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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 ▲ |
|---|---|
| B211.3.4 | -Speaking parrot. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.43 | "A country not examined in disguise will always be ruined": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| H588.19 | "A father should always check and never forgive; a mother should always forgive and never check." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J401.0.1 | "A friend is known in need." Irish myth: Cross. |
| J21.41.2 | "A stranger does not close his eyes in sleep lest he close them in death": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| Z92.1 | "A tree on island beyond the seven seas and the sixteen rivers." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.5.3 | "A way short yet long": counsel proved wise by experience. (Cf. J266.) Jewish: Neuman. |
| C14 | "Adversity" summoned: king says he has heard people speak of adversity but has never seen it; genius of adversity appears. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1741.2 | "Agnus dei" as a prayer for money. An ignorant schoolmaster interprets many of the texts of scripture as commands for the priests to live lives of luxury. Bolte Frey's Gartengesellschaft 213 No. 8. |
| C21 | "Ah me!": ogre's name uttered. He appears. Köhler-Bolte I 557; Köhler Zs. f. Vksk. VI 68; *Cosquin études Folkloriques 532ff. |
| K1917.7 | "All of these are mine," says wooer as he strokes his whiskers. The girl thinks he is indicating the fields and live stock past which they are riding. U.S.: Baughman. |
| H588.13 | "Always wear new shoes." (Walk the fields bare-footed, wearing your shoes only when nearing the town.) Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 915A*. |
| V254.3 | "Ave" on the tongue. Because of faithfulness in saying "Aves" the words are found imprinted on the dead man's tongue. (Cf. V86.2.) Ward II 612 No. 29, 677 No. 1, cf. 632 No. 30. |
| J21.33 | "Bathe by yourself and not in the common bathing place": counsel proved wise by experience. Man forgets purse in bath house. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| P551.9 | "Battle seeds" (semen bellicosum). Irish myth: Cross. |
| J21.41 | "Be cautious before allowing yourself to fall asleep in a strange place": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| C25 | "Bear's food." To urge on his horses a man threatens them with the bear, calling them "bear's food." The bear hears and comes for them.—*Type 154; **Krohn Mann und Fuchs 11. |
| V51.5 | "Beatus" best prayer for saving condemned souls. (Cf. E754.1.1.) Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K602.2 | "Bee is eating the sweets." Man has eaten sweets and says his name is B. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.42 | "Before eating food at a strange place throw some at an animal and watch": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1261.9 | "Better a live confessor than a dead martyr." So answers a preacher when asked whether he preferred to stay at home and confess his flock or go to war against the infidels. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| K1682.1 | "Big 'Fraid and Little 'Fraid." Man decides to frighten another (or his son or servant). He dresses in a sheet; his pet monkey puts on a sheet and follows him. The person who is doing the scaring hears the victim say, "Run Big Fraid, run; Little Fraid'll get you." The scarer sees the monkey in the sheet, runs home. (Cf. K1833.) Canada, England, U.S., Wales: *Baughman. |
| H588.15 | "Bite the ear" (do state affairs secretly). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2489.3 | "Bite the ear" (speak secretly). Fool interprets literally. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G220.0.1 | "Black" and "white" witches. Malevolent and benevolent. U.S.: Baughman. |
| A2332.6 | "Blindness" in animals. Animals really or supposedly blind. Dh III 19ff. |
| K1354.1 | "Both?" The youth is sent to the house to get two articles. He meets the two daughters and calls back to the master. "Both?" "Yes, I said both!" replies the master. The youth has his will of both daughters. *Type 1563; Chauvin VI 180 No. 342; Bolte Montanus Gartengesellschaft 611 No. 73; Köhler-Bolte I 150, 291; N. A. Indian: Thompson CColl II 420ff.; Cape Verde Islands: Parsons MAFLS XV (1) 115. |
| D1365.11 | "Brain of forgetfulness" lost by person in battle. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| Z62.2 | "Bridegroom like the sun and bride like the moon." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| L112.5 | "Burnt-belly" as hero. N. A. Indian (Pawnee): Dorsey CI LIX Nos. 42, 44, 47, Grinnell 87ff., (Skidi Pawnee): Dorsey MAFLS VIII No. 9, (Arikara): Dorsey CI XVII Nos. 17—19, (Hidatsa): Curtis N. A. Indian IV 165. |
| J865.1 | "But by a fine fellow!" Dying toad thus comforts his paramour, the frog, whom he is leaving neither married nor widow nor maiden and pregnant. Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 38 No. 288A*. |
| J1576 | "Cause liberality to be depicted." Answer of hungry man when host asks for suggestion for a picture to be painted of something that has not been seen. Boccaccio Decameron I No. 8 (Lee 23), Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| K2063 | "Chaste" woman surprised in adultery. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *1450A; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2465.10 | "Collect goats under tree." Fool piles up their carcasses. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K231.12.1 | "Come tomorrow". The devil keeps calling daily until the gate with the inscription rots. He then claims his debtor. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1183*; Russian: Andrejev No. 1183*. |
