The little old lady who swallowed a fly. She swallows a spider to eat up the fly, a bird to eat up the spider, a dog to eat the bird, a cow to eat the dog. "The little old lady swallowed a horse – she died, of course."

Motif

The little old lady who swallowed a fly. She swallows a spider to eat up the fly, a bird to eat up the spider, a dog to eat the bird, a cow to eat the dog. "The little old lady swallowed a horse – she died, of course."

Miscellaneous groups of motifs. · Formulas. · Cumulative tales. · Chains with interdependent members. · view the constellation · filed as Z49.14

Filed across the traditions

U.S. *Baughman.

Within the index

Filed under Miscellaneous interdependent chains.

Filed beside it

I killed my grandmother because she refused to cook a hare. I killed a priest because he said my crime was bad. A friar absolved me to avoid being killed Cumulative pursuit. Boys get help. One of them injures the helper. Pursued. Hidden by kind hen. One injures the hen. Hen pursues, etc The bird indifferent to pain. A man catches a mango-bird eating mangoes and strikes it against the roots of a mango-tree. The bird cannot be made to say it suffers from the blow. In turn, he puts it in water, strikes it on the ground, a stile, a door-frame, singes its feathers, cuts it up, cooks it, and eats it. The bird always expresses indifference in a cumulative rhyme. At last the bird asks him to look out of the window, whereupon it flies out of his nose and the man dies There was once a woman; the woman had a son; the son had red breeches; etc. – At last: "Shall I tell it again?" Where is the warehouse? – The fire burned it down. – Where is the fire? – The water quenched it Trial among the animals. Deer steps on kitten: cat investigates. Deer has been frightened by bird, this bird by another bird .... by crab's pointed claw, crab by mouse in his hole. Cat eats mouse. (Frog croaks because turtle carries his house on his head; turtle carries house because firefly is bringing fire; firefly brings fire because mosquito tries to bite him, etc.) Cumulative tale: bird who seeks carpenter to release young caught in closed tree. Beetle bites calf, calf bites cow, cow hoofs carpenter, carpenter beats wife, hunters save carpenter's cow, carpenter releases birds Biting a grain in half. Final formula: Forester attacks bear, the bear the wolf, the wolf the dog, the dog the cat, the cat the mouse, the mouse the grain – the grain is bitten in two Pulling up the turnip. Final formula: The mouse holds onto the cat, the cat holds onto Mary, Mary holds onto Annie, Annie holds onto grandmother, grandmother holds onto grandfather, grandfather holds onto the turnip – they all pull and pull it out Lizard eats cricket, frog eats lizard, snake eats frog, eagle eats snake, man shoots eagle; animals escape except lizard. Man takes eagle home Who is guilty of the accident. (One person blames another who blames another, etc.) Hermit must get cat to kill rats in hunt, cow to give cat milk, etc Chain of killings: bulbul destroys flower and is killed by cat; cat shaken by dog; dog killed by boy; boy sentenced to death by king

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