ATU 2031. Stronger and Strongest

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At this site:
Sibree. Ibotity.
Bompas. A Story on Caste
Mitra. The Cockroach's Relatives
Parker. The Brahmana's Kitten
Devi. A Rat's Swayamvara
La Fontaine. Mouse Metamorphosed into a Maid
Griffis. A Bridegroom for Miss Mole
Bryant. The Rat Princess
Fleeson. The Man in the Moon
Kohut. The Little Ant That Went to Jerusalem
Paredes. The Little Ant
(more to come!)

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Z42 [ATU 2031] Stronger and Strongest. The frost-bitten foot. Mouse perforates wall, wall resists wind, wind dissolves cloud, cloud covers sun, sun thaws frost, frost breaks foot [L392]

ATU 2031. An ant (sparrow, hare) hurts himself on some ice, which he thinks must be the strongest thing in the world. The ice says this is not true, because the sun can melt it. The sun says it is not the strongest, because a cloud can obscure it. The cloud thinks a mountain is stronger. The mountain thinks grass or a mouse is stronger, the mouse thinks the cat is stronger, etc. (also fire, water, cattle, knife, butcher). The cat (rat, God, human) is finally the strongest, or the question remains undecided.

ATU 2031C. The Mightiest Being as Husband for the Daughter. A magician rescues a mouse (rat) which he transforms into a girl. Or, a childless couple wish for a child but instead have a mouse. The magician (parents) thinks the girl is the most beautiful creature in the world and wants to marry her to the mightiest husband. They ask the moon, who refuses and says the sun is brither than he. The sun refuses because the clouds cover him. The clouds say the wind blows them. The wind says the mountain (castle) stops him. The mountains says a mouse digs inside him. The mouse is therefore the mightiest and becomes the daughter's husband.

additional information:

Wikipedia The Mouse Turned into a Maid
Wikipedia The Husband of the Rat's Daughter
Wikipedia The Stonecutter

Ashliman: Mouse Who Was to Marry the Sun 2031C
see esp. Ashliman's translation from the German version of the Japanese story:
The Rats and Their Daughter

Panchatantra III.12. Benfey Pancatantra I 373-378, II 264
Aesop Other 74 [check Odo, Berechiah]

Cosquin I 32 [see notes at Hathi]
Chauvin II 97-98 [detailed bibliography]
Africa: Ekoi: Talbot 384 [online at Hathi]
Africa: Zanzibar: Bateman 67 No. 5 [online at Hathi]

Little Ant - Paredes Mexico
Thrush - Pino-Saavedra Folktales of Chile
Mouse and his Daughter - Megas - Greece

Spanish Boggs 2031. Bird has leg broken by snow. Cold wind blows. Bird cries, "Winds, move the clouds that hide the sun; sun, melt the snow that breaks the leg of a poor little bird like me!" California Span: Espinosa JAF XXVII 222. New Mexico: Espinosa JAF XXVII 138. LRAC no.186 [these are not online]

Ashliman: Mouse Who Was to Marry the Sun 2031C

The Most Powerful Husband in the World (French North Africa).
The Vole Who Sought a Wife (Marie de France).
The Mouse Metamorphosed into a Maid (Jean de La Fontaine).
The Story of the Rat and Her Journey to God (Romania).

Cat and Mouse (Germany, Ernst Meier), type 2034.

From Hansen:
Rabbi Jehuda: 14 things: abyss, earth, mountains, etc.
fragment of Diphilos cited by Athenaeus in discussion of riddles: 3 Samian girls propose iron, blacksmith, penis (which Hansen says may be play upon iron/Ares, fire/Hephaistos, then water/Poseidon)
Suetonius: Caesar subdued Gaul, but Nikomedes Subdued Caesar