The wise and the foolish

3,525 motifs · page 15 of 18

• Wolf trying to catch tongue of camel puts head in camel's mouth: killed. J2131.5.5
• Jackal's head caught in pot of blue dye. Animals make him king, but detect him from his cry and turn him out. J2131.5.6
• Fox trying to drown jug. Sticks his head into it and gets drowned himself. J2131.5.7
• Numskull dragged. J2132
• Man catches buffalo by rope and is dragged to death. J2132.1
• Numskull ties the rope to his leg as the cow grazes on the roof. The cow falls off and the man is pulled up the chimney. J2132.2
• Fool ties rope to his leg and to dog. Is dragged. J2132.2.1
• Hand bound to dog's leash: person dragged. J2132.2.2
• Milker ties cow's tail to himself. Bees sting the cow. J2132.3
• Jackal ties captive crow to his tail. Crow pecks self loose and injures jackal's tail. J2132.3.1
• Numskull rides on tiger's back. (Cf. J1758.1.1.) Dragged to his death (or injured). J2132.4
• Animal allows himself to be tied to another's tail and is dragged to death. J2132.5
• Other animal's tail tied to tiger's (leopard's): killed when tiger flees. J2132.5.1
• Numskull falls. J2133
• Camel with ass on his back dances. Falls and is killed. J2133.1
• Monkey jumps over a ravine with his sword girded on. Falls to his death. J2133.2
• Cat crawls to steeple and tries to fly. Falls. J2133.3
• Coyote attempts to fly from a treetop: falls. J2133.3.1
• Numskull cuts off tree-limb on which he sits. J2133.4
• Men hang down in a chain until top man spits on his hands. They all fall. J2133.5
• Wife carried up tree to sky in bag in husband's teeth. She asks question and he drops her when he answers. J2133.5.1
• Servant carrying master across stream answers question with gesture that throws master off. J2133.5.1.1
• Numskull going to heaven holding on tail of divine elephant, looses his hold to make gesture. He and all holding on to him fall. J2133.5.2
• Three men in a tree sing song and clap hands: they fall down and die. J2133.5.3
• Wolves climb on top of one another to tree: lowest runs away and all fall. J2133.6
• Measuring the tower by piling up hampers. They place hampers on top of one another. The fool has them take out the two on the bottom. J2133.6.1
• Intruding wolf falls down chimney and kills himself. J2133.7
• Stargazer falls into well. J2133.8
• Blind leading blind falls into pit. J2133.9
• Monkey jumps into water after a butterfly. J2133.10
• Hedgehog and crab jump from boat after turtle. They fall on floating leather. J2133.11
• Woman tries to climb rope of excrement and urine. (Cf. H1021.1.) J2133.12
• Fool dangling from tree by hands tries to clap them together: falls. J2133.13
• Fool re-enacts the accident. Falls and injures self and others. (Cf. J2062.) J2133.14
• How was the pigeon killed? Fool aims stone at inquirer saying, "I struck him like this." Inquirer is killed. J2133.14.1
• Numskull makes himself sick (uncomfortable). J2134
• Trickster eats scratch-berries. Cause great itching. J2134.1
• Trickster eats medicines that physic him. J2134.2
• Numskulls eat medicine that physics them. Biscayans pour medicine into rice for broth with which to cook rice. J2134.2.1
• Numskull starves himself. J2135
• Fasting the first month. Numskull having enough food to last him eleven out of the twelve months fasts the entire first month so as to get the ordeal over. He starves with eleven months' supply on hand. J2135.1
• Numskull brings about his own capture. J2136
• Coyote wears fox's rattle; caught in brush and injured. J2136.1
• Trickster gets caught on a fishhook. J2136.2
• Goat eats in garden and is caught. Fox says, "If your sense were as long as your beard, you would look for exits as well as entrances." J2136.3
• Trickster pinched by shellfish (crab). J2136.4
• Careless thief caught. J2136.5
• Thief stops to admire beautiful things before stealing them. Caught. J2136.5.1
• Thief debates whether to take one thing or another. Caught. J2136.5.1.1
• Talkative thief caught. J2136.5.2
• Thief of deer cuts it up and keeps counting pieces. Rescued by wife. J2136.5.3
• Numskull as thief's assistant wakens owner. Pleads successfully that he was trying to awaken the household and prevent theft. J2136.5.4
• Foolish thief cooks food and awakens household. J2136.5.5
• Foolish thief asks help of owner. Caught. (Cf. J2223.) J2136.5.6
• Master asked to help in the theft. The fool sent in by thieves is told to bring out the heaviest thing. As this is a grain-grinder and he cannot carry it, he wakes the master of the house to help him. J2136.5.6.1
• Thieving numskull beats drum (blows trumpet, etc.) he finds in outhouse. Caught. J2136.5.7
• Thieves disposed of one at a time. They will not help each other since the fewer thieves there are the more there is to share. J2136.5.8
