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diff --git a/39408.txt b/39408.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d9f8361 --- /dev/null +++ b/39408.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6687 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Grateful Dead, by Gordon Hall Gerould + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: The Grateful Dead + The History of a Folk Story + +Author: Gordon Hall Gerould + +Release Date: April 9, 2012 [EBook #39408] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GRATEFUL DEAD *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project +Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously +made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + The Folk-Lore Society + For Collecting and Printing + Relics of Popular Antiquities, &c. + Established in + The Year MDCCCLXXVIII. + + Publications + Of + The Folk-lore Society + + LX. + + [1907] + + + + + + + + THE GRATEFUL DEAD + The History of a Folk Story + + By + GORDON HALL GEROULD + B. Litt. (Oxon.) + Preceptor in English in Princeton University + + Published for the Folk-Lore Society by + David Nutt, 57--59 Long Acre + London + + 1908 + + + + + + + + To + Professor A. S. Napier + In gratitude and friendship + + + + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + Chap. Page + Introduction ix + I. A Review 1 + II. Bibliography 7 + III. Tales with the Simple Theme and Miscellaneous + Combinations 26 + IV. The Grateful Dead and The Poison Maiden 44 + V. The Grateful Dead and The Ransomed Woman 76 + VI. The Grateful Dead and The Water of Life or Kindred + Themes 119 + VII. The Relations of The Grateful Dead to The Spendthrift + Knight, The Two Friends, and The Thankful Beasts 153 + VIII. Conclusion 162 + Index 175 + + + + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The combination of narrative themes is so frequent a phenomenon +in folk and formal literature that one almost forgets to wonder at +it. Yet in point of fact the reason for it and the means by which it +is accomplished are mysteries past our present comprehension. If we +could learn how and where popular tales unite, if we could formulate +any general principle of union or severance, we should be well on +the way to an understanding of the riddle which has hitherto baffled +all students of narrative, namely, the diffusion of stories. We have +theories enough; our immediate need is for more studies of individual +themes, careful and, if it must be, elaborate discussions of many +well-known cycles. Happily, these are accumulating and give promise +of much useful knowledge at no distant day. + +One principle has become clear. Since motives are so frequently found +in combination, it is essential that the complex types be analyzed +and arranged, with an eye kept single nevertheless to the master-theme +under discussion. Collectors, both primary and subsidiary, have done +such valiant service that the treasures at our command are amply +sufficient for such studies, so extensive, indeed, that the task of +going through them thoroughly has become too great for the unassisted +student. It cannot be too strongly urged that a single theme in its +various types and compounds must be made predominant in any useful +comparative study. This is true when the sources and analogues of +any literary work are treated; it is even truer when the bare motive +is discussed. + +The Grateful Dead furnishes an apt illustration of the necessity of +such handling. It appears in a variety of different combinations, +almost never alone. Indeed, it is so widespread a tale, and its +combinations are so various, that there is the utmost difficulty in +determining just what may properly be regarded the original kernel +of it, the simple theme to which other motives were joined. Various +opinions, as we shall see, have been held with reference to this +matter, most of them justified perhaps by the materials in the hands +of the scholars holding them, but none quite adequate in view of later +evidence. The true way to solve the riddle appears to be this: we must +ask the question,--what is the residuum when the tale is stripped +of elements not common to a very great majority of the versions +belonging to the cycle? What is left amounts to the following,--the +story reduced to its lowest terms, I take it. + +A man finds a corpse lying unburied, and out of pure philanthropy +procures interment for it at great personal inconvenience. Later he is +met by the ghost of the dead man, who in many cases promises him help +on condition of receiving, in return, half of whatever he gets. The +hero obtains a wife (or some other reward), and, when called upon, +is ready to fulfil his bargain as to sharing his possessions. + +Nowhere does a version appear in quite this form; but from what follows +it will be seen that the simple story must have proceeded along some +such lines. The compounds in which it occurs show much variety. It +will be necessary to study these in detail, not merely one or two of +them but as many as can be found. Despite the bewildering complexities +that may arise, I hope that this method of approach may throw some +new light on the wanderings of the tale. + +Of my debt to various friends and to many books, though indicated +in the body of the work, I wish to make general and grateful +acknowledgment here. My thanks, furthermore, are due to the librarians +of Harvard University for their courteous hospitality; to Professor +G. L. Kittredge for his generous encouragement to proceed with this +study, though he himself, as I found after most of my material was +collected, had undertaken it several years before I began; and to +Professor R. K. Root for his help in reading the proofs. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A REVIEW. + + +To Karl Simrock is due the honour of discovering the importance of +The Grateful Dead for the student of literature and legend. In his +little book, Der gute Gerhard und die dankbaren Todten, [1] he called +attention to the theme as a theme, and treated it with a breadth +of knowledge and a clearness of insight remarkable in an attempt +to unravel for the first time the mixed strands of so wide-spread +a tale. Using the Middle High German exemplary romance, Der gute +Gerhard, as his point of departure, he examined seventeen other +stories, all but two of which have the motive well preserved. [2] +Unhappily, the versions which he found came from a limited section +of Europe, most of them from Germanic sources. Thus he was led to an +interpretation of the tale on the basis of Germanic mythology. This, +though ingenious enough and very erudite, need not detain us. It was +done according to a fashion of the time, which has long since been +discarded. Simrock took the essential traits of the theme to be the +burial of the dead and the ransom from captivity. [3] "Wo nur noch +eine von beiden das Thema zu bilden scheint," he said, "da hat die +Ueberliefertung gelitten." Here again he was misled by the narrow range +of his material, as later studies have shown. Nearly all the versions +he cited have the motive of a ransomed princess, though the majority +of the stories now known to be members of the cycle do not contain it. + +Three years after the publication of Simrock's monograph Benfey treated +some features of the theme in a note appended to his discussion of +The Thankful Beasts in the monumental Pantschatantra. [4] Though he +named but a few variants, he found an Armenian tale which he compared +with the European versions, coming to the conclusion not only that the +motive proceeded from the Orient but also that the Armenian version +had the original form of it. That is, he took the ransom and burial +of the dead, the parting of a woman possessed by a serpent, and the +saving of the hero on the bridal night as the essential features. This +was a step in advance. + +George Stephens in his edition of Sir Amadas [5] held much the +same view. He added several important versions, and scored Simrock +for admitting Der gute Gerhard, saying that he could not see +that it had "any direct connection" with The Grateful Dead. [6] +He was at least partly in the right, even though his statement was +misleading. According to his Opinion, [7] "the peculiar feature of the +Princess (Maiden) being freed from demonic influence by celestial aid, +is undoubtedly the original form of the tale." + +In a series of notes beginning in the year 1858 Koehler [8] supplied +a large number of variants, which have been invaluable for succeeding +study of the theme. Nowhere, however, did he give an ordered account of +the versions at his command or discuss the relation of the elements--a +regrettable omission. The contributions of Liebrecht, [9] though less +extensive, were of the same sort. In his article published in 1868 he +said that he thought The Grateful Dead to be of European origin, [10] +but he added nothing to our knowledge of the essential form of the +story. The following decade saw the publication by Sepp of a rather +brief account of the motive, [11] which was chiefly remarkable for +its summary of classical and pre-classical references concerning the +duty of burial. Like Stephens he assumed that the release of a maiden +from the possession of demons was an essential part of the tale. In +1886 Cosquin brought the discussion one step further by showing [12] +that the theme is sometimes found in combination with The Golden +Bird and The Water of Life. He did not, however, attempt to define +the original form of the story nor to trace its development. + +By all odds the most adequate treatment that The Grateful Dead has +yet received is found in Hippe's monograph, Untersuchungen zu der +mittelenglischen Romanze von Sir Amadas, which appeared in 1888. [13] +Not only did he gather together practically all the variants mentioned +previous to that time and add some few new ones, but he studied +the theme with such interpretative insight that anyone going over +the same field would be tempted to offer an apology for what may +seem superfluous labour. Such a follower, and all followers, must +gratefully acknowledge their indebtedness to his labours. + +Yet one who follows imperfectly the counsels of perfection may +discover certain defects in Hippe's work. He neglects altogether +Cosquin's hint as to the combination of the theme with The Water +of Life and allied tales, thus leaving out of account an important +element, which is intimately connected with the chief motive in a large +number of tales. Indeed, his effort to simplify, commendable and even +necessary as it is, brings him to conclusions that in some respects, +I believe, are not sound. Though he states the essential points of the +primitive story in a form [14] which can hardly be bettered and which +corresponds almost exactly to the one that I have been led to accept +from independent consideration of the material, [15] he fails to see +that he is dealing in almost every case, not with a simple theme with +modified details but with compound themes. Thus he starts out with the +"Sage vom dankbaren Toten und der Frau mit den Drachen im Leibe" [16] +and explains all variations from this type either by the weakening of +this feature and that or by the introduction of a single new motive, +the story of The Ransomed Woman. He would thus make it appear [17] +that we have a well-ordered progression from one combined type to +various other combined and simplified types. Such a series is possible +without doubt, but it can hardly be admitted till the interplay of +all accessible themes, which have entered into combination with the +chief theme, is investigated. Hippe passes these things over silently +and so gives the subject a specious air of simplicity to which it +has no right. + +I should be the last to deny the necessity of treating narrative +themes each for itself, and I have nothing but admiration for the +general conduct of Hippe's investigation; but I wish to show that +his methods, and therefore his results, are at fault in so far as +he does not recognize the nature of the combinations into which +The Grateful Dead enters. Traces of other stories, unless their +presence is obviously artificial, must be carefully considered, +since in dealing with cycles of such fluid stuff as folk-tales it +is certainly wise to give each element due consideration. Certain +minor errors in Hippe's article will be mentioned in due course, +though my constant obligations to it must be emphasized here. + +Since the appearance of Hippe's study no one has treated The Grateful +Dead with such scope as to modify his conclusions. Perhaps the +most interesting work in the field has been that of Dr. Dutz [18] +on the relation of George Peele's Old Wives' Tale to our theme. He +follows Hippe's scheme, but gives some interesting new variants. Of +less importance, but useful within its limits, is the section devoted +to the saga by Dr. Heinrich Wilhelmi in his Studien ueber die Chanson +de Lion de Bourges. [19] Though he added no new versions, the author +studied in detail the relationship of some of the mediaeval forms to +one another, basing his results for the most part on careful textual +comparison. His gravest fault was the thoroughly artificial way in +which he mapped out the field as a whole, a method which could lead +only to erroneous conclusions, since he classified according to a +couple of superficial traits. An English study by Mr. F. H. Groome +on Tobit and Jack the Giant-Killer [20] unhappily was written without +regard to the previous literature of the subject, and simply rehearses +a number of well-known variants. + +In this brief review I have touched only on such studies of The +Grateful Dead as have materially enlarged the knowledge of the subject +or have attempted a discussion of the theme in a broad way. In the +following chapter reference will be made to other works, in which +particular versions have been printed or summarized. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +BIBLIOGRAPHY. + + +The following list of variants of The Grateful Dead includes only +such tales as have the fundamental traits, as sketched above, either +expressed or clearly implied. Thus Der gute Gerhard, for example, is +not mentioned because it has only the motive of The Ransomed Woman, +while one of the folk-tales from Hungary is admitted because it follows +in general outline one of the combined types to be discussed later, +even though the burial of the dead is obscured. I cite by the short +titles which will be used to indicate the stories in the subsequent +discussion. The arrangement is roughly geographical. + + +Tobit. + +In the apocryphal book of Tobit. According to Neubauer, The Book of +Tobit, a Chaldee Text from a unique MS. in the Bodleian Library, 1878, +p. xv, Tobit was originally written in Hebrew, although the Hebrew text +preserved was taken from Chaldee. Neubauer (p. xvii) quotes Graetz, +Geschichte der Juden, (2nd ed.) iv. 466, as saying that the book was +written in the time of Hadrian, and he concludes that it cannot be +earlier because it was unknown to Josephus. The correspondence with +Sir Amadas, and thus with The Grateful Dead generally, seems to have +been first noted by Simrock, p. 131 f., again by Koehler, Germania, +iii. 203, by Stephens, p. 7, by Hippe, p. 142, etc. + + +Armenian. + +A. von Haxthausen, Transkaukasia, 1856, i. 333 f. A modern +folk-tale. Reprinted entire by Benfey, Pantschatantra, i. 219, +note, and by Koehler, Germania, iii. 202 f. A somewhat inadequate +summary is given by Hippe, p. 143; a better one is found in +Arch. f. slav. Phil. v. 43, by Koehler, who mentioned the tale again +in Or. und Occ. ii. 328, and iii. 96. Summarized also by Sepp, p. 681, +Groome, Folk-Lore, ix. 228 f., and mentioned by Wilhelmi, p.45. + + +Jewish. + +Reischer, Schaare Jeruschalajim, 1880, pp. 86-99. Summarized by +Gaster, Germania, xxvi. 200-202, and from him by Hippe, pp. 143, +144. A modern folk-tale from Palestine. + + +Annamite. + +Landes, Contes et legendes annamites, 1886, pp. 162, 163, "La +reconnaissance de l'etudiant mort." A modern folk-tale. + + +Siberian. + +Radloff, Proben der Volkslitteratur der tuerkischen +Staemme Sued-Siberiens, 1866, i. 329-331. See Koehler, +Arch. f. slav. Phil. v. 43, note. + + +Simonides. + +Cicero, De Divinatione, i. 27, referred to again in ii. 65 and +66. Retold by Valerius Maximus, Facta et Dicta, i. 7; after him by +Robert Holkot, Super Libros Sapientiae, Lectio 103; and again by +Chaucer in the Nun's Priest's Tale, Cant. Tales, B, 4257-4294. For +the relationship of Chaucer's anecdote to those in Latin see Skeat, +note in his edition, Lounsbury, Studies in Chaucer, 1892, ii. 274, +and Petersen, On the Sources of the Nonne Prestes Tale, 1898, +pp. 106-117. Connected with The Grateful Dead by Freudenberg in a +review of Simrock in Jahrbuecher des Vereins von Alterthumsfreunden im +Rheinlande, xxv. 172. See also Koehler, Germania iii. 209, Liebrecht in +Heidelberger Jahrbuecher der Lit. lxi. 449, 450, and Sepp. p. 680. Not +treated by Hippe. + + +Gypsy. + +A. G. Paspati, Etudes sur les Tchinghianes ou Bohemiens de +l'Empire Ottoman, 1870, pp. 601-605, Translated from Paspati by +F. H. Groome, Gypsy Folk-Tales, 1899, pp. 1-3. Summarized by Koehler, +Arch. f. slav. Phil. v. 43 and carelessly by Hippe, p. 143. This +tale was heard near Adrianople. Cited by Foerster, Richars li Biaus, +p. xxviii, and by Wilhelmi, p. 45. + + +Greek. + +J. G. von Hahn, Griechische und albanesische Maerchen, 1864, no. 53, +pp. 288-295, "Belohnte Treue." Summarized in part by Hippe, p. 149. See +also Liebrecht, Heid. Jahrbuecher, lxi. 451, and by Groome, Folk-Lore, +ix. 243. This tale was found in northern Euboea. + + +Maltese. + +Hans Stumme, Maltesische Maerchen, Gedichte und Raetsel, 1904, no. 12, +pp. 39-45. + + +Russian I. + +Afansjew, Russische Volksmaerchen, Heft 6, p. 323 f. Analyzed by +Schiefner, Or. und Occ. ii. 174, 175, and after him by Hippe, p. 144, +with some omissions. See Koehler, Or. und Occ. iii. 93-103, and Sepp, +p. 684. + + +Russian II. + +Chudjakow, Grossrussische Maerchen, Heft 3, pp. 165-168. Translation +by Schiefner, Or. und Occ. iii. 93-96 in article by Koehler. In +English by Groome, Folk-Lore, ix. 229 ff. Summarized by Koehler, +Arch. f. slav. Phil. v. 43, and (with an important omission) by Hippe, +pp. 144, 145. See Koehler's notes in Gonzenbach, Sicilianische Maerchen, +ii. 250. + + +Russian III. + +Reproduced from an illustrated folk-book in the Publications of +the Society of Friends of Old Literature in St. Petersburg, 1880, +no. 49. Summarized by V. Jagic, Arch. f. slav. Phil. v. 480, and by +Hippe, p. 145. Jagic remarks that the tale must have been widely known +in Russia in the eighteenth century, though clearly of foreign origin. + + +Russian IV. + +Dietrich, Russische Volksmaerchen in den Urschrift gesammelt, +1831, no. 16, pp. 199-207. English translation, Russian Popular +Tales. Translated from the German Version of Anton Dietrich, 1857, +pp. 179-186. "Sila Zarewitsch und Iwaschka mit dem weissen Hemde." Like +other tales in the collection this was taken from a popular print +bought at Moscow. Mentioned by Benfey, Pantschatantra, i. 220, and +by Koehler, Or. u. Occ. ii. 328. + + +Russian V. [21] + +P. V. Sejn, Materialien zur Kenntniss der russischen Bevoelkerung +von Nordwest-Russland, 1893, ii. 66-68, no. 33. Cited by Polivka in +Arch. f. slav. Phil. xix. 251. + + +Russian VI. + +P. V. Sejn, work cited, ii. 401-407, no. 227. Cited by Polivka, +Arch. f. slav. Phil. xix. 262. + + +Servian I. + +Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic, 2nd ed. of his Servian folk-tales, +1870. Translated by Madam Mijatovies (Mijatovich), Serbian +Folk-Lore, 1874, p. 96. Summarized from Servian by Koehler, +Arch. f. slav. Phil. ii. 631, 632, and from him by Hippe, p. 145. + + +Servian II. + +Summarized from Gj. K. Stefanovic's collection, 1871, no. 15, by +Jagic in Arch. f. slav. Phil. v. 40 f. with the title "Vlatko und +der dankbare Todte." Thence by Hippe, p. 145. + + +Servian III. + +Jagic in Arch. f. slav. Phil. v. 41 f, from Stojanovic's collection, +no. 31. Hippe's summary, p. 146, is exceedingly brief and faulty. + + +Servian IV. + +Jagic, Arch. f. slav. Phil. v. 42, from Matica, B. 105 (A.D. 1863, +St. Novakovic). Summary of this by Hippe, p. 146. Jagic calls the tale +"Ein Goldfisch." + + +Servian V. + +Krauss, Sagen und Maerchen der Suedslaven, 1883, i. 385-388, "Der +Vilaberg." Summarized by Dutz, p. 11. + + +Servian VI. + +Krauss, work cited, i. 114-119. "Fuhrmann Tueguts Himmelswagen." From +the manuscript collection of Valjavec. Summarized by Dutz, p. 18, +note 2. + + +Bohemian. [22] + +Waldau, Boehmisches Maerchenbuch, 1860, pp. 213-241. Mentioned by Koehler, +Or. und Occ. ii. 329, and by Hippe, p. 146. Summarized by the former, +Or. und Occ. iii. 97 f. + + +Polish. + +K. W. Wojcicki, Klechdy, Starozytne podania i powiesci ludowe, +2nd ed., Warsaw, 1851. Translated into German by F. H. Lewestam, +Polnische Volkssagen und Maerchen, 1839, pp. 130 ff; into English by +A. H. Wratislaw, Sixty Folk-Tales from exclusively Slavonic Sources, +1889, pp. 121 ff.; and into French by Louis Leger, Recueil de contes +populaires slaves, 1882, pp. 119 ff. Summarized by Koehler, Germania, +iii. 200 f., and by Hippe, pp. 146 f. See also Sepp, p. 684, Dutz, +p. 11, Groome, Gypsy Folk-Tales, p. 3, note, and Arivau, Folk-Lore +de Proaza, 1886, p. 205. + + +Bulgarian. + +Lydia Schischmanoff, Legendes religieuses bulgares, 1896, no. 77, +pp. 202-209, [23] "Le berger, son fils, et l'archange." + + +Lithuanian I. + +L. Geitler, Litauische Studien, 1875, pp. 21-23. Analyzed by Koehler, +Arch. f. slav. Phil. ii. 633, and after him briefly by Hippe, [24] +p. 147, as his "Lithuanian II." + + +Lithuanian II. + +Koehler, Arch. f. slav. Phil. ii. 633 f. From Prussian +Lithuania. Summarized by Hippe, p. 147, as his "Lithuanian III." + + +Hungarian I. + +G. Stier, Ungarische Sagen und Maerchen, 1850, pp. 110-122. Mentioned +by Koehler, Germania, iii. 202, and by Hippe, p. 147. + + +Hungarian II. + +G. Stier, Ungarische Volksmaerchen, 1857, pp. 153-167. Summarized by +Koehler, Germania, iii. 199 f., and too briefly by Hippe, p. 148. + + +Rumanian I. + +Arthur Schott, Neue walachische Maerchen, in Hacklaender and Hoefer's +Hausblaetter, 1857, iv. 470-473. Mentioned by Stephens, p. 10, Hippe, +p. 147, and Benfey, Pantschatantra, ii. 532. + + +Rumanian II. + +F. Obert, Romaenische Maerchen und Sagen aus Siebenbuergen, in Das +Ausland, 1858, p. 117. Mentioned by Koehler, Germania, iii. 202, +and by Hippe, p. 147. + + +Transylvanian. + +Haltrich, Deutsche Volksmaerchen aus dem Sachsenlande in Siebenbuergen, +1856, pp. 42-45. Analyzed by Koehler, Or. und Occ. ii. 326, and +incompletely by Hippe, p. 148. Mentioned by Stephens, p. 10, and Sepp, +p. 684. + + +Esthonian I. + +Schiefner, Or. und Occ. ii. 175 f., whence the analysis by Hippe, +p. 148. + + +Esthonian II. + +Reisen in mehrere russische Gouvernements in den Jahren 1801, 1807 +und 1815, 1830, v. 186-192, from Ein Ausflug nach Esthland im Junius +1807. Reprinted by Kletke, Maerchensaal, 1845, ii. 60-62. Summarized +by Dutz, p. 18, note 3. + + +Finnish. + +Liebrecht, Germania, xxiv. 131, 132. Communicated by Schiefner +from Suomen, Kansan Satuja, Helsingfors, 1866. Summarized by Hippe, +pp. 148 f. + + +Catalan. + +F. Maspons y Labros, Lo Rondollayre: Quentos populars catalans, Segona +Serie, 1872, no. 5, pp. 34-37. Analyzed by Liebrecht, Heid. Jahrbuecher +der Lit. lxv. 894 (1872), and after him by Hippe, p. 151. Mentioned +by d'Ancona, Romania, iii. 192, and by Foerster, Richars li Biaus, +p. xxviii. + + +Spanish. + +Duran, Romancero general, 1849-51, ii. 299-302, nos. 1291, +1292. Summarized by Koehler, Or. und Occ. ii. 323 f. and after him +by Cosquin, Contes populaires, i. 215, and by Hippe, p. 151. [25] +Mentioned by Sepp, p. 686. + + +Lope de Vega. + +Comedy in two parts, Don Juan de Castro. According to J. R. Chorley, +Catalogo de comedias y autos de Frey Felix de Vega Carpio, p. 5, this +play is to be found in Part xix. of the Comedias published in 1623 +(later issues 1624, 1625, and 1627). A. Schaeffer, Geschichte des +spanischen Nationaldramas, 1890, i. 141, says that the second part, +called Las aventuras de don Juan de Alarcos, is in Part xxv. of Lope's +comedies. The entire play is edited by Hartzenbusch, Comedias Escogidas +de Lope de Vega, iv. 373 ff. and 395 ff. in the Biblioteca de autores +espanoles, lii. Schaeffer, pp. 141, 142, gives a careful summary of +the play, and Koehler, Or. und Occ. iii. 100 f., gives another. The +latter is followed by Hippe, p. 151. Mentioned by Duran, Romancero +general, ii. 299, by Sepp, p. 686, and by Wilhelmi, pp. 45 ff. and 60. + + +Calderon. + +El Mejor Amigo el Muerto, by Luis de Belmonte, Francisco de Rojas, +and Pedro Calderon de la Barca, in Biblioteca de autores espanoles, +xiv. 471-488, and in Comedias escogidas de los mejores ingenios de +Espana, 1657, ix. 53-84. Analyzed by Koehler, Or. und Occ, iii. 100 f., +and briefly after him by Hippe, p. 151. Mentioned by Sepp, p. 686, +and by Wilhelmi, pp. 60 f. Schaeffer, work cited, ii. 283 f., says +that a play of this name was written by Belmonte alone in 1610, +which was revised about 1627 with the aid of Rojas and Calderon. + + +Trancoso. [26] + +Contos e historias de proveito e exemplo, by Goncalo Fernandez +Trancoso, Parte 2, Cont ii., first published in 1575 and frequently +re-issued during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In +the edition published at Lisbon in 1693, our tale is found on +pp. 45r.-60r.; and in that published at the same place in 1710, +on pp. 110-177. Menendez y Pelayo, Origenes de la Novela (Nueva +Biblioteca de autores espanoles vii.), 1907, ii. lxxxvii ff., gives +a bibliography, the table of contents, and a description of the work +on the basis of seventeenth century editions; on p. xcv. he connects +the tale above-mentioned with The Grateful Dead. See T. Braga, Contos +tradiconaes do povo portuguez, 1883, ii. 63-128, who prints nineteen +of the tales in abbreviated form, but not ours. + + +Nicholas. + +Johannes Junior (Gobius), Scala Celi, 1480, under Elemosina. Gobius +was born in the south of France and lived about the middle of the +fourteenth century. [27] Summary by Simrock, pp. 106-109. Mentioned +by Hippe, p. 169. + + +Richars. + +Richars li Biaus, ed. W. Foerster, 1874. A romance written in Picardy +or eastwards in the thirteenth century (Foerster, p. xxi). Analyzed by +Koehler, Revue critique, 1868, pp. 412 ff., and Hippe, p. 155. Compared +in detail with Lion de Bourges by Wilhelmi, pp. 46 ff. + + +Lion de Bourges. + +An Old French romance known to exist in two manuscripts, the earlier +dating from the fourteenth century, [28] the later from about the end +of the fifteenth. [29] It has never been edited, but the portion which +concerns us was analyzed in detail by Wilhelmi, pp. 18-38. This summary +I have made the basis of my discussion. The romance was mentioned by +P. Paris, Foerster, and Suchier (as cited in note below), Gautier, +Les epopees francaises, 1st ed. 1865, i. 471-473, Ebert, Jahrbuch +f. rom. und engl. Lit. iv. 53, 54, and Benfey, Pantschatantra, +i. 220. A prose translation into German is found in manuscripts of +the fifteenth century, which does not differ materially from the +original. [30] This was printed in 1514, and summarized by F. H. von +der Hagen, Gesammtabenteuer, 1850, i. xcvii-xcix, Simrock, pp. 104-106, +and Hippe, p. 154. See E. Mueller, Ueberlieferung des Herpin von Burges, +1905, who analyzes the work and treats its relations to Lion. + + +Oliver. + +Olivier de Castille et Artus d'Algarbe, a French prose romance +composed before 1472, according to Foulche-Delbosc (Revue hispanique, +ix. 592). The first and second editions were printed at Geneva, +the first in 1482, the second before 1492. [31] There exist at +least three manuscripts of the work from the fifteenth century: +MS. Bibl. nat. fran. 12574 (which attributes the romance to a David +Aubert, according to Groeber, Grundriss der rom. Phil. ii. 1, 1145); +MS. Brussels 3861; and Univ. of Ghent, MS. 470. The designs of the +last have been reproduced, together with a summary of the text, by +Heins and Bergmans, Olivier de Castille, 1896. An English translation +was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1518. A translation from the second +French edition into Castilian was made by Philippe Camus, which was +printed thirteen times between 1499 and 1845. [32] The edition of +1499 has lately been reproduced in facsimile by A. M. Huntington, +La historia de los nobles caualleros Oliueros de castilla y artus +dalgarbe, 1902. A German translation from the French was made +by Wilhelm Ziely in 1521, and this was translated into English by +Leighton and Barrett, The History of Oliver and Arthur, 1903. From the +German prose Hans Sachs took the material for his comedy on the theme +(publ. 1556). A summary of Ziely's work is given by Froelicher, Thuering +von Ringoltingen's "Melusine," Wilhelm Ziely's "Olivier und Artus" +und "Valentin und Orsus," 1889, pp. 65 f., which is used by Wilhelmi, +pp. 55, 56, in his comparison of the romance with Richars and Lion +de Bourges. An Italian translation, presumably from the French, +was printed three or four times from 1552 to 1622. [33] A summary +of the story is given in Melanges tires d'une grande bibliotheque, +by E. V. 1780, pp. 78 ff., with an incorrect note about the romance, +reproduced by Hippe, pp. 155 f., with an analysis from the same source +of the part of the tale belonging to our cycle. Robert Laneham in +his list of ballads and romances, made in 1575, mentions Olyuer of +the Castl. See Furnivall, Captain Cox, his Ballads and Books, Ballad +Soc. 1871, vii. xxxvii and 30. + + +Jean de Calais. + +I. Mme. Angelique de Gomez, Histoire de Jean de Calais, 1723. Sketched +in the Bibliotheque universelle des romans, Dec. 1776, pp. 134 +ff. Koehler, Germania, iii. 204 ff., gives a summary of the work, +which Mme. de Gomez stated was "tire d'un livre qui a pour titre: +Histoire fabuleuse de la Maison des Rois de Portugal." A later +anonymous redaction of this Jean de Calais exists in prints of 1770, +1776, and 1787, and it continued to be issued in the nineteenth +century. Summarized by Hippe, pp. 156 f., and by Sepp, pp. 685 +f. Mentioned by Koehler in Gonzenbach, Sicil. Maerchen, ii. 250. + +II. Blade, Contes populaires de la Gascogne, 1886, ii. 67-90. This +and the following folk-versions of Jean deserve careful consideration +because of the interesting character of their variations. + +III. J. B. Andrews, Folk-Lore Record, iii. 48 ff., from Mentone. See +Liebrecht, Engl. Stud. v. 158, and Hippe, p. 157. + +IV. and V. J. B. Andrews, Contes ligures, traditions de la Riviere, +1892, pp. 111-116, no. 26, and pp. 187-192, no. 41. These two versions +differ slightly from one another, but more from the preceding. + +VI. P. Sebillot, Contes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne, 3me. serie, +1882, pp. 164-171. + +VII. Wentworth Webster, Basque Legends, 1877, pp. 151-154. See Luzel, +Legendes chretiennes, p. 90, note. + +VIII. A. Le Braz, La legende de la mort chez les Bretons armoricains, +nouv. ed., 1902, ii. 211-231. + +IX. L. Giner Arivau, Folk-Lore de Proaza (Asturia), in Biblioteca de +las tradiciones populares espanolas, viii. 194-201 (1886). + +X. Gittee and Lemoine, Contes populaires du pays Wallon, 1891, +pp. 57-61. + + +Walewein. + +Roman van Walewein, ed. Jonckbloet, 1846. Analyzed by G. Paris, +Hist. litt. de la France, xxx. 82-84, and by W. P. Ker, The Roman +van Walewein (Gawain) in Folk-Lore, v. 121-127 (1894). My analysis +is a combination made from these two summaries. + + +Lotharingian. + +Cosquin, Contes populaires de Lorraine, 1886, i. 208-212 +(no. xix). Noted by Hippe, p. 157. + + +Gasconian. + +Cenac Moncaut, Contes populaires de la Gascogne, 1861, pp. 5-14, +"Rira bien qui rira le dernier." Summarized by Koehler, Or. und +Occ. ii. 329. Mentioned by Hippe, p. 157, and by Groome, Folk-Lore, +ix. 239. + + +Dianese. + +Novella di Messer Dianese e di Messer Gigliotto, ed. d'Ancona and +Sforza, 1868. Analyzed by Liebrecht, Heid. Jahrbuecher der Lit. lxi. 450 +(1868), by d'Ancona, Romania, iii. 191, (reprinted in his Studj di +critica e storia, 1880, p. 353), and by Hippe, p. 152. D'Ancona's +summary is from Papanti, nov. xxi. The variant is of the fourteenth +century, according to the writer of the introduction of the edition of +1868, p. 5. See also Foerster, Richars li Biaus, p. xxiv, and Wilhelmi, +pp. 44 and 57. + + +Stellante Costantina. + +D'Ancona, Romania, iii. 192, mentions the popular poem Istoria +bellissima di Stellante Costantina figliuola del gran turco, la +quale fu rubata da certi cristiani che teneva in corte suo padre e fu +venduta a un mercante di Vicenza presso Salerno, con molti intervalli +e successi, composta da Giovanni Orazio Brunetto. I have not been able +to find this poem and do not know how closely it accords with Dianese. + + +Straparola I. + +Notti piacevoli, notte xi, favola 2. Analyzed by Grimm, Kinder- +und Hausmaerchen, 1856, iii, 289; and rather too briefly by Simrock, +pp. 98-100, and Hippe, p. 153. See Benfey, Pant. i. 221, Koehler in +Gonzenbach, Sicil. Maerchen, ii. 249, and Groome, Tobit and Jack, +Folk-Lore, ix. 226 f., and Gypsy Folk-Tales, p. 3, note. + + +Straparola II. + +Notti piacevoli, notte v, favola 1. See Benfey, Pant. ii. 532. + + +Tuscan. + +G. Nerucci, Sessanta novelle popolari, 1880, pp. 430-437, no. lii. A +folk-tale from the neighbourhood of Pistoia. See Webster, Basque +Legends, pp. 182-187, Crane, Italian Popular Tales, p. 350, and +Cosquin, Contes populaires, i. 215. + + +Istrian. + +Ive, Novelline popolari rovignesi, 1877, p. 19. See d'Ancona, Studj di +critica, 1880, p. 354, and the summary by Crane, Italian Popular Tales, +1885, no. xxxv. pp. 131-136, from whom, as Ive's collection has been +inaccessible to me, I derive my knowledge of the story. Crane gives +the title of Ive as Fiabe, etc., d'Ancona as above. + + +Venetian. + +G. Bernoni, Tradizioni populari veneziane, 1875, pp. 89-96. Referred +to by Crane, Italian Popular Tales, p. 350. + + +Sicilian. + +Laura Gonzenbach, Sicilianische Maerchen, 1870, ii. 96-103. Summarized +briefly by Hippe, pp. 153 f., and by Groome, Folk-Lore, ix. 239 f. + + +Brazilian. + +Romero and Braga, Contos populares do Brazil, 1885, no. x. pp. 215. See +Cosquin, Contes populaires, i. 215. + + +Basque I. + +Wentworth Webster, Basque Legends, 1877, pp. 182-187. See Cosquin, +Contes populaires, i. 215, and Luzel, Legendes chretiennes, p. 90, +note. + + +Basque II. + +Webster, work cited, pp. 146-150. See Crane, Italian Popular Tales, +p. 351. + + +Gaelic. + +Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands, new ed. 1890, +ii. 121-140, no. 32, "The Barra Widow's Son." Summarized by Koehler, +Or. und Occ. ii. 322 f., by Sepp, p. 685, by Hippe, p. 150, and by +Groome, Folk-Lore, ix. 235. See Koehler in Gonzenbach, Sicil. Maerchen, +ii. 249, and Groome, Gypsy Folk-Tales, p. 3, note. + + +Irish I. + +W. Larminie, West Irish Folk-Tales and Romances, 1893, pp. 155-167, +"Beauty of the World." Mentioned by Kittredge, Harvard Notes and +Studies, viii. 250, note. + + +Irish II. + +Douglas Hyde, Beside the Fire. A Collection of Irish Gaelic +Folk-Stories, 1890, pp. 18-47, "The King of Ireland's Son." [34] +Mentioned by Kittredge, place cited. + + +Irish III. + +P. Kennedy, Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts, 1866, pp. 32-38, +"Jack the Master and Jack the Servant." + + +Breton I. + +Souvestre, Le foyer breton, contes et recits populaires, +nouv. ed. 1874, ii. 1-21. Analyzed by Simrock, pp. 94-98, by Sepp, +p. 685, and in part by Hippe, p. 149. See Luzel, Legendes chretiennes, +i. 90, note. + + +Breton II. + +F. M. Luzel, Legendes chretiennes de la Basse-Bretagne, 1881, +i. 68-90, "Le fils de Saint Pierre." Cited by von Weilen, +Zts. f. vergl. Litteraturgeschichte, N.F. i. 105. Analyzed in part +by Hippe, pp. 149 f. + + +Breton III. + +Luzel, work cited, ii. 40-58. Mentioned by von Weilen, place cited, +and analyzed by Hippe, p. 150. The title, slightly misquoted by Hippe, +is "Cantique spirituel sur la charite que montra Saint-Corentin +envers un jeune homme qui fut chasse de chez son pere et sa mere, +sans motif ni raison." + + +Breton IV. + +P. Sebillot, Contes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne, 1880, +pp. 1-8. Noted by Luzel, work cited, p. 90, note, and by Cosquin, +Contes populaires, i. 215. + + +Breton V. + +F. M. Luzel, Contes populaires de Basse-Bretagne, 1887, ii. 176-194, +"La princesse Marcassa." + + +Breton VI. + +F. M. Luzel, work cited, ii. 209-230, "La princesse de Hongrie." + + +Breton VII. + +F. M. Luzel, work cited, i. 403-424, "Iouenn Kermenou, l'homme +de parole." + + +Old Swedish. + +Stephens, pp. 73 f., reprinted with translation from his Ett +Forn-Svenskt Legendarium, 1858, ii. 731 f. This variant from 1265-1270 +is analyzed by Hippe, pp. 158 f. + + +Swedish. + +P. O. Baeckstroem, Svenska Folkboecker, 1845-48, ii. 144-156, +from H--d (Hammarskoeld) and I--s (Imnelius), Svenska Folksagor, +1819, i. 157-189. Baeckstroem also cites several editions of the +folk-book, which he says is of native origin. Mentioned by Stephens, +p. 8. Summarized by Liebrecht, Germania, xxiv. 130 f., and by Hippe, +p. 158. + + +Danish I. + +S. Grundtvig, Gamle Danske Minder i Folkemunde, 1854, pp. 77-80, +"Det fattige Lig." Mentioned by Stephens, p. 8, by Hippe, p. 160, +and by Wilhelmi, p. 45. Summarized by Koehler, Or. und Occ. iii. 99. + + +Danish II. + +Grundtvig, work cited, pp. 105-108, "De tre Mark." Summarized by +Koehler, Or. und Occ. iii. 100. Cited by Hippe, p. 160, and Wilhelmi, +p. 45. + + +Danish III. + +Andersen, "Reisekammeraten," in Samlede Skrifter, xx. 54 +ff. (1855). Found in most English editions of Andersen's tales as +"The Travelling Companion." Based on Norwegian II. Analyzed by Sepp, +p. 678. Cited by Koehler, Or. und Occ. ii. 327, by Hippe, p. 159, +and by Groome, Gypsy Folk-Tales, p. 3, note. + + +Norwegian I. + +Asbjoernsen, Iuletraeet, 1866, no. 8, and Norske Folke-Eventyr, 1871, +no. 99, pp. 198-201. Summarized by Liebrecht, Heid. Jahrbuecher der +Lit. lxi. 451 (1868), and by Hippe, p. 159. See Liebrecht, Germania, +xxiv. 131. + + +Norwegian II. + +Asbjoernsen, Illustreret Kalender, 1855, pp. 32-39, Iuletraeet, no. 9, +and Norske Folke-Eventyr, no. 100, pp. 201-214. Translated by Dasent, +Tales from the Fjeld, 1874, pp. 71-88. Cited by Stephens, p. 8, +Liebrecht, Germania, xxiv. 131, and Groome, Gypsy Folk-Tales, p. 3, +note. Somewhat inadequate summaries by Liebrecht, Heid. Jahrbuecher +der Lit. lxi. 452, Hippe, p. 159, and Groome, Folk-Lore, ix. 230. + + +Icelandic I. + +Arnason, Islenzkar þjosoegur og aefintyri, 1864, ii. 473-479. English +translation in Powell and Magnusson, Legends Collected by Jon. Arnason, +1866, pp. 527-540. German translation in Poestion, Islaendische Maerchen, +1884, p. 274. Cited by Liebrecht, Heid. Jahrbuecher, lxi. 451, and +Germania, xxiv. 131, and by Wilhelmi, p. 45. Summary by Koehler, +Or. und Occ. iii. 101 f., and by Hippe, p. 159. + + +Icelandic II. + +A. Ritterhaus, Die neuislaendischen Volksmaerchen, 1902, no. 57, +pp. 232-235. From MS. 537, Landesbibliothek, Reykjavik. + + +Rittertriuwe. + +F. H. von der Hagen, Gesammtabenteuer, 1850, i. 105-128, no. 6. A +poem of 866 lines from the fourteenth century. Summaries in Benfey, +Pant. i. 221, in Simrock, pp. 100-103, and, with a rather bad error, +in Hippe, p. 164. See Foerster, Richars li Biaus, p. xxiv. Compared +with Richars, Oliver, and Lion de Bourges by Wilhelmi, pp. 56 f. + + +Treu Heinrich. + +Der Junker und der treue Heinrich, ed. K. Kinzel, 1880. Previously +edited and analyzed by von der Hagen, Gesammtabenteuer, iii. 197-255, +no. 64. Summary by Simrock, pp. 103 f. Cited by Hippe, p. 165. + + +Simrock I. + +J. W. Wolf, Deutsche Hausmaerchen, 1858, pp. 243-250, contributed by +W. von Ploennies. Summary by Simrock, pp. 46-51, by Koehler, Or. und +Occ. iii. 98, and by Sepp, p. 683. Cited by Hippe, p. 165. + + +Simrock II. + +W. von Ploennies in Zts. f. deutsche Myth. ii. 373-377. From the +Odenwald. Summary by Simrock, pp. 51-54. See Hippe, p. 165. This +is the story analyzed by Sepp, p. 688 f., though he also refers to +Wolf's and Zingerle's tales. + + +Simrock III. + +E. Meier, Deutsche Volksmaerchen aus Schwaben, 1852, +no. 42. pp. 143-153. Summarized by Simrock, pp. 54-58, Koehler, +Or. und Occ. iii. 99, and Sepp, pp. 686 f. See Hippe, p. 165. + + +Simrock IV. + +H. Proehle, Kinder- und Volksmaerchen, 1853, pp. 239-246. Summary by +Simrock, pp. 58-62. See Hippe, p. 165. + + +Simrock V. + +Simrock, pp. 62-65, contributed by Zingerle, who afterwards printed +it in the Zts. f. deutsche Myth. ii. 367 ff., in Sagen, Maerchen und +Gebraeuche aus Tirol, 1859, pp. 444 f., and in Kinder- und Hausmaerchen +aus Tirol, 2nd ed., 1870, pp. 261-267. Analyzed without mention of +source by Sepp, pp. 687 f. See Hippe, p. 165. + + +Simrock VI. + +Simrock, pp. 65-68, from Xanten. See Hippe, p. 165. + + +Simrock VII. + +Simrock, pp. 68-75, from Xanten. See Hippe, p. 165. + + +Simrock VIII. + +F. Woeste, Zts. f. deutsche Myth. iii. 46-50, from Grafschaft +Mark. Given by Simrock, pp. 75-80. Analyzed by Sepp, p. 685, who +inadvertently speaks of it as "nach irischer Sage." See Hippe, p. 165. + + +Simrock IX. + +Simrock, pp. 80-89, contributed by Zingerle, who afterwards printed +it in Sagen, Maerchen und Gebraeuche aus Tirol, 1859, pp. 446-450, and +in Kinder- und Hausmaerchen aus Tirol, 2nd ed., 1870, pp. 254-260. See +Stephens, p. 9, Hippe, pp. 165 f., and Wilhelmi, p. 45. + + +Simrock X. + +Simrock, pp. 89-94, from the foot of the Tomberg. Summarized by Koehler, +Or. und Occ. ii. 326. See Hippe, p. 166, and Wilhelmi, p. 45. + + +Oldenburgian. + +L. Strackerjan, Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogtum Oldenburg, +1867, ii. 308 ff. Cited by Hippe, p. 166, and by Foerster, Richars +li Biaus, p. xxviii. + + +Harz I. + +A. Ey, Harzmaerchenbuch, 1862, pp. 64-74. Summary by Koehler, Or. und +Occ. iii. 96. Cited by Hippe, p. 166. + + +Harz II. + +A. Ey, work cited, pp. 113-118. Summary by Koehler, Or. und +Occ. iii. 97. Cited by Hippe, p. 166. + + +Sir Amadas. + +Ed. Weber, Metrical Romances, 1810, iii. 241-275, Robson, Three Early +English Metrical Romances, 1842, pp. 27-56, Stephens, Ghost-Thanks, +1860. Stephens seems to have been the first to note the connection of +Sir Amadas with The Grateful Dead. The romance, as it is preserved in +two manuscripts of the fifteenth century, must accordingly have been +composed as early as the second half of the preceding century. It +contains 778 verses in the tail-rhyme stanza. Summarized by Koehler, +Or. und Occ. ii. 325, by Foerster, Richars li Biaus, pp. xxiv-xxvi, +by Groome, Folk-Lore, ix. 236, and by Hippe (with great care), +pp. 160-164. Compared with Oliver by Wilhelmi, pp. 58 f. + + +Jack the Giant Killer. + +Found without essential difference in several chapbooks, the earliest +owned by the British Museum being entitled: The Second Part of | +Jack and the Giants. | Giving a full Account of his victorious +Conquests over | the North Country Giants; destroying the inchanted | +Castle kept by Galligantus; dispersed the fiery Grif- | fins; put +the Conjuror to Flight; and released not | only many Knights and +Ladies, but likewise a Duke's | Daughter, to whom he was honourably +married. Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1711. [35] Other editions with the story +are: The History of Jack and the Giants, Aldermary Churchyard, London; +same title, Bow Church Yard, London; same title, Cowgate, Edinburgh; +The Pleasant and delightful History of Jack and the Giants, Nottingham, +Printed for the Running Stationers, and The Wonderful History of Jack +the Giant-Killer, Manchester, Printed by A. Swindells; all without +date. The Newcastle edition was reprinted by Halliwell-Phillipps in +Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales, 1849, in which our tale appears +at pp. 67-77. Apparently the British Museum copy dated 1711 is that +owned by Halliwell-Phillipps. From his edition it has been reprinted +by Groome, Folk-Lore, ix. 237 f., and summarized by Koehler, Or. und +Occ. ii. 327 f., and Sepp, p. 685. See also Stephens, p. 8, Hippe, +p. 164, and Wilhelmi, p. 45. + + +Factor's Garland. [36] + +The Factor's Garland or The Turkey Factor, a tale in English verse, +which may be regarded as a popular ballad, though by no means +as a primitive one. It has often been reprinted as a chapbook or +broadside. The library of Harvard University possesses copies of +no less than eight different editions (see W. C. Lane, Catalogue +of English and American Chap-Books and Broadside Ballads in Harvard +College Library, 1905, nos. 809-815, 2420). An examination of these +shows that they differ from each other in no essential point, though +they vary considerably in statements of time. The British Museum +Catalogue of Printed Books lists seven editions, all different from +those at Harvard, with one possible exception. The popularity of the +story, at one time at least, is thus strikingly illustrated. Another +variant, reported from oral tradition, has been found in North +Carolina. See the paper read by J. B. Henneman before the Modern +Language Association of America on Dec 29, 1906. + + +Old Wives' Tale. + +George Peele, The Old Wives' Tale (1590), published in 1595, Ed. by +Dyce, 1828 and 1861, by Bullen, 1888, and by Gummere in Gayley's +Representative English Comedies, 1903, pp. 349-382. See H. Dutz for +an elaborate discussion of the connection of the play with our theme. + + +Fatal Dowry. + +Philip Massinger (and Nathaniel Field), The Fatal Dowry. First printed +in 1632. Ed. A. Symons, Mermaid Series, 1889, ii. 87-182. + + +Fair Penitent. + +Nicholas Rowe, The Fair Penitent, The Dramatick Works of Nicholas +Rowe Esq., 1720, vol. i. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +TALES WITH THE SIMPLE THEME AND MISCELLANEOUS COMBINATIONS. + + +Of the tales enumerated in the previous chapter, over one hundred in +number, all but seventeen fall into well-defined categories as having +The Grateful Dead combined with one or more of three given themes: +The Possessed Woman, The Ransomed Woman, and The Water of Life. Of +these seventeen variants, moreover, only four can be regarded as +having the simple motive of The Grateful Dead; and they are in part +doubtful members of the family. + +The first of them is Simonides, thus related by Cicero: "Unum de +Simonide: qui cum ignotum quendam proiectum mortuum vidisisset eumque +humavisset haberetque in animo navem conscendere, moneri visus est +ne id faceret ab eo, quem sepultura adfecerat; si navigavisset, eum +naufragio esse periturum; itaque Simonidem redisse, perisse ceteros, +qui tum navigavissent." The source of Cicero's story we do not know, +but in all probability it was Greek. Whether it really belongs to +our cycle, being so simple in form and nearly two centuries earlier +in date than any other version yet unearthed, is a matter for very +great doubt. It may have arisen quite independently of other similar +tales in various parts of the world, and have no essential connection +with our tale; but it deserves special consideration, not only +from its antiquity, but also from its subsequent history in lineal +descent through Valerius Maximus, and possibly Robert Holkot [37] to +Chaucer. We are at least justified in looking for some influence of so +well-known an anecdote upon better-authenticated members of the cycle. + +The three other variants with the simple theme are all folk-tales +of recent gathering. The first of them is Jewish, [38] which runs +as follows: The son of a rich merchant of Jerusalem sets off after +his father's death to see the world. At Stamboul he finds hanging in +chains the body of a Jew, which the Sultan has commanded to be left +there until his co-religionists shall have repaid the sum that the +man is suspected of having stolen from his royal master. The hero pays +this sum, and has the corpse buried. Later during a storm at sea he is +saved by a stone on which he is brought to land, whence he is carried +by an eagle back to Jerusalem. There a white-clad man appears to him, +explaining that he is the ghost of the dead, and that he has already +appeared as stone and eagle. The spirit further promises the hero a +reward for his good deed in the present and in the future life. + +The second variant is the Annamite tale. Two poor students were +friends. One died and was buried by the other, whose fidelity was +such that he remained three years by the tomb. He dreamed that his +friend came to him and said that he should gain the title of trang +nguyen. So he built a chapel by the tomb, where the dead friend often +appeared to him. When the king heard of his loyalty, he was praised +and rewarded with a title. After his death the two friends appeared +to their son and daughter, bidding them marry. [39] + +The third story is Servian VI. An uncle of Adam, who honoured God +and the "Vile," [40] was so good a man that God came to him in human +form one day. After a battle between the good and evil in the world, +the latter would not bury the slain. The Vile told Tuegut that this +would not do, so he hitched up his wagon and carried the slain to their +graves. Then God came to earth, told him to put all he possessed in +his wagon, and carried him on a cloud to heaven, where he was made +the constellation now called Driver Tuegut's Heavenly Wagon. + +Of these three tales the Annamite does not fulfil the usual condition +that the dead man shall be a stranger to the one who does the good +action. Together with Simonides, all of them vary widely in the reward +given the hero. In Simonides he is warned against embarkation, and +thus saved from shipwreck; in the Jewish he is actually rescued from +a storm-tossed vessel by the ghost, which masquerades as a rock and an +eagle, and afterward promises him further rewards here and hereafter; +in the Annamite he is provided with earthly glory; and in Servian +VI. he becomes a part of the galaxy of heaven. Only the underlying +idea is the same,--that the burial of the dead is a pious act and +a sacred duty, which will meet a fitting reward. [41] This belief +is so widespread and ancient that it is not difficult to surmise how +stories inculcating the duty might have grown up independently in many +lands. At the same time, the very diversity of reward in these simple +tales allies them to one or another of the compound types, which, +though multiform and widespread, are yet unmistakably the offspring +of a single parent form, or better, of a chance union between two +motives. [42] Thus Simonides and Jewish recall the combination of +The Grateful Dead with The Ransomed Woman, since they have the hero +rescued from drowning by the ghost, and they suggest one point of +union between the two themes. It therefore seems best to include +them in our list, not only for the sake of completeness, but because +they point to the reason which sometime and somewhere gave rise to a +more developed form of the motive,--to the maerchen as we shall study +it. A consideration of these basal principles can be undertaken, +however, only after the story theme in its various ramifications and +modifications has been thoroughly discussed. + +The probability that The Grateful Dead once existed in a simple, +uncompounded form, which became the parent on one side of the more +important combined types, is strengthened by the minor compounds in +which it is found. How can the correspondences of detail seen in +a considerable number of different compounds, as far as they run +parallel, be otherwise explained? Surely it is more reasonable to +believe in the existence of such a parent form than to suppose that +an originally complicated form was hacked and hewn asunder to produce +new compounds. This will become clearer, I hope, as we proceed. + +In Greek, a boy was sold to a pasha, who betrothed him to his +daughter. Because of the mother's objections, however, he was sent +away as a shepherd, while the girl was promised to another pasha's +son. The hero fed his flock under the shelter of the castle, and was +summoned by the maiden, who gave him her betrothal ring in a beaker, +though pretending not to know him. The next day she asked her parents +to let the two suitors go into the world with a thousand piasters +apiece, and see which came back with the most money. So they were +sent forth. The pasha's son remained in a city enjoying his money, +while the shepherd went on till he met an old man, to whom he told +his story. The man gave him a thousand piasters more, and told him to +buy an ape in a town hard by. He succeeded in doing this, and brought +the ape back to the old man, who cut it in pieces, much to the youth's +disgust, and made eye-salve of the brain. With this he sent the hero +away after exacting a promise of half of what was obtained. The youth +won a thousand piasters by curing the blind, and later a great sum, +besides thirty ships, by healing a very rich man. With this wealth he +returned to the old man, and with him to the city where the pasha's son +had sojourned. The latter agreed to let the shepherd's seal be burned +on his arm in return for the payment of his debts; but, while the hero +and the old man sailed home, he rode fast by land with the story that +his rival was dead. The shepherd arrived at home just in time for his +rival's wedding, and at the end of it showed the bride her ring. She +recognized her lover, called her parents, and, after the hero had +told his story and proved it by the seal on his rival's arm, married +him. That night the old man knocked on the door of their chamber, +and demanded that the bride be divided. According to his promise, +the hero prepared to cut her in twain, when the intruder said that +he wished only to test his fidelity, explaining that he was God, +Who had taken him under His protection because his father had sold +him in order to keep the lamp burning in honour of his saint. + +In this variant the elements of The Grateful Dead have been merged +with a story about how a young man of low birth won a princess +by overcoming another suitor in spite of the treachery of the +latter. As I have met with but one example of this, from Lesbos, +[43] I will summarize it briefly. A princess becomes enamoured of +the son of her father's gardener, and refuses to marry the son of +the first minister. So the two suitors are sent out to a far country +with the understanding that the one who returns first shall have the +princess. On the way the gardener's son helps an old beggar-woman, +whom his rival has spurned, and is told by her how to cure a sick king +(by boiling him and sprinkling him with a certain powder). For this +service the youth obtains a ring of bronze, which has the virtue +of giving whatever its possessor desires. By means of this he gets +a wonderful ship, and sails to the city where the minister's son, +through extravagance, has fallen into poverty. He provides him with +a wretched ship, in which to return home, on condition that he may +mark him with his ring. The minister's son reaches home in his crazy +vessel, and is about to marry the princess, when the hero appears on +his beautiful ship of gold, exposes his rival, and weds the lady. The +remainder of the story, which tells how the magical ring was lost +and afterward recovered, does not concern us. It will be seen that +Greek has preserved only the later part of The Grateful Dead at all +clearly, though that combination with a tale of the type of the Lesbian +narrative has actually taken place is evident from the part which the +helper plays. He not only obtains a promise of division, but calls for +its fulfilment. His first appearance is, however, quite unmotivated, +while the old woman of the Lesbian story serves the purpose, according +to a common formula, of showing the hero's kindness in contrast to +his rival's hard heart. The point common to the two tales, which led +to their combination, is without doubt this helping friend. + +In Servian V. a youth on a journey pays his all to rescue a debtor from +hanging. By his new-found friend the youth is led to the wondrous +Vilaberg, where he is left with the admonition that he must not +speak. He disobeys, and is made dumb and blind by an enchantress; +but he is cured by the man whom he rescued, who plays on a pipe +and gives him a healing draught. So he dwells for some years in the +mountain with one of the ladies as his wife, but afterward goes home, +though every summer he returns to his friends in the Vilaberg. + +Here we have our theme combined with a form of The Swan-Maiden, +[44] which occurs in only one other case, as far as I am able to +discover. The reason for the combination is not far to seek. The +latter part of the tale represents the reward of the rescuer by the +rescued. That the benefit does not take the form of actual burial +need not disturb us. The man was at least far gone towards death, and +he was a debtor--a trait found in about two-thirds of the variants +known to me. Moreover, the supernatural character of the comrade is +indicated by the adventure into which he leads the youth. The tale +has been partly rationalised, that is all. + +Esthonian I. [45] shows a different combination, which is unique as +far as I know. In a gorge not far from the village of Arukaela (near +Wesenberg) a howling was heard every night for years. Finally a bold +man went by night to the place and found the skeleton of a murdered +king, which told him that it had howled thus for a hundred years +because it had not been buried with holy rites. The next day the man +took the bones to a priest, and, while burying them, discovered an +enormous treasure. + +As Schiefner said, [46] when he first printed the story, it recalls +the Grimms' Der singende Knochen, [47] which in turn is a compound +of The Water of Life, with the idea of murder discovered by means of +a dead man's bones. The Esthonian tale has, however, only the latter +circumstance, combined with a simple form of The Grateful Dead. The +hero's reward is immediate--he finds gold in the earth while digging +the grave; and the ghost does not appear. The variant is thus of no +great significance. + +The group of tales that must next be considered furnishes rather +more important evidence as to the development of the theme. It +is a compound of The Grateful Dead with the motive which we may +call The Spendthrift Knight. As far as I know, the type is purely +mediaeval. The group includes Richars, Lion de Bourges, Dianese, +Old Swedish, Rittertriuwe, and Sir Amadas. + +The plot of Richars, as far as it concerns us, runs thus: Richars, in +the pursuit of knightly exercises, wastes all his father's property +as lord of Mangorie. When he hears that the King of Montorgueil has +promised the hand of his daughter to the victor in a tourney, he is +sad at the thought of his inability to engage. Through the generosity +of a provost, however, he is enabled to set out with a horse, three +attendants, and a supply of gold. At the city of Osteriche he spends +part of his money in giving a great feast. In the roof of the house +where he stays he is astonished to see a corpse lying on two beams, +and he learns that it is the body of a knight, who died owing the +householder three thousand pounds. Richars gives everything he has, +even to his armour, to secure the release and burial of the dead +man. He then proceeds to the tourney on a poor horse that his host +gives him, and quite alone, since his attendants have deserted him. On +the way he is joined by a White Knight, who offers him help in the +tourney and places at his disposal his noble steed. Richars wins the +tourney and obtains the hand of the Princess Rose. He now offers the +White Knight his choice of the lady or the property. The stranger, +however, refuses any division, explains that he is the ghost of the +indebted knight, and disappears. [48] + +Lion de Bourges runs thus: Lion, son of Duke Harpin de Bourges, was +found by a knight in a lion's den and reared as his son. When he grew +up, he wasted his foster-father's property in chivalry. Finally, he +heard that King Henry of Sicily had promised the hand of his daughter +to the knight who should win a tourney that he had established. So Lion +started for the court, and on the way ransomed the body of a knight, +which he found hanging in the smoke, on account of unpaid debts. At +Montluisant the hero won the favour of the Princess Florentine, and, +before the tourney, obtained from a White Knight the charger which +he still lacked, on condition of sharing his winnings, the princess +excepted. With the help of this knight Lion was victorious and obtained +the princess. He was then asked by his helper to give up either the +lady or the whole kingdom, and did not hesitate to do the latter. At +this, the stranger explained that he was the ghost of the ransomed +knight and disappeared, though he afterwards returned to assist the +hero at need. + +According to Dianese, [49] the knight of that name has wasted his +substance. When he hears that the King of Chornualglia (Cornwall) +has promised his daughter and half of his kingdom to the knight who +wins the tourney that he has called, Dianese gets his friends to fit +him out and sets forth. On the way he passes through a town where the +traffic is diverted from the main street because of a corpse which +has long been lying on a bier before a church. He learns that it is +the body of a knight, who cannot be buried till his creditors have +been paid. At the cost of everything he possesses, save his horse, +the hero satisfies the creditors and has the knight buried. When he +has gone on two miles, he is joined by a merchant, who promises him +money, horses, and weapons if he will give in return half of what he +wins in the tourney. Dianese agrees, is fitted out anew, and succeeds +in overcoming all comers in the contest. Thus he obtains the hand +of the princess and half the kingdom. With his bride, the merchant, +and his followers he starts for home; but, when they are only a +day's journey from their destination, he is required by the merchant +to fulfil his promise--to choose between his bride as one half, his +possessions as the other. Dianese takes the lady and rides on. Soon, +however, he is joined by the merchant, who praises his faithfulness, +gives up the treasures, explains that he is the ghost of the debtor +knight, and disappears. + +In Old Swedish [50] the daughter and heiress of the King of France +promises to marry whatever knight is victor in a tourney which she +announces. Pippin, the Duke of Lorraine, hears of this and sets out +for France. At the end of his first day's journey he finds lodging +at the house of a widow, who is lamenting because her husband, once +in good circumstances, has died so poor that she cannot bury him +properly. Pippin takes pity on her, and pays for the man's funeral. On +his further journey he falls in with a man on a noble steed, who gives +him the horse on condition of receiving half of whatever he shall +win. Unthinkingly Pippin agrees and wins the tourney with the help of +the horse. After he has married the princess, he is asked by the helper +to fulfil his promise. He offers at first half, then the whole of his +kingdom, in order to keep his bride, and is finally told by the man +that he is the ghost of the dead, while the horse was an angel of God. + +Rittertriuwe is of the same romantic character. When Graf Willekin von +Montabour had spent his substance in chivalrous exercises, he learned +that a beautiful and rich maiden had promised her hand to the knight, +who should win a tourney, which she had established. Thereupon he +set forth and came to the place announced for the combats. There he +found lodging in the house of a man, who would only receive him if he +would promise to pay the debts of a dead man, whose body lay unburied +in the dung of a horse-stall. [51] Willekin was moved by this story +and paid seventy marks, almost all his money, to ransom the corpse +and give it suitable burial. He then had to borrow from his host in +order to indulge in his customary generosity. On the morning of the +jousting he obtained from a stranger knight a fine horse on condition +of dividing everything that he won. He succeeded in the tourney above +all the other contestants, and so wedded the maiden. On the second +night after the marriage the stranger entered his room and demanded +a share in his marital rights. After he had offered instead to give +all his possessions, the hero started from the room in tears, when +the stranger called him back and explained that he was the ghost of +the dead, then disappeared. + +A brief summary of Sir Amadas, [52] the last of the six variants, +must now be given. Amadas finds himself financially embarrassed, +and sets forth for seven years of errantry with only forty pounds +in hand. This he pays to release and bury the body of a merchant who +has died in debt. When thus reduced to absolute penury, Amadas meets +a White Knight, who tells him that he will aid him on condition of +receiving half the gains. The hero finds a rich wreck on the seacoast, +and so with new apparel goes to the court, where he wins wealth in a +tourney and the princess's heart at a feast. After he marries her and +has a son born to him, the White Knight reappears and demands that the +accepted conditions be complied with. Hesitatingly Amadas prepares to +divide first his wife and afterwards his son, but he is stayed by the +stranger, who explains that he is the ghost of the dead merchant. So +Amadas is at last released from misfortune and lives in happiness. + +In all six of these stories we have a knight, who sets out to +win a tourney in which the victor's prize is to be the hand of a +princess. In all of them save Old Swedish he is represented as being +impoverished by previous extravagance, in Richars, Lion de Bourges, +and Rittertriuwe it being expressly stated that he had wasted his +fortune by over-indulgence in his passion for jousting. On his way +to the place appointed for the contest the hero pays for the burial +[53] of a man whose corpse is held for debt. [54] He goes on and +is approached either before (Richars, Lion de Bourges, Dianese, Old +Swedish, and Sir Amadas) or after (Rittertriuwe) he reaches the lists +by a man, who provides him with a horse, by the aid of which he wins +the tourney and the princess. In Dianese the hero is a merchant, in Old +Swedish his estate is not mentioned, but in the other four variants +he appears as a knight (a white knight in Richars, Lion de Bourges, +and Sir Amadas). In Dianese the hero is also provided with armour; +in Richars and Lion de Bourges he is assisted in his jousting by the +White Knight; and in Sir Amadas he finds a wreck on the coast from +which he obtains all things needful. In Richars we find the somewhat +inept conclusion that the hero asks his friendly helper whether +he will take the princess or the property [55] as his share. The +latter responds that he wishes only his horse, explains who he is, +and vanishes. In all the other variants, however, the condition is +made that the hero divide whatever he shall gain. [56] + +With reference to Richars and Lion de Bourges, Wilhelmi's careful +discussion [57] has made it clear that, though they agree in many +points as against all the other related versions, not only in respect +to The Grateful Dead, but to the further course of a complicated +narrative, neither one could have been taken from the other. The +difference in the matter of the division between Richars and all the +other variants he neglects, though it strengthens his position. Back +of Richars and Lion de Bourges, earlier than the thirteenth century, +there must have existed a literary work which was their common +source. This hypothetical French romance may be considered as the +foundation of the whole group which we are discussing. + +Since Old Swedish agrees with most of the other variants with regard +to the division, and furthermore with Rittertriuwe, in stating +that the hero offered all his property in order to keep his wife, +there seems to be no doubt that it belongs to this particular group, +despite the fact that it says nothing about the hero's poverty. The +connection is not improbable on the score of chronology, if we suppose +that the source of Richars and Lion de Bourges, or some similar tale, +found its way into the North by translation in the first half of the +thirteenth century, a time when translations into Icelandic at any +rate were made in great numbers. Indeed, the names Pippin, Lorraine, +etc., immediately suggest a French source; and the story is not really +a legend at all, though it appears in a legendary, but a narrative +quite in the style of the romans d'adventure. + +With reference to Sir Amadas, two points of special interest +appear. The hero is provided the wherewithal for his successful +courtship by means of a wreck to which he is directed by the White +Knight; and he is required to divide his child as well as his wife with +his helper. These peculiarities, together with the different opening, +make it improbable that Richars, as preserved, was the direct source +of the romance, though its author may have known some text either of +that romance, or of Lion de Bourges. It seems more likely, however, +that the source of Sir Amadas was rather the common original of +both those versions. In the present state of the evidence it is +impossible to do more than to show, as I have attempted to do, that +the fourteenth-century Sir Amadas is a member of the little group +under discussion. + +The proposed division of the son is peculiarly important in that it +connects the group with the stories in which The Grateful Dead is +compounded with the theme of Amis and Amiloun. Indeed, the general +relationship of The Spendthrift Knight to that theme must be considered +in a later chapter [58] after more important compounds have been +discussed. It will be noted that the group just considered is purely +literary and purely mediaeval. Though it has representatives in Italy, +Germany, Sweden, and England, it is to all intents and purposes French +in source and character. Five of its members are the only variants +treated in this chapter where the question of dividing the hero's +prize is brought up. The group thus stands by itself, and may be +considered as an entity when we come to a discussion of the larger +matters of relationship. + +A solitary folk-tale now demands attention--my Breton II. The +Grateful Dead in a simple form is here combined with a story told of +Gregory the Great, [59] as Luzel, to whom the tale was recounted by +a Breton peasant, indeed briefly noted. [60] The Breton tale runs as +follows: A rich lord and lady had no children. While the lady was +praying to St. Peter in a chapel that was being repaired, she fell +a victim to a young painter, and had by him a son, who was named +after St. Peter. When the boy was twelve years of age, he carried +St. Peter across a stream one day, while his shepherd companion carried +Christ. The companion died soon after. Pierre then set forth to visit +his patron in Paradise. On his way he stopped overnight at the house of +an old woman, whose husband lay unburied because there was no money to +pay the priest. Pierre gave all his money for the interment, and went +on. When he came to the sea, a naked man, who said that he was the +dead, carried him across to a point near the gates of Paradise. There +he found Peter, and was shown the glories of heaven by the Saviour, +as well as Purgatory and Hell. In the last he saw a chair reserved +for his mother, but by his entreaties induced the Lord to grant her +a release on condition of doing penance himself for her. So he was +told to put on a spiked girdle, to throw the key of it into the sea, +and not to take it off till the key should be found. After donning +this instrument Pierre was carried by the ghost back to his own land, +where he lived on alms--first on the public ways, and later, without +discovering himself, in his father's castle. During his father's +absence he was killed at the command of his mother, but was dug up +alive by his father and treated with respect. One day at a feast +he found the key in the head of a fish. When the girdle was opened, +he died, and his soul was borne to heaven by angels. + +Two Danish variants present a curious but not inexplicable combination +of The Grateful Dead with Puss in Boots, as was noted by Koehler. [61] +Danish I. relates how a youth pays three marks, which is his all, +to bury the body of a dead man, for whose interment the priest has +demanded payment in advance. He is then joined by another youth, +who is the ghost of the dead, and goes to a certain city. There, by +giving himself out as a prince at the advice of his companion, who +provides him with proper trappings, he wins the hand of a princess. In +Danish II. an old soldier pays his last three marks to prevent three +creditors from digging up a corpse. He is joined by a pale stranger, +who takes him in a leaden ship to a land where he marries a princess, +who is fated to marry no one save a man who comes in this way. The +stranger secures, by a lying ruse, a troll's castle for the hero, and, +after explaining that he is the ghost of the buried debtor, disappears. + +The traces of the Puss in Boots motive [62] are, I think, sufficiently +clear, especially in the first of the two variants, since the point +of that familiar tale is certainly that the hero marries a woman of +high estate by making himself out as of equal rank, substantiating +his statements by a succession of clever ruses. That the grateful dead +enables him to fulfil the required conditions is an introduction that +could easily replace the ordinary one, especially since a helper of +some sort is necessary to the story. Just what the relation of these +two variants is to other Puss in Boots stories does not here concern +us. From the side of The Grateful Dead, however, it is possible +to see how the combination--found only in two folk-tales from a +single country, it will be observed--may have arisen. The benefits +bestowed on the hero show an essential likeness to those found in a +widespread compound type to be studied in a later chapter, [63] where +the thankful dead helps his friend to obtain a wife by the performance +of some feat. Since the combination now in consideration seems to +be confined to the region about Denmark, while mediaeval and modern +examples of the other are found in many lands, it may be regarded as +a mere variation on the better-known compound type, produced by the +similarity of the two endings. Yet it has to be treated separately, +because it involves an independent theme. + +An echo of the simple theme of The Grateful Dead is found in two +English plays--Massinger's Fatal Dowry and Rowe's Fair Penitent. In +the former young Charolais goes to prison to release his father's +body from the clutch of creditors, who wish to keep it unburied +for vengeance. [64] He is rescued by Rochfort, who pays the debts +and gives him his daughter in marriage. The intrigues of love and +vengeance that follow do not concern us. In Rowe's play, which was +based on Massinger's, this part has been curtailed to a few slight +references. Altamont gives himself as ransom for his father's body +to the greedy creditors, who will not allow burial to take place. He +is rewarded by the care and bounty of Sciolto, who becomes a second +father to him. + +Stephens was certainly right in connecting [65] the story in The Fatal +Dowry with The Grateful Dead, though it is only a fragment and lacks +some of the most essential features of the complete theme. The ghost, +indeed, does not appear at all, but the part played by Rochfort may +be regarded as a greatly sophisticated reminiscence of that trait, +especially since he not only rescues the hero, but provides him with +a wife. The echo of the theme is too vague for us to distinguish the +form in which it was found by Massinger, though I think that we should +not go far wrong in supposing that he had in mind some narrative, +either popular or literary, nearly approaching the compound type +treated in chapter vi. below. As one of the comparatively few traces +that the motive has left in England this double dramatic use is not +without interest. [66] + + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE GRATEFUL DEAD AND THE POISON MAIDEN. + + +One of the most prevalent types of The Grateful Dead is that in which +it has combined with The Poison Maiden, a theme almost world-wide in +distribution and application. From the time of Benfey and Stephens +[67] the connection between the two themes has been regarded +as vital. Though Hippe recognized that the stories were perhaps +originally independent, [68] he took the compound as his point of +departure and derived all other forms from it. As will be seen in +the course of our study, such a filiation is exceedingly improbable, +if the essential features of The Grateful Dead and The Poison Maiden +be closely examined. Hippe went wrong, I should say, in failing to +differentiate between what traits belong to the former and what to +the latter theme. + +As a matter of fact, The Poison Maiden exists in a cycle of its +own. Any doubt about this and any necessity of studying the theme in +detail here is removed by the valuable monograph of Wilhelm Hertz, +Die Sage vom Giftmaedchen, [69] in which the literature of the subject +has been marshalled with masterly skill. Starting with the stories of +how a maiden, who had been fed with snake-poison, was sent to Alexander +the Great from India by an enemy, and how the plot to kill the emperor +through her embraces was foiled by the cunning of Aristotle, [70] +Hertz shows [71] that the central idea of the tale is the belief that +a man could be killed by sexual connection with a woman who had been +nourished on poison. In most of the variants, to be sure, it is the +bite of the woman that is venomous, while in others it is her glance +or her breath; but these are natural modifications. Without following +the study into details, the important fact to remember is that there +has existed from early times a tale relating how a man was saved by +a watchful friend on his bridal night from a maiden whose embraces +were certain death. [72] With this in mind we can safely proceed +to a consideration of the variants of The Grateful Dead which have +similar features. + +Twenty-four of the stories in my list fall into this category, +viz.: Tobit, Armenian, Gypsy, Siberian, Russian I., II., III., +and IV., Servian II., III., and IV., Bulgarian, Esthonian II., +Finnish, Rumanian I., Irish I., II., and III., Breton I., Danish +III., Norwegian II., Simrock X., Harz I., Jack the Giant Killer, +and Old Wives' Tale. All but three of them [73] are folk-tales, +a fact that considerably simplifies the discussion. + +According to the apocryphal story, Tobit buries by night the dead +who lie in the street. He is thrown into prison, and later becomes +blind and poverty-stricken. He sends his son Tobias to his brother +Gabael for the return of a loan. The youth is accompanied by the +angel Raphael in disguise, who calls himself Azarias. On the journey +Tobias catches a fish and preserves the heart, liver, and gall at the +bidding of his companion. When they arrive at their journey's end, +the angel, as go-between, asks Gabael's daughter Sara in wedlock for +Tobias, though seven men have died while consummating their marriage +with her. By burning the heart and liver of the fish at the command +of the angel, and by prayer, Tobias escapes; for the demon Asmodeus +is driven out of the maiden and bound by Raphael. With his bride and +companion Tobias goes home, where he cures Tobit's blindness by means +of the gall of the fish. After being offered half of the wealth that he +has brought the family, Raphael explains his identity and disappears. + +This variant is peculiar in that the father does the good action, while +the son is chiefly rewarded. Indeed, it is the son whose life is saved +from the possessed woman whom he marries. Moreover, the grateful dead +is replaced by an angel, who indeed commends Tobit for his good deed, +but is certainly a substitute for the ghost. Obviously Tobit with +such peculiarities as these cannot be regarded as the general source +of the widespread folk-tale. At the same time we must not forget +that it has been, perhaps, the best-loved story in the Apocrypha, +[74] and that its influence on details of the narrative may be looked +for almost anywhere in Christendom. + +In the Armenian story from Transcaucasia [75] a man finds a corpse +hanging in a tree and being beaten by his late creditors. The man pays +the debt and buries the body. Some years later he becomes poor. A rich +man offers him in marriage his daughter, with whom five bridegrooms +have already met death on the wedding night. While thinking over +the proposition, he is approached by a man who offers to become his +servant for half of his future possessions, and counsels him to +marry the woman. On the night of the marriage the servant stands +with a sword in the chamber, cuts off the head of a serpent that +comes from the bride's mouth, and pulls out its body. Later he asks +for his share of his master's gains. When he is about to split the +woman through the middle, a second snake glides from her mouth. The +servant then says that he is the ghost of the corpse long ago rescued, +and disappears. Here the story appears in a very normal form, except +that the hero is not taking a journey at the time of his kind deed, +and that he waits several years for his reward. Moreover, the second +snake appears to be due to reduplication. + +In Gypsy a youth gives his last twelve piasters for the release of a +corpse, which is being maltreated by Jews. The ghost of the dead man +follows him and promises to get him a bride if he will share her with +him. The youth consents and marries a woman whose five bridegrooms +have died on the wedding night. The companion keeps watch in the +chamber and cuts off the head of a dragon that comes from the bride's +mouth. Later he demands his half of the woman, and takes a sword to +cut her asunder, when she screams and disgorges the dragon's body. The +ghost then explains the situation and disappears. [76] + +With the Siberian variant some very important modifications enter. A +soldier buys a picture of the Saviour from a peasant and maltreats +it. A merchant's son then buys it out of reverence and takes it to +his mother. Later he helps an old man on a raft and goes with him to +market. There he meets the daughter of a priest and, by the advice of +his friend, marries her. When the old man strikes her with a whip, +she splits open, and the devil comes out. She is put together again +by the mysterious companion, and accompanies them home, where the old +man asks for a division of the gains they have made together. Again +he divides the woman. After she has been burned, she is found living +and purified. Then the old man says that he is God and departs. + +This tale, found among the Turkish race of southern Siberia, has +transformed the opening incident altogether. For the burial of +the corpse it substitutes a good deed, which is entirely different +from the original trait. Yet it is evident that we have to do with +The Grateful Dead, after all, since the divine image is rescued +from senseless contumely and God himself appears in the role of the +thankful ghost. It is evident also that the theme is combined with +The Poison Maiden. Though we do not hear of any misadventures of +other men with the priest's daughter, the marvels which attend her +purification indicate the danger in which the hero stood. + +Russian I. is likewise peculiar in several respects. The younger of +two brothers angers his parents by going to the wars without their +permission. He is killed. Later he appears to his brother, asking +him to implore pardon of their mother, whose anger prevents him +from