88 motifs match “second”  ·  back to the chapters

• Angels created on second day of creation. A52.2.2
• Why in addressing anyone the second plural should be used. A1599.5
• Animals have second sight. B120.0.1
• Head transferred from one man to another; second man's head in first man's hand. D711.1.1
• Magic object effective when struck on ground once only. Second blow renders useless. D806.1
• Magic object acquired by trick exchange. By means of second magic object hero recovers first. (Often mixed with D832). D831
• Magic object recovered by using second magic object. D881
• Possession by spirit of dead person gives second sight. D1821.8
• Second sight. Power to see future happenings. (Cf. D1812.) D1825.1
• Second blow resuscitates. First kills. E11.1
• Dead wife haunts husband on second marriage. E221.1
• Dead wife returns to reprove husband's second wife. E221.2
• Dead wife returns to reprove husband's second wife for abusing her step-children. E221.2.1
• Dead husband returns to reprove wife's second husband (lover). E221.3
• The living corpse. Revenant is not a specter but has the attributes of a living person. He wanders about till his "second death", complete disintegration in the grave. (Cf. E261.1.3, E268, E461.) E422
• Dead return second day after burial. E586.3
• Person grows a second nose. F514.5
• Ordeal by balance. Defendant is weighed twice. He must be lighter second time. H226
• Bride test: thrifty cutting of cheese. Three girls tested. First eats rind and all, second cuts away good cheese, third cuts away just enough. H381.2
• The clever wife in disguise wins a second wife for her husband. H461.1
• Contest in lifelike painting: fly on saint's nose. Second artist in first artist's absence paints a fly on a saint's nose in a picture. On his return the first artist tries to drive away the fly. H504.1.1
• Contest in lifelike painting: mare and curtain. First artist paints a mare so realistic as to deceive a stallion. Second paints a curtain which deceives the first artist. H504.1.2
• Contest in lifelike painting: grapes and curtain. First artist paints a bunch of grapes so realistically that it attracts the birds. The second artist paints a curtain which deceives the first artist. He wins. H504.1.3
• Arrested farmer tells who he is: one son is thief (priest), second beggar (teacher), and third murderer (doctor). H581.4
• The four coins. (Focus.) King: What do you do with the four coins you earn? Peasant: First I eat (feed self); second I put out at interest (give my children); third I give back (pay debts); fourth I throw away (give my wife.) H585.1
• Riddle: how many seconds in eternity? H701
• How many seconds in eternity? A bird carries a grain of sand from a mountain each century; when the whole mountain is gone, the first second of eternity has passed. (Cf. D791.1.2, H1583, X950.2, Z61.) H701.1
• Cumulative tasks: second assigned so that first can be done. H941
• Series of quests. One quest can be accomplished when a second is finished, etc. (Cf. H1235.) H1241
• Test of curiosity: the clock. A man is promised a beautiful clock if he can mind his own business for a whole year. He does. The giver tells him he is the second man who almost made sure of getting the clock. The man asks how the other missed getting it; he loses the clock himself. H1554.2
• Test of memory: Solomon asks Marchus question, receives answer; fourteen months later he asks second question based on first, again receives correct answer; four months later asks third question based on first two, again receives correct answer. H1595.1
• Father bequeathes four pots to sons: eldest finds earth in his; second, bones; third, rice husks; youngest, rupees (eldest to get land; second, cattle; third, grain; youngest to keep money). J99.2
• Cock's second mate lets her stepchildren starve: woman warns husband accordingly. J134.1
• 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
• Woman refuses second marriage. If husband is good she will fear to lose him; if bad she will repent. J482.1
• Woman refuses second marriage. Her husband abides in her heart. J482.1.1
• Widow refuses second marriage so her brother cannot kill a second husband. J482.1.2
• Cum grano salis. Instructions of mother followed literally by one daughter when she marries. All goes wrong. Second daughter follows them in conformity with her father's explanations and all is well. J555.1
• 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
• Lion divides the booty. Best part goes to himself as king of beasts; second, as strongest; third, as most valiant; fourth – "touch it if you dare." J811.1.1
• King honors poet and critic: the first so that he will honor the king; the second, so that he will not dishonor him. J811.3
• One cock takes glory of another's valor. Victor in cock fight crows over his victory. He is taken off by eagle. A second cock then comes out from hiding and struts about among the hens. J972
• Clever judgment: man must belong to the third wife because the first had buried him and the second did not protect him. J1171.3.1
• Novel settlement of dispute. Judge orders woman's second husband to return her to the first in the same condition as he received her (with child). J1173.1
• No second punishment for same offense. J1184
• Ears not to be cut off a second time. Executioner discovers that the prisoner's ears are of stucco, having been clipped for a previous offense. J1184.2
• Reductio ad absurdum: the decision about the colt. A man ties his mare to a second man's wagon. The mare bears a colt which the wagon-owner claims, saying that the wagon has borne a colt. Real owner of the colt shows the absurdity (1) by fishing in the street or (2) by telling that his wife is shooting fish in the garden. Neither of these things are so absurd as the decision. J1191.1
• One dueller fights with God's help; the other with his brother's. First claims that the odds are unfair; second agrees that he will fight without his brother if the first will fight without God. J1217.1
• Hog's head divided according to scripture. To be divided among three students according to their skill in quoting. First: "And they cut one ear off" (takes ear). Second: "And they gave him a box on the ear" (takes other ear). Third: "And they took him away secretly" (takes whole hog away). J1242.1
• One ear saved for other litigant. Judge stops up one ear while first litigant presents his case. He is saving one ear for the second litigant. J1289.8
