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Motifs
- Magic thieving pot. Boy sells pot to neighbors and when they have put things into it the pot returns to the boy. (Cf. D1171.1.) D1605.1
- Precept of the lion to his sons: keep peace with the neighbors. J22.3
- Big fish eat little: robber will plunder weak neighbors. J133.6
- Wisdom from neighbors. J179.3
- Choice between bad master, bad official, or bad neighbor. Bad master can do evil if he desires to do so; bad official can harm a poor person and complain against him to his master; bad neighbor can betray secret things about his neighbors. Bad neighbor worst. J229.5
- Monk's enemies quarrel and thus save him. Robber who wants to steal monk's cow and devil who wants to steal his soul quarrel as to which shall begin first; they thus awaken him and the neighbors. J581.3
- Grain will be cut when farmer attends to it himself. Lark leaves her young in the cornfield. They hear farmer tell sons to go to neighbors for help in harvesting. Lark tells young not to worry. Same when he sends for relatives. Farmer decides to harvest it himself. Larks move, for they now know that it will be done. J1031
- The dead man in spite of himself. Neighbors who have heard of the numskull's death insist on the funeral although he is alive and well. He is persuaded and is carried on a bier. They meet a busy man whom they try to persuade to join them. He pleads business. The "dead" man speaks: "It's no use, friend, to try to dissuade them." J2311.5
- The wife multiplies the secret. To prove that a woman cannot keep a secret the man tells his wife that a crow has flown out of his belly (or that he has laid an egg). She tells her neighbor that two crows have flown. Soon he hears from his neighbors that there were fifty crows. J2353
- Husband to spite wife plays dead. When she tells neighbors that they may come and take dead man's property he gets up. J2511.1.1
- During rainy spring, farmer wishes that Lord would sleep till harvest time. Farmer himself sleeps until all neighbors have finished harvesting. When he wakes, he finds his crops ruined. (Cf. Q235.) Q585.3