Beschrijving
The Donkey without a Heart. A lion (tiger, wolf) wants to eat a donkey (deer, ram, camel). A fox (jackal, hedgehog) persuades a donkey to go with him to the lion (to go into the service of the king of animals). On the first approach, the donkey runs away, but the fox persuades him again and the lion kills the donkey. The fox secretly eats the donkey’s heart (ear, brains). The lion notices that the organ is missing, but the fox claims that this donkey never had a heart, because if he had one, he would not have let himself be deceived [K402.3].
In variants from central Asia, a wolf, a bear, and a fox catch a camel who lets himself be eaten. While the bear and the wolf clean (butcher, transport) the carcass, the fox eats the heart (brains, intestines). He tells the wolf that the bear ate it. While the bear and the wolf fight, the fox runs away with the meat. Cf. Types 785, 785A.
In variants from central Asia, a wolf, a bear, and a fox catch a camel who lets himself be eaten. While the bear and the wolf clean (butcher, transport) the carcass, the fox eats the heart (brains, intestines). He tells the wolf that the bear ate it. While the bear and the wolf fight, the fox runs away with the meat. Cf. Types 785, 785A.
Motief
K402.3
Commentaar
Aesopic fable (Perry 1965, 484 No. 336). Documented in the Indian Pañcatantra (IV,2).
Oorspronkelijk Verhaaltype
52
Subgenre
sprookje