Part Two

The Folktale from Ireland to India

II – The Complex Tale

5. Lovers and married couples

E. Shrewish Wife Reformed

Most of the favorite folktales involving lovers and married couples are laid in a world of unreality and are filled with the supernatural. But at least two large groups of stories treat this subject without entering into the never-never land of swan maidens and bear lovers. On the one hand there are the humorous or scurrilous anecdotes of married life so popular in the fabliaux and the novella. These move in an unreal world, it is true, the world—in Charles Lamb's words —"of cuckoldry, the Utopia of gallantry," but the events are conceivably true and within the range of possibility. The same may be said of the romantic tales in which, after astonishing but not impossible adventures, the lovers are united and live on in a timeless happiness as if they had come direct from the heart of. fairyland. These romantic tales, having sloughed off the supernatural, are the direct ancestors of the romantic novella and of the modern love story.

In a considerable number of these romantic tales we find a faithful wife who goes on a long search for her husband—a thoroughly realistic search filled with high adventure instead of magic and mystery. [112] There are also stories in which a princess is won by cleverness, but the interest there is in the keenness of wit rather than in the romantic conclusion. Two realistic [p. 104] tales, however, have their main interest in bringing about a happy marriage, even though the means adopted may seem to the modern sophisticated reader unnecessarily violent. In both of them a shrewish wife is reformed.

The first of these stories is King Thrushbeard (Type 900). In its main lines it seems to have developed in the Middle Ages, probably in Italy. It has been popular with literary taletellers since its appearance in a German poem of about 1260. [113] It is in the Icelandic Clarussaga of about 1330. In Italy, in addition to its appearance in earlier novelle, it is told as one of the numbers of Basile's Pentamerone. Within a definitely limited area the tale has been rather popular in oral tradition. It is known from Iceland to the western borders of Russia but apparently has not been carried to any other continent. Philippson, in his definitive monograph on the tale, comes to the conclusion that it was probably invented in Germany. On the other hand, Kaarle Krohn, after reviewing all of the evidence, feels sure that the homeland must have been Italy. [114]

A king sends out invitations for suitors to woo his daughter. Either as a reply to this invitation or because he has seen a picture of the princess (sometimes in a forbidden chamber), a prince falls in love with her and appears as her suitor. The princess has no mind to get married and treats her suitors shamefully. Among other things she calls them by ugly names. She repulses the prince and calls him King Thrushbeard. In spite of her unwillingness, the princess is forced to marry. Sometimes her father in anger compels her to marry the first man who comes along, and this turns out to be a beggar. Sometimes the seeming beggar is really the disguised prince, who wins the princess by solving riddles or by gaining admission to her room, or, in some cases, really winning her love. After the princess and the beggar are married, her father banishes them. She is then compelled to endure great hardship—poverty, menial work, begging, peddling, and eventually service as a maid in the king's kitchen. As a climax to her shame, she attends the wedding of the prince. But he reveals himself in good time as the man who has masked as her beggar husband, and they celebrate their wedding together.

This story inevitably calls to mind Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. And, indeed, that tale has had some popularity as an oral story (Type 901). [115] The dramatist has kept very close to the main outlines of the folktale. It will be recalled that the husbands of three sisters wager as to whose wife is the most obedient. The youngest of the sisters is a shrew. The husband proceeds to bring her to submissiveness by his own outrageous conduct: [p. 105] shooting his horse and his dog and treating her to all kinds of indignities. The tale goes back to the Exemplum literature of the Middle Ages, where it appears in Juan Manuel's El Conde Lucanor. It was also retold by Straparola in the sixteenth century. Whether from these literary forms or otherwise, it is popular in the folklore of the Baltic states and Scandinavia. It has also been reported from Scotland, Ireland, Spain, and Russia, and has been heard from a Zuñi Indian in New Mexico. It would seem most reason able to suppose that we have here a literary tale which has become a real part of the folklore of northern Europe.

[112] For these tales, see p. 109. below.

[113] "Diu halbe bir" by Konrad von Würzburg; see von der Hagen, Gesamtabenteuer; No. 10.

[114] Ernst Philippson, König Drosselbart; Kaarle Krohn, Übersicht. See also: E. Gigas, "Et eventyres vandring," Literatur og Historie 3 saml. (København, 1902); A. H. Krappe, Etudes italiennes, II, 141-153.

[115] See Wesselski, Märchen des Mittelalters, p. 216, No. 24; Köhler, Kleinere Schriften, I, 137, III, 4o.

900, 901

Part Two

The Folktale from Ireland to India

II – The Complex Tale

11. Realistic tales

A. Cleverness

1. Princess Won by Cleverness

One of the most usual situations in folktales is the contest for the hand of a princess. In the wonder tales the hero normally succeeds in this competition through some marvelous help or through some supernatural power of his own. [236] But quite as interesting are those stories in which his success depends upon his quickness of wit. We have already noticed the tale in which the princess is to be given to the man who can make her speak (Type 945) and in which the hero so cleverly propounds a question that she is brought to speech in spite of herself. The silent princess is relatively rare in folktales; it is much more usual to find one who has never laughed. To cause such a woman to burst out in laughter will bring the hero not only her hand, but wealth and a share of the kingdom. Two of the stories involving this incident have several points in common and are occasionally confused, though the main action in each is clear.

The first of these is the tale of Dungbeetle (Type 559). It is so named because the help of this humble insect appears in nearly all versions of the narrative. When he hears that the princess has been offered to the man who can make her laugh, the hero sets out and, in the usual way of folktales, secures the help of grateful animals, or sometimes acquires magic objects, particularly a rope that binds and tightens and a magic fiddle which compels people to dance. [237] By employing these animals or objects, he succeeds in bringing the princess to laughter. But, instead of receiving her in marriage, he is thrown into a lions' den. By use of his magic or his helpers, he escapes. When again he has been refused the princess, he causes wasps to attack and drive out successive rivals on the bridal night. Eventually the princess recognizes his power and marries him. [p. 154]

This story appeared in Basile's Pentamerone and most versions conform rather closely to his telling of the tale. It seems to be known in all parts of Europe, but is not popular in any. It has also been reported from the Nuba of east Africa.

The closely related story, "All Stick Together" (Type 571), is much more popular. Though it is sometimes impossible to make a clear-cut distinction between the two stories, the center of interest in the latter is the sticking together of people and objects. The youngest of three brothers is the only one who divides food and drink with a hungry man, and, as a reward, he receives a golden goose with the power to make everything stick to it. Sometimes the goose is acquired through a lucky bargain. He takes the goose to an inn where the innkeeper's daughter tries to steal one of the golden feathers. He compels her to stick fast to the goose and later those who try to help her—the parson, the sexton, and others. It is usually through this absurd parade of people stuck to the goose that the princess is brought to laughter. But sometimes, as in the last tale, it is occasioned by the sight of three small animals which the hero owns, and sometimes by the foolish actions of the hero. As in the other tale, he is not immediately given his reward, but is assigned preliminary tasks: drinking a cellar full of wine, eating up a mountain of bread, or making a land and water ship. These he accomplishes, sometimes with the help of extraordinary companions. [238]

The tale has a way of adapting motifs from other stories, so that all kinds of contacts with material familiar elsewhere are noticeable as one moves from version to version. [239] The sticking together of the people as punishment for meddling appears in many other connections, particularly in a fifteenth century English poem, "The Tale of the Basyn." [240] As for the folktale, it is popular all over Europe, and several versions are known from the Near East.

The French have brought it to Canada and from them it has passed on to at least four of the eastern American Indian tribes. Several of the tales already reviewed have shown the hero winning the princess through the help of his magic objects. The story known as The Rabbit-herd (Type 570) combines such magic means with cleverness and trickery. The king has offered the princess as a prize to the man who is able to herd all his rabbits. The king has a magic pipe which always calls the animals back. The hero, unlike his elder brothers, is kind to an old woman and from her he also receives a pipe, stronger in its magic than the king's, [p. 155] with which he is able to call all the animals together. The success of the hero with his magic pipe causes great envy on the part of the king, the princess, or the queen. The versions differ as to which of them tries to obtain the pipe. In some, the queen bribes him by kissing him; in some, the princess lies with him; and in some, the king kisses a horse. In any case, the youth now knows a disgraceful story to tell. Before finally granting the princess to him, the king orders the boy to tell a sack of lies. He begins to tell great lies until the king or the queen sees that he is going to betray their disgrace. They make him stop, and give him the princess.

