Deceptions

3,871 motifs · page 14 of 20

• Lover's gift regained: spending money to purchase lover's worthless goods. K1581.9
• Lover's gift regained: payment with worthless money. Lover bargains with the husband. Pays him with worthless money. K1581.10
• Prostitute paid with counterfeit money. K1581.11
• Husband gets gift which paramour has given to wife. K1581.12
• Lover blackmails adulteress. K1582
• After seducing priest's wife, peasant demands earrings as price of silence. He thus avenges himself on priest who has cheated peasant's wife of her earrings. K1582.1
• Husband duped by paramour into taking his wife to him. She is veiled. K1583
• Innocent confessor duped into being go-between for adulteress and lover. By following suggestions in her false accusations to confessor the lover reaches her side. K1584
• Wife takes servant's place and discovers husband's adultery. The husband says that he is going into a state of meditation with a cloth over his face. He substitutes a servant and goes to his mistress. The wife finds the deceit and takes the servant's place. On his return the husband tells the supposed servant of his adultery. K1585
• Paramour feigns loss of genitals in order to obtain the husband's confidence. K1586
• Adulteress uses the public baths as a meeting-place with her lover. A naive remark by her child exposes the deception to the husband. K1587
• Woman excites peasant (secretary), who draws line on floor and dares her to cross it. When she does, adultery is committed. K1588
• Seventy tales of a parrot prevent a wife's adultery. The parrot keeps her interested until her husband's return. K1591
• Faithless wife kills magic parrot which has betrayed her. K1591.0.1
• Peacock left as spy on adulterous wife. K1591.1
• Dog guards chastity of master's wife during his absence. K1591.2
• Paramour sends prostitutes in disguise to take mistress to "convent". Husband is deceived by the ruse. K1592
• Adulteress disguised as boy elopes with paramour. K1593
• Student extends his course so as to enjoy the professor's wife. K1594
• The "loyal" adulteress. Complacent in all except kissing. Explains that her mouth is the only part of her body which has promised fidelity to her husband. K1595
• Faithful wife in disguise saves husband from punishment for adultery. K1596
• Deceiver falls into own trap. K1600
• Deceiver falls into his own trap (literally). Arranges a trap or pitfall but is himself caught. K1601
• Pitfall arranged but victim escapes it. K1601.1
• Man falls into sacrificial grave prepared for others. Rich man orders poor people to dig a grave in order to bury all in it as sacrifice to avert famine. But a Christian frees them and promises those who become Christian a living. The rich man himself falls in the grave and dies. K1603
• Thief-catcher caught by his own magic club. K1605
• Deceiver falls into his own trap – miscellaneous incidents. K1610
• Substituted caps cause ogre to kill his own children. The hero and heroine change places in bed with the ogre's children and put on them their caps so that the ogre is deceived. K1611
• Substituted string causes ogre to be killed. Intended victim of cannibal is marked by thread around ankle. Changed in night to host. K1611.1
• Guest to be killed suspects plot and forces host to sleep in his bed. Brothers come home and kill their father. K1611.2
• Girl takes place of impostor in marriage bed; impostor's mother beats her, thinking she is heroine. K1611.3
• Noose changed so that ogre's daughter is dragged to death. K1611.4
• Kid puts one of tigress's cubs in his place: she eats the cub. K1611.5
• Message of death fatal to sender. (Gang nach dem Eisenhammer.) A man is sent by the king to burners of a kiln who have been instructed to throw the first arrival into the fire. The intended victim goes elsewhere and the king's son (or the man's accuser), who next arrives, is burned instead. K1612
• Person sends wrong man to sleep with king's daughter. In revenge villain orders whoever first enters temple to be killed. Villain accidentally enters and is slain. K1612.1
• "Shoot any thief who comes." King unwittingly shot. K1612.2
• Poisoner poisoned with his own poison. K1613
• Would-be poisoner forced to drink poisoned cup. K1613.0.1
• Person trying to blow poison on another is himself poisoned. K1613.1
• Wife poisons husband who in turn poisons her. Before he dies he forces her to drink from the same cup. K1613.2
• Person gives his wife a poisoned drink; she pours the two drinks together. They both die. K1613.2.1
• Poisoner's own son takes the beverage intended for step-brother. K1613.3
• Son who intends to poison father drinks the poison by mistake. K1613.4
• Snake killed by incantation he has taught clever woman. K1613.5
• Father delivering daughter to be eaten by cannibal is himself eaten. K1614
