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Motifs — first 20 of 22
- Enoch Arden decision. Man believing wife dead becomes a priest. Later finds her alive. Pope's decision: he may remain both a priest and husband but must not consort with any other woman. J1179.10
- God in the puddle. A Jew objects to the doctrine that God could exist in the Virgin Mary. A disputant asks if he believes God is everywhere; then if God is in a mud puddle. The Jew agrees. The disputant condemns the Jew for believing that God could exist in a puddle and not in a pure virgin. J1262.2
- Fool lays his hand on demon in the dark, believing it is male goat he has come to steal. J1769.3
- Christ accused of trying to fool the people. Fool sees the image of Christ elevated on Ascension Day to the beams of the church. He accuses Christ of having fooled the people into believing that he has gone to heaven. J1823.1.1
- 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
- Numskulls believing that God has reposed on a leaf want to cross river on one. J2495.5
- The price of a lump of gold. A trickster asks a goldsmith what he would pay for a lump of gold of a certain size. Believing that the man has such a lump, the goldsmith pays him a large sum. K261
- Captors deceived into believing captive is planning to stay with them: vigilance relaxed. Captured general orders heavy boxes taken into the temple. These are thought to be gold and it is concluded that he will not try to leave. He escapes. K536
- Person hypnotized into believing himself transformed. K1262
- Husband duped into believing he is in purgatory. K1514.3
- Friar's trousers on adulteress's bed: relic to cure sickness. The husband is duped into believing that the friar has come to visit the sick. K1526
- Ordinary man assumes high sounding name and challenges enemy chief to single combat. Latter is frightened into believing him to be of exceptional prowess and desists from attacking the city. K1951.5
- Sham priest dupes man into believing he can discover treasure. K1961.1.4
- Girl behind the tree advises the unwilling suitor. Believing it to be the advice of angels, he marries her. K1971.6
- Lover kills self believing his mistress dead. She has been frightened away by a lion. (Pyramus and Thisbe.) N343
- Mistress kills self, believing her lover dead. N343.1
- Wife dies, believing husband dead. N343.2.1
- Father kills self believing that son is dead. The son forgets to spread white sails, the prearranged signal of his safety. (Told also of lovers.) N344
- Father causes death of innocent son, believing him guilty of adultery with father's wife. N344.2
- Cane as evidence of robbery. A man believing that he has killed a robber forgets his cane. Later finds it in robber's house. N614