• Thieving wolf persuaded to sing. Caught. J2136.5.9
• Animal caught in animal carcass. (Cf. J2131.5.) J2136.6
• Greedy jackal caught in carcass of dead bullock. J2136.6.1
• Death through lack of foresight. J2137
• The louse invites the flea. The flea bites the man and jumps away. The bed is searched and the louse killed. J2137.1
• Dogs of wolf color join the wolves. As soon as they have killed the other dogs the wolves then turn on the wolf-colored dogs which they have persuaded to join them. J2137.2
• Bee rests on water lily which closes over it at night and kills it. J2137.3
• Crocodile swallows water-snake, which kills him. J2137.4
• Sheep killed by the butcher, who they are persuaded will spare them. J2137.5
• Camel and ass together captured because of ass's singing. J2137.6
• King attempts to visit the spirit world underground and dies in a tunnel. J2137.7
• Foolish interference in quarrel of the strong fatal to the weak. J2143
• Sparrow intervenes in quarrel between elephants: crushed to death. J2143.1
• Disastrous jump to retrieve lost object. J2146
• Miser jumps into a ravine to retrieve single grain. Breaks both legs. J2146.1
• Man leaps into river and drowns in effort to save his treasure. J2146.2
• [First Edition: J2159. Foolish disregard of personal danger – miscellaneous.] J2159[1st ed.]
• Other short-sighted acts. J2160
• Short-sightedness in dressing. J2161
• Jumping into the breeches. Trying to draw both legs on at once. J2161.1
• Pulling on the shirt. The shirt is sewed together at the neck. The man's head is cut off so that the shirt can be put on him. J2161.2
• Lacing the shoes. Fool laces bedcovering to shoe. J2161.3
• Short-sighted use of fire. J2162
• Burning the temple to attain notoriety. J2162.1
• Fool whose house is burning puts wood on the fire. J2162.2
• Quenching the burning boat. People row to land and fetch water from a spring to put out the fire. J2162.3
• Carrying the plow horse so as not to tramp up the field. (Cf. J2103.2.) J2163
• Numskulls carry one another through mud and the others back in order that not all get dirty. J2163.1
• Sedan-bearers must carry master about searching for dog since they have refused to search. J2163.2
• Short-sightedness in rowing. J2164
• Rowers pull in opposite directions. J2164.1
• Rowing in a boat which is tied up. J2164.2
• Carrying load up hill to roll it down. Fools carry log (millstone) down hill. They realize that they might have rolled it down. They therefore carry it back up hill to roll it down. J2165
• Short-sighted lover is slow to follow up advantage. J2166
• Porridge eaten in different rooms. The porridge in one, the milk in another. J2167
• The slaughter of the ox. In preparation, the feet are cut off the evening before. J2168
• Short-sightedness in carpentry. J2171
• Short-sightedness in boat-building. J2171.1
• Ship built with a wooden saw. The ship has no bottom and is so narrow that nothing can get into it. J2171.1.1
• The ogre tars the hero's boat, thinking to injure him. J2171.1.2
• Dupe makes boat of mud. It melts. (Cf. J2186.) J2171.1.3
• Attempts to make canoe of sand. (Cf. H1021.3.) J2171.1.3.1
• Building boat of clay. J2171.1.3.2
• Short-sightedness in roofing. J2171.2
• Does not need roof when it is fair; cannot put it on when it rains. J2171.2.1
• Fool roofs his house on the inside. J2171.2.2
• Builders throw away beams from the scaffolding until it all falls down. J2171.3
• The axes thrown away. The first lets his axe fall. The others throw theirs in the same place. J2171.4
• Bird nest of salt melts away. J2171.5
• Man on camel has doorway broken down so he can ride in. It does not occur to him to dismount. (Cf. J2199.3.) J2171.6
• Short-sightedness in caring for live-stock. J2172
• The shepherd who cried "Wolf!" too often. When the wolf really comes no one believes him. J2172.1
• Shepherd shuts up the lion in the yard with the live-stock. He hopes to capture the lion, but loses all his beasts. J2172.2
• Wolf almost locked up in the stable by the shepherd. The dog: "What good to lock us up from the wolf when he is with us?" J2172.2.1
• Wolf locked up with the sheep. J2172.2.2
• Short-sighted fool loses his food. J2173
• Sleeping trickster's feast stolen. Before eating his booty the numskull sleeps. J2173.1
• Getting a sword to lift the cheese. A numskull sees a cheese by the side of the road and tries to lift it up with his sword, but the sword is too short. He leaves the cheese and goes away to borrow a longer sword. Meantime someone else takes the cheese. J2173.2
• The bird boasts about capturing the rabbit. Meantime other birds eat the rabbit. J2173.3