| J21.1 | "Consider the end": counsel proved wise by experience. Barber hired to cut king's throat sees on the bottom of the basin the words "Whatever you do, do wisely and think of the consequences." He drops the razor and confesses. *Type 910C; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 20 No. 69; Alphabet No. 156; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas IV 172, 283; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.2.6 | "Control your anger at the beginning": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2489.8 | "Cover with straw." Fool covers his mistress with straw and suffocates her. Should have thatched roof. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| Q474 | "Cucking-stool" as punishment. (Cf. Q467.3, Q467.1.) Victim is suspended in a basket over filth and thrown in. *Spargo Virgil the Necromancer (Cambridge, Mass., 1934) 147ff.; *J. Grimm Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer (ed. Hensler u. Hübner, Leipzig, 1899) II 162, 363ff. |
| J2489.4 | "Cutting the paper of the accounts" (falsifying accounts). Fool cuts up account books. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| F456.3.1 | "Cutty" cuts cords by which miners pull tubs full of coal. England: *Baughman. |
| J1433 | "Do as I say and not as I do." Doctor forbids patient to drink wine. When patient reproves doctor for drinking wine the latter says: "Just now it is bad for you and good for me." Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.2 | "Do not act when angry": counsel proved wise by experience. Man returns home and sees someone sleeping with his wife. Though he thinks it is a paramour, he restrains himself and finds that it is a newborn son. *Type 910B; Chauvin II 157; Irish myth: Cross; Icelandic: Boberg; Spanish Exempla: Keller; Italian Novella: *Rotunda; India: *Thompson-Balys. Cf. Wienert FFC LVI 37; Phaedrus III No. 10. |
| J21.27 | "Do not adopt a child": counsel proved wise by experience. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *911; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.6 | "Do not ask questions about extraordinary things": counsel proved wise by experience. Those who ask question killed. Köhler-Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. VI 169ff. (Gonzenbach No. 81); Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J21.8.1 | "Do not bet": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.7 | "Do not cross a bridge without dismounting from your horse"; counsel proved wise by experience. Man breaks leg. Type 910B; Wesselski Märchen 219 No. 32. |
| J21.21 | "Do not cross a swollen stream until it has run down": counsel proved wise by experience. Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 100, 304, Neuman. |
| J21.2.3 | "Do not draw your sword against the innocent": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.36 | "Do not go alone on journey": counsel proved wise by experience. Helpful crab saves from attack by crocodile. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.3 | "Do not go where an old man has a young wife": counsel proved wise by experience. Discovers a murder in an inn. *Type 910B; Christiansen Norske Eventyr 115; Irish myth: *Cross. |
| J21.25 | "Do not keep bad company": counsel proved wise by experience. Breaking of father's first counsel causes the breaking of all the others. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2516.4 | "Do not leave my side." The youth obeys the command to such an absurd extent that he is a nuisance to his master. *Wesselski Morlini 317 No. 74. |
| J21.5 | "Do not leave the highway": counsel proved wise by experience. Robbers encountered. *Type 910B; Scala Celi No. 788; Herbert III 99; Irish myth: *Cross; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J21.10 | "Do not lend out your horse": counsel proved wise by experience. Type 910A; Christiansen Norske Eventyr 115. |
| J21.24 | "Do not make a horse run down hill": counsel proved wise by experience. Horse breaks its neck. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 52; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J21.46 | "Do not make friends with a policeman (soldier)": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.4 | "Do not marry a girl from abroad": counsel proved wise by experience. *Type 910A; Christiansen Norske Eventyr 115; Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 52; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J21.31 | "Do not marry a woman before seeing her and finding her to be your equal": counsel proved wise by experience. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.32 | "Do not marry more than one woman". Man who wanted three, marries one and is weakened greatly. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| H588.20 | "Do not plant a thorny tree." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.5.1 | "Do not prefer a new road to an old one." Those who take the new one are killed by robbers. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.9.1 | "Do not prolong a friendly visit." Guest stays so long that host gives him black bread instead of white. Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles No. 52; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J21.47.1 | "Do not send your wife for a long visit to her parents": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.2.5 | "Do not shed the blood of women": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.34.2 | "Do not sit on a bed without touching it first": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.51 | "Do not stand and watch two people fighting": counsel proved wise by experience. Man does so and is called by both parties to depose in favor of both or he will be beheaded. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.37 | "Do not take a woman's advice": counsel proved wise by experience. (Cf. J21.22.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.22 | "Do not tell a secret to a woman": counsel proved wise by experience. Nouvelles de Sens No. 7; Irish myth: *Cross; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *911; Italian Novella: Rotunda; Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 100, 304, *Neuman; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.39 | "Do not travel without money": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.28 | "Do not trust a ruler who rules by reason alone": counsel proved wise by experience. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *911; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.18 | "Do not trust the over-holy": counsel proved wise by experience. Wife so modest she will not travel with husband (adulteress); priest so pious he will not tread on worm (thief). Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas IV 22, 275, Neuman. |
| J21.2.4 | "Do not uncover weapon in an assembly": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.45 | "Do not undertake to be an arbitrator without being asked": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.9 | "Do not visit your friends often": counsel proved wise by experience. At last the man is treated shamefully. *Type 910A; Christiansen Norske Eventyr 115. |
| J21.11 | "Do not walk half a mile with a man without asking his name": counsel proved wise by experience. Man runs race unwittingly with his wife's paramour and loses his wife on the wager. (Cf. J21.8.) *Type 910B; Wesselski Märchen 219 No. 32. |
| J2516.3 | "Do nothing but attend to the horse." The youth obeys the command to such extent that he almost lets his master drown. *Wesselski Morlini 317 No. 74. |
| K1725.1 | "Dogs are chasing you," says ox to jackal. Really water gurgling in the ox's stomach. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2489.11 | "Don't allow paint to wear off my daughter's feet." Bridegroom carries her upside down across river and drowns her. (Cf. J2412.6.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.26 | "Don't be too greedy in making a trade": counsel proved wise by experience. Man refuses fifty ducats for horse. Horse suddenly dies. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.48 | "Don't do anything without investigation": counsel proved wise by experience. A purse full of money was found in dead man's pocket by gravedigger. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2541 | "Don't eat too greedily." Fool starves himself at table. Later hunts food in house and gets into trouble. India: *Thompson-Balys. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1691*, 1691A*; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC No. 1363A*; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 286. Cf. the same story with risque ending: U.S. (Ozarks): Randolph Who Blowed Up the Church House (New York, 1952) 16, 185. J2550—J2599. |
| K601.2 | "Don't eat your nephews." Giants thus dissuaded. Tuamotu: Stimson MS (z-G. 3/1323). |
| J703.2 | "Eat small fish now if you wish larger ones later." Bishop refuses to eat small fish as he used to when an abbot. "Then I used small fish to catch big ones I have now!" Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J1511.16 | "Eat spiritual food, not material," say monks to lazy brother who criticizes them for working in the garden. Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| V222.1.0.2 | "Fair Drop" from. Heaven falls upon infant saint. Irish myth: Cross. |
| L212.3.1 | "Fame (honor) is more enduring than life." Irish myth: *Cross. |
| B57 | "Finngálkn", bird with a man's head. Icel.: *Boberg. |
| J2516.9 | "Foresee the possible event." Asked to call a doctor when his master falls ill, fool also calls the undertaker. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J182.1 | "Forty-nine gates of wisdom" open to Moses (and Solomon). Jewish: *Neuman. |
| P319.7 | "Friendship without refusal." Friends bind themselves each to grant every desire of the other. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K547.1 | "Get into my belly." The wee cock, lost in the woods, orders the fox, the bear, and the wolf to get into his belly. Overawed, the beasts make their apologies promising never to annoy him again. The bear even carries the cock home. (Cf. K1715.7.) Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 2007*. |
| J21.16 | "Go to Goosebridge": counsel proved wise by experience. Man with disobedient wife finds mules beaten there and made to cross bridge. Boccaccio Decameron IX No. 9 (*Lee 289); Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| Q333.1 | "God has no use for me, and the devil will not take me." On the way home the bold woman is strangled by the devil. (Cf. Q582.5.) Lithuanian: Balys Legends No. 376f. |
