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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 + + +Title: Fairy Tales; Their Origin and Meaning + +Author: John Thackray Bunce + +Release Date: June, 2005 [EBook #8226] +Last Updated: February 1, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Produced by David Deley and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + FAIRY TALES, THEIR ORIGIN AND MEANING + </h1> + <h3> + With Some Account of Dwellers in Fairyland + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By John Thackray Bunce + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> INTRODUCTORY NOTE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER I.—ORIGIN OF FAIRY STORIES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER II.—KINDRED TALES FROM DIVERS + LANDS: EROS AND PSYCHE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER III.—DWELLERS IN FAIRYLAND: STORIES + FROM THE EAST. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER IV.—DWELLERS IN FAIRYLAND: + TEUTONIC, AND SCANDINAVIAN. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER V.—DWELLERS IN FAIRYLAND: WEST + HIGHLAND STORIES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER VI.—CONCLUSION: SOME POPULAR TALES + EXPLAINED. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_FOOT"> FOOTNOTES: </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + INTRODUCTORY NOTE. + </h2> + <p> + The substance of this volume was delivered as a course of Christmas + Holiday Lectures, in 1877, at the Birmingham and Midland Institute, of + which the author was then the senior Vice-president. It was found that + both the subject and the matter interested young people; and it was + therefore thought that, revised and extended, the Lectures might not prove + unacceptable in the form of a Book. The volume does not pretend to + scientific method, or to complete treatment of the subject. Its aim is a + very modest one: to furnish an inducement rather than a formal + introduction to the study of Folk Lore; a study which, when once begun, + the reader will pursue, with unflagging interest, in such works as the + various writings of Mr. Max-Muller; the "Mythology of the Aryan Nations," + by Mr. Cox; Mr. Ralston's "Russian Folk Tales;" Mr. Kelly's "Curiosities + of Indo-European Folk Lore;" the Introduction to Mr. Campbell's "Popular + Tales of the West Highlands," and other publications, both English and + German, bearing upon the same subject. In the hope that his labour may + serve this purpose, the author ventures to ask for an indulgent rather + than a critical reception of this little volume. + </p> + <p> + BIRMINGHAM, + </p> + <p> + September, 1878. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I.—ORIGIN OF FAIRY STORIES. + </h2> + <p> + We are going into Fairy Land for a little while, to see what we can find + there to amuse and instruct us this Christmas time. Does anybody know the + way? There are no maps or guidebooks, and the places we meet with in our + workaday world do not seem like the homes of the Fairies. Yet we have only + to put on our Wishing Caps, and we can get into Fairy Land in a moment. + The house-walls fade away, the winter sky brightens, the sun shines out, + the weather grows warm and pleasant; flowers spring up, great trees cast a + friendly shade, streams murmur cheerfully over their pebbly beds, jewelled + fruits are to be had for the trouble of gathering them; invisible hands + set out well-covered dinner-tables, brilliant and graceful forms flit in + and out across our path, and we all at once find ourselves in the midst of + a company of dear old friends whom we have known and loved ever since we + knew anything. There is Fortunatus with his magic purse, and the square of + carpet that carries him anywhere; and Aladdin with his wonderful lamp; and + Sindbad with the diamonds he has picked up in the Valley of Serpents; and + the Invisible Prince, who uses the fairy cat to get his dinner for him; + and the Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, just awakened by the young Prince, + after her long sleep of a hundred years; and Puss in Boots curling his + whiskers after having eaten up the ogre who foolishly changed himself into + a mouse; and Beauty and the Beast; and the Blue Bird; and Little Red + Riding Hood, and Jack the Giant Killer, and Jack and the Bean Stalk; and + the Yellow Dwarf; and Cinderella and her fairy godmother; and great + numbers besides, of whom we haven't time to say anything now. + </p> + <p> + And when we come to look about us, we see that there are other dwellers in + Fairy Land; giants and dwarfs, dragons and griffins, ogres with great + white teeth, and wearing seven-leagued boots; and enchanters and + magicians, who can change themselves into any forms they please, and can + turn other people into stone. And there are beasts and birds who can talk, + and fishes that come out on dry land, with golden rings in their mouths; + and good maidens who drop rubies and pearls when they speak, and bad ones + out of whose mouths come all kinds of ugly things. Then there are + evil-minded fairies, who always want to be doing mischief; and there are + good fairies, beautifully dressed, and with shining golden hair and bright + blue eyes and jewelled coronets, and with magic wands in their hands, who + go about watching the bad fairies, and always come just in time to drive + them away, and so prevent them from doing harm—the sort of Fairies + you see once a year at the pantomimes, only more beautiful, and more + handsomely dressed, and more graceful in shape, and not so fat, and who do + not paint their faces, which is a bad thing for any woman to do, whether + fairy or mortal. + </p> + <p> + Altogether, this Fairy Land that we can make for ourselves in a moment, is + a very pleasant and most delightful place, and one which all of us, young + and old, may well desire to get into, even if we have to come back from it + sooner than we like. It is just the country to suit everybody, for all of + us can find in it whatever pleases him best. If he likes work, there is + plenty of adventure; he can climb up mountains of steel, or travel over + seas of glass, or engage in single combat with a giant, or dive down into + the caves of the little red dwarfs and bring up their hidden treasures, or + mount a horse that goes more swiftly than the wind, or go off on a long + journey to find the water of youth and life, or do anything else that + happens to be very dangerous and troublesome. If he doesn't like work, it + is again just the place to suit idle people, because it is all Midsummer + holidays. I never heard of a school in Fairy Land, nor of masters with + canes or birch rods, nor of impositions and long lessons to be learned + when one gets home in the evening. Then the weather is so delightful. It + is perpetual sunshine, so that you may lie out in the fields all day + without catching cold; and yet it is not too hot, the sunshine being a + sort of twilight, in which you see everything, quite clearly, but softly, + and with beautiful colours, as if you were in a delightful dream. + </p> + <p> + And this goes on night and day, or at least what we call night, for they + don't burn gas there, or candles, or anything of that kind; so that there + is no regular going to bed and getting up; you just lie down anywhere when + you want to rest, and when you have rested, you wake up again, and go on + with your travels. There is one capital thing about Fairy Land. There are + no doctors there; not one in the whole country. Consequently nobody is + ill, and there are no pills or powders, or brimstone and treacle, or senna + tea, or being kept at home when you want to go out, or being obliged to go + to bed early and have gruel instead of cake and sweetmeats. They don't + want the doctors, because if you cut your finger it gets well directly, + and even when people are killed, or are turned into stones, or when + anything else unpleasant happens, it can all be put right in a minute or + two. All you have to do when you are in trouble is to go and look for some + wrinkled old woman in a patched old brown cloak, and be very civil to her, + and to do cheerfully and kindly any service she asks of you, and then she + will throw off the dark cloak, and become a young and beautiful Fairy + Queen, and wave her magic wand, and everything will fall out just as you + would like to have it. + </p> + <p> + As to Time, they take no note of it in Fairy Land. The Princess falls + asleep for a hundred years, and wakes up quite rosy, and young, and + beautiful. Friends and sweethearts are parted for years, and nobody seems + to think they have grown older when they meet, or that life has become + shorter, and so they fall to their youthful talk as if nothing had + happened. Thus the dwellers in Fairy Land have no cares about chronology. + With them there is no past or future; it is all present—so there are + no disagreeable dates to learn, nor tables of kings, and when they + reigned, or who succeeded them, or what battles they fought, or anything + of that kind. Indeed there are no such facts to be learned, for when kings + are wicked in Fairy Land, a powerful magician comes and twists their heads + off, or puts them to death somehow; and when they are good kings they seem + to live for ever, and always to be wearing rich robes and royal golden + crowns, and to be entertaining Fairy Queens, and receiving handsome + brilliant gifts from everybody who knows them. + </p> + <p> + Now this is Fairy Land, the dear sweet land of Once Upon a Time, where + there is constant light, and summer days, and everlasting flowers, and + pleasant fields and streams, and long dreams without rough waking, and + ease of life, and all things strange and beautiful; where nobody wonders + at anything that may happen; where good fairies are ever on the watch to + help those whom they love; where youth abides, and there is no pain or + death, and all trouble fades away, and whatever seems hard is made easy, + and all things that look wrong come right in the end, and truth and + goodness have their perpetual triumph, and the world is ever young. + </p> + <p> + And Fairy Land is always the same, and always has been, whether it is + close to us—so close that we may enter it in a moment—or + whether it is far off; in the stories that have come to us from the most + ancient days, and the most distant lands, and in those which kind and + clever story-tellers write for us now. It is the same in the legends of + the mysterious East, as old as the beginning of life; the same in the + glowing South, in the myths of ancient Greece; the same in the frozen + regions of the Scandinavian North, and in the forests of the great Teuton + land, and in the Islands of the West; the same in the tales that nurses + tell to the little ones by the fireside on winter evenings, and in the + songs that mothers sing to hush their babes to sleep; the same in the + delightful folk-lore that Grimm has collected for us, and that dear Hans + Andersen has but just ceased to tell. + </p> + <p> + All the chief stories that we know so well are to be found in all times, + and in almost all countries. Cinderella, for one, is told in the language + of every country in Europe, and the same legend is found in the fanciful + tales related by the Greek poets; and still further back, it appears in + very ancient Hindu legends. So, again, does Beauty and the Beast, so does + our own familiar tale of Jack the Giant Killer, so also do a great number + of other fairy stories, each being told in different countries and in + different periods, with so much likeness as to show that all the versions + came from the same source, and yet with so much difference as to show that + none of the versions are directly copied from each other. Indeed, when we + compare the myths and legends of one country with another, and of one + period with another, we find out how they have come to be so much alike, + and yet in some things so different. We see that there must have been one + origin for all these stories, that they must have been invented by one + people, that this people must have been afterwards divided, and that each + part or division of it must have brought into its new home the legends + once common to them all, and must have shaped and altered these according, + to the kind of places in which they came to live: those of the North being + sterner and more terrible, those of the South softer and fuller of light + and colour, and adorned with touches of more delicate fancy. And this, + indeed, is really the case. All the chief stories and legends are alike, + because they were first made by one people; and all the nations in which + they are now told in one form or another tell them because they are all + descended from this one common stock. If you travel amongst them, or talk + to them, or read their history, and learn their languages, the nations of + Europe seem to be altogether unlike each other; they have different speech + and manners, and ways of thinking, and forms of government, and even + different looks—for you can tell them from one another by some + peculiarity of appearance. Yet, in fact, all these nations belong to one + great family—English, and German, and Russian, and French, and + Italian, and Spanish, the nations of the North, and the South, and the + West, and partly of the East of Europe, all came from one stock; and so + did the Romans and Greeks who went before them; and so also did the Medes + and Persians, and the Hindus, and some other peoples who have always + remained in Asia. And to the people from whom all these nations have + sprung learned men have given two names. Sometimes they are called the + Indo-Germanic or Indo-European race, to show how widely they extend; and + sometimes they are called the Aryan race, from a word which is found in + their language, and which comes from the root "ar," to plough, and is + supposed to mean noble, or of a good family. + </p> + <p> + But how do we know that there were any such people, and that we in England + are descended from them, or that they were the forefathers of the other + nations of Europe, and of the Hindus, and of the old Greeks and Romans? We + know it by a most curious and ingenious process of what may be called + digging out and building up. Some of you may remember that years ago there + was found in New Zealand a strange-looking bone, which nobody could make + anything of, and which seemed to have belonged to some creature quite lost + to the world as we know it. This bone was sent home to England to a great + naturalist, Professor Owen, of the British Museum, who looked at it, + turned it over, thought about it, and then came to the conclusion that it + was a bone which had once formed part of a gigantic bird. Then; by + degrees, he began to see the kind of general form which such a bird must + have presented, and finally, putting one thing to another, and fitting + part to part, he declared it to be a bird of gigantic size, and of a + particular character, which he was able to describe; and this opinion was + confirmed by later discoveries of other bones and fragments, so that an + almost complete skeleton of the Dinornis may now be seen in this country. + Well, our knowledge of the Aryan people, and of our own descent from them, + has been found out in much the same way. Learned men observed, as a + curious thing, that in various European languages there were words of the + same kind, and having the same root forms; they found also that these + forms of roots existed in the older language of Greece; and then they + found that they existed also in Sanskrit, the oldest language of India—that + in which the sacred books of the Hindus are written. They discovered, + further, that these words and their roots meant always the same things, + and this led to the natural belief that they came from the same source. + Then, by closer inquiry into the <i>Vedas</i>, or Hindu sacred books, + another discovery was made, namely, that while the Sanskrit has preserved + the words of the original language in their most primitive or earliest + state, the other languages derived from the same source have kept some + forms plainly coming from the same roots, but which Sanskrit has lost. + Thus we are carried back to a language older than Sanskrit, and of which + this is only one of the forms, and from this we know that there was a + people which used a common tongue; and if different forms of this common + tongue are found in India, in Persia, and throughout Europe, we know that + the races which inhabit these countries must, at sometime, have parted + from the parent stock, and must have carried their language and their + traditions along with them. So, to find out who these people were, we have + to go back to the sacred books of the Hindus and the Persians, and to pick + out whatever facts may be found there, and thus to build up the memorial + of the Aryan race, just as Professor Owen built up the great New Zealand + bird. + </p> + <p> + It would take too long, and would be much too dry, to show how this + process has been completed step by step, and bit by bit. That belongs to a + study called comparative philology, and to another called comparative + mythology—that is, the studies of words and of myths, or legends—which + some of those who read these pages may pursue with interest in after + years. All that need be done now is to bring together such accounts of the + Aryan people, our forefathers, as may be gathered from the writings of the + learned men who have made this a subject of inquiry, and especially from + the works of German and French writers, and more particularly from those + of Mr. Max Muller, an eminent German, who lives amongst us in England, who + writes in English, and who has done more, perhaps, than anybody else, to + tell us what we know about this matter. + </p> + <p> + As to when the Aryans lived we know nothing, but that it was thousands of + years ago, long before history began. As to the kind of people they were + we know nothing in a direct way. They have left no traces of themselves in + buildings, or weapons, or enduring records of any kind. There are no ruins + of their temples or tombs, no pottery—which often helps to throw + light upon ancient peoples-no carvings upon rocks or stones. It is only by + the remains of their language that we can trace them; and we do this + through the sacred books of the Hindus and Persians-the <i>Vedas</i> and + the <i>Zend Avesta</i>—in which remains of their language are found, + and by means of which, therefore, we get to know something about their + dwelling-place, their manners, their customs, their religion, and their + legends—the source and origin of our Fairy Tales. + </p> + <p> + In the <i>Zend Avesta</i>—the oldest sacred book of the Persians—or + in such fragments of it as are left, there are sixteen countries spoken of + as having been given by Ormuzd, the Good Deity, for the Aryans to live in; + and these countries are described as a land of delight, which was turned, + by Ahriman, the Evil Deity, into a land of death and cold; partly, it is + said, by a great flood, which is described as being like Noah's flood + recorded in the Book of Genesis. This land, as nearly as we can make it + out, seems to have been the high, central district of Asia, to the north + and west of the great chain of mountains of the Hindu Koush, which form + the frontier barrier of the present country of the Afghans. It stretched, + probably, from the sources of the river Oxus to the shores of the Caspian + Sea; and when the Aryans moved from their home, it is thought that the + easterly portion of the tribes were those who marched southwards into + India and Persia, and that those who were nearest the Caspian Sea marched + westwards into Europe. It is not supposed that they were all one united + people, but rather a number of tribes, having a common origin—though + what was this original stock is quite beyond any knowledge we have, or + even beyond our powers of conjecture. But, though the Aryan peoples were + divided into tribes, and were spread over a tract of country nearly as + large as half Europe, we may properly describe them generally, for so far + as our knowledge goes, all the tribes had the same character. + </p> + <p> + They were a pastoral people—that is, their chief work was to look + after their herds of cattle and to till the earth. Of this we find proof + in the words and roots remaining of their language. From the same source, + also, we know that they lived in dwellings built with wood and stone; that + these dwellings were grouped together in villages; that they were fenced + in against enemies, and that enclosures were formed to keep the cattle + from straying, and that roads of some kind were made from one village to + another. These things show that the Aryans had some claim to the name they + took, and that in comparison with their forefathers, or with the savage or + wandering tribes they knew, they had a right to call themselves + respectable, excellent, honourable, masters, heroes—for all these + are given as probable meanings of their name. Their progress was shown in + another way. The rudest and earliest tribes of men used weapons of flint, + roughly shaped into axes and spear-heads, or other cutting implements, + with which they defended themselves in conflict, or killed the beasts of + chase, or dug up the roots on which they lived. The Aryans were far in + advance of this condition. They did not, it is believed, know the use of + iron, but they knew and used gold, silver, and copper; they made weapons + and other implements of bronze; they had ploughs to till the ground, and + axes, and probably saws, for the purpose of cutting and shaping timber. Of + pottery and weaving they knew something: the western tribes certainly used + hemp and flax as materials for weaving, and when the stuff was woven the + women made it into garments by the use of the needle. Thus we get a + certain division of trades or occupations. There were the tiller of the + soil, the herdsman, the smith who forged the tools and weapons of bronze, + the joiner or carpenter who built the houses, and the weaver who made the + clothing required for protection against a climate which was usually cold. + Then there was also the boat-builder, for the Aryans had boats, though + moved only by oars. There was yet another class, the makers of personal + ornaments, for these people had rings, bracelets, and necklaces made of + the precious metals. + </p> + <p> + Of trade the Aryans knew something; but they had no coined money—all + the trade was done by exchange of one kind of cattle, or grain or goods, + for another. They had regulations as to property, their laws punished + crime with fine, imprisonment, or death, just as ours do. They seem to + have been careful to keep their liberties, the families being formed into + groups, and these into tribes or clans, under the rule of an elected + chief, while it is probable that a Great Chief or King ruled over several + tribes and led them to war, or saw that the laws were put into force. + </p> + <p> + Now we begin to see something of these ancient forefathers of ours, and to + understand what kind of people they were. Presently we shall have to look + into their religion, out of which our Fairy Stories were really made; but + first, there are one or two other things to be said about them. One of + these shows that they were far in advance of savage races, for they could + count as high as one hundred, while savages can seldom get further than + the number of their fingers; and they had also advanced so far as to + divide the year into twelve months, which they took from the changes of + the moon. Then their family relations were very close and tender. "Names + were given to the members of families related by marriage as well as by + blood. A welcome greeted the birth of children, as of those who brought + joy to the home; and the love that should be felt between brother and + sister was shown in the names given to them: <i>bhratar</i> (or brother) + being he who sustains or helps; <i>svasar</i> (or sister) she who pleases + or consoles. The daughter of each household was called <i>duhitar,</i> + from <i>duh</i>, a root which in Sanskrit means to milk, by which we know + that the girls in those days were the milking-maids. Father comes from a + root, <i>pa</i>, which means to protect or support; mother, <i>matar</i>, + has the meaning of maker."