{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_71074/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_71074","id":"gutenberg_71074","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71074","summary":null,"tags":["Andromeda, Princess, daughter of Cepheus, King of Ethiopia (Mythological character)","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Classification","Medusa (Gorgon)","Perseus (Greek mythological character)","Rites and ceremonies"],"text":"The\n Legend of Perseus\n\n A STUDY OF TRADITION IN STORY\n CUSTOM AND BELIEF: BY\n\n Edwin Sidney Hartland\n F.S.A.\n\n VOL. I.\n THE SUPERNATURAL BIRTH\n\n\n\n\n Published by David Nutt\n in the Strand, London\n 1894\n\n\n\n\n [IMPRINT]\n\nEdinburgh: T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty\n\n\n\n PREFACE\n\n{v}\n\nThe classical myth of Perseus belongs to a group of folktales\nranking among the foremost in interest for the student of the\nevolution of human thought and human institutions. It is compounded,\nlike other folktales, of incidents which have varied in their order\nand prominence, as well as in their mode of presentment, at different\ntimes and in different lands. What constitutes its importance is the\nfact that certain of these incidents are grounded upon ideas,\nuniversal in their range, and found fully developed in the depths of\nsavagery, which, rising with mankind from plane to plane of\ncivilisation, have at last been embodied in the faith and symbolism of\nthe loftiest and most spiritual of the great religions of the\nworld--the religion of civilised Europe. The figure of Perseus, the\ngod-begotten, the dragon-slayer, very early became a type of the\nSaviour of the World; while the conception underlying the Life-token\n(an incident not extant in classical sources) obtained its ultimate\nexpression in the most sacred rite of Christian worship.\n\nIn these volumes I have attempted an examination of the myth upon\nscientific principles. The first three {vi} chapters of the present\nvolume are devoted to an account of the story, as given by the poets\nand historians of antiquity, and in modern folklore. Taking, then, the\nfour chief incidents in order, the remaining chapters comprise an\ninquiry into analogous forms of the Supernatural Birth, alike in tale\nand custom, throughout the world. They will be followed by similar\ninquiries into the incidents of the Life-token, the Rescue of\nAndromeda, and the Quest of the Gorgon\u2019s Head. Having thus analysed\nthe incidents, and determined, so far as the means at my command will\npermit, their foundation in belief and custom, and the large part\nplayed by some of the conceptions in savage life, I shall return to\nthe story as a whole, and, treating it as an artistic work, I shall\ninquire whether it be possible to ascertain what was its primitive\nform, where it originated, and how it became diffused over the Eastern\ncontinent.\n\nI am deeply sensible of the difficulties of the task I have\nundertaken, and of the very imperfect way in which I have hitherto\nperformed it. Unfortunately, I cannot hope to succeed better in that\nportion which has yet to be laid before the reader. All I can hope is\nthat I may have exhibited, however inadequately (if further exhibition\nwere needful), the advantage for psychological purposes of research\ninto the ideas and the usages of uncultured peoples and of the less\ncultured classes in civilised communities.\n\nMy sincere thanks are due to many friends who have rendered me\nvaluable assistance from time to time; among others to Miss Marian\nRoalfe Cox, who has been kind {vii} enough to supply me with abstracts\nof several variants of the tale--some of them not readily accessible;\nto Mr. W. H. D. Rouse, M.A., and Mr. G. L. Gomme, F.S.A., President of\nthe Folklore Society, to whom I am indebted for help on some important\npoints; to Dr. Oscar W. Clark for calling my attention to various\ninteresting superstitions; to the Rev. R. H. Codrington, D.D., for his\nready response to my questions; and last, but not least, to Mr. Alfred\nNutt, for his kindness in reading the proof-sheets, and for the\nsuggestions and help he is so well qualified to give in many\ndepartments of folklore, particularly in all matters relating to\nCeltic literature and tradition. In making this acknowledgment, of\ncourse, I do not seek to shift from my own shoulders any portion of\nresponsibility for the opinions I have expressed. In some of those\nopinions all the friends whose aid has been thus generously rendered\nwould probably agree. Perhaps none of them would accept all. Our\ncommon possession is the single desire for truth and a perennial\ninterest in everything which may cast light on the past--and the\nfuture--of humanity.\n\nFor the reader\u2019s convenience I have compiled a list of the modern\nworks cited, with such bibliographical information as will admit of\nthe editions used being readily identified. An index will be issued in\nthe concluding volume; and meanwhile it is hoped the list of contents\nwill be found to contain a sufficient analysis of the chapters.\n\n\n Barnwood Court, Gloucester,\n   _June_ 1894.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n\n{ix}\n\n CHAPTER I\n\n The Legend of Perseus as preserved in Classical Writers--Its three\n trains of incident--The Danae type of the Story in Modern Folklore\n\n The classical story of Perseus--Its localisation in Greece, in Latium\n and at Joppa--References by Herodotus--The Assyrian hero,\n Gilgames--References by \u00c6lian--The three leading trains of\n incident--Modern folktales--The Danae type in Italy and Greece--The\n Irish saga of Balor and MacKineely--German, Swedish, and Russian\n stories.\n\n CHAPTER II\n\n The Story in Modern Folklore--The King of the Fishes type\n\n The Breton tale of The King of the Fishes--Four trains of incident\n here developed--Variants in Lorraine, Tirol, Gascony--The Wonderful\n Pike and other Scandinavian variants--Greek story--The Argyllshire\n tale of the Sea Maiden--A German variant--The Enchanted Hind in the\n Pentameron, and its variants in Italian folklore--Slavonic and Gipsy\n tales--Sanskrit tale.\n\n{x}\n\n CHAPTER III\n\n The Remaining Types of the Story\n\n The Mermaid type--Scottish, Lithuanian, and Sicilian tales--The Gold\n Children type--German, Flemish, Italian, and Breton tales--The Tower\n of Babylon type--The Enchanting Bird type--Variants in the Tirol,\n Normandy, and the Lowlands of Scotland--The Knife-grinder\u2019s Sons\n type--Found in the Tirol and Germany--A favourite type among Slavonic\n peoples--Kabyle and Italian variants--The Enchanted Twins\n type--Variant from East Africa--Abruzzian and Swabian variants--Saint\n George type--Stories from Portugal and Lorraine.\n\n CHAPTER IV\n\n The Incident of the Supernatural Birth in M\u00e4rchen\n\n Stories of Supernatural Birth are world-wide--Only examples analogous\n to those in the variants of Perseus to be dealt with--Birth caused by\n something eaten or drunk--Fish--Fruit and cereals--Drugs--Portions of\n human corpses--Flowers and leaves--Water and other liquids--Birth\n caused by scent--By touching flowers, herbs, and other things--Zulu\n story of aid by pigeons--Conception by rays of the sun--By a wish.\n\n CHAPTER V\n\n The Supernatural Birth in Sagas\n\n Stories of Supernatural Birth not only told for amusement but believed\n to be true--The eating of fish a rare cause--The eating of fruit and\n cereals frequently {xi} found in both hemispheres--Indian and\n Mongolian stories--Heathen and Christian elements in the fiftieth rune\n of the _Kalevala_--Yehl, the Thlinkit hero--Heitsi-Eibib, the\n Hottentot ancestor-god--Birth of Vikram\u00e2ditya--Siamese\n tradition--Other Mongolian traditions--Irish legends--Impregnation by\n drinking--By eating portions of human bodies--By smell--By touching\n stones and other magical substances--By saliva--Conception by the\n foot--Pictures of the Annunciation--Birth of Quetzalcoatl--Conception\n by bathing--Saoshyant--Anti-christ--Conception by wind, rain, and\n vapour--By the sun--Legend of Genghis Khan--Impregnation by a\n glance--Birth from a clot of blood.\n\n CHAPTER VI\n\n The Supernatural Birth in Practical Superstitions\n\n The supernatural means of conception in the stories actually believed\n to be still effectual--Practices to obtain children--Vedic\n ceremonies--The eating of fruit, cereals, and leaves--The\n mandrake--Animal substances eaten--Salt--Drinking of water--Sacred\n wells--Drinking of blood--Eating of portions of human\n bodies--Bathing--Exposure to the rays of the sun--Striking of\n childless women--Amulets--Phallic symbols and their use--Simulation as\n a magical practice--Fertilisation by wind--Imperfect recognition by\n savages of paternity.\n\n CHAPTER VII\n\n Death and Birth as Transformation\n\n Birth often merely a new manifestation of a pre-existing person--The\n Egyptian tale of The Two Brothers--European and other\n variants--Transformation {xii} in _m\u00e4rchen_--The Singing Bone--The\n Scottish ballad of Binnorie--Santal variants--New birth of dead man\n from eating a portion of his body--Metamorphosis of dead man into a\n tree in _m\u00e4rchen_, saga, and superstition--Origin of maize and of\n manioc--Attis--Metamorphosis into animal forms--Savage doctrine of\n Transformation--Buddhist popular belief--Alleged Celtic dogma of\n Transmigration--Taliessin--Tuan mac Cairill--Etain--Son a new birth of\n the father or other ancestor--Superstitions current in India, Africa,\n the South Seas, Europe, America--The naming of\n children--Transformation the creed of savages.\n\n List of Works referred to\n\n Endnotes\n\n Errata\n\nThe Vignette on the title-page is from the well-known 5th century bowl\nfrom Caere, figured by Gerhard, Berl. Winckelmann Progr. 1854.\n\n\n\n\n THE LEGEND OF PERSEUS\n\n{1}\n\n CHAPTER I.\n THE LEGEND OF PERSEUS AS PRESERVED IN CLASSICAL WRITERS. ITS THREE\n TRAINS OF INCIDENT. THE DANAE TYPE OF THE STORY IN MODERN FOLKLORE.\n\nIn _The Earthly Paradise_ William Morris has made English the Doom\nof King Acrisius in such lovely wise, and in the main with such close\nadherence to the story as told by Ovid and other classical writers, as\nto render thankless the task of repeating it at length. But in\nundertaking an inquiry into the foundations and history of the legend\nof Perseus, it is needful to bear in mind its salient features. I\nshall therefore ask the reader\u2019s patience for a summary of these.\n\nAcrisius, the son of Abas and king of Argos, having been warned by an\noracle that he should die by the hands of his daughter Danae\u2019s son,\nbuilt a tower of brass in which he imprisoned the maiden, that he\nmight keep her celibate and so frustrate the oracle. Jupiter, however,\nvisited her in a shower of gold; and she bore a son, Perseus. By the\nking\u2019s orders, mother and babe were enclosed in a chest and cast into\nthe sea. The chest came to land on the island of Seriphos, and was\ndrawn ashore by a fisherman {2} named Dictys. Polydectes, the king of\nthe island, took Danae under his protection, and in process of time\ndesired to marry her. For this purpose he found it necessary first to\nget rid of her son. He accordingly set him the task of cutting off and\nbringing to him the head of Medusa, the only mortal of the three\nGorgons, hoping, of course, that he would perish in the attempt. But\nthe youth had friends in high places. Pallas provided him with a\nbuckler brightly polished as a mirror, Pluto with a helmet of\ninvisibility, Mercury with his own winged shoes, and Vulcan with a\nsword. Thus equipped, he set out on his adventure. Reaching the\ndwelling of the Grai\u00e6, he possessed himself of the single eye which\nthese three hideous sisters owned among them and passed from hand to\nhand, and thus compelled them to direct him where he might find the\nGorgons. The chief danger of the expedition was Medusa\u2019s power of\nturning to stone with a glance all who approached her. Perseus escaped\nthis danger by coming upon her asleep, and by regarding her in his\nshield while he swept off her head with his sword. On his way back,\nwith the prize deposited safely in his wallet, he visited Atlas, the\ngiant king of Libya; but, receiving scant hospitality, he repaid it by\ntrying the power of the Gorgon\u2019s head on the king and his servants,\nand so converted them into the mountain range on whose huge top the\nheaven with all its stars (so the gods willed) has ever since reposed.\nFlying thence over land and sea, he descried Andromeda, the daughter\nof Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, and of his wife, Cassiope, bound to the\nrock. He descended, and learned that she was thus exposed to a marine\nmonster to be devoured, in obedience to an oracle of Jupiter Ammon.\nThe monster had been sent by Neptune to ravage the country, in order\nto revenge {3} a boast by Cassiope that she herself was equal to the\nNereids in beauty. Perseus fought and killed the instrument of divine\nvengeance, and wedded Andromeda. The wedding feast, however, was\ndisturbed by Cepheus\u2019 brother, Phineus, to whom Andromeda had been\nbetrothed, and who, though he had stood by while she was being bound\nand made no effort to save her, now came with a band of followers to\nclaim his bride from her deliverer. He attacked Perseus and broke up\nthe banquet with a bloody fight, described in much detail by Ovid,\nwhich was only ended by the hero\u2019s producing Medusa\u2019s head and\npetrifying his foes. Perseus, with his bride, afterward sailed for\nArgos, where he restored his grandfather, who had been dethroned by\nProetus, his own brother; and, passing on, he reached Seriphos just in\ntime to save his mother, Danae, from Polydectes. He turned the tyrant\nto stone, and gave the realm to the faithful Dictys. The oracle in\nreference to Acrisius was fulfilled later, at Larissa, on the occasion\nof the funeral games celebrated by Teutamias, king of Thessaly, for\nhis father. Perseus, throwing a quoit in one of the contests,\naccidentally struck his grandfather on the head and killed him.[3.1]\n\nThis is the substance of the story that engaged the genius of some of\nthe greatest poets of antiquity. I have followed in the main Ovid\u2019s\nnarrative; but the only parts he deals with at length are the episodes\nof Atlas and Andromeda. The absurdities and impossibilities of the\ntale were as obvious as its beauties to the ancients themselves; and\nmany were the attempts to rationalise it. We need not concern\nourselves with these. For our immediate purpose {4} the interest lies\nin the localisation of the different scenes and the variations we can\ntrace of its episodes.\n\nPerseus, like other Greek national heroes, was the object of worship.\nThe chief seat of his cult seems to have been the isle of Seriphos,\nwhere it was believed that not only Polydektes, but also most of the\ninhabitants with him, were petrified by the dead Gorgon\u2019s glances. The\nlater coinage of the island exhibited Medusa\u2019s head; and the peasants,\nwhen they find such coins now, relate that they are the coins of the\nfirst queen of the island, who dwelt in the medi\u00e6val castle upon the\nscarped hill above the port of Livadhi.[4.1] Next to Seriphos, Argos\nand Mykene honoured, as was natural, the hero. He had ruled the one\nand founded the other. The name of Mykene was believed to record the\nplace where he dropped the sheath of his sword; and a fountain, which\nbore his name, marked the spot where it fell. A different derivation\nof the name of Mykene is given in the lost work of Ctesias the\nEphesian on Perseus. He there attributes it to the bellowing\n(\u03bc\u03c5\u03ba\u03b7\u03b8\u03bc\u1f78\u03c2) made by Stheno and Euryale, the sisters of Medusa, in their\nimpotent rage against the hero, whom they pursued as blood-avengers to\nthis spot, and here finally abandoned the pursuit as hopeless.[4.2] At\nArgos his tomb was shown; and in the forum there, beneath a barrow of\nearth, it was claimed that the awful trophy of his victory over the\nGorgon lay--the trophy which, according to another version of the\nlegend, was for ever fixed in Athene\u2019s shield, the most dangerous of\nher {5} weapons. Elsewhere the Argives showed a subterranean building\ncontaining a brazen bedchamber, said to have been that made by\nAkrisios for his daughter--a variation from the brazen tower of the\nstory usually current.[5.1]\n\nBut Argos and Seriphos were not allowed to monopolise the sacred\nscenes of Perseus\u2019 life. The city of Ardea in Latium disputed with\nSeriphos the honour of being the refuge of Danae \u2018pregnant with\nalmighty gold.\u2019 From her, according to Vergil, Turnus, who competed\nwith \u00c6neas for Lavinia\u2019s hand, derived his lineage.[5.2] Although\nAndromeda\u2019s father is described as king of Ethiopia, the general\nconsent of antiquity laid the scene of her rescue at Joppa. Near that\ntown was a fountain wherein the hero washed away the stains of the\ncombat, and whose water was coloured ever after by the monster\u2019s\nblood.[5.3] Upon the rocks which bounded the haven were pointed out\nthe marks left by the maiden\u2019s chains; and Marcus Scaurus, when\n\u00e6dile, brought from Joppa, and exhibited at Rome, the bones of the\nmonster. A rumour of this event seems to have reached the forger of\nSir John Maundeville\u2019s travels, for he relates that the place was\nstill shown where the great giant Andromeda was fastened with chains\nbefore the Flood, and not only the place where he was confined, but\none of his ribs measuring forty feet in length![5.4] It is evident\nthat he took pains to ascertain the exact truth.\n\nIn Egypt and in Persia, the Father of History found traditions of a\npersonage identified with Perseus. \u201cAccording {6} to the Persian\nstory,\u201d he tells us, \u201cPerseus was an Assyrian who became a Greek; his\nancestors, therefore, according to them, were not Greeks. They do not\nadmit that the forefathers of Akrisios were in any way related to\nPerseus, but say they were Egyptians, as the Greeks likewise testify.\u201d\nAnd elsewhere he represents Xerxes as telling the Greeks that Perses,\nfrom whom he claimed descent, was the child of Perseus, the son of\nDanae, and of Andromeda, the daughter of Kepheus--a statement\napparently accepted by the historian, as well as by other Greek\nwriters.[6.1] Both these stories probably were Assyrian in origin, and\nobtained currency, first among the Persians and afterwards among the\nGreeks, from political causes. In the latter story Kepheus is\npresented as the son of Bel. It is unlikely that the Ach\u00e6menian kings\nof Persia would have claimed descent from him, had they not been\nconquerors of Babylon. The Assyrian hero equated with Perseus in the\nformer story we are fortunately enabled by recent discoveries to\nidentify. He is no other than Gilgames, whose name was at one time\ntransliterated as Izdubar, the hero of the epos from the library of\nKing Assurbanipal, preserved in an imperfect form in the British\nMuseum. The fragments we have of the tablets do not include the hero\u2019s\nbirth. Upon this, however, the solution of the characters embodying\nhis name has thrown unexpected light. For \u00c6lian the rhetorician,\nwriting in the third century of the Christian era, has transmitted to\nus an account of the birth of Gilgamos, whom he styles King of the\nBabylonians. According to this account, the Chaldeans predicted to a\nmonarch, whose name is variously read as Sakchoros, Sen\u00e9choros and\nEn\u00e9choros, that his daughter would have a {7} son who would deprive\nhis grandfather of the kingdom. Fearing this, he ordered her to be\nkept in close confinement. His precautions were vain, for fate was\ncleverer than the Babylonian king. His daughter bore a son whose\nfather was unknown. No sooner was the infant born than her guards\nthrew it down, for fear of the king, from the citadel wherein she was\nimmured. But an eagle, beholding the falling child, darted beneath it,\nand, receiving it on its back, bore it gently to the ground in a\ncertain garden. The gardener found the boy, and adopted him for his\nbeauty. \u201cIf anybody think this a fable,\u201d says the rhetorician, eager\nto shuffle off all responsibility for it, \u201cI admit I don\u2019t believe it\nmyself; yet I am told that Perses the Ach\u00e6menian, from whom the noble\nstock of the Persians is derived, was an eagle\u2019s nursling.\u201d On\nexamining the epos of Gilgames we recognise none of the adventures as\nthose of Perseus. This may be owing to its imperfect preservation, or\nto its being a literary recension wherein only those parts of the\nstory proper to the writer\u2019s purpose are combined. It can hardly be\nthat the sole resemblance is in the circumstances of the hero\u2019s birth.\nOn the other hand, the career of Gilgames has many points of likeness\nto that of Herakles.[7.1] He rejoices in a divine origin and in the\nfavour of the gods; he conquers lions and monsters; he triumphantly\naccomplishes a journey to the other world. Now, a story of the rescue\nof a maiden similar to that by Perseus was told of Herakles. When\nLaomedon, king of Troy, had bound his daughter Hesione to a rock, to\nbe devoured by a sea-monster sent by Poseidon, Herakles undertook her\ndeliverance, and sprang full-armed into the fish\u2019s throat, whence {8}\nhe hacked his way forth again after three days\u2019 imprisonment,\nhairless.[8.1] We are left to conjecture that, if we had the\ntraditions of Gilgames fully presented to us, we should not only have\nhis birth as told by \u00c6lian, but also some other features of his story\nlinking it to that of Perseus--features that perhaps would at the same\ntime explain why the king his grandfather is called an Egyptian.\n\nHerodotus seems to have attached more credit to the tale he found in\nEgypt. He describes the temple to the hero at Chemmis in the canton of\nThebes, and mentions the games celebrated in his honour. The\nChemmites, he says, claimed Perseus as Chemmite by descent, and\nrelated that on his way from the slaughter of the Gorgon he paid a\nvisit to their city, acknowledged them for his kinsfolk, and\ninstituted the games. They declared that he was in the habit of\nappearing to them, sometimes in his temple, at other times in the open\ncountry, and that one of the sandals he had worn was often found,\nmeasuring two cubits in length; and it was a sign of prosperity to the\nkingdom. There was also a watch-tower called by the name of Perseus\nnear the Canopic mouth of the Nile.[8.2]\n\nBut, with regard both to the Persian and to the Egyptian tales, it\nmust be borne in mind that all classical writers had a light-hearted\nway of calling foreign gods and heroes by the names of their own\ndivinities, whenever they could get an excuse for so doing in the\nresemblances they traced, or fancied, either in attributes or legends.\nThis practice has introduced endless confusion into their accounts,\nperfunctory {9} at the best and often contemptuous, of the mythologies\nof other nations. If we learn little from the historian\u2019s references\nto the Persian, or Assyrian, tradition, we know less of that of the\nEgyptians; and, with all our discoveries, we have yet to find the clew\nto the object of veneration at Chemmis, and the legends clustered\nabout him.\n\nComing down to a later period, \u00c6lian makes mention of a fish caught\nin the Red Sea, and called Perseus equally by the dwellers on the\nshore, by the Greeks, and by the Arabs. He informs us that the latter\nhonoured Perseus, the son of Zeus, and declared that it was from him\nthis fish derived its name. He also describes a gigantic marine\ncricket, something like a rock-lobster, which many persons abstained\nfrom eating, because they deemed it sacred. The inhabitants of\nSeriphos, if they caught it in their nets, would not keep it, but\nreturned it to the sea; if they found one dead, they would bury it,\nweeping; and they held that these creatures were dear to Perseus. The\nimportance of these statements will appear hereafter. Another\ntradition of Seriphos noticed by the same writer attributes the\nsilence of the frogs (which never croaked) on the island to the\nprayers of Perseus, when they disturbed his sleep on his return from\nthe contest with Medusa.[9.1] The hero of the island would naturally\nbe credited with many of its peculiarities.\n\nThe general result is that legends identical in substance with that of\nPerseus were widely known in ancient times. From Persia to Italy, from\ncultured Greece to the barbarous shores of the Red Sea, a tale was\ntold, a hero was celebrated, identified by Greek and Roman writers\nwith {10} the son of Danae. The tale, however, was not told without\nvariations, of which the underground chamber in the Argive territory\nand the escape of Danae to Ardea are specimens; while the hero\u2019s\nmysterious connection with a fish, or marine crustacean, points to\nanother.\n\nThe legend consists of three leading trains of incident, namely:--\n\n1. The Birth, including the prophecy, the precautions taken by\nAkrisios, the supernatural conception, the exposure of mother and\nbabe, and the fulfilment of the prophecy by the death of Akrisios.\n\n2. The Quest of the Gorgon\u2019s Head, including the jealousy of\nPolydektes, the divine gift of weapons, the visit to the Grai\u00e6, the\nslaughter of Medusa, and the vengeance on Polydektes.\n\n3. The Rescue of Andromeda, including the fight with the monster and\nthe quelling of Phineus, the pretender to the maiden\u2019s hand.\n\nSingly, these trains of incident appear in many traditions, sometimes\nin one form, sometimes in another. We shall consider them first in\ncombination, with the object of tracing the legend in its wanderings\nand modifications. Afterwards, leaving out of account the surrounding\ndetails, we shall examine the central incidents, so as, if possible,\nto arrive at the ideas which underlie them. In other words, we shall\nfirst treat the story as a whole, and then analyse it into its\ncomponent parts. A tale, however, in its passage through the world is\nsusceptible of almost infinite modifications. It will be obviously\nimpossible in the analysis to deal with more than a few of these; and\nI shall confine my attention to the above three leading trains of\nincident and one other, which appears in many modern versions, and\n{11} which we shall find to be not the least important and interesting\nof the four.\n\nConsidering the story as a story-whole, we may begin by reminding\nourselves that the forms in which we receive it from Ovid and Lucian\nare literary forms of a pre-existing oral version. This version was\nprobably the most widely accredited, though, as we have seen reason to\nthink, not the only version current in classical times. And in\ntransferring our inquiries from literature to tradition, we shall be\nmet by variations much wider than those manifested in ancient\nwritings. On the other hand, we shall not be left without\napproximations to the form with which we are familiar there.\n\nOf these approximations, perhaps the closest was told a few years ago\nto Signor Giovanni Siciliano by an absolutely illiterate peasant woman\nof Pratovecchio in the Val d\u2019Arno. It runs thus:--A childless king,\npraying for offspring, hears a voice asking him to choose between a\nson who will die and a daughter who will run away. By the advice of\nhis subjects he chooses the latter; and a daughter is accordingly\nborn. Some miles from his city the king has a palace in the midst of a\nfair garden. Thither he brings the child, with nurse and maid of\nhonour, to keep her in safety; and he and his wife visit the little\none but rarely. No sooner, however, had she arrived at the age of\nsixteen than the son of King Jonah, passing by, saw her and bribed her\nnurse to let him have access to her. The young people fell in love\nwith one another, and were secretly married. In due time the bride\ngave birth to a son; and her father, learning this, refused to see her\nagain. When the boy was fifteen years of age he went to find his\ngrandfather, who would not so much as speak to him. He endured this\nsilence for three {12} or four months, and then demanded the reason\nfor it, offering the king, if he would tell him, to go and cut off the\nWitch\u2019s head for him. The king replied that this was just what he\nwanted him to do. Now, the witch in question was so terrible that all\nwho looked at her became statues; and the king hoped that the youth\nwould perish in the adventure. But on the way he met an old man who\ngave him a flying steed, and directed him to a palace wherein dwelt\ntwo women who had only one eye between them, from whom he was to\nobtain a mirror. And the old man warned him always to regard the witch\nin the mirror, and never to look at her otherwise, lest he should\nbecome a statue. The flying steed carried the adventurer safely over a\nmountain inhabited by all sorts of wild and ravenous beasts; and he\narrived in due course at the palace of the one-eyed women. There, by\npossessing himself of the eye while one of them was handing it to the\nother, he extorted the mirror which enabled him to accomplish the\nobject of his journey. After cutting off the witch\u2019s head, he returned\nhome another way; and coming to a seaport town he found a chapel by\nthe sea-side, and a lovely maiden within it, clad in mourning garb and\nweeping. She bids him depart, lest he also be eaten by the\nseven-headed dragon whereto she has been offered, and whose coming she\nis then awaiting. He refuses to leave her. Instead of doing so, he\nattacks the dragon on its rising from the sea, turns it to stone, and\ncuts out its seven tongues, which he ties up in a handkerchief and\nputs in his pocket. But, having delivered the lady, he ungallantly\nrefuses to see her home, saying that he wishes to see a little more of\nthe world. Before leaving her, however, he makes an appointment to\nreturn in six months. This inscrutable conduct gives opportunity to a\ncobbler, who {13} meets her alone, to threaten her with death unless\nshe will tell her father that he is the slayer of the dragon. Deprived\nof her champion, she is compelled to submit to the terms; but when her\nfather offers her in marriage to her supposed deliverer, she pleads\nfor a delay of six months. Then the king sent placards through all his\ncities, announcing his daughter\u2019s deliverance by a cobbler and her\napproaching marriage to him. Her real deliverer _hears_ the placards,\nand returns to the capital just as the six months are expiring. He\nattends an audience, and inquires of the king how many heads the beast\nhad, and whether the cobbler has any proof of his victory. The cobbler\nis summoned, and asked where are the dragon\u2019s seven tongues? The\ndamsel settles the question, however, by declaring that the youth it\nwas who slew the dragon and cut out his tongues, and that the rascal\nof a shoemaker had taken her by force and compelled her to say that it\nwas he. The shoemaker is promptly burned in the great square, and the\nhero married. He returns with his bride to his grandfather, to whom he\nshows the witch\u2019s head, with the inevitable result, and then fetches\nhis father from the garden where he had himself been born.[13.1]\n\nThat there should be so striking a resemblance between this story and\nthat of the classical writers is not surprising to any one who\nrealises the tenacity of popular traditions. It is not, indeed,\nnecessary to suppose that it has been handed down from pagan times in\nTuscany: it may only date, as a popular tale, from the revived\npaganism of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. If so, however, it\nwould stand alone among Italian traditions, not one of which has been\ntraced to the great movement known as the Revival of Learning, and a\nlarge number of which were already current {14} while that movement\nwas in progress. The assumption, therefore, that the Tuscan tale is a\nrelic of two thousand years or more does not seem unwarranted.\nMoreover, it is confirmed by an Albanian _m\u00e4rchen_, obtained from the\nrecital of a woman at Ljabovo in the district of Ri\u00e7a. It had been\nforetold, we learn, to a certain king that he should be put to death\nby his grandson, yet unborn. Wherefore he flung into the sea and\ndrowned every boy born of his two daughters. The third boy, however,\nescaped with his life, and was cast by a wave on the shore, where he\nwas found by two herdsmen and taken home to their wives to bring up.\nWhen he was in his twelfth year, beautiful and strong, a Lubia, or\nogress, dried up all the waters; and it was prophesied that she would\nnever let them flow again until she had eaten the king\u2019s daughter. The\nmaiden is accordingly bound in a certain spot, to await the Lubia; but\nthe hero of the story, accidentally finding her, learns the fate in\nstore for her, and bids her fear not, but call him when the Lubia\ncomes. Meanwhile he hides behind a rock, and covers himself with a\ncap, so that he is no longer visible. He slays the Lubia with his\nclub; and at the same moment the waters begin again to flow. The king\noffers his daughter in marriage to the victor; and the hero proves his\nright to the reward by the possession of the Lubia\u2019s head. During the\nwedding games he throws his club and by mischance kills the king, thus\nfulfilling the prophecy, and himself becomes king in his stead.[14.1]\n\nImperfections and confusion--especially the confusion between the king\nwho is the hero\u2019s grandfather and him who is the father of the maiden\nexposed to the ogress--are {15} to be noted in this version. They are\nprobably due to the reporter, or perhaps, as Von Hahn (to whom the\nstory was supplied) suggests, to defects in the telling. But it is\nclear withal that here, in another of the classic lands, the tale of\nPerseus has been preserved in its main features by oral transmission\nto this day. Whether it be due to the truncated character of this\nversion that the hero\u2019s birth is not actually ascribed to a\nsupernatural cause, it is difficult to say. In this omission it agrees\nwith the Tuscan variant; but in both, the circumstances, though\ndifferent from one another, are similar to those of Perseus. As we\nshall shortly meet with types of the story in which the cause and\ncircumstances of the birth are broadly distinguishable from those of\nthe two foregoing tales, we may classify the latter as belonging to\nthe _Danae type_.\n\nThe Albanian tale, it will be observed, omits the Quest of the\nGorgon\u2019s Head. A modern Irish saga, on the other hand, omits the\nrescue of Andromeda; and not only so, but modifies the supernatural\nbirth, and identifies the hero\u2019s grandfather with the Gorgon. Tory\nIsland was the stronghold of a warrior, Balor by name, to whom a Druid\nhad prophesied that he should be slain by his own grandson. Balor had\ntwo eyes, but not in the usual place. One of them was in the middle of\nhis forehead, and the other in the back of his skull. The latter was\nvenomous, and had the property of striking dead or petrifying all on\nwhom its glances fell, wherefore it was usually kept covered. He had\nalso an only daughter, Ethnea, whom, in consequence of the prediction,\nhe kept secluded in an impregnable tower on the summit of Tor-more, an\ninaccessible rock at the eastern end of the island; and he placed with\nher in the tower a company of twelve matrons, with strict orders to\nkeep {16} all men, and all knowledge of men, away from her. On the\nmainland, opposite the island, dwelt three brothers, Gavida, a famous\nsmith, MacSamhthiann, and MacKineely. Balor, by a trick, robbed\nMacKineely of a wonderful cow whereon he set a high value; and\nMacKineely was determined on revenge. His Leanan-sidhe, or familiar\nspirit, called Biroge of the Mountain, dressed him in woman\u2019s\nclothing, and wafted him on the wings of the storm across the Sound to\nthe top of Tor-more, and there, knocking at the door of the tower,\ndemanded admittance for a noble lady whom she had rescued from a\ntyrant. The matrons, fearing to disoblige the Banshee, admitted both\nto the tower. No sooner had MacKineely thus gained access to Ethnea\nthan the Banshee, by her supernatural power, laid the twelve matrons\nasleep. When they awoke, the intruders were no longer there, and\nEthnea had lost her maidenhood. In course of time she brought forth\nthree sons, whom her father, on discovering, sent rolled up in a\nsheet, to be cast into a certain whirlpool. But on the way the pin\nfell out of the sheet, and one of the boys dropped into the harbour,\nwhere he was received by the Banshee and wafted safely across the\nSound to his father, who sent him to be fostered by his brother\nGavida. Balor, meanwhile, had learned from his Druid that MacKineely\nwas the father of Ethnea\u2019s children, and now set forth to punish him.\nWith a band of followers he landed at Ballyconnell, seized MacKineely,\nand, laying his head on a large white stone, cut it off with one blow\nof his sword. The blood gushed forth and penetrated the stone to its\nvery centre, thus forming the red veins which are still shown to the\ntraveller; for the stone was raised in 1794, on a pillar sixteen feet\nhigh, and gives its name, Clogh-an-Neely, to a district comprising two\nparishes. Balor {17} now thought himself secure, for he believed his\nthree grandsons were all drowned. But the heir of MacKineely grew up\nunknown to him at Gavida\u2019s forge, and became an accomplished smith.\nOne day Balor came to the forge to get some spears made. Gavida was\nabsent, and his foster-son did the work. In the course of the day\nBalor happened to mention with pride his conquest of MacKineely. It\nwas an evil moment for him; for the young smith, who had been nursing\nhis revenge, watched his opportunity, and, taking a glowing rod from\nthe furnace, thrust it through the basilisk eye and out through the\nother side of Balor\u2019s head, thus slaying his grandfather and\nfulfilling the Druid\u2019s prediction.[17.1]\n\nFor another story of the Danae type we must go as far as Germany; and\nwe must piece it out as well as we can from Grimm\u2019s notes to the tale\nof _The Two Brothers_, of which it is given as a variant. It is\nrelated in Hesse that a king\u2019s daughter was pursued by mice, until, in\norder to save her, he was driven to building a tower, like the\nMouse-tower of the Rhine, in the midst of the river. There she dwelt\nwith one maid. One day a jet of water springs in through the window,\nand fills a tub which they set for it. Both princess and maid drink of\nit, and afterwards bear each a son, one of whom is called Water-Peter\nand the other Water-Paul. Both children are put into a chest and\nfloated down the stream. They are rescued by a fisherman, and taught\nhunting. Going out together, they spare successively three animals, a\nbear, a lion, and a wolf: in return, each of them is gifted with one\nof the creature\u2019s young. They part from one another, sticking their\nknives into a tree at the {18} parting-place, as a token of life or\ndeath of the owner. Water-Peter comes to a town hung with mourning for\nthe king\u2019s daughter, who is to be offered up to a seven-headed dragon\nthe next day. With the help of his beasts he slays the dragon; and\nthen, having cut out its tongues, he lies down and falls asleep, he\nand his animals, from weariness. The king\u2019s marshal, who has been set\nto watch, comes and finds the dragon dead and its slayer sleeping. He\nkills the hero, and compels the maiden to admit that he and no other\nhad delivered her. Now the king has promised her in marriage to any\none who would save her from the dragon; but she succeeds in postponing\nthe marriage for a year and a day. When the faithful beasts awake,\nthey find their master dead; but happily they are able to bring him to\nlife again by means of a magical herb. After wandering about the world\nhe returns to the town in the nick of time, and by producing the\ndragon\u2019s tongues he proves that he himself is the victor, and the\nmarshal an impostor. His own wedding to the king\u2019s daughter and the\nmarshal\u2019s death follow; and on the king\u2019s demise Water-Peter receives\nthe kingdom. One day, going out hunting, he loses his attendants, and\nat night rests with his beasts beside a fire. An old cat sitting on a\ntree asks if she may warm herself at the fire? When he says Yes, she\ngives him three of her hairs, and prays him to lay one on each of his\nbeasts, else she will be afraid of them. As soon as he has done this,\nthe animals die. Enraged, he is about to kill her, when she says there\nis a spring close by of the Water of Death, and another of the Water\nof Life: if he will take some of the latter and pour it over them,\nthey will come to life again. This is accordingly done. Meanwhile,\nWater-Paul comes to his brother\u2019s palace, and is received by the queen\n{19} as her husband. At night, however, he lays a naked sword in the\nbed between himself and her. When Water-Peter returns and finds\nWater-Paul in his place, he kills him from jealousy; but on learning\nthe facts he restores him with the Water of Life.[19.1]\n\nThe divergence between this story and that of Perseus is considerable.\nNot merely is the hero duplicated; the gift of weapons is transformed\ninto the acquisition of faithful attendant animals, and the incident\nof the Gorgon\u2019s Head, postponed to the slaughter of the dragon,\nbecomes a night adventure with a supernatural cat in the forest. The\ndifferences, in fact, are such as to preclude the notion of any lineal\nconnection between them. A large proportion of the modern stories\nagree with that of _Water-Peter and Water-Paul_ where it diverges most\nwidely from the classical legend; and those which do not so agree\ndiffer in one way or other still further. Some of them we shall have\nto consider hereafter. There are, however, two other stories of the\nsame type mentioned by Grimm, both apparently from Hesse. In the one,\na king, having resolved that his daughter shall not marry, builds a\nhouse for her in the forest in the greatest solitude, where she has to\ndwell without ever seeing a stranger. But near the house rose a\nwonderful spring, whereof the maiden drank and bore two boys exactly\nalike, who received the names of John Waterspring and Casper\nWaterspring. John fights the dragon, and is brought to life again by\nthe sap of an oak which the ants have been fetching for their dead,\ntrampled down during the conflict. In other respects the tale contains\nnothing new. The second story omits the supernatural birth of the\ntwins. It begins with a golden box, wherein two {20} fair boys are\nenclosed, falling from heaven into a fisherman\u2019s net. The dragon is\nkilled by a poisoned seed thrown by the hero into its throat. The\nprincess\u2019 intended bridegroom tries to poison her deliverer; but his\nfaithful beasts discover the treachery. He is afterwards turned into\nstone by a witch; but his brother forces the witch to tell him by what\nmeans to bring him back to life. A wicked snake, the cause of the\nwhole enchantment, is lying under a stone: it must be hewn in pieces,\nroasted at the fire, and the petrified brother smeared with its\nfat.[20.1]\n\nThere are resemblances here in some of the details to the story of\nPerseus. The petrifying witch in the latter of the two tales reminds\nus more nearly of Medusa than does the mysterious cat; while in the\nformer the Supernatural Birth approaches the Argive tradition, though\nno motive is assigned for the king\u2019s resolution not to permit his\ndaughter\u2019s marriage. The fatal prophecy, which is the centre of the\nwhole plot in the classical tale, is, in fact, commonly omitted in\nmodern folktales of this type. We do not find it in either of the\nGerman stories; and even in the Tuscan its force is greatly weakened.\nIt is absent also from the Swedish _m\u00e4rchen_ of _Silverwhite and\nLittlewarder_. In that story a widower-king, going to the wars, places\nhis only daughter alone with a single waiting-woman in a tower to\nguard her honour. An old woman, suborned by youths who are angry at\nbeing denied access to the princess, gives her two enchanted apples.\nThe princess and her maid, eating them, bear a son each. After seven\nyears, when the king is expected to return, they let the boys down\nfrom the tower, that they may seek their fortunes. They meet a man who\ngives them each a sword and three dogs. At a {21} crossway they part.\nSilverwhite throws into the fountain that rises there his knife, given\nhim by his mother, the princess, and charges his foster-brother, if\nthe water become red and thick, to avenge him, for then he will be\ndead. Then, going on his way, by the help of his dogs he saves a\nking\u2019s three daughters on successive days from three sea-trolls.\nHaving killed the trolls, he cuts out their eyeballs, and goes away. A\ncourtier claims to be the victor, and is to be married to the youngest\nof the three maidens; but on the wedding-day Silverwhite appears,\nproduces the trolls\u2019 eyeballs, and the king\u2019s daughters recognise the\nrings they have bound in his hair previous to the fights. He takes the\nplace of the bridegroom, who is punished. One night the brother of the\ntrolls calls to Silverwhite, and challenges him to combat, that he may\navenge them. The troll has three dogs, but they are driven away by the\nhero\u2019s dogs; and the troll takes to flight also. Climbing a tree, he\ndesires to parley, but the dogs bark furiously. In order to quiet\nthem, he gives three hairs from his head to Silverwhite, with a\nrequest to lay them on the dogs. They lie silent and motionless; and\nthe troll, descending from the tree, renews the contest and kills\ntheir master. Littlewarder, however, conquers the troll, and extorts\nfrom him two bottles. The water in one of these bottles restores the\ndead to life, that in the other holds fast whoever comes to a place\nwhere it has been spread. With the latter he binds the troll\nimmovably; with the former he brings his foster-brother back to life.\nThe incident of Water-Peter\u2019s jealousy follows. Silverwhite\u2019s wife has\na sister conveniently ready and willing to marry Littlewarder; and so\nall ends happily.[21.1]\n\nOnly one other variant need be mentioned here. A story {22} obtained\nin Little Russia relates that a maiden coming home from the field was\nseized with thirst. She saw in the road two footprints filled with\nwater, and, drinking, felt herself immediately pregnant; for they were\ndivine footprints. She bears two sons, who grow with wonderful\nrapidity, and at the age of seven go out into the world. In a forest\nthey meet, one after another, several troops of animals--hares, foxes,\nwolves, bears, lions--who dissuade the precocious twins from shooting\nthem, by bestowing on each of them one of themselves. The brothers\npart. The elder rescues a princess from a dragon, and suffers death at\nthe hands of a Gipsy who has watched the combat; but he is brought to\nlife again by his beasts with the Water of Life and Healing, and weds\nthe princess. He observes that a fire burns all night long in a\ncertain house. On inquiry he is told that an old snake dwells there.\nAccordingly he rides thither with his beasts, and fastens his horse in\nthe courtyard to a stake furnished with golden and silver rings. He\nenters, and meets an old woman in an iron mortar, propelled with an\niron pestle--the inconvenient but usual vehicle of the Baba Yaga\n(witch, or ogress) in Russian folktales. She pretends to be afraid of\nhis animals, and bids him flourish over them two rods which lie upon\nthe oven. As he does it they are changed to stone, together with\nhimself and his steed. Before they parted, the two brothers had buried\nbeneath a certain tree, the one red, the other white, wine; when the\nwhite should become red, or the red white, it would be a token of the\ndeath of him whose wine had changed colour. The younger brother now,\ncoming to the tree, finds that his elder brother is dead, and, going\nto seek him, reaches his wife, and is mistaken for her husband. With\nthe object of getting some clew to his brother\u2019s death, {23} he\nremains with her three nights, putting the sword between them every\nnight. He then goes to the witch, for whom he is too wary. Seized by\nhis animals, she gives him the Water of Life, which restores his\nbrother. On the way home the elder brother strikes off his deliverer\u2019s\nhead from jealousy; but when, at his return, his wife upbraids him\nconcerning the sword, he recognises his wrong, and hastens the next\nmorning to set his brother\u2019s head on his shoulders again, and sprinkle\nit with the Water of Life.[23.1]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n THE STORY IN MODERN FOLKLORE--THE KING OF THE FISHES TYPE.\n\n{24}\n\nIn our previous chapter we have examined the classical legend of\nPerseus, and a few of the recently recorded popular traditions of\nEurope most nearly akin to it, all of which I have ventured to class\ntogether as the _Danae type_. Turn we now to another type, not less\ninteresting and even more widely diffused, which may be called _The\nKing of the Fishes type_, from the title of the Breton story I am\nabout to summarise.\n\nA poor and childless fisherman once caught in his net a fish whose\nscales shone like gold. He was going to put it into his basket, when,\nto his surprise, the fish addressed him. \u201cI am the King of the\nFishes,\u201d it said; \u201cspare me and thou shalt find many.\u201d The fisherman\naccordingly let it slip back into the water, and was rewarded with a\nbountiful catch. His wife, however, rebuked him for letting the King\nof the Fishes go, and insisted on his trying again to catch it; for\nshe desired to eat it. Accordingly, the next day he caught it again;\nand this time he was not to be moved by its supplications to return it\nto the water. Finding its prayers vain, the fish directed its captor\nto give its head to his wife to eat, and to throw its scales into a\ncorner of his garden and cover them with earth, promising {25} that\nhis wife should give birth to three beautiful boys with stars on their\nforeheads, who should be so perfectly alike that their mother herself\nshould not be able to distinguish between them, and that from its\nscales should grow three rose-trees corresponding to the three\nchildren. The rose-trees were to have this property--that when either\nof the boys should be in danger of death, his tree should wither. The\nboys were born in due course, and grew up. A rumour then reached them\nthat in a distant land was a seven-headed monster, to which every\nmonth a young maiden was given to devour; and the king of that land\nhad promised his daughter to any one who would deliver the realm from\nso terrible a scourge. The eldest son set forth on the adventure, and\narrived in time to rescue the princess herself from the fate of being\neaten by the monster. He then married her as the reward of his valour.\nBut this does not end the tale; for from the windows of the castle\nwhere they dwell together, he sees another castle, covered with\ndiamonds and shining like the sun. On inquiring of his wife what it\nis, she tells him that it is a dangerous place; many persons have\nentered there, but none have been seen to return; and she prays him\nfor her sake to beware of going thither. This, however, only excites\nhis curiosity; so one day, without saying anything to the princess, he\nstarts as for the chase, accompanied by a large dog. Entering the\ncastle, he meets a wrinkled beldam, who spins as she comes towards\nhim. He allows her to pass a thread of wool through his dog\u2019s collar.\nThe thread is instantly changed into an iron chain; and he himself is\ncompelled to follow her. At that moment his next brother is walking in\nthe garden at home; and, casting his eyes on his brother\u2019s rose-tree,\nhe sees that it {26} is withering. The youth understands at once that\nhis elder brother is in mortal peril, and sets out to help him. He is\nreceived by the princess, who mistakes him for her husband; and,\nhappening to catch sight of the castle of diamonds, he asks what it\nis. The princess replies that she has already told him it is a place\nwhence no one who has once entered it ever comes forth. Immediately he\nsuspects the truth. He makes an excuse to go out, and is joined as he\nsallies forth by a dog. With this animal he enters the castle, only to\nmeet the doom that has previously befallen his brother. The youngest\nbrother, following for the same reason, and attempting the same\nadventure, is more fortunate; for he resists the witch\u2019s importunities\nto allow her to tie up his dog, and compels her to show him his\nbrothers, whom he finds turned into statues of stone. She restores\nthem at his bidding to life; the three then rifle her castle and\nreturn to the princess, who is puzzled to decide which of them is her\ntrue husband.[26.1]\n\nThe plot as developed in this story consists of four incidents,\ndistinguishable as--\n\n 1. The Supernatural Birth,\n 2. The Life-token,\n 3. The Dragon-slaying, and\n 4. The Medusa-witch.\n\nOf these the only one we did not find in the classical legend is that\nof the Life-token. It has already appeared in the German, Swedish, and\nRussian stories cited in the last chapter. There, however, it assumed\nan arbitrary form: the brothers stuck their knives into a tree, or\nthrew them into a fountain, or buried a measure of wine apiece. In\n{27} the present type the Life-token is frequently a consequence of\nthe Supernatural Birth; it is then inseparably connected with the hero\nwhose well-being it indicates; it is not dependent on his will, but\nis, in fact, part of himself. Born with the heroes, and as inseparable\nfrom them as the Life-token, are usually also their horses and dogs,\nand sometimes their weapons.\n\nIn the story of _The Fisherman\u2019s Sons_, collected in Lorraine by M.\nCosquin, the fish puts forth no claim to royalty. It is caught thrice\nere it is finally taken home to the fisher\u2019s wife. The counsel it\ngives to her husband is to place some of its bones under his bitch,\nsome under the mare, and some in the garden behind his house, and to\nfill three phials with its blood. When the three boys that would be\nborn should grow up, the fisher was to give one of these phials to\neach of them; and if any mischance happened to either, forthwith the\nblood would boil. Not only does the woman give birth to three sons,\nbut the mare also has three colts, and the bitch three puppies. From\nthe bones in the garden sprang up three lances. The boys, when grown\nto manhood, set out together, each with his horse, dog, lance, and\nphial of blood. They separated at a crossway; and the eldest reached a\nvillage where every one was in mourning because year by year a maiden\nwas delivered to a seven-headed monster, and the lot had fallen that\nyear on a princess. Aided by his dog, he slays the beast, and wrapping\nup its seven tongues in the lady\u2019s handkerchief (which she gives him\nfor the purpose) he bids her goodbye, and leaves her to find her way\nback alone to her father\u2019s castle. She meets on the way three\ncharcoal-burners. Hearing her story, they compel her to show them the\ncorpse of the beast, whose heads they take, and make {28} her swear to\ntell her father it was they who had killed it. The king, overjoyed,\npromises his daughter to one of them; but she obtains a delay of a\nyear and a day. At the end of that time her true deliverer reaches\nParis just as the marriage festivities are beginning, and sends his\ndog to get him of the best from the palace. The dog brings him two\ngood dishes. The cooks complain to the king, who orders some of his\nguard to pursue the hound. The hero kills them all but one, whom he\nspares to carry back the tidings. Then he sends the dog to steal the\nbest cakes from the king. Other guards, following the dog, share the\nfate of the first; and the king concludes to go himself. He brings the\nhero back in his carriage to the feast. Over the dessert the king\ncalls upon every one to tell his own story--the charcoal-burners\nfirst. They of course relate that they had delivered the princess; and\nin proof they produce the monster\u2019s seven heads. The hero asks the\nking to see if the seven tongues are in the heads; but the tongues are\nnot to be found. The hero then brings them forth in the handkerchief,\nwhich the princess at once recognises, and declares that it was he,\nand not the charcoal-burners, who had rescued her. The three impostors\nare hanged without more ado, and the fisherman\u2019s son weds the\nprincess. After supper, when he is in the chamber with his bride, he\nlooks out of window and beholds a castle all on fire; and she tells\nhim, in reply to his question, that she sees it every night without\nbeing able to explain it. As soon as she is asleep, he gets up and\ngoes out with his horse and dog to see what it is. The castle stands\nin the middle of a fair meadow; and there he meets a wicked old fairy\nwho asks him to jump down from his horse and help her with a bundle of\ngrass, that she wishes to lift upon her back. {29} He politely\ncomplies; but no sooner has he touched the ground than she strikes him\nwith a wand and changes into a tuft of grass himself, his horse and\nhis dog. His brothers find the blood in their phials boiling; and the\nsecond starts to discover what has become of the eldest. His reception\nby the princess as her husband, his inquiry as to the castle on fire,\nand his fate correspond with those of the second brother in the Breton\ntale. But the youngest, by refusing to come down from his horse and\nseizing the fairy by her hair, compels her, under threat of death, to\nrestore his brothers to life, which she does by striking the tufts of\ngrass with her wand. When she has finished, the youngest hero cuts her\nin pieces. On their return, the princess cannot tell which of the\nthree brothers is her husband. The eldest claims her; and the two\nothers are provided with her two sisters, of whom we thus hear for the\nfirst time.