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Motifs — first 20 of 42
- Fish eat other fish: guilty must swim deep. (Cf. A2444.1.) A2238.3
- Lizard loses lawsuit: must bob his head. Lizard and ant accused of theft of king's crow. Ant pours boiling water down lizard's throat. When case is tried, lizard cannot talk but only bobs head up and down. Adjudged guilty and condemned to bob his head eternally. (Cf. A2474.1.) A2255.2
- Magic object picks out guilty man. D1318.0.1
- Ship refuses to move with guilty man aboard. D1318.10.1
- Wizard detects thieves by placing leaf from Bible under doorstep. The guilty ones stumble over doorstep. D1817.0.1.5
- Guilty persons being confronted with their crimes become "insensate like trees". F1041.1.3.10.1
- Ordeal: virgin to pull on hot iron and name men. Only with guilty will she and he be burnt. H221.2.1
- Ordeal: names of suspected persons are placed in chalice on altar: the one to whom the lot falls is guilty. H233.1
- Ordeal: cock under pot crows when guilty person touches pot. H235
- Thief detected by sieve and shears. Sieve put on open shears and then grasped by two fingers so as to balance. Charm recited. If sieve trembles when name is called, that person is guilty. H251.3.3
- Magic object cast on water sinks if person is guilty. H251.3.7
- Magic object clings to hand of guilty person. H251.3.8
- Guilty person deceived into gesture (act) which admits guilt. J1141.1
- Largest part of a prize to go to the guilty man. In order to obtain the prize, he confesses the earlier crime. J1141.1.1
- "Guilty man's stick will grow during night." Guilty man chops end off stick. J1141.1.4
- "Thief has the feathers sticking on his head": guilty woman immediately passes her hand over her head. J1141.1.5
- Accused woman to go three times around building naked: guilty one begins to strip off her clothes. J1141.1.8
- The guilty protests his innocence. Animals put to graze in man's garden. Owner greets everyone with: "I know about you!" No one pays any attention to him except the guilty one who says: "I did not do it." Confesses. (Cf. N275.) J1141.9
- Confession obtained by making thief fear for his life. (Told that crossbow would shoot guilty person as he passed before it.) J1141.10
- Guilty man freed of murder charge is tricked into making a false accusation for which he is sentenced. J1141.12