<a href="#linknote-1" name="linknoteref-1" + id="linknoteref-1">[1]</a> + </p> + <p> + Now we may sum up what we know of this ancient people and their ways; and + we find in them much that is to be found in their descendants—the + love of parents and children, the closeness of family ties, the protection + of life and property, the maintenance of law and order, and, as we shall + see presently, a great reverence for <i>God</i>. Also, they were well + versed in the arts of life—they built houses, formed villages or + towns, made roads, cultivated the soil, raised great herds of cattle and + other animals; they made boats and land-carriages, worked in metals for + use and ornament, carried on trade with each other, knew how to count, and + were able to divide their time so as to reckon by months and days as well + as by seasons. Besides all this, they had something more and of still + higher value, for the fragments of their ancient poems or hymns preserved + in the Hindu and Persian sacred books show that they thought much of the + spirit of man as well as of his bodily life; that they looked upon sin as + an evil to be punished or forgiven by the Gods, that they believed in a + life after the death of the body, and that they had a strong feeling for + natural beauty and a love of searching into the wonders of the earth and + of the heavens. + </p> + <p> + The religion of the Aryan races, in its beginning, was a very simple and a + very noble one. They looked up to the heavens and saw the bright sun, and + the light and beauty and glory of the day. They saw the day fade into + night and the clouds draw themselves across the sky, and then they saw the + dawn and the light and life of another day. Seeing these things, they felt + that some Power higher than man ordered and guided them; and to this great + Power they gave the name of <i>Dyaus</i>, from a root-word which means "to + shine." And when, out of the forces and forms of Nature, they afterwards + fashioned other Gods, this name of Dyaus became <i>Dyaus pitar</i>, the + Heaven-Father, or Lord of All; and in far later times, when the western + Aryans had found their home in Europe, the <i>Dyaus pitar</i> of the + central Asian land became the Zeupater of the Greeks, and the Jupiter of + the Romans; and the first part of his name gave us the word Deity, which + we apply to <i>God</i>. So, as Professor Max Muller tells us, the + descendants of the ancient Aryans, "when they search for a name for what + is most exalted and yet most dear to every one of us, when they wish to + express both awe and love, the infinite and the finite, they can do but + what their old fathers did when gazing up to the eternal sky, and feeling + the presence of a Being as far as far, and as near as near can be; they + can but combine the self-same words and utter once more the primeval Aryan + prayer, Heaven-Father, in that form which will endure for ever, 'Our + Father, which art in Heaven.'" + </p> + <p> + The feeling which the Aryans had towards the Heaven-Father is very finely + shown in one of the oldest hymns in the <i>Rig Veda</i>, or the Book of + Praise—a hymn written 4,000 years ago, and addressed to Varuna, or + the All-Surrounder, the ancient Hindu name for the chief deity:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Let me not, O Varuna, enter into the house of clay. + Have mercy! Almighty, have mercy! + If I go trembling, like a cloud driven by the wind, + Have mercy! Almighty, have mercy! + Through want of strength, thou strong and bright God, + have I gone wrong; + Have mercy! Almighty, have mercy!" +</pre> + <p> + But, besides Dyaus pitar, or Varuna, the Aryans worshipped other gods, + whom they made for themselves out of the elements, and the changes of + night and day, and the succession of the seasons. They worshipped the sky, + the earth, the sun, the dawn, fire, water, and wind. The chief of these + deities were Agni, the fire; Prithivi, the earth; Ushas, the dawn; Mitra, + or Surya, the sun; Indra, the sky; Maruts, the storm-winds; and Varuna, + the All-Surrounder. To these deities sacrifice was offered and prayer + addressed; but they had no priests or temples—these came in later + ages, when men thought they had need of others to stand between them and + <i>God</i>. But the ancient Aryans saw the Deity everywhere, and stood + face to face with Him in Nature. He was to them the early morning, the + brightness of midday, the gloom of evening, the darkness of night, the + flash of the lightning, the roll of the thunder, and the rush of the + mighty storm-wind. It seems strange to us that those who could imagine the + one Heaven-Father should degrade Him by making a multitude of Gods; but + this came easily to them, partly out of a desire to account for all they + saw in Nature, and which their fancy clothed in divine forms, and partly + out of reverence for the great All Father, by filling up the space between + Him and themselves with inferior Gods, all helping to make His greatness + the greater and His power the mightier. + </p> + <p> + We cannot look into this old religion of the Aryans any further, because + our business is to see how their legends are connected with the myths and + stories which are spread by their descendants over a great part of East + and West. Now this came about in the way we are going to describe. + </p> + <p> + The mind of the Aryan peoples in their ancient home was full of + imagination. They never ceased to wonder at what they heard and saw in the + sky and upon the earth. Their language was highly figurative, and so the + things which struck them with wonder, and which they could not explain, + were described under forms and names which were familiar to them. Thus the + thunder was to them the bellowing of a mighty beast or the rolling of a + great chariot. In the lightning they saw a brilliant serpent, or a spear + shot across the sky, or a great fish darting swiftly through the sea of + cloud. The clouds were heavenly cows, who shed milk upon the earth and + refreshed it; or they were webs woven by heavenly women, who drew water + from the fountains on high and poured it down as rain. The sun was a + radiant wheel, or a golden bird, or an eye, or a shining egg, or a horse + of matchless speed, or a slayer of the cloud-dragons. Sometimes it was a + frog, when it seemed to be sinking into or squatting upon the water; and + out of this fancy, when the meaning of it was lost, there grew a Sanskrit + legend, which is to be found also in Teutonic and Celtic myths. This story + is, that Bheki (the frog) was a lovely maiden who was found by a king, who + asked her to be his wife. So she married him, but only on condition that + he should never show her a drop of water. One day she grew tired, and + asked for water. The king gave it to her, and she sank out of his sight; + in other words, the sun disappears when it touches the water. + </p> + <p> + This imagery of the Aryans was applied by them to all they saw in the sky. + Sometimes, as we have said, the clouds were cows; they were also dragons, + which sought to slay the sun; or great ships floating across the sky, and + casting anchor upon earth; or rocks, or mountains, or deep caverns, in + which evil deities hid the golden light. Then, also, they were shaped by + fancy into animals of various kinds-the bear, the wolf, the dog, the ox; + and into giant birds, and into monsters which were both bird and beast. + </p> + <p> + The Winds, again, in their fancy, were the companions or the ministers of + Indra, the sky-god. The Maruts, or spirits of the winds, gathered into + their host the souls of the dead—thus giving birth to the + Scandinavian and Teutonic legend of the Wild Horseman, who rides at + midnight through the stormy sky, with his long train of dead behind him, + and his weird hounds before. The Ribhus, or Arbhus, again, were the + sunbeams or the lightning, who forged the armour of the Gods, and made + their thunderbolts, and turned old people young, and restored out of the + hide alone the slaughtered cow on which the Gods had feasted. Out of these + heavenly artificers, the workers of the clouds, there came, in later + times, two of the most striking stories of ancient legend—that of + Thor, the Scandinavian thunder-god, who feasted at night on the goats + which drew his chariot, and in the morning, by a touch of his hammer, + brought them back to life; and that of Orpheus in the beautiful Greek + legend, the master of divine song, who moved the streams, and rocks, and + trees, by the beauty of his music, and brought back his wife Eurydike from + the shades of death. In our Western fairy tales we still have these + Ribhus, or Arbhus, transformed, through various changes of language, into + Albs, and Elfen, and last into our English Elves. It is not needful to go + further into the fanciful way in which the old Aryans slowly made + ever-increasing deities and superhuman beings for themselves out of all + the forms and aspects of Nature; or how their Hindu and Persian and Greek + and Teuton descendants peopled all earth, and air, and sky, and water, + with good and bad spirits and imaginary powers. But, as we shall see + later, all these creatures grew out of one thing only—the Sun, and + his influence upon the earth. Aryan myths were no more than poetic fancies + about light and darkness, cloud and rain, night and day, storm and wind; + and when they moved westward and southward, the Aryan races brought these + legends with them; and they were shaped by degrees into the innumerable + gods and demons of the Hindus, the divs and jinns of the Persians, the + great gods, the minor deities, and nymphs, and fauns, and satyrs of Greek + mythology and poetry; the stormy divinities, the giants, and trolls of the + cold and rugged North; the dwarfs of the German forests; the elves who + dance merrily in the moonlight of an English summer; and the "good people" + who play mischievous tricks upon stray peasants amongst the Irish hills. + Almost all, indeed, that we have of a legendary kind comes to us from our + Aryan forefathers; sometimes scarcely changed, sometimes so altered that + we have to puzzle out the links between the old and the new; but all these + myths and traditions, and Old-world stories, when we come to know the + meaning of them, take us back to the time when the Aryan races dwelt + together in the high lands of Central Asia, and they all mean the same + things—that is, the relation between the sun and the earth, the + succession of night and day, of winter and summer, of storm and calm, of + cloud and tempest, and golden sunshine and bright blue sky. And this is + the source from which we get our Fairy Stories; for underneath all of them + there are the same fanciful meanings, only changed and altered in the way + of putting them, by the lapse of ages of time, by the circumstances of + different countries, and by the fancy of those who kept the wonderful + tales alive without knowing what they meant. + </p> + <p> + When the change happened that brought about all this, we do not know. It + was thousands of years ago that the Aryan people began their march out of + their old country in mid-Asia. But from the remains of their language and + the likeness of their legends to those amongst other nations, we do know + that ages and ages ago their country grew too small for them, so they were + obliged to move away from it. They could not go eastward, for the great + mountains shut them in; they could not go northward, for the great desert + was too barren for their flocks and herds. So they turned, some of them + southward into India and Persia, and some of them westward into Europe—at + the time, perhaps, when the land of Europe stretched from the borders of + Asia to our own islands, and when there was no sea between us and what is + now the mainland. How they made their long and toilsome march we know not. + But, as Kingsley writes of such a movement of an ancient tribe, so we may + fancy these old Aryans marching westward—"the tall, bare-limbed men, + with stone axes on their shoulders and horn bows at their backs, with + herds of grey cattle, guarded by huge lop-eared mastiffs, with shaggy + white horses, heavy-horned sheep and silky goats, moving always westward + through the boundless steppes, whither or why we know not, but that the + All-Father had sent them forth. And behind us [he makes them say] the rosy + snow-peaks died into ghastly grey, lower and lower, as every evening came; + and before us the plains spread infinite, with gleaming salt-lakes, and + ever-fresh tribes of gaudy flowers. Behind us, dark: lines of living + beings streamed down the mountain slopes; around us, dark lines crawled + along the plains—westward, westward ever. Who could stand against + us? We met the wild asses on the steppe, and tamed them, and made them our + slaves. We slew the bison herds, and swam broad rivers on their skins. The + Python snake lay across our path; the wolves and wild dogs snarled at us + out of their coverts; we slew them and went on. The forests rose in black + tangled barriers, we hewed our way through them and went on. Strange giant + tribes met us, and eagle-visaged hordes, fierce and foolish; we smote + them, hip and thigh, and went on, west-ward ever." And so, as they went + on, straight towards the west, or as they turned north and south, and thus + overspread new lands, they brought with them their old ways of thought and + forms of belief, and the stories in which these had taken form; and on + these were built up the Gods and Heroes, and all wonder-working creatures + and things, and the poetical fables and fancies which have come down to + us, and which still linger in our customs and our Fairy Tales bright and + sunny and many coloured in the warm regions of the south; sterner and + wilder and rougher in the north; more homelike in the middle and western + countries; but always alike in their main features, and always having the + same meaning when we come to dig it out; and these forms and this meaning + being the same in the lands of the Western Aryans as in those still + peopled by the Aryans of the East. + </p> + <p> + It would take a very great book to give many examples of the myths and + stories which are alike in all the Aryan countries; but we may see by one + instance what the likeness is; and it shall be a story which all will know + when they read it. + </p> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a Hindu Rajah, who had an only daughter, who + was born with a golden necklace. In this necklace was her soul; and if the + necklace were taken off and worn by some one else, the Princess would die. + On one of her birthdays the Rajah gave his daughter a pair of slippers + with ornaments of gold and gems upon them. The Princess went out upon a + mountain to pluck the flowers that grew there, and while she was stooping + to pluck them one of her slippers came off and fell down into a forest + below. A Prince, who was hunting in the forest, picked up the lost + slipper, and was so charmed with it that he desired to make its owner his + wife. So he made his wish known everywhere, but nobody came to claim the + slipper, and the poor Prince grew very sad. At last some people from the + Rajah's country heard of it, and told the Prince where to find the Rajah's + daughter; and he went there, and asked for her as his wife, and they were + married. Sometime after, another wife of the Prince, being jealous of the + Rajah's daughter, stole her necklace, and put it on her own neck, and then + the Rajah's daughter died. But her body did not decay, nor did her face + lose its bloom; and the Prince went every day to see her, for he loved her + very much although she was dead. Then he found out the secret of the + necklace, and got it back again, and put it on his dead wife's neck, and + her soul was born again in her, and she came back to life, and they lived + happy ever after. + </p> + <p> + This Hindu story of the lost slipper is met with again in a legend of the + ancient Greeks, which tells that while a beautiful woman, named Rhodope—or + the rosy-cheeked—was bathing, an eagle picked up one of her slippers + and flew away with it, and carried it off to Egypt, and dropped it in the + lap of the King of that country, as he sat at Memphis on the + judgment-seat. The slipper was so small and beautiful that the King fell + in love with the wearer of it, and had her sought for, and when she was + found he made her his wife. Another story of the same kind. It is found in + many countries, in various forms, and is that of Cinderella, the poor + neglected maiden, whom her stepmother set to work in the kitchen, while + her sisters went to the grand balls and feasts at the King's palace. You + know how Cinderella's fairy godmother came and dressed her like a + princess, and sent her to the ball; how the King's son fell in love with + her; how she lost one of her slippers, which the Prince picked up; how he + vowed that he would marry the maiden who could fit on the lost slipper; + how all the ladies of the court tried to do it, and failed, Cinderella's + sisters amongst them; and how Cinderella herself put on the slipper, + produced the fellow to it, was married to the King's son, and lived + happily with him. + </p> + <p> + Now the story of Cinderella helps us to find out the meaning of our Fairy + Tales; and takes us back straight to the far-off land where fairy legends + began, and to the people who made them. Cinderella, and Rhodope, and the + Hindu Rajah's daughter, and the like, are but different forms of the same + ancient myth. It is the story of the Sun and the Dawn. Cinderella, grey + and dark, and dull, is all neglected when she is away from the Sun, + obscured by the envious Clouds her sisters, and by her stepmother the + Night. So she is Aurora, the Dawn, and the fairy Prince is the Morning + Sun, ever pursuing her, to claim her for his bride. This is the legend as + we find it in the ancient Hindu sacred books; and this explains at once + the source and the meaning of the Fairy Tale. + </p> + <p> + Nor is it in the story of Cinderella alone that we trace the ancient Hindu + legends. There is scarcely a tale of Greek or Roman mythology, no legend + of Teutonic or Celtic or Scandinavian growth, no great romance of what we + call the middle ages, no fairy story taken down from the lips of ancient + folk, and dressed for us in modern shape and tongue, that we do not find, + in some form or another, in these Eastern poems. The Greek gods are there—Zeus, + the Heaven-Father, and his wife Hera, "and Phoebus Apollo the Sun-god, and + Pallas Athene, who taught men wisdom and useful arts, and Aphrodite the + Queen of Beauty, and Poseidon the Ruler of the Sea, and Hephaistos the + King of the Fire, who taught men to work in metals."<a href="#linknote-2" + name="linknoteref-2" id="linknoteref-2">[2]</a> There, too, are legends + which resemble those of Orpheus and Eurydike, of Eros and Psyche, of Jason + and the Golden Fleece, of the labours of Herakles, of Sigurd and Brynhilt, + of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. There, too, in forms which + can be traced with ease, we have the stories of Fairyland—the germs + of the Thousand and One Tales of the Arabian Nights, the narratives of + giants, and dwarfs, and enchanters; of men and maidens transformed by + magic arts into beasts and birds; of riches hidden in the caves and bowels + of the earth, and guarded by trolls and gnomes; of blessed lands where all + is bright and sunny, and where there is neither work nor care. Whatever, + indeed, is strange or fanciful, or takes us straight from our grey, + hard-working world into the sweet and peaceful country of Once Upon a + Time, is to be found in these ancient Hindu books, and is repeated, from + the source whence they were drawn, in many countries of the East and West; + for the people whose traditions the Vedas record were the forefathers of + those who now dwell in India, in Persia, in the border-lands, and in most + parts of Europe. Yes; strange as it may seem, all of us, who differ so + much in language, in looks in customs and ways of thought, in all that + marks out one nation from another—all of us have a common origin and + a common kindred. Greek and Roman, and Teuton and Kelt and Slav, ancient + and modern, all came from the same stock. English and French, Spanish and + Germans, Italians and Russians, all unlike in outward show, are linked + together in race; and not only with each other, but also claim kindred + with the people who now fill the fiery plains of India, and dwell on the + banks of her mighty rivers, and on the slopes of her great + mountain-chains, and who still recite the sacred books, and sing the + ancient hymns from which the mythology of the West is in great part + derived, whence our folk-lore comes, and which give life and colour and + meaning to our legends of romance and our Tales of Fairyland. + </p> + <p> + By taking a number of stories containing the same idea, but related in + different ages and in countries far away from each other, we shall see how + this likeness of popular tradition runs through all of them, and shows + their common origin. So we will go to the next chapter, and tell a few + kindred tales from East and West, and South and North. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II.