[29.1]\n\nIn this tale we have the additional detail of the charcoal-burners who\npretend to the princess\u2019 hand on the ground that they have slain the\nmonster. This has already appeared in some of the stories recounted in\nthe first chapter, and is the counterpart in modern folktales of\nPhineus, the betrothed bridegroom who lifted no finger to avert\nAndromeda\u2019s fate, but came to claim her when the fight was safely\nover. It is not usual, however, and assuredly it is unnecessary, for\nthe impostor to be multiplied by three. In a Tirolese tale we find a\ncobbler making the same preposterous claim. Here is no mention of the\nseven heads, the brothers are two only, and their two dogs, horses and\nlances, as well as themselves, are derived from the King of the\nFishes. Setting out together they meet an old woman, who bestows on\neach of them a bottle of {30} clear water, which will become foul when\nthe other meets with misfortune. The day following his marriage the\nelder hero sees from the balcony a glittering castle, where dwells a\nwitch. He goes thither secretly; and the witch meets him, carrying her\nbrazier, and requests him to blow, for she is cold. He blows and is\nturned into stone. The younger brother, on being mistaken for his\nelder, lays his sword in the bed, as in the Hessian story; but the\nelder brother\u2019s jealousy is omitted.[30.1]\n\nA Gascon variant was told to M. Blad\u00e9 by an illiterate peasant-girl.\nHere the speaking fish directs its head to be given to the bitch, its\ntail to the mare; and the fisherman\u2019s wife is to eat the rest. Two\npuppies, two colts and two boys are the result. The twins set out\ntogether, with their horses and dogs. They part at a cross-road where\na great stone cross is erected; and the life-token given by the elder\nto his brother is to strike the cross on his return with his sword: if\nblood flow out, it is a sign of misfortune. No impostor appears to\nclaim the rescued maiden; but the hero cuts out the seven tongues and\nwraps them in his own handkerchief. After his marriage he walks with\nhis wife--who is no princess, only the fairest girl of the town--in\nthe fields, and sees a little house, which he thinks he should like to\nbuy as a hunting-box. She bids him beware, for it has a bad\nreputation. This whets his curiosity, and he goes to make inquiries.\nHaving knocked at the door, he is answered from within and told that\nhe cannot break the door in, as he threatens to do, but the way to\nenter is to pull out a hair from his head and pass it through the hole\nfor the cat. The earth swallows him as soon as he complies. The\nyounger {31} brother is wiser. He passes a horse-hair through the\nhole, and his horse is swallowed up. Then the door opens; and he\nenters with his dog, slays the wicked persons within, makes his way to\nthe cellar, and delivers thence his brother and his brother\u2019s horse.\nSo much alike are the brothers that the lady, who has already mistaken\nthe younger for her husband, cannot decide between the two when they\nboth present themselves together, until the elder brother pulls out of\nhis pocket the beast\u2019s seven tongues, which he seems meanwhile to have\ncarried about in his handkerchief as an agreeable souvenir.[31.1]\n\nThe foregoing story doubtless once contained the episode of the\nimpostor. So many are the variants wherein the episode is found, and\nusually associated with the seven tongues, that it is hardly likely\nthe Gascon tale could have originally preserved the tongues merely for\nthe purpose for which they are now kept. Occasionally indeed the\nimpostor is detected without their aid. In the Swedish tale of _The\nWonderful Pike_, told in East Gothland, the impostor is the princess\u2019\ncoachman; and she recognises her true deliverer by the ring she has\nfastened in his locks.[31.2] A curious Norwegian tale goes further. In\nit the impostor is detected in spite of his thoughtfulness in\ncollecting the tongues. A poor woman, already rich in children, bears\na son who, immediately after his birth, insists on going out to seek\nhis fortune. He has hardly left the house when another son is born,\nwho, quite as hastily, starts in search of his brother and overtakes\nhim. They choose names--the younger, Lillekort (Littleshort), the\nelder, King Lavring--and then part, King Lavring telling his brother\nif ever he fall into {32} extreme peril (but only then) to call him by\nname, and he will come and help him. This is the equivalent of the\nLife-token. Lillekort meets a one-eyed, humpbacked old woman; he\nsteals her eye, and only restores it in exchange for a magical sword.\nErelong the adventure is twice repeated; and he gets a magical ship\nand the secret art of brewing a hundred lasts of malt at once. Thus\narmed, he takes service as a scullion in the palace; and on successive\nThursday evenings he fights a five-, a ten-, and a fifteen-headed\ntroll, to whom the princess has been promised, and slays them all.\nLillekort and the trolls defy one another in a style leaving nothing\nto be desired. \u201cFire!\u201d screamed the fifteen-headed troll. \u201cFire\nlikewise!\u201d shouted Lillekort. \u201cCanst thou fight?\u201d cried the troll. \u201cIf\nI cannot, I can learn,\u201d retorted the undaunted hero. \u201cI\u2019ll learn\nthee!\u201d cried the troll, and struck out with his iron bar so that the\nearth flew fifteen ells high in the air. \u201cFuh!\u201d exclaimed Lillekort,\n\u201cthat was good! But now thou shalt see a stroke from me!\u201d And\ntherewithal he grasped his sword and dealt such a blow at the troll\nthat all fifteen heads danced over the sand. After each combat\nLillekort laid his head on the princess\u2019 lap and slept, and she drew\nover him on the first occasion a gold, on the second a silver, and on\nthe third a brazen dress. Meanwhile the Knight R\u00f6d (or The Red, a\ntitle for the impostor which reappears in the Danish variant), who had\npreviously undertaken her defence, came upon the scene when all was\nsafely over, and compelled her to promise to say it was he who had\nrescued her. Moreover, in proof of his victory he took the tongues and\nlungs of the trolls in his handkerchief, but left the monsters\u2019 ships\nuntouched. Lillekort, on the other hand, on awaking proceeded to sack\nthe ships; and by the {33} gold, silver, and other precious articles\nthey contained, he ultimately made good his claim to be the true\ndeliverer against the trophies brought by the Knight R\u00f6d. He\nafterwards goes in search of the king\u2019s other daughter, held captive\nby a troll beneath the bottom of the sea. By means of his gift of\nbrewing he brews beer of such enormous strength that even the trolls\non tasting it fall down dead like so many flies. Both princesses then\ninsist on marrying him. In this awkward dilemma--this extreme\nperil--he bethinks himself of his brother, King Lavring, whom he\nsummons to his aid; and the ladies are suited with a husband\napiece.[33.1]\n\nThe encounters with the one-eyed hags here fuse together into one\nthrice-repeated episode the divine gifts bestowed upon Perseus and the\nadventure with the Grai\u00e6; but the brewing for the troll bears no\nresemblance to the slaughter of the Gorgon. In some variants the\nMedusa-witch is a relative of the monster, bent upon revenging his\ndeath. In the Swedish tale already referred to, she is the dragon\u2019s\nsister. In the Danish tale a cock, by his repeated crowing, keeps the\nhero and his bride awake for the first three nights. The bridegroom,\nconvinced that it is no common fowl, pursues it through the forest to\nthe sea-shore, where he had fought the sea-monster. There the cock\nvanishes, and an old woman appears. She beguiles the hero into\naccompanying her over a magical bridge across the sea to her den, and\nlaying hairs from her head upon his horse, hound, sparrow-hawk and\nsword, thus rendering them harmless. Then she reveals herself as the\nsea-monster\u2019s mother, and revenges her loss by striking his conqueror\ndead with her wand. The younger brother, repeating the {34} adventure,\nburns the hairs, and forces the witch to restore the hero with the\nWater of Life. The murder of the younger by the elder brother from\njealousy, and his resuscitation with the Water of Life, follow, as in\nmany of the other variants.[34.1]\n\nThe Greek story of _The Little Red Mullet-Sorcerer_ contains some\ncurious variations. There the desire to eat the fish does not arise in\nthe bosom of the fisherman\u2019s wife; but it is suggested to her by\nlady-friends, who amiably envy her husband\u2019s good-fortune, and refuse\nto believe that he is not a wizard. The fish requests to be divided\nbetween the fisherman\u2019s wife, his mare and his bitch, and that its\ntail be planted in the garden. From the tail two cypresses grow up,\nwhich are the life-tokens of the two boys thereafter born to the\nfisherman. The king\u2019s only daughter was possessed of an evil spirit.\nShe had an awkward habit of ascending a balcony every evening and\ninvoking the stars with insane gestures. Everybody whom she saw\nlooking at this queer spectacle she struck with madness. The elder of\nthe brothers, however, overcame her by stealing unawares upon her and\nseizing her by the hair of her head. In this way he terrified her into\nswearing never to do it again. When the king found his daughter in her\nright mind, he desired to know to whom he was indebted for her\nrecovery; but his benefactor had fled to the inn where he was staying.\nWherefore, in order to find him out, the king issued a proclamation\ncommanding all the men in the town to pass beneath the palace windows,\nat one of which the princess was posted with an apple in her hand,\nready to drop it on her deliverer. The latter, however, was burdened\nwith the modesty which {35} often affects the heroes of folktales, and\ntried to evade the proclamation, but in vain. Even when he was caught\nand brought before the king, he refused the offer of the princess\u2019\nhand: evidently he knew too much about her. He travels on, and\ndelivers another princess from a seven-headed monster who haunts a\nfountain. The impostor is a charcoal-burner, discovered in the usual\nmanner. While the princess, his wife, is bathing one day, the hero\ntakes the opportunity of walking through some of the rooms of their\ncastle which he has not before examined. At the end of a corridor he\nopens a door, and finds himself in a vast plain filled with statues of\nhuman form. He meets an old woman who hands him a stick, on taking\nwhich he is immediately petrified. His brother, warned of the witch\u2019s\ntricks, and going in search of him, refused the stick and set his dog\non her. The dog tore her to pieces, and thus delivered his master and\nmany others from her power. Among her effects the younger brother\nluckily discovered a bottle of the Water of Immortality, with which he\nrestored to life not only his brother, but so many other persons\nbeside that they formed an entire nation and chose him, out of\ngratitude, for their king.[35.1]\n\nIt would be tedious to relate all the variants of the tale found in\nEurope; nor do the minuter differences between them concern us at this\nmoment. I am anxious merely to lay before the reader the general\noutlines of the plot as they are found in the more striking and\nimportant examples. For that purpose it will be needful to mention one\nor two more variants falling under the present type, before proceeding\nto consider some {36} in which one or more of the essential incidents\nare wanting.\n\nAn Argyllshire story runs as follows:--A sea-maiden appears at the\nside of a fisherman\u2019s boat one day, and gives him three grains for his\nwife, three for the dog, three for the mare, and three to be planted\nbehind the house, promising him three sons, three puppies, three\ncolts, and three trees which will be his sons\u2019 life-token. In return,\none of the sons is to be hers at three years of age. This period is\nafterwards extended first to seven, and then to fourteen years. The\neldest son, who apparently is the promised one, gets a smith to forge\na sword for him, and goes out upon his horse, with his dog by his\nside, to seek his fortune. The carcase of a sheep lay beside the road,\nand a great dog, a falcon and an otter were disputing over it. He\ndivided it between these animals to their satisfaction, and each of\nthem promised him in reward assistance in the time of need. Going\nonward until he reached a king\u2019s house, he took service as a cowherd;\nand while in this situation he slew two giants, who owned green\npastures, and fed the herd upon their meadows. Now there was in the\nloch a great three-headed she-beast to which some one was thrown every\nyear; and it happened that year that the lot fell on the king\u2019s\ndaughter. Her suitor, \u201ca great general of arms,\u201d undertook to rescue\nher; but when he saw \u201cthis terror of a beast\u201d stirring far off in the\nmidst of the loch, he took fright and slunk away. In this emergency\nthe hero appeared; the damsel put a ring on his finger; he fought the\nbeast and cut one of her heads off. She retired for the night beneath\nthe waters of the loch. The deliverer sent the maiden home with the\nbeast\u2019s head over her shoulder, but refused to accompany her. On the\nway she met the {37} general, who threatened to kill her unless she\nwould say it was he who had cut off the monster\u2019s head. The next day\nthe beast returned, and a second head was struck off. On the third day\nthe hero struck off the third head and slew the beast. But each day he\nungallantly allowed the princess to go home alone; the general met her\nas on the first day, and got the credit for the achievement. When it\ncame to the point of marriage, however, she refused point-blank to\nmarry any one but him who could take the heads off the withy on which\nthe hero had strung them, without cutting it. Of course the cowherd\nalone succeeded. He also produced the ring, and two earrings beside,\nwhich the lady averred she had given to the man who took the heads off\nthe beast. What became of the general is not stated: the cowherd\nmarried the king\u2019s daughter. His adventures were now fairly begun:\nthey were far from being at an end. Another, \u201ca more wonderfully\nterrible,\u201d beast came out of the loch and tore him away from his\nbride. By the advice of a smith (smiths are often men of more than\nordinary powers and wisdom, in fairy tales) the lady spread all her\njewellery out on the strand, on the spot where her husband had been\ncaptured. The bait took: in exchange for this finery the beast gave up\nthe man. Encouraged, probably, by success, the beast, shortly after,\nseized the princess. Again it is the old smith who gives advice. The\nbeast was only to be killed in one way. Her soul was in an egg, in the\nmouth of a trout, inside a hoodie, which was inside a white-footed\nhind that dwelt on an island in the midst of the loch. If the egg were\nbroken, the beast would die. The hero invoked the help of the great\ndog, the falcon and the otter. The great dog caught the hind. A hoodie\nsprang out of her, and the falcon brought it to earth. A {38} trout\nleaped out of the hoodie into the water, and the otter brought the\ntrout to land. The egg fell out of the trout\u2019s mouth, and the hero put\nhis foot on it. He made the beast give up his wife, and then broke the\negg. After that the hero and his wife were walking one day, and he\nnoticed a little castle beside the loch in a wood. On inquiry, his\nwife warned him that no one who went thither had ever returned to tell\nthe tale. He goes to see who dwells there; and the crone who meets him\ndraws \u201cthe Slachdan druidhach on him, on the back of his head, and at\nonce--there he fell.\u201d His tree accordingly withers; his next brother\nsets out to find his corpse, and shares his fate. The third brother is\nbeforehand with the hag, and after a terrible tussle slays her with\nthe \u201cSlachdan druidhach.\u201d Then with the same weapon he strikes his\nbrothers\u2019 corpses, and they rise to their feet. The three take the\nspoil and come back rejoicing.[38.1]\n\nThis long and not very coherent story gains a little in unity in a\nvariant by the identification of the second and \u201cmore wonderfully\nterrible beast\u201d with the sea-maiden to whom the hero had been promised\nere his birth. Omitting this episode and that of the giants, we have\nthe ordinary plot of the King of the Fishes with little change, beyond\nthe substitution of the sea-maiden for the wizard-fish. The alteration\ndoes not affect the substance of the tale, for it matters little\nwhether the food which results in the birth of the twin heroes be the\nflesh of the King of the Fishes, or some other gift of supernatural\npower.\n\nThe opening of the North German tale of _The Two Similar Brothers_\napproaches that of _The Sea-Maiden_, while {39} it also recalls one of\nthe great stories of _The Arabian Nights_. A fisherman, casting his\nnet into a pool, brings up, instead of fish, a little urn covered with\na lid. On his opening the urn, a thick red cloud curls up from within;\nand before he is aware of it a big burly fellow appears in the midst\nof the cloud and begs to be put back into the vase. \u201cHow can I put you\nback,\u201d asks the fisherman, \u201cwhen you are so big and the vase so\nlittle?\u201d But the apparition prevails on him to try, promising in\nreward not merely a good catch of fishes, but also a casket which he\nmust divide into six parts, whereof one is to be given to his wife,\none to his horse, one to his dog, and the remaining three are to be\nburied under the eaves of his dwelling; but he is to beware of looking\ninto the casket before he gets home. Thereupon the fisherman lays\nhands upon the apparition, finds him as collapsible as a modern\ntravelling-bag, and soon succeeds in fastening down this fairy\nJack-in-the-box once more. Flinging the vase again into the water, he\ncast his net, and was rewarded as the apparition had promised. Before\na year had passed, the fisherman\u2019s wife had borne twin boys so much\nalike as to be indistinguishable. Two foals and two puppies were also\nadded to the household; and under the eaves up-sprouted two swords,\ntwo pistols and two guns. The twins set out together. They obtained\nthe usual helpful animals--in this case, two young bears, wolves and\nlions. Parting at a crossway, one of them sticks his knife into a\ntree; and it is agreed that they will meet there again in a year\u2019s\ntime. Whichever of them comes first is to examine the blade of the\nknife: if it be rusted, that will be a token that his brother is dead.\nThe dragon in this tale has no fewer than fourteen heads, and is\nbeside reinforced by fourteen giants, to whom he belongs. The {40}\nhero, of course, kills them all; and the rest of the story follows the\nordinary course.[40.1]\n\nIn the _Pentameron_ the magical food is a sea-dragon\u2019s heart, which\nmust be cooked by a pure maiden. A king who wants offspring is advised\nby a beggar to get this powerful medicine. When it is brought to him\nhe gives it to a pretty maid of honour to cook. No sooner has she put\nit on the fire than it begins to emit a pitch-black smoke so powerful\nin its effects that not merely the condition of the queen who tastes\nthe heart, but that of the maiden who cooks it, as well as of every\narticle of furniture in the room where it is cooked, becomes\ninteresting. The old four-post bedstead gives birth to a cradle, the\nchest to a little chest, the settle to a little settle, the table to a\nlittle table: nay, the very night-commode brings forth a tiny\nnight-commode so charming and pretty that one could have kissed it! At\nthe end of four days the queen and her maiden bear each a son, who\ngrow up fast friends. The queen\u2019s jealousy, however, causes Canneloro,\nthe maid\u2019s son, to leave his friend. Before departing, in a final\ninterview with Fonzo, the queen\u2019s son, he flings his dagger on the\nground, and a spring starts forth, which he declares will run clear so\nlong as his life is clear and serene. Not satisfied with this, he\nsticks his sword in the earth, and there sprouts a bilberry bush from\nthe soil as a further token. But whereas the magical elements in the\nopening scenes are thus grotesquely exaggerated, the central portion\nof the story is tamed down to a commonplace tournament, at which\nCanneloro wins a king\u2019s daughter. This treatment has for its purpose\nto throw into relief the episode of the Medusa-witch. As the Enchanted\nHind, the witch {41} gives her name to the story. Pursuing this\nanimal, Canneloro is met by a snowstorm, and takes refuge in a cave,\nwhere he kindles a fire. The hind he has been following appears at the\ndoor of the cave, and asks leave to come in and warm herself. To calm\nher fears the hero binds his dogs, his horse and his sword. The hind\nthen changes into an ogre, who throws Canneloro into a pit, whence he\nis of course rescued by Fonzo.[41.1]\n\nThat Basile took some liberties with the story might thus be suspected\nfrom internal evidence. How slight those liberties really were has\nbeen proved by the discovery of an almost exact parallel as a folktale\nin the Basilicata. Even the hero\u2019s name is preserved as Cannelora. His\nlife-tokens are a jet of water and a myrtle. He is directed at a\ncrossway by two gardeners whose quarrel he has reconciled; and he\nrescues a fairy under guise of a serpent from some boys who are\npersecuting it and have already cut off its tail. The Medusa-witch is\na golden-horned snake. The storm is a tempest of thunder and\nlightning, from which he takes refuge in a cavern. The snake becomes a\ngiant and imprisons the hero, exactly as in Basile\u2019s version.\nDelivered by Emilio, as the queen\u2019s son is here called, together with\nthe giant\u2019s other prisoners, he weds the fairy, who provides wives\nalso for Emilio and the rest.[41.2]\n\nIn a Pisan tale of the same collection we are brought back to the\ntalking fish of the typical story. The life-token is a bone tied to a\nbeam in the kitchen: it sweats blood when anything untoward happens to\neither of the fisherman\u2019s three sons. The dragon is a fairy in the\nshape of a cloud that carries away a girl every year. The lot having\n{42} fallen on the king\u2019s daughter, the cloud sucks her blood through\nher finger, and, when she faints, carries her away. The hero, having\npreviously obtained from three grateful animals, a lion, an eagle and\nan ant, the power of transforming himself into their shapes, sets out\nafter the cloud, in the form of an eagle. The fairy-cloud could only\nbe slain by hitting her on the forehead with an egg, which was in the\nbody of a seven-headed tigress. The hero accomplishes this, and weds\nthe princess. The Medusa-witch is a supernatural mist. Penetrating\nthis, the hero is invited to play a game with some ladies. He loses,\nand is, with his horse and dog, turned into marble.[42.1] In a Tuscan\nvariant, imperfectly recollected by the teller, the fish is an eel\nwith two heads and two tails; the boys are twins; the tails, planted\nin the garden, yield two swords; and the heads, given to the bitch,\nproduce puppies; the life-token is a cornel-tree planted by the hero\nbefore leaving home. The hero\u2019s brother, arriving in search of him,\nfinds that he is imprisoned with his horse and dog in an enchanted\ncastle, leaves him to his fate, and, being precisely like the unhappy\nprisoner in appearance, he takes possession of the princess his wife.\nThis chivalrous conduct, however, is perhaps to be imputed rather to\nthe teller\u2019s defective memory than to the original sin of the younger\nbrother.[42.2]\n\nWhen the childless fisherman, in a Lettish tale, catches a certain\npike, the latter gets its freedom by giving two fishes in its stead,\nboth of which the fisher\u2019s wife is to eat. The two boys thereafter\nborn set out on their adventures together, and part at a cross-road,\nleaving as their life-token a knife sticking in an oak. The one who\ngoes to the right {43} spares to shoot five animals in succession, and\nout of gratitude they follow him. With their help he wins a princess\nfrom demons who haunt a castle; and by virtue of his victory over them\nhe becomes king. The other brother is, for our purpose, the hero.\nGoing to the left, he obtains similar animals, which conquer the\nnine-headed devil to whom a princess is to be given. The princess\u2019\ncoachman is the impostor; and the Medusa-witch is the mother of the\nnine-headed devil, who lures and petrifies the hero in revenge. He is\nrescued at last by his brother.[43.1]\n\nA Gipsy tale from Hungary attributes the Supernatural Birth to the\nmother\u2019s having drunk from the two breasts of an _urme_, or fairy, who\nalso suckled at the same time the dog and mare, and dropped milk into\ntwo holes in the earth. Each of the two boys had a golden star on his\nforehead; and from the earth sprang two oaks, the twins\u2019 life-tokens.\nThe hero\u2019s horse and dog assist him in winning his bride by the\nperformance of three tasks, the third of which is the lady\u2019s\ndeliverance from the enchanted form of a dragon watching three golden\napples. Her father then sends him to hunt for the wedding-feast, and\nhe meets the Medusa-witch. His younger brother delivers him, with his\nanimals, from the enchantment by means of the golden apples; and by\nthe same means the witch is destroyed. In the fit of jealousy often\nfound in stories of this type, the hero subsequently kills his\ndeliverer, who is, after explanations, restored to life with a magical\nplant.[43.2]\n\nIn two Russian tales the Medusa-witch incident precedes that of the\nRescue of Andromeda. One of these calls for no special mention. But in\nthe other--from Great {44} Russia--the two heroes are the sons of the\nking\u2019s granddaughter and her maid, born in consequence of their eating\nfish. The Medusa-witch is the Baba Yaga, who finds the youth sleeping\non her meadow, and, giving him a hair, directs him to tie three knots\nin it and blow, whereupon he is, with his horse, turned to stone. His\nbrother, having rescued him, passes on to the fight with the dragon.\nThe life-token is a knife which runs with sweat.[44.1]\n\nA Sanskrit tale departs more widely from the type than any of the\nforegoing. In _The Ocean of the Streams of Story_, a work of the end\nof the eleventh or the beginning of the twelfth century of our era,\nSomadeva relates that a childless king sacrificed to the goddess\nDurg\u00e1, and did penance, to obtain a son. The goddess appeared to him\nin a dream, giving him two heavenly fruits, one for each of his two\nwives. But one of the wives, not satisfied with the prospect of one\nson, ate both fruits, and in due time gave birth to twins. The other\nwife nursed vengeance in her heart; and when the two princes attained\nmanhood, and were sent on a warlike expedition, she forged a despatch\nin the king\u2019s name to the chiefs in the camp, commanding them to put\nboth princes to death. Their maternal grandfather, however, was with\nthe army in his capacity of royal minister. He found means to escape\nwith them, but died of the hardships of the road; and his two\ngrandsons made their way to the shrine of Durg\u00e1 in the Vindhya Hills,\nwhere they underwent a course of fasting and asceticism to propitiate\nher. Pleased with their austerities, she appeared in a dream to\nInd\u00edvarasena, the elder brother, and presented him with a magical\nsword. Armed with this, he forced an entrance into the palace of the\nking of the {45} R\u00e1kshasas, or ogres, and found the mighty monarch\nsitting on his throne, \u201chaving a mouth terrible with tusks, with a\nlovely woman at his left hand, and a virgin of heavenly beauty on his\nright hand.\u201d Ind\u00edvarasena challenged the ogre to fight, but found it\nuseless to cut off his head, for as often as he cut it off it grew\nagain, until he took a hint from the virgin, who made him a sign to\ncut the head in two after smiting it off. The treacherous virgin\nturned out to be the R\u00e1kshasa\u2019s sister. She had fallen in love at\nfirst sight with the valorous youth, and on his victory immediately\noffered herself in marriage to him. This conduct is not uncommon in\nSomadeva\u2019s amusing work, and is always eagerly responded to by the\nlucky (and polygamous) heroes. Ind\u00edvarasena was no exception. He\nmarried her on the spot, and lived happily with her for some time. By\nvirtue of his magical sword he obtained everything he wished for. In\nthis way he got a flying chariot, and sent his brother in it to bear\ntidings of him to his parents. Meanwhile the other lady, who was the\nwidow of the R\u00e1kshasa, attracted Ind\u00edvarasena\u2019s attention. His wife\nnaturally grew jealous, and in a fit of pique flung his magical sword\ninto the fire. She hardly expected the consequence. The sword was\ndimmed by the fire, and her husband lay senseless on the ground.\nWarned by a dream at that instant, his brother returned; and on\nhearing the miserable woman\u2019s confession he thought he ought not to\nkill her, on account of her repentance; so he prepared to cut off his\nown head. However logical and proper this alternative may have been,\nthe goddess interfered. He heard a voice arresting him, declaring that\nDurg\u00e1 had struck his brother senseless--not, of course, for flirting,\nbut for not taking enough care of the divine sword--and {46} directing\nhim to propitiate her. When he complied, the sword lost its stain, and\nhis brother regained consciousness. By a revelation as convenient as\nthose of Mohammed, the hero then learned that both ladies had been his\nwives in a former existence, and therefore it was quite right for him\nto have both now. So they were all happy ever after--especially\nInd\u00edvarasena.[46.1]\n\nHere we have the Supernatural Birth, the Dragon-slaying, and the\nMedusa-witch, though the two latter are somewhat disguised. For the\nLife-token a miraculous dream is substituted. And the whole is\noverlaid by the practices and beliefs of the revived Hinduism\nparamount in India after the expulsion of Buddhism.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n THE REMAINING TYPES OF THE STORY.\n\n{47}\n\nWe have now surveyed the stories of the Danae type and those of the\nKing of the Fishes type. There remain a large number of variants\nwherein one or more of the incidents are wanting. Some of these have\nalready been mentioned. Where, as in many stories of the Danae type,\nthe hero is not duplicated, the Life-token is not found. A few\nstories, however, approximate to the King of the Fishes type, but want\nthe Life-token. We may, perhaps, class these together as _The Mermaid\ntype_, from a variant of Campbell\u2019s Argyllshire tale, told him by an\naged man in South Uist, which lays the scene in the Isle of Skye. The\neldest of three sons is promised to the mermaid; and when, at the age\nof eighteen, he learns this, he wisely sets out for a place where\nthere is no salt water. He divides equitably the carcase of an old\nhorse between a lion, a wolf and a falcon, who are disputing over it,\nand receives in return the power to transform himself into either of\ntheir forms at pleasure, or (for Mr. Campbell was uncertain which) the\npromise of their help at need. By this means, when acting as a king\u2019s\nherd, he overcomes three giants and a giantess, and obtains three\nenchanted flying horses, {48} three splendid dresses and a\nwashing-basin and silver comb, on using which he would become the most\nbeautiful man in the world. He fights the \u201cdraygan\u201d from the sea on\nthree successive days, and rescues the king\u2019s daughter. The latter\nafterwards recognises him by a scratch that she had made on his\nforehead, as he lay with his head in her lap the third day, waiting\nfor the dragon. They are married, but their happiness is of no great\nlength; for the lady longs for dulse, and as he goes to seek it the\nmermaid catches and swallows him. But mermaids are susceptible to\nmusic; so by playing on the harp the hero\u2019s wife succeeds in inducing\nthe creature to bring up her husband, who in the form of a falcon\nflies to shore. The mermaid then takes the wife instead. A soothsayer\ninforms him that the mermaid\u2019s soul is an egg, inside a goose, inside\na ram, inside a hurtful bull that dwells in a certain glen. With the\nhelp of the Grateful Animals he succeeds in recovering his wife and\nslaying the mermaid.[48.1]\n\nHere, after the beginning, the hero\u2019s brothers drop out of the story.\nThe more complex Lithuanian tale of _Strong Hans and Strong Peter_\nretains both twins. An angel brings to a childless queen a golden\nfish; and a witch brings her a silver fish. She eats both and bears\ntwins, the elder with golden hair and a golden star on his forehead,\nthe younger with the like in silver. In their nurses\u2019 absence they are\nsuckled, the one by a lioness and the other by a she-bear. Two snakes,\ndeputed by the witch to kill Hans, the golden twin, are taken by him\none in each hand, though he is only a few weeks old, and strangled.\nThe witch, later on, sends a monster to kill him; but an angel meets\nhim, and bids {49} him bathe in a certain brook and then anoint his\nbody with an ointment, which he gives him. This renders Hans\ninvulnerable, and enables him to overcome the monster. The brothers\nthen set out together, and part at a crossway. Hans encounters a\ntwelve-headed dragon, and slays him in the same manner as Herakles did\nthe Hydra, dipping subsequently his arrows in the poisonous blood. He\nthus rescues the princess; but before allowing him to marry her, her\nfather imposes other Herculean tasks upon him--among them, the\nslaughter of the Nemean lion, the capture of the stag of Mount\nM\u00e6nalus (here a horse, captured by wounding his foot), and the theft\nof the apples from the Garden of the Hesperides. The way to the\napple-tree (here called the Tree of Health and Life), we are told, lay\nthrough Hell; and incidentally Hans overthrew both Cerberus and the\nDevil. To his astonishment, he found his brother Peter bound to a rock\nin the place of torture, together with his wife. He freed them both,\nand sent them back to earth. On bringing the apples to the king, Hans\nwas at last permitted to wed his daughter. The story then turns to\nPeter, to explain how he and his wife had had the misfortune to get\ninto Hell. It appears that Peter\u2019s first adventure after quitting his\nbrother was that of Theseus overcoming the Minotaur. It naturally\nended in his marrying the king\u2019s daughter and becoming ruler. Various\nneighbouring peoples, however, made war on him--among them, the\nAmazons, described as a tribe of women whose hands were swords.\nAgainst this foe he invoked the Devil, and gave his wife in return for\nhelp. But ere long, repenting of the bargain, he descended into Hell\nto fetch her back. He had reckoned without his host: the Devil was too\nstrong for him; and it was only {50} by his brother\u2019s intervention\nthat he and his wife were delivered.[50.1]\n\nIn a Sicilian tale, a dethroned king catches a golden fish, which\ndesires to be cut into eight pieces, two to be given to his wife, two\nto his horse, two to his dog, and two to be buried in the garden. The\ntwo latter pieces shoot up into magical swords. The twins set out\ntogether and afterwards part. One of them wins in a tournament the\ndaughter of the king who had dethroned his father. This recalls\nBasile\u2019s Neapolitan tale; but, unlike that, there is no stress laid on\nthe episode of the Medusa-witch. On the contrary, it is presented as a\nmere ordinary hunt at which the hero is detained for three days, while\nhis brother comes to the city and is mistaken for him.[50.2] In the\nstories previously given of this type the same episode is hardly, if\nat all, to be recognised.\n\nAnother type, wanting the Dragon-slaughter, contains the Life-token.\nThe best-known story of this type is Grimm\u2019s tale of _The Gold\nChildren_. There the life-token is a golden lily which grows up with\neach of the twins. Disguised in bear-skins, the hero wins the love of\na beautiful village-maiden. After his marriage he goes to hunt and\nchases a stag. The stag disappears; and he finds himself standing\nbefore a hut inhabited by a witch, who petrifies him for threatening\nher obstreperous dog. His brother compels the witch to restore him to\nlife.[50.3]\n\nAs told in Flanders, the talking fish directs the fisher to cut it\ninto three pieces, one for himself, one for his wife, {51} and the\nthird to be buried in the garden. Three boys of marvellous beauty are\nthe result; and digging, in accordance with the fish\u2019s instructions,\nwhere he had buried the third piece, the fisherman finds three swords,\nthree pistols, and three flageolets of stone. The eldest son, going to\nseek his fortune, reaches a magnificent palace, where one of the\nking\u2019s daughters, looking out of window, falls over head and ears in\nlove with him. Against her advice he goes to visit a palace of\ncrystal, inside whose glittering walls whosoever put his foot was\nchanged into a pillar of salt. Seeking in vain for the entrance, he\nmeets an old witch, who opens the door by her magical wand, and\ninvites him to enter. Before doing so, he puts his flageolet to his\nlips to warn his brothers; for the instrument\u2019s property was that\nwherever in the world its owner played on it his brothers would hear,\nand would know where to find him. Then he enters, and, like thousands\nbefore him, is changed into a black stone. The second brother, on\nhearing the pipe, set out to seek his brother; and he too was changed\ninto a pillar of salt. The youngest draws his sword and pistol upon\nthe witch, and compels her to disenchant her victims. Then, on opening\nthe door, hundreds and hundreds of men and women pour forth, with one\nvoice thanking heaven and their courageous deliverer. The three\nbrothers marry the king\u2019s daughters with banging of bells and clanging\nof cannon.[51.1]\n\nThis type is found not only in Germany and Flanders, but also among\nthe southern branches of the Slavonic race, as well as in Greece, in\nnorthern Italy, and in Brittany. Two more examples, however, must\nsuffice. The Mantuan {52} version follows that of Grimm in its\nopening, where the Father of the Fishes, as he is here called,\nrepeatedly enriches the fisherman before the latter\u2019s wife insists on\nknowing the secret of his wealth, and seeing the fish. The boys, as in\nthe Flemish tale, are three in number; and the life-token is the\nfish\u2019s blood preserved in three vases. The first of the brothers,\ngoing to liberate a king\u2019s daughter who is enslaved by an ogre in an\nenchanted palace, is touched by a witch with a magical berry and\nturned to stone. The second brother meets the same fate. They are both\ndelivered, together with the princess, by the youngest, who restores\nthem to life by anointing them with the fish\u2019s blood. The maiden is\nthe reward of the youngest brother\u2019s heroism.[52.1] In the Breton\nstory the fisher\u2019s wife is already pregnant, and has a fancy for\neating fish. The large fish caught by her husband gives directions for\nthe wife to eat its flesh, the mare to drink the water wherein it has\nbeen washed, and the dog to eat its entrails and lungs. The life-token\nis a laurel, into whose trunk a knife is to be stuck daily by the\ntwin-brother (there are but two) left at home: if blood follow, the\nabsent one is dead. Being hired as groom, the first brother is married\nby his master\u2019s daughter. He notices that the windows on one side of\nthe castle are always closed; and on asking why, his wife tells him\nthat there is a yard on that side full of venomous reptiles. He goes\nthat way, and is entertained by the Medusa-witch, who pushes him upon\nan enormous wheel covered with razors, where he is hacked to pieces.\nHe is revenged by his brother upon the witch, at whose death a\nprincess transformed into a vixen resumes her human shape, and aids\nher deliverer in putting the bits of his {53} brother\u2019s body together\nand reviving him with the Water of Life.[53.1]\n\nA Bosnian _m\u00e4rchen_ presents us with a type wherein only the\nSupernatural Birth and the Medusa-witch are preserved. A pilgrim gives\nan apple to a childless man. His wife is to eat it, the peel is to be\ndivided between the mare and the bitch, and the seeds are to be\nplanted in the garden. The elder twin, with his horse and dog, and his\nlance of apple-wood, swims across the sea, and in doing so becomes\ngilt. He marries a king\u2019s daughter, and pursues a stag with golden\nhorns, which leads him to a tower. There he gambles with a lady for\nthe stag; but, losing, he is thrown into her dungeon, whence he is\nrescued by his brother, who wins him back and weds the lady. The\nelder\u2019s jealousy, however, is aroused on the way home; and he draws\nhis sword against the younger, but is prevented from doing him any\nharm, and at his return recognises how groundless his passion has\nbeen.[53.2] In a Portuguese variant it does not end quite so\ninnocently; for when the elder learned that his wife had mistaken the\nyounger for her husband, he put him to death from which there was no\nrevival.[53.3] The Bosnian version differs also in its opening from\nthe other variants, all of which refer the supernatural birth to a\nfish, or eel. This type is found in Sicily and in Germany, as well as\nin the Balkan and Iberian peninsulas. It may be called, from the\nPortuguese variant just cited, _The Tower of Babylon type_.\n\nA type more interesting, because more various in its evolution, is\nthat which comprises only the Life-token and {54} the Medusa-witch. It\nis usually associated with Galland\u2019s tale of _The Two Sisters who\nenvied their Cadette_, where it appears as an episode. In the Wortley\nMontagu Codex, at Oxford, it is found as a separate tale, and has been\nthence translated by Sir Richard Burton. The eldest of three brothers,\nit tells us, determines to procure a certain little nightingale which\ntransmews to stone all who come to it. Before starting, he takes his\nseal-ring from his finger and gives it to his next brother as his\nlife-token: it will squeeze his finger if a mishap occur. The bird\u2019s\nhabit was to cry out to its would-be captor, and, if he replied, to\ntake a pinch of dust and, scattering it upon him, turn him to stone.\nThe third brother only is successful in holding his tongue and\ncatching the bird. By sprinkling another material upon his unfortunate\npredecessors, they are disenchanted, and among them his elder\nbrothers. The latter fling him into a well, that they may take the\ncredit of the exploit; but he escapes by means of a ring he has\nobtained from the bird, and vindicates his claim.[54.1]\n\nAnother variant is found in the Tirol as a pendant to a story of an\ninnocent persecuted wife. The elder brother exhibits a dancing bear to\nthe king of Babylon, who is so delighted with it that he bestows his\ndaughter on the exhibitor, and names him viceroy. The viceroy goes to\nhunt with his bear in the forest. He is overtaken by a tempest, and\nkindles a fire to warm himself. The Medusa-witch conquers him by the\nusual wiles. His brother is his deliverer, and happily there is no\njealousy. The life-token is a knife stuck in a tree and becoming rusty\nwhen a misfortune befalls either of the brothers.[54.2]\n\n{55}\n\nA tale from Normandy leads us back to the fisherman. He catches the\nKing of the Fishes, who recommends that, after frying, its bones be\nburied in the garden. A treasure would be found at the spot indicated;\nfrom its head three faithful dogs would spring for his three sons, and\nthree rose-trees would grow from the earth--his son\u2019s life-tokens. The\neldest son, having married a rich wife, sees the castle of the\nMedusa-witch, and falls a victim to her. When the youngest, by his\ndog\u2019s help, destroys her, the second and third brothers wed two of the\nloveliest ladies, who are disenchanted by her death.[55.1] A Milanese\nvariant omits all the marriages, and gives as the life-token a\nhandkerchief, which is besmirched with blood when its owner is\nbewitched.[55.2]\n\nThe Scottish _m\u00e4rchen_ of _The Red Etin_ represents the three youths\nas the sons of two widows. The two sons of one of the widows depart\nsuccessively with their mother\u2019s malison. The life-token is a knife\nwhich will become rusty, as in the Tirolese variant. The Medusa-witch\nis the Red Etin of Ireland. He puts three questions, and petrifies him\nwho is unable to answer them. Moreover, he holds in captivity King\nMalcolm\u2019s daughter. The third youth gets his mother\u2019s blessing and\nhalf a cake by way of provisions for his journey; the others had got\nwhole cakes, though small ones, thanks to their carelessness in\ndrawing water to make them. He meets an old woman, to whom he gives a\npiece of his bannock, and receives in return the solution of the three\nquestions, as well as a magical wand enabling him to quell the\ndreadful beasts he encounters. When the questions are answered the\nmonster\u2019s power is {56} gone. The youth hews off his three heads,\ndelivers King Malcolm\u2019s daughter, and disenchants his two\nfriends.[56.1] The relation between this tale and that of \u0152dipus need\nnot be pointed out.\n\nThe Tirolese tale of _The Knife-grinder\u2019s Sons_ will afford us the\nnext type. Two brothers catch a bird on whose head is inscribed the\nwords: \u201cWhosoever roasts and eats my head will find every day a bagful\nof gold.\u201d Their father, reading this, intends to eat the head; but the\ntwo boys steal the bird when it is cooked; and the elder eats the\nbody, and the younger the head. They wander out together, and part at\na giant oak-tree. The life-token is a knife stuck in the tree. Hans,\nthe elder, by sparing the lives of a fox, a wolf and a bear, gets them\nas followers. With their help he slays the seven-headed dragon and\nrescues the king\u2019s daughter. She meets him in the chapel whence the\ndragon was to fetch her, and gives him a ring, a chain, and a silk\nneckerchief. Too weary with the contest to accompany her back to her\nfather, he lies down to rest, and is found and put to death by her\nfather\u2019s servant, who cuts off the dragon\u2019s heads and compels the\nmaiden to identify him as the dragon-slayer. The faithful animals,\nhowever, find the Herb of Life, and revive their master. The false\nservant is torn to pieces by the animals, and Hans is recognised by\nthe princess as her true deliverer. We may note that he had cut out\nand preserved the dragon\u2019s tongues, but they are not referred to in\nthe recognition scene. On retiring with his bride, he sees a magical\nroebuck, and at once pursues it, thus falling into the hands of the\nMedusa-witch. He is delivered by the younger brother; but the two\nbrothers, quarrelling {57} for the bride, are drowned in crossing a\nriver on the way back.[57.1]\n\nIn this type only the Supernatural Birth is wanting. The story is\nfound in almost identical terms elsewhere in the Tirol and other\nGerman lands. In a version preserved by Pr\u00f6hle, one of the two\nbrothers is lucky, the other unlucky. The unlucky one goes to an inn,\nwhose hostess is a witch and strangles him and his dog. The lucky one\ndelivers the princess from the seven-headed dragon, and then goes in\nsearch of his brother. He comes to the inn, and is attacked at night\nby twelve witches, of whom he slays eleven, but spares the twelfth.\nShe turns out to be the hostess. He forces her to bring his brother to\nlife again by means of some magical ointment, a portion whereof she\nalso gives him in case of any other misfortune to the luckless\nbrother. Both brothers then go to the town. The king\u2019s servant has\npossessed himself of the dragon\u2019s tongues, and is about to be married\nto the princess as her saviour. This catastrophe is happily prevented\nby the assistance of the dog and the production of the princess\u2019\nkerchief given to the dragon-slayer after the fight. One day, while\nhunting, the lucky brother is seized with jealousy of the unlucky one,\nwhom he has left at the palace with his wife. He suddenly goes home\nand finds his brother gazing at her. Deeming this confirmation strong\nas Holy Writ, he draws his sword and hews the unlucky brother to\npieces, thus finding occasion for the use of the ointment thoughtfully\nprovided by the witch; for he soon discovers how groundless his\nsuspicions have been.[57.2] This variant distinguishes {58} between\nthe victim of the Medusa-witch and the dragon-slayer, disconnects the\nhero\u2019s jealousy from the Medusa-witch incident, and, like the\nScandinavian tale cited in a previous chapter, gives the impostor the\ndragon\u2019s tongues. Moreover, it contains a mere relic of the\nLife-token; for the brothers on parting agree to obtain tidings of one\nanother through their two dogs. These dogs, with the heroes\u2019 horses\nand spears, have grown up from seed sown by their father in a small\nplot of ground. It is probable that both this variant and that cited\nin the preceding paragraph have been derived by degradation from some\nversion, or versions, of _The King of the Fishes_, or the _Danae,\ntype_.\n\nThe Slavs of various parts of Russia are familiar with the type now\nunder consideration. In a Lettish tale the brothers steal and eat the\nbird after having sold it. They then flee together. Coming to a\ncrossway, they find an old man who gives them each a horse, dog, whip\nand bottle. The bottle is the life-token: its contents turn red if the\nowner\u2019s brother die. The dragon is a serpent with thrice nine heads.\nThe hero is enticed to the Medusa-witch\u2019s hut by a roebuck.[58.1] A\nsoldier\u2019s two sons, in a story given by Afanasief, receive from an old\nman wonderful horses and swords. The life-token is not detailed in the\nabstract of the story before me. One brother weds a king\u2019s daughter.\nThe other delivers another king\u2019s daughter from a dragon, and marries\nher. He follows a stag, whose tracks he loses, and, after shooting a\npair of ducks, comes to a deserted castle. There he meets the\nMedusa-witch, in the shape of a fair maiden, who changes into a\nlioness and swallows him. His brother compels her to cast him up and\nbring {59} him to life again with Living-and-Healing-Water. She then\nchanges back into a maiden and begs forgiveness. They weakly pardon\nher. Afterwards each of them is met by a beggar, who, being\ntransformed into a lion, tears him to pieces. These lions are the\nMedusa-witch\u2019s brothers.[59.1] A Lithuanian tale speaks of three\nbrothers and a sister. The brothers, sparing a wolf, boar, fox, lion,\nhare and bear, receive a whelp apiece. Parting from one another, each\nof them chooses a birch-tree and strikes it with his axe: the mark\nwill run with milk or blood, according as he is alive or dead. The\neldest brother takes charge of the sister, by whom he is betrayed to a\nrobber. He subdues the robber with the assistance of his beasts, nails\nhis sister by hands and feet to the wall of the robber\u2019s castle, and\nleaves her. After slaying a nine-headed dragon and rescuing the\nprincess, the latter takes him into her carriage; but on the way to\nher house he is put to death by the coachman and lackey. His lion\ncatches a crow and compels it to bring the Water of Life to restore\nhim. He is recognised by means of the ring and handkerchief the\nprincess has given him, and marries her. Going hunting, he falls at\nnight into the power of the Medusa-witch, whom he finds in the shape\nof an old woman at a fire. The youngest brother first attempts his\nrescue, and afterwards the second, who is successful.[59.2]\n\nThe incident of the sister\u2019s treachery, which forms part of the\nLithuanian tale, is found in several Slav versions. {60} In a Swedish\ntale from north-western Finland the sister plays a different part. She\nhas been carried off by a dragon. The brothers are twins. Their\nfather, a fisherman, had caught a pike, which had bequeathed its eyes\nas the life-tokens, to turn black when the heroes were in mortal\nperil. The elder brother goes into the world, visiting on the way his\nsister, from whom he receives a sword. He saves the king\u2019s only\ndaughter from a sea-troll, and marries her. The Medusa-witch dwells on\na floating island, which the youth must needs explore. Since his\nrescue by the younger brother, and the slaughter of the witch, the\nisland is no longer visible.[60.1] The fish reappears in a Sicilian\ntale, though in a different capacity. There it is caught by the\nbrothers, who are fishermen. It is a voparedda, a poor kind of fish;\nand its life is spared in consequence of its piteous appeals. In\nreturn, it furnishes the brothers with horses, clothing, armour,\nswords and money; and they ride forth to seek adventures. The\nlife-token is a cut in a fig-tree, which flows with milk or blood. The\nelder youth is the dragon-slayer. A slave is the impostor who claims\nthe reward of the victory. The worm\u2019s seven tongues in the lady\u2019s\nhandkerchief prove his treachery and the hero\u2019s right. One evening\nafter his marriage the hero goes out to see a bright light upon a\ncertain mountain, and falls a victim to the Medusa-witch. On his way\nto rescue him the younger is met by Saint Joseph, who advises him how\nto accomplish his task. The incident of the rescued man\u2019s jealous fury\nfollows.[60.2]\n\nThe Kabyles are tribes of Libyan stock, inhabiting the mountains of\nAlgeria. They have a tale of two brothers, sons of a man by different\nwives. One of the wives is {61} dead; and the other so persecutes the\ndead woman\u2019s son that he determines to go away. Before doing so, he\nplants a fig-tree as his life-token. He slays a seven-headed serpent\nwhich dwelt in a fountain and withheld the water. The king\u2019s daughter\nin this case is not a sacrifice to the snake: she is simply charged\nwith the duty of bringing it food. She gives the food to the hero\nafter the slaughter; and, taking one of his sandals, she returns and\nreports the event to her father. He calls a public assembly, in order\nto try the sandal on the men. The hero dresses in rags, and lames his\nhorse, his falcon and his hound. Consequently, he is at first passed\nby in contempt; but he cannot escape the trial. The ascetic instincts\nof the heroes of these tales are remarkable: they will do anything to\nescape recognition and marriage. In the present case, when the sandal\nis fitted to his foot, the king generously says to the dragon-slayer:\n\u201cI will give you my daughter gratis: become king, and I will be your\nminister.\u201d This is an offer the masculine Cinderella cannot refuse.\nThe Medusa-witch is an ogress, whose domain he invades with his horse,\nhound and falcon. She binds the animals with hairs, and then eats them\nand their master. The younger brother and his animals avenge him. He\nwatches two tarantulas fighting; the one kills the other, and brings\nit to life again by pressing the juice of a herb under its nose. The\nyounger brother takes the hint, and thus revives the hero and his\nbeasts.[61.1]\n\nTwo Italian variants omit the Life-token. As Basile tells the tale,\nthere are two brothers, sons of a Neapolitan merchant. The elder,\nplaying with the king\u2019s son, wounds him and has to flee the country.\nHe passes the night at a {62} deserted house, and by his courage frees\nit from three ghosts and acquires a treasure, which, however, he\nleaves to the lord of a neighbouring tower, and goes on his way with\nhorse and hound. His next feat is to deliver a fairy from a band of\nrobbers, from whom her honour was in danger. The Dragon-slaughter\nfollows. He takes the seven tongues and goes to an inn, allowing the\nking\u2019s daughter to return alone to her father. His want of gallantry\nresults, as usual, in the pretensions of an impostor, who possesses\nhimself of the dragon\u2019s heads, and is about to be married to the\nprincess, when the hero puts in his claim. The morning after the\nwedding he goes to the house of a lovely maiden, seen from his window.\nShe is, of course, the Medusa-witch. He is rescued by his brother, and\nafterwards kills the latter in an access of jealousy. On finding out\nhis mistake, he restores him by means of a herb which he has seen the\ndragon use, during the fight, to mend his own heads when struck\noff.[62.1] The other variant is a folktale recently collected in\nTuscany. It is much less elaborate, and reads like a half-forgotten\nnarrative. Here are three brothers born at a single birth. Each of\nthem owns a horse and dog which came into the world at the same time.\nThe first, seeking adventures, meets an old woman in the mountains,\nand asks for a steel that he may light a fire, for it is cold. She\nreplies by transforming his horse, his dog and himself into salt. The\nsecond brother is dealt with in the same manner. The third, instead of\nasking for a steel, threatens the witch with death unless she revive\nhis brothers. By way of recompense, he takes his two elder brothers\u2019\nanimals, and goes further. With the aid of his dogs he saves the\nking\u2019s {63} daughter from a seven-headed lion. He takes the tongues;\nbut a charcoal-burner takes the heads, and pretends to be the\ndeliverer. On the hero\u2019s vindicating his right, he marries the lady,\nand the charcoal-burner is condemned to the fire.[63.1]\n\nFrom the remaining types the Medusa-witch is absent, and from the\nfirst of them the Life-token also. Traces of the witch\u2019s influence,\nhowever, are found in some of the stories. Such a story is that of\n_The Enchanted Twins_, of which we have two versions, almost exactly\nalike, from different parts of Sicily. It seems properly to belong to\nthe Albanian colonists settled in the island for the last four or five\nhundred years. A king, childless and dethroned, catches a fine red\nfish, which gives him the accustomed directions. In this case it is to\nbe cut, according to one version into four, or according to the other\ninto eight, pieces, which are to be equally distributed to the\nfisherman\u2019s wife, his bitch, his mare, and for burial in the garden.\nTwo boys, two colts and two puppies are born, and, according to one\nversion, two magical swords grow up in the garden. The twins set out\ntogether, but part. One of them wins, in a tournament, the daughter of\nthe king, who has dethroned his father. After his marriage he goes\nhunting. While absent, his brother comes to the town, and is mistaken\nfor him as in most of the foregoing types, but puts the customary\nsword between himself and his sister-in-law when he goes to bed. The\ndragon-slayer, returning, is about to kill his wife from jealousy, but\nis happily informed of the facts in time.