87 motifs match “pretends”  ·  back to the chapters

• Witch pretends sickness and kicks helper into pit. G269.1.1
• Man pretends to cut toenails of cannibal woman: kills her. G519.1.2
• King brought to sense of duty by feigned conversation of birds. Philosopher pretends to know bird's language and to be translating what they tell him. J816.1
• Man pretends idiocy so as to avoid compromising himself when summoned to testify by two rival queens before the king. J822.1
• The fox and the sour grapes. Pretends that the grapes he cannot reach are sour. J871
• Mole pretends that he sees, smells, and hears. His mother tells him to claim no more senses than he has. J958
• Fox pretends that he has been to the farmyard only to see if any of his kindred were there. J1391.5
• Trickster artist hoodwinks king: cuckold's eyes cannot see picture. King pretends to see the picture. Courtiers reveal that there is no picture. J1492
• Boy pretends to speak only Latin. Father, chastising his lazy son, also speaks in "Latin". J1511.11
• Deer captured in bird-net: water flows upstream. One partner claims a deer he has captured in his bird-net. The other pretends to be watching water flow upstream. J1534
• Man who continually threatens to leave wife mortified when she tells him to go; pretends his buffalo is dragging him home (after he does leave). J1545.3.3
• The testament of the dog. The owner of a dog has him given Christian burial. The bishop thereupon pretends that the dog has left the church a large legacy. J1607
• Barber's and jackal's common garden: jackal pretends that garden has not yielded any fruit at all. K171.8
• Thief pretends to be girl's bridegroom and calls for her. K311.8.3
• Thief pretends to return grass that has stuck to his clothes to ground where it belongs. K323
• Thief pretends to show how horse can be stolen; rides it off. K341.8
• Trickster pretends to ride home for tools to perform tricks. Rides away on horse. K341.8.1
• Thief pretends to horse dealer that he wishes to buy a horse. Dealer allows him to climb on horse to see how he rides; thief runs off with horse. K341.8.2
• Master thief pretends to throw needle and thread in anger at his son. But it contains stolen cloth. K341.13.1
• Trickster pretends to have spit in wine accidentally. Is allowed to drink it. K355.1
• Trickster pretends to teach dance: flees with valuables. (Cf. K571.) K374
• Repentant thief pretends to have found stolen cow. Upbraids owner for not guarding her better. K416
• Thief pretends to have recovered stolen horse. Returns it to owner after using it all he desires. K416.1
• Owner pretends to help burglars to divide booty: handles weights so loudly that police are summoned. K432.2
• Thief leaves food untouched when owner pretends to be poisoned by it. (Playing poison.) K439.4
• Sheep thief pretends to buy wethers from the ram, names the price himself. Owner overhears, takes the ram to the thief to collect. K439.5
• Owner pretends to think thief is family god and binds him. K439.8
• Confederate answers for corpse. Man poses as returned heir to dead man; pretends to address corpse for identification. K451.5
• Fox pretends to go to work, but goes out to sleep. K499.10
• Trout pretends to be dead. Fisherman ignores him. K522.4.1
• Girl makes toilet and calls help. When she sees robber under her bed she pretends not to see him and combs her hair at the window. She says, "When I am married my husband will come home from the tavern and seize me by the hair and I shall cry: "Help!" Rescue comes. K551.5
• "Let me catch you better game." Captured animal pretends to help captor bring more desirable victim. Escapes. K553.1
• Monkey in danger on bridge of crocodiles pretends that the king has ordered them counted. K579.2
• Murder feigned to effect escape. Knight is refused permission to leave city. He rushes to city gates and pretends that he has just killed a public enemy. Is aided in his escape. K579.6
• 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
• Escape by pretended lousing. Captive pretends to louse the captor but deceives him by cracking berries in the teeth (or the like). K611.1
• Escape by pretended cooking. Girl pretends to be cooking meal for animal husband: escapes. K611.2
• Witch pretends to be starving beggar woman in order to capture child. K764
• Ape pretends to louse heron, but plucks out his feathers. K874.1
• False beauty-doctor. The trickster pretends to make the dupe beautiful. Injures him. K1013
• Trickster pretends to give dupe magic power to produce food. Injures him. K1036
