μῦθοι Mythoi
Motif

The obstinate wife or husband. (Cf. J2511.)

Sex. · Married life. · Characteristics of wives and husbands. · view the constellation · filed as T255

In our texts — keyword-matched, unreviewed
Scholars’ trail — 3 references (open)

The index’s own references — the collections where scholars sighted this story-shape, tradition by tradition. Titles on our shelf are live links; the rest is the frontier, not yet shelved.

  • India *Thompson-Balys
  • Japanese Ikeda.
  • general *Type 1365
Within the index

Filed under Characteristics of wives and husbands.

7 finer motifs beneath it
The obstinate wife: cutting with knife or scissors. At the end of the argument the man throws his wife into the water. As she sinks she makes with her finger the motion of shearing with the scissors The obstinate wife sought for up-stream. When she falls into the stream, the husband concludes that she would be too obstinate to go with the current The obstinate wife: sign of the louse. She calls her husband a lousy head. He throws her into the stream. As she sinks she makes a sign of cracking a louse The obstinate wife: the third egg. The husband and the wife dispute as to who shall eat the third egg. She pretends to die. At the grave she asks him, "Do I eat two of the three eggs?" and he gives his consent. She jumps up and cries out "I eat two!" and everyone flees except a lame man who exclaims, "Poor me and the other one!" The dish which the husband detests and the wife keeps serving him. He affects to like it and thus gets rid of it Obstinate wife refuses to take cover off boiling kettle. Is beaten by husband Man warns his wife that he has dreamed that she is attacked by a wolf. She pays no heed to him and the dream comes true
Filed beside it
The shrewish wife The overbearing wife The nagging wife The disobedient wife The quarrelsome wife or husband Jealous wife or husband The curious wife The ungrateful wife. (Cf. W154.) The hypocritical wife. Shows what she has done for her husband, but not what she has done for herself Jewels of Cornelia. She shows her children as her jewels Beautiful woman married to hideous man: he is thankful, she patient. She says that they have thus both gained paradise The neglected wife The silent wife Wife cannot keep secret The spendthrift wife
Travels with
The silence wager. A man and his wife make a wager as to who shall speak first (close the door). The man (woman) becomes jealous and scolds; loses the wager

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