117 motifs match “short” — showing the first 100; narrow the words for the rest  ·  back to the chapters

• God born after prematurely short pregnancy. A112.7.4
• Why days shorten in autumn: the real sun sets very early because the red cockscomb plant, used to kill his brother sun with, grows to its full height during this time. A1156
• February's shortage of days. Days stolen by January and March. A1161
• Men from long nuts, women from short ones. A1253.2.2
• Men and animals readjust span of life. At first, thirty years are given to all animals and to man. For the animals it is too long, for man too short. Man is given a portion of animals' lives. Years 1–30 vigorous (man's own); 30–48 burdens and blows (ass's); 48–60 no teeth (dog's); 60–70 foolish (monkey's). A1321
• Short span of life for first men. A1325
• Why the white man has short hair. A1661.2
• Bush-rat bites off tortoise's tail: hence tortoise's short tail. (Cf. A2378.4.4.) A2216.4
• God as falcon has tail cut off: hence falcon's short tail. A2216.6
• Camel asks for horns: punishment, short ears. (Cf. A2325.4.) A2232.1
• Jackal persuades hyena to jump and break foot. Latter has short left hind foot. (Cf. A2375.2.5.) A2284.6
• Jesus drives evil spirits into hogs: hence short snouts. (Cf. A2335.4.1.) A2287.1
• Why camel has short ears. (Cf. A2232.1.) A2325.4
• Why lynx has short, blunt nose. A2335.2.2
• Why hog has short snout. (Cf. A2287.1.) A2335.4.1
• Why animal has short tongue. A2344.1
• Why crocodile has short tongue. A2344.1.1
• Why alligator has short tongue. A2344.1.2
• Why bears have short, crooked legs. A2371.2.4
• Why kangaroo has short front legs. (Cf. A2284.1.) A2371.2.10
• Why hare has short pair of legs. A2371.2.11
• Why hyena has short left hind foot. Deceived into jumping by jackal. (Cf. A2284.6.) A2375.2.5
• Why animal has short tail. A2378.4
• Why hare has short tail. (Cf. A2215.2, A2262.) A2378.4.1
• Why bear has short tail. (Cf. A2378.2.4.) A2378.4.2
• Why marmot has short tail. A2378.4.3
• Why tortoise has short tail. (Cf. A2216.4.) A2378.4.4
• Why jackal's tail is short. A2378.4.5
• Why monkey has short tail. A2378.4.6
• Why crow has short tail. A2378.4.7
• Tiger cursed with short sight in day time: good sight only at night. A2491.4
• Tabu: hunting on shortest day in the year. C636
• Arm shortened for breaking tabu. C946.2
• Things miraculously stretched or shortened if needed by a saint. D480.0.1
• Deaths in a community come in threes. One death is shortly followed by two more. D1273.1.1.3
• Magic object causes members to grow long or short. D1376
• Well rises or sinks to indicate long or short life. (Cf. D926.) D1663.5
• Faster one walks, longer the trail. The slower, the shorter. D1783.3
• Day magically shortened. D2146.1.2
• Night magically shortened. D2146.2.3
• Ghost kills man who had had ghost exorcised for too short a time. E247
• Ghost light on farm indicates that occupants will move shortly. E530.1.4
• Seeing one's wraith a sign that person is to die shortly. (Cf. F405.4.) E723.2
• Extraordinary amount read in short time. F695.2
• Learning to read in extraordinarily short time. F695.3
• Miraculous ability to learn to read and to write foreign language in short time. F695.3.1
• Sorcerer and books in mountain. Opens only for short periods. F721.2.3
• Vegetables (plants) which mature in miraculously short time. (Cf. F811.13.) F815.1
• Procrustes. Monster makes men fit his bed. Tall men sawed off, short men stretched. G313
• Identity tests. Recognition. Elaborate means are employed in folk-literature for the recognition of persons even though they have been separated a very short time. The various means used are detailed in the following discussion. H0
• Substitution of low-caste boy for promised child detected when he prefers long road to short one through jungle (swimming instead of ferry, etc.) H38.2.5
• Recognition of murderers by their short hair. H75.7
• Bride test: procuring food plants in shortest time. H375.3
• One traveler to another: Let us carry each other and shorten the way. (Let us tell tales and amuse ourselves on the way.) H586.3
• Task: unraveling in short time. H1094
