The wise and the foolish

3,525 motifs · page 12 of 18

• Grasshopper thought to be the devil. J1785.1
• Crab thought to be the devil. Becomes red. J1785.2
• Ass thought to be the devil. J1785.3
• Man sees Hereford cow at night; thinks it is devil, says, "Devil I deny thee! I am a psalmsinger and a worshiper of God!" J1785.4
• Man addresses colt: "Abide, Satan! I am a righteous man and a psalm singer." J1785.4.1
• Cat mistaken for devil. Fool in the dark mistakes cat's eyes for embers. Is attacked by the cat and he thinks it is the devil. J1785.5
• Fox in coffer thought to be devil. J1785.6
• Black sheep thought to be the devil. J1785.7
• Man thought to be a devil or ghost. J1786
• Man costumed as demon thought to be devil; thieves flee. J1786.1
• Woman thought to be devil; thieves flee. J1786.2
• Man mistaken for Famine and Cholera in person. J1786.3
• Priest exorcising demon mistaken for demon and beaten to death. J1786.4
• Man thought to be devil by lion. J1786.5
• Men, on first seeing wives with hair, think they are witches and run away. J1786.6
• Lion thinks man astride him is monster: frightened. J1786.7
• Man reported to be dead so that people flee from him as from a ghost. J1786.8
• Things thought at night to be other frightful object. J1789
• Windmill thought to be holy cross (church, God). J1789.1
• Clock ticking thought to be gnawing of mice. J1789.2
• Shadow mistaken for substance. J1790
• Numskull thinks his shadow is a man pursuing him. J1790.1
• Shadow mistaken for thief: is beaten. J1790.2
• Monkey seeing tiger attack his shadow is frightened so that he falls from tree. J1790.3
• Reflection in water thought to be the original of the thing reflected. J1791
• Drinking the moon. The numskull sees a cow drink from a pool where the moon is reflected. The moon goes under a cloud. He thinks the cow has eaten the moon and slaughters her to recover it. J1791.1
• Rescuing the moon. A numskull sees the moon in the water and throws a rope in to rescue it, but falls in himself. He sees the moon in the sky. At least the moon was saved! J1791.2
• Diving for cheese. Man (animal) sees moon reflected in water and, thinking it a cheese, dives for it. J1791.3
• Wolf tries to drink well dry to get cheese. J1791.3.1
• Dogs by river try to get food in river by drinking the river dry. J1791.3.2
• Demon tries to recover object from river by drinking it dry. J1791.3.2.1
• Moon's reflection thought to be gold in water. Fools dive for it. J1791.3.3
• Jackals jump into well after drums and are killed. J1791.3.4
• Dog drops his meat for the reflection. Crossing a stream with meat in his mouth he sees his reflection; thinking it another dog with meat he dives for it and loses his meat. J1791.4
• Diving for reflected enemy. J1791.5
• Shooting at enemy's reflection in water. J1791.5.1
• Man throws stone at own reflection in water. J1791.5.2
• Frog leaps into water after elephant's reflection. J1791.5.3
• Diving for reflection of beautiful woman. J1791.6
• Woman dives in water three times after reflected image of man peering down from a tree. J1791.6.0.1
• Ugly woman sees beautiful woman reflected in water and thinks it is herself. Prides herself on her beauty. J1791.6.1
• Ogre sees beautiful woman reflected in water. Attempts to drink the lake dry. (Cf. J1791.3.1.) J1791.6.2
• Man does not recognize his own reflection in the water. J1791.7
• Simpleton thinks his reflection in jar of melted butter is thief; strikes at the jar and breaks it. J1791.7.1
• Goose dives for star, thinking it a fish. The next day when she sees fish, she lets it escape. J1791.8
• Fools see bee's nest reflected in water: try to carry off the well. J1791.9
• Fool sees golden-crested bird reflected in water. Thinks it is gold. J1791.10
• Diving for reflected fruit. Meantime rascal steals the fruit itself. J1791.11
• Elephant frightened at agitated reflection of moon in water. J1791.12
• Picture mistaken for original. J1792
• Dove sees painted cups of water and dashes into them. J1792.1
• Mask mistaken for face. J1793
• Statue mistaken for living original. (Cf. K1840.) J1794
• Image in mirror mistaken for picture. J1795
• Foolish demon sees his reflection in trickster's mirror and is convinced he has been captured. J1795.1
• Moonlight thought to be substance. J1796
• Men build hedge to keep in the moonlight. (Cf. J1904.2.) J1796.1
• One thing mistaken for another – miscellaneous. J1800
• Breath in the cold thought to be tobacco smoke. J1801