• Deer lost through premature celebration. A fool in celebration of the capture of a deer puts his clothes on the bound deer. He throws a knife to cut the deer's throat but the knife cuts the snare and the deer runs away with the clothes. J2173.4
• Fool kills chickens by throwing them off a balcony against a stone. Kites carry them off. J2173.5
• Crocodile goes after the second child. He finds two children bathing in the river and carries one to his hole. He tells the child to wait while he goes for the other child. Both children escape. J2173.6
• Trickster travels while fish cook: they burn up. J2173.7
• Man saves trouble by milking cow directly into his mouth. J2173.8
• How to remove hairs from salt. Washed with water, salt melts away. J2173.9
• Foolish demands before death. J2174
• His last request: a red cap. A man about to be hanged keeps asking for his red cap which he has left in prison. He has no thought of his real peril. J2174.1
• Wholesome food for the day of hanging. A man about to be hanged is very particular about his bread lest it impair his health. J2174.2
• Having the head dressed before hanging. A man who has hurt his head in trying to hang himself has the head dressed by a doctor and then goes and hangs himself. J2174.3
• Hang me right away so I can get back to work. J2174.4
• Short-sightedness in dealing with children. J2175
• Anticipatory whipping. A schoolmaster whips his pupils to keep them from wrong-doing. He does not wait until after the deed is done. J2175.1
• Priest beats wife before purchasing food since he wishes her to cook it in particular way. J2175.1.1
• Scolding the drowning child instead of helping him. J2175.2
• Absent-minded nurse lets child down into well instead of bucket. J2175.3
• Man lets his infant son play in river. Son drowns. J2175.4
• Numskull is sent to fetch children. He either smothers them during conveyance or scalds them during bathing. (Cf. J2465.4.) J2175.5
• Numskull kills his children trying to cure their illness. J2175.6
• Fool lets wine run in the cellar. He (she) falls into a study (or chases a dog) while the spigot is open. J2176
• Fool tries to dry up spilt wine with meal. J2176.1
• Drinking gruel by making hole in pot. Gruel runs out. J2176.2
• No room left for the feast. A peasant on the way to a feast drinks so much ditch-water that he has no room left for the feast. J2178
• Master sets servant example by eating rind first: fills up and never reaches the fruit. J2178.1
• Burning up the seal. Numskulls buy a charter from their lord. In celebration they get drunk and use the seal as a candle and forfeit their charter. J2181
• A fleeing fox loses an eye in the briars. Returns the next day and eats it, thinking that it tastes like chicken. J2182
• Disastrous hesitation. J2183
• The dog between the two castles. In castles on opposite hills guards play different tunes during meals. The dog goes toward the music in one castle but when he is about half way up the hill the music begins on the other. He keeps alternating and running up and down until the meals are over and he gets nothing. J2183.1
• Who shall go first? Train leaves overpolite travelers. J2183.2
• Bird overcareful about food suitable to its color is killed by eagle. J2183.3
• Two prisoners use up their hour of grace disputing over road to take home. J2183.4
• Princess who is too choosy finally marries an idiot. J2183.5
• Short-sightedness in case of fire. J2183.6
• Whose duty to put out fire? Officers investigate; meanwhile fire burns town. J2183.6.1
• The polluted clothes. A Brahmin washes clothes to purify them. As they hang to dry, a dog walks under them and the Brahmin fears that they are polluted. By putting himself on all-fours like a dog and fastening a leaf like a dog's tail he experiments and decides that the dog must have touched the clothes. He therefore destroys them instead of rewashing them. J2184
• Dearly bought disgrace. A foolish priest is pushed into the water. "I wish I had drowned; then you would all have been disgraced." J2185
• "If you had hanged me you would have really been in trouble." (Similar to J2185.) J2185.1
• Trickster's false creations fail him. A trickster creates men from his excrements (or the like). They melt in the sun. J2186
• The bear riding the horse lets his paws fall on the horse's flanks. He is caught on a tree and leaves his claws in the horse's flesh. J2187
• The man who wanted to be dead one day. A husband tells his wife that he has provisions for every day in the year but one. He proposes to play dead for that one day, thinking that the servants will be overcome with grief and cannot eat. After brief mourning, however, they eat more than usual. The man then thinks to frighten them by rising from the dead. One servant thinking the dead man suffering from devils kills him. J2188
