63 motifs match “understand”  ·  back to the chapters

• St. Peter as ruler for the air and rain. Often misunderstands the orders of God. A287.2
• Sun, moon, and stars bring forth first parents. Sun and moon beget son; morning and evening star beget daughter; these, the first parents, are at first without understanding, but it is awakened later by demigods. A1271.1
• Confusion of tongues partly due to lack of understanding of difference between the word for "stick" and the word for "stone." A1333.1
• Origin of physical defects. Wicked people entering heaven on rope fall to earth and are injured. St. Peter misunderstands what God says and lets them fall. A1338
• Cobra writes letters on prince's tongue: "Having heard all kinds of creatures talk, you will understand them." B165.1.3
• Animal understands human speech. B212
• All kinds of animals understand the language of heaven. B212.0.1
• Fox understands human speech. B212.1
• Knowledge of animal languages. Person understands them. B216
• Stone deity (image of) confers upon man powers of understanding animal language. B217.7
• The courtship of the stork and the crane. Go a-courting one another across the marshes but never come to an understanding, as each time either one or the other changes his mind. (Cf. T91.) B282.23
• Helpful animal killed through misunderstanding. B331
• Faithful falcon killed through misunderstanding. Tries to warn the king against drinking water poisoned by snake. B331.1
• Faithful horse killed through misunderstanding. Tries to warn king against drinking water poisoned by snake. B331.1.1
• The devil advises a suspicious husband. The Ring of Hans Garvel. Appears in a dream and hands the husband a ring. "When you wear this ring you will be sure of your wife." He awakens to understand the obscene implication. G303.9.7.3
• Devils do not know or understand thoughts of men. G303.13.1
• Man leaving home warns wife not to wash face in puddle in dunghill. She does. He cannot understand why; she cannot explain. H473.4
• Understanding poem as test. H509.4.3
• Enigmatic statement betrays incest. (Cf. T411.) Woman, recognizing cleric as her son by her father (Fiachna), gives him a drink of milk and says, "I give drink to my brother; he is Fiachna's son, he is Fiachna's grandson; his mother is Fiachna's daughter." The son's reply shows that he understands the situation. H582.2.1
• Task assigned from misunderstanding. H946
• Task assigned from misunderstanding: search for prince named Sabr ("wait"). H946.1
• Understanding of universality of death from watching animals prey on one another. J52.1
• Ducklings take to water from instinct. Bridegroom thus brought to understand bride's expertness in lovemaking. J64
• Fire burns man who doesn't understand it. Useful when one knows how to use it. J834
• Wife dismisses maid who is husband's mistress and tells him she has fled. Husband understands and reforms. J1112.2
• 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
• The old man nods "Yes". A monk at an old man's deathbed asks if he hasn't promised this and that to the church. The old man from weakness rather than understanding nods "Yes". The son standing by asks, "Shall I throw this fellow down stairs?" The old man nods "Yes". J1521.2
• A box connection. Man refused hospitality tells rich man he is a relative. Asked for the "connection," he tells him there is a box connection. Rich man not understanding, man explains his cart is made of box wood and is tied to a rich man's box tree. Rich man, ashamed, entertains him with all due respect. J1561.6
• Poet uses words which student cannot understand and so confounds him. (Cf. J1803.) J1684
• Why the pigs shriek. The sheep does not understand why the pig being carried to slaughter shrieks. J1733
• 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
• "I don't understand." Foreigner asks who owns property, clothing, servants; whose wife an attractive woman is; whose funeral is in progress? Answer to each question is "I don't understand," which foreigner takes to be a person's name. (Cf. J1152, J1741, X111.7.) J1802.1
• Other misunderstandings of words. J1805
• Inappropriate action from misunderstanding. J1820
• Misunderstanding of church customs or ceremonies causes inappropriate action. J1823
• Misunderstandings concerning images of Christ. J1823.1
• Other misunderstandings of the communion. J1824.1
• Turkish ambassador misunderstands Christian ceremonies. Makes ridiculous report to his king. J1825
• Jumping into the river after their comrade. Through misunderstanding one of the men jumps into the river. He calls out; the others think that he wants them to follow, and all jump in and are drowned. J1832
• Useless surgical operation from misunderstanding. J1842
• Inappropriate action from misunderstanding – miscellaneous. J1849
• Scholar speaks Latin on hunt so that the birds cannot understand him. J1894
• Numskull does not understand about baby's skull. Sticks needle through it. J1911.1
• Foolish mother does not understand how babies cry. Wrings the child's neck. J1911.2
• Getting rid of the cat. In a land in which cats are not known, one is bought at a great price. It eats many mice. By misunderstanding, they think the cat is a monster. In order to get rid of it they set the house on fire. J2101
• The servant of God beaten. A man who says that he is the servant of so and so is treated with great consideration. His companion, who says that he is a servant of God is put to work. He cannot understand why God's servant should not be more important than the other. J2215.2
• Book gives wisdom. A man believes himself wise because he has a book which he uses but does not understand. J2238
• The student from paradise. A student tells a woman that he comes from Paris. She understands him to say from paradise and gives him money and goods to take to her husband. J2326
• Misunderstandings because of lack of knowledge of a different language than one's own. J2496.2
• Dupe betrayed by asking him ambiguous questions. They are phrased in such a way that he understands them differently from the way they are intended. K493
• Ferocious animal (ogre) misunderstands victim's remark: flees in fright. K547.5
• Illiterate man pretends to be weeping because he cannot make others understand the book he is reading. K1795
• Criminal confesses because of misunderstanding of a dialect. N275.2
• Detection by accidental remark. Wife misunderstands husband's remark and confesses. N275.3
• Understanding of animal languages leads to discovery of a treasure. N547
• Brothers kill brother because they fail to understand his wise answer. P251.4.1
• Monk rebukes brethren who succumb to temptation. When he is exposed to it he understands what temptation is. U231.1
• Saint understands language of wren, fly, cat. V223.5.1
• Deaf peasant: travelers ask the way. Travelers ask their direction. Peasant thinks they want to buy oxen. Peasant's wife arrives; thinks they say her food is too salty. – Daughter-in-law and father-in-law misunderstand each other. X111.2
• Deaf litigants and deaf judge misunderstand one another. (Cf. X111.1.) X111.14
• Deaf husband orders deaf wife to prepare a certain dish: misunderstanding. X112
• Misunderstanding and quarrels in family of deaf. X113
• The honest miller. Baker cannot understand how a man who has been a miller can be a beggar. It is a wonder that the farmers are not beggars instead. X212