resting quietly in his grave. The elder brother thus succeeds +in giving peace to the ghost. Later, when he marries a merchant's +daughter, whose first two husbands have been killed by a dragon on +the wedding night, he is saved by the ghost of the dead, which keeps +watch in the chamber with a sword and kills the nine-headed dragon. + +This tale stands almost alone [77] in giving the two chief characters +personal relations, since it is nearly always a total stranger whom +the hero benefits. That actual burial of the dead does not come in +question is not so remarkable, as various changes have been made in +this trait. One story, [78] indeed, which otherwise has no likeness, +similarly makes the dead man uneasy in his grave. The beginning of +Russian I. has thus suffered considerable modification. The ending +is also different from the normal type in that the division of the +property and the woman has entirely disappeared. + +Russian II. has also some peculiarities, though none which is +difficult to explain. A youth named Hans receives three hundred +rubles from his uncle, who has taken his inheritance, and goes into +the world. In another province he ransoms with his whole stock of +money an unbeliever, who is being bled by the people. He has the +poor man baptised, but is not able to save his life, so sorely has +he been wounded. The people, however, pay for proper burial. Hans +goes on and is joined by an angel, who proposes that he take him as +uncle and divide with him whatever they get while in one another's +company. They come to a city where the king proposes that Hans marry +his daughter, and to this the hero agrees at his companion's advice, +despite the protests of the citizens, who say that the princess +has already strangled six bridegrooms. On the wedding night the +uncle keeps watch, and slays a dragon which is approaching to kill +the young man. After two months the pair set out for home with +the uncle. On the way they are saved by the old man from robbers, +and get a store of gold. When they arrive at the place where the +uncle first appeared, he calls for a fulfilment of their agreement, +and saws the bride asunder. Young dragons come out of her; but, when +she has been washed and sprinkled with water, she is made whole. The +angel thereupon parts with the couple. + +For the burial of the dead we have in this tale the interesting +substitution of an unsuccessful attempt of the hero to save a man's +life by paying his entire inheritance as ransom. That the man dies and +is buried shows how the change probably arose. Strangely enough, as in +the case of Tobit, an angel appears in the role of the grateful dead, +and, even more oddly, takes the form of the hero's uncle, who gave +him the money with which he set forth on his journey. The recurrence +of the angel in this and in one other variant [79] inclines me to +the belief that the essential feature of the reward in the original +story was that it came from heaven. The remainder of Russian II. has +no characteristic unusual in the tales where the woman is actually +divided to get rid of the snakes or dragons. + +In Russian III. [80] the youngest of three brothers rescues a swimming +coffin from the sea and takes it on his ship. From the coffin comes a +man clothed in a white shirt, who enters the service of his rescuer, +and helps him win a beautiful princess as wife. A six-headed dragon +has hitherto killed all her bridegrooms on the wedding night, but it +is overcome by the hero through his obedience to the advice of his +servant. The latter cleanses the bride's body of the dragon brood +and goes away. Here the opening has been modified, though not beyond +recognition, since the rescued man is clearly enough the grateful dead. + +Russian IV., taken like the preceding from a folk-book, differs from +that in only minor points, though the ampler form in which I have +found it makes it of more importance. The three sons of a czar go +out in separate ships to see the world. The youngest, named Sila, +rescues a swimming coffin, which his brothers have not heeded, +and buries it on shore. There he leaves his companions, and goes +on alone till joined by a man dressed in a shroud, who says that he +is the rescued corpse and proposes that Sila win a certain Princess +Truda as wife by his aid. The hero is dismayed when he sees the walls +of her city decorated with the heads of countless former suitors, +but he is told by his servant not to fear. On the bridal night he +is counselled to keep silence, and, when his wife presses her hand +on his breast, to beat her, as she is in league with a six-headed +dragon. Sila obeys, the dragon appears, and the servant cuts off two +of its heads. Two more heads are cut off on the second night, and the +remaining two on the third. The bride is not completely cleansed, +however, till the end of a year, when the servant cuts her in two, +burns the evil things that emerge from her body, and sprinkles her +with living water to make her well again. He then disappears. + +Here the grateful dead appears with perfect clearness, as he did not +in Russian III. The course of events by which the lady is won does not +differ materially from that of Russian II. Presumably III. would follow +the same procedure, had we an adequate summary. III. and IV. are like +I., and different from II., in omitting all mention of any division +of property or of the woman between hero and assistant. The division +for the sake of cleansing in IV. is, however, actual. + +Not without contamination from another source, Russian V. and +VI. still belong to the class containing variants with The Poison +Maiden. In Russian V. the only son of a rich man went out into the +world to seek his fortune. On the road he gave a large sum of money +for two horses. Later he stopped at an inn, where the widow of the +landlord was weeping because she had no money to pay the debts of her +husband, who was cursed by all the people, though he had been dead +two years. The hero gave all his money to save the memory of the dead +man, and proceeded. Soon he met two unsatisfied creditors, who still +cursed the dead landlord, and to them he gave his two horses. Not long +afterward he was joined by a man, who accompanied him on condition of +receiving half of what they might win together. They came to a place +where a lord offered a thousand rubles to anyone who would watch his +daughter's corpse over night in a chapel. The hero undertook the +adventure, and received payment in advance. At dark his companion +came to him, and gave him a cross as protection. At midnight the +lady came out of her coffin, but could not find the man because he +held the cross. The same adventure was repeated the next night. On +the third night the hero, according to his companion's advice, got +into the coffin when the vampire rose, and would not get out for all +her entreaties, being protected by the cross. So in the morning both +were found alive, and were betrothed. Then came the companion, cut the +maiden into halves, took out her entrails, and put her together again, +when she became very beautiful. Next day he called the hero aside, +explained his identity with the dead landlord, and disappeared. + +Russian VI. differs from the above in several points, but is closely +allied to it. There were two brothers, one good and the other +stingy. The former expended in benevolence all his wealth, save +a hundred rubles, while the latter grew richer and richer. A poor +man borrowed a hundred rubles from the miser, calling St. George as +witness that he would pay; but he died in debt. The rich brother came +to the widow, and said that he would get his money from St. George if +not from the dead man. He pulled down an image of the saint from the +wall, dug up the corpse, and spat upon them both. At this juncture +the good brother came by, and gave his last hundred rubles to put +the matter right. He then went to a large city, where the king's +daughter had eaten all the deacons who watched with her dead body. So +when volunteers were called for to stay with her, the hero offered +to undertake the task at the advice of an old man, who promised to +pray for his safety on condition of receiving half his winnings. He +received payment in advance from the king, and divided with the old +man, by whom he was given a sanctified coal, a taper, a cross, and a +scapulary, together with advice how to act. So he entered the chapel, +lighted his taper, closed his eyes, made the sign of the cross, and +enclosed himself in a circle marked with the coal near the head of +the bier. At cockcrow the vampire came out all blue and grinning; +but, though she yelled horribly, she could not touch the man in the +circle, who put the cross in the coffin. At the second cockcrow she +tried to get into the coffin, and unavailingly begged him to take +out the cross. At the third cockcrow he put the scapulary on her, +whereupon she rose and thanked him, promising to be his wife and +servant. So in the morning the hero married her and received the +kingdom from her father. To their chamber that night came the old man, +and recalled the agreement to divide. He cut the lady into halves, +minced her flesh on the table, and blew on the bits, whereupon she +came together more beautiful than ever. The helper then threw off +his gaberdine, and showed himself to be St. George. + +In the two stories just summarized The Grateful Dead is clear enough, +though in VI. St. George has ousted the ghost from part of its proper +functions, just as the angel does in Tobit, Russian II., and Simrock +IV., God in Siberian, and various saints elsewhere. The introduction +in VI. is a unique trait, as far as I know. In both the variants +the main features of the theme appear without distortion, including +the picturesque cleansing of the woman by actual division. The +Poison Maiden, however, has been replaced by a story of similar +character, but of different content, which I have not elsewhere found +compounded with The Grateful Dead. A vampire infests a church (or a +churchyard). A soldier is sent to watch nights, and to try to dislodge +her. He successfully counters her tricks, and finally gets hold of +something belonging to her, which he refuses to return. Thereupon she +is reduced to submission, promises him happiness, and is married to +him with the consent of the king. [81] This tale, it will be evident, +bears a strong likeness to The Poison Maiden in the figure of the +heroine, though it certainly is independent. The vital difference +between the two is the absence of any helping friend in the story of +the vampire. Because of the lack of this figure it seems improbable +that the tale was compounded with The Grateful Dead without the +intermediary stage in which The Poison Maiden appears. I regard the +vampire as usurping the place of the possessed maiden, and the two +Russian variants as a secondary growth. Given the normal form of the +compound as it appears in Russian II., for instance, there would be +no difficulty in substituting an even more gruesome figure for that +of the heroine there depicted, and in making the hero's danger lie +in a prenuptial attack on her part. + +The three Servian tales, which fall in this section, differ widely +in their characteristics. The first of them, Servian II., [82] is +the most nearly normal. Vlatko goes into the world to trade, but +pays all his money to free from debt a corpse, which creditors are +digging up in order to vent their spite upon it. He returns home, +and is sent out again by his parents, receiving a greater sum of +money and, from his mother, an apple by means of which he can tell +the intentions of anyone who desires his friendship by the way. [83] +He is joined by a man, who cuts the apple into two exact halves, +and so is accepted as a friend. After Vlatko has prospered in trade, +the friend proposes that he marry the emperor's daughter, with whom +ninety-nine men have already died on the wedding night. Arrangements +are made, and the friend keeps watch in the bridal chamber. During +the night he cuts off the heads of three snakes, which come from the +lady's mouth. Sometime afterwards all three set out for Vlatko's home; +and on the way the hero divides his property with his friend. Jestingly +the latter proposes that they divide the wife, and, after blindfolding +the husband, shakes her three times, when three dead snakes come out +of her. Thereupon he disappears. + +Like Armenian and Gypsy, this variant has the ghost cut off the head of +the monster (here three snakes) that possesses the maiden. The actual +division of the woman as it appears in those tales occurs here as a +mere jest, which is the case with most of the European versions. [84] + +Servian III. has a more romantic character. The daughter of an emperor +had been married thirteen times, but each of her bridegrooms had died +on the wedding night. A certain prince, who had fallen in love with +her through a dream, set out for her castle. On the way he paid the +debts of a poor man, whose corpse was held by creditors, and buried +him. Soon after, he was met by a man who became his servant, and won +a castle for him by a wonderful adventure. After the wedding this +man killed the snakes that came out of the bride, and also caused +her to disgorge three snake eggs by threatening her with his drawn +sword. He then disappeared. + +This variant shows traces of foreign substance in the dream and +the winning of the castle by the unrevealed companion. Possibly the +latter trait unites it with the combined type of which The Water of +Life is one of the elements. It will be noticed that the division of +the property and of the woman is not brought into question, though +the sword is used somewhat incongruously for the removal of the last +traces of the heroine's snaky infestation. Thus, by an evident change +in structure, the identity of the hero's companion is never explained. + +With Servian IV. [85] we encounter a most serious problem, which must +receive special treatment later on, [86]--the relation of The Grateful +Dead to The Thankful Beasts theme. A poor youth three times set free +a gold-fish which he had three times caught. Later he was cast out of +his father's house and sent into the world. He was joined by a man, +who swore friendship with him on a sword, and accompanied him to a +city where many men had been mysteriously slain while undertaking +to pass a night with the king's daughter. The hero undertook the +adventure, and was saved by his companion, who cut off the head of +a serpent that came from the princess's mouth. In the morning the +youth was married to the lady, and divided all his property with his +helper. On their way home the latter demanded half of the bride, and, +while she was held by two servants, swung a sword above her. With +a shriek she cast first two sections, and finally the tail, of a +serpent from her mouth. Thereupon the friend leaped into the sea, +for he was the gold-fish. + +The burial of the dead has here been ousted by a good deed which the +hero does to a gold-fish. That the trait is foreign to the type, +however, seems clear. From the time when the companion appears to +the hero, the story follows the normal course until the very end, +when the man unexpectedly leaps into the sea. The thankful dead has +been replaced by the thankful beast, but the tale really belongs to +the present category, since otherwise it has all the characteristics +of the type. Thus the division of the woman is almost precisely +similar to that of Armenian and Gypsy--that is, the sword is raised, +and the woman disgorges the serpent with a scream. That it comes out +piecemeal may be a faulty recollection of the actual division. As so +often, it is not stated that the companion made a share of the gains +a condition of his help. + +Bulgarian is in some respects very primitive, though fragmentary. A +father sends his son out into the world to gain experience. The youth +is joined by an archangel, who promises him assistance on condition +that he will pay their joint expenses and will be obedient. The +companion kills a negro and a serpent, and goes with the hero into +their den, where the adventurers find, but leave, great treasure. They +come to a city where the king's daughter has been thrice married, +each time only to have her bridegroom die on the wedding night. Now +she is to be given to any man who can live with her one night; and +many wooers have died in the attempt. The youth offers himself as a +suitor, and is saved by the archangel, who draws a serpent out of the +woman. Later he helps the hero to get the wealth previously found in +the cave, and demands the division of everything, even the wife. When +he cuts her in two, many little snakes fall out of her body. He then +unites her, and gives the hero all the riches they have obtained. + +The burial of the dead has entirely disappeared, as will be observed, +though the other traits of the story show that we must regard it as +of the type now under consideration. The appearance of the archangel +as companion, and the plunder which they take by the way, suggest the +influence of Tobit, which indeed appears as a folk-tale in the same +collection. [87] The conditions made by the angel are only slightly +altered from the normal form, while every other feature is found +intact, even to the actual division of the woman. + +Esthonian II. has altogether lost the essential features of our theme; +and it has besides put in several traits from a maerchen, which, as +we shall soon see, is joined to ours with considerable frequency. The +inclusion of this variant here is justified only by some vague traces +indicating that the extraneous parts of the narrative have replaced +others which, if preserved, would make it an ordinary representative +of The Grateful Dead. + +A certain couple had a weak-minded son, who could not learn. Wishing +to get rid of him, the father took the boy into a forest and gave +him gladly to an old man whom he chanced to meet. From the man the +youth received books in foreign tongues, which he learned to read in a +day. He then wandered till he came to a city, where lived a princess +who was in the power of devils and went to church with them every +night. The hero watched in the church for three nights, with three, +six, and twelve candles, successively. Thus on the third night he +freed the princess and married her, receiving half the kingdom. He then +sought the old man, who told him to cut the woman in halves and divide +her. The old man halved her himself, when there sprang out a serpent, +a toad, and a lizard. After this he gave her back to her husband. + +The obscurity of motivation in this tale makes apparent the extensive +revision that it has undergone. The introduction is nowhere else +found combined, as far as I know, with the stories of our cycle. The +characteristics of The Poison Maiden are sufficiently evident in the +conclusion; but there seems to be no way to account for the peculiar +form of demonic possession, together with the actual division of +the woman, except by supposing, with Dutz, [88] that the variant has +lost the part concerning the burial of the dead man. If this be true, +the story belongs in the category where it is here placed. + +The Finnish variant [89] presents difficulties of a somewhat different +sort. A merchant's son, to whom it has been foretold that he will marry +a three-horned maiden, goes abroad to escape this fate. There he sees +the corpse of a debtor hanging nailed to a church wall, and insulted +by the passers-by. He expends all but nine silver kopecks in rescuing +the body, and turns homeward. He is joined by a companion, who makes +the money last three days, and on the fourth arranges for him to marry +the three-horned daughter of a king. On the wedding night the helper +brings the hero fresh-cut twigs. By beating the maiden with these her +blood is purified, the horns drop off, and she becomes very beautiful. + +No new material is here introduced; but the handling is considerably +changed, and the narrative abridged. The woman in the case is +three-horned instead of possessed by snakes, nor is there any hint of +harm to the bridegroom. A reminiscence of the division of the woman, +though not of the dowry, appears in the beating which the ghostly +companion gives her, whereby she is freed from her horns and made very +beautiful. The variant appears to be weakened by frequent retelling. + +Rumanian I. is more striking, since it has undergone both revision +and addition. The only daughter of an emperor wears out twelve pairs +of slippers every night, until her father offers her hand and the +heirship of the kingdom to any man who can explain this extraordinary +and costly habit. Many men of high birth and low make the attempt +unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, a certain peasant, whose servant had died +when his year of service was but half ended, had placed the body in a +chest under the roof in revenge for his disappointment. The new servant +had discovered this, and had given the corpse the rites due the dead, +as far as permitted by his master. When he departs at the end of +his year of service, the dead man comes from the earth, thanks him, +and proposes that they swear on the cross to be brothers. So they do, +and go on together till they come to an iron wood. The vampire breaks +off a twig, and casts it to the earth in the place where the emperor's +daughter comes at night with the sons of the dragon. When she appears, +she sees the broken twig, and is afraid. So she goes to the copper +wood, where she sees another twig broken by the vampire, and hastens +on to the place where the sons of the dragon dwell. It is in going +so far that she wears out her slippers. When she comes to the place, +and is about to sit down at table, she drops her handkerchief. The +vampire, who has followed her from the copper wood in the form of a +cat, takes it away, as he does also the spoon that falls from her +hand and the ring that falls from her finger. He goes back to the +copper wood with them, and explains everything to his friend. The +latter takes them to the emperor and wins the lady. + +This curious tale has several elements which make it difficult to +classify. As far as the kindness to the dead goes, the matter is +simple. Instead of an agreement between the companions to divide their +gains, however, an oath of brotherhood is introduced. This is probably +a local substitution, since it has long been a custom of the Slavs of +the south to swear brotherhood on the cross, [90] but it necessitates +the further loss of important features at the end of the narrative +such as the saving of the bridegroom on the wedding night and the +division of the maiden (or some modification of that feature) by the +vampire. Indeed, the heroine is rather enchanted than possessed. The +whole series of acts by which she is freed introduces traits into the +narrative which we have hitherto met only in Esthonian II. Were it +not that they are repeated in all the other members of the group save +Breton I., which we have still to consider, there would be considerable +doubt about placing this variant under the category of The Grateful +Dead + The Poison Maiden. As it is, we can with security say that +this and the following versions belong here. They have simply modified +the normal form by the addition of certain elements from another theme. + +The three Irish versions all have this form. In Irish I. a king's son, +while hunting, pays five pounds to the creditors of a dead man, so that +he may be buried. Later the prince kills a raven, and declares that he +will marry only that woman who has hair as black as the raven, skin as +white as snow, and cheeks as red as blood upon the snow. [91] On his +way to find her he meets a red-haired youth, who takes service with him +for half of what they may gain in a year and a day. The youth obtains +for him from various giants by threats of what his master will do [92] +horses of gold and silver, a sword of light, a cloak of darkness, +and the slippery shoes. When they come to the castle of the maiden, +he helps the Prince to keep over night a comb and a pair of scissors +in spite of enchantment, and he obtains at her bidding the lips of +the giant enchanter, which are the last that she has kissed. He then +tells the prince and the maiden's father to strike her three times, +when three devils come from her mouth in fire. So the prince marries +her, and is ready at the end of a year and a day to divide his child +[93] at the servant's command. But the latter explains that he is +the soul of the dead man, and disappears. + +Irish II. differs little except in details from the above. The king +of Ireland's son sets forth to find a woman with hair as black as the +raven, skin as white as snow, and cheeks as red as blood. Ten pounds +of the twenty which he takes with him he pays to release the corpse +of a man on which writs are laid. He meets a short green man, who +goes with him for his wife's first kiss; and he comes upon a gunner, +a man listening to the growing grass, a swift runner, a man blowing a +windmill with one nostril, and a strong man, all of whom accompany him +for the promise of a house and garden apiece. After various adventures +in the castles of giants, they arrive in the east, where the prince's +lady dwells. She says that her suitor must loose her geasa from her +before she can marry him. With the help of the short green man he +gives her the scissors, the comb, and the King of Porson's head, +which she requires. He is then told to get three bottles of healing +water from the well of the western world. The runner sets out for +them, and is stopped and put to sleep by an old hag on the way back; +but the earman hears him snoring, the gunman sees him and wakes him +up, and the windman keeps the hag back till he returns. Finally the +strong man crushes three miles of steel needles so that the prince +can walk over them. Thus the bride is won. The short green man claims +the first kiss, and finds her full of serpents, which he picks out of +her. He then tells the youth that he is the man who was in the coffin, +and disappears with his fellows. + +In Irish III. three brothers set out from home with three pounds +apiece. The youngest gives his all to pay a dead man's debts to three +giants. He shares his food with a poor man, who offers to be his +servant, saying that the corpse was his brother, and had appeared +to him in a dream. [94] Jack the servant frightens the first giant +into giving up his sword of sharpness, the second giant his cloak +of darkness, and the third giant his shoes of swiftness. The two +Jacks come to the castle of a king, whose daughter has to be wooed +by accomplishing three tasks. Jack the servant follows the princess +in the cloak of darkness to the demon king of Moroco and rescues +her scissors. Next day Jack the master runs a race with the king and +beats him because shod with the shoes of swiftness. That night Jack +the servant goes again to the demon king and cuts off his head with +the sword of sharpness, thus accomplishing the third task. So Jack +the master marries the princess. + +These three variants make evident the nature of the foreign material +in Esthonian II. and Rumanian I. The whole sub-group, indeed, has +in combination with The Grateful Dead + The Poison Maiden important +elements from the themes of The Water of Life and The Lady and the +Monster. These features will be considered in detail in a later +chapter, [95] when we study the general type The Grateful Dead + +The Water of Life. For the present it is enough to indicate how the +addition has affected the type with which we are immediately concerned. + +Of the three Irish tales, the first two have best preserved the +characteristics of the compound as found in Asia and Eastern +Europe. Irish I. has all the essential features of Armenian and +Gypsy,--for example, the burial, the agreement to divide what is +gained, and the removal of the evil things by which the woman is +possessed. To be sure, the latter are devils, not serpents, and the +woman is beaten, not divided. Yet the division appears in another +form, since the hero is ready to share his child with the red-haired +man, a trait connected with the theme of Amis and Amiloun. [96] Irish +II. is in some respects more changed, and in some respects less, than +Irish I. The agreement to divide is changed to a promise that the +green man shall have the first kiss of the bride. On the other hand, +the serpents in the woman's body are retained, a trait which is very +primitive and very important in enabling us to identify the position +of these variants. Irish III. has lost most of the typical features +of the compound. Kennedy's evidence shows that Jack the servant +is to be regarded as really the thankful dead; but the agreement +to divide the gains and the removal of the demons or serpents have +entirely disappeared under pressure from the secondary theme, the +essential idea of which is the accomplishment by the hero of certain +unspelling tasks. In conjunction with the other two variants, however, +the position of Irish III. is clear. + +Very different from the Irish tales is Breton I., since under the +influence of a tendency very common in Brittany, the narrative +has become a Mary legend and has lost its clearness of outline in +the process. Yet it really belongs to this group, replacing by a +dragon-fight and a rescue of the hero from the villain the cleansing +of the bride. At least, I am led to the belief that such is the case +by the fact that the story fits into no other category. Nor is it +surprising that the position of the tale should be obscure in view +of the grotesque transformation which it has undergone. + +A youth named Mao pays all his money to have the body of a beggar +interred. The spirit of the dead man helps him win the daughter of a +rich man after killing a dragon in the stables. The lady's treacherous +cousin tries to burn him alive in an old mill, whence he is saved by +the ghost. He forgives the man, and is tricked into promising him +half of all his possessions in order to save his wife. When a son +is born, the villain demands its division. At the hero's appeal, the +Virgin comes with the ghost and takes Mao and his family to heaven, +while the cousin is sent to hell. + +Norwegian II. and Danish III. stand together, since the relation of +the latter (Andersen's Reisekammeraten) to the former is simply that +of a literary redaction to its original. A brief analysis of each is, +however, necessary. + +In Norwegian II. a young peasant on account of a dream sets forth to +win the hand of a princess. On his way he gives most of his money +to bury a dishonest tapster, who has been executed and left frozen +in a block of ice outside a church for passers-by to spit upon. As +he proceeds, the youth is joined by the ghost of the tapster, who +accompanies him. They go to a hill, where they get a magic sword from +one witch, a golden ball of yarn from another, and a magical hat from +a third. Of the yarn they make a bridge, and so come to the princess's +castle. The hero is told to keep her scissors overnight and loses them; +but the companion rides behind the princess on her goat in the hat +of invisibility, when she goes to her troll lover, and so rescues +them. The hero is told to keep a golden ball overnight, and the +same adventure is repeated. The hero is then told to bring what the +princess is thinking of. The companion rides again with the princess +and beats her with his sword, gets the troll's head for his master, +and so enables him to win the lady. On the wedding night the hero flogs +his wife at the advice of the companion, only just in time to save +himself, indeed, as she is about to kill him with a butcher-knife. He +dips her into a tub of whey, whence she comes out black as a raven, +but after a rubbing with buttermilk and new milk she becomes very +beautiful. The companion discovers his identity and disappears. + +In Danish III. poor John, whose father has died, dreams of a beautiful +princess, and sets forth to find her. He does various kind deeds by +the way, and one night takes refuge from the storm in a church. There +he sees two evil men dragging a corpse from its coffin, and pays his +all that it may be buried. He is joined by the ghost of the dead +man, who accompanies him. They get three rods from an old woman, +who is healed by the comrade's salve, and they come to a city, +where they get a sword from a showman, whose puppets are made alive +by the salve. They come to a mountain, where the companion cuts off +the wings of a great white swan and carries them along. They come at +length to the city of the beautiful princess, who is a witch. Anyone +can marry her who guesses three things, but every man who has tried +has failed and been killed. John tells the king that he will try to +win her, and is told to come the next day. In the night the comrade +puts on the wings of the swan, takes the largest of the rods, and +follows the princess when she flies out to the palace of her wizard +lover. There he hears that she is to think of her shoe when her suitor +comes in the morning. All the way to the mountain and back the comrade +beats her so that the blood flows. The next morning he tells John to +guess her shoe when asked what she has thought of. Everyone save the +princess rejoices when the youth guesses right. The next night the +companion beats the princess with two rods as she flies, and learns +that she is to think of her glove. Again everyone is pleased with +John's answer. The third night the companion takes all three rods +and the sword. He cuts off the wizard's head when he learns that the +princess is to think of that, and he gives it to John, wrapped in a +handkerchief. John produces this when asked by the princess what she +has thought about, and so he wins her. That night, at the bidding +of the companion, he dips her three times in a tub of water, into +which have been shaken three swan's feathers and some drops from a +flask. The first time she becomes a black swan, the second a white +swan, and the third a more beautiful princess than ever. The next +day the comrade explains his identity and disappears. + +It will be seen that Andersen simply embroidered the Norwegian tale +as was his wont, adding a good many picturesque details, and softening +some features. The changes do not materially affect the course of the +narrative, nor need they delay us here, interesting though they are +of themselves, [97] since the position of the variant with reference +to the story-type under consideration is perfectly clear. Norwegian +II. demands further attention. Like Esthonian II., Rumanian I., and +Irish I., II., and III., it has the form The Grateful Dead + The Poison +Maiden + The Water of Life. The burial of the dead is undisturbed, +but the agreement between the companions to divide their gains has +entirely disappeared, perhaps because the secondary theme takes so +large a place. The removal of the poisonous habitants of the bride +is clearly indicated, though it has been weakened into a flogging, +which is given, however, only just in time to save the bridegroom +from death. The subsequent milk bath seems to show a conflict between +the conclusions of the two subsidiary motives--the end of The Poison +Maiden being release from something like demonic possession, and that +of The Water of Life in this form being release from a spell--though +perhaps the bath is only a reduplication of the purifying process. + +Simrock X. is not unlike the two variants just cited. A king's son +wastes his property, and is sent out to shift for himself. He pays +the debts of a naked corpse, and has only enough money left to pay +his reckoning at his inn. So he takes the body to a wood, and buries +it there. As he goes his way, he is met by a man, who becomes his +follower and secures three rods, a sword, and a pair of wings from a +dead raven. They come to a castle, where to win the king's daughter +the prince has to guess her thoughts for three days in succession. The +companion flies with her each night when she goes to her wizard for +counsel, and learns that the prince must say "bread," "the princess's +jewels," and "the wizard's head" in turn. On the last night he cuts off +the wizard's head and brings it to his master, who displays it at court +and so breaks the spell. When the couple are married, the companion +explains that he is the spirit of the dead man, and disappears. + +This variant obviously belongs to the same type as those preceding. As +in Irish I. and II. the hero is a prince instead of a youth of +low birth; but there is no general uniformity in this trait. The +agreement of division and the violent dispossession of the heroine have +disappeared. Indeed, so far has The Water of Life supplanted the other +motives that the position of the tale is only evident when it is placed +side by side with other versions of the same class. When so considered, +however, the peculiar features of the succession of feats by which +the bride is won appear very prominently, and establish the type. + +Harz I. stands closer to Norwegian II. than the preceding. A youth pays +his all for the burial of a poor man, whose ghost joins him. They go +to a city, where a bespelled princess kills all her suitors who cannot +answer a riddle. The companion spirit tells the youth to save her, +explaining his own identity. He gives wings and an iron rod to the +hero, who flies with the princess to a mountain spirit, and hears that +he must guess that she is thinking of her father's white horse. The +next night the youth follows her with two rods and is thus enabled +to guess that she is thinking of her father's sword. The third night +he follows her with two rods and a sword, with which he cuts off the +monster's head. This he shows her in the morning when asked the usual +question, and so he breaks the spell. On the wedding night he dips her +thrice in water. The first time she comes from the bath a raven, the +second time a dove, and the third time in her own shape, but purified. + +The burial is here retained, but the agreement is entirely +lost. Though the variant follows Norwegian II. in general, even to +such details as the preliminary beating of the lady, and the bath +of final purification, the important trait of flogging the bride, +by which the hero is saved on the wedding night, has altogether +disappeared. Like Simrock X., the tale has obscured the first of the +two secondary themes for the benefit of the second. Its position seems +sure, however, as a member of the little group now being considered. + +Jack the Giant-Killer clearly belongs to this group, approaching +Irish I. in form. The earliest complete version that I know is +unfortunately not older than the eighteenth century, and perhaps has +lost several features of interest which might be found in earlier +forms. King Arthur's son sets forth to free a lady possessed of seven +spirits. At a market town in Wales he pays almost all his money to +release the body of a man who died in debt. He gives his last twopence +to an old woman, who meets him after he has left the town. Jack the +Giant-Killer is so pleased with these good deeds that he becomes the +prince's servant. They go to a giant's castle together. Jack tells +the giant that a mighty prince is coming [98] and locks him up, +so that the two take all his gold. Jack takes also an old coat and +cap, a rusty sword, and a pair of slippers. They arrive at the lady's +house. She tells the prince to show her in the morning a handkerchief, +which she conceals in her dress. By putting on the coat of darkness, +and the shoes of swiftness, and following her when she goes to her +demon lover, Jack gets the handkerchief for his master. Next day the +lady tells the prince to get the lips which she will kiss the last +that night. Jack follows her again and cuts off the demon's head, +which the prince produces, thus breaking the spell that has bound +her to the evil spirits. + +This variant, even in what is probably a mutilated state, is strikingly +similar to Irish I. in such details as the means used to follow the +lady, and the tasks imposed upon the suitor. Indeed, the fact that +the adventures take place in Wales might lead one to suppose that +the story in this form was Celtic, were not the knowledge of it so +persistent in England also. Several features are obscured, at least +in the form from which I cite. Though the burial of the dead is given +clearly enough, and the fact that the lady is possessed is insisted on, +the prince is kind to an old woman as well as to a dead man, and Jack +is certainly not understood to be a ghost. All mention of an agreement +between the companions, and of the means taken to free the heroine +from her possession by dividing her or flogging her, has likewise +disappeared. However, the correspondence both in outline and in detail +with Irish I. is sufficient to establish the position of the variant. + +In the Old Wives' Tale the theme of The Grateful Dead is imbedded in +such a mass of folk-lore and folk-tales that it is quite impossible +to restore adequately the narrative as Peele found it. He treated the +story as a literary artist, of course, modifying and adding details to +suit the scheme of his play. The outline of the story, as Peele gives +it, is as follows: A king, or a lord, or a duke, has a daughter as +white as snow and as red as blood, who is carried off by a conjurer +in the form of a dragon. Her two brothers set forth to seek her, +and by a cross meet an old man named Erestus, who calls himself the +White Bear of England's Wood. He, they learn, has been enchanted by +the conjurer, and is a man by day and a bear by night. He tells them +of his own troubles, and gives them good advice. Later he is met by +the wandering knight Eumenides, who likewise is seeking the lady +Delia and is counselled: + + + "Bestowe thy almes, give more than all, + Till dead men's bones come at thy call." + + +Eumenides pays all his money except