[63.2]\n\nAn African variant, told, presumably at Blantyre, on {64} Lake Nyassa,\nto the Rev. Duff Macdonald of the Church of Scotland Mission, by a\nnative of Quilimane, speaks of a fisherman who caught a large fish.\nThe fish gave him millet and some of its own flesh, and spoke to him,\ndirecting him to cause his wife to eat the flesh alone, while he ate\nthe millet. Compliance with these instructions was followed by the\nbirth of two sons, who were called Rombao and Antonyo, with their two\ndogs, two spears and two guns. The explanation, however, of the origin\nof the dogs and weapons has been forgotten. The boys became hunters,\nnot hesitating to kill whoever opposed them and to take possession of\nhis land and other property. There was a whale which owned a certain\nwater, and the chief of that country gave his daughter to buy water\nfrom the whale. But Rombao slew the whale, thus saving the maiden, and\ncut out its tongue, which he providently salted and preserved. The\ncredit of the exploit is claimed by the captain of a band of soldiers,\ncommissioned by the chief to ascertain why the whale had not sent the\nusual wind as a token that the girl had been eaten. The chief\naccordingly gives the captain his daughter in marriage. When, however,\nthe marriage-feast is ready, and the people assembled, the lady is\nunwilling. Rombao, who has made it his business to be present,\ninterferes at the critical moment with the inquiry why she is to wed\nthe captain, and is told it is because he has killed the whale. \u201cBut\nwhere,\u201d he asks, \u201cis the whale\u2019s tongue?\u201d The head, of course, has\nbeen produced in evidence of the captain\u2019s brag; but the incident is\nomitted by the narrator. The tongue cannot be found until Rombao\ntriumphantly produces it, and proves that he, not the captain, is\nentitled to the victor\u2019s honours. He marries the maiden, while the\ncaptain and his men, {65} who aided and abetted his falsehood, are put\nto death.[65.1] This variant contains manifest traces of weathering,\nwhich may point to a foreign, perhaps a Portuguese, provenience. The\natmosphere and most of the details, however, are purely native. The\nhusband and wife eating apart, the hunting and filibustering\nproceedings of the twins, the scarcity of water, the salting of the\nmonster\u2019s tongue (which, I think, never occurs in an European\nvariant), and the wedding customs, are among the indications of the\ncomplete assimilation of the story by the native mind. The only\ndetails distinctly traceable to Portuguese influence, paramount on the\nQuilimane coast, are the names Rombao and Antonyo, and the\nguns--neither of them essential to the story.\n\nIn an Abruzzian version the fisherman has but one son, born after his\nwife has consumed broth made of the magical fish. The bitch, having\neaten the head, brings forth a puppy, and the mare, having eaten the\nflesh, a foal. Swords sprout up in the garden where the bones have\nbeen buried. The boy, grown to manhood, fights a seven-headed dragon\nand rescues the princess who was to have been its prey; and the story\nends with his confutation of the fraudulent charcoal-burner in the\nordinary way.[65.2]\n\nThree Swabian variants substitute the Life-token for the Supernatural\nBirth. Two of them, almost exactly the same, display, so far as they\ngo, some similarity to the Argyllshire tale mentioned in a previous\nchapter. Three brothers depart on their travels together. At the first\nfinger-post they separate, each of them sticking his staff into the\npost until he return, so that either, coming back to the place, would\nknow whether the others had gone home. Hans, {66} the hero, takes\nservice with a nobleman as a shepherd, and is cautioned never to go\ninto the forest; for three giants dwell there, and they will kill him.\nOne Sunday he goes into the forest and finds a castle. Entering it, he\nmeets with no one until he gets to the last room of the top story,\nwhere is an enchanted princess. She gives him a pipe, by blowing into\nwhich he can make all things dance that hear him. He afterwards drives\nthe sheep repeatedly into the forest, to feed on the excellent pasture\nthere. At length the giants catch him on successive days; but Hans\nblows in his pipe and sets them dancing, and then takes the\nopportunity to kill them. He cuts out their tongues and eyes, which he\nwraps in his handkerchief. The princess whom he thus frees asks him to\nmarry her and become king; but he excuses himself at present on the\nground that his time of service is not up. After a while, the maiden\u2019s\nfather, being tired of waiting, issues a proclamation for her\ndeliverer. The nobleman, to whom Hans has foolishly confided his\nvictory, sends his own son to court, with the bodies of the giants, to\nclaim the reward. Hans, however, by means of the tongues and eyes,\neasily convicts him of falsehood. But before permitting Hans to marry\nthe princess, the king requires him to win at the sport of running at\nthe ring. The giants\u2019 servants in the castle furnish him with horse\nand splendid clothes, and instruct him in the game, so that he wins.\nBut the king, under pretence of sending him to a monastery to learn,\nshuts him in an enchanted castle, haunted by thirteen devils. Hans\nwith his pipe dances the devils to death, and the king can no longer\nwithhold the promised reward of the princess\u2019 hand and the kingdom.\nAfter some years, Hans makes up his mind to go home, whither his\nbrothers have preceded {67} him. So he puts on his old\nshepherd-clothing, and is despised by his brothers, one of whom has\nbecome a general, and the other a merchant. He endures all their\nindignities for some six weeks, until his consort, wearying of his\nabsence, comes to look for him. He still pretends stupidity, and does\nall sorts of foolish things; but she recognises him through it all,\nand induces him to resume his royal garb, to the confusion of his\nfather and brothers, who have been ill-using him.[67.1]\n\nHere the Life-token has dwindled into a mere token of the brothers\u2019\nhaving returned home, and all its magic is lost. The remaining variant\npresents no special points of interest, save that it too is obviously\nin a state of decay. There are three brothers who depart together. The\nlife-token is a sword stuck in a fir-tree, to become spotted with rust\nif its owner die. The hero obtains helpful animals (a bear, a wolf and\na lion) in the old familiar manner. The dragon is seven-headed; the\ncoachman is the impostor, and is found out by the want of the tongues.\nWhat became of the hero\u2019s brothers nobody knows.[67.2]\n\n{68}\n\nFinally, there is a type, not very common, which includes only the\nthree incidents of the Supernatural Birth, the Life-token, and the\nDragon-slaying. The Portuguese legend of _Saint George_ may be taken\nas the typical form. The saint is represented as one of the twin sons\nof a fisherman who caught the same fish three days successively. The\nfirst two days it had begged for life; but the third day it directed\nthat it should be cut into six pieces, two for the fisherman\u2019s wife,\ntwo for his mare, and two to be buried behind his garden-gate. From\nthe last-mentioned pieces two lances grow. Saint George and his\nbrother start on their adventures together, but soon part, the saint\ngiving his brother a branch of basil-gentle, and saying: \u201cWhen it\nwithers, come in search of me, because I shall then be in danger.\u201d\nGeorge rescues the princess from the dragon; and her father desires to\nmake him general and give him the maiden in marriage. At this critical\nmoment his brother perceives the branch withering, and hurries off to\nfind him. The difficulty is that George, by virtue of vows he has\ntaken, cannot marry. His brother comes in time to accommodate his\ntender conscience, by taking the lady himself and leaving George the\nhonours of canonisation.[68.1] In a story from Lorraine a different\nturn is given to the characters of the two younger brothers, but one\nwhich indicates a close relation with the Portuguese legend: they are\nthe impostors who pretend to have slain the dragon. Here the fisherman\ncatches the Queen of the Fishes repeatedly, until his wife insists on\neating her majesty. The fish requests that some of its bones be placed\nunder the bitch, some under the mare, and the rest under a rose-tree\nin the garden. Three puppies are found {69} under the bitch, three\nfoals under the mare, and three boys beneath the rose-tree. The\nlife-tokens are the roses on the tree, one of which falls when\nmisfortune happens to either of the brothers. The first brother takes\nall three dogs; and, with their help, in a three days\u2019 conflict he\nquells the seven-headed beast and delivers the princess. She thereupon\ninvites him to come home with her; but he prefers to return to his\nfather\u2019s house, carrying the beast\u2019s heads. The king issues a\nproclamation for him. The youngest brother personates him; but the\nheads he brings turn out to be of wood, with which the real victor has\ndeceived him. The king throws him into prison, and condemns him to be\nhanged the next day. His rose falls from the tree. The next brother\ngoes to rescue him; and the king condemns him to the like punishment.\nHis rose falls. The real victor then takes the seven heads and the\nseven tongues to the castle. For his sake his brothers are spared. He\nweds the princess, and they wed two of her maids of honour.[69.1]\n\nThe mention of the seven tongues, as it were by accident, is a\nreminiscence of what I hold to be the ancient and typical form of the\nImposture-episode. A similar survival occurs in another tale from\nLorraine, wherein the dragon and the Medusa-witch are confounded\ntogether. In this tale there are likewise three brothers, sons of a\nfisherman who had given three drops of blood of a certain big fish to\nhis wife, three to his mare, and three to his bitch, and had preserved\nthree in a glass as the life-token. The eldest brother, seeking\nadventures, enters the castle of a seven-headed witch, and is\nforthwith changed into a toad. The blood at home boils in the glass;\nand {70} the second brother sets out, only to meet with the same\nreverse. The third brother conquers the witch with the assistance of a\ncharcoal-burner, and cuts out her tongues. Now, he who slew the witch,\nand brought her tongues in proof, would have the castle and marry the\nking\u2019s daughter. The charcoal-burner bethinks himself of his folly in\nnot taking the tongues. To secure them, he kills the youth; and,\nexhibiting them to the king, he succeeds in obtaining the\nprincess.[70.1] Charcoal-burners are the favourite villains of the\nPerseus _m\u00e4rchen_; but it is rarely they are successful. Nor, indeed,\nis it often that the folktale descends to a style of art worthy of\nMiss Braddon.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n THE INCIDENT OF THE SUPERNATURAL BIRTH IN M\u00c4RCHEN.\n\n{71}\n\nWe have found the story of Perseus to consist of three leading\ntrains of incident, namely, the Supernatural Birth, the Quest of the\nGorgon\u2019s Head, and the Rescue of Andromeda. In a large number of\nmodern variants, however, the hero is duplicated, or even tripled.\nThis introduces a fresh element, that of the Life-token. And in nearly\nall the modern European variants the Quest of the Gorgon\u2019s Head\nundergoes a modification, and suffers a displacement to the end of the\nnarrative. Other incidents are of course frequently mixed up with\nthese, or even substituted for one or other of them. But, speaking\nbroadly, the tale may be taken to consist essentially of the four\nelements I have named, which I now propose to examine separately.\n\nThe first in order is the Supernatural Birth. Stories of supernatural\nbirth may be said to have a currency as wide as the world. Heroes of\nextraordinary achievement or extraordinary qualities were necessarily\nof extraordinary birth. The wonder or the veneration they inspired\nseemed to demand that their entrance upon life, and their departure\nfrom it, should correspond with the impression left by their {72}\ntotal career. Tales of supernatural birth are accordingly so numerous\nthat it is hopeless to give an adequate account of them here. The\nutmost that can be done is to lay before the reader a few of the most\ninteresting and important examples analogous to those we have been\nconsidering in previous chapters.\n\nIf we examine stories of the Danae type, or The King of the Fishes\ntype, we find that when, as usually in the former case, a maiden is\nthe hero\u2019s mother, only one child is born of her. It is sufficiently\nremarkable for a virgin to bring forth one child. But when, as in the\ngreater number of variants of the latter type, a married woman is the\nmother, the prodigy must be placed beyond doubt by a double or\nthreefold birth, and often by its repetition upon other animals who\npartake of the impregnating influence. This influence is generally\nconveyed in food. The peoples among whom the stories originated were\neither savages, or in a stage of civilisation but little advanced\nbeyond that of savagery. They credited every marvel because they knew\nlittle of the properties of nature. Of the organisation of their own\nbodies they entertained the most rudimentary notions. Whether from an\nanalogy between the normal act of impregnation and that of eating and\ndrinking, or because they had learned that at least one mode of\noperating effectively on the organism, for purposes alike of injury\nand healing, was by drugs taken through the mouth, this was the\nfavourite method of supernatural impregnation. In the stories we have\nalready considered, fish or fruit has been the kind of food oftenest\nemployed. Similar incidents are very numerous outside the Perseus\ngroup.\n\nAmong Slavonic nations, the agency of a fish, even in the special form\nin which it appears in the story of _The King {73} of the Fishes_, is\nnot uncommon as an opening to other tales. Several are cited by\nLeskien and Brugman in the notes to their _Litauische M\u00e4rchen_; and\nof them we may mention one or two. A Serbo-Croatian tale exhibits an\neel cut into four pieces, of which the woman, the mare and the bitch\neat one each and bear twins; the remaining piece, being buried, grows\nup into two golden swords. In a tale from the seaboard of Croatia a\nfisherman cuts a fish into three, giving a part each to his wife, the\nmare and the bitch, and hanging the scales in the chimney. The latter\nare forgotten in the sequel; but twins are born to the woman and the\nanimals. A king in a Czech tale causes two fish with golden and silver\nfins to be caught. He eats one and his consort the other, with the\nresult that she bears two boys, one with a golden, the other with a\nsilver, star on his forehead. One of Afanasief\u2019s Russian tales relates\nhow a beggar advised a king to assemble boys and girls of seven years\nold, and let the maidens spin and the boys in one night knit together\na net with which a carp having golden fins is to be caught for the\nqueen to eat. The dog, however, gets the intestines, and the three\nmares the water wherein the fish has been washed; while the cookmaid\ngnaws the bones. Queen, cook and dog bear each a son named Ivan, of\nwhom the dog\u2019s son is the strongest; and he makes a successful raid\nunderground on the realm of the monsters. The mares bear a foal each.\nA childless king, in another of Afanasief\u2019s tales, builds a bridge\nover a pathless swamp; and when it is finished he sends a servant to\nhide and listen to the remarks of the wayfarers. Two beggars approach.\nThe one praises the king; the other says: \u201cOne ought to wish him\nposterity.\u201d And he goes on to prescribe a silken draw-net knit by\nnight {74} before cock-crow. This, if let down into the sea, would\ncatch a golden fish; and the queen, eating thereof, would bear a son.\nA Polish tale represents a Gipsy woman as counselling a noble, but\nbarren, lady to catch a fish full of roe in the sea, and to eat the\nroe at sunset at full-moontide. Her chambermaid, however, tastes it\nalso, and, like her mistress, bears a son.[74.1] In Bohemia the tale\nis related of a childless monarch, who issues a proclamation offering\na reward to any one who will find means whereby he may obtain an heir.\nAn old woman presents herself and offers her help, on condition of\nbeing maintained until her death in honour in the royal palace. Her\nterms being accepted, she hastens to the brook which flows through the\nroyal gardens and draws forth a gold-fish and a silver-fish. When\nthese are cooked the queen eats the gold-fish and the beldam the\nsilver-fish. The former bears a son on whose forehead beams a golden\nstar, and the latter a son similarly adorned with a star of\nsilver.[74.2]\n\nThe population of Eastern Pomerania is probably in the main Slavonic.\nThere the people tell of a queen to whom a beggar-woman brought two\nfishes to be eaten by herself; nobody else was to taste them. The cat,\nhowever, stole one; and she and the queen bore a son apiece.[74.3]\nOutside the Slavonic populations, the incident in this form does not\nseem a favourite in Europe. But we find in Iceland a story of an\nearl\u2019s wife, to whom three women in blue mantles appear in a dream,\nand command her to go to a stream at hand, and, laying herself down,\nto drink of it and try to get into her mouth a certain trout she will\nsee {75} there, when she will at once conceive. These women are\ndoubtless Norns, for they appear again at the birth and pronounce the\nfate of the daughter who is born to the lady in consequence.[75.1]\n\nAmong the Eskimo it is also a woman who provides the fish. She meets\nthe husband, and from her bag produces two small dried fishes, a male\nand a female. His wife is to eat the former if a son be desired, the\nlatter if a daughter. As he does not want a daughter, he himself eats\nthe female fish, with the wholly unexpected result that he himself\ngives birth to the daughter.[75.2]\n\nTwo curious tales are recorded from Annam. One of them, thought by M.\nLandes, who collected it, to be of Chinese provenience, speaks of a\nchildless man who determined to eat an enormous eel known to inhabit a\ncertain river-confluence. To him a bonze comes and begs him to spare\nit. When he cannot prevail, the holy man asks for food ere he retires.\nHe is given the usual vegetables, cooked according to Buddhist ritual\nfor this purpose without salt or seasoning, and then goes away. The\nother man catches the eel by poisoning the water; and when it is\ncooked the food offered to the bonze is found in its stomach: hence it\nis known that the bonze was no other than a manifestation of the eel.\nAfter the man has eaten the eel, his wife becomes pregnant and gives\nbirth to a son, who ultimately proves the ruin of his parents. In\nshort, he is no other than the eel, who thus avenges itself on its\nmurderer.[75.3] Here we find expressly asserted the identity of the\nprogeny with the mysterious fish, a subject whereto {76} I shall have\nto return in a future chapter. The other Annamite story is a variant\nof the well-known group of _The Lucky Fool_. A lazy man was once lying\non a raft when a fish leaped upon it. The man caught the fish, scraped\noff its scales; and, being too slothful to rise and wash it in the\nwater, he rinsed it in his own urine, and threw it on the raft to dry.\nIt is, however, carried off by a raven into the king\u2019s daughter\u2019s\ngarden. Her maids bring it to her; and when it is cooked she eats it,\nand immediately becomes pregnant. In due time she gives birth to a\nson; and the king summons all the men of his kingdom that he may\nchoose a husband for her. The lazy man floats his raft to the front of\nthe palace. The princess\u2019 son sees him from the palace-roof, and hails\nhim as his father. Believing in this wise child, the king sends for\nthe lazy man to his presence, and gives him the princess in\nmarriage.[76.1] Such was the reward of laziness.\n\nIn India the ordinary mode of supernatural conception is by the eating\nof fruit. A few examples will suffice. I have in a previous chapter\nrelated Somadeva\u2019s tale of Ind\u00edvarasena and his brother, who were\nborn in consequence of their mother\u2019s eating two heavenly fruits. The\n_Kath\u00e1-sarit-S\u00e1gara_, or _Ocean of the Streams of Story_, contains\nother narratives to the same effect. Concerning the birth of the\nfamous hero Vikram\u00e1ditya, it tells us that Siva appeared to his\nmother in a dream and gave her a fruit.[76.2] Another childless queen,\nafter propitiating Siva, receives a fruit in a dream from \u201ca certain\nman with matted locks,\u201d no doubt a fakir.[76.3] In modern folklore\nSiva appears in the garb of a _jog\u00ed_, or fakir, to a childless king\n{77} and hands him four fruits, which the queen is to eat the\nfollowing Sunday before sunrise, and she will then bear four sons, who\nwill be exceedingly clever and good.[77.1] Elsewhere we are told of a\nrajah, who has seven wives, but no offspring. He is given by a fakir a\nstick, with instructions to knock down seven mangoes from a certain\ntree and, catching them as they fall, to take them home to his seven\nwives. Six of the wives eat the seven mangoes; and the seventh wife is\nreduced to eating one of the mango-stones thrown away by the other\nwives. All seven give birth to sons; but the son of the seventh is\nborn in monkey-form. He is, of course, the hero, his brothers playing\nthe same part towards him as those of Joseph, or those of Khodadad in\nthe _Arabian Nights_.[77.2] A barren woman in another tale goes to\nMahadeo, or Siva. He meets with her in his customary disguise as a\nfakir, and gives her a mango, whereof she and two other women, who\ndesire the same boon but have been deterred from reaching the god by\nthe dangers of the way, are to eat. She is blessed with a son, and the\nother women with a daughter each.[77.3] Mangoes, indeed, seem the\nusual prescription in Indian folktales.\n\nOther fruits are not wanting. A fakir gives to a monarch who is\nwithout issue one hundred and sixty _lich\u00ed_ fruits, which resemble\nplums--one for each of his wives.[77.4] Barleycorns are given by\nanother holy man for the same pious purpose.[77.5] The _Adventures of\nK\u00e2mr\u00fbp_, a literary romance {78} in Hindustani, tells of a king who\nhad no children. He is presented by a fakir with a fruit of _sr\u00ee_, or\nprosperity. It is eaten by his queen; and she and six other ladies who\ntaste it add to the population on the same day.[78.1] The youngest of\nseven brothers, in a Santali story, plants a certain vegetable which\nbears a fruit. He measures its growth daily, until it becomes a span\nlong and then remains stationary. He warns his sisters-in-law: \u201cDo not\neat my fruit, for whoever does so will give birth to a child only one\nspan long.\u201d The temptation is too great for one of them. She plucks\nthe fruit and eats it; and though she, in common with the other\nsisters-in-law, positively denies the theft, she is found out in due\ntime by the advent of a baby one span long--a Santali Tom Thumb.[78.2]\n\nAccording to a tale of the Altaic tribes of South Siberia, a girl when\nmarried is found to be already pregnant. On being questioned, her\naccount of the matter was that she had picked up a lump of ice which\nhad fallen with a heavy rain, and on breaking it in pieces she had\nfound inside, and eaten, two grains of wheat. When her time came she\nbore twin boys.[78.3] A curious legend obtained by Professor Haddon\nfrom an islander of Torres Straits declares that a woman, who had been\ndeprived of her husband by a supernatural female and set adrift on the\nsea, was cast away on an island where she had no other food than some\nseeds which ornamented her ear-pendants. After consuming them she\ndiscovered that she was in the way to become a mother, and laid an\negg, like a sea-eagle\u2019s, out of which she hatched a bird. The bird\nsupported her, and at length brought her back to her husband.[78.4]\n\n{79}\n\nMohammedan stories attach, as we might expect, inordinate value to the\nmale sex. They represent the fruit as eaten by the father, rather than\nby the mother. The _Qissa Agar o Gul_ is an Urdu adaptation of a\nPersian romance. It was published as lately as 1880 at Lucknow. Here\nthe fruit, a couple of apples, is given by a dervish to a king and his\nvizier, neither of whom has issue. Each of them eats his apple, and\nbegets--the king, a son, and the vizier, twins, boy and girl.[79.1] I\nhave already referred incidentally to the case of Khodadad, who was\none of fifty brethren begotten by a childless monarch upon his fifty\nwives, after eating as many pomegranate seeds. He had incessantly\nprayed for offspring, and was commanded in a dream by a man \u201cof\nsemblance like unto a prophet\u201d to rise at dawn, and, saying certain\nprayers, to go to his Chief Gardener, from whom he was to require a\npomegranate and to take of it as many seeds as seemed best to\nhim.[79.2] Another sultan is represented in the same great collection\nas receiving from a _Takr\u00fari_, one of a Moslem negroid people\ncredited by the Arabs with magical powers, a portion of certain\nmedicinal roots, to be eaten by himself.[79.3] So in the Turkish\n_History of Forty Vezirs_, where a childless king beseeches the\nintercession of a convent of dervishes, and sends them a fat ram and\nan offering of rice, honey and oil, the sheykh of the convent returns\nhim a bowlful \u201cof that meat,\u201d ordering him to \u201cdesire a son and eat of\nthe dervishes\u2019 portion.\u201d[79.4] Yet the rule is not without exception.\nA sovereign of Serendib, in the _Bahar Danush_, receives from a\nreligious recluse an apple with instructions to give {80} it to his\nconsort.[80.1] A tale told by the Kabyles of the Lower Atlas speaks of\na man who bought seven apples for his seven wives. Growing hungry, he\nate half of one, or, according to a variant, he gave it to a man who\nmet him. The result was that the wife who had only the other half\nbrought forth a dwarf.[80.2] And in a Balochi tale a fakir gives a\nking two kunar-fruits (_Zizyphus Jujuba_), one to be eaten by himself\nand the other by his wife.[80.3] These exceptions, however, are more\napparent than real. The _Bahar Danush_ is an Indian work, composed in\nthe reign of Shah Jehan by In\u0101yatu \u2019ll\u0101h of Delhi, who professed to\nhave received the stories of which it is composed from a Brahman. This\nis merely another way of saying that they are drawn from earlier\nIndian sources. The Kabyles are mountain tribes related to the\nBerbers. The religion of the Apostle of Allah sits lightly upon them.\nTheir aboriginal precepts are at least as much regarded as those of\nthe Koran; and so far are their social relations from being dominated\nby Arab customs, that their women enjoy free and unrestricted\nintercourse with both sexes, and are looked upon as almost if not\nquite the equals of men. The Balochis pay little more respect than the\nKabyles to Islam; and their religious practices are largely tinged\nwith their ancestral paganism and that of their neighbours.\n\nWhen a European folktale, on the other hand, exhibits the husband as\ndevouring the magical fruit meant for his wife, it does not fail to\nmake him repent it. For example, in a Portuguese tale from Algarve, a\nwoman who confesses to Saint Antony, and confides to him her despair\nof children, receives from the saint three apples to be eaten fasting.\nArrived at home, she puts the apples down and {81} prepares breakfast.\nHer husband, meanwhile, coming in, finds and eats them. When he\nlearned what he had done he was terrified, and sent his wife back to\nthe holy man, only to have his terrors confirmed. As the time arrived\nhe began to scream; nor had he any alleviation of his agony until a\nperson who understood came and cut him open, and brought forth a\ndaughter.[81.1] But in cases where both parents partake of the fruit,\nthe natural way of birth is the result. An old woman in an Abruzzian\ntale gives a fisherman\u2019s wife an orange, to be eaten, half by herself\nand the other half by her husband. The rind is to be thrown at the\nfoot of an orange-tree in the garden. A boy is born, and a sword grows\nat the foot of the orange-tree.[81.2] A Greek tradition belonging to\nthe Bluebeard cycle relates that an ogre divided an apple between a\nking and his wife, on condition that the eldest son was to be given to\nhim. The queen thereafter bears three boys. This is from the island of\nSyra. A story from Ziza in Epirus speaks of two spouses who had lived\nwith one another for forty years without issue, and who obtained a boy\nunder similar conditions; and a mare to which they give the\napple-parings bore a foal.[81.3] On the whole we are probably\nwarranted in {82} conjecturing that Mohammedanism has influenced all\nthe stories where the husband consumes the fruit without evil results;\nand that they are a departure from the earlier form, in which the wife\neats it alone. A variant of the last-mentioned _m\u00e4rchen_, also from\nEpirus, follows the usual rule. There a queen was presented with an\napple by a Jew. She ate it and threw the peel away, and the mare\ndevoured it. By and by the queen and the mare were both found\npregnant.[82.1] Beyond the \u00c6gean Sea the Hellenic population has\npreserved the same version of the incident in a tale from Smyrna of a\nqueen on whom a dervish confers three apples, with directions to eat\nthem and she will have three boys.[82.2] So, in a French tale from\nLouisiana, a lady is given an apple by an old woman. She eats the\napple and throws the peel in the yard, where it is eaten by a mare.\nThe next morning, so rapid is the effect of magical power, both she\nand the mare have brought forth young.[82.3]\n\nThe Russians have the story in a shape recalling some of the variants\nof the Danae type. A Tsaritsa, to quench her thirst, draws water from\na white marble well in a golden cup. She drinks eagerly, and with the\nwater swallows a pea, thus becoming pregnant of a son who is destined\nto achieve the destruction of the Savage Serpent.[82.4] In White\nRussia we hear of a woman who, having drawn water, is returning with\nher bucket when she sees a pea rolling along. Saying to herself, \u201cThis\nis the gift of God,\u201d she picks it up, eats it, and in course of time\nbecomes the {83} mother of a tiny boy, \u201cwho grew not by years, but by\nhours, like millet-dough when leavened,\u201d and became a hero of enormous\nstrength and wisdom, called Little Rolling-pea.[83.1]\n\nThe consumption of some kind of drug, or enchanted compound, is also\nan approved method of causing pregnancy, especially (if we may judge\nby the proportion of tales wherein it appears) in India. In the\nBengali tale of _Life\u2019s Secret_ a fakir offers a drug to a childless\nqueen, to remove her barrenness, telling her that if she swallow it\nwith the juice of a pomegranate flower a son will be born, whose life\nshall be bound up in a golden necklace, in a wooden box, in the heart\nof a big boal-fish, in the tank in front of the palace.[83.2] A\nBuddhist tale, originally from India, has been found, containing the\nincident, in Ceylon, and also in the _Kah-gyur_, a Tibetan version of\nan Indian collection no longer extant. It narrates how Indra, the king\nof the gods, taking pity on his friend, King Sakuni, sends him a\nmedicine, of which his wives are to drink, and he will thereby obtain\nsons and daughters.[83.3] Often a bargain is made, as in some of the\nEuropean tales already cited, that the queen shall bear twins, one of\nwhom is to be given to the holy man, or supernatural being, through\nwhose gift the curse of barrenness has been taken away. So in another\nBengali tale a religious mendicant came to a king who had no issue,\nand said: \u201cAs you are anxious to have a son, I can give the queen a\ndrug, by swallowing which she will give birth to twin sons; but I will\ngive the medicine on this condition, that of those twins you will {84}\ngive one to me and keep the other yourself.\u201d[84.1] And the same\nbargain is made by a _jogi_ in a folktale from the Kamaon in the\nHimalaya, in giving a fruit, which, divided between a king\u2019s seven\nwives, causes them to bear a son apiece.[84.2] Nor is the bargain\nconfined to India. In a tale told by the Swahili, or mongrel\ninhabitants, half Negro half Arab, of Zanzibar, a demon came disguised\nas a man to a sultan who lacked a son, and asked: \u201cIf I give you a\nmedicine, and you get a son, what will you give me?\u201d The sultan offers\nhalf his property; but it is rejected. He then offers half his towns.\nThe demon replies: \u201cI am not satisfied.\u201d The sultan inquires: \u201cWhat do\nyou want, then?\u201d And he said: \u201cIf you get two children, give me one,\nand take one yourself.\u201d The sultan said: \u201cI have consented.\u201d The demon\naccordingly brings him a medicine, which his wife takes and bears\nthree sons.[84.3]\n\nSometimes the drug is given by one of the lower animals, most of\nwhich, it is hardly necessary to remind the reader, are regarded by\npeoples in the lower culture as of superhuman power or knowledge. In a\nKaffir story, a bird gives a childless wife some pellets to be taken\nbefore food, and she consequently bears a beautiful daughter.[84.4] A\ncurious tale was related to the Rev. Charles Swynnerton in the Panjab\nof a snake who was about to eat a young man, when his wife wept and\nasked the creature what would become of her when her husband was\neaten;--why was he {85} going to inflict this injury upon her? The\nserpent in remorse crept back to his hole and fetched two magical\nglobules, saying: \u201cHere, foolish woman, take these two pills and\nswallow them, and you will have two sons to whom you can devote\nyourself, and who will take good care of you!\u201d The girl, however,\nreplied: \u201cBut what about my good name?\u201d The snake, who knew not that\nshe was already wed, became exasperated. \u201cWomen are such preposterous\nbeings!\u201d he cried, as he fetched two more pills. These he gave to the\ndisconsolate girl, telling her: \u201cWhen any of your neighbours revile\nyou on account of your sons, take one of these pills between finger\nand thumb, hold it over them, rubbing it gently so that some of the\npowder may fall on them, and immediately you will see them consume\naway to ashes.\u201d Tying the former pills in her cloth, the girl looked\nat these new pills incredulously. Then, with a sudden thought, she\ngently rubbed them over the snake, saying with an innocent air: \u201cO\nsnake, explain this mystery to me again! Is this the way I am to rub\nthem?\u201d The moment the magical powder touched the snake he was set on\nfire; and in another instant he was merely a long wavy line of grey\ndust lying on the ground.[85.1] In one of the _Arabian Nights_ the\npotent drug is the flesh of two serpents. It is prescribed by King\nSolomon to a king of Egypt and his vizier, both of whom were without\nissue. The serpents in question were remarkable: the one had a head\nlike an asp\u2019s, the other a head like an ifrit\u2019s. And their flesh forms\nan exception to the Mohammedan rule already noted in these cases, for\nit was to be given to the wives of the childless men.[85.2]\n\nComing to Europe, we find a story told at Torricella {86} Pelligna, in\nthe Abruzzi, where a fairy, under the form of an old woman, tells the\nking that he will have no children until the queen shall drink a\ndecoction made with three hairs from the devil\u2019s beard. A servant is\naccordingly despatched for these precious materials; and when, after\nvarious adventures, he returns with them, the prescription proves so\nsuccessful that the queen bears a daughter fair as the sun.[86.1] The\nmedicine, however, is more frequently used in European _m\u00e4rchen_ to\ngratify spite against an unfortunate maiden, by putting her\nunwittingly into a condition inconsistent with maidenhood. In a Tuscan\ntale, for example, a stepmother hates her stepdaughter, and is taught\nby a beggar-woman how to injure her. She accordingly prepares, from\nthe blood of seven wild beasts, a philtre whose property it is to\ncause pregnancy. Her father consents to her being put to death; but\nthe ruffians charged with the crime content themselves by simply\nabandoning her in the wood. She is delivered in due time of a dragon\nwith seven heads of different animals, who becomes his mother\u2019s\nguardian, procures for her an honourable marriage with a king, and\nultimately transforms himself into a man.[86.2] A South Slavonic tale\nfrom Varadzin yields a similar plot. There it is a queen whose\ndaughter is beloved by her father to such an extent as to rouse her\njealousy. She is advised by a tramp to go on Good Friday to a\nchurchyard, dig up a bone, grate it, and give the gratings to her\ndaughter next {87} morning in her coffee. The girl becomes pregnant,\nand is set adrift on a ship. She bears a son who is spotted, but who,\nafter various adventures, is disenchanted of his foul deformity.[87.1]\n\nWe shall hereafter have to consider several superstitious beliefs and\npractices in connection with the dead. Here I simply pause to mention\ntwo other Slav stories attributing to portions of dead human bodies\nthe reproductive faculty. The first comes to us from Bohemia, where it\nis said that a gravedigger\u2019s beautiful daughter was followed about by\na skull that never quitted her feet. By a witch\u2019s advice her father\nburned it and made his daughter swallow the ashes. In consequence of\nso doing, she gave birth to a son who held mysterious converse with\nthe Sleeping Heroes beneath Mount Blanik.[87.2] The other is a\nLithuanian story from Godleva, concerning a hermit who, in obedience\nto God\u2019s express command, burned himself alive by way of penance. The\nday after his immolation a hunter passed by the place, and turned\naside to see the remains of the pyre, and ascertain the cause of the\nstrange smell. Poking among the ashes he found the hermit\u2019s heart,\nwhich he took home to his daughter to cook for his supper. She,\nhowever, ate it herself and in two hours bore a son of powers, it need\nhardly be said, as remarkable as his parentage.[87.3] It is {88}\ninteresting to observe that in India potency of this kind is attached\nto fakirs and religious mendicants. A special privilege would seem to\nbelong in the popular mind to such religious consecration. Vows of\ncelibacy and other ascetic usages have their compensation. In all ages\nand countries, indeed, the virtue of asceticism, of self-sacrifice, or\nof suffering however caused, has been recognised. The Egyptian\n_m\u00e4rchen_ of _The Two Brothers_, which was written down more than\ntwelve hundred years before the Christian era, exhibits this as one of\nits central ideas. I shall have to refer to this legend again. It is\nenough to remark here that, just as the self-immolation of the hermit\nin the Lithuanian story seems to have conferred upon his heart the\nstrange quality we are discussing, Bata, the younger of the Two\nBrothers, by his unmerited sufferings acquired an inherent and\nmiraculous capacity of metamorphosis and reproduction. When the\npersea-trees, in whose form he found himself during his chequered\ncareer, were being cut down, a chip flew from one of them and entered\nthe mouth of the king\u2019s favourite, once his own wife. She swallowed it\nand, conceiving, gave birth to a male child, who was no other than a\nnew manifestation of her former husband, Bata.[88.1]\n\nFor in these tales not only the fruit but also other parts of a tree\nor shrub are endowed with the power of causing conception. In Denmark\nwe are told of a wise woman, by whose counsel a childless queen goes\ndown before sunrise into the royal garden and eats the three buds of a\ncertain {89} thorny bush. After six months the queen bears a daughter,\nwho must be kept from her parents\u2019 sight until her fourteenth\nbirthday, else both mother and child will suffer a dire\nmisfortune.[89.1] An Icelandic tale gives, by a beggar-woman\u2019s mouth,\nthe following recipe for growing the magical plant: \u201cYour majesty must\nmake them bring in two pails of water some evening before you go to\nbed. In each of them you must wash yourself, and afterwards throw away\nthe water under the bed. When you look under the bed next morning, two\nflowers will have sprung up, one fair and one ugly. The fair one you\nmust eat; the ugly one you must let stand.\u201d The temptation, however,\nwas too great for the lady. Having eaten the fair one and found it\ndelicious, she proceeded to eat the ugly one, and gave birth in due\ntime to two daughters, a fair and a loathly one. The latter, though\nhideous, is her sister\u2019s good angel, and eventually wedding the king\u2019s\nson, becomes the most beautiful woman in the world.[89.2] It will be\nremembered that the fakir in one of the Bengali tales already cited\nprescribes the juice of a pomegranate-flower to be taken with his\ndrug. Annamese folklore recounts the history of a maiden who, walking\nin a garden, plucks and eats a lovely flower. Her parents (who seem to\nhave had a shrewd opinion of religious celibates) suspected the bonze\nof a neighbouring pagoda of having dishonoured her, and sent her to\nthe pagoda, where she was delivered of no fewer than five sons of\nmarvellous powers, and all exactly alike. Questioned as to their\nnames, the first calls himself The Strong, the second\nSteel-body-iron-liver, the third Search-cloud-drive-dust, the fourth\nThe Dry, and the fifth The Damp. They get up a quarrel with the king,\nand ultimately compel him {90} to yield his throne to Search-cloud,\nwho is the wisest of the brothers.[90.1] In the _Pentameron_ a\nnobleman\u2019s sister offers a prize to that one of her maids who succeeds\nin clearing a certain rosebush at a jump. All fail; and the lady\nherself, trying it, knocks off a leaf. With great adroitness she picks\nit up and swallows it unobserved, and thus wins the prize. After three\ndays, mysterious pains seize her; and she learns with horror from a\nfriendly fairy that no doubt she is pregnant from the roseleaf she has\nswallowed. This turns out to be the fact. A lovely baby-girl is born,\nfor whom a strange destiny is in store. A spell is laid upon her by\nthe fairies that if, at seven years of age, her mother be allowed to\ncomb her, the comb will be left stuck in her hair, and she will\nthereupon die. The story follows a similar course to that of the\nDanish one just cited.[90.2] In a Tuscan folktale a woman wedded for\nmany years, but childless, obtains a son by eating \u201ca certain herb\u201d\npointed out to her by a fairy, to whom she promises in return a fair\npresent. But she and her husband neglect to fulfil the promise; and to\npunish them the boy is born and remains of diminutive size.[90.3] The\nPassamaquoddies, a North American tribe of tolerably pure blood in New\nEngland, attribute the birth of a medicine-man, a hero of their\nfolklore, to his mother\u2019s biting off every bush as she travelled\nthrough the woods. From one of these bushes, the narrative does not\nsay which of them, she comes to be with child.[90.4]\n\nRomances are, of course, literature, not folklore. In {91} other\nwords, they are the deliberate productions of civilisation, they are\nworks of conscious art. Their authority, therefore, as evidence of\ntradition is greatly inferior to that with which the report of a\nfolktale is invested. Folktales, when written down, cease to be\ntraditions. They are merely evidence of tradition preserved for us by\nreporters. Their value depends on the accuracy and knowledge with\nwhich they have been reported. The more closely they represent the\nvery words of the tellers of the tales--the bearers of the\ntraditions--the more valuable, the more authentic, they are. Romances,\non the other hand, cannot claim to be reports of traditions. They are\nsubject to the laws of art, as developed under the influences of\ncivilisation. Even when starting from real traditions, their aim is\nnot accuracy but amusement. Whatever changes are required by the\ndevelopment of taste or fashion, whatever changes will from any cause\nadd to the pleasure of the reader, their authors are at liberty--nay,\nthey are bound--to make. But when all this is conceded there remains\nthe fact that an immense number of romances start from tradition, and\nembody its characteristic barbarisms and its fantastic\nimpossibilities. Of this kind is an incident in the Spanish _Romance\nde don Tristan_ by Alonso de Salaya, written towards the end of the\nfifteenth century. It is related there that, Tristram being wounded in\na transport of jealousy by King Mark, Isolte visited him; and the two\nlovers shed abundant tears. From these tears a lily sprang. \u201cEvery\nwoman who eats of it forthwith feels herself pregnant; Queen Isolte\nate of it to her sorrow.\u201d[91.1]\n\nIn the Annamite story of _The Lazy Man_ mentioned {92} just now, the\nfish had been washed in the man\u2019s urine. A variant, also from Annam,\ndescribes a sort of female Tom Thumb, born in answer to prayer, as\neating the rind of a water-melon, the substance of which had been\neaten by a prince. The prince, before throwing the rind away, had made\nwater into it; and the heroine consequently became pregnant.[92.1] In\nboth these cases it is the man\u2019s urine that confers the efficacy upon\nthe food. A nasty Nubian tale ascribes the same result to a woman\u2019s\ndrinking, under stress of great thirst, the urine of an ass.[92.2]\n\nOther stories recall the German _Water Peter and Water Paul_,\ndiscussed in a previous chapter. A maiden in a Tjame tale, being\nthirsty, sees water spring from the midst of some rocks in the forest\nand fill a rocky basin. There she drinks and bathes. But when, on\nreturning to her father who is at work hard by, he asks her to show\nhim the spring that he may drink also, it is already dried up. Her\nsubsequent pregnancy is said to be the result of having drunk of that\nspring. She gives birth to a son round as a cocoa-nut, and covered\nwith a cocoa-nut envelope. He turns out to be a great magician. A\nprincess penetrates his disguise and marries him. At night when he\ncomes out of his envelope, his wife buries it and persuades him to\nexhibit himself in his true and beautiful manhood.[92.3] A Wallachian\n_m\u00e4rchen_ brings before us a maiden condemned by the king, her\nfather, to seclusion from her earliest infancy in a castle to which no\nmen were allowed access. {93} His precautions were vain. At the age of\nsixteen a Gipsy woman gives her a flower she declares herself to have\nfound in the forest, not far from the castle. The princess plays with\nit until the evening, and then puts it in water until the morning. The\nwater becomes purple-red, like the lovely flower itself, with little\ngolden and silver stars swimming in it, like the fragrant dust on the\npetals. The princess had never seen anything of the kind. She was so\ndelighted that she dipped the whole flower into the water and crumpled\nit up. At last she lifted up the glass, and, finding the water had\ntaken a delicious scent, she drank it to the bottom. Before long she\nhad reason to repent. Her condition became manifest, and her stern\nfather would listen to no denials. Beside himself with rage, he caused\nher to be fastened up in a cask and thrown into the sea. There she\nbore a son, and was, with the child, cast after a while on shore. The\nrest of the story unfortunately is not so much to her credit; for she\nforms a tender connection with an ogre, and plots against the son who\nhas been her support and comforter in her outcast condition.[93.1] A\nGipsy story from southern Hungary represents a childless woman as\ngiven by a witch a certain liquid, with instructions to pour it into a\ngourd, and drink it in the waxing of the moon. Unhappily, however, the\nchild is born dead. Now, a stillborn child becomes a Mulo, a kind of\nghoul dwelling in the mountains and guarding hidden treasure. This\nprospect was so terrible to the woman and her husband, that the latter\nmade a journey to the mountains, and at last got the child back from\nthe Mulo-folk, and he grew up a clever man.[93.2]\n\n{94}\n\nNor is it only by the mouth that supernatural impregnation has been\nfabled to take place. A variant from Varadzin of one of the South\nSlavonic tales quoted a few paragraphs back mentions a youth who was\nfated to kill his parents. Rather than fulfil so horrible a doom he\nburnt himself to death. But his heart remained intact and palpitating.\nA maiden passed by, saw and smelt the heart, and gave birth to a boy,\nwho was no other than the first come to life again. He had struggled\nagainst his fate in vain, and in due course, though unwittingly, he\nslew his former parents.[94.1] In a Sanskrit romance, the Princess\nChand R\u00e1wati, bathing in the Ganges, sees a flower afloat on the\nwater and takes it up to smell. It contains some _sperma genitale_\nwhich has escaped from a Rishi; the lady inhales this, with\nconsequences readily guessed, having regard to the holiness of the\nascetic. But in this case her son appropriately finds his way into the\nworld by his mother\u2019s nose. It is satisfactory to add that she\neventually marries the lad\u2019s father, and that the lad himself by his\nfilial obedience and courage obtains immortality.[94.2] Even without\nthe adventitious aid of a saint, the scent or the touch of flowers has\nbeen known in traditional songs and fairy tales to produce the same\nresult. A Gipsy story from the Land beyond the Forest speaks of a\nwoman who, by smelling a certain flower, became pregnant of a son,\nborn in the form of a serpent; and in another, from southern Hungary,\na childless queen receives from a beldam a camomile flower to bear in\nher bosom, on the stipulation she should give in exchange one of the\nsons whom she would bring into the world.[94.3] A Portuguese {95}\n_romanceiro_ speaks of an enchanted herb, which any woman who touched\nwould at once feel herself fertilised. A ballad current in Asturia\nnarrates that the princess Alexandra was fated to tread on so\napparently innocent a herb as borage. The king of Spain, her father,\nwith his parental eyes, detected that there was something the matter.\nHe summoned the doctors; and when she had given birth to a boy he\nexecuted summary justice upon her by cutting off her head.[95.1] In\nSardinia the folk tell of a maiden who, while buying some roses from a\nwoman, took them up to examine, when they all fell to pieces. The\nwoman, annoyed, cursed her to become pregnant by the petals; and her\nimprecation was only too effective.[95.2] Here it is the curse which\nprovides the magical power. A different origin is attributed to it in\na Bulgarian ballad. A widow, we are told, had nine sons who were all\ncarried off by the plague. One of them was his mother\u2019s idol. She\nburied him in her courtyard, and every day she came to weep upon his\ngrave. In obedience to a voice proceeding from the earth, she gathered\ntwo hyacinth flowers which grew upon the tomb, hid them in her bosom,\nand thus conceived afresh. A son was born, over whom she uttered the\nwish: \u201cMayest thou one day reave the kingdom from the king!\u201d When her\nwords were reported to the monarch he ordered the boy to be thrown\ninto an underground dungeon, and there left. After several years the\nking was attacked by a horrible malady; grass grew between his bones\nand his eyes littered mice. He naturally believed that this was the\nconsequence of the widowed mother\u2019s curses, and sent to the dungeon\nfor the boy\u2019s bones, for the purpose of forwarding them to her, as the\nonly consolation in his power to give her. But {96} the messengers\nfound the boy alive and reading the gospel, which was held before him\nby Saint Friday, while Saint Sunday further contributed to his\nconvenience by holding the candle. The youth, fated by his mother\u2019s\nwords, arose from his pious exercises, and going to the king, tore out\nhis eyes, cut off his hands, and turned him out of doors to beg his\nbread. Then he placed himself upon the throne, trifling the while with\na sceptre that weighed, mere toy that it was, some three hundred\npounds.[96.1]\n\nI have cited fully the substance of this ballad as given by M.\nDragomanov, because that scholar is inclined to trace the influence of\nBuddhism in the last touch. Buddha, he says, is considered as a man of\ngreat physical force, and in several places his sceptres of\nconsiderable weight are shown. The learned critic specifies none of\nthe places in question; but we may for the nonce admit the literal\naccuracy of his statement. He does not commit himself, however, to the\nassertion that no other hero of legend or fairy tale had ever been\npossessed of gigantic strength or material \u201cproperties\u201d of unusual\nproportions. He merely assumes it; and upon the validity of this\nassumption his reasoning is founded. Gautama no doubt underwent many\nincarnations; and perhaps European students may yet be persuaded to\nhold that the paladin Roland was a Bodisat and Thor a full-blown\nBuddha. They will then probably extend their articles of belief over\nthe rest of the world, including the countless personages of wondrous\nmight and bulk that swarm in the traditions of the Slavonic race, to\nwhich, in great part at all events, the Bulgars belong. The task of\nconverting them may be commended to M. Dragomanov; {97} and,\nmeanwhile, we may dismiss the suggestion of Buddhist influence on this\nBulgarian ballad.\n\nBut it is not only flowers and herbs that possess the magical virtue\nof causing conception by the touch. In an Eskimo tradition a man who\nlongs for offspring is advised to set off in his kayak to the open\nsea. When he hears a voice like that of a child crying, he must go\ntowards it; and he will then find a worm, which he must bring home and\nthrow on his wife\u2019s body. Having followed this counsel, he beholds the\nworm disappear in the woman\u2019s body; and soon afterward she gives birth\nto a son, who becomes a seal-fisher of marvellous powers.[97.1]\nAccording to a story given by Dr. von Wlislocki as current among the\nArmenian settlers at the foot of the Carpathians, a childless queen\npicked up in her garden a half-dead bird. She restored it to life,\nputting its bill between her lips to give it breath. Her saliva\ntouched its tongue and gave it human speech. By its directions she hid\nin the garden at midnight and watched until a Luckwife--that is to\nsay, a Fate or Norn--came to bathe in the pool. Then she caught up the\ngolden veil left by the Luckwife lying on the margin, and ran off with\nit. Binding it round her body, she wore it next her skin for nine\nmonths, until she at length brought forth a lovely daughter.[97.2]\n\nAnother form of assistance by birds is found among the Zulus. The\nbirth of Unthlatu was on this wise. Two pigeons came to his mother,\nwho was a chief\u2019s wife. One said: \u201cVukutu;\u201d the other asked: \u201cWhy do\nyou say \u2018Vukutu,\u2019 since she has no children?\u201d They bargain with {98}\nher for a feed of castor-oil berries in exchange for the promise of a\nchild. When they had eaten the berries they scarified her in two\nplaces on the loins, saying: \u201cYou will now have a child.\u201d She\naccordingly gave birth to a beautiful boy, whom she hid in a boa\u2019s\nskin to save him from the envy of her fellow-wives; for they had only\ngiven birth to brutes. In a variant the pigeons direct the woman to\ntake a horn and cup herself, draw out a clot of blood, place it in a\npot, lute it down and only uncover it in the ninth month. She acts\naccordingly; and on opening the pot a child is found within, to the\nastonishment of herself and her husband. Here, too, she has to hide\nthe boy from the envy of the other women.[98.1]\n\nA favourite _m\u00e4rchen_ in Italy and Sicily is one which approaches far\nmore nearly to the Danae type of the Perseus group. As told in Sicily,\na king unblessed with {99} issue summons a wizard, to inquire of him\nwhether his queen will have a babe, or not. The wizard replies that\nshe will have a daughter, who in her fourteenth year will be\nimpregnated by the sun. The child is accordingly born, and shut up\nwith her nurse in a tower where the sun cannot penetrate. One day the\nlittle maiden finds a pointed bone in her food; and with its aid she\nscratches the wall of the tower until she scrapes a hole in it.\nThrough this hole the sun shines on her and fulfils the prediction. A\ndaughter is born in due course and exposed, but found by a king\u2019s son,\nwho ultimately falls in love with her, and weds her after learning of\nwhat ancestry she comes.[99.1] The opening of this tale admits of many\nvariations having nothing to do with the Supernatural Birth. Thus, in\na Greek story from Epirus, a woman prays to the sun for a daughter,\npromising him that he may take her away when she is twelve years old.\nWhen she obtains the child, however, she seeks to evade the fulfilment\nof her promise, and hides the girl in the house, stopping up all\nwindows, chinks and holes whereby the sun can reach her. But she\nforgets to stop up the keyhole; and the sun sends a ray that way into\nthe house to seize and bring him the maiden.[99.2] A Florentine story\nrepresents the astrologer as predicting that the lass will be carried\naway by the wind; and all {100} precautions against her destiny are\nvain.[100.1] In another Sicilian tradition the soothsayer is wisely\nvaguer, his denunciations only extending to a dreadful fate at the age\nof eleven. A bird comes in through the hole the maiden has bored in\nthe wall of her tower, and becomes a man. He is, in fact, an enchanted\nprince; and the misfortune she undergoes is the loss of her beauty in\ndisenchanting him--a woe of light account in fairyland, where the\nvirtuous are ever rewarded.[100.2] A tale from the Azores relates that\na king to whom a daughter had been born consulted his book of\nastrology; and in obedience to the directions he there found he\nconfined her at the age of twelve in a tower having only one aperture,\nby which food was conveyed to her, and commanded that no bones be left\nin the meat supplied. By accident his command was disobeyed; a duke\ndressed, like MacKineely in the Irish tale, in female attire gains an\nopportunity of talking with her through the aperture. Who could resist\nsuch a temptation? The bone she had found in her food she utilises to\nenlarge the opening, so as to get out and flee with him.