Ancient Wisdom Atlas

Motif

small creature disturbs powerful animal

small_creature_disturbs_powerful_animal

A motif of the Trickster and Boundary Crosser family, within the sub-family Animal Rivalries, Imitation, and Small-over-Large Victories. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.

2 occurrences

1 traditions


greek

  • Aesop's Fables; a new translation THE LION AND THE ASS / THE PROPHET / THE HOUND AND THE HARE / THE LION, THE MOUSE, AND THE FOX; lines 2941-2963 confidence: high

    A Lion lies asleep at the mouth of his den; a Mouse runs over his back and tickles him, so that he wakes and looks for the cause.

    A Mouse runs over and tickles a sleeping Lion, causing the Lion to wake; the Fox's joke highlights the contrast between Lion and Mouse.

    read in the book
  • Aesop's Fables; a new translation THE LION AND THE ASS / THE PROPHET / THE HOUND AND THE HARE / THE LION, THE MOUSE, AND THE FOX; lines 2941-2963 confidence: high

    A lion is asleep at the mouth of his den when a mouse runs over his back, tickles him, wakes him, and causes him to look around for the disturbance.

    A mouse wakes a sleeping lion by running over his back, creating a scene in which a small animal provokes a reaction from a powerful one.

    read in the book