• A fool releases a bear while the master is away. The bear plays havoc. The master threatens to cut off the ears of the meddler. The fool asks his dog not to tell on him. J2191
• The messenger without the message. A fool is told that he is to go to a neighboring castle the next morning. He is to take letters, but the next morning without reporting for instructions the fool goes on the journey. He is given a bag of stones to carry back. J2192
• Message after a week. A fool is sent to tell his master's wife that he will not return that day for dinner. He delays the message for a week. J2192.1
• Fool has himself buried because he stinks. J2193
• Raven steals the robes of Red Willow Men and finds them useless. J2194
• People pelt each other with food. J2195
• Grain shot down with guns. People unacquainted with the sickle. J2196
• Carpe diem. An abbot is planning to build a palace. The fool: "Why go to all that trouble? Just enjoy yourself with wine, women, and song." J2197
• Bewailing a calamity that has not occurred. J2198
• Absurd shortsightedness – miscellaneous. J2199
• Alarm sounded foolishly. J2199.1
• Fool rings bell to announce that he has won at chess. No one comes when he rings to save his home from fire. J2199.1.1
• Woman to sound bell for help in childbirth persuaded to sound false alarms: not heeded when help is needed. J2199.1.2
• Persons build a wheelbarrow too large to come out of shed. J2199.2
• Nine men try to lift bull over the fence. One gets the idea of taking it through the gate. (Cf. J2171.6.) J2199.3
• Short-sighted economy. J2199.4
• Numskull is glad to hurt his feet instead of his shoes. J2199.4.1
• Absurd lack of logic – general. J2200
• Logical absurdity based upon certain false assumptions. J2210
• Differences in animal nature overlooked. J2211
• Frogs reprove ass for lamenting when he falls into morass. "What would you do if you had to live here always?" J2211.1
• Why the sow was muddy. A magpie is punished by his master, who throws him into a mud puddle. The magpie sees a muddy sow. He says, "You also must have had a quarrel with your master." J2211.2
• The murderous master. Dogs flee from their master because in time of famine he has killed his cattle. If he kills the cattle, he will surely kill the dogs. J2211.3
• Ass brays on hearing a conch shell. Owner thinks he must have been a saint in a former life. J2211.4
• Effects of age and size absurdly applied. J2212
• Two fifteen-year old slaves ordered: fool brings one thirty years old. J2212.1
• Priest to have maid at least fifty years old: gets one aged twenty and one aged thirty. J2212.1.1
• Burial in old grave to deceive angel. Fool thinks that the angel who comes to question him will pass him by since he has apparently been dead a long time. J2212.2
• Wooden anchor would hold if it were only large, thinks the fool. J2212.3
• The reef is old, the ship new. They think the vessel will endure the shocks better than the reef. J2212.4
• Swift when only a calf. A numskull who rides an ox to a tournament is ridiculed. He says, "He is swifter than a horse. You should have seen him run when he was only a calf." J2212.5
• The Zodiac grows up: the Kid becomes the Goat. A fool who was born under the sign of the Kid declares that he was born under the Goat. "Hasn't it had time in these fifty years to become a goat?" J2212.6
• Boat expected to grow into ship. J2212.7
• Peasant no longer wants a horse since the new born foal is so heavy to carry. J2212.8
• Our children know local road; odd that grown stranger does not. J2212.9
• Illogical use of numbers. J2213
• Each of two persons wants to sleep in the middle. (Sometimes solved by placing an object on one side of the bed.) J2213.1
• A profitable fight: three for one! A priest boasts of his profitable fight with the peasants, where he has received three blows for every one given. J2213.2
• The seventh cake satisfies. Fool regrets that he had not eaten number seven first since that was the one that brought satisfaction. J2213.3
• If the horse can pull one load he can pull two. J2213.4
• Twenty better than ten. A numskull is asked how many daily prayers (Moslem) there are. "Twenty." – "There are only four." – "I said that there are twenty; that is even better." J2213.5
• More than twenty commandments. Numskull asked the number of commandments replies that there are twenty. He explains to another that he knows there must be more than twenty because the minister would not accept his answer. J2213.5.1
• Selling his half of the house. A man owns half a house. He wants to sell his half so as to get money to buy the other half and thus have a whole house. J2213.6
• Dentist duped to pull out two teeth for one because of the expensiveness. J2213.7