The wise and the foolish

3,525 motifs · page 5 of 18

• Improvident mouse eats grain stored for famine. Loss is discovered and grain placed elsewhere. Mouse, who has saved nothing, starves. J711.2
• King for a year provides for future. Knowing that the custom is that he is to be deposed in a year, he sends provisions to a safe place out of the kingdom. J711.3
• Wise man stores grain against coming famine. J711.4
• Industrious ant works always at his harvest to keep it dry. Ant brings stored grain out into sun to keep it safe. J711.5
• Food alone keeps off hunger. J712
• City without provisions but with much money starves. J712.1
• Make use of proper seasons for crops. J713
• Lazy boy vainly asks God of the Seasons to delay the plowing season. J713.1
• Kindness unwise when it imperils one's food supply. J715
• Eagle warns shepherds that wolf is eating sheep. Crow rebukes eagle for thus imperiling his own food supply. J715.1
• Forethought in provision for clothing. J730
• Do not discard clothing till cold weather is over. J731
• More than one swallow to make a summer. Spendthrift youth seeing swallow concludes that summer has come and sells his clothes. There is frost the next day and he is cold. J731.1
• Forethought in provision for shelter. J740
• Build shelter for the whole year. J741
• Bear builds house of wood; fox of ice. Fox's house fails him in summer. J741.1
• Consider difficulties of course you are about to undertake. J751
• Truth the best policy. Servant about to be caught for theft rehearses the lie he is to tell his master. He finds lies so transparent that he decides to tell the truth. J751.1
• Lady answers queen so straightforwardly she gets light punishment. J751.1.1
• In planning future, profit by the past. J752
• Frogs decide not to jump into the well. Their spring having dried up, they consider jumping into a well. They decide that the well may also dry up. J752.1
• Remove obstacles from path. J753
• The only person in the bath. Servant reports to master that there is but one person in the public bath Master finds three hundred. Only one person had removed stone from his path; rest had stubbed toes. He was only one worthy of the name of man. J753.1
• All aspects of a plan must be foreseen. J755
• The forgotten wind. Man allowed to manage the weather forgets to ask help of the wind. All goes wrong and he must give up management. J755.1
• Advice after the event valueless. J756
• Doctor gives advice after patient dies. Scorned for lack of foresight. J756.1
• Beware of following an interested adviser. J758
• Tailless fox tries in vain to induce foxes to cut off tails. J758.1
• Noseless man persuades fools to cut off noses. J758.1.1
• Tailless jackal persuades other jackals to cut off tails. J758.1.2
• Crane advises fool to empty reservoir so he can reap all grain. Crane eats fish left at bottom. J758.2
• Fish refuse fox's invitation to live on dry land and thus escape danger of fishermen. J758.3
• Old age must be planned for. J761
• Child finds gray hair in wicked father's head. Father sees that it is time for him to reform. J761.1
• Fourth horse must carry all. Miller has four horses to carry grain. He uses only one, so that it soon dies. Four horses are childhood, youth, manhood, and old age. Don't heap all burden of securing salvation on the fourth horse, old age. J761.2
• Adulteress prepares for old age. Charges a pair of shoes to consort with men. When old she pays with shoes the men who will consort with her. J761.3
• Leave a loophole for escape. J762
• Priest keeps in container relic which when kissed renders people immune from pestilence. They only kiss container, so that if they die he will not be held responsible. J762.1
• Mark the way one is going in an unfamiliar country. J765
• Do not work yourself out of employment. J766
• Cat only drives rats away; if she killed them she would no longer have employment. J766.1
• Policy in dealing with the great. J810
• Wisdom of concessions to power. J811
• The lion's share. Ass divides booty equally between himself, fox, and lion. Lion eats ass. Fox then divides: gives lion meat and he takes bones. J811.1
• Lion divides the booty. Best part goes to himself as king of beasts; second, as strongest; third, as most valiant; fourth – "touch it if you dare." J811.1.1
• Fox refuses to mediate between lion and lioness. Lion decides to abandon lioness because of her bad odor. Ass, hog, and fox as judges. Ass says she has bad odor: lioness slaps him. Hog says she has not: lion slaps him. Fox says that he has a bad cold and cannot smell. J811.2
