II - The Complex Tale

2. Supernatural Adversaries

A. Orgres and Witches

In the folktale generally known under the title of Bluebeard the evil creature who steals the maidens is usually conceived of as having human form and sometimes has no supernatural characteristics. To the literary world the story has become known through Perrault's famous collection of 1697, and wherever that version has exerted great influence it has determined the form of the story. The principal characteristic of the Perrault version is the fact that the sisters are rescued by a brother. In most countries independent of this tradition the rescue is done by the youngest sister. [p. 36]

In both these tales two sisters, one after the other, fall into the power of an ogre or frightful man, who carries them off to his castle (sometimes situated in the lower world). He gives them the run of the castle but forbids them to enter a particular room. When they disobey an egg or a key becomes bloody and betrays them. The ogre kills them and puts their bodies aside. When the youngest sister is stolen she discovers the bodies of the first two and succeeds in bringing them back to life and hiding them. The girls are put into sacks and the husband is persuaded to carry the sacks home without looking into them. The youngest sister escapes by leaving behind a skull dressed up as a bride and by disguising herself as a bird. The story ends with the punishment of the murderous husband.

The tale in approximately this form (Type 311) is known over most of Europe from Germany eastward. Its area of greatest popularity is found in the Baltic states and in Norway. In the north, it seems to go no further east than the Urals, but it is found in Palestine and has several versions in India. It has also been carried to the Eskimos and to Puerto Rico. The story has never been thoroughly studied, but a cursory examination of the variants suggests Norway as at least an important center of dissemination of this tale, if not its original home.

As indicated above, the rescue of the sisters may be accomplished by their brother (or brothers) (Type 312). Perrault has the husband give the wife a respite from death so she can say her prayers. In this way she delays matters until her brothers arrive and can rescue her. The influence of this Perrault version has been strong in France, Belgium, and Germany. But the tale does not always appear exactly as Perrault tells it. Outside the orbit of his tradition we find the rescue accomplished by the brother with the help of his marvelous dogs or other wild animals. This latter form is found especially in Norway. But the Bluebeard tale with the brother as rescuer has had no wide distribution and does not seem ever to have attained great popularity.

In an important series of tales about witches or ogres the principal part is played by children. Best known of these stories is Hansel and Gretel (Type 327A), one of the most frequently reprinted of the Grimm tales. To the musical public it is everywhere known through the remarkable operatic interpretation of Humperdinck. The two children sent by their poverty-stricken parents into the woods, the trail of grain eaten by the birds, the gingerbread house, the appearance of the terrible witch, the fattening of the boy in the pen, and the burning of the witch in her own oven are constantly recurring motifs in this tale. It is known over all of Europe and is especially popular in the Baltic countries. It is found in Asia as far east as India, where it has been reported several times. Travelers have carried it to the remotest parts of the earth, to all parts of Africa, to Japan, to the Negroes of the West Indies, and to American Indian tribes all over the continent.

In examining the versions in distant parts of the world one is frequently [p. 37] puzzled to know whether we are dealing with a borrowing or with an independent invention. The elements of the tale are so simple that their frequent combination does not offer great theoretical difficulties. Of all the African, Oceanic, Japanese, and American Indian tales of ogres who fatten children and who are themselves killed instead it is not quite certain which are derived from the European tale. Within the continent of Europe, however, the story has such uniformity and such continuous distribution that its history as a type should not be difficult to trace. [19]

So similar in its outlines to Hansel and Gretel that in many countries it is quite impossible to disentangle the two tales is the story popularized by Perrault under the title Le Petit Poucet (Type 327B). [20] In this tale the tiny hero (no bigger than a thumb) accompanied by his brothers comes to the house of the ogre (or giant). Realizing that the ogre intends to kill them in their beds as they sleep, the hero exchanges the nightcaps of his brothers and himself with the ogre's children so that their father cuts off their heads and lets the hero and his brothers escape.

The trick of the exchange of caps is by no means confined to tales with the Thumbling hero but may appear in any context where there are several children in the power of an ogre. The tale in very much the form Perrault tells it occurs in nearly all parts of Europe, though it is not generally so popular as Hansel and Gretel. It has been carried to the North American Indians of British Columbia, presumably by French Canadians, but apparently it has not been reported in other continents.

