Motif Index of German Secular Narratives                 
Published by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
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Der Stricker, Der nackte Bote (>1220/50)

StrNB-1
 

Maere and Novellas

Der Stricker, Der nackte Bote (>1220/50)
Fischer, H.(ed.): Der Stricker. Verserzählungen (=ATB 53). 2nd ed. Tübingen 1967. Nr. 9, p. 110–126

StrNB-1:   A nobleman on a journey wants to spend the night at the place of his fief’s men. He sends his page to announce his arrival. In the court of one of the men, the messenger asks a child where to find the landlord and is sent to the bath chamber. The page thinks that the whole family is bathing and undresses to take a bath himself. When he tries to enter the bath chamber, the dog attacks him, and he has to defend himself with the bath sweeper. Because of this, he enters the chamber with his backside first. The bath chamber is the place where the whole family dwells in the autumn. The landlord is sitting there with the women and is deeply shamed when they see the naked intruder. The page turns, sees with dismay what has happened, and takes to flight. The landlord, who thinks himself dishonored, pursues him. On the way, he meets the nobleman, tells him about the embarrassing incident, and demands the page’s punishment. The nobleman catches his page and wants to mutilate him, but the page manages to explain and is forgiven. Epimythion: He who trusts to outward appearance is deluded.
Motif References:

J 1820 Inappropriate action from misunderstanding