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

• Goddess in anger breaks herself into five parts: hence, five branches of a river. A934.11.3
• Spring breaks forth where fairy horse lies down. A941.1.2
• Spring breaks forth where magic spear strikes ground. (Cf. A941.5.1.) A941.3.1
• Spring breaks forth to commemorate experiences of hero (deity). (Cf. A901, A913.1, A920.1.4.) A941.4
• Spring breaks forth to commemorate place of death or burial. A941.4.1
• Spring breaks forth at primitive hero's need. A941.4.2
• Spring breaks forth at need of demigod's warriors. A941.4.2.1
• Spring breaks forth through power of saint. A941.5
• Fountain breaks forth through power of Virgin Mary. A941.5.0.1
• Spring breaks forth where saint smites rock. (Cf. A941.3.1.) A941.5.1
• Many-colored fountain breaks forth where saint strikes earth with his foot. A941.5.2
• Spring breaks forth through power of saint at place where leper pulls out clump of rushes. A941.5.3
• Spring breaks forth where animal delivers book left behind by saint. A941.5.4
• Spring breaks forth where saint's stolen cow is found. A941.5.5
• Mountains from breaking of God's sieve. He is sifting stones and the bottom of the sieve breaks, letting huge stones and mountains fall through. (Cf. A971.) A963.2
• Bridge of the Gods. A conflict of the gods breaks a primeval bridge and thus causes a rapid in a river (the Columbia River at The Dalles, Oregon). A986
• Vaginal teeth broken. Women originally had toothed vaginas. Culture hero breaks teeth so that women will be harmless to men. A1313.3.1
• Crab thrown to ground: breaks into small pieces. Hence crabs are small. A2214.4
• Bat falls from high perch due to extreme heat of sun's rays, breaks bones, etc. Hence peculiar feet and nose. A2214.6
• Bag of winds. Wind is confined in a bag. Man breaks prohibition against looking into bag and releases winds. C322.1
• King breaks his own tabu and meets with the punishment he has set for violation of it. (His nose is cut off). C901.4.1
• Tongue of woman who breaks tabu protrudes and entwines itself around a post in the home. C948.3
• Rope breaks at proper burial place. (Cf. D1203.) D1314.12.1
• Magic object breaks spells. D1396
• Magic goblet breaks spells. (Cf. D1171.6.2.) D1396.1
• Magic wand breaks enemy's sword. (Cf. D1254.1.) D1414.1
• Silence under punishment breaks power of enchantment. D1741.3
• Magic sleep when hero breaks fruit open too soon. D1962.6.1
• Forgotten fiancée. Young husband visiting his home breaks tabu and forgets his wife. Later she succeeds in reawakening his memory. (For details of the ways in which the memory is lost and regained see D2004 and D2006. D2003
• Resuscitation when strangling corset-lace breaks. Girl laced so tightly in corset that she faints. Brothers carry her to her grave. They stumble. Corset-lace breaks and girl revives. E21.2
• Ghost breaks windows. E299.4
• Life token: object breaks (bursts). E761.5
• Life token: pot breaks. (Cf. D1171.1.) E761.5.1
• Life token: zither string breaks. E761.5.2
• Life token: stone breaks. (Cf. E711.7.) E761.5.5
• Fairy mistress leaves man when he breaks tabu. F302.6
• Fairies kidnap boy when he breaks tabu by going outside mansion under earth before 12 years. F325.1
• Fairies pinch plowboy who breaks their wooden oven as he plows. F361.17.3
• Fairy breaks leg of servant girl who tells lies about him. F361.17.4
• Holy water breaks fairy spell. (Cf. G303.16.7.) F382.2
• Dwarf breaks wind so hard he capsizes canoes. F451.3.13.3
• Beam breaks at giant's glance. F531.3.14
• Man so strong that he breaks most of what he gets in touch with. (Cf. F614.3-F614.6.) F610.6
• Strong hero tests weapons. Breaks first swords. F611.3.3
• Strong man as rower; breaks boat. F614.4
• Strong man throws trees on roof and breaks it. F614.6
• Strong man throws man back and breaks his bones (legs). F614.6.1
• Strong man throws carriage with horses and driver on top of haystack and breaks the driver's ribs. F624.3.1
• Spring miraculously breaks forth against wrongdoer. F933.6
• Electric storm breaks island into three parts. F962.1
• Heart breaks at third drink from silver canister. F1041.1.1.1
• Heart breaks when girl hears lover kiss another. F1041.1.1.2
• Heart breaks from sorrow. F1041.1.1.3
• Heart breaks when girl learns men are slain in battle on her account. F1041.1.3.6
• Bowstring (arrow, oar) breaks at angry warrior's grasp. F1041.16.6.9
• Tub of water dropped neither breaks nor spills. F1081
• Cannibal breaks wind as means of attack. G93
• Witch breaks bridegroom's leg when slighted by bride. G269.12.1
• Sign of the cross marked on bewitched object breaks witch spell. (Cf. G273.1.) G271.2.1