Especially popular in Norway and the Baltic states is the related tale (Type 327C) in which the ogre or witch carries the hero home in a sack. He usually escapes from her by substituting some animal or object in the sack. Eventually, however, he is confined and fattened for slaughter like Hansel and escapes by the same trick, burning the ogre in his own oven. This tale is so close to that of Hansel and Gretel that the two are seldom clearly differentiated. Indeed, the whole cycle of stories concerning the children and the ogre seems to form a definite tale type (327) which may appear with a considerable variety of incidents, the most usual of which are those which we have here recognized as 327A, 327B, and 327C. The whole complex seems to be European, though it is possible to find somewhat similar tales of children and ogres in other continents. There are, for example, tales among the Africans, the American Negroes, and the American Indians in which a person being carried in a sack by an ogre escapes by substituting an object [p. 38] or animal. [21] Actual borrowing of this incident from the European tale is highly problematical. The incident is so simple that it may well have been independently invented by the American Indians and by African tribes from whom it was brought to America in the days of slavery.

In the stories of children and ogres just mentioned the hero and his companion fall into the power of the ogre by an unlucky chance. But sometimes the adventure with the ogre is deliberately sought, since the hero wishes to steal his magic objects. Such is true in the tale known to English readers as Jack the Giant Killer (Type 328). The reason for the theft from the giant is the principal point in which the tale varies from version to version. One introduction especially characteristic of British tradition is Jack and the Beanstalk. [22] As a result of a foolish bargain Jack acquires some beans which his mother throws away. Overnight a beanstalk grows to the sky and the next day Jack climbs up on this stalk and finds himself in the upper world. In his wanderings above he finds an old woman who tells him about a giant and his magic possessions. Jack goes to the giant's house and is hidden in the oven by the giant's wife. He sees the giant get treasure from his hen who lays golden eggs. While the giant is asleep Jack steals the hen, descends the bean stalk, and brings riches to himself and his mother. In like manner he steals from the giant purses filled with gold and silver, and escapes, in spite of the barking of the giant's magic dog. Finally he steals the giant's magic harp and escapes down the beanstalk. The giant tries to follow, Jack cuts down the beanstalk, and he falls to his death.

This particular form is one of the most popular of English folktales. It differs in many respects from the story as told in other countries. The undertaking to steal from the giant is sometimes for the purpose of revenge for former ill treatment, sometimes to help a friendly king, and sometimes it is a task assigned by the king at the suggestion of jealous rivals. The tricks the hero uses to defeat the giant are many. Sometimes he makes him think that a great army is approaching and locks him up to protect him. Sometimes he oversalts the giant's food and steals the objects when he goes out for water, and sometimes he distracts the giant's attention by fishing through the chimney. The objects stolen also vary: a magic light, a marvelous horse, a self-playing violin or harp occur most frequently. To aid in his escape the hero tricks the giant into giving him certain magic objects such as a cap of knowledge, an invincible sword, a cloak of invisibility, or the giant's seven-league boots. The giant is sometimes enticed into a cage and taken to court, though usually he is tricked into killing himself. The experiences at the giant's house are frequently like those of Hansel with the witch. The fattening of the hero and the burning of the giant in his own oven may occur [p. 39] in either story, and likewise in either story there may appear the incident of the magic flight. Either the hero (and his companions) are transformed into objects or other persons so as to deceive the pursuer (Transformation Flight, D671), or else the fugitives throw behind them magic objects which become obstacles in the giant's path (Obstacle Flight, D672).

This story of the theft from the giant seems from the versions thus far reported to be primarily a north-central European tale. It is very popular in Finland and Norway and has been collected as far south as Spain and Roumania, but it apparently does not exist in Russia or anywhere east of it. The French tell it in eastern Canada and have taught it to American Indian tribes from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. [23]

In two closely related tales the "ogre" is a fierce animal, usually a wolf. To English readers, these stories are known as Little Red Ridinghood (Type 333) and The Three Little Pigs (Type 123). The essential difference is that in the former the wolf deceives a child and in the latter, small animals. In many versions of both tales the conclusions are identical. Little Red Ridinghood (Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, Rotkäppchen) has become one of the best known "fairy tales" for those who depend upon the printed page for the stories they tell their children. The version usually read in books is that of Perrault (1697) or, less frequently, that of Grimm. The little girl, going through the woods to see her grandmother, is accosted by the wolf who reaches the grandmother's house ahead of her. The wolf kills the grandmother and takes her place in bed. When the little girl arrives, she is astonished at the "grandmother's" large ears, large eyes, etc. ("Grandmother, what makes your ears so large?—To hear the better, my child," etc.) until finally she inquiries about the long teeth. From this point on, there are two different endings to the story. In one of them the little girl is rescued at the last moment by someone who chances to come to the house. But this ending seems to be designed for the nursery on the theory that children would be shocked unless the little girl were rescued. The other ending permits the wolf to devour not only the grandmother, but also the little girl. When the rescuers arrive, the wolf is cut open and his victims rescued alive.

