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Motifs — first 20 of 108
- Devil as Earth Diver. Satan dives for earth at instance of God. Succeeds only third time (by use of right formula). He hides the earth under his tongue. It swells, and he must be rescued by God. A812.1
- Origin of tongue. A1316.5
- Confusion of tongues. Originally all men speak same language. Because of a sin they come to speak different languages. A1333
- Confusion of tongues partly due to lack of understanding of difference between the word for "stick" and the word for "stone." A1333.1
- What creature has sweetest blood: gnat's tongue torn out. Assembly to decide who has the sweetest blood so that it may be the food for the serpent. Gnat discovers that man has the sweetest blood. Rather than let him tell this secret, swallow tears out his tongue. Gnat can only buzz. (Cf. A2344.2, A2426.3.2.) A2236.1
- Magpie tells man he is to die next day: no tongue and long tail. God pulls out his tongue and makes his tail long for doing this forbidden thing. (Cf. A2344.2.6, A2378.3.1.) A2236.4
- Crocodile is punished for trying to attack man he is carrying: has only half tongue. A2239.7
- Origin and nature of animal's tongue. A2344
- Why animal has short tongue. A2344.1
- Why crocodile has short tongue. A2344.1.1
- Why crocodile has half a tongue. (Cf. A2239.7.) A2344.1.1.1
- Why crocodile has no tongue. A2344.1.1.2
- Why alligator has short tongue. A2344.1.2
- Why animal has no tongue. A2344.2
- Why gnat has no tongue. (Cf. A2236.1.) A2344.2.1
- Why eel has no tongue. A2344.2.2
- Why swallow has no tongue. A2344.2.3
- Why titmouse has no tongue. A2344.2.4
- Why cormorant has no tongue. (Cf. A2422.8.) A2344.2.5
- Why magpie has no tongue. (Cf. A2236.4.) A2344.2.6