92 motifs match “little”  ·  back to the chapters

• Raising the sun. Originally low, it is raised little by little by conjurors. A727
• Ground, previously all wet, dries up when first woman cuts her little finger and blood drips on ground. A856.2
• Shrew blows nose into snout. Sent after fire, he finds but a little which he tries to revive by hard blowing. A2211.5
• Mouse gathers rice for man: may eat a little of his rice daily. A2223.3
• Much butter made from little milk by power of saint. D1573.1
• Journey to land of little men (pygmies). F123
• Pixies (little people unseen but often audible and occasionally caught). F200.1
• Little people from the sky. (Cf. F215.) F205
• Dwarf cave has large square room with little doors leading to all sides. F451.4.3.2
• Dwarf follows countess around like a little dog. F451.5.8.1
• Dwarfs are taken for hussars because they ride little horses. (Cf. F451.7.5.) F451.6.2.3
• Dwarfs have little lanterns. F451.7.3
• Dwarfs have little horses. (Cf. F451.6.2.3.) F451.7.5
• Monkey-like little people. F529.8
• Little soldiers with officer on rabbit (long needles and knives for weapons). F535.2.8
• Semi-supernatural person sleeps little. F564.2
• Strong man buries axe in tree stump and removes it with his little finger. F614.2.3
• Little girl moves enormous bow which nobody could ever carry before. F624.9
• Marvelous sensitiveness: man feels little point of simple thorn in middle of his clothes. F647.9.2
• Country of little girls. F709.2
• Marvelous stream containing little black fish bursts forth from mountain. (Cf. A934.9.) F715.3.2
• Big rocks grow from little rocks. F802.1
• Demons injure and strangle little children. G302.9.4
• The devil as a little, gray old man. G303.3.1.5
• A little girl recognizes the devil by his tail. G303.4.6.1
• Devil prevents moving of little stone by sitting on it. G303.9.9.1
• From the parings of man's nails devils make little caps for themselves. G303.25.5.1
• Identification of man by his little toe. H79.2
• Expressing love by throwing little stones. H316.5
• Widow prepared for suttee can lift by little finger heavy stone by temple. H479.1
• Task performed with help of little old men. H971.2
• Task: bringing best friend, worst enemy, best servant, greatest pleasure-giver. (Brings dog, wife, ass, little son respectively.) H1065
• Adulteress betrayed by little child's remark. J125.2
• Big fish eat little: robber will plunder weak neighbors. J133.6
• Saint gives liberally to gambler, little to beggar. Gambler is generous, beggar hoards. J225.6
• Little coin in empty bottle noisy. J262.2
• Little fish in the net kept rather than wait for uncertainty of greater catch. J321.2
• Choices: little gain, big loss. J340
• Less inconvenience in fighting though tired than in losing all for a little rest. J356
• Socrates builds himself a little house. Criticized for its smallness he says, "I wish I had true friends enough to fill it." J401.1
• Little men preferred to big men. Preacher prefers small men because the intellect has difficulty in reaching to one's heels. J493
• Bravest know how to wait. Three men are pursued in battle. First throws himself on enemies; second waits a little; third does not fight until the enemy begins. Latter is bravest. J572.1
• Be diligent and spend little: how to become wealthy. Advice of a self-made man. J706.1
• Lazy woman resumes her work. She sees how a little bird by persistence pecks a hole in a stone. J1011
• The woman with bad eyes. Physician called to doctor woman's eyes bandages them and then steals things each day. She refuses to pay fee and is haled to court. She says that her sight is worse than ever for whereas she used to see many things in her house she now sees very little. Theft is thus revealed. J1169.1
• 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
• Points of view. Man to friend who drinks very little: "If everyone drank as you do, wine would be cheap." Answer: "On the contrary, it would be expensive because I drink all I want." J1315
• The little lumps of sugar are sweeter, says the hostess. The servant says that he doesn't like sweets and takes the large lumps. J1341.8
• The cynic and the big gates. Coming to a little town with big gates, he says, "Close the gate so that the town won't run away." J1442.6
• Not in good form. A duke invites a notorious eater. The latter consumes eight fowls, forty eggs, and other things in proportion. In leaving he apologizes for eating so little as he had not felt well the night before. He will do better next time. J1468
• Goldsmith sells thinly plated gold; peasant retaliates: a pot of dirt with a little gyav on top. (Cf. J1556.1.) J1511.20
• Borrower of butter receives pot of cowdung with little butter on top: repays by lending wooden sword covered with thin iron. (Cf. J1511.20.) J1556.1
• The abbot cannot find his needle. An undesirable abbot furnishes adequate grounds for his dismissal when he cannot find the needle that all monks are supposed to carry with them. If careless in little things he will be careless in great. J1651
• Fermenting dough: "Woe to you .." The rain drops: "Here he is.." The little bell: "He is hiding here.." J1812.3