• Words in a foreign language thought to be insults. J1802
• "I don't understand." Foreigner asks who owns property, clothing, servants; whose wife an attractive woman is; whose funeral is in progress? Answer to each question is "I don't understand," which foreigner takes to be a person's name. (Cf. J1152, J1741, X111.7.) J1802.1
• Learned words misunderstood by uneducated. J1803
• Not of legitimate birth. A cleric is asked whether he is of legitimate birth ("de legitimo thoro"). "No, I am not from that place; I am from Schmich." J1803.1
• Doctor's expressions misunderstood. J1803.2
• Conversation by sign language mutually misunderstood. J1804
• Other misunderstandings of words. J1805
• Similar sounding words mistaken for each other. J1805.1
• To cover house with straw. Word for wife is similar, so wife is covered. J1805.1.1
• Unusual word misunderstood. Strange results. J1805.2
• Daughter says "Sobur" (wait) to her father when he asks what to bring from the journey. Father finds Prince Sobur. J1805.2.1
• Numskull referring to a forgotten name keeps saying "I have lost it." People dive into tank to recover treasure they think he has lost. J1805.3
• A fool given money to buy something to eat; goes around asking for a thing called "something." J1805.4
• Setting sun mistaken for fire. J1806
• Other things with mistaken identities. J1809
• Old woman's sneeze mistaken for gunfire. J1809.1
• Physical phenomena misunderstood. J1810
• Animal cries misunderstood. J1811
• Owl's hoot misunderstood by lost simpleton. J1811.1
• The old maid answers the owl's hoot, saying "Anybody, Lord!" or giving the name of the young man she wants. (Cf. X750.3.) J1811.1.1
• Frog's cries misunderstood. J1811.2
• Turkey's gobble misunderstood by man lost in woods. J1811.3
• Rooster's crow interpreted. J1811.4
• Henpecked husband leaves home. Hears a rooster crow, saying: "Cocky kuko! It's the same everywhere!" He returns home. J1811.4.1
• Other sounds misunderstood. J1812
• Seeds rattling in pods thought to be insults. Numskull burns field. J1812.1
• Rabbits think sound of waves is great danger to them. J1812.2
• Fermenting dough: "Woe to you .." The rain drops: "Here he is.." The little bell: "He is hiding here.." J1812.3
• Hissing of fire thought to be noise of cooking muffins. J1812.4
• Noises fire is making misunderstood. Hunchback springs into it to burn to his death. J1812.4.1
• Snoring sounds misunderstood. (Cf. J1833.) J1812.5
• Numskull thief thinks snoring sleeper is asking for food. J1812.5.1
• Cooking processes misunderstood. J1813
• Mushrooms shrink in water. Fool kills his wife because he thinks that she has eaten part of them. J1813.1
• Boiling milk thought to be overflowing. Simpleton lets it run over. J1813.2
• Numskull thinks his prayers have stopped milk boiling over. Actually his wife has added cold water. J1813.2.1
• Boiling pumpkin thought to be talking. J1813.3
• Boiling pot on the floor thought to be self-cooking. J1813.4
• Fish dancing about in cooking pot appears to be many. Cook eats one; none left. J1813.5
• Handful of black pepper taken into mouth instead of cooking it in food. J1813.6
• Savory tea. The peasant entertains a priest at tea. Making it, puts in all the tea, six pounds of sugar, a piece of bacon, etc. J1813.7
• Sheep's head has eaten dumplings. Small boy is at home to watch the dinner. Runs into church, calls out to his mother that the sheep's head has eaten all the dumplings (or butted them out of the pot). J1813.8
• All the beans cooked for one meal. They fill the room. J1813.9
• Stupid servant cooks all the rice for one meal. J1813.9.1
• Numskull thinks boiling pot is threatening him: breaks pot. J1813.10
• Numskull stays till he has finished. As he is making water he hears a brook flowing and mistakes what it is. He waits for a day and a half. J1814
• Did the calf eat the man? A fool, liking the shoes on the feet of a man hanged on a gallows, cuts off the swollen feet in order to carry off the shoes. In the room in which he sleeps that night is a newborn calf. The next morning the man takes the shoes but leaves the feet. Peasants agree that the calf has eaten the man all but the feet. They burn the house to destroy the calf. J1815
• Fool thinks gold is being destroyed when snails crawl over it. J1816
• Fool thinks belly is speaking to him; stabs himself. Other animals are shouting at him. J1817
• Animal's action misunderstood. J1818
• Urination of bull thought to be bleeding. J1818.1
• Physical phenomena misunderstood – miscellaneous. J1819