The characteristic trait in this story seems not to be the magic pipe so much as the hero's use of blackmail to gain his point at the end. For that reason, the story is frequently known as The Sack of Lies, or something similar. It is rather popular all the way from Iceland to the Caucasus, more than two hundred versions having already been noted. Sporadic variants have been collected on the Gold Coast of Africa, in the Philippines, from Cape Verde Islanders in Massachusetts, and very recently from persons of English stock in Virginia. Its general distribution would seem to indicate that it is essentially a European, rather than an Oriental tale.

The princess as a prize for correct guessing is the principal feature of The Louse-Skin (Type 621). She has had a louse fattened until it becomes as big as a calf and at its death has had a dress made from its skin. She agrees to marry the man who can guess what the dress is made from. The hero learns by trickery, and thus wins her. The major interest in this tale is concerned with the tricks whereby the puzzle is solved. [241]

As an autonomous story, we find it here and there all over Europe, whence it has been carried to Indonesia and the Philippines. Within Europe, the overwhelming majority of the variants are from four east Baltic countries.

In other parts of Europe, the tale is more likely to serve merely as an introduction to Cupid and Psyche (Type 425B), King Thrushbeard (Type 900), and The Robber Bridegroom (Type 955). In some cases our story proceeds, like the next one we shall consider, with the giving of the princess to the suitor to whom she turns in the night.

A tale very closely related to the last two, since in part it is like one, and in part like the other, is The Birthmarks of the Princess (Type 850). The hero here, like the rabbit-herd, has a magic pipe which causes hogs to dance. The princess covets his dancing hogs, and he sells them to her in return for seeing her naked. By using his knowledge of her birthmarks thus acquired as a basis for blackmail, he wins her as his wife. As a further test, the princess is to be given to the suitor to whom she turns in the night. The hero and a rival suitor are put to bed with her. They each strive to entice her and finally she turns to the hero. [p. 156]

In spite of its appearance as being a mere concoction of two other tales, this narrative as a whole is told all over Europe and has been carried to Virginia. There seem to be no older literary versions, so that its development probably belongs to the authentic folklore of the European continent.

Three of the tales concerned with the winning of a princess place her in an open contest of wits with the hero. [242] The first is The Princess who Cannot Solve the Riddle (Type 851). Here she is offered to the man who can propose a riddle too hard for her. On the way to the contest, the hero is given a clue which he develops later into a riddle. He sees a horse poisoned and then eaten by ravens, who in turn fall dead. The ravens are then eaten by twelve men, who die of the poison. In case the story has this introduction, the riddle which the hero propounds is "One killed none, and yet killed twelve." Other riddles are sometimes substituted, particularly that of the murdered lover and of the unborn. The first of these is generally given: With what thinks, I drink; what sees, I carry; with what eats, I walk. (The queen has a cup made from the skull of her murdered lover and a ring from one of his eyes, and she carries two of his teeth in her boots.) The riddle of the unborn is: I am unborn; my horse is unborn; I carry my mother on my hands. (A boy who has been taken from his dead mother's body digs up her body and makes gloves of her skin. He rides a colt which has been taken from a dead mare's body.) Whichever of these riddles he uses, the princess is greatly puzzled and tries to learn the answer by trickery. She slips into his room at night, hoping that she can learn it from his dreams. He knows about her visit, however, and keeps a token. When he uses this to prove her visit, she surrenders.

In comparison to the other stories of wit contests with the princess, this has the widest distribution as an oral narrative and the most extensive literary history. The general theme of the winning of a bride through the giving or solving of a riddle goes back at least to the Greek romances and recurs in medieval collections. As a part of folklore, the tale is current from Iceland and the British Isles to Russia, and it has been carried abroad frequently: to central Africa and to North and South America, through Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Negro settlers. The tale may well have intimate Oriental relations, because of the great interest eastern story-tellers have in all kinds of riddles and other displays of wit. [243]

In another tale of this group, The Hero Forces the Princess to Say "That is a Lie" (Type 852), he accomplishes the task indicated by the telling of impossible tales, usually gross exaggerations. The interest of the story is primarily in these "tall tales." They may be mere exaggerations of size about an enormous animal or building (a type of story familiar in America in the [p. 157] legends of Paul Bunyan), or they may be about impossible happenings: a tree growing to the skies overnight, like Jack's beanstalk, or the ascent or descent from the skies on a rope of chaff, or of a man who cuts off his head and replaces it. [244] Usually he is not able to bring her to the desired words until he makes up shameful slanders about her.

Though this tale appears to have no literary history, it is scattered rather evenly over Europe as an oral story, and it is found in single versions in Indonesia, North and Central Africa, and in the British tradition of Virginia and the French of Missouri. The distribution in Europe shows the tale unusually popular in Ireland and Scandinavia, though only a detailed analysis of the versions would indicate where the story originated and what has been its history.

In The Hero Catches the Princess with her Own Words (Type 853) we see resemblances to several of the tales just discussed, and indeed to many others farther afield. The princess is offered in marriage to the man who can outwit her in repartee. On the way to the contest the hero picks up various objects, a dead crow, an egg, and the like. In his contest with the princess he always reduces her words to scorn by producing these objects at the proper time. This part of the tale is often very obscene. As usual, the successful hero is put off and is thrown into prison. By means of his magic tablecloth, purse, and fiddle he escapes. Then, by means of his fiddle, he captures the princess and refuses to release her unless she answers "No" to all his questions. By properly phrasing the questions, he gets her into his bed and marries her.

The last half of this tale frequently appears independently, namely, the play upon the word "No." [245] The whole story appears in a Middle High German poem and later was used both in French poetry and in the English ballads.

As a part of folklore, it is most popular in states around the Baltic, though it is known in all parts of Europe. In America it has been brought by the French to the Ojibwa Indians, by the Spanish to the Zuñi, to Massachusetts by Cape Verde Island Portuguese-speaking Negroes, and to Jamaica by Negroes from Africa. The tale does not appear to be known in Asia.

There are, of course, other tricks by which story-tellers have imagined their lowly heroes as winners of the much desired princess. [246] One of them, The Golden Ram (Type 854), reminds us of a scene in Shakespeare's Cymbeline. The hero has made a boast that if he had only one thing, he could marry the princess. The. king challenges him to make good his words. He says that the desired thing is money. When the king gives him all the gold he needs, he has a hollow golden ram constructed. He hides himself in the ram and has [p. 158] it left where the princess will see it. She insists upon having it carried into her room. Of course, the hero eventually comes out and wins her.

In spite of the suggestion of the Trojan horse and of boxes and trunks hiding lovers familiar to literary stories of the Middle Ages, this tale in its present form seems to be an oral development. Its distribution is by no means uniform in Europe, where ninety percent of the versions have been found within Finland, either among the Finnish or the Swedish inhabitants. It seems to have some popularity in Italy and it has been learned, presumably from the French, by the Maliseet Indians of New Brunswick.

In this whole group of tales in which the princess is won by cleverness there is a mixture of motivation. Sometimes the taleteller seems really interested in the romantic aspects of the story, the lowly youth winning the lady of his desire, but most often this is subordinated to the desire to see a sharp contest of wits won by a man against what seems to be overwhelming odds.

[236] For a detailed discussion of such suitor contests, see Motifs H331 and H335.

[237] All these motifs have been met before. For the help of the three animals, see Type 554. For the binding rope, see Types 564 and 569. For the magic fiddle, see Type 592. Two other tales containing it will be presently studied, Types 851 and 853.

[238] Versions having this latter trait have suffered confusion with The Extraordinary Companions (Type 513).

[239] For a good discussion of these relationships, see Bolte-Polívka, II, 40f. The material on this tale is well summarized there, where, presumably, the results of Polívka's special study are given. Unfortunately, I have not been able to consult this work: G. Polívka, Pohádkoslovné studie (Praha, 1904), pp. 67-106.

[240] See Hazlitt, Remains of Early Popular Poetry (London, 1866), IV, 42. The poem has been frequently reprinted.

[241] For the guessing or finding out of the nature or cause of a mystery, see The Danced-out Shoes (Type 306) and Tom-Tit-Tot (Type 500).

[242] For direct contests between the princess and her suitor (racing, wrestling, overcoming in strength), see Motif H332.1 and all references there given.

[243] For a discussion of these relationships, see Bolte-Polívka, I, 197.

[244] For exaggerations of this kind, see Motifs X900 to X1045.

[245] For a good discussion of this motif, see K. Nyrop, Nej: et Motivs Historic (København, 1891).

[246] Some of these have only local distribution, though they may be very popular in a single area. An example is the tale listed as Type 555 in Andrejev's Russian survey, Ukazatel' Skazočnich.

