Blind men and elephant. Four blind men feel an elephant's leg, tail, ear and body, respectively, and conclude it is like a log, a rope, a fan, and something without beginning or end

Motif

Blind men and elephant. Four blind men feel an elephant's leg, tail, ear and body, respectively, and conclude it is like a log, a rope, a fan, and something without beginning or end.

The wise and the foolish. · Fools (and other unwise persons). · Absurd misunderstandings. · One thing mistaken for another. · Animal or person mistaken for something else. · view the constellation · filed as J1761.10

Filed across the traditions

India Thompson-Balys.
general *Taylor English Riddles in Oral Tradition (Berkeley, 1951) 582 n. 11

Within the index

Filed under Animal thought to be object.

Filed beside it

Whale thought to be island. Sailors light a fire on his back White mare thought to be church Glowworm thought to be a fire. The bird who tries to keep the monkeys from this error is killed for her pains Fish thought to be chewed sugar-cane. Numskulls therefore throw away their fish Wolf thought to be log of wood Snake thought to be flute. Bites tiger who tries to play flute Living toad or beetles thought to be lost food and therefore eaten by numskulls Man mistakes dragon for log, sits on it. (Cf. B11.) Bear mistaken for a floating log (blanket) Fool mistakes dung-beetles for fruit: eats them

Carried in tale types

The Blind Men and the Elephant · ATU 1317 1 recorded variant
Other Mistaken Identities · ATU 1319* 1 recorded variant

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