This tale of Little Red Ridinghood has never had wide circulation where folktales are learned by word of mouth. Even in France and Germany, where the largest number is reported, practically all are based upon Perrault or Grimm. It does not extend east beyond the Russian border. The frequent African versions belong partly to this type and partly to the Three Little Pigs: The child is human, but the rest of the story is essentially an animal tale.

The Three Little Pigs (Type 123) tells of the adventures of the young animals—seven goats, three pigs, or the like—who are left at home by their mother in their house and are warned not to open the door to the wolf. [p. 40] Several times they succeed in keeping the wolf off but he finally makes them believe that he is their mother. In order to do this, he paints himself or puts flour on his paws, or else he has his voice changed by an operation such as swallowing hot iron or having it filed down by a goldsmith or silversmith. At any rate, the wolf succeeds in entering and devouring the young animals. When the mother returns, the wolf is cut open and the animals rescued.

This story has had a long history. In a simple form it appears in some of the early collections of Aesop's Fables, and was frequently retold from that source throughout the Middle Ages. No comparative study of the tale has been made, so that the geographical limitations of the various incidents have not been determined. The story as a whole, however, is popular over all of Europe and well out into Siberia. It has not been reported farther east. One puzzling feature in the dissemination of this tale is its frequent and wide spread African occurrence, in contrast to its failure to get into Asia and its infrequency in America. The African and Russian versions apparently come from the same tradition, since they all have the operations on the voice of the wolf. It is impossible without a serious investigation to say more with certainty about the development and history of the Three Little Pigs.

Within the last few years it has become known to millions through the delightful cinema treatment by Walt Disney and by the catchy song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?"

[19] The type has not been studied with any thoroughness. Its origin in India would seem highly problematical, though that is the assumption of Cosquin's article, "Le conte de la chaudiére bouillante et le feinte maladresse dans l'lnde et hors de l'lnde," Revue des traditions populaires, XXV, i, 65, 126.

[20] In English it is sometimes known as Tom Thumb, though that title is also applied to the talc relating the many adventures of the tiny hero which constitute Type 700. For this reason it is less confusing to use the recognized French title for the story here under consideration.

[21] See (motif K526, with bibliography there given. (Citations of motifs like the present refer to Thompson, Motif-Index.)

[22] See Bolte-Polívka, II, 511.

[23] Those versions of this tale in which the tasks are assigned through the machinations of a jealous rival merge imperceptibly into the tale of The Master Thief (Type 1525).

123, 311, 312, 327, 327A, 327B, 327C, 328, 333, 700, 1525

K526

Part Two

The Folktale from Ireland to India

II – The Complex Tale

3. Supernatural helpers

F. Helpful Horses

Of all helpful animals, none has been so popular with taletellers as the horse. In not fewer than five well-known folk stories he plays a role almost as important as the hero himself.

The most popular of these stories is undoubtedly that known by the Germans as the Goldener Märchen, from the hair of real gold which the hero acquires in the course of his adventures (Type 314). The tale usually begins with telling how the young man came into the service of the devil. Sometimes, in return for the devil's services as godfather, his parents have agreed that the child shall come into his possession on his twenty-first birth day. [49] For whatever reason the bargain has been made (and sometimes even by pure accident), the boy arrives at the devil's house and becomes a servant. The devil gives him the run of the house, but forbids him to enter a certain chamber. As in the Bluebeard story, he breaks the prohibition and sees horrible sights. As a mark of disobedience his hair turns to gold. He placates the devil temporarily and remains in service. He is commanded to take good care of certain horses, but to beat and starve a particular horse which he finds in the stable. The abused horse, who is an enchanted prince, speaks to the youth and warns him to flee.

The boy mounts the magic horse but is followed closely by the devil, who almost overtakes him. At the horse's advice, the boy has provided himself with three magic objects, a stone, a comb, and a flint. When he throws the stone behind him, a mountain rises in the devil's path and delays him. Later the comb produces a forest and the flint a great fire. At last the youth escapes.

He arrives in the neighborhood of the king's court, hides his magic horse, and covers his golden hair with a cloth, pretending to have the scald head. [p. 60]

He is employed as gardener to the king and as such is seen one day by the princess as he combs His" golden hair. She falls in love with him and insists upon marrying him. The king consents, but puts them into the pigsty to live.