306, 425B, 500, 513, 554, 555, 559, 564, 569, 570, 571, 592, 621, 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 900, 945, 955

H331, H332.1, H335, X900-X1045

Part Two

The Folktale from Ireland to India

II – The Complex Tale

12. Origin and history of the complex tales

Not every complex tale known to story-tellers of the area we are considering has found a place in the discussion just concluded. But practically all of those omitted are of very limited distribution. [283] With each tale the main facts about its history and its occurrences in oral tradition have been indicated wherever conclusions seemed possible. While discussing each tale, I have had before me a summary of the scholarship which has been devoted to it and a complete list of oral versions insofar as the extensive reference books and regional surveys now available made this possible. Frequently the mere bringing together of this material was sufficient to compel conclusions about the tale which do not seem likely to need revision. But when all tales with such clear-cut histories have been considered, there remain a large number which present problems sufficient to occupy the attention of scholars for many a decade to come.

Of these complex tales, along with a few closely related simple anecdotes, we have examined somewhat over two hundred. The order in which they have been taken up has been determined by their subject matter. And that means that tales about the same kinds of characters or incidents have been brought together, often when there was no organic relationship between them and when they had little if anything in common in their origin and history. When so much remains dark about the beginnings and about the vicissitudes of so large a number of our folktales, no complete account of them can be based upon historical categories.

Nevertheless, in a very tentative way it may be of interest to see which of our tales have a history that can be proclaimed with some confidence, which of them show great probabilities of proper solution, and which of them still present difficult problems.

That many of our European and Asiatic folktales go back to a literary source is as clear as any fact of scholarship can be made. There would thus seem to be no reason to doubt that an Oriental literary text is responsible for the subsequent development of a considerable number of tales which have received oral currency in Europe and sometime in the Orient. In the older Buddhistic sources [284] are found: Death's Messengers (Type 335); Six Go Through the Whole World (Type 513A); The Three Snake Leaves (Type 612); [p. 177] The Two Travelers (Type 613); The Animal Languages (Type 670); "Think Carefully Before You Begin a Task" (Type 910C); The Brave Tailor (Type 1640); and Doctor Know-All (Type 1641). In the Ocean of Story, a Sanskrit collection brought together in the twelfth century but based upon much older material, there appear, as probable originals of the European oral tradition, versions of: Wise Through Experience (Type 910A); The Servant's Good Counsels (Type 910B); and Faithful John (Type 516). From other collections of literary tales originating in India appear to come: The Bridge to the Other World (Type 471); The Four Skillful Brothers (Type 653); The Wise Brothers (Type 655); and One Beggar Trusts God, the Other the King (Type 841). From various literary sources in India the incidents which make up two of our related tales have been taken and unified at some point before they entered into the oral tradition of the west. [285] These two are : The Son of the King and of the Smith (Type 920); and The King and the Peasant's Son (Type 921). Whatever may be the ultimate source of the stories in the Thousand and One Nights, several of our old folktales are found in that work in much the form in which these stories first reached European taletellers. Among these tales appearing in the Arabian Nights are: Siddhi Numan (Type 449*); Aladdin (Type 561); Open Sesame (Type 676); Luck and Wealth (Type 736); Hatch-penny (Type 745); Oft Proved Fidelity (Type 881); The Treasure of the Hanging Man (Type 910D); and The Forty Thieves (Type 954). Finally, of these tales of Oriental origin, may be mentioned one which appears in the Persian collection, The Thousand and One Days. This is The Prophecy (Type 930).

Similarly, an ultimate origin in European literature seems unmistakable for a dozen or more of the stories current today, whether locally or over the complete European-Asiatic area. Three of the tales which we have noticed certainly go back to Greek literature: Oedipus (Type 931) to Sophocles; Rhampsinitus (Type 950) to Herodotus; and The Wolf and the Kids (Type 123) to the Aesop collection. A fourteenth century Latin poem, the Asinarius, is responsible for the very few oral versions of The Ass (Type 430). Folktales have borrowed very freely from saints' legends: certainly Pride Is Punished (Type 836) is a mere oral treatment of the legend of Polycarp. The great collections of illustrative tales which in the Middle Ages went under the name of Exempla contained a considerable number of folktales. Frequently it is impossible to tell whether they may be reworkings of oral tradition, but sometimes it is quite evident that the oral tale is taken directly from the literary collection. This is clearly true of: Friends in Life and Death (Type 470); The Boy Who Learned Many Things (Type 517); The Three Languages (Type 671); The Angel and the Hermit (Type 759); and Who Ate the Lamb's Heart (Type 785). At least two tales seem to have been learned from the work of the German Meistersinger: The Faithful Wife (Type 888); and [p. 178] The Pound of Flesh (Type 890). Of course, both of these tales were used by Shakespeare, and that fact has doubtless been of influence on their subsequent popularity. Many stories have undoubtedly originated among the people of Italy, and it is sometimes difficult to know whether a tale recounted by those great writers of novelle beginning with Boccaccio was learned from the people or was invented by the author. For at least three of our folktales such literary invention by the novella writer seems the most reasonable hypothesis. The Wager on the Wife's Chastity (Type 882) is in Boccaccio's Decameron; The Luck-Bringing Shirt (Type 844) in the Pecorone of Ser Giovanni; and The Taming of the Shrew (Type 901) in the Nights of Straparola. The Pentamerone of Giambattista Basile of the early seventeenth century is almost completely made up of oral folktales, though transformed into an extraordinary literary style. But it is probable that he invented several tales by freely combining traditional material. Such seems to be the situation with The Forsaken Fiancée (Type 884). Finally, at least one tale given currency by the Grimms, The Two Girls, the Bear, and the Dwarf (Type 426), comes directly from a German literary collection of stories which appeared in 1818.

The fact that one may cite a literary form of a story, even a very old version, is by no means proof that we have arrived at the source of the tradition. Nothing is better authenticated in the study of traditional narrative than the fact that the literary telling of a tale may represent merely one of hundreds of examples of the story in question and have for the history of the tradition no more significance than any other one of the hundreds of variants at hand. Apuleius's telling of Cupid and Psyche and the author of Tobit's version of The Grateful Dead Man tale appear both to be rather late and somewhat, aberrant forms of much older oral tales. With this warning in mind, the careful student should be slow in arriving at the conclusion that a stated literary document is the fountainhead of a particular narrative tradition. For those tales which we have just listed, the actual dependence on the literary source has seemed well established. In addition to these, there are a considerable number for which there is a well-known early literary form to which the weight of evidence would point probably, but not quite certainly, as the actual source. Some of these tales have been very popular among story-tellers, and have spread over two or more continents, and some have had only a very limited acceptance among the people. The degree of popularity and the geographical extent of the distribution is a fact which must be taken into consideration with every tale when we are trying to judge the question of its ultimate literary or oral invention. For this reason, in listing the tales with probable literary sources, it is helpful to indicate briefly what type of oral distribution each has.

At least related to the old Greek story of The Cranes of Ibycus is the tale The Sun Brings All to Light (Type 960; oral: Spain to Russia). From saints' [p. 179] legends at least two oral tales appear to have been taken: Hospitality Rewarded (Type750B; oral: scattered thinly over most of Europe); and Christ and the Smith (Type 753; oral: all Europe, especially the Baltic states). Certainly influenced by some of the legends of the popes, if not directly borrowed from them, is The Dream (Type 725; oral: moderately popular in eastern Europe and the Baltic states). In addition to the folktales which we are sure have come from books of Exempla, there are several where such an origin seems likely: The King and the Robber (Type 951A; oral: Germany and the Baltic states, sporadic in Hungary and Russia); The Old Robber Relates Three Adventures (Type 953; oral: thinly scattered, Ireland to Roumania); and "We Three; For Money" (Type 1697; oral: thinly scattered over all Europe). The influence of the chivalric romance in general is seen in The Bride Won in a Tournament (Type 508) which was told in Straparola's Nights and received frequent literary treatment in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but has been collected orally only in three versions in Lithuania.

The rich prose literature of medieval Iceland has in it many folktale elements, most of which doubtless go back to popular tradition. But this may not have been true in all cases: an Icelandic prose tale of 1339 seems to lie back of the oral tale Godfather Death (Type 332; oral: Iceland to Palestine, especially the Baltic states, but not Russia). A medieval chronicle of 1175 probably forms the beginning of the tradition later carried on through French and German jestbooks and at least one English play, and connected with the name of a famous Lord Mayor of London. This is Whittington's Cat (Type 1651; oral: scattered from western Europe to Indonesia, especially popular in Finland).

