μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif

The goose without a leg. Accused of eating the goose's leg, the thief maintains that it had no leg, and cleverly enforces his point by showing geese standing on one leg. (Usually the master confounds the rascal by frightening the geese so that they use both legs)

Deceptions. · Thefts and cheats. · Thefts. · Thief escapes detection. · view the constellation · filed as K402.1

Filed across the traditions
  • Lithuanian Balys Index No. 2424*
  • Spanish Espinosa Jr. No. 191
  • Italian Novella *Rotunda
  • India Thompson-Balys
  • West Indies Flowers 508.
  • general *Wesselski Hodscha Nasreddin I 229 No. 75
  • general Boccaccio Decameron VI No. 4 (*Lee 177)
Within the index

Filed under The lamb without a heart. Accused of eating the lamb's heart, the thief maintains that it had no heart.

Filed beside it
The bird without a tail. Thief maintains that the bird had no tail The ass without a heart. The ass as toll-gatherer is killed by the lion for asking for toll. The fox eats the ass's heart. When the lion asks for it, the fox replies that the ass could have had no heart since he was such a fool as to ask the lion for toll
Carried in tale types

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