Propp hypothesizes that tales contain a certain series of basic functions which are retained, in order, through all the variants of the tale. For this purpose, he developed the lettering system seen in each of pages for the tales. By using this method, Propp proposed that one would be able to determine if tales that might sound similar were actually different and vice versa. Since Propp's lettering system is independent of who or how an action is performed, Propp maintains that it is more basic, and therefore more likely to uncover the underlying nature of the tale simply by looking at motifs.

Applying this method to the tales at hand, we find the following storylines:

aa5DlE1MFlTa5BKNToQW*	"Bearskin"
aa5DlE1MTFlD2E2F9 NToQW*	"The First of the Bearskins"
aa5MF1Ta5BKNTW	"Don Giovanni de la Fortuna"
aa5D7AlTgF1a5BKToQW	"The Soldier and the Bad Man"
aaF1M=g1Ta5BKT=doQW	"The Devil's Breeches"
aMN MN Ma5KNW	"The Three Traveling Artisans"
aaMTa5BTW	"The Road to Hell"

To begin with, a Proppean analysis of "The Three Traveling Artisans" reveals that, at least according to Propp, the tale is not one, but three composite tales. This is deduced from the hypothesis that, if a move of the tale ends positively, the tale is over. "The Three Traveling Artisans" contains three moves, all of which end positively and only the last of which bears (no pun intended) any resemblance to the "Bearskin" tale. For this reason, I am going to reduce the description of the tale accordingly:

aMa5KNW

"The Three Traveling Artisans"

One could apply a similar argument to "The Soldier and the Bad Man" but Propp would argue that since the magical device (the money-filled purse) is given at to end of the first move, and then is the key to the second move, the tale is a single entity.

Obviously, there is quite a bit of variation between the tales, even in the basic Proppean analysis. On brief inspection, the tales seem to have a number of dividing instances. The presence of an initial test set "The Soldier and the Bad Man", "Bearskin", "The First of the Bearskins" apart from the other versions. Likewise, only in "The Soldier and the Bad Man" is the injunction not to bath optional. There is no penalty for cleaning but that his magical purse will cease to work. "The First of the Bearskins" also stands apart as the only tale in which a second lack is not rectified by Bearskin. However, most of the differences between tales are in single instances, and as such, indicate a strong similarity in the structure of the tale. While the model Propp presents does differentiate between tales, it also shows the similarities of the tales (two transformations being a major facet). Thus, the Proppean method does seem somewhat ambivalent to the relations between the tales in terms of their relations to one another.