108 motifs match “absurd” — showing the first 100; narrow the words for the rest  ·  back to the chapters

• Dead man visiting wife deceived by wife's absurd actions – "no more absurd than ghost visiting wife". (Cf. E321.2, E474.) E432.2
• Complacent wife agrees with all of husband's absurd statements. H474
• Counterquestions. Riddles answered by a question that reduces the riddle to an absurdity. H571
• Reductio ad absurdum of riddle: stallions of Babylon. "Why is my mare restless when stallions of Babylon neigh?" Hero beats cat for having strangled a cock last night in Babylon (impossible distance away). H572
• Reductio ad absurdum of task. When an impossible task is given, the hero responds with a countertask so absurd as to show the manifest absurdity of the original task. (Cf. H1023.3.1, H1024.1.1.1.) H952
• Task: bringing berries in winter. Reductio ad absurdum: father is sick from snake-bite (impossible in winter). (Cf. H952.) H1023.3.1
• Task: making a bull bear a calf. Reductio ad absurdum: have a man prepare for childbirth. (Cf. H952.) H1024.1.1.1
• Wisdom from fool: absurdity of tight-rope walker's performance. J156.2
• King makes absurd statement about flowers. Flatterer agrees: it is the king he serves, not the wretched flowers. J817.2.1
• Husband discredited by absurd truth. Wife puts fish in furrow where husband plows them up (or like absurdity). At mealtime the husband says, "Where are the fish?" – "What fish?" – "Those I plowed up." He is laughed to scorn. J1151.1.2
• Reductio ad absurdum of judgment. J1191
• Reductio ad absurdum: the decision about the colt. A man ties his mare to a second man's wagon. The mare bears a colt which the wagon-owner claims, saying that the wagon has borne a colt. Real owner of the colt shows the absurdity (1) by fishing in the street or (2) by telling that his wife is shooting fish in the garden. Neither of these things are so absurd as the decision. J1191.1
• "The sea is on fire" – not more absurd than the decision about the colt. J1191.1.1
• Reductio ad absurdum of accusation: object-birth slander. (Later children tell toy animals to drink. No harder than for woman to bear objects.) J1191.5
• Absurd pretence, when allowed, puts pretender out of countenance. J1214
• Reductio ad absurdum of question or proposal. J1290
• Question answered by absurd counterquestion. J1291
• Tide inquires whether moon is up. Minnow seeing absurdity of question (since tide could not be up without the moon) tells the tide to wait till he gets a drink and he will tell. J1292
• Reductio ad absurdum of proposal. J1293
• Little bird as large bird's mate. A large bird wishes to mate with a little bird. The latter says that she is going to swallow a large eel. The large bird sees the absurdity of his proposal. J1293.1
• Absurdity: sea (river) is on fire. Not more absurd than crow claiming swan as wife. J1293.1.1
• One absurdity rebukes another. J1530
• Borrower's absurdities. J1531
• Adulteress's absurdity rebuked. J1532
• Absurdities concerning birth of animals, or men. (Cf. J1531.3.) J1533
• [First Edition: J1533.1. Absurdity: mill has given birth to calf. – Oats planted on sea-shore for fish to eat.] J1533.1[1st ed.]