three farthings to bury the body +of Jack, while the conjurer compels Delia to goad her brothers at the +work to which he has set them. Eumenides is overtaken by the ghost of +Jack, who becomes his servant, or "copartner," provides him with money, +and slays the conjurer while invisible, thus breaking the spell of all +the enchanted persons. Jack then demands his half of Delia, refuses +to take her whole, and, when Eumenides prepares to cut her in twain, +explains that he has asked this only as a trial of constancy. He +quickly disappears. + +Dutz has already shown [99] that Old Wives' Tale has three of the +essential features of The Grateful Dead, viz.: the burial of the +dead with the peculiar prophetic advice of Erestus, the reward of +the hero by assistance in getting a wife, and the sharing of the +woman. Because of the non-schematic nature of his discussion he did +not make any attempt to classify the variant more specifically. In +his edition of the play, [100] Professor Gummere, in indicating some +of the folk-lore which Peele used, has likewise called attention +[101] to the connection with our theme. Of particular importance is +his hint as to the likeness of the variant to the story which I call +Irish III. It is practicable, however, to carry the matter somewhat +further. The adventures of Delia, Eumenides, and Jack are all that +really concern us. It will be seen that these conform in essentials +to the type under consideration. There is the burial, the agreement, +the death of the wizard, and the division. To be sure, as in other +instances, the dispossession of the woman has been obscured by other +elements; yet the type is unmistakable, it seems to me. One trait in +particular connects Old Wives' Tale with Irish I. and II. In all three +the hero seeks a maiden who is white as snow and red as blood. On +the other hand, the ghost is called Jack as in Irish III. and the +English tale which bears Jack's name. Because of these similarities +and discrepancies one is forced to conclude that for this part of his +play Peele drew upon some version of Jack the Giant-Killer, which was +far better preserved than the forms known to-day. His original must +have had many points in common with the tale as extant in Ireland, +though we need not believe that he knew it in other than English dress. + +It yet remains to consider the relations of the two sets of variants +discussed in this chapter to The Poison Maiden and to one another. The +group is peculiar in that all the members of it are folk-tales, save +three: Tobit, Danish III. and Old Wives' Tale. The two latter are, +however, immediately derived from popular narratives of an easily +discernible type. Thus Tobit is an anomaly from almost any point of +view, obscure in its origin and possessed of only trivial influence +upon the other tales belonging to the same group. Of the twenty-six +variants, fifteen have The Grateful Dead + The Poison Maiden simply, +while the other eleven add thereto more or less distinct elements of +The Water of Life. + +In the following versions the hero is saved on the wedding night, or +the bride is purified by some means: Tobit, Armenian, Gypsy, Siberian, +Russian I., Russian II., Russian III., Russian IV., Russian V., Russian +VI., Servian II., Servian III., Servian IV., Bulgarian, Esthonian II., +Irish I., Irish II., Danish III., Norwegian II., and Harz I. Not all +the stories which I have placed in the group, it will be observed, +have this feature; but, out of all the variants of The Grateful Dead +enumerated in the bibliographical list, not one has it except members +of the group. Now this purification of the bride, by means of which +the hero is saved, is precisely the element of The Poison Maiden which +is most essential. There can be no doubt, therefore, that this theme +actually united with a more primitive form of The Grateful Dead to +form the compound discussed in this chapter. The combination must +have been made very early and in Asia, as Tobit and Armenian bear +witness. It will be noted that all the variants, save Finnish, which +have the simple compound, retain the rescue of the bridegroom, while +only half of those where a subsidiary motive has been introduced have +the like. Apparently the intrusion of new matter of a very romantic +sort tended to obscure the original climax of the combined type. + +Another feature of much importance in this connection is the division +of the woman, or whatever is substituted for it. In a large majority +of the variants studied, which have the trait at all, the purpose +of the division proposed or accomplished is to test the fidelity of +the hero. Hippe believed [102] that this was a modification of the +original trait, an opinion which would be justified if the compound +type The Grateful Dead + The Poison Maiden only were considered. The +versions which have the purification are the following: Armenian, +Gypsy, Siberian, Russian II., Russian IV., Russian V., Russian VI., +Servian II., Servian III., Servian IV., Bulgarian, Esthonian II., +Finnish, Irish I., Irish II., and Old Wives' Tale. In these the +purpose of the division, or beating, whether actually performed or +not, is the disposal of serpents or other venomous creatures by which +the woman is possessed. [103] It will be noted, however, that all +of these variants are of the type treated in the present chapter. If +the division for the sake of purification were then regarded as more +primitive and older than the division for the sake of sharing the +gains or of testing the hero, it would naturally follow that all +the combined types must proceed from The Grateful Dead + The Poison +Maiden. Hippe followed the logical course from his premises in so +regarding the relationship of the groups. [104] However, it seems +clear to me--and it will be increasingly evident as we study the +other groups--that the division for purification belongs solely to +the compound treated in this chapter. It would follow logically from +combining The Poison Maiden, where a friend saves the hero from the +fatal embraces of a woman, with The Grateful Dead, where the hero +is willing to divide his wife to satisfy the agreement which he has +made with his benefactor. Only by such an explanation is it possible +to account for the development of the several groups from a common +root. The barbarous character of the division for purification, +and the softening which it has undergone in the group which we have +been studying, give it an appearance of antiquity to which it has +no right. In point of fact, it belongs only to this group, which is +thus clearly set off from all the others as an independent branch. The +division for the sake of fulfilling an obligation is more widespread, +though it has suffered many modifications. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE GRATEFUL DEAD AND THE RANSOMED WOMAN. + + +As has already been shown, [105] Simrock regarded as an essential +feature of The Grateful Dead the release of a maiden from captivity by +the hero. Stephens and Hippe [106] saw that such was not the case. The +latter's treatment of the matter [107] leaves little to be desired +as far as it goes, save that it implies a derivation of the compound +The Grateful Dead + The Ransomed Woman from the compound treated in +the last chapter--a view which I believe erroneous. + +The Ransomed Woman appears as a separate tale or in combination with +other themes than The Grateful Dead more than once. A prolonged study +of the motive would probably yield a rich harvest of examples, though +it is sufficient for the present purpose to refer to Hippe's article as +establishing the existence of the form. His Wendish folk-tale [108] and +Guter Gerhard, from the latter of which Simrock started his enquiry, +are of themselves evidence enough. [109] Neither example has anything +whatever to do with The Grateful Dead. [110] The characteristics +of The Ransomed Woman will appear as we consider the compound type, +which contains folk-tales almost exclusively, as was the case with +the type studied in the previous chapter, but in most cases from +Western Europe instead of from both Asia and Europe. + +Nineteen variants have The Grateful Dead and The Ransomed Woman +combined in a comparatively simple form without admixture with related +themes. These are: Servian I., Lithuanian I., [111] Hungarian II., +Transylvanian, Catalan, Spanish, Trancoso, Nicholas, Gasconian, +Straparola I., Istrian, Gaelic, Breton III., [112] Swedish, Norwegian +I., Icelandic I. and II., and Simrock IV. and VI. + +In Servian I. a merchant's son, while on a journey, ransoms a company +of slaves whom he finds in the hands of freebooters. Among them is +a beautiful maiden with her nurse. He marries the lady, who proves +to be the daughter of an emperor. On a second voyage he ransoms two +peasants, who have been imprisoned for not paying their taxes to the +emperor. On his third journey he comes to his father-in-law's court, +and is sent back for his wife. He is, however, cast into the sea +by a former lover of the princess, and succeeds in getting ashore +on a lonely island, where he remains for fifteen days and fifteen +nights. [113] Then an angel in the disguise of an old man appears to +him, and, on condition of receiving half of his possessions, brings +him to court, where he is reunited with his wife. After renouncing +his claim, the old man explains who he is, and disappears. + +The most striking peculiarity of the variant is the loss of the burial, +for which appears rather awkwardly the ransoming of some peasants on +the hero's second voyage. That substitution has occurred is apparent, +however, both from the clumsiness of the device by which the original +trait is replaced, and from the angel in the form of an old man, +who takes the role of the ghost. It will be remembered that the +same substitution has already been met with in the case of Tobit and +Russian II. + +In Lithuanian I. is found a variant which, as we shall find, is of +a common type. A king's son pays three hundred gold-pieces, all that +he possesses, to release a dead man from his creditors and have him +buried. The hero then becomes a merchant, and finds a princess on an +island, whither she has been driven by a storm. He takes her to a city, +where he makes his home, and marries her. A messenger, sent out by +her father to seek her, arrives, takes them aboard ship, and pitches +the hero into the sea in order to obtain the offered reward. He is +saved by a man in a boat, who says that he is the ghost of the dead, +and instructs him how to rejoin his bride. So everything ends happily. + +The events as here related follow a very normal course, which is +repeated again and again in stories of this type: a burial, a ransom, +an act of treachery, a rescue by the ghost, and a happy reunion +of the lovers. The agreement between the hero and the ghost, which +is found in Servian I., and very frequently elsewhere, is lacking, +however. A peculiarity of the variant is the change in status of the +hero. He is a prince, but becomes a merchant, thus uniting the two +characters given him in the other tales of this class. + +Hungarian II. is in some respects more interesting than the variant +just cited. A merchant's son while in Turkey pays the debts and for +the burial of a mistreated corpse. After returning home, he goes to +England and rescues a French princess with her two maids, but by his +cunning saves the gold that he has agreed to pay for them. At her +bidding he goes to Paris and tells the king that she is safe. On +his return to bring her to her home, where he is to marry her, +he is placed on a desert island by a general who is enamoured of +the princess. Thence he is rescued by an old man, the ghost of the +dead, who takes him to the Continent. He goes to Paris, where he is +recognized by the princess, when he drops a ring that she has given +him into a beaker. When she comes to him in his room, he threatens to +kill her if she does not go away; but when she agrees that he has the +right to do so since he has saved her life, he says that his threat +was only a test of loyalty. So the story ends happily. + +The course of events is not very different from that of Lithuanian +I., since the variant has all the normal elements save the agreement +between the ghost and the hero. A peculiarity is the final scene +in which the hero tests his lady. It will be evident, I think, +that this is an obscured and modified form of the test to which +the ghost elsewhere submits the hero, a test of fidelity likewise, +though different in its nature. + +In the Transylvanian variant, a merchant's son while on a journey pays +fifty florins, half of his capital, for the burial of a dead man. On +a second journey he pays one hundred florins, again one-half of his +store, for the ransom of a princess who has been imprisoned while +out doing charity incognito. She gives him a ring and sends him to +the castle, where her father turns him out of doors. He then meets +an old man--the ghost--and promises him one-half of his gains after +seven years for his help. He is then enabled to marry the princess, who +recognizes him, at the castle by his ring. They have two children. When +the old man comes back at the end of seven years, the hero gives +up one of his children, and, after offering her whole, is ready to +divide his wife. The old man renounces his claim, and disappears. + +Every step in the narrative is here clearly marked, even to the +conditional agreement with the ghost, which so frequently is +wanting. The variant thus appears to be entirely normal as far as +The Grateful Dead goes, though it does not have the rescue by the +ghost--an important feature of The Ransomed Woman. + +In Catalan [114] a young man on a journey has a poor man buried at +his expense, and ransoms a princess. Later he goes to the court of +her parents with a flag on which she has embroidered her name. They +recognize this, and send the youth back for the lady. On the way he +is cast into the sea by the sailors, but is saved by the thankful +dead and brought to the court again, where he espouses the princess. + +In Spanish [115] a young Venetian merchant pays the debts of a +Christian at Tunis, and has him buried. At the house of the creditor +he also buys a Christian slave girl. He takes her back to Venice and +marries her. At the wedding a sea-captain recognizes the lady, and +lures the couple aboard his ship. The young man is cast into the sea, +but by clinging to a plank reaches land, where he lives seven months +with a hermit. At the end of that time he is sent to the coast, +where he finds a ship, and is transported to Ireland. There he is +entrusted by the captain with two letters to the king. The one says +that he is a great physician, who will heal the sick princess; the +other that the plank, the hermit, and the captain who has brought him +to Ireland are one and all the ghost of the man whom he buried. The +hero is recognized at court by the princess, who has been brought +thither by the traitor, and has explained all to her father. + +In these tales the theme of The Grateful Dead is somewhat abbreviated +for the sake of the romantic features of the secondary motive. In +both, the agreement with the ghost and every trace of a division +have disappeared, though they differ in the details of the treachery +by which the lovers are separated. In the former [116] much is +made of the manner by which the hero gets a favourable reception +at the court of the princess's father, while in the latter this is +suppressed. Recognition by some such means, it will appear, is an +important feature of the majority of the variants in this section. It +must be remembered, of course, that Spanish is a semi-literary version, +even though popular in origin. + +Trancoso, the work of a sixteenth century Portuguese story-teller, +is even more consciously literary. It shows, besides, the tendency of +the narrative to take on a religious colouring. The son of a Lusitanian +merchant, while in Fez on a trading expedition, buys the relics of a +Christian saint. In spite of his father's anger, he does this a second +time, and is so successful in retailing the bones that he is sent out +a third time with instructions to buy as many relics as possible. On +this expedition, however, he succeeds merely in ransoming a Christian +girl, whom he takes home. At her request he carries to the King of +England a piece of linen, on which she has embroidered the story of +her adventures. He learns that she is the king's daughter, and restores +her to her father. Subsequently he wanders over Europe in despair, for +he has hoped to marry the princess, till he meets with two minstrels, +who accompany him to the English court. There he makes himself known +to the princess by a song; and, by the aid of the two minstrels, he +wins her hand in a tournament. Later the two friends reveal themselves +as the saints whose bones he had rescued from the Moors. + +Though this version clearly belongs in the category now under +discussion, it has certain features that can be explained only on +the supposition that Trancoso altered his source to suit his personal +fancy. The clever substitute for actual burial, the duplication of that +trait (which occurs nowhere else), the humorous touch with reference +to the hero's success in selling relics, and the appearance of the +ghosts as minstrels, are all strokes of individual invention. The +wanderings of the hero and his manner of revealing himself to the +princess are doubtless reminiscences from the popular romances of +Spain, while the tournament probably comes, as Menendez y Pelayo hints, +[117] from an earlier version of our theme, Oliver, which will be +treated below. In spite of these peculiarities, the ordinary features +of the combined theme are not more obscured than in the two preceding +variants. The agreement, the division, and the rescue are the only +ones that disappear. + +In the fourteenth century variant from Scala Celi, Nicholas, our +story is altogether transformed into a legend. The only son of a widow +[118] of Bordeaux is sent as a merchant to a distant city with fifty +pounds. He gives it all to help rebuild a church of St Nicholas, and +returns home empty-handed. Much later he is sent out with one hundred +pounds, and buys the Sultan's daughter. His mother disowns him, and +he is supported by the embroidery which the princess makes. With her +wares he goes to a festival at Alexandria, but, at her bidding, keeps +away from the castle. When he journeys to Alexandria a second time, +however, he goes to the castle and is imprisoned, as the handiwork +of the princess is recognized. She is sent for, while the hero is +released and goes home. Since he does not find the maiden there, he +returns to Alexandria with a piece of embroidery which she has sent +him, meets her, and elopes by the aid of St. Nicholas, who sends them +a ship opportunely. + +Because of its legendary character the variant has been materially +transformed, but not beyond recognition. The thankful dead is replaced +by the saint throughout, so that the burial is altered into church +building, and both the agreement and the division of the gains +disappear. The various elements of The Ransomed Woman fare better: +the act of treachery done the hero is the only one lacking, and that +perhaps is replaced by his imprisonment in the Sultan's castle. It +is remarkable that the details of the narrative have been so little +altered in spite of its complete change of purpose. + +In the Gasconian folk-tale Jean du Boucau, the son of a mariner, goes +to fight the corsairs. On the shore of the sea he rescues a man named +Uartia, who is pretending death to escape from his creditors. Later +this man becomes a prosperous freebooter, and is sailing with a load +of captives when met again by Jean. The latter is so shocked by his +evil deeds that he encloses him in the coffin prepared for him on +the previous occasion, and throws him into the sea. Jean then marries +the most beautiful of the captives, who is the daughter of the King +of Bilbao. + +The variant is excessively rationalized, it will be observed, and +most traces of The Grateful Dead have disappeared. Though various +substitutions for the burial are found in each of the groups, this +is the only case that I know where the man plays 'possum to escape +his creditors. The story is likewise unique in making the hero take +vengeance on the man whom he has helped earlier, and accordingly in +making him rescue the maiden from the hands of the person who is in +the character of the thankful dead. The variant has been modified by +a free fancy; yet its position in the group remains perfectly clear +in spite of the loss of such traits as the agreement, the act of +treachery, the rescue of the hero, and the division of the gains. + +Straparola I., one of the Italian novelist's two renderings of +our theme, is far more normal than the above, and is probably based +directly on a folk-story. Bertuccio pays one hundred ducats to free a +corpse from a robber and bury it, greatly to his mother's disgust. He +goes out again with two hundred ducats, and pays them for the ransom +of the daughter of the King of Navarre. His mother is still more +angry. The princess is taken home to Navarre by officers of the court +who have been searching for her, but first she tells Bertuccio to come +to her, and to hold his hand to his head as a sign when he hears that +she is to be married. On his way to Navarre he meets a knight who +gives him a horse and clothing on condition of his returning them, +together with half of his gains. He marries the princess, and is +returning home, when he meets the knight again and offers to give up +his wife whole rather than kill her by division. Whereupon the knight +explains that he is the spirit of the dead, and resigns his claim. + +All the traits previously mentioned are here evident save the act +of treachery by which the hero comes near losing his bride. The +sign appears as a means of communication between the lovers, as in +Transylvanian and elsewhere. The question of division is simply a +matter of fulfilling a bargain, but it shows how easily by a slight +shift of emphasis the test of loyalty could be made the important +element. + +None of the Italian folk variants, which I know, conforms to the above +closely enough to be regarded as a near relative. Istrian, however, +belongs in the same category. A youth called Fair Brow sets out to +trade with six thousand scudi, which he pays to bury a debtor on +the shore, for whom passers-by are giving alms. On his return home, +he tells his father that he has been robbed, and again is sent +out with six thousand scudi. He pays these for a maiden, who has +been stolen from the Sultan, and he is consequently disowned by his +father. After his marriage to the girl, the young couple live by the +sale of the wife's paintings. Some sailors of the Sultan see these, +and carry the lady off home. Fair Brow goes fishing with an old man +whom he meets by the sea. They are driven by a storm to Turkey, and +are sold to the Sultan as slaves, but they escape with the wife and +considerable treasure. The old man then asks for a division of the +property, even of the woman. When the hero offers him three-quarters +of the wealth in order to keep the woman, the old man declares that +he is the ghost, and disappears. + +All of the essential traits, except the preliminary agreement and +the rescue of the hero, are here clearly marked. The latter is, +indeed, probably accounted for by the storm which the hero and the +ghost encounter together. The fact that the young couple live by +the sale of the wife's handiwork, and that this in some way or other +leads to her restoration to her parents or earlier connections, is +an important feature of The Ransomed Woman, being found clearly in +the Wendish tale as well as in many variants of the compound type. + +Gaelic is an interesting example of the theme. Iain, the son of a +Barra widow, becomes the master of a ship and goes to Turkey, where +he pays the debts of a dead Christian and buries the corpse. He +ransoms a Christian maiden, the daughter of the King of Spain, with +her servant, on the same journey, and takes her back to England, +together with much gold. At her advice he goes to Spain and attends +church, where the king recognizes by his clothing, his ring, his +book, and his whistle that he has news of the lost princess. Iain +then returns to England for the maiden, whom he is to marry. While +going with her to Spain he is left on a desert island by a general, +who has secreted himself on the ship; but after a time he is rescued +by a man in a boat, to whom he promises half of his wife and of his +children, if he shall have any. In Spain the princess, who has gone +mad, recognizes him when he plays his whistle. So they are married, +and the general burned. When three sons have been born, the rescuer +appears and asks for his share; but as soon as Iain accedes he declares +himself to be the ghost, and disappears. + +Apart from the dressing of the story, which is unusually good, the +variant follows the normal course. The several signs by which the +hero is recognized by the king and the princess mark the imaginative +wealth of the Celt, though the appearance of a ring, and the fact +that the hero is left on a desert island by an infatuated general, +show a close correspondence with Hungarian II. The introduction of +the children as part of the property to be divided is interesting, +since it shows the connecting link by which the simple compound now +under consideration passed into combination with the theme of The +Two Friends. [119] Gaelic, however, clearly belongs where it is here +placed. The healing of the princess at the hero's coming reminds one +of the similar trait in Spanish. + +Breton III. [120] is peculiar in several ways. A young man, who had +been unjustly cast off by his parents, put himself under the protection +of St. Corentin and the Virgin. To an old woman he gave all his stock +of money that she might bury her husband and have masses said for +his soul. The saint and the Virgin then led the hero to a nobleman, +whose daughter he married. On a hunt he was cast into the sea by +an envious uncle of his wife, at a time when she was pregnant; but +he was brought to an island by some mysterious power and nourished +there for five years by St. Corentin. Finally an old man appeared and +took him home after he had promised half of his possessions to the +rescuer. When a year had passed, the old man came back and demanded +half of the child; but just as the mysterious stranger was about to +divide the child St. Corentin and the Virgin appeared and explained +their identity, together with that of the old man, who was the saint +himself. They told the hero, furthermore, that God was well pleased +with him, and would take his son and himself to Paradise. Father and +son fell dead immediately, while the wife went into a convent. + +This tale, like Nicholas, has been dressed up as a legend, chiefly +in the praise of St. Corentin, with the result that the elements +are confused. The burial, however, persists, though the ransoming of +the woman has been feebly replaced by the aid of the saint and the +Virgin. The hero is cast into the sea by an avaricious uncle of the +bride, again a weakened trait. The rescue and the agreement to divide +are normal in essentials, though adorned with superfluous miracles, +as is again the conclusion of the tale. It illustrates how easily +such a narrative may be adapted, whether consciously or not, to a +religious purpose. The division of the child, which comes in question, +is of precisely the same character as in Gaelic; it does not imply +the presence of a new motive, though it indicates the possibility of +a new combination. + +Swedish [121] is a somewhat abbreviated form of the normal type. Pelle +Batsman, while on a journey, pays the debts of a dead man, and so +brings repose to him; for he has been hunted from his grave and soundly +beaten every night by his creditors, who are likewise dead. Pelle +then falls in with robbers, with whom he finds the daughter of the +King of Armenia. He escapes with her, and goes on board a ship to seek +her father, but he is thrown overboard by the envious captain. He is +saved by the thankful dead and brought to Armenia, where he marries +the princess. Here the burial is peculiar in that the dead man is +harassed by creditors who are already dead. This is a marvel, which +need excite no surprise in view of the modifications of the trait +found elsewhere. The ransom in this case does not imply a money +payment, since the hero escapes from robbers with the maiden. The +way in which the hero is left behind by the master of the vessel +on which the lovers sail is a trait similar to the one in Catalan +and Spanish. The agreement between the hero and the ghost, the sign +employed by the hero, and the division of gains are all lacking; +but no new feature replaces them. + +Norwegian I. [122] is not very different from the preceding tale. A man +in the service of a merchant pays all he has, while on one voyage, +to bury the body of a dead man. On his next voyage he ransoms a +princess, and sets out with her for England. On the way she is +carried off by her brother and a former suitor. The hero overtakes +them and is given a ring by the lady, but is cast into the sea by the +suitor. For seven years he lives on a desert isle, till an old man +appears, tells him that it is the princess's bridal day, carries him +to England, and gives him a flask. This the hero sends to his lady, +is thus recognized, and is married. The agreement with the ghost and +the division of the woman are entirely lacking, though the burial, the +ransom, the treachery of the suitor, and the aid of the ghost appear +in normal fashion. The sign enters only as a means of communication +between the lovers. The tale thus has no very unusual traits. + +Icelandic I. [123] is a fuller, and, for our purpose, more interesting +variant than the last. Thorsteinn, a king's son, who has wasted his +substance, sells his kingdom and sets forth into the world. He pays +two hundred rix-dollars to free from debt a dead man, whose grave is +beaten every day by a creditor to destroy his rest. The prince goes on, +and in the castle of a giant finds a princess hanging by the hair. He +frees her, and is taking her home when he meets Raudr, a knight to +whom her hand has been promised if he can find her. Raudr puts the +prince to sea alone in a boat and carries the lady home. Thorsteinn, +however, is brought thither also by the ghost and is recognized by +the princess, when she is about to be married to the traitor. So +Raudr is punished, and Thorsteinn obtains the princess. + +Here, again, the agreement, the sign, and the division do not appear, +though the version is otherwise normal. To be sure, the ransom of the +lady is replaced by a rescue, as in Swedish, and the beating of the +grave preserves a bit of northern superstition, which is interesting +even though not primitive as far as our tale is concerned. [124] + +Icelandic II. is similar to the variant just cited in several +particulars, though it has important differences. Vilhjalmur, +a merchant's son, loses his property and becomes the servant of +twelve robbers. In their den he finds a princess named Asa hanging +by the hair. He escapes with her by sea, taking along the thieves' +treasure. This he pays to have the body of a debtor buried. To the +haven where this happens comes Rauethur in search of the princess, +takes the couple on his ship, but puts the hero to sea in a rudderless +boat. A man appears to Vilhjalmur in a dream, saying that he is the +ghost of the man whom he has buried, and that he will bring him to +land and show him treasure. So the hero is brought to the land of +the princess and tells his story at the wedding of the traitor with +the princess. Thus the bride is won for him. + +The hero, it will be observed, is a merchant instead of a prince, +as in Icelandic I., and the burial of the dead is customary in form +though exceptionally placed in the narrative. Otherwise the two +variants correspond rather closely, even in such a detail as the name +of the traitor. There is the same omission of elements peculiar to The +Grateful Dead, the same preponderance of the secondary motive, found in +all the northern versions of this particular group. The two Icelandic +variants seem to be perfectly distinct, though they are nearly related. + +The two German folk-tales which fall into this group are not very +different from one another. In Simrock IV. a merchant's son pays the +debts of a man who is being devoured by dogs, but does not succeed +in saving his life. He goes on, finds two maidens exposed on a rock, +and takes them home. In spite of his father's objections, he marries +one of them. He goes to sea again, wearing a ring that his wife has +given him, and carrying a flag marked with her name. Coming to the +royal court of her father, he is sent back for the princess with a +minister. On his voyage to court again he is put overboard by the +minister, who hopes thus to win the princess. However, he is cast up +on an island, where the ghost of the dead man appears to him in sleep +and transports him miraculously to court. There he is recognized by +his ring and reunited to his wife. + +Details such as those concerning the burial, the rescue of the lady, +and the help given miraculously by the ghost mark the independence +of the variant, though they do not alter the normal course of the +narrative. As so often in this group, the agreement with the ghost +and the division are entirely lacking. + +In Simrock VI. the variations from the normal are even +slighter. Heinrich of Hamburg buys a beautiful maiden in a foreign +land. On the sea-coast, when he is returning home with her, he pays +the debts of a corpse and has it buried. He wishes to marry the girl, +but she asks that he delay the wedding for a year and make a journey +first. So she gives him two coffers, with which he crosses the sea. By +the help of a shipman he finds his betrothed's royal father, but on +his way back to fetch her home is cast overboard by the mariner, who +is the original kidnapper of the maiden. This man gets her and carries +her to the court with the hope of marrying her. The hero is saved +from the sea, however, by the ghost of the dead man, who brings him +to the garden of the princess's palace, where he is found by his bride. + +The order of the burial and the ransoming [125] is here reversed, +but the facts are given in the ordinary form. Otherwise the variant +does not differ essentially from the preceding. + +In Transylvanian, [126] and more clearly in Gaelic and Breton III., +[127] a tendency has been remarked to introduce the children of the +hero as part of the gains which he is asked to divide with the thankful +ghost. In a series of tales belonging to the general type The Grateful +Dead + The Ransomed Woman this tendency has been accentuated so far +that it seems best to group them together, because of their approach +to the theme of The Two Friends. Since an actual combination of this +motive with The Grateful Dead in its simple form is found in only +three variants, all of them literary, it will perhaps be best to +discuss the relationship of the main to the minor theme at this point. + +The Two Friends is the chief motive of Amis and Amiloun, which in its +various forms [128] is the mediaeval epic of ideal friendship. Its +essential feature, as far as the present study is concerned, is the +sacrifice of his two sons by Amis to cure the leprosy of Amiloun. They +are actually slain, but are miraculously brought to life again by +the power of God. This story, which exercised a powerful influence +on the imagination of European peoples, easily became connected with +the sacrifice of his wife by the hero of The Grateful Dead. + +The three variants with the simple compound, or forming a group on +that basis, are those entered in the bibliography as Lope de Vega, +Calderon, and Oliver. + +The plot of Oliver runs as follows [129]: Oliver, the son of the +King of Castille, becomes the close friend of Arthur of Algarbe, +the son of his stepmother. When he has grown up, he flees from home +because of the love which the queen declares for him, leaving to +Arthur a vial in which the water would grow dark, were he to come +into danger. He is shipwrecked while on his way to Constantinople, +but, together with another knight, is saved miraculously by a stag, +which carries them to England. Talbot, the other knight, is ill, +and asks Oliver to take him to his home at Canterbury, where he +dies. Because of debts that his parents will not pay he cannot be +buried in consecrated ground till Oliver himself attends to the +matter. The hero then starts for a tourney where the hand of the +king's daughter is the prize. On the way he loses his horse and +money, but is supplied anew by a mysterious knight, on condition of +receiving half of what he gets at the tourney. Here he is victor, +and after a further successful war in Ireland marries the princess, +who bears him two children. While hunting he is taken prisoner by +the King of Ireland and placed in a dungeon. Arthur, who is acting +as regent in Spain, notices that the vial has grown dark, and sets +out to rescue his brother. In Ireland he is wounded by a dragon, +but is healed by a white knight, who notices his resemblance to +Oliver, and takes him to London to solace the princess. He only +escapes her embraces by the pretence of a vow, and sets forth to +deliver Oliver. On their way back he tells of his visit at London, +and so excites Oliver's jealousy, who leaves him. At home, however, +Oliver discovers his mistake, and determines to find his brother, who, +after a punitive expedition into Ireland, falls gravely ill. Oliver +learns in a dream that Arthur can only be cured by the blood of his +children, whom he slays accordingly. On his return home, however, +he finds them as well as ever. Later appears the mysterious knight +to demand his share of wife and children, as well as of all his +property. As Oliver raises his sword to divide his wife, he is told +to desist, since his loyalty is proved. The knight then explains that +he is the ghost of Talbot. Later Arthur marries Oliver's daughter, +and eventually unites the kingdoms of England, Castille, and Algarbe. + +Oliver has certain elements not to be accounted for by the combination +of The Two Friends with The Grateful Dead. Such are the motive of +the hero's journey, for example, which allies it with the tales of +incestuous step-mothers; and the tourney in which the hero wins +his bride. Yet the burial of the dead man (here a knight and a +friend of the hero's) [130] corresponds to the normal form of the +episode in that Oliver pays the creditors and the sum necessary +for the man's interment. So, too, the demand made by the ghost for +half of all that has been won runs true to the original form. The +distinctive trait of Amis and Amiloun, at the same time, comes out +more clearly than in the case of such folk-tales as Gaelic--the +hero actually kills his little children to save the life of his old +friend and foster-brother. One factor leads me to think that the +romance and the two romantic plays are to be regarded as forms of +the general type treated in this chapter, with additions from other +stories. The ghost rescues the hero from imprisonment A rescue of +the sort--normally after the hero has been cast into the sea or left +behind by his rival--is characteristic of The Grateful Dead + The +Ransomed Woman. In Oliver this rescue takes place, to be sure, after +the marriage instead of before, which is the normal order, yet it is +a factor of considerable importance. The romance takes a position +somewhat apart; and even though this is partly due to the literary +handling which it has undergone, it must remain doubtfully classed +with the immediate circle of variants belonging to the compound type. + +The position of the play by Lope de Vega is involved with that of +Oliver. Don Juan de Castro flees to England because of the unlawful +love of his stepmother, the Princess of Galicia. His ship is wrecked +on the English coast, and the captain, Tibaldo, is cast ashore in +a dying condition. To free the latter's mind from unrest, Don Juan +pays his debts of two thousand ducats, though this is half of the +hero's possessions. He hears that the princess Clarinda is promised +to anyone of princely blood who wins an approaching tournament. While +he is sorrowful that he cannot enter the contest, because of his +poverty, the ghost of Tibaldo appears to him one night and promises the +necessary equipment on condition of receiving one-half the gains. The +next morning he finds everything ready and wins the princess. He is +later taken prisoner by one of the contestants through a ruse, and +is carried off to Ireland. By the ghost's advice, his stepbrother +and double comes to London and takes his place, while Don Juan is +freed by force of arms and restored to his wife. After some years, +when the couple have two children, the stepbrother falls ill of a +dreadful malady, which can only be cured, Don Juan learns in a dream, +by the blood of his children. So he slays them and gives their blood +to the sick man to drink. They are found alive by a miracle; but Don +Juan is troubled, and does not find rest till the ghost appears and +tells him that the only remedy for his affliction is to fulfil his +promise of a division. The hero prepares to divide his wife, when +the ghost stops him and explains that the demand was only a test. + +As Schaeffer pointed out, [131] Lope's plot is clearly taken from +Oliver, probably from the Spanish translation issued in 1499. Indeed, +the drama follows the romance with far more fidelity than could have +been expected of such an adaptation. The various elements of the +motive appear without essential alteration. + +The play El mejor amigo el muerto, listed for