| J2499.5 | "God is everywhere." Fool therefore trusts that he is in angry elephant. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| A189.0.1 | "Gods and not-gods". Irish myth: Cross (A189). |
| D2102.4 | "Golden" son of supernatural bride of king has the power of producing gold and gold buildings, ornaments etc. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| X111.10 | "Good day." — "A woodchopper." The workman answers the traveler's courtesies with remarks about his work. (Cf. X111.8.) Type 1698J; Aarne FFC XX 51ff., cf. 67ff., 72, 75 (Types 12, 13, 16, 18). |
| J2475 | "Greasing the judge's palms." The woman puts butter on his hands. *Crane Vitry 149 No. 38; *Herbert III 68; Hervieux IV 301 No. 93; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 124; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 22; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J1141.1.4 | "Guilty man's stick will grow during night." Guilty man chops end off stick. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| D1361.7 | "Hand of glory" renders light invisible. Candles of human fat from dead man's hand make light invisible except to man holding it. (Cf. D1162.2.1.)—Penzer III 150; *Fb "tyvefinger" III 917b. |
| J2516.5 | "Hang out lanterns." Officer calls to householders to hang out lanterns. One hangs out lantern but does not light it. The next night the officer calls to them to hang out lanterns and candles. He hangs out a lantern with a candle in it but unlighted. The next night the officer calls out to hang out lanterns and candlelight. England: Baughman. |
| J21.52.3 | "Hardened clay is hard to mold": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| H588.14 | "Have a black look" (frown). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2489.7 | "Have a black look" (i.e., frown). Fool blackens face with charcoal. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K475.2 | "Have we leave to go?" Two prisoners are made stable boys on their promise not to escape secretly. Before horse race starts they ask: "Do we have your leave to go?" They go home. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| Z61.4 | "He struck him such a blow that he remembered the milk he drank on the sixth day after he was born." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| V316.1 | "He that asks shall receive." Hermit wants to prove truth of these words of the Gospel and asks for the hand of the princess. Performs the difficult task imposed upon him. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 779*; Russian: Andrejev No. 841I*. |
| J21.41.3 | "He who lies awake gains; he who sleeps loses": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.52.9 | "He who throws himself against a wave is overthrown by it": proved true. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| F177 | "Heavenly Academy" in otherworld. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| J1551.11 | "Here is half of picture and you must imagine other half." Jester later redecorates house in fragments of pictures. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J814.3 | "High-born alone recognizes one of equal rank with himself." Jackal sees man with instrument he is unfamiliar with, comes up to him and salutes him "Lord of Delhi." Man calls him Lord of Jungle and tells above. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K2064 | "Holy" hermit surprised in amorous intrigue. Italian Novella: Rotunda; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 533. |
| J2497 | "Honey is sweet." A wayward son, asked by his mother to give her a sweet word, thus answers. *Köhler-Bolte I 3. |
| J1309.2 | "How often do you kill your ducks?" Answer: "Only once." England, U.S.: *Baughman. |
| J2666.1 | "I am as good as you are." One woman says to another, "You are an adulteress and a thief, and I know that I am just as good as you are." *Wesselski Bebel I 136 No. 38. |
| W211.3 | "I am not alone!" Man travelling alone through the forest at night, is afraid of robbers. He hangs his cap on a stick and keeps repeating: "I am not travelling alone, there are two of us." Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1862*. |
| X441.1 | "I can't hear you." Rector confesses his sacristan: "Have you drunk the wine designated for the mass?" — "I can't hear you." Exchange of places. Sacristan asks rector: "Have you kissed my wife?" — "Really, I can't hear you." Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 2451*; Rumanian: Schullerus FFC LXXVIII No. 1777*. |
| K1081.1.1 | "I don't believe you have a gold coin." Trickster handed money by each of four blind beggars, each thinking that member of group speaks. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2496 | "I don't know" thought to be a person's name. A man in a country that cannot speak his language hears "I don't know" so frequently that he thinks it must be the name of the owner of all the places he inquires about. *Type 700*; Africa (Gold Coast): Barker an Sinclair 95 No. 18. |
| J1802.1 | "I don't understand." Foreigner asks who owns property, clothing, servants; whose wife an attractive woman is; whose funeral is in progress? Answer to each question is "I don't understand," which foreigner takes to be a person's name. (Cf. J1152, J1741, X111.7.) Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. III (N.F.) 173-8. |