• Fools think thorn bush doesn't sting at night. J1819.1
• Simpleton sleeping in cold room breaks window to let the cold out. (Cf. J2123.) J1819.2
• Fool wakes with sleeping mat over head and thinks it is still night. J1819.3
• Inappropriate action from misunderstanding. J1820
• Swimming (fishing) in the flax-field. Peasants go to visit the sea. They see a waving flax-field, and, thinking it is the sea, jump in to swim. J1821
• Trying to swim in the mist. Mistaken for sea. J1821.1
• Sweeping with a stick instead of a broom. J1822
• Misunderstanding of church customs or ceremonies causes inappropriate action. J1823
• Misunderstandings concerning images of Christ. J1823.1
• Christ accused of trying to fool the people. Fool sees the image of Christ elevated on Ascension Day to the beams of the church. He accuses Christ of having fooled the people into believing that he has gone to heaven. J1823.1.1
• Christ's image has broken his arm. A man refuses to have anything to do with the crucifix because once an image of Christ has fallen on him in church and broken his arm. Reminded that this image is not the same, he replies that it is the son of the other and is just as bad. J1823.1.2
• The Lord has departed. Maidservant on way to church on Palm Sunday meets priests leading ass on which Jesus rode. The maid runs home and tells her mistress that the Lord has mounted and has just gone away. J1823.1.3
• Numskull knocks the figure of Jesus from the ass. Sees the waving of palms on Palm Sunday and thinks the people are trying to knock the figure from the ass. J1823.1.4
• Bishop struck for breaking the peace. At a wedding after a period of silent prayer the bishop begins an antiphony. The fools walks up and strikes the bishop: "You have made this shouting in the church." J1823.2
• Numskull thinks the extinguishing of lights at the church presages a fight. Draws his sword. J1823.3
• Move away from Moslem land so that Allah need not be feared. J1823.4
• Fatal bread. Numskull refuses communion because his sister died shortly after eating the bread. J1824
• Other misunderstandings of the communion. J1824.1
• Turkish ambassador misunderstands Christian ceremonies. Makes ridiculous report to his king. J1825
• Christian laws are profitless, Turkish ambassador says. Good people do not need them; bad people do not reform as a result of them. J1825.1
• The falcon not so good as represented. A nobleman praises his falcon. His fool, supposing they were praising the falcon as food, kills the bird, but is disappointed in the taste. J1826
• The king no priest's son. A pope in writing to a king says, "To our dear son Frederick." Upon hearing this the fool cries out, "That is a lie; he is no priest's son. I knew his father and mother and they were both honest people." J1827
• The obedient log. A fool sees a boat (with rowers) obedient to commands, "Right! Left!" etc. He asks what kind of wood the boat is made of. Later he gets a log of that wood and tries to make it obey commands. J1828
• Numskull throws the dishes out. A landlord in anger throws a dish out the window. The numskull throws the rest out, thinking that the landlord wanted to eat outdoors. J1831
• Jumping into the river after their comrade. Through misunderstanding one of the men jumps into the river. He calls out; the others think that he wants them to follow, and all jump in and are drowned. J1832
• Numskull thinks the bishop's snoring is his death rattle. He strikes at a fly on the bishop's nose because it seems to be killing the bishop. J1833
• Numskull shoots grasshopper which lighted on the shoulder of his friend and kills friend. J1833.1
• Boy strikes at a fly on his sister's breast: it turns into nipple and girl thinks it due to brother's caress. J1833.1.1
• One man strikes at partridge which has lighted on second man's head. J1833.1.2
• Numskulls lose corpse and bury live person instead. J1834
• Goat chewing cud angers fool, who thinks goat is mimicking him. J1835
• Fool not recognizing coins lying on roadside leaves them. J1836
• Man thinks own toe is snake's head and cuts it off. (Cf. J1782.8.) J1838
• Useless surgical operation from misunderstanding. J1842
• Numskull (female devil) thinks her pubic hair has been telling her lies and pulls it out together with the skin. J1842.1
• Fool cannot answer as his mouth is full; thought to have an abscess in cheeks, allows them to be cut open. J1842.2
• Bird protruding from king's stomach cut out with swords: king killed. J1842.3