—KINDRED TALES FROM DIVERS LANDS: EROS AND PSYCHE. + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen, who had three beautiful + daughters. The youngest of them, who was called Psyche, was the loveliest; + she was so very beautiful that she was thought to be a second Aphrodite, + the Goddess of Beauty and Love, and all who saw her worshipped her as if + she were the goddess; so that the temples of Aphrodite were deserted and + her worship neglected, and Psyche was preferred to her; and as she passed + along the streets, or came into the temples, the people crowded round her, + and scattered flowers under her feet, and offered garlands to her. Now, + when Aphrodite knew this she grew very angry, and resolved to punish + Psyche, so as to make her a wonder and a shame for ever. So Aphrodite sent + for her son Eros, the God of Love, and took him to the city where Psyche + lived, and showed the maiden to him, and bade him afflict her with love + for a man who should be the most wicked and most miserable of mankind, an + outcast, a beggar, one who had done some great wrong, and had fallen so + low that no man in the whole world could be so wretched. Eros agreed that + he would do what his mother wished; but this was only a pretence, for when + he saw Psyche he fell in love with her himself, and made up his mind that + she should be his own wife. The first thing to do was to get the maiden + into his own care and to hide her from the vengeance of Aphrodite. So he + put it into the mind of her father to go to the shrine of Phoebus, at + Miletus, and ask the god what should be done with Psyche. The king did so, + and he was bidden by an oracle to dress Psyche as a bride, to take her to + the brow of a high mountain, and to leave her there, and that after a time + a great monster would come and take her away and make her his wife. So + Psyche was decked in bridal garments, was taken to a rock on the top of a + mountain, and was left there as a sacrifice to turn away the wrath of + Aphrodite. But Eros took care that she came to no harm. He went to + Zephyrus, the God of the West Wind, and told him to carry Psyche gently + down into a beautiful valley, and to lay her softly on the turf, amidst + lovely flowers. So Zephyrus lulled Psyche to sleep, and then carried her + safely down, and laid her in the place where Eros had bidden him. When + Psyche awoke from sleep she saw a thick grove, with a crystal fountain in + it, and close to the fountain there was a stately palace, fit for the + dwelling of a king or a god. She went into the palace, and found it very + wonderful. The walls and ceilings were made of cedar and ivory, there were + golden columns holding up the roof, the floors were laid with precious + stones, so put together as to make pictures, and on the walls were + carvings in gold and silver of birds, and beasts, and flowers, and all + kinds of strange and beautiful things. And there were also great treasure + places full of gold, and silver, and gems, in such great measure that it + seemed as if all the riches of the world were gathered there. But nowhere + was there any living creature to be seen; all the palace was empty, and + Psyche was there alone. And while she went trembling and fearing through + the rooms, and wondering whose all this might be, she heard voices, as of + invisible maidens, which told her that the palace was for her, and that + they who spoke, but whom she might not see, were her servants. And the + voices bade her go first to the bath, and then to a royal banquet which + was prepared for her. So Psyche, still wondering, went to the bath, and + then to a great and noble room, where there was a royal seat, and upon + this she placed herself, and then unseen attendants put before her all + kinds of delicate food and wine; and while she ate and drank there was a + sound as of a great number of people singing the most charming music, and + of one playing upon the lyre; but none of them could she see. Then night + came on, and all the beautiful palace grew dark, and Psyche laid herself + down upon a couch to sleep. Then a great terror fell upon her, for she + heard footsteps, which came nearer and nearer, and she thought it was the + monster whose bride the oracle of Phoebus had destined her to be. And the + footsteps drew closer to her, and then an unseen being came to her couch + and lay down beside her, and made her his wife; and he lay there until + just before the break of day, and then he departed, and it was still so + dark that Psyche could not see his form; nor did he speak, so that she + could not guess from his voice what kind of creature it was to whom the + Fates had wedded her. So Psyche lived for a long while, wandering about + her palace in the daytime, tended by her unseen guardians, and every night + her husband came to her and stayed until daybreak. Then she began to long + to hear about her father and mother, and to see her sisters, and she + begged leave of her husband that these might come to her for a time. To + this Eros agreed, and gave her leave to give her sisters rich gifts, but + warned her that she must answer no questions they might ask about him, and + that she must not listen to any advice they might give her to find out who + he was, or else a great misfortune would happen to her. Then Zephyrus + brought the sisters of Psyche to her, and they stayed with her for a + little while, and were very curious to know who her husband was, and what + he was like. But Psyche, mindful of the commands of Eros, put them off, + first with one story and then with another, and at last sent them away, + loaded with jewels. Now Psyche's sisters were envious of her, because such + good fortune had not happened to themselves, to have such a grand palace, + and such store of wealth, and they plotted between themselves to make her + discover her husband, hoping to get some good for themselves out of it, + and not caring what happened to her. And it so fell out that they had + their way, for Psyche again getting tired of solitude, again begged of her + husband that her sisters might come to see her once more, to which, with + much sorrow, he consented, but warned her again that if she spoke of him, + or sought to see him, all her happiness would vanish, and that she would + have to bear a life of misery. But it was fated that Psyche should disobey + her husband; and it fell out in this way. When her sisters came to her + again they questioned her about her husband, and persuaded her that she + was married to a monster too terrible to be looked at, and they told her + that this was the reason why he never came in the daytime, and refused to + let himself be seen at night. Then they also persuaded her that she ought + to put an end to the enchantment by killing the monster; and for this + purpose they gave her a sharp knife, and they gave her also a lamp, so + that while he was asleep she might look at him, so as to know where to + strike. Then, being left alone, poor Psyche's mind was full of terror, and + she resolved to follow the advice of her sisters. So when her husband was + asleep, she went and fetched the lamp, and looked at him by its light; and + then she saw that, instead of a deadly monster, it was Eros himself, the + God of Love, to whom she was married. But while she was filled with awe + and delight at this discovery, the misfortune happened which Eros had + foretold. A drop of oil from the lamp fell upon the shoulder of the god, + and he sprang up from the couch, reproached Psyche for her fatal + curiosity, and vanished from her sight; and then the beautiful palace + vanished also, and Psyche found herself lying on the bare cold earth, + weeping, deserted, and alone. + </p> + <p> + Then poor Psyche began a long and weary journey, to try to find the + husband she had lost, but she could not, for he had gone to his mother + Aphrodite, to be cured of his wound; and Aphrodite, finding out that Eros + had fallen in love with Psyche, determined to punish her, and to prevent + her from finding Eros. First Psyche went to the god Pan, but he could not + help her; then she went to the goddess Demeter, the Earth-Mother, but she + warned her against the vengeance of Aphrodite, and sent her away. And the + great goddess Hera did the same; and at last, abandoned by every one, + Psyche went to Aphrodite herself, and the goddess, who had caused great + search to be made for her, now ordered her to be beaten and tormented, and + then ridiculed her sorrows, and taunted her with the loss of Eros, and set + her to work at many tasks that seemed impossible to be done. First the + goddess took a great heap of seeds of wheat, barley, millet, poppy, + lentils, and beans, and mixed them all together, and then bade Psyche + separate them into their different kinds by nightfall. Now there were so + many of them that this was impossible; but Eros, who pitied Psyche, though + she had lost him, sent a great many ants, who parted the seeds from each + other and arranged them in their proper heaps, so that by evening all that + Aphrodite had commanded was done. Then the goddess was very angry, and fed + Psyche on bread and water, and next day she set Psyche another task. This + was to collect a quantity of golden wool from the sheep of the goddess, + creatures so fierce and wild that no mortal could venture near them and + escape with life. Then Psyche thought herself lost; but Pan came to her + help and bade her wait until evening, when the golden sheep would be at + rest, and then she might from the trees and shrubs collect all the wool + she needed. So Psyche fulfilled this task also. But Aphrodite was still + unsatisfied. She now demanded a crystal urn, filled with icy waters from + the fountain of Oblivion. The fountain was placed on the summit of a great + mountain; it issued from a fissure in a lofty rock, too steep for any one + to ascend, and from thence it fell into a narrow channel, deep, winding, + and rugged, and guarded on each side by terrible dragons, which never + slept. And the rush of the waters, as they rolled along, resembled a human + voice, always crying out to the adventurous explorer—"Beware! fly! + or you perish!" Here Psyche thought her sufferings at an end; sooner than + face the dragons and climb the rugged rocks she must die. But again Eros + helped her, for he sent the eagle of Zeus, the All-Father, and the eagle + took the crystal urn in his claws, flew past the dragons, settled on the + rock, and drew the water of the black fountain, and gave it safely to + Psyche, who carried it back and presented it to the angry Aphrodite. But + the goddess, still determined that Psyche should perish, set her another + task, the hardest and most dangerous of all. "Take this box," she said, + "go with it into the infernal regions to Persephone, and ask her for a + portion of her beauty, that I may adorn myself with it for the supper of + the gods." Now on hearing this, poor Psyche knew that the goddess meant to + destroy her; so she went up to a lofty tower, meaning to throw herself + down headlong so that she might be killed, and thus pass into the realm of + Hades, never to return. But the tower was an enchanted place, and a voice + from it spoke to her and bade her be of good cheer, and told her what to + do. She was to go to a city of Achaia and find near it a mountain, and in + the mountain she would see a gap, from which a narrow road led straight + into the infernal regions. But the voice warned her of many things which + must be done on the journey, and of others which must be avoided. She was + to take in each hand a piece of barley bread, soaked in honey, and in her + mouth she was to put two pieces of money. On entering the dreary path she + would meet an old man driving a lame ass, laden with wood, and the old man + would ask her for help, but she was to pass him by in silence. Then she + would come to the bank of the black river, over which the boatman Charon + ferries the souls of the dead; and from her mouth Charon must take one + piece of money, she saying not a word. In crossing the river a dead hand + would stretch itself up to her, and a dead face, like that of her father, + would appear, and a voice would issue from the dead man's mouth, begging + for the other piece of money, that he might pay for his passage, and get + released from the doom of floating for ever in the grim flood of Styx. But + still she was to keep silence, and to let the dead man cry out in vain; + for all these, the voice told her, were snares prepared by Aphrodite, to + make her let go the money, and to let fall the pieces of bread. Then, at + the gate of the palace of Persephone she would meet the great three-headed + dog, Kerberos, who keeps watch there for ever, and to him, to quiet his + terrible barking, she must give one piece of the bread, and pass on, still + never speaking. So Kerberos would allow her to pass; but still another + danger would await her. Persephone would greet her kindly, and ask her to + sit upon soft cushions, and to eat of a fine banquet. But she must refuse + both offers—sitting only on the ground, and eating only of the bread + of mortals, or else she must remain for ever in the gloomy regions below + the earth. Psyche listened to this counsel, and obeyed it. Everything + happened as the voice had foretold. She saw the old man with the overladen + ass, she permitted Charon to take the piece of money from her lips, she + stopped her ears against the cry of the dead man floating in the black + river, she gave the honey bread to Kerberos, and she refused the soft + cushions and the banquet offered to her by the queen of the infernal + regions. Then Persephone gave her the precious beauty demanded by + Aphrodite, and shut it up in the box, and Psyche came safely back into the + light of day, giving to Kerberos, the three-headed dog, the remaining + piece of honey bread, and to Charon the remaining piece of money. But now + she fell into a great danger. The voice in the tower had warned her not to + look into the box; but she was tempted by a strong desire, and so she + opened it, that she might see and use for herself the beauty of the gods. + But when she opened the box it was empty, save of a vapour of sleep, which + seized upon Psyche, and made her as if she were dead. In this unhappy + state, brought upon her by the vengeance of Aphrodite, she would have been + lost for ever, but Eros, healed of the wound caused by the burning oil, + came himself to her help, roused her from the death-like sleep, and put + her in a place of safety. Then Eros flew up into the abode of the gods, + and besought Zeus to protect Psyche against his mother Aphrodite; and + Zeus, calling an assembly of the gods, sent Hermes to bring Psyche + thither, and then he declared her immortal, and she and Eros were wedded + to each other; and there was a great feast in Olympus. And the sisters of + Psyche, who had striven to ruin her, were punished for their crimes, for + Eros appeared to them one after the other in a dream, and promised to make + each of them his wife, in place of Psyche, and bade each throw herself + from the great rock whence Psyche was carried into the beautiful valley by + Zephyrus; and both the sisters did as the dream told them, and they were + dashed to pieces, and perished miserably. + </p> + <p> + Now this is the story of Eros and Psyche, as it is told by Apuleius, in + his book of <i>Metamorphoses</i>, written nearly two thousand years ago. + But the story was told ages before Apuleius by people other than the + Greeks, and in a language which existed long before theirs. It is the tale + of Urvasi and Pururavas, which is to be found in one of the oldest of the + Vedas, or Sanskrit sacred books, which contain the legends of the Aryan + race before it broke up and went in great fragments southward into India, + and westward into Persia and Europe. A translation of the story of Urvasi + and Pururavas is given by Mr. Max-Muller,<a href="#linknote-3" + name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3">[3]</a> who also tells what the + story means, and this helps us to see the meaning of the tale of Eros and + Psyche, and of many other myths which occur among all the branches of the + Aryan family; among the Teutons, the Scandinavians, and the Slavs, as well + as among the Greeks. Urvasi, then, was an immortal being, a kind of fairy, + who fell in love with Pururavas, a hero and a king; and she married him, + and lived with him, on this condition—that she should never see him + unless he was dressed in his royal robes. Now there was a ewe, with two + lambs, tied to the couch of Urvasi and Pururavas; and the fairies—or + Gandharvas, as the kinsfolk of Urvasi were called—wished to get her + back amongst them; and so they stole one of the lambs. Then Urvasi + reproached her husband, and said, "They take away my darling, as if I + lived in a land where there is no hero and no man." The fairies stole the + other lamb, and Urvasi reproached her husband again, saying, "How can that + be a land without heroes or men where I am?" Then Pururavas hastened to + bring back the pet lamb; so eager was he that he stayed not to clothe + himself, and so sprang up naked. Then the Gandharvas sent a flash of + lightning, and Urvasi saw her husband naked as if by daylight; and then + she cried out to her kinsfolk, "I come back," and she vanished. And + Pururavas, made wretched by the loss of his love, sought her everywhere, + and once he was permitted to see her, and when he saw her, he said he + should die if she did not come back to him. But Urvasi could not return; + but she gave him leave to come to her, on the last night of the year, to + the golden seats; and he stayed with her for that night. And Urvasi said + to him, "The Gandharvas will to-morrow grant thee a wish; choose." He + said; "Choose thou for me." She replied, "Say to them, Let me be one of + you." And he said this, and they taught him how to make the sacred fire, + and he became one of them, and dwelt with Urvasi for ever. + </p> + <p> + Now this, we see, is like the story of Eros and Psyche; and Mr. Max-Muller + teaches us what it means. It is the story of the Sun and the Dawn. Urvasi + is the Dawn, which must vanish or die when it beholds the risen Sum; and + Pururavas is the Sun; and they are united again at sunset, when the Sun + dies away into night. So, in the Greek myth, Eros is the dawning Sun, and + when Psyche, the Dawn, sees him, he flies from her, and it is only at + nightfall that they can be again united. In the same paper Mr. Max-Muller + shows how this root idea of the Aryan race is found again in another of + the most beautiful of Greek myths or stories—that of Orpheus and + Eurydike. In the Greek legends the Dawn has many names; one of them is + Eurydike. The name of her husband, Orpheus, comes straight from the + Sanskrit: it is the same as Ribhu or Arbhu, which is a name of Indra, or + the Sun, or which may be used for the rays of the Sun. The old story, + then, says our teacher, was this: "Eurydike (the Dawn) is bitten by a + serpent (the Night); she dies, and descends into the lower regions. + Orpheus follows her, and obtains from the gods that his wife should follow + him, if he promised not to look back. Orpheus promises—ascends from + the dark world below; Eurydike is behind him as he rises, but, drawn by + doubt or by love, he looks round; the first ray of the Sun glances at the + Dawn; and the Dawn fades away." + </p> + <p> + We have now seen that the Greek myth is like a much older myth existing + amongst the Aryan race before it passed westward. We have but to look to + other collections of Aryan folk-lore to find that in some of its features + the legend is common to all branches of the Aryan family. In our own + familiar story of "Beauty and the Beast," for instance, we have the same + idea. There are the three sisters, one of whom is chosen as the bride of + an enchanted monster, who dwells in a beautiful palace. By the arts of her + sisters she is kept away from him, and he is at the point of death through + his grief. Then she returns, and he revives, and becomes changed into a + handsome Prince, and they live happy ever after. One feature of these + legends is that beings closely united to each other—as closely, that + is, as the Sun and the Dawn—may not look upon each other without + misfortune. This is illustrated in the charming Scandinavian story of "The + Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon," which is told in various + forms; the best of them being in Mr. Morris's beautiful poem in "The + Earthly Paradise," and in Dr. Dasent's Norse Tales.