68 motifs match “noble”  ·  back to the chapters

• Origin of noblemen. A1656
• Origin of Polish noblemen: from wheat dough that a bitch devours. A1656.1
• Beetle makes immoderate request; ant moderate: inverse awards. Creator hears wishes of animals. Beetle wants strong, noble appearance. Ant is modest. Beetle punished by being made to creep on ground. Ant is given own castle. (Cf. A2441.3.1.) A2232.3
• Tabu: eating special food of noble girl. C246.2
• Nobleman as wild huntsman. E501.1.2
• Dwarf conducts shepherd to hell to collect debt from nobleman. F451.5.1.14
• Blind man able to recognize real pearls by their smell, diamonds by touch, a good horse by screwing its ears, and raja of noble birth by his generosity. F655.1
• Disguised king (noble) recognized by habitual speech. H38.1
• Vindication by champion. Usually noble lady or king accused. H218.0.1
• Conflict between peasant and nobleman decided so that each must answer riddles: peasant's daughter solves them. H561.1.1
• Riddle: the king is surrounded by his nobles; what is this like? (The idol Bel surrounded by the priests of the god.) H825
• Test of valor: rousing servant's anger. Nobleman, when examining servants for hire, bids each stand before him and comb his long beard. Occasionally he snaps at them as if to bite them. Those who dodge he lets go; those who offer fight he employs. H1561.4
• Tests for noble blood. H1574.1
• Wisdom from fool: the present returned. Nobleman gives fool a present; he is to give it to no one who is not a greater fool. Master is dying; doctor tells fool that master is going to take long journey. Since master is making no preparation, fool gives him the present. Master thus brought to repentance. J156.3
• Noble poets refuse to associate with truly good poet because of his lowly birth. J411.3.1
• Prince of democratic tastes chosen. King asks three sons what kind of bird they would prefer to be. First: an eagle, because it is ruler of birds; second: a falcon; because it is beloved by the nobles; third: a bird which flies with many others, so as to receive advice. King chooses third. J412.1
• Noblemen who quarreled over a device. Wiser of the two shows foolishness of such a fight. J552.1
• Noblemen being ruined by long lawsuit decide wisely to join their families in marriage and save their fortunes. J552.2
• Helmet left for woman to quarrel with. Woman insists upon quarreling with a nobleman. He says, "If you wish to quarrel, I shall leave my helmet here. You can talk to it." J552.4
• Man called a rogue by a nobleman makes a joke of the insult. He thus avoids trouble. J817.1
• Empress sews and shows she is not too noble to work. J918
• Noble and ugly holy man embraces man who calls him ugly, saying he loves those who see him as he really is. J921
• Peasant asks to be knighted. Is told that he can be made rich but not noble. J955.3.1
• Servants would not have left the coats. Merchants complain to nobleman that his servants have robbed them of money. Nobleman asks whether merchants had on those good coats when the robbery took place. When told yes, he said that the robbers were not his servants, for they would never have left good coats. J1179.5
• Command would become permanent. A ruler receives gifts from his subjects and later demands them as he due. The fool sets the nobleman's bed on fire. When the nobleman commands him to put the fire out he refuses, since he would ever afterward have to be putting out fires. J1521.3
• To give the accounting afterward. A nobleman embezzles money from the public treasury. When counsellors urge an accounting, he replies that he is ready as soon as they have themselves made an accounting of all their transactions. They are ready to let well enough alone. J1627
• King's capriciousness censured: the ass in the stream. A nobleman seeing an ass letting water in a river remarks that it reminds him of his king. He explains to the king that just as the ass puts water where it is already plentiful, so the king awards wealth where it is not needed. The king says that it is all in the nature of the nobleman's fate. Subsequent events prove this. J1675.3