[100.3] A\nsimilar illustration of the impossibility of cheating fate occurs in\nan old Hebrew manuscript. King Solomon, we learn from this veracious\nauthority, had a beautiful daughter whose horoscope disclosed that she\nwas to marry a poor Israelite of low birth. He therefore built a very\nhigh tower with no entrance, and there he imprisoned her with a stock\nof victuals. For some time his precautions appeared successful; but\nafter a while a poor youth, exhausted from long travel, took shelter\nfor the night in the carcase of an ox. When he had fallen asleep a\nlarge bird obligingly carried {101} carcase and youth up to the roof\nof the tower. There to his great surprise he found himself the next\nmorning; and, like the prince borne by the Enchanted Horse in the\n_Arabian Nights_, he lost no time in making the princess\u2019\nacquaintance. They speedily fell in love with one another; but, with\nscruples that King Solomon perhaps would hardly have appreciated, he\nwrote a marriage contract in his own blood, calling upon God and the\nangels Michael and Gabriel to witness it.[101.1] In a modern\nTransylvanian Gipsy version the foreign \u201ccommon\u201d man is carried up by\na magical wooden bird, with which he has been gifted by Saint Nicholas\nin return for hospitality when the saint appeared to him in beggar\u2019s\nguise. Though a favourite with the saint, his conscience does not seem\nto have been quite so tender as that of the poor Israelite.[101.2]\nThese tales carry us back to that of Gilgamos, as it is recounted by\n\u00c6lian.\n\nHappily I am not called upon to stand sponsor here for every irregular\nbirth in a fairy tale. Cases of birth direct from fruit, diminutive\nbirths, impregnation in the ordinary way but by a supernatural being,\nand other instances, therefore need not detain us. But we ought not\naltogether to overlook the widespread story of _The Lucky Fool_. In\nthe _Pentameron_ Basile has given us what may be regarded as the\ntypical form. Pervonto is a ninny who, going to cut wood in the\nforest, finds three youths asleep and perspiring in the hot sunshine.\nTaking pity on them, he sets up a shade of oak-leaves over their\nheads; and on their awaking they endow him with the power of obtaining\nanything by a wish. When the hero has made up a bundle of wood he sets\nhimself astride of it and wishes it to carry him home. On the {102}\nway he passes on his strange palfrey the king\u2019s palace; and the\nprincess Vastolla, beholding him from the window, bursts out into loud\nlaughter. Pervonto retorts by wishing her to become pregnant by him.\nThe wish takes effect. Her children are twin boys; and at a banquet\ngiven by the king, to which all his male subjects are summoned, they\nidentify their father. The king, enraged, encloses them with his\ndaughter and Pervonto in a cask, and flings the cask into the sea.\nAgain Pervonto\u2019s magical wish becomes useful; for by its means he\nsaves them all from peril, changes himself into a fair youth, and at\nlast is reconciled to the king and recognised as Vastolla\u2019s husband.\nWhence Basile, or the lady into whose mouth he puts the tale, draws\nthe very relevant moral: Man proposes, God disposes.[102.1]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n THE SUPERNATURAL BIRTH IN SAGAS.\n\n{103}\n\nHitherto, dealing exclusively with _m\u00e4rchen_, or tales told for\nsimple amusement, we have found the incident of the Supernatural\nBirth, outside the cycle of the Perseus myth, widely scattered in\nEurope, in Asia as far east as Annam, southward among the Zulu kraals\nof Africa and northward among the snows of Greenland. Nor does it\noccur in modern folklore only. It formed one of the chain of events in\na tale of wonder carefully guarded for us through the long silence of\nthree thousand years by an Egyptian mummy, to whose arms it had been\nintrusted at his burial, a precious fragment of the literature he had\nknown and loved in life, and therefore deemed a gift appropriate to\nhis service in his everlasting home. But the story of Perseus was, at\nall events in early ages, believed as an actual occurrence by the\nsimple folk of Greece and wherever Greek influence extended the hero\u2019s\ncult. Has the possibility of a Supernatural Birth of this kind been\ncredited elsewhere and under other conditions of culture? In a land\ndominated by Christian thought the question seems superfluous. The\nmystery taught by the creeds of the Church, however, is believed to be\nsomething apart from all the other beliefs of the world, something\naltogether above {104} them, alike in its evidence and its\nconsequences. Christians in thus thinking overlook the fact that to\nthe believer in any religion its evidences are undeniable and its\nclaims are supreme. The fact is that the incident in question is part\nand parcel of many other religions than the Christian, and is also\ngravely accepted among what we may call the secular and\nquasi-historical traditions of tribes in various parts of the Old and\nNew World. Beyond this, as we shall see in another chapter, pregnancy\nis held actually producible by means analogous to those described in\nthe legends, means outside the ordinary operations of nature. Into the\nbearing of these facts on the dogma of the Supernatural Birth of Jesus\nChrist, or on the historical evidence on which that dogma rests, it is\nnot my purpose to inquire. This is a question of apologetics, not of\nfolklore.\n\nMany stories of Supernatural Birth belong to the cosmogonic legends of\nsavage and barbarous tribes. These we may for the most part pass over.\nWhat may have happened to the monsters that in the dawn of things were\nthe first to loom upon the horizon is hardly relevant. They may have\nhad reasons of their own for their extraordinary conduct. Our business\nis with beings conceived in distinctly human terms and something like\nhuman proportions. The distinction may be hard to define, seeing that\nsavage tribes hold savage opinions as to the power of men and brutes\n(or of some men, at least, and some brutes) to change their forms at\nwill. In the same way _m\u00e4rchen_ have no clear dividing line in the\nsavage mind from sagas (or stories believed in as recording actual\nevents) nor religious narratives from secular histories. It is one of\nthe characteristics of savagery that these things are not as yet\ndifferentiated. Intellectual evolution is going on; but until a {105}\nmuch higher grade of civilisation be reached we cannot be sure that\nthe divergence is complete. If, therefore, some of the stories I am\ngoing to refer to seem scarcely within the limits I have laid down,\nthese difficulties in the way of definition must be borne in mind.\n\nWe began our review of _m\u00e4rchen_ containing the incident of the\nSupernatural Birth by examples of the results of eating a magical fish\nor fruit. The fish is a means of impregnation comparatively little\nknown in sagas. A legend of the Tupis of Brazil, however, bearing\nresemblances to stories of the type of _Beauty and the Beast_,\nrepresents the hero, a supernatural being, as fertilising a young\nvirgin by means of a mysterious fish.[105.1] A curious piece of gossip\nis recorded by John Aubrey concerning Archbishop Abbot\u2019s mother, who\nis said to have dreamed that if she ate a jack the son then in her\nwomb would be a great man. Accordingly, \u201cshe arose early the next\nmorning and went with her pail to the river-side (which runneth by the\nhouse, now an ale-house, the sign of the Three Mariners) to take up\nsome water, and in the water in the pail she found a good jack, which\nshe dressed, and ate it all, or very near.\u201d Her son in due time was\nborn, and grew up to be Archbishop of Canterbury.[105.2] If not\nexactly a great man, he was an able and honest one and a patriot, who\nsuffered, by no means alone, from the superstition, or the malignity,\nof his successor, the \u201cmartyr\u201d Laud.\n\nOn the other hand, the eating of fruit is found in {106} both\nhemispheres. In India it is told, as we might have expected, of the\nbirth of R\u00e2j\u00e2 Ras\u00e2l\u00fb. R\u00e2n\u00ee Lon\u00e2n, one of the two wives of\nR\u00e2j\u00e2 S\u00e2lb\u00e2han of Si\u00e2lkot, fell in love with her stepson P\u00fbran,\nand, because he did not return her passion, traduced him to her\nhusband, who cut off his hands and feet and threw him into a well.\nP\u00fbran, however, like the hero of the Bulgarian ballad, survived this\ncruel treatment. After some years he was rescued by the Gur\u00fb\nGorakhn\u00e2th, a Brahman of great sanctity, and became a celebrated\nfakir. Not knowing who he really was, the R\u00e2n\u00ee and her husband,\ndesirous of offspring, came to him to pray for a son. He induced her\nto confess her crime; then, revealing himself, he gave her a grain of\nrice to eat, and told her she would bear a son who would be learned\nand brave and holy. That son was R\u00e2j\u00e2 Ras\u00e2l\u00fb, a monarch identified\nwith the historical Sri Sy\u00e2lapati Deva.[106.1] Gog\u00e1, a favourite\nMahratta saint, is said to have been childless until his guardian\ndeity bestowed upon him two barleycorns, one of which he gave to his\nwife and the other to his favourite mare. A son and the famous steed\nJavadia were the consequence.[106.2] The ancestry of the present, or\nManchu, dynasty of China is traced to a heavenly maiden, who, having\nbathed one day in a certain pool, found on the skirt of her raiment a\nred fruit, placed there by a magpie. After eating it she found herself\npregnant, and was delivered of a son of remarkable appearance, who\nspoke on the day of his birth. In obedience to a supernatural {107}\nvoice she called him Aisin-gioro, \u2018the heaven-born to restore order to\ndisturbed nations.\u2019 Having grown up, he embarked in a boat and drifted\ndown the river, until he reached a place where families of three\nsurnames were in constant broils. There he landed, and was breaking\noff willow branches, when a warrior, coming to draw water, saw him.\nAmazed at the hero\u2019s aspect, the warrior fetched his people, who came\nand inquired who he was. \u201cI am the son of the heavenly maiden\nFokolun,\u201d replied the youth, \u201cordained by heaven to restore peace\namong you.\u201d They took him and made him king; and he reigned there in\nOdoli city, in the desert of Omohi, east of the mountains of\nCh\u2019ang-pai-shan. A Japanese tradition, reported by P\u00e8re Amyot,\nappears to be a variant of the same story. It relates that three\nheavenly maids, of whom Fokolun was one, descended to bathe. While\nthey were praying Fokolun saw a tree half-covered with black cherries.\nShe proceeded to eat of them, with the consequences we know. Being in\nthis condition, she could not return with her sisters until she had\nbrought forth her son and handed him over to a fisherman to be bred\nup.[107.1] Fokolun is identified by Amyot with a goddess whom he calls\nPussa. It is quite possible that the present dynasty of China owes\nthis legendary origin to a similar feeling to that which dictated so\nmany of the medi\u00e6val miracle-stories in Europe. Fo-hi, the original\nfounder of the Empire, was said to have sprung from a virgin named\nChing-Mon, who ate a certain flower found on her garment after\nbathing. The striking resemblance {108} to this tale of that of\nFokolun is due to conscious forgery as little, and as much, as the\nachievements of Christian saints, equalling and surpassing the wonders\nrecorded in the Bible.[108.1]\n\nThe magpie mentioned in the Chinese version of the legend just\nrecorded is replaced by a crow in the analogous incident at the\nopening of the _Volsungasaga_. A childless king and queen, we are\ntold, besought the gods for an heir. Frigg, the mother-goddess, heard\ntheir prayers and sent them, in the guise of a crow, the daughter of\nthe giant Hrimnir, and with her an apple, of which when the queen had\neaten, she soon perceived that her wish would come to pass.[108.2] In\nthe fiftieth rune, that beautiful postscript to the Kalevala,\nMarjatta, the fair and gentle virgin, is addressed by the red bilberry\nand invited to pluck and eat. With the help of a staff she reaches\ndown the mysterious fruit; but from the ground it climbs her shoe and\nthen her knee, and so upward to her mouth, into which it slips and is\nswallowed. In this way she conceives. Her parents\u2019 reproaches are met\nby the assertion that she is the paramour of none unless it be of\nfire, and that she will bear a hero who will rule the mighty, albeit\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen himself. In her extremity she applies to Ruotus for the\nvapour-bath which Finnish women are accustomed to take to facilitate\ndelivery; but from him and his loathsome wife she gets nothing better\nthan a contemptuous recommendation of a stable in the fir-forest.\nThere, in a vapour-bath of the breath of horses, her child is born,\nand cradled in a {109} manger. She cares for him as a mother; but\nafter a while he suddenly disappears, and she goes seeking him\neverywhere. In her wandering she meets a star, and, sinking before it\non her knees, she asks:\n\n \u201c\u2018O thou star, that God created!\n Of my son dost thou know nothing,\n Where my darling son abideth,\n Where my golden apple tarries?\u2019\n And the star made haste to answer:\n \u2018If I knew I would not say it;\n He it is who hath created\n Me to gleam thro\u2019 cold and evil,\n Me to sparkle in the darkness.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe moon gives her the like answer. Then she meets the sun; and the\nsun tells her:\n\n \u201c\u2018Well I know thy little loved one.\n He it is who hath created\n Me thro\u2019 all the hours of daylight\n In the sheen of gold to dazzle,\n Me to glint in sheen of silver.\n Well I know thy little loved one.\n Yonder, woman, is thy darling,\n Plunged in marshes to the girdle,\n In the moor e\u2019en to the armpit.\u2019\u201d\n\nThus directed, Marjatta found her son and brought him home. He grew up\nbeautiful but nameless. His mother called him Floweret, but strangers\ndubbed him Idler. An old man named Virokannas came to baptize and\nbless him, but hesitated to do so ere he had been examined and proved.\nThen came V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen old and trusty, who sentenced the boy, as he\nhad been taken from the marsh and was sprung from a berry, to be laid\nupon the ground of the berry-bearing meadow, or taken to the marsh,\nand {110} his head crushed with a tree. But the son of the berry\nreplies:\n\n \u201c\u2018O thou old man without insight,\n Without insight, full of folly!\n Thou hast given a foolish sentence;\n Ill thou hast the laws expounded!\u2019\u201d\n\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen himself had taken the child of his own mother and\nthrown it into the water to redeem his own life. The boy reminds him\nof this, and hints that he will have to pay the penalty of his deed.\nVirokannas then quickly baptizes the boy, and blesses him to become\nking of Karjala and guardian of all powers.\n\nI have narrated this incident somewhat at length, to exhibit the\nobvious mixture of heathen and Christian elements which it contains.\nMarjatta, there can be little doubt, is the Virgin Mary; Ruotus has\nbeen identified with Herod; and the discomfiture and departure of\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen, which follow the cited passages, point very clearly to\nthe expulsion of paganism as typified by the mighty figure of the\ngreat sorcerer. L\u00f6nnr\u00f6t\u2019s method in the compilation of the epic from\nfragmentary songs leaves much to be desired in the certainty of\ntraditional origin of many of its verses, perhaps of entire episodes;\nand the one before us may not be free from suspicion. Yet it is hardly\nlikely that the poet would have had recourse to the savage conceit of\nthe berry, had he not found it already in the legend he has presented\nto us. It would be difficult to match it in the sagas of modern\nEurope. As we saw just now, the analogous conceit of the fish is found\nin the case of Archbishop Abbot in no bolder shape than a dream. So\nthe Irish _Life of Saint Molasius of Devenish_, preserved to us in a\nmanuscript, written, probably from dictation, in {111} the sixteenth\ncentury--that is to say, not long before the English tale became\ncurrent--presents the holy man\u2019s mother as dreaming \u201cthat she got\nseven fragrant apples; and the last apple of them that she took into\nher hand her grasp could not contain it for its size; gold (as it\nseemed to her) was not lovelier than the apple.\u201d Her husband\ninterprets the dream of \u201can offspring, excellent and famous, with\nwhich the mouths of all Ireland shall be filled:\u201d an interpretation of\ncourse justified by the saint\u2019s birth.[111.1] We may conjecture that\nthe legend in an earlier form related that impregnation took place by\nmeans of an apple; but before it was put into writing, perhaps long\nbefore, the incident had been modified by the slowly growing\nintelligence of the folk who related it.\n\nTo the aborigines of North America, however, this unusual mode of\ngeneration has always been within the limits of belief. Yehl, the\nfamous hero of the North-west Coast, effected one of his numerous\nbirths by transforming himself into a spear of cedar or a blade of\ngrass, or, as it is told in a variant, a drop of water, and being\nswallowed by his principal opponent\u2019s daughter, or sister, as she was\ndrinking. Most legendary heroines have been satisfied with one such\nmiracle. This lady seems to have been {112} specially unfortunate; and\nwe do not wonder at the suspicions of her natural guardian, when we\nare expressly told that she was not allowed to eat or drink anything\nuntil the chief had examined it, as she had become pregnant from\neating certain things many times before. One man cannot know all\nYehl\u2019s adventures, as the Thlinkit very truly assert; for all their\naccounts differ. The adventure we are now dealing with was undertaken\nfor the purpose of rescuing the sun, moon and stars, which his\nantagonist, whose favourite grandson he thus became, had stored away\nin three mysterious chests. On a previous occasion he had assumed the\nunlikely form of a small pebble on the sea-shore. A woman whose sons\nhad all been slain by her brother was pacing the beach and weeping for\nthe dead, when a large fish--it is equally credible whether a dolphin\nor a whale--pitied her and spoke to her, telling her to swallow the\npebble and drink some sea-water. She did so, and bore a child, Yehl,\nwho avenged her on his uncle. After all his various achievements on\nbehalf of mankind, Yehl became the totem of the Raven Clan of the\nThlinkit.[112.1] When America was discovered, the Aztecs, though they\nhad not emerged from the Stone Age, were, compared with the Thlinkit,\na civilised people. Yet they continued to believe in the generation of\ntheir famous god Quetzalcoatl in a similar manner to that of Yehl. One\n{113} account relates that he owed his birth to a precious green\nstone, identified by Captain Bourke with the turquoise, which his\nmother Chimalma found one day while sweeping, and swallowed.[113.1]\n\nI shall have to recur to American traditions; but I must first mention\nother instances of pregnancy from eating or drinking. Heitsi-Eibib,\nthe Hottentot ancestor-god, owed his birth to this cause. In one of\nthe legends a young girl picks a kind of juicy grass, chews it and\nswallows the sap. Thence becoming pregnant, she gives birth to the\nhero. In another legend it is a cow that eats of a certain grass, and\nHeitsi-Eibib is consequently born as a bull-calf.[113.2] In the saga\nof _Ardshi-Bordshi_ we are told that a childless queen procured from a\nhermit a handful of earth to be boiled in sesame oil in a porcelain\nvessel. On boiling it, behold! it was changed into barley porridge,\nwhich she ate, but neglected to eat the whole of it, as the hermit\ncommanded. When she had eaten she found herself \u201cin blessed\ncircumstances,\u201d and bore Vikram\u00e2ditya, a Bodisat and a king of\nrenown. Her maid, having finished what was left of the porridge, was\nalso delivered of a boy, who became the Bodisat\u2019s faithful\ncompanion.[113.3] Here, as M. Cosquin remarks, we are reminded of the\n_m\u00e4rchen_ in the _Pentameron_, already cited. The material eaten\nbears us back to a story alleged to be part of the Siamese cosmology.\n{114} After a gradual degeneration of the human race, we are assured,\nthe sea will be dried up and the earth destroyed by fire. Converted\ninto dust and ashes, it will be purified by a wind, which will carry\noff all remains of the conflagration. So sweet an odour will then\nexhale from the purified soil that it will draw from heaven a female\nangel, who will take of this sweet-smelling substance and eat. The\npleasure will cost her dear; for she will no more be able to ascend to\nher native home, and by means of her strange food she will conceive\nand give birth to twelve sons and daughters, who will repopulate the\nworld. For an inconceivably long period this new race will remain\ngross and ignorant, until in the fulness of time a god will be born to\ndissipate the darkness by teaching the true religion, the virtues that\nmust be practised, the vices that must be shunned and all other\nsciences needful to be known, giving to the people scriptures where\nall these things are explained, and writing upon their hearts the holy\nlaw, so long effaced from the mind of man.[114.1]\n\nThe _Shih King_, one of the sacred books of the Chinese, contains an\node intended to be recited at a sacrifice in the ancestral temple of\nShang. It refers to the origin of Shang\u2019s father Hsieh. His mother was\na concubine of Kh\u00fb, a ruler who flourished in the twenty-fifth\ncentury before Christ. She was bathing, as these Chinese heroines\nfrequently are on such occasions, when a heaven-commissioned {115}\nswallow dropped an egg, which she took and gulped down, becoming in\nthis way the mother of Hsieh.[115.1] The lady is not here, as in the\ncase of other founders of Chinese dynasties, represented as a maiden.\nYu\u2019s mother, for instance, appears to be thus regarded. A pearl, a\nsubstance not more unpromising than a pebble, fell in her bosom, and\nshe swallowed it. According to one version the boy was born from her\nbreast.[115.2] A Mongolian tale traces the origin of the Chinese\nnation to a Khan\u2019s daughter, who compelled a poor Band\u00e9 to disgorge a\nprecious stone as big as a sheep\u2019s eye, which he had stolen from two\nmen, and swallowed. As soon as he brought it up, she seized and\nswallowed it in her turn. It rendered her pregnant. The Band\u00e9, by\nreading a charm, turned her into a she-ass; and in this form she gave\nbirth to twin boys, one good, the other evil. From them the Chinese\nnation is descended.[115.3] Several Tartar tribes ascribe their\nlineage to Alankava, the virgin daughter of Gioubin\u00e9, son of Bolduz,\nking of the Mongols. One night a great light awakened and embraced\nher, entering her mouth and passing through her body. As this peculiar\nproceeding was repeated every night, in order to dissipate suspicions\nof her virtue (for she had become pregnant) the chiefs of the national\nassembly were introduced into her chamber to witness the occurrence.\nWhen her time was come she gave birth to three boys, each of whom was\nthe ancestor of a tribe, and from one of whom Genghis Khan and\nTamerlane descended.[115.4] An Irish tradition more modestly (probably\n{116} for reasons discussed on a previous page) presents the mother of\nKieran, the first saint born on Hibernian soil, as only dreaming that\na star fell into her mouth.[116.1]\n\nThe heroic traditions of Ireland--at least those of Ulster--do not\nstick at a dream. Both Conchobar and Cuchulainn were of supernatural\nbirth. Cathba, the noble Druid, was thirsty one night; and Ness, his\nwife, finding nothing in the house, went down to the river Conchobar\nand drew from thence, filtering the water through her veil. When she\nbrought it to her husband and a light was struck, lo! there were two\nworms in the water. Thereupon Cathba drew his sword and forced his\nwife, under threat of death, to drink what she had brought for him.\nShe drank two mouthfuls, and swallowed at each mouthful one of the\nworms. She soon found she had conceived; and it was of those worms she\nhad conceived, though later times discredited this, asserting that the\nking of Ulster was her lover and the father of her child\nConchobar.[116.2] This mode of conception was a family failing, for\nCuchulainn, Conchobar\u2019s nephew, was born in the same way. His mother,\nDechtire, Conchobar\u2019s sister, returning from the funeral of a\nfoster-son of whom she had been very fond, asked for a drink in a\nbronze cup. As she put the cup to her lips she felt a little creature\nenter her mouth with the drink. After drinking she lay down to sleep,\nand a man appeared to her in a dream, telling her, among other things,\nthat {117} he had been her foster-son, that now he had entered her\nwomb and she was pregnant of him, and that he was to be called\nSetanta. This man was Lug, one of the ancient Celtic divinities,\nidentified with the grandson of Balor, the mythical warrior of Tory\nIsland.[117.1]\n\nThe manuscripts in which both these stories are preserved are much\nolder than those that record the dreams preceding the births of Saints\nKieran and Molasius. Yet the life of Saint Molasius, modern though it\nbe in the recension we possess, attributes to its hero the power so\noften wielded by an Indian fakir. When he was journeying, with certain\nof his clerics, in the land of Carbery he saw a woman milking, who\nreplied courteously and even generously to a request for a drink for\nhis attendant. In return, she prayed for the saint\u2019s intercession to\nbe relieved of her barrenness, for hitherto she was childless. Then\nMolasius bade her: \u201cCall thy husband; let him take my cup to the well\nand bring us back its fill of water in it.\u201d When the water was given\ninto his hand he blessed and consecrated it, and passed it to the\nwoman to drink, prophesying that henceforth she should be pregnant and\nbear a son, who was to be \u201cgood, miraculous, saintly, wonder-working,\nrighteous.\u201d Thus was born \u201cthe very noble bishop Finnacha,\u201d so named\nby Molasius when he gave his mother to drink.[117.2] The _Book of the\nDun Cow_ at the end of the eleventh century gives a similar incident\nin a much more savage form. Dermot, king of Ireland, had {118} several\nwives, of whom Mughain was unhappy, because she had no children and\nthe king was purposing to dismiss her. So she sought out Finnian and\nbishop Aedh, and implored their succour. They blessed water and gave\nit her to drink; but the result was nothing more encouraging than a\nlamb. Finnian consoled her as best he could for the mishap, and\nblessed more water. The next time she brought forth a salmon literally\nof silver. This, of course, was appropriated by the holy man for the\nservice of the church as material for a reliquary and other sacred\nobjects. Then he and bishop Aedh made another and supreme effort. They\nblessed her, and one of them put water into his cup and gave it to the\nqueen, who both drank of it and washed in it. She ought perhaps to\nhave done this before, for \u201cby this process she found herself with\nchild, and, this time, had a son, who was Aedh Sl\u00e1ine.\u201d[118.1]\n\nBefore considering other stories of impregnation by drinking, let me\nrefer to one more Irish tale. It concerns the birth of Boeth\u00edne, son\nof Cred, the daughter of Ron\u00e1n, king of Leinster, and is found in the\n_Leabhar breac_, a manuscript of the beginning of the fifteenth\ncentury. The maiden gathered cress on which the _sperma genitale_ of a\ncertain robber, Findach by name, had just fallen, and ate it, \u201cand\nthereof was born the everliving Boeth\u00edn.\u201d[118.2] This unsavoury story\nreminds us of the Princess Chand R\u00e1wati in the Sanskrit romance. It\nbears even a closer resemblance to two legends from opposite quarters\nof the globe. One of them relates to a Peruvian goddess, Cavillaca.\nShe {119} was a beautiful maiden who spurned the advances of the gods.\nOne day she sat down to weave a mantle at the foot of a lucma-tree.\nThe wise Coniraya Uiracocha thereupon turned himself into a beautiful\nbird, and sat in the boughs of the tree. He took some of his semen,\nmade it into the likeness of a ripe and luscious lucma, and dropped it\nat the maiden\u2019s feet. She picked it up, ate it with much relish, and\nimmediately conceived. In due course she gave birth to a son. When the\nboy could crawl, she called an assembly of the gods, and, indignantly\nprotesting her virginity, demanded which of them was the father of the\nchild. As nobody came forward to claim the honour, she put the little\none on the ground, saying: \u201cDoubtless his father will be the one to\nwhom he crawls, and at whose feet he rests.\u201d The child crawled to the\nfeet of a ragged beggar, who sat humbly in the lowest place of all.\nThe beggar was Coniraya; but Cavillaca, not recognising him, disdained\nthe thought of being mated with such dirt and squalor; and, catching\nup her boy, she fled from his pursuit, though he assumed magnificent\ngolden robes and divine splendour, until she came to the sea-coast of\nPachacamac, where she and the child, entering the sea, were changed\ninto two rocks, yet visible long after the Spanish Conquest, and\ndoubtless to the present day.[119.1] The other legend is that of the\nnymph Adrik\u00e2 in the _Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata_. Being by the curse of some god\nmetamorphosed into a fish, Adrik\u00e2 feeds on a leaf dropped into the\nwater by the favourite agency of a bird--in this instance, a hawk.\n{120} Upon the leaf was the sperm of her lover, King Uparicharas. The\nfish is then caught by fishermen and brought to him. When it is opened\nthe nymph resumes her proper form, and two fish, a male and female,\nare born of her.[120.1] The same incident is the substance of a\nfolktale slightly less loathsome in form among the Gipsies of southern\nHungary. They say that a rich peasant\u2019s wife repulsed Saint Nicholas,\nwho appeared to her as a beggar, and was transformed by him into a\nlittle fish and condemned to remain in that state until impregnated by\nher husband. Her husband threw the fish into the brook; and there it\nabode a long time, until one day the goodman sat before his door and\nthought of his wife, and how he could deliver her. So as he sat there\nhe spat, and the spittle fell on a green leaf at his feet. Then a\nmagpie, so often a go-between in these matters, snapped up the leaf in\nher beak and flew away with it. But as she flew she met another who\nwould have torn the leaf from her; and in their struggle it fell into\nthe water and was devoured by the little fish. Thereupon the heroine\nreturned to her true woman-form and to her husband, for she had been\nfertilised by his spittle.[120.2] The Gipsy version appears to be\nderived from the _Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata_, or more probably from the saga\nwhence the poet fashioned the episode in question, and was doubtless\nbrought from the East by the remote forefathers of the tribe.\n\nWe might linger long on the supernatural might of Indian {121} kings\nand rishis, as well as the equally chaste and pious saints and reavers\nof Irish legend; but we must tear ourselves away from their edifying\nand veracious histories to seek the magical potation and the magical\nfood elsewhere. The most illustrious birth by the former means was\nthat of Zoroaster. A Parsee tradition preserved in the _Selections_ of\nZ\u00e2d-sparam, who wrote shortly before the year A.D. 881, ascribes the\nconception of the great Iranian teacher to his mother\u2019s drinking of\nhoma-juice and cow\u2019s milk infused with his guardian spirit and\nglory.[121.1] The lark, it is said in Roumania, was a maiden born of\nGheorghina, the consort of an emperor named Titus. The imperial pair\nwere childless; but an old woman in a dream directed the emperor that\nhis wife should drink of the brook which watered a certain forest. She\ndid so, and gave birth to a lovely daughter, who fell in love with the\nsun, but was cursed by his mother and changed into a bird.[121.2] Two\ndivinities worshipped in a country temple in Annam are thus accounted\nfor. A childless man and wife dwelt in the village. One rainy autumnal\nnight the woman put an earthen vessel to receive the drippings of the\nroof, and she saw a star fall into the vessel. Astounded at the\noccurrence, she called her husband and told him what had happened.\nThey resolved to say nothing about it, but to drink the water. The\nwoman became pregnant, and after going three years in that state she\nwas at length delivered of three blue eggs. The storyteller considered\nit necessary at this point to observe that the husband was very much\nsurprised, and carefully kept {122} the adventure to himself. However,\nthey hatched the eggs, and three serpents crawled out, which followed\ntheir father about whithersoever he went. One day he had the ill-luck\nto cut off the tail of one of them. The wounded serpent forthwith was\ntransformed into a fair youth, who said: \u201cMy brothers and I are\nheavenly genii who committed a sin, and were sent upon earth to\nsuccour the kingdom. They will stay, but I reascend to heaven in a\ntempest which will be a sign of the truth of my words.\u201d The two other\nserpents remained. Sometimes they were changed into men of\nextraordinary powers; they rendered signal service against China, and\nultimately were deified.[122.1] According to a Finnish song, the\nlovely maiden Kasaritar was also three years in a state of pregnancy.\nAn ogress had spat upon the waves, and Kasaritar had swallowed the\nbubble of froth. When at length she brought forth, it was an evil\nbrood, the lizard.[122.2] The Kotons are a Mongolian tribe. They say\nthat the daughter of one of their khans went with forty of her maidens\nto a field to gather _djemuis_ to eat. Becoming thirsty, the girls all\nwent to the water and drank. In the midst of the water was a drop of\nblood, which was imbibed by the khan\u2019s daughter and caused her to\nconceive. Her father drove her away; but her son afterwards became\nkhan.[122.3]\n\n{123}\n\nWe are not told here whether the blood was human. The analogy of some\nother sagas, and of several _m\u00e4rchen_, would lead to the supposition\nthat it must be understood to be a man\u2019s blood. Almost any portion of\na man may be possessed of fructifying power. One of the _m\u00e4rchen_\nalready passed in review attributes it to a man\u2019s heart, and another\nto the ashes of a burnt skull. A story current among the Serbs is\nparallel to the latter. The emperor, hunting, finds a skull and causes\nhis horse to step on it. The death\u2019s-head cries out: \u201cWhy dost thou\ntread upon me? I am able to injure thee yet.\u201d The emperor, hearing\nthis, picks it up, burns it and collects the ashes in a casket. His\ndaughter opens the casket and discovers the ashes. To ascertain what\nthe contents of the box are, she wets her finger, dips it in the ashes\nand licks it. A boy is the result, who after a variety of adventures\nbecomes the founder of Constantinople. This saga is found also in\nUkrainia attached to the name of a national hero, Paliq.[123.1] As M.\nDragomanov, who has brought these Serbian and Ukrainian legends under\nthe notice of Western students, remarks, the tale is found as a\n_m\u00e4rchen_ in the Turkish _Tuti-Nameh_, where it appears under the\nname of \u201cThe story of the skull through which eighty persons lost\ntheir lives.\u201d There the man who picked up the skull was a merchant;\ninstead of burning it, he ground it to powder; his daughter\u2019s son had\na reputation for wisdom, and was called in to say why a fish laughed\nwhen the vizier\u2019s over-modest slave-girl refused to look at it, lest\nit should be a male. The youth, thus called on, reveals to the vizier\nthe presence in his harem of forty men disguised as women, the lovers\nof his forty slave-girls; and the slaves and their {124} lovers are\nall put to death, to the number of eighty.[124.1] I mentioned in the\nlast chapter a Lithuanian story of a hermit who was burned, all but\nhis heart, which was afterwards eaten by a maiden and caused her to\ngive birth to a son. In a Sicilian legend this holy man is identified\nwith Saint Oniria, or Neria. The maiden\u2019s son is a new birth of the\nsaint, who proves his sanctity when a child of only five years by\nconvincing his grandfather and his mother\u2019s godfather of the salvation\nof a poor, despised, dead beggar, and the damnation of a wealthy\nsinner, though borne to his grave upon a costly bier and accompanied\nby monks with burning tapers, and by revealing the existence of a\nhoard of gold beneath a dunghill. He is then taken up to heaven, and\nonly appears again to save his grandfather\u2019s life when accused of\nmurder.[124.2]\n\nA Gipsy tradition from Transylvania derives the origin of the Le\u00efla\ntribe from a king\u2019s daughter who was thrust out by her brother and his\nwicked wife, because the latter envied her that she was the fairer. In\nher wanderings she was pitied by three Keshalyi, or Fates; and one of\nthem dropped some of her hairs, which the lovely maiden ate and\nbrought into the world a son. From this child sprang the tribe, and he\ngave his descendants the name of his mother.[124.3]\n\n{125}\n\nBut the Supernatural Birth comes about in _m\u00e4rchen_ by other means\nthan eating or drinking. It is the same in sagas. The sense of smell\nhas been known to possess this marvellous virtue. The spirit of the\npole-star, if we may credit a Chinese tale, visited a girl and gave\nher a fragrant herb called H\u00eang-wei, which caused her to become the\nmother of Chang, who was appointed about the year 25 of our era to the\noffice of Master of Heaven.[125.1] The Gur\u00fb Gorakhn\u00e2th, whom we have\nalready found performing wonders, once gave a queen desirous of\noffspring two flowers. Two sons were born to her; but because she had\ndeceived him she was doomed to die at their birth.[125.2] According to\na poem written in Old French by a priest at Valenciennes about the\nmiddle of the thirteenth century, Abraham planted in his garden the\nTree of Knowledge, flung by God out of Paradise after the Fall. His\ndaughter became pregnant by the scent of a blossom broken off from it,\nand bore Phanuel, from whom the Virgin Mary descended.[125.3]\n\nOr it is enough for the magical article to be placed in the\npredestined maiden\u2019s bosom. When from the blood of the mutilated\nAgdestis a pomegranate-tree sprang up, Nana the nymph gathered and\nlaid in her bosom some of the fruit wherewith it was laden, and from\nhence, in classical belief, Attis was born.[125.4] In a Latin myth,\nC\u00e6culus, the son of Vulcan and Pr\u00e6neste, was conceived by means of a\nspark {126} which leaped into his mother\u2019s bosom. The forty companions\nof the khan\u2019s daughter, in the Koton legend already cited, were\nquickened by laying stones on their bosoms; and in this way from them\nmultiplied the Sarabash tribes of the Altai mountains. On the western\ncontinent, one of the great Aztec deities, Huitzilopochtli, the\nbrother and rival of Quetzalcoatl, had a similar origin. Coatlicue,\nthe Serpent-skirted, was already the mother of many children. She\ndwelt on the mountain of the Snake, near the city of Tulla, and, being\nvery devout, she occupied herself in sweeping and cleansing the sacred\nplaces of the mountain. One day, while engaged in these duties, a\nlittle ball of feathers floated down to her through the air. She\ncaught it and hid it in her bosom; nor was it long before she found\nherself pregnant. Thereupon her children conspired to put her to\ndeath; but Huitzilopochtli, issuing from her womb all armed, like\nPallas from the head of Zeus, speedily destroyed his brethren and\nsister and enriched his mother with their spoils.[126.1]\n\nThe Dorahs of New Guinea trace their parentage to a solitary old man,\nwho caught the Morning Star in the act of stealing his palm-wine. As\nransom he obtained from the felon a magical wand. This wand possessed\nthe property of making a virgin a mother, by simply touching her\nbosom. The old man put its virtue to proof at once upon the loveliest\ngirl of his island-home. She gave birth to a son {127} called Konori,\nwho proved his miraculous descent, as these children alone know how to\ndo, by pointing out his father.[127.1] This calls to mind a well-known\npassage of the _Mabinogion_ of which Lady Charlotte Guest\u2019s modesty\nmade nonsense. I venture to quote her charming English, with the\nneedful correction. Math, the son of Mathonwy, is taking counsel with\nGwydion and Gilvaethwy, the sons of Don, what maiden he shall seek for\na wife. \u201c\u2018Lord,\u2019 said Gwydion, the son of Don, \u2018it is easy to give\nthee counsel; seek Arianrod, the daughter of Don, thy niece, thy\nsister\u2019s daughter.\u2019 And they brought her unto him, and the maiden came\nin. \u2018Ha, damsel,\u2019 said he, \u2018art thou _a_ maiden?\u2019 \u2018I know not, lord,\nother than that I am.\u2019 Then he took up his magic wand and bent it.\n\u2018Step over this,\u2019 said he, \u2018and I shall know if thou art _a_ maiden.\u2019\nThen stepped she over the magic wand, and there appeared forthwith a\nfine chubby yellow-haired boy. And thereupon some small form was seen;\nbut before any one could get a second glimpse of it Gwydion had taken\nit and flung a scarf of velvet around it and hidden it. Now the place\nwhere he hid it was the bottom of a chest at the foot of his bed.\u201d The\nyellow-haired boy was baptized by the name of Dylan. \u201cAs Gwydion lay\none morning on his bed awake, he heard a cry in the chest at his feet;\nand though it was not loud, it was such that he could hear it. Then he\narose in haste, and opened the chest: and when he opened it, he beheld\nan infant boy stretching out his arms from the folds of the scarf, and\ncasting it aside. And he took up the boy in his arms, and carried him\nto a place where he knew there was a woman that could nurse him. And\nhe agreed with the woman that she should take charge of the boy. And\nthat {128} year he was nursed. And at the end of the year he seemed by\nhis size as though he were two years old. And the second year he was a\nbig child and able to go to the Court by himself.\u201d This second boy was\nafterwards named Llew Llaw Gyffes, and the rest of the story deals\nwith his adventures.[128.1] It is clear that the wand is credited with\nphallic power. A saga of the Warraus of British Guiana is unambiguous\nin the ascription of such power to the stump of a tree. This stump was\nhalf-submerged in a pool where two Indian women were bathing, when one\nof them touched it and it promptly made her its wife. To her brothers\u2019\nindignation, a child was born; and after it died, a second interview\nwith the stump resulted in a second child. This child, a boy, was\nslain by his mother\u2019s brothers, who cut his body into small pieces.\nBut from the grave arose a man stronger and fiercer than any Warrau.\nHe was the first Carib; and hence there has always been enmity between\nthe Caribs and the Warraus.[128.2]\n\nWe have found several cases, both of _m\u00e4rchen_ and of sagas, where\nthe masculine saliva and other secretions, if swallowed, produced\npregnancy. The same consequence is believed to result from the\nspittle\u2019s being received into the woman\u2019s hand. The twin divinities,\nHun Ahpu and {129} Xbalanque, honoured by the Quich\u00e9 of Central\nAmerica, were thus begotten. Hunhun Ahpu and Vukub Hun Ahpu having\nbeen put to death by the two kings of Xibalba, a mysterious\nsubterranean realm, the head of the former was placed between the\nwithered branches of a calabash-tree of the kind afterwards called\nHunhun Ahpu\u2019s head; and immediately the tree became laden with fruit;\nthe head turned into a calabash, and was indistinguishable from the\nrest. Thereupon the kings tabooed the tree as sacred. Xquiq, the\ndaughter of a prince named Cuchumaquiq, broke the taboo. As she\napproached to pluck the fruit, Hunhun Ahpu\u2019s head spat into her hand,\nand she thereby conceived. Her father, perceiving her condition,\ncondemned her to death; but she persuaded the executioners to deceive\nhim, and gave birth in due time to twins of extraordinary power, who\navenged themselves on the rulers of Xibalba after the manner of Medea\nupon Pelias.[129.1]\n\nA similar incident is told in the Far East by the people of Annam\nconcerning an historical personage who was put to death in the year\n1443 of our era. He was, according to one account, the parent of the\nking\u2019s wife. According to another account, this lady was a serpent who\nhad taken the form of a young girl and been adopted by the hero of the\nlegend, and given by him in marriage to the king. At all events, she\nslew the king by biting off his tongue; and she, with her father (or\nguardian) and all his family, was put to death. Her father was buried\nalive with one of his soldiers. The soldier\u2019s wife succeeded in\npenetrating the grave, but only to find her husband already dead. His\nchief, however, was still living, and, protesting his innocence, he\nspat in {130} the woman\u2019s hand, wherefrom she became pregnant and bore\na son who founded a new dynasty.[130.1]\n\nConception has taken place in legend not only by the hand but by the\nfoot, as in some of the _m\u00e4rchen_ reviewed in the preceding chapter.\nThe _Shih King_ relates of H\u00e2u-_k_i, the ancestor of the kings of\n_K_\u00e2u, that _K_iang Y\u00fcan, his mother, was childless until she trod\non a toe-print made by God. The instant she did so she felt moved; she\nconceived, and at length gave birth to a son.[130.2]\n\nImpregnation, however, by an unusual part of the body is often\nattended by the inconvenience of birth by other than the natural exit.\nIn the Sanskrit books kings are mentioned as born from hand, or right\narm, or from the thigh or the top of the head, just as Bacchus was\nborn from the thigh, and Athene from the head, of Zeus. The divine\nParvati herself was conceived by a look and spit forth upon the world.\nThe old French poem already referred to represents Saint Anne, the\nmother of the Virgin Mary, as born from her father Phanuel\u2019s thigh,\nwhich he touched with a knife after cutting an apple, and thus caused\nit to conceive.[130.3] Buddha, in the form of a white elephant, {131}\nentered his mother\u2019s right side, and from her right side he was\nborn.[131.1] Cases like these are frequent in cosmogonic myths which\nwe need not discuss.\n\nBut, before we leave the subject of impregnation by an unusual part of\nthe body, it is not unimportant to observe that, during the Middle\nAges, a similar idea was current respecting the conception of Jesus\nChrist. Sometimes painters represented the Holy Ghost as entering his\nmother at her ear in the shape of a dove. In the Church of the\nMagdalen at Aix, in Provence, is a picture of the Annunciation\nattributed to Albert D\u00fcrer, wherein waves of glory descend from God\nthe Father, and in the midst of them a microscopic babe floats down\nupon the Virgin. During the fifteenth century the opinion seems to\nhave been common that Our Lord entered already completely formed into\nthe Virgin\u2019s womb--an opinion which orthodox theologians, in their\nperfect acquaintance with the divine arrangements, were able summarily\nto pronounce heretical. But a remarkable parallel to the story of\nBuddha\u2019s conception is presented by a picture of Fra Filippo Lippi,\npainted for Cosmo de\u2019 Medici and now in the National Gallery. The\nVirgin is seated in a chair with her Book of Hours in her hand, and\nthe angel Gabriel bows before her. Above is a right hand surrounded\nwith clouds. A dove, cast from the hand amid circling floods of glory,\nis making for the Virgin\u2019s navel, which it is about to enter; while\nshe, bending forward, curiously surveys it. The picture is well worth\n{132} studying, not merely for its exquisite grace, colouring and\nfinish, as one of the masterpieces of Tuscan art in the earlier half\nof the fifteenth century, but also as an exposition of the ideas which\nwere prevalent at that time under the sanction of the Church, and for\nthe purpose of comparing them with Buddhist legends and other stories\nof supernatural birth, such as we are now considering. Mohammedan\ntradition ascribes the miraculous conception by the Virgin to\nGabriel\u2019s having opened the bosom of her shift and breathed upon her\nwomb.[132.1] Parallel with this is a legend concerning Quetzalcoatl.\nTradition varied much as to his life. This probably means that his\nworship and story were ancient and widespread among folk of the\nMexican stock. One version, as we know, records his birth from a\nprecious stone swallowed by his mother Chimalma. In a variant the Lord\nof Existence, Tonacatecutli, appears to Chimalma and her two sisters.\nThe sisters were both struck dead by fright; but he breathed upon\nChimalma, and by his breath quickened life within her, so that she\nbore Quetzalcoatl. Her son cost her her life. Having thus perished on\nearth, she was translated to heaven, like the Virgin Mary in the\ntraditions of the Church, and was thenceforward honoured under the\nname of Chalchihuitzli, the Precious Stone of Sacrifice.[132.2] But\nthere is a world of difference between this apotheosis and that of the\nVirgin Mary. The latter is true, being guaranteed by the authority of\nthe Church; while the former rested only on the testimony of heathen\npriests and peoples, deceived of course by the Tempter of Mankind.\n\n{133}\n\nIt will be remembered that Mughain, before she bore Aedh Sl\u00e1ine, did\nmore than drink of the consecrated water: she washed in it. Stories of\nconception by bathing have been seriously believed alike in the Old\nand New Worlds. A Zulu saga represents a king\u2019s daughters as bathing\nin a pool in the river. The youngest, a mere child, comes out with\nbreasts swollen as large as a woman\u2019s. By the advice of the council of\nold men she is driven away. After wandering from place to place she\ngives birth to a boy who grows up a wise doctor. From what is said of\nhis beneficent deeds it has been conjectured that we have here a\ncorrupted account of Our Lord\u2019s birth, derived possibly from the\nPortuguese.[133.1] If this be so (which is quite uncertain) it is\nimportant to note that the story has coalesced with native tradition\nas completely as the fiftieth rune of the _Kalevala_ with the\nadventures of V\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen. The main incident was apparently in\nharmony with native thought, and therefore easily attracted to itself\nthe details of native life and discarded its own proper details, which\nwould be incomprehensible. In the Hindu mythology Parvati, the spouse\nof Siva, justified her own irregular entrance upon the world by\nconception through bathing, without intercourse, and thus brought\nforth Ganesa.[133.2] A story is told, in a work attributed to\nPlutarch, of Bacchus in the shape of the river Tigris carrying away\nthe nymph Alphesiboea and begetting on her a son, Medus. If\nAristonymus, who seems to have been originally responsible for it, was\nreporting a genuine tradition, it must, so far as we can penetrate its\nGreek disguise, have referred to a similar adventure on the part of\nAlphesiboea. Medus was the {134} eponym of the Medes.[134.1] Some of\nthe Algonkins of North America traced the lineage of mankind from two\nyoung squaws who, swimming in the sea, were impregnated by the foam\nand produced a boy and girl.[134.2] So the black Kirghiz pretended to\nhave for their great foremother a princess who became pregnant by\nbathing in a foam-covered lake.[134.3]\n\nThe ancient Persians held a curious belief anent Saoshyant, the future\nhero who was to come from the region of the dawn to free the world\nfrom death and corruption before the Resurrection. Three drops of the\nseed of Zoroaster, we are told in the sacred books, fell from him.\nWhat was bright and strong in it has been preserved by the agency of\nangels. At the appointed time a maid, bathing in the lake K\u00e2sava,\nwill come in contact with it, and will conceive by it and bring forth\nthe Saviour. Indeed, the orthodox view appears to be that she will\ntriple the miracle, by thrice conceiving in this way and bringing\nforth three sons, of whom the two elder will be forerunners of the\nthird. He will come with authority to reduce all peoples under the\nyoke of the true religion; and the general Resurrection will follow\nhis conquest of the world.[134.4] The Middle Ages, which believed that\nAntichrist, in rivalry with Christ, would declare himself born of a\nvirgin,[134.5] would have seen nothing impossible in the kind of birth\nforetold for Saoshyant. Averrhoes, in fact, put forward as having\nactually occurred a case of a woman who became pregnant {135} in a\nbath, by attracting the semen of a man bathing near. The admirable\ncommon sense of Sir Thomas Browne rejected this, with many more\nabsurdities current in his day.[135.1] But he failed to convince those\nwho stood by tradition. A singular little book, refuting \u201cDoctor\nBrown\u2019s _Vulgar Errors_, the Lord Bacon\u2019s _Natural History_ and Doctor\nHarvey\u2019s Book _De Generatione_, Comenius and Others,\u201d was published in\nthe year 1652. The writer, conscious no doubt of powers commensurate\nto the task he had undertaken, too modestly concealed his name, and\nhas left the world baffled at the mystery of his identity. Admitting\nAverrhoes\u2019 story to be a strange one, he reproves Sir Thomas Browne\u2019s\nincredulity by saying: \u201cHee that denyeth a matter of fact, must bring\ngood witnesses to the contrary, or else shew the impossibility of the\nfact.\u201d This, he declares, had not been done. Then, after arguing in\nfavour of the \u201cfact,\u201d he goes on to uphold the belief in Incubi, \u201cfor\nto deny this, saith Augustine, doth argue impudence;\u201d and moreover it\nis \u201cto accuse the ancient Doctors of the Church and the Ecclesiastick\nHistories of falshood,\u201d and \u201cto contradict the common consent of all\nNations, and experience.\u201d[135.2] This is crushing, though assuredly an\nappeal to \u201cthe ancient Doctors of the Church\u201d has always been\nsuccessful in putting to shame the wisdom of the world; and Bacon, Sir\nThomas Browne and the rest will for ever lie under the stigma of\nimpudence, impiety and egregious folly.\n\nNot only water but wind has been deemed sufficient to cause the birth\nof gods and heroes. The examples most {136} familiar to us are those\nof Hera, who conceived Hephaistos without male concurrence by simply\ninhaling the wind, and of the maiden (in Longfellow\u2019s poem, called\nWenonah) who was quickened by the west wind and bore Michabo, the\nAlgonkin hero better known as Hiawatha.[136.1] To these we may add the\nblind Loujatar, source of all evils, ugliest and most hateful of\nMana\u2019s daughters, fructified by the east wind and bearing at a birth\nnine sons--nine several diseases to decimate mankind. Nor was she the\nfirst in the Finnish mythology to conceive in this manner, for\nV\u00e4in\u00e4m\u00f6inen himself was the son of the virgin Ilmatar, who in the\nbeginning, while as yet there was neither earth nor sun, moon nor\nstars, lay down upon the waters and was fecundated by the east wind.\nShe bore her child for seven hundred years before she could bring him\nto the birth.[136.2]\n\nMontezuma, the culture-hero of the Pueblos of New Mexico, was the son\nof a maiden of exquisite beauty, but fastidious and coy. When the\ndrought fell on her people she opened her granaries and fed them out\nof her abundance. \u201cAt last, with rain, fertility returned to the\nearth; and on the chaste Artemis of the Pueblos its touch fell too.\nShe bore a son to the thick summer shower, and that son was\nMontezuma.\u201d[136.3] The Chinese and the Tartars appear {137} able as\nusual to match all these traditions of parthenogenesis. The historian\nMa-twan-lin has recorded that the king of the So-li, or northern\nbarbarians, having been absent on a journey, found one of his\nconcubines pregnant at his return. He would have put her to death, had\nshe not asserted that a vapour about the size of an egg descended on\nher from the sky and caused her interesting condition. He shut her up,\nhowever, and she bore a son, who was thrown by the king\u2019s orders into\nthe pigsty. The pigs warmed the babe with their breath. He was thrown\ninto a stable, and the horses did the same, reminding us of the birth\nof Marjatta\u2019s child. The king then was persuaded of his slave-girl\u2019s\ntruth. He brought up the boy; but he feared him as he grew and became\na skilful archer, and sought therefore to destroy him. The youth fled\nsouthward until he reached a certain river. There was no way over; so\nhe struck the water with his bow, and the fishes and turtles,\ngathering together, formed a compact mass, that served as a bridge for\nthe hero. He crossed dryshod, and, reaching a land to the north of\nCorea, founded there the nation and kingdom of the Fou-yu.[137.1]\n\nThe following seems a Corean variant of this legend. A king held\ncaptive in his palace a daughter of the river Ho. She was fertilised\nby the rays of the sun and laid an {138} enormous egg, which the king\ncaused to be thrown successively to the swine and to the dogs, to the\nhorses and to the cattle. None of these would touch it; and it was\nflung out into the desert. There the birds of the air flocked to it\nand covered it with their wings. The king then tried to break it, but\nfailed; and it was restored to the captive maiden. She wrapped it up\nand warmed it for some time, until it burst and a boy came forth. The\npeople became attached to him; but the king\u2019s ill-will was excited,\nand, warned by his mother, the youth deemed it prudent to flee.