convenience as Calderon, +has suffered, in contrast to Lope's play, from many changes. Prince +Robert of Ireland and Don Juan de Castro are wrecked on the English +coast. The former finds the sea-captain Lidoro in a dying condition, +and refuses to give him aid. Don Juan, on the other hand, finds +Lidoro's body, which a creditor keeps from interment, and pays for +his burial out of his scanty savings from the wreck. He then goes +to London, where there is trouble because Queen Clarinda will not +marry Prince Robert. Don Juan is cast into prison on a false charge, +his identity being unknown to the queen, though he is recognized +by Robert. He is saved by the aid of Lidoro's ghost, nevertheless, +lays siege for Clarinda's hand, overcomes Robert, and so becomes king +of England. + +The correspondence of names and details makes it clear that the source +of this play is Lope de Vega, though the plot has been modified in +several features. In the process of adaptation all trace of The Two +Friends has dropped out, a fact which would make the position of the +variant difficult to ascertain, had the authors not left most of the +characters their original names. The change in the position of the +rescue of the hero from prison, indeed, gives a specious resemblance +to the normal type The Grateful Dead + The Ransomed Woman, which is +quite unjustified by the real state of the case. + +All the other variants in which there is question of dividing a child, +save one, [132] are folk-tales; and all of them save three [133] +clearly belong in the category now under discussion. If they did not +group themselves in this way, I should be unwilling even to consider +the possibility of any general influence from The Two Friends upon +these tales, since the only trait borrowed by any of them is precisely +the division. Only in Oliver and Lope de Vega is this sacrifice +made for the healing of a friend; and we have seen in the case of +Transylvanian, Gaelic, and Breton III. how naturally the division of +the child grows out of the division of the wife. As the matter stands, +however, the case for the influence of The Two Friends is sufficiently +strong to warrant the grouping of these tales together. The general +relationship of the theme may be deferred to a later chapter. [134] + +Lithuanian II. [135] is a characteristic specimen of the class of +tales just referred to. A prince, while travelling, sees a corpse +gnawed by swine in a street. He pays the man's creditors for his +release and has the body buried. Later, on the same journey, he +buys two maidens, one of whom is a king's daughter, and takes them +home. After a year he goes on a second journey with the princess's +picture for a figure-head on his ship, and a ring, which she has +given him. The picture is recognized by the maiden's father, and +the prince is sent back in the company of certain nobles to fetch +her. While they are returning to her home with the princess, one of +the nobles pushes the prince overboard. He lives on an island for two +years, until a man comes to him and promises to bring him to court +before the princess marries the traitor, on condition of receiving +his first-born son. The agreement is made, and the prince wins his +bride. After a son has been born to them, the man appears and demands +the child. He is put off for fifteen years, and at the end of that +time explains that he is the ghost of the rescued dead man. + +All the traits of the compound type, as it has already been analyzed, +are here apparent, save that the sacrifice of the child is substituted +for that of the wife. The variant does not demand any further comment. + +We come now to the various forms of Jean de Calais, which make up +a little group by themselves. The ten examples of the story that I +have been able to find differ from one another sufficiently to make +separate analyses of most of them necessary. + +The version by Mme. de Gomez (I.) runs as follows: [136] Jean, +the son of a rich merchant at Calais, while on a journey, comes to +the city of Palmanie on the island of Orimanie. There he pays the +debts and secures the burial of a corpse which is being devoured by +dogs. He also ransoms two slave girls, one of whom he marries and takes +home. The woman is the daughter of the King of Portugal. While taking +her to her father's court, Jean is separated from her by a treacherous +general, but is saved by the grateful dead, and enabled to rejoin his +wife. Later the ghost, who appears in the form of a man, demands half +of their son according to the agreement of division which they have +made. When Jean gives him the child to divide, the stranger praises +his loyalty and disappears. + +This story has all the characteristics of the type The Grateful Dead ++ The Ransomed Woman + the demand that the hero's son be divided. In +general outline it is scarcely distinguishable from Lithuanian II., +save that the hero Jean is a merchant's son instead of a prince. In +details, however, it differs considerably. For example, Jean marries +one of the captive maidens as soon as he buys her; there is no question +of signs by which the hero is recognized by his wife's father or by the +princess herself; and the ghost is less dilatory in his demands. Some +of these differences are doubtless to be accounted for through the +unfaithfulness of the rendering, which is semi-literary. + +At all events, Jean de Calais III., IV., and V., all three of which +were heard on the Riviera, have several changes from I., though they +vary from one another only in very minor matters. [137] A single +analysis will suffice for the three. Jean de Calais, the son of a +merchant, on his first voyage gives all his profits to bury the corpse +of a deceased debtor. On his second he ransoms a beautiful woman (with +or without a companion), and lives with her in poverty because of his +father's displeasure. On a subsequent voyage he bears her portrait on +the prow of the ship, where it is seen by her father. A former suitor +meets him on his return to court with his wife (in III. goes with +him) and throws him into the sea either by violence or by a ruse. He +is cast up on an island (in III. is carried thither in a boat by the +ghost in human form), whence he is conveyed by the ghost, on condition +of receiving half of his first son, or half of what he loves best, +to the court just as the princess is to marry the traitor. By a ruse +he enters the palace and is recognized. Later the ghost appears, +but stays Jean when he is about to sacrifice his son. + +Jean de Calais VI., though from Brittany instead of southern France, +does not differ greatly from the above, nor from I. Jean buries the +dead man and ransoms two women on a single voyage, as in I. He is +kindly received at home in spite of his extravagance, in which the +variant differs from III., IV., and V., and he marries one of the +maidens there. On his next voyage the King of Portugal (as in I. and +III.) recognizes his daughter's portrait and that of her maid, which +the hero has displayed on his ship. He brings his wife to the court, +after which they go back, together with a former suitor, for their +possessions. On the voyage Jean is thrown overboard, but is washed up +on an island, whither the ghost comes, announces himself immediately, +and bargains rescue for half of the hero's child. Jean is transported +to court miraculously, and there meets with the customary adventures +at the close of the tale. + +The variant is chiefly peculiar, it will be remarked, in placing the +treachery of the former suitor after the marriage has been recognized +by the king, and in making the ghost announce himself at once. Jean +makes no blind bargain, a fact which detracts somewhat from the +interest. + +Jean de Calais II. and VII. differ from the other forms of the story in +several ways. In the former [138] Jean is the son of a rich merchant, +and has wasted much money. He is sent out to seek his fortune on land +with seven thousand pistoles, but he pays his all for the debts and +burial of a poor man. On his return, he is commended by his father, +but again falls into evil ways. Once more he is sent forth with +seven thousand pistoles, and passes the cemetery where he buried +the debtor. As he does so, a great white bird speaks from the cross, +saying that it is the soul of the dead man and will not forget. Jean +buys the two daughters of the King of Portugal from a pirate and +takes them home, where, with his complaisant father's approval, he +marries the elder. Later he journeys to Lisbon with the portraits +of the sisters, which are recognized by the king. [139] He is sent +back for his wife, but is pushed overboard by a traitor, being driven +on a rock in the sea, where he is fed by the white bird. Meanwhile, +the traitor goes to Calais and remains there seven years as a suitor +for the princess's hand. He is about to be rewarded, when Jean, +after promising half of what he loves best to the white bird, is +miraculously transported to Calais, whither the King of Portugal comes +at the same time. The white bird bears witness to the hero's identity, +and demands half of his child. When Jean is about to divide the boy, +however, it stops him and flies away. + +Version VII. has certain characteristics in common with the above. It +is a Basque tale. Juan de Kalais, the son of a widow, sets off as a +merchant, but sells his cargo and ship to pay the debts of a corpse, +which is being dragged about on a dung-heap. On his return, his mother +is angry. Again he goes on a voyage, but with a very poor ship, and +is compelled by an English captain to ransom a beautiful maiden with +all his cargo. The hero's mother is again angry at this seemingly bad +bargain, but she does not forbid his marrying the girl. Juan is now +sent to Portugal by his wife with a portrait on a flag, a handkerchief, +and a ring. At the same time she tells him that she has been called +Marie Madeleine. When the King of Portugal sees the portrait, he sends +the hero back with a general to fetch Marie, who is his daughter. The +general pitches Juan overboard and goes for the princess, whom he +persuades to marry him after seven years. At the end of that time, +a fox comes to Juan on an island, where he has lived, and bargains to +rescue him for half of all he has at present and will have later. The +hero arrives in Portugal, is recognized by the king, tells his story, +and has the general burned. After a year the fox appears and demands +payment, but, when Juan is going to divide his child, it says that +it is the soul of the dead man whom he buried long before. + +The two variants are chiefly peculiar in that they introduce a new +element into the compound,--The Thankful Beast. This substitution +of some beast for the ghost has been encountered twice before [140] +in connection with Jewish and Servian IV., and must receive special +treatment later on. [141] For the present it is sufficient to remark +the variation from all other forms of Jean de Calais except X. [142] +In both II. and VII. Jean makes two journeys, [143] as in III., IV., +and V., as against I. and VI. The attitude of the parent differs +widely in the two. The maiden whom the hero marries is a Portuguese +princess, which is the prevailing form of the tale. The portrait is +also found in each, and both state the time of Jean's exile as seven +years. II. differs from all the other versions in placing the later +adventures of the story at Calais rather than at the court of the +heroine's father. In II., as in VI., the ghost announces himself at +the first meeting, which is undoubtedly a modification of the original +story. Thus the two forms are sufficiently independent of one another, +in spite of their common use of an animal as the hero's friend. + +Jean de Calais VIII., though like VI. from a Breton source, differs +from all the other variants, chiefly in transposing the burial and the +ransom. Jean Carre, sent out by his godmother as a sea-captain, ransoms +an English princess with her maid, and marries the former. After two +years, when a son has been born to them, Jean goes on another voyage, +and adorns the stern of his vessel with portraits of his wife, the +child, and the maid, which he is begged to show while anchored at +London. He does so, and is received by the king as a son-in-law. One +day he sees a poor debtor's body dragged along the street, pays the +debts, and has it buried. He then sets out with a fleet to seek his +wife, and is cast overboard by a Jew, who is the pilot; but he is +saved by a supernatural man, who carries him to a green rock in the +sea. The princess refuses to go to England when the fleet arrives, and +is wooed by the Jew so persistently that after two years she promises +him marriage. At this juncture Jean, who has been asleep during the +whole interval, is awakened by his rescuer and carried over the sea, +where the man explains that he is the ghost of the debtor. Jean is +first recognized by his little son, the Jew is burned by the gendarmes, +and all ends well. + +The transposition mentioned above is clearly a change due to the +individual narrator or some local predecessor, since everywhere else +the burial takes place before the ransom. The mention of a Jew as +traitor is also peculiar and unreasonable, since no motive for his +action appears until later, and then incongruously. The variant is +likewise defective in not having any bargain between the ghost and +the hero. In other respects it is normal save in minor details. As +in V., the heroine is made an English princess, which occurs nowhere +else. On the whole the version is picturesque, but defective. + +Jean de Calais IX. is unique in certain features, though in most +respects normal. It is from Asturia in Spain. Juan de Calais goes +out into the world to seek his fortune with a single peseta as his +store. This he gives to bury a corpse, and proceeds. In a certain +kingdom he attracts the notice of a princess, who marries him after +considerable opposition. When the wedding is over, he takes his +wife to seek his father's blessing, but is cast off the ship by a +former suitor of the lady, her cousin. He is carried to an island by +invisible hands, where he lives until a phantom bargains to take him +to court for half of what he gets by his marriage. He arrives on the +day of the princess's wedding. He is recognized by the king, who puts +to his guests a parable of an old key found just when a new one has +been made, while the suitor flees. On the following night, when Juan +is dejected at the thought of giving up half his son, the phantom +appears and releases him from his agreement, explaining its identity. + +Juan wins the gratitude of the dead man, and obtains his bride +in this version on a single journey, as in I. and VI., but its +chief peculiarity is the manner in which he gets his wife, with +the sequel that the couple set out to seek his father instead of +hers. The ransom is replaced by a romantic but more natural wooing, +while the ghost appears somewhat unusually in propria persona. One +of the oddest traits in the whole version is the parable of the key, +by which the king introduces the hero to the assembled guests. This +will be encountered again in Breton VII. + +In Jean de Calais X., finally, a Walloon variant, appear certain +interesting changes in the fabric. The King of Calais sent his son +Jean to America to trade, but the prince was shipwrecked on the coast +of Portugal, and there ransomed and rescued a corpse, which was being +dragged through the streets because the man had died in debt. The king +scolded his son for wasting so much money, but the next year sent him +to Portugal to trade. There he encountered brigands, who had captured +the king's daughter with her maid, and ransomed them. On returning to +Calais with his bride, he was ill received, and resolved to go back +to Portugal. A young lord of Calais accompanied them and threw Jean +into the sea, while he took the princess onward and obtained from +her a promise of marriage in a year. Happily Jean found a plank by +which he reached an island, where a crow fed him every day. At the +end of a year he promised the crow half his blood for rescue, and +was taken to Portugal by a flock of crows. There he was recognized, +and the traitor hanged. One day the crow appeared and demanded the +fulfilment of the promise. Jean was about to slay his son, when the +bird explained its identity with the ghost of the dead man. + +This is the only version which makes Jean a prince; and it is curious +that the change should occur in a tale from a region not very remote +from Calais. Most of the events of the tale take place in Portugal, +however, which is an extension of the ordinary appearance of that +country as the home of the heroine. The most striking peculiarity of +the version is the home of the traitor, who is a lord of Calais instead +of Portugal. All mention of signs is lacking, which is doubtless due +to the changes just mentioned. In the matter of the appearance of +the ghost as an animal the variant allies itself with II. and VII., +though it has no special likeness to them in other respects. + +Basque II. is like Gaelic [144] in general outline. Juan Dekos is sent +out with a ship to complete his education. He pays all that he gets for +his cargo to ransom and bury the corpse of a debtor. His father is not +pleased, but sends him out again. This time he uses all his money to +ransom eight slaves, seven of whom he sends to their homes, but carries +one home with him. His father is still more angry, and casts him off; +but Juan has a portrait of Marie Louise painted for the figure-head of +his ship, and sets off with her for her own land. The lame mate pitches +him overboard, and carries the lady to her father's dwelling-place, +where he is to marry her after a year and a day. Juan is saved by an +angel and placed on a rock. On Marie's wedding-day the angel returns, +and offers to take the hero to his bride for half of the child that +will be born. The angel was the soul of the dead man. So Juan arrives +in time, is recognized by a handkerchief, and tells his story, which +causes the burning of the mate. After a year the angel comes for his +half of the babe, but when Juan starts to divide it stays his hand. + +Webster, the collector of this tale, noticed [145] its similarity +to Gaelic, especially in the name of the hero, and surmised that +the Basques must have borrowed it from the Celts in some way. The +theory is tenable, though a comparison of the two variants shows +that the Basques must either have borrowed it in a form considerably +different from the Highland tale as we have it, or have altered the +details largely. The first part of the story is entirely different; +the hero goes on two voyages in Basque II., one only in Gaelic; +the lady goes with the hero immediately in the former, he returns +for her in the latter; the treachery and the signs are different; +the ghost appears as an angel instead of a human being in Basque; +and the promised division concerns the wife and three sons in Gaelic, +a single babe in Basque. Thus, apart from the title, there is little +to substantiate Webster's theory. The differences are certainly more +important than those between any two versions of Jean de Calais. In +some particulars, like the voyages and the portrait on the ship, +Basque is more nearly normal, while in others, like the account of +the treachery and the appearance of the ghost, Gaelic conforms to +the ordinary form. Certainly Basque II. is to be regarded as a fairly +close relative of Lithuanian II. and Jean de Calais. + +In Breton VII. a normal form appears, though with some embroidery of +details. A merchant's son, Iouenn Kermenou, goes out with his father's +ship to trade. He pays the greater part of the proceeds of the cargo to +ransom and bury the corpse of a debtor, which dogs are devouring. On +his way home he gives the rest of his money to ransom a princess, +who is being carried to a ravaging serpent, which has to be fed with +a royal princess every seven years. He is cast off by his father when +he reaches home, but is supported by an aunt and enabled to marry +his lady. After a son has been born to them, he is sent out by an +uncle on another ship, which by his wife's counsel has the figure of +himself and herself with their child carved on the prow. He comes to +her father's realm, and after some misunderstanding is sent back with +two ministers of state for the princess. While returning with her, he +is pushed overboard by the first minister, who is an old suitor for +the lady's hand, but swims ashore on a desert island. The wife goes +to court, and after three years consents to marry the minister. All +this time Iouenn lives alone on his rock, but at the end is greeted +by the ghost of the man whose body he buried, which appears in a +very horrible form. On condition of giving in a year and a day half +of what he and his wife possess, he is taken to court by this being, +where he is recognized by means of a gold chain, which the princess +had given him. At the wedding feast, which takes place that day, +the wife recounts a parable of how she has found the old key of a +coffer just as a new one was ready, brings in Iouenn, and has the +minister burned. At the end of a year and a day comes the ghost, +and demands half of the child (the older one has died) that has been +born to them. As the hero reluctantly proceeds to divide the child, +the ghost stops him, praises his fidelity, and disappears. + +It will be seen that this variant does not differ in essentials from +those previously summarized, though its details exactly coincide +with none of them. The order of events is normal, very like that of +Lithuanian II., for example, yet it has marks of peculiarity. Chief +among these are the events connected with the ransom of the lady and +the parable by which she introduces her long lost husband to court. The +first is a trait borrowed from the Perseus and Andromeda motive, +[146] the second is the same as the riddle in Jean de Calais IX. [147] +How this latter feature should happen to appear in these two widely +separated variants and nowhere else I am not wise enough to explain. + +Simrock I. introduces still another complication in the way of +compounds. A merchant's son on a journey secures proper burial for a +black Turkish slave, thereby using all his money. His father is angry +with him on his return. On his second voyage he ransoms a maiden and +is cast off by his father when he reaches home. The young couple live +for a time on the proceeds from the sale of the wife's handiwork, but +after a little set off to the court of her father, who is a king. On +the way they meet one of the king's ships, and go aboard. The hero is +cast into the sea by the captain, but is saved by a black fellow and +brought back to the ship. Again he is cast overboard. When the princess +arrives at home, she agrees to marry whoever can paint three rooms to +her liking. The hero, meanwhile, is again saved by the black man, and +in return for the promise of his first child on its twelfth birthday he +is given the power of obtaining his wishes. After a year and a day he +is taken to court by his friend, where by wishing he paints the three +rooms, the third with the story of his life. So he is recognized. On +the twelfth birthday of his first child the black man comes to him and +is offered the boy, but instead of taking him explains his identity. + +As far as The Grateful Dead, The Ransomed Woman, and the sacrifice of +the child are concerned, this follows the normal course of events, +except perhaps as to the child, of actually dividing which there is +no question. Like Lithuanian II., Jean de Calais III., IV., V., and +X., Basque II., and Norwegian I., it makes the hero and heroine set +out for her father's court together and of their own free will. [148] +The colour of the thankful dead is a peculiar trait. Yet the element +which complicates the question, as mentioned above, is the feat by +which the hero obtains his wife. If I am not mistaken, this allies +the variant on one side with stories of the type of The Water of +Life, where the bride is gained by the performance of some task +obviously set as impossible. The questions involving the relations +of such motives with The Grateful Dead will occupy the next chapter, +so that it needs simply to be mentioned at this point. + +In Simrock II. a miller's son goes with merchandise to England. In +London he pays all his money for the debts and the burial of a poor +man. He is again sent to England by his father, and this time he gives +his whole ship to ransom a beautiful maiden. When he returns with her, +he is cast off by his father, marries the girl, and lives on what +she makes by her needle. He takes a piece of her embroidery with him +to England, where it is seen by the king and queen, whose daughter +has become his wife. He is sent for her in company with a minister, +who pitches him overboard and goes on for the princess, hoping to +marry her. The hero swims ashore, in the meantime, and communicates +with his wife by means of a dove, which also feeds him. Finally a +spirit conveys him to London, after receiving the promise of half of +his first child. He obtains work in the kitchen of the castle, and +sends a ring to his wife, by means of which they are reunited. At the +birth of their child he refuses to give the spirit half, but offers +the whole instead, [149] whereupon ensues an explanation. + +This variant is of the same type as Jean de Calais II. and VII., [150] +resembling the latter more than the former in details. The three are +sufficiently unlike, however, to make any immediate relationship quite +out of the question, even did not geography forbid. As in Hungarian +II., Oliver, Lope de Vega, Calderon, Jean de Calais V. and VIII., +and Norwegian I., the heroine is an English princess, a point of +interest, but not of much importance. + +Simrock VIII. differs from the above in only two points. The beginning +states that a merchant while in Turkey pays the debts and burial +expenses of a poor man. On his next voyage he buys three hundred +slaves from the Emperor of Constantinople. Three of them he keeps at +his home, one of whom he marries. The further adventures of the hero +agree with Simrock II. even in names and most details, except that the +hero is recognized at the court by dropping his ring in a cup of tea, +which the princess gives him to drink. It will be evident that the +two tales are nearly related. + +Last, but not least interesting of the versions in which the child +appears, is the Factor's Garland or Turkey Factor, which must have +been almost as well known in England at one time as the form of the +story in Jack the Giant-Killer. It has no very remarkable features in +its outline. A young Englishman, while acting as a factor in Turkey, +pays fifty pounds to have the body of a Christian buried. A little +later he pays one hundred pounds to ransom a beautiful Christian +slave, and takes her back to his home, where he makes her his +house-keeper. Later he sets out again, and is told by the woman to +wear a silk waistcoat that she has embroidered, when he comes to +the court whither he is bound. The work is recognized by her father, +the emperor, and the factor sent back to fetch her. While returning +with the princess, he is pushed overboard in his sleep by the captain, +but swims to an island, whence he is rescued by an old man in a canoe, +who bargains with him for his first-born son when three (or thirty) +months old. The hero is recognized at court and marries the princess, +while the captain dies by suicide. In two (or three) years the old man +returns, just when the couple's son is three (or thirty) months old, +and demands the child. On the hero's yielding, he explains that he +is the ghost, and disappears. + +Like Gaelic [151] and Simrock VIII.--the latter just discussed--this +version makes the hero undergo his early adventures in Turkey. Indeed, +the similarity to Gaelic throughout is very notable, far more so than +in the case of Basque II. [152] The only point in which it differs +materially is the division of property, which in Gaelic concerns the +wife and the three children, in the Factor's Garland one son only. In +this matter there is agreement between the present variant, Basque II., +and Simrock VIII. Despite the likeness to Gaelic, there is no good +reason for arguing any immediate connection with that version. They +stand close to one another geographically and in content, that is +all; they cannot be proved to be more than near relatives in the +same generation. + +The variants which introduce the division of the child have now all +been considered. It is necessary to turn to a few scattered specimens +in which the compound, The Grateful Dead + The Ransomed Woman, has +been joined with other material. + +Bohemian is a curious and instructive example of the confusion +which has resulted from welding various themes together. Bolemir, +a merchant's son, is sent to sea, where he is robbed by pirates +and imprisoned. He finds means to help an old man, who gives him +a magic flute, and a princess, who gives him half of her veil and +ring. By the aid of the flute he succeeds in winning the chief's +permission to leave the island in the company of his friends. He +sails with them to another island. There, at the old man's request, +he strikes him on the head and buries him. He then goes home with +the princess. On his second voyage he displays from his mast-head +a golden standard, which the princess has made. He reaches the city +of the lady's father, tells his story, and returns for the princess +with the chamberlain. While they are all returning together, he is +cast into the sea by the chamberlain, who takes the woman to court +and obtains a promise of marriage, when a church has been built to +her mind. Bolemir is saved from the sea by the ghost of the old man, +and is given a wishing ring. He turns himself into an eagle and flies +to court, into an old man and becomes a watchman at the church. By +means of his ring he builds the structure, and paints it with the +story of his life. At the wedding breakfast of the princess, who +cannot longer delay the bridal, he tells his story, and so marries her. + +The peculiar form of the burial in this variant will be at once +evident, though the reason for it is not clear to me. Disenchantment +by decapitation is a common phenomenon in folk-lore and romance; +[153] but though the blow on the head, which the hero gives the old +man in our tale, surely stands for beheading, it is hard to see where +any unspelling process comes in. It is perhaps best to suppose the +trait a confused borrowing, without much meaning as it stands. The +ransoming of the woman is closely connected with the benefits done +the old man. That it occurs on the same journey has been shown by the +variations in Jean de Calais to be a matter of little consequence. With +respect to the standard and the ring, by which the hero restores his +wife to her father, and later to himself, the tale is perfectly in +accord with the prevalent form of the compound type; and so also in +regard to the rescue of the hero by the ghost. No hint is given of +any agreement of division between the hero and the ghost. The chief +peculiarity of the variant, however, is the means by which the heroine +is won. The feat recalls Simrock I., [154] even in details like the +demand on the part of the bride for mural decoration. It again shows +the combination of the present type with a theme akin to The Water +of Life. + +Simrock III. has several points of contact with the above. Karl, the +son of an English merchant, on his first voyage to Italy pays the +debts of a merchant who has died bankrupt. On his way home he buys +two sisters from some pirates at an inn. His father casts him off, +so he marries the older of the maidens, who tells him that she is +a princess. They start for Italy together, and on the way meet an +Italian prince, who is a suitor for the wife's hand. The hero is cast +overboard, but is brought to land by a great bird, which tells him +that it is the ghost of the man whom he has buried. It directs him to +go to court and give himself out as a painter. The bird again comes +to him there with a dagger in its beak, and tells him to cut off its +head. Unwillingly Karl obeys, and sees before him the spirit of the +dead man. The ghost paints the room in which they are standing with the +hero's history. So on the wedding-day of the princess with the traitor, +Karl explains the meaning of the pictures and wins his bride again. + +This Swabian story has preserved the decapitation [155] in much better +form than Bohemian, though the reason for its introduction is still +hard to understand. The ghost is obviously released from some spell +when it is beheaded, and is thus enabled to help the hero to better +advantage than before. The episode also occurs in a more logical +position than in Bohemian. It replaces the more ordinary and normal +test of the hero by the ghost. Probably the introduction of it in +the two cases is sporadic, though some connection between the two is +conceivable. As far as The Grateful Dead and The Ransomed Woman proper +are concerned, the variant has no peculiarities of special importance, +being of the type in which the hero and heroine set out for court +together. [156] It contains, however, the feat by which the bride is +won, in the same form as in Simrock I. and Bohemian, which is due to +an alliance with the type of The Water of Life. Yet it differs from +them in making the ghost appear first as a bird, which connects it +with Jean de Calais II., VII., and X., and with Simrock II. and VIII., +variants that have the thankful beast playing the role of ghost. [157] + +Simrock VII., together with some other peculiarities, again has the +feat of winning the bride, though it is a feat of another sort. Wilhelm +catches a swan-maiden, and later releases her from an enchanted +mountain by hewing trees, separating grain, and finding his wife among +three hundred women. Thus by her help he breaks the spell, and carries +her back home. Later they journey together to her father's court. On +the way Wilhelm pays the debts of a corpse, and has it buried. They +meet two officers of the king, who toss Wilhelm overboard from the +ship in which they sail, but he is saved by the ghost of the dead man +and brought to court. He is recognized by the princess, and proves +his identity to her father by means of a ring and a handkerchief. + +The most salient point here is the fact that the maiden is not ransomed +at all, but instead is captured like any other swan-maiden. We have +already met with the theme of The Swan-Maiden in combination with +The Grateful Dead in simple form; [158] but Servian V. has evidently +nothing to do with Simrock VII., since the part played by the borrowed +motive is different in each. In the former it is introduced as the +reward bestowed on the hero by the ghost, while in the latter the +swan-maiden simply replaces the ransomed maiden, as is shown by the +subsequent events of the story, which follow the normal order as far +as she is concerned. The feats by which the hero disenchants her are +essentially like those in Bohemian, Simrock I., and Simrock III., +though they are differently placed. Probably the introduction of this +new material accounts for the transposition of the ransoming and the +burial, as the latter is in other respects regular. It is curious +to observe that the process of changing about various features, thus +begun, continued in other ways, as in the matter of the signs by which +the hero is recognized by his father-in-law and his wife. These things +go to show, however, that back of the variant must have existed the +compound type in a normal form. + +In Simrock V. the thankful beast again appears, but in a less +complicated setting than in the case of Jean de Calais II., VII., and +X., or Simrock II., III., and VIII. A widow's son on his way home from +market pays the debts of a corpse and buries it, thus using all his +money. The next time he goes to market, he gives all his proceeds to +ransom a maiden, whom he marries. She does embroidery to gain money, +and one day holds out a piece of it to the king, who is passing. He +recognizes her as his daughter, and accepts the hero as son-in-law. The +young couple start back home for the widow, but on the way the servants +cast the young man into the sea. He escapes, however, to an island, +where he is fed by an eagle. Later the eagle declares itself to be +the ghost of the dead man, and brings its benefactor to court. + +Oldenburgian is a similar tale. A merchant's son while on a voyage pays +thirty dollars to bury a man, and also buys a captive princess with +her maid. Though ill-received by his father on his return, he marries +the girl. Later he goes on another voyage, with his wife's portrait +as the figure-head of his ship. This is recognized by the king, who +sends him back for the princess in the company of a minister. The +latter pitches him overboard, goes on for the princess, and does not +tell her of her loss till they arrive at court. She finally consents +to marry the traitor after five years. Meanwhile, the hero lives on an +island, whither on the day appointed for the princess's bridal comes +the ghost of the dead in the form of a snow-white dove. It takes him +to the court, where he is recognized by a ring, a gift from his bride, +which he drops into a cup that she offers him. + +Of these two variants, Oldenburgian is much better preserved than the +Tyrolese story (Simrock V.). The latter is dressed in a homely fashion, +which probably accounts for some of the changes, since the gap between +the visits to market and the romantic or miraculous features of the +couple's later adventures was too wide to be easily bridged. The +disappointed suitor is not mentioned, which leaves the attempt on the +hero's life without motivation, and clearly indicates some loss. [159] +The trait is distinctly marked in Oldenburgian, as are all the other +events connected with The Ransomed Woman, though Simrock V. provides +an entirely original reason for the voyage of the young couple,--their +wish to get the hero's mother. The features concerning the rescue by +the ghost and the hero's return to court are better preserved again +in Oldenburgian, though both lack the agreement to divide, which is +probably obscured as elsewhere by the prominence given the rescued +woman. The most striking similarity between the two, however, lies in +the fact that the ghost first appears as a bird. This clearly shows +the existence of a type of The Grateful Dead + The Ransomed Woman, +on which The Thankful Beasts has had some influence. + +It remains to consider the general relations of the variants discussed +in this chapter. The wide variety in detail of the incidents +concerned with the history of the hero's wife, yet the essential +uniformity which they show, would indicate clearly, for one thing, +that The Ransomed Woman is a motive originally quite independent +of The Grateful Dead,--that the type of story which is our present +concern is a true compound. It would even be possible to reconstruct +the independent theme in a form not unlike the Wendish folk-tale +cited in the beginning of the chapter. The hero, while on a journey, +ransoms a princess, takes her home, goes on another journey with some +sign that attracts her father's notice, goes back to her and is cast +into the sea by some man who hopes to marry her himself, is rescued, +and returns to court to claim his bride, usually by means of a token. + +The points of contact between this motive and The Grateful Dead would +seem to be, first, the journey which the hero undertakes at the opening +of the plot. It will be noted that in the compound he usually makes +two voyages, burying the dead on the first and ransoming the maiden on +the second, though the two are sometimes welded. The second point of +contact, I take it, was the rescue of the hero. In each story he did +a good act for which he was rewarded in some way. It has been shown +that this reward sometimes took the form of a rescue in the simple +form of The Grateful Dead [160] and in the compound with The Poison +Maiden. [161] What more natural than that it should lead to another +combination with a story where the hero was saved from death? The +difference in the case of the latter, of course, would be that the +agency of rescue was of little importance. Could Simonides be shown +to have anything more than a literary life in mediaeval Europe, I +should be inclined to think that the rescue in that tale, even though +the tale itself is not necessarily connected with The Grateful Dead +as we know the theme, might have had some influence on the union. As +the matter stands, however, it is probably better to believe that the +two motives were united in eastern Europe, the one being Oriental +and the other of uncertain derivation. That each motive had a wife +as part of the hero's reward must be taken for granted, and it must +have helped to combine them. + +It follows from this that the compound The Grateful Dead + The Ransomed +Woman is quite independent of the one discussed in the previous +chapter, and could not have proceeded from it as Hippe thought. [162] +It would have been next to impossible for that combined type to divest +itself of the features peculiar to The Poison Maiden, and to absorb +in their place those of The Ransomed Woman without leaving some trace +of the process. Thus the existence of the compound as an independent +growth is assured. In this connection it is interesting to note that +the rescue of the hero from drowning in consequence of an act of +treachery (or from an island) occurs in all the variants of the type +save four, Transylvanian, Trancoso, Gasconian, and Straparola I., +[163] but in no other version of The Grateful Dead as far as I know. + +From this general type developed minor varieties with traits borrowed +from The Water of Life, The Thankful Beasts, and The Two Friends, +or some such tale. Thus very complex variants arose. The question of +the connection which these subsidiary elements sustain to the central +theme cannot properly be discussed until they have been seen in other +combinations. The part they play in the development of the story, it is +evident, must have been a secondary one both in importance and in time. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE GRATEFUL DEAD AND THE WATER OF LIFE OR KINDRED THEMES. + + +The maerchen known in its various forms as The Water of Life [164] +is based on the myth which goes by the same name. [165] The myth, +as has been shown quite independently by two recent investigators, +Dr. Wuensche [166] and Dr. E. W. Hopkins, [167] is of Semitic origin, +and is found among the traditions of the Assyrio-Babylonian cycle. It +is to be distinguished from the very similar myth of The Fountain of +Youth, which apparently originated in India. [168] The latter concerns +the magic properties of the "water of rejuvenation"; the former in +its uncontaminated form, at least, deals with water which cures, +revivifies, or revitalizes. The two have been frequently confused, +not only in popular tradition of all ages, but in critical writings of +contemporary date as well. It is the great merit of Professor Hopkins' +article, to which reference has been made, that their essential +difference in origin and character is clearly marked. Though he makes +no pretence that his study of The Fountain of Youth is definitive, +he has broken ground which sadly needed the plough, and incidentally +has thrown light upon The Water of Life. + +The myth which is properly known by this name is intimately connected +in origin and development with that of The Tree of Life, [169] +which finds expression in the legends of the Cross. In the words of +Dr. Wuensche: [170] "Wie wir aus den kosmogonischen und theogonischen +Mythen und Sagen der Voelker das Rauschen des Lebensbaumes vernehmen, +durch dessen Fruechte sich Goetter und Menschen ihre ungeschwaechte +Lebenskraft und ewige Jugendfrische erhalten, so nicht minder das +Sprudeln einer Quelle des Lebenswassers, die Leben schafft und +zu Ende gehendes oder bereits erloschenes Leben wieder zu neuem +Sein erweckt." Both myths are Semitic, and both have profoundly +influenced Christian doctrine. It is with the "water of life," +however, that we are immediately concerned, and with that only as it +has found embodiment in a widely disseminated and variously modified +tale. Whence this maerchen came we must presently inquire, in order +to reach some conclusion as to the point in space and time where it +joined The Grateful Dead, but we must first fix its essential traits. + +Owing to the complex variations which the tale presents in its +various combinations with really foreign themes, there is great +difficulty in getting at the outline of the original story or even +the characteristics common to all the known variants. To do this +satisfactorily would require a searching and detailed study, which +it is impossible to undertake here,--an examination with The Water +of Life as the point of attack. It is possible, however, to arrive +at a rough sketch of the theme. + +"Dans tous ces contes," says Cosquin, in his notes on The Water of +Life, [171] "trois princes vont chercher pour leur pere l'eau de la +vie ou un fruit merveilleux qui doit le guerir, et c'est le plus +jeune qui reussit dans cette entreprise. Dans plusieurs ... les +deux aines font des dettes, et ils sont au moment d'etre pendus, +quand leur frere paie les creanciers (dans des contes allemands et +dans les contes autrichiens, malgre l'avis que lui avait donne un +hermite, un nain ou des animaux reconaissants, de ne pas acheter de +'gibier de potence'). Il est tue par eux ou, dans un conte allemand +(Meier, no. 5), jete dans un grand trou; mais ensuite il est rappele +a la vie dans des circonstances qu'il serait trop long d'expliquer." + +Dr. Wuensche's summary is somewhat different: [172] "Gewoehnlich handelt +es sich um einen Koenig und seine drei Soehne. Der Koenig leidet an einer +schlimmen Krankheit, von der ihn kein Arzt zu heilen vermag. Da wird +ihm durch irgendeine Gelegenheit die Kunde, dass er von seinem Siechtum +durch das Lebenswasser eines fernen Landes befreit werden koenne. Aus +Liebe zu ihrem Vater machen sich die drei Soehne nacheinander auf den +Weg, das Lebenswasser zu holen. Doch die beiden aeltesten erliegen +den auf dem Wege ihnen begegnenden Versuchungen, nur der juengste +ist wegen seiner Standhaftigkeit und Bescheidenheit so gluecklich, +es zu erhalten. Ein Riese, ein Zwerg, ein alter Mann oder ein alte +Frau sind ihm zur Auffindung der Wunderquelle behilflich, indem sie +ihm guten Rat erteilen und ihm sagen, wie er es anzufangen und wovor +er sich in acht zu nehmen habe. Hier und da greifen auch dienstbare +Tiere, Vierfuessler, Voegel und Fische hilfreich ein, indem sie dem +Juenglinge genau die Oertlichkeit des Wassers angeben, oder auch selbst +ihn mit Schnelligkeit dahin bringen. Die Lebensquelle sprudelt in +einem Berge, der sich nur zu gewissen Zeiten, gewoehnlich gegen Mittag +oder Mitternacht von 11-12 Uhr oeffnet. Im berge steht in der Regel +in einem praechtigen Garten ein versunkenes Schloss, das die grossen +Schaetze und Kostbarkeiten birgt, durch deren Anblick der Eintretende +geblendet wird. In einem Gemache des Schlosses wieder ruht auf einem +Bett eine Jungfrau von wunderbarer Schoenheit, die spaeter als Prinzessin +hervortritt und den Prinzen, der durch das Schoepfen des Lebenswassers +sie von ihrem Zauber geloest hat, zum Gemahle heischt. Der Prinz hat +nur kurze Zeit bei ihr geruht oder ihr einen fluechtigen Kuss auf die +Lippen gedrueckt. In vielen Faellen wird der Eingang zur Quelle von +einem Drachen oder einem anderen Ungeheuer bewacht, die erst aus dem +Wege geraeumt werden muessen. Es kostet einen schweren Kampf. Auf dem +Heimweg trifft der juengste Koenigssohn gewoehnlich mit seinen aelteren +Bruedern wieder zusammen, die ihr Leben durch tolle Streiche verwirkt +haben und die er vom Tode loskauft. Zuweilen sind aber die Brueder +durch ihre Unbedachtsamkeit in schwarze Steine verwandelt worden und +liegen am Abhange des Zauberberges, oder stehen als Marmorsaeulen +auf demselben, oder sind infolge ihres Hochmutes in einen tiefen +Abgrund eingeschlossen. Auch in diesem Zustande werden sie durch den +juengsten Bruder bald durch das geschoepfte Wasser des Lebens, bald auf +seine Bitten hin wieder ins Leben gerufen. Vereint reisen sie nun mit +ihrem Bruder nach Hause zum Koenige. Unterwegs aber erfasst die Beiden +Falschen Neid und Missgunst, weil ihr Bruder allein in den Besitz +des Lebenswasser gelangt ist und sie sich vergeblich darum gemueht +haben. Daher vertauschen sie das Lebenswasser, waehrend der Bruder +schlaeft, mit gewoehnlichem Wasser und eilen nun voraus und machen mit +dem erbeuteten Trank den kranken Koenig gesund, oder sie erscheinen +nach der Ankunft des Bruders, dessen vertauschtes Wasser den Koenig nur +noch elender gemacht hat. Dabei raunen sie dem Koenige heimlich ins Ohr, +dass der juengere Bruder ihn habe vergiften wollen, infolgedessen dieser +vom Koenige verbannt oder gar zum Tode verurteilt wird. Derselbe lebt +nun laengere Zeit zurueckgezogen in einer untergeordneten Stellung, +bis endlich durch die von ihm entzauberte Prinzessin seine Unschuld +an den Tag kommt." + +Dr. Wuensche gives as subsidiary types stories where a princess +wishes the magic water for herself, and, when her two brothers fail +to return with it, goes on a quest which results in obtaining the +water and releasing the enchanted brothers; where a mother and son +are the chief actors; where a bird, or fruit, or the water of death +is substituted for the water of life; and where thankful beasts +appear. All of these elements and more appear in the accessible +variants, yet not all of them can be said rightly to represent The +Water of Life as such. The basal traits of the story are much more +simple than Dr. Wuensche would have us believe. They do not include, +for example, the wonderful companions whom the hero finds nor the +adventures with the enchanted princess, since these are in reality +traits of originally separate themes, as will presently be shown. [173] + +On the other hand, Cosquin's outline seems to me defective in two +ways. First, he does not recognize that there existed in the original +theme some reward due the hero for his constancy and intelligence in +the pursuit of his quest. A priori this conclusion would be expected +from the general manner of folk-tales, and as a matter of fact it +appears in all the versions which have come to my attention. The reward +almost always takes the form of a princess, though the manner in which +she is won varies very greatly. In the second place, Cosquin seems to +regard The Golden Bird as a theme quite independent of The Water of +Life. [174] This, I think, is to lose sight of the essential likeness +between the two tales, despite their difference of introduction. As +Dr. Wuensche notes, [175] not only a bird, but a fruit or the water of +death may be substituted for the usual object of the quest. Indeed, +certain variants have more than one of these magical forces. [176] +To be sure, this superfluity of riches doubtless results from the +fusion of subsidiary types, but none the less it points to the original +unity of the central theme, which is all that I wish to suggest. + +From this discussion we emerge with an outline of The Water of Life in +something like the following form: A sick king has three sons, who go +out to seek some magical water (or bird, or fruit) for his healing. The +two older sons fall by the way into some misfortune due to their own +fault; but the youngest, not without aid of one sort or another from +beings with supernatural powers, succeeds in the quest and at the +same time wins a princess as wife. While returning, he rescues his +brothers, and is exposed by their envy and ingratitude to the loss of +all he has gained (sometimes even of his life). In the end, however, +he comes to his own either because the cure cannot be completed +without him or because his wife brings the older princes to book. + +This summary I should be unwilling to have considered as anything more +than a tentative sketch, since a systematic study of the material +may bring to light certain features which I have overlooked. [177] +It will, however, serve its purpose here. + +This simple form of The Water of Life is not that with which The +Grateful Dead has combined. Indeed, the opinion that this union was +secondary to that of The Grateful Dead with The Poison Maiden and +The Ransomed Woman [178] is strengthened by the fact that it is found +with both of these compound types, and that The Water of Life almost +invariably appears in a somewhat distorted form. In point of fact, +the latter tale seems to have lent itself with remarkable facility +to combination with other themes. Thus it is frequently found mixed +with The Skilful Companions [179] (both with and without The Grateful +Dead), The Lady and the Monster, [180] and The Thankful Beasts. + +The reason for the existence of the compounds just mentioned is +not far to seek. With The Skilful Companions [181] there is a ready +point of contact in the hero's need for aid in the accomplishment of +his quest, another in the circumstance that three or more companions +set out together with a common end in view, and still another in the +fact that a maiden is rescued by them. To The Lady and the Monster, +at least in those variants where The Grateful Dead appears, The Water +of Life has the necessary approach in the role of the lady herself. As +for The Thankful Beasts, their appearance at opportune moments when +the heroes of folk-tales need assistance is too frequent to require +justification in any particular case. It is with such combinations +as these, intricate and involved, that many variants of The Grateful +Dead are found joined. Sometimes one element, sometimes another, +predominates, so that the threads which unite them are hopelessly +snarled. Sometimes The Water of Life is lost in the entanglement, +or only appears as a distorted trait, while The Skilful Companions +or The Lady and the Monster come out more clearly. Through this +labyrinth we must painfully take our way, exercising what caution +we can. The present guide recognizes the danger of losing the road +and does not pretend to more than a rough and ready knowledge of the +wilderness. Accordingly, he undertakes only to conduct the curious +wayfarer by the least difficult of the paths that traverse it. + +Let us first consider the tales into which The Poison Maiden and The +Ransomed Woman do not enter, which have only The Grateful Dead + The +Water of Life or some kindred theme. These include Maltese, Polish, +Hungarian I., Rumanian II., Straparola II., Venetian, Sicilian, +Treu Heinrich, and Harz II. They are as widely different in their +characteristics as in their sources. + +Maltese has the following form: The three sons of a king successively +go out in search of a bird, the song of which will make their father +young. The elder two lose their all by gambling with a maiden in a +palace by the way. The youngest brother pays four thousand pounds +sterling to bury properly a man who has been dead eight months. He +is warned against the maiden by a ghost, and so wins all from her (by +using his own cards), thus rescuing his brothers. When he comes to the +castle, the ghost again appears, and tells him to take the bird that +he finds in a dirty cage. On the way back he is thrown overboard from +the steamboat by his brothers, but is saved by the ghost, who appears +in the form of a rock with a tree on it. He is rescued by another +steamer, and comes home in rags, where he is recognized by the bird, +which has hitherto refused to sing. The brothers are banished. + +According to the Polish story, a poor scholar pays his all for the +burial of a corpse lying maltreated by the way. Later he goes to +sleep under an oak, and on awaking finds his purse full of gold. He is +robbed of this while crossing a stream, by some scoundrels who cast +him into the water; but he is rescued by the ghost of the dead man, +who appears in the form of a plank and gives him the power of turning +himself into a crow, a hare, or a deer. He becomes a huntsman to a +king, whose daughter lives on an inaccessible island. In her castle +is a sword with which a man could overcome the greatest army. When +war threatens, the king offers the princess to any man who can obtain +the sword. By means of his power of metamorphosis the hero carries +her a letter and wins her love. When he exhibits his magical powers, +she cuts off a bit of the fur, or a feather, from each creature into +which he turns. With the sword he then starts back to court, but on +the way he is shot by a rival and robbed of the sword and a letter +from the princess. He lies in the way in the form of a dead hare +till the war is ended and the rival is about to marry the princess, +when he is revived and warned by the ghost. At court he is recognized +by the princess, who proves his tale by having him turn into various +shapes and fitting the samples which she has taken. + +In Hungarian I. a soldier gave all he had to an old beggar, who in +turn gave him the power to change at will into a dove, a fish, or a +hare. He took service with a king, and one day was sent back to the +castle for a magic ring. There he met the princess, and exhibited to +her his powers of metamorphosis, permitting her to pull two feathers, +take eight scales, and cut off his tail. While running back to the king +in the form of a hare, he was shot by an envious comrade, who took the +ring and was rewarded. The hero was restored to life by the old beggar, +and returned to the castle, where he was brought to the princess. She +succeeded in proving the truth of his story by means of the feathers, +the scales, and the tail, which she had so fortunately preserved. + +Rumanian II., though changed into legendary form, does not differ +greatly from the two variants just cited. A shepherd boy gave his +one sheep to Christ, when He asked for food. In return, he received +a knife with three blades. Later he took service with a man, with +whom he entered the army of the emperor. One day the monarch found +that he had forgotten his ring, and promised half his kingdom to +anybody who could bring it to him from the palace within twenty-four +hours. By means of his magical knife the hero changed into a hare, +obtained the emperor's ring as well as one from the princess's own +hand, and returned to the army. There he was met by his master, who +plundered him, threw him into a spring, and went to the emperor for +reward. When the battle was over and all had returned to the capital, +the princess said that the man who was presented as her bridegroom +was not he to whom she gave the ring. Meanwhile, Christ had rescued +the hero from the spring and sent him to the palace in the form of +a fox with his ring in a basket. The princess recognized from the +token that he was her true bridegroom, and brought him to the emperor. + +Straparola II. introduces certain new elements to our notice. A king's +son releases a wild man, whom his father has incarcerated, in order to +get back an arrow that the man has taken from him. The man is really +a disappointed lover, who had given himself up to a savage life. The +boy's mother, in fear of the king, sends him away in the care of +two faithful servants, with whom he lives in obscurity till he is +sixteen years old. Covetous of his wealth, they are about to kill him, +when the wild man, transformed into a splendid knight by a grateful +fairy, joins them. They go to a beautiful city called Ireland, which +is devastated by a ferocious horse and an equally savage mare. The +traitorous servants plot to destroy the prince by giving out, first, +that he has boasted that he can overcome the horse, and, second, +the mare. By the advice of his unknown friend and the help of the +latter's fairy horse, he accomplishes these labours. He is told by +the king that he may have one of his daughters in marriage, if he +can tell which has hair of gold. He is told by his companion that a +hornet, which he has released, will appear at the test and fly three +times around the head of the princess whom he is to choose. The man +explains at the same time the cause of his benevolence,--gratitude +because by him he has been delivered from death. The prince is thus +enabled to pick out the princess with golden hair, and is married to +her, while his companion receives the sister. + +In the Venetian tale, again a peculiar variant, twelve brothers +seek twelve sisters as wives. Eleven of them go out at first, and +are turned to stone. The youngest brother sets out after a year, and +on the way has a poor dead man buried. Later, when he has saved his +eleven brothers, they become envious, and throw him into a well. The +thankful dead man then comes, draws him out with a cord, and explains +who he is. The hero proceeds to his home and tells his story. + +Sicilian is more extended but less difficult to place. The three +orphaned sons of a rich man try to win the daughter of a certain +king, who has announced that he will marry the princess to anyone +who can make a ship that will travel alike on land and water. The +eldest and middle brothers are unsuccessful because they are unkind +to the poor who ask for work. The youngest brother gives work to both +old and young, and, when an old man (St. Joseph) appears, makes him +overseer. After the work is done, he agrees to give half of what he +obtains to the old man, and goes with him in the ship to court. On +the way he takes in a man who is found putting clouds in a sack, +another who is bearing half a forest on his back, another who has +drunk half a stream, another who is aiming his bow at a quail in +the underworld, and another who stands with one foot at Catania and +the other at Messina. At the court the king refuses to give up his +daughter till the hero can send a message to the underworld and get +an answer in an hour, which he does by means of the long-strider +and the shooter; and till he can find a man who will drink half +the contents of his cellar in one day, which the drinker easily +accomplishes. The king then offers as dowry only what one man can +carry away, but he is foiled by the man who bore half the forest on +his back, who now takes all the contents of the palace and departs +with the hero, the princess, and their companions. The king pursues +them, but is befogged by the man with the clouds. When they arrive +at home, the saint demands his half, even of the king's daughter; +but when the hero takes his sword to divide her, he cries out that +he merely wished to test his faithfulness. + +In Treu Heinrich a noble youth lost his property through prodigality +in tournaments. Finally he sold his all to enter a tourney for the +hand of the daughter of the King of Cyprus, but he gave half to his +faithful follower Heinrich. After they set out for Cyprus, they were +joined by a knight, who shared the hero's hospitality for fourteen +days, agreeing to do the same in return, but at last riding away. In +destitution they arrived at Famagust in Cyprus. While Heinrich was in +the city, the hero found a clear stone left by a bird, through which +he obtained power to become a bird. He then established himself in +the city, met the princess with the result that they fell in love, +and flew to her chamber as a bird. He obtained from her not only his +desire but an ornament which he gave to the strange knight, who had +again joined him. Later he overcame this knight in the tourney, but +the latter was mistaken for himself. Again he flew to the princess, +who gave him a crown, and again, after giving it to the stranger, +he overcame him in a fight. The princess now gave him a helmet, +which he kept; and he was proclaimed victor of the jousting. Once +more he flew to the princess, and obtained from her an ornament for +his helmet, made by herself. Thus he won her as wife. + +In Harz II. our primary motive is far less obscure than in the version +just summarized. A youth pays his all, thirty-eight dollars, to free a +dead man from indebtedness. He goes his way, and meets a young fellow, +who accompanies him. They fall in with a man bearing two trees, a man +with a hat on one side, a man with a wooden leg, and a man with a blind +eye. The six go together to a city, where the princess can be won only +by performing feats, with the penalty of death attached to failure. The +companions aid the hero by bringing water from a distant spring and +by keeping a fiery furnace habitable, so that he wins the princess. + +These nine variants are, it will be seen, related in very different +degrees to The Grateful Dead. What a debased type of the maerchen they +represent is shown by the fact that in no less than five [182] the +burial of the corpse, which is the most fundamental trait of the theme, +has been lost. Yet for two reasons it is clear that they are really +scions of the stock. In the first place, wherever the burial has been +cut away, other elements of the motive in its simple form have been +retained. Thus in Hungarian I. and Rumanian II. the deeds of the old +beggar (or Christ) make his identity with the ghost unquestionable; +in Straparola II., despite its sophistication, the wild man fills the +same role, while his explanations at the end show that the burial +has been merely blurred; in Sicilian both the agreement to divide +and the division of the woman as a test are introduced; and in Treu +Heinrich there is double division in a way, since the hero divides +his property with his faithful follower to begin with and afterwards +agrees to an exchange of hospitality with the helpful knight, going +so far as actually to give him two of the four gifts received from +the princess. In the second place, certain variants without the +burial are very closely allied with others which retain it, [183] +as will be seen in a moment. Thus all those treated here may safely +be admitted to the group. + +The reader must, however, have been struck, while examining the +summaries just given, with the great diversity of the residuum which +would be left if the parts properly belonging to The Grateful Dead +were taken away. Indeed, they may be separated on this score into +four categories with a couple of minor divisions. Polish, Hungarian +I., and Rumanian II. are very similar in respect to these matters, +having a princess who is won by the feat of obtaining something left +at home by her father (this feat made possible by the power given +the hero to change his form) and a treacherous rival. Polish has the +peculiarity that the article to be obtained by the hero is a magical +sword. [184] Treu Heinrich stands a little apart from these, since +the rival does not appear and the princess is won by a tourney; yet it +has the curious metamorphosis, and must be considered as having some +connection. Maltese and Venetian fall together. Venetian has retained +from The Water of Life only the misfortune and the treachery of the +older brothers, [185] while Maltese keeps also the magical bird +and the features naturally connected therewith. The introduction +of two steamboats in the latter is a curious illustration of the +ease with which popular tales change details without altering +essentials. Sicilian and Harz II. again are alike, both being +compounded with The Skilful Companions, [186] and making the winning +of the princess depend on feats really accomplished by the helpers +characteristic to that tale. Straparola II. must be placed alone, +having nearly all trace of The Water of Life lost in the traits of +The Lady and the Monster, with a princess won by the hero's happily +directed choice. [187] + +All of these features will appear again when we come to discuss +variants which combine the compound types The Grateful Dead + The +Poison Maiden or The Ransomed Woman with The Water of Life. They may, +therefore, be passed over for the present, together with the question +as to whether such a simple combination as The Grateful Dead + The +Water of Life may be regarded as being the original from which the +more complicated types have sprung. It is sufficient for the moment +to recognize the tendency of the simpler variants to fall into groups +on the basis of the residuum left by subtracting traits belonging to +The Grateful Dead. + +Let us now consider the tales where a thankful beast plays the part +of the grateful dead through at least a portion of the narrative, +and where there is still no trace of either The Poison Maiden or The +Ransomed Woman. The change of beast for ghost is so obvious and easy +that the separation of these variants from the preceding appears at +first sight to be of merely formal use. Yet thus considered, they may +serve to define the sub-divisions already noticed. Nine such versions +have come to my knowledge: Walewein, Lotharingian, Tuscan, Brazilian, +Basque I., Breton IV., V., and VI., and Simrock IX. All but one are +folk-tales, and that, curiously enough, an episode in a thirteenth +century [188] Dutch romance translated from the French. [189] + +Walewein, the variant in question, has the following form: Walewein +(or more familiarly Gawain) sets forth from Arthur's court to secure +a magical chessboard. He is promised it by King Wonder if only he +will get the sword of rings from King Amoris, who in turn will give +that up if Walewein will bring him the princess of the Garden of +India. On this quest the hero mortally wounds a certain Red Knight, +who prays him for Christian burial and is properly interred. He then +proceeds to the castle of King Assentin, whose daughter recognizes +in him the ideal knight whom she has seen in a dream. He is led +under the dark river which surrounds the castle by the Fox Roges, +and wins the princess. The lovers and the fox (a prince transformed) +escape by the help of the Red Knight's ghost. After many adventures +they come together to the court with a chessboard, which is given up +by King Wonder in exchange for the sword. Walewein is able to keep +the princess for his own because of the death of Amoris. + +Lotharingian runs as follows: A king has three sons. He sends them +successively to seek the water of life. Two of them refuse to help a +shepherd on the way, and rest from their search in Pekin. The third, +who is deformed, aids the shepherd, and receives from him some arrows, +which will pierce well whatever they strike, and a flageolet, which +will make everyone dance within hearing of it. Arrived at Pekin, the +humpback pays the debts of a corpse, and has it buried. He goes on till +his money is exhausted. When he is about to shoot a fox one day, he is +stayed by pity, and is directed by the creature to the castle where +the water of life is to be found. There he is detained by an ogre, +and wins battles for him by the aid of the magical arrows. There +is a princess in the castle, who refuses to marry the ogre. The +hero makes her dance, and obtains from the ogre as recompense the +promise of whatever he wishes. He asks for the most beautiful thing +there and the right to circle the castle three times. So he takes +the princess, a phial of the water of life, as well as the uglier of +the two mules and of the two green birds, as the fox has told him, +and flees away. He meets the fox again, and is warned not to help +any one in trouble. Nevertheless, he rescues his two brothers from +the scaffold in Pekin, and is cast into a well by them. They go home, +but are not able to heal the king. Meanwhile, the prince is saved by +the fox, and is made straight of body. He goes home, and at his coming +the king becomes young again, while the brothers are burned. So the +prince marries the lady. + +In Tuscan we learn that the youngest of three princes, while wandering, +paid the debts of a man whose corpse was being insulted. When he had +buried the man, he found himself without a farthing, and so slept in +the forest. In the morning he was greeted by a hare (lieprina) with +a basket of food in its mouth. He took this gladly, and reflected +that the creature must be the soul of the man whom he had buried. He +then came to an inn, and took service with the host, whose beautiful +daughter he soon discovered to be a princess, who had been bought while +an infant. After winning her love, the hero went on into two kingdoms, +where he obtained a magical purse and a wonderful horse from two ugly +daughters of innkeepers. With these possessions he returned to the +princess, and started with her for his home. On the way he saved from +death his two older brothers, who had gone out to seek adventures at +the same time as himself. They repaid the kindness by trying to drown +him and by carrying the princess off home, where only by feigning +illness could she frustrate their plan that she choose one of them as +husband. Meanwhile, the hero was rescued from drowning by the hare, +and came home. By pretending to be a physician he obtained access to +the princess, was recognized, and then revealed himself to his father. + +The Brazilian tale is brief but not unusual in type. A prince, while +seeking a remedy for his father, passes through a town and sees a +corpse, which is held for debt. He pays the creditors, and has the +corpse buried. Later he is met by a fox, which helps him obtain not +only the remedy for his father but in addition a princess as his +wife. On its last appearance the beast declares that it is the soul +of the man whom he buried. + +Basque I. has the following form: Three sons go out to seek a white +blackbird by which their father can be healed. Two of them get into +debt to the same three ladies, and, according to the custom of the +land, are imprisoned. The third son resists the sirens, ransoms +his brothers, and also pays the debts of a dead man, whose corpse +is being maltreated. He arrives at the house of the king who has the +white blackbird, and is told to get a certain young woman from another +king. He goes far on till he comes near the castle, where he meets a +fox and is instructed by it to enter a certain room, in which he will +find the lady dressed in poor clothing. He must have her put on good +clothes, and she will sing. He follows the advice, but is interrupted, +while the lady is singing, by the king of the castle, who tells him +that he must get a white horse from still another king. He meets the +fox again, and is instructed that, when he finds the horse with an old +saddle on it, he must put on a good one, so that it will neigh. Again +he follows the fox's advice, and is interrupted by people who rush in +when they hear the horse neigh. From them he obtains the steed, and +retraces his steps, eloping with the lady at the second king's castle +and at the first king's carrying off the blackbird. On his arrival +at home he is thrown into a cistern by his treacherous brothers, +who take his spoil to the king. He is saved by the fox, however, +which draws him out with its tail. When he comes into the presence +of his father, and not till then, is the healing accomplished. + +In Breton IV. we find again three sons of a king, who set forth to get +the white blackbird and also the lady with locks of gold. Jeannot, the +youngest of them, pays for the interment of a beggar on the way. Later +a fox comes to him, saying that it is the soul of the poor man. It +helps him procure the youth-giving blackbird and afterward the lady +with the marvellous hair. He then meets his brothers, who for envy push +him over a precipice, but he is saved and sent homeward by the fox. + +Breton V. does not differ materially from the preceding, though it +has interesting minor variations. The three sons of a king seek the +bird Dredaine in its golden cage in order to cure their father. The +two elder brothers go to England, and there meet jolly companions, +but find no trace of the bird. The third brother, the ugly one, comes +thither, is mocked and robbed by them, but goes his way. One night +he lodges in a forest hut, and there finds a man's body, which the +widow cannot bury for lack of money to pay the priest. He is now poor, +but pays for the interment of the corpse, and proceeds. He is followed +by a white fox, which instructs him how to achieve his quest. He soon +reaches the castle, traverses three courts, comes to one chamber where +he finds a piece of inexhaustible bread, enters a second where he +gets an unfailing pot of wine and makes love to a sleeping princess, +and goes on to a third where he finds a magical sword and the bird. He +hastens away with his booty, guided for a time by the fox, sells his +bread and his wine to innkeepers on condition that they be given up to +the princess if ever she comes for them, and arrives at the city where +his brothers are now in prison. He ransoms them by helping the king, +and pays their debts by selling his sword. On their way home he is +thrown into a well by his brothers, who take the bird to their father, +but do not succeed in curing him. Meanwhile, the hero is saved by the +fox, which now explains that it is the soul of the man whom he has +buried, and definitely disappears. He arrives at his home as a beggar, +and takes service with his father. Later the princess comes thither +with the son that is the fruit of their union, and brings with her +the bread, wine, and sword which she has found on the way. The bird +sings, the king is healed, and the wicked brothers are executed. + +Breton VI. lacks some of the interesting traits of the variant just +given, but embroiders the theme with considerable grace. The three sons +of a king set out to find the princess of Hungary, who has the only +remedy that will cure their father. The eldest forgets his purpose, and +wastes his money in rioting. The second finds him just as he is being +led to death on account of debt, ransoms him, and shares his riotous +pleasures. The third brother, a humpback, goes out with little money, +but on his way procures burial for a man's corpse, which the widow has +been unable to do because of lack of money to pay the priest. The next +day a fox with a white tail meets him, and in return for a bit of cake +leads him to the castle of a princess. There the prince resists the +lady's advances, which he suspects are derisive, and is sent to her +sister's castle, where he has the same experience. When he arrives +at the castle of the third sister, he yields to her proposals, +is given the remedy for his father and a magical sword, and is +told how to go home. On the way he rescues his brothers from the +scaffold by waving his sword, and is robbed and thrown into a well +by them. Thence he is rescued by the fox, which comes at his call, +and before it disappears explains that it is the ghost. Meanwhile, the +older brothers have cured the king by the water of life in a phial; +so when the hero comes home he is not believed. In a year and a day +the princess arrives there according to her promise, and with a little +son. At a feast she proclaims the truth, cuts her husband into bits, +sprinkles the heap of fragments with the water of life, and marries +the handsome youth who at once arises--the humpback transformed. [190] + +According to Simrock IX., finally, the three sons of a king seek +the bird phoenix to cure their blind father. The two elder enter the +castle of a beautiful maiden, and are lost; but the youngest resists +the temptation, and takes lodging at an inn. There at night he is +startled by a ghost, which tells him that it is the spirit of a man +whom the host has buried in the cellar for non-payment of a score, +and which implores his help. The youth arranges for payment of the +debt and for proper burial, then goes his way. In the wood he meets a +wolf, which instructs him how to find the bird phoenix in a cage in the +magical castle, and carries him thither. Because he fails to take the +worse-looking bird according to instructions, he has to get a steed +as swift as wind for the lord of the castle. Again he is disobedient +when told to take the worst-looking horse only, and so has to get the +most beautiful woman in the world for the lord of this castle. Again +he is brought by the wolf to a castle, where he obediently chooses a +black maiden instead of one who is apparently beautiful. With maiden, +horse, and bird he turns home. The wolf in parting from him explains +that it is the ghost of the dead man, and warns him not to buy gallows +flesh. When he meets his brothers on their way to be hanged, however, +he forgets this, and ransoms them. In return he is nearly murdered +by them and left for dead, but is rescued and healed by the wolf, +and so at last reaches his destination. + +In none of these nine stories is the burial of the dead, one of +the two most fundamental features of our leading motive, in any way +obscured. They are thus less difficult to treat than was the preceding +group, in spite of the added complications introduced by the advent +of the helpful animal. This creature should naturally take the role +of the ghost, appear as the embodiment of the dead man's soul indeed; +and with but two exceptions [191] it actually fulfils the part. In +those two there has been, apparently, imperfect amalgamation, so that +the helper is duplicated, and the motivation obscured. In Walewein, +a literary version, consciously adapted to the requirements of a +roman d'aventure, this need excite no wonder. The ghost does its +part properly, and the fox is merely an additional agency in the +service of the hero, acting out of pure kindness of heart [192] +as far as one can see. Lotharingian, not contented with duplicating +the trait, triplicates it. The fox, as in the ordinary form of The +Thankful Beasts, helps the hero because of a benefit received; the +shepherd bestows magical gifts, as in a common type of The Water of +Life, because of the hero's kindness; while the dead debtor remains +inactive after the burial, and plays no further part in the narrative. + +As for The Water of Life, there are fewer complications in this +group than in that where the thankful beast does not appear. In all +of the variants some of the fundamental traits of the theme remain +intact. In all save Walewein and Brazilian (which is a degenerate +form presumably carried across the sea by Spaniards or Portuguese) +the three brothers set out from home in quite the normal way. Walewein +again lacks the water of life, which Brazilian retains. All the other +versions, save Tuscan, keep this water or replace it by some other +restorative agency. Two variants only fail to make the older brothers +act treacherously towards the hero, these being again Walewein and +Brazilian. The former thus lacks three of the essentials of the theme, +the latter two. Yet since Walewein makes the hero win his princess +by going on from adventure to adventure quite in the normal manner, +and since Brazilian makes him obtain both water of life and princess, +though with loss of interesting details, we are surely justified in +placing both in this category. + +It is worth our while to note in this connection that all these nine +variants come from southern Europe, directly or by derivation. [193] +Geographical proximity, though not sufficient in itself as a basis of +classification, adds welcome confirmation to other proof in cases like +this, where a small group of highly complicated tales is found to exist +in neighbouring countries only. That Walewein can be connected with +this specialized sub-division has important bearings on the question +whence the material for that romance was taken. In view of the limited +territory which this form of the story has covered as a folk-tale +in six hundred years, and the fact that France would be the centre +of the region, it seems fair to assume that some thirteenth century +French writer took a maerchen of his own land as the basis for his work, +thus elaborating with native material the adventures of a Celtic hero. + +The