The jestbooks of the Renaissance contain a number of folktales. In many cases, these were taken from older literary collections, or indeed from oral tradition. But occasionally they seem to have served as a real source for tales which now belong to the folk. Such would seem to be true of The Wishes (Type 750A; oral: popular throughout Europe, sporadic in China); The Tailor in Heaven (Type 800; oral: scattered thinly over Europe, sporadic among Buryat of Siberia); The Devil as Advocate (Type 821; oral: all Europe, especially Baltic, moderately popular); Sleeping Beauty (Type 410; oral: scattered thinly over Europe, one-third of versions Italian, based on Basile); and The Three Brothers (Type 654; oral: confined to Europe).

A German literary tale of the thirteenth century may well be the beginning of The Frog King (Type 440; oral: Germany to Russia only). The habit of writing literary folktales was carried on into the eighteenth century, both in France and in Germany. Many of these tales never assumed any oral popularity. On the other hand, The Girls Who Married Animals (Type 552), although concocted by Musäus at the end of the eighteenth century of authentic oral material, combined with an analogous tale in Basile, has since entered into the stream of oral tradition in the form he then designed. Its [p. 180] oral distribution shows the greatest inconsistency and indicates frequent direct use of the literary source.

For all the tales mentioned thus far in this summary there seems a strong probability of ultimate literary origin. But it cannot be too frequently repeated that the fact of the appearance of a tale in some literary document is no proof that it did not originate among the people. Oral tales have been a very fruitful source For literary story-tellers everywhere. It thus happens that frequently the literary appearance of a story only represents one of many hundreds of versions and is, of course, less important in the history of the tale than the oral variant from which the story was borrowed. It is not always easy to tell when a story belongs primarily to oral tradition and frequently the problem of priority is quite unsolvable. But a very considerable number of tales appearing in literary collections show such a preponderance of oral variants, as well as other indications of popular origin, that their literary appearance would seem to be purely incidental. There can be little doubt that they are all essentially oral, both in origin and in history.

Several such oral tales have found a place in Oriental literary collections. In the Hindu fable collection, the Panchatantra, occurs a good part of the tale of Luck and Intelligence (Type 945); it also occurs in recent literary form in India, but has a vigorous life in popular tradition of India and the Near East, and sporadically as far afield as Germany and the Philippines. In the Ocean of Story, as well as in the Thousand and One Nights, occur fragments of Devils Fight over Magic Objects (Type 518; oral: all Europe, western Asia, and North Africa) and of The Prince's Wings (Type 575; oral: sparingly over north and eastern Europe). In the Ocean of Story, likewise, there is an analogue of The Girl as Helper in the Hero's Flight (Type 313). This story does not otherwise appear in central Asia but is one of the most popular of all oral folktales in Europe and America; it is no wonder that it has been retold by such story-tellers as Straparola and Basile. Two tales popular in the tradition of the Near East appear in the Persian Tuti Nameh: The Grateful Animals (Type 554; oral: Europe and Asia, especially Baltic countries) and The Magic Bird-heart (Type 567; oral: eastern and southern Europe, and Persia; origin probably in Persian tradition). In an Arabic history of the ninth century appears an abbreviated version of The King and the Abbot (Type 922), though Walter Anderson has shown that the tradition is certainly oral, in spite of frequent literary treatments in Europe. Likewise, the occurrence of the story of The Monster in the Bridal Chamber (Type 507B) in the apocryphal Book of Tobit does not carry the implication that this version is the source of the tradition: it is obviously a late and considerably modified form of the story, which appears to have developed orally in the Near East.

Much more frequently have oral tales found a place in one or more European collections of literary stories. In another place more specific mention [p. 181] is made of popular tales embedded in the Greek or Latin classics. [286] Sometimes these retellings represent rather faithfully what must have been the plot of one of our oral tales at the time and place it was heard, though there may be radical adaptation to literary form or fashion. Such is true of the retelling of the tale of Polyphemus (Type 1137) by Homer, of Cupid and Psyche (Type 425) by Apuleius, and of Perseus and Andromeda (a version of Type 300? ) by various writers of myths.

It is sometimes difficult to tell whether such a classical story as that of Perseus is really a version of a folktale now current in Europe. There is little doubt, however, that the appearance of the story of The Dragon-Slayer (Type 300) in connection with that of The Two Brothers (Type 303) in Icelandic saga does represent an actual version of an oral tale, apparently originating in France, and now known by almost every taleteller in the world. In Icelandic saga there also appears a version of The Clever Peasant Girl (Type 875), though this does not represent its source, which is certainly oral and central European. The learning of animal speech by eating the flesh of a serpent occurs in a German and Baltic oral tale (Type 673) and also in the Siegfried story, but this is the only parallel, and the resemblance may not indicate actual relationship.

In other literary forms of the Middle Ages there occasionally appear oral tales. Geoffrey of Monmouth, in telling the story of King Lear, includes the incident of Love Like Salt (Type 923), widely known, not only through Shakespeare's treatment, but also as a part of the Cinderella cycle (Type 510). The chivalric romances, likewise, contain much that must have been taken directly from the people. Marie de France thus tells the tale of The Prince as Bird (Type 432), which, though certainly oral, has been frequently retold by both medieval and Renaissance writers. In some versions of the Tristram story occur elements of The Clever Horse (Type 531; oral: western Europe to the Philippines, origin probably India), and in an Icelandic saga of the fourteenth century there is a much clearer version. In the Fortunatus romance, which occurs in many forms, there is found a version of The Three Magic Objects and the Wonderful Fruits (Type 566), essentially west European folk tradition. The Gesta Romanorum, and later, Hans Sachs, have versions of The Three Doctors (Type 660), a tradition well known from Ireland to Russia. Despite the fact that the French and German fabliaux are usually literary in content, at least two oral tales are used in such collections: The Hero Catches the Princess with Her Own Words (Type 853) and King Thrushbeard (Type 900).

Though the jestbooks which were in vogue during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries normally consist of very simple anecdotes, occasionally they included a complex folk story, like Hansel and Gretel (Type 327A); Master Pfriem (Type 801); One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes (Type 511); The [p. 182] Student from Paradise (Type 1540); or The Three Lucky Brothers (Type 1650). The latter story also appears in a collection of novelle. These prose tale collections, beginning as early as Boccaccio's Decameron, sometimes contain stories which the author had heard, though they are usually much changed in style from what must have been the oral original. Such is true of The Smith Outwits the Devil (Type 330), and of Six Go Through the Whole World (Type 513). The latter tale appears in many other literary collections, both Oriental and European.

For the history of the folktale, two collections in the novella tradition are especially important. Insofar as they contain folktales, they are either purely oral stories or else tales of literary origin which had already become a part of the folklore of Italy. Many of these oral tales have their first literary appearance in these collections. In the Pleasant Nights of Straparola in the sixteenth century are versions of: The Magician and His Pupil (Type 325; apparently of oral origin in India); The Youth Who Wanted to Learn What Fear Is (Type 326); The Youth Transformed to a Horse (Type 314; one of the most popular of oral tales); Cap o' Rushes (Type 510B); The Three Golden Sons (Type 707); Our Lady's Child (Type 710); The Cat Castle (Type 545A); Puss in Boots (Type 545B); and The Lazy Boy (Type 675).

An even longer list of oral tales is found for the first time in the Pentamerone of Basile, 1634-36. Among them are: The Maiden in the Tower (Type 310); The Black and the White Bride (Type 403); The Three Oranges (Type 408); Little Brother and Little Sister (Type 450); The Maiden Who Seeks her Brothers (Type 451); The Spinning-Woman by the Spring (Type 480); The Three Old Women Helpers (Type 501); Dung-beetle (Type 559); The Magic Ring (Type 560); The Louse-Skin (Type 621); The Carnation (Type 652); Snow-White (Type 709); and The Good Bargain (Type 1642).

The folktale collection of Charles Perrault which appeared in 1697 is hardly to be considered as literary at all, but rather as a group of fairly faithful versions of oral tales. The later French collections of Madame D'Aulnoy, on the other hand, were definitely literary, and seldom contained any real folktales which had not already appeared in writers like Straparola or Basile. Exceptions are The Mouse as Bride (Type 402) and The Shift of Sex (Type 514).

Such are the principal collections of literary tales which have given us versions of oral stories. To complete the list, one would have to make several miscellaneous additions. The King and the Abbot (Type 922) appears in a German poem of the thirteenth century and frequently thereafter; the oral tradition of how Peter's Mother Falls from Heaven (Type 804) is given in a fifteenth century German poem; The Monster's Bride (Type 507A) appears in a sixteenth century English comedy; Bearskin (Type 361) is [p. 183] retold by Grimmelshausen in 1670; and Demi-coq (Type 715) is given a French name because of his appearance in a French story written in 1759.