\nAnnouncing himself as the sun\u2019s son and the grandson of the river Ho,\nhe was assisted to cross that river by the turtles and fishes as\nabove; and he at length arrived at the town of Ke-ching-ko, which he\ncalled Kao-kin-li, and became the founder of the kingdom of that\nname.[138.1] As late as the latter years of the sixteenth century,\nHideyoshi, the Taiko of Japan, was not too civilised to make similar\npretensions. They were, however, veiled, after the manner of the Irish\nsaints we have already mentioned, as a vision. He told the ambassador\nof the king of Corea: \u201cI am the only remaining scion of a humble\nstock; but my mother once had a dream in which she saw the sun enter\nher bosom; after which she gave birth to me. There was then a\nsoothsayer, who said, \u2018Wherever the sun shines, there will be no place\nwhich shall not be subject to him. It may not be doubted that one day\nhis power will overspread the empire.\u2019\u201d[138.2] A Jesuit father who\nvisited Siam in the seventeenth century reports concerning\nSommonocodon, the Siamese deity, that he was born of a virgin who had\nretired to the depths of a certain forest, there to live in holiness\nand austerity pending the {139} advent of God, then speedily expected.\nOne day while she prayed she conceived by the prolific rays of the\nsun. The innocent maiden, ashamed to find herself with child, flew to\na solitary desert, in order to hide herself from the eyes of mankind.\nUpon the banks of a lake, and without any sense of pain, she was\nmiraculously delivered of the most beautiful babe in the world; but\nhaving no milk wherewith to suckle him, and being unable to bear the\nthought of seeing him die, she jumped into the water, where she set\nhim upon the bud of a flower, which blew of itself for his more\ncommodious reception, and afterwards enclosed him as in a\ncradle.[139.1] With these instances of sun-pregnancy may be compared\nthe Chinese tale of the Emperor Yao\u2019s mother, who was rendered\nfruitful by the splendour of a star that flashed upon her during a\ndream.[139.2]\n\nThe Kirghiz Tartar tradition of the birth of the celebrated Genghis\nKhan is perhaps a refinement of some such legend as these, due to\nchange of religion or other civilising influence. As it has more than\none resemblance to that of Danae I venture to give some of the\ndetails. A khan named Altyn Bel had an only son. At length his wife\nbecame pregnant a second time, and bore a daughter so beautiful that\nthe khan commanded that no man was to see her; and to conceal her from\nall human eyes she must be brought up hidden beneath the ground.\nWherefore her mother gave her in charge to an old woman, who nourished\nher in the dark. The babe grew to maidenhood; and one {140} day she\nasked her nurse: \u201cWhither dost thou go from time to time?\u201d The nurse\ntold her in reply that there was a bright world where her father and\nmother and all sorts of people dwelt; and thither she herself went.\nThe maiden prayed to be shown this bright world; and under promise to\ntell no one of it the woman took her secretly out into the open air.\nAs soon as the maiden came forth and looked upon the world she\nstaggered and fainted; for at the same moment God\u2019s eye fell upon her,\nand at His command she became pregnant. When this was known to the\nkhan he ordered her to be put to death; but, being dissuaded from so\nextreme a course, he allowed his wife to lock the maiden in a golden\nchest, together with some food, and to fling the chest into the sea,\nfirst binding the key on the outside. Two heroes, hunting, see the\nchest on the water. Agreeing between themselves that the one should\ntake the chest and the other its contents, whatever they were, they\ncapture and drag it ashore. On opening it they find the girl, who\ntells them her tale, and after her babe\u2019s birth weds one of them. Her\nson is Genghis. He grew up renowned among the youth for his\nuprightness and excellence; and when the ruler of the town died\nchildless the people chose Genghis in his place, and swore obedience\nto him. So Genghis ruled the folk in justice and peace; and theft and\nlying vanished from among them. But his mother had borne to his\nstepfather three sons, who envied him and said: \u201cThis is a fatherless\nchild; we cannot suffer him as ruler. We have a father; make one of us\nprince.\u201d When Genghis knew it, he resolved to flee, lest they should\nput him to death. He told his mother he would go to the source of the\nwaters whereon she had come floating thither; to the place where his\nfather dwelt he {141} would go, and live. \u201cO mother, I will let thee\nknow whether I am alive or dead. I will throw feathers into the water:\nwhen you see the feathers floating by, you will know I am well; if the\nfeathers do not float by, I shall be dead.\u201d Then he went upwards along\nthe stream. (It was called the sea just now; but the Tartars are\ninlanders.) He shot game. Out of the fells of the beasts he made a\nhouse; the feathers of the birds floated down to his mother, and she\nknew that he lived. The people made one of his half-brothers prince.\nBut his rule was corrupt; liars and thieves and all sorts of criminals\nabounded, and he could not protect his people. Wherefore they resolved\nto depose him and to seek out Genghis again; and five-and-twenty of\ntheir noblest went to find him. They came to the place where he dwelt,\nand hid themselves, lest he should flee them again. He was absent.\nWhen he returned they waited until he had eaten and lain down to rest.\nFour-and-twenty men then seized him, bowing the head; but he flung\nthem all aside. They spake: \u201cO Prince and Lord, we are thy servants\nand come to thee as suppliants. Since thou hast left us our yourt has\nbroken up. Come back and take again thy seat as ruler.\u201d He yielded and\nwent back with them. On their return a council was held, and it was\ndetermined to submit the claims of Genghis and his three brothers to\ntheir mother, who should choose the prince from among them. The mother\nsaid to her sons: \u201cYou are all my children; do not quarrel, I will\ndecide the affair. Hang all your bows upon this sunbeam: whose bow\nsoever this beam bears, let him be ruler.\u201d All four brought their bows\nand hung them on the sunbeam. Only Genghis\u2019 bow remained hanging; the\nbows of the other three brothers fell to the {142} ground. And the\nwoman said to all the folk: \u201cBehold! He became my child by God\u2019s\ndecree; by God\u2019s decree too the sunbeam bears his bow: make him your\nprince. If these three offer him violence, put them to death. You, O\nfolk, are many: let no harm be done to him.\u201d And again he ruled in\npeace and justice. He took a noble wife, who bore him three sons and a\ndaughter. So renowned was he that a messenger came from the ruler of\nthe kingdom of Rome and prayed for one of his children to make him\nruler of Rome; and he gave one of his sons. From Crim-Tartary came\nanother to ask for another son as ruler; and he gave him his second\nson. From the Khalif\u2019s people came another on the same errand; and he\ngave him the third son. Then came an embassy from the Russians and\nasked for a child. As he had no more sons, he gave the Russians his\ndaughter; and they led her forth to make her their ruler. When he\ndied, as he had sent all his children away to rule other lands, his\nbrothers became forefathers of the evil sultans of his own\npeople.[142.1]\n\nPhallic power is not infrequently exercised in the legends of the Far\nEast by the glances of divine, or quasi-divine, beings. After the\nlatest cyclic cataclysm, which preceded by about eighteen thousand\nyears the coming of Xacca, as the inhabitants of Laos call Buddha, a\ngenius descended from the highest of the sixteen worlds to repeople\nthe earth. With his scimitar he cut asunder a flower he beheld\nswimming on the water. From the stem a beautiful maiden sprang, and he\ngrew enamoured of her. But such was her bashfulness that she refused\nto listen to his suit. Accordingly he placed himself at a certain\ndistance from her, but directly opposite, where he could gaze upon\nher; {143} and with the ardour of his gaze she became a mother without\nceasing to be a maiden. For the numerous issue that he had in this way\nbegotten he furnished the earth with mountains and valleys,\nfruit-trees and animals fitted for the service of mankind, metals and\nprecious stones and every other convenience.[143.1] The Japanese\npretend that the ancestors of the present race which possesses their\nempire were heroes or demi-gods, who in turn derived their origin from\ncelestial spirits, of whom seven ruled the empire. The first three of\nthese spirits had no wives, and three of the others impregnated their\nwives merely by their looks.[143.2] The Marquesan islanders report\nthat Hina, the daughter of the god Taaroa, bore to him a daughter\nnamed Apouvaru, who also became wife to her father. Taaroa and\nApouvaru looked steadfastly at one another, with the result that\nApouvaru became a mother. She brought into the world a son; and the\nvisual intercourse being repeated she brought forth a second son.\nAfter repeating it again she brought forth a daughter. This seems to\nhave satisfied these divine beings, for no further experiments are\nreported.[143.3] Taaroa, however, according to the Leeward islanders,\nbegot another son by shaking the shadow of a bread-fruit leaf over his\ndaughter-wife, Hina.[143.4] At Rome the birth of Servius Tullius was\nby tradition imputed to a look. His mother Ocrisia was a slave of\nTanaquil, the wife of Tarquinius Priscus. The likeness of a phallos\n{144} appeared on the hearth; and she, who was sitting before it,\narose pregnant of the future king. The household Lar was deemed his\nfather, in confirmation of which a lambent flame was seen about the\nchild\u2019s head as he lay asleep.[144.1]\n\nWe have found a Zulu _m\u00e4rchen_ narrating the birth of a child from a\nclot of blood placed in a pot and covered down. To similar effect is\nthe Melanesian tradition of Deitari, from Aurora Island. His father\nTari went into his garden to work, when he felt something cut him. He\nput the blood into a bamboo vessel, returned to his house and set it\ndown by the hearth. After many days his wife, going to cook food for\nhim, was surprised to find food already cooked by somebody unknown.\nWhen this had recurred several times, the woman told her husband, and\nhe bade her watch. Then she saw Deitari (Tari\u2019s blood) creep out of\nthe bamboo vessel. He was exceeding fair to look upon; and she hid\nhim, and asked her husband what he had put in that bamboo vessel. Tari\nremembered about his blood, and said: \u201cMy blood was in that bamboo.\u201d\nHis wife replied: \u201cI saw him come forth out of that bamboo that you\nhad put there.\u201d And she brought him forth, and her husband rejoiced to\nsee him.[144.2] The Mexicans attributed the origin of the present race\nof mankind to a bone of one of the previous races who had perished in\na cataclysm. The goddess Omecihuatl, having had many children in\nheaven, was at length delivered of {145} a knife of flint. This knife\nwas flung by her elder children to the earth, and where it fell there\nsprang up sixteen hundred heroes from the ground. By the goddess\u2019\ndirection, one of these heroes, Xolotl, was sent to Hell to fetch a\nbone of one of the men who had died. The god of Hell, having given it,\nrepented and pursued the messenger, who fortunately escaped, but in\nhis haste stumbled and broke the bone. He gathered up the pieces and\nbrought them to his brethren, who put them into a vessel and sprinkled\nthem with blood drawn from their own bodies. At the end of four days a\nboy was formed from the bone, and at the end of three more a girl, who\nbecame the ancestors of all nations.[145.1]\n\nWith these cases we may for the present close our long and monotonous\nlist of Supernatural Births. If anybody shall complain that it is not\nexhaustive, he must be congratulated on his appetite for these\nmarvellous occurrences. Practically the subject is inexhaustible. I\nhave not attempted to deal with every story, nor with every kind of\nstory. I have limited myself so far as possible to narratives\nanalogous to those in the different forms of the Perseus myth, and to\nlittle more than specimens of them. In treating of sagas we have been\nable to show a range extended beyond that of _m\u00e4rchen_. The\nSupernatural Birth, in the forms in which we have studied it, is known\nthroughout Europe, Asia, and America, and in large groups of the\nPacific Islands. It is repeated again and again in the Chinese and\nother Mongolian traditions. We have found it among the Zulus in South\nAfrica; and although there may be some doubt as to the native\ncharacter of a portion of the story, there {146} can be none as to the\nmode of impregnation. When we know more about the legends and beliefs\nof the natives of the interior, we shall probably find the myth as\nthoroughly at home there as it is in an Italian nursery-tale.[146.1]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n THE SUPERNATURAL BIRTH IN PRACTICAL SUPERSTITIONS.\n\n{147}\n\nThe result of the inquiries of the last two chapters has been to\nshow that the incident of the Supernatural Birth, in forms identical\nwith, or at least analogous to, those of the Perseus cycle, is found,\nbroadly speaking, over the whole world,--and that, not merely as a\ntale whereto no serious belief is attached, but, even more widely, as\na saga, or record of what are deemed to have been actual events. But\nif, amid all differences of race and culture, birth has thus been held\nto have been caused on various occasions in these marvellous ways, it\nis natural to ask whether it has also been thought possible still to\nmake effectual use of such means to produce pregnancy in barren women.\nThe answer is, that it has been, and still is, thought possible. In\nother words, the traditions of past miracles are organically connected\nin the popular mind with practices expressly calculated to produce\nrepetitions of those miracles. It will be observed, however, that\nparthenogenesis is often spoken of in the stories; whereas, for the\nmost part, the object of the practices I am about to describe is to\npromote conception by women who are in the habit of having sexual\nintercourse. The distinction is {148} often immaterial. In the stage\nof civilisation wherein the stories are told and the practices obtain,\nmedicine and surgery are not as yet separated from magic. We cannot\ntherefore, speak positively as to the meaning and intention of all.\nBut it is clear that a large number of the practices, as well as of\nthe stories, imply, if we are not told in so many words, that the real\norigin of the child afterwards born is not the semen received in the\nact of coition, but the drug, or the magical potency of the\nincantation.\n\nIn discussing the practices I shall ask the reader\u2019s pardon if I do\nnot limit myself to such as are precisely analogous to the means found\nin the stories, nor even to such as are explicable by reasons already\nknown to be accepted in barbaric life. I desire, beyond these, to call\nthe attention of scholars to some of the problems yet to be solved. We\nhave learned to understand much that used to be mysterious in the ways\nand the thoughts of savages. But much remains unknown or\nmisunderstood. And even if a solitary student cannot explain, he may\nrender some small service to science in inquiring into, that which\nneeds explanation.\n\nThe favourite method of supernatural impregnation in stories is\nperhaps by eating some fruit or herb. Nor is this method by any means\nneglected in practice. The maxim attributed to the Druids leaps to the\nmind, namely, that powder of mistletoe makes women fruitful. As held\nby the Druids this is doubtless to be understood literally, just as\namong the ancient Medes, Persians and Bactrians the juice of the\nsacred Soma was prescribed to procure for unproductive women fair\nchildren and a pure succession.[148.1] Thus the birth of Zoroaster\nhimself was, as we have seen, believed {149} to have been caused.\nAmong the rules for the performance of the Vedic domestic ceremonies,\ngiven in the _Grihya-S\u00fbtras_, the householder who does not study the\n_Upanishad_ treating of the rules for securing conception, the male\ngender of the child, and so forth, is directed in the third month of\nhis wife\u2019s pregnancy to give her, after she has fasted, in curds from\na cow which has a calf of the same colour as the dam, two beans and a\nbarleycorn for each handful of curds. Then he is to ask her: \u201cWhat\ndost thou drink?\u201d To which she is to reply: \u201cGeneration of a male\nchild.\u201d When the curds and the question and response have been thrice\nrepeated, he is to insert into her right nostril the sap of a herb\nwhich is not withered.[149.1] One can hardly doubt that this is a\nceremonial to procure offspring, though not performed, according to\nthe rubric, until after conception has taken place. In the book of\nmedical receipts deemed to be derived from the ancient Physicians of\nMyddfai, printed in the year 1861 from a Welsh manuscript bearing date\nin 1801, we find it stated that a decoction of mistletoe causes\nfruitfulness of body and the getting of children.[149.2] Here the\nmagical plant seems to have faded into one of merely natural efficacy.\nOn the other hand, something more than the light of common day still\nglorifies the rosemary. Among other things we are told that to carry a\npiece of this plant is to keep every evil spirit at a distance, and\nthat rosemary has all the virtues of the stone called jet. It was\nbecause it was obnoxious to evil spirits that it was used at funerals.\nBut it was not only used at {150} funerals. There is a story of a\nwidower who wished to be married again on the day of his former wife\u2019s\nfuneral, because the rosemary employed at the funeral could be used\nfor the wedding also. For its use at weddings there was an additional\nreason, which is given in the Welsh manuscript; to wit, one of its\nremarkable powers was that \u201cit was sovran against barrenness.\u201d[150.1]\nHindu women eat little balls of rice with intent to obtain children. A\nwoman who wishes for a child, especially a son, observes the fourth\nlunar day of every dark fortnight as a fast, and breaks her fast only\nafter seeing the moon, generally before nine or ten o\u2019clock in the\nevening. A dish of twenty-one balls of rice having been prepared, in\none of which is put some salt, it is then placed before her; and if\nshe first put her hand on the ball containing salt, she will be\nblessed with a son. In this case no more is eaten; otherwise she goes\non until she takes the salted ball.[150.2] At the festival of R\u00e1hu,\nthe tribal god of the Dos\u00e1dhs of Behar and Chota Nagpur, the priest\ndistributes to the crowd tulsi-leaves which heal diseases else\nincurable, and flowers which have the virtue of causing barren women\nto conceive;[150.3] but whether they are to be eaten or only smelt\ndoes not appear. The same omission occurs in a report by Mr. Leland\nthat a Tuscan woman who desires offspring goes to a priest, gets a\nblessed apple {151} and pronounces over it an invocation to Saint\nAnna.[151.1] Presumably she then eats it. At all events, in Hungary a\nGipsy woman in the like circumstances eats at waxing moon grass from\nthe grave of a pregnant woman.[151.2] Among the Southern Slavs the\nwoman goes to a pregnant woman\u2019s grave, calls upon her by name, bites\nsome of the grass off the grave, calls upon her again, conjuring her\nto grant her a child, and then, taking some earth from the grave,\nbinds it in her girdle.[151.3] In the Spreewald no Wendish woman dares\nto eat of two plums grown together on one stalk, or she will bear\ntwins.[151.4] About Mentone it is believed that a woman who finds a\ndouble fruit will have twins.[151.5] The aboriginal inhabitants of\nParaguay supposed that a woman who ate a double ear of maize would\ngive birth to twins.[151.6] In Saxony, Mecklenburg and Voigtland it\nwould appear that only pregnant women are forbidden to eat double\nfruit; among the Tangalas the prohibition is extended to the husband;\nin all cases for the same reason.[151.7] These taboos are inexplicable\nsave on the supposition that the fruit causes pregnancy.\n\n{152}\n\nIt would seem like a relic of the same thought that in Swabia a woman\nwho is \u201cin an interesting condition\u201d for the first time should eat of\na tree which bears for the first time; then both of them will become\nvery fruitful. To this there is one exception: if an apple be grafted\non a whitethorn, and some of the fruit be given to a pregnant woman to\neat, she cannot bear.[152.1] In contrast to this is a Bosnian custom\nin which the childless woman seeks for a plant called _apijun_, cuts\nits roots small and steeps them in foam she has caught from a\nmillwheel, afterwards drinking of the liquid. She then winds her\nwedding-girdle round a newly grafted fruit-tree, when, if the graft\nprosper, she also will bear. Another curious magical custom in Bosnia,\nstill more instructive, is employed when a woman has been married for\nupwards of eleven years without having issue. A lady friend who is so\nfortunate as to be in that state in which \u201cwomen wish to be who love\ntheir lords\u201d must endeavour to find a stone lying in a pear-tree, as\nsometimes happens when it is thrown at the ripening fruit and caught\nby one of the branches. She must then shake the tree until the stone\nfall. This she must catch in her hands ere it reach the ground, carry\nit in the left skirt of her dress to the brook, put it into a pitcher,\nfill the pitcher from the brook so far as to cover the stone, and\ncarry it home. {153} Next, she gathers dewy grass (it is not stated\nwhat she does with it), and speaks into the pitcher and into the water\nthe conjuring formula: \u201cSo-and-so shall conceive.\u201d After that, she\nbrings the pitcher with the water to the barren woman to drink, and,\nwinding the wedding-garment (it does not appear what portion of the\ndress is meant) of the latter about her own body, wears it for three\nmonths, or longer, until the woman for whom the ceremony is performed\nshall feel that her desire has been accomplished. The friend, however,\nmust neither eat anything in the patient\u2019s house, nor according to one\naccount speak during the ceremony.[153.1] Now I am not prepared to\nexplain every detail of this performance, though I may revert to some\nof the items hereafter. The important matter for the moment is the\nmeaning of the stone shaken down from the tree. This can hardly be\nunderstood to represent anything but a pear; and inasmuch as the\npatient cannot eat the stone, its virtues as fruit are transmitted to\nthe water which is given her to drink, the intention being made clear\nby the utterance of the command, \u201cSo-and-so shall conceive.\u201d\n\nIn China and Japan a medicine called _Kay-tu-sing_, made from the\nleaves of a tree belonging to the class Ternstromace\u00e6, is given at\nfull moon with cabalistic formul\u00e6. In the Fiji Islands the woman\nbathes in a stream, and then both husband and wife take a drink made\nwith the grated root of a kind of bread-fruit tree and the nut of a\nsort of turmeric, immediately before congress. Siberian brides before\nthe marriage-night eat the cooked fruit of the _Iris Sibirica_.\nAsparagus seeds and young hop-buds are given {154} as salad to women\nin Styria against barrenness. The Czech women of Bohemia drink an\ninfusion of juniper to obtain children; and coffee enjoys a high\nreputation in Franconia. Serb women get a woman already pregnant to\nput yeast into their girdles; they sleep with it over night, and eat\nit in the morning at breakfast.[154.1]\n\nBefore passing from the eating of fruit and vegetables, let me point\nout that the mandrakes, or love-apples, for which Rachel bargained\nwith Leah, were believed to be possessed of power to put an end to\nbarrenness; and this, as it appears by the record in Genesis, quite\nindependently of sexual intercourse, for Rachel gave up her husband to\nher sister in exchange for them. Whether it be from the narcotic\nproperties of the fruit, or from the likeness of the root to the human\nform, or both, the mandrake has been during all history credited with\nsupernatural powers. In particular, it has been held potent as a cause\nof pregnancy. Henry Maundrell, travelling in Palestine in the spring\nof 1697--barely two centuries ago--was informed that it was then\ncustomary for women who wanted children to lay mandrakes under the\nbed.[154.2] The recipe current during the Middle Ages for gathering\nmandrakes was very much like that still practised by Danubian Gipsies\nto obtain a kind of orchid which they call boy-root. The root is half\nlaid bare with a knife never before used, and a black dog is tied by\nthe tail to it. A piece of ass-flesh is then offered to the {155}\nanimal; and when he springs after it he pulls out the plant. The\nrepresentation of a linga is carved out of the root, wrapped in a\npiece of hart\u2019s leather, and worn on the naked left arm to promote\nconception.[155.1] The Persians are said still to use the mandrake as\nan amulet for the same purpose, and to call it man\u2019s root or\nlove-root.[155.2]\n\nAnimal substances of various kinds have been taken with the like\nintent. An insect in India, called _pillai-p\u00fachchi_, or son-insect,\nis swallowed in large numbers by women in the hope of bearing\nsons.[155.3] They thus do voluntarily what the mothers of Conchobar\nand Cuchulainn are reported to have done against their wills. English\ngallants at one time were said to swallow loaches in wine to become\nprolific. Farquhar in _The Constant Couple_, written at the end of the\nseventeenth century, puts into the mouth of one of his characters the\nwords: \u201cI have toasted your ladyship fifteen bumpers successively, and\nswallowed Cupids like loaches in every glass.\u201d[155.4] On every\nChristmas Eve unfruitful wives among the Transylvanian Saxons eat fish\nand throw the bones into flowing water, in the hope of bringing\nchildren into the world.[155.5] Hungarian Gipsy-women gather the\nfloating threads of cobweb from the fields in autumn, and in the\nwaxing of the moon they with their husbands eat them, murmuring an\nincantation to the Keshalyi, or Fate, whose sorrow at this season for\nher lost mortal husband causes her to tear out her hair. These threads\nare believed to be the Keshalyi\u2019s hair; and the incantation attributes\nthe hoped-for child to {156} them, and invites the Fate to the\nbaptism.[156.1] In Kamtchatka, women outdo the Hungarian Gipsies. They\neat the spiders themselves to obtain children; and a woman who, on\nbearing, desires to become pregnant soon again, eats her infant\u2019s\nnavel-string. Among the Southern Slavs the wife places a wooden bowl\nfull of water beneath a beam of the roof where it is worm-eaten and\nthe worm-dust falls. Her husband strikes the beam with something\nheavy, so as to shake the dust out of the worm-holes; and she drinks\nthe water containing the dust that falls. Many a woman seeks in knots\nof hazelwood for a worm, and eats it when found. Masur women in the\nprovince of West Prussia make use of the water which drips from a\nstallion\u2019s mouth after he has drunk. Worse is said to be done in\nAlgiers. There, when a woman has already had a child, but has ceased\nfor a long period to conceive, she must drink sheep\u2019s urine, or water\nwherein wax from a donkey\u2019s ear has been macerated.[156.2] The ancient\nPrussian bride and bridegroom, having been put to bed, but before\nconsummating the marriage, were served with a dish of buck\u2019s, bull\u2019s,\nor bear\u2019s testicles,[156.3] probably with a view to begetting a boy.\nThe corresponding portion of a hare was prescribed in wine by our\nAnglo-Saxon forefathers to the woman who desired a son. \u201cIn order that\na woman may kindle a male child,\u201d a hare\u2019s belly dried and sliced and\nrubbed with a drink is also recommended in the leechbook to be taken\nby both husband and wife. If the wife alone drank it, she would\nproduce an hermaphrodite. {157} The hare\u2019s magical reputation is well\nknown, nor are the foregoing the only prescriptions in the same work\nfrom its flesh. Four drachms of female hare\u2019s rennet to the woman, and\nthe like quantity of male hare\u2019s to the man, in wine, were to be\ngiven; and, after directing that the wife should be dieted on\nmushrooms and forego her bath, we are told: \u201cWonderfully she will be\npregnant.\u201d[157.1] We shall not be inclined to dispute the wonder. In\nFezzan a woman\u2019s fruitfulness is said to be increased by the plentiful\nenjoyment of the dried intestines of a young hare which has never been\nsuckled. The flesh of the kangaroo, like the hare a swift animal, is\nheld by the Australian aborigines to cause fertility.[157.2] A fox\u2019s\ngenital organs dried and rubbed to powder are given to women in the\nLand beyond the Forest against barrenness.[157.3]\n\nEggs are naturally supposed to ensure pregnancy. A Gipsy husband will\nsometimes take an egg and blow the contents into his wife\u2019s mouth, she\nswallowing them;[157.4] or in Transylvania she will give him at full\nmoon the egg of a black hen to eat by himself.[157.5] On the island of\nKeisar in the East Indies, an infertile woman takes a hen\u2019s first egg\nto an old man with a reputation for knowledge, and asks him for help.\nHe lays the egg on a nunu-leaf, and with it presses her breast,\nmuttering blessings the while. Then he cooks the egg in a koli-leaf,\ntakes a bit of it, lays it again on the nunu-leaf, and gives it to the\nwoman to eat. After {158} that, he presses the leaf on her nose and\nbreasts, and lightly rubs it upon her shoulders, passing it always\ndownwards, wraps another bit of the egg in the nunu-leaf, and causes\nit to be preserved in the branches of one of the highest trees in the\nneighbourhood of her dwelling.[158.1] On the other hand, in Galicia\nthe _last_ egg laid by a hen is credited with having two yolks. It is\nsaid to be no bigger than a pigeon\u2019s egg. A barren woman who swallows\nits contents will henceforth bear; or it is given to a cow or other\nanimal with a similar object.[158.2]\n\nThe _Grihya-S\u00fbtra_ of Gobhila gives minute directions for the\nsacrifice offered by the ancient Aryans of India. The object of the\nAnvashtakya ceremony was the propitiation of the ancestral spirits, to\nwhom three Pindas, or lumps of food, consisting of rice and cow-beef\nmixed with a certain juice, are offered. After the offering, if the\nsacrificer\u2019s wife wish for a son, she is to eat the middle Pinda,\ndedicated among the manes especially to her husband\u2019s grandfather,\nuttering at the same time the verse from the _Mantra-Br\u00e2hmana_: \u201cGive\nfruit to the womb, O Fathers!\u201d[158.3] No doubt the virtue of this\nprescription consists in the food\u2019s having been part of the\nsacrificial offering. But the cow is so intimately connected with the\nwell-being of all tribes in the Old World who have passed beyond the\nlower stages of savagery, and has consequently become so\nwell-recognised a symbol of fecundity, that we need not be surprised\nto find it used in charms to produce offspring. An Old English recipe\nfor a woman who miscarries is to let her take milk of a one-coloured\ncow in her hand and sup it up {159} into her mouth, and then go to\nrunning water and spit out the milk therein. Next, she must ladle up\nwith the same hand a mouthful of the water and swallow it down,\nuttering certain words. Lastly, she must, without looking about her\neither in her going or coming, return, but not into the same house\nwhence she came out, and there taste of meat.[159.1] Among the Kaffirs\nan amulet to remove the reproach from a childless woman is made by the\nmedicine-man of the clan from the tail-hairs of a heifer. The heifer\nmust be given to the husband by a kinsman for the purpose; and the\ncharm, when made, is hung round the woman\u2019s neck.[159.2] In Belgium,\nwomen desirous of offspring are advised to drink a mixture of the milk\nof the goat, ass, and sheep.[159.3]\n\nOf mineral substances Russian women take saltpetre; and in Styria a\nwoman will grate her wedding-ring and swallow the filings.[159.4] It\nwas a classical superstition that mice were impregnated by tasting\nsalt.[159.5]\n\nThe drinking of water under certain conditions has been held to be\nproductive of children. In the first instance I am about to mention,\nhowever, reliance is not placed wholly on the draught. Beside the\nGroesbeeck spring at Spa in the Ardennes is a footprint of Saint\nRemacle. Barren women pay a nine days\u2019 devotional visit to the shrine\nof the saint at Spa, and drink every morning a glass of the Groesbeeck\nwater. While drinking, one foot must be placed in the holy\nfootprint.[159.6] Maidens, we know, in more than one of the tales,\nhave proved the efficacy of divine footprints. In other cases it is\nunmistakably the draught {160} which has the virtue. In Thuringia and\nTransylvania, women who wished to be healed of unfruitfulness drank\nconsecrated water from the baptismal font.[160.1] A Transylvanian\nGipsy woman is said to drink water wherein her husband has cast hot\ncoals, or, better still, has spit, saying as she does so: \u201cWhere I am\nflame be thou the coals! Where I am rain be thou the water!\u201d[160.2] A\nSouth Slavonic woman holds a wooden bowl of water near the fire on the\nhearth. Her husband then strikes two firebrands together until the\nsparks fly. Some of them fall into the bowl, and she then drinks the\nwater.[160.3] The Tusayan, one of the pueblo tribes of North America,\nhave a legend of one of their women who, being pregnant, was left\nbehind on the Little Colorado in their wanderings. Beneath her\ndwelling is a spring, and any sterile woman who drinks of it will bear\nchildren.[160.4] For Arab women the third chapter of the Koran (which,\namong other things, relates the birth of the Virgin Mary) is written\nout in its whole interminable length with saffron in a copper basin;\nboiling water is poured upon the writing; and the woman in need drinks\na part of the water thus consecrated, and washes her face, breast and\nwomb with the remainder.[160.5] At Bombay a barren woman would cut off\nthe end of the robe of a woman who has borne at least one child, when\nhung up to dry; or would steal a new-born infant\u2019s shirt, steep one\nend of it in water, drink the water and destroy the shirt. The child\nto which {161} the clothing belonged would then die and be born again\nfrom the womb of the woman performing this ceremony.[161.1] Other\nwomen in India wash the loin-cloth of a sany\u00e1s\u00ed, or devotee, and\ndrink the water.[161.2] We can only surmise that this filthy practice\nis followed in the hope of obtaining the benefit experienced by the\nPrincess Chand R\u00e1wati in the Sanskrit romance, or the nymph Adrik\u00e2\nin the _Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata_, cited above.\n\nBe this how it may, there is a group of practices to which reference\nmust be made, and which almost match the foregoing in nastiness.\nUnfortunately the dislike of nastiness is an extremely civilised\nfeeling; and when we read of these things we must remember that we\nourselves are not very far removed from a date when powder of mummy\nwas one of the least objectionable remedies in our forefathers\u2019\npharmacop\u0153ia. We have already found that a Gipsy woman will drink the\nwater wherein her husband has spit. What is the meaning of the\nexpression: \u201cHe is the very spit of his father!\u201d current not only in\nEngland, but also, according to the learned Liebrecht, in France,\nItaly, and Portugal, and alluded to by Voltaire and La Fontaine, if it\npoint not back to a similar, perhaps a more repulsive, ceremony\nformerly practised by the folk all over western Europe? Other Gipsy\ncustoms, if Gipsy women are not belied, are quite as bad. A barren\nwoman who succeeds in touching a snake caught in Easter- or\nWhitsun-week will become fruitful if she spit thrice on it and\nsprinkle it with her menstruation-blood, repeating the following {162}\nincantation: \u201cGrow thick, thou snake! that I thereby may get a child.\nI am lean as thou art now, therefore rest not. Snake, snake, glide\nhence, and if I become pregnant I will give thee a crest, an old one,\nthat thy tooth may thereby receive much poison!\u201d[162.1] Among the\nGipsies of Roumania and southern Hungary a sterile woman scratches her\nhusband\u2019s left hand between finger and thumb; and he returns the\ncompliment. The blood of both is received in a new vessel, and buried\nunder a tree for nine days. It is then taken up and ass\u2019 milk poured\ninto it; and husband and wife drink the mixture before going to bed,\nsaying an incantation which reminds us of the Zulu story of the blood\nin the pot; for its earlier lines run thus: \u201cIn the dawn three Fates\nwill come. The first seeks our blood; the second finds our blood; the\nthird makes a child thereout.\u201d[162.2] A Polish woman, to get children,\nprocures a small jar of the blood of another woman at her first\nchild-bearing, and drinks it mixed with brandy.[162.3] I mentioned\njust now the practice of the Kamtchatkan women. A Magyar believes he\npromotes conception by his wife if he mix with his blood white of egg\nand the white spots in the yolk of a hen\u2019s egg, fill a dead man\u2019s bone\nwith the mixture, and bury it where he is accustomed to make\nwater.[162.4] Nay, shavings of a dead man\u2019s bone taken in drink will\nhave the same effect; or if taken by a man, they will enhance his\n{163} potency.[163.1] It was, as we have seen, a dead man\u2019s bone\nwhich, according to the Mexican saga, when sprinkled with blood,\nproduced the father and mother of the present race of mankind.\n\nPortions of corpses are, in fact, as valuable for unfruitful women as\nthe blood and secretions of living persons, at least in the opinion of\nthe Danubian Gipsies. These people are said to make, for protection\nfrom witchcraft, little figures of men and brutes out of a sort of\ndough of grafting wax taken from the trees in a graveyard, mixed with\nthe powdered hair and nails of a dead child or maiden, and with ashes\nleft after burning the clothes of one who has died. The figures are\ndried in the sun, and, when required for use, ground into powder.\nTaken in millet-pap in the increase of the moon this powder\naccelerates conception.[163.2] Mr. Lane records disgusting practices\non the part of barren women at Cairo. Near the place of execution\nthere is a table of stone where the body of every person who is, in\naccordance with the usual mode of punishment, beheaded is washed\nbefore burial. By the table is a trough to receive the water. This\ntrough is never emptied; and its contents are tainted with blood, and\nfetid. A woman who desires issue silently passes under the stone table\nwith the left foot foremost, and then over it. After repeating this\nprocess seven times, she washes her face in the trough, and, giving a\ntrifling sum of money to the old man and his wife who keep the place,\n{164} goes silently away. Others, with the like intent, step over the\ndecapitated body seven times, also without speaking; and others again\ndip in the blood a piece of cotton-wool, of which they afterwards make\nuse in a manner which Mr. Lane declines to mention.[164.1] The stories\nI have quoted, wherein a skull, reduced to powder and given to a\nmaiden, renders her pregnant, also come from Danubian lands and from\nthe Mohammedan East. The incident of the skull is less horrible than\nthese practices; but what other distinction can be found?\n\nWe may illustrate the custom of stepping over the dead body, and at\nthe same time show that in both hemispheres the idea expressed in the\nstories just referred to is an active principle of conduct. First let\nme recall the superstition which leads a woman in Bombay to steal\nanother\u2019s child; for that is what the ceremony described a page or two\nback amounts to. In the same way Algonkin women who sought to become\nmothers flocked to the couches of those about to die, in hope that the\nvital principle, as it passed from the dying, would enter their bodies\nand fertilise their sterile wombs.[164.2] Among the Hurons in the\nseventeenth century babes who died under one or two months were not\nplaced, like older persons, in sepulchres of bark raised on stakes,\nbut buried in the road, in order that they might enter secretly into\nthe wombs of passing women and be born again. The Jesuit father who\nreports this custom quaintly adds: \u201cI doubt that the good Nicodemus\nwould have found much difficulty here, although he doubted only for\nold men: _Quomodo potest homo nasci cum sit senex?_\u201d[164.3] So {165}\none of the prescriptions of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers directs a\nwoman who has miscarried to go to the barrow of a deceased man and\nstep thrice over it with certain words conjuring the effects of the\nmiscarriage.[165.1] We are now in a position to understand why a Gipsy\nwoman eats grass from the grave of a pregnant woman. It is because she\nexpects that the life of the unborn child will enter into her by means\nof the grass. Evidently the object sought by all these ceremonies\nconnected with the departed is to transfer to the unproductive womb\nthe life which has been snatched away. In the tales of parthenogenesis\nby means of the powdered skull the identity of the child with the dead\nman is openly declared; and it is equally unmistakable in the Slavonic\nstory of the girl who was given the hermit\u2019s heart to eat. I shall\nreturn to this subject in the next chapter.\n\nThe blood would impart its power to the water it putrified, wherein\nthe Cairene women washed. Washing in water endowed with supernatural\npower is not uncommon elsewhere. Transylvanian Saxon women not only\ndrink of baptismal water: they also wash in it, preferably on\nMidsummer Day.[165.2] Among the Galician Jews unfruitful women when\nthey bathe according to their ritual dip themselves nine times under\nwater.[165.3] Saint Verena, one of the illustrious obscure of\nmedi\u00e6val mythology, bathed in the Verenenbad at Baden in the Aargau,\nand thereby conferred on it such virtue that pregnant women or such as\nwish for children, if they bathe there, soon attain their\ndesire.[165.4] The {166} reference to pregnant women must no doubt be\nunderstood of those who wish to avoid miscarriage and to be safely\ndelivered. German tales and popular saws used to speak--perchance they\nstill do--of a Kinderbrunnen, or Children\u2019s Well, whence babies were\nfetched, as in England from the parsley bed. The Bride\u2019s Well, in\nAberdeenshire, was at one time the resort of every bride in the\nneighbourhood on the evening before her marriage. Her maidens bathed\nher feet and the upper part of her body with water drawn from it; and\nthis bathing, we are told, \u201censured a family.\u201d[166.1] The well into\nwhich P\u00fbran, that Panj\u00e2b\u00ee Joseph, was thrown, is situate on the\nhighroad between Si\u00e2lkot and Kalow\u00e2l. His residence in it sanctified\nit to such an extent that the women of those parts believe that if\nthey bathe in it they will become fruitful.[166.2] Panj\u00e2b\u00ee women\nsometimes adopt more questionable means. They wash naked in a boat in\na field of sugar-canes, or under a mango-tree. Mangoes, it will be\nremembered, are favourite phallic fruits in Indian tales. Properly\nthese women ought to burn seven houses. But this is cruelly forbidden\nby English law; and they have to content themselves with burning\nsecretly at murky midnight on Sunday, and as far as possible at a\ncross-road, a small quantity of clay from seven dwellings. On this\nfire they heat the water wherewith to wash. Or, during the night of\nthe feast of Divali--always a night in the moonless half of the\nmonth--the husband draws water at seven different wells in an earthen\npot, and places in the water leaves plucked from seven trees. He\nbrings the pot to his wife at a crossway where the roads meet roughly\nat right angles. She must sprinkle herself with the water unseen by\nanybody. The husband then strips and puts on new {167} clothes. This\nis indeed a putting-off of the old man. Or else the woman perfectly\nnude covers a space in the middle of the crossway, and there lays\nleaves from the five royal trees, the _ficus religiosa_, _ficus\nindica_, _acacia speciosa_, mango, and _butea frondosa_. On these she\nplaces a little figure of the god Rama, sits on the figure and washes\nher entire body with water in five vases drawn from five wells, four\nof which must be situated at the four points of the compass from the\ntown or village, and the fifth to the north-east in the outskirts. She\npours the water from the vases into a receptacle whose bottom is\npierced by a hole whence the contents may fall on her body. The\nceremony must be accomplished in absolute solitude, and all the\nutensils must be left on the spot.[167.1]\n\nAmong the ancient Greeks various streams and springs were deemed of\nvirtue against barrenness. Dr. Ploss cites divers classical writers as\nrecording the claims of the river Elatus in Arcadia, the Thespian\nspring on the island of Helicon, the spring near the temple of\nAphrodite on Hymettos, and the warm springs of Sinuessa. Others might\neasily be found, if necessary, both ancient and modern. A curious rite\nis reported among the Serbs. A young, sterile married woman cuts a\nreed, fills it with wine, and sews it, together with an old knife and\na cake, in a linen bag. Holding this bag under her left arm she wades\nin flowing water, while some one on the brink prays for her: \u201cFulfil\nmy prayer, O God, O Mother of God,\u201d and so on through the whole gamut\nof sanctities. During this prayer the wader drops the bag in the\nstream, and, coming out, sets her feet in two braziers, out of which\nher husband must lift her and carry her home. Here we have\nunmistakably a prayer and {168} offerings of food and drink to the\nwater, the latter remaining but little changed while the former puts\non a Christian guise. A parallel case is that of the Burmal er Rabba\nspring at Sidi Mecid, near Constantine, in Algeria, frequented both by\nJewesses and Moors for the removal of infecundity. Each of these women\nslays a black hen before the door of the grotto, offers inside a wax\ntaper and a honey-cake, takes a bath and goes away assured of the\nspeedy accomplishment of her wishes. Inasmuch as sacrifices are\nforeign to Islam, it is obvious that the ceremony is a survival of an\nolder cult. Curiously enough, the Dyaks of Borneo, who are still\nfrankly heathen, offer domestic fowls to the water-goddess against\nunfruitfulness. The afflicted person (sometimes it is a man) gives a\nbig feast called Cararamin, and goes to the haunt of the Jata, or\ngoddess, in question in a boat beautifully adorned, taking a domestic\nand other fowls with gilded beaks as offerings. They are thrown living\ninto the water, or their heads are merely cut off and offered, while\nthe body is consumed by the votary. In many instances, we are told,\ncarved wooden figures of birds are made use of instead of the real\narticle. In the islands of Watabela, Aaru and the Sula Archipelago,\nbarren women and their husbands go to the ancestral graves, or, if\nMoslems, on Friday to a certain sacred tomb, to pray together with\nsome old women. They bring offerings which include a goat or pig and\nwater. The husband prays for a medicine, and promises, if a child be\ngiven him, to offer the goat (or pig, if a heathen), or to give it to\nthe people to eat. It is expected that after this the medicine will be\nprescribed to both husband and wife in dreams. They both wash with the\nwater they have brought, which is consecrated by standing for a while\non the grave, and eat together some of {169} the food, leaving the\nrest on the grave. They take the goat, or pig, back home, to be\nsacrificed in accordance with the husband\u2019s vow, only if the wife\nbecome pregnant. The Nature-goddess of the Yorubas on the west coast\nof Africa is represented as a pregnant female; and the water that is\nconsecrated by being kept in her temple is highly esteemed for\ninfertility and difficult labours.[169.1] And in general we may refer\nnot only to the numerous wells and springs that even yet in Europe\nhave a similar reputation, but also to the rites practised in\nconnection with water by a bride on being brought to her new home. It\nwould be too great a wandering from our present subject to discuss\nthese rites in detail. But one at least of the objects they have in\nview is the production of offspring. I add a few references at the\nfoot of the page for those who wish to pursue the inquiry.[169.2]\nMeantime it will be seen that the practices passed in review\nthroughout this and the preceding paragraph bear a remarkable analogy\nto the stories wherein we are presented with the Supernatural Birth as\ncaused by bathing; and it will not be forgotten that the mother of the\nErse hero Aedh Sl\u00e1ine does not succeed in bearing a human child until\nshe has washed in the consecrated water: drinking of it alone was\ninsufficient. Having regard to the stories {170} of Danae and the\nMexican goddess who was fructified by the rain, it is interesting too\nto note that Hottentot maidens must run about naked in the first\nthunderstorm after the festival when their maturity is celebrated. The\nrain, pouring down over the whole body, has the virtue of making\nfruitful the girl who receives it and rendering her capable of having\na large offspring.[170.1] It is even possible that a similar\nsuperstition was once known in Germany. A saying current in many parts\npoints in this direction, namely, that when it rains on St. John\u2019s day\nthe nuts will be wormy and many girls pregnant[170.2]--unless, as a\nSlav practice already cited may suggest, the pregnancy be the result\nof their eating the wormy nuts.\n\nA few other usages must be referred to before we leave the subject.\nSeveral of the stories I have cited attribute pregnancy to the rays of\nthe sun. The ancient Parsees, as we might have expected, believed that\nthe beams of the rising sun were the most effective means for giving\nfruitfulness to the newly wedded; and even to-day, in Persia and among\nthe Tartars in Central Asia, the morning after the marriage has been\nconsummated the pair are brought out to be greeted by the rising\nsun.[170.3] At old Hindu marriages the bride was made to look towards\nthe sun, or in some other way exposed to its rays. This was expressly\ncalled the Impregnation-rite.[170.4] Among the Chacos, an aboriginal\ntribe of the southern part of South America, the bride {171} and\nbridegroom sleep the first night on a skin with their heads towards\nthe west; for, we are told, the marriage is not considered as ratified\nuntil the rising sun shines on their feet the succeeding\nmorning.[171.1] Whether or not it is really their feet on which the\nsun is expected to shine, the ratification of the marriage by the sun\nmust be intended to obtain the blessing of fertility.\n\nIt was customary at Rome to offer goats at the Lupercal; and two\nyouths underwent the pretence of a human offering, doubtless once\nanything but a sham. A sacrificial meal followed. The Luperci, then,\ngirt with skins of some of the slain animals, cut other skins into\nstrips, and armed with the strips ran up and down the Via Sacra,\nacross the Forum and through the city, striking all whom they met.\nWomen who desired to be made fruitful used, it is said, to place\nthemselves naked in the way and receive the blows upon their\npalms.[171.2] Dr. Ploss compares with this the procedure in Voigtland\nand other parts of Germany at the Easter festival, when the young\nfellows chase the girls out of their beds with green twigs.[171.3]\nSimilar is the object of the custom observed from India to the\nAtlantic Ocean of throwing grain and seeds of one sort or another over\na bride, and apparently of the custom of flinging old shoes. The\nwandering Gipsies of Transylvania are said to throw old shoes and\nboots on a newly married pair when they enter their tent, expressly to\nenchance the fertility of the union. In Germany, pieces of cake are\nthrust against the bride\u2019s body.[171.4] About Chemnitz a table-cloth\nseems to acquire prolific virtue by serving at a first christening\n{172} dinner; and it is sometimes cast over a barren wife.[172.1] The\nAsturian ballad already cited in an earlier chapter ascribes to the\nborage the power to affect any woman treading on it as it affected the\nunfortunate princess Alexandra.[172.2] Rolling beneath a solitary\napple-tree seems an approved method of obtaining pregnancy among the\nKara Kirghiz women.[172.3]\n\nAmulets play a great part in procuring offspring. I have only space\nfor a few examples. A porcupine\u2019s foot is a favourite talisman among\nthe Moorish women of Marocco. The Northern Basuto in the Transvaal lay\nthe fault of childlessness on the husband. He has done to death by\nwitchcraft one of his kin, or committed some other wrong towards the\ndead man, who is therefore angry. After consulting a wizard, and\nascertaining to whom is to be ascribed the evil, he goes to the grave,\nacknowledges his fault, prays to the dead for forgiveness, and takes\nback from the tomb a stone, a twig, or some other object, which he\ncarries about, or deposits in his courtyard, as a fetich or a charm.\nIf he duly honour it, it will restore the good understanding between\nthe deceased and himself, and give him the benefit he desires. An\nOtchi Negress will take a fetich conditionally on its giving her\nchildren. If a child be born, it is a fetich-child and is considered\nto belong to the fetich, just as in many of the tales the child is\ngiven by an ogre upon the stipulation that it shall belong to the\nogre, and be fetched away, either when he pleases, or at a fixed\nperiod. The women of Mecca commonly {173} wear a magical girdle to\nyield them fertility. In Persia, as we have seen, the mandrake is worn\nas an amulet.[173.1] On the Banks\u2019 Islands, women take certain stones\nto bed with them for the same purpose.[173.2]\n\nIn the interior of western Africa, over the border of Angola, on the\nway from Malange, barren Negresses have been found wearing two little\ncarved ivory figures representing the two sexes in a string round the\nbody.[173.3] The phalloi worn by Italian women are familiar to every\nstudent of folklore; and the images worn by Danubian Gipsies have\nalready been mentioned. The worship of the linga is a favourite one\nwith Hindu women. The representation is sometimes carved and painted\nred, at other times a mere rough upright stone. Such idols are to be\nseen everywhere in India; and their pious worshippers may often be\nobserved decking them with flowers, red cloth or gilt paper, like the\nMadonna in Roman Catholic churches. Siva himself, the third in the\nmodern Hindu Trimurti, is represented under this form; and under this\nform--softened down by Southey in his finest poem from the grotesque\nobscenity of the original story--he appeared when\n\n \u201cBrahma and Vishnu wild with rage contended,\n And Siva in his might their dread contention ended.\u201d\n\nA cannon, old and useless and neglected, belonging to the Dutch\nGovernment, lay in a field at Batavia, on the island of Java. It was\ntaken by the native women for a linga. Dressed in their best, and\nadorned with flowers, they used to worship this piece of senseless\niron, presented it with {174} offerings of rice and fruits, miniature\nsunshades, and coppers, and completed the performance by sitting\nastride upon it as a certain method of winning children. At length an\norder arrived from the Government to remove it as lumber; and removed\nit was, to the great dismay of the priests, who had pocketed the\ncoppers and had manufactured and sold the sunshades--probably also to\nthe dismay of the ladies who depended upon its miraculous power--but\nat all events, it is satisfactory to know, without injuriously\naffecting the increase of the population.[174.1] At Roman weddings one\nof the ceremonies was the culminating rite so dear to these Batavian\nwomen; and its object was that the bride might conceive.[174.2] At\nAthens there is a rock near the Callirrhoe, whereon women who wish to\nbe made fruitful rub themselves, calling on the Moirai to be gracious\nto them. And Bernhard Schmidt, writing on the subject, recalls that\nnot far from that very spot the heavenly Aphrodite was honoured in\nancient times as the eldest of the Fates.[174.3] At the foot of\nanother hill is a seat cut in the rock on the banks of a stream. There\nthe Athenian women were wont to sit and let themselves slip on the\nback into the brook, calling on Apollo for an easy delivery. The stone\nis black and polished with the constant repetition of these\ninvocations; for still on a clear moonlit night young women steal\nsilently to the spot to indulge in the same exercise, though we may\npresume their prayers are nominally addressed to some other\ndivinity.[174.4] Near Verdun in Luxemburg, Saint {175} Lucia\u2019s\narm-chair is also to be seen in the living rock. There childless women\nsit and pray, afterwards awaiting with confidence the fulfilment of\ntheir petitions. A curious rite used until the Reformation to be\nperformed at the shrine of Saint Edmund at Bury St. Edmund\u2019s. A white\nbull was kept on the fields of the manor of Habyrdon, and never yoked\nto the plough nor baited at the stake. When a married woman wished for\noffspring he was \u201cled in procession through the principal streets of\nthe town to the principal gate of the monastery, attended by all the\nmonks singing, and a shouting crowd; the woman walking by him and\nstroking his milk-white sides and pendent dewlaps. The bull being then\ndismissed, the woman entered the church, and paid her vows at the\naltar of Saint Edmund, kissing the stone, and entreating with tears\nthe blessing of a child.