• King honors poet and critic: the first so that he will honor the king; the second, so that he will not dishonor him. J811.3
• Ruler angered by evil spoken of him is placated by soft words of speakers. J811.4
• Prime minister bribes priest to persuade king that ocean of milk he wishes sought for had curdled. J811.5
• Fox with three hundred fables ready to tell against lion conveniently forgets them. J811.6
• Flattery of the great. J814
• Imprisoned musician defends himself. Has been imprisoned because the king did not like the way the musician looked at him. After a year the king returns as a conqueror and sees musician. The latter says that he saw the king's conquests in a vision and was blessing him when he looked at him. The musician is honored. J814.1
• Flatterer always agrees with king even in opposite opinions; defense: he is king's servant. J814.2
• "High-born alone recognizes one of equal rank with himself." Jackal sees man with instrument he is unfamiliar with, comes up to him and salutes him "Lord of Delhi." Man calls him Lord of Jungle and tells above. J814.3
• Flattery of the wicked to escape death at his hands: "This is an offering to my lord Esau from his slave Jacob". J814.4
• Dissenting minister to king: "Let the king do as seems good in his eyes". J814.5
• Unpleasant truths must be withheld from the great. J815
• Liar rewarded by the apes. King of apes asks visitors how they like his children (courtiers). Truthful visitor tells that they are very ugly, and is punished. Liar praises their beauty and receives reward. J815.1
• Brother who conforms to naked people's customs honored. Two brothers go to the land of Naked People. One of the brothers wears clothes and is punished. J815.2
• Muddy bath prepared for blemished king. J815.3
• Tact in reproving the great. J816
• King brought to sense of duty by feigned conversation of birds. Philosopher pretends to know bird's language and to be translating what they tell him. J816.1
• King living apart from wife brought to sense of duty by philosopher. Asks if there is harmony among the cities and republics of Greece: philosopher tells him to ask it of his own house. J816.1.1
• King called baker's son: he has given the poet only loaves of bread. King sees jest and rewards poet. J816.2
• King brought to sense of duty by woman's words. Drunken king sentences unjustly. Woman asks to appear before the king before he has dined. Her case is retried. J816.3
• Woman tactfully restrains amorous king. J816.4
• A soft answer turneth away wrath. J817
• Man called a rogue by a nobleman makes a joke of the insult. He thus avoids trouble. J817.1
• Physician willing to believe in four persons. Angers a theologian by disputing doctrine of the Trinity. "Don't get angry," he says; "rather than have you condemn me to hell, I would believe in four persons." J817.2
• King makes absurd statement about flowers. Flatterer agrees: it is the king he serves, not the wretched flowers. J817.2.1
• With a silent person one is alone. Angered bishop will not answer when addressed. Relents when priest says, "Since there is no one here I may heed the call of Nature." J817.3
• Care in advising a king. J818
• Yogi advises yogi blood for making king's leaky tank hold water: king cuts off yogi's head. J818.1
• Keeping on good terms with hostile gods. J821
• Dog asks raven why he sacrifices to Athene, since she hates raven because of his powers of augury. "The more reason to sacrifice. She will keep on good terms with me." J821.1
• Man plays fool to protect himself in dealing with king. J822
• Man pretends idiocy so as to avoid compromising himself when summoned to testify by two rival queens before the king. J822.1
• Man recounts unpleasant happening to king when in good humor and draws laugh; rest draw punishment. J823
• Dealing with the great – miscellaneous. J829
• The king and the cheap slippers. Steward buys the king a pair of slippers. King thinks not enough has been paid for them and refuses them. Steward buys another like the first and charges a good price. Learns that this is the way to deal with kings. J829.1
• Devil decides to leave of own accord. It is decided to drive the devil out of a man who is possessed. Devil sees the inevitable and flees so that they cannot say that he has been driven off. J829.2
• Vanquished ruler in disguise gets audience with victor. "What would you do if your enemy were to kneel before you and beg forgiveness?" "I would forgive him." Reveals identity and is pardoned. J829.3
• Adaptability to overpowering force. J830
• Mohammed goes to the mountain (tree) when the mountain will not come to him. J831