• Child's stomach split open to cure him of wandering. J1842.4
• Serfs congratulate their master. The delegate slips and falls, cursing: "The devil may take you!" The serfs outside think this was the congratulation, and all cry in chorus: "You and your family!" J1845
• Numskull prepares brother's wedding (father's funeral). On the way home from town he destroys his purchases. (Cf. J1851, J1856, J1871.) J1846
• Inappropriate action from misunderstanding – miscellaneous. J1849
• Fool believes realistic story. Inappropriate action. J1849.1
• Story told about a deer: fool starts chase. J1849.1.1
• Jackdaw tries to swallow sparks from glowworm. J1849.2
• Numskull strikes all matches in order to try them. J1849.3
• Nobody can move it. Foolish soldier at guard by cannon therefore quits. J1849.4
• Gift or sale to animal (or object). J1850
• Gift to animal or object. J1851
• Gifts to frogs. J1851.1
• Numskull throws money to frogs so that they can count it. J1851.1.1
• Numskull feeds his wheat to frogs. He has been sent to mill to have it ground. J1851.1.2
• Numskull throws money to frogs to repay them. They have frightened his fleeing ass from the water. J1851.1.3
• Wool taken to pond for frogs and toads to weave. J1851.1.4
• Gifts to birds. Numskulls hear birds calling and give them gifts. J1851.2
• Gift to object. J1851.3
• Fool stops hole with money. J1851.3.1
• Thankful numskull puts money in the anus of sheep which he supposes has helped him. J1851.4
• Goods sold to animals. J1852
• Numskull sells cow to bird. When he comes for his money the bird flies to a trash pile, where the fool finds a treasure. (Cf. J1853.1.1.) J1852.1
• Fool sells balls of thread to great lizard. Next day he finds a treasure there. J1852.1.1
• Oil sold to iguana. Treasure found. J1852.1.2
• Goods sold to object. J1853
• Fool sells goods to a statue. He is told not to sell to talkative people. The statue is the only one he can find who is not talkative. J1853.1
• Money from the broken statue. Fool sells goods to a statue and when it will not pay him knocks it to pieces. He finds a treasure inside. (Cf. J1852.1.) J1853.1.1
• Food given to object. (Cf. J1871.) J1856
• Meat fed to cabbages. J1856.1
• Animal or object absurdly punished. J1860
• Thief punishes the escaped ox. An ox strays on the rascal's land but escapes from him. The next week he sees the ox yoked up and gives him a beating. The master is astonished. The rascal: "Let me alone; he knows well enough what he has done." J1861
• The ass deprived of his saddle. A man's coat is stolen when he leaves his ass for a moment. He takes the saddle off the ass and says that he will give it back if the ass will return the coat. J1862
• Cow punished for calf's misdeeds. Blamed for not teaching calf better. J1863
• Man beats calves because the bull has butted him over the fence. J1863.1
• Wolf punished for his father's misdeeds. J1863.2
• Man flogs his shot. On a rainy day when shot will not go a man flogs the shot. It goes and he shoots a deer. J1864
• Sickle punished by drowning. In a land where the sickle is not known the new sickle cuts off the head of a man. It is drowned. J1865
• Sickle punished by being tied in top of a tree. The men hang themselves in the attempt. J1865.1
• Man avenges self on animals by wholesale slaughter. J1866
• Man avenges brother's death by wholesale slaughter of wild pigs. J1866.1
• Man punishes offending part of his body. J1867
• Man beats his foot for slipping. J1867.1
• Absurd sympathy for animals or objects. J1870
• Filling cracks with butter. Numskull sees cracks in the ground and feels so sorry for them that he greases them with the butter he is taking home. J1871
• Creaking limbs. Numskull hears limbs creaking in the wind. He is sorry for them and holds them apart. While he is caught between them his enemies take advantage of him. J1872
• Creaking wagon dies. When the wagon stops its creaking, fool decides it has died; he cremates it. J1872.0.1
• Helping the cuckoo. A numskull climbs a tree to help a cuckoo so that he may call louder than the one in the neighboring forest. Meanwhile his horse is eaten by a wolf. J1872.1
• Animals or objects kept warm. J1873
• Fool makes shoes for animals as well as men, since he expects a cold winter. J1873.1
• Cloak given to a stone to keep it warm. J1873.2
• Warming the stove with wool. J1873.3
• King orders houses built to keep howling jackals warm in winter. Rascal misappropriates funds. J1873.4