36 motifs match “numskulls”  ·  back to the chapters

• Numskulls go a-travelling. (Cf. J1742.) J1711
• Numskulls quarrel over a greeting. Three men greeted by a stranger. Quarrel as to whom he greeted. "I greeted the biggest fool among you." A contest is held in which tales are told to decide which is the biggest fool. J1712
• Numskulls surprised at news that God has a son. J1738.3
• Numskulls surprised to hear that God's son has died. J1738.4
• Fish thought to be chewed sugar-cane. Numskulls therefore throw away their fish. J1761.4
• Living toad or beetles thought to be lost food and therefore eaten by numskulls. J1761.7
• Numskulls lose corpse and bury live person instead. J1834
• Gifts to birds. Numskulls hear birds calling and give them gifts. J1851.2
• The homesick wave. Numskulls try to take home a wave of the sea in a bamboo rod. At home when it refuses to wave they say that it is homesick for its mother, the sea. J1875.3
• 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
• Marking the place under the cloud. Numskulls leave a knife in the field, marking the place by putting it under a heavy cloud. Next day the cloud is gone and the knife lost. J1922.2
• Numskulls sow cooked grain. J1932.1
• Numskulls try to get pears from an oaktree. They accuse each other of eating all the pears. J1944.1
• Protected by the needle. In a storm on the ice, numskulls stick needles into the ice to keep from blowing away. J1965
• Numskulls are affected by heat from stove which has no fire in it. J1976
• Numskulls cannot find their own legs. A stranger helps them with a switch. (Usually get them mixed up when they sit down to bathe their feet.) J2021
• Counting wrong by not counting oneself. Numskulls conclude that one of their number is drowned. J2031
• Numskulls count selves by sticking their noses in the sand. They then count the holes. J2031.1
• Numskulls buy things in common: each pays full price. J2037
• Numskulls buy church in common: each pays full price. J2037.1
• Moving the fireplace. When it gives too much heat numskulls decide to move it instead of putting out the fire. J2104
• Cleaning the church by moving it. A cow fouls a church. Numskulls try to move the church with ropes. J2104.1
• Numskulls bore hole in boat in order to make water run out. J2119.4
• Keeping rain from the trunks. Numskulls take out the clothing and cover the trunks to keep rain off. J2129.6
• Numskulls try to kill mosquitoes with bows and arrows: only injure themselves. J2131.0.1
• Numskulls eat medicine that physics them. Biscayans pour medicine into rice for broth with which to cook rice. J2134.2.1
• Numskulls carry one another through mud and the others back in order that not all get dirty. J2163.1
• Burning up the seal. Numskulls buy a charter from their lord. In celebration they get drunk and use the seal as a candle and forfeit their charter. J2181
• Waiting for the thief to return for the bolster. After the cover is stolen, the numskulls conclude that the thief will certainly return for the bolster. J2214.3.2
• Numskulls try to throw the moon over a cliff. J2271.3
• Numskulls attempt to capture moon and bring it home in a sledge. They get to the top of the hill a few minutes too late to reach it. J2271.4
• Shoving the child. Numskulls, told to shove the boy along if he is lazy about weeding, do so with their weeding-knives and kill him. J2465.3.1
• Oh bother! put it on my head! Numskulls asking old woman where to put grain obey and smother her. J2465.7
• Plowing above the tree. Told to plow above a certain tree (on the hillside), numskulls haul oxen and plow into tree and destroy them. J2465.12
• Numskulls believing that God has reposed on a leaf want to cross river on one. J2495.5
• Numskulls make silence wager. Arrested as thieves. J2511.2