• Ruler's absurdity rebuked. J1536
• Absurdity of entrusting military mission to bishop. Courtier rebukes king by asking that he be given an ecclesiastical post. J1536.1
• Absurdity of trying to convert king to Hinduism – like making cow of donkey or black dog into white. J1536.2
• One absurdity rebukes another – miscellaneous. J1539
• Absurd ignorance. J1730
• Absurd ignorance of sex. J1745
• Absurd ignorance of the use of spectacles. J1748
• Absurd ignorance – miscellaneous. J1749
• Animal or object absurdly punished. J1860
• Absurd sympathy for animals or objects. J1870
• Absurd sympathy for animals or objects – miscellaneous. J1879
• Absurd disregard or ignorance of animal's nature or habits. J1900
• Absurd ignorance concerning the laying of eggs. J1901
• Absurd ignorance concerning the hatching of eggs. J1902
• Absurd ignorance concerning animal's eating and drinking. J1903
• Absurd ignorance concerning place for animal to be kept. J1904
• Absurd ignorance about milking animals. (Cf. J1903.2.) J1905
• Absurd ignorance about slaughtering animals. J1906
• Absurd attempt to change animal nature. J1908
• Absurd disregard of animal's nature or habits – miscellaneous. J1909
• Absurd searches for the lost. J1920
• Absurd disregard of natural laws. J1930
• Absurd practices connected with crops. J1932
• Absurd ideas about the dead. J1937
• Absurd disregard of natural laws – miscellaneous. J1959
• Other absurd disregard of facts. J1960
• Foolish fight with the sea. Absurd attempt to punish sea. J1968
• Absurd inability to count. J2030
• Absurd absent-mindedness – miscellaneous. J2040
• Law student forgets his speech. Absurd results. J2046
• Absurd short-sightedness. J2050
• Absurd plans. Air-castles. J2060
• Absurd wishes. J2070
• Absurdly modest wish. Granted any wish, the fool chooses a trifle. J2076
• Absurdly modest wish: no lights on certain night except in her own house. J2076.1
• Absurd wishes – miscellaneous. J2079
• Absurd shortsightedness – miscellaneous. J2199
• Absurd lack of logic – general. J2200
• Logical absurdity based upon certain false assumptions. J2210
• Effects of age and size absurdly applied. J2212
• Absurd generalization from a particular incident. J2214
• Absurd reasoning about God. J2215
• Other logical absurdities. J2220
• Logically absurd defenses. Thief brought to judgment for breaking into house blames mason for building poor house. Mason blames maker of mortar, who blames potter, who blames pretty woman who diverted his attention. She blames goldsmith who caused her to go for her earrings. Goldsmith has no one to blame but he is too old to make a good execution. Hence a shopkeeper across the way is convicted. J2233
• Absurd scientific theories – general. J2260
• Absurd astronomical theories. J2270
• Absurd theories concerning the moon. J2271
• Absurd theories concerning the sun. J2272
• Absurd theories concerning the sky. J2273
• Absurd theories about the earth. J2274
• Absurd theories about the stars. J2275
• Absurd theories concerning time. J2276
• Absurd theories about clouds. J2277
• Other absurd scientific theories. J2280
• Fool's errand. An apprentice, or newcomer or ignorant person, etc., is sent for absurd or misleading or nonexistent object or on a ridiculous quest. J2346
• Absurd scientific speculations. J2371
• Religious words or exercises interpreted with absurd literalness. J2495
• Repeating the ceremony. Fool told to repeat part of the ceremony at baptism persists absurdly in repeating every remark. J2498
• "Do not leave my side." The youth obeys the command to such an absurd extent that he is a nuisance to his master. J2516.4
• Absurd extreme of discouragement. J2518
• Absurd contest won by deception. K60
• Absurd contest won by deception – miscellaneous. K69
• Unjust umpire decides a religious dispute. His confederate thus wins an absurd wager. K451.1
• Sham-dead deceived into moving by absurd action. K607.3.2
• Lovers observed in intrigue make absurd excuses. (Afraid of ghosts, have chill, etc.) K1271.2
• Fool laughs at the absurdities he sees about him. (1) Sees a man who is to die that day buy shoes. (2) Sees sheriff leading a man to the gallows: a big thief leading a little one. (3) Sees farmer weeping at funeral of his child, while priest (the real father) sings. U15
• Dwarf king (fairy) laughs at the absurdities he sees about him. (1) Sees man who is to die that day complain that his shoes are too thin. (Cf. J2174.) (2) Sees women adorn their heads when they are immoral below. (Cf. J2050.) (3) Sees man remove from his wife's garment dust gathered while she lay with another man. (Cf. J2301.3.) (4) Sees persons making plans while forgetting to say, "If God wills." U15.0.1
• Conservative but absurd way of slaughtering hog stubbornly kept. U139.2.1
• Six short, fat husbands married to six tall, fat wives try absurdly to kiss them at the threshold on their wedding day. X151.1
• The mother trains the old maid to speak properly. Absurd results. X756
• Drunk men try to see one another home. Absurd results. X814
• Lies: animals trained to respond to certain sounds: absurd result. X1206
• Lies: logical absurdities. (Cf. J2200.) X1700
• Absurd disregard of anatomy. (Cf. X1202, X1203, X1204.) X1720