The Big Freeze. This miscellaneous type comprises various tall tales dealing with a big freeze. Examples: (1) In very cold weather, when pots full of boiling water freeze, a woman goes out to urinate. While relieving herself she freezes to the…
Faster than the Cold. A man can ride his bicycle (horse, wagon, can run) so fast that he can stay ahead of the raindrops of an approaching thunderstorm. Only the tail of his horse gets wet [X1606.1].
The Disabled Comrades (previously Knoist and his Three Sons). (Including the previous Type 1716*.) Three (one to six) disabled (blind, lame, dumb, deaf, naked) comrades (brothers) (pretend to) achieve feats that are incompatible with their…
Boat without Bottom Sails Sea. Someone tells about three ships loaded with cargo that sail on a brook (sea) without water. The first has no bottom, the second is without sides, and the third ship is not there.
The Great Wrestlers. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with two (more) enormous, strong wrestlers (eaters) and their wrestling (eating) match [F531.3.4.1, F531.6.8.3.3, H1225, X941.3, X941.2, X941.4]. Cf. Types 650A, 650B, and…
My Father’s Baptism (Wedding). A boy tells lies. For example, he claims that he was born before his father was born, baptized, or married. People send him to a mill (to climb up a sky-high tree) to get some flour (to find a witness for his parents’…
The Big Wedding. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an unusual wedding (most are endless tales). The following example is common in Norway: A giant has sixty daughters (sons) [X1071] who all ride to a wedding on the same…
The Great Insect. (Including the previous Types 1960M1–1960M3.) This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an enormous insect (bee, fly, gnat, louse, flea, grasshopper, etc.) [X1280–X1299]. The following are the most common…
The Great Egg. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an enormous egg. The following are the most common variants: An egg is so big that it has to be cut to pass through a doorway [X1813]. When the egg is broken open, forty…
The Great Loaf of Bread. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an enormous loaf of bread (cake, pudding, turnover, cheese, etc. [X1811.1]. Cf. Type 1833H. The following are the most common variants: A loaf of bread is so big…
The Great Bird. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an enormous bird (eagle, grouse, hawk, crane, etc. , sometimes a goose, duck, or chicken) [B31.1]. The following are the most common variants: A bird is so big that when it…
The Great Ship. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an enormous ship [X1061.1]. The following are the most common variants: A ship is so long that it takes a train three days to go from the bow to the stern. It is too long to…
The Great Tree. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an enormous tree (plant or beanstalk that grows up to the sky, etc.) [F54]. Cf. Types 317, 555, 804A, 852, 1889, 1889E, 1920C, 1920F, and 1960D. The following are the most…
The Great Kettle [X1030.1.1]. It took ten (fifty, a hundred, etc.) smiths to forge the kettle. They stood so far apart as they worked that none of them could hear the others. Or, the enormous kettle belongs to a giant farmstead [X1031] (cf. Type…
The Great Farmhouse. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an enormous farm, its separate buildings (house, barn, kiln, granary, mill, church, etc.), or the management there [X1030–1036]. The following are the most common…
The Great Vegetable. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an enormous vegetable (turnip, cabbage, mushroom, potato, melon, pumpkin, cucumber, grain, tobacco, etc.) [X1401–X1455]. Cf. Type 2044. The following are the most…
The Great Catch of Fish. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales about catching a great load of fish [X1150.1]. The catch of fish is so great that it has to be pickled in barns. There are enough scales to roof many buildings. There are so…
The Great Fish. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with enormous fish [B874, X1301]. The following are the most common variants: A huge fish (pike, perch, burbot, salmon, eel, whale, etc.) has wound itself three times around an…
The Great Animal or Great Object. (Including the previous Type 1960Z.) This miscellaneous type comprises various tales dealing with an unnaturally-large object, animal or plant. Cf. i.a. Types 852, 857, 1689A, 1920ff., 1930, and 1962A.
“Is the Wood Split?” A lazy man is offered a load of wood as a gift. Before he accepts it, he asks, “Is it already split?” [W111.5.10]. Sometimes other gifts are offered: “Is the rice cooked?” – “Is the wheat ground?” – “Has the flour been made into…
Help in Idleness. A master (supervisor) asks two workmen what they are doing. The first says, “I am not doing anything.” The second says, “I am helping him.”
The Three Lazy Ones. A king wants to leave his kingdom to the laziest of his three sons. Each boasts about his laziness [W111.1]. The first says that when he is lying down and drops of water fall in his eyes, he is too lazy to shut them [W111.1.3].…