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

• Creation: materialization of creator's thinking. Creator "thinks outward in space" and thus produces the universe. A612
• Faithful animal plans suicide when it thinks master dead. B301.3
• Llewellyn and his dog. Dog has saved child from serpent. Father sees bloody mouth, thinks the dog has eaten the child, and kills the dog. B331.2
• Faithful dog killed by overhasty master: thinks mistakenly he has returned home against orders. (Cf. Llewellyn and his dog.) B331.2.2
• Magic fish talk so that ogre thinks hero has many brothers with him. (Cf. B175.) D1613.1
• Death thought sleep. Resuscitated person thinks he has been sleeping. He exclaims, "How long I have been asleep!" E175
• Giant comes to bake too soon; spills dough. Giant who has common oven with another thinks he hears companion in next valley scraping the kneading trough. He bakes his dough but finds he is too early and that he has only heard himself scratching. He spills the dough: hence fruitful soil. (Cf. F451.7.2, F455.3.5.) F531.3.7
• Giant thinks hammer-blow on head is a nut falling. Man strikes with all his might. F531.5.4
• Giant thinks shower of stones is snowfall. F531.5.4.1
• Giant's head gnawed by foxes: thinks soot is falling on him. F531.5.4.2
• Prince thinks he has slept on a beam; a hair is found on lower bedding. F647.9.1
• Unwitting cannibalism: scavenger in wedding feast finds basket of noses put there by hero and thinks it full of meat. G63
• Father's counsel: dam up the outlets. (Keep expenditures down – not outlets of rice-field as son-in-law thinks). H588.9
• Riddle of the murdered lover. With what thinks, I drink; what sees, I carry; with what eats I walk. (Queen has cup made from skull of her murdered lover; ring with one of his eyes; she carries two of his teeth in her boots.) H805
• Rose given by supernatural wife to husband when he leaves for home will shed as many petals as times he thinks of her. H1556.4.6
• "Do not act when angry": counsel proved wise by experience. Man returns home and sees someone sleeping with his wife. Though he thinks it is a paramour, he restrains himself and finds that it is a newborn son. J21.2
• Earthen and brazen pots in river. Brazen pot thinks that they should stay together for company. Earthen pot, however, fears approach of brazen pot. J425.1
• The king and the cheap slippers. Steward buys the king a pair of slippers. King thinks not enough has been paid for them and refuses them. Steward buys another like the first and charges a good price. Learns that this is the way to deal with kings. J829.1
• Ass follows after lion and is punished. Ass and cock are surprised by lion. Cock crows and scares lion, who runs. Ass thinks that he has scared lion and pursues. J952.2
• Ass who has worked with ox thinks himself equal to ox. J952.4
• Dog proud of his clog. Thinks that the clog on his neck is a decoration. J953.1
• Bad singer thinks he is talented: driven from theatre. J953.2
• Flute-player thinks song meant for the prince is sung to him. Punished for presumption. J953.3
• Ass who carried divine image thinks people bow before him. J953.4
• Crow thinks harvesters are stealing his grain. J953.7
• Woman in finery in church thinks people are standing up to see her when they rise at gospel reading. J953.8
• Spider thinks that it has held back the wind. J953.9
• Raven riding on bull's horns thinks he has brought bull home. J953.10.1
• Crow alighting on falling tree thinks his weight made it fall. J953.11
• Glowworm thinks he shines like stars. J953.12
• Fox thinks his elongated shadow at sunrise makes him as large as elephant. J953.13
• Owl thinks echoes of his hoots are sounds of praise. J953.16
• Rag accidentally in king's wardrobe thinks it is a ribbon. J953.18
• Christians have a merciful God. Jew so decides when he thinks of the scandalous life of the court of Rome. J1263.3
• The penny baked in the wafer. A peasant always puts a bad penny into the offering. The priest has a penny baked in a wafer and gives it to the peasant at communion. The peasant, unable to swallow it, thinks that he is possessed of the devil. The priest asks whether he has ever done wrong with a penny, secures confession and a pledge of reform. J1582.1
