This is a light-hearted side topic on our numerous threads on the subject of Climate
Change, Climate Warming, etc.
I am not questioning or validating any opinion here, not taking sides. Just trying to
lighten the mood.
This comes as a kind of follow-up on my own reply to jafadmin's thread, here:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... st#1051036
I dusted off that material a bit and re-discovered the Stith-Thompson list of folk motifs
index.
In short, the Aarne-Thompson international tales index came first. Then someone
realized that the tales had a lot of motifs (IOW: similar patterns, episodes or sub-
structures) in common, and came up with an independent index of those.
You may want to try to find the collections and read the actual tales in a public library,
but if you don't have the time, some of the summaries after the tiles below are in
themselves funny. At the end of the line, you'll find the countries of origin, and the
name of the collector who jotted down the tale.
My favorite is the last, dark-humored, one in the list:
Climate is so healthy in the village that the villagers decide to kill a fellow citizen
to start a cemetery. (hehe)
My second favorite is the popcorn motif (yep, it exists!), See # X1633.1.
Have fun.
SourceS. Thompson. Motif-index of folk-literature :
a classification of narrative elements in
folktales, ballads, myths, fables, mediaeval romances,
exempla, fabliaux, jest-books, and local legends.
(Excerpt from the index)
(...)
X1600-X1699. LIES ABOUT WEATHER AND CLIMATE.
X1602. †X1602. Lie: year with two summers and no winter. Canada: Baughman.
X1603. †X1603. Lie: year with two winters and no summer. It is winter all summer and in fall it gets colder. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1605. †X1605. Lie: mixed weather: summer in one spot and winter in another nearby. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1606. †X1606. Lies about changes in weather.
X1606.1. †X1606.1. Lies about quick change from cold to warm. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1606.2. †X1606.2. Lies about quick change in weather from warm to cold. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1606.2.1. †X1606.2.1. Man freezes to saddle. Must be thawed out by the stove. (First ed. †X924.) Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 746.
X1610. †X1610. Lies about winds and storms.
X1611. †X1611. Lies about the wind. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1611.1. †X1611.1. Lies about big wind (cyclone, tornado). Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1620. †X1620. Lies about cold weather. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623. †X1623. Lies about freezing. (Cf. †X1606.2.1.) U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623.1. †X1623.1. Lie: shadow freezes. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623.2. †X1623.2. Lie: words freeze. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623.2.1. †X1623.2.1. Lie: frozen words thaw out in the spring. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1623.3. †X1623.3. Lie: flame freezes: startling results. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1630. †X1630. Lies about hot weather. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1633. †X1633. Lie: effect of heat on animals.
X1633.1. †X1633.1. Lie: weather so hot that corn pops in fields, animals freeze to death thinking it has snowed. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1640. †X1640. Lies about dry weather.
X1642. †X1642. Lie: clouds beaten by man until they promise to water his crops thrice daily. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1643. †X1643. Lie: how dry weather affects animals. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1643.1. †X1643.1. Lie: bullfrogs several years old cannot swim -- have never had water to learn in. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1650. †X1650. Lies about precipitation and dampness.
X1651. †X1651. Lies about fog. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1651.1. †X1651.1. Lie: shingling the fog. Man shingling building during thick fog shingles several feet of fog when he gets beyond the roof line. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1651.2. †X1651.2. Ship sails on thick fog. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1653. †X1653. Lies about snow.
X1653.1. †X1653.1. Lie: fast-melting snow leaves horse dangling in air. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1653.2. †X1653.2. Lie: blue snow. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1653.3. †X1653.3. The man who sold dried snow for salt. (First ed. †X944.) Pauli (ed. Bolte) No. 747.
X1654. †X1654. Lies about rain.
X1654.1. †X1654.1. Lie: dry rain. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1654.2. †X1654.2. Lie: extraordinary floods produced by heavy rain. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1654.2.1. †X1654.2.1. Lie: heavy rain of boiling water melts palace. India: Thompson-Balys.
X1655. †X1655. Lies about extraordinary mud. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1655.1. †X1655.1. Lie: the man under the hat, which is the only thing seen above the mud. England, U.S.: *Baughman.
X1660. †X1660. Lies about climate.
X1663. †X1663. Lies about healthy atmosphere.
X1663.1. †X1663.1. Lie: air from healthy climate revives dying person. U.S.: *Baughman.
X1663.2. †X1663.2. Lie: place so healthful that residents shoot man to start cemetery. Canada, U.S.: *Baughman.
(...)
