Too Much Talk. Three silent men (trolls, brothers, captains, farmers) withdraw from the world and retreat to a hermitage (canyon, monastery, island). After seven years, one of them speaks, “I think I heard a cow moo.” The others are irritated but…
The Extraordinary Names. This miscellaneous type comprises various tales in which animals, people, or things are called by unusual names, which leads to confusion or disaster. The basis for the misunderstanding is either that the usual names have…
Topsy Turvy Land. Various tall tales often in the form of a sermon, a poem, a song, or a travelogue in which everything is mixed up or inverted. For example: the weak overpower the strong, cripples can catch hares, lying is the “finest art form,”…
Church Built of Cheese. The Gypsies’ church is made of cheese, ham, cake, sausage, etc. (They received this in exchange for their stone church.) Once when they were hungry, they ate it up, and now Gypsies have no church [F771.1.10, X1863].
The Woman who Asked for News from Home. A woman asks her guest for news from her home (house, village). He tells her impossible, absurd things, such as: Is the same rooster there? – No, he became the sexton. Is the cat still there? – No, she was…
Schlaraffenland. (Land of Cockaigne.) [X1503, X1712]. A tale about a world where impossible, utopian things happen and everything is topsy-turvy. For example, doves pluck a wolf, frogs thresh grain, mice ordain a bishop, etc. Generally there is an…
The Cold May Night. During a very cold night in May, someone tells a man that long ago there was an even colder night. He goes on a journey to learn more about it. He meets an otter that has been lying on a rock in his cave for so long that his body…
Contest in Wishing. (Including the previous Type 1925*.) This miscellaneous type includes various tales in which several men (brothers, men of different nationalities, servants, clergymen) compete in making wishes. Each of them makes an impossible…
The Man Known by Everyone. Three friends get together after several years and talk about their travels and experiences. The first one says that during a celebration in Paris General de Gaulle greeted him by name. The second one was in Washington…
Will Blow Out Lantern. A fisherman boasts about catching of large fish. Another boasts about catching of a lantern which is still burning. The first teller remonstrates; the second agrees that if the first will take twenty pounds off his fish he will…
Skillful Hounds. A man tells about a hunting dog that had kept a raccoon in a tree so long that the dog finally died. Another tells about a hunting dog that followed game to where it was born, etc. [X1215.9]. Cf. Type 1889N.
Seeing (Hearing) Enormous Distance. Liars boast about seeing (hearing) small things that are far away. For example, one can see a fly (gnat, ant) on the church tower, and another says he can hear it beating its wings (running), etc.
Climbing to Heaven. Three brothers compete in lying to see which of them will receive the biggest inheritance. The first tells about a plant that is so big it grows to the sky (cf. Type 1960G). The second tells about a string that also reaches the…
Big Strawberries. A man boasts that his strawberries are so big, four of them fill a half-liter measure. Another man claims that none of his strawberries would even fit through the opening of a half-liter measure.
Tall Corn. A man boasts about his grain which has grown ten feet high. Another man claims that his grain is as tall as a two-story house. When the first man asks him how he is able to harvest it, he replies, “From the upstairs windows.”
Bridge Reduces a Lie. A boy (servant) who has just returned from a journey, travels on foot through the country with his father (knight). The boy tells a story about a dog (fox, cat, hare) that is bigger than (as big as) a horse (ox). Instead of…
Buying Fire by Storytelling. This is a frame tale into which different tall tales can be set. Three brothers meet an old man (forest spirit, wind spirit, devil, giant) sitting beside a camp fire and ask to borrow some of his fire. He asks them for a…
The Great Bee and Small Beehive. A liar tells about a place where the bees are as big as sheep. The beehives, however, are the normal size. A listener asks him how the bees can go into their hive [X1282.1].
He Who Says, “That’s a Lie” Must Pay a Fine. Two liars come to an agreement that whichever of them first says, “That is a lie!” must pay a fine. One tells a story in which he claims that the other owes him so the same amount of money as the fine.…
Greatest Liar Gets his Supper Free. Six young men (students) have a lying contest, for which the prize is a free meal at an inn. A friend of one (all) of the liars arrives late and pretends to be a stranger. He corroborates and reinforces his…