question now arises as to what light the group just considered +throws upon the variants which combine the simple theme of The Grateful +Dead with The Water of Life or some such motive. It appeared, the +reader will remember, that according to the elements foreign to the +main motive they must be separated into four classes. Reference to +these classes [194] will show that the variants with The Thankful +Beasts are in many respects different from any one of them as far +as the features peculiar to The Water of Life, or kindred themes, +are concerned. Yet because Maltese and the brief Venetian, though +otherwise transformed, are the only tales aside from these [195] that +preserve the treachery of the hero's brothers, it is safe to class +them together. Both Maltese and Venetian come, it will be observed, +from the same general region as all the other members of the group. + +Since the elements left by subtracting The Grateful Dead from the +variants of the four categories thus discovered are very diverse, +we cannot postulate a parent form from which all four classes might +have sprung. Indeed, the evidence thus far obtained all points to a +separate combination of already developed themes with The Grateful +Dead. The test of this will be found in an examination of those +variants of those larger compounds, which have also traces of The +Water of Life or some allied motive. + +Turning first to such versions of the combination The Grateful Dead ++ The Poison Maiden, we find eleven on our list, all of which have +already been summarized and discussed in connection with the simple +compound. [196] These are Esthonian II., Rumanian I., Irish I., Irish +II., Irish III., Danish III., Norwegian II., Simrock X., Harz I., Jack +the Giant-Killer, and Old Wives' Tale. Since we know definitely that +Danish III. (the tale by Christian Andersen) was taken from Norwegian +II., it may be left out of account. Ten variants thus remain to be +studied with reference to the subsidiary elements. + +In Esthonian II. the hero releases a princess, who goes with devils +every night to church, by watching in the church for three nights +with three, six, and twelve candles on successive nights. In Rumanian +I. the hero wins a princess by explaining why she wears out twelve +pairs of slippers every night; and he accomplishes this by the aid +of his helper, who follows the lady in the form of a cat, and picks +up the handkerchief, spoon, and ring which she drops in the house of +the dragons. According to Irish I. the helper obtains for the hero +horses of gold and silver, a sword of light, a cloak of darkness, +and a pair of slippery shoes; he helps him keep over night a comb +and a pair of scissors, in spite of enchantment, and finally gets the +lips of the giant enchanter, so that the hero unspells and wins the +lady of his quest. In Irish II. the hero is joined by a green man +(the grateful dead), a gunner, a listener, a blower, and a strong +man. By the aid of the first he gives his princess a pair of scissors, +a comb, and the enchanter's head; by the aid of the others he obtains +water from the well of the western world, and is enabled to walk over +three miles of needles. Irish III. has a helper who obtains for the +hero a sword, a cloak of darkness, and swift shoes, rescues a pair +of scissors, and obtains the enchanter's head, while the hero wins +a race by the aid of the shoes. According to Norwegian II. the hero +and helper get a sword, a ball of yarn, and a hat, while the latter +follows the princess and rescues a pair of scissors and a ball, +finally obtaining the troll's head. In Simrock X. the helper secures +three rods, a sword, and a pair of wings, follows the princess, and +learns how to answer her riddles, emphasizing his knowledge by getting +the wizard's head. Harz I. has the helper give wings and a rod to the +hero, who flies with the princess and learns to guess her riddles, +cutting off the monster's head. In Jack the Giant-Killer Jack obtains +gold, a coat and cap, a sword, and a pair of slippers for his master, +follows the princess, and secures the handkerchief and the demon's +head, which are requisite to the unspelling. Finally, according to +Old Wives' Tale, the helper, while invisible, slays the conjuror, +and so obtains the princess for his master. + +It will at once be recognized that all of these variants are of one +type as far as the traits just specified are concerned. The basal +element is the hero's success in winning an enchanted princess either +by accomplishing difficult feats or answering riddles. The water of +life, as such, appears in only one story, Irish II., and there not +as the prime goal of the hero's quest, but merely as the object of +a subsidiary labour. Clearly these tales not only form a group by +themselves, but have in combination with The Grateful Dead and The +Poison Maiden a theme which is not properly The Water of Life. This +theme is as clearly The Lady and the Monster, [197] which is closely +allied to The Water of Life, but is essentially distinct. It has +already been found compounded with the simple form of The Grateful +Dead in the somewhat degenerate and literary Straparola II., [198] +though the method by which the enchanted princess was won in that +variant was different from that given in the present group. + +Within the group there are minor differences with reference to the +manner of unspelling the princess, which resolve themselves either, on +the one hand, into the hero's keeping or obtaining something for her, +or, on the other, into his guessing the object of her thoughts. These +details are not, however, of much importance for the purpose in hand, +though they might become so if an attempt were made to sub-divide the +group. Thus Esthonian II. is decidedly unusual in its treatment of +the matter just mentioned. Irish I. has traces of the Sword of Light +[199] and of The Two Friends. [200] In Harz I. the hero himself follows +the princess instead of leaving the actual work of unspelling to the +helper, as is elsewhere the case. Irish II., finally, is peculiar not +only in bringing in The Water of Life, as mentioned above, but also +the motive of The Skilful Companions, which we have already met with +in Sicilian and Harz II. [201] + +Irish II. is, indeed, of great importance to our study at this +point. It is in some way a link between Sicilian and Harz II. and the +subdivision now under discussion. Furthermore, the fact that Straparola +II. has some traits of The Lady and the Monster in common with all the +members of the group under consideration shows that it can safely be +placed in the same category as Sicilian and Harz II. Though the feats +by which the princess is won are somewhat different in the last-named +variants from the feats in Straparola II. on the one hand and in the +compound The Grateful Dead + The Poison Maiden + The Water of Life +(The Lady and the Monster) on the other, there can be little doubt, +it seems to me, that all of them belong together. Irish II. by the +introduction of The Skilful Companions thus furnishes a clue by which +the tales having the compound just mentioned may be classed with two +varieties of the simple combination, and permits us to reduce the +total number of categories with reference to The Water of Life from +four to three. + +Before proceeding to a general discussion of the means by which this +theme was brought into connection with The Grateful Dead and the +comparative date of the combination or series of combinations, it is +necessary to examine four other versions,--those which have the form +The Grateful Dead + The Ransomed Woman + The Water of Life. Like the +group just treated, all of them have been summarized and discussed +with reference to the prime features of the compound. [202] They are +Bohemian, Simrock I., Simrock III., and Simrock VII. + +The elements of these variants, apart from those due to the main +compound, are as follows. In Bohemian the hero is given a flute +and a captive princess by his helper, and escapes with them from +prison. Later he is cast into the sea by a rival, but is rescued by +the helper and given a wishing ring. By means of this ring he turns +first into an eagle and afterwards into an old man, and succeeds in +winning the princess by building and painting a church. In Simrock +I. the hero is rescued by the helper after being cast overboard by +a rival, and is given the power of obtaining his wishes. Thereby he +paints three rooms to the liking of the princess, and is recognized +by her. Simrock III. differs from this only in making the helper +do the painting and in having one room painted instead of three. In +Simrock VII., finally, the hero releases a princess by hewing trees, +separating grain, and choosing his mistress among three hundred women, +all without aid. Later he is rescued from the sea and recognized by +means of a ring and a handkerchief. + +The first three of these variants clearly show in the subsidiary +elements just enumerated their relationship to The Water of Life. They +lack the quest for some magical fountain or bird, to be sure, but they +preserve the quest for the lady, which is an important factor in the +maerchen. Of the three, Bohemian has the most extended and probably +the best presentation of the details of the difficult courtship; +and it gives the hero that power of metamorphosis which was noted +in four variants of the type The Grateful Dead + The Water of Life +simply. It may, therefore, on the basis of general and particular +resemblance be classed with Polish, Hungarian I., Rumanian II., and +Treu Heinrich. [203] Along with it, of course, go the briefer Simrock +I. and Simrock III. There is this important difference between the +two sets of tales, that in the simpler form the princess is won by +the hero's success in bringing something from a distance, in the more +complicated form by building and decorating. Yet the resemblance is +sufficient to warrant the classification proposed. + +With Simrock VII. the case is altogether different. There the +subsidiary elements are connected with The Lady and the Monster rather +than The Water of Life proper, yet not with that theme as it appears in +combination with The Poison Maiden, [204] since in that group the hero +disenchants the princess by guessing some secret, here by performing +two feats of prowess or discrimination and by choosing the proper +lady from a host of maidens. With Straparola II., however, which has +the simpler combination The Grateful Dead + The Lady and the Monster, +the resemblance is very close, [205] as both have the happily directed +choice. The complicated Simrock VII. thus falls into the same category +with reference to this matter as Straparola II., Sicilian, and Harz +II., and the group having the form The Grateful Dead + The Poison +Maiden + The Water of Life (The Lady and the Monster specifically). + +A summary of our three categories will be of service in discussing +their relations to one another and to the themes with which The Water +of Life or The Lady and the Monster are combined. + + + +Class I. + + Polish. + Hungarian I. + Rumanian II. + Treu Heinrich. + Bohemian. | + Simrock I. + (With The Ransomed Woman.) + Simrock III. | + +Class II. + + Sicilian. + Harz II. + Straparola II. + All recorded variants with The Poison Maiden. + Simrock VII. (With The Ransomed Woman.) + +Class III. + + Maltese. + Venetian. + All variants with The Thankful Beasts. + + + +Class I. forms a territorially homogeneous group, all the members +of it coming from eastern and central Europe. It is not altogether +homogeneous in content, but preserves the theme of The Water of +Life proper in a form where the hero wins a princess by means, among +other feats, of metamorphosis. Class II. is the most widespread of +all territorially, as its members come from all parts of Europe. It +has instead of The Water of Life proper what must be regarded, in the +present state of the evidence, as the closely allied theme of The Lady +and the Monster. Class III., the most compact of all in the region +that it inhabits, preserves The Water of Life better than any other +group, though not without frequent admixture and, in many instances, +the loss of some elements. + +It has been stated above [206] that it would be hard to imagine such +various traits coming from a single type of story. This becomes +even more evident from the tabulation just made. To suppose that +The Grateful Dead first united with The Water of Life, and that this +compound gave rise to the varieties, as enumerated, would involve us in +the direst confusion. If such were the case, how could Class II. with +its introduction of The Lady and the Monster be explained? Why, +moreover, should one variant having The Ransomed Woman fall into +Class II., while three others fall into Class I.? Such an assumption, +it is clear, would be self-destructive. + +The only alternative is to suppose that The Water of Life entered +into combination with simple or compound types of The Grateful Dead +at more than one time and in more than one region. That The Grateful +Dead united with The Poison Maiden and The Ransomed Woman rather +early and quite independently abundant evidence goes to show; that +The Water of Life is an independent motive and that, like at least two +of the other themes, it was of Asiatic origin has likewise been made +clear; that the latter could not have united with The Grateful Dead +so early as did The Poison Maiden and The Ransomed Woman is proved +by the discrepancies noted above. If it be assumed, on the contrary, +that after the compounds The Grateful Dead + The Poison Maiden and +The Ransomed Woman had arisen, both they and the simple theme in one +or another form came into connection with one or another form of The +Water of Life our difficulties are in great measure resolved. + +With this in mind let us consider the three categories. Sometime +before the fourteenth century [207] The Water of Life, perhaps in +a rather peculiar form, came into contact with The Grateful Dead, +both simple and combined with The Ransomed Woman, [208] in eastern or +central Europe. With each form it seems to have united, giving rise +in the century named to the German romance of Treu Heinrich and the +legend of Nicholas by Gobius, as well as, sooner or later, to the +folk-tales with which it has been found combined in those regions +within the past hundred years. The territorial limitation of the +resulting type is a point in the favour of the proposed theory, though +I cannot but be aware that this may be disturbed by a variant outside +the seemingly fixed circle. Yet even so, the relation of the variants +of Class I. to the themes concerned appears to be pretty definitely +established. With Class III. the matter is even simpler. According to +my view, some form of The Grateful Dead, more or less confused with +one of the countless versions of The Thankful Beasts met with a very +clear type of The Water of Life in southern or south-western Europe +by or before the thirteenth century. [209] With this it united and +gave rise to an Old French romance (later turned into Dutch) and to +a considerable body of folk-tales, which have not strayed far from +the point of departure save in one instance, [210] where the means of +transmission is not difficult to ascertain. Apparently the thankful +beast was not absolutely in solution, since in Maltese and Venetian +the human ghost resumes its characteristic role. [211] With Class +II. the case is different and more difficult of explanation. Here +the compound has no definite territorial limits, and it is besides +of a very complicated character. We have to suppose that The Lady +and the Monster, a maerchen allied to The Water of Life, was afloat +in Europe somewhat before the early sixteenth century. [212] There +it met and united with The Grateful Dead, in its simple form on the +one hand, giving rise to three of our variants, and on the other hand +separately with the compounds having The Poison Maiden and The Ransomed +Woman. The former double compound must have been made fairly early, +[213] since it has been found in such widely separated countries as +Rumania and Ireland, and furnished one of the most important elements +to the making of a sixteenth century English play, Peele's Old Wives' +Tale. The second of the double compounds is unfortunately represented +on our list by a single folk-tale only, and may possibly be a later +formation. + +Such, then, seems to be the relationship of The Water of Life and +allied motives to the main theme of our study,--purely subsidiary +and relatively late. The theory which has been proposed involves +the necessity of placing the entrance of the Semitic maerchen into +Europe not much earlier than the twelfth century, though such +matters of chronology must be left somewhat to speculation; it +shows the points of contact between the various motives concerned; +and it avoids contradictions of space and time. Writer and reader may +perhaps congratulate themselves on finding so clear a road through the +maze. Should subsequent discovery of material necessitate modification +of the views here expressed, it should be welcomed by both with +equal pleasure. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE RELATIONS OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD TO THE SPENDTHRIFT KNIGHT, THE +TWO FRIENDS, AND THE THANKFUL BEASTS. + + +We have met at various points in our study with tales in which the +motive of the hero's fateful journey was his impoverishment through +extravagance; we have seen that many variants make the division of a +child part of the agreement between the ghost and the hero; and we have +noted the appearance of the ghost in the form of a beast in a large +number of instances. The bearing of these phenomena we shall do well +to investigate before proceeding to general conclusions. Occurring +as they do in versions which have been assigned on other accounts to +different categories, are they of sufficient importance to disturb +the classification already proposed? Furthermore, what cause can be +found for their introduction? Are they in reality sporadic, or are they +the result of some determinable factor in the history of the cycle? + +Eleven variants, namely, Richars, Oliver, Lope de Vega, Dianese, Old +Swedish, Icelandic I., Icelandic II., Rittertriuwe, Treu Heinrich, +and Sir Amadas, have more or less clearly expressed the motive of a +knight who has exhausted his patrimony and goes out to recruit his +fortunes by winning a princess in a tourney. The figure of such a +knight or adventurer is not an uncommon one in the fiction of Europe, +and scarcely requires illustration. Of the variants just named all +except Oliver, Lope de Vega, and Old Swedish actually state that the +hero sets out from home on account of his poverty. In the two former +the motive of the incestuous stepmother is introduced in place of this, +and in Old Swedish the trait is obscured without any substitution, +implying that the hero is led merely by ambition to undertake the +tourney. On the other hand, the tourney occurs in all save Icelandic +I. and II., which are the only folk-tales in the list. The second +of these, moreover, makes the hero a merchant instead of a knight; +but since the two come from the same island and are in other respects +rather similar, [214] this is perhaps not very significant. + +Looking at the matter from another point of view, we find that Richars, +Lion de Bourges, Dianese, Old Swedish, Rittertriuwe, and Sir Amadas +form a group by themselves, [215] and are uncompounded with any +one of the themes with which The Grateful Dead is most frequently +allied. Oliver and Lope de Vega are treated under the compound with +The Ransomed Woman, where on account of the rescue of the hero by +the ghost they probably belong; [216] and Icelandic I. and II. are +clearly of that type. Treu Heinrich [217] shows the combination of +the central theme with The Water of Life, and can in the nature of +the case have no direct connection with the other romance stories +under consideration, even though it belongs to a class in which The +Ransomed Woman sometimes appears. [218] In view of these discrepancies +of position with reference to compounds which are clearly established, +we are certainly not justified in assuming that The Spendthrift +Knight has had anything more than a superficial relationship to The +Grateful Dead. To make it a basis of classification or to attach +any considerable weight to its appearance here and there would be +contrary to the only safe method of procedure, which is to follow the +evidence of events in sequence rather than isolated traits. The very +fact that none of the compounds with The Poison Maiden contains any +such motive as this of the knight and the tourney shows that it must +be comparatively late and really an interloper in the family. + +As to the way by which it entered the cycle, one must conclude that +it was afloat in Europe before the thirteenth century, [219] and +furnished a very natural opening for a tale in which a youth goes +into the world to seek adventure or profit. Were a lady to be won by +the help of the ghost, it would magnify the hero's part, if he were +given an opportunity to take some very direct share in the wooing. So +in the group of which Richars and Sir Amadas are members the new +theme supplied the means of winning a lady, which would otherwise be +lacking. In Oliver and Lope de Vega it has perhaps supplanted the +ransom of a maiden, which is the trait to be expected, if they are +rightly placed among the variants of the type The Grateful Dead + +The Ransomed Woman. It will be noted that in the two Icelandic tales, +which conform closely to the type, the tourney does not appear. There +seems to be reason, therefore, for supposing that the new material +touched our central theme at least twice, combining with the prototype +of the Amadas group and of the Icelandic folk-stories. The authors +of Oliver and Treu Heinrich may have adopted it consciously, and so +these variants should be left out of account. + +Before leaving the matter, however, it must be noted that in Tobit the +hero leaves home on account of the poverty of his father to seek the +help of a relative. The ever-recurring possibility of a recollection +of Tobit on the part of the European story-tellers [220] should not be +forgotten. To argue that the suggestion of adapting The Spendthrift +Knight was due to a conscious or unconscious recollection of the +Apocrypha would be laying too much stress upon what can at best be +nothing more than conjecture, but there can be no harm in the surmise +that such may have been the case. + +The matter of the division of his child or children by the hero to +fulfil the bargain made with his helper must next be discussed. This +occurs in twenty-five of the variants which we have considered, namely: +Lithuanian II., Transylvanian, Lope de Vega, Oliver, Jean de Calais +I.-X., Basque II., Gaelic, Irish I., Breton I., III., and VII., Simrock +I., II., and VIII., Sir Amadas, and Factor's Garland. With reference to +one group where the trait appears [221] I have already spoken at some +length of The Two Friends, and I have referred to the introduction +of the children as they have appeared in scattered variants. I now +wish to call the reader's attention to the general aspects of the +question. What relation has the use of this trait in versions of The +Grateful Dead to the theme which I call The Two Friends? + +It must first be noted that the motive as it appears in Amis and +Amiloun requires [222] that the hero slay his children for the healing +of his foster-brother and sworn friend. Now of the twenty-five +variants of The Grateful Dead just named only Oliver and Lope de +Vega have this factor,--the others merely state that the helper +asked the hero to fulfil his bargain by giving up his only child, +[223] or giving up one of his two children, [224] or dividing his +only child, [225] or dividing his three children. [226] The query +at once suggests itself as to whether the simple division of the +child or children as part of the hero's possessions gave rise to +the introduction of the whole theme of The Two Friends in Oliver +and Lope de Vega, or whether the twenty-two folk-tales have merely +an echo of the theme as there found. To put the question is almost +equivalent to answering it. One sees at once that the former is the +case. Lope de Vega derives directly from Oliver, [227] and to the +author of that romance must be due the combination of the two themes +there presented. Reference to the earlier discussion of the variant +[228] will show that he was a conscious adapter of his material. + +Yet it by no means follows that the suggestion for the combination +was not present in the version of The Grateful Dead, which was +used in making Oliver. Indeed, it seems probable that this source +or prototype had the division of the child in somewhat the form in +which it appears in so many tales. That such was the case is likely +from the fact that of the twenty-two folk variants which refer to the +child all but two are of the type The Grateful Dead + The Ransomed +Woman, to which Oliver is approximated. Considering the alterations +which the theme was likely to suffer at the hands of a writer who was +more or less consciously combining various material in a romance, +the wonder is that the type was not more changed than it seems to +have been. In point of fact, the position of Oliver and its literary +successors as examples of the compound comes out more clearly [229] +through this examination of their relationship to The Two Friends. + +As to the introduction of the child, the trait by means of which, +according to my theory, the actual combination of motives came about, +the two folk-tales of the type The Grateful Dead + The Poison Maiden as +well as Sir Amadas, are of great importance. Since the great majority +of the variants which have the child belong clearly to the compound +type with The Ransomed Woman, it is only by reference to these three +that one can say with assurance that the modified trait indicates no +vital connection with The Two Friends. Yet with these in mind there +can be little doubt about the matter. The story-tellers have simply +extended the division of the hero's possessions from property and +wife to child, a process perhaps made easier by the existence of such +stories as The Child Vowed to the Devil [230] and some forms of the +Souhaits Saint Martin. [231] This might have happened to any particular +variant with equal facility. At the same time, the fact that the +change was made in only three cases outside the group, which has The +Ransomed Woman in combination, gives that family additional solidarity. + +In Oliver, Lope de Vega, and Sir Amadas the motive of The Spendthrift +Knight appears together with the change or combination just referred +to. At first sight, it might appear that there was some essential +connection between these two elements foreign to the main theme. Such +does not seem to be the case, however, when the matter is further +considered. At any rate, I am unable to discover any such link, +and am inclined to ascribe the simultaneous appearance of these two +factors to chance pure and simple. Neither one is more than a rather +late and comparatively unimportant phenomenon as far as The Grateful +Dead is concerned. + +Not infrequently in the course of this study attention has been called +to the substitution of a beast for the helping friend of the hero, +and in a few cases to the transference of the ghost's entire role to an +animal. While considering matters of greater importance, it seemed best +to ignore this in order to avoid unnecessary confusion. The matter is +of considerable importance, however, and must here be considered. The +question that concerns us is whether the appearance of the beast is +of any real moment in the development of the theme. + +It is sufficiently clear that the well-known stories of grateful +animals and ungrateful men, which were first traced by Benfey, +[232] have general outlines different from that of The Grateful +Dead. Benfey's contention, however, that "konnte der Gedanke von der +Dankbarkeit der Thiere schon tief genug auch im Occident einwurzeln, +um auch in andere Maerchen einzudringen und vielleicht selbst sich +in Bildung von verwandten zur Anschauung zu bringen" [233] should be +kept in mind. This statement is truer than his later remark [234] that +fairies and other superhuman creations of fancy are substituted for +animals, instancing our theme as such a case. To argue relationship +from the entrance of either helpful beasts, fairies, or ghosts would +be dangerous unless the stories in question had the same motive, +since they are so frequently found in folk-literature. Indeed, as I +have already remarked, [235] one is scarcely called upon to explain +the intrusion of thankful or helpful animals at any given point, in +view of the fact that the device is almost universally known. Yet if +it does not require justification, it may well be of service in the +grouping of particular variants. + +It is certainly worthy of notice that in eighteen forms of The +Grateful Dead a beast appears. That these are of several different +compound types would show, if it were not clear from what has been +said above, that the appearance of an animal furnishes of itself no +evidence of any actual amalgamation of narrative themes. It is rather +a case where one stock figure of imagination's realm is substituted +for another. The better-known character is perhaps more likely to +replace the less-known than vice versa, but the latter event may +happen if the obscurer figure will serve to enliven the tale. + +Of the twenty variants in our cycle which have a thankful beast, +Jewish has the simple theme; Servian IV. the combination with The +Poison Maiden; Jean de Calais II., VII., and X., Simrock II., III., V., +and VIII., and Oldenburgian the combination with The Ransomed Woman; +and Walewein, Lotharingian, Tuscan, Brazilian, Basque I., Breton IV., +V., and VI., and Simrock IX. the combination with The Water of Life. + +Now in Jewish [236] the hero is saved from shipwreck [237] by a +stone, carried home by an eagle, and there met by a white-clad man, +who explains the earlier appearances. This is mere reinforcement of +the tale by triplication, and implies nothing more than a certain +vigour of imagination on the part of the story-teller. In Servian IV., +[238] where the hero spares a fish which he has caught, there appears, +on the contrary, to be actual combination with The Thankful Beasts +as a motive. The fish comes on the scene in human form, and fulfils +the part of the grateful dead till the very end, when it leaps back +into its element. As for the variants of the compound type with +The Ransomed Woman there is considerable diversity, yet all of them +have merely substitution, not combination. So in Jean de Calais II., +VII. and X., [239] which are closely allied with other members of +the group so named, the beast appears, but in one case as a white +bird, in the second as a fox, and in the third as a crow. That +this is anything more than a substitution due to the story-teller's +individuality cannot be admitted, though knowledge of The Thankful +Beasts as a motive is not barred out. Simrock II. and VIII. [240] +are likewise nearly related to one another and to Jean de Calais, +and they have the same adventitious substitution. Simrock V. and +Oldenburgian are a similar pair, [241] while Simrock III., [242] +which is otherwise allied to Bohemian, cannot be shown to have any +vital connection with The Thankful Beasts as a motive. Of all these +tales it can be said that they show some influence from such a theme +without actual combination. Finally, all the variants of the type The +Grateful Dead + The Water of Life, which have the animal substituted, +[243] belong to a well-defined and centralized group [244] which +has had independent existence for centuries. Here the entrance of +the beast is of considerable importance to the classification and +development of the theme. + +Of the part which The Thankful Beasts as a motive has played in +connection with The Grateful Dead it must be said that, on the whole, +it has been of very secondary importance. It illustrates, as do The +Spendthrift Knight and The Two Friends, how one current theme may +touch and even influence another at several different points without +becoming embodied with it. This trait or that may be absorbed as the +motives meet, yet the two waves may go their way without mingling. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CONCLUSION. + + +In considering the general development and relations of The Grateful +Dead, to which we must now turn, it is proper to inquire first of +all as to its origin. Hitherto the existence of the story-theme as +such has been taken well nigh for granted, though the discussion +of variants in simple form necessitated some reference [245] to the +point of separation between the maerchen and whatever beliefs or social +customs lie beyond. Now that the tale has been followed through its +various modifications and has been proved by a systematic study of +its forms to be, if I may use the expression, a living organism, +the debateable land outside can be entered with measurable security. + +There can be no doubt that The Grateful Dead as a theme is based upon +beliefs about the sacred duty of burial and upon the customs incident +to withholding burial for the sake of revenge or recompense. To study +these phenomena in detail is not necessary to the scheme of this book, +but belongs rather to the province of primitive religion and law. It +is sufficient for our purpose to show the nature and extent of such +observances and beliefs for the sake of the light which they may +throw on the genesis of the tale itself. + +The belief that no obligation is more binding on man than that he pay +proper respect to the dead is as old as civilization itself. Indeed, +it probably antedates what we ordinarily call civilization, since +otherwise it could not well be found so widely distributed over the +earth in historical times. It evidently rests upon the notion that +the soul, when separated from the body, could find no repose. [246] +Herodotus tells [247] of the Egyptian law, which permitted a man to +give his father's body in pledge, with the proviso that if he failed +to repay the loan neither he nor any of his kin could be buried at +all. The story, also related by Herodotus, [248] of Rampsinit and the +thief which turns on the latter's successful attempt to rescue his +brother's body, illustrates again the value that the Egyptians set upon +burial. Their notion seems to have been that the more honour paid the +dead, the more bearable would be their lot, though it was regarded as +unenviable at best. [249] Among the Magi of Persia, though both burial +and burning were prohibited because of the sanctity of earth and fire, +the bodies of the dead were cared for according to the strictest of +codes, being left to the sun and air on elevated structures. [250] +In India the Rig-Veda [251] bears witness to similar carefulness in +the performance of this sacred duty. + +In classical times belief in the necessity of proper burial was +widespread. Patroclus, it will be remembered, appears to his friend +Achilles, and admonishes him that he should not neglect the dead, at +the same time giving a dire picture of the state of the unburied. [252] +Pausanias speaks [253] of the conduct of Lysander as reprehensible +in not burying the bodies of Philocles and the four thousand slain at +Aegospotami, saying that the Athenians did as much for the Medes after +Marathon, and even Xerxes for the Lacedaemonians after Thermopylae. The +story told by Cicero [254] of Simonides gives definite proof of +the concrete nature of the reverential feeling among both Greeks +and Romans. Suetonius in his life of Caligula relates that when the +emperor's body was left half burned and unburied, ghosts filled the +palace and garden. + +An example of the mediaeval belief is found in the Middle High German +Kudrun, written at the end of the twelfth century or the beginning +of the thirteenth. + + + "Daz hast wol geraten," sprach der von Sturmlant. + "ja sol man verkoufen ir ros und ir gewant, + die da ligent tote, daz man der armen diete + nach ir libes ende von ir guote disen frumen biete." + Do sprach der degen Irolt: "sol man ouch die begraben, + die uns den schaden taten, od sol man si die raben + und die wilden wolve uf dem werde lazen niezen?" + do rieten daz die wisen, daz sie der einen ligen niht + enliezen. [255] + + +The Annamite tale cited in the third chapter [256] and Servian VI., +likewise summarized in connection with variants having the story-theme +in simple form, [257] bear witness to the effect that the widespread +belief has had upon folk-tales now in circulation. The connection +of these two tales with the maerchen as such is so vague that +they serve the end of illustrating its growth from popular belief +rather than the relationship of one form to another. So also the +story from Brittany, printed by Sebillot, [258] which tells how a +ghost came to workmen in a mill demanding Christian interment for +its body then buried under the foundations, serves the same end, +though no reward is mentioned. Sometimes the neglect of burial by a +person brings unpleasant results to him, as is witnessed by a tale +from Guernsey. [259] A fisherman neglected to bury a body which he +encountered on the coast, and, when he reached his home, found the +ghost awaiting him. An Indian tale illustrates the belief that the +dead become vampires when funeral rites are not performed. [260] + +In most versions of The Grateful Dead a corpse is left unburied either +because creditors remain unpaid or the surviving relatives cannot pay +for Christian burial. From sixteenth century Scotland we have evidence +that the latter trait is based on actual custom. Sir David Lyndesaye, +in The Monarche, while describing the exactions of the clergy, says: + + + Quhen he hes all, than, vnder his cure, + And Father and Mother boith ar dede, + Beg mon the babis, without remede: + They hauld the Corps at the kirk style; + And thare it moste remane ane quhyle, + Tyll thay gett sufficient souerte + For thare kirk rycht and dewite. [261] + + +This evidence for the widespread belief in the pious duty of burial +and for the custom of withholding burial in cases where the dead man +was poor, though it might easily be increased in bulk, makes very +clear at least two matters. The tale of The Grateful Dead might have +arisen almost anywhere and in almost any age since the time of the +Egyptians. Again, when once it had been formed, it was likely to be +reinforced or changed by the beliefs and customs prevalent in the +lands to which it came. + +The first matter at once suggests the question as to whether, +after all, the maerchen has not been more than once discovered by the +imagination of story-tellers,--whether it has not sprung up again and +again in different parts of the world like different botanical species, +instead of being a single plant which has propagated itself through +many centuries. In spite of the evident possibility that such sporadic +development might have taken place, I cannot believe that it happened +so. If we had to do with some vaguely outlined myth in which only +the underlying idea was the same in the several groups of variants, +and if this vague tale were narrated among peoples of absolutely no +kinship to one another, say by the Indians of North America and the +Zulus, one could have no reasonable doubt that similar conditions had +produced similar tales. Such stories exist in numbers sufficient to +render untenable the old hypothesis of Oriental origins in anything +like the form in which it was held by Benfey or even Cosquin. + +In cases like that of The Grateful Dead, however, the matter is +entirely different. The theme is comparatively a complicated one, and +it is found only in lands whose inhabitants are connected either by +blood or by social and political intercourse. [262] It has preserved +its integrity for nearly a score of centuries, though suffering +many changes of details, and a variety of combinations with other +themes. To my mind such an involved relationship as that worked out +in the preceding chapters proves conclusively that the story is one, +that the connection between variants is more than fortuitous. Inductive +logic makes the belief inevitable. Any other theory would involve +us in a bewildering net of contradictions, from which escape could +be found only in the avowal that nothing whatever can be known about +narrative development. + +If the seemingly inevitable conclusion be accepted that The Grateful +Dead is an organism with a life history of its own, the question at +once suggests itself as to when and where it came into being. As to +its ultimate origin, however, only a very imperfect answer can be +given. Surmise and theory are all that can aid us here. Liebrecht was +of the opinion that the story was of European rather than Oriental +origin, [263] even though he did not accept Simrock's theory that +it was Germanic. Notwithstanding the fact that most variants are +European, this hypothesis seems to me very improbable. Tobit, the +earliest variant which we possess, [264] is distinctly Semitic in +origin and colouring. Other versions from Asia, like Jewish, Armenian, +and Siberian, though modern folk-tales, add weight to the evidence of +the apocryphal story, especially since the one last named comes from +a somewhat remote region where European narratives could not without +difficulty have much direct influence. Of course it is possible to +suppose that the theme came to the Semites from the West, and was by +them disseminated in Asia; [265] but the early date of Tobit renders +it unlikely that such was the case. Certainly it is more reasonable +from the evidence at hand to believe in the Oriental origin of the +maerchen. As to