\u201d[175.1] In the Pyrenees near Bourg d\u2019Oueil is\na stone figure of a man about five feet in height, on which barren\nwomen rub themselves, embracing and kissing it. In Brittany there are\nseveral shrines of this worship. Newly-wedded pairs from the\nneighbourhood of Plouarnel and Saint Renan sometimes go to the menhir\nof Kerv\u00e9athon in the _lande_ of Kerloas; and there bride and\nbridegroom rub simultaneously their abdomens against the two rough\nsides of the stone. By this the husband hopes to get many sons--the\nwife hopes to get not merely fecundity but the whip-hand of her\nhusband. Near Rennes the newly married go, the first Sunday of Lent,\nto jump on a stone called the Bride-stone (_Pierre des \u00c9pous\u00e9es_),\nsinging the while a special song. Down to the Revolution there stood\nat {176} Brest a chapel of Saint Guignolet, containing a priapian\nstatue of the holy man. Women who were, or feared to be, sterile, used\nto go and scrape a little of the phallos, which they put into a glass\nof water from the well and drank. Another Breton saint called\nGuerlichon was similarly honoured.[176.1]\n\nThere is a miraculous stone on the sacred hill of Nikko in Japan, at\nwhich women who want to become mothers throw stones, sure of having\ntheir ambition gratified if they succeed in striking it. And in the\nUyeno Park at Tokio is a seated statue of Buddha. Whoso succeeds in\nflinging a stone upon the sacred knees attains the same result. At\nWhitchurch near Cardiff, in the last century, a woman animated by the\nwish for children would go on Easter Monday to the parish churchyard,\narmed with two dozen tennis balls, half of them covered with white\nleather and the other half with black, and would throw them over the\nchurch. The operation was to be repeated every year until her wish was\naccomplished.[176.2] I shall return to these practices in a future\nchapter. In the Tirol there are miraculous images beside which little\nwaxen figures in the shape of toads are hung. The figures are called\n_Muettern_. It is believed that every woman has inside her a creature\nin this form. Many a mother has gone to sleep with her mouth open, and\nthe muetter has crept out and gone to plunge into the nearest water.\nIf she do not close her mouth, the muetter by-and-bye gets back\nsafely, and the woman, previously sick, is restored to health. But if\nshe close her mouth, she dies. Unfruitful women offer these waxen\n{177} figures to images of the Madonna, or of the Piet\u00e0.[177.1] On\nthe Gold Coast, Bassamese women who are possessed by a demon of\nbarrenness meet at the fetich hut and deposit consecrated vases and\nfigures of clay representing mothers nursing, while they present to\nthe fetich offerings of tobacco and handkerchiefs. The demons are\nfrightened away by the noise of fire-arms, drums and the blowing of\nhorns. The officiating chief makes an offering of gold-dust, and then\nspirts a mouthful of rum over the belly of every woman who desires\nissue. An improvised banquet brings the solemnity to a close.[177.2]\nThe figures in both these cases may be regarded as a symbolic\ndedication of the mother, or more probably the child, to the\nsupernatural being whose aid, like that of the ogre in the tale, is\ninvoked. The women on the Babar islands in the Malay Archipelago take\nmeasures bearing some superficial resemblance to the last, but widely\ndifferent in meaning. The help of a man who is rich in children is\nfirst obtained. The husband then collects fifty or sixty young kalapa\nfruits, while the wife prepares a doll about twenty inches long in red\nkattun. On the appointed day the man comes to their hut, puts the\nhusband and wife to sit near together, and sets before them a plate\ncontaining sirih-pinang and a young kalapa fruit. The latter is\nopened, and both husband and wife are sprinkled with the juice. The\nassistant then takes a fowl, holds its feet against the woman\u2019s head\nand prays, apparently in her name: \u201cO Upulero, make use of this fowl,\nlet fall a man, let him step down into my hands, I pray thee, I {178}\nimplore thee, let fall a man, let him step down into my hands and on\nmy lap!\u201d He asks the woman: \u201cIs the child come?\u201d She answers: \u201cYes, it\nis already sucking.\u201d Then he touches the man\u2019s head with the fowl\u2019s\nfeet and mutters certain formul\u00e6. The fowl is put to death by a blow\nagainst the posts of the hut, opened, and the veins about the heart\nprobed. It is laid on a plate and put on the domestic altar. The news\nis spread in the village that the woman is pregnant, and every one\ncomes and congratulates her. The husband borrows a cradle, in which\nthe doll is placed, and for seven days it is treated as a new-born\nchild.[178.1] Here it is simulation that plays the important part. In\naddition to the prayer and sacrifice, which might be found anywhere,\nthe Babar islander pretends that the prayer has been granted, and acts\naccordingly. Simulation as a form of magic is well known over the\nwhole earth. As applied to cause conception it is not one of the\npractices to which we have had to direct special attention in this\nchapter. But it deserves a passing notice as strengthening the general\nargument that conception is held to be caused by other than natural\nmeans. A common form of simulation for the purpose of obtaining\nchildren is found in the custom of putting a boy to sit on the bride\u2019s\nlap at a wedding. The ceremony was usual among the ancient Aryans, and\nis prescribed in detail in the _\u00c2pastamba_.[178.2] It is still\nfollowed in the east of Europe and elsewhere. In England, to rock an\nempty cradle is to rock a new baby into it. The Bechuana, Basuto and\nAgni women carry dolls, which they treat like children.[178.3] And in\nChina a barren {179} woman adopts a little girl to produce\nconception--a practice for which an elaborate reason is assigned. In\nthe invisible world, it is said, every woman is represented by a tree,\nwhich bears as many flowers as she is fated to bear children. If she\nbe sterile, her tree will not bear; and then, just as a fruit-tree is\ngrafted to make it bring forth fruit, so by adopting a little girl she\nwill provoke on her tree the germination of flowers, and thus become\nfruitful.[179.1]\n\nReviewing the superstitious rites here brought together, it will be\nseen that no case is found where fecundity has been held to be\nprocured by the sense of smell, or of sight, as in some of the tales.\nIt was, however, an ancient classical belief that partridges were\nimpregnated in some such way; for Pliny tells us that if the female\nonly stood opposite to the male and the wind blew from him towards\nher, or if he simply flew over her head, or very often if she merely\nheard his voice, it would be enough.[179.2] Though we do not find the\npossibility of obtaining fecundity by a glance, we have in the\nsuperstitions of the Evil Eye so widely, well-nigh universally, spread\na belief in a power quite as great, though exercised in a different\nway. In the power of magicians to eat by a look, the Evil Eye\nperformed the converse of impregnation. The authorities on this\nsubject have been laboriously collected by M. Tuchmann, to whose work\nthe reader is referred.[179.3] Belief in impregnation by the wind only\nwould seem to present difficulties at least as great as any of these.\nYet it was a common belief among {180} the ancients, not merely used\nfor a poetical ornament by Vergil, but repeated without question as a\nliteral fact by men of lofty intellect and wide attainments like Pliny\nand Augustine, that mares were, in Lusitania, as the former asserts,\nor in Cappadocia, according to the latter, fertilised by wind.[180.1]\nAnd if the inhabitants of the district of Lampong, in the island of\nSumatra, be not maligned, they, at the beginning of the present\ncentury, believed all the people on the neighbouring island of Engano\nto be females who were impregnated in the same manner.[180.2]\n\nIt cannot of course be asserted that in every instance of magical\npractices collected in the present chapter, pregnancy is believed to\nbe supernaturally caused by the means prescribed, apart from the\nnatural means, as in the tales. Indeed, the natural means are often\nexpressly to be employed in addition to the magical ceremonies. Yet\nthe line between natural and supernatural is so faint in savage minds\nthat it is difficult to know how much is to be ascribed to the one and\nhow much to the other. And we are justified in believing, not only\nthat the practices tend to render credible the stories, but further\nthat the stories and the practices--as well as superstitions, like\nthose mentioned in the last paragraph, unconnected with practice--are\ninextricably intermingled, and owe their origin to the same habit of\nthought. Nor must we forget that the relationship between father and\nchild was in early times imperfectly recognised. The researches of the\nlast five-and-twenty or thirty years have established that among many\nsavage races the father was held to be no relation to his children.\nEven where he exercised, as among the native Australians, {181}\ndespotic power over wife and children, the latter were held to be his\nrather as owner than as begetter; and the ownership of both wife and\nchildren passed at his death to his brothers, while at the same time\nthe relationships of the children were reckoned exclusively with their\nmother\u2019s kin. This system of relationships, known scientifically as\nMother-right, traces whereof are almost everywhere found, can only\nhave sprung either from a kind of promiscuity wherein the true father\ncould not have been ascertained, or from an imperfect recognition of\nthe great natural fact of fatherhood. Both causes, perhaps, played\ntheir part. But at least we may say that the attitude of mind which\nfavours the practices and beliefs we have been discussing is one which\nwould be consistent, and consistent alone, with the imperfect\nrecognition of paternity. And it is unquestionable that the\nsuperstitions, once rooted, would be likely to survive long after\npaternity had become an accepted fact, and, tenacious of their\nexistence, would seek new grounds of justification. This would have\nthe effect of gradually transforming the stories from matter-of-fact\nstatements of no unusual interest into sacred legends, into mere tales\ntold for pleasure, and into wonders believed but unexplained, and the\npractices into religious rites and rude medical prescriptions.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n DEATH AND BIRTH AS TRANSFORMATION.\n\n{182}\n\nIn the course of our examination of tales of Supernatural Birth we\nhave more than once found that birth was to the hero merely a new\nmanifestation. He had previously existed in other shapes, and by\nundergoing birth (preceded sometimes, but not always, by death) he was\nentering on a new career, he was ascending a new stage of being. The\nchild in the Annamite story of Posthumous Revenge had been an eel,\nwith liberty of metamorphosis into other forms. Marjatta\u2019s child in\nthe half-heathen postscript to the _Kalevala_ had been the creator of\nthe sun and moon. Yehl, the Thlinkit hero-god, repeatedly became the\nson of ladies, who were beguiled into swallowing a pebble, a blade of\ngrass, or even a drop of water, which was no other than the divinity\nin disguise. The subject, however, is so important, not merely in the\ngeneral study of savage ideas, but in relation to the myth of Perseus,\nespecially in its modern forms, that it is necessary to deal with it a\nlittle more at length.\n\nThe oldest known story wherein transformation of this kind forms an\nincident is that of _The Two Brothers_. The manuscript now in the\nBritish Museum was written by the scribe Enna, or Ennana, and belonged\nto the Egyptian {183} monarch Seti II., of the nineteenth dynasty,\nbefore he came to the throne. We have the story, therefore, in the\nshape it bore about the earlier half of the thirteenth century before\nChrist. It is a long one, and I have only space for a very meagre\nabstract. There were, thus it runs, two brothers, Anpu and Bata, of\nwhom Anpu, the elder, was married, and Bata served him. Anpu\u2019s wife\nfell in love with the younger brother, and tempted him as Potiphar\u2019s\nwife tempted Joseph, and with a similar result. The elder brother,\nwhen his wife denounced Bata to him, became like a panther with rage,\nand lay in wait behind the stable-door to slay his brother when he\nreturned from the field. The oxen, however, warn the youth, who flees\nand invokes the Sun-god Horus to judge between himself and his\nbrother. With the god\u2019s assistance he escapes; and Chnum, at Horus\u2019\nrequest, makes a wife for him, that he may not dwell alone. His\nhappiness, however, is not lasting. The sea carries one of the woman\u2019s\nfragrant locks to Egypt, where it is taken to the king, who sends to\nseek its owner, and makes her his favourite. Now Bata kept his heart\nin the top of the flower of the Cedar. This was known to the woman;\nand by her advice the king sent and cut down the Cedar. The flower\nfell to the ground, and Bata\u2019s heart with it; and he died. When he\nescaped from his brother, Bata had found means to convince him of his\ninnocence, and had given him a sign, saying that when Anpu should take\na jug of beer in his hand and it should turn into froth, then he\nshould know that Bata was dead, and he should come and look for him.\nAnpu, warned in this way of his brother\u2019s death, sought and found him;\nand after a long search he discovered his heart lying beneath the\nCedar. He picked it up and put it into a cup of cold {184} water. Bata\nthereupon revived, and having drunk up the water and his heart with\nit, he became as he had been before. The next day he assumed the form\nof a great bull with all the sacred marks, which his brother brought\nand gave to the king. In this form Bata found means to make himself\nknown to his wife. She for her part was by no means pleased to see\nhim; and having wheedled an oath out of the king that he would grant\nher whatsoever she asked, she demanded the bull\u2019s liver. As he was\nbeing slain two drops of his blood fell upon the king\u2019s door-posts,\nand forthwith grew up two mighty persea-trees. One of these trees\nspoke to the Favourite, accusing her of her crimes, and declaring: \u201cI\nam Bata, I am living still, I have transformed myself.\u201d She caused the\ntrees to be cut down; but while she stood by to watch, a splinter flew\noff, and, entering her mouth, rendered her pregnant. In due time she\ngave birth to a son, who became prince, and upon the king\u2019s death\nsucceeded to the throne. Then he summoned the nobles and councillors;\nhis wife was brought to him, and he had a reckoning with her.[184.1]\n\nThere are many points of exceeding interest in this, one of the oldest\nfairy-tales on record. For us, however, they centre on Bata\u2019s\ntransformations. He changes first into a sacred bull without\nundergoing death. He is then slain; and from his blood spring up two\npersea-trees. These are cut down; and his final metamorphosis is, by\nthe medium of birth, once more into a human being; for there can be no\ndoubt that the child born of the king\u2019s Favourite is regarded as Bata\nhimself. A modern Transylvanian _m\u00e4rchen_ unfolds a similar series of\nadventures; though {185} it is wanting in the consummate irony of the\nEgyptian tale, which makes the lady become pregnant of her foe and\ngive him at last the life to avenge himself of her villainies. A king\noverhears two maidens boasting of what they would do, the one, if she\nwere married to him, the other, if she were his cook. He marries the\nformer, and makes the other his cook. But the latter is jealous; and\nwhen the queen bears twins, a boy and a girl with golden hair, she\ncontrives to bury them in the dung-heap, and impose upon the king and\ncourt with a cat and dog, which she alleges to be the queen\u2019s\noffspring. The king therefore buries his queen alive, and marries the\ncook. Out of the dung-heap grew two golden fir-trees, in whose beauty\nthe king took great pleasure. His new wife, on the contrary, is\nuneasy, and declares she cannot rest unless on boards made from those\nvery trees. The king reluctantly has them cut down; and now she would\nbe happy, but that in the night she hears the boards beneath the royal\nbed conversing as brother and sister. Accordingly the next day she\ncauses them to be burnt in the oven; but two sparks fall among some\nbarley, which is given to an ewe. The ewe drops two lambs with golden\nfleeces. As soon as she sees them, the queen falls sick and craves for\ntheir hearts to eat. Once more compliant, her husband allows them to\nbe killed. Their hearts are roasted for the queen; their entrails are\nthrown into the river. Two pieces are carried by the water and thrown\non a distant shore, where the two children with golden hair reappear\nfrom them, and so charm the sun with their beauty that he stands to\nwatch them and goes not down for seven whole days. God, wondering why\nthe night so long delayed, went to inquire of the sun, and was shown\nthe twins. By His means they were restored to their father, {186} the\nwicked queen was punished, and their mother brought back to\nlife.[186.1]\n\nM. Cosquin, commenting on the Egyptian tale, has brought together a\nnumber of analogues, chiefly European. I proceed to notice some of\nthese, and a few others containing a similar chain of incidents. In a\nRoumanian story which follows the main lines of the Transylvanian, an\nemperor\u2019s son weds the youngest of three daughters. The heroine\u2019s\nfoes, however, are not her sisters, but her husband\u2019s stepmother and\n_her_ daughter. As she had foredoomed, she bears twin sons with golden\nhair and a golden star on the forehead. By his stepmother\u2019s treachery\nher husband is induced to believe that she has given birth to two\npuppies; and he orders her to be buried in the earth to the breast,\nthat the world might know what was her punishment who would betray the\nemperor\u2019s son. Then he married his stepsister. The twins had been\ninterred beneath the emperor\u2019s window; and out of their grave grew two\nfair aspen-trees. In three days they had attained the stature of three\nyears, and the emperor took great pleasure in them. Long did his wife\nbeg for permission to cut them down ere he yielded; but, after all,\nemperors are but men. So cut down they were, and made by his command,\nthe one into a bedstead for himself and the other for the empress. But\nthe bedsteads talked, as in the Transylvanian tale, and the empress\noverheard them. The next day she caused them to be burnt, and their\nashes thrown {187} to the winds. When the fire was hottest there flew\nout two sparks and fell into the deep water that flowed through the\nrealm. There they became two fish with golden scales. They were caught\nby the imperial fishermen, and then changed back into their original\nform of twin boys with golden hair and golden stars. When they had\ngrown up they made their way to the palace and told their tale, to the\nconfusion and condemnation of their enemies, and the restoration of\ntheir mother to her rightful place.[187.1] According to a Sicilian\nvariant, the heroine, married against the will of the queen, her\nmother-in-law, bears thirteen children, twelve sons and a daughter.\nThey are thrown into the garden, where they grow up as twelve\norange-trees and a lemon-tree. A goat eats them and bears the children\nanew.[187.2] In a Bengalee tale the heroine kindly relieves her\nfellow-wife by accidentally tumbling into a well. A rishi explains to\nher husband that she was not of royal blood, but had been born a rat,\nand changed by him at her own wish into a cat, then into a dog, a\nboar, an elephant and a beautiful girl, successively. He directs the\nwell to be filled up, and causes a poppy-tree to grow up out of her\nflesh and bones; and that is the origin of opium.[187.3]\n\nA German tale belonging to an entirely different cycle approaches the\nEgyptian _m\u00e4rchen_ in representing the transformations as incidents\nof a contest between a man and a woman, wherein the man is ultimately\nvictorious. The hero, having disenchanted a king and all his court,\nobtains a magical sword and becomes the champion of the unspelled\nmonarch against an aggressive neighbour. The {188} latter has a clever\ndaughter, who entraps the champion by her wiles and makes off with his\nsword. This results in his total defeat and capture by her father, who\nall-to hacks him, stuffs the pieces into a bag and sends it to the\ninvaded king with his compliments, and there was his champion. The\nhero is, however, restored to life by a master-sorcerer, and endowed\nwith the power of assuming what shape he will. He takes that of a\nmagnificent horse, which the invading king is induced to buy. The\nking\u2019s daughter scents a trick, and the horse\u2019s head is cut off. Three\ndrops of his blood fall into the apron of the king\u2019s cook, and she\nburies the apron, as the horse has previously directed her, under the\neaves. A cherry-tree grows up on the spot; and when the princess cuts\nit down, the cook throws three chips into the pond, where they change\ninto three golden ducks. The princess kills two, and, capturing the\nthird, takes it into her bedchamber. There it finds the stolen sword\nand flies off with it. Resuming his proper form, the hero defeats and\ndestroys the aggressive king and his whole family, and marries the\ncompassionate cook.[188.1] In a Russian story, the hero is betrayed by\nhis wife to the Turks, and killed. Recalled to life, he changes into a\nmarvellous horse with a golden mane, which the sultan buys. But\nCleopatra, the hero\u2019s wife, recognises her husband through his magical\ndisguise. When the horse is slain, from his blood arises a bull with\ngolden hair. Cleopatra kills it in turn, and from its head an\napple-tree springs with fruit of gold. The apple-tree is cut down; and\nits first chip is transformed into a golden duck, which overswims the\nriver and on the other side regains its pristine form as the\nhero.[188.2] A Breton {189} tale represents the hero as changing\nhimself into a horse. When the horse is put to death, a ball of his\ncurdled blood is put on a stone in the sun and sprinkled with magical\nwater. A cherry-tree grows out of it, laden with fine red cherries.\nWhen the cherry-tree is cut down, a cherry is sprinkled, and a\nbeautiful blue bird comes out of it. The treacherous wife is desirous\nof catching it; and her new husband lays down the hero\u2019s magical sword\nto enable him to move more freely. The bird then seizes the sword,\nand, rapidly changing back into the hero, puts his false wife and her\nsecond choice to death.[189.1]\n\nIn none of the foregoing stories do we find the hero victorious by\nmeans of a second birth from a woman. In a White-Russian variant of\n_The Outcast Wife_ group, the heroine, married to a king, has two\nsisters, who deceive the king as to her offspring and cause her twin\nboys to be buried alive. Out of their graves grow two maples, one with\na golden, the other with a silver, stem. The king puts away his wife,\nand marries one of her sisters. She has the maples cut down to make a\nbed, and afterwards burns the bed and sprinkles the ashes on the road.\nAn ewe swallows some of the ashes, and bears two lambs, marked like\nthe boys, with a moon on the head and a star on the nape of the neck.\nThe new queen orders the lambs to be slaughtered, and their entrails\nto be thrown out into the street. Her divorced sister having gathered\nup the entrails, cooks and eats them, and thus becomes once more\nmother to her sons. When they are grown up they reveal the whole story\nto the king, and obtain the reinstatement of their mother and the\npunishment of her guilty sister.[189.2] {190} A curious tale from\nCyprus brings before us a girl who is fated to wed her own father, of\nwhom she is to have a son, and that son she is afterwards to take for\nhusband. In order to defeat the prophecy she contrives her father\u2019s\nmurder. From the ground where the body is buried an apple-tree springs\nup and produces beautiful apples. The heroine buys some, and, eating\nthem, becomes pregnant. When she learns where the apples grew she\ndetermines to kill her child. As soon as it is born, therefore, she\nstabs it in the breast, nails it up in a coffer, and flings the coffer\ninto the sea. It is picked up by a vessel; and the captain, finding\nthe child still living, adopts it. It grows up to manhood and fulfils\nthe prophecy. From the wound-marks on his breast the mother recognises\nin her husband her own child; and on hearing his story she understands\nat last how useless it is to struggle against fate, and puts an end to\nher own life.[190.1]\n\nQuite another group is reached when we come to a series wherein the\nheroine first appears in the shape of a fruit. This is opened by the\nhero, and a maiden comes out. In a _m\u00e4rchen_ from Asia Minor the\nmaiden is, in the hero\u2019s absence, thrown into a well by a black slave,\nwho takes her place. In the well she becomes a golden fish. When the\nprince catches it the slave gets him to kill it and make broth of it\nfor her. But three drops of its blood fall to the ground and shoot up\ninto a cypress-tree. The tree is cut down and burnt. A chip clings to\nthe dress of an old woman who comes and asks for a light; and this\nchip changes again into the heroine.[190.2] In Basile\u2019s version the\nslave sticks a needle into the lady\u2019s temple and transforms {191} her\ninto a dove. The dove is caught, killed, scalded and plucked, in order\nto be cooked; and the water and feathers are thrown into the garden.\nWithin three days a citron-tree, like that out of which the heroine\noriginally came, rises, and bears three fine citrons. The king plucks\nthem; and when he has opened them, his true love emerges from the\nthird, and condign punishment is meted out to the slave.[191.1] A tale\nfrom the Deccan presents a maiden, brought up in an eagle\u2019s nest,\nafter sundry adventures happily married to a rajah. She is pitched\ninto the water-tank by her jealous fellow-wife. A sunflower grows up\nin the tank; and the jealous woman, when she finds her husband\nbecoming fond of it, orders her servants to dig it up and burn it. A\nmango-tree grows up on the spot where the sunflower has been burnt,\nbearing one magnificent mango. It is gathered by a milk-woman, and\nturns into the heroine.[191.2] A variant, which looks like an earlier\nform of the story, brings the heroine originally out of a b\u00e9l-fruit.\nThe sunflower is replaced by a lotus; and when the false wife tears\nthe lotus-flower to pieces a b\u00e9l-tree grows on the spot, bearing one\nfruit, which contains the B\u00e9l-princess once more.[191.3] In a\nCinderella tale, told by the Tjames, Kajong, persecuted by her\nfoster-sister Hal\u0153k, throws herself into a lake and suffers\ntransformation into a golden turtle. The king marries Hal\u0153k instead,\nbut cannot forget Kajong. The golden turtle is caught, and in the\nking\u2019s absence his wife kills and eats it, throwing the shell behind\nthe house. A bamboo springs up from the shell. When Hal\u0153k cooks and\neats the bamboo-shoot, the husk becomes a bird. She cooks the bird;\nand the {192} feathers, thrown away, turn into a m\u0153kya-tree, the\nfruit of which bears a resemblance to the outline of a woman. Out of\nthe fruit the heroine comes again.[192.1]\n\nThere is a group of stories very popular in Europe and known to the\nfarthest extremities of Asia and Africa. As usually told, a girl or a\nboy is killed by an envious brother and buried. Some time after, a\nbone is picked up and fashioned into a shepherd\u2019s pipe; or a reed\ngrowing on the grave is cut and made into a similar instrument. No\nsooner does the musician put the pipe to his mouth than the voice of\nthe murdered child is heard within it, reciting his death and accusing\nhis murderer. Occasionally, however, the tree, or plant, which grows\nfrom the grave sings or speaks of itself, as in the Dahoman version,\nwhere a mushroom appears on the grave. The mother of the murdered boy\nis about to pluck it, when it says to her: \u201cMother, pluck not. I was\nwith my comrades. They gave me two thousand cowries. They only gave\none thousand to my brother. Then he cruelly killed me; my brother\nkilled me!\u201d Sometimes it is a rose which speaks of itself, or when it\nis put to the mouth; sometimes a flute made from the branch of a tree\nwhich has grown on the grave. In one case it is a pomegranate from\nsuch a tree: when the fruit is brought to the king it changes into the\nhead of the murdered man. At other times the crime is revealed by a\nwhistle, or pipe, which has belonged to the victim, or has fallen in\nhis blood. Again, a bird will proclaim itself the victim and tell the\nstory, or lead the avenging kindred to the grave. A Chinese drama,\nbelieved to be founded on a folktale, represents the body as burnt by\nthe assassin, {193} and the ashes made into a dish. The dish denounces\nthe criminal.[193.1]\n\nThe old Scottish ballad of _Binnorie_ belongs to this group, though in\nall its British variants it has been modernised. Scott\u2019s version, the\nbest known, is only half traditional. The elder sister drowns the\nyounger for the sake of her lover. The body is found by the miller in\n\u201cthe bonny mill-dams of Binnorie.\u201d\n\n \u201cA famous harper passing by\n The sweet pale face he chanced to spy.\n . . . . . .\n \u201cHe made a harp of her breast-bone,\n Whose sounds would melt a heart of stone.\n\n \u201cThe strings he framed of her yellow hair,\n Whose notes made sad the listening ear.\u201d\n\nHere the ballad has obviously been manipulated; but a comparison of\nother versions shows that the sense has been preserved.\n\n \u201cHe laid this harp upon a stone,\n And straight it began to play alone.\n\n \u201c\u2018O yonder sits my father, the king,\n And yonder sits my mother, the queen.\n\n \u201c\u2018And yonder stands my brother Hugh,\n And by him my William, sweet and true!\u2019\n\n \u201cBut the last tune that the harp played then,\n  Binnorie, O Binnorie!\n Was \u2018Woe to my sister, false Helen!\u2019\n By the bonny mill-dams of Binnorie.\u201d\n\n{194}\n\n\u201cAccording to all complete and uncorrupted forms of the ballad,\u201d says\nProfessor Child, comparing not only British examples, but also a large\nnumber from Denmark, Scandinavia, Iceland and the F\u00e4roe Islands,\n\u201ceither some part of the body of the drowned girl is taken to furnish\na musical instrument, a harp or a viol, or the instrument is wholly\nmade from the body.\u201d And he suggests that the original conception was\nthe simple and beautiful one found in several variants, that the\nking\u2019s harper, or the girl\u2019s lover, takes three locks of her yellow\nhair to string his harp with. I venture to think he is wrong. The\ntradition supplied by the singer of one of the Swedish versions,\nthough lost from the ballad itself, is much nearer the mark in\nrelating that the drowned maiden floated ashore and grew up into a\nlime-tree, from whose wood the harp was made. As a matter of art it\nmay be that, as Professor Child goes on to remark, \u201cthe restoration of\nthe younger sister, like all good endings foisted on tragedies,\nemasculates the story.\u201d But art is a slow growth, a growth of\ncivilisation, and this tragedy is an ancient, a barbarous tale. Here\nthe good ending has not been foisted on. It is of the very essence and\nprimitive matter of the plot. It is not found in the more modern and\ncultured versions, but in the ruder and more archaic. It does not\noccur once in England and Scotland, where the influence of culture has\nbeen most decisive.[194.1]\n\nWithout tarrying to discuss these ballads any further, let me refer\nbriefly to three variants of an unmistakably antiquated character\ncollected among the Santal aborigines of Bengal. In one of them the\nmaiden is drowned by her seven brothers\u2019 wives. She reappears as a\nbamboo growing {195} on the embankment of the tank where she had lost\nher life. Out of the bamboo a fiddle is made which, when played, seems\nto wail as in bitter anguish, and moves the hearers to tears. It is\nacquired by a village chief. In the absence of the household the\nmaiden comes out of it and prepares the family meal. The chief\u2019s son\nwatches, discovers and marries her. A second version relates that the\nmaiden was given by her brothers to the water-spirit to obtain water\nin a tank they had made. Right in the middle of the tank where she was\ndrowned there sprang up an upel-flower, the purple sheen of which\nfilled the beholder with delight. The bridegroom, to whom she had been\nbetrothed previously to her sacrifice, comes to claim his bride, and\ngathers the flower. Ere the bridal procession reaches the bridegroom\u2019s\ndwelling on its return, the flower has become the bride. The third\nversion is more striking still. Here the heroine was eaten by a\nmonkey. The monkey died, and from the place where his body decayed a\ngourd sprang and grew, and bore a fruit. A banjo was made of this\ngourd, which emitted wonderful music and sang the maiden\u2019s fate. Her\nsister, the rani, cheated the minstrel out of the instrument and hid\nit in her own room. There the maiden, coming out, was discovered by\nthe rajah, her sister\u2019s husband; and matters were arranged more\nhappily than in the Scottish ballad, by the two sisters\u2019 sharing one\nspouse.[195.1]\n\nIn most of the cases we have dealt with, the metamorphoses {196}\nundergone by the hero or heroine are, as in the Egyptian tale, stages\nof a contest. A curious example, where the contest is between a\n_mbulu_, or supernatural female, and a woman, is given in a Zulu tale.\nThe _mbulu_ was found out and put to death. From the spot where she\nwas buried a pumpkin came up and tried to kill the child of the woman\nwho had married the _mbulu\u2019s_ husband. But the people chopped the\npumpkin into pieces, burned them and threw the ashes into the river,\nso that nothing more could come of that _mbulu_.[196.1] In the Russian\nstory of _The Fiend_, the struggle is with a supernatural being over\nwhose personality Christianity has thrown a deeper tint of horror. The\nheroine, having fallen under the Fiend\u2019s power, dies. By her\ndirections and her wise old grandmother\u2019s advice, her body is not\ncarried out through the doorway, but (according to an old custom, the\nobject of which was to prevent the dead from finding the way back) by\na hole dug under the threshold, and is buried at a crossway. A\nwondrous flower arises from the spot. Taken home by a young lord and\nplaced in a flower-pot, the blossom falls at night from its stem and\nturns into a lovely maiden, whom of course the nobleman weds.[196.2]\n\nThe stories cited in previous chapters of the hermit burnt to death\nand then born anew from a girl who eats, or smells, his heart, or some\nother portion of his body, are unconnected with a contest. So is the\nEskimo tale of the young woman who was caught by a whale. After living\nwith him some time she fled and lived with the seals in the form of a\nseal. In that shape she was harpooned by a man and cut to pieces. Her\nhead was taken home and thrown beneath the bench, whence she slipped\ninto the womb of {197} the man\u2019s wife and was born anew. The name she\nreceived in this fresh birth was her old and euphonious name of\nAvigiatsiak.[197.1] A Tjame tale speaks of a youth who dies of\nhopeless love of a princess. Before his death he begs his mother, as\nsoon as he has yielded up the ghost, to take out his liver, dry it and\npreserve it in a box. The king is attacked with a disease of the eyes,\nand is advised by his astrologers to steep the dried liver of a man in\nwater and bathe his eyes with it. The lover\u2019s is the only one to be\nprocured. In bathing his eyes with the water the king observes a\nlittle babe playing in the basin. He calls his daughters to look at\nit; and it draws the youngest of them, the object of the dead man\u2019s\nlove, into the basin, where she disappears. Recourse is had again to\nthe astrologers, who on consulting the lots discover the history of\nthe dead lover and the cause of the princess\u2019 disappearance. In the\nend, as the astrologers predict, the king\u2019s wife bears a boy, who is\nno other than the lover born again, and his first mother bears a girl.\nWhen they grow up the king marries them; and on his death the boy\nbecomes king.[197.2] Numerous Chinese tales are founded on the same\nsuperstition. In one, a man on dying contrives to avoid drinking the\noblivious potion to which all the dead are condemned, and thus\nremembers his transformations. For his crimes he is next born as a\nhorse, then as a puppy, afterwards as a snake, and lastly as a human\nbeing once more.[197.3] In another, the son of the Thunder-god takes a\nman for a trip among the clouds. In the course of his adventures he\nmanages to steal a small star, which he brings back with him to the\nearth. By day it looked an ordinary, dull stone, but at {198} night it\nbecame brilliant and lighted up the house. One evening it began to\nflit about like a fire-fly, and finally entered his wife\u2019s mouth and\nwent down her throat. That night the husband dreamed that an old\nfriend long dead appeared to him, and said: \u201cI am the Shao-wei star.\nYour friendship is still cherished by me, and now you have brought me\nback from the sky. Truly our destinies are knitted together, and I\nwill repay your kindness by becoming your son.\u201d His wife afterwards\nbore him a boy.[198.1]\n\nA favourite theme in Western folk-song, a theme also known as far away\nas China, is that of the lovers, brought, like Tristram and Isolte, to\na tragic end, from whose graves two trees grow and intertwine their\nbranches, as if they joined in a lasting embrace. It is obvious that\nthe trees are merely the lovers transformed. Some of the variants in\nballad or _m\u00e4rchen_ make this clear. Such is the ballad of Count\nNello of Portugal. The hero there falls in love with the Infanta. But\nher father opposes the match, and cuts off the lover\u2019s head. The\nInfanta then dies, and is buried before the altar, while her lover is\nlaid near the church-porch. On the one grave sprouts a cypress, on the\nother an orange-tree; and their branches unite. The king orders them\nto be cut down. Blood flows from the cuts; and from the one tree flies\nforth a dove and from the other a wood-pigeon.[198.2] So in the\nHighland story of Deirdre the lovers are buried on either side of a\nloch. A fir-shoot grows out of either grave, and they unite in a knot\nabove the loch. Twice the king orders them to be cut down, and twice\nthey grow again. The third time they are allowed to shoot forth and\nunite in peace.[198.3]\n\n{199}\n\nBut this theme is found not only in _m\u00e4rchen_ and ballad. It is not\nless frequent in saga. In Kurdestan were shown the graves of two\nlovers, renowned in Kurdish story, which were, in the sixteenth\ncentury, if we may believe the native writer Ahmed Khain of Bayazid, a\nplace of pilgrimage. On each of the graves grew a rose-tree, whose\nbranches entwined themselves together in token, as we are told, of\nlove.[199.1] In Germany many tales are told of white lilies growing in\nsign of innocence and purity out of graves. Zingerle cites, among\nothers, the case of William of Montpellier, from whose mouth sprang a\nlily wherein the words _Ave Maria_ were to be read. From the grave of\nSaint Andrew of Rinn in the Tirol a snow-white lily also appeared, on\nwhose leaves, as they opened, letters were seen. It was plucked by a\nboy before the letters could be read; and the deed cost his family\ndear, for few of them there were who did not come to a violent or a\npremature end.[199.2] In Pomerania, a lad who learned with difficulty,\nand only succeeded in remembering the words \u201cOur Father who art in\nheaven,\u201d died unconfirmed. The commune would not permit his burial in\nconsecrated earth, so he was laid outside the churchyard, close to the\nfence. Out of his tomb arose a beautiful white lily, bearing plainly\nto be read the words \u201cOur Father who art in heaven.\u201d On digging, it\nwas found to be rooted in his heart. Near Wollin, on the road to\nPoblotz, is a spot covered with dog-roses, where, years {200} ago, a\nwoman was burnt as a witch and her remains buried. Before the end came\nto her sufferings she said: \u201cIf I be a witch, thorns will grow on my\ngrave; if not, then roses.\u201d[200.1] Space does not admit of our\nfollowing the tale in this shape through all the countries of Europe;\nand it is needless. We may turn instead to note a few analogous\nsuperstitions elsewhere. Among the Kirghiz every one on whose grave a\ntree spontaneously grows is deemed a saint; while among the Gallas of\nAbyssinia wood that has been burning a little is placed upon the grave\nafter the funeral, and if it grow it is taken as a sign that the dead\nman is happy.[200.2] The Santals believe that good men enter into\nfruit-bearing trees.[200.3] In the Molucca Islands there is a tree\nwhich bears during the night, from sunset to sunrise, a rapid\nsuccession of fragrant white flowers. To account for this phenomenon\nthe inhabitants of Ternate have a tradition that there was once a\nbeautiful woman who was beloved by the sun, and who, being deserted by\nher fickle lover, slew herself. Her body was, in accordance with the\ncustom of the country, burnt; and from her ashes arose the tree,\ncalled by the early Portuguese voyagers the Tree of Sorrow.[200.4] The\nlegend current among the inhabitants of Nias, an island off the coast\nof Sumatra, to account for the origin of the cocoa-nut-tree, relates\nthat Halu hada, a supernatural being, one {201} day sneezed so\nviolently that he sneezed his head off. It fell to earth, and, being\ncovered up, the precious tree, indispensable to man, sprang from the\nspot.[201.1] A German practice is manifestly a relic of a belief\nsimilar to that recorded in these tales and superstitions. If a farmer\nhave several times a foal or calf die, he buries one of them in the\ngarden, planting a young willow in its mouth. When the tree grows up\nit is never polled or lopped, but is allowed to grow its own way, and\nis believed to guard the farm from future casualties of the same\nkind.[201.2]\n\nBut though the identity of the tree with the dead man, or as in the\nlast-cited custom with the animal, is clear in all these traditions,\nit is not precisely affirmed as would seem to be the case with the\nstory of the pomegranate referred to a few pages back, or with an Arab\n_m\u00e4rchen_ from Tunis, in which a vine grows up from the very place\nwhere the blood of a murdered man had flowed. The murderer finds one\nenormous bunch of grapes upon it, although the season of grapes is not\nyet. Struck with its beauty, as well as with the uncommon occurrence,\nhe takes the bunch to the sultan. On opening the basket the sultan\nfound no grapes, but a man\u2019s head freshly cut off, dropping with\nblood. The murderer, horror-stricken, confessed his crime, and was\nsummarily executed.[201.3] Thus too in Ojibway legends, reproduced by\nLongfellow, that mysterious being\n\n     \u201c\u2026 the young Mondamin,\n With his soft and shining tresses,\n With his garments green and yellow,\n With his long and glossy plumage,\u201d\n\ncame and wrestled thrice with one of their heroes. The {202} third\ntime the Ojibway was victorious. His antagonist was overthrown, killed\nand buried. The victor watched the grave,\n\n \u201cKept the dark mould soft above it,\n Kept it clean from weeds and insects,\n Drove away with scoffs and shoutings\n Kahgahgee, the king of ravens.\n Till at length a small green feather\n From the earth shot slowly upward,\n Then another and another,\n And before the summer ended\n Stood the maize in all its beauty,\n With its shining robes about it,\n And its long, soft, yellow tresses;\n And in rapture Hiawatha\n Cried aloud: \u2018It is Mondamin!\n Yes, the friend of man, Mondamin!\u2019\u201d\n\nThe Brazilians have a parallel tradition about the manioc. It was a\nmaiden who died, and, being buried in her mother\u2019s house, grew up as a\nplant, flourished and bore fruit.[202.1] Among some tribes of Kaffirs,\nwhen twins are born they are examined, and the one appearing the more\ndelicate is suffocated by placing a clod of earth in its mouth. When\ndead, it is buried near the doorway of the hut, and a dwarf aloe is\nplanted over the grave. \u201cThe aloe is regarded in some way as the\nliving representative of the dead infant; its spirit or shade is\nsupposed to be in it, or to be hovering about it. When it is planted,\nits spines are carefully cut away that the survivor may play about it,\nand drag himself up by it, and make himself strong, as he would have\ndone with his fellow-twin had he been permitted to live.\u201d[202.2] It\n{203} would be difficult to find a practice which would better explain\nthat of the German farmer with his dead calf.\n\nIn classical legends we meet everywhere cases of transformation,\neither before or after death, of men and women into trees or plants,\nor into some of the lower animals. The most famous case, and one which\nhas recently been submitted to careful examination by two\ndistinguished living anthropologists, is that of Attis, who was\nchanged into a pine-tree and in that form worshipped. It would be\nimpertinent in me, after the acute and exhaustive discussions by Mr.\nFrazer and Mr. Grant Allen, to occupy any space with the consideration\neither of the legend or the cult. I only refer to them in this place\nas an illustration of ancient belief in metamorphosis, and for the\npurpose of recalling the reader\u2019s attention to its identity with the\nsuperstitions of savage tribes, as well as those preserved in modern\nfolklore, which we are now reviewing. The cult of Attis may not have\nbeen based, as Mr. Grant Allen thinks, on the worship of a dead man.\n\u201cThe tree-spirit and the corn-spirit, like most other deities,\u201d may\nnot \u201coriginate in the ghost of the deified ancestor.\u201d[203.1] We need\nnot go the length of Mr. Herbert Spencer\u2019s Euhemerism; on the\ncontrary, we may regard it as a child (one among many) of his passion\nfor explaining everything quite clearly, for stopping up all gaps and\nstubbing up all difficulties in his synthesis, rather than an\nall-sufficient account of the beginnings of religion. It is certain,\nhowever, that the legend as we have it, the worship as it is recorded\nfor us, implied a belief in metamorphosis as a possible and actual\noccurrence consequent upon death. This belief had descended to {204}\nclassic times from savagery, for to the savage mind death very often\nis merely metamorphosis. Nor, as we have seen, is the metamorphosis\nconfined to vegetable forms. The pious \u00c6neas beheld his father\nAnchises in a snake that crept from his tomb. The Zulu, not less\npious, beholds his father in a snake lurking about his kraal.[204.1]\nThe ancient Egyptians held that the souls of the departed could assume\nanimal forms.[204.2] The Yorubas think the souls of the dead are\nsometimes born again in animals, or, though more rarely, in\nplants.[204.3] In the East Indies, a Dyak who dies by accident, as by\ndrowning, is not buried, but carried into the forest and simply laid\ndown there. It is believed that his soul enters a tree, a fish, or\nsome other brute. Accordingly certain kinds of fish are not eaten, and\ncertain kinds of wood are not used, because they willingly harbour\nsouls. On the other hand, the soul of a man over whom all proper\nfuneral rites have been performed enters the City of Souls. But it\ncannot abide there for ever. After a life seven times as long as on\nthe earth it dies and returns to this world, where it enters a\nmushroom, a fruit or a leaf, in the hope that it may be eaten by a\nhuman being or one of the lower animals. In such case the deceased is\nborn again in the next offspring of the living creature which has\neaten it; otherwise he comes to an end.[204.4] The inhabitants of Nias\nbelieve that the soul at death divides into three parts. One of them\ngoes to the village of the dead, and there often takes brute-form.\nThus murderers become grasshoppers, those who die without male issue\nbecome {205} night-flying moths, old men become hogs, and young\nchildren earthworms. Another part, called the _eh\u00e8ha_, must be\nreceived in his mouth by the son of the dying person from the mouth of\nthe latter, else it turns into a small animal and lingers about the\nbody until search be made for it. When found, it is safely conveyed\ninto a statuette representing the deceased.[205.1] The natives of Ugi,\nin the Solomon Islands, believe that the souls of the dead pass into\nfireflies.[205.2] The Moquis of North America maintained that death\nwas nothing but a process of transmutation, and that the body was\nchanged into animals, plants, and inanimate objects.[205.3] The\nmedicine men and women of the Sioux, it was believed, might be changed\nafter death into wild beasts.[205.4] Among the Gallinomero of\nCalifornia bad men were thought to return in the shape of coyotes,\njust as the Buddhist population of Ladak hold that a malicious person\nis reincarnated as a marmot.[205.5] A Tirolese tale exhibits the\nshapes even yet believed over a wide extent of Christendom to be\nassumed by guilty and by innocent souls. For many years, it is said, a\nlarge toad haunted the steps of a vaulted grave at Meran. Flung away\nit was, and killed it was; but the next Ember Day there it would be\nsitting again upon the steps. At last a pious woman guessed that it\nwas a poor soul, and spoke to it, asking what were the conditions of\nits deliverance. They were hard, but she fulfilled them; and as soon\nas atonement was made the toad changed into a dove, white as a\nstainless flower, and {206} flew up before its deliverer\u2019s eyes into\nheaven.[206.1] The numerous British legends of ghost-laying, in which\nthe dead unquiet soul appears as a bull, a black dog, a toad, a fly,\nor what not, recur to the mind in this connection. The beast that is,\nafter a struggle, imprisoned by the parson, or some other conjurer, in\na boot, a snuff-box, or a bottle, or bricked up in the haunted\nchamber, is only the changed form of a once living man or woman. But\nthe superstition as thus presented has been so often and so well\ncommented on, that it is needless to illustrate it further.\n\nWe can now understand the Bulgarian ballad cited in Chapter IV.,\ncontaining the pathetic narrative of the hyacinths growing out of the\ndead man\u2019s grave and causing his mother to give birth to another son.\nThe flowers were a new manifestation of the youth who had been\nuntimely slain; and by them he entered again into his mother\u2019s womb\nand was born. This and others of the tales referred to in the same\nchapter and that which follows it are parallel with the tale of _The\nTwo Brothers_ in the transformations they present. And both they and\nmany of the practices detailed in the last chapter point very clearly\nto the belief that a dead person can be born again, if only the right\nmeans be taken for that end.\n\nAll our illustrations of the doctrine of Transformation have been\ndrawn from cases where the hero is conceived as having begun his\ncareer in human shape, whether as man or deity, save in the one\ninstance of the Annamite story of _Posthumous Revenge_. There his\npristine figure was an eel. But if the power of metamorphosis be such\nthat human beings can be changed by means of death {207} and a fresh\nbirth into brute and vegetable form, brutes and vegetables may equally\nbe changed by the same agency into human beings. The _m\u00e4rchen_ of\n_The King of the Fishes_ displays this power. In the light of the\ntransmutations we have passed in review, it is abundantly evident that\nthe fisherman\u2019s sons, their horses, dogs and life-tokens, are nothing\nmore nor less than the ancestor-fish in a new mould. In previous\nchapters we have examined cases in which men and women deceased have\nbeen held to reappear as human babes without undergoing any\nintermediate change into lower forms; and we have others yet to\nexamine. What is expressly affirmed in tales where pregnancy is caused\nby tasting the ashes of a corpse, what is implicit in the disgusting\nsuperstitions which lead women to swallow portions of dead bodies,\nmust also be understood in the parallel cases where fishes and fruit\nare eaten and result in the production of children. Here then we have\nthe real meaning of the tales and superstitions considered in the last\nthree chapters. At their root lies the belief in Transformation.\nFlowers, fruit, and other vegetables, eggs, fishes, spiders, worms,\nand even stones, are all capable of becoming human beings. They only\nawait absorption in the shape of food, or in some other appropriate\nmanner, into the body of a woman, to enable the metamorphosis to be\naccomplished. In some cases, as where drugs and other compounds are\nused, or where water or sunbeams are the fructifying power, this\nmeaning has been forgotten. The virtue of such means is usually\nimputed to magical or divine power. But this does not appear to be the\noriginal belief. The original belief is intimately bound up with the\nsavage theory of the universe. In that theory no strict line of\ncleavage runs across Nature. All things may change their {208} shape,\nsome at will, others on the fulfilment of certain conditions, whereof\ndeath, as applying to all animal and vegetable life, is perhaps the\nmost usual. Most of the instances of death and new birth we have yet\nto deal with have little apparent relation to this point. But, so far\nas they add to the general evidence as to the reappearance of the dead\nin fresh births, even the least relevant of them are not without\nvalue.\n\nAccording to the classical mythology, when Orion\u2019s two daughters\nsacrificed themselves for Thebes, two young men sprang from their\nashes. Ovid describes the goblet presented by Anius, the priest-king\nof Delos, to \u00c6neas, as carved with a representation of the scene:\n\n \u201cOut of their maiden embers, lo! twin youths,\n Lest the race fail, arise, Coron\u00e6 named,\n And lead the funeral pomp.\u201d[208.1]\n\nAlthough the poet speaks of the devoted virgins as their mothers, we\nshall probably not be far wrong in conjecturing that the youths were\noriginally regarded as new and worthier manifestations of the maidens\nwhose virile courage had not hesitated at self-inflicted death, in\npursuance of the oracle, to save their devoted city from the plague.\nHowever this may be, elsewhere we frequently find stories of men who\nhave died and been born again. The Mogul emperor Akbar is said to have\ndeclared that he had formerly been a Brumhuchari, named Mukundu.\nWorldly desires were excited in his mind by cow\u2019s hairs in some milk\nwhich he had drunk; and he began to long for wisdom and greatness. The\npipul-tree under which he was sitting had the power of granting any\nwish. Therefore, laying hold of it, he {209} renounced life in Gunga,\nand reappeared as Akbar.[209.1] A Mongolian tale relates that Sh\u00eaduir\nVan, a Khotogait prince, having been guilty of plotting insurrection\nagainst the emperor of China, was caught and condemned to execution.\nBefore being beheaded, he said: \u201cI am to be executed; but that is no\nmisfortune; my soul shall enter the womb of the emperor\u2019s wife.\u201d The\nempress accordingly gave birth to a son, who had a cicatrice on the\nneck. The wise men advised the emperor that the soul of Sh\u00eaduir Van\nhad entered her womb. The child was therefore destroyed. The empress\nconceived once more, and bore a son with a scar. The emperor, again\nadvised by his wise men that this was the soul of Sh\u00eaduir Van,\nordered the babe to be thrown into the fire; but the charcoal went out\nand changed into water. After this, we are told that the soul of\nSh\u00eaduir Van did not again enter the empress\u2019 womb, but revealed\nitself as a hairless bay mare, whose hide is preserved to the present\nday.[209.2]\n\nLike the story of the great monarch Akbar, that of Sh\u00eaduir Van has\nprobably been influenced by Buddhistic thought. But in both cases the\ninfluence would be that of Buddhistic thought only as popularly\nunderstood. The common people of India, we may safely assume--still\nless the tribes of Tibet and the practical Chinese--never absorbed\ninto their minds the abstract doctrines of Karma and the Skandhas. It\nis, indeed, more than doubtful whether these philosophical\nspeculations have ever penetrated the intellects of the greatest\ndoctors of the Northern Church. The current belief is illustrated in\nthe Chinese tales I have quoted. Even more strikingly is it\nexemplified {210} in the successive incarnations which provide a\nperpetual succession of Grand Lamas at Lhasa, and of skooshoks for\nminor monasteries. While as to the Southern Church, we are not\ndependent for our assumption upon the folklore and the general culture\nof the Cingalese and the peoples of Further India. In the _J\u00e1takas_,\nor parables attributed to Gautama, we have irrefragable witness of the\nteaching current from a very early period in Buddhist history. They\nare apologues, most of them probably of much older date, which have\nacquired sacredness by being fitted to alleged events in the ministry\nof the Buddha. The Master is represented as taking occasion, from some\nremark made by his disciples upon a passing occurrence, to declare\nthat in a former birth the same things had happened to them; and in\nillustration of his statement he tells the tale. The following may\nstand for a typical conclusion or application. It is that of the\nparable of the cruel crane outwitted by the crab: \u201cWhen the Teacher\nhad finished this discourse showing that \u2018Not now only, O mendicants,\nhas this man been outwitted by the country robe-maker, long ago he was\noutwitted in the same way,\u2019 he established the connection, and summed\nup the J\u00e1taka, by saying, \u2018At that time he [the crane] was the\nJetavana robe-maker, the crab was the country robe-maker, but the\nGenius of the Tree was I myself.\u2019\u201d To the personages of the tale is\nthus ascribed complete identity with the Buddha and his\ncontemporaries. Transmigration, in short, as conceived in popular\nBuddhism, was no product of the subtleties of Hindu metaphysics. It\nwas no refined philosophical doctrine. It is undiscoverable in the\n_Rig-Veda_, the earliest sacred book of the Sanskrit-speaking\nconquerors of India. Its ethical value, even, if we may judge from the\n_J\u00e1takas_, was of the smallest. Such as it was, Transmigration {211}\nwas a direct evolution of the more savage belief in Transformation, as\nwe have seen that belief exemplified in the present chapter, and\nhardly distinguishable from it, either in its terms or in its\nconsequences.\n\nFar in the west the Celts are reported to have held the dogma of\nTransmigration. This report, coming to us from writers imbued with\nGreco-Roman philosophy, and interpreting, according to the custom of\nclassical antiquity, the religions of barbarous races in the terms of\ntheir own, has been understood to imply an elaborate philosophical\nsystem such as those of Pythagoras and Buddha. That the Celts had\nimbibed Buddhist theories we cannot suppose. The doctrines of\nPythagoras may, indeed, have penetrated into Gaul by commercial routes\nor by contact with Greek colonies. Yet, if they did, it is strange\nthat no other vestige of the Pythagorean philosophy is imputed to the\nCelts, and that the Druidical religion, whereof we are told the dogma\nin question was part, blossomed, as it is said to have done, most\nperfectly in Britain, where it was furthest removed from all foreign\ninfluences. We know directly little concerning Druidism. Our\nknowledge, as far as it goes, leads us to think the religion of the\nancient Britons and Gauls was of the same general character as other\nbarbarous cults. Arising thus from the common ground of savagery,\nthere is no reason why Celtic opinion may not have begun to develop in\nthe same direction as popular Buddhism. Neither Celtic mythology,\nhowever, as known to us, nor Celtic folklore, as reported by medi\u00e6val\nand modern writers, affords ground for supposing that metempsychosis\nin any philosophical sense was part of the ancient Celtic creed. In\ntouching, a few pages back, on Barguests, as ghosts in animal mould\nare technically called, we disposed {212} of the most salient point of\nmodern Celtic folklore, for we found it to be an expression, in no way\ndivergent from that of other uncultivated peoples, of the universal\ndoctrine of Transformation. We shall now briefly discuss the examples\nto be found in what remains to us of the ancient mythology.\n\nThe story of Taliessin, though only found in a manuscript of the\nseventeenth century, comes, it is generally conceded, within this\ncategory; for its coincidences with the older Celtic traditions are\ntoo striking to allow of any other explanation. Ceridwen, the wife of\nTegid the Bald, had, among other children, a son of such extreme\nugliness that she thought he was not likely to be admitted amongst men\nof noble birth unless he had some exalted merits or knowledge. So she\nundertook, with the aid of the books of Fferyll--that is to say,\nVergil the Magician, a character which Vergil the poet is made to\nsustain in medi\u00e6val tradition--to boil a caldron of Inspiration and\nScience for his benefit. Now, this caldron required to be boiled for a\nyear and a day; at the end of which time three precious drops would be\nobtained, the rest of its contents being poisonous, and indeed highly\nexplosive. The caldron was placed in charge of Gwion the Little and a\nblind man named Mordav, while Ceridwen herself went to gather herbs of\nvirtue. But before the expiration of the year and a day the three\nprecious drops flew out of the caldron and fell upon Gwion\u2019s finger,\nwhich he instinctively put to his mouth to allay the scalding. He at\nonce became possessed of all knowledge, and foresaw his danger from\nCeridwen\u2019s rage when she found her preparations had been in vain. He,\ntherefore, fled, hotly pursued by the witch. To elude her he changed\ninto a hare, whereupon she took the shape {213} of a greyhound. He ran\ntowards the river, and became a fish, to chase which she assumed the\nform of an otter. Gwion then flew up as a bird. He soon found himself\nfollowed by a hawk, which was no other than his enemy; and just as she\nwas about to stoop upon him he dropped among a heap of winnowed wheat\non the floor of a barn, and turned himself into one of the grains.\nFrom a hawk to a black hen the transformation was easy; and Ceridwen\nthus pecked up the grain in question and swallowed it. She became by\nthis means pregnant, and gave birth to a beautiful boy--a new\nmanifestation of Gwion the Little; and when he was born she wrapped\nhim up in a hide and cast him into the sea, by which he was ultimately\nthrown upon the weir of Gwyddno. From thence he was rescued to become\nthe king of the bards, Taliessin.[213.1] Two poems attributed to\nTaliessin enumerate many more metamorphoses than are mentioned in the\ntale. The exact date of these poems is, in the present state of Welsh\nscholarship, unascertainable; but they are certainly not later than\nthe fourteenth century. One of them speaks of the poet\u2019s original\ncountry as the region of the summer stars, and identifies him with\nMerlin and other sages and bards. Confining our attention, however, to\nthe narrative, we may lay aside the earlier changes as links of a\nchain of incidents common in fairy-tales, and known technically as the\nTransformation-fight. An example of it familiar to every reader is the\ncontest between the princess and the Jinn in the story of the Second\nCalender in the _Arabian Nights_. These changes are not effected by\ndeath and birth as are the ones we are considering now. In the final\n{214} change, on the other hand, Gwion is devoured by the witch and\nreproduced as her son, just as Bata is swallowed in the shape of a\nsplinter of the persea-tree by the king\u2019s Favourite, and born again of\nher, to become her destruction.\n\nSo far the Welsh mythology: a parallel instance is afforded by the\nErse. Both have suffered from the Euhemerism of the Middle Ages that\nhas preserved them for us; but the true lines of the tales are not too\nfar obliterated for our present purpose. The story of Tuan mac\nCairill, then, as we find it embalmed in the Irish chronicles, makes\nhim the sole survivor of the band of Partholon, who first colonised\nthe island after the Deluge. Fallen into decrepitude after many years,\nhe saw a new immigration led by Nemed, flying from which he fasted\nthree days, lay down to sleep and was changed into a stag. Again he\nfell into old age, fasted, and was metamorphosed into a wild boar.\nMeanwhile, the descendants of Nemed had all died out. Semion, then,\nthe ancestor of the three tribes of the Fir Domnann, the Fir Bolg and\nthe Gali\u00fbin, established himself in the land. After a time the\nprocess was repeated, and Tuan became a great sea-eagle. Beothach,\nfrom whom descended the Tuatha De Danann, seized the island, and\nafterwards the sons of Mile, whose descendants are the living race.\nThe sea-eagle found himself in the hole of a tree on the bank of a\nriver. There he fasted nine days, and, sleeping, awoke as a salmon in\nthe stream. For a long time he escaped the fishermen\u2019s nets; at last\nhe was caught and carried to the wife of Carell, king of that\ndistrict. She saw the fish, longed for it, cooked it, and ate it up.\nBut this was far from being the end of Tuan. From her he was born\nagain, {215} wise man and prophet, and was called Tuan, son of Carell.\nHe lived not only to be baptized at the coming of Saint Patrick, but\nto converse with Saint Columba, and to narrate the whole history of\nIreland, as he remembered it during his various transformations, to\nSaint Finnen in the middle of the sixth century. All the ancient\nhistory, all the old genealogies rest upon his authority.[215.1]\n\nEtain, another mythological figure of Ireland, had a somewhat similar\nadventure. She was one of the two wives of Mider, who belonged to the\nTuatha De Danann. Oengus, son of the Dagde, and foster-son of Mider,\ncarried her off, and she became his wife. Her first husband, however,\nhad not ceased to remember her, and he sought if by any means he might\nrecover her. His other wife, bent on frustrating him, and watching her\nopportunity, sent a wind that blew Etain out of the bower built for\nher by Oengus, and deposited her on the roof of a house where the\nlords of Ulster and their wives were engaged in a drinking-bout. Upon\nthe table beneath stood a golden cup of beer beside one of the ladies.\nFrom the roof, by the opening which did duty for a chimney, Etain fell\ninto the cup. The lady swallowed her unperceived in the next draught,\nand gave birth to her again after nine months. Thus Etain began a new\nlife. She became the loveliest of Irish maidens, and wedded the\nsupreme king Eochaid Airem, who reigned at Tara. But Mider had not yet\nceased to love her. Disguised as a warrior, he sought the king and\nchallenged him to a game of chess. When the board was set: \u201cPlay,\u201d\nsaid he to the king. \u201cI do not play without stakes,\u201d replied the\nmonarch. Mider, on his side, bet fifty {216} brown horses,\nlarge-breasted, with limbs slender and agile. \u201cFor my part,\u201d said the\nking, sure of success, \u201cif I lose, I will pay what you like.\u201d They\nplayed; the king lost, and Mider demanded his wife. The king objected\nthat he was entitled to his revenge; and his adversary, with a bad\ngrace, yielded. A year passed, during which the king saw nothing of\nMider; though he often appeared to Etain and wooed her, but without\nsuccess; for she proved faithful to her husband. At the end of the\nyear Mider came and claimed the second game. They played; again\nEochaid lost, and Mider demanded to put his arms around Etain and give\nher a kiss. \u201cCome back in a month,\u201d replied the king, \u201cand it shall be\ngranted you.\u201d When the fatal day arrived, his rival found Eochaid\nsurrounded by his warriors, the fortress closed and guarded on every\nside. The day passed, and no antagonist presented himself. But at\nnight Mider stood all at once in the midst of the hall, the beautiful\nMider, more beautiful than ever. No one had seen him enter. The lady\nblushed when he boldly named his errand. \u201cDo not blush,\u201d quoth Mider;\n\u201cthou hast no reason to reproach thyself. For a whole year I have not\nceased to woo thee with jewels and wealth--thee, the fairest of the\nwomen of Ireland; and thou hast refused to listen to me so long as thy\nhusband gave thee no permission.\u201d \u201cI have told thee,\u201d replied she,\n\u201cthat I will not follow thee, unless my husband yield me. I will only\nbe taken if Eochaid give me to thee.\u201d \u201cI will not give thee,\u201d cried\nthe king. \u201cI only consent that he put his arms around thee here in\nthis hall, as has been agreed.\u201d \u201cIt shall be done,\u201d said Mider. Laying\nhis lance in his left hand, he seized Etain with his right; and,\nrising in the air, he disappeared with her through the smoke-hole in\n{217} the palace-roof. The warriors that surrounded the king, ashamed\nat their own impotence, rushed from the hall to pursue the fugitives.\nThey only saw, high above Tara, two swans whose long white necks were\nencircled and bound together by a yoke of gold. The story adds that\nafterwards, by the magical might of his Druids, Eochaid forced an\nentrance to the mysterious subterranean palace of Mider and took\npossession once more of his wife, so lovely, so beloved. But Mider\u2019s\nhate was one day revenged on the posterity of Eochaid and Etain by the\ntragic death of Conaire, their grandson.[217.1] The Druidical doctrine\nof metempsychosis would appear, alike from these ancient mythological\ntales and from modern folklore, to have been nothing more than\nTransformation as we find it among savages in all parts of the world.\n\nBefore turning to rites and superstitious beliefs, we may notice the\nlegend of Oankoitupeh, son of the Red Cloud, the hero of the North\nAmerican Maidus. A maiden sees a beautiful red cloud, and hears sweet\nmusic. The next day, while picking grass-seed pinole, she finds an\narrow trimmed with yellow-hammer feathers; and suddenly a man is\nstanding beside her, who is none other than the red cloud she had seen\nthe day before. The bright and resplendent stranger declares his love;\nand the maiden replies: \u201cIf you love me, take and eat this basket of\ngrass-seed pinole.\u201d He touches the basket, and its contents vanish.\nThereupon the girl swoons. When she returns to consciousness, behold!\nshe has given birth to a son. The Red Cloud tells her: \u201cYou love me\nnow; that is my boy, but he is not of this world.\u2026 He shall be greater\nthan {218} all men; he shall have power over all, and not fear any\nthat live. Therefore shall his name be Oan-koi-tu-peh (the\nInvincible). Whenever you see him, think of me. This boy has no life\napart from me; he is myself.\u201d[218.1] Compare with this the statement\nconcerning Cuchulainn, one of the epic heroes of Ireland. It will be\nrecollected that he was a new birth of the god Lug. The great epic\ncycles took final shape after the wars with the Danes in the eleventh\ncentury. One of the manuscripts of that period relates that the men of\nUlster took counsel about Cuchulainn, because they were troubled and\nafraid that he would perish early, \u201cso for that reason they wished to\ngive him a wife that he might leave an heir; for they knew that his\nre-birth would be of himself.\u201d[218.2]\n\nThese passages, though related of more than common men, point to a\nbelief shared by the ancient Irish with the ancient Californians, that\nthe son is in some sense identical with his father--a new birth, a new\nmanifestation of the same person. This curious belief finds\ncategorical expression in the great Brahman compilation known as the\n_Laws of Manu_. There we are told: \u201cThe husband, after conception by\nhis wife, becomes an embryo and is born again of her; for that is the\nwifehood of a wife, that he is born again by her.\u201d[218.3]\nCorresponding with this declaration, the ritual prescribes, among\nother ceremonies when a boy is born, that the husband should address\nthe babe thus: \u201cFrom limb by limb thou art produced; and of the heart\nthou art born. Thou indeed art the self (_atman_) called son; so live\na hundred autumns.\u201d In the {219} same words he addresses the boy every\ntime he himself returns from a journey, embracing his head and kissing\nhim thrice.[219.1]\n\nTraces of the notion that a child is neither more nor less than the\nreappearance of an ancestor are found almost all over the world. It\nseems to be a general opinion among the Negroes of the western coasts\nof Africa that the ghostly self of a dead man enters the body of a\nnewborn babe belonging to the same family. In Guinea, and among the\nWanika, the resemblance, physical or mental, borne by a child to its\nfather is attributed to this cause. The Yorubas inquire of their\nfamily god which of the deceased ancestors has returned, in order to\nname the child accordingly; and they greet its birth with the words\n\u201cThou art come!\u201d as if addressing some one who has returned.[219.2] On\nthe Gold Coast, parents who have lost several children sometimes cast\ninto the bush the body of the infant who has last died. They believe\nthe next born to be the same child returned; and if it have any\ncongenital deformity or defect, that is attributed to injuries\nreceived from wild beasts or other evil influences in the\njungle.[219.3] Caution, however, is required {220} in dealing with\nsome of these cases, for the subtlety of savage metaphysics is\nmarvellous. An acute observer points out that among the Tshi-speaking\npeoples of the Gold Coast and the Ewe-speaking tribes of the Slave\nCoast, a distinction is drawn between the ghostly self that continues\nthe man\u2019s existence after death in the spirit-world, and his _kra_ or\n_\u00f1oli_, which is capable of being born again in a new human body. In\nthe eastern Ewe districts and in Dahome the soul is, by either an\ninconsistency or a subtlety, believed to remain in the land of the\ndead and to animate some new child of the family at one and the same\ntime; but it never animates an embryo in a strange family.[220.1] Not\nvery different seems to be the opinion of the Khonds of Orissa.\nAnthropologists have often quoted Macpherson\u2019s description of the\ndivination for determining a child\u2019s name. The priest drops grains of\nrice into a cup of water, naming with each grain a deceased ancestor.\nFrom the movements of the seed in the fluid, and from observations\nmade on the infant\u2019s person, he pronounces which of the progenitors\nhas reappeared in it; and the babe is usually named accordingly. Khond\npsychology endows every one with four souls. Out of such a company\nthere is no difficulty in arranging that one of them shall be attached\nto some tribe and perpetually born again into it. This, in fact, is\nwhat is believed to happen.[220.2]\n\nIn New Zealand the priest, after certain ceremonies, first recited to\nthe child the following stave:\n\n{221}\n\n \u201cWait till I pronounce your name.\n What is your name?\n Listen to your name,\n This is your name----\u201d\n\nThen followed strings of ancestral names, until the babe sneezed. The\nname being uttered at the moment of the sneeze was the one\nchosen.[221.1] We are not expressly told that the object of this rite\nwas to identify the child with one of his forefathers. But, as Dr.\nTylor remarks, we may always suspect it in such a case; and the verses\nseem to point to some such purpose. It was difficult to distinguish\nbetween gods and ancestors among the Maori,[221.2] as, in truth, it\noften is, if we may not use a stronger expression, among savage\npeoples. The worship of the kindred inhabitants of Samoa was\ntotemistic. During the mother\u2019s labour, first the family god of the\nfather, and then that of the mother was invoked. The god being invoked\nat the instant of birth was looked upon as the child\u2019s special _aitu_\n(Maori, _atua_) or god; and during infancy the child was called and\nactually named \u201c_merda_ of Tongo\u201d or \u201cof Sati\u0101,\u201d or whatever other\ndeity it might be.[221.3] This would seem to go a step beyond the\nMaori creed, and to indicate that at one time the child was identified\nwith the totem-god. In the island of Aurora, New Hebrides, where the\npeople are Melanesians, women often speak of a child as the _nunu_, or\necho, of some dead person. Dr. Codrington says: \u201cIt is not a notion of\nmetempsychosis, as if the soul of the dead person returned in the\nnewborn child; but it is thought that there is so close a connection\nthat the infant takes the place of the {222} deceased.\u201d[222.1] We may\nset this explanation beside the statement quoted by Dr. Tylor from\nCharlevoix that \u201csome North American Indians were observed to set the\nchild in place of the last owner of its name, so that a man would\ntreat as his grandfather a child who might have been his\ngrandson.\u201d[222.2] Whatever may be the fact as regards the Melanesians,\nit is certain that North American tribes, like the Mengwe and the\nThlinkits, believed in the new birth of the dead. Among the latter, if\na pregnant woman dreamed of a dead man, it was said that the ghost had\ntaken up its abode in her body; and if a newborn child had the least\nresemblance to a deceased relative, the latter was believed to have\nreturned, and the child was called by his name.[222.3] Even in Norway,\nif a pregnant woman dream of one who is dead, the child must be named\nafter him. If the dream be of a man, and a girl be born, the man\u2019s\nname must be feminised, and _vice vers\u00e2_. If she dream of more than\none person, the names of all must be given.[222.4] The last practice\nperhaps resulted from the uncertainty as to which of the dead who\nappeared was to be identified with the coming stranger. Returning to\nAmerica, we find that the Tacullies and Sicamies, tribes allied to the\nThlinkits, inquire of the dead if they will return to life or not. The\nshaman inspects the naked breast of the body, and if satisfied on the\npoint he blows the soul into the air, that it may seek a new body or\nputs his hands on the head of one of the mourners, thereby conveying\nthe spirit into him, to be embodied in his next offspring. The\nrelation thus favoured, we are {223} told, added the name of the\ndeceased to his own.[223.1] It is said that the Dakotas believed that\ntheir medicine-men and women ran their career four times in human\nshape.[223.2] In the Amazons Valley the Ticunas, and yet further to\nthe south the Baka\u00efr\u00ed and their allied tribes, name a child from one\nof its forefathers. In Southern India the same practice is followed by\nthe Yenadies;[223.3] and, indeed, it may be said, whatever be its\nmotive, to be a common practice in many parts of the globe. An\nEsthonian babe is baptized by the name of one of its\ngrandfathers.[223.4] In the Romagna it is usual to give the names of\ngrandfathers, uncles and other relatives, to children, but not the\nnames of relatives who are living, lest their death be accelerated--a\nvague reminiscence probably of the real reason.[223.5] Elsewhere in\nItaly the superstition that a baby is a dead relative returned {224}\nappears to be extant.[224.1] Among the Andaman islanders, \u201cif a woman\nwho has lost a baby be about to become a mother, the name borne by the\ndeceased is bestowed on the f\u0153tus, in the expectation that it will\nprove to be the same child born again. Should the infant at birth\nprove to be of the same sex as the one who had died, the identity\nwould be considered sufficiently established.\u201d[224.2] The same belief\nwas current among the people of Old Calabar.[224.3] Huron philosophy\nposited the existence of two souls in a man. One was changed into a\nturtle-dove, or went to the village of souls. The other remained\nattached to the body, never to leave it \u201cunless some one gave birth to\nit again.\u201d The Hurons, moreover, as we have seen, buried in the road\ntheir little children who died, in order that they might secretly\nenter into the wombs of passing women, and be born again.[224.4] As to\nthe beliefs of the Eskimo there seems a little question. As to their\npractice of naming children after deceased persons (either relatives\nor intimate friends) there is no doubt. Dr. Tylor cites from Crantz\nthe assertion that a helpless widow would seek to persuade some father\nthat the soul of a dead child of his had passed into a living child of\nhers, or _vice vers\u00e2_, thus gaining to herself a new relative and\nprotector. Dr. Rink, on the other hand, considers that the deceased\nperson whose name a child {225} bore was only looked upon as a kind of\nguardian spirit. His statement, however, that the child when grown up\nwas bound to brave the influences that had caused his namesake\u2019s\ndeath--for instance, if the namesake had perished at sea, his\nsuccessor had all the greater inducement to become a skilful\nkayaker--points to identity; and so do the stories I have cited from\nRink\u2019s collection in previous pages.[225.1] It may be suggested that\nthe discrepancy is to be accounted for by the gradual change in Eskimo\nideas under contact with civilised travellers and missionaries.\n\nWe have now reviewed a large number of _m\u00e4rchen_ wherein the hero or\nheroine is said to have suffered by death and new birth\ntransfiguration into a variety of forms, both brute and human. We\nhave, moreover, found the same plot in sagas in both hemispheres. And,\nadvancing to savage theory and its correlative customs, I hope I have\nmade it plain that stories of metamorphosis, whether _m\u00e4rchen_ or\nsagas, have been founded upon the belief that at death men are not\nannihilated, but pass into fresh forms, sometimes appearing as plants\nand trees, sometimes as animals of the lower creation, and sometimes\nas men and women born again into their own kindred or among strangers.\nThis is a creed held so widely that--though subject, perhaps, to\nvarying stress, according to the degree and direction of the evolving\ncivilisation, or, possibly yet more, to the different capacities and\nopportunities of travellers who report the characteristics of savage\nlife and thought often far removed from their own--it may yet be\nregarded as practically universal. I have not attempted to distinguish\n{226} between Transformation and Transmigration. When a man, either\nwithout passing through death and birth, or passing through death\nonly, changes into a wolf or an ant, it is no more than\nTransformation. But if the metamorphosis be effected by death and\ngrowth into a tree, or a fresh birth from brute or human mother, it is\nobvious that there is more difficulty in affirming identity between\nthe new substance and the old. In some cases, if we may trust our\nauthorities, and if we rightly interpret the tales and ritual and\nbeliefs they report, the savage sets this difficulty at defiance: the\nproofs of identity overcome it. Oftener, it may be, the identity\nestablished is of an inner and more elusive self. For want of a better\nword we call this kernel of a man his soul, or spirit, both of which\nwords connote to us an immaterial object, with none of the attributes\nof physical existence. To the savage, however, as to our own\nforefathers, and to the _folk_ of all civilised countries still, the\nidea of an incorporeal soul is incomprehensible. He may not be able to\nsee it at all times; he may not be able to handle it when he will: but\nthis kernel, this inner self, of friend or foe, comes to him in\ndreams; he beholds it in the snake or the toad, the insect or the\ndove, that haunts the tomb of one who was dear to him, or in the\nrose-bush or the lily growing upon the grave; or he fetches it back in\nthe shape of a white stone to his beloved child, who has sickened at\nits absence, and is like to die. Thus it is everywhere in the lower\nculture conceived as material, though capable of changing its form and\nappearance without losing its identity. And this identity is the real\nidentity of the man, suffusing and transfusing his entire being. Hence\nthe dividing line between Transformation and Transmigration {227} is\nfrequently so thin and faint. Transmigration as popularly understood\n(for I am not speaking of the speculations of philosophers, whether\nIndian or Greek) is a natural and imperceptible development of\nTransformation. As regards the popular Buddhistic belief of ancient\nHindustan I have already shown this from the _J\u00e1takas_; and what is\ntrue of that holds good of other popular forms of belief, at all\nevents where Judaism and its daughter-faiths, Christianity and\nMohammedanism, have not too deeply penetrated.\n\nSome races, as we have seen, divide the soul into two or more\nentities, whereof one alone may be capable of re-manifestation. To\ndiscuss the reason for this would lead us away from our subject. It\nwill be enough to suggest that it is an attempt to escape from the\ndilemma imposed by the meeting of two or more lines of speculation as\nto the future life. A reconciliation must be attained between the\nreasoning which would lead to the belief in a place of the dead\nelsewhere than here, and that which inclines to the opinion that the\ndeceased remains among his friends, or amid his decaying dust, ready\nand eager to appear again. The divisibility of the inner self succeeds\nin this object; and if we meet with such a device less frequently than\nwe might expect, it is no doubt because the savage mind, unaccustomed\nto consecutive and abstract thought, is slow in realising a\ncontradiction, and unwilling to solve the difficulty, unless where\ncircumstances have compelled the attention and the necessary effort.\n\nThe study of the belief in the re-incorporation of the soul in a human\nbody has no direct bearing on the legend of Perseus, but some account\nof it was required to {228} complete our view of savage thought upon\nthe subject of Transformation by means of death and birth--a subject\nnecessary to be understood in approaching the incident of the\nLife-token. To that incident we have next to address ourselves.\n\n [End of vol. I]\n\n\n\n\n LIST OF SOME OF THE WORKS REFERRED TO\n\nNote.--In the notes Roman numerals placed _before_ the name of a\nwork or author indicate the volume, placed _after_ the name indicate\nthe book or chapter, cited; Arabic numerals generally indicate the\npage or verse.\n\nAllen, Grant, _Attis._ The Attis of Caius Valerius Catullus\nTranslated into English Verse, with Dissertations on the Myth of\nAttis, on the Origin of Tree-Worship, and on the Galliambic Metre by\nGrant Allen, B.A. London, 1892.\n\n_Am Urquell._ Am Urquell. Monatsschrift f\u00fcr Volkskunde. Herausgegeben\nvon Friedrich S. Krauss. 4 vols. Wien, 1890-3. [Still proceeding.]\n\n_Anthropologie._ L\u2019Anthropologie paraissant tous les deux mois sous la\ndirection de MM. Cartailhac, Hamy, Topinard. 4 vols. Paris, 1890-93.\n[Still proceeding.]\n\n_Antiquary._ The Antiquary: a Magazine devoted to the Study of the\nPast. 29 vols. London, 1880-94. [Still proceeding.]\n\n_Archivio._ Archivio per lo Studio delle Tradizioni Popolari. Rivista\ntrimestrale diritta da G. Pitr\u00e8 e S. Salamone-Marino. 12 vols.\nPalermo, 1882-93. [Still proceeding.]\n\n_Arch. Rev._ The Arch\u00e6ological Review. 4 vols. London, 1888-90.\n\n_Asbj\u00f6rnsen._ Norwegische Volksm\u00e4rchen, gesammelt von P. Asbj\u00f6rnsen\nund J\u00f6rgen Moe. Deutsch von Friederich Bresemann. 2 vols. Berlin,\n1847.\n\nAubrey, _Miscellanies._ Miscellanies upon Various Subjects. By John\nAubrey, F.R.S. London, 1857.\n\nAuning. Ueber den lettischen Drachen-Mythus (Puhkis). Ein Beitrag\nzur lettischen Mythologie von Robert Auning. Mitan, 1892.\n\n_Bahar-Danush._ Bahar-Danush; or Garden of Knowledge. An Oriental\nRomance. Translated from the Persic of Einiaut Oollah. By Jonathan\nScott. 3 vols. Shrewsbury, 1799.\n\nBancroft. The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America.\nBy Hubert Howe Bancroft. 5 vols. London, 1875-6.\n\nBasile. Lo Cunto de li Cunti (Il Pentamerone) di Giambattista\nBasile. Testo conforme alla prima stampa del 1634-6 con introduzione e\nnote di Benedetto Croce. Vol. I. Napoli, 1891. [Only one volume yet\npublished.]\n\nBent, _Cyclades._ The Cyclades or Life among the Insular Greeks by\nJ. Theodore Bent, B.A. London, 1885.\n\nB\u00e9renger-F\u00e9raud. Traditions et R\u00e9miniscences Populaires de la\nProvence (Coutumes, L\u00e9gendes, Superstitions, etc.). Par\nB\u00e9renger-F\u00e9raud. Paris, 1886.\n\nBlad\u00e9, _Agenais._ Contes Populaires recueillis en Agenais par M.\nJean-Fran\u00e7ois Blad\u00e9. Paris, 1874.\n\n---- _Contes Pop. Gasc._ Contes Populaires de la Gascogne, par M.\nJean-Fran\u00e7ois Blad\u00e9. 3 vols. Paris, 1886.\n\n_Bl\u00e4tt. f. Pomm. Volksk._ Bl\u00e4tter f\u00fcr Pommersche Volkskunde.\nMonatsschrift f\u00fcr Sage und M\u00e4rchen [etc.]. Herausgegeben von O.\nKnoop und Dr. A. Haas. vols. Stettin. 1892--.\n\nB\u00f6tticher. Der Baumkultus der Hellenen nach den gottesdienstlichen\nGebr\u00e4uchen und den \u00fcberlieferten Bildwerken dargestellt von Carl\nBoetticher. Berlin, 1856.\n\nBraga, _Contos._ Theophilo Braga. Contos Tradicionaes do Povo\nPortuguez. 2 vols. Porto, N.D.\n\nBrinton, _Amer. Hero-Myths._ American Hero-Myths. A Study in the\nNative Religions of the Western Continent. By Daniel G. Brinton, M.D.\nPhiladelphia, 1882.\n\nBrinton, _Len\u00e2p\u00e9._ The Len\u00e2p\u00e9 and their Legends; with the\ncomplete text and symbols of the Walam Olum, a new translation, and an\ninquiry into its authenticity. By Daniel G. Brinton, A.M., M.D.\nPhiladelphia, 1885.\n\n---- _Myths._ The Myths of the New World. A Treatise on the Symbolism\nand Mythology of the Red Race of America by Daniel G. Brinton, A.M.,\nM.D. New York, 1868.\n\nBrowne, _Vulgar Errors._ Pseudodoxia Epidemica: or Enquiries into\nvery many received Tenents and commonly presumed Truths. By Thomas\nBrowne, Doctor of Physick. London, 1646.\n\n_Bull. de F.L._ Bulletin de Folklore Organe de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 du\nFolklore Wallon. 2 vols. London, 1892-3. [Still proceeding.]\n\nBurton, _Gelele._ A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome by Richard F.\nBurton. 2 vols. London, 1864.\n\n---- _Nights._ A plain and literal translation of the Arabian Nights\nEntertainments, now entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a\nNight, with introduction, explanatory notes [etc.], by Richard F.\nBurton. 10 vols. Privately printed, 1885.\n\n---- _Suppl. Nights._ Supplemental Nights to The Book of the Thousand\nNights and a Night with notes anthropological and explanatory by\nRichard F. Burton. 6 vols. Privately printed, 1886-88.\n\n---- _Wanderings._ Wanderings in West Africa from Liverpool to\nFernando Po. By A F.R.G.S. 2 vols. London, 1863.\n\n---- _Wit and Wisd._ Wit and Wisdom from West Africa, compiled by\nRichard F. Burton. London, 1865.\n\nBusk, _Sagas from the Far East._ Sagas from the Far East; or Kalmouk\nand Mongolian Traditionary Tales. With historical preface and\nexplanatory notes. By the Author of \u201cPatra\u00f1as,\u201d etc. London, 1873.\n\nCallaway, _Rel. Syst._ The Religious System of the Amazulu.\nIsinyanga Zokubula; or Divination, as existing among the Amazulu, in\ntheir own words, with a translation into English, and notes. By the\nRev. Canon Callaway, M.D. Natal, 1870.\n\n---- _Tales._ Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus,\nin their own words, with a translation into English, and notes. By the\nRev. Canon Callaway, M.D. Vol. I. London, 1868. [Only one vol.\npublished.]\n\nCampbell. Popular Tales of the West Highlands orally collected with\na translation by J. F. Campbell. 4 vols. Edinburgh, 1860-62.\n\nCampbell, _Santal F.T._ Santal Folk Tales. Translated from the\nSantali by A. Campbell. Pokhuria, 1891.\n\nCarnoy. Contes Fran\u00e7ais recueillis par E. Henry Carnoy. Paris,\n1885.\n\nCasalis. Les Bassoutos ou vingt-trois ann\u00e9es de s\u00e9jour et\nd\u2019observations au sud de l\u2019Afrique par E. Casalis. Paris, 1859.\n\nCavallius. Schwedische Volkssagen und M\u00e4rchen. Nach m\u00fcndlicher\nUeberlieferung gesammelt und herausgegeben von Gunnar Olof Hylt\u00e9n\nCavallius und George Stephens. Deutsch von Carl Oberleitner. Wien,\n1848.\n\nChambers, _Pop. Rhymes._ Popular Rhymes of Scotland. Robert\nChambers. London, 1870.\n\nChild. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads edited by Francis\nJames Child. 8 parts. Boston, N.D. [1882-92, still proceeding.]\n\nCodrington. The Melanesians. Studies in their Anthropology and\nFolklore by R. H. Codrington, D.D. Oxford, 1891.\n\nCoelho. Contos Populares Portuguezes colligidos por F. Adolpho\nCoelho. Lisbon, 1879.\n\nComparetti. Novelline Popolari Italiane pubblicate ed illustrate da\nDomenico Comparetti. Vol. I. Torino, 1875. [Only one volume yet\npublished.]\n\n_Compte-Rendu du Congr\u00e8s._ Congr\u00e8s International des Traditions\nPopulaires. Premi\u00e8re Session. Paris, 1889. Compte-Rendu des S\u00e9ances.\nParis, 1891.\n\n_Congress Report._ The International Folklore Congress, 1891. Papers\nand Transactions. Edited by Joseph Jacobs and Alfred Nutt. London,\n1892.\n\nCosquin. Emmanuel Cosquin. Contes Populaires de la Lorraine. 2 vols.\nParis, N.D. [Preface dated Ao\u00fbt 1886.]\n\n_County F.L., Suffolk._ County Folklore. Printed Extracts. No. 2:\nSuffolk. Collected and edited by the Lady Eveline Camilla Gurdon.\nLondon, 1893. [Folklore Society.]\n\nCox, Miss, _Cinderella._ Cinderella. Three hundred and forty-five\nvariants of Cinderella, Catskin, and Cap o\u2019 Rushes, abstracted and\ntabulated, with a discussion of medi\u00e6val analogues, and notes, by\nMarian Roalfe Cox. London, 1893.\n\nCrane. Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Frederick Crane, A.M. London,\n1885.\n\nCrantz. The History of Greenland: containing a Description of the\nCountry and its Inhabitants. By David Crantz. Translated from the High\nDutch. 2 vols. London, 1767.\n\nCurtin, _Russians._ Myths and Folktales of the Russians, Western\nSlavs and Magyars by Jeremiah Curtin. London, 1890.\n\n_Cymmrodor._ See _Y Cymmrodor_.\n\nDalton. Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, by Edward Tuite Dalton,\nC.S.I.Col. Calcutta, 1872.\n\nD\u2019Arbois de Jubainville, _Cycle Myth._ Le Cycle Mythologique\nIrlandais et la Mythologie Celtique, par H. D\u2019Arbois de Jubainville.\nParis, 1884.\n\n---- _\u00c9pop\u00e9e Celtique._ L\u2019\u00c9pop\u00e9e Celtique en Irlande, par H.\nD\u2019Arbois de Jubainville. Vol. I. Paris, 1892. [One volume only yet\npublished.]\n\nDasent. Popular Tales from the Norse by Sir George Webbe Dasent,\nD.C.L. Edinburgh, 1888.\n\nDavids. See Rhys Davids.\n\nDay. Folktales of Bengal by the Rev. Lal Behari Day. London, 1883.\n\nDe Charencey, _Le Fils de la Vierge_. Le Fils de la Vierge par H. de\nCharencey. Havre, 1879.\n\n---- _Trad. rel._ Les Traditions relatives au Fils de la Vierge par H.\nde Charencey. Paris, 1881.\n\nDe Gubernatis. Le Novelline di Santo Stefano raccolte da Angelo de\nGubernatis. Torino, 1869.\n\n---- _Zool. Myth._ Zoological Mythology or The Legends of Animals by\nAngelo de Gubernatis. London, 1872.\n\nDe Gubernatis, _Trad. Pop._ Le Tradizioni Popolari di S. Stefano di\nCalcinaia raccolte da Alessandro de Gubernatis. Roma, 1894. [Includes\na new edition of the _Novelline_.]\n\nDe Nino. Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi descritti da Antonio de Nino. 5\nvols. Firenze, 1879-91. [The first volume bears only the title _Usi\nAbruzzesi_.]\n\nDennys. The Folklore of China, and its Affinities with that of the\nAryan and Semitic Races. By N. B. Dennys, Ph.D., F.R.G.S. London,\n1876.\n\nDe Rochemonteix. Quelques Contes Nubiens par Maxence de\nRochemonteix. Cairo, 1888.\n\nDorman. The Origin of Primitive Superstitions and their Development\ninto the Worship of Spirits and the Doctrine of Spiritual Agency among\nthe Aborigines of America. By Rushton M. Dorman. Philadelphia, 1881.\n\n_Early Trav._ Early Travels in Palestine, comprising the narratives of\nArculf, Willibald [etc.]. Edited with notes by Thomas Wright, Esq.,\nM.A., F.S.A. London, 1848.\n\nElliot, _N. W. Prov._ Memoirs on the History, Folklore, and\nDistribution of the Races of the North Western Provinces of India;\nbeing an amplified edition of the original Supplemental Glossary of\nIndian Terms by the late Sir Henry M. Elliot, K.C.B. Edited, revised,\nand rearranged by John Beames, M.R.A.S. 2 vols. London, 1869.\n\nEllis, _Polyn. Res._ Polynesian Researches, during a residence of\nnearly eight years in the Society and Sandwich Islands. By William\nEllis. 4 vols. London, 1831.\n\n---- _Ewe-speaking Peoples._ The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave\nCoast of West Africa. Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws,\nLanguages, etc. By A. B. Ellis. London, 1890.\n\n---- _Tshi-speaking Peoples._ The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold\nCoast of West Africa. Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws,\nLanguage, etc. By A. B. Ellis. London, 1887.\n\n---- _Yoruba._ The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West\nAfrica. Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Language, etc. By A.\nB. Ellis. London, 1894.\n\nFeatherman. Social History of the Races of Mankind. By A.\nFeatherman. 7 vols., not numbered, but distinguished as follows:--1st\nDivision: Nigritians. 2nd Division: Papuo- and Malayo-Melanesians. 2nd\nDivision: Oceano-Melanesians. 3rd Division: Aoneo-Maranonians. 3rd\nDivision: Chiapo- and Guarano-Maranonians. 4th Division:\nDravido-Turanians, Turco-Tatar-Turanians, Ugrio-Turanians. 5th\nDivision: Aram\u00e6ans. London, 1881-91.\n\nFinamore. Tradizioni Popolari Abruzzesi raccolte da Gennaro\nFinamore. 2 vols. [Vol. I. in 2 parts, separately paged.] Lanciano,\n1882-86.\n\n---- _Trad. Pop. Abr._ Tradizioni Popolari Abruzzesi raccolte da\nGennaro Finamore. Torino, 1894. [A separate work from, but apparently\na continuation of, the above.]\n\n_F.L. Journ._ The Folk-lore Journal. 7 vols. London, 1883-89. [Organ\nof the Folklore Society.]\n\n_F.L. Record._ The Folk-lore Record. 5 vols. London, 1878-82. [Organ\nof the Folklore Society.]\n\n_Folklore._ Folk-Lore, a Quarterly Review of Myth, Tradition,\nInstitution, and Custom. 4 vols. London, 1890-93. [Organ of the\nFolklore Society, still proceeding.]\n\nFrazer, _Golden Bough._ The Golden Bough A Study in Comparative\nReligion by J. G. Frazer, M.A. 2 vols. London, 1890.\n\nFrere. Old Deccan Days; or Hindoo Fairy Legends current in Southern\nIndia. Collected from Oral Tradition by M. Frere. London, 1870.\n\nFriend. Flowers and Flower Lore. By the Rev. Hilderic Friend, F.L.S.\n2 vols., paged continuously. London, 1884.\n\nGarnett, _Women._ The Women of Turkey and their Folk-lore by Lucy M.\nJ. Garnett. 2 vols. London, 1890-91.\n\nGerv. Tilb. Des Gervasius von Tilbury Otia Imperialia. In einer\nAuswahl neu herausgegeben und mit Anmerkungen begleitet von Felix\nLiebrecht. Hannover, 1856.\n\nGibb. The History of the Forty Vezirs or The Story of the Forty\nMorns and Eves written in Turkish by Sheykh-Z\u0101da done into English by\nE. J. W. Gibb, M.R.A.S. London, 1886.\n\nGiles. Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Translated and\nannotated by Herbert A. Giles. 2 vols. London, 1880.\n\nGonzenbach. Sicilianische M\u00e4rchen. Aus dem Volksmund gesammelt von\nLaura Gonzenbach. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1870.\n\nGrimm, _Tales._ Grimm\u2019s Household Tales. With the Author\u2019s Notes\nTranslated from the German and edited by Margaret Hunt. 2 vols.\nLondon, 1884.\n\n---- _Teut. Myth._ Teutonic Mythology by Jacob Grimm Translated from\nthe Fourth Edition with Notes and Appendix by James Steven\nStallybrass. 4 vols., paged continuously. London, 1880-88.\n\nGrinnell, _Blackfoot L.T._ Blackfoot Lodge Tales. The Story of a\nPrairie People by George Bird Grinnell. London, 1893.\n\nGrundtvig. D\u00e4nische Volksm\u00e4rchen. Nach bisher ungedruckten Quellen\nerz\u00e4hlt von Svend Grundtvig. Uebersetzt von Willibald Leo. 2 vols.\nLeipzig, 1885.\n\nGuppy. The Solomon Islands and their Natives, By H. B. Guppy, M.B.,\nF.G.S. London, 1887.\n\nHahn, _Tsuni_-\u01c1_goam._ Tsuni-\u01c1goam the Supreme Being of the\nKhoi-Khoi by Theophilus Hahn, Ph.D. London, 1881.\n\nHaltrich. Deutsche Volksm\u00e4rchen aus dem Sachsenlande in\nSiebenb\u00fcrgen. Gesammelt von Josef Haltrich. Wien, 1885.\n\nHanway. An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian\nSea: with a Journal of Travels through Russia into Persia and back\nagain through Russia Germany and Holland. By Jonas Hanway, Merchant. 4\nvols. London, 1753.\n\nHodgetts. Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar. A Collection\nof Russian Stories. Translated from the original Russian by Edith M.\nS. Hodgetts. London, 1890.\n\nHunter, _Rural Bengal._ The Annals of Rural Bengal. By W. W. Hunter,\nC.I.E., LL.D. London, 1883.\n\nImbriani. La Novellaja Fiorentina Fiabe e Novelline Stenografate in\nFirenze dal dettato popolare da Vittorio Imbriani. Ristampa\naccresciuta di molte novelle inedite, [etc.,] nelle quale \u00e8 accolta\nintegralmente La Novellaja Milanese dello stesso raccoglitore.\nLivorno, 1877.\n\nIm Thurn. Among the Indians of Guiana being Sketches chiefly\nanthropologic from the Interior of British Guiana by Everard F. im\nThurn, M.A. London, 1883.\n\n_Internat. Archiv._ Internationales Archiv f\u00fcr Ethnographie. 6 vols.\nLeiden, 1888-93. [Still proceeding.]\n\nJacobs, _Celtic F.T._ Celtic Fairy Tales selected and edited by\nJoseph Jacobs. London, 1892.\n\n---- _Indian F.T._ Indian Fairy Tales selected and edited by Joseph\nJacobs. London, 1892.\n\nJames, _The Long White Mountain._ The Long White Mountain. A Journey\nin Manchuria with some Account of the History, People, Administration\nand Religion of that Country. By H. E. M. James. London, 1888.\n\nJeremias, _Izdubar-Nimrod._ Izdubar-Nimrod. Eine altbabylonische\nHeldensage. Nach den Keilschriftfragmenten dargestellt von Dr. Alfred\nJeremias. Leipzig, 1891.\n\nJevons, _Plutarch\u2019s Romane Questions._ Plutarch\u2019s Romane Questions.\nTranslated A.D. 1603 by Philemon Holland, M.A., Fellow of Trinity\nCollege, Cambridge. Now again edited by Frank Byron Jevons, M.A. With\nDissertations on Italian Cults [etc.]. London, 1892.\n\n_Journ. Am. F.L._ The Journal of American Folklore. 6 vols. Boston,\n1888-93. [Organ of the American Folklore Society, still proceeding.]\n\n_Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ The Journal of the Anthropological Institute\nof Great Britain and Ireland. 23 vols. London, 1872-94. [Still\nproceeding.]\n\n_Journ. Anthr. Soc._ Journal of the Anthropological Society of London.\n8 vols. London, 1863-70.\n\n_Journ. Ethnol. Soc., N.S._ Journal of the Ethnological Society of\nLondon. Published quarterly. 2 vols. London, 1869-70.\n\n_Kath\u00e1._ The Kath\u00e1-sarit-S\u00e1gara or Ocean of the Streams of Story\ntranslated from the original Sanskrit by C. H. Tawney, M.A. 2 vols.\nCalcutta, 1880-84.\n\nKaindl. Die Huzulen. Ihr Leben ihre Sitten und ihre\nVolks\u00fcberlieferung geschildert von Dr. Raimund Friedrich Kaindl.\nWien, 1894.\n\n_Kalevala._ Kalewala, das National-Epos der Finnen, nach der zweiten\nAusgabe ins Deutsche \u00fcbertragen von Anton Schiefner. Helsingfors,\n1852.\n\nKlunzinger. Upper Egypt: its People and its Products. A Descriptive\nAccount of the Manners, Customs, Superstitions and Occupations of the\nPeople of the Nile Valley [etc.]. By C. B. Klunzinger, M.D. London,\n1878.\n\nKnight. Where Three Empires Meet. A Narrative of recent Travel in\nKashmir, Western Tibet, Gilgit and the adjoining Countries by E. F.\nKnight. London, 1893.\n\nKnoop. Volkssagen, Erz\u00e4hlungen Aberglauben, Gebr\u00e4uche und M\u00e4rchen\naus dem \u00f6stlichen Hinterpommern. Gesammelt von Otto Knoop. Posen,\n1885.\n\nKnowles. Folktales of Kashmir. By the Rev. J. Hinton Knowles,\nF.R.G.S., M.R.A.S. London, 1888.\n\nKohlrusch. Schweizerisches Sagenbuch. Nach m\u00fcndlichen\nUeberlieferungen, Chroniken und andern gedruckten und\nhandschriftlichen Quellen herausgegeben von C. Kohlrusch. Leipzig,\n1854-56. [Only one volume and a portion of a second published.]\n\nKolbe. Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche im Lichte der\nheidnische Vorzeit. Von Wilhelm Kolbe. Marburg, 1888.\n\nKrauss, _Sagen._ Sagen und M\u00e4rchen der S\u00fcdslaven. Zum grossen Teil\naus ungedruckten Quellen von Dr. Friedrich S. Krauss. 2 vols. Leipzig,\n1883-84.\n\n---- _Sitte und Brauch._ Sitte und Brauch der S\u00fcdslaven. Nach\nheimischen gedruckten und ungedruckten Quellen von Dr. Friedrich S.\nKrauss. Wien, 1885.\n\nKremnitz. Rum\u00e4nische M\u00e4rchen \u00fcbersetzt von Mite Kremnitz.\nLeipzig, 1882.\n\nKreutzwald. Ehstnische M\u00e4rchen aufgezeichnet von Friedrich\nKreutzwald. Aus dem Ehstnischen \u00fcbersetzt von F. L\u00f6we. Halle, 1869.\n\nKuhn und Schwartz. Norddeutsche Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und Gebr\u00e4uche aus\ndem Munde des Volkes gesammelt und herausgegeben von A. Kuhn und W.\nSchwartz. Leipzig, 1848.\n\nLandes, _Annamites._ Contes et L\u00e9gendes Annamites par A. Landes.\nSaigon, 1886.\n\n---- _Tjames._ Contes Tjames traduits et annot\u00e9s par A. Landes.\nSaigon, 1887.\n\nLane. An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians,\nwritten in Egypt during the years 1833, -34, and -35, partly from\nnotes made during a former visit [etc.]. By Edward William Lane. 2\nvols. London, 1842.\n\nLe Braz. La L\u00e9gende de la Mort en Basse Bretagne. Croyances,\nTraditions et Usages des Bretons Armoricains par A. Le Braz. Paris,\n1893.\n\n_Leg. Panj\u00e2b._ The Legends of the Panj\u00e2b. By Captain R. C. Temple. 2\nvols. Bombay, N.D.\n\nLegrand. Recueil des Contes Populaires Grecs traduits sur les textes\noriginaux par \u00c9mile Legrand. Paris, 1881.\n\nLeland, _Gip. Sorc._ Gipsy Sorcery and Fortune-telling, illustrated\nby numerous incantations, specimens of medical magic, anecdotes and\ntales by Charles Godfrey Leland. London, 1891.\n\nLeskien. Litauische Volkslieder und M\u00e4rchen aus dem Preussischen\nund dem Russischen Litauen, gesammelt von A. Leskien und K. Brugman.\nStrassburg, 1882.\n\nLiebrecht. Zur Volkskunde. Alte und Neue Aufs\u00e4tze von Felix\nLiebrecht. Heilbronn, 1879.\n\n_Llyvyr Coch._ See _Mabinogion_.\n\nLuzel, _Contes Bretons._ Contes Bretons par F. M. Luzel. Quimperl\u00e9,\n1870.\n\n---- _Contes Pop._ Contes Populaires de la Basse Bretagne par F. M.\nLuzel. 3 vols. Paris, 1887.\n\n_Mabinogion._ The Mabinogion. From the Welsh of the Llyfr Coch o\nHergest (The Red Book of Hergest) in the Library of Jesus College,\nOxford. Translated, with notes, by Lady Charlotte Guest. London, 1877.\n\n_Y Llyvyr Coch o Hergest._ [Diplomatic reproduction of the MS.\nreferred to above. No general title-page. The first volume contains\nthe Mabinogion. Edited by John Rh\u0177s, M.A., and J. Gwenogvryn Evans.\nOxford, 1887.]\n\nMacdonald. Africana; or The Heart of Heathen Africa. By the Rev.\nDuff Macdonald, M.A., B.D. 2 vols. London, 1882.\n\nMacpherson, _Memorials._ Memorials of Service in India from the\nCorrespondence of the late Major Samuel Charters Macpherson, C.B.,\nedited by his brother William Macpherson. London, 1865.\n\nMango. Novelline Popolari Sarde raccolte e annotate dal Dott.\nFrancesco Mango. Palermo, 1890.\n\nMarkham, _Rites and Laws._ Narratives of the Rites and Laws of the\nYncas. Translated from the original Spanish MSS., and edited by\nClements R. Markham, C.B., F.R.S. London, 1873.\n\nMarsden. The History of Sumatra, containing an Account of the\nGovernment, Laws, Customs, and Manners of the Native Inhabitants\n[etc.]. By William Marsden, F.R.S. London, 1811.\n\nMartinengo-Cesaresco, Countess. Essays in the Study of Folk-songs.\nBy the Countess Evelyn Martinengo-Cesaresco. London, 1886.\n\nMaspero. Les Contes Populaires de l\u2019\u00c9gypte Ancienne, traduits et\ncomment\u00e9s par G. Maspero. Paris, 1882.\n\nMaurer. Isl\u00e4ndische Volkssagen der Gegenwart, vorwiegend nach\nm\u00fcndlicher Ueberlieferung gesammelt, und verdeutscht von Dr. Konrad\nMaurer. Leipzig, 1860.\n\nMaury, _L\u00e9gendes Pieuses._ Essai sur les L\u00e9gendes Pieuses du Moyen\nAge, ou Examen de ce qu\u2019elles renferment de Merveilleux [etc.]; par L.\nF. Alfred Maury. Paris, 1843.\n\n_Meddygon Myddfai._ The Physicians of Myddvai; Meddygon Myddfai, or\nthe Medical Practice of the celebrated Rhiwallon and his sons, of\nMyddvai, in Carmarthenshire, Physicians to Rhys Gryg, Lord of Dynevor\nand Ystrad Towy, about the middle of the thirteenth century. From\nancient MSS. in the Libraries of Jesus College, Oxford, Llanover, and\nTonn; with an English translation; and the legend of the Lady of Llynn\ny Van. Translated by John Pughe, Esq., F.R.C.S., and edited by the\nRev. John Williams ab Ithel, M.A. Llandovery, 1861.\n\nMeier, _M\u00e4rchen._ Deutsche Volksm\u00e4rchen aus Schwaben. Aus dem\nMunde des Volkes gesammelt und herausgegeben von Dr. Ernst Meier.\nStuttgart, N.D. [3rd edition.]\n\n---- _Sagen._ Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Schwaben,\ngesammelt von Ernst Meier. 2 vols., paged continuously. Stuttgart,\n1852.\n\n_M\u00e9lusine._ M\u00e9lusine Recueil de Mythologie Litt\u00e9rature Populaire,\nTraditions et Usages, publi\u00e9 par MM. H. Gaidoz et E. Rolland. 6 vols.\nParis, 1878-93. [Still proceeding. The later volumes edited by H.\nGaidoz alone.]\n\n_Mem. Anthr. Soc._ Memoirs read before the Anthropological Society of\nLondon. 3 vols. London, 1865-70.\n\nMilenowsky. Volks-m\u00e4rchen aus B\u00f6hmen. Von J. Milenowsky. Breslau,\n1853.\n\nModigliani. Un Viaggio a N\u00edas di Elio Modigliani. Milano, 1890.\n\nMorris and Magn\u00fasson, _Heimskringla._ The Stories of the Kings of\nNorway called The Round World (Heimskringla) by Snorri Sturluson done\ninto English out of the Icelandic by William Morris and Eir\u00edkr\nMagn\u00fasson. Vol. I. London, 1893. [One volume only yet issued.]\n\nM\u00fcller, _Amer. Urrel._ Geschichte der Amerikanischen Ur-religionen.\nVon J. G. M\u00fcller. Basel, 1867.\n\n_Nat. Mus. Rep._, 1888. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the\nSmithsonian Institution, for the year ending June 30, 1888. Report of\nthe U.S. National Museum. Washington, 1890.\n\nO\u2019Donovan, _Four Masters._ Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, by the\nFour Masters, edited by John O\u2019Donovan, Esq. 5 vols. Dublin, 1851.\n\n_Pentamerone._ Der Pentamerone oder Das M\u00e4rchen aller M\u00e4rchen von\nGiambattista Basile. Aus dem Neapolitanischen \u00fcbertragen von Felix\nLiebrecht. 2 vols. Breslau, 1846.\n\nPigorini-Beri. Caterina Pigorini-Beri. Costumi e Superstizioni dell\u2019\nAppennino Marchigiano. Citt\u00e0 di Castello, 1889.\n\nPitr\u00e8. Biblioteca delle Tradizioni Popolari Siciliane per cura di\nGiuseppe Pitr\u00e8. 18 vols. Palermo, 1871-88.\n\n---- _Nov. Pop. Toscane._ Novelle Popolari Toscane illustrate da\nGiuseppe Pitr\u00e8. Firenze, 1885.\n\nPlacucci. Usi e Pregiudizj dei Contadini della Romagna di Michele\nPlacucci da forl\u00ec riprodotti sulla edizione originale per cura di\nGiuseppe Pitr\u00e8. Palermo, 1885.\n\nPloss, _Kind._ Das Kind in Brauch und Sitte der V\u00f6lker.\nAnthropologische Studien von Dr. H. Ploss. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1884.\n\n---- _Weib._ Das Weib in der Natur- und V\u00f6lkerkunde. Anthropologische\nStudien von Dr. H. Ploss. Nach dem Tode des Verfassers bearbeitet und\nherausgegeben von Dr. Max Bartels. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1891.\n\n_Popol Vuh._ Popol Vuh. Le Livre sacr\u00e9 et les Mythes de l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9\nAm\u00e9ricaine, avec les livres h\u00e9ro\u00efques et historiques des Quich\u00e9s.\nOuvrage original des Indig\u00e8nes de Guatemala, Texte Quich\u00e9 et\nTraduction Fran\u00e7aise en regard, accompagn\u00e9 de notes [etc.]. Par\nl\u2019Abb\u00e9 Brasseur de Bourbourg. Paris, 1861.\n\nPowell and Magn\u00fasson. Icelandic Legends. Collected by J\u00f3n Arnason.\nTranslated by George E. J. Powell and Eir\u00edkur Magn\u00fasson. 2 vols.\nLondon, 1864-66.\n\nPowers. Tribes of California. By Stephen Powers. Washington, 1877.\n[Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. iii.]\n\nPreller, _R\u00f6m. Myth._ R\u00f6mische Mythologie von L. Preller. 3te\nAuflage von H. Jordan. 2 vols. Berlin, 1881-3.\n\n_Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch._ Proceedings of the Society of Biblical\nArch\u00e6ology. 15 vols. London, 1879-93. [Still proceeding.]\n\nPr\u00f6hle, _Kinder- und Volksm._ Kinder- und Volksm\u00e4rchen. Gesammelt\nvon Heinrich Pr\u00f6hle. Leipzig, 1853.\n\nRadloff. Proben der Volkslitteratur der T\u00fcrkischen St\u00e4mme\nS\u00fcd-Sibiriens, gesammelt und \u00fcbersetzt von Dr. W. Radloff. 6 vols.\nSt. Petersburg, 1866-86. [The last two volumes are entitled _Proben\nder Volkslitteratur der n\u00f6rdlichen T\u00fcrkischen St\u00e4mme._]\n\nRalston, _Russian F.T._ Russian Folktales by W. R. S. Ralston, M.A.\nLondon, 1873.\n\n---- _Songs._ The Songs of the Russian People, as illustrative of\nSlavonic Mythology and Russian Social Life. By W. R. S. Ralston, M.A.\nLondon, 1872.\n\n---- _Tibetan Tales._ Tibetan Tales derived from Indian Sources.\nTranslated from the Tibetan of the Kah-gyur by F. Anton von Schiefner.\nDone into English from the German by W. R. S. Ralston, M.A. London,\n1882.\n\nReade, Winwood. Savage Africa: being the Narrative of a Tour in\nEquatorial, South-Western, and North-Western Africa, by W. Winwood\nReade. London, 1863.\n\n_Records of the Past._ Records of the Past: being English translations\nof the Assyrian and Egyptian Monuments. 12 vols. London, N.D.\n\nReed. Japan: its History, Traditions, and Religions, With the\nNarrative of a Visit in 1879. By Sir Edward J. Reed, K.C.B., F.R.S.,\nM.P. 2 vols. London, 1880.\n\n_Rep. Austr. Ass._ Report of the Second Meeting of the Australasian\nAssociation for the Advancement of Science, held at Melbourne,\nVictoria, in January 1890. Edited by W. Baldwin Spencer, M.A.\nPublished by the Association. Sydney, N.D.\n\n_Rep. Bur. Ethn._ Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the\nSecretary of the Smithsonian Institution. By J. W. Powell, Director.\nWashington. [9 vols, published, from 1879-80, still proceeding.]\n\n_Rev. Celt._ Revue Celtique, dirig\u00e9e par H. Gaidoz. 14 vols. Paris,\n1890-93. [Still proceeding. Recent volumes edited by H. D\u2019Arbois de\nJubainville.]\n\n_Rev. Trad. Pop._ Revue des Traditions Populaires. 8 vols. Paris,\n1886-93. [Organ of the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Traditions Populaires. Still\nproceeding.]\n\nRhys, _Hibbert Lectures._ The Hibbert Lectures, 1886. Lectures on\nthe Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by Celtic Heathendom.\nBy John Rhys. London, 1888.\n\nRhys Davids, _Buddhism._ Buddhism: being a Sketch of the Life and\nTeachings of Gautama, the Buddha. By T. W. Rhys Davids. London, N.D.\n\nRink. Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo by Dr. Henry Rink.\nTranslated from the Danish by the Author. Edinburgh, 1875.\n\nRisley. The Tribes and Castes of Bengal. By H. H. Risley.\nEthnographic Glossary. 2 vols. Calcutta, 1891.\n\nRivi\u00e8re. Recueil de Contes Populaires de la Kabylie du Djurdjura\nrecueillis et traduits par J. Rivi\u00e8re. Paris, 1882.\n\nRodd. The Customs and Lore of Modern Greece by Rennell Rodd. London,\n1892.\n\nRydberg. Teutonic Mythology by Viktor Rydberg, Ph.D. Authorised\ntranslation from the Swedish by Rasmus B. Anderson, LL.D. London,\n1889.\n\n_Sacred Bks._ The Sacred Books of the East, translated by various\nOriental Scholars and edited by F. Max M\u00fcller. Oxford, 1879-94. [40\nvolumes issued, still proceeding.]\n\nS\u00e2str\u00ee, _Folklore in South. Ind._ Folklore in Southern India. By\nPandit S. M. Nat\u00easa S\u00e2str\u00ee. 3 parts. Bombay, 1884-86-88.\n\n_Sax. Leechd._ Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England.\nBeing a Collection of Documents, for the most part never before\nprinted. Collected and edited by the Rev. Oswald Cockayne, M.A. 3\nvols. London, 1864-66.\n\nSaxo. Saxonis Grammatici Gesta Danorum herausgegeben von Alfred\nHolder. Strassburg, 1886.\n\nSaxo (_Elton\u2019s version_). The First Nine Books of the Danish History\nof Saxo Grammaticus translated by Oliver Elton, B.A. London, 1894.\n\n_Science of Fairy Tales._ The Science of Fairy Tales. An Inquiry into\nFairy Mythology. By Edwin Sidney Hartland, F.S.A. London, 1891.\n\nSchneller. M\u00e4rchen und Sagen aus W\u00e4lschtirol. Gesammelt von\nChristian Schneller. Innsbruck, 1867.\n\nSchott. Walachische Maehrchen herausgegeben von Arthur und Albert\nSchott. Stuttgart, 1845.\n\nSchr\u00f6der. Die Hochzeitsbr\u00e4uche der Esten und einiger anderer\nFinnisch-ugrischer V\u00f6lkerschaften in Vergleichung mit dessen der\nIndogermanischen V\u00f6lker. Ein Beitrag [etc.], von Dr. Leopold von\nSchroeder. Berlin, 1888.\n\nS\u00e9billot, _Contes Pop._ Paul S\u00e9billot. Contes Populaires de la\nHaute Bretagne. 3 series. Paris, 1880-82.\n\n---- _Trad, et Sup._ Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute Bretagne\npar Paul S\u00e9billot. 2 vols. Paris, 1882.\n\n_Second Voyage du P\u00e8re Tachard._ See _Voyage de Siam._\n\n_Silva Gad._ Silva Gadelica (I.-XXXI.) A Collection of Tales in Irish,\nwith extracts illustrating persons and places edited from MSS. and\ntranslated by Standish H. O\u2019Grady. 2 vols. London, 1892.\n\nSmith, _Chaldean Account of Genesis._ The Chaldean Account of\nGenesis by George Smith. London, 1876.\n\nSouthey, _Commonplace Bk._ Southey\u2019s Commonplace Book. Edited by his\nson-in-law John Wood Warter, B.D. 4 vols. London, 1850.\n\nSpitta Bey. Contes Arabes Modernes recueillis et traduits par\nGuillaume Spitta Bey. Leide, 1883.\n\nSteel. Wideawake Stories. A Collection of Tales told by little\nchildren between sunset and sunrise, in the Panjab and Kashmir. By F.\nA. Steel and R. C. Temple. Bombay, 1884.\n\nSteere. Swahili Tales, as told by Natives of Zanzibar. With an\nEnglish translation. By Edward Steere, LL.D. London, 1870.\n\nStokes. Indian Fairy Tales collected and translated by Maive Stokes.\nLondon, 1880.\n\nSwynnerton, _Indian Nights._ Indian Nights\u2019 Entertainment; or,\nFolktales from the Upper Indus. By the Rev. Charles Swynnerton, F.S.A.\nLondon, 1892.\n\n---- _R\u00e1j\u00e1 Ras\u00e1lu._ The Adventures of the Panj\u00e1b Hero, R\u00e1j\u00e1\nRas\u00e1lu, and other Folktales of the Panj\u00e1b. Collected and compiled\nfrom original sources. By the Rev. Charles Swynnerton. Calcutta, 1884.\n\nTaylor. Te Ika a Maui; or, New Zealand and its Inhabitants. By the\nRev. Richard Taylor, M.A., F.G.S. London, 1870.\n\nTheal. Kaffir Folklore; or, A Selection from the Traditional Tales\ncurrent among the People living on the Eastern Border of the Cape\nColony. By Geo. M\u2019Call Theal. London, N.D. [1882].\n\nThorpe, _Yule-tide Stories._ Yule-tide Stories. A Collection of\nScandinavian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions, from the\nSwedish Danish and German. Edited by Benjamin Thorpe. London, 1853.\n\n_Trans. Ethnol. Soc., N.S._ Transactions of the Ethnological Society\nof London. New Series. 7 vols. London, 1862-9.\n\nTurner, _Polynesia._ Nineteen Years in Polynesia: Missionary Life,\nTravels, and Researches in the Islands of the Pacific. By the Rev.\nGeorge Turner. London, 1861.\n\n---- _Samoa._ Samoa a Hundred Years ago and long before. Together with\nnotes on the cults and customs of twenty-three other islands in the\nPacific. By George Turner, LL.D. London, 1884.\n\n_Tuti-Nameh._ Tuti-Nameh. Das Papagaienbuch. Eine Sammlung\norientalischer Erz\u00e4hlungen. Nach der t\u00fcrkischen Bearbeitung zum\nersten Male \u00fcbersetzt von Georg Rosen. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1858.\n\nTylor, _E. Hist._ Researches into the Early History of Mankind and\nthe Development of Civilisation. By Edward B. Tylor, D.C.L., LL.D.,\nF.R.S. London, 1878.\n\n---- _Prim. Cult._ Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development\nof Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom. By Edward B.\nTylor. 2 vols. London, 1871.\n\nVasconcellos. Tradi\u00e7\u00f5es Populares de Portugal colligidas e\nannotadas por J. Leite de Vasconcellos. Porto, 1882.\n\nVisentini. Fiabe Mantovane raccolte da Isaia Visentini. Torino,\n1879.\n\nVon den Steinen. Unter den Naturv\u00f6lkern Zentral-Brasiliens.\nReiseschilderung und Ergebnisse der Zweiten Sching\u00fa-Expedition\n1887-1888 von Karl von den Steinen, Prof. Dr. Berlin, 1894.\n\nVon Hahn. Griechische und Albanesische M\u00e4rchen. Gesammelt,\n\u00fcbersetzt und erl\u00e4utert von J. G. v. Hahn. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1864.\n\nVon Schulenburg. Wendische Volkssagen und Gebr\u00e4uche aus dem\nSpreewald. Von Willibald von Schulenburg. Leipzig, 1880.\n\nVon Wlislocki, _Bukowinaer._ M\u00e4rchen und Sagen der Bukowinaer und\nSiebenb\u00fcrger Armenier. Aus eigenen und fremden Sammlungen \u00fcbersetzt\nvon Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki. Hamburg, 1892.\n\n---- _M\u00e4rchen._ M\u00e4rchen und Sagen der Transsilvanischen Zigeuner.\nGesammelt und aus unedirten Originaltexten \u00fcbersetzt von Dr. Heinrich\nvon Wlislocki. Berlin, 1886.\n\n---- _Volksdicht._ Volksdichtungen der siebenb\u00fcrgischen und\ns\u00fcdungarischen Zigeuner. Gesammelt und aus unedirten Originaltexten\n\u00fcbersetzt von Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki. Wien, 1890.\n\n---- _Volksgl. Mag._ Volksglaube und religi\u00f6ser Brauch der Magyaren.\nDargestellt von Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki. M\u00fcnster-i-W., 1893.\n\nVon Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Siebenb. Sachs._ Volksglaube und\nVolksbrauch der Siebenb\u00fcrger Sachsen. Von Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki.\nBerlin, 1893.\n\n---- _Volksgl. Zig._ Volksglaube und religi\u00f6ser Brauch der Zigeuner.\nVorwiegend nach eigenen Ermittlungen von Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki.\nM\u00fcnster-i-W., 1891.\n\n---- _Volksleb. Mag._ Aus dem Volksleben der Magyaren. Ethnologische\nMitteilungen von Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki. M\u00fcnchen, 1893.\n\n_Voyage de Siam des P\u00e8res J\u00e9suites._ Voyage de Siam des P\u00e8res\nJ\u00e9suites [by Guy Tachard]. Amsterdam, 1689.\n\n_Second Voyage du P\u00e8re Tachard._ Second Voyage du P\u00e8re Tachard et\ndes J\u00e9suites envoy\u00e9s par le roy du Royaume de Siam. Amsterdam, 1689.\n\nWinternitz, _Altind. Hochz._ Das Altindische Hochzeitsrituell nach\ndem \u0100pastamb\u012bya-Grihyas\u016btra und einigen anderen verwandten Werken.\nMit Vergleichung der Hochzeitsgebr\u00e4uche bei den \u00fcbrigen\nindogermanischen V\u00f6lkern. Von Dr. M. Winternitz. Wien, 1892.\n\nWitzschel. Kleine Beitr\u00e4ge zur deutschen Mythologie, Sitten- und\nHeimatskunde in Sagen und Gebr\u00e4uchen aus Thuringen. Gesammelt und\nherausgegeben von Dr. August Witzschel. 2 vols. Wien, 1866-78.\n\nWolf, _Deutsche Hausm._ Deutsche Hausm\u00e4rchen. Herausgegeben von J.\nW. Wolf. G\u00f6ttingen, 1851.\n\n---- _Niederl. Sag._ Niederl\u00e4ndische Sagen. Gesammelt und mit\nAnmerkungen begleitet herausgegeben von Johann Wilhelm Wolf. Leipzig,\n1843.\n\nWratislaw. Sixty Folktales from exclusively Slavonic Sources.\nTranslated by A. H. Wratislaw, M.A. London, 1889.\n\n_Y Cymmrodor._ Y Cymmrodor, embodying the Transactions of the\nCymmrodorion Society of London [etc.]. 10 vols. London, 1877-90.\n[Still proceeding.]\n\n_Y Llyvyr Coch o Hergest._ See _Mabinogion_.\n\n_Zeits. f. Volksk._ Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Volkskunde, herausgegeben von Dr.\nEdmund Veckenstedt. Organ der deutschen Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Volkskunde.\n4 vols. Leipzig, 1889-92.\n\nZingerle, _Kinder- und Hausm._ Tiroler Kinder- und Hausm\u00e4rchen.\nInnsbruck, 1852.\n\n---- _Kinder- und Hausm. aus S\u00fcddeutsch._ Kinder- und Hausm\u00e4rchen\naus S\u00fcddeutschland. Gesammelt und herausgegeben durch die Br\u00fcder\nIgnaz und Joseph Zingerle. Regensburg, 1854.\n\n---- _Sagen._ Sagen, M\u00e4rchen und Gebr\u00e4uche aus Tirol. Gesammelt und\nherausgegeben von Ignaz Vincenz Zingerler Innsbruck, 1859.\n\n---- _Sitten._ Sitten, Br\u00e4uche und Meinungen des Tirole. Volkes.\nGesammelt und herausgegeben von Ignaz V. Zingerle. Innsbruck, 1871.\n\n\n\n\n ENDNOTES\n\n CHAPTER I NOTES\n\n [3.1]\n Ovid, _Metam._, iv. 604; Strabo, x. 5; Pausanias, ii. 16; Lucian,\n _Sea-gods_, xiv.\n\n [4.1]\n Pausanias, ii. 18; Bent, _The Cyclades_, 2.\n\n [4.2]\n Pausanias, ii. 16; Plutarch, _Rivers and Mountains_, xviii., Inachus.\n An inscription was discovered not very long ago at Mykene, testifying\n to the worship of Perseus there. xxvi. _The Antiquary_, 192, citing an\n article by Dr. Tsoundas in the _Ephemeris Arch\u00e6ologike_.\n\n [5.1]\n Pausanias, ii. 21, 23.\n\n [5.2]\n Vergil, _\u00c6neid_, vii. 371. See also Preller, ii. _R\u00f6m. Myth._, 330.\n\n [5.3]\n Pausanias, iv. 35.\n\n [5.4]\n Josephus, _Wars_, iii. 9; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, v. 14; ix. 4;\n Maundeville, c. 4.\n\n [6.1]\n Herod. vi. 53, 54 (I quote Rawlinson\u2019s translation); vii. 61, 150.\n\n [7.1]\n \u00c6lian, _De Nat. Anim._, xii. 21; Jeremias, _Izdubar-Nimrod_, passim;\n Smith, _Chaldean Account of Genesis_, passim.\n\n [8.1]\n Tylor, i. _Prim. Cult._, 306, citing Tzetzes ap. Lycophron\u2019s\n _Cassandra_; Diodorus Sic., iv.\n\n [8.2]\n Herod. ii. 91, 15. If we may trust Diodorus Siculus (i.), the\n Egyptians claimed that Perseus was born in Egypt.\n\n [9.1]\n \u00c6lian, _De Nat. Anim._, iii. 28, 37; xiii. 26.\n\n [13.1]\n Pitr\u00e8, _Nov. Pop. Toscane_, 1.\n\n [14.1]\n ii. Von Hahn, 114, 310. For particulars of the story-teller, see _ib._\n 308.\n\n [17.1]\n O\u2019Donovan, i. _Four Masters_, 18, note. The story was taken down by\n O\u2019Donovan from the dictation of Shane O\u2019Dugan in 1835.\n\n [19.1]\n Grimm, i. _Tales_, 419.\n\n [20.1]\n Grimm, i. _Tales_, 420.\n\n [21.1]\n Cavallius, 78.\n\n [23.1]\n Leskien, 544, 548, citing Antoni Nowosielski, _Lud Ukrainski._\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II NOTES\n\n [26.1]\n S\u00e9billot, i. _Contes Pop._, 124 (Story No. 18).\n\n [29.1]\n i. Cosquin, 60.\n\n [30.1]\n Schneller, 186.\n\n [31.1]\n Blad\u00e9, _Agenais_, 9 (Story No. 2); i. _Contes Pop. Gasc._, 277.\n\n [31.2]\n Cavallius, 348.\n\n [33.1]\n i. Asbj\u00f6rnsen, 159 (Story No. 24); Thorpe, _Yuletide Stories_, 300.\n\n [34.1]\n i. Grundtvig, 277.\n\n [35.1]\n Legrand, 161. The story is taken from _La Gr\u00e8ce Continentale et la\n Mor\u00e9e_, by J. A. Buchon (Paris, 1843).\n\n [38.1]\n i. Campbell, 71.\n\n [40.1]\n Kuhn und Schwartz, 337 (_M\u00e4rchen_, No. 10).\n\n [41.1]\n i. Basile, 113; i. _Pentamerone_, 122.\n\n [41.2]\n Comparetti, 199 (Story No. 46).\n\n [42.1]\n Comparetti, 126 (Story No. 32); Crane, 30.\n\n [42.2]\n De Gubernatis, 41 (Story No. 18).\n\n [43.1]\n Auning, 79 (Story No. 132).\n\n [43.2]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksdicht._, 316 (Story No. 54).\n\n [44.1]\n Leskien, 544, 547, citing Erlenvein.\n\n [46.1]\n i. _Kath\u00e1_, 381.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III NOTES\n\n [48.1]\n i. Campbell, 93. Compare the variant told by a woman of the island of\n Berneray, _ibid._ 98.\n\n [50.1]\n i. _Zeits. f. Volksk._, 230. This tale has a suspicious air. Whether\n the reminiscences it contains of classic stories are of purely oral\n transmission I cannot determine.\n\n [50.2]\n i. Gonzenbach, 269 (Story No. 39).\n\n [50.3]\n Grimm, i. _Tales_, 331 (Story No. 85).\n\n [51.1]\n ii. _Rev. Trad. Pop._, 359, from a Flemish collection, then\n unpublished, by M. Pol de Mont. This story was obtained at Ypres.\n\n [52.1]\n Visentini, 104 (Story No. 19).\n\n [53.1]\n Luzel, _Contes Bretons_, 63.\n\n [53.2]\n Leskien, 543, citing Bosanski Prijatelj.\n\n [53.3]\n Braga, i. _Contos_, 117 (Story No. 48).\n\n [54.1]\n Burton, iv. _Suppl. Nights_, 244.\n\n [54.2]\n Zingerle, _Kinder- und Hausm. aus S\u00fcddeutsch._, 124.\n\n [55.1]\n Carnoy, 135 (Story No. 19).\n\n [55.2]\n Imbriani, 387.\n\n [56.1]\n Chambers, _Pop. Rhymes_, 89.\n\n [57.1]\n Zingerle, _Kinder- und Hausm. aus. S\u00fcddeutsch._, 260. Cf. _Ibid._,\n _Kinder- und Hausm._, 178 (Story No. 35); Grimm, i. _Tales_, 244, 419.\n\n [57.2]\n Pr\u00f6hle, _Kinder- und Volksm._, 20 (Story No. 5).\n\n [58.1]\n Auning, 87 (Story No. 133).\n\n [59.1]\n Leskien, 542.\n\n [59.2]\n Leskien, 389. Stories of the Faithless Sister (sometimes it is the\n hero\u2019s mother who plays the traitor\u2019s part) are numerous in the East\n of Europe. I have studied some of them in a paper on _The Forbidden\n Chamber_, iii. _Folklore Journ._, 214.\n\n [60.1]\n Cavallius, 356.\n\n [60.2]\n i. Gonzenbach, 272 (Story No. 40).\n\n [61.1]\n Notwithstanding they had been eaten! Rivi\u00e8re, 193.\n\n [62.1]\n i. Basile, 87; i. _Pentamerone_, 90.\n\n [63.1]\n De Gubernatis, 40 (Story No. 17).\n\n [63.2]\n vii. Pitr\u00e8, 296; i. Gonzenbach, 269 (Story No. 39).\n\n [65.1]\n ii. Macdonald, 341.\n\n [65.2]\n iii. De Nino, 321 (Story No. 65).\n\n [67.1]\n Meier, _M\u00e4rchen_, 101 (Story No. 29). See also 306.\n\n [67.2]\n _Ibid._, 204 (Story, No. 58). The connection ought not to pass\n unnoticed between these Swabian tales and four Greek _m\u00e4rchen_\n obtained by Von Hahn on the island of Syra and elsewhere. The hero of\n one of the tales from Syra is Strong Jack, who overcomes three ogres,\n and weds the king\u2019s daughter held in captivity by one of them. Another\n ogre fights and kills him, and takes the lady to wife. The hero,\n restored by means of the Water of Life, learns that the ogre is to be\n slain only by getting possession of his External Soul, and destroying\n it. This he succeeds in doing, and thus recovers his wife. ii. Von\n Hahn, 14. More obvious is the connection of one of the other tales,\n wherein Strong Jack slays an ogre (_drakos_) to whom the king\u2019s\n daughter had been given to eat. _Ibid._, 259. I shall have to refer to\n this in a future chapter.\n\n [68.1]\n Coelho, 120 (Story No. 52).\n\n [69.1]\n ii. Cosquin, 56 (Story No. 37).\n\n [70.1]\n i. Cosquin, 64 (variant of Story No. 5).\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV NOTES\n\n [74.1]\n Leskien, 546; De Gubernatis, ii. _Zool. Myth._, 29. K\u00f6hler in his\n notes to Gonzenbach (ii. 229) refers to several other stories.\n\n [74.2]\n Milenowsky, 1.\n\n [74.3]\n Knoop, 204.\n\n [75.1]\n ii. Powell and Magnusson, 435. The story is given with some trifling\n differences, Maurer, 284.\n\n [75.2]\n Rink, 443.\n\n [75.3]\n Landes, _Annamites_, 160.\n\n [76.1]\n Landes, _op. cit._, 150. Cf. _ibid._, 174.\n\n [76.2]\n i. _Kath\u00e1_, 565.\n\n [76.3]\n _Ibid._, 172, 189.\n\n [77.1]\n Knowles, 415.\n\n [77.2]\n Stokes, 41. Cf. Steel, 290, and i. Cosquin, 149.\n\n [77.3]\n Frere, 250. Mangoes appear also in S\u00e2str\u00ee, _Drav. Nights_, 54;\n S\u00e2str\u00ee, _Folklore in South. Ind._, 140; Knowles, 130; Day, 117. In\n a variant of the last, the fakir simply tells the king that his\n prayers are heard, and his seven queens shall each bear a son. Steele,\n 98.\n\n [77.4]\n Stokes, 91.\n\n [77.5]\n Steele, 47.\n\n [78.1]\n i. Cosquin, 69, citing Benfey.\n\n [78.2]\n Campbell, _Santal F. T._, 25.\n\n [78.3]\n i. Radloff, 204.\n\n [78.4]\n i. _Folklore_, 49.\n\n [79.1]\n Capt. R. C. Temple, in iv. _F.L. Journal_, 282.\n\n [79.2]\n Burton, iii. _Suppl. Nights_, 270.\n\n [79.3]\n _Ibid._ iv. 298.\n\n [79.4]\n Gibb, 163.\n\n [80.1]\n iii. _Bahar Danush_, 80.\n\n [80.2]\n Rivi\u00e8re, 231, 225.\n\n [80.3]\n iv. _Folklore_, 285.\n\n [81.1]\n Braga, i. _Contos_, 42. Two instances in Europe where the magical food\n is to be eaten by the husband occur in Gipsy tales. In one from\n southern Hungary, a woman who wished for a daughter gave her husband\n at full moon the egg of a black hen to eat, with the best result. Von\n Wlislocki, _Volksdicht._ 314. This is in accordance with a practice\n referred to in Chapter VI., _infra._ In the other tale, which is from\n Transylvania, the wife goes out at midnight and collects herbs and\n bones. She cooks them at home, gives her husband to eat, and\n thereupon, becoming pregnant, she bears a son in the form of a kid.\n Von Wlislocki, _M\u00e4rchen_, 119.\n\n [81.2]\n i. Finamore, pt. i., 88.\n\n [81.3]\n ii. Von Hahn, 33, 197.\n\n [82.1]\n i. Von Hahn, 90; Garnett, i. _Women_, 178.\n\n [82.2]\n Legrand, 191, xvi.\n\n [82.3]\n Prof. Fortier, in ii. _Journ. Am. F.L._, 39.\n\n [82.4]\n Curtin, _Russians_, 130.\n\n [83.1]\n Wratislaw, 133; Ralston, _Songs_, 177.\n\n [83.2]\n Day, 1.\n\n [83.3]\n Ralston, _Tibetan Tales_, 21.\n\n [84.1]\n Day, 187. Cf. a Baluchi tale in Jacobs, _Indian F. T._, 179.\n\n [84.2]\n Prato in xii. _Archivio_, 40, citing Minayeff, _Indiiska skazki y\n legendy_.\n\n [84.3]\n Steere, 381. In an Arab story from Egypt a Mogrebin gives a king, upon\n the same bargain, two bonbons, one for himself, the other for his\n wife. Three sons are born, of whom the Mogrebin claims the eldest.\n Here the Mohammedan influence prevails. Spitta Bey, 1.\n\n [84.4]\n Theal, 54.\n\n [85.1]\n Swynnerton, _Indian Nights_, 137.\n\n [85.2]\n Burton, vii. _Nights_, 320.\n\n [86.1]\n i. Finamore, pt. ii., 13.\n\n [86.2]\n i. _Archivio_, 524. In a Breton tale a sorceress gives a cake to the\n stepmother, which causes the heroine to bring forth a cat. Luzel, iii.\n _Contes Pop._ 126. In a variant, the sorceress advises that a black\n cat be dished up for the maiden. _Ibid._, 139. In both cases the\n cat-offspring being ripped up, a prince emerges.\n\n [87.1]\n Krauss, i. _Sagen_, 195.\n\n [87.2]\n De Charencey, _Le Fils de la Vierge_, 20, citing Friez and L\u00e9ger, _La\n Boh\u00e8me historique, pittoresque et litt\u00e9raire_, 341, 345. I have not\n seen this work, and do not know what value is to be attached to the\n story; but it has the appearance of being genuine. As to Blanik and\n its Sleeping Host, see _The Science of Fairy Tales_, 184, 219, where I\n have collected and discussed a number of legends relating to this\n mountain, in connection with the Seven Sleepers, King Arthur, etc.\n\n [87.3]\n Leskien, 490.\n\n [88.1]\n Maspero, 26; ii. _Records of the Past_, 137; De Charencey, _Trad.,\n rel._, 11; _Le Page Renouf_ in xi. _Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch._, 184. The\n scribe, who wrote the MS. we have, flourished under Rameses II. and\n his two successors. How many times the story had been written down\n before, of course we do not know.\n\n [89.1]\n i. Grundtvig, 150.\n\n [89.2]\n Dasent, 345.\n\n [90.1]\n Landes, _Annam._, 245.\n\n [90.2]\n i. Basile, 249; i. _Pentamerone_, 238. The Italian fairies are always\n rather \u03bc\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c1\u03b1\u03b9 than what we understand by fairies.\n\n [90.3]\n De Gubernatis, _Trad. Pop._, 187.\n\n [90.4]\n iii. _Journ. Am. F.L._, 273.\n\n [91.1]\n Quoted by De Charencey, _Le Fils de la Vierge_, 25, from De Puymaigre,\n ii. _Les Vieux Auteurs Castillans_, 355.\n\n [92.1]\n Landes, _op. cit._, 174.\n\n [92.2]\n De Rochemonteix, 18.\n\n [92.3]\n Landes, _Tjames_, 9. The Tjames are a mongrel race descended from\n aborigines of Annam who intermarried with Malay invaders. See ii.\n _L\u2019Anthropologie_, 186.\n\n [93.1]\n Schott, 262.\n\n [93.2]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Zig._, 36; _Volksdicht._, 245. Cf. _Ibid._,\n 194, where milk is to be poured into the gourd.\n\n [94.1]\n Dragomanov, in xii. _Archivio_, 275, quoting Valjavec.\n\n [94.2]\n Capt. R. C. Temple, in iv. _F.L. Journ._, 304.\n\n [94.3]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksdicht._, 213, 336.\n\n [95.1]\n De Charencey, _Le Fils de la Vierge_, 26, 27.\n\n [95.2]\n Mango, 101.\n\n [96.1]\n _Compte Rendu du Congr\u00e8s_, 47. The personification of holy days is\n not uncommon in folktales, especially in the east of Europe.\n\n [97.1]\n Rink, 437.\n\n [97.2]\n Von Wlislocki, _Bukowinaer_, 72. As to the power of saliva on a bird\u2019s\n tongue, see _ibid._, _Volksdicht._, 384.\n\n [98.1]\n Callaway, _Tales_, 66, 72. In another variant the blood is drawn from\n the woman\u2019s knees, placed in two jars, and becomes a boy and a girl.\n Theal, 139. A Blackfoot story ascribes the origin of Kutoyis, or Clot\n of Blood, a hero of great prowess, to a clot of buffalo-blood brought\n home by a hunter and put in the kettle on the fire. Grinnell,\n _Blackfoot L.T._, 30; Maclean, in vi. _Journ. Am. F.L._, 167. The\n Rabbit in Siouan mythology makes the Young Rabbit from a clot of\n buffalo\u2019s blood. J. Owen Dorsey, in v. _Journ. Am. F.L._, 295. In an\n Esthonian _m\u00e4rchen_ a childless queen receives from an old woman an\n egg to be brooded in her bosom for three months. At the end of that\n time a living female embryo is hatched, which grows to the size of an\n unborn child. When that size is reached the queen also gives birth to\n a son; and the two are treated as twin brother and sister. Kreutzwald,\n 341. Stories of children hatched from eggs are by no means infrequent:\n Hodgetts, 194; Day, 93; i. _Folklore_, 49 (already cited), for\n example. They are perhaps more usual in sacred sagas: see a Fijian\n saga, i. _Mem. Anthr. Soc._, 203; and the classical and other legends\n mentioned by Liebrecht in a note to _Gerv. Tilb._, 73.\n\n [99.1]\n i. Gonzenbach, 177. Versions are given from Sulmona in the Abruzzi,\n iii. De Nino, 1; from Pisa, Comparetti, 195; from Rufina in Tuscany,\n Pitr\u00e8, _Toscane_, 8. The circumstances of the conception differ very\n slightly in all these. Two or three years ago the same story was\n discovered in the island of M\u00f6e, belonging to Denmark. It is stated\n to follow Fr\u00e4ulein Gonzenbach\u2019s tale point by point; and M. Feilberg\n is bold enough to declare that it had passed from her collection into\n the mouths of the Danish folk in that island. iii. _Am Urquell_, 331.\n\n [99.2]\n i. Von Hahn, 245.\n\n [100.1]\n Imbriani, 397.\n\n [100.2]\n i. Gonzenbach, 167.\n\n [100.3]\n Braga, i. _Contos_, 104. Cf. iii. De Nino, 263.\n\n [101.1]\n K\u00f6hler in _The Academy_, 21st March 1891, citing Buber\u2019s edition of\n _Midrasch Tanchumar_.\n\n [101.2]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksdicht._, 360.\n\n [102.1]\n i. Basile, 47; i. _Pentamerone_, 43.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V NOTES\n\n [105.1]\n Featherman, _Chiapo-Mar._, 351. Owing to this writer\u2019s method of\n heaping his authorities together at the end of each section, a\n practice as mysterious as any recorded of savages, I have been unable\n to discover on what authority this statement is made by him, or what\n are the details of the story.\n\n [105.2]\n Aubrey, _Miscellanies_, 58.\n\n [106.1]\n i. _Leg. Punj\u00e2b_, 1; Steele, 247. Cf. Swynnerton, _R\u00e1j\u00e1 Ras\u00e1lu_,\n 3, where the rice is omitted.\n\n [106.2]\n Elliot, i. _N. W. Prov._, 256, note. Other accounts assert that the\n two barleycorns, or cocoa-nuts, were given to Gog\u00e1\u2019s mother. Other\n examples in iii. _N. Ind. N. and Q._, 205, 243.\n\n [107.1]\n James, _The Long White Mountain_, 31, note, citing a Chinese\n chronicle; Charencey, _Le Fils de la Vierge_, 15, citing K\u00f6ppen, _Die\n Religion des Buddha_; _ibid._, 8, citing _Ambassade m\u00e9morable \u00e0\n l\u2019Empereur du Japon_.\n\n [108.1]\n Charencey, _Le Fils_, 14, citing Barrow\u2019s _Voyage to China_. Cf.\n Maury, _L\u00e9gendes Pieuses_, part 1, for numerous medi\u00e6val examples of\n miracles in competition with the Bible.\n\n [108.2]\n Rydberg, 156, citing the _Volsungasaga_.\n\n [111.1]\n ii. _Silva Gad._, 19, translating a MS. of the sixteenth century in\n the British Museum. Stories of dreams of this kind are found\n everywhere. Compare, for example, Ragnhild\u2019s dream of her son Harold\n Fairhair (i. Morris and Magn\u00fasson\u2019s _Heimskringla_, 83) and the\n well-known stories of Athelstan\u2019s mother and Cyrus\u2019 mother. So Gorm,\n king of Denmark, dreamed of the sons, Knut and Harald, who were to be\n born of his wife Thyra, daughter of Ethelred, king of England. Saxo,\n 319 (Elton\u2019s version, 387). According to a writer quoted by Southey\n (iii. _Commonplace Bk._, 753) Joan of Arc\u2019s mother dreamed she gave\n birth to a thunderbolt.\n\n [112.1]\n iii. Bancroft, 99, apparently quoting Holmberg, _Ethn. Skizz._; Ensign\n Niblack, in _Nat. Mus. Rep._, 1888, 379. The allied people, the\n Koniagas of the southern shores of Alaska, have a similar tradition\n concerning Elkh, the founder of their race. The Thlinkit and Koniagan\n traditions seem in fact to be one and the same. Featherman,\n _Aoneo-Mar._, 458. The Len\u00e2pe tradition of Nanabozho, as reported by\n Lindstrom about 1650, seems to attribute that hero\u2019s birth to his\n mother\u2019s drinking out of a creek. Brinton, _Len\u00e2pe_, 131.\n\n [113.1]\n Capt. Bourke, in ix. _Rep. Bur. Ethn._, 590, quoting Mendieta.\n\n [113.2]\n Hahn, _Tsuni_-\u01c1_goam_, 69, 68.\n\n [113.3]\n Busk, _Sagas from the Far East_, 267. Unhappily Miss Busk\u2019s\n translations in this work cannot be trusted; but it contains the only\n English version of the _Ardshi-Bordshi_ with which I am acquainted. i.\n Cosquin, 69. Another version of the story, as told by an illiterate\n Buddhist monk of Zain Shaben in north-western Mongolia, is given iii.\n _F.L. Journ._, 321.\n\n [114.1]\n _Voyage de Siam des P\u00e8res Jesuites_, 296. In one of the Magic Songs\n of the Finns, Louhiatar swallows iron hail, the siftings of Tuoni\u2019s\n mortar, and after thirty summers is disburdened of a progeny which\n \u201cbecome all sorts of sicknesses, a thousand causes of injury.\u201d Hon. J.\n Abercromby, in iv. _Folklore_, 40. Probably this too is a cosmological\n myth.\n\n [115.1]\n iii. _Sacred Books_, 307.\n\n [115.2]\n De Charencey, _Le Fils_, 13.\n\n [115.3]\n iv. _F.L. Record_, 23.\n\n [115.4]\n Liebrecht in a note to _Gerv. Tilb._, 72, quoting d\u2019Herbelot. Cf. De\n Charencey, _Le Fils_, 13, where a similar Chinese tale is mentioned.\n\n [116.1]\n ii. _Silva Gad._, 1, translating a MS. written in 1780-82, which in\n its turn is a transcript of a translation from a Latin life of this\n somewhat doubtful saint, printed in the _Acta Sanctorum Hiberni\u00e6_ at\n Louvain, 1645. The MS. in question is in the British Museum.\n\n [116.2]\n vi. _Rev. Celt._, 179; D\u2019Arbois de Jubainville, _\u00c9pop\u00e9e Celtique_,\n 16; both translating MSS. of the fourteenth century now in the library\n of the Royal Irish Academy at Dublin.\n\n [117.1]\n D\u2019Arbois de Jubainville, _\u00c9pop\u00e9e Celtique_, 37, translating _Leabhar\n na hUidhre_ (_Book of the Dun Cow_), MS. dating back to about the year\n 1100. See another translation, ix. _Rev. Celt._, 12. For Balor\u2019s story\n as given in modern folklore, see _ante_, p. 15.\n\n [117.2]\n ii. _Silva Gad._, 23.\n\n [118.1]\n ii. _Silva Gad._, 89, translating _Leabhar na hUidhre_.\n\n [118.2]\n Prof. Whitley Stokes, in ii. _Rev. Celt._, 199, translating the\n _Leabhar breac_, a MS. written shortly before 1411, now in the Royal\n Irish Academy.\n\n [119.1]\n Francisco de Avila\u2019s Narrative, translated by Markham, _Rites and\n Laws_, 125. It is needless to point out the analogy of part of this\n tale to modern folktales like Basile\u2019s tale of Pervonto, cited in the\n last chapter.\n\n [120.1]\n De Gubernatis, ii. _Zool. Myth._, 331. The ancient nations of the\n Mediterranean basin believed that the mouth was the ordinary way of\n impregnation for fishes. Herod. ii. 93; \u00c6lian, _Nat. Anim._, ix. 63.\n I have found a similar belief among the peasantry of Gloucestershire,\n where I am writing, as regards the pea-hen.\n\n [120.2]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksdicht._, 300.\n\n [121.1]\n v. _Sacred Bks._, 187. Unfortunately Mr. West, the translator, has not\n given that part of the _Selections_ which relates to Zoroaster\u2019s\n life--only a summary of its contents.\n\n [121.2]\n viii. _Rev. Trad. Pop._, 601, translating S. H. Marian.\n\n [122.1]\n Landes, _Annam._, 12. There is a Japanese tale of a lady who, having\n been barren for many years, at length, as the result of much prayer to\n the gods, bore five hundred eggs. They were thrown into the water in a\n box, but rescued by a fisherman, incubated in an oven, and all happily\n hatched. Five hundred heroes were thus produced, whom their mother was\n afterwards glad to recognise and receive back. This is the legend of\n Bunsio, the goddess of fruitfulness and riches. Ploss, i. _Weib_, 441,\n quoting Horst.\n\n [122.2]\n Hon. J. Abercromby, in i. _Folklore_, 331.\n\n [122.3]\n iv. _F.L. Journ._, 21.\n\n [123.1]\n M. Dragomanov in _Compte Rendu du Congr\u00e8s_, 46.\n\n [124.1]\n ii. _Tuti-Nameh_, 85. With these stories may be compared a\n Transylvanian Gipsy saga concerning the origin of the Ashani tribe.\n Ashani, the eponymous mother of the tribe, was the child of a man to\n whom a supernatural being appeared in a dream riding on the man\u2019s own\n cow, and commanded him to slay the cow, burn its flesh and let his\n wife eat of the ashes. He was then to sleep with her upon the cowhide.\n Compliance with this command was followed by Ashani\u2019s birth. Von\n Wlislocki, _Volksdicht._, 184.\n\n [124.2]\n ii. Gonzenbach, 165; Crane, 208.\n\n [124.3]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksdicht._, 183. See also his _Volksgl. Zig._, 14.\n On the Keshalyi\u2019s hair, see _post_, p. 155.\n\n [125.1]\n Dennys, 135, citing the _China Review_.\n\n [125.2]\n i. _Leg. Panj\u00e2b_, 139, 142.\n\n [125.3]\n Liebrecht in a note to _Gerv. Tilb._, 69. Jonas Hanway refers to a\n Mohammedan belief that the Virgin Mary conceived Our Lord by the smell\n of a rose. i. Hanway, 179. I have not been successful in tracing his\n authority.\n\n [125.4]\n Arnobius, _Adv. Gentes_, v. 5; Pausanias, vii. 17.\n\n [126.1]\n iii. Bancroft, 296, quoting Torquemada; M\u00fcller, _Amer. Urrel._, 601.\n The account given by Dr. Brinton makes Coatlicue a virgin and the ball\n of feathers merely \u201csome white plumes.\u201d _Amer. Hero-Myths_, 77. It\n does not appear on what authority this account rests. I feel sure,\n however, that it has not been given without reason. The round shield\n borne by the god in his usual representations was studded with white\n pellets of feathers. Zelia Nuttall, in v. _Internat. Archiv._, 39.\n\n [127.1]\n Featherman, _Papuo-Mel._, 43.\n\n [128.1]\n _Mabinogion_, 421; i. _Y Llyvyr Coch_, 68. Note the singular\n resemblance of the production of Llew Llaw Gyffes to that of the\n children in the Zulu and Kaffir tales mentioned on p. 98. Compare also\n the Thlinkit cosmogonic saga of the child born from a cockle-shell.\n _Rep. Nat. Mus._ (1888), 378.\n\n [128.2]\n Im Thurn, 378. Cf. the tradition of the first khan of the Diurbiuts,\n a Mongolian tribe. It was revealed to ten men in a dream that of the\n tree Urun and the bird of the same name was born a divine son; he\n became the khan: iv. _F.L. Journ._, 20. See also a curious tale from\n New Guinea on the origin of death: xix. _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._, 465.\n\n [129.1]\n _Popol Vuh_, 89.\n\n [130.1]\n Landes, _Annam._, 63. See also a curious myth of the aborigines of\n Hayti, one of the few descended to us, which represents a male\n personage as becoming pregnant by the spittle of another. Having been\n cut open, he brought forth a woman, by means of whom the island was\n subsequently peopled. Liebrecht, in a note to _Gerv. Tilb._, 71,\n quoting indirectly Peter Martyr.\n\n [130.2]\n iii. _Sacred Bks._, 396; De Charencey, _Le Fils_, 9.\n\n [130.3]\n Grimm, _Teut. Myth._, 1449. In a modern Indian _m\u00e4rchen_ from\n Salsette the heroine is born in an extraordinary manner. A woman pours\n into a mendicant\u2019s hands some rice boiling hot from the caldron,\n raising a big blister on his thumb. When his wife breaks the blister a\n little girl comes out. Miss Cox, _Cinderella_, 260, abstracting a\n story in xx. _Indian Antiquary_, 142.\n\n [131.1]\n xix. _Sacred Bks._, 2; Rhys Davids, _Buddhism_, 183. The father and\n the mother of Par\u00e1krama 1., the restorer of the native kingdom of\n Ceylon, dreamed the same night that a beautiful elephant entered her\n chamber; and this was interpreted to foretell the birth of a hero.\n _Buddhism Primitive and Present in Magadha and in Ceylon_, by Reginald\n Stephen Copleston (London, 1892), 378.\n\n [132.1]\n Sale, _Koran_, note on ch. xxix., citing Arab authors.\n\n [132.2]\n Brinton, _Amer. Hero-Myths_, 90; iii. Bancroft, 271; both citing the\n Mexican Codex in the Vatican and the _Codex Telleriano-Remensis_.\n\n [133.1]\n Callaway, _Tales_, 335.\n\n [133.2]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 436.\n\n [134.1]\n Plutarch, _Names of Rivers and Mountains_, xxiv.\n\n [134.2]\n Featherman, _Aoneo-Mar._, 80.\n\n [134.3]\n De Charencey, _Le Fils_, 16.\n\n [134.4]\n iv. _Sacred Bks._, lxxix.; v. 143 note, 144; xxiii. 195, 226, 307; De\n Charencey, _Traditions_, 31, quoting Tavernier; Rev. Dr. Mills, in\n _Nineteenth Century_, Jan. 1894, 51.\n\n [134.5]\n _Gerv. Tilb._ (Decision i. c. 17), 6, 68.\n\n [135.1]\n Browne, _Vulgar Errors_ (l. vii. c. 16), 371.\n\n [135.2]\n _Arcana Microcosmi: or, The hid Secrets of Man\u2019s Body discovered_,\n etc. By A. R. (London, 1652), 132.\n\n [136.1]\n Brinton, _Amer. Hero-Myths_, 47, citing Schoolcraft, who must,\n however, be generally accepted with caution.\n\n [136.2]\n _Kalevala_, runes xlv. and i. I have already referred to another\n legend of the fertilisation of Loujatar, p. 114, note. The Magic Songs\n of the Finns are full of these stories. See Hon. J. Abercromby, in iv.\n _Folklore_, 35, 37, 47. The Magyars tell of a wind-begotten\n supernatural steed. Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Mag._, 10. Sir Walter\n Scott refers somewhere to a border ballad of a maiden impregnated by\n the night-wind; but I have mislaid the reference.\n\n [136.3]\n iii. Bancroft, 175, note. Cf. Dr. A. W. Bell, in i. _Journ. Ethnol.\n Soc., N.S._, 250, where \u201ca dewdrop from the Great Spirit\u201d is said to\n have fallen upon the maiden\u2019s bosom, entered her blood and caused her\n to conceive. This comes to the same thing; but Bancroft\u2019s version\n seems more primitive.\n\n [137.1]\n De Charencey, _Traditions_, 34, citing the Marquis\n d\u2019Hervey-Saint-Denis. According to an Irish tradition, related in\n America by a woman from Roscommon, the ass and cow are accounted\n sacred, because these animals breathed upon the infant Jesus in the\n manger, and thus kept him warm. vi. _Journ. Amer. F.L._, 264.\n\n [138.1]\n De Charencey, _Traditions_, 35.\n\n [138.2]\n i. Reed, 201.\n\n [139.1]\n _Second Voyage du P\u00e8re Tachard_, 247. Sommonocodon is obviously\n Buddha. Both this story and one previously given (on p. 114) have been\n filtered through the minds of Jesuit fathers anxious to discover\n identifications with Christian teaching.\n\n [139.2]\n De Charencey, _Le Fils_, 13.\n\n [142.1]\n iii. Radloff, 82.\n\n [143.1]\n De Charencey, _Traditions_, 38, quoting Father Giov. Phil. Marini;\n Southey, iv. _Commonplace Bk._, 41, quoting Picart.\n\n [143.2]\n De Charencey, _Traditions_, 36.\n\n [143.3]\n Ellis, i. _Polyn. Res._, 262. Cf. the account of creation in the\n Windward Isles, _ibid._, 324.\n\n [143.4]\n _Ibid._, 326.\n\n [144.1]\n Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxxvi. 70; Ovid (_Fasti_, vi. 629) and Arnobius\n (_Adv. Gen._, v. 18) regard Ocrisia as not quite so innocent.\n According to the former, Vulcan it was who was the father. Livy (i.\n 39) rationalises the tale.\n\n [144.2]\n Codrington, 406.\n\n [145.1]\n Southey, iv. _Commonplace Bk._, 142; Featherman, _Chiapo-Mar._, 136.\n\n [146.1]\n While these sheets were passing through the press, Comte H. de\n Charencey, of whose studies I have availed myself in the foregoing\n pages, republished the substance of his articles on the Virgin\u2019s Son,\n with additions, in a work entitled _Les Folklore dans les deux mondes_\n (Paris, Klincksieck, 1894). He seeks there to show that the New World\n borrowed many of its legends from the Old, and among them that of the\n Supernatural Birth. If I understand him aright, he follows M. Angrand\n in attributing Mexican civilisation to an Asiatic origin, and declares\n that while traditions of a powerful hero born without a father are\n found among the tribes whose culture was drawn from this source, they\n are not found among other peoples, like the Mayas and the Peruvians,\n whose civilisation is to be ascribed to an easterly provenience. It is\n always dangerous to assert a negative. We have already seen (_ante_,\n p. 118) that the Peruvians had a tradition of the Supernatural Birth,\n although the offspring did not turn out a hero. But Hiawatha was a\n hero exactly of the kind referred to; and the foremother of the\n Baka\u00efr\u00ed of Central Brazil gave birth to the twin culture-heroes and\n parents of the race from swallowing two finger-bones. Von den Steinen,\n 373. The myth is far too widely spread, and far too deeply rooted in\n the savage beliefs of both hemispheres, to be simply accounted for by\n borrowing.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI NOTES\n\n [148.1]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 431, citing Duncker.\n\n [149.1]\n xxix. _Sacred Books_, 180; cf. 395.\n\n [149.2]\n _Meddygon Myddfai_, 269. Concerning this work see my article on \u201cOld\n Welsh Folk-Medicine\u201d in ix. _Y Cymmrodor_, 227. Both MSS. comprised in\n the book badly want careful reprinting and proper editing.\n\n [150.1]\n _Ibid._, 262, 263; Friend, 115, 124, 581. Rosemary with grains of\n mastic was given by physicians in the seventeenth century to cure\n barrenness. Ploss, i. _Weib_, 434. A Gipsy charm quoted by Leland from\n Dr. von Wlislocki prescribed oats to be given to a mare out of an\n apron or gourd, with an incantation expressly bidding her \u201cEat, fill\n thy belly with young!\u201d _Gip. Sorc._, 84.\n\n [150.2]\n W. A. Clouston, in Burton, iii. _Suppl. Nights_, 576, quoting _Indian\n N. and Q._\n\n [150.3]\n i. Risley, 256.\n\n [151.1]\n Leland, _Gip. Sorc._, 101.\n\n [151.2]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 439, citing von Wlislocki.\n\n [151.3]\n _Ibid._, citing Krauss.\n\n [151.4]\n Von Schulenburg, 232.\n\n [151.5]\n J. B. Andrews, in ix. _Rev. Trad. Pop._, 111.\n\n [151.6]\n Featherman, _Chiapo-Mar._, 444.\n\n [151.7]\n Ploss, i. _Kind_, 30, 32; H. Ling Roth, in xxii. _Journ. Anthr.\n Inst._, 209. In the island of Aurora a woman sometimes takes it into\n her head \u201cthat the origin, or beginning, of one of her children is a\n cocoa-nut, or bread-fruit, or something of that kind;\u201d and this gives\n rise to a prohibition of the object for food, just as in the case of a\n totem. Rev. Dr. Codrington, in xviii. _Journ. Anthr. Inst._, 310; ii.\n _Rep. Austr. Ass._, 612. I hardly know how to account for this notion\n except by the suggestion that such a woman may have eaten the fruit in\n question about the time her pregnancy commenced, and thence have been\n led to believe that the pregnancy was in some way due to it. Dr.\n Codrington, however, upon inquiry, informs me that he never heard of\n any belief of the kind. It is perhaps worth noting as a coincidence,\n if nothing more, that on Lepers\u2019 Island the two intermarrying\n divisions are called _branches of fruit_, \u201cas if,\u201d says Dr.\n Codrington, \u201call the members hang on the same stalk.\u201d Codrington,\n _Melanesians_, 26.\n\n [152.1]\n Meier, _Sagen_, 476, 474. It is a saying at Pforzheim: To make a\n nut-tree bear, let a pregnant woman pick the first nuts. Grimm, _Teut.\n Myth._, 1802.\n\n [153.1]\n Dr. Krauss, in iii. _Am Urquell_, 276. In Silesia stones are put on\n the trees on Christmas Eve to make them bear the more. Grimm _Teut.\n Myth._, 1825.\n\n [154.1]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 431, 432, 434, 445, citing various authorities.\n Compare Queen Isolte\u2019s lily, referred to _ante_, page 91. What is the\n meaning of the attribution, widely spread in Europe, of children to\n trees or vegetables? See, for examples, iv. _Am Urquell_, 224 _et\n seqq._; Zingerle, _Sagen_, 110; Finamore, _Trad. Pop. Abr._, 56. In\n England children are said to come out of the parsley-bed.\n\n [154.2]\n _Gen._ xxx. 14. _Early Trav._, 434.\n\n [155.1]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Zig._, 90.\n\n [155.2]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 439.\n\n [155.3]\n Clouston, in Burton, iii. _Suppl. Nights_, 576, citing Pandit Nat\u00e9sa\n S\u00e1stri in _Indian N. and Q._\n\n [155.4]\n Southey, iii. _Commonplace Bk._, 20, 75.\n\n [155.5]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Siebenb. Sachs._, 54.\n\n [156.1]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Zig._, 13. Compare the story given in the\n last chapter, _ante_ p. 124.\n\n [156.2]\n Krauss, _Sitte und Brauch_, 531; Ploss, i. _Weib_, 432, 440, 441, 443,\n 431, citing various authorities.\n\n [156.3]\n Schr\u00f6der, 171, citing Hartknoch; Ploss, i. _Weib_, 445.\n\n [157.1]\n Sextus Placitus, i. _Sax. Leechd._, 345.\n\n [157.2]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 431, 432, citing Nachtigall and Junk.\n\n [157.3]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Siebenb. Sachs._, 103. In Transylvania hare\u2019s\n flesh, especially the testicles, is also esteemed a specific against\n impotence and childlessness. _Ibid._, 169.\n\n [157.4]\n Leland, _Gip. Sorc._, 101.\n\n [157.5]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksdicht._, 314.\n\n [158.1]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 442.\n\n [158.2]\n J. Spinner of Lemberg, in iv. _Am Urquell_, 125.\n\n [158.3]\n xxx. _Sacred Bks._, 110.\n\n [159.1]\n iii. _Sax. Leechd._, 69.\n\n [159.2]\n Theal, 201.\n\n [159.3]\n Eug. Polain, in ii. _Bull de F.L._, 82.\n\n [159.4]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 434, 443.\n\n [159.5]\n Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, x. 85.\n\n [159.6]\n Wolf, _Niederl. Sag._, 227; ii. _Bull de F.L._, 82.\n\n [160.1]\n ii. Witzschel, 244; Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Siebenb. Sachs._, 152.\n\n [160.2]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 443, citing von Wlislocki in general terms. The\n statement is repeated (as usual without giving his authority) by\n Leland, _Gip. Sorc._, 101.\n\n [160.3]\n Krauss, _Sitte und Brauch_, 531.\n\n [160.4]\n Victor Mindeleff, in viii. _Rep. Bur. Ethn._, 32.\n\n [160.5]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 435, citing Sandreczki.\n\n [161.1]\n Tuchmann, in vi. _M\u00e9lusine_, 109, quoting Rehatsek, _Journ. Anthrop.\n Soc. Bombay._\n\n [161.2]\n Clouston, in Burton, iii. _Suppl. Nights_, 576 note, quoting Pandit\n Nat\u00e9sa S\u00e1stri, _Indian N. and Q._\n\n [162.1]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Zig._, 66. Wherever this work is cited, it\n must be understood, unless otherwise expressed, to deal with the\n Gipsies of the Danubian countries, where alone, the author says, they\n are unsophisticated.\n\n [162.2]\n Von Wlislocki, in iii. _Am Urquell_, 7.\n\n [162.3]\n B. W. Schiffer, in iii. _Am Urquell_, 147.\n\n [162.4]\n A. F. D\u00f6rfler, in iii. _Am Urquell_, 269.\n\n [163.1]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksleb. Mag._, 77. According to the same author, the\n afterbirth of a boy or girl placed under the bed will ensure the\n procreation of a child of the same sex; but the husband must be\n careful which side he gets into bed--on the right for a boy, on the\n left for a girl. _Ibid._, 80.\n\n [163.2]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Zig._, 103.\n\n [164.1]\n i. Lane, 393, 394.\n\n [164.2]\n Brinton, _Myths_, 253.\n\n [164.3]\n v. _Rep. Bur. Ethn._, 111, translating _Relations des Jesuites_\n (1636). In the Banks\u2019 Islands are certain spirits called _Nopitu_. It\n is believed that a woman sometimes hears one of them say: \u201cMother, I\n am coming to you,\u201d and feels it entering into her; and it is\n afterwards born as an ordinary child. Codrington, 154. This does not\n appear to be a case of migration.\n\n [165.1]\n iii. _Sax. Leechd._, 66.\n\n [165.2]\n Von Wlislocki, _Volksgl. Siebenb. Sachs._, 75, 152.\n\n [165.3]\n Schiffer, in iv. _Am Urquell_, 187.\n\n [165.4]\n Kohlrusch, 324.\n\n [166.1]\n Rev. W. Gregor, in iii. _Folklore_, 68.\n\n [166.2]\n i. _Leg. Panj._, 2.\n\n [167.1]\n vi. _M\u00e9lusine_, 111, quoting _Panjab N. and Q._, and _Indian N. and\n Q._\n\n [169.1]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 436, 437, 438, 439, referring to various\n authorities. The Kich Negresses about Ada\u00ebl, west of the White Nile,\n in Equatorial Africa, however, think it necessary to wash in liquids\n much less innocent than water, unless they want to be sterile. Kara\n Kirghiz women spend a night beside a holy well. v. Radloff, 2. The\n ceremonies they practise are not mentioned.\n\n [169.2]\n Jevons, _Plutarch\u2019s Roman Questions_, ci.; iii. _L\u2019Anthropologie_,\n 548, 558; _Congress_ (1891) _Report_, 345; Kolbe, 163; Rodd, 94;\n Dalton, _passim_; Ploss, i. _Weib_, 445, citing B\u00f6der; Winternitz,\n _Altind. Hochz._, 47, 101.\n\n [170.1]\n Hahn, _Tsuni_-\u01c1_goam_, 87.\n\n [170.2]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 443, citing Wuttke. In Hainaut a profusion of fruit\n on the nut-trees prognosticates many bastards during the year. Harou,\n 28.\n\n [170.3]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 446.\n\n [170.4]\n Frazer, ii. _Golden Bough_, 238, note, quoting Monier-Williams,\n _Religious Life and Thought in India_.\n\n [171.1]\n T. J. Hutchinson, in iii. _Trans. Ethnol. Soc., N.S._, 327.\n\n [171.2]\n i. Preller, 389; Ovid, _Fasti_, ii. 425.\n\n [171.3]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 435.\n\n [171.4]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 445; Grimm, _Teut. Myth._, 1794.\n\n [172.1]\n Grimm, _Teut. Myth._, 1795.\n\n [172.2]\n De Charencey, _Le Fils_, 26.\n\n [172.3]\n v. Radloff, 2. Among the Southern Slavs the bride is unveiled beneath\n an apple-tree and the veil is sometimes hung on the tree. Krauss,\n _Sitte und Brauch_, 450.\n\n [173.1]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 437, 439. For other amulets, see _ibid._, 441;\n Klunzinger, 399.\n\n [173.2]\n Codrington, 184.\n\n [173.3]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 439.\n\n [174.1]\n A. H. Kiehl, in vi. _Journ. Anthr. Inst._, 359.\n\n [174.2]\n Augustine, _Civ. Dei_, vi. 9; Ploss, i. _Weib_, 435, quoting Thomas\n Bartholinus.\n\n [174.3]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 436.\n\n [174.4]\n B\u00e9renger-F\u00e9raud, 201, quoting Y\u00e9m\u00e9nier.\n\n [175.1]\n _County F.L., Suffolk_, 124, quoting _Corolla Varia_ by Rev. W.\n Hawkins (1634), and deeds of the monastery relating to the property\n and the bull. The rite had evidently been mutilated.\n\n [176.1]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 444; B\u00e9renger-F\u00e9raud, 200. Other Breton cases are\n referred to by S\u00e9billot, i. _Trad. et Sup._, 51.\n\n [176.2]\n vi. _M\u00e9lusine_, 154, quoting the _Temps_; 258, quoting _Byegones_.\n\n [177.1]\n Zingerle, _Sitten_, 26. Ploss, i. _Weib_, 444, reproduces a photograph\n of one of these votive figures bought by the author in a\n wax-chandler\u2019s shop at Salzburg as recently as 1890.\n\n [177.2]\n Featherman, _Nigritians_, 139, quoting Hecquard.\n\n [178.1]\n Ploss, i. _Weib_, 442, quoting Riedel.\n\n [178.2]\n Winternitz, 23, 75; Schroeder, 123.\n\n [178.3]\n Casalis, 265; Tylor, _E. Hist._, 109; M. Delafosse, in iv.\n _L\u2019Anthropologie_, 444.\n\n [179.1]\n vi. _M\u00e9lusine_, 231, quoting Doolittle.\n\n [179.2]\n Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, x. 51. See also \u00c6lian, _Nat. Anim._, xvii. 15.\n As to the power of flowers to imprint themselves by their smell on the\n f\u0153tus, see Vasconcellos, 201.\n\n [179.3]\n v. _M\u00e9lusine_, 248.\n\n [180.1]\n Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, viii. 67; Aug. _Civ. Dei_, xxi. 5.\n\n [180.2]\n Marsden, 297.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII NOTES\n\n [184.1]\n ii. _Records of the Past_, 137; Maspero, 3.\n\n [186.1]\n Haltrich, 1 (Story No. 1). In a Wallachian variant the trees are\n apple-trees, the mother is only expelled, and the tremendous _Deus ex\n machin\u00e2_ of the Transylvanian story is not brought upon the scene.\n Schott, 121 (Story No. 8). This is a later stage in the history of the\n tale. See also another variant, Schott, 332.\n\n [187.1]\n Kremnitz, 30 (Story No. 3), from Slavici.\n\n [187.2]\n iv. Pitr\u00e8, 328 (variant of Story No. 36).\n\n [187.3]\n Day, 145 (Story No. 9).\n\n [188.1]\n Wolf, _Deutsche Hausm._, 390.\n\n [188.2]\n Maspero, xvi., quoting Rambaud, _La Russie \u00c9pique_.\n\n [189.1]\n Luzel, iii. _Contes Pop._, 262.\n\n [189.2]\n Wratislaw, 138 (Story No. 23), from Afanasief.\n\n [190.1]\n Legrand, 107, from Sakellarios.\n\n [190.2]\n i. Von Hahn, 268.\n\n [191.1]\n ii. _Pentamerone_, 231 (Story No. 59).\n\n [191.2]\n Frere, 79 (Story No. 6).\n\n [191.3]\n Stokes, 138 (Story No. 21).\n\n [192.1]\n Landes, _Tjames_, 79 (Story No. 10). It is abstracted in Miss Cox\u2019s\n _Cinderella_, 299.\n\n [193.1]\n A large number of these stories has been abstracted and commented on\n by M. Eug\u00e8ne Monseur, i. _Bulletin de F.L._, 89, to whose accurate\n and scholarly paper the reader is referred. See also Grimm, ii.\n _Tales_, 538; Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco, 9; Ellis, _Yoruba_, 134.\n\n [194.1]\n i. Child, 118.\n\n [195.1]\n Campbell, _Santal F.T._, 52, 106, 102. In a Basuto tale a mother,\n irritated by her daughter, commits a deadly assault upon her, and\n beats her body to dust. The wind of the desert carries the dust away\n to a lake, where a crocodile makes of it a woman to live with him in\n the lake. From time to time she comes up to the surface and calls to\n her sister, chanting the story of her wrongs. Casalis, 360.\n\n [196.1]\n Theal, 138.\n\n [196.2]\n Ralston, _Russian F.T._, 10, from Afanasief.\n\n [197.1]\n Rink, 450.\n\n [197.2]\n Landes, _Tjames_, 77.\n\n [197.3]\n ii. Giles, 207. See also _ibid._, 119, 267, 279.\n\n [198.1]\n i. Giles, 413.\n\n [198.2]\n Countess Martinengo-Cesaresco, 24.\n\n [198.3]\n Jacobs, _Celtic F.T._, 82, from xiii. _Celtic Mag._, 69. An Irish form\n of this story, manifestly later in its present form, derives the\n interlacing trees from stakes of yew passed through the bodies of the\n lovers when they were buried. Gaidoz, in iv. _M\u00e9lusine_, 12, citing\n _Transactions of the Gaelic Soc._, 1808.\n\n [199.1]\n W. Spottiswoode, in ii. _Trans. Ethnol. Soc., N.S._, 248. See for\n other examples iv. and v. _M\u00e9lusine, passim._\n\n [199.2]\n Zingerle, _Sagen_, 136.\n\n [200.1]\n i. _Bl\u00e4tt. f. Pomm. Volksk._, 17. Other instances are cited there.\n Among the peasantry of the Riviera, thorns or nettles growing on a\n grave are a sign of the damnation of the dead; if other plants grow,\n he is happy; if a mixture, he is in purgatory. J. B. Andrews, in ix.\n _Rev. Trad. Pop._, 117.\n\n [200.2]\n Featherman, _Tur._, 269; i. Macdonald, 229, citing Krapf.\n\n [200.3]\n Hunter, _Rural Bengal_, 210.\n\n [200.4]\n ix. _Rev. Trad. Pop._, 75, quoting Argensola, _Histoire de la\n Conqu\u00eate des Isles Moluques_ (Amsterdam, 1706).\n\n [201.1]\n Modigliani, 618.\n\n [201.2]\n Grimm, _Teut. Myth._, 1811.\n\n [201.3]\n viii. _Rev. Trad. Pop._, 279.\n\n [202.1]\n Dorman, 293, citing Smith\u2019s _Brazil_; Von den Steinen, 369.\n\n [202.2]\n Callaway, in iv. _Journ. Anthr. Soc._, cxxxviii.\n\n [203.1]\n Grant Allen, _Attis_, 33, and _passim._ See also Frazer, _Golden\n Bough, passim_; B\u00f6tticher, 254 _seqq._\n\n [204.1]\n Callaway, _Rel. Syst._, 140.\n\n [204.2]\n Le Page Renouf, in xvi. _Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch._, 100.\n\n [204.3]\n Ellis, _Yoruba_, 133, 134.\n\n [204.4]\n Grabowsky, in ii. _Internat. Archiv._, 181, 187.\n\n [205.1]\n Modigliani, 292, 277, 290, 293, 479. Is it too much to say that the\n Greek custom whereby the nearest relative received the dying breath in\n a kiss probably originated in a similar belief?\n\n [205.2]\n Guppy, 54.\n\n [205.3]\n Featherman, _Aoneo-Mar._, 236.\n\n [205.4]\n Bourke, in ix. _Rep. Bur. Ethn._, 470, quoting Schultze, in\n _Smithsonian Report_ for 1867.\n\n [205.5]\n Powers, 182; Knight, 109.\n\n [206.1]\n Zingerle, _Sagen_, 137. Other examples on the following pages. Breton\n examples may be found in Le Braz, 122, 132, 270, 272, 417.\n\n [208.1]\n Ovid, _Metam._, xiii. 697.\n\n [209.1]\n Southey, ii. _Commonplace Bk._, 435, quoting Ward, i. _Hindoos_, 54.\n\n [209.2]\n Gardner, in iv. _F.L. Journ._, 30.\n\n [213.1]\n _Mabinogion_, 471. Cf. Prof. Rhys\u2019 exposition of the story, _Hibbert\n Lectures_, 543.\n\n [215.1]\n D\u2019Arbois de Jubainville, _Cycle Myth._, 47, citing the _Leabhar na\n hUidhre_ and two other MSS.\n\n [217.1]\n _Ibid._, 312. Finn mac Cumhail too had previously lived as Mongan.\n _Ibid._, 337.\n\n [218.1]\n Powers, _Tribes of California_, iii. _Contrib. N. Amer. Ethn._, 299.\n\n [218.2]\n _The Wooing of Emer_, translated by Prof. Kuno Meyer, i. _Arch. Rev._,\n 70.\n\n [218.3]\n xxv. _Sacred Bks._, 329.\n\n [219.1]\n _Grihya-S\u00fbtra_ of Hiranyakesin, xxx. _Sacred Bks._, 211.\n _Grihya-S\u00fbtra_ of \u00c2sval\u00e2yana, xxix. _Sacred Bks._, 183. Chinese\n ritual, in its insistence on the necessity of personation of the dead\n at solemn sacrifices by his grandson, or some one else of the same\n surname, points to the same doctrine. See especially The _L\u00ee_-K_\u00ee_,\n xxvii. _Sacred Bks._, 337; xxviii. 243.\n\n [219.2]\n Featherman, _Nigritians_, 447; Tylor, ii. _Prim. Cul._, 4; _Winwood\n Reade_, 539; Ploss, i. _Kind_, 259, citing Bastian. Ellis, _Yoruba_,\n 128, says the inquiry is made of a priest of Ifa, the god of\n divination. It is believed by one of the Ewe tribes, neighbours of the\n Yoruba, that the lower jaw is the only part of the body which a child\n derives from its mother, all the rest being from the ancestral _luwoo_\n or _kra_. The father furnishes nothing. _Ibid._ 131 note.\n\n [219.3]\n Burton, ii. _Wanderings_, 174.\n\n [220.1]\n Ellis, _Tshi-speaking Peoples_, 149; _Ewe-speaking Peoples_, 114;\n Burton, ii. _Gelele_, 158; ii. _Wanderings_, 173.\n\n [220.2]\n Macpherson, _Memorials_, 72, 92, 134. But see as to the Kols, who\n perform a similar ceremony without the same ancestral reference,\n Dalton, 295.\n\n [221.1]\n Tylor, 184.\n\n [221.2]\n _Ibid._, 36.\n\n [221.3]\n Turner, _Samoa_, 16, 77, 78; _Polynesia_, 174, 178, 238.\n\n [222.1]\n xviii. _Journ. Anthr. Inst._, 311.\n\n [222.2]\n Tylor, ii. _Prim. Cul._, 4.\n\n [222.3]\n Featherman, _Aoneo-Mar._, 31, 392; iii. Bancroft, 517. See also Tylor,\n ii. _Prim. Cul._, 3; Niblack, in _Rep. Nat. Mus._ (1888), 369.\n\n [222.4]\n Liebrecht, 311.\n\n [223.1]\n iii. Bancroft, 517. Did Bancroft read his authority aright? Tylor,\n citing Waitz, states that it was the child who bore not only the name\n but the rank of the deceased. I have preferred to cite Bancroft both\n because the statement is second-hand, instead of third-hand (I have no\n access to the original), and because it tells somewhat less strongly\n in favour of the argument.\n\n [223.2]\n Bourke, in ix. _Rep. Bur. Ethn._, 470, quoting Schultze, _Fetichism_\n (New York, 1885).\n\n [223.3]\n iii. _Trans. Ethnol. Soc., N.S._, 188, 375; Von den Steinen, 334, 434.\n\n [223.4]\n Featherman, _Dravidians_, 491.\n\n [223.5]\n Placucci, 78, 23. The reason, however, may be derived from the belief\n that to bestow the name is to bestow a part of the life of the\n original owner of the name, who would thus lose it. The same ambiguity\n attaches to a superstition in the province of Posen (Polish Prussia),\n where, if a child die and the next year another child be born, it must\n not receive the name of the dead child lest it also die. iii. _Zeits.\n f. Volksk._, 233. This would seem to amount to complete identity, or\n else to some evil influence in the name, or perhaps to a mistake as to\n the identity on the part of some malicious spirit who had a spite\n against the dead child. At Chemnitz, if the first children take their\n parents\u2019 names they die before the parents. Grimm, _Teut. Myth._,\n 1778. These cases want further inquiry. As to the renewal of family\n names by giving them to children, see Tylor, ii. _Prim. Cul._, 4;\n Kaindl, 6; Finamore, _Trad. Pop. Abr._, 74.\n\n [224.1]\n Pigorini-Beri, 83.\n\n [224.2]\n E. H. Man, in xii. _Journ. Anthr. Inst._, 155.\n\n [224.3]\n Burton, _Wit and Wisdom_, 376.\n\n [224.4]\n _Relations des J\u00e9suites_ (1636), translated by Miss Nora Thomas, v.\n _Rep. Bur. Ethn._, 114, 111.\n\n [225.1]\n Tylor, ii. _Prim. Cul._, 3; i. Crantz, 161, 200; Rink, 44, 54, 64,\n 434; vi. _Rep. Bur. Ethn._, 612. _Ante,_ pp. 75, 196.\n\n\n\n\n ERRATA\n\n[_Copied from volume III in the series_]\n\np. 57, note 1, for 217 read 178\n\np. 61, last line but one, for _fisherman_ read _merchant_\n\n\n\n\n TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\nThe title page is used as a cover.\n\nPage numbers are given in {curly} brackets. Endnotes markers are\ngiven in [square] brackets in the plain text version.\n\nMinor spelling inconsistencies (_e.g._ newborn/new-born,\nPanj\u00e2b/Panj\u00e1b/Panjab, pomegranate-flower/pomegranate flower, etc.)\nhave been preserved.\n\nAlterations to the text:\n\nConvert footnotes to endnotes. Relabel note markers: append the\noriginal note number to the page number.\n\nCreate errata page and copy corrigenda from volume III. Apply errata.\n\nAdd errata and endnotes entries to TOC.\n\n[List of Works]\n\nMove the LOW to the end of the main text and adjust the TOC\naccordingly.\n\nA few trivial punctuation and italics corrections.\n\nChange \u201cAm Urquell. Am Urquell. _Monatschrift_ f\u00fcr _Volkkunde_\u201d to\n_Monatsschrift_ and _Volkskunde_, respectively.\n\n\u201cBl\u00e4tt. f. Pomm. \u2026 _Monatschrift_ f\u00fcr Sage\u201d to _Monatsschrift_.\n\n\u201cSaxo Grammaticus translated by Oliver Elton, B.A. _Londo_ 1894\u201d to\n_London_ followed by a comma.\n\n[Chapter IV]\n\n\u201ca duke dressed, like _Mackineely_ in the Irish tale\u201d to _MacKineely_.\n\n[Chapter V]\n\n\u201cThis is a _quesion_ of apologetics, not of folklore\u201d to _question_.\n\n[Chapter VI]\n\n\u201cor if taken by a man, they will _enchance_ his potency\u201d to _enhance_.\n\n[Chapter VII]\n\n\u201cAccordingly certain kinds, of fish are not eaten\u201d delete comma.\n\n\u201cwas called Tuan, son of Carell He lived not only\u201d add period after\n_Carell_.\n\n\u201cbearing on the legend of Perseus, _But_ some account\u201d to _but_.\n\n[Endnotes]\n\n(p. 187, note 2) \u201civ. _Pitr\u00e9_, 328 (variant of Story No. 36)\u201d to\n_Pitr\u00e8_.\n\n [End of text]","title":"The legend of Perseus, Volume 1 (of 3) : $b The supernatural birth","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":78394}