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Motifs — first 20 of 51
- Mosquitoes created by goddess to make sleeping outside impossible to men. A2034.1.1
- Magic cow gives impossible quantity of milk. B184.2.1.1.2
- Sacred image impossible to remove from the spot. D1654.8.1
- Resuscitation impossible after certain length of time. E162
- Revenant with hat of birch. Note: in the motifs immediately following, it is frequently impossible to tell whether the spectral ghost (E421) or the living corpse (E422) is thought of. E422.4.1
- Ghost is laid by giving it a never-ending or impossible task. (Cf. H900, H1010.) E454
- Fairy leaves when given impossible tasks to do. F381.11
- Impossible to rid oneself of cobold. (Cf. F482.3.1.) F481.3
- Witch's heart (lungs, stomach) impossible to burn. G275.3.2
- Devil as a barrel. Rolls and is impossible to catch. G303.3.4.5
- Ogre sets impossible tasks. G465
- Reductio ad absurdum of riddle: stallions of Babylon. "Why is my mare restless when stallions of Babylon neigh?" Hero beats cat for having strangled a cock last night in Babylon (impossible distance away). H572
- Tasks imposed. A person's prowess is tested by assigning him certain tasks (usually impossible or extremely difficult) to be performed either to escape punishment or to receive a valuable reward. H900
- Tasks assigned because of mother's foolish boasting. The mother foolishly boasts to the king that the daughter can perform an impossible task (often spinning). H914
- Impossible task assigned by plaintiff as proof. H919.4
- Reductio ad absurdum of task. When an impossible task is given, the hero responds with a countertask so absurd as to show the manifest absurdity of the original task. (Cf. H1023.3.1, H1024.1.1.1.) H952
- Impossible tasks. H1010
- Task: construction from impossible kind of material. H1021
- Task: construction from impossible amount of material. H1022
- Task: brewing impossible amount of ale from one grain of corn. H1022.8