| Z49.1 | "I killed my grandmother because she refused to cook a hare. I killed a priest because he said my crime was bad. A friar absolved me to avoid being killed." (First ed. Z41.7.) *Taylor JAFL XLVI 87 No. 2037; Spanish: Boggs FFC XC 155 No. 2026*. |
| W211.2 | "I surely saw a hundred wolves (snakes)."—"There weren't so many as that."—"Well, what made the noise in the bushes?" Type 2009*; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1863*; Estonian: Aarne FFC XXV No. 2009*; Russian: Andrejev No. 2009; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.50 | "Idleness begets woe; work brings happiness": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1513.1 | "If he does not live, let him die." The student as healer hangs this sign around the neck of a sick calf. Later as parson he is sick. It is proposed to heal him with the same remedy. *Type 1845. |
| J1281 | "If I were a tyrant you would not say so." Answer made by emperor to one who calls him a tyrant. *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 733; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| E229.1 | "If I were not your next of kin." Ghost tells man that otherwise he would tear him into pieces. Swiss: Jegerlehner Oberwallis 328 No. 29. |
| W111.2.3 | "If it is day, give me food; if it is night, let me sleep." The master has told the servant to go to work. Wesselski Mönchslatein 54 No. 47. |
| J2185.1 | "If you had hanged me you would have really been in trouble." (Similar to J2185.) Nouvelles Récréations No. 44. |
| H588.17 | "If you have to go to a prostitute, go early in the morning." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.15 | "If you wish to hang yourself, do so by the stone which I point out": counsel proved wise by experience. Father has left money which will fall out when the spendthrift son goes to hang himself in despair. "The Heir of Linne." *Type 910D; *Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 709; Chauvin V 133 No. 63, *VIII 94 No. 65; Child V 12f.; Clouston Tales II 53; Italian: Basile Pentamerone IV No. 2, Rotunda; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J1291.4 | "In this sesame flower where is the oil?" "When your mother conceived where were you?" India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2234 | "Is that you or your brother?" Clouston Noodles 12; Nouvelles Récréations No. 71; Christensen DF XLVII 224 No. 87; England, Scotland: Baughman. |
| P525.0.1 | "It is a debt if it is promised." Irish myth: Cross. |
| J21.29 | "Keep head dry, feet warm, and eat meat": counsel proved wise by experience. King recovers from illness. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| T645.2 | "Keep it if it is a girl; send it to me if it is a boy." Hero leaving girl says this of the prospective child. Icelandic: *Boberg. |
| J2489.2 | "Keep locks of everyone in your hand" (keep control of them). Fool interprets literally. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| T645.2.1 | "Kill it if it is a girl." Indonesia: De Vries's list No. 203. |
| D1813.3 | "Knowledge tooth" reveals events in distant place. (Cf. D1810.3.) Irish myth: Cross. |
| J21.44 | "Lean upon no relation in the hour of distress": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| K553.1 | "Let me catch you better game." Captured animal pretends to help captor bring more desirable victim. Escapes. Chauvin II 116 No. 94; India: *Thompson-Balys; Africa (Kaffir): Theal 188, (Basuto): Jacottet 40; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 286 No. 48. |
| J2516.6 | "Let no one in." When lizard comes in fool burns house down to drive it out. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| H592.1 | "Love like Salt." Girl compares her love for her father to salt. Experience teaches him the value of salt. *Type 923; *BP III 305 n. 2, IV 407; *Hartland FLJ IV 309; *DeCock Studien en Essays 4f.; Cosquin Contes Indiens 103ff.; Köhler Aufsätze 14; India: *Thompson-Balys. Cf. Shakespeare's King Lear. |
| H592.1.1 | "Love like wind in hot sun." Husband offended but later learns wife's meaning. Type 923A. |
| J21.38 | "May God spare you from an evil man or evil woman." To teach a friend the wisdom of this greeting a man borrows money and then his creditor's coat from him. In court the lender is discredited. Spanish: Childers. |
| P557.4.4 | "Men's truth" (fir fer). Challenger to single combat must submit to same conditions as person challenged. Irish myth: Cross. |
| D1379.5 | "Milk-medicine" causes milk to appear in woman's breast. (Cf. D1241.) India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.34 | "Move stool before sitting on it": counsel proved wise by experience. Man thus saves self from falling into well. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.35.1 | "Neglect not what four or five people say": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.2.1 | "Never attack anyone before unsheathing and returning sword three times": counsel proved wise by experience. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.52.2 | "Never be rude to a self-made man of low birth": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.13 | "Never believe what is beyond belief": counsel proved wise by experience. Man believes when bird tells him that she has a precious gem in her body. (Cf. J21.12, K604.) *BP IV 149 n. 2; Alphabet No. 191; Gaster Exempla 256 No. 390; Paris Légendes du moyen âge 225ff.; Oesterley Gesta Romanorum No. 167; Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| J21.52.5 | "Never dismiss and old servant for his first fault": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.49 | "Never give a cup made of a single ruby as a present to the king": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| H588.12 | "Never greet anyone." (Start your work the earliest, so that not you but others may greet you.) Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 915A*. |