<a href="#linknote-4" + name="linknoteref-4" id="linknoteref-4">[4]</a> We shall abridge Dr. + Dasent's version, telling the story in our own way: + </p> + <p> + There was a poor peasant who had a large family whom he could scarcely + keep; and there were several daughters amongst them. The loveliest was the + youngest daughter; who was very beautiful indeed. One evening in autumn, + in bad weather, the family sat round the fire; and there came three taps + at the window. The father went out to see who it was, and he found only a + great White Bear. And the White Bear said, "If you will give me your + youngest daughter, I will make you rich." So the peasant went in and asked + his daughter if she would be the wife of the White Bear; and the daughter + said "No." So the White Bear went away, but said he would come back in a + few days to see if the maiden had changed her mind. Now her father and + mother talked to her so much about it, and seemed so anxious to be well + off, that the maiden agreed to be the wife of the White Bear: and when he + came again, she said "Yes," and the White Bear told her to sit upon his + back, and hold by his shaggy coat, and away they went together. After the + maiden had ridden for a long way, they came to a great hill, and the White + Bear gave a knock on the hill with his paw, and the hill opened, and they + went in. Now inside the hill there was a palace with fine rooms, + ornamented with gold and silver, and all lighted up; and there was a table + ready laid; and the White Bear gave the maiden a silver bell, and told her + to ring it when she wanted anything. And when the maiden had eaten and + drank, she went to bed, in a beautiful bed with silk pillows and curtains, + and gold fringe to them. Then, in the dark, a man came and lay down beside + her. This was the White Bear, who was an Enchanted Prince, and who was + able to put off the shape of a beast at night, and to become a man again; + but before daylight, he went away and turned once more into a White Bear, + so that his wife could never see him in the human form. Well, this went on + for some time, and the wife of the White Bear was very happy with her kind + husband, in the beautiful palace he had made for her. Then she grew dull + and miserable for want of company, and she asked leave to go home for a + little while to see her father and mother, and her brothers and sisters. + So the White Bear took her home again, but he told her that there was one + thing she must not do; she must not go into a room with her mother alone, + to talk to her, or a great misfortune would happen. When the wife of the + White Bear got home, she found that her family lived in a grand house, and + they were all very glad to see her; and then her mother took her into a + room by themselves, and asked about her husband. And the wife of the White + Bear forgot the warning, and told her mother that every night a man came + and lay down with her, and went away before daylight, and that she had + never seen him, and wanted to see him, very much. Then the mother said it + might be a Troll she slept with; and that she ought to see what it was; + and she gave her daughter a piece of candle, and said, "Light this while + he is asleep, and look at him, but take care you don't drop the tallow + upon him." So then the White Bear came to fetch his wife, and they went + back to the palace in the hill, and that night she lit the candle, while + her husband was asleep, and then she saw that he was a handsome Prince, + and she felt quite in love with him, and gave him a soft kiss. But just as + she kissed him she let three drops of tallow fall upon his shirt, and he + woke up. Then the White Bear was very sorrowful, and said that he was + enchanted by a wicked fairy, and that if his wife had only waited for a + year before looking at him, the enchantment would be broken, and he would + be a man again always. But now that she had given way to curiosity, he + must go to a dreary castle East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and marry + a witch Princess, with a nose three ells long. And then he vanished, and + so did his palace, and his poor wife found herself lying in the middle of + a gloomy wood, and she was dressed in rags, and was very wretched. But she + did not stop to cry about her hard fate, for she was a brave girl, and + made up her mind to go at once in search of her husband. So she walked for + days, and then she met an old woman sitting on a hillside, and playing + with a golden apple; and she asked the old woman the way to the Land East + of the Sun and West of the Moon. And the old woman listened to her story, + and then she said, "I don't know where it is; but you can go on and ask my + next neighbour. Ride there on my horse, and when you have done with him, + give him a pat under the left ear and say, 'Go home again;' and take this + golden apple with you, it may be useful." So she rode on for a long way, + and then came to another old woman, who was playing with a golden carding + comb; and she asked her the way to the Land East of the Sun and West of + the Moon? But this old woman couldn't tell her, and bade her go on to + another old woman, a long way off. And she gave her the golden carding + comb, and lent her a horse just like the first one. And the third old + woman was playing with a golden spinning wheel; and she gave this to the + wife of the White Bear, and lent her another horse, and told her to ride + on to the East Wind, and ask him the way to the enchanted land. Now after + a weary journey she got to the home of the East Wind, and he said he had + heard of the Enchanted Prince, and of the country East of the Sun and West + of the Moon, but he did not know where it was, for he had never been so + far. But, he said, "Get on my back, and we will go to my brother the West + Wind; perhaps he knows." So they sailed off to the West Wind, and told him + the story, and he took it quite kindly, but said he didn't know the way. + But perhaps his brother the South Wind might know; and they would go to + him. So the White Bear's wife got on the back of the West Wind, and he + blew straight away to the dwelling-place of the South Wind, and asked him + where to find the Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon. But the South + Wind said that although he had blown pretty nearly everywhere, he had + never blown there; but he would take her to his brother the North Wind, + the oldest, and strongest, and wisest Wind of all; and he would be sure to + know. Now the North Wind was very cross at being disturbed, and he used + bad language, and was quite rude and unpleasant. But he was a kind Wind + after all, and when his brother the West Wind told him the story, he + became quite fatherly, and said he would do what he could, for he knew the + Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon very well. But, he said, "It is + a long way off; so far off that once in my life I blew an aspen leaf + there, and was so tired with it that I couldn't blow or puff for ever so + many days after." So they rested that night, and next morning the North + Wind puffed himself out, and got stout, and big, and strong, ready for the + journey; and the maiden got upon his back, and away they went to the + country East of the Sun and West of the Moon. It was a terrible journey, + high up in the air, in a great storm, and over the mountains and the sea, + and before they got to the end of it the North Wind grew very tired, and + drooped, and nearly fell into the sea, and got so low down that the crests + of the waves washed over him. But he blew as hard as he could, and at last + he put the maiden down on the shore, just in front of the Enchanted Castle + that stood in the Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon; and there he + had to stop and rest many days before he became strong enough to blow home + again. + </p> + <p> + Now the wife of the White Bear sat down before the castle, and began to + play with the golden apple. And then the wicked Princess with the nose + three ells long opened a window, and asked if she would sell the apple? + But she said "No;" she would give the golden apple for leave to spend the + night in the bed-chamber of the Prince who lived there. So the Princess + with the long nose said "Yes," and the wife of the White Bear was allowed + to pass the night in her husband's chamber. But a sleeping draught had + been given to the Prince, and she could not wake him, though she wept + greatly, and spent the whole night in crying out to him; and in the + morning before he woke she was driven away by the wicked Princess. Well, + next day she sat and played with the golden carding comb, and the Princess + wanted that too; and the same bargain was made; but again a sleeping + draught was given to the Prince, and he slept all night, and nothing could + waken him; and at the first peep of daylight the wicked Princess drove the + poor wife out again. Now it was the third day, and the wife of the White + Bear had only the golden spinning-wheel left. So she sat and played with + it, and the Princess bought it on the same terms as before. But some kind + folk who slept in the next room to the Prince told him that for two nights + a woman had been in his chamber, weeping bitterly, and crying out to him + to wake and see her. So, being warned, the Prince only pretended to drink + the sleeping draught, and so when his wife came into the room that night + he was wide awake, and was rejoiced to see her; and they spent the whole + night in loving talk. Now the next day was to be the Prince's wedding day; + but now that his lost wife had found him, he hit upon a plan to escape + marrying the Princess with the long nose. So when morning came, he said he + should like to see what his bride was fit for? "Certainly," said the + Witch-mother and the Princess, both together. Then the Prince said he had + a fine shirt, with three drops of tallow upon it; and he would marry only + the woman who could wash them out, for no other would be worth having. So + they laughed at this, for they thought it would be easily done. And the + Princess began, but the more she rubbed, the worse the tallow stuck to the + shirt. And the old Witch-mother tried; but it got deeper and blacker than + ever. And all the Trolls in the enchanted castle tried; but none of them + could wash the shirt clean. Then said the Prince, "Call in the lassie who + sits outside, and let her try." And she came in, and took the shirt, and + washed it quite clean and white, all in a minute. Then the old + Witch-mother put herself into such a rage that she burst into pieces, and + so did the Princess with the long nose, and so did all the Trolls in the + castle; and the Prince took his wife away with him, and all the silver and + gold, and a number of Christian people who had been enchanted by the + witch; and away they went for ever from the dreary Land East of the Sun + and West of the Moon. + </p> + <p> + In the story of "The Soaring Lark," in the collection of German popular + tales made by the brothers Grimm, we have another version of the same + idea; and here, as in Eros and Psyche, and in the Land East of the Sun and + West of the Moon, it is the woman to whose fault the misfortunes are laid, + and upon whom falls the long and weary task of search. The story told in + brief, is this. A merchant went on a journey, and promised to bring back + for his three daughters whatever they wished. The eldest asked for + diamonds, the second for pearls, and the youngest, who was her father's + favourite, for a singing, soaring lark. As the merchant came home, he + passed through a great forest, and on the top bough of a tall tree he + found a lark, and tried to take it. Then a Lion sprang from behind the + tree, and said the lark was his, and that he would eat up the merchant for + trying to steal it. The merchant told the Lion why he wanted the bird, and + then the Lion said that he would give him the lark, and let him go, on one + condition, namely, that he should give to the Lion the first thing or + person that met him on his return. Now the first person who met the + merchant when he got home was his youngest daughter, and the poor merchant + told her the story, and wept very much, and said that she should not go + into the forest. But the daughter said, "What you have promised you must + do;" and so she went into the forest, to find the Lion. The Lion was an + Enchanted Prince, and all his servants were also turned into lions; and so + they remained all day; but at night they all changed back again into men. + Now when the Lion Prince saw the merchant's daughter, he fell in love with + her, and took her to a fine castle, and at night, when he became a man, + they were married, and lived very happily, and in great splendour. One day + the Prince said to his wife, "To-morrow your eldest sister is to be + married; if you would like to be there, my lions shall go with you." So + she went, and the lions with her, and there were great rejoicings in her + father's house, because they were afraid that she had been torn to pieces + in the forest; and after staying some time, she went back to her husband. + After a while, the Prince said to his wife, "To-morrow your second sister + is going to be married," and she replied, "This time I will not go alone, + for you shall go with me." Then he told her how dangerous that would be, + for if a single ray from a burning light fell upon him, he would be + changed into a Dove, and in that form would have to fly about for seven + years. But the Princess very much wanted him to go, and in order to + protect him from the light, she had a room built with thick walls, so that + no light could get through, and there he was to sit while the bridal + candles were burning. But by some accident, the door of the room was made + of new wood, which split, and made a little chink, and through this chink + one ray of light from the torches of the bridal procession fell like a + hair upon the Prince, and he was instantly changed in form; and when his + wife came to tell him that all danger was over, she found only a White + Dove, who said very sadly to her— + </p> + <p> + "For seven years I must fly about in the world, but at every seventh mile + I will let fall a white feather and a drop of red blood, which will show + you the way, and if you follow it, you may save me." + </p> + <p> + Then the White Dove flew out of the door, and the Princess followed it, + and at every seventh mile the Dove let fall a white feather and a drop of + red blood; and so, guided by the feathers and the drops of blood, she + followed the Dove, until the seven years had almost passed, and she began + to hope that the Prince's enchantment would be at an end. But one day + there was no white feather to be seen, nor any drop of red blood, and the + Dove had flown quite away. Then the poor Princess thought, "No man can + help me now;" and so she mounted up to the Sun, and said, "Thou shinest + into every chasm and over every peak; hast thou seen a White Dove on the + wing?" + </p> + <p> + "No," answered the Sun. "I have not seen one; but take this casket, and + open it when you are in need of help." + </p> + <p> + She took the casket, and thanked the Sun. When evening came, she asked the + Moon— + </p> + <p> + "Hast thou seen a White Dove? for thou shinest all night long over every + field and through every wood." + </p> + <p> + "No," said the Moon, "I have not seen a White Dove; but here is an egg—break + it when you are in great trouble." + </p> + <p> + She thanked the Moon, and took the egg; and then the North Wind came by; + and she said to the North Wind: + </p> + <p> + "Hast thou not seen a White Dove? for thou passest through all the boughs, + and shakest every leaf under heaven." + </p> + <p> + "No," said the North Wind, "I have not seen one; but I will ask my + brothers, the East Wind, and the West Wind, and the South Wind." + </p> + <p> + So he asked them all three; and the East Wind and the West Wind said, "No, + they had not seen the White Dove;" but the South Wind said— + </p> + <p> + "I have seen the White Dove; he has flown to the Red Sea, and has again + been changed into a Lion, for the seven years are up; and the Lion stands + there in combat with an Enchanted Princess, who is in the form of a great + Caterpillar." + </p> + <p> + Then the North Wind knew what to do; and he said to the Princess— + </p> + <p> + "Go to the Red Sea; on the right-hand shore there are great reeds, count + them, and cut off the eleventh reed, and beat the Caterpillar with it. + Then the Caterpillar and the Lion will take their human forms. Then look + for the Griffin which sits on the Red Sea, and leap upon its back with the + Prince, and the Griffin will carry you safely home. Here is a nut; let it + fall when you are in the midst of the sea, and a large nut-tree will grow + out of the water, and the Griffin will rest upon it." + </p> + <p> + So the Princess went to the Red Sea, and counted the reeds, and cut off + the eleventh reed, and beat the Caterpillar with it, and then the Lion + conquered in the fight, and both of them took their human forms again. But + the Enchanted Princess was too quick for the poor wife, for she instantly + seized the Prince and sprang upon the back of the Griffin, and away they + flew, quite out of sight. Now the poor deserted wife sat down on the + desolate shore, and cried bitterly; and then she said, "So far as the wind + blows, and so long as the cock crows, will I search for my husband, till I + find him;" and so she travelled on and on, until one day she came to the + palace whither the Enchanted Princess had carried the Prince; and there + was great feasting going on, and they told her that the Prince and + Princess were about to be married. Then she remembered what the Sun had + said, and took out the casket and opened it, and there was the most + beautiful dress in all the world; as brilliant as the Sun himself. So she + put it on, and went into the palace, and everybody admired the dress, and + the Enchanted Princess asked if she would sell it? + </p> + <p> + "Not for gold or silver," she said, "but for flesh and blood." + </p> + <p> + "What do you mean?" the Princess asked. + </p> + <p> + "Let me sleep for one night in the bridegroom's chamber," the wife said. + So the Enchanted Princess agreed, but she gave the Prince a sleeping + draught, so that he could not hear his wife's cries; and in the morning + she was driven out, without a word from him, for he slept so soundly that + all she said seemed to him only like the rushing of the wind through the + fir-trees. + </p> + <p> + Then the poor wife sat down and wept again, until she thought of the egg + the Moon had given her; and when she took the egg and broke it, there came + out of it a hen with twelve chickens, all of gold, and the chickens pecked + quite prettily, and then ran under the wings of the hen for shelter. + Presently, the Enchanted Princess looked out of the window, and saw the + hen and the chickens, and asked if they were for sale. "Not for gold or + silver, but for flesh and blood," was the answer she got; and then the + wife made the same bargain as before—that she should spend the night + in the bridegroom's chamber. Now this night the Prince was warned by his + servant, and so he poured away the sleeping draught instead of drinking + it; and when his wife came, and told her sorrowful story, he knew her, and + said, "Now I am saved;" and then they both went as quickly as possible, + and set themselves upon the Griffin, who carried them over the Red Sea; + and when they got to the middle of the sea, the Princess let fall the nut + which the North Wind had given to her, and a great nut-tree grew up at + once, on which the Griffin rested; and then it went straight to their + home, where they lived happy ever after. + </p> + <p> + One more story of the same kind must be told, for three reasons: because + it is very good reading, because it brings together various legends, and + because it shows that these were common to Celtic as well as to Hindu, + Greek, Teutonic, and Scandinavian peoples. It is called "The Battle of the + Birds," and is given at full length, and in several different versions, in + Campbell's "Popular Tales of the West Highlands."<a href="#linknote-5" + name="linknoteref-5" id="linknoteref-5">[5]</a> To bring it within our + space we must tell it in our own way. + </p> + <p> + Once upon a time every bird and other creature gathered to battle. The son + of the King of Tethertoun went to see the battle, but it was over before + he got there, all but one fight, between a great Raven and a Snake; and + the Snake was getting the victory. The King's son helped the Raven, and + cut off the Snake's head. The Raven thanked him for his kindness and said, + "Now I will give thee a sight; come up on my wings;" and then the Raven + flew with him over seven mountains, and seven glens, and seven moors, and + that night the King's son lodged in the house of the Raven's sisters; and + promised to meet the Raven next morning in the same place. This went on + for three nights and days, and on the third morning, instead of a raven, + there met him a handsome lad, who gave him a bundle, and told him not to + look into it, until he was in the place where he would most wish to dwell. + But the King's son did look into the bundle, and then he found himself in + a great castle with fine grounds about it, and he was very sorry, because + he wished the castle had been near his father's house, but he could not + put it back into the bundle again. Then a great Giant met him, and offered + to put the castle back into a bundle for a reward, and this was to be the + Prince's son, when the son was seven years old. So the Prince promised, + and the Giant put everything back into the bundle, and the Prince went + home with it to his father's house. When he got there he opened the + bundle, and out came the castle and all the rest, just as before, and at + the castle door stood a beautiful maiden who asked him to marry her, and + they were married, and had a son. When the seven years were up, the Giant + came to ask for the boy, and then the King's son (who had now become a + king himself) told his wife about his promise. "Leave that to me and the + Giant," said the Queen. So she dressed the cook's son (who was the right + age) in fine clothes, and gave him to the Giant; but the Giant gave the + boy a rod, and asked him, "If thy father had that rod, what would he do + with it?" "He would beat the dogs if they went near the King's meat," said + the boy. Then Said the Giant, "Thou art the cook's son," and he killed + him. Then the Giant went back, very angry, and the Queen gave him the + butler's son; and the Giant gave him the rod, and asked him the same + question, "My father would beat the dogs if they came near the King's + glasses," said the boy. "Thou art the butler's son," said the Giant; and + he killed him. Now the Giant went back the third time, and made a dreadful + noise. "Out here <i>thy</i> son," he said, "or the stone that is highest + in thy dwelling shall be the lowest." So they gave him the King's son, and + the Giant took him to his own house, and he stayed there a long while. One + day the youth heard sweet music at the top of the Giant's house, and he + saw a sweet face. It was the Giant's youngest daughter; and she said to + him, "My father wants you to marry one of my sisters, and he wants me to + marry the King of the Green City, but I will not. So when he asks, say + thou wilt take me." Next day the Giant gave the King's son choice of his + two eldest daughters; but the Prince said, "Give me this pretty little + one?" and then the Giant was angry, and said that before he had her he + must do three things. The first of these was to clean out a byre or cattle + place, where there was the dung of a hundred cattle, and it had not been + cleaned for seven years. He tried to do it, and worked till noon, but the + filth was as bad as ever. Then the Giant's youngest daughter came, and bid + him sleep, and she cleaned out the stable, so that a golden apple would + run from end to end of it. Next day the Giant set him to thatch the byre + with birds' down, and he had to go out on the moors to catch the birds; + but at midday, he had caught only two blackbirds, and then the Giant's + youngest daughter came again, and bid him sleep, and then she caught the + birds, and thatched the byre with the feathers before sundown. The third + day the Giant set him another task. In the forest there was a fir-tree, + and at the top was a magpie's nest, and in the nest were five eggs, and he + was to bring these five eggs to the Giant without breaking one of them. + Now the tree was very tall; from the ground to the first branch it was + five hundred feet, so that the King's son could not climb up it. Then the + Giant's youngest daughter came again, and she put her fingers one after + the other into the tree, and made a ladder for the King's son to climb up + by. When he was at the nest at the very top, she said, "Make haste now + with the eggs, for my father's breath is burning my back;" and she was in + such a hurry that she left her little finger sticking in the top of the + tree. Then she told the King's son that the Giant would make all his + daughters look alike, and dress them alike, and that when the choosing + time came he was to look at their hands, and take the one that had not a + little finger on one hand. So it happened, and the King's son chose the + youngest daughter, because she put out her hand to guide him. + </p> + <p> + Then they were married, and there was a great feast, and