Much despised by his haughty brothers-in-law, he goes to his magic horse for help. Whatever the task may be that the hero needs to carry out, the horse brings it about, so that his young master is honored and the brothers-in-law put to shame. In some versions the hero slays a dragon or brings a magic remedy for the king. [50] The usual adventure, however, is participating in a tournament. When the hero leaves for the tournament his horse has the appearance of a broken-down nag, so that when, three days in succession, he and his wonderful steed are the victors, no one recognizes him. By means of various tokens—centers from the captured flags, the point of a sword which his brother-in-law has broken off in his leg, and the hoof marks which the vanquished brothers-in-law have permitted him to place on them—he proves his identity and is accepted by the king as his favorite son-in-law.

This complicated story appears without much variation over a large area and in many versions. It is particularly popular in Germany, Scandinavia, and the Baltic countries. But it is also well represented in Ireland and France, and has been carried by the French to America, where it is told by American Indians in at least fifteen versions, as well as by the Missouri French. Eastward it is popular in Bohemia, Poland, and all parts of Russia, and is told throughout the Caucasus, south Siberia, and the Near East. In south Asia three versions have been reported from India and three from Indonesia. It is also known in diverse parts of Africa.

The tale contains within it one incident which is literally world wide, The Obstacle Flight (Motif D672). [51] Though this incident is a standard part of our tale, it can be used wherever a pursuer needs to be delayed. [52] That tales with this general motive of pursuit are found everywhere is no cause for wonder, but when one finds the obstacle flight with its characteristic form of three or four magic objects which produce mountains, forests, fire, and water in South Africa and in North and South America, not only sporadically but in scores of versions, he is faced with one of the most difficult problems of folklore.

One whole group of tales about the golden-haired hero and his horse (Type 502) is represented by Grimm's tale of The Iron Man (No. 136). A magic man of iron is found in a lake and is confined by the king in a cage. The king's son is playing and lets his ball roll into the cage of the wild man. In exchange for the ball, the boy releases the man from the cage. The wild man thereupon puts the boy on his shoulders and carries him off. He treats [p. 61] the boy well and promises that if he obeys him he will always be the boy's helper. He leaves the boy, but forbids him to put his finger in a certain pool. The boy disobeys, and his finger turns to gold. The third time he disobeys, his hair is turned to gold. The youth binds his hair and the story proceeds as in the Goldener Märchen. There has been no horse in the story up to this point. But when the boy must go to the tournament (or perform his other tasks), the wild man appears and furnishes him with a magic horse. The ending of the two stories is identical.

While this story of the wild man is by no means so popular as the other, it is spread over almost exactly the same territory in Europe, but it hardly goes outside that continent. It has been carried to Siam, to Missouri, and to Brazil. Both of these two tales which we have just treated appeared in literary form as early as the sixteenth century in the work of Straparola. No attempt, however, has been made to investigate the influence of this literary form on the very strong and far-flung oral tradition.

Confined, so far as now appears, to a very limited section of eastern Europe is the story of the hero called "I Don't Know." It is hard to tell whether this should be considered as a distinct tale type (Type 532), or merely as a variety of the Goldener story. The hero is driven from home by a cruel step mother (or, in some versions, he is simply the laziest of three brothers), and, in the course of his adventures, gains possession of a magic horse, who advises him to answer all questions with "I don't know." His peculiar behavior attracts the attention of the princess, who marries him. From this point on the story is the same as in the Goldener tale. Sometimes the hero must make a rescue from a sea monster, but more often he has to help in a war brought on by jealous suitors incensed because the princess has chosen him. In any case, the horse helps him to success.

This seems to be essentially a Russian development which has achieved some popularity in Finland and Hungary. It is known in the Baltic countries, but not popular, and is not found further west.

The tales of helpful horses have a tendency to merge into one another in many of their details, sometimes in the way in which the magic horse is acquired, sometimes in the remarkable deeds accomplished. Nevertheless, the separate tales are unmistakable entities. This confusion of parts is seen with especial clearness in the tale of the Princess on the Glass Mountain (Type 530) . In its best known form the tale is about a poor peasant who has three sons of whom the youngest is considered a good for nothing. Every morning the peasant finds that his meadow has been grazed bare by horses. He sends his sons out to keep watch. The two elder go to sleep, and the grass continues to be eaten down. The youngest remains awake and succeeds in catching the horse. He hides the horse, cares for it, and rides it.