Such is the list of those tales which, although they have appeared in one or more literary collections, seem quite certainly to be oral, both in origin and in history. Sometimes their subsequent popularity has been greatly increased by the fact that they have been charmingly retold by Basile or Perrault. Otherwise, their history is in no essential respect different from that large group of stories to which we shall now turn. These belong to the folklore of Europe and Asia, and have never had the fortune to appeal to any literary story teller. We know them only in oral form and can therefore speak with almost complete certainty of their origin among the people. Here belong some of the most interesting of all folktales.

Most of the European stories which originated in the Orient either go back to literary sources in the East or else, in spite of their origin in popular Oriental tradition, have received literary treatment in Asia or in Europe. Such tales, of literary origin or handling, have just been discussed. There remain a few which seem to have developed orally in Asia and to have reached Europe entirely by word of mouth. Such is true of Three Hairs from the Devil's Beard (Type 461), very often told in connection with the tale of The Prophecy (Type 930). The latter story is Oriental, but is found in early Buddhistic material. [287] The widely diffused tale of The Little Red Bull (Type 511*), while showing relation to several well-known European stories, probably comes from Oriental folk tradition.

By far the largest number of purely oral European and Asiatic tales seem quite certainly to have developed in Europe. The great majority of these are confined to the European continent, but some of them are worldwide in their distribution. Examples of the latter are The Dragon-Slayer (Type 300), John the Bear (Type 301), and The Two Brothers (Type 303). [288] Some European oral tales have traveled far into the Orient: Bluebeard (Type 311); The Journey to God to Receive Reward (Type 460A); The Journey in Search of Fortune (Type 460B); The Wild Man (Type 502); The Speaking Horsehead (Type 533); and The Profitable Exchange (Type 1655). Others have gone no further than the Near East: The Princess Transformed into Deer (Type 401); The Princess on the Glass Mountain (Type 530); Strong John (Type 650); The Juniper Tree (Type 720); and The Greater Sinner (Type 756C).

A considerable number of oral stories have received very wide distribution over the entire European continent but, except for purely sporadic occurrences, they do not appear elsewhere. To this list belong: The Hunter (Type 304); [p. 184] The Dwarf and the Giant (Type 327B); Hiding from the Devil (Type 329); The House in the Wood (Type 431); The Water of Life (Type 551); The Fisher and His Wife (Type 555); The Rabbit-herd (Type 570); The Self-righteous Hermit (Type 756A); The Devil's Contract (Type 756B); The Singing Bone (Type 780); The Peasant in Heaven (Type 802); The Birthmarks of the Princess (Type 850); The Golden Ram (Type 854); The King and the Soldier (Type 952); The Robber Bridegroom (Type 955) and The Clever Maiden Alone at Home Kills the Robbers (Type 956B).

The stories just listed are well represented in all parts of Europe, so that without special investigation it is not easy to say just where the story has developed. With a large number of tales, however, we find that, in spite of occurrences over the entire continent, their area of great popularity is clearly limited, sometimes to a single country, more often to a group of neighboring peoples. Such tales with occurrences primarily in eastern Europe are: The Princess in the Shroud (Type 307); The Faithless Sister (Type 315); and The Prince and the Arm Bands (Type 590). These last two are closely related and seem to have their center in Roumania.

General European tales most popular in eastern and northern Europe are: The Danced-Out Shoes (Type 306); Lenore (Type 365); The Helpful Horse (Type 532); and The Snares of the Evil One (Type 810).

Especially characteristic of Scandinavia and the Baltic states are: The Boy Steals the Giant's Treasure (Type 328, the English story of Jack the Giant Killer); Bear-skin (Type 361); The Man as Heater of Hell's Kettle (Type 475); The King is Betrayed (Type 505); The Spirit in the Blue Light (Type 562—popularly influenced by H. C. Andersen's treatment); The Greedy Peasant Woman (Type 751); Sin and Honor (Type 755; also very popular in Ireland); The Devil's Riddle (Type 812); The Hero Forces the Princess to Say "That is a Lie" (Type 852); The Youth Cheated in Selling Oxen (Type 1538); The Clever Boy (Type 1542); and The Man Who got a Night's Lodging (Type 1544).

Rather widespread traditions having their focus definitely in Scandinavia are: The Man from the Gallows (Type 366); The Princess Rescued from Robbers (Type 506B); The Wonder Child (Type 708); The Princess Confined in the Mound (Type 870); and The Little Goose-Girl (Type 870A).

Oral tales distributed over all Europe, but especially characteristic of the western countries, are: The Giantkiller and his Dog (Bluebeard) (Type 312); The Nix of the Mill-pond (Type 316); Little Red Riding Hood (Type 333); Bargain of the Three Brothers with the Devil (Type 360); The Healing Fruits (Type 610); and The Presents (Type 620).

Finally, at least two tales seem to be especially characteristic of British tradition: Tom-Tit-Tot (Type 500) and Out-riddling the Judge (Type 927). The special form of Type 328 known as Jack the Giant Killer and that known as Jack and the Beanstalk represent peculiar British developments. [p. 185]

There has been no attempt in this book to give notice to all folktales known in Europe and Asia, especially to the hundreds of oral stories which are told in only a single locality or which have never traveled far from their original home. A considerable number of such stories local to Roumania, Hungary, Wallonia, and Russia may be examined in the excellent folktale surveys of these countries. [289] Of such of them as appear in the Aarne-Thompson Types of the Folk-Tale, it will be noticed that a large number of the local tales are characteristic of the Baltic area. It must be borne in mind that very exhaustive lists have been made of the Finnish and Estonian tales, [290] so that these large numbers are no cause for wonder. Of these oral tales in the main part of the Aarne-Thompson index, the following seem to be confined to the Baltic states: a version of The Black and the White Bride (Type 403C); The Girl in the Form of a Wolf (Type 409); Punishment of a Bad Woman (Type 473); "Iron is More Precious than Gold" (Type 677); The Rich Man's and the Poor Man's Fortune (Type 735); The Cruel Rich Man as the Devil's Horse (Type 761); The Princess who Murdered her Child (Type 781); Solomon binds the Devil in Chains in Hell (Type 803); The Deceased Rich Man and the Devils in the Church (Type 815); The Devil as Substitute for Day Laborer at Mowing (Type 820); The Boastful Deer-slayer (Type 830); The Dishonest Priest (Type 831); The Disappointed Fisher (Type 832); How the Wicked Lord was Punished (Type 837); and The Wolves in the Stable (Type 1652).

Local to the Baltic and Scandinavian countries are: [291] a version of The Children and the Ogre (Type 327C); The Vampire (Type 363); The Prince as Serpent (Type 433); The Raven Helper (Type 553); The Magic Providing Purse (Type 564); The Magic Mill (Type 565; sporadic in Ireland, Greece, and France); Beloved of Women (Type 580); The Thieving Pot (Type 591); Fiddevav (Type 593); The Gifts of the Dwarfs (Type 611); The Beautiful and the Ugly Twin (Type 711); The Mother who Wants to Kill her Children (Type 765); the Prodigal's Return (Type 935); and At the Robbers' House (Type 956A).

A much smaller group are limited to the Baltic states and Russia: The Strong Woman as Bride (Type 519); The Man Who Flew like a Bird and Swam like a Fish (Type 665; also in Bohemia); The Punishment of Men (Type 840); The Bank Robbery (Type 951B); and Cleverness and Gullibility (Type 1539; 253 versions in Finland alone, sporadic in Greece, Turkey, and America).

Though the groups of peoples just noticed are represented by a large number [p. 186] of local stories, some tales of limited dissemination occur almost everywhere. Thus The Faithless Wife (Type 315B*) belongs to the Baltic and Balkan states and Russia. Hans my Hedgehog (Type 441) is known from Norway to Hungary, but depends entirely upon the Grimm version. Born from a Fish (Type 705) seems purely Scandinavian, and four tales apparently are known only in Norway: The Animal Sons-in-law and their Magic Food (Type 552B); The King's Tasks (Type 577); The Children of the King (Type 892); and Like Wind in the Hot Sun (Type 923A). Confined to south eastern Europe is The Serpent Maiden (Type 507C). Primarily Italian, but also known in Russia, is The Wolf (Type 428). Central European, primarily German, are the three varieties of The Serpent's Crown (Types 672A, B, and C). And two tales, except for occasional appearances of the Grimm version in other countries, seem to be limited to German tradition: Jorinde and Joringel (Type 405) and The Girl as Flower (Type 407).