• How he knew she was baking cakes. Husband actually knows from observation but wife thinks he has supernatural knowledge and spreads his fame. J1713.1
• Countryman misunderstands comforts of city. Thinks latrine is kitchen, refuses to take a walk because he fears high houses will fall upon him, etc. J1742.5
• Fool thinks that "aforesaid" is a title of honor. J1749.1
• Thief thinks lion is horse. Rides him. J1758.5.1
• Scotsman thinks moose is a mouse, asks what rats look like in this country. (Cf. X1423.) J1759.1
• Numskull thinks fireflies are mosquitoes carrying lanterns to find victims. J1759.3
• Pumpkin thought to be an ass's egg. Numskull thinks he has hatched out an ass's egg. He thinks that the rabbit which runs out is the colt. J1772.1
• Boy thinks terrapin hatches from bedbug eggs. Small boy examines bedbug eggs under pillow every morning. One morning he finds a terrapin there. "I don't see how we raised this so quick." J1772.1.1
• Foolish tiger thinks dog's tail is a gun. J1772.12
• Frog thinks cattle are distant country. J1772.13
• Dropping dough thought to be a ghost. It drops on the floor and the man thinks the place is haunted. J1782.2
• Man sleeping in stable (abandoned cabin) thinks entering animals are ghosts: kills them. J1782.4
• Man sees Hereford cow at night; thinks it is devil, says, "Devil I deny thee! I am a psalmsinger and a worshiper of God!" J1785.4
• Cat mistaken for devil. Fool in the dark mistakes cat's eyes for embers. Is attacked by the cat and he thinks it is the devil. J1785.5
• Lion thinks man astride him is monster: frightened. J1786.7
• Numskull thinks his shadow is a man pursuing him. J1790.1
• Drinking the moon. The numskull sees a cow drink from a pool where the moon is reflected. The moon goes under a cloud. He thinks the cow has eaten the moon and slaughters her to recover it. J1791.1
• Ugly woman sees beautiful woman reflected in water and thinks it is herself. Prides herself on her beauty. J1791.6.1
• Simpleton thinks his reflection in jar of melted butter is thief; strikes at the jar and breaks it. J1791.7.1
• Fool sees golden-crested bird reflected in water. Thinks it is gold. J1791.10
• Numskull thief thinks snoring sleeper is asking for food. J1812.5.1
• Mushrooms shrink in water. Fool kills his wife because he thinks that she has eaten part of them. J1813.1
• Numskull thinks his prayers have stopped milk boiling over. Actually his wife has added cold water. J1813.2.1
• Numskull thinks boiling pot is threatening him: breaks pot. J1813.10
• Fool thinks gold is being destroyed when snails crawl over it. J1816
• Fool thinks belly is speaking to him; stabs himself. Other animals are shouting at him. J1817
• Fool wakes with sleeping mat over head and thinks it is still night. J1819.3
• Numskull knocks the figure of Jesus from the ass. Sees the waving of palms on Palm Sunday and thinks the people are trying to knock the figure from the ass. J1823.1.4
• Numskull thinks the extinguishing of lights at the church presages a fight. Draws his sword. J1823.3
• Numskull thinks the bishop's snoring is his death rattle. He strikes at a fly on the bishop's nose because it seems to be killing the bishop. J1833
• Boy strikes at a fly on his sister's breast: it turns into nipple and girl thinks it due to brother's caress. J1833.1.1
• Goat chewing cud angers fool, who thinks goat is mimicking him. J1835
• Man thinks own toe is snake's head and cuts it off. (Cf. J1782.8.) J1838
• Numskull (female devil) thinks her pubic hair has been telling her lies and pulls it out together with the skin. J1842.1
• Complaint of the porridge pot. The woman thinks the boiling pot is complaining. J1875.2
• Coin weeps. Numskull thinks money piece covered with perspiration after he has held it for awhile is weeping. J1875.4
• Trickster joins bulrushes in a dance. He thinks they are dancing when he sees them waving. J1883
• Woman thinks calf's bleating has accused her of stealing from harvest. Begs that people not believe what calf said. (Cf. N611.) J1895