The king offers his daughter in marriage to the man who can ride up to her on top of a glass mountain. Although all suitors have failed to do so, the [p. 62] hero succeeds and receives from the princess at the summit a token which he later presents and by means of which he receives her in marriage. [53]

This story is clearly divided into the two parts mentioned above, the acquisition of the horse and the marvelous deed. Sometimes instead of the watching for the devastating animal, the hero may take care of his flocks at night so as to keep them from wandering over into the possessions of an ogre or troll. The animals do so in spite of his watching, and he overcomes the troll when he goes after the animals. He finds the magic horses among the troll's possessions. This introduction would seem to have been borrowed from the tale of The Dragon Fighter (Type 300). In a third type of introduction the sons must keep watch over the body of their dead father.

The second part of the tale also displays considerable variety. Instead of to the glass mountain the riding may be to the top of a tall building, three-storied or four-storied. Sometimes the magic horse must jump over a wide excavation or ditch; sometimes, as in the last two stories we have noticed, he helps his master to victory in a tournament; and sometimes he wins a race, it may be with the princess herself.

The tale is well distributed over Europe, particularly northern and eastern, and it is found in the Caucasus and the Near East. One version is reported from Burma. The last word on this tale has certainly not been written. Dr. Boberg's study is far from adequate, since it is based upon less than half of the available material. Her analysis of the story into "oikotypes," each characteristic of a certain linguistic: area, is unconvincing, as Professor Krohn clearly shows. On the other hand, Krohn's conclusion that the tale originated in India and reached Europe at a relatively late period by way of Asia Minor is at least problematical, in view of the fact that only one version has been reported from India.

In the Grimms' tale of Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful (Type 531) the magic horse is assisted by other helpers, animals and giants. In most tales of this type the hero receives a magic key, sometimes from a beggar at his christening. With this key he obtains a marvelous horse which speaks and gives advice. The hero also finds a pen, and from a thankful fish he obtains a fin. Thus equipped, he takes service, along with a companion, at the king's court. At the suggestion of the treacherous companion, he is assigned various dangerous tasks. Among other things the hero is to fetch a beautiful princess for the king. On advice of his horse, he demands as a condition from the king a supply of meat and bread. With this food he obtains help from certain giants and birds, and secures the princess and, later, certain writings of hers. The fish returns his pen which has fallen into the water. On the return to the court, the princess beheads him and then [p. 63] replaces his head to make him handsomer. The king has the same thing done to himself with fatal results. As for the magic horse, he changes himself at last into his proper form as a prince.

As a general thing the quest for the princess in this tale is caused by the sight of a beautiful hair which has been found floating down a stream and which is shown to the king, who will not rest until the faraway princess to whom the hair belongs has been found. This motif, combined with the tasks assigned at the suggestion of a treacherous rival, is very old. It is found in the Egyptian story of The Two Brothers in the thirteenth century B.C. [54] It also occurs frequently in literary tales since that time, for instance in the story of Tristram and Isolt. Nevertheless, the combination into, the tale as we have it does not seem to go back to antiquity, though it must have been developed by the twelfth century after Christ and in several parts of Europe. In its oral form it is distributed with remarkable uniformity over the whole of Europe. It is found in an unbroken line through the Caucasus, the Near East, India, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Five versions have been reported from the Arabic population of Egypt, and three from Central Africa. The French have carried it to Missouri and to the Menomini Indians of Wisconsin; the Spanish to the San Carlos Apache of New Mexico. The story has never been thoroughly investigated, but a superficial view of its distribution suggests that it may have come to Europe from the East, probably from India. The tradition is not always coherent and the tellers of the tale apparently do not always understand the significance of what they are telling. The place of the pen in the story is an example of such confusion, for it is seldom clear why the hero should have a pen and what good it is to serve in the tale.