• Ogre's own moccasins burned. The ogre plans to burn the hero's moccasins while they are camping together, but the hero exchanges the moccasins. K1615
• Marooned man reaches home and outwits marooner. K1616
• Marooned egg-gatherer. The father-in-law has the youth hunt eggs on an island and deserts him, but the youth outwits him. K1616.1
• Marooned man hides himself in ogre's clothes and outwits him. K1616.2
• Substituted arrows. Hero given arrows with soft points and sent after dangerous enemies. The deception discovered and the enemy discomfited. K1617
• Deceiver in swinging contest killed. Old woman planning to kill hero in swinging game by cutting rope is killed when hero cuts the rope first. K1618
• Tiger in sheep's clothing stolen by sheep-thief. K1621
• Thief climbing rope discovered and rope cut. He has tricked the guardian of the food-supply in the tree (by imitation of the owner's voice or the discovered pass-word) to let down the rope. K1622
• Lawyer agrees to pay debt on winning his first case. He refuses to plead so as not to pay. Debtor sues him for double the amount due him. If he wins he has to pay and if he loses he has to pay double. He settles debt. K1623
• Woman who engages false bridegroom for her daughter has plans go astray. Daughter is seduced. K1624
• Monkey instead of girl in floating basket: hermit made laughing-stock. He has persuaded girl's foolish father to place her in the basket. Prince takes girl and leaves monkey in her place. (Cf. K1333, K1674.) K1625
• Would-be killers killed. K1626
• Earl killed in combat with man he has undertaken to kill. K1626.1
• Treacherous counselor killed in treacherous ballgame he himself has arranged. K1626.2
• Boiling water meant for cooking hero used for man who has prepared it. K1626.3
• Sons have servant impersonate dead father and falsify his will. Servant deceives them by favoring himself. K1628
• The bribed boy sings the wrong song. The sexton steals the priest's cow. The next day the sexton's son sings, "My father stole the priest's cow." The priest pays the boy to sing the song in church. But the sexton teaches the boy a new song, "The priest has lain with my mother," and this is sung in church. K1631
• Fox leads ass to lion's den but is himself eaten. When he gets there the ass kicks him so that he falls on the lion's bed. K1632
• Cock's advice proves disastrous to himself. He causes the ox and the ass to rebel but the master learns the cause of the trouble and kills him. K1633
• Partnership of Honesty and Fraud: Fraud loses. Fraud has cheated his partner, Honesty. They hire a housekeeper. Fraud is to have use of her right side, Honesty of her left. The left side is of little use. Fraud falls in love with her and pays Honesty double all his losses to relinquish his rights. K1635
• Maids must rise even earlier. They have killed the cock for waking them too early, but their mistress punishes them. K1636
• Flattering foreman tricked by his master. He always answers his master's remarks, "I have thought of the same thing too." He falls into the trap when his master says, "I am going to sow salt." K1637
• Ambushed trickster killed by intended victim. K1641
• Husband intending to push wife down mountain is pushed over by her. K1641.1
• Mole as trickster killed in his own tunnel. He tricks the fox by going through the tunnel and eating the common food, but the fox sees the molehill and kills him. K1642
• Animal strangled by victim which he tries to eat. K1643
• Woman ordered to strip has lover turn his back; pushes him into water (pit). (Cf. K551.4.3, K926, K1210.) K1645
• Woman bitten by own fierce watchdog. K1651
• Woman who tries to push husband into river falls in when he steps aside. She drowns because she has tied his hands and he is unable to aid her. (She also thinks he is blind because she has fed him rich food to induce blindness.) (Cf. Type 1380.) K1652
• The lawyer's mad client. (Pathelin.) On the advice of a lawyer, the client feigns insanity when arraigned in court. When the fee is demanded, he still feigns insanity. K1655
• "No argument good without a witness." Lawyer's client therefore refuses payment of fee. K1655.1
• Sham dumb man wins suit. The trickster meets a man in a narrow place in the road and calls out to him to make room. The man refuses and the trickster turns over the cart. In court the trickster plays dumb. The plaintiff says, "He is not dumb; he called out to me several times to get out of the way." Damages are assessed against the plaintiff for negligence. K1656
• Unjust official outwitted by peasant who quarrels with him and thus turns the attention of the ruler to the abuses. K1657
• The order for six loads of snow. The order is given by the king in winter. The courtier waits until summer to present the order. Gets money as substitute. K1661