In the rapid summary just completed it seems clear that for most of the complex tales of the European and Asiatic areas some generalizations are safe. Though we may not be able to say just when or just where a tale originated, or whether it was first an oral story or a literary creation, the general probabilities are such as we have indicated. Many questions of detail within the limits of these probabilities will engage the efforts of future scholars.

There still remain a considerable number of these complex tales where the evidence at present available is either insufficient to lead to general conclusions or else is so overwhelming in amount that it has never yet been properly utilized for systematic investigation.

For some tales, when the data are all assembled, the question as to whether they are essentially literary or oral seems quite unsolvable without much further study. Among such tales are: The Gifts of the Little People (Type 503); The Princess Rescued from Slavery (Type 506A); The Jew Among Thorns (Type 592); Tom Thumb (Type 700); The Maiden Without Hands (Type 706); Christ and Peter in the Barn (Type 752A); The Forgotten Wind (Type 752B) ; The Saviour and Peter in Night-Lodgings (Type 791); The Lazy Boy and the Industrious Girl (Type 822); The Princess who Cannot Solve the Riddle (Type 851); and The Parson's Stupid Wife (Type 1750).

In another group the question as to whether the tale is essentially Oriental or European is still not satisfactorily solved: The Ogre's (Devil's) Heart in the Egg (Type 302); The Spirit in the Bottle (Type 331); The Prince as Bird (Type 432); The Man Persecuted because of his Beautiful Wife (Type 465); The Table, the Ass, and the Stick (Type 563); and "All Stick Together" (Type 571).

Finally, a half dozen stories well known over the entire world present major problems of investigation, because of the great mass of materials at [p. 187] hand, much of unorganized. Each of them offers a challenge to scholarship. These six tales The Man on a Quest for his Lost Wife (Type 400); Cinderella (Type 510A); The Bird, the Horse, and the Princess (Type 550); The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn (Type 569); The Master Thief (Type 1525); and the Rich and the Poor Peasant (Type 1535). [p. 188]

[283] An exhaustive treatment would include a considerable number of such tales of purely local development for Lithuania, for Roumania, for Russia, and for India. The material for the first three of these countries may be examined in the surveys of Balys, Schullerus, and Andrejev, respectively (see references on pp. 420f.). No adequate survey of the material for India has yet been made. I have been working upon one for some years and have reasonable hopes of completing it.

[284] These are best represented by (1) Cowell, The Jātaka; (2) Chavannts, 500 Contes.

[285] For a discussion of this point, see p. 160, above.

[286] See pp. 278ff., below.

[287] See pp. I39f., above.

[288] The other tales which are distributed over the world and have received literary treatment have already been discussed.

[289] For Roumania, Hungary, and Wallonia, see FF Communications Nos. 78, 81, and 101 respectively. For the Russian, see Andrejev, Ukazatel' Skazočnich Siuzhetov.

[290] The number of purely Baltic tales would be greatly increased by inclusion of all those listed in Balys' Motif Index, which appeared after the Aarne-Thompson Index, and also by citing many of the "Types not Included" from the Aarne-Thompson Index.

[291] Single sporadic occurrences elsewhere are disregarded.

123, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 306, 307, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 315B*, 316, 325, 326, 327A, 327B, 327C, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 335, 360, 361, 363, 365, 366, 400, 401, 402, 403, 403C, 405, 407, 408, 409, 410, 425, 426, 428, 430, 431, 432, 433, 440, 441, 449*, 450, 451, 460A, 460B, 461, 465, 470, 471, 473, 475, 480, 500, 501, 502, 503, 505, 506A, 506B, 507A, 507B, 507C, 508, 510, 510A, 510B, 511, 511*, 513, 513A, 514, 516, 517, 518, 519, 530, 531, 532, 533, 545A, 545B, 550, 551, 552, 552B, 553, 554, 555, 559, 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 569, 570, 571, 575, 577, 580, 590, 591, 592, 593, 610, 611, 612, 613, 620, 621, 650, 652, 653, 654, 655, 660, 665, 670, 671, 672A, 672B, 672C, 673, 675, 677, 700, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 715, 720, 725, 735, 736, 745, 750A, 750B, 751, 752A, 752B, 753, 755, 756A, 756B, 756C, 759, 761, 765, 780, 781, 785, 791, 800, 801, 802, 803, 804, 810, 812, 815, 820, 821, 822, 830, 831, 832, 836, 837, 840, 841, 844, 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 870, 870A, 875, 881, 882, 884, 888, 890, 892, 900, 901, 910A, 910B, 910C, 910D, 920, 921, 922, 923, 923A, 927, 930, 931, 935, 945, 950, 951A, 951B, 952. 953, 954, 956A, 956B, 960, 1137, 1525, 1535, 1538, 1539, 1540, 1542, 1544, 1640, 1641, 1642, 1650, 1651, 1652, 1655, 1697, 1750

Part Two

The Folktale from Ireland to India

III – The Simple Tale

1. Jests and Anecdotes

H. Seduction and Adultery

To the unlettered story-teller and listener, as well as to the writer of literary tales, there has always been a greater interest in deceptions connected with sex conduct than any other. Such deceptions may be of several kinds. They may result in seduction, in the discomfiture of unwelcome lovers, in the beguiling of cuckolded husbands, or in the discovery and punishment of adulterers by the outraged husband or by some trickster who profits by the exposure. Tales like these are very old, and they were especially popular with the writers of fabliaux, novelle, and jestbooks. A great proportion of such literary tales are never heard from popular story-tellers. But some of [p. 203] them are very well known everywhere. And many such tales have certainly been made up in entire independence of literary influences.

As a part of longer tales we have already seen a number of cases of what is essentially seduction. A girl masks as a man and wins a princess's love; or the hero frames his questions to the princess who must always answer "No" in such a way as to gain his desires; or a princess is enticed on board a merchant's ship to inspect beautiful clothes; or the garments of bathing girls are seized and held. We have also seen a young man entering the princess's room in a golden ram or hidden in a chest, or even by means of artificial wings. And we have seen the frog prince buying the right to sleep before the girl's door, at the foot of her bed, and finally in the bed itself. [315]

One of the most widely-known tales of seduction is frequently recounted as a part of the Anger Bargain cycle (Types 1000-1029). After the trickster has heaped all manner of indignities upon the master, the latter sends him into the house to bring back two articles. He meets the two daughters and calls back to the master, "Both?" ''Yes, I said both," replies the master. The youth then has his will of both daughters (K1354.1; Type 1563). This anecdote is as old as the Thousand and One Nights, and was repeated in Renaissance jestbooks. It is a favorite in the Baltic states and has been reported in Roumania and among the French. Its appearance in three Indian tribes of North America and one of Bolivia and in Portuguese tradition in Massachusetts would suggest that not all European versions have been collected. Much less witty, but equally popular around the Baltic, is the tale of the young man who tricks a lady with a promise of a pair of beautiful shoes. The husband, however, appears before payment can be made (K1357; Type 1731). [316]

Writers of novelle and fabliaux were fond of tales of humiliated lovers. Virgil hanging in a basket below his mistress's window, or Aristotle crawling on all fours as a riding horse for his scornful lady, or the bawdy tricks recounted by Chaucer in his Miller's Tale—all these are a part of literature rather than of folklore. [317] On the contrary, the Oriental and Renaissance literary tale of The Entrapped Suitors (Lai l'épervier) (K1218.1; Type 1730) has attained a real popularity in the folklore of eastern Europe, and has been collected in Spain and Indonesia. The chaste wife with many suitors has them come, one at a time. As each arrives, the one before has just undressed and must hide. At the end, the husband and his guests come and chase the embarrassed suitors away.

Somewhat similar tales from fabliaux and jestbooks popular in eastern Europe but otherwise apparently unknown as folktales are two concerning [p. 204] discovered lovers. One of them tells how a man hidden in a roof sees a girl and her lover. He becomes so interested that he falls, and they flee and leave him in possession (K1271.1.4; Type 1776). The other anecdote is only a slight variant of this. The man who has seen the intrigue from the stable roof threatens to tell about it, and the woman gives him money to keep quiet (K1271.1.4.1; Type 1360B).

In the anecdote just mentioned the situation is related by the rascal in the form of a story, so that only gradually the woman realizes that her secret is known. This conversation with a double meaning reminds one of the very well-known tale of Old Hildebrand (K1556; Type 1360C). [318] In this case the husband leaves home and, suspecting his wife, has himself carried back, where he finds her entertaining the priest. They make rhymes about the husband's absence and the good times they expect to have. From his hiding place in the basket he answers in appropriate rhymes. In his exhaustive treatment of this tale, Walter Anderson [319] carries it back to Flemish literature of the late fifteenth century and shows its subsequent treatment in songs, puppet theaters, and Russian bylini. Contrary to most anecdotes which we have noticed, this one is almost completely unknown in Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania, although it is popular in all parts of Russia, even into Siberia, and in practically every part of Europe. In America it has been reported in several places: in the English tradition of North Carolina, the Negro of Louisiana and the Bahamas, and the Portuguese of Massachusetts. The combination of literary texts with its widespread oral acceptance made this one of the best of all short anecdotes for comparative study.