• Dressed up monkey thought to be a nobleman. J1762.6
• The falcon not so good as represented. A nobleman praises his falcon. His fool, supposing they were praising the falcon as food, kills the bird, but is disappointed in the taste. J1826
• Pursuing the rabbit who harmed the garden. Peasant asks a nobleman's help against a rabbit. The nobleman chases the rabbit on horseback for five days and ruins the peasant's crop. J2103.2
• The gift of the donkey. Ruler rewards the gift of a clever donkey. Greedy nobleman seeking a like reward sends ruler two donkeys in rich trappings. Ruler advises the donor that he is sorry that his gift will deprive him of worthy companionship. J2415.1.1
• Seduction by posing as nobleman. K1315.5
• Prostitute poses as noble woman. K1315.5.1
• Nobleman disguises as cobbler to woo woodcutter's daughter. K1816.10.1
• Sham prince (nobleman). K1952
• The stupid monk recovers the stolen flocks. A nobleman steals the abbot's flocks, saying that the monks have no use for them since they eat no meat. The most learned of the monks tries to recover them, but without success. The most stupid is then sent. Asked to dinner, he eats till he can hold no more. He tells the nobleman that he ate as much as possible since he could take back with him only what he had in his stomach. The nobleman pleased with the reply returns the flocks. L141.1
• Servant makes pact with devil denying Christ to secure nobleman's daughter. M217.1
• 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
• King banishes nobleman whose castle he wants. P12.8
• Noblemen (knights). P50
• Noble person saves self from difficulties by knowledge of a trade. (Cf. P31.) P51
• Wild man of noble birth. (Cf. F567.) P55
• Noble (gentle) ladies. P60
• Noble woman given to foreigners on condition that thereafter their land be held by female right. P61
• Impossible to refuse the request of a troubled nobleman. P95
• Living king's or nobleman's son as foster son of father's friend: considered an honor for the foster father. P271.4
• Nobleman forces escaping prisoner to accept his hospitality. Intercedes for his pardon. P322.1
• Nobleman's perseverance wins him coveted place on reserved bench. Elected upon the death of one of its occupants. Q81.1
• Pope who has warred on wicked nobles refused burial in church. Magic wind blows doors open to show he has right to be buried there. [Inadvertant duplication of F963.3.] Q147.2
• Punishment: noble person must do menial service. (Cf. A181, H465.) Q482
• Nobleman after death must serve as menial. Q482.3
• Noble person must live in hovel. Q485
• Nobleman rescues lady from treacherous servant. R111.5
• Nobleman marries poor girl and then abandons her. T72.2
• Maid vexes suitor by pretense. Noble maid who is to marry knight pretends to be beggar's daughter. T77
• Noble and lowly in love. T91.6
• Noblewoman weds shepherd. T121.2
• Ruler marries fugitive noblewoman. T121.4
• Nobleman murders one of the people. Goes unpunished. U34
• Nobleman who kills one of the people is brought to justice only after long delay. U34.1
• Nobles ruin peasant's (widow's) crops with impunity. U35.2
• An ugly face does not mean an ugly soul. A noble and holy man who is very ugly is proved to be a saintly soul. U119.4
• Farmer's son and noble's reared in country. The former takes to toil on farm, the latter to riding and hunting. U121.3
• Virgin Mary will not let devil (authorities) take robber noble who daily says "Ave". V254.8
• Nobleman's generosity enables impoverished lover to entertain his lady. W11.7
• Impoverished nobleman offers wife to ruler. Latter spares her honor and aids the couple. W11.7.1
• Look! look! she cries from the barrel. A nobleman has arranged for a peasant girl to become his mistress. When he comes to take her away he cannot find her. Disappointed, he is about to depart when the girl, who has hidden in a barrel, calls out "Look!" She really wants to be found. W136.1
• The deaf man and the proud nobleman. A nobleman amuses himself at the expense of the deaf man. Finally Nobleman: I wish you a thousand gallows and ropes around your neck. – Peasant: My lord, I wish you twice as many. X111.6