μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif

Feigning death to kill enemy.

Deceptions. · Killing or maiming by deception. · Murder by strategy. · view the constellation · filed as K911

Filed across the traditions
  • India *Thompson-Balys
  • Buddhist myth Malalasekera II 1131
  • N. Am. Indian (Klikitat) Jacobs U Wash II 35
  • Africa (Mpongwe) Nassau 17 No. 1.
  • general *Type 56B
  • general Wienert FFC LVI *59 (ET 207), 98 (ST 125)
  • general Halm Aesop No. 225
  • general Chauvin III 76 No. 50
  • general Herbert III 36ff.
  • general Hervieux IV 220 No. 49. Icelandic: Boberg
Within the index

Filed under Murder by strategy.

5 finer motifs beneath it
Sham death to wound enemies. Trickster lets himself be buried alive and stabs his enemies from the grave when they come to defile his body Man feigns death to stab brother who comes to grieve Sleep feigned to kill enemy Sham dead king jumps up and kills the nearest slave Feigning deafness to lure enemy close and to kill him
Filed beside it
Robbers' (giants') heads cut off one by one as they enter house Disguised hero attacks enemy at feast Murder from ambush Dancer stabs spectator. Uses one of the figures of the dance as a ruse Treacherous murder during hunt Man murdered while praying Fox rids himself of fleas. He lets himself sink in water somewhat with a bundle of hay. The fleas gather on the hay-bundle and he dives into the water Artificial whale made as stratagem. Enemies surprised and killed Murder by bleeding: taking more blood than victim realizes Person cuts drawbridge partly through. Giant falls into moat. (Cf. K14, K1431, K1961.1.3.) Victim pushed into fire Victim pushed into water Slaughter of animals by stampede Murder through transformation Murder by strategy – miscellaneous
Carried in tale types

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