the particular region of Asia where it was probably +first related, nothing can be said with security. Yet since there +is no evidence that it has ever been known in India, Western Asia, +and perhaps the region inhabited by the Semites, may be considered, +at least tentatively, its first home. + +The age of the theme cannot definitely be measured. It is possible, +however, to say that it must have existed at least as early as the +beginning of our era. Tobit is of assistance again here. As the +book is believed to have been written during the reign of Hadrian +(76-138 A.D.) and as it has the motive in a compound form, which is +unlikely to have arisen immediately after the simple story was first +set afloat, there is little danger of over-statement in saying that +the latter must have been known at least as early as the first part of +first century A.D., or more probably before the birth of Christ. Any +statement beyond this would rest on idle speculation. + +After The Grateful Dead was once established as a narrative, its +development can be traced with some degree of precision, though +not without many gaps here and there. Its history is largely a +matter of combinations with originally independent themes, with an +occasional landmark in the form of a literary version. The most notable +compounds into which it has entered are those with The Poison Maiden, +The Ransomed Woman, and certain types connected with The Water of +Life. That it entered into other minor compounds at various stages +gives evidence that it retained its independence long after the first +union took place, even though examples of the simple type are so hard +to find and in some cases of such doubtful character. + +Probably the first combination of the theme was with The Poison Maiden, +which the valuable evidence of Tobit enables us to date as taking place +as early as the middle of the first century and in western Asia. The +Poison Maiden probably came originally from India by way of Persia, +[266] and was certainly widely distributed. Among the Semites it would +naturally first meet any tale which had other than Indian origin, +so that the existence of Tobit at so early a date is only what one +would expect, looking at the matter in this retrospective fashion. The +amalgamation of these two themes, when once they had come into the +same region, was natural. They had the necessary point of contact +in the treatment of the hero's wife by a helpful friend, who played +an important part in each. In The Poison Maiden she received short +shrift, being possessed of a poisonous glance or bite, or of snakes +ready to destroy the man who married her. [267] In The Grateful Dead +she was innocent, but had to be divided to satisfy the claims of a +being who had helped her husband. [268] The part of the friend was +less well motivated in The Poison Maiden than in The Grateful Dead, +so that it was natural for the themes to unite at a common point +and produce a compound at once more complete and more thrilling than +were the simpler forms. This combination must have been made not by a +conscious literary worker, for, had it been, Tobit would surely stand +less independent of the later versions than is actually the case, +but by the tellers of folk-tales, in a manner quite unconscious and +altogether unstudied. The stories combined of themselves, so to say. + +From Semitic lands, if it was indeed there made, the compound seems to +have travelled into Europe as well as into other parts of Asia. [269] +It has spread during the intervening centuries throughout the length +and breadth of Europe, always remaining a genuinely popular tale. As +far as my knowledge goes, it did not appear in literature from the time +when the Hebrew book of Tobit was written till Peele's Old Wives' Tale +was presented some fifteen centuries later on the English stage. In +the nineteenth century it again appeared to the reading public in +the version which the Dane Andersen made from a Norse folk-tale. Yet +the story in all versions of the compound extant is unmistakably the +same, though it has suffered more changes in detail than would be +worth while to enumerate here, since they have already been noted in +the chapter dealing with the type. The most important modification +which it sustained was due to its meeting The Lady and the Monster +and absorbing elements of that tale. How early this took place it +is impossible to say, since George Peele's play is the only literary +monument that helps to fix any date. A considerable stretch of time +must, however, be allowed for the passage of a folk-tale from the +extreme east of Europe to England. That the secondary combination +was indeed made in eastern Europe admits of definite proof. All +the known variants of The Grateful Dead + The Poison Maiden from +the west have The Lady and the Monster as well, while three Slavic +east-European versions [270] are of this type. It follows that the +compound must have been formed in the east and carried to the west, +since otherwise the distribution should be precisely the opposite +of that which obtains. Moreover, had the compound been made in Asia, +it is improbable that it would have left such a comparatively feeble +trace in the eastern part of the continent of Europe and later have +conquered all the west. Other combinations, primary and secondary, +have also arisen; but, if the collection of variants hitherto made +is at all adequate, they are of inconsiderable importance. + +Meanwhile, the simple theme of The Grateful Dead passed into Europe +by other paths. Once over the border, it met a tale with which it +readily combined, producing a type not less influential than the one +just mentioned. This new motive was The Ransomed Woman, the origin of +which is at present quite unknown. Though it is seemingly Oriental in +character, all versions yet unearthed come from Europe, so that its +provenance must be left in uncertainty. At all events, it was known +in eastern Europe, and it was there in all probability that it became +amalgamated with The Grateful Dead. How early this took place cannot +be stated, but long enough before the fourteenth century to allow the +passage of the compound type to France by that time, when it was retold +by Gobius with a good deal of mutilation in his Scala Celi. [271] The +points of contact, which led to the combination, have already been +discussed in the chapter dealing with the type. [272] Suffice it to +say at this point that they were, in brief, the journey of the hero, +his rescue, and the wife whom he gained at the end of the story. As +in the case of The Poison Maiden, the compound seems to have arisen +quite naturally by means of these correspondences, with the end of +making a more romantic and satisfactory tale. That it took place +quite unconsciously seems clear, but that the result was successful +is proved by the solidarity of the type thus produced, though it has +subsequently been carried into every part of Europe. The relationship +of versions, between thirty and forty in number, is unmistakable. + +That the simple motive of The Grateful Dead was not exhausted by +the two remarkable combinations just treated, that it retained +its individuality and independence, is shown by the various minor +combinations discussed in the third chapter. It is altogether probable +that other examples of such simple compounds as those containing +The Swan-Maiden, Puss in Boots, and a story like that told of Pope +Gregory [273] are in existence, and may be found by later study. One +can speak only with reference to material at command. Very likely +other combinations than those treated here are in existence and +may also appear, either in sporadic cases or in groups. But, the +reader may ask, if the motive is found in so many compounds, both +with and without The Poison Maiden and The Ransomed Woman, why does +it not occur more frequently, at least in folk-literature, without +combination? To this I should reply that the story is an ancient +one, which has many points of correspondence with other themes. By +reason of these traits it has absorbed, or has been absorbed by, +these other tales, until now it is difficult to find examples of the +simple form. A thousand years ago, or some such matter, they may, +indeed, have been frequently retold by the firesides of Europe, +though now they are practically unknown. The constant tendency of +folk-tales to change from simplicity to complexity would in time +cause the pure theme to be generally forgotten. Nevertheless, its +existence could be proved, even though no example still remained, +for the various independent compounds would be inexplicable on any +other theory. In the case of The Grateful Dead, the tales, to which +it has been joined, have been so interwoven with its substance that +it is quite impossible to believe, for example, that the combination +with The Ransomed Woman proceeded from that with The Poison Maiden. + +But these simple compounds with a single foreign theme do not complete +the tale. When once they were formed, they in turn had each a history +of its own, with infinite possibilities of absorbing traits from other +stories or even entire themes. In the case of the latter, a reason +could always be found in such points of contact as I have already +mentioned, or so I believe, if the material were sufficient for proper +comparison. In this way arose the complicated types treated in chapter +six, where the manner of combination is readily seen. [274] Sometimes, +it is probable, subtraction has taken place as well as addition, +but apparently only when it has not involved the disentangling of +various traits. For example, many variants have been noted where one +of the two most striking features of our central theme, the burial +of the dead debtor, has disappeared; yet in every case the rest of +the plot has remained unimpaired. The more complicated the variant, +the better able is the investigator to place its kinship to other +variants, provided that he has the requisite material and the patience +to follow up the clues that every such labyrinth affords. + +The most striking facts of general import to the study of +folk-narrative that have developed in the course of this prolonged +consideration of The Grateful Dead may be briefly summarized in +conclusion. It has been shown once again that the story has an organic +life of its own, whether it comes from the East or the West, whether +it be founded upon some fact of social custom or belief, or on the +imaginings of a moralist of antiquity. [275] Once started, it will +go its way through divers lands and ages, yet retain unaltered the +essential features of its plot. Call it story-skeleton, or better, +living organism, it always keeps its structural integrity, no matter +whether told as a pious legend or a conte a rire. Of no less importance +than this is the fact that whatever serious changes take place in +its form are not fortuitous, mere whimsical alterations due to the +fancy of story-tellers, but are due to capabilities of expansion or +combination in the plot itself. Whenever two themes with points of +resemblance, or contact come into the same region, they are in the +long run pretty certain to unite, each retaining its individuality, +but merging in the other. This principle is well illustrated in the +history of The Grateful Dead. The marriages of stories seem never to +be merely for convenience, except in the hands of conscious writers, +but to be the result of attraction and real compatibility. That, +I take it, is why and how narratives develop. + +Were it necessary to justify such studies as the present, one might +add that, apart from helping to the settlement of such more general +questions as those just mentioned, they throw light on the sources +of particular literary works, better than does the haphazard search +for parallels, and they often enable the student to see the relations +between the literatures of neighbouring countries more clearly than +he would be able to do without the perspective gained by a comparative +consideration of a single theme in many lands. In ways like these the +author hopes that this history of The Grateful Dead may be serviceable. + + + + THE END. + + + + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] 1856. + +[2] Guter Gerhard, as will be seen later, does not follow the theme +at all. + +[3] P. 114. + +[4] 1859, i. 219-221. + +[5] Ghost-Thanks or The Grateful Unburied, A Mythic Tale in its Oldest +European Form, Sir Amadace, 1860. + +[6] P. 9. + +[7] P. 7. + +[8] Germania, iii. 199-210, xii. 55 ff.; Or. u. Occ. ii. 322-329, +iii. 93-103; Arch. f. slav. Phil. ii. 631-634, v. 40 ff.; Gonzenbach, +Sicilianische Maerchen, 1870, ii. 248-250. + +[9] Heidelberger Jahrbuecher der Lit. 1868, lxi. 449-452, 1872, +lxv. 894 f.; Germania, xxiv. 132 f. + +[10] P. 449. + +[11] Altbayerischer Sagenschatz zur Bereicherung der indogermanischen +Mythologie, 1876, pp. 678-689. + +[12] Contes populaires de Lorraine, i. 214, 215. + +[13] Archiv f. d. Stud. d. neueren Sprachen, lxxxi. 141-183. + +[14] P. 167. "Ein Juengling zeigt sich menschenfreundlich gegen die +Leiche eines Unbekannten (indem er dieselbe vor Schimpf bewahrt, +bestattet, etc.). Der Geist des Toten gesellt sich darauf zu ihm +und erweist sich ihm dankbar, indem er ihm zu Reichtum und zum +Besitze des von ihm zur Frau begehrten Maedchens verhilft, jedoch +unter der Bedingung, dass er dereinst alles durch ihn Gewonnene mit +ihm teile. Der Juengling geht auf diesen Vertrag ein, und der Geist +stellt sich nach einer gewissen Zeit wieder ein, um das Versprochene +entgegenzunehmen, verlangt aber nicht die Haelfte des gewonnene Gutes, +sondern die der Frau. (Schluss variabel.)" + +[15] See p. x. above. + +[16] P. 180. + +[17] See his scheme on p. 181. + +[18] Der Dank des Todten in der englischen Literatur, Jahresbericht +der Staats-Oberrealschule in Troppau, 1894. + +[19] Marburg diss. 1894, pp. 43-63. + +[20] Folk-Lore, ix. 226-244 (1898). + +[21] I have to thank the kindness of Professor Leo Wiener for my +knowledge of the content of Russian V. and VI., which he was good +enough to translate for me from the dialect of White Russia. + +[22] What the two Bohemian variants contain, which are mentioned by +Benfey, Pantschatantra, i. 221, note, by Stephens, p. 10, by Koehler, +Germania, iii. 199-209, and Or. und Occ. ii. 328, note, and by Hippe, +p. 146, I have been unable to ascertain. + +[23] On pp. 194-201 is found a curious "Echo de l'histoire de Tobie." + +[24] Hippe's first Lithuanian tale is a variant of The Water of Life +and will be treated in another connection. + +[25] Hippe speaks of "zwei spanische Romanzen." Had he consulted the +Spanish text or read Koehler's note more attentively, he would have seen +that a single story runs through nos. 1291 and 1292 of the Romancero. + +[26] My attention was called to this variant by the kindness of +Professor F. De Haan, and I was supplied with a first summary from +the 1693 edition by the friendly aid of Professor G. T. Northup. + +[27] See Crane, Exempla of Jacques de Vitry, 1890, p. lxxxvi. + +[28] P. Paris, Manuscrits francois, 1840, iii. 1, and Foerster, +Richars li Biaus, 1874, p. xxvii, date it from the fifteenth century; +Suchier, Oeuvres poetiques de Philippe de Beaumanoir, 1884, p. lxxxiv, +and Wilhelmi, p. 15, from the fourteenth century. + +[29] P. Paris, place cited, and Foerster, place cited, say the +sixteenth century, but Wilhelmi, place cited, the fifteenth. + +[30] See Wilhelmi, p. 43. + +[31] Foulche-Delbosc, pp. 589, 590. + +[32] Work cited, pp. 587, 588. + +[33] Place cited. + +[34] My attention was first called to this story by the kindness of +Professor A. C. L. Brown. + +[35] An edition with an almost identical title "Printed and sold by +Larkin How, in Petticoat Lane," of which a copy is in the Harvard +College library, does not contain our story. + +[36] My attention was called to this variant by the kindness of +Professor Kittredge. + +[37] Miss Petersen's conclusion, Sources of the Nonne Prestes Tale, +p. 109, note, is not altogether convincing, since the vogue of Valerius +Maximus was so great that other authors than Holkot are likely to +have quoted Cicero's stories from him. The book may yet be found in +which the one follows the other "right in the nexte chapitre." + +[38] Given by Hippe, pp. 143 f. Wherever Hippe's summaries are adequate +and careful, I shall refer the reader to his monograph for comparison. + +[39] This story has nothing in common with the mediaeval tale of the +compact between two friends that the first to die shall appear to +the other. See the writer's North-English Homily Collection, 1902, +pp. 27-31. + +[40] Apparently beneficent spirits, whose nature is half fairy and +half angel. See Servian V. below. + +[41] See chapter viii. and Sepp, pp. 678-680 for illustrations of +the belief. + +[42] One can conceive of separate generation of a very simple story +under similar conditions, but not, I think, that a series of events +showing combination of themes or detailed correspondence would +so arise. + +[43] Carnoy and Nicolaides, Traditions populaires de l'Asie Mineure, +1889, pp. 57-74. + +[44] See Baring-Gould's Curious Myths, 2nd ed. 1869, pp. 561 ff. for +a popular account. The philosophical basis of the tale is discussed +by Liebrecht, Zur Volkskunde, 1879, pp. 54 ff. (from Germania, +xiii. 161 ff.), and by Hartland, Science of Fairy Tales, 1891, +pp. 255-332, 337-347. + +[45] See Hippe, p. 148. + +[46] Or. und Occ. ii. 176. + +[47] Kinder- und Hausmaerchen, no. 28. See notes (ed. 1856), iii. 55, +56; also Koehler, Kleinere Schriften, i. 49, 54. + +[48] See Hippe, p. 155. This analysis includes only the second of two +well-defined parts. The first section is related to the English Sir +Degarre (ed. from Auchinleck MS. for the Abbotsford Club, 1849; from +Percy Folio, Hales and Furnivall, Percy Folio MS., 1868, iii. 16-48; +early prints by Wynkyn de Worde, Copland, and John King; see G. Ellis, +Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances, 1811, iii. 458 ff., +J. Ashton, Romances of Chivalry, 1887, pp. 103 ff., Paul's Grundriss, +ii. i. 643). This connection was pointed out by Foerster, p. xxiii. The +same material was used also in a Dutch chapbook, Jan wt den vergiere, +of which a copy printed at Amsterdam is preserved at Goettingen. See +the article "Niederlaendische Volksbuecher," by Karl Meyer, in Sammlung +bibliothekswissenschaftlicher Arbeiten, ed. Dziatzko, viii. 17-22, +1895. I am indebted for this last reference to the kindness of +Dr. G. L. Hamilton. + +[49] See Hippe, pp. 152 f. + +[50] See Hippe, pp. 158 f. + +[51] This trait recalls the first of Chaucer's two stories in the +Nun's Priest's Tale, Cant. Tales, B. 4174-4252, where the comrade is +found buried with dung on a cart. + +[52] For a fuller analysis see Hippe, pp. 160-164. + +[53] In Richars, Lion de Bourges, Dianese, and Sir Amadas he pays his +all, even to his equipment for war, the most logical and, on the whole, +probably the earlier form of the story. + +[54] In all except Old Swedish and Sir Amadas the man was a knight; +in these he was a merchant, the husband of the woman at whose house +the hero lodges. + +[55] "V le femme u l'auoir ares," v. 5316. + +[56] Though in Lion de Bourges he excepts the lady specifically. + +[57] See Ueber Lion de Bourges, particularly pp. 46-54. + +[58] See chapter vii. + +[59] The Trentall of St. Gregory. The Old French text has been edited +by P. Meyer, Romania, xv. 281-283. The English versions, of which the +first seems to be taken from this, are found in the following MSS.: +(A) Vernon MS. fol. 230, ed. Horstmann, Engl. Stud. viii. 275-277, and +The Minor Poems of the Vernon MS. i., E.E.T.S. 98, 1892, pp. 260-268; +Vernon MS. fol. 303, variants given in Horstmann's ed. for E.E.T.S.; +MS. Cotton Caligula A II., ed. Furnivall, Political, Religious, and +Love Poems, E.E.T.S. 15, 1866, pp. 83-92, reprinted by Horstmann, +E.E.T.S. pp. 260-268; MS. Lambeth 306, variants given by Furnivall; +a critical text with variants of the four was made by A. Kaufmann, +Trentalle Sancti Gregorii, Erlanger Beitraege, iii. 29-44, 1889. (B) +MS. 19, 3, 1, Advocates' Libr., Edinburgh, ed. Turnbull, The Visions +of Tundale, 1843, pp. 77 ff., and Buelbring, Anglia, xiii. 301-308; +MS. Kk. I, 6, Camb. Univ. Libr., ed. Kaufmann, pp. 44-49. Kaufmann in +his introduction discusses the relations of the versions. See further +Varnhagen, Anglia, xiii. 105 f. Another legend of Gregory in popular +fiction is treated by Bruce in his edition of De Ortu Waluuanii, +Publications Mod. Lang. Ass. xiii. 372-377. The story in the Gesta +Romanorum to which Luzel, i. 83, note, refers is this rather than +our tale. + +[60] i. 83 and 90, notes. + +[61] Or. und Occ. iii. 99 f. + +[62] See Das Maerchen vom gestiefelten Kater, Leipzig, 1843; Benfey, +Pantschatantra, i. 222; Grimm, Kinder- und Hausmaerchen, iii. 288; +Liebrecht, Dunlop's Geschichte der Prosadichtungen, 1851, p. 286; +Polivka, Arch. f. slav. Phil. xix. 248; etc. + +[63] Chapter vi. + +[64] An unnecessarily nauseating reason is given by one of them +(Act i. sc. i.), but this seems to be of Massinger's invention. + +[65] P. 8. + +[66] It is interesting also to note that a Viennese dramatist of our +own day has adapted Massinger's drama, retaining a vague reminiscence +of the thankful dead. The curious may see Der Graf von Charolais by +Richard Beer-Hofmann, 1905. + +[67] See pp. 1 and 2. + +[68] P. 181. + +[69] Abhandlungen der k. bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, +1893, pp. 89-166. Reprinted, with some additional notes by the editor, +in Gesammelte Abhandlungen von Wilhelm Hertz, ed. F. von der Leyen, +1905, pp. 156-277. + +[70] The existing versions go back to the pseudo-Aristotelian De +secretis secretorum or De regimine principum, which was taken from +the Arabic in the twelfth century (Hertz, p. 92). It is probable, +however, that the tale existed far earlier than this and came from +India (Hertz, pp. 151-155). + +[71] Pp. 115 ff. + +[72] Two Asiatic parallels not cited by Hertz will serve to illustrate +the theme further. One of these is "The Story of Swet-Basanta" from +Lal Behari Day, Folk-tales of Bengal, 1883, pp. 100 f. The hero is +found by an elephant and made king of a land, where the successive +sovereigns are killed every night mysteriously. He watches and sees +something like a thread coming from the queen's nostrils. This proves +to be a great serpent, which he kills, thus remaining as king. The +other is from J. H. Knowles, Folk-tales of Kashmir, 1888, pp. 32 ff., +"A Lach of Rupees for a Bit of Advice." A prince pays a lach of rupees +for a paper containing four rules of conduct. His father exiles him +for this extravagance. In his wanderings the prince finds a potter +alternately laughing and crying because his son must soon marry a +princess, who has to be wedded anew each night. So the prince marries +the woman instead and kills two serpents that come from her nostrils, +thus retaining the kingdom. In these two stories there is no question +of aid coming to the hero; he is saved by his own watchfulness. + +[73] Tobit, Danish III. (Andersen's tale), and Peele's Old Wives' Tale. + +[74] For example, it appears in Schischmanoff's Legendes religieuses +bulgares, 1896, pp. 194-201, side by side with our Bulgarian tale. + +[75] I summarize from Koehler's reprint in Germania, iii. pp. 202 ff. + +[76] Paspati's tale on pp. 605 ff. also has a dragon slain on a +wedding night by a youth, who keeps watch. This single trait in a +totally different setting must be borrowed from a Gypsy form of the +simple or compound theme. + +[77] See Annamite, Greek, Oliver, and Walewein. There is something +approaching it in Rumanian I. + +[78] Icelandic I. + +[79] Simrock IV. + +[80] See Hippe, p. 145. + +[81] References to this story have been collected by G. Polivka, +and printed in Archiv f. slav. Phil. xix. 251, in citing our +Russian V. He says: "Vgl. Romanov, iv. S. 124, Nr. 65; Weryho, +Pod. bialoruskie, S. 46; Khudyakov, i. Nr. 11, 12; +Sadovnikov, S. 44, 310; Manzhura, 61; Dragomanov Mapor. Priep, +S. 268 f.; Dowojna Sylwestrowicz, ii. 129 f.; Karlowicz, Nr. 19; +Kolberg, viii. S. 138 f., Nr. 55, 56; xiv. S. 72 f., Nr. 16, 17; +Ciszewski, i. Nr. 128; Kulda, iii. Nr. 14; Strohal, Nr. 18, 19; +Kres, iv. S. 350, Nr. 19; Th. Vernaleken, Oesterr. K.H.M. S. 44 f.; +Ul. Jahn, i. 92, 356; Proehle, Maerchen fuer die Jugend, S. 42; Wolf, +D.H.M. 258 f.; Sebillot, Contes des marins, S. 38." As far as I have +been able to ascertain, these references are all to the tale sketched +above, uncompounded with The Grateful Dead. I must thank Professor +Wiener for my knowledge of the Slavic forms, which he very generously +examined for me as far as the books were available, viz. Romanov, +Khudyakov, Sadovnikov, Manzura, Dragomanov, Sylwestrowicz, and Kolberg. + +[82] See Hippe, pp. 145 f. + +[83] For the test of friendship with an apple, see Koehler's +notes in Gonzenbach, Sicil. Maerchen, ii. 259 f., and in +Arch. f. slav. Phil. v. 44 ff. + +[84] Hippe is in error, however, when he says (p. 178) that the +division is everywhere modified in the European variants. See Russian +II., IV., V. and VI., Bulgarian, and Esthonian II. Moreover, I believe +that Hippe's theory puts the cart before the horse--that the actual +division is not so ancient a trait as it seems. See pp. 74, 75 below. + +[85] See Hippe, p. 146. + +[86] See chapter vii. + +[87] See p. 47, note, above. + +[88] P. 19. + +[89] See Hippe, pp. 148 f. + +[90] See note by Schott, p. 473, in which he gives evidence based +on personal knowledge, and Grimm, Geschichte der deutschen Sprache, +p. 92. I have touched on the matter in Engl. Stud. xxxvi. 195-201. + +[91] This trait is found not infrequently in other settings. See, for +example, Vernaleken, Oesterreichische Kinder- und Hausmaerchen, p. 141. + +[92] This trait recalls Puss in Boots, which is otherwise compounded +with The Grateful Dead. See preceding chapter, p. 42, and p. 70 below. + +[93] See chapter vii. + +[94] Kennedy says, p. 38: "In some versions of 'Jack the Master,' +etc., Jack the servant is the spirit of the dead man." + +[95] Chapter vi. + +[96] See chapter vii. + +[97] The three rods with which the princess is flogged are found in +Harz I. See pp. 69, 70 below. + +[98] See p. 62, note 2. + +[99] Pp. 10 f. + +[100] Gayley, Representative English Comedies, 1903, pp. 333-384. + +[101] P. 345. + +[102] Pp. 176-178. + +[103] Russian V. and VI. are, of course, exceptions, since the woman +is there a vampire. + +[104] See his scheme on page 181. + +[105] See above, p. 1. + +[106] See above, pp. 2 and 5. + +[107] Pp. 170-175. + +[108] P. 173. + +[109] See also the school drama cited by Koehler, Germania III. 208 +f. The elements of Der gute Gerhard, foreign to The Ransomed Woman, +I have treated in the Publications of the Modern Lang. Ass. 1905, +xx. 529-545. + +[110] The same is true of the story related of St. Catharine, +analyzed by Simrock, pp. 110-113, and cited by Hippe, p. 166, from +Scala Celi, by Johannes Junior (Gobius), under Castitas. Hippe, +as shown by his scheme on p. 181, places this under "Legendarische +Formen mit Loskauf." As a matter of fact, it is plainly a specimen +of The Calumniated Woman. + +[111] Hippe's "Lithuanian II." + +[112] Breton III., though placed here, has peculiar traits, which +require special consideration. + +[113] Koehler, followed by Hippe, p. 145, makes the hero live for +fifteen years on the island, while Mme. Mijatovich gives the time as +stated. As I have no knowledge of Servian, I cannot tell which is in +the right. Hippe's analysis is otherwise faulty. + +[114] See Hippe, p. 151. + +[115] Ibid. + +[116] Hippe fails to note that the hero used all his money on the +first journey in burying the dead, and that it was on a second trip +that he bought the king's daughter. + +[117] Origenes de la Novela, ii. xcv. + +[118] An odd inconsistency appears in the statement of the Latin +that after the hero's second voyage "pater suus et mater" were angry +with him. + +[119] So, too, with Transylvanian. See above, pp. 79f. + +[120] See Hippe, p. 150. + +[121] See Hippe, p. 158. + +[122] Hippe's brief analysis, p. 159, fails to give a satisfactory +outline. + +[123] Hippe's analysis, p. 159, is not quite adequate. + +[124] Russian I. is the only other variant that I know which makes +the dead man uneasy in his grave. + +[125] So also in Servian I. and Icelandic II., cited above, as well +as Bohemian and Simrock VII., for which see below. + +[126] See pp. 79 f. + +[127] See pp. 85-87. + +[128] See Amis et Amiles und Jourdains de Blaivies, ed. K. Hofmann, 2nd +ed. 1882; Amis und Amiloun zugleich mit der altfranzoesischen Quelle, +ed. E. Koelbing, 1884, with the comprehensive discussion of versions +in the introduction; also Koelbing, "Zur Ueberlieferung der Sage von +Amicus und Amelius," in Paul und Braune's Beitraege iv. 271-314; etc. + +[129] Hippe's analysis, p. 156, is different from mine, and is taken +from a less trustworthy source. I use the summary of the Ghent text. + +[130] See p. 49 for other tales in which the dead man is a friend of +the hero's. + +[131] Geschichte des spanischen Nationaldramas, i. 141. + +[132] Sir Amadas, for which see p. 37. + +[133] Irish I., for which see pp. 62 and 64, Breton I., p. 65, and +Sir Amadas. + +[134] vii. + +[135] Hippe's Lithauische III. + +[136] See Hippe, pp. 156 f. + +[137] Thus III. makes the princess a daughter of the King of Portugal, +as in I.; IV. gives no names whatever; and V. makes the heroine's +father King of England. + +[138] From Gascony, like III., IV., and V. + +[139] The portraits are not displayed on the ship, but on Jean's +carriage,--a curious deviation. + +[140] See pp. 27 and 57. + +[141] See chapter vii. + +[142] See pp. 104 f. + +[143] II. is the only version which has Jean make his first two voyages +on land, a trait which contradicts the general testimony of the tales +throughout the chapter. + +[144] See pp. 85 f. + +[145] P. 146. + +[146] See The Legend of Perseus, E. S. Hartland, 1896, volume iii. + +[147] See p. 103 above. + +[148] In Jean de Calais IX. they set out together, but to the hero's +home. + +[149] So also in Transylvanian. Similarly the hero offers to give +all of his wife, instead of dividing her, in Dianese, Old Swedish, +and Old Wives' Tale. + +[150] See pp. 100-102. + +[151] See pp. 85 f. + +[152] See pp. 105 f. + +[153] See the paper by Kittredge, Journal of American Folk-Lore, +xviii. 1-14, 1905. + +[154] See pp. 107 f. + +[155] In this connection it is cited by Kittredge in the study above +mentioned, pp. 9 f. + +[156] See p. 108. + +[157] See p. 101. + +[158] See pp. 31 f. + +[159] The same loss is evident in Catalan, Spanish, Simrock I., +and Simrock VII. + +[160] See p. 27 for Jewish. + +[161] That is, the rescue of the bridegroom from the creatures which +possess the bride. + +[162] See p. 4 above. + +[163] Of course this excludes the group connected with Oliver, which +has no proper connection with the compound type. + +[164] The most adequate treatment of the motive yet published +is by August Wuensche, Die Sagen vom Lebensbaum und Lebenswasser, +1905, pp. 90-104. This is the same study which had previously been +printed in the Zts. f. vergleichende Litteraturgeschichte, 1899, +N.F. xiii. 166-180, but is furnished with a new introduction and a +few additional illustrations. Dr. Wuensche's monograph, thoroughgoing +and conclusive as it is with reference to the myths of the Tree of +life and the Water of Life, leaves much to be desired as an account +of the folk-tale based on the latter belief. He himself says in his +preface, p. iv: "Man sieht auch daraus, dass es sich um Wanderstoffe +handelt, an die sich immer neue Elemente ankristallisiert haben." These +elements he has not studied with any degree of completeness. Thus, +for example, he does not use Cosquin's valuable contributions in +Contes populaires de Lorraine, i. 212-222, which would have given +him valuable assistance. The theme yet awaits definitive treatment. + +[165] See Wuensche, p. 92. + +[166] P. 71. + +[167] "The Fountain of Youth," Journal of the American Oriental +Society, xxvi. 1st half, 19 and 55. + +[168] Hopkins, pp. 19, 42, 55, etc. + +[169] Wuensche, p. iii: "Es sind altorientalische Mythen, die in +alle Kulturreligionen uebergangen sind. Zeit und Ort haben ihnen ein +sehr verschiedenes Gepraege gegeben, der Grundgedanke ist derselbe +geblieben." + +[170] P. 71. See also Hopkins, p. 55. + +[171] Contes populaires de Lorraine, i. 213. + +[172] Pp. 90 f. + +[173] See pp. 125-127 below. + +[174] Pp. 212-214. He regards the story in Wolf, Hausmaerchen, p. 230, +as linking the two. + +[175] P. 91. Cosquin, it will be noted, makes the fruit an alternative +of the water of life. + +[176] For example, "The Baker's Three Daughters" in Mrs. M. Carey's +Fairy Legends of the French Provinces, 1887, pp. 86 ff., unites the +water of life with both the magical apples and the bird. + +[177] The need of such a study may be shown by stating that, while +Wuensche has treated about thirty variants, I know at present of +something like four times that number. + +[178] See p. 118 above. + +[179] This well-known maerchen has been treated by various scholars, +most recently by G. L. Kittredge, in Arthur and Gorlagon (Studies and +Notes in Philology and Literature, viii.) 1903, pp. 226 f., from whom +I take the liberty of transcribing the following references, some of +which would otherwise be unknown to me. In note 2 to p. 226 he says: +"See Benfey, Das Maerchen von den 'Menschen mit den wunderbaren +Eigenschaften,' Ausland, 1858, pp. 969 ff. (Kleinere Schriften +II. iii. 94 ff.); Wesselofsky, in Giovanni da Prato, Il Paradiso +degli Alberti, 1867, I. ii. 238 ff.; d'Ancona, Studj di Critica +e Storia Letteraria, 1880, pp. 357-358; Koehler-Bolte, Ztsch. des +Ver. f. Volkskunde, vi. 77; Koehler, Kleinere Schriften, i. 192 ff., +298 ff., 389-390, 431, 544; ii. 591; Cosquin, Contes pop. de Lorraine, +i. 23 ff.; Crane, Italian Popular Tales, p. 67; Nutt, in MacInnes, Folk +and Hero Tales, pp. 445 ff.; Laistner, Raetsel der Sphinx ii. 357 ff.; +Steel, Tales of the Punjab, pp. 42 ff.; Jurkschat, Litauische Maerchen, +pp. 29 ff.; etc." A peculiarly interesting specimen is that in Blade, +Contes pop. de la Gascogne, 1886, iii. 12-22. See also Luzel, Contes +pop. de Basse-Bretagne, 1887, iii. 296-311; Carnoy and Nicolaides, +Traditions pop. de l'Asie Mineure, 1889, pp. 43-56; and Goldschmidt, +Russische Maerchen, 1883, pp. 69-78. + +[180] So I venture to call the story of the woman, who through +enchantment or her own bad taste is the mistress of an ogre or some +other monster. She is rescued by a hero, who is able to solve the +extraordinary riddles or to accomplish the apparently impossible tasks +which she sets him at the advice of the monster, after other suitors +have perished in the attempt. See Kittredge, Arthur and Gorlagon, +p. 250 (note to p. 249); Wesselofsky, Arch. f. slav. Phil. vi. 574. A +good specimen tale is "The Magic Turban" in R. Nisbet Bain's Turkish +Fairy Tales, 1901, pp. 102-111. + +[181] Kittredge thus summarizes the tale (work cited, p. 226): +"Three or more brothers (or comrades) are suitors for the hand +of a beautiful girl. While her father is deliberating, the girl +disappears. The companions undertake to recover her. One of them, +by contemplation (or by keenness of sight), finds that she has been +stolen by a demon (or dragon) and taken to his abode on a rock in the +sea. Another builds a ship by his magic (or possesses a magic ship) +which instantly transports them to the rock. Another, who is a skilful +climber, ascends the castle and finds that the monster is asleep with +his head in the maiden's lap. Another, a master thief, steals the +girl without waking her captor. They embark, but are pursued by the +monster. One of the companions, an unerring shot, kills the pursuer +with an arrow. The girl is restored to her parents." This analysis +would not hold for all variants, even when uncompounded (e.g. Grimm, +Kinder- und Hausmaerchen, No. 71, "Sechse kommen durch die ganze Welt") +but a better could scarcely be made without a systematic study of the +type. As Kittredge notes, the companions are not at all constant in +number and function. + +[182] Hungarian I., Rumanian II., Straparola II., Sicilian, and +Treu Heinrich. + +[183] Thus Hungarian I. and Rumanian II. with Polish, Sicilian with +Harz II. + +[184] Possibly a trace of some such story as The Quest of the Sword +of Light discussed by Kittredge, Arthur and Gorlagon, pp. 214 ff. + +[185] Since twelve brothers set out to win twelve sisters, there +is probably a union here with the widespread tale of The Brothers +and Sisters. + +[186] The ship that will travel equally well on land and water is +seemingly a common trait in forms of The Skilful Companions. See the +variant cited from Blade on p. 125, note 3. It occurs in a curious +tale from Mauritius, given by Baissac, Le Folk-lore de l'Ile-Maurice, +1888, p. 78. + +[187] For examples of stories in which a king's son liberates one +or more prisoners, and has the service returned in an emergency, +see Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v. 42-48. + +[188] See Jonckbloet, ii. 131 ff. + +[189] Paris, Hist. litt. de la France, xxx. 82. + +[190] The only instance known to me where such transformation occurs +with reference to the hero. + +[191] Walewein and Lotharingian. + +[192] Like the wolf in Guillaume de Palerne, which is likewise a +transformed prince. + +[193] Lotharingian comes from a region farther north than any +other, since the Dutch romance is merely a translation from Old +French. Simrock IX. is from Tyrol. + +[194] See pp. 133-135. + +[195] I include all the tales treated in this chapter. + +[196] See pp. 58-73. + +[197] See p. 126, note 1. + +[198] See p. 134. + +[199] See p. 133, note 2. + +[200] See pp. 92 ff. above, and pp. 156-158 below. + +[201] With the form The Grateful Dead + The Water of Life simply. + +[202] Pp. 107 f., 111-115. + +[203] See pp. 133 f. + +[204] See pp. 145-147. + +[205] See pp. 146 f. + +[206] P. 143. + +[207] The date of Treu Heinrich. This gives the date a quo. + +[208] The compound existed before the fourteenth century certainly. See +pp. 117 f. + +[209] The date is here determined by the existence of Walewein. + +[210] Brazilian. + +[211] Venetian has, however, united with other material, which may +account for this in the one case. + +[212] The date of Straparola, one of whose stories belongs to this +class. + +[213] The compound The Grateful Dead + The Poison Maiden had been in +existence since the end of the first century, as Tobit proves. + +[214] See pp. 89 f. + +[215] See pp. 33-40. + +[216] See pp. 92-96. + +[217] See pp. 131-134. + +[218] P. 149. + +[219] The date of Richars. + +[220] See pp. 50, 58. + +[221] See pp. 92-111. + +[222] See p. 92. + +[223] As in Lithuanian II., Breton VII., Simrock I., and Factor's +Garland. + +[224] As in Transylvanian. + +[225] As in Jean de Calais I.-X., Basque II., Irish I., Breton I. and +III., Simrock II. and VIII., and Sir Amadas. + +[226] As in Gaelic. + +[227] See p. 95. + +[228] See pp. 93 f. + +[229] See p. 94. + +[230] See references in Publ. Mod. Lang. Ass. xx. 545. + +[231] See my article in Publ. Mod. Lang. Ass. xix. 427, 430-432. + +[232] Pantschatantra, i. Sec.71. + +[233] i. 207. + +[234] i. 219. + +[235] Pp. 126 f. + +[236] See p. 27. + +[237] So in Polish of the type The Grateful Dead + The Water of Life +the ghost appears as a plank. See p. 128. + +[238] See p. 57. + +[239] See pp. 100-102, 104 f. + +[240] See pp. 108 ff. + +[241] See pp. 115 f. + +[242] See pp. 112 f. + +[243] See pp. 135 ff. + +[244] See also p. 151. + +[245] See pp. 28 f. + +[246] See the comment of von der Leyen, +Arch. j. d. St. d. n. Spr. cxiv. 12. + +[247] ii. 136. + +[248] ii. 121. The story, however, belongs to the domain of general +literature. + +[249] See A. Wiedemann, Die Toten und ihre Reiche im Glauben der +alten Aegypter, p. 21 (Der alte Orient, ii, 1900). + +[250] Zend-Avesta, Vendidad, chaps, v. xii. + +[251] x. 18. 1. + +[252] Iliad, xxiii. 71 ff. + +[253] ix. 32. + +[254] See pp. 26 f. + +[255] Ed. Bartsch, xviii. st. 910 and 911. + +[256] P. 27. + +[257] P. 28. + +[258] Traditions et superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne, 1882, i. 238 f. + +[259] MacCulloch, Guernsey Folk Lore, 1903, pp. 283 f. + +[260] See W. Crooke in Folk-Lore, xiii. 280-283. + +[261] Book iii. w. 4726 ff. of the whole poem (2nd ed. J. Small, +1883, E. E. T. S. orig. ser. 11, p. 153). + +[262] Annamite is an exception, but it cannot be regarded as having +any organic connection with the cycle. + +[263] See Heidelberger Jahrbuecher, 1868, p. 449. + +[264] Ruling out Simonides, of course, as not clearly belonging to +the cycle. + +[265] Siberian, it will be remembered, is of the same type as Tobit. + +[266] See Hertz, pp. 151-155. + +[267] For examples, see Hertz, pp. 106-115. + +[268] It is not clear whether she was actually divided in the primitive +forms, or merely threatened. In either case the union would take +place as stated. + +[269] Armenian and Siberian give adequate evidence as to the truth +of the latter statement, though more Asiatic variants of this type +are to be desired. + +[270] Servian III., Esthonian II., and Rumanian I. + +[271] See p. 82. + +[272] See pp. 116 f. + +[273] See pp. 40 f. + +[274] See pp. 125-127, 151 f. + +[275] See the author's study, "Forerunners, Congeners, and Derivatives +of the Eustace Legend" in Publ. Mod. Lang. Ass. xix. 335-448. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Grateful Dead, by Gordon Hall Gerould + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GRATEFUL DEAD *** + +***** This file should be named 39408.txt or 39408.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/4/0/39408/ + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project +Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously +made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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