• The envious accuser. A woman accuses another of being a harlot. The second: "You would like to be in my place but no one wants you." J1351.2
• The porter's revenge for the three wise counsels. A man offers a porter three wise counsels for carrying his goods. "When anyone tells you that hunger and satisfaction are the same, don't believe him." The second and third are similar and equally valueless. The porter throws down the load: "When anyone tells you that any part of this load is not broken, don't believe him." J1511.6
• The pot has a child and dies. A borrower returns a pot along with a small one saying that the pot has had a young one. The pots are accepted. He borrows the pot a second time and keeps it. He sends word that the pot has died. J1531.3
• The hare at third remove. A man receives a present of a hare. Later a crowd comes to him for entertainment saying that they are friends of the man who presented the hare. This happens a second time. He serves them clear water. "It is the soup from the soup of the hare." J1551.6
• Proper food for ox and ass. Guests call each other ox and ass. Host offers green grass for the first and fodder for the second. J1563.4
• Armies like seeds and peppercorns. One king sends large sack of seed to the other to represent the number of his soldiers. The second replies with a small bag of peppercorns: "My army is small compared to yours but has all the power of the peppercorn compared to your lifeless seed." J1625
• One man strikes at partridge which has lighted on second man's head. J1833.1.2
• Crocodile goes after the second child. He finds two children bathing in the river and carries one to his hole. He tells the child to wait while he goes for the other child. Both children escape. J2173.6
• How the first man killed himself. The second fool imitates the first who leaps from a palm tree by means of a looped rope. The first kills himself. The second wants to see just how it happened and kills himself too. J2374
• The philosophical watchman. A master sets his servant to keep watch over his horse at night. He soon asks the servant if he is asleep. "No, I was thinking of who created so many stars in the sky." The second time the servant answers, "No, I was thinking of who dug the sea. Where did he put the soil?" The third time: "I was wondering who would carry the saddle now that the horse is stolen." J2377
• Telling their horses apart. One fool docks the tail of his horse; the horse of the second gets tail caught in gate, is docked too. One notches ear of his horse; the second horse notches its ear on the fence. Finally they measure heights of their horses. The black horse is two inches taller than the white. J2722
• Thieving contest: first steals eggs from under bird; second meantime steals first's breeches. K305.1
• Sausage as revolver. Man scares robber with sausage; later boasts of event at inn. Robber hears this. Innkeeper secretly lends man a real revolver; robber is shot down when boldly attempting a second attack. K437.3
• Tortoise asks greedy man to give him first ruby it has given him to be sure second one will be perfect match: disappears into water with it. K439.7.1
• Egg as reward of appropriate saying. First brother (knocking egg against wall): "Casca cascorum." Second (breaking shell and sprinkling dirt over it): "Sar, sale, sapiensa". Third (eating egg): "Consumatus es." K444.1
• Suitors as corpse, angel, and devil. First induced to lie in coffin, second to sit up with the "corpse", and the third to carry a firebrand. "Corpse" thinks others are angel and devil. All come to blows. K1218.4
• Three women humiliate importunate lover. First has him hide on thorns, second has him fall into a hole, third has him fall asleep in the street. In revenge he shows them naked, except for face, to his friends. (Cf. K1213.1.) K1218.4.1
• Second daughter won by representing first as dead. K1366
• Second lover burns paramour at window with hot iron. K1577
• Treacherous queen lures her husband into chest and betrays him to hostile king. He is hung up between two fires, but his second wife cuts the strings so that he falls down and kills his enemy and takes his kingdom back. K2213.15
• Wife betrays husband in revenge for his once having taken a second wife. K2213.16
• Irrevocable sentence carried out even when innocence is proved. A knight condemned for murdering his comrade is met by the latter on the way to the gallows. A centurion leads them to the emperor, who condemns all three to death: first because he has been sentenced; second for causing by his absence the conviction of his comrade; third for delay in the execution. M12
• Dividing the winnings: presents (favors) from man's own wife. After the agreement to divide all winnings the first man receives favors (presents, kisses) from the second's wife. He faithfully delivers them. M241.2
• Deathbed promise concerning the second wife. Promises his dying wife that he will not marry unless the bride meets the specifications the dying wife imposes. M255
• Wager on second marvelous object. First object has proved to be ordinary. King induced to make large wager that second is ordinary. He loses. N72
• Foolish attempt of second man to overhear secrets (from animals, demons etc.). He is punished. N471
• Second-born son declared as successor because message about the birth of first son was slower traveling. Emperor will not change proclamation. P17.3.1
• King calls daughter in second marriage by the name of his first queen. P27.3
• Second wife (slave) must serve as menial. Q482.1.1
• Husband fondles second wife in presence of first as punishment for adultery. (Cf. Q241.) Q484
• Second wife orders husband to persecute first. S413.2
• Second wife taken because first is barren. T145.2
• Man's senior wife ugly but diligent; his second, beautiful but lazy. T145.7
• Wife exposes bald head of second wife to disgrace her. Hair marvelously regrows. T257.2.1
• First (barren) wife insists her husband should take second wife. T282.1
• The second liar corroborates the lie of the first. X907.1
• Origin of chess. Inventor asks one wheat-grain for first square, two for the second, four for the third, eight for the fourth, etc. The king cannot pay. Z21.1
• How the Rich Man paid his Servant (Lönen hos den rike man). A farmer pays his servant in the first year a hen, in the second a cock, goose, goat, cow, horse, .... girl. farmstead. Z23