μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif

Person pursued by misfortune. (Placidas, Eustacius.) His goods are destroyed, his wife carried off by a ship captain and his children by animals.

Chance and fate. · The ways of luck and fate. · Persistent bad luck. · view the constellation · filed as N251

Filed across the traditions
  • Italian Novella *Rotunda
  • Jewish *Neuman, bin Gorion Born Judas 2d ed. I 374
  • India *Thompson-Balys
  • Buddhist myth Malalasekera II 113, 793
  • West Indies Flowers 564.
  • general *Type 938
  • general Herbert III 241
  • general *Oesterley No. 110
  • general *Bolte Zs. f. Vksk. XXVIII 154f.
  • general Alphabet No. 311
  • general *Hibbard 3ff.
  • general Boccaccio Decameron II Nos. 6, 8 (Lee 34, 39)
  • general *Loomis White Magic 112
  • general **Gerould PMLA XIX 335ff.
  • general Dickson 100 n. 7. Irish: *Cross
  • general O'Suilleabhain 42, Beal XXI 315
Within the index

Filed under Persistent bad luck.

7 finer motifs beneath it
Man captured by pirates is maimed, crippled, blinded. He is patient through it all. Finally he is elected ruler by his dead master's subjects Man who aspires to greater wealth loses all. When he is about to be rewarded by king the latter dies Man who loses fortune marries widow of his rich master. (Cf. N227.) Travelers pursued by misfortune Fortune of the lucky wife. A luckless man becomes successful in all his undertakings when he marries a lucky woman and lives by her luck The luckless son and his envious father. Seeing a luck-bringing animal at his son's house, the wizard father orders it to be destroyed, but the grandchildren eat of its meat and become fortunate Misfortune pursues farmer
Filed beside it
Bad luck follows man who shoots stork Persecution by bad luck. Wishing to escape it, the luckless couple build themselves a new home. Scarcely do they establish themselves in the new home, when bad luck addresses them from the hearth: "I have already waited for you here three days." Persecution by a god so that will of deity can be followed Bad luck banished and freed. The poor man in some way banishes his bad luck and becomes prosperous. Out of envy his rich brother sets it free; it then follows him Messengers announce successive misfortunes Safety in shadow of wall. After many misfortunes the man is apparently safe. The wall falls on him Escape from one misfortune into worse Unlucky classes Train of troubles from lost horseshoe nail. Master tries to go on in spite of the loss Train of troubles from sparrow's vengeance. A man runs over the dog, friend of the sparrow. Through the sparrow's vengeance the man loses his horse, his property, and finally his life Whether man begs all day or for an hour he gets only a small basket of grain Person brings bad luck to others
Carried in tale types
  • Placidas · ATU 938 1 recorded variant

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