76 motifs match “thieves”  ·  back to the chapters

• God of thieves. A457
• Ass insists upon payment of tithes. When stolen by thieves, the ass refuses to eat for three days because the thieves' provender has not been tithed. B259.1
• Tortoise and dog partners as thieves. B294.7
• Thieves cannot cross a river because the water suddenly becomes too hot for them. D1389.2.2
• Magic club brings thieves to master. (Cf. D1094.) D1427.6
• Wizard detects thieves by placing leaf from Bible under doorstep. The guilty ones stumble over doorstep. D1817.0.1.5
• Robber-proof house: thieves are petrified when they enter house for unlawful purposes; are fed and welcomed, otherwise. D2072.5
• Wild hunt harmful to thieves. E501.18.1.2
• Country of thieves and impostors. F709.3
• River rises to prevent escape of thieves. F932.8.3
• Task: ridding city of thieves. H1199.9
• Watch for thieves in the king's garden. H1471.1
• [First Edition (Additions and Corrections): J1085.1[b]. Priest with crucifix and club. Orders church thieves to replace stolen goods. When crucifix does not bring obedience he forces them with club.] J1085.1[b][1st ed.]
• Thieves tell judge walls of houses were so weak they could not resist temptation of breaking in. J1165.1
• King promises thieves pardon for confession: pleased with their cleverness. J1198.1
• The sheep's teeth. Two thieves caught with stolen sheep. One says that he told the other than sheep have lower teeth but no upper, and that they caught the sheep to see. J1391.3
• Owner advises thieves to return later. He is not yet in bed. J1392.2.1
• Thieves' nocturnal habits. J1394
• The man in place of a watch-dog. The master orders his serf to watch the manor at night in place of the dog. When the thieves come, the serf barks: "Dress, dress .... They take, take .... They lead, lead .... " The master does not understand the barking and pays no heed to it – is robbed of his property. J1511.12
• Thieves deceived by prearranged conversation which they overhear. (Cf. K420.) J1517
• Overheard conversation: "Mustard has advanced in price." Thieves steal mustard and leave all else. J1517.1
• Overheard conversation: "Money hidden in wall (field)." Thieves take box filled with stone (or dig up field). J1517.2
• Overheard conversation: "My money is hanging in the tree." Thieves stung by hornets. J1517.3
• Man costumed as demon thought to be devil; thieves flee. J1786.1
• Woman thought to be devil; thieves flee. J1786.2
• Master asked to help in the theft. The fool sent in by thieves is told to bring out the heaviest thing. As this is a grain-grinder and he cannot carry it, he wakes the master of the house to help him. J2136.5.6.1
• Thieves disposed of one at a time. They will not help each other since the fewer thieves there are the more there is to share. J2136.5.8
• Waiting for the thieves to return for invoice of goods stolen. J2214.3.3
• Fool's talking causes himself and companions to be robbed. Thieves stumble over him as he lies on the ground. "What is this, a log?" The fool: "Does a log have five annas in its pocket?" When they have robbed him he says, "Ask the merchant in the tree if my money is good." They rob the merchant. J2356
• Ass imitating dog brays so as to wake master when thieves are robbing him. Beaten for his pains. J2413.1.1
• Numskulls make silence wager. Arrested as thieves. J2511.2
• Family of thieves. K301.2
• Nations of thieves. K304
• Thieves steal from each other. (Cf. K305.2.) K306
• The stolen and restolen ham. Two thieves steal a ham from a former companion who has married, have it stolen back, and resteal it. (Cf. K341.7.1, K362.4.) K306.1
• Thieves betray each other. K307
• One thief entrusted with other thieves' money cheats them. K307.2
• Thieves disguised as interior decorators. Steal hangings in palace. K311.7
• Thieves disguised as fine gentlemen steal provost's purse. Are admitted to court without question. K311.9
• Thieves disguised as musicians. K311.11
• Thieves hidden in oil casks. In one cask is oil; in the others the robbers are hidden. The girl kills them. K312
• Thieves enter palace through hole in wall and abduct new bride. K315.3
• Thieves steal pig and make it impersonate person with plague. Owner and family flee. K335.0.2.1
• Robbers frightened from goods by man's outcry. Trickster hits a slain ox and cries out, "Those others did it!" The thieves flee and leave their treasure. K335.1.3
• Thieves steal chest containing hidden paramour. Are frightened away by his outcry. K335.1.6.1
• The thief in the beehive. Other thieves come to steal the bees, take the heaviest hive to the forest and make a fire under it. They flee when they hear a man screaming in the beehive. K335.1.6.3
• Thieves frightened by ghosts who tie fruits to their hair, which they think are missiles thrown at them. K335.1.12
• Thieves ask nurse maid to dance while they steal prince. K341.17.1
• Thieves steal chickens and have mock funeral to cover theft. K375
• Thieves stretch chain across road and evade pursuers. K413
• Thieves escape detection by carrying woman on bier and drowning her outcries with wailing. K419.8
• Thieves directed to a hornet's nest as supposed money hiding place. K421.2
• Owner feigns madness and thus raises alarm: thieves captured. K439.9
• To get out of thieves' clutch, man reports high prices in another town. K576
• Wife has hiding husband carried off in basket by thieves. K1514.7
• Goddess in disguise visits earth and is waylaid by thieves. They set her free after she promises to tell them the fate of the new-born prince. K1811.0.2
• Mock sunrise causes supernaturals (thieves) to drop burdens and flee. (Cf. F420.3.4.2.) K1886.3.3
• Thieves set up poor weaver as prince and thus get possession of tribute and gifts. K1952.7
• Sham wise man claims to find stolen goods by incantation. He has really forced thieves to show them to him. K1956.1.1
• Thieves dig field and drain tank when miser says gold is hidden there. K2316
• Pupil surpasses thieves in stealing. L142.1
• Numskull bridegroom unwittingly sings out phrases that thieves mistake to mean he has detected them. N611.3
• Murder revealed to thieves climbing into bank. N615
• Poisoned cakes intended for man by his wife eaten by thieves: booty left to man. N659.1
• Why millers are thieves. P443.1
• Thieves who attempt to steal from churches or shrines are miraculously rendered powerless to get out, and walk in a circle. Q222.5.4
• Madness as punishment for thieves. (Cf. Q212.) Q555.3
• Bees sting honey-thieves. (Cf. Q212.) Q597.3
• Man buried alive with beloved escapes, as thieves break open the tomb. R212.2
• The curious wife: wait and see. A man and his wife overhear thieves planning to rob the house, put the man out of the way, and have their will of the wife. The man wants to raise an alarm. She says, "Wait and see." T258.1
• At a hanging the witnesses are bigger thieves than the culprit. (Cf. U10.) U119.1.2
• Thieves cannot quit plundering. U138.2
• Thieves quarrel over booty: owner comes. (Cf. J2136.5.2.) W151.8
• Millers as thieves. X211
• Dying like Christ – between two thieves. The dying man has the lawyer and the notary stand on either side of him. X313
• The devil in the cemetery. A sexton hears thieves in the cemetery cracking nuts and thinks it is the devil cracking bones. With the gouty parson on his back he comes upon the thieves who, thinking it is their companion with the sheep, call out, "Is he fat?" The sexton: "Fat or lean, here he is!" X424