• Name of deity breaks witch's spell. G271.2.3
• Dust from communion table breaks spell. G271.2.6
• Gallows rope breaks when innocent person is hanged. H215.2
• Stick with money in it breaks and betrays thief who swears his innocence. H251.3.4
• Stone breaks when unchaste woman looks at it. H411.1.1
• Monk fails in test of patience. He tries to live alone to test it. One day he loses his temper at a cup which overturns and he breaks it. [Inadvertant duplication of W185.4.] H1553.5
• "Do not cross a bridge without dismounting from your horse"; counsel proved wise by experience. Man breaks leg. J21.7
• "Do not make a horse run down hill": counsel proved wise by experience. Horse breaks its neck. J21.24
• King observes retaliation among animals: becomes just. Dog breaks fox's foot; man breaks dog's; horse breaks man's leg; horse steps in hole and breaks his. J52
• Trained deer drinks wine till he breaks his leg but thereafter abstains. Thus teaches lesson to master. J133.3
• Ass in the potter's shop. (Bull in china shop.) Only breaks the pots. J973
• Woman breaks milk jars so that weeping for thief will seem natural. J1142.4.1.2
• Man breaks promise to sleep chastely with woman. Decision: deceived fiance is to sleep with seducer's wife, if he ever marries. J1174.2.1
• The sound of the harp. An apprentice harpmaker is blamed that he has not made the harp sound. He throws the harp at his master's head and breaks it to pieces: "There you have your sound." J1626
• An expensive joke. A shoemaker's apprentice greases boots as he would grease a fowl. The owner in anger returns and breaks a window. J1631
• Simpleton thinks his reflection in jar of melted butter is thief; strikes at the jar and breaks it. J1791.7.1
• Numskull thinks boiling pot is threatening him: breaks pot. J1813.10
• Simpleton sleeping in cold room breaks window to let the cold out. (Cf. J2123.) J1819.2
• Cowboy shoots his wife when she breaks her leg (or is injured in another way). J1919.9
• Air-castle: the jar of honey to be sold. In his excitement he breaks the jar. J2061.1
• Air-castle: basket of glassware to be sold. In his excitement he breaks the glassware. J2061.1.1
• Air-castle: basket of eggs to be sold. In her excitement she breaks all the eggs. J2061.1.2
• Getting the calf's head out of the pot. A calf gets its head caught in a pot. A fool cuts off the calf's head and then breaks the pot to get it out. J2113
• Miser jumps into a ravine to retrieve single grain. Breaks both legs. J2146.1
• Oil is cheap (or spilling oil is good luck). Man hearing this breaks oil vessels. J2214.7
• Numskull is told that he is to die when his horse breaks wind three times. When this happens he lies down for dead. J2311.1
• Man believes he is to die when he breaks wind. Lies down for dead. J2311.1.1
• Incognito mistress breaks off relations when she overhears the lover discussing the adventure. J2364
• Testing the evidence by experiment: biting the ear off. The accused pleads that the plaintiff bit his own ear off. The judge takes time for consideration, tries to bite his own ear, but falls down and breaks his head. J2376
• Raven tries to imitate dove's step but breaks his bones. J2413.9
• The sharpened leg. A trickster sees a man with a sharpened leg. He also receives the power of sharpening his leg without harm if he will use it but four times. He breaks the tabu and is left with his leg sticking in a tree. J2424
• Numskull told to attract girl's attention by throwing pebble at her flings large stone which breaks her head. J2461.9
• Piling up the pottery. The woman breaks the pots into fragments and piles them up. J2465.2
• Boy asked to do something to cool women's ears breaks vessels they carry so milk in them can cool their ears off. J2469.4
• Literal obedience: soldier breaks woman's oil pot in two with sword when she asks him to show her something she never has seen in life. J2469.5.2
• One woman to catch squirrel; the other to get the cooking pot. One falls from the tree and kills herself; the other breaks the pot. J2661.3
• Servant injures master while shampooing him. Gives him a slap and breaks his skin. J2665.2
• Anger bargain. The trickster makes a bargain with his master that the first to become angry must submit to punishment. He thereupon heaps abuses on his master till the latter breaks out in anger and must take his punishment. K172
• Trickster breaks cat of taste for milk by overheating its milk. K499.4
• Musician in hell playing for the devils, purposely breaks fiddle strings. Must return to earth to repair strings. K606.1.3
• Confederate cuts rope almost in two so that prisoner breaks it and flees. K647