they went to + their chamber. The Giant's daughter said to her husband, "Sleep not, or + thou diest; we must fly quick, or my father will kill thee." So first she + cut an apple into nine pieces, and put two pieces at the head of the bed, + and two at the foot, and two at the door of the kitchen, and two at the + great door, and one outside the house. And then she and her husband went + to the stable, and mounted the fine grey filly, and rode off as fast as + they could. Presently the Giant called out, "Are you asleep yet?" and the + apple at the head of the bed said, "We are not asleep." Then he called + again, and the apple at the foot of the bed said the same thing; and then + he asked again and again, until the apple outside the house door answered; + and then he knew that a trick had been played on him, and ran to the + bedroom and found it empty. And then he pursued the runaways as fast as + possible. Now at day-break—"at the mouth of day," the story-teller + says—the Giant's daughter said to her husband, "My father's breath + is burning my back; put thy hand into the ear of the grey filly, and + whatever thou findest, throw it behind thee." "There is a twig of + sloe-tree," he said. "Throw it behind thee," said she; and he did so, and + twenty miles of black-thorn wood grew out of it, so thick that a weasel + could not get through. But the Giant cut through it with his big axe and + his wood-knife, and went after them again. At the heat of day the Giant's + daughter said again, "My father's breath is burning my back;" and then her + husband put his finger in the filly's ear, and took out a piece of grey + stone, and threw it behind him, and there grew up directly a great rock + twenty miles broad and twenty miles high. Then the Giant got his mattock + and his lever, and made a way through the rocks, and came after them + again. Now it was near sunset, and once more the Giant's daughter felt her + father's breath burning her back. So, for the third time, her husband put + his hand into the filly's ear, and took out a bladder of water, and he + threw it behind him, and there was a fresh-water loch, twenty miles long + and twenty miles broad; and the Giant came on so fast that he ran into the + middle of the loch and was drowned. + </p> + <p> + Here is clearly a Sun-myth, which is like those of ancient Hindu and Greek + legend: the blue-grey Filly is the Dawn, on which the new day, the maiden + and her lover, speed away. The great Giant, whose breath burns the + maiden's back, is the morning Sun, whose progress is stopped by the thick + shade of the trees. Then he rises higher, and at midday he breaks through + the forest, and soars above the rocky mountains. At evening, still + powerful in speed and heat, he comes to the great lake, plunges into it, + and sets, and those whom he pursues escape. This ending is repeated in one + of the oldest Hindu mythical stories, that of Bheki, the Frog Princess, + who lives with her husband on condition that he never shows her a drop of + water. One day he forgets, and she disappears: that is, the sun sets or + dies on the water—a fanciful idea which takes us straight as an + arrow to Aryan myths. + </p> + <p> + Now, however, we must complete the Gaelic story, which here becomes like + the Soaring Lark, and the Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and + other Teutonic and Scandinavian tales. + </p> + <p> + After the Giant's daughter and her husband had got free from the Giant, + she bade him go to his father's house, and tell them about her; but he was + not to suffer anything to kiss him, or he would forget her altogether. So + he told everybody they were not to kiss him, but an old greyhound leapt up + at him, and touched his mouth, and then he forgot all about the Giant's + daughter, just as if she had never lived. Now when the King's son left + her, the poor forgotten wife sat beside a well, and when night came she + climbed into an oak-tree, and slept amongst the branches. There was a + shoemaker who lived near the well, and next day he sent his wife to fetch + water, and as she drew it she saw what she fancied to be her own + reflection in the water, but it was really the likeness of the maiden in + the tree above it. The shoemaker's wife, however, thinking it was her own, + imagined herself to be very handsome, and so she went back and told the + shoemaker that she was too beautiful to be his thrall, or slave, any + longer, and so she went off. The same thing happened to the shoemaker's + daughter; and she went off too. Then the man himself went to the well, and + saw the maiden in the tree, and understood it all, and asked her to come + down and stay at his house, and to be his daughter. So she went with him. + After a while there came three gentlemen from the King's Court, and each + of them wanted to marry her; and she agreed with each of them privately, + on condition that each should give a sum of money for a wedding gift. + Well, they agreed to this, each unknown to the other; and she married one + of them, but when he came and had paid the money, she gave him a cup of + water to hold, and there he had to stand, all night long, unable to move + or to let go the cup of water, and in the morning he went away ashamed, + but said nothing to his friends. Next night it was the turn of the second; + and she told him to see that the door-latch was fastened; and when he + touched the latch he could not let it go, and had to stand there all night + holding it; and so he went away, and said nothing. The next night the + third came, and when he stepped upon the floor, one foot stuck so fast + that he could not draw it out until morning; and then he did the same as + the others—went off quite cast down. And then the maiden gave all + the money to the shoemaker for his kindness to her. This is like the story + of "The Master Maid," in Dr. Dasent's collection of "Tales from the + Norse." But there is the end of it to come. The shoemaker had to finish + some shoes because the young King was going to be married; and the maiden + said she should like to see the King before he married. So the shoemaker + took her to the King's castle; and then she went into the wedding-room, + and because of her beauty they filled a vessel of wine for her. When she + was going to drink it, there came a flame out of the glass, and out of the + flame there came a silver pigeon and a golden pigeon; and just then three + grains of barley fell upon the floor, and the silver pigeon ate them up. + Then the golden one said, "If thou hadst mind when I cleaned the byre, + thou wouldst not eat that without giving me a share." Then three more + grains fell, and the silver pigeon ate them also. Then said the golden + pigeon, "If thou hadst mind when I thatched the byre, thou wouldst not eat + that without giving me a share." Then three other grains fell, and the + silver pigeon ate them up. And the golden pigeon said, "If thou hadst mind + when I harried the magpie's nest, thou wouldst not eat that without giving + me my share. I lost my little finger bringing it down, and I want it + still." Then, suddenly, the King's son remembered, and knew who it was, + and sprang to her and kissed her from hand to mouth; and the priest came, + and they were married. + </p> + <p> + These stories will be enough to show how the same idea repeats itself in + different ways among various peoples who have come from the same stock: + for the ancient Hindu legend of Urvasi and Pururavas, the Greek fable of + Eros and Psyche, the Norse story of the Land East of the Sun and West of + the Moon, the Teutonic story of the Soaring Lark, and the Celtic story of + the Battle of the Birds, are all one and the same in their general + character, their origin, and their meaning; and in all these respects they + resemble the story which we know so well in English—that of Beauty + and the Beast. The same kind of likeness has already been shown in the + story of Cinderella, and in those which resemble it in the older Aryan + legends and in the later stories of the Greeks. If space allowed, such + comparisons might be carried much further; indeed, there is no famous + fairy tale known to children in our day which has not proceeded from our + Aryan forefathers, thousands of years ago, and which is not repeated in + Hindu, Persian, Greek, Teutonic, Scandinavian, and Celtic folk-lore; the + stories being always the same in their leading idea, and yet always so + different in their details as to show that the story-tellers have not + copied from each other, but that they are repeating, in their own way, + legends and fancies which existed thousands of years ago, before the Aryan + people broke up from their old homes, and went southward and westward, and + spread themselves over India and throughout Europe. + </p> + <p> + Now there is a curious little German story, called "The Wolf and the Seven + Little Kids," which is told in Grimm's collection, and which shows at once + the connection between Teutonic folk-lore, and Greek mythology, and Aryan + legend. There was an old Goat who had seven young ones, and when she went + into the forest for wood, she warned them against the Wolf; if he came, + they were not to open the door to him on any account. Presently the Wolf + came, and knocked, and asked to be let in; but the little Kids said, "No, + you have a gruff voice; you are a wolf." So the Wolf went and bought a + large piece of chalk, and ate it up, and by this means he made his voice + smooth; and then he came back to the cottage, and knocked, and again asked + to be let in. The little Kids, however, saw his black paws, and they said, + "No, your feet are black; you are a wolf." Then the Wolf went to a baker, + and got him to powder his feet with flour; and when the little Kids saw + his white feet, they thought it was their mother, and let him in. Then the + little Kids were very much frightened, and ran and hid themselves. The + first got under the table, the second into the bed, the third into the + cupboard, the fourth into the kitchen, the fifth into the oven, the sixth + into the wash-tub, and the seventh into the clock-case. The wicked Wolf, + however, found all of them out, and ate them up, excepting the one in the + clock-case, where he did not think of looking. And when the greedy monster + had finished his meal, he went into the meadow, and lay down and slept. + Just at this time the old Goat came home, and began crying for her + children; but the only one who answered was the youngest, who said, "Here + I am, dear mother, in the clock-case;" and then he came out and told her + all about it. Presently the Goat went out into the meadow, and there lay + the Wolf, snoring quite loud; and she thought she saw something stirring + in his body. So she ran back, and fetched a pair of scissors and a needle + and thread, and then she cut open the monster's hairy coat, and out jumped + first one little kid, and then another, until all the six stood round her, + for the greedy Wolf was in such a hurry that he had swallowed them whole. + Then the Goat and the little Kids brought a number of stones, and put them + into the Wolf's stomach, and sewed up the place again. When the Wolf woke + up, he felt very thirsty, and ran off to the brook to drink, and the heavy + stones overbalanced him, so that he fell into the brook, and was drowned. + And then the seven little Kids danced round their mother, singing + joyfully, "The wolf is dead! the wolf is dead!" Now this story is nothing + but another version of an old Greek legend which tells how Kronos (Time), + an ancient god, devoured his children while they were quite young; and + Kronos was the son of Ouranos, which means the heavens; and Ouranos is a + name which comes from that of Varuna, a god of the sky in the old sacred + books, or Vedas, of the Hindus; and the meaning of the legend is that + Night swallows up or devours the days of the week, all but the youngest, + which still exists, because, like the little kid in the German tale, it is + in the clock-case. + </p> + <p> + Again, in the Vedas we have many accounts of the fights of Indra, the + sun-god, with dragons and monsters, which mean the dark-clouds, the + tempest thunder-bearing clouds, which were supposed to have stolen the + heavenly cows, or the light, pleasant, rain-bearing clouds, and to have + shut them up in gloomy caverns. From this source we have an infinite + number of Greek and Teutonic, and Scandinavian, and other legends. One of + these is the story of Polyphemos, the great one-eyed giant, or Kyklops, + whom Odysseus blinded. Polyphemos is the storm-cloud, and Odysseus stands + for the sun. The storm-cloud threatens the mariners; the lightnings dart + from the spot which seems like an eye in the darkness; he hides the blue + heavens and the soft white clouds—the cows of the sky, or the + white-fleeced flocks of heaven. Then comes Odysseus, the sun-god, the + hero, and smites him blind, and chases him away, and disperses the + threatening and the danger, and brings light, and peace, and calm again. + </p> + <p> + Now this legend of Polyphemos is to be found everywhere; in the oldest + Hindu books, in Teutonic, and Norse, and Slav stories; and everywhere also + the great giant, stormy, angry, and one-eyed, is always very stupid, and + is always overthrown or outwitted by the hero, Odysseus, when he is shut + up in the cavern of Polyphemos, cheats the monster by tying himself under + the belly of the largest and oldest ram, and so passes out while the blind + giant feels the fleece, and thinks that all is safe. Almost exactly the + same trick is told in an old Gaelic story, that of Conall Cra Bhuidhe.<a + href="#linknote-6" name="linknoteref-6" id="linknoteref-6">[6]</a> A great + Giant with only one eye seized upon Conall, who was hunting on the Giant's + lands. Conall himself is made to tell the story: + </p> + <p> + "I hear a great clattering coming, and what was there but a great Giant + and his dozen of goats with him, and a buck at their head. And when the + Giant had tied the goats, he came up, and he said to me, 'Hao O! Conall, + it's long since my knife is rusting in my pouch waiting for thy tender + flesh.' 'Och!' said I, 'it's not much thou wilt be bettered by me, though + thou shouldst tear me asunder; I will make but one meal for thee. But I + see that thou art one-eyed. I am a good leech, and I will give thee the + sight of the other eye.' The Giant went and he drew the great caldron on + the site of the fire. I was telling him how he should heat the water, so + that I should give its sight to the other eye. I got leather and I made a + rubber of it, and I set him upright in the caldron. I began at the eye + that was well, till I left them as bad as each other. When he saw that he + could not see a glimpse, and when I myself said to him that I would get + out in spite of him, he gave that spring out of the water, and he stood in + the mouth of the cave, and he said that he would have revenge for the + sight of his eye. I had but to stay there crouched the length of the + night, holding in my breath in such a way that he might not feel where I + was. When he felt the birds calling in the morning, and knew that the day + was, he said, 'Art thou sleeping? Awake, and let out my lot of goats!' I + killed the buck. He cried, 'I will not believe that thou art not killing + my buck.' 'I am not,' I said, 'but the ropes are so tight that I take long + to loose them.' I let out one of the goats, and he was caressing her, and + he said to her, 'There thou art, thou shaggy hairy white goat; and thou + seest me, but I see thee not.' I was letting them out, by way of one by + one, as I flayed the buck, and before the last one was out I had him + flayed, bag-wise. Then I went and put my legs in the place of his legs, + and my hands in the place of his fore-legs, and my head in the place of + his head, and the horns on top of my head, so that the brute might think + it was the buck. I went out. When I was going out the Giant laid his hand + on me, and said, 'There thou art, thou pretty buck; thou seest me, but I + see thee not.' When I myself got out, and I saw the world about me, surely + joy was on me. When I was out and had shaken the skin off me, I said to + the brute, 'I am out now, in spite of thee!'" + </p> + <p> + It was a blind fiddler, in Islay, who told the story of Conall, as it had + been handed down by tradition from generation to generation; just as + thousands of years before the story of Odysseus and Polyphemos was told by + Greek bards to wondering villagers. + </p> + <p> + Here we must stop; for volumes would not contain all that might be said of + the likeness of legend to legend in all the branches of the Aryan family, + or of the meaning of these stories, and of the lessons they teach—lessons + of history, and religious belief, and customs, and morals and ways of + thought, and poetic fancies, and of well-nigh all things, heavenly and + human—stretching back to the very spring and cradle of our race, + older than the oldest writings, and yet so ever fresh and new that while + great scholars ponder over them for their deep meaning, little children in + the nursery or by the fire-side in winter listen to them with delight for + their wonder and their beauty. Else, if there were time and space we might + tell the story of Jason, and show how it springs from the changes of day + and night, and how the hero, in his good ship Argo, our mother Earth, + searches for and bears away in triumph the Golden Fleece, the beams of the + radiant sun. Or we might fly with Perseus on his weary, endless journey—the + light pursuing and scattering the darkness; the glittering hero, borne by + the mystic sandals of Hermes, bearing the sword of the sunlight, piercing + the twilight or gloaming in the land of the mystic Graiae; slaying Medusa, + the solemn star-lit night; destroying the dark dragon, and setting free + Andromeda the dawn-maiden; and doing many wonders more. Or in Hermes we + might trace out the Master Thief of Teutonic, and Scandinavian, and Hindu + legends; or in Herakles, the type of the heroes who are god-like in their + strength, yet who do the bidding of others, and who suffer toil and wrong, + and die glorious deaths, and leave great names for men to wonder at: + heroes such as Odysseus, and Theseus, and Phoebus, and Achilles, and + Sigurd, and Arthur, and all of whom represent, in one form or another, the + great mystery of Nature, and the conflict of light and darkness; and so, + if we look to their deeper meaning, the constant triumph of good over + evil, and of right over wrong. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III.—DWELLERS IN FAIRYLAND: STORIES FROM THE EAST. + </h2> + <p> + We have said something about the people and the countries which gave birth + to our Fairy Stories, and about the meaning of such tales generally when + they were first thought of. Then they were clearly understood, and those + who told them and heard them knew what they meant; but, as time went on, + and as the Aryan race became scattered in various countries, the old + stories changed a great deal, and their meaning was lost, and all kinds of + wild legends, and strange fables and fanciful tales, were made out of + them. The earliest stories were about clouds, and winds, and the sun, and + the waters, and the earth, which were turned into Gods and other beings of + a heavenly kind. By degrees, as the first meanings of the legends were + lost, these beings gave place to a multitude of others: some of them + beautiful, and good, and kind and friendly to mankind; and some of them + terrible, and bad, and malignant, and always trying to do harm; and there + were so many of both kinds that all the world was supposed to be full of + them. There were Spirits of the water, and the air, and the earth, forest + and mountain demons, creatures who dwelt in darkness and in fire, and + others who lived in the sunshine, or loved to come out only in the + moonlight. There were some, again—Dwarfs, and other creatures of + that kind—who made their homes in caves and underground places, and + heaped up treasures of gold and silver, and gems, and made wonderful works + in metals of all descriptions; and there were giants, some of them with + two heads, who could lift mountains, and walk through rivers and seas, and + who picked up great rocks and threw them about like pebbles. Then there + were Ogres, with shining rows of terrible teeth, who caught up men and + women and children, and strung them together like larks, and carried them + home, and cooked them for supper. Then, also, there were Good Spirits, of + the kind the Arabs call Peris, and we call Fairies, who made it their + business to defend deserving people against the wicked monsters; and there + were Magicians, and other wise or cunning people, who had power over the + spirits, whether good or bad, as you read in the story of Aladdin and his + Ring, and his Wonderful Lamp, and in other tales in the "Arabian Nights," + and collections of that kind. Many of these beings—all of whom, for + our purpose, may be called Dwellers in Fairyland—had the power of + taking any shape they pleased, like the Ogre in the story of "Puss in + Boots," who changed himself first into a lion, and then into an elephant, + and then into a mouse, when he got eaten up; and they could also change + human beings into different forms, or turn them into stone, or carry them + about in the air from place to place, and put them under the spells of + enchantment, as they liked. + </p> + <p> + Some of the most wonderful creatures of Fairyland are to be found in + Eastern stories, the tales of India, and Arabia, and Persia. Here we have + the Divs, and Jinns, and Peris, and Rakshas—who were the originals + of our own Ogres—and terrible giants, and strange mis-shapen dwarfs, + and vampires and monsters of various kinds. Many others, also very + wonderful, are to be found in what is called the Mythology—that is, + the fables and stories—of ancient Greece, such as the giant Atlas, + who bore the world upon his shoulders; and Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant, + who caught Odysseus and his companions, and shut them up in his cave; and + Kirke, the beautiful sorceress, who turned men into swine; and the + Centaurs, creatures half men and half horses; and the Gorgon Medusa, whose + head, with its hair of serpents, turned into stone all who beheld it; and + the great dragon, the Python, whom Phoebus killed, and who resembles the + dragon Vritra, in Hindu legend—the dragon slain by Indra, the god of + the Sun, because he shut up the rain, and so scorched the earth—and + who also resembles Fafnir, the dragon of Scandinavian legend, killed by + Sigurd; and the fabled dragon with whom St. George fought; and also, the + dragon of Wantley, whom our old English legends describe as being killed + by More of More Hall. In the stories of the North lands of Europe, as we + are told in the Eddas and Sagas (the songs and records), there are + likewise many wonderful beings—the