In one story at least, the horse renders his most efficient service after his death. This tale is best known from the German version of Grimm, The Goose Girl (Type 533). A princess is accompanied on her way to marry a prince by a servant girl. Before setting out, the princess has received from her mother some costly gifts, including the wonderful speaking horse Falada and certain magic objects. On her way the princess becomes thirsty and asks for a drink, but the servant girl makes her get down and drink from the brook. The horse speaks and says, "If your mother knew about this, her heart would break." And the magic objects also speak. Three times the princess stops for water, and finally the servant girl compels her to exchange clothes with her and to swear to keep the matter secret. The servant girl mounts the princess's horse and, when she reaches the palace, claims to be the princess. The heroine herself is made to watch the geese. Meantime, the false princess, fearing that the speaking horse may betray her, has it killed and has its head set up over the castle gate. The little goose girl has miraculous power over animals and over the weather and wind. One day she is combing [p. 64] her hair and the servant boy who is with her sees that it is of gold. He tries to take some of the golden strands from her, but she asks the wind to carry off the boy's hat, so that he runs away after it. In the evening as she drives her geese home, she sees the head of her slaughtered horse. She weeps, and the horse answers, "If your mother knew about this, her heart would break." When all of this happens a second day, the boy goes to the king and tells him what he has seen and heard. The next day the king follows the boy, overhears everything, and learns the true state of affairs. The treacherous servant girl is executed and the princess marries the prince.

In some versions the princess is blinded, and it is later necessary to buy back her eyes from the person who has blinded her. In addition to the speaking horse-head, other means are sometimes employed for bringing the truth to light. Her magic objects may speak, or she may sing a song into a stove which she must take care of.

This tale has not been found in any great multitude of versions. Liungman's study [55] is based upon fourteen variants, all of them European, extending from France to Russia, except a single one among the Kabyle of North Africa. Besides this list, he cites several central African tales with a similar plot but lacking some of the principal characteristics. It is problematical whether all tales in which a servant girl replaces a princess on the way to marry a prince should be thought of as having any organic connection with this story of The Goose Girl.

Liungman's conclusion as to its origin and dissemination is that it seems to have developed somewhere on the upper Danube, but that the German versions have been of greatest influence in its subsequent distribution. This tale has so much in common with several other stories of false brides that it has frequently become confused with them, particularly with The Black and The White Bride (Type 403).

The tales of helpful animals which we have just reviewed are those best known in Europe and western Asia, but there are, of course, many other stories in which animals aid their human masters and mistresses. Some of these are legends, such as that of Llewellyn and His Dog, and some of them are more elaborate folktales much like the European stories we have been studying, but current entirely among some primitive group such as the American Indians. [56] Although scholars of two generations ago tended to find connection between the stories of helpful beasts and the Hindu attitude toward animals, [57] stories with this motif have been found in so many parts of the world as to show that it is a natural development in story-telling which may take place anywhere. [p. 65]

[49] For similar bargains with the devil, see Types 400, 502, 756B, 810.

[50] The dragon slaying belongs properly to Type 300. For the magic remedy, see Type 551.

[51] This motif (or really cluster of motifs) was the last subject to which the distinguished folklorist, Antti Aarne, gave his attention. See his Magische Flucht.

[52] It is almost a regular part of the Hansel and Gretel story (Type 327) and of Type 313, in which the youth's supernatural wife helps him escape.

[53] See Inger Margrethe Boberg, "Prinsessen på Glasbjaerget," Danske Studier, 1928, pp. 16-53. Discussed by Krohn, Übersicht, pp. 96-99. For a later study by Dr. Boberg see Handwörterbuch des deutschen Märchens, II, 627. For a very ancient analogue of the idea of reaching the princess on a height, see p. 274, below.

[54] See p. 275, below.

[55] Två Folkminnesundersokningar.

[56] For Llewellyn and His Dog, see Motif B331.2.

[57] See A. Marx, Griechische Märchen von dankbaren Tieren (Stuttgart, 1889).

300, 313, 314, 327, 400, 403, 502, 530, 531, 532, 533, 551, 756B, 810

B331.2, D672

Part Two

The Folktale from Ireland to India

II – The Complex Tale

4. Magic and marvels

G. Extraordinary Smallness

Though gigantic persons are very frequent in local tradition, they have played little part in the regular folktale. It is quite different with the tiny hero. In ancient literature we frequently hear of impossibly small men [87] and [p. 87] this theme has retained its popularity, not only in the literary account of the travels of Lemuel Gulliver, but also in the widely told popular story of Tom Thumb (Type 700).

This tale of a boy the size of a thumb and his adventures goes back at least to the period of the Renaissance. It seems to have given the name, Le Petit Poucet, to Perrault's hero of the story usually known as Hansel and Gretel (Type 327), and it undoubtedly suggested Fielding's satirical play of Tom Thumb the Great. As a nursery tale it is very popular and has doubtless been propagated very largely through children's books. A glance at its distribution indicates that it is a European story, well established over the whole continent, which has been carried to the nearer parts of Asia, to scattered points in Africa and the Cape Verde Islands, and thence to Jamaica, the Bahamas, the American Negroes of the southern states, and to one tribe of Indians in the Plains.

