What creature has sweetest blood: gnat's tongue torn out. Assembly to decide who has the sweetest blood so that it may be the food for the serpent. Gnat discovers that man has the sweetest blood. Rather than let him tell this secret, swallow tears out his tongue. Gnat can only buzz. (Cf. A2344.2, A2426.3.2.)

Motif

What creature has sweetest blood: gnat's tongue torn out. Assembly to decide who has the sweetest blood so that it may be the food for the serpent. Gnat discovers that man has the sweetest blood. Rather than let him tell this secret, swallow tears out his tongue. Gnat can only buzz. (Cf. A2344.2, A2426.3.2.)

Mythological motifs. · Animal characteristics. · Various causes of animal characteristics. · Animal characteristics as punishment. · view the constellation · filed as A2236.1

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Scholars’ trail — 3references

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

LithuanianBalys Legends No. 192.
general Dh I 281, 332ff.
general Circassian: Nicolaides and Carnoy RTP I 80

Within the index

Filed under Animal characteristics: punishment for planning man's downfall.

Filed beside it

Animal characteristics: punishment for carrying devil into paradise Animal punished for not warning of devil's temptation in Eden Magpie tells man he is to die next day: no tongue and long tail. God pulls out his tongue and makes his tail long for doing this forbidden thing. (Cf. A2344.2.6, A2378.3.1.)Animal punished for not heralding dawn Nit tries to bore through man's head: must remain at edge of hair. (Cf. A2433.5.1.)Jay carries sulphur to devil in hell: must be quiet at noon Cat commanded to pray so as not to slay man: why cat purrs

Travels with

Why animal has no tongue Why gnat has no tongue. (Cf. A2236.1.)Gnat's buzz. (Cf. A2236.1.)

wander