In the tale cycle of Big Claus and Little Claus (Type 1535) we saw how the trickster, acting as a sham magician, discovers a woman's adultery and manages to buy the chest which contains the hidden paramour (K1574). There are a number of variations to this motif, and in several combinations they go together to make an independent anecdote (Type 1725). The trickster, having discovered the intended adultery and the prepared feast, brings it about that the food goes to the husband instead of the paramour (K1571). Sometimes he merely makes her believe that the husband is coming to punish her, and thus forces her confession (K1572). In other versions the trickster, by a ruse, sends the master running after the departing paramour (K1573). Though the master knows nothing of the adultery, the lover is thoroughly frightened and the wife confesses to the husband. Of all these incidents, the latter is by far the most popular. It appears in the Thousand and One Nights, in various fabliaux and jestbooks, and in the writings of Hans Sachs. It is known orally in all parts of Europe, particularly in the north. Similar tales are reported from India. [p. 205]

[315] Types 514, 851, 516, 313 and 400, 854 and 900, 882, 575, and 440, respectively.

[316] With some variation, Chaucer has used this motif for his Shipman's Tale. See the study by Spargo, Shipman's Tale, pp. 50ff.

[317] For this group of motifs, see K1210-K1239.

[318] This resemblance is certainly not important, and Walter Anderson is quite right in taking me to task for assigning it the number 1360C as if it were only a subdivision of 1360. Old Hildebrand has to do with a returning husband and not with an outside trickster.

[319] Der Schwank vom alten Hildebrand.

313, 400, 440, 514, 516, 851, 854, 882, 900, 1000-1029, 1360, 1360B, 1360C, 1535, 1563, 1725, 1730, 1731, 1776

K1210-K1239, K1218.1, K1271.1.4, K1271.1.4.1, K1556, K1354.1, K1357, K1571, K1572, K1573, K1574

Part Two

The Folktale from Ireland to India

III – The Simple Tale

1. Jests and Anecdotes

L. The Bad Wife

In those anecdotes in which the wife hides behind a tree and deceives the gullible husband, the sympathy of the story-teller is nearly always with her, for ordinarily her cause is just. And in folktales in general the wife is likely to be the object of pity and commiseration, so that some of the most beloved characters in the wonder tales are the long-suffering and persecuted heroines. But even in these same wonder, tales cruelty often shows itself most merciless in faithless sisters, mothers, and wives. [321]

In the folk anecdote, influenced perhaps by fabliaux and novelle with their medieval bias against women, the woman usually appears as wicked, over bearing, and faithless, or at best unutterably stupid.

The medieval literary tale of the Widow of Ephesus (K2213.1; Type 1510) has itself never become popular among the folk, but it has given rise to a number of similar anecdotes of faithless widows. In all of these the central point is that the wife plans her new marriage on the day of the husband's funeral. In one such tale she is ready to marry the messenger who brings news of the husband's death, but the husband has only feigned death in order to test her (T231.3; Type 1350). With slight variation this tale is known in the folklore of various parts of Europe. It is the only one of the considerable cycle which has become thus popular. [322]

In the tales of King Thrushbeard and The Taming of the Shrew (Types 900, 901) we have seen how husbands have, in one way or another, brought under subjection their shrewish wives. But sometimes the wife is so evil that neither man nor devil can cure her. Thus it is in the well-known literary story of Belfagor. In its usual form, the man persuades his shrewish wife to let herself be lowered into a well. When he comes to pull her out, he raises a genie or devil, who is glad to escape from the woman. Later, when he wishes to frighten the devil, he has only to tell him that the wife has escaped (T251.1.1; Type 1164). This story goes back to India and the Sukasaptati, but it appears in nearly every later collection of tales down through the Renaissance, and as a folktale it has been recorded more than one hundred times in various parts of Europe.

Another literary anecdote which has been generally adopted by tellers of folktales is that of the obstinate wife. In its three forms it has essentially the same action. The husband has a long argument with his obstinate wife which ends with his throwing her into a stream. As sometimes told, the argument has been about whether something has been cut with a knife or with scissors. She gets the last word, for as she sinks under the water, she makes with her fingers the motion of shearing with scissors. Or she has called her husband a lousy-head and as she sinks she makes the sign of cracking a louse. [p. 210]

In a third variety the obstinate wife falls into the stream and drowns. Neighbors find him next day seeking for her upstream from the drowning place. He says that she would be too obstinate to go with the current (T255 and subdivisions; Type 1365ABC). All three of these forms appear frequently in the tale collections of the Middle Ages and all of them may still be heard in almost any part of Europe. So far as I am aware, only the variety with the sign of the shearing has been reported from America.

Evil intentions on her part are not necessary to make a wife undesirable. She can be so stupid that there is no living with her. Such is the experience of the husband who goes out on the long quest to find three persons as stupid as his wife. In one way or another, he finds them, and in comparison it turns out that his own wife is not so stupid after all (H1312.1; Type 1384). This anecdote often serves to introduce longer tales of stupid persons, but it has, had a vigorous independent life. Like most jests about wives, it has a place in the older jestbooks. But this tale is also told frequently in all parts of Europe and well out into Siberia. Versions apparently based upon English originals have been found in Virginia, and close parallels exist in Africa.

In examining these tales of evil wives, one is struck not so much by the fact that some of them are told by story-tellers over a large area but that out of the scores of such anecdotes to be found in fabliaux, novelle, and books of exempla and Schwänke only a bare half dozen have received any general acceptance by the folk.

[321] Sec Ziegler, Die Frau im Märchen for a good discussion of this point.

[322] For this group of anecdotes, see T230ff., with cross references.

900, 901 1164, 1350, 1510, 1365A, 1365B, 1365C, 1384

H1312.1, K2213.1, T230ff, T231.3, T251.1.1, T255

Number of Borrowing of European-Asiatic Tales by Indonesians, African, and American Indians