• Task: unraveling a net in a short time. H1094.1
• Task: washing enormous number of clothes (and other articles) in short time. H1096
• Task: paving great road in short time. H1108
• Prince chooses shorter but more dangerous road. H1561.9
• "A way short yet long": counsel proved wise by experience. (Cf. J266.) J21.5.3
• Choice: blind son with long life or healthy son with short. Latter chosen. J226.2
• Choice between short and dangerous or long and sure way. (Cf. J21.5.3.) J266
• Ruler orders doctor to wear his hair and his robe "not too long and not too short". Has both his hair and his cloak cut half short and half long. J1161.8
• Bishop orders priest to wear his beard and his robe "not too long and not too short." J1161.8.1
• The short blanket must be patched. Weaver makes blanket shorter than ordered. Weaver ordered to add a piece to the blanket and then to receive full price. J1179.3
• Husband mistaken for lover in bed. Farmer has whiskers shaved off, hair cut short. He gets home late, slips into bed with his wife. She runs her hand over his face, says: "Young man, if you're goin' to do anything, you'd better be agittin' at it, 'cause Old Whiskers'll be here pretty soon." J1485.1
• Priest asked to preach short sermon does so saying to congregation only that they are wicked. J1647
• Family do not realize that Lent has arrived until it is Palm Sunday. Then they explain that Lent will be short because it has been a short winter. J1743.2
• Fatal bread. Numskull refuses communion because his sister died shortly after eating the bread. J1824
• Spinning wheel is sent home by itself. The man asks his wife if it has arrived before him, finds that it has not. "I thought not. I came a shorter way." J1881.1.5
• Absurd short-sightedness. J2050
• Wise man short-sightedly scorned for his advice. J2051
• God's mercy contrasted with man's short-sightedness. J2052
• Short-sighted wish. J2072
• Short-sighted wish: Midas's touch. Everything to turn to gold. J2072.1
• Short-sighted wish: grain to grow without beards. Birds eat it up. J2072.2
• Short-sighted wish: all he pulls on will follow. He blows his nose and it pulls out long. J2072.3
• Short-sighted wish: camel wishes a long neck. Killed by jackals. J2072.5
• The considerate seller. A numskull having an over-short turban for sale at auction warns the prospective buyer that it is too short. J2088
• Straight path not always shortest. (Cf. J21.5.) J2119.2
• Taking the short-cut. Farmer takes a few feet off his journey and lifts a wheelbarrow over 22 stiles in so doing. J2119.2.1
• Other short-sighted acts. J2160
• Short-sightedness in dressing. J2161
• Short-sighted use of fire. J2162
• Short-sightedness in rowing. J2164
• Short-sighted lover is slow to follow up advantage. J2166
• Short-sightedness in carpentry. J2171
• Short-sightedness in boat-building. J2171.1
• Short-sightedness in roofing. J2171.2
• Short-sightedness in caring for live-stock. J2172
• Short-sighted fool loses his food. J2173
• Getting a sword to lift the cheese. A numskull sees a cheese by the side of the road and tries to lift it up with his sword, but the sword is too short. He leaves the cheese and goes away to borrow a longer sword. Meantime someone else takes the cheese. J2173.2
• Short-sightedness in dealing with children. J2175
• Short-sightedness in case of fire. J2183.6
• Absurd shortsightedness – miscellaneous. J2199
• Short-sighted economy. J2199.4
• Wife persuades husband that she has returned immediately. She goes to a neighbor's to cook a fish. She is gone a week. She gets a new fish and cooks it and returns home with the hot fish. She convinces her husband of her short absence. J2315
• She knows best: woman denies accusation of adultery. Husband dismisses the truthful accusers saying that she knows her shortcomings better than anyone else, and she denies it. J2342.3
• Marrying a stranger. The girl shortly to be married complains: "It was all very well for you, mother, to marry father, but I am to marry a complete stranger." J2463.2
• The hunter's mass. A count instructs his chaplain to read a hunter's mass (i.e., a short one). The chaplain searches the prayerbook in vain for a hunter's mass. J2474