Task: making a bull bear a calf. Reductio ad absurdum: have a man prepare for childbirth. (Cf. H952.)

Motif

Task: making a bull bear a calf. Reductio ad absurdum: have a man prepare for childbirth. (Cf. H952.)

Tests. · Tests of prowess: tasks. · Nature of tasks. · Impossible or absurd tasks. · Tasks contrary to laws of nature. · view the constellation · filed as H1024.1.1.1

Filed across the traditions

India *Thompson-Balys.
general De Vries FFC LXXIII 265

Within the index

Filed under Task: making a bull bear a calf.

Travels with (Thompson’s cf.)

Reductio ad absurdum of task. When an impossible task is given, the hero responds with a countertask so absurd as to show the manifest absurdity of the original task. (Cf. H1023.3.1, H1024.1.1.1.)

Carried in tale types

The Clever Girl and the King · ATU 875B 2 recorded variants

ask the rhapsode about this motif · search the shelf for “childbirth” · wander