• Where the ducks ford. A fool is asked where the river is fordable. He says, "Everywhere." The man tries to ride across and is almost drowned. The fool, "Those little ducks were able to cross here; why couldn't a big fellow like you?" J1919.2
• The fool advises the buyer that the horse is worth little or his father would not sell it. J2088.1
• Looking for the hole. Numskull is to carry a can of oil with especial care since it has a little hole in it. In order to find the hole he turns the can about and lets all the oil run out. J2127
• How the fishes got there. Guests of host who waters his wine put little fishes into the wine jug. "Now I confess that I put water into the wine; otherwise the fishes could not be there." J2281
• Numskull told not to forget to get the handsel (a little token extra in the bargain); brings it but leaves what he has been sent to buy. J2461.5
• Debtors do not forgive. "The Lord's Prayer has little power. I forgive my debtors but my debtors do not forgive me." J2495.2
• The obedient husband: the leave of absence. His wife says, "You may go away for a little while." He stays away for days and then sends a messenger to his wife asking if he has been away long enough. J2523
• Race won by deception: rabbit as "little son" substitute. A man challenged by an ogre to a running race persuades the ogre to race with his little son instead. By this he means a rabbit. (Cf. K12.2, K15.1.) K11.6
• Child's curiosity exposes thief. Thief steals pig. Slaughters it together with one of his own and takes both to market. Puts little pig inside large one to avoid paying tax on two. Boy notices three hind legs. Thief is caught. K433
• Escape by laughing and crying at same time. Captured bird cries in thinking of her little ones and laughs under pretext that the hunter is wasting his time instead of taking the treasure which she pretends is in her house. The hunter leaves her. K608
• Wife takes lover beneath tree where she has told husband to hide. When he begins to kiss her, husband shouts "Keep a little for me." Lover, shamefaced, runs away. K1218.10
• The taming of the wild prince. Lost in the woods the little prince grows up among wild animals; lets no one come near him. Only a servant girl succeeds in taming him. K1399.1
• 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
• "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
• The girl who ate so little. When the suitor sees her baking he finds that she can eat. K1984.2
• Little innocent girl is able to drive giant out of land. L311.4
• Little strong man defeats giant in race. L312
• Little fishes escape from the net. The large are caught. L331
• Destiny better than work, show, or speculation. A peasant makes a little by his work; a nobleman more by his outward show; a merchant still more by speculation; but a prince most of all by his destiny. N142
• Help from little man. N821
• Faithful servant locks his master and his friend up in a little house built from wood from their wrecked ships; they falsely think themselves betrayed. R53.4
• Little girl will give prince marvelous objects if he promises to marry her later. T55.4
• Grateful little boys help hero win girl. T66.2
• Penitent in confession worries about little sins and belittles the big ones. U11.1.1.2
• He who steals much called king; he who steals little called robber. U11.2
• 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
• Dividing after God's fashion: little to poor, much to rich. U61
• Big voice: little creature. (Frogs, crickets.) U113
• Little Christmas. V72.1
• Saint takes but little sleep. V462.5.2.1
• Stingy horse refuses ass little feed, though he promises much for later time. W152.8
• Prayer that overbearing knight's illness be increased. A little sickness has made him kind; more may make him kinder. W185.2
• The deaf bishop. The drunken priest says, "In the morning I take a drink of rum and afterwards four or five little drinks." X111.13
• The death of the little hen. She is characteristically mourned by objects and animals; e.g., flea, door, broom, cart, ashes, tree, girl. Z32.2
• The death of the little hen described with unusual words. Each act of mourning described by a neologism: the table untables itself. (Cf. X1506.) Z32.2.1
• Little ant finds a penny, buys new clothes with it, and sits in her doorway. Various animals pass by and propose marriage. She asks what they do at night. Each one replies with its characteristic sound, and none pleases her but the quiet little mouse, whom she marries. She leaves him to tend the stew, and he falls in and drowns. She weeps and, on learning the reason, bird cuts off its beak, dove cuts off its tail, etc. Z32.3
• Fat mouse cannot get into hole. "Carpenter, please pare off a little flesh from my ribs." Refused. Final formula: the scythe cuts the creeper loose. Z49.2.1
• The little old lady who swallowed a fly. She swallows a spider to eat up the fly, a bird to eat up the spider, a dog to eat the bird, a cow to eat the dog. "The little old lady swallowed a horse – she died, of course." Z49.14