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

• Woman who fell from the sky. – Daughter of the sky-chief falls from the sky, is caught by birds, and lowered to the surface of the water. She becomes the creator. A21.1
• Goddess' throne shakes when some mischance befalls her faithful worshipper. A189.5
• Sun and moon as spangle which falls from creator's forehead into his own urine. A714.6
• Sun falls but is lifted back to sky and tied to it. A721.5
• Moon falls into pit but is rescued by man. A754.1.1
• Origin of falls (cataracts). A935
• Large stone falls from sky killing all but one couple. A1009.3
• Moon falls into sea and causes flood by overflowing. A1016.6
• First man descends on earth, falls in love with and marries a fairy. A1275.9
• Wolf falls out of nest: cause of straight back. (Cf. A2356.2.2.) A2211.3
• Tortoise hurled on rock: half falls on land, half in water. Therefore amphibious. A2214.5
• Bat falls from high perch due to extreme heat of sun's rays, breaks bones, etc. Hence peculiar feet and nose. A2214.6
• Treasure-hog. Alternate bristles of gold and silver; at each step a side of pork falls from him. B101.2
• Horse lies down when grain of wheat falls from load. B159.2
• Person frightened by animals successively replying to his remarks. Example: Man riding horse and followed by dog tells horse to jump over a hole. Horse says, "I will not." Man turns to dog and says, "Isn't that strange – a horse talking!" The dog says, "Yes, isn't it." Often the man runs, meeting other animals which answer him, until he falls exhausted. B210.1
• Man falls in hole with horse; buzzards gather; he lassoes a number of buzzards, ties them together, frightens them; all fly at once, carry him from hole. (Tall tale.) B547.2.1
• Tabu: speaking while gathering fernseed to make wishes come true, at midnight on Christmas Eve when fernseed ripens and falls immediately. C401.5
• Building falls because of breaking of tabu. (Cf. C771.1.) C931
• Person falls because of broken tabu. C996
• Transformation to cure inconstant husband. He falls in love with another woman: his wife changes him to negro. He then falls in love with negress: wife changes him to ass. He then falls in love with she-ass. Finally restored to his original form. D662
• Magic object falls down from the heaven. D811.2
• Magic rain makes people foolish. All on whom it falls act like fools. (Cf. D902.) D1353.1
• Hero can only wake when a certain axe falls down. (Cf. D1206.) D1364.0.2
• Magic wheel kills all upon whom it falls. (Cf. D1207.) D1402.20
• When spying follower accidentally touches holy man's cloak he loses his eyesight and falls down senseless. (Cf. D1053.) D1410.8
• Treasure falls from mouth. (Cf. D992.2, D1454.3.) D1454.2
• Treasure falls from stone lion's mouth. (Cf. D1268.) D1469.13
• Prognostications from day of week on which first day of year falls. (Cf. D1812.5.0.16.) D1812.5.0.7.3
• Dragon-fighter's magic sleep. While waiting for fight with dragon, hero falls into magic sleep. (Cf. D1962.2.) D1975
• Person whose shadow is pierced by spear falls dead. D2061.2.2.1
• No rain falls on religious man. D2143.1.0.2
• Tear from upper world of mortals falls on departed in lower world. Dead brother sends message of comfort to living. E361.1
• Money received from ghosts as reward for bravery. A voice says: "I am letting it fall." The man: "Let it." Money falls to the ground. E373.1
• Ghost steals collar of priest. Evil therefore befalls priest. E593.1
• Shooting star signifies that someone is dying. One star for each person. At his death it falls. E741.1.1
• Life token: staff stuck in ground falls. E761.2.2
• Life token: fruit falls from tree. E761.3.3
• Life token: arrow falls down. E761.7.12
• Post falls when owners lose estate. E766.3
• Anchor falls on fairies. F285
• Fairy abducts whomever she falls in love with. (Cf. F320.) F302.3.1.4
• Spirit enters princess' body and she falls ill. F493.0.1.2
• Giant lies underground with trees growing all over his body. When his mouth is opened man falls into it and is swallowed. F531.2.6
• Earthquake as giant falls down. F531.3.8.5
• Hero throws up a stone: before it falls, he drinks a full jar empty. F636.4.1
• Rising and falling sky. Sky rises and falls at horizon, giving periodic access to the other world. F791
• Bridge which falls when mounted. F842.2.2
• Man falls underground through hole. F949.2
• Holy object falls from heaven. F962.12
• Crozier falls from heaven for saint. F962.12.1
• Marvelous picture falls from sky in storm. F962.12.3
• Mysterious leaf falls on church altar. F962.12.5
• Bean, straw, and coal go journeying. Coal burns straw in two and falls into the water. Bean laughs until it splits. F1025.1
• Tightening belt to counteract hunger: when loosened person falls dead. F1076
• Hero's marvelous sword falls and cuts off hand of enemy. (Cf. F833, N331.) F1087
• Person flying with witches makes mistake and falls. G242.7
• Demon drags beneath the water any person whose shadow falls on surface of water. G336.1
