Beschrijving
“I Cannot Understand You.” (previously “I Don’t Know.”) A traveler (apprentice) comes to a city in a foreign country (usually Amsterdam, but also Paris, Hamburg, Vienna, Moscow, etc.) where he sees a beautiful building (villa, palace, factory). Curious, he asks a passer-by, “Whom does it belong to?” The passer-by replies, “I cannot understand you,” which the traveler misunderstands and takes to be the name of the owner.
Similarly, he asks other people in turn the name of the husband of a beautiful woman, of the winner of the lottery, or the owner of a ship. He is amazed at the wealth of Mr. “I Cannot Understand You.” He becomes reconciled to his own modest circumstances when, as he follows a funeral procession, he learns that Mr. “I Cannot Understand You” has died [J2496]. Cf. Types 314, 1545, and 1699.
Similarly, he asks other people in turn the name of the husband of a beautiful woman, of the winner of the lottery, or the owner of a ship. He is amazed at the wealth of Mr. “I Cannot Understand You.” He becomes reconciled to his own modest circumstances when, as he follows a funeral procession, he learns that Mr. “I Cannot Understand You” has died [J2496]. Cf. Types 314, 1545, and 1699.
Motief
J2496
Commentaar
Documented in the late 18th century. Popularized by Johann Peter Hebel, Kannitverstan (1809).
Oorspronkelijk Verhaaltype
1700
Subgenre
mop