| J21.30 | "Never have to do with a woman unless wed to her": counsel proved wise by experience. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.52.4 | "Never publish a man's sin if you can help it": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2489.13 | "Never show your head again." Jester soon appears with large pot over head. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.14 | "Never try to reach the unattainable": counsel proved wise by experience. (Cf. K604.) *BP IV 149 n. 2; Alphabet No. 191; Gaster Exempla 256 No. 390; *G. Paris Légendes du moyen âge 225ff. |
| J21.8 | "Never wager more than a groat": counsel proved wise by experience. Man loses wife on wager. Wesselski Märchen 219 No. 32. |
| T310.1.1 | "Night of Sabbath" (Friday night) only devoted to conjugal pleasures. Jewish: *Neuman. |
| K1655.1 | "No argument good without a witness." Lawyer's client therefore refuses payment of fee. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K1331 | "No!" The princess must answer all questions by "No". By clever framing of his question the hero wins her to his desires. *Types 851, 853; BP I 192; **Kristoffer Nyrop Nej: et motivs historie (København, 1891); Dania V 1ff., 164ff., 166; *Toldo Zs. f. Vksk. XV 69 n. 2. |
| K602 | "Noman." Escape by assuming an equivocal name. (Sometimes "myself.") *Hackman Polyphemsage 179, 203, 219; *Fb "selv"; Clouston Noodles 194 n.; BP III 378; *Oertel Studien zur vgl. Literaturgeschichte VIII 117f.; *Toldo Zs. f. Vksk. XV 70.—Finnish-Swedish: Wessman 56 No. 480; India: *Thompson-Balys; Chinese: Eberhard FFC CXX 262; Buddhist myth: Malalasekera II 36. |
| J21.52.8 | "Nothing happens that does not work for one's good": counsel proved wise is experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K193.1 | "Old Saddle" granted by the king. This is the name of an estate, which the king unwittingly gives away. Anderson FFC XLII 360; Lithuanian: Balys Index No. *925. |
| J2516.3.4 | "Only light the fire." Fool allows the house to burn down. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J281.1 | "Only one, but a lion". Lioness thus answers fox (hog) who twits her that she has only one cub. Wienert FFC LVI 44 (ET 20), 142 (ST 477); Halm Aesop No. 240. |
| V92 | "Our Lady's Tumbler." A tumbler, turned monk, dances while others chant psalms. He is praising God in the only way he knows. *Herbert III 417; *Wicksteed Romania II 315; Romanische Forschungen XI 223. |
| K373 | "Owner has refused to accept it." A rascal steals a priest's watch. He tells the priest that he has stolen a watch and offers it to him as a payment for a past favor. The priest refuses to accept stolen goods. Commands the thief to return the watch to the owner. "But the owner has refused to accept it." "Then you may keep it." Danish: Kristensen Kirketjeneste 126. |
| K1013.2 | "Painting" on the haycock. The fox persuades the wolf to lie on the hay in order to be painted. He sets fire to it. *Type 8; *Dh IV 239; *Krohn Bär (Wolf) und Fuchs (JSFO VI) 67ff.; American Negro: Harris Friends 60 ff. No. 8. |
| K1013.3 | "Painting" with a red hot iron. *Type 152*; Russian: Andrejev No. 152. |
| J2516.2.1 | "Pick up everything!" Fool loads his master with horse dung. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2516.2 | "Pick up everything!" The youth so instructed picks up too much. The master then tells him to pick things up only when the master gives the signal. The master falls into a hole and cannot give the signal. *BP III 151; Christensen DF XLVII 226 No. 92; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J2465.13 | "Plowing out potatoes." Fool plows them out of ground. North Carolina: Brown Collection I 698. |
| T37.0.1 | "Poisoned" woman revives. Husband tries to poison wife. Student substitutes sleeping potion for poison, takes her from the tomb. When she revives he claims her as his own. Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| J21.20 | "Prepare for night camp while it is still day": counsel proved wise by experience. Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 100, 304, Neuman. |
| K512.0.2 | "Prince will soon want me back." Executioner persuaded to let hero go. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| P555.2.1.1 | "Publication of slaying." Heads of slain enemies displayed. Irish myth: Cross; *Icelandic: Boberg. |
| J2489.5 | "Quieting the patient." Fool does so by killing. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| G372 | "Rain" as ogre in bull form. Gaster Oldest Stories 47; Africa (Bushman): Bleek and Lloyd 193. |
