μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif
Within the index
33 finer motifs beneath it
How much the ass cost. As the fool brings the new ass home everyone wants to know how much it cost. He has all publicly assemble and announces just what it costThrow at a rich man. Philosopher gives a penny to a man who throws stones at him but advises him that it will be wiser to throw at one who can afford to give more. The advice is followed and the rascal is arrested and hangedEyes treated for the stomach ache. A man who has stomach ache from eating bad bread is treated for his eyes so that he will thereafter be able to tell good bread from bad. [Inadvertant duplication of X372.3.]The fish in the sleeve. A particularly obnoxious man delays others while he haggles over prices with a butcher. Meanwhile a parson takes the three fish the man has laid down and puts them into his large sleeves. The man is angry and searches in vain for them. The parson then shows them and advises him not to let people cheat himOne wrong and five hundred good deeds. A man steals a large sum, keeps half and distributes the rest among five hundred persons. He says that he has committed one wrong but has done five hundred good deedsTwo monks renew their appetites. Entertained by a lord, they say that they are going to certain waters to recover their appetites. They are taken to a chamber and locked in for a day They recover their appetites without further journeying. (Cf. K1955.1.1.)The testament of the dog. The owner of a dog has him given Christian burial. The bishop thereupon pretends that the dog has left the church a large legacyAss's charter in his hoof. The ass absents himself from the parliament of beasts. The lion sends the fox and the wolf to summon him. He pleads his charter of exemption and invites the fox to read it in his hoof. (Cf. K551.18.)The stolen meat and the weighed cat. A man buys three pounds of meat. His wife eats it and says that the cat ate it. The man weighs the cat and finds that it does not weigh three poundsThe lazy ass repaid in kind. Loaded with salt, he falls down in the river and lightens his burden. His master then loads him with sponges so that the next time the ass tries the trick he increases his loadThe rescuers' Sabbath. A Jew, fallen into a pit, refuses to be rescued on Saturday, his Sabbath. The next day he calls for help but the Christians refuse to rescue him on Sunday, their SabbathThe forehanded servant. A parson boasts that when he asks his maid if certain work is done she always answers that it has been done long ago. A guest wagers that she can be trapped if she is asked whether she has thrown the parson's suit of clothes into the tub of water. She overhears the wager and has the suit in the water before he asks the questionThat which was promised him. A tenant promises his daughter to his master against her will. The master sends for "that which was promised him." The daughter sends the horse, and it is taken into the master's chamberSt. Peter not guiltless. Soldiers are admitted neither to hell nor to heaven. They remind Peter of his denial of Christ. He admits themGod's omniscience. A woman tells her brother of God's omniscience. When he is ill and the priest has been called, he creeps under some straw and hides. The priest leaves. The man: "If God were so omniscient he might have found me for the priest."The one word petition. A guardian of monks in need of food approaches the prince The prince is busy and says that he will permit the guardian but a single word. The guardian says, "Soup", and secures all the food he wants from the princeSharing his wounds. Two men on parting agree to share everything they receive. One returns with much money. His friend reminds him of the pact. He replies that he has also received many wounds. The friend is willing to forego dividingThe blacksmith's and the horse-trader's dreams. They are forced to sleep together because of lack of room. The blacksmith tells the horsetrader that he often dreams that he is striking the bellows and that he may accidently strike him in the night. The horsetrader retaliates by dreaming that he is riding a horse and drives the spurs into the blacksmithDrunkard cured of seeing double. When he claims to see two roast chickens, his wife takes the one chicken away and he falls into the fire trying to find the otherThe priest makes the omen come true. A woman crosses herself when she meets a priest, as if he were the devil. She says that meeting a priest always brings her bad luck. The priest knocks her down and steps on her. "As ye believe, so shall it be."Armies like seeds and peppercorns. One king sends large sack of seed to the other to represent the number of his soldiers. The second replies with a small bag of peppercorns: "My army is small compared to yours but has all the power of the peppercorn compared to your lifeless seed."The sound of the harp. An apprentice harpmaker is blamed that he has not made the harp sound. He throws the harp at his master's head and breaks it to pieces: "There you have your sound."To give the accounting afterward. A nobleman embezzles money from the public treasury. When counsellors urge an accounting, he replies that he is ready as soon as they have themselves made an accounting of all their transactions. They are ready to let well enough aloneTaking cold in effigy. A traitor is hanged in effigy naked. Later the citizens sue for peace and arrange a meeting. They find him in a hot room swathed with many blankets. He says that he has taken cold when the night wind blew on him as he hung naked from the gallows +9 more

wander