• Numskull forgets name of certain food and thinks that it has fallen into sand. J1924
• Simpleton drives goats into a well, because he thinks it would be cooler for them. J1959.1
• Air-castles: pail of milk to be sold. Old woman thinks about the horse she is finally to get from the sale. In her imagination she spurs it and spills the milk. J2061.2.1
• Fool exchanges his wife with ox; thinks something to be wrong with her head (she has been marked with red at the parting of her hair). J2081.3
• Seller of fox skins mixes otter skins with them. Thinks to cheat the buyer. J2083.3
• The man who wanted to be dead one day. A husband tells his wife that he has provisions for every day in the year but one. He proposes to play dead for that one day, thinking that the servants will be overcome with grief and cannot eat. After brief mourning, however, they eat more than usual. The man then thinks to frighten them by rising from the dead. One servant thinking the dead man suffering from devils kills him. J2188
• Ass brays on hearing a conch shell. Owner thinks he must have been a saint in a former life. J2211.4
• Burial in old grave to deceive angel. Fool thinks that the angel who comes to question him will pass him by since he has apparently been dead a long time. J2212.2
• Wooden anchor would hold if it were only large, thinks the fool. J2212.3
• Numskull finds that one feather makes a hard pillow, thinks a sackful would be unbearable. J2213.9
• Poor man thinks idol in temple is poorer than he since it is naked. J2216
• Loss of eating contest because of weak legs. The sheep thinks that that is the reason for loss of the contest. J2228
• Bird thinks that the sky will fall if he does not support it. J2273.1
• Fool believing in omens refuses to prepare for death. Bird has chirped five times, which he thinks guarantees him five more years to live. J2285.1
• Sham-dead man punished. A numskull lies in an old grave to see the Day of Judgment. He hears bells and thinks that the Last Day has come. He is beaten by mule-drivers when he tells them that he is a dead man. He returns home and tells his wife that he returns from the dead. "How goes it in heaven?" "For one thing, avoid mule-drivers." J2311.6
• Drunken man insists that he be beheaded. Is struck with the flat of his sword. He thinks he is dead. J2311.10
• Man thinks that he has diabetes. Rascals have sewed his trouser leg till it is too tight. J2317.1
• Parson made to believe that he will bear a calf. In having his urine examined by a doctor, a cow's is substituted by mistake. (Or he dreams that he has borne a calf.) When a calf comes into the house he thinks that he has borne it. (Cf. J1734.1, K1955.2.) J2321.1
• Man thinks he has given birth to a child by letting wind. J2321.2
• Drunken man made to believe that he has been to heaven and hell. He is dressed up as a rich lord and given rich food and drink. When put back into his own clothes he thinks that he has been to heaven. J2322
• Numskull believes that he is married to a man. Two men's hands joined in fun with words "I marry you." Fool thinks that he must get a bishop to annul the marriage. J2323
• Man who asks for good weather given a box full of hornets. He thinks that it is filled with the weather. J2327
• Animal dupe cuts off limb. Thinks he is imitating another animal. J2413.4
• Foolish imitation of lucky man. Because one man has had good luck a numskull imitates and thinks he will have equal luck. He is disappointed. J2415
• Numskull wants to be shaved too. He sees another man being shaved and thinks that the man is having his ears cut off. He orders his wife to cut off his ears. J2426
• Names of dogs literally interpreted. The names are "The Shepherd" and "Get the stick". When the man calls his dogs to dinner, the thief thinks that he is telling the shepherd to get a stick. J2493
• "I don't know" thought to be a person's name. A man in a country that cannot speak his language hears "I don't know" so frequently that he thinks it must be the name of the owner of all the places he inquires about. J2496