| J21.23 | "Rise earlier": counsel proved wise by experience. Man seeking explanation for being in debt arises earlier and catches his servants stealing. (Cf. H588.1.) Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J21.12 | "Rue not a thing that is past": counsel proved wise by experience. Man lets bird go and then, having listened to bird's false declaration that she had a precious gem in her body, he tries to climb a tree after her and falls. *BP IV 149 n. 2; Gaster Exempla 256 No. 390; *Paris Légendes du moyen âge 225ff.; *Krappe Bulletin Hispanique XXXIX 24; Alphabet No. 191; Oesterley Gesta Romanorum No. 167. |
| J21.35 | "Ruler should follow advice of majority" (not his own fancy): counsel proved wise by experience. Thus finds money on body of dead traveler. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| Z14 | "Runs." Conventional passages of set form within a tale, usually recited in a different voice from the rest. *Hdwb. d. Märchens II 163; *Campbell-McKay 233ff.; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| C490.1.1 | "Save it for the beggar" (substitute for "save it for tomorrow". You may be dead by tomorrow.)—India: Thompson-Balys. |
| L112.6 | "Scar-face" as hero. N. A. Indian (Blackfoot): Grinnell Blackfoot Lodge Tales (New York, 1892) 93, McClintock Old North Trail (London, 1910) 491. |
| J2465.9 | "Sew shirts for servants." Fool sews them to trees. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| C929.1 | "Shame and disgrace" threatened for refusing love of forthputting woman. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K1612.2 | "Shoot any thief who comes." King unwittingly shot. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| F166.1.1 | "Silver Bowl" (Grail) in otherworld. Irish myth: Cross. |
| P424.3.1 | "Skillful" physician compelled to help carry away the bier of his dead patient. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2472 | "Skinning farmers". A master tells his servant that he is going to skin some farmers (i.e., cheat them). When a farmer inquires for a tanner, the servant directs him to his master. Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 720. |
| J21.41.1 | "Sleep not in an inn": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K553.5 | "Soak me in the pond so that I will be juicy." India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| Z24.1.3 | "Solomon Grundy, born on Monday .... buried on Sunday." *Taylor JAFL XLVI 80 No. 2012D; Halliwell Nursery Rhymes of England 33 No. 49. |
| K112.2 | "Soup stone" sold. It needs only the addition of a few vegetables and a bit of meat. *Type 1548; *Prato RTP IV 168; Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| D682.4.2 | "Spirit of poetry" as hideous youth becomes beautiful. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| K1725 | "St. George's Dogs" (wolves). The man says, "St. George's dogs are coming!" The ogre flees. Type 1150; Lithuanian: Balys Legends No. 148; West Indies: Flowers 543f. |
| J21.19 | "Start your journey early in the day": counsel proved wise by experience. Jewish: bin Gorion Born Judas III 100, 304, Neuman. |
| J21.17 | "Stay at church till mass is finished": counsel proved wise by experience. Delay saves youth from death. *Cosquin études 73ff.; Irish: Beal XXI 314, O'Suilleabhain 38; Icelandic: Boberg; Japanese: Ikeda. |
| J2489.9 | "Stick fast to everything you undertake." Foolish son seizes an ass by tail and gets kicked. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| H588.16 | "Take people by the locks" (use your influence to make people subservient to you). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.5.2 | "Take side road rather than main one where three roads meet": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| C762.5 | "Take, but only twice." Man to take money from cursed chest only twice. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 36, 130. |
| J2471 | "Taking a pattern (picture) of conduct" from other people. Fool steals a picture from the church. Wesselski Bebel I 128 No. 27. |
| F405.7.1 | "Tell to mill-mouse that the field-mouse is dead." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2569 | "Thank Fortune I'm out of business." Philosopher loses all his wealth at sea. Thanks Fortune for taking him out of business. Can now devote his life to philosophy. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2571 | "Thank Fortune it wasn't a melon." Man contends that melons should not grow on slender vines but on tall trees. He is hit on the nose by a falling nut. Is thankful it wasn't a melon. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2568 | "Thank God it's over!" Man who has been promised a beating lives in constant dread. Is eventually beaten. He thanks God. Italian Novella: Rotunda. |
| J2564 | "Thank God that camels have no wings." They might fly about and kill people. Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 205 No. 2. |
| J2563 | "Thank God they weren't peaches!" A man plans to take peaches as a present to the king. He is persuaded rather to take figs. They are green and the king has them thrown in his face. He is thankful that they weren't peaches. *Type 1689; *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 227 No. 71; *Clouston Tales II 407ff.; Italian Novella: *Rotunda. |
| P632.2.1 | "The champion's portion." The choicest portion assigned to the bravest at feasts. Irish myth: Cross. |
| F244.1 | "The Four Jewels of the Tuatha Dé Danann" (fairies?). Irish myth: *Cross. |
| J1191.1.1 | "The sea is on fire"—not more absurd than the decision about the colt. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| D1856.1.1 | "The Two Sorrows of the Kingdom of Heaven": Elijah and Enoch pass to otherworld without dying. Irish myth: *Cross. |