• Reeds bend before wind (flood). Save themselves while oak is uprooted. J832
• Ass foolish to kick against the pricks. J833
• Fire burns man who doesn't understand it. Useful when one knows how to use it. J834
• Wit interprets unfavorable decision of court as doing him great honor. J835
• Consolation by a trifle. J860
• Consolation for misfortune found in food. J861
• Consoled by a drop of honey. Man in pit surrounded by perils thus comforts himself. J861.1
• Man on sinking ship eats salt. Otherwise he will not enjoy the large amount of water that he must drink. J861.2
• Mouse (fly) dying in meat tub is happy that he has eaten to satisfaction. J861.3
• Comfort in the contemplation of impossible pleasure. J864
• Fox stumbles over violin. Chased from chicken coop by dogs. When he stumbles he says, "What a fine opportunity to dance if I had time!" J864.1
• Fox about to be hanged asks to be allowed to see geese. (Cf. J2174.) J864.2
• Consolation by thinking of some good aspect of a situation. J865
• "But by a fine fellow!" Dying toad thus comforts his paramour, the frog, whom he is leaving neither married nor widow nor maiden and pregnant. J865.1
• Consolation by thinking of the past. J866
• Unsuccessful fishermen console themselves that their earlier high hopes balance up their disappointment. J866.1
• Mutual and undeserved compliments: donkey to camel, "What a beauty you are"; latter answers, "What a sweet voice you have." J867
• Consolation by a trifle – miscellaneous. J869
• Doves in net console themselves because they think trapper's tears are from pity for them. J869.1
• Consolation by pretending that one does not want the thing he cannot have. J870
• The fox and the sour grapes. Pretends that the grapes he cannot reach are sour. J871
• Fox asking for favor set on by dogs. Thankful to have saved life. J871.1
• Fox in swollen river claims to be swimming to distant town. J873
• Jackal covers up his inability to cross stream by saying he is looking for shallowest part. J873.1
• Clever jackal covers up his clumsiness in catching cows by saying he was running to and fro because he was looking for the fattest calf. J873.2
• Dog driven out of dining room claims to be drunk. Says that he has drunk so much that he does not know how he got out of the house. J874
• Warrior having lost a city claims that he did not wish to sell it for a higher price. J875
• Headless king and tailless tiger, each afraid of other, agree to be friends. J876
• Scorned suitor consoles himself by realization that a wife who did not love him would be constant source of trouble. J877
• Consolation by thought of others worse placed. J880
• Timid animal consoled when he sees others more timid. J881
• More timid than the hare. Hares take heart when they see that frogs are more timid than they. J881.1
• Lion comforted for his fear of the cock. Finds that elephant is afraid of the gnat. J881.2
• Man with unfaithful wife comforted. J882
• Man with unfaithful wife comforted when he sees the queen's unfaithfulness. J882.1
• Man with unfaithful wife comforted when he sees jealous husband who carefully guards wife cuckolded. J882.2
• Man whose wife gives him bath only once a week comforted by one who does so once a year. J882.3
• Poor man consoles self by thinking of misfortunes of rich. J883
• Man compelled to live on peas takes comfort when he sees a man once rich eating the hulls. J883.1
• Man in cold consoles himself thinking of rich men in hell or prison. J883.2
• Clever person's defeat pleases inferior. J885
• Hare upbraided by sparrow for letting self be carried off by eagle rejoices when sparrow is carried off by hawk. J885.1
• Consolation in misfortune – miscellaneous. J890
• Enemy horses captured by lion join forces and become friends. J891
• Consolation: spiritual recompense for temporal misfortune. J893
• Consolation: priest tells blind man that even flies have eyes but only man has the inner eyes of the soul. J893.1
• Humility. J900
• The seven daughters of Humility. J901
• Humility of angels. J902
• Humility one of the qualifications of a prophet. J903
• Judge should possess humility and modesty. J904
• Humility of the wise "Sons of the East". (Cf. J191.) J905
• Humility of the great. J910
• Wise man acknowledges his ignorance. J911
• Men not chosen for their ignorance; else he should have reached heaven. Upbraided for not knowing answer to question, man answers that he was chosen for his position because of what he knew, not of what he did not know. J911.1
• Wise man humble in death. J912