Trolls, the Frost Giants, curious + dwarfs, elves, nisses, mermen and mermaids, and swan-maidens and the like. + The folk-lore—that is, the common traditionary stories—of + Germany are full of such wonders. Here, again, we have giants and dwarfs + and kobolds; and birds and beasts and fishes who can talk; and good + fairies, who come in and help their friends just when they are wanted; and + evil fairies, and witches; and the wild huntsman, who sweeps across the + sky with his ghostly train; and men and women who turn themselves into + wolves, and go about in the night devouring sheep and killing human + beings, In Russian tales we find many creatures of the same kind, and also + in those of Italy, and Spain, and France. And in our own islands we have + them too, for the traditions of English giants, and ogres, and dwarfs + still linger in the tales of Jack the Giant-killer and Jack and the + Bean-stalk, and Hop o' my Thumb; and we have also the elves whom + Shakspeare draws for us so delightfully in "Midsummer Night's Dream" and + in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"; and there are the Devonshire pixies; and + the Scottish fairies and the brownies—the spirits who do the work of + the house or the farm—and the Irish "good people;" and the Pooka, + which comes in the form of a wild colt; and the Leprechaun, a dwarf who + makes himself look like a little old man, mending shoes; and the Banshee, + which cries and moans when great people are going to die. + </p> + <p> + To all these, and more, whom there is no room to mention, we must add + other dwellers in Fairyland—forms, in one shape or other, of the + great Sun-myths of the ancient Aryan race—such as Arthur and the + Knights of the Round Table and Vivien and Merlin, and Queen Morgan le hay, + and Ogier the Dane, and the story of Roland, and the Great Norse poems + which tell of Sigurd, and Brynhilt, and Gudrun, and the Niblung folk. And + to these, again, there are to be added many of the heroes and heroines who + figure in the Thousand-and-one Nights—such, for example, as Aladdin, + and Sindbad, and Ali Baba, and the Forty Thieves, and the Enchanted Horse, + and the Fairy Peri Banou, with her wonderful tent that would cover an + army, and her brother Schaibar, the dwarf, with his beard thirty feet + long, and his great bar of iron with which he could sweep down a city. + Even yet we have not got to the end of the long list of Fairy Folk, for + there are still to be reckoned the well-known characters who figure in our + modern Fairy Tales, such as Cinderella, and the Yellow Dwarf, and the + White Cat, and Fortunatus, and Beauty and the Beast, and Riquet with the + Tuft, and the Invisible Prince, and many more whom children know by heart, + and whom all of us, however old we may be, still cherish with fond + remembrance, because they give us glimpses into the beautiful and wondrous + land, the true Fairyland whither good King Arthur went— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The island-valley of Avilion, + Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, + Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies + Deep-meadowed, happy, fair with orchard lawns, + And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea." +</pre> + <p> + Now it is plain that we cannot speak of all these dwellers in Fairyland; + but we can only pick out a few here and there, and those of you who want + to know more must go to the books that tell of them. As to me, who have + undertaken to tell something of these wonders, I feel very much like the + poor boy in the little German story of "The Golden Key." Do you know the + story? If you don't, I will tell it you. "One winter, when a deep snow was + lying on the ground, a poor boy had to go out in a sledge to fetch wood. + When he had got enough he thought he would make a fire to warm himself, + for his limbs were quite frozen. So he swept the snow away and made a + clear space, and there he found a golden key. Then he began to think that + where there was a key there must also be a lock; and digging in the earth + he found a small iron chest. 'I hope the key will fit,' lie said to + himself, 'for there must certainly be great treasures in this box.' After + looking all round the box he found a little keyhole, and to his great joy, + the golden key fitted it exactly. Then he turned the key once round"—and + now we must wait till he has quite unlocked it and lifted the lid up, and + then we shall learn what wonderful treasures were in the chest. This is + all that this book can do for you. It can give you the golden key, and + show you where the chest is to be found, and then you must unlock it for + yourselves. + </p> + <p> + Where shall we begin our hasty journey into Wonderland? Suppose we take a + glance at those famous Hindu demons, the Rakshas, who are the originals of + all the ogres and giants of our nursery tales? Now the Rakshas were very + terrible creatures indeed, and in the minds of many people in India are so + still, for they are believed in even now. Their natural form, so the + stories say, is that of huge, unshapely giants, like clouds, with hair and + beard of the colour of the red lightning; but they can take any form they + please, to deceive those whom they wish to devour, for their great + delight, like that of the ogres, is to kill all they meet, and to eat the + flesh of those whom they kill. Often they appear as hunters, of monstrous + size, with tusks instead of teeth, and with horns on their heads, and all + kinds of grotesque and frightful weapons and ornaments. They are very + strong, and make themselves stronger by various arts of magic; and they + are strongest of all at nightfall, when they are supposed to roam about + the jungles, to enter the tombs, and even to make their way into the + cities, and carry off their victims. But the Rakshas are not alone like + ogres in their cruelty, but also in their fondness for money, and for + precious stones, which they get together in great quantities and conceal + in their palaces; for some of them are kings of their species, and have + thousands upon thousands of inferior Rakshas under their command. But + while they are so numerous and so powerful, the Rakshas, like all the + ogres and giants in Fairyland, are also very stupid, and are easily + outwitted by clever people. There are many Hindu stories which are told to + show this. I will tell you one of them.<a href="#linknote-7" + name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7">[7]</a> Two little Princesses were + badly treated at home, and so they ran away into a great forest, where + they found a palace belonging to a Rakshas, who had gone out. So they went + into the house and feasted, and swept the rooms, and made everything neat + and tidy. Just as they had done this, the Rakshas and his wife came home, + and the two Princesses ran up to the top of the house, and hid themselves + on the flat roof. When the Rakshas got indoors he said to his wife: + "Somebody has been making everything clean and tidy. Wife, did you do + this?" "No," she said; "I don't know who can have done it." "Some one has + been sweeping the court-yard," said the Rakshas. "Wife, did you sweep the + court-yard?" "No," she answered; "I did not do it." Then the Rakshas + walked round and round several times, with his nose up in the air, saying, + "Some one is here now; I smell flesh and blood. Where can they be?" "Stuff + and nonsense!" cried the Rakshas' wife. "You smell flesh and blood, + indeed! Why, you have just been killing and eating a hundred thousand + people. I should wonder if you didn't still smell flesh and blood!" They + went on disputing, till at last the Rakshas gave it up. "Never mind," lie + said; "I don't know how it is—I am very thirsty: let's come and + drink some water." So they went to the well, and began letting down jars + into it, and drawing them up, and drinking the water. Then the elder of + the two Princesses, who was very bold and wise, said to her sister, "I + will do something that will be very good for us both." So she ran quickly + down stairs, and crept close behind the Rakshas and his wife, as they + stood on tip-toe more than half over the side of the well, and catching + hold of one of the Rakshas' heels, and one of his wife's, she gave each a + little push, and down they both tumbled into the well, and were drowned—the + Rakshas and the Rakshas' wife. The Princess then went back to her sister, + and said, "I have killed the Rakshas!" "What, both?" cried her sister. + "Yes, both," she said. "Won't they come back?" said her sister. "No, + never," answered she. + </p> + <p> + This, you see, is something like the story of the Little Girl and the + Three Bears, so well known amongst our Nursery Tales. + </p> + <p> + Another story will show you how stupid a Rakshas is, and how easily he can + be outwitted.<a href="#linknote-8" name="linknoteref-8" id="linknoteref-8">[8]</a> + </p> + <p> + Once upon a time a Blind Man and a Deaf Man made an agreement. The Blind + Man was to hear for the Deaf Man; and the Deaf Man was to see for the + Blind Man; and so they were to go about on their travels together. One day + they went to a nautch—that is, a singing and dancing exhibition. The + Deaf Man said, "The dancing is very good; but the music is not worth + listening to." "I do not agree with you," the Blind Man said; "I think the + music is very good; but the dancing is not worth looking at." So they went + away for a walk in the jungle. On the way they found a donkey, belonging + to a dhobee, or washerman, and a big chattee, or iron pot, which the + washerman used to boil clothes in. "Brother," said the Deaf Man, "here is + a donkey and a chattee; let us take them with us, they may be useful." So + they took them, and went on. Presently they came to an ants' nest. "Here," + said the Deaf Man, "are a number of very fine black ants; let us take some + of them to show our friends." "Yes," said the Blind Man, "they will do as + presents to our friends." So the Deaf Man took out a silver box from his + pocket, and put several of the black ants into it. After a time a terrible + storm came on. "Oh dear!" cried the Deaf Man, "how dreadful this lightning + is! let us get to some place of shelter." "I don't see that it's dreadful + at all," said the Blind Man, "but the thunder is terrible; let us get + under shelter." So they went up to a building that looked like a temple, + and went in, and took the donkey and the big pot and the black ants with + them. But it was not a temple, it was the house of a powerful Rakshas, and + the Rakshas came home as soon as they had got inside and had fastened the + door. Finding that he couldn't get in, he began to make a great noise, + louder than the thunder, and he beat upon the door with his great fists. + Now the Deaf Man looked through a chink, and saw him, and was very + frightened, for the Rakshas was dreadful to look at. But the Blind Man, as + he couldn't see, was very brave; and he went to the door and called out, + "Who are you? and what do you mean by coming here and battering at the + door in this way, and at this time of night?" "I'm a Rakshas," he + answered, in a rage; "and this is my house, and if you don't let me in I + will kill you." Then the Blind Man called out in reply, "Oh! you're a + Rakshas, are you? Well, if you're Rakshas, I'm Bakshas, and Bakshas is as + good as Rakshas." "What nonsense is this?" cried the monster; "there is no + such creature as a Bakshas." "Go away," replied the Blind Man, "if you + make any further disturbance I'll punish you; for know that I <i>am</i> + Bakshas, and Bakshas is Rakshas' father." "Heavens and earth!" cried the + Rakshas, "I never heard such an extraordinary thing in my life. But if you + are my father, let me see your face,"—for he began to get puzzled + and frightened, as the person inside was so very positive. Now the Blind + Man and the Deaf Man didn't quite know what to do; but at last they opened + the door just a little, and poked the donkey's nose out. "Bless me," + thought the Rakshas, "what a terribly ugly face my father Bakshas has + got." Then he called out again "O! father Bakshas, you have a very big + fierce face, but people have sometimes very big heads and very little + bodies; let me see you, body and head, before I go away." Then the Blind + Man and the Deaf Man rolled the great iron pot across the floor with a + thundering noise; and the Rakshas, who watched the chink of the door very + carefully, said to himself, "He has got a great body as well, so I had + better go away." But he was still doubtful; so he said, "Before I go away + let me hear you scream," for all the tribe of the Rakshas scream + dreadfully. Then the Blind Man and the Deaf Man took two of the black ants + out of the box, and put one into each of the donkey's ears, and the ants + bit the donkey, and the donkey began to bray and to bellow as loud as he + could; and then the Rakshas ran away quite frightened. + </p> + <p> + In the morning the Blind Man and the Deaf Man found that the floor of the + house was covered with heaps of gold, and silver, and precious stones; and + they made four great bundles of the treasure, and took one each, and put + the other two on the donkey, and off they went, But the Rakshas was + waiting some distance off to see what his father Bakshas was like by + daylight; and he was very angry when he saw only a Deaf Man, and a Blind + Man, and a big iron pot, and a donkey, all loaded with his gold and + silver. So he ran off and fetched six of his friends to help him, and each + of the six had hair a yard long, and tusks like an elephant. When the + Blind Man and the Deaf Man saw them coming they went and hid the treasure + in the bushes, and then they got up into a lofty betel palm and waited—the + Deaf Man, because he could see, getting up first, to be furthest out of + harm's way. Now the seven Rakshas were not able to reach them, and so they + said, "Let us get on each other's shoulders and pull them down." So one + Rakshas stooped down, and the second got on his shoulders, and the third + on his, and the fourth on his, and the fifth on his, and the sixth on his, + and the seventh—the one who had invited the others—was just + climbing up, when the Deaf Man got frightened and caught hold of the Blind + Man's arm, and as he was sitting quite at ease, not knowing that they were + so close, the Blind Man was upset, and tumbled down on the neck of the + seventh Rakshas. The Blind Man thought he had fallen into the branches of + another tree, and stretching out his hands for something to take hold of, + he seized the Rakshas' two great ears and pinched them very hard. This + frightened the Rakshas, who lost his balance and fell down to the ground, + upsetting the other six of his friends; the Blind Man all the while + pinching harder than ever, and the Deaf Man crying out from the top of the + tree—"You're all right, brother, hold on tight, I'm coming down to + help you"—though he really didn't mean to do anything of the kind. + Well, the noise, and the pinching, and all the confusion, so frightened + the six Rakshas that they thought they had had enough of helping their + friend, and so they ran away; and the seventh Rakshas, thinking that + because they ran there must be great danger, shook off the Blind Man and + ran away too. And then the Deaf Man came down from the tree and embraced + the Blind Man, and said, "I could not have done better myself." Then the + Deaf Man divided the treasure; one great heap for himself, and one little + heap for the Blind Man. But the Blind Man felt his heap and then felt the + other, and then, being angry at the cheat, he gave the Deaf Man a box on + the ear, so tremendous that it made the Deaf Man hear. And the Deaf Man, + also being angry, gave the other such a blow in the face that it made the + Blind Man see. So they became good friends directly, and divided the + treasure into equal shares, and went home laughing at the stupid Rakshas. + </p> + <p> + From the legends of India we now go on to Persia and Arabia, to learn + something about the Divs and the Peris, and the Jinns. When the ancient + Persians separated from the Aryan race from which they sprang, they + altered their religion as well as changed their country. They came to + believe in two principal gods, Ormuzd, the spirit of goodness, who sits + enthroned in the Realms of Light, with great numbers of angels around him; + and Ahriman, the spirit of evil, who reigns in the Realms of Darkness and + Fire, and round whose throne are the great six arch-Divs, and vast numbers + of inferior Divs, or evil beings; and these two powers are always at war + with each other, and are always trying to obtain the government of the + world. From Ormuzd and Ahriman there came in time, according to popular + fancy, the two races of the Divs and the Peris, creatures who were like + mankind in some things, but who had great powers of magic; which made them + visible and invisible at pleasure, enabled them to change their shapes + when they pleased, and to move about on the earth or in the air. They + dwelt in the land of Jinnestan, in the mountains of Kaf. These mountains + were supposed to go round the earth like a ring; they were thousands of + miles in height, and they were made of the precious stone called + chrysolite, which is of a green colour, and this colour, so the Persian + poets say, is reflected in the green which we sometimes see in the sky at + sunset. In this land of Jinnestan there are many cities. The Peris have + for their abode the kingdom of Shad-u-Kan, that is, of Pleasure and + Delight, with its capital Juber-a-bad, or the Jewel City; and the Divs + have for their dwelling Ahermambad, or Ahriman's city, in which there are + enchanted castles and palaces, guarded by terrible monsters and powerful + magicians. The Peris are very beautiful beings, usually represented as + women with wings, and charming robes of all colours. The Divs are painted + as demons of the most frightful kind. One of them, a very famous one named + Berkhyas, is described as being a mountain in size, his face black, his + body covered with hair, his neck like that of a dragon; two boar's tusks + proceed from his mouth, his eyes are wells of blood, his hair bristles + like needles, and is so thick and long that pigeons make their nests in + it. Between the Peris and the Divs there was always war; but the Divs were + too powerful for the Peris, and used to capture them and hang them in iron + cages from the tree-tops, where their companions came and fed them with + perfumes, of which the Peris are very fond, and which the Divs very much + dislike, so that the smell kept the evil spirits away. Sometimes the Peris + used to call in the help of men against the Divs; and in the older Persian + stories there are many tales of the wonders done by these heroes who + fought against the Divs. The most famous of these were called Tamuras and + Rustem. Tamuras conquered so many of the evil spirits that he was called + the Div-binder. He began his fights in this way. He was a great king, + whose help both sides wished to get. So the Peris sent a splendid embassy + to him, and so did the Divs. Tamuras did not know what to do; so he went + to consult a wonderful bird, called the Simurg, who speaks all tongues, + and who knows everything that has happened, or that will happen. The + Simurg told him to fight for the Peris. Then the Simurg gave him three + feathers from her own breast, and also the magic shield of Jan-ibn-Jan, + the Suleiman or King of the Jinns, and then she carried him on her back + into the country of Jinnestan, where he fought with and conquered the king + of the Divs. The account of this battle is given at great length in the + Persian romance poems. Then Tamuras conquered another Div, named Demrush, + who lived in a gloomy cavern, where he kept in prison the Peri Merjan, or + the Pearl, a beautiful fairy, whom Tamuras set free. Rustem, however, is + the great hero of Persian romance, and the greatest defender of the Peris. + His adventures, as told by the Persian poets, would make a very large + book, so that we cannot attempt to describe them. But there are two + stories of him which may be told. One night, while he lay sleeping under a + rock, a Div, named Asdiv, took the form of a dragon, and came upon him + suddenly. Rustem's horse, Reksh, who had magic powers, knew the Div in + this disguise, and awakened his master twice, at which Rustem was angry, + and tried to kill the horse for disturbing him. Reksh, however, awakened + him the third time, and then Rustem saw the Div, and slew him after a + fearful combat. The other story is this. There came a wild ass of enormous + size, with a skin like the sun, and a black stripe along his back, and + this creature got amongst the king's horses and killed them. Now the wild + ass was no other than a very powerful Div, named Akvan, who haunted a + particular fountain or spring. So Rustem, mounted on his horse Reksh, went + to look for him there. Three days he waited, but saw nothing. On the + fourth day the Div appeared, and Rustem tried to throw a noose over his + head, but the Div suddenly vanished. Then he reappeared, and Rustem shot + an arrow at him, but he vanished again. Rustem then turned his horse to + graze, and laid himself down by the spring to sleep. This was what the + cunning Akvan wanted, and while Rustem was asleep, Akvan seized him, and + flew high up into the air with him. Then Rustem awoke, and the Div gave + him his choice of being dropped from the sky into the sea, or upon the + mountains. Rustem knew that if he fell upon the mountains he would be + dashed in pieces, so he secretly chose to fall into the sea; but he did + not say so to the Div. On the contrary, he pretended not to know what to + do, but he said he feared the sea, because those who were drowned could + not enter into Paradise. On hearing this, the Div at once dropped Rustern + into the sea—which was what he wanted—and then went back to + his fountain. But when he got there, he found that Rustem had got ashore, + and was also at the fountain, and then they fought again and the Div was + killed. After this Rustem had a son named Zohrab, about whom many + wonderful things are told; and it so happened that Rustem and his son + Zohrab came to fight each other without knowing one another; and Rustem + was killed, and while dying he slew his son. Now all these stories mean + the same thing: they are only the old Aryan Sun-myths put into another + form by the poets and story-tellers: the Peris are the rays of the sun, or + the morning or evening Aurora; the Divs are the black clouds of night; the + hero is the sun who conquers them, and binds them in the realms of + darkness; and the death of Rustem is the sunset—Zohrab, his son, + being either the moon or the rising sun. + </p> + <p> + But now we must leave the Peris and the Divs, and look at the jinns, of + the Arabian stories. These also dwell in the mysterious country of + Jinnestan, and in the