| J1155 | "Then I woke up": man discredits his confession by declaring it all a dream. *Type 1790; Wesselski Märchen 187 No. 2; *Toldo Zs. f. Vksk. XV 69f.; *Hilka and Soederhjelm Neuphilologische Mitteilungen (Helsingfors, 1913) 15ff.; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1141.1.2 | "Thief has grease from stolen fowl on him": thief begins to feel his beard and is detected. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1141.1.5 | "Thief has the feathers sticking on his head": guilty woman immediately passes her hand over her head. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| L10.1.1 | "Thirteen" as name of victorious youngest son. (Youngest of thirteen brothers.) BP III 34; *Köhler-Bolte I 383; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J2499.1 | "Till the front sweats." A mother orders her daughter to knead the dough until the front of the oven (stirn) sweats. She does so till her forehead (stirn) sweats. Type 1445*. |
| Z122.1 | "Time" overpowered when weight is taken from his clock. Italian: Basile Pentamerone IV No. 8. |
| P526.1 | "To every cow belongs its calf," a legal principle applied to question of ownership of copy of manuscript. Irish myth: Cross. |
| P526.2 | "To every son belongs his mother": in case of suspected illegitimacy, child is not guilty. Irish myth: Cross. |
| K553.0.1 | "Wait till I am fat enough to race you." Hero to be eaten by cannibals when he is fattened enough to beat them in a race. He runs away. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| K553 | "Wait till I get fat." Captured person (animal) persuades his captor to wait and fatten him before eating him. Wienert FFC LVI 52 (ET 117), 105 (ST 179); Halm Aesop No. 231; Spanish: Espinosa III 446; India: *Thompson-Balys; Africa (Zulu): Callaway 164; American Negro (Georgia): Harris Nights 366ff. No. 65 (variant); West Indies: Flowers 516. |
| K553.1.1 | "Wait till men come to take me from trap, then eat them." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| C495.2.1 | "We three"—"For gold"—"That is right" devil's bargain. Three brothers have agreed to say only these things. They incriminate themselves. —*Type 360; BP II 561; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| C495.2.2 | "We three"—"For gold"—"That is right": phrases of foreign language. Three travelers know each one phrase of a foreign language. They incriminate themselves. *Type 1697; BP II 561; Nouvelles Récréations No. 20; India: Thompson-Balys. |
| C495.2 | "We three"—"For gold"—"That is right". These expressions are the sole conversation of three men. |
| H524.1 | "What am I thinking?" "That I am the priest." So answers youth masking as priest. *Type 922; BP III 214ff.; **Anderson FFC XLII 219ff.; India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J2712 | "What do I hold in my hand?" (Ring). "In its first state it was in the mountains; it is round and flat." Fool: "A millstone." Chauvin VIII 170 No. 188. |
| X435.1 | "What says David?"—Boy: "Pay your old debts." Variants: (a) What evil did Adam do?—He (shoemaker) made my shoes too small. (b) What kind of man was Moses? He was a day laborer. *Type 1833A; *Wesselski Arlotto II 233 No. 113. |
| J21.52.6 | "When a man attacks you, kill him whether he be king or prince": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.34.1 | "When in a strange place look about you": counsel proved wise by experience. India: Thompson-Balys. |
| H588.18 | "When you go to the bazar, eat your morning meal first." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J1309.3 | "Where did dirt go when canal was dug?" Disgusted father-in-law: "I have eaten half and your father half, to have such a fool son-in-law." India: Thompson-Balys. |
| Z49.5.1 | "Where is that grain?" — "The cock snatched it." — "Where is that cock?"—"He drowned in the sea."—"Where is that sea?"—"It is grown over with reeds." —"Where are those reeds?"—"The maids have cut them down", etc. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 2018. |
| N572.1 | "White woman" as guardian of treasure. *Norlind 69ff.; *Winter 47. |
| W111.3.6 | "Who will not work, shall not eat." Idle daughter-in-law learns work. Lithuanian: Balys Index No. 1370A*. |
| J1483.4 | "Why didn't you stay on the horse?" The rider: "I couldn't; you see, it ended there" (pointing to horse's head). India: Thompson-Balys. |
| D1442.8 | "Witch bone" enables possessor to control animals in any way he wishes. England: Baughman. |
| C495.2.2.1 | "Yes"—"No"—"Very well".—India: Thompson-Balys. |
| J21.47 | "You can only call your wife your own so long as she is with you": counsel proved wise by experience. India: *Thompson-Balys. |
| J1262.6 | "You don't blame a toolmaker for making all manner of tools, both harmful and helpful, so why blame God for making bad beasts as well as good ones?" Spanish Exempla: Keller. |
| D1731.3 | (Dream of) rock-casting contest. (Cf. A966.1, D931.) Irish myth: *Cross. |
| A1029.2 | (Four) persons who, in four quarters of the world, survived the flood and thus preserved ancient tradition. Irish myth: Cross. |
| F162.0.1.2 | (Luminous) precious stones in otherworld (dwelling). (Cf. A661.0.7.) Irish myth: *Cross. |
| Z71.6.3 | (Nine) wonders of Ireland. Irish myth: *Cross. |
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