• Person falls into ogre's power. G400
• Man on hunt falls into ogre's (witch's) power. G405
• Lost (marooned) person falls into ogre's power. G406
• Jinn falls into cauldron of boiling oil, thinking it is food. G512.3.4
• Giant ogre tricked into running round a tree the branches of which catch the strokes of his iron bar, until he falls down dead. G519.5
• Ordeal: names of suspected persons are placed in chalice on altar: the one to whom the lot falls is guilty. H233.1
• Act of truth: boy falls dead though what has been said is the truth; when lie is told he is resuscitated. H252.4.1
• Test of wife's obedience: the one command. Upon his wife's insistence that he test her by giving one command the husband tells her not to go into the oven while he is away. She does so and oven falls on her. H473.2
• Riddle: bird without feathers flies on tree without leaves. (Snow falls on bare tree.) H764
• "Rue not a thing that is past": counsel proved wise by experience. Man lets bird go and then, having listened to bird's false declaration that she had a precious gem in her body, he tries to climb a tree after her and falls. J21.12
• Fool fasts on roof till he becomes so weak he falls off. J565.1
• Jackal falls into dye vat, tries to pose as peacock: detected. J953.14
• Clever son falls from tree, so mother's tears over dead body of father being carried through street will seem natural. J1142.4.1.1
• Series of clever unjust decisions: plaintiff voluntarily withdraws. (1) Man pulls off borrowed horse's tail: he shall keep horse till tail grows on. (2) Man falls out of bed and kills a baby (or causes a miscarriage): he shall beget a new baby for the mother. (3) Man falls from a bridge and kills boatsman's son: shall allow boatsman to fall from bridge and kill him. J1173
• The lazy ass repaid in kind. Loaded with salt, he falls down in the river and lightens his burden. His master then loads him with sponges so that the next time the ass tries the trick he increases his load. J1612
• Drunkard cured of seeing double. When he claims to see two roast chickens, his wife takes the one chicken away and he falls into the fire trying to find the other. J1623
• Deduction: bread made by a sick woman. It falls apart; therefore it was kneaded by a weak person. J1661.1.3
• Bridegroom gets into bed. The numskull groom on his wedding night does not know how to get to the bed, the curtains being drawn. He scales one of the posts, clambers to the canopy, falls upon his bride below, who screams for help. J1744.1.1
• Monkey seeing tiger attack his shadow is frightened so that he falls from tree. J1790.3
• Rescuing the moon. A numskull sees the moon in the water and throws a rope in to rescue it, but falls in himself. He sees the moon in the sky. At least the moon was saved! J1791.2
• Serfs congratulate their master. The delegate slips and falls, cursing: "The devil may take you!" The serfs outside think this was the congratulation, and all cry in chorus: "You and your family!" J1845
• The needle (or the like) falls into the sea: sought the next summer. J1921
• Marking the place on the boat. An object falls into the sea from a boat. Numskulls mark the place on the boat-rail to indicate where it fell. J1922.1
• Numskull ties the rope to his leg as the cow grazes on the roof. The cow falls off and the man is pulled up the chimney. J2132.2
• Numskull falls. J2133
• Camel with ass on his back dances. Falls and is killed. J2133.1
• Monkey jumps over a ravine with his sword girded on. Falls to his death. J2133.2
• Cat crawls to steeple and tries to fly. Falls. J2133.3
• Coyote attempts to fly from a treetop: falls. J2133.3.1
• Intruding wolf falls down chimney and kills himself. J2133.7
• Stargazer falls into well. J2133.8
• Blind leading blind falls into pit. J2133.9
• Fool dangling from tree by hands tries to clap them together: falls. J2133.13
• Fool re-enacts the accident. Falls and injures self and others. (Cf. J2062.) J2133.14
• Builders throw away beams from the scaffolding until it all falls down. J2171.3
• Fool lets wine run in the cellar. He (she) falls into a study (or chases a dog) while the spigot is open. J2176
• Frogs reprove ass for lamenting when he falls into morass. "What would you do if you had to live here always?" J2211.1
• Climb down as you climb up. A peasant falls out of a tree. A neighbor advises him not to climb trees. Another suggests that he always climb down a tree with the same skill and rapidity that he climbed up. J2244
• A drunkard cannot drown. A drunken man falls overboard but the skipper refuses to pick him up. "A man who is soaked in wine cannot drown. No part of his body will absorb water." J2282
• Man believes, he will die when water falls on his head. J2311.1.3
• Numskull believes he is dead when pumpkin falls on his head. J2311.1.3.1
• 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
• Crab tries to imitate bird who lays egg in pot of boiling water. Falls in instead of being rewarded. J2415.3