Type

Indonesianx

Africanx

Americanx Indianx

1. The Theft of Fish		5	7
2. Tail-Fisher		3	13
4. Carrying the Sham-Sick Trickster		5
5. Biting the Foot	13	16
6. Inquiring about the Wind		2
7. Calling of Three Tree Names		1
8. The Painting	2	7
9A. The Unjust Partner: Bear Threshes		7
9B. The Unjust Partner: Corn and Chaff			2
15. Theft of Butter (Honey) by Playing Godfather		13	2
21. Eating His Own Entrails	1	1
30. Fox Tricks Wolf into Falling into a Pit		1
31. Fox Climbs from Pit on Wolf's Back	15
33. Fox Plays Dead and is Thrown out of Pit and Escape	20	5
36. Fox in Disguise Violates the She-Bear	1
37. Fox as Nursemaid for Bear	7	30
38. Claw in Split Tree	11	2
47A. Fox Hangs by Teeth to Horse's Tail		2	1
49. Bear and the Honey			2
50. Sick Lion	1
55. Animals Build a Road		18	1
56. Fox Steals Young Magpies		7
60. Fox and Crane			3
62. Peace Among Animals			1
72. Rabbit Rides Fox a-Courting	1	6	7
73. Blinding the Guard		2	2
100. Wolf as Dog's Guest Sings			1
101. Old Dog as Rescuer of Child			1
104. Cowardly Duelers			3
105. Cat's Only Trick		2
111. Cat and Mouse Converse	3
122A. Wolf Seeks Breakfast		2
122B. Cat Washes Face before Eating		5
123. Wolf and Kids			1
125. Wolf Flees from Wolf-Head		12
130. Animals in Night Quarters			1
154. "Bear-Food"		6	1
155. Ungrateful Serpent Returned to Captivity	12
156. Splinter in Bear's Paw		1
157. Learning to Fear Men		1	1
175. Tarbaby and Rabbit	2	39	23
210. Cock, Hen, etc. on Journey	10
221. Election of Bird King	2
222. War of Birds and Quadrupeds		4
225. Crane Teaches Fox to Fly	4	3	43?
228. Titmouse Tries to be Big as Bear	1	8
235. Jay Borrows Cuckoo's Skin	3
248. Dog and Sparrow	1
249. Ant and Cricket			3
275. Race of Fox and Crayfish	26		1
295. Bean, Straw, and Coal			3
300. Dragon-Slayer	1		14
301. Three Stolen Princesses			16
302. Ogre's Heart in Egg	2		1
303. Twins or Blood-Brothers	3		3
307. Princess in the Shroud		2
311. Rescue by Sister (Girls in Sacks)		5	1
313. Girl as Helper in Hero's Flight		2	33
314. Youth Transformed to Horse (Goldener)	24	4	15
325. Magician and Pupil	1
326. Learning What Fear Is			2
327A. Hansel and Gretel	6	8	10
327B. Dwarf and Giant	3
327C. Devil Carries Hero in Sack		9	6?
328. Boy Steals Giant's Treasure			6
331. Spirit in Bottle			1
333. Red Ridinghood; Six Little Goats		16
400. Quest for Lost Wife	37	11	29
401. Princess Transformed into Deer		1
402. Mouse (Cat, etc.) as Bride	1
403. Black and White Bride	1	15	6
408. Three Oranges		1
425. Search for Lost Husband (Cupid and Psyche)	5	5	1
432. Prince as Bird		1
450. Little Brother and Little Sister		3
451. Maiden Who Seeks her Brothers			1
461. Three Hairs from Devil's Beard	17	1	1
471. Bridge to Other World	1	1	1
480. Spinning Woman by the Spring	6		3
506. Rescued Princess: Grateful Dead	6		1
507. Monster's Bride: Grateful Dead			1
510A. Cinderella	2	3	4
510B. Cap o' Rushes		2	1
511. One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes	3
513. The Helpers (Extraordinary Companions)		2	3
514. Shift of Sex	1
516. Faithful John		1
518. Devils Fight over Magic Objects		2
531. Clever Horse		3	2
533. Speaking Horse-head		6
545. Cat as Helper (Puss in Boots)	2	10
550. Bird, Horse, and Princess	4	4
551. Sons on Quest for Remedy		4
552A. Three Animal Brothers-in-Law			1
554. Grateful Animals	11
555. Fisher and His Wife	5
559. Dungbeetle		1	4
560. Magic Ring	36	8	2
561. Aladdin	1		2
563. Table, Ass, and Stick	7	14	4
566. Three Magic Objects and Wonderful Fruits	2		1
567. Magic Bird-heart	13	1	1
569. Knapsack, Hat, and Horn	5		5
570. Rabbit-herd	1	1
571. "All Stick Together"		1
590. Prince and Arm Bands			1
592. Jew Among Thorns	1
612. Three Snake-Leaves	2
613. Two Travelers		5	1
621. Louse-Skin	3
650. Strong John	27	3	4
653. Four Skillful Brothers	8	12
655. Wise Brothers	1	2
670. Animal Languages	6	23
671. Three Languages		2
675. Lazy Boy	2
676. Open Sesame	1	9
700. Tom Thumb		5	1
706. Maiden Without Hands		6	2
707. Three Golden Sons		8	1
709. Snow White		6
750. The Wishes: Hospitality Rewarded	1	1	3
780. Singing Bone		8
781. Princess Who Murdered her Child		12
785. Who Ate the Lamb's Heart?	1
851. Princess who Cannot Solve Riddle	3	2
852. Princess Forced to Say, "That is a Lie."	1	2
853. Princess Caught with her own Words			2
854. Golden Ram			1
875. Clever Peasant Girl	3	3
882. Wager on Wife's Chastity	2
900. King Thrushbeard		1?
901. Taming of the Shrew			1
910. The Good Precepts		2
921. King and Peasant's Son	1	2
922. King and Abbot	1
923. Love Like Salt		1
930. Prophecy for Poor Boy		1	1
931. Oedipus	1
935. Prodigal's Return			1
945. Luck and Intelligence	8	1
950. Rhampsinitus	1
1000. Anger Bargain	5		2
1004. Hogs in Mud, Sheep in Air	2	3	4
1012. Cleaning the Child	1
1015. Whetting the Knife	2
1030. Crop Division	1
1031. Roof as Threshing Flail			2
1060. Squeezing the Stone	1	1	1
1061. Biting the Stone		1	1
1062. Throwing the Stone	1		1
1063. Throwing Contest with Golden Club			1
1074. Race with Relatives in Line	6	38	12
1085. Pushing Hole in a Tree			1
1088. Eating Contest: Food in Bag			20
1115. Attempted Murder with Hatchet		10
1119. Ogre Kills Own Children: Substitutes in Bed		14	5
1149. Children Desire Ogre's Flesh	10	4
1157. Gun as Tobacco Pipe		1
1200. Sowing of Salt		1
1250. Bringing Water from Well: Human Chain		1	2
1260. Porridge in Ice Hole	1
1276. Rowing without Going Forward	4
1278. Bell Falls into Sea: Mark on Boat	2
1310. Crayfish as Tailor: Drowned	18	22	31
1319. Pumpkin as Ass's Egg, Rabbit as Colt			1
1350. Loving Wife: Man Feigns Death		1?
1360C. Old Hildebrand			1
1380. Faithless Wife: Husband Feigns Blindness		1
1384. Quest for Person Stupid as Wife		2
1386. Meat as Food for Cabbage	7
1415. Lucky Hans	2		1
1430. Man and Wife Build Air Castles	7	1
1525. Master Thief	2		6
1528. Holding Down the Hat	2		1
1530. Holding up the Rock		11	3
1535. Rich and Poor Peasant	10	16	11
1537. Corpse Killed Five Times	3		2
1539. Cleverness and Gullibility	7		3
1540. Student from Paradise (Paris)	3
1541. For the Long Winter			2
1542. The Clever Boy: Fooling-Sticks			8
1563. "Both?"			3
1585. Lawyer's Mad Client			1
1590. Trespasser's Defense			1
1610. To Divide Presents and Strokes		2
1611. Contest in Climbing Mast			1
1612. Contest in Swimming			1
1640. Brave Tailor	3		4
1641. Doctor Know-All	21	3
1642. The Good Bargain: Money to Frogs			4
1651. Whittington's Cat	2	2
1653. Robbers under Tree	2	1	5
1655. Eaten Grain and Cock as Damages		10	1
1685. Foolish Bridegroom	6	1
1696. "What Should I Have Said?"	6	4	2
1698A. Search for Lost Animal: Deaf Person	1
1698B. Travelers Ask the Way: Deaf Peasant		1
1730. Three Suitors Visit Chaste Wife	2	3
1737. Parson in Sack to Heaven		1
1775. Hungry Parson			3
1920A. Lying Contest: "Sea Burns"	1
1930. Schlaraffenland		3
2028. Troll (Wolf) Cut Open		1
2030. Old Woman and Pig	2	4
2031. Frost-bitten Foot	4	3
2033. Nut Hits Cock's Head		3
2034C. Lending and Repaying, Progressive Bargains		22
2035. House that Jack Built		4
2400. Ground Measured with Horse's Skin			1

1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9A, 9B, 15, 21, 30, 31, 33, 36, 37, 38, 47A, 49, 50, 55, 56, 60, 62, 72, 73, 100, 101, 104, 105, 111, 122A, 122B, 123, 125, 130, 154, 155, 156, 157, 175, 210. 221, 222, 225, 228, 235, 248, 249, 275, 295, 300, 301, 302, 303, 307, 311, 313, 314, 325, 326, 327A, 327B, 327C, 328, 331, 333, 400, 401, 402, 403, 408, 425, 432, 450, 451, 461, 471, 480, 506, 507, 510A, 510B, 511, 513, 514, 516, 518, 531, 533, 545, 550, 551, 552A, 554, 555, 559, 560, 561, 563, 566, 567, 569, 570, 571, 590, 592, 612, 613, 621, 650, 653, 655, 670, 671, 675, 676, 700, 706, 707, 709, 750, 780, 781, 785, 851, 852, 853. 854. 875, 882, 900, 901, 910, 921, 922, 923, 930, 931, 935, 945, 950, 1000, 1004, 1012, 1015, 1030, 1031, 1060, 1061, 1062, 1063, 1074, 1085, 1088, 1115, 1119, 1149, 1157, 1200, 1250, 1260, 1276, 1278, 1310, 1319, 1350, 1360C, 1380, 1384, 1386, 1415, 1430, 1525, 1528, 1530, 1535, 1537, 1539, 1540, 1541, 1542, 1563, 1585, 1590, 1610, 1611, 1612, 1640, 1641, 1642, 1651, 1653, 1655, 1685, 1696, 1698A, 1698B, 1730, 1737, 1775, 1920A, 1930, 2028, 2030, 2031, 2033, 2034C, 2035, 2400