Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India | Annotated Tale

COMPLETE! Entered into SurLaLune Database in December 2018 with all known ATU Classifications.



Lazy Man’s Plot, A

UPON a day a beggar, who was too lazy to work, but ever lived on the bounty of the people, received a great quantity of rice. He put it in a large jar and placed the jar at the foot of his bed, then he lay down on the bed and thus reasoned:

               "If there come a famine, I will sell the rice, and with the money, buy me a pair of cows, and when the cows have a calf, I'll buy a pair of buffaloes. Then, when they have a calf, I'll sell them, and with that money, I'll make a wedding and take me a wife. And, when we have a child large enough to sit alone, I'll take care of it, while my wife works the rice fields. Should she say, 'I will not work,' I'll kick her after this manner," and he struck out his foot, knocking the jar over, and broke it. The rice ran through the slats of the floor, and the neighbors' pigs ate it, leaving the lazy plotter but the broken jar. [1]

Notes

FOOTNOTE

[1] The motive corresponds to that of the venerable story of the Milkmaid.

Bibliographic Information

Tale Title: Lazy Man’s Plot, A
Tale Author/Editor: Fleeson, Katherine Neville
Book Title: Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India
Book Author/Editor: Fleeson, Katherine Neville
Publisher: Fleming H. Revell Company
Publication City: New York
Year of Publication: 1899
Country of Origin: Laos
Classification: unclassified








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