Die Wette (>1300)
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Maere and Novellas
Die Wette (>1300)
Gräter, F.D.(ed.): Der Bauern Kirchweyh, in: Bragur 7, 1.Abth. 1802. p. 198–203
Wett-1:
At a kermis [harvest festival], the minister reproaches all women in public for having betrayed their husbands. Even from a small village where only four couples live, three wives are accused. The fourth peasant returns home proudly and praises his wife because of her virtue. When his farmhand hears this he says that the wife is virtuous, because she never had been seduced, and makes a wager that he can put an end to her virtue. The peasant accepts the wager and witnesses the attempt to seduce her.
Motif References:
N 2.6 Wife as wager
N 15 Chastity wager: A man makes a wager on his wife’s chastity. In spite of unsuccessful attempts to seduce her and of false proofs presented he wins the wager
Wett-73:
The farmhand pretends that he has to take the oxen to market to learn how to lay with women, because he has been reproached in public. She advises him to rehearse with the maid. The farmhand rejects the suggestion, because she is inexperienced. Because the peasant woman doesn’t want to be without the oxen for a long time, she proposes herself as the teacher and follows the farmhand to the stable, where the peasant is hiding. There the farmhand acts very foolishly, so that his master ends the game and declares his bet lost. Epimythion: A wise man should never put his woman on trial; otherwise his experience will be the same as the peasant’s.
Motif References:
K 1569.4 (Rot) Adultery attempted under guise of game. Husband comes out of hiding just in time
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