μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif
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Filed under Other bluffs.

9 finer motifs beneath it
Sham threat: "In earnest or in jest?" A man asks another who has brushed against him: "Did you do that in earnest or in jest?" – "In earnest." – "I am glad, for I don't like that kind of jesting."Sham threat: either ... or. "Either you give me the road or I (will give it to you, or the like)."Sham threat: something he has never done before. Beggar says, "If you do not give me alms I shall have to do something I have never done before." The alms are given and he is asked what he would have had to do. "Work."Sham threat: the faked duel. Two who had challenged each other agree to hold a sham duelSham threat: if I were not a philosopher I should break your head for youGirl's sham threat in order to evade husband till lover returnsSham threat of war holds ships back so that there suddenly are enough men to man defending shipSham dream prophesying shipwreck makes people leave ship so that there is room enough for man who wants to goKing menaced into giving his daughter by means of borrowed fleet
Filed beside it
Bluff: provisions for the swimming match. In a swimming match from a ship the hero takes a knapsack of provisions on his back. His rival is afraid and gives upBluff: climbing the mast. In a contest in climbing the mast the hero falls into the rigging. "You do the same thing," he challenges. The sailors are persuaded of his expertnessBluff in court: the stone in the purse. A poor man has a stone in his purse to throw at the judge if he is sentenced. The judge thinks that he has money to use as a bribe and acquits himTrickster's boasting scares his powerful opponent from contestGoat singing a threatening song bought off with food and jewelsPretended angerKing persuades men to follow him, pretending that he is going to make peace with his brothers, instead battleBluff: insult repeated as harmless remark. The trickster makes an insulting remark, but when called on to repeat what he said he changes it so as to turn aside wrathBoast where the master cannot hear. The servant boasts that he has scolded his masterWhen he is looked at too threateningly hero feigns failing ability to go on horsebackThreat to build a church in hell. When the man makes this threat, he is let out of hellBluff: wealth gained by seeming to be in the king's confidence. Courtier asks the king for a reward that will cost nothing. He gets permission to listen to the king's devotions. He now receives bribes because of his apparent influenceShoemaker offers to trim the peasant's feet to fit the shoes. The peasant prefers to accept the ill-fitting shoesHerdsman threatens invasion with enormous herds: bought off. He hires himself as herdsman of all his master's flocks for ten years. He then sends notice to surrounding peoples that he is coming with his master's flocks to graze. They bribe him to stay awayMiracle must wait till one man is sacrificed. No one volunteers and it does not need to be performedBluff: the rare vintages. Host serves many rare vintages and gets a reputation for his wine cellar. But there is only a small jug of each vintage
Carried in tale types

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