• Spying parent jolted in basket. A lover is let down into a girl's room at night in a basket. The spying parent stumbles into the basket and is jolted about by the lover's confederate. The parent thinks the devil has got him and leaves the lovers in peace. K1663
• Trickster eats his own dog. Trickster sells dog for mutton or for opossum. He later eats the dog which has been given to a friend of his by the purchaser. K1664
• Unjust banker deceived into delivering deposits by making him expect even larger. In order to make the impression of honesty he delivers the one chest of money. The ten chests which he then receives are filled with stones. K1667
• Blind man gets back his stolen treasure by making thief expect a larger one. K1667.1
• Retrieving the buried treasure. Buried money is stolen. Blind owner pretends that he is going to bury more. Thief returns the money hoping to get all. Blind man recovers original treasure. K1667.1.1
• Blind man asks thief to invest a larger sum for him. The greedy thief puts back the stolen money hoping to get more. The blind man recovers his money. K1667.1.2
• Dwarf himself falls in love with girl he has seduced by magic love, and loses her as he is forced to remove his magic. K1672
• Sage's advice followed: he is killed so that sacrifice can be mixed with his blood. K1673
• Bear (tiger) substituted for woman in floating box; kills villain who tries to steal the woman. (Cf. K1625.) K1674
• Swindlers allowed to hide money: proves to be basket of stones. K1675
• Pretended sick man aroused by beating. K1676
• Woman, who pretends to faint, comes to life when beaten by magician in order to drive out alleged evil spirit. K1676.1
• Magician challenged to make good his false claim. Says he can take black and white dogs and make them gray and then reverse process. Trickster furnishes gray dog and challenges magician to show his power. K1677
• Originator of death first sufferer. After the culture hero has instituted death, his own child dies and he repents in vain. K1681
• Inventor of death machine is first to use it. K1681.1
• Disguised trickster beaten by man he is trying to frighten. Disguise as ghost. K1682
• "Big 'Fraid and Little 'Fraid." Man decides to frighten another (or his son or servant). He dresses in a sheet; his pet monkey puts on a sheet and follows him. The person who is doing the scaring hears the victim say, "Run Big Fraid, run; Little Fraid'll get you." The scarer sees the monkey in the sheet, runs home. (Cf. K1833.) K1682.1
• Tables turned on procuress by chaste wife. The old woman is enticed into the wife's room, beaten, and driven forth naked. K1683
• Seller of pardons robbed by man whom he has pardoned beforehand. The defence declared good by the judge. K1684
• The treasure-finders who murder one another. Two (three) men find a treasure. One of them secretly puts poison in the other's wine, but the other kills him, drinks the wine and dies. K1685
• Tail sticking from ground betrays killing of calf. So arranged by servant in revenge on his master. K1686
• The easier job. Men exchange jobs because each is made to believe that the other's is easier. It is not. K1687
• The woman as cuckoo on the tree shot down. The anger bargain is to cease when the cuckoo crows. The ogre's wife climbs the tree and imitates the cuckoo. She is shot down. K1691
• A man in place of a cuckoo. A cruel master commands his serf to climb a tree and imitate the cry of the cuckoo; he shoots the "cuckoo." K1691.1
• Woman killed. Disliking early rising, the servant kills devil's mother or grandmother, who crows in place of the cock. K1691.2
• Teacher instructs pupil in the art of love: cuckolded. Student, ignoring woman's identity, seduces the teacher's wife, and reports success to him. The teacher makes futile attempts to surprise wife with pupil. K1692
• Trickster's eggs become an omelet. Tries to avoid paying tax by hiding eggs in his breeches. The collectors make him sit down. K1693
• Trickster makes believe he has found a purse (which he had filled with lead). Merchant claims it and pays ten crowns for it. Trickster wins ensuing suit. K1696
• Deception through bluffing. K1700
• Ogre (large animal) overawed. K1710
• Ogre made to believe small hero is large: overawed. K1711
• Tiger made to believe porcupine bristle is his enemy's hair: overawed. K1711.1
• Boys threaten to harness tiger. They have jumped on him from behind and he cannot see. He buys them off. K1714
• Weak animal (man) makes large one (ogre) believe that he has eaten many of the large one's companions. The latter is frightened. K1715
• Weak animal shows strong his own reflection and frightens him. Tells him that this animal is threatening to kill him. (Usually hare and lion.) K1715.1
• Weak animal shows strong his own reflection and makes him believe that it is the head of the last animal slain by the weak. K1715.1.1
• Man shows ghost its own reflection and frightens it. K1715.1.2
• Man shows demon reflection and frightens him. K1715.1.3
• Bluff: only one tiger; you promised ten. Child (or shepherd) calls out to the small hero (ape, hare) and makes the tiger (ogre) think that he is lucky to escape alive. K1715.2
• The wolf flees from the wolf-head. The sheep have found a sack and a wolf-head. They make the wolf believe that they have killed a wolf, and he flees in terror. K1715.3
• Enemies frightened away by making them think they will be eaten. K1715.4
• Spirits frightened away by making them think they will be eaten. K1715.4.1
• Leopard frightened away by report of lizard's presence. Lizard has bitten leopard before. K1715.5
• Trickster pretends to hunt certain tree with which his ancestors have killed tigers. Tiger frightened away. K1715.6
• Bluff: small (lame) hero makes demon believe he is a god and threatens to eat him. Demon terrorized. K1715.7
• Bluff: hero to brother, "You take one and I can manage the rest." K1715.8
• Trickster purports to be deity's messenger to procure demon-skins for his drum. Demons bribe him instead of devouring him. K1715.9
• Ass claims to have killed cow: frightens tiger. K1715.10
• Lion frightened away by stabbing at it from inside iron cage. K1715.11
• Large animal frightened by smaller showing him well rope (for his tail), curds (for spit), winnowing fans (for ears). K1715.12
• Tiger made to believe that his captor has eaten many crabs. Tiger fears crabs and releases him. K1715.13
• Fox overawes lion cubs by his boasting and eats their food. K1715.14
• Hare as ambassador of the moon. Hare claiming to be ambassador of moon shows elephant the moon irritated in a spring. Elephant is persuaded that the moon is angry. K1716
• Big shoes in front of the barn. Man makes giant shoes and places them so that ogre thinks a giant lives there. K1717
• Ogre overawed by hero's boasts about marvelous relatives. K1718
• Bluff: thunder said to be the rolling of hero's brother's wagon. Ogre overawed. K1718.1
• Bluff: millstones said to be pearls of hero's mother. Ogre overawed. K1718.2
• Bluff: huge cauldron of tar said to be kitchen-pot of hero's mother. K1718.3
• Bluff: harrow said to be comb of hero's mother. K1718.4
• Bluff: plow said to be hoe of hero's mother. K1718.5
• Hero proves himself a cannibal by trick vomit-exchange. K1721
• Hero frightens dog into giving up eating men by pretending to eat own entrails. K1721.1
• Ant-eater deceives jaguar by excrement-exchange. K1721.2
• Monkey pretends that his house always answers him. K1722
• Goat pretends to be chewing rock. Frightens wolf. K1723
• "St. George's Dogs" (wolves). The man says, "St. George's dogs are coming!" The ogre flees. K1725
• "Dogs are chasing you," says ox to jackal. Really water gurgling in the ox's stomach. K1725.1
• Tiger thinks sound of water dropping is sound of dreadful monster: flees. K1725.2
• Giantess frightened of leaving cave because of hero's statue in entrance. K1726
• Tiger frightened at hearing unknown wind. K1727
• The bear trainer and his bear. (Schrätel und Wasserbär.) Ogre is driven out by hero's bear. The next year the ogre asks, "Is the big cat still living?" Hero says that it now has many kittens. Ogre is overawed. K1728
• Wages: as much as he can carry. To get rid of the boy the troll offers him as large wages as he is able to carry. Boy says that this will be too much, that he will be contented merely with what the troll can carry. K1732
• Ogre made to believe hero has withstood fire. Hero escapes and after the room he has been in is burned he returns and is found sitting in the ashes. "It was a bit hot," he says. K1733
• Giant persuaded that hero has pushed hole in wall with bare hand. Hole bored before. K1733.1
• Dog pretends to be calling dog in the moon when he barks. K1735
• Troll bluffed away from christening. He is invited but told that guests will include the Virgin Mary, Thor the Thunderer, etc. He stays away but sends the finest present. K1736
• Bluff: hero professes to be able to perform much larger task than that assigned. K1741
• Felling the whole forest. Told to bring in a tree, the hero asks, "Why not the whole forest?" The ogre is frightened. K1741.1
• Bluff: told to bring home a tree, hero prepares to bring home six. K1741.1.1
• A thousand at one shot. Told to shoot one or two wild boars, hero asks, "Why not a thousand at one shot?" The ogre is frightened. K1741.2
• Bluff: told to bring home an ox, hero prepares to bring home ten. K1741.2.1
• Bringing the whole well. Told to get water, hero demands bucket large enough to bring in the whole well. The ogre is frightened. K1741.3
• Bluff: told to bring water in an ox skin, hero prepares to dig a canal. K1741.3.1
• Wrestler claims to be able even to carry away a mountain. K1741.4
• Hero threatens to pull the lake together with a rope. The ogre is intimidated. K1744
• Hero threatens to haul away the warehouse with a rope. The ogre is intimidated. K1745
• Trickster threatens to throw weight into a cloud: ogre intimidated. K1746
• Ogre terrified by woman's legs. He has formerly been caught in a vise. On his approach, the man's wife stands on her head and ogre thinks her legs are a vise. He flees. K1755
• Bear frightened away by man threatening to cleave its skull with his penis. He meets a woman who, upon being told what man had threatened, shows him a vestige of the cleaving she once got. Only partly healed. K1755.1
• Ogre terrified by an iron man. In order to save the king's daughter from the ogre an iron man is forged. K1756
• Other bluffs. K1760
• Bluff: provisions for the swimming match. In a swimming match from a ship the hero takes a knapsack of provisions on his back. His rival is afraid and gives up. K1761
• Bluff: climbing the mast. In a contest in climbing the mast the hero falls into the rigging. "You do the same thing," he challenges. The sailors are persuaded of his expertness. K1762
• Bluff in court: the stone in the purse. A poor man has a stone in his purse to throw at the judge if he is sentenced. The judge thinks that he has money to use as a bribe and acquits him. K1765
• Trickster's boasting scares his powerful opponent from contest. K1766
• False boasting of having killed his foster-brother makes his men follow the boaster. K1766.1
• Goat singing a threatening song bought off with food and jewels. K1767
• Bluffing threat. K1771
• Sham threat: "In earnest or in jest?" A man asks another who has brushed against him: "Did you do that in earnest or in jest?" – "In earnest." – "I am glad, for I don't like that kind of jesting." K1771.1
• Sham threat: either ... or. "Either you give me the road or I (will give it to you, or the like)." K1771.2
• Sham threat: something he has never done before. Beggar says, "If you do not give me alms I shall have to do something I have never done before." The alms are given and he is asked what he would have had to do. "Work." K1771.3
• Sham threat: the faked duel. Two who had challenged each other agree to hold a sham duel. K1771.4
• Sham threat: if I were not a philosopher I should break your head for you. K1771.5
• Girl's sham threat in order to evade husband till lover returns. K1771.6
• Sham threat of war holds ships back so that there suddenly are enough men to man defending ship. K1771.7
• Sham dream prophesying shipwreck makes people leave ship so that there is room enough for man who wants to go. K1771.8
• King menaced into giving his daughter by means of borrowed fleet. K1771.9
• Pretended anger. K1772
• King persuades men to follow him, pretending that he is going to make peace with his brothers, instead battle. K1774
• Bluff: insult repeated as harmless remark. The trickster makes an insulting remark, but when called on to repeat what he said he changes it so as to turn aside wrath. K1775
• Boast where the master cannot hear. The servant boasts that he has scolded his master. K1776
• When he is looked at too threateningly hero feigns failing ability to go on horseback. K1777
• Threat to build a church in hell. When the man makes this threat, he is let out of hell. K1781
• Bluff: wealth gained by seeming to be in the king's confidence. Courtier asks the king for a reward that will cost nothing. He gets permission to listen to the king's devotions. He now receives bribes because of his apparent influence. K1782
• Shoemaker offers to trim the peasant's feet to fit the shoes. The peasant prefers to accept the ill-fitting shoes. K1783
• Herdsman threatens invasion with enormous herds: bought off. He hires himself as herdsman of all his master's flocks for ten years. He then sends notice to surrounding peoples that he is coming with his master's flocks to graze. They bribe him to stay away. K1784
• Trickster falsely reports impending invasion from his own people. Receives money to buy them off. K1784.1
• Adventurer on otherworld island sees great hornless oxen guarded by giant: tries to frighten them. "Why dost thou frighten the stilly calves?" says the huge herdsman. "Where are the dams of these calves?" asks the adventurer. "They are on the other side of yonder mountain," said he. So he went thence. K1784.2
• Miracle must wait till one man is sacrificed. No one volunteers and it does not need to be performed. K1785
• Bluff: the rare vintages. Host serves many rare vintages and gets a reputation for his wine cellar. But there is only a small jug of each vintage. K1786
• Man falsely claims to have killed elephant with his flat hand. Rewarded. K1787