• King orders piece of cloth shown after his death. The measure of all that he has taken with him to the grave. J912.1
• King refuses to have fine tomb erected for him since his stay on earth is so unimportant. J912.2
• Rich man humbled by realization that he cannot take his wealth with him. J912.3
• King has earthen vessels placed on table among the golden ones. He had formerly been a potter and prefers the vessels which he had made to the ones now molding him. J913
• King shows humility by mingling with common people. J914
• King David dances with common youths before the Ark of the Covenant. He humbles self to please God. J914.1
• King of humble lineage cannot be flattered. J915
• Abbot to avoid vainglory receives judge in rags. J916
• Opposing wise men humble themselves and become friends. J917
• Empress sews and shows she is not too noble to work. J918
• Noble and ugly holy man embraces man who calls him ugly, saying he loves those who see him as he really is. J921
• Presumption of the lowly. J950
• Lowly masks as great. J951
• Ass in lion's skin unmasked when he raises his voice. J951.1
• Jay in peacock's (pigeon's) skin unmasked. J951.2
• Crow tries to prophesy like raven: detected by his voice. J951.3
• Weasel paints self to deceive mice. Detected. J951.4
• Painted jackal admitted neither to the peacocks nor to the jackals. J951.4.1
• King of jackals captured because of his large banner. J951.5
• Lowly animal tries to move among his superiors. Detected. J952
• Presumptuous wolf among lions. Large wolf, called by his companions "Lion". Presumes to mix with lions but is only a wolf. J952.1
• Ass follows after lion and is punished. Ass and cock are surprised by lion. Cock crows and scares lion, who runs. Ass thinks that he has scared lion and pursues. J952.2
• Dog follows lion. Flees at lion's roar. J952.3
• Ass who has worked with ox thinks himself equal to ox. J952.4
• Frog heaps abuse on bullock, who scorns him. J952.5
• Self-deception of the lowly. J953
• Dog proud of his clog. Thinks that the clog on his neck is a decoration. J953.1
• Bad singer thinks he is talented: driven from theatre. J953.2
• Bad writer who praises himself reprimanded. J953.2.1
• Flute-player thinks song meant for the prince is sung to him. Punished for presumption. J953.3
• Ass who carried divine image thinks people bow before him. J953.4
• Disdain of the wolf for the dog. Is fleeing from dog's master not from him. J953.5
• Gnats think they have thrown horse down. He has only rolled over. J953.6
• Crow thinks harvesters are stealing his grain. J953.7
• Woman in finery in church thinks people are standing up to see her when they rise at gospel reading. J953.8
• Spider thinks that it has held back the wind. J953.9
• Gnats apologize for lighting on bull's horn. He had not felt their weight. J953.10
• Raven riding on bull's horns thinks he has brought bull home. J953.10.1
• Crow alighting on falling tree thinks his weight made it fall. J953.11
• Glowworm thinks he shines like stars. J953.12
• Fox thinks his elongated shadow at sunrise makes him as large as elephant. J953.13
• Jackal falls into dye vat, tries to pose as peacock: detected. J953.14
• Animals each think moon shines for his benefit. J953.15
• Owl thinks echoes of his hoots are sounds of praise. J953.16
• Rat imagines himself owner of camel. He is attached to camel by string. J953.17
• Rag accidentally in king's wardrobe thinks it is a ribbon. J953.18
• Foolish boast of ancestry by lowly. J954
• Mule as descendant of king's war-horse. Fails to mention his mother. J954.1
• Fox claims that certain statues are of his ancestors. Ape shows that he is a liar. J954.2
• Lowly tries in vain to be greater than he is. J955
• Frog tries in vain to be as big as ox. Bursts. J955.1
• Fish swells with pride until it bursts. J955.1.1
• Bird tries to puff itself up to look like peacock. Kills itself. J955.1.2
• Titmouse ruffles feathers to seem big as a bear. Her young ones know her. J955.1.2.1
• Servant plays at being emperor. Master sees him and says, "Now that you are emperor remember your humble master." J955.2
• Page dreams of being king. Master asks: "What would you do for me if you were king?" Answer: "Give you 100 ducats." Master beats him for insufficient consideration. J955.2.1
• Servant asks master for arms of knighthood. Is given a stalk of garlic. J955.3
• Peasant asks to be knighted. Is told that he can be made rich but not noble. J955.3.1
• Old simpleton resolves to become a senator. He is made to believe that he is wanted as an archer and is so frightened that he dies. J955.4