | Topsy-turvy land. Land where all is opposite from the usual. (First ed. X952.) BP III 244ff., *254ff.; Wienert FFC LVI 44ff. |
| X1241.2.2 | Trained horse as harvester and hunter. He rolls in the field. Oats in his flanks; club in his tail kills birds. (First ed. X921.3.) (Cf. X1252.1.) Type 1892. |
| X111.15 | Travelers pass through Wesley. One asks name of town; another replies, "This is Wesley." Another says, "I thought it was Thursday." Third says, "So am I; let's have a drink." U.S.: Baughman. |
| X1130.2.1 | Tree grows out of horse and gives rider shade. (First ed. X923.) Fb "træ" III 868a. |
| X613 | Trickster breaks up Jewish marriage ceremony and seduces the bride. (Cf. K1371.) Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X1114.1 | Two hares run into each other and are caught. (First ed. X921.6.) Type 1895*. |
| X111.3 | Two persons believe each other deaf. A trickster tells each of two persons before they meet that the other is hard of hearing and must be shouted at. A great shouting takes place, and each thinks the other out of his wits. *Type 1698C; *Aarne FFC XX 29ff.; Wesselski Gonnella 118 No. 16; Nouvelles Récréations No. 10; Nouvelles de Sens No. 4. |
| X1204.1 | Two wolves eat each other up so that only tails are left. (First ed. X911.4.) *Fb "hale" IV 197b. |
| X241 | Ugly cobbler continually threatens to throw his last at people. The object of jokes. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 98 No. 836D*. |
| X34 | Use of itch-producing ointment. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| X516 | Usurer encourages sermons against usury, so that his competitors will cease activity. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 192; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| X512 | Usurers do not reply. The parson asks the various trades and professions to rise one by one for a special blessing. When he calls for the usurers none reply. Pauli (ed. Bolte) Nos. 193, 194; Crane Vitry 207 No. 179; Scala Celi 168b No. 959; Alphabet No. 792. |
| X1564 | Village where rubies sell for four pice apiece. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X32 | Wager with overdressed youths that servant can carry a large bucket of water upstairs. They follow and are soaked when the servant purposely spills the dirty water. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| X1755.1 | Watch continues to run indefinitely when lost (swallowed). Canada, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1130.3 | Water of stream or lake freezes just as frogs jump into lake. The frogs are caught in the ice. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1545.1 | Water passage through the earth. U.S.: *Baughman. |
| X1241.2 | Well-trained horse. |
| X311 | What will happen when there are so many lawyers. Woman sees the crowds of students in the law school. She knows that the one lawyer in her village has ruined nearly everyone. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 787; *Wesselski Bebel I 216 No. 110. |
| X442 | Whistling at mass. Bell breaks and priest's patron whistles in place of ringing the bell at mass. *Wesselski Arlotto I 187 No. 7. |
| X941.1 | Whole village lifted. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X661 | Why Arabians are liars. Hermes and his wagon of lies break down in Arabia. Wienert FFC LVI 39; Halm Aesop No. 141. |
| X1863 | Why gypsies have no churches. They ate up their churches made of cheese and bacon. (First ed. X953.) (Cf. X650.) Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. IX 85. |
| X213 | Why no millers in hell. A mad dog in place of a miller in a sack. Flemish: DeMeyer FFC XXXVII 84 No. 27b. |
| X251.1 | Why no weavers in hell. Devils annoyed at their noisy trade. Flemish: DeMeyer FFC XXXVII 84 No. 27a. |
| X941.4 | Wind blows group of persons into woman's eye. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X52.1 | Woman exposed to ridicule when her wig is snatched off by a monkey. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| X906 | Would not lie for a trifle. Liar tells of shooting large number of animals with one shot (an odd number, usually 99). When asked why he did not make it a round number (or an even hundred), he replies indignantly that he would not lie for one pigeon (rabbit). U.S.: *Baughman. |
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