There is no great variety in the telling. A childless couple wish for a child, however small he may be, and as a result they have a boy who is only as large as a thumb. He drives a wagon by sitting in a horse's ear; lets himself be sold and then runs away; is carried up the chimney by the steam of food; helps thieves in their robbery but betrays them by his cries; is swallowed by a cow and mystifies everyone by crying out from within, so that the cow is slaughtered and he is rescued. Finally he is eaten by a fox or a wolf, whom he persuades to go to his father's chicken-house or pantry for food: when he arrives, he calls for help and is rescued. A few variations, but not very many, are to be found in the details of the thumbling's marvelous adventures. It would seem to be a story whose history would repay a thorough investigation such as it has never received.

[87] For a discussion of such ancient stories, see Bolte-Polívka, I, 395.

327, 700

Part Two

The Folktale from Ireland to India

II – The Complex Tale

8. Good and bad relatives

B. Substituted Bride

Though the story of the substituted bride [149] sometimes concerns the treachery of a servant girl [150] or some other rival of the heroine, its most characteristic form is that in which a sister or stepsister, usually aided by her mother, takes a wife's place without the knowledge of the husband and banishes the wife. This substitution by the sister occurs in two of the most widely known of folktales, The Black and the White Bride (Type 403) and Little Brother and Little Sister (Type 450). Because of their similarity the tales have influenced each other so that although the plot is clear enough for the most characteristic forms of each, many versions lie on the border line between the two.

A very common opening for The Black and the White Bride is the Kind and Unkind motif (Q2). The stepdaughter, hated by her stepmother, is sent to perform an impossible task, usually the gathering of strawberries in the middle of winter. She is kind to the dwarfs [151] she meets and in gratitude they bestow on her the gift of great beauty and the power of dropping gold or jewels from her mouth. The woman's own daughter is unkind under these conditions and is cursed with hideousness and made to drop toads from her mouth. In some versions the help does not come from dwarfs but from a witch, or even from the Lord. The heroine is seen in all her beauty by a king (prince), who marries her. After the marriage the stepmother plots against her and, on the birth of her child, throws her and the child into the water. The woman's own ugly daughter is substituted for the bride without detection. The heroine is transformed to a goose (or other animal). The child is cared for by animals or sometimes is kept in the court. [152] The mother, in her form as fowl or animal, comes to the king's court three times, frequently in order to suckle her child. On the third appearance the king awakes [153] and succeeds in disenchanting her by cutting her finger and drawing [p. 118] blood, or by holding her while she changes form. At the end always occurs the reinstatement of the true bride and the punishment of the villains.

In a considerable number of the variants, a brother takes a prominent part in the story. He is in the service of the king, who sees a picture of his beautiful sister. Sometimes the girl is summoned to the court and a substitution takes place on the way, where the girl is thrown overboard from a ship. The tale with this introduction (Type 403A) would seem to be influenced by the story of Little Brother and Little Sister, and the episode of the picture is at least similar to the introduction to Faithful John (Type 516). In a form of the tale very popular in Estonia (Type 403C), but apparently not known elsewhere, the husband recognizes the deception and throws the false bride under a bridge. From the girl's navel grows a reed in which her mother recognizes her own daughter.

Much more frequently the tale appears without the brother, with the quest for strawberries, the helpful dwarfs, the substituted bride, and the eventual recovery and reinstatement (Type 403B, or simply Type 403) . It is this form that is known over a large part of the world. Not only are several hundred versions found in all parts of Europe, but it has gone to almost every part of central and southern Africa, and to widely scattered tribes of North American Indians. It is told in India and the Philippines and has been carried by the French to Canada, by the Spanish to Mexico, by Cape Verde Islanders to Massachusetts, and by Negroes to Jamaica. Among both the Africans and the American Indians there exist tales with somewhat similar plots, so that some confusion has arisen by those who have discussed these borrowed stories. [154] In spite of many points in common, the most reasonable explanation of these primitive tales is an independent development from particular centers on the two continents.

In some ways the story of Little Brother and Little Sister (Type 450) may be thought of as a mere variant of the tale just discussed. The brother and sister are turned out into the woods by their stepmother, who is a witch. The experience of the children in the woods is vaguely reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel (Type 327). The boy is overcome with thirst and, in spite of the warning of his sister, drinks from a small pool of water. This pool has been enchanted by the stepmother, so that the boy is turned into a roe. The sister remains with the enchanted boy in the forest. She is eventually seen by a king, who marries her. [155] The tale now proceeds with the substitution of the stepsister in the young wife's place, the disenchantment of the wife, punishment of the impostor, and eventual disenchantment of the brother.