wonderful mountains of Kaf; but they likewise spread + themselves all through the earth, and they specially liked to live in + ruined houses, or in tombs; on the sea shore, by the banks of rivers, and + at the meeting of cross-roads. Sometimes, too, they were found in deep + forests, and many travellers are supposed to find them in desolate + mountain places. Even to this day they are firmly believed in by Arabs, + and also by people in different parts of Persia and India. In outward + form, in their natural shape, they resembled the Peris and the Divs of the + ancient Persians, and they were divided into good and bad: the good ones + very beautiful and shining; the bad ones deformed, black, and ugly, and + sometimes as big as giants. They did not, however, always appear in their + own forms, for they could take the shape of any animal, especially of + serpents, and cats and dogs. They were governed by chief spirits or kings; + and over all, good and bad alike, there were set a succession of powerful + monarchs, named Suleiman, or Solomon, seventy-two in number—the last + of whom, and the greatest, Jan-ibn-Jan, is said by Arabian story-tellers + to have built the pyramids of Egypt. There is an old tradition that the + shield of Jan-ibn-Jan, which was a talisman of magic power, was brought + from Egypt to King Solomon the Wise, the son of King David, and that it + gave him power over all the tribes of the Jinns, and this is why, in the + common stories about them, the Jinns are made to call upon the name of + Solomon. + </p> + <p> + The Jinns, according to Arabian tradition, lived upon the earth thousands + of years before man was created. They were made, the Koran says, of "the + smokeless fire," that is, the hot breath of the desert wind, Simoon. But + they became disobedient, and prophets were sent to warn them. They would + not obey the prophets, and angels were then sent to punish them. The + angels drove them out of Jinnestan into the islands of the seas, killed + some, and shut some of them up in prison. Among the prisoners was a young + Jinns, named Iblees, whose name means Despair; and when Adam was created, + God commanded the angels and the Jinns to do him reverence, and they all + obeyed but Iblees, who was then turned into a Shaitan, or devil, and + became the father of all the Shaitan tribe, the mortal enemies of mankind. + Since their dispersion the Jinns are not immortal; they are to live longer + than man, but they must die before the general resurrection. Some of them + are killed by other Jinns, some can be slain by man, and some are + destroyed by shooting stars sent from heaven. When they receive a mortal + wound, the fire which burns in their veins breaks forth and burns them + into ashes. + </p> + <p> + Such are the Arab fancies about the Jinns. The meaning of them is clear, + for the Jinns are the winds, derived plainly from the Ribhus and the + Maruts of the ancient Aryan myths; and they still survive in European + folk-lore in the train of Woden, or the Wild Huntsman, who sweeps at + midnight over the German forests. + </p> + <p> + Some of the stories of the Jinns are to be found in the book of the + Thousand and One Nights. + </p> + <p> + One of these stories is that of "the Fisherman and the Genie." A poor + fisherman, you remember, goes out to cast his nets; but he draws no fish, + but only, at the third cast, a vase of yellow copper, sealed with a seal + of lead. He cuts open the seal, and then there issues from the vase a + thick cloud of smoke, which rises to the sky, and spreads itself over land + and sea. Presently the smoke gathers itself together, and becomes a solid + body, taking the form of a Genie, twice as big as any of the giants; and + the Genie cries out, with a terrible voice, "Solomon, Solomon, great + prophet of Allah! Pardon! I will never more oppose thy will, but will obey + all thy commands." At first the fisherman is very much frightened; but he + grows bolder, and tells the Genie that Solomon has been dead these + eighteen hundred years, to which the Genie answers that he means to kill + the fisherman, and tells him why. I told you just now that the Jinns + rebelled, and were punished. The Genie tells the fisherman that he is one + of these rebellious spirits, that he was taken prisoner, and brought up + for judgment before Solomon himself, and that Solomon confined him in the + copper vase, and ordered him to be thrown into the sea, and that upon the + leaden cover of the vase he put the impression of the royal seal, upon + which the name of God is engraved. + </p> + <p> + When he was thrown into the sea the Genie made three vows—each in a + period of a hundred years. I swore, he says, that "if any man delivered me + within the first hundred years, I would make him rich, even after his + death. In the second hundred years I swore that if any one set me free I + would discover to him all the treasures of the earth; still no help came. + In the third period, I swore to make my deliverer a most powerful monarch, + to be always at his command, and to grant him every day any three requests + he chose to make. Then, being still a prisoner, I swore that I would + without mercy kill any man who set me free, and that the only favour I + would grant him should be the manner of his death." And so the Genie + proposed to kill the fisherman. Now the fisherman did not like the idea of + being killed; and he and the Genie had a long discourse about it; but the + Genie would have his own way, and the poor fisherman was going to be + killed, when he thought of a trick he might play upon the Genie. He knew + two things—first that the Jinns are obliged to answer questions put + to them in the name of Allah, or God; and also that though very powerful, + they are very stupid, and do not see when they are being led into a + pitfall. So he said, "I consent to die; but before I choose the manner of + my death, I conjure thee, by the great name of Allah, which is graven upon + the seal of the prophet Solomon, the son of David, to answer me truly a + question I am going to put to thee." + </p> + <p> + Then the Genie trembled, and said, "Ask, but make haste." + </p> + <p> + Now when he knew that the Genie would speak the truth, the Fisherman said, + "Darest thou swear by the great name of Allah that thou really wert in + that vase?" + </p> + <p> + "I swear it, by the great name of Allah," said the Genie. + </p> + <p> + But the Fisherman said he would not believe it, unless he saw it with his + own eyes. Then, being too stupid to perceive the meaning of the Fisherman, + the Genie fell into the trap. Immediately the form of the Genie began to + change into smoke, and to spread itself as before over the shore and the + sea, and then gathering itself together, it began to enter the vase, and + continued to do so, with a slow and even motion, until nothing remained + outside. Then, out of the vase there issued the voice of the Genie, + saying, "Now, thou unbeliever, art thou convinced that I am in the vase?" + </p> + <p> + But instead of answering, the Fisherman quickly took up the leaden cover, + and put it on the vase; and then he cried out, "O, Genie! it is now thy + turn to ask pardon, and to choose the sort of death thou wilt have; or I + will again cast thee into the sea, and I will build upon the shore a house + where I will live, to warn all fishermen against a Genie so wicked as thou + art." + </p> + <p> + At this the Genie was very angry. First he tried to get out of the vase; + but the seal of Solomon kept him fast shut up. Then he pretended that he + was but making a jest of the Fisherman when he threatened to kill him. + Then he begged and prayed to be released; but the Fisherman only mocked + him. Next he promised that if set at liberty, he would make the Fisherman + rich. To this the Fisherman replied by telling him a long story of how a + physician who cured a king was murdered instead of being rewarded, and of + how he revenged himself. And then he preached a little sermon to the Genie + on the sin of ingratitude, which only caused the Genie to cry out all the + more to be set free. But still the Fisherman would not consent, and so to + induce him the Genie offered to tell him a story, to which the Fisherman + was quite ready to listen; but the Genie said, "Dost thou think I am in + the humour, shut up in this narrow prison, to tell stories? I will tell + thee as many as thou wilt if thou wilt let me out." But the Fisherman only + answered, "No, I will cast thee into the sea." + </p> + <p> + At last they struck a bargain, the Genie swearing by Allah that he would + make the Fisherman rich, and then the Fisherman cut the seal again, and + the Genie came out of the vase. The first thing he did when he got out was + to kick the vase into the sea, which frightened the Fisherman, who began + to beg and pray for his life. But the Genie kept his word; and took him + past the city, over a mountain and over a vast plain, to a little lake + between four hills, where he caught four little fish, of different colours—white, + red, blue, and yellow—which the Genie bade him carry to the Sultan, + who would give him more money than he had ever seen in his life. And then, + the story says, he struck his foot against the ground, which opened, and + he disappeared, the earth closing over him. + </p> + <p> + Another story is that of the Genie Maimoun, the son of Dimdim, who took + prisoner a young Prince, and conveyed him to an enchanted palace, and + changed him into the form of an ape, and the ape got on board a ship, and + was carried to the country of a great Sultan, and when the Sultan heard + that there was an ape who could write beautiful poems, he sent for him to + the palace, and they had dinner together, and they played at chess + afterwards, the ape behaving in all respects like a man, excepting that he + could not speak. Then the Sultan sent for his daughter, the Queen of + Beauty, to see this great wonder. But when the Queen of Beauty came into + the room she was very angry with her father for showing her to a man, for + the Princess was a great magician, and thus she knew that it was a man + turned into an ape, and she told her father that the change had been made + by a powerful Genie, the son of the daughter of Eblis. So the Sultan + ordered the Queen of Beauty to disenchant the Prince, and then she should + have him for her husband. On this the Queen of Beauty went to her chamber, + and came back with a knife, with Hebrew characters engraved upon the + blade. And then she went into the middle of the court and drew a large + circle in it, and in the centre she traced several words in Arabic + letters, and others in Egyptian letters. Then putting herself in the + middle of the circle, she repeated several verses of the Koran. By degrees + the air was darkened, as if night were coming on, and the whole world + seemed to be vanishing. And in the midst of the darkness the Genie, the + son of the daughter of Eblis, appeared in the shape of a huge, terrible + lion, which ran at the Princess as if to devour her. But she sprang back, + and plucked out a hair from her head, and then, pronouncing two or three + words, she changed the hair into a sharp scythe, and with the scythe she + cut the lion into two pieces through the middle. The body of the lion now + vanished, and only the head remained. This changed itself into a large + scorpion. The Princess changed herself into a serpent and attacked the + scorpion, which then changed into an eagle, and flew away; and the serpent + changed itself into a fierce black eagle, larger and more powerful and + flew after it. Soon after the eagles had vanished the earth opened, and a + great black and white cat appeared, mewing and crying out terribly, and + with its hairs standing straight on end. A black wolf followed the cat, + and attacked it. Then the cat changed into a worm, which buried itself in + a pomegranate that had fallen from a tree over-hanging the tank in the + court, and the pomegranate began to swell until it became as large as a + gourd, which then rose into the air, rolled backwards and forwards several + times, and then fell into the court and broke into a thousand pieces. The + wolf now transformed itself into a cock, and ran as fast as possible, and + ate up the pomegranate seeds. But one of them fell into the tank and + changed into a little fish. On this the cock changed itself into a pike, + darted into the water, and pursued the little fish. Then comes the end of + the story, which is told by the Prince transformed into the Ape:—"They + were both hid hours under water, and we knew not what was become of them, + when suddenly we heard horrible cries that made us tremble. Then we saw + the Princess and the Genie all on fire. They darted flames against each + other with their breath, and at last came to a close attack. Then the fire + increased, and all was hidden in smoke and cloud, which rose to a great + height. We had other cause for terror. The Genie, breaking away from the + Princess, came towards us, and blew his flames all over us." The Princess + followed him; but she could not prevent the Sultan from having his beard + singed and his face scorched; a spark flew into the right eye of the + Ape-Prince and blinded him, and the chief of the eunuchs was killed on the + spot. Then they heard the cry of "Victory! victory!" and the Princess + appeared in her own form, and the Genie was reduced to a heap of ashes. + Unhappily the Princess herself was also fatally hurt. If she had swallowed + all the pomegranate seeds she would have conquered the Genie without harm + to herself; but one seed being lost, she was obliged to fight with flames + between earth and heaven, and she had only just time enough to disenchant + the ape and to turn him back again into his human form, when she, too, + fell to the earth, burnt to ashes. + </p> + <p> + This story is repeated in various forms in the Fairy Tales of other lands. + The hair which the Princess changed into a scythe is like the sword of + sharpness which appears in Scandinavian legends and in the tale of Jack + the Giant Killer; the transformation of the magician reminds us of the + changes of the Ogre in Puss in Boots; and the death of the Princess by + fire because she failed to eat up the last of the pomegranate seeds, + brings to mind the Greek myth of Persephone, who ate pomegranate seeds, + and so fell into the power of Aidoneus, the God of the lower regions, and + was carried down into Hades to live with him as his wife; and in many + German and Russian tales are to be found incidents like those of the + terrible battle between the Princess and the Genie Maimoun. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV.—DWELLERS IN FAIRYLAND: TEUTONIC, AND SCANDINAVIAN. + </h2> + <p> + Now we come to an entirely new region, in which, however, we find, under + other forms, the same creatures which have already been described. From + the sunny East we pass to the cold and frozen North. Here the Scandinavian + countries—Norway, Sweden, and Denmark—are wonderfully rich in + dwarfs, and giants, and trolls, and necks, and nisses, and other + inhabitants of Fairyland; and with these we must also class the Teutonic + beings of the same kind; and likewise the fairy creatures who were once + supposed to dwell in our islands. The Elves of Scandinavia, with whom our + own Fairies are closely allied, were a very interesting people. They were + of two kinds, the White and the Black. The white elves dwelt in the air, + amongst the leaves of trees, and in the long grass, and at moonlight they + came out from their lurking-places, and danced merrily on the greensward, + and played all manner of fantastic tricks. The black elves lived + underground, and, like the dwarfs, worked in metals, and heaped up great + stores of riches. When they came out amongst men they were often of a + malicious turn of mind; they caused sickness or death, stole things from + the houses, bewitched the cattle, and did a great deal of mischief in all + ways. The good elves were not only friendly to man, but they had a great + desire to get to heaven; and in the summer nights they were heard singing + sweetly but sadly about themselves, and their hopes of future happiness; + and there are many stories of their having spoken to mortals, to ask what + hope or chance they had of salvation. This feeling is believed to have + come from the sympathy felt by the first converts to Christianity with + their heathen forefathers, whose spirits were supposed by them to wander + about, in the air or in the woods, or to sigh within their graves, waiting + for the day of judgment. In one place there is a story that on a hill at + Garun people used to hear very beautiful music. This was played by the + elves, or hill folk, and any one who had a fiddle, and went there, and + promised the elves that they should be saved, was taught in a moment how + to play; but those who mocked them, and told them they could never be + saved, used to hear the poor elves, inside the hill, breaking their fairy + fiddles into pieces, and weeping very sadly. There is a particular tune + they play, called the Elf-King's tune, which, the story-tellers say, some + good fiddlers know very well, but never venture to play, because everybody + who hears it is obliged to dance, and to go on dancing till somebody comes + behind the musician and cuts the fiddle-strings; and out of this tradition + we have the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Some of the underground + elves come up into the houses built above their dwellings, and are fond of + playing tricks upon servants; but they like only those who are clean in + their habits, and they do not like even these to laugh at them. There is a + story of a servant-girl whom the elves liked very much, because she used + to carry all dirt and foul water away from the house, and so they invited + her to an Elf Wedding, at which they made her a present of some chips, + which she put into her pocket. But when the bridegroom and the bride were + coming home there was a straw lying in their way. The bridegroom got over + it; but the bride stumbled, and fell upon her face. At this the + servant-girl laughed out loud, and then all the elves vanished, but she + found that the chips they had given her were pieces of pure gold. At + Odensee another servant was not so fortunate. She was very dirty, and + would not clean the cow-house for them; so they killed all the cows, and + took the girl and set her up on the top of a hay-rick. Then they removed + from the cow-house into a meadow on the farm; and some people say that + they were seen going there in little coaches, their king riding first, in + a coach much handsomer than the rest. Amongst the Danes there is another + kind of elves—the Moon Folk. The man is like an old man with a + low-crowned hat upon his head; the woman is very beautiful in front, but + behind she is hollow, like a dough-trough, and she has a sort of harp on + which she plays, and lures young men with it, and then kills them. The man + is also an evil being, for if any one comes near him he opens his mouth + and breathes upon them, and his breath causes sickness. It is easy to see + what this tradition means: it is the damp marsh wind, laden with foul and + dangerous odours; and the woman's harp is the wind playing across the + marsh rushes at nightfall. Sometimes these elves take the shape of trees, + which brings back to mind the Greek fairy tales of nymphs who live and die + with the trees to which they are united. + </p> + <p> + These Scandinavian elves were like beings of the same kind who were once + supposed to live in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and who are still + believed in by some country people. Scattered about in the traditions + which have been brought together at different times are many stories of + these fanciful beings. One story is of some children of a green colour who + were found in Suffolk, and who said they had lived in a country where all + the people were of a green colour, and where they saw no sun, but had a + light like the glow which comes after sunset. They said, also, that while + tending their flocks they wandered into a great cavern, and heard the + sound of delightful bells, which they followed, and so came out upon the + upper world of the earth. There is a Yorkshire legend of a peasant coming + home by night, and hearing the voices of people singing. The noise came + from a hill-side, where there was a door, and inside was a great company + of little people, feasting. One of them offered the man a cup, out of + which he poured the liquor, and then ran off with the cup, and got safe + away. A similar story is told also of a place in Gloucestershire, and of + another in Cumberland, where the cup is called "the Luck of Edenhall," as + the owners of it are to be always prosperous, so long as the cup remains + unbroken. Such stories as this are common in the countries of the North of + Europe, and show the connection between our Elf-land and theirs. + </p> + <p> + The Pixies, or the Devonshire fairies, are just like the northern elves. + The popular idea of them is that they are small creatures—pigmies—dressed + in green, and are fond of dancing. Some of them live in the mines, where + they show the miners the richest veins of metal just like the German + dwarfs; others live on the moors, or under the shelter of rocks; others + take up their abode in houses, and, like the Danish and Swedish elves, are + very cross if the maids do not keep the places clean and tidy others, like + the will-o'-the-wisps, lead travellers astray, and then laugh at them. The + Pixies are said to be very fond of pure water. There is a story of two + servant-maids at Tavistock who used to leave them a bucket of water, into + which the Pixies dropped silver pennies. Once it was forgotten, and the + Pixies came up into the girls' bedroom, and made a noise about the + neglect. One girl got up and went to put the water in its usual place, but + the other said she would not stir out of bed to please all the fairies in + Devonshire. The girl who filled the water-bucket found a handful of silver + pennies in it next morning, and she heard the Pixies debating what to do + with the other girl. At last they said they would give her a lame leg for + seven years, and that then they would cure her by striking her leg with a + herb growing on Dartmoor. So next day Molly found herself lame, and kept + so for seven years, when, as she was picking mushrooms on Dartmoor, a + strange-looking boy started up, struck her leg with a plant he held in his + hand, and sent her home sound again. There is another story of the Pixies + which is very beautiful. An old woman near Tavistock had in her garden a + fine bed of tulips, of which the Pixies became very fond, and might be + heard at midnight singing their babes to rest amongst them; and as the old + woman would never let any of the tulips be plucked, the Pixies had them + all to themselves, and made them smell like the rose, and bloom more + beautifully than any flowers in the place. Well, the old woman died, and + the tulip-bed was pulled up and a parsley-bed made in its place. But the + Pixies blighted it, and nothing grew in it; but they kept the grave of the + old woman quite green, never suffered a weed to grow upon it, and in + spring-time they always spangled it with wild-flowers. + </p> + <p> + All over the country, in the far North as in the South, we find traces of + elfin beings like the Pixies—the fairies of the common traditions + and of the poets—some such fairies as Shakspeare describes for us in + several of his plays, especially in "Midsummer-Night's Dream," "The Merry + Wives of Windsor," "The Tempest," and "Romeo and Juliet"—fairies who + gambol sportively. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "On hill, in dale, forest, or mead, + By paved fountain, or by rushing brook, + Or by the beached margent of the sea, + To dance their ringlets to the whistling wind." +</pre> + <p> + But the Fairy tribe were not the only graceful elves described by the + poets. The Germans had their Kobolds, and the Scotch their Brownies, and + the English had their Boggarts and Robin Goodfellow and Lubberkin—all + of them beings of the same description: house and farm spirits, who liked + to live amongst men, and who sometimes did hard, rough work out of + good-nature, and sometimes were spiteful and mischievous, especially to + those who teased them, or spoke of them disrespectfully, or tried to see + them when they did not wish to be seen. To the same family belongs the + Danish Nis, a house spirit of whom many curious legends are related. Robin + Goodfellow was the original of Shakspeare's Puck: his frolics are related + for us in "The Midsummer Night's Dream," where a hairy says to him— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "You are that shrewd and knavish sprite + Called Robin Goodfellow. Are you not he + That frights the maidens of the villagery, + Skims milk, and sometimes labours in the quern, + And bootless makes the breathless housewife churn; + And sometimes makes the drink to bear no harm, + Misleads night wanderers, laughing at their harm? + Those that Hob-Goblin call you, and sweet Puck; + You do their work, and they shall have good luck." +</pre> + <p> + In the "Jests of Robin Goodfellow," first printed in Queen Elizabeth's + reign, the tricks which this creature is said to have played are told in + plenty. Here is one of them:—Robin went as fiddler to a wedding. + When the candles came he blew them out, and giving the men boxes on the + ears he set them fighting. He kissed the prettiest girls, and pinched the + ugly ones, till he made them scratch one another like cats. When the + posset was brought he turned himself into a bear, frightened them all + away, and had it all to himself. + </p> + <p> + The Boggart was another form of Robin Goodfellow. Stories of him are to be + found amongst Yorkshire legends, as of a creature—always invisible—who + played tricks upon the people in the houses in which he lived: shaking the + bed-curtains, rattling the doors, whistling through the keyholes, + snatching away the bread-and-butter from the children, playing pranks upon + the servants, and doing all kinds of mischief. There is a story of a + Yorkshire boggart who teased the family so much that the farmer made up + his mind to leave the house. So he packed up his goods and began to move + off. Then a neighbour came up, and said, "So, Georgey, you're leaving the + old house?" "Yes," said the farmer, "the boggart torments us so that we + must go." Then a voice came out of a churn, saying, "Ay, ay, Georgey, <i>we're</i> + flitting, ye see." "Oh!" cried the poor farmer, "if thou'rt with us we'll + go back again;" and he went back.—Mr. Tennyson puts this story into + his poem of "Walking to the Mail." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "His house, they say, + Was haunted with a jolly ghost, that shook + The curtains, whined in lobbies, tapt at doors, + And rummaged like a rat: no servant stayed: + The farmer, vext, packs up his beds and chairs, + And all his household stuff, and with his boy + Betwixt his knees, his wife upon the tilt, + Sets out, and meets a friend who hails him, 'What! + You're flitting!' 'Yes, we're flitting,' says the ghost + (For they had packed the thing among the beds). + 'Oh, well,' says he, 'you flitting with us, too; + Jack, turn the horses' heads and home again.'" +</pre> + <p> + The same story is told in Denmark, of a Nis—which is the same as an + English boggart, a Scotch brownie, and a German kobold—who troubled + a man very much, so that he took away his goods to a new house. All but + the last load had gone, and when they came for that, the Nis popped his + head out of a tub, and said to the man, "We're moving, you see." + </p> + <p> + The Brownies, though mischievous, like the Boggarts, were more helpful, + for they did a good deal of house-work; and would bake, and brew, and + wash, and sweep, but they would never let themselves be seen; or if any + one did manage to see them, or tried to do so, they went away. There are + stories of this kind about them in English folk-lore, in Scotch, Welsh, in + the Isle of Man, and in Germany, where they were called Kobolds. One + Kobold, of whom many accounts are given, lived in the castle of + Hudemuhler, in Luneberg, and used to talk with the people of the house, + and with visitors, and ate and drank at table, just like Leander in the + story of "The Invisible Prince;" and he used also to scour the pots and + pans, wash the dishes, and clean the tubs, and he was useful, too, in the + stable, where he curried the horses, and made them quite fat and smooth. + In return for this he had a room to himself, where he made a straw-plaited + chair, and had a little round table, and a bed and bedstead, and, where he + expected every day to find a dish of sweetened milk, with bread crumbs; + and if he did not get served in time, or if anything went wrong, he used + to beat the servants with a stick. This Kobold was named Heinzelman, and + in Grimm's collection of folklore there is a long history of him drawn up + by the minister of the parish. Another Kobold, named Hodeken, who lived + with the Bishop of Hildesheim, was usually of a kind and obliging turn of + mind, but he revenged himself on those who offended him. A scullion in the + bishop's kitchen flung dirt upon him, and Hodeken found him fast asleep + and strangled him, and put him in the pot on the fire. Then the head cook + scolded Hodeken, who in revenge squeezed toads all over the meat that was + being cooked for the bishop, and then took the cook himself and tumbled + him over the drawbridge into the moat. Then the bishop got angry, and took + bell, and book, and candle, and banished Hodeken by the form of exorcism + provided for evil spirits. + </p> + <p> + Now there are a great many other kinds of creatures in the Wonderland of + all European countries; but I must not stop to tell you about them or we + shall never have done. But there is one little story of the Danish Nis—who + answers to the German Kobold—which I may tell you, because it is + like the story of Hodeken which you have just read, and shows that the + creatures were of the same kind. There was a Nis in Jutland who was very + much teased by a mischievous boy. When the Nis had done his work he sat + down to have his supper, and he found that the boy had been playing tricks + with his porridge and made it unpleasant. So he made up his mind to be + revenged, and he did it in this way. The boy slept with a servant-man in + the loft. The Nis went up to them and took off the bed-clothes. Then, + looking at the little boy lying beside the tall man, he said, "Long and + short don't match," and he took the boy by the legs and pulled him down to + the man's legs. This was not to his mind, however, so he went to the head + of the bed and looked at them, Then said the Nis—"Short and long + don't match," and he pulled the boy up again; and so he went on all + through the night, up and down, down and up, till the boy was punished + enough. Another Nis in Jutland went with a boy to steal corn for his + master's horses. The Nis was moderate, but the boy was covetous, and said, + "Oh, take more; we can rest now and then!" "Rest," said the Nis, "rest! + what is rest?" "Do what I tell you," replied the boy; "take more, and we + shall find rest when we get out of this." So they took more corn, and when + they had got nearly home the boy said, "Here now is rest;" and so they sat + down on a hill-side. "If I had known," said the Nis, as they were sitting + there, "if I had known that rest was so good I'd have carried off all that + was in the barn." + </p> + <p> + Now we must leave out much more that might be said, and many stories that + might be told, about elves, and fairies, and nixes, or water spirits, and + swan maidens who become women when they lay aside their swan dresses to + bathe; and mermaids and seal maidens, who used to live in the islands of + the North seas. And we must leave out also a number of curious Scotch + tales and accounts of Welsh fairies, and stories about the good people of + the Irish legends, and the Leprechaun, a little old man who mends shoes, + and who gives you as much gold as you want if you hold him tight enough; + and there are wonderful fairy legends of Brittany, and some of Spain and + Italy, and a great many Russian and Slavonic tales which are well worth + telling, if we only had room. For the same reason we must omit the fairy + tales of ancient Greece, some of which are told so beautifully by Mr. + Kingsley in his book about the Heroes; and we must also pass by the + legends of King Arthur, and of romances of the same kind which you may + read at length in Mr. Ludlow's "Popular Epics of the Middle Ages;" and the + wonderful tales from the Norse which are told by Dr. Dasent, and in Mr. + Morris's noble poem of "Sigurd the Volsung." + </p> + <p> + But before we leave this part of Wonderland we must say something about + some kinds of beings who have not yet been mentioned—the + Scandinavian Giants and Trolls, and the German Dwarfs. The Trolls—some + of whom were Giants and some Dwarfs—were a very curious people. They + lived inside hills or mounds of earth, sometimes alone, and sometimes in + great numbers. Inside these hills, according to the stories of the common + folk, are fine houses made of gold and crystal, full of gold and jewels, + which the Trolls amuse themselves by counting. They marry and have + families; they bake and brew, and live just like human beings; and they do + not object, sometimes, to come out and talk to men and women whom they + happen to meet on the road. They are described as being friendly, and + quite ready to help those to whom they take a fancy—lending them + useful or precious things out of the hill treasures, and giving them rich + gifts. But, to balance this, they are very mischievous and thievish, and + sometimes they carry off women and children. They dislike noise. This, so + the old stories say, is because the god Thor used to fling his hammer at + them; and since he left off doing that the Trolls have suffered a great + deal from the ringing of church bells, which they very much dislike. There + are many stories about this. At a place called Ebeltoft the Trolls used to + come and steal food out of the pantries. The people consulted a Saint as + to what they were to do, and he told them to hang up a bell in the church + steeple, which they did, and then the Trolls went away. There is another + story of the same kind. A Troll lived near the town of Kund, in Sweden, + but was driven away by the church bells. Then he went over to the island + of Funen and lived in peace. But he meant to be revenged on the people of + Kund, and he tried to take his revenge in this way: He met a man from Kund—a + stranger, who did not know him—and asked the man to take a letter + into the town and to throw it into the churchyard, but he was not to take + it out of his pocket until he got there. The man received the letter, but + forgot the message, until he sat down in a meadow to rest, and then he + took out the letter to look at it. When he did so, a drop of water fell + from under the seal, then a little stream, and then quite a torrent, till + all the valley was flooded, and the man had hard work to escape. The Troll + had shut up a lake in the letter, and with this he meant to drown the + people of Kund. + </p> + <p> + Some of the Trolls are very stupid, and there are many stories as to how + they have been outwitted. One of them is very droll. A farmer ploughed a + hill-side field. Out came a Troll and said, "What do you mean by ploughing + up the roof of my house?" Then the farmer, being frightened, begged his + pardon, but said it was a pity such a fine piece of land should lie idle. + The Troll agreed to this, and then they struck a bargain that the farmer + should till the land and that each of them should share the crops. One + year the Troll was to have, for his share, what grew above ground, and the + next year what grew underground. So in the first year the farmer sowed + carrots, and the Troll had the tops; and the next year the farmer sowed + wheat, and the Troll had the roots; and the story says he was very well + content. + </p> + <p> + We can give only one more story of the Trolls. They have power over human + beings until their names are found out, and when the Troll's name is + mentioned his power goes from him. One day St. Olaf, a very great Saint, + was thinking how he could build a very large church without any money, and + he didn't quite see his way to it. Then a Giant Troll met him and they + chatted together, and St. Olaf mentioned his difficulty. So the Troll said + he would build the church, within a year, on condition that if it was done + in the time he should have for his reward the sun, and the moon, or St. + Olaf himself. The church was to be so big that seven priests could say + mass at seven altars in it without hearing each other; and it was all to + be built of flint stone and to be richly carved. When the time was nearly + up the church was finished, all but the top of the spire; and St. Olaf was + in sad trouble about his promise. So he walked out into a wood to think, + and there he heard the Troll's wife hushing her child inside a hill, and + saying to it, "To-morrow, Wind and Weather, your father, will come home in + the morning, and bring with him the sun and the moon, or St. Olaf + himself." Then St. Olaf knew what to do. He went home, and there was the + church, all ready except the very top of the weather-cock, and the Troll + was just putting the finishing-touch to that. Then St. Olaf called out to + him, "Oh! ho! Wind and Weather, you have set the spire crooked!" And then, + with a great noise, the Troll fell down from the steeple and broke into + pieces, and every piece was a flint-stone. + </p> + <p> + The same thing is told in the German story of Rumpelstiltskin. A maiden is + ordered by a King to spin a roomful of straw into gold, or else she is to + die. A Dwarf appears, she promises him her necklace, and he does the task + for her. Next day she has to spin a larger roomful of straw into gold. She + gives the Dwarf the ring off her finger, and he does this task also. Next + day she is set to work at a larger room, and then, when the Dwarf comes, + she has nothing to give him. Then he says, "If you become Queen, give me + your first-born child." Now the girl is only a miller's daughter, and + thinks she never can be Queen, so she makes the promise, and the Dwarf + spins the straw into gold. But she does become Queen, for the King marries + her because of the gold; and she forgets the Dwarf, and is very happy, + especially when her little baby comes. Directly it is born the Dwarf + appears also, and claims the child, because it was promised to him. The + Queen offers him anything he likes besides; but he will have that, and + that only. Then she cries and prays, and the Dwarf says that if she can + tell him his name she may keep the baby; and he feels quite safe in saying + this, because nobody knows his name, only himself. So the Queen calls him + by all kinds of strange names, but none of them is the right one. Then she + begs for three days to find out the name, and sends people everywhere to + see if they can hear it. But all of them come back, unable to find any + name that is likely, excepting one, who says, "I have not found a name, + but as I came to a high mountain near the edge of a forest, where the + foxes and the hares say 'good-night' to each other, I saw a little house, + and before the door a fire was burning, and round the fire a little man + was dancing on one leg, and singing:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "To-day I stew, and then I'll bake, + To-morrow shall I the Queen's child take. + How glad I am that nobody knows + That my name is Rumpelstiltskin." +</pre> + <p> + Then the Dwarf came again, and the Queen said to him, "Is your name Hans?" + "No," said the Dwarf, with an ugly leer, and he held out his hands for the + baby. "Is it Conrade?" asked the Queen. "No," cried the Dwarf, "give me + the child." "Then," said the Queen, "is it Rumpelstiltskin?" "A witch has + told you that!" cried the Dwarf; and then he stamped his right foot so + hard upon the ground that it sank quite in, and he could not draw it out + again. Then he took hold of his left leg with both his hands and pulled so + hard that his right leg came off, and he hopped away howling, and nobody + ever saw him again. + </p> + <p> + The Giant in the story of St. Olaf, as we have seen, was a rather stupid + giant, and easily tricked; and indeed most of the giants seem to have been + dull people, from the great Greek Kyklops, Polyphemos the One-Eyed, + downwards to the ogres in Puss in Boots, and Jack and the Bean Stalk, and + the giants in Jack the Giant Killer. The old northern giants were no + wiser. There was one in the island of Rugen, a very mighty giant, named + Balderich. He wanted to go from his island, dry-footed, to the mainland. + So he got a great apron made, and filled it with earth, and set off to + make a causeway from Rugen to Pomerania. But there was a hole in the + apron, and the clay that fell out formed a chain of nine hills. The giant + stopped the hole and went on, but another hole tore in the apron, and + thirteen more hills fell out. Then he got to the sea-side, and poured the + rest of the load into the water; but it didn't quite reach the mainland, + which made giant Balderich so angry that he fell down and died; and so his + work has never been finished. But a giant maiden thought she would try to + make another causeway from the mainland to an island, so that she might + not wet her slippers in going over. So she filled her apron with sand, and + ran down to the sea-side. But a hole came in the apron, and the sand which + ran out formed a hill at Sagard. The giant maiden said, "Ah! now my mother + will scold me!" Then she stopped the hole with her hand and ran on again. + But the giant mother looked over the wood, and cried, "You nasty child! + what are you about? Come here, and you'll get a good whipping." The + daughter in a fright let go her apron, and all the sand ran out, and made + the barren hills near Litzow, which the white and brown dwarfs took for + their dwelling-place. + </p> + <p> + There are many other stories of the same kind. One of them tells of a + Troll Giant who wanted to punish a farmer; so he filled one of his gloves + with sand, and poured it out over the farmer's house, which it quite + covered up; and with what was left in the fingers he made a row of little + sand hillocks to mark the spot. + </p> + <p> + The Giants had their day, and died out, and their places were taken by the + Dwarfs. Some of the most wonderful dwarf stories are those which are told + in the island of Rugen, in the Baltic Sea. These stories are of three + kinds of dwarfs: the White, and the Brown, and the Black, who live in the + sand-hills. The white dwarfs, in the spring and summer, dance and frolic + all their time in sunshine and starlight, and climb up into the flowers + and trees, and sit amongst the leaves and blossoms, and sometimes they + take the form of bright little birds, or white doves, or butterflies, and + are very kind to good people. In the winter, when the snow falls, they go + underground, and spend their time in making the most beautiful ornaments + of silver and gold. The brown dwarfs are stronger and rougher than the + white; they wear little brown coats and brown caps, and when they dance—which + they are fond of doing—they wear little glass shoes; and in dress + and appearance they are very handsome. Their disposition is good, with one + exception—that they carry off children into their underground + dwellings; and those who go there have to serve them for fifty years. They + can change themselves into any shape, and can go through key-holes, so + that they enter any house they please, and sometimes they bring gifts for + the children, like the good Santa Klaus in the German stories; but they + also play sad tricks, and frighten people with bad dreams. Like the white + dwarfs, the brown ones work in gold and silver, and the gifts they bring + are of their own workmanship. The black dwarfs are very bad people, and + are ugly in looks and malicious in temper; they never dance or sing, but + keep underground, or, when they come up, they sit in the elder-trees, and + screech horribly like owls, or mew like cats. They, too, are great + metal-workers, especially in steel; and in old days they used to make arms + and armour for the gods and heroes: shirts of mail as fine as cobwebs, yet + so strong that no sword could go through them; and swords that would bend + like rushes, and yet were as hard as diamonds, and would cut through any + helmet, however thick. + </p> + <p> + So long as they keep their caps on their heads the dwarfs are invisible; + but if any one can get possession of a dwarf's cap he can see them, and + becomes their master. This is the foundation of one of the best of the + dwarf stories—the story of John Dietrich, who went out to the + sandhills at Ramfin, in the isle of Rugen, on the eve of St. John, a very, + very long time ago, and managed to strike off the cap from the head of one + of the brown dwarfs, and went down with them into their underground + dwelling-place. This was quite a little town, where the rooms were + decorated with diamonds and rubies, and the dwarf people had gold and + silver and crystal table-services, and there were artificial birds that + flew about like real ones, and the most beautiful flowers and fruits; and + the dwarfs, who were thousands in number, had great feasts, where the + tables, ready spread, came up through the floor, and cleared themselves + away at the ringing of a bell, and left the rooms free for dancing to the + strains of the loveliest music. And in the city there were fields and + gardