Deceptions

3,871 motifs · page 18 of 20

• Man pretends to kiss relative: bites him instead. K2021.2
• Man embraces other to see if he carries gold in his girdle. K2021.3
• Unsuccessful suitor pretends friendship with woman's husband. Kills him while on a hunt. K2022
• Badgers treacherously slain in violation of pledge given by prince. K2023
• Crow accepts owl's hospitality then burns owls to death. K2026
• Fox confesses to cock, then eats him. K2027
• Double dealers. K2030
• Dog alternately bites and caresses hares. Is he friend or enemy? K2031
• Dog at his master's table is friendly to guest. On the street he barks at him. K2031.1
• Magpie leads other magpies into his master's net. Promises them that the master will teach them to speak. K2032
• Trickster makes basket for his partner tiger to carry meat, but does not sever bamboo from roots. Tiger left behind. K2033
• Same reward promised to many helpers. K2034
• King's daughter secretly pledged to many to win their aid. K2034.1
• Supernatural personages seen in dreams advise opposing kings how each can overcome the other. K2035
• Helper steals object obtained at end of quest. K2036
• Jackal persuades deer to steal from farmer, then informs farmer who catches deer. K2037
• Double dealing physician. K2041
• Double dealing physician hired to poison his master who has sent him to poison enemy. K2041.1
• Crow gets to owls pretending crows have cast him out. Having learned secret retreats of owls, he returns to crows and leads them to victory over owls. K2042
• When wolf pretends to slander tiger fox agrees; later tells tiger he was trying to test wolf's malice. K2043
• Pretended virtue. K2050
• Adulteress feigns unusual sensitiveness. K2051
• Adulteress pretends shame before male statue (mirror, male fish). K2051.1
• Adulteress pretends to faint when her husband strikes her with a rose. She has allowed her lover to abuse her. K2051.2
• Adulteress feigns great disdain of men; will look at none but husband (and lover). K2051.3
• Women adorn their heads, though they are immoral below. K2051.4
• The oversensitive bride. K2052
• The bride's (wife's) false modesty. Wears gloves, etc. to bed. K2052.1
• Girl who is frightened by love becomes insatiable. K2052.2
• Oversensitive bride pleads a headache (or other excuse). Groom retaliates with similar plea when she changes her mind. K2052.3
• The oversensitive or hypocritical widow. K2052.4
• Doctor prescribes sexual intimacy for widow's ills. She claims to prefer death. Change of heart on daughters' plea. Daughters adopt treatment as a preventive. K2052.4.1
• Wanted: a husband to manage estate. Widow who claims to abhor intimacy rejects a eunuch with business qualifications. K2052.4.2
• Overlooking the insult. Man consoles daughter whose husband is dying by telling her he has picked another husband for her. She feels insulted. No sooner does her husband die than she asks her father for details. K2052.4.3
• Pretended honesty to mulct victim. Trickster claims to have found a bag of gold. Confederate claims and receives it upon correct identification. Spectator is thus deceived into trusting the trickster with a large sum of money. K2054
• Boy pretends to take long trip in order to pay debt of a penny. Thus he gets man's confidence and robs him. K2054.1
• Fox confesses sins but is immediately ready to steal again. K2055
• The wolf in the company of saints. Promises to give up slaying animals. After wringing the gander's neck, excuses self saying: "He should not have hissed at the saint." K2055.1
• Hypocritical stepmother weeps as she tells departing husband she will take good care of stepchildren though they beat her (she beats them instead). K2056
• Hypocrite refuses gifts orally but stretches out his hands. K2057
• Pretended piety. K2058
• Apparently pious man (sadhu) a thief. K2058.1
• False ascetic in partnership with tiger shares his prey. K2058.2
• Detection of hypocrisy. K2060
• Treacherous plan of hypocritical animal detected and prevented. K2061
• Wolf offers to act as shepherd: plan detected. K2061.1
• Wolf proposes abolition of dog guards for sheep: plan detected. K2061.1.1
• Fox feigns to be playing with sheep: dog drives him off. K2061.2
• Dog caresses sick sheep: shepherd knows that he hopes for sheep's death. K2061.3
• Wolf tries to entice goat down from high place: plan detected. K2061.4
• Famished wolf asks sheep to bring him water: plan detected. K2061.5
• Wolf offers to act as midwife for sow: plan detected. K2061.6
• Cat offers to act as doctor for cock and hen: plan detected. K2061.7
• Crocodile tells dog to drink in river without fear: plan detected. K2061.8
• Cat hangs on wall pretending to be dead: mice detect plan. K2061.9
• Fox's plan detected by crickets: cricket wings in his excrement. K2061.10
• Jackal as nurse for leopard cubs eats their food. Chased by leopard. K2061.11
• Thief tries to feed watchdog and stop his mouth: dog detects plan. K2062
• "Chaste" woman surprised in adultery. K2063
• "Holy" hermit surprised in amorous intrigue. K2064
• Appearance of Death exposes hypocrisy. K2065
• Woman and sick husband. "Would that Death take me in his stead." When Death comes she points to her husband. K2065.1
• Other hypocritical acts. K2090
• Peasant has kind words for daws, but drives them from his seeds. K2090.1
• Illness feigned in order to learn secret. K2091
• Illness feigned in order to get better food. K2091.1
• False guardian betrays refuge of fleeing lovers. K2093
• Love falsely pledged for wooer's benefit. K2094
• Hypocrisy concerning thefts. K2095
• Man announces finding lost jewel, but so softly that no one hears. He thus has clear conscience. K2095.1
• Hypocrite will not share in stolen chicken – only takes some gravy. K2095.2
• Hypocrisy concerning charity. K2096
• Hypocrite breaks vow to give coin in charity. Finds coin is short weight. K2096.1
• Thief robs blind miser of his hoard and gives a tenth away in charity in form of a banquet to the poor. K2096.2
• Miser goes to mass before committing usury. K2097
• King sends regrets for death of man he has ordered executed. K2098
• False accusation. K2100
• Falsely accused minister reinstates himself by his cleverness. K2101
• Falsely accused hero sent on dangerous mission. K2102
• Jewel presented to king brings false accusation of theft. K2104
• Slanders. K2110
• Calumniated wife. K2110.1
• Man's mistress accuses his wife of having leprosy. K2110.1.1
• Potiphar's wife. A woman makes vain overtures to a man and then accuses him of attempting to force her. K2111
• Telling a story to allay a woman's amorous desires. K2111.0.1
• Woman makes vain overtures to stepson and falsely accuses him of murder. She tries to poison him but her own son accidentally takes the beverage and apparently dies. Plot is revealed when doctor states that he had substituted sleeping potion for the poison. K2111.1
• Spurned woman accuses man of theft. K2111.2
• Friar refuses to keep promise after enjoying woman and is accused of rape. Castrated. K2111.3
• Adulteress tricks husband into killing allegedly importunate lover. K2111.4
• Mother falsely accuses son of incest with her. K2111.5
• Girl falsely accuses bishop. K2111.6
• Woman slandered as adulteress (prostitute). (Usually by unsuccessful suitor.) (Crescentia, Genoveva, Susanna.) K2112
• False tokens of woman's unfaithfulness. Tokens are stolen from the woman, or her secret markings are seen by treachery. K2112.1
• Fingers as false token of wife's unfaithfulness. She has substituted a maid and the gallant has cut off the maid's finger. K2112.1.1
• Leper (beggar) laid in queen's bed. She is thus incriminated. K2112.2
• Man puts donkey's foal under princess's bed-cover and accuses her of lying with it. K2112.2.1
• Page is duped into hiding under woman's bed (behind curtain). K2112.2.2
• Maidservant's confederate feigns coming out of woman's bedroom. K2112.2.3
• False abortion placed in innocent woman's bed. K2112.2.4
• Man taking refuge in woman's house causes her false accusation. K2112.3
• Villain brings (threatens to bring) naked servant to woman's house. Threat of false accusation of indiscretion forces woman to yield. K2112.4
• Other means of incriminating innocent woman. K2112.5
• Handkerchief left in woman's room to cause accusation. (Othello.) K2112.5.1
• Giving madman food causes woman to be falsely accused. K2112.5.2
• Princess disguised as man is accused of illicit relations with queen. K2113
• Girl disguised as man accused of infidelity. K2113.1
• Rich woman, when her advances are repulsed by an ascetic (really a girl in man's clothes) accuses her of adulterous assault. K2113.2
• Man falsely accused of infidelity. (Cf. K2121.) K2114
• Animal-birth slander. A woman is accused of having given birth to animals. Her children are put out of the way and animals substituted. K2115
• Jealous queens tell child-bearing queen to put her head in the hole at the bottom of grain-bin, so that she fails to see what she delivers. K2115.0.1
• Animal-descent slander. Malicious story that man is son of an animal. K2115.1
• Slander: woman has given birth to objects. K2115.2
• Stone substituted for newly-born babies. K2115.2.1
• Log-birth slander. K2115.2.2
• Prophecy of ogre-child so that pregnant woman will be killed. K2115.3
• Innocent person accused of murder. K2116
• Innocent woman accused of murder. K2116.1
• Innocent woman accused of killing her new-born children. K2116.1.1
• Innocent woman accused of eating her new-born children. K2116.1.1.1
• Bones of puppies as false evidence of wife's having eaten her new-born child. K2116.1.1.1.1
• Queen falsely accused of having poisoned husband. Ignorant doctors cannot diagnose king's illness. Queen burned at stake. K2116.1.2
• Girl falsely accused of murdering her lover. Investigation reveals poisonous breath of toad as cause of death. K2116.1.3
• Incognito queen falsely accused of having killed child left in her care. K2116.1.4
• Man falsely accused of murder. K2116.2
• Anchorite falsely accused of murder. K2116.2.1
• Man accused of having starved woman to death and taken treasure. K2116.2.2
• Person wounds self and accuses another of attempting murder. K2116.3
• Murderer makes outcry so that innocent person is accused of murder. K2116.4
• Warrior falsely accused of having killed his sleeping adversary. Not supposed to have been able to do it if latter was awake. K2116.5
• Calumniated wife: substituted letter (falsified message). The letter announcing the birth of her children changed on the way to the king, so that the queen is falsely accused. (Cf. K2115, K2116.) K2117
• Husband's letter ordering the calumniated wife to be treated well is altered into an order of execution. K2117.1
• Man slandered as having deflowered princess. (Cf. K2114.) K2121
• Brother accused of paternity of mystically impregnated sister. K2121.1
• King's faithful servant falsely accused of familiarity with queen. K2121.2
• Innocent woman accused of using witchcraft. Sham sickness. K2123
• Woman slandered as an ogress. K2124
• Slander: woman said to be possessed of demons. K2125
• Girl reported possessed of demon: suitors frightened away. K2125.1
• Knight falsely accused of sedition. K2126
• King's advisor falsely accused of treason. Accusers exposed and punished. K2126.1
• King's man falsely accused of being in the secret service of another king. K2126.2
• False accusation of theft. K2127
• Desiring woman they quarrel over, man accuses group of men of having abducted his wife. K2127.1
• False queen puts horseflesh in bed of one with child so as to identify her as horse-eating thief. K2127.2
• Slander: prince is bastard. K2128
• Slanders – miscellaneous. K2129
• Jealous monk falsely accuses novice of laziness. K2129.1
• Sick crew accused of being magicians so that nobody wants to have anything to do with them. K2129.2
• Stepsisters scatter sugar in girl's litter so that flies congregate; would-be bridegroom disgusted and tells bearers to abandon her in jungle. K2129.3
• Family is accused of stinginess by recipients of their hospitality. K2129.4
• Trouble-makers. K2130
• Trickster makes two friends each suspicious of the other's intentions. K2131
• Cat brings suspicion between eagle and sow. Eagle lives in the top of the branches, cat in the middle, and sow at bottom; all are happy. Cat tells eagle that sow is trying to root down the tree: eagle is frightened and dares not leave tree. Cat tells sow that eagle plans to carry off pigs: sow dares not leave. They starve and fall victims to the cat. K2131.1
• Envious jackal makes lion suspicious of his friend, the bull. The lion kills the bull. K2131.2
• Woman destroys men's friendship by pretending to whisper to one. K2131.3
• Trickster fills supposed treasure box with trash. Joint owners each accuse other of theft. K2131.4
• Treasure-animal introduced into family's flock in order to stir up dissension and enmity. K2131.5
• False message of love carried to hero and maiden by troublemaker. K2132
• Servant lays skin of dead dog in the bed of his mistress and master. Makes trouble between them. K2134
• The complaint about bad breath: trouble for the king's favorite. A steward advises the courtier to hold his head away when serving the king, since the king objects to his bad breath. He then tells the king that the courtier holds his head back to avoid the king's bad breath. K2135
• Officers praised in reverse from their real merit: trouble for them and their master. K2136
• The priest's guest and the eaten chickens. The servant who has eaten the chickens tells the guest to flee because the priest is going to cut off his ears, and he tells the priest that the guest has stolen two chickens The priest runs after him. K2137
• Trouble-maker in night-lodging. Comes riding a wolf and asks for hospitality. Wolf kills sheep. Beehive in bed. Bees sting family and cause father to kill son. K2138
• Jealous courtiers shake king lion's confidence in his councillor, the virtuous jackal, by accusing the jackal of stealing the lion's food. K2141
• Two persons separately informed about each other's death. K2142
• Innocent made to appear guilty. K2150
• The corpse handed around. (The thrice-killed corpse.) Dupes are accused of murder when the corpse is left with them. The trickster is paid to keep silent. K2151
• Live man thought to be returning corpse pleads with trickster to save him. K2151.1
• Unresponsive corpse. Corpse is set up so that dupe addresses it and when it does not respond knocks it over. He is accused of murder. Most references to K2151 apply to this motif as well. K2152
• Dead dog set up so that woman knocks it over. Must pay damages. K2152.1
• Legs of a corpse cause accusation of murder. K2152.2
• Trickster wounds self and accuses others. K2153
• Animal nurse wounds self so as to throw blame for eaten young on other animal. K2153.1
• Evidence of crime left so that dupe is blamed. K2155
• Blood smeared on innocent person brings accusation of murder. K2155.1
• Bloody knife left in innocent person's bed brings accusation of murder. K2155.1.1
• Slanderers kill a woman and put her body near Buddha's cell. K2155.2
• Innocent man compelled to write treasonable letter. It brings about his death sentence. K2156
• Sham blind man throws suspicion on real blind. He admits his deception so that his companion, who is really blind, is punished. K2165
• The dog receives the blows. The cat steals a sausage from the table but the dog receives the blows from the mistress. K2171
• Rats cause cats to be killed. The rats unite and all go to houses together, increasing or decreasing their ravages with the increase or decrease in the number of cats. Thus the cats are suspected of the damage and are killed. K2172
• Grandmother causes grandchildren to be whipped: puts dirt and hairs into cooking pot by stealth and sand in the water they draw. K2175
• [First Edition: K2190. Other false accusations.] K2190[1st ed.]
• Villains and traitors. K2200
• Treacherous relatives. Distinction between treacherous relatives and cruel relatives (S0–S99) is frequently impossible to make. Relatives whose treachery seems to be uppermost have been listed here; those usually possessing power over their charges and exercising their power in a cruel fashion have been listed under cruel relatives. K2210
• Treacherous brother. Usually elder brother. K2211
• Treacherous elder brother(s). K2211.0.1
• Treacherous younger brother(s). K2211.0.2
• Treacherous brother-in-law. K2211.1
• Treacherous foster brother. False accusation of theft. K2211.2
• Treacherous stepbrother. K2211.3
• Treacherous sister. Usually elder sister. K2212
• Treacherous sister attempts to poison brother. K2212.0.1
• Treacherous sister as mistress of robber (giant) plots against brother. K2212.0.2
• Treacherous queen has her brother killed. K2212.0.3
• Treacherous stepsisters. K2212.1
• Treacherous sister-in-law. K2212.2
• Treacherous wife. K2213
• Matron of Ephesus. (Vidua.) A woman mourns night and day by her husband's grave. A knight guarding a hanged man is about to lose his life because of the corpse he has stolen from the gallows. The matron offers him her love and substitutes her husband's corpse on the gallows so that the knight can escape. K2213.1
• Faithless wife and paramour throw hero overboard. K2213.2