The relation of this story to The Black and the White Bride is obvious, [p. 119] especially to Type 403A, but the tradition seems to be very well recognized in just this form, so that the tale must be considered as more than a mere variant of that story. It was told in Italy as early as the seventeenth century, since it appears in Basile's Pentamerone (1634-36). It is well represented today in Italy, the Balkans, Russia, the Baltic countries, and Germany. It also appears in the Near East, and as far away as India. Several versions have been reported from North Africa and three from central Africa. It does not appear to have been brought to the New World.

Though both of these tales of substituted brides are very popular in oral folklore, neither seems to have entered into the earlier literary collections of tales. Only in Basile are they found, and they have all the appearance of being oral Italian stories which he has reworked. A thorough investigation of these two tales should prove very interesting because of the seeming independence from the literary tradition, the close relation of detail between the two stories, and the wide geographical range of the versions.

The motif of the substituted bride also forms the central action of two stories, closely related to each other, in which the impostor is not a sister, but merely a rival. One of these tales, The Princess Confined in the Mound (Type 870), seems to be essentially Scandinavian, for the versions are plentiful in all the Scandinavian countries, including Iceland. It also occurs, though not frequently, in the folklore of Finland and Germany. [156]

Because of her faithfulness to her betrothed, a princess, along with her maid, is confined by her father in an underground prison or mound. After many years, she escapes and takes service as a maid in the king's castle, where she finds that her lover is about to be married. The woman who is to be the bride forces the heroine to take her place at the wedding. This may be because she wishes to conceal her pregnancy or merely because of her hideousness. The heroine has agreed not to reveal the truth to the prince, but on the way to the church she does reveal it by some subterfuge. Sometimes she talks to her horse, or to the bridge they are crossing, or to the church door, and thus reminds the prince of his first love. That evening when the bride, who has resumed her own clothes, comes to the prince, she is unable to recall the conversation which has taken place on the way to church, and she must always consult with the maid. When the prince asks to see the necklace which he had given her immediately after the wedding, the truth comes to light. He drives her away, and marries his faithful sweetheart.

The Little Goose Girl (Type 870A) [157] is very much like this tale. A little girl who is herding geese accosts a prince who is passing by and tells him that she is going to be married to him. She hears of his approaching wedding and [p. 120] attends. As in the other story, the bride persuades her to act as substitute. But the substitution takes place in the marriage bed, since the prince has a magic stone by his bed that indicates the bride's chastity. The recognition the next day is brought about by means of the ornaments which he has given his bed partner.

This second story as a folktale is confined to the Scandinavian peninsula. But it appears also in ballad form not only in Scandinavia, but also in France and in Scotland. In the latter country, at least eight versions have been recorded.

[149] For the literature of the subject and an analysis of the various forms in which the motif appears, see Motif K1911 and all its subdivisions. The definitive treatment is P. Arfert's Motif von der unterschobenen Brant.

[150] The servant girl as substitute bride we have already met in The Goose Girl (Type 533) and in The Three Oranges (Type 408).

[151] We shall find these same helpful dwarfs taking care of little Snow White (Type 709).

[152] As to the treatment of the child, there is sometimes confusion with the tale of The Three Golden Sons (Type 707).

[153] For the awakening of the husband from a magic sleep on the third appearance of his wife who has sometimes purchased the privilege of sleeping with him, see Motifs D1971 and D1978.4 with all the references there given. In addition, it sometimes appears in Cupid and Psyche (Type 425) and in The Three Oranges (Type 408).

[154] For these North American Indian tales, see Thompson, Tales of the North American Indians, p. 350, notes 262 to 265. Many of these contain the incident of the return by the dead mother to suckle the child. See p. 362, below.

[155] This incident occurs not only in this tale, and The Black and the White Bride, but also in Our Lady's Child (Type 710).

[156] See Liungman, Två Folkminnesundersökningar. The tale seems certainly of Scandinavian origin.

[157] The tale has been studied in great detail and with a very elaborate set of maps by Waldemar Liungman (Prinsessan i Jordkulan). He favors Denmark as the place of origin.

327, 403, 403A, 403B, 403C, 408, 425, 450, 516, 533, 707, 709, 710, 870, 870A

D1971, D1978.4 K1911