• Holding up the roof. Fox pretends to be holding up the roof; hence cannot help the bear, who must do the threshing alone. K1251.1
• Fox pretends to be guarding the sky and watching the earth. K1251.1.1
• Trickster pretends to seek lost ball by woman's bed: seduces her. K1349.9
• The weeping bitch. A procuress throws pepper into the eyes of a bitch so that she weeps. She pretends to the virtuous woman that the bitch is a woman transformed because of failure to respond to her lover. The woman is persuaded. K1351
• Trickster pretends lameness and is taken on woman's back: violates her. K1382
• Man coveting his friend's wife causes her to leave her husband. Friend mutually agree to beat wives. Trickster only pretends to do so while other beats his and angers her. K1394
• Adulteress pretends to go to say her prayers. Keeps tryst with paramour. K1514.12
• The husband's good eye treated. The wife pretends to treat his one good eye, so that he cannot see the paramour. K1516.1
• Paramour leaving love-tryst is met by husband. Pretends he had come to see him on business. K1517.10
• Alleged speaking privates. Husband pretends that his wife's privates tell him of her adultery. K1569.7
• Retrieving the buried treasure. Buried money is stolen. Blind owner pretends that he is going to bury more. Thief returns the money hoping to get all. Blind man recovers original treasure. K1667.1.1
• Woman, who pretends to faint, comes to life when beaten by magician in order to drive out alleged evil spirit. K1676.1
• Trickster pretends to hunt certain tree with which his ancestors have killed tigers. Tiger frightened away. K1715.6
• Monkey pretends that his house always answers him. K1722
• Goat pretends to be chewing rock. Frightens wolf. K1723
• Dog pretends to be calling dog in the moon when he barks. K1735
• Illiterate man pretends to be weeping because he cannot make others understand the book he is reading. K1795
• Sharp man pretends to be stupid so as to be included in plans and conversation of plotters. K1818.3.3
• Penniless bride pretends to wealth. K1911.5
• Abductor pretends to have been sent to fetch princess by lover. K1914
• Penniless bridegroom pretends to wealth. K1917
• Barren woman pretends to bear child. Substitutes another woman's child. K1923.3
• Woman pretends to be mother of child chosen to be king. K1923.4
• Rascal pretends to be dead man's heir and receives money. K1938
• Person pretends sickness can be cured only with death (humiliation) of another. K1945.1
• Sham physician pretends to diagnose entirely from urinalysis. Really from observation and inference from trifles. K1955.2
• Sham wise man pretends knowledge from dream: really overheard conversation. K1956.7
• Sham wise man burns house where he pretends to keep his marvelous books, and is free from being called again. K1956.8
• Sham teacher. Pretends to read a document brought him as a letter. It is a tax receipt. K1958
• Man behind statue (tree) speaks and pretends to be God (spirit). K1971
• Living man at the grave pretends to be dead man speaking. K1974
• Hypocrite pretends friendship but attacks. K2010
• Man pretends friendship but attacks king to avenge violation of his wife. K2010.1
• Tiger-ogress pretends to be girls' mother: explains tail as boil. K2011.2
• Man pretends to kiss relative: bites him instead. K2021.2
• Unsuccessful suitor pretends friendship with woman's husband. Kills him while on a hunt. K2022
• When wolf pretends to slander tiger fox agrees; later tells tiger he was trying to test wolf's malice. K2043
• Adulteress pretends shame before male statue (mirror, male fish). K2051.1
• Adulteress pretends to faint when her husband strikes her with a rose. She has allowed her lover to abuse her. K2051.2
• Boy pretends to take long trip in order to pay debt of a penny. Thus he gets man's confidence and robs him. K2054.1
• Marauder pretends beggary that king will underestimate his power. K2369.1
• Dwarf-deer pastes other animal's eyes shut and pretends that hunters are coming. K2382.2
• Maid vexes suitor by pretense. Noble maid who is to marry knight pretends to be beggar's daughter. T77
• The obstinate wife: the third egg. The husband and the wife dispute as to who shall eat the third egg. She pretends to die. At the grave she asks him, "Do I eat two of the three eggs?" and he gives his consent. She jumps up and cries out "I eat two!" and everyone flees except a lame man who exclaims, "Poor me and the other one!" T255.4
• Wealthy man pretends enjoyment of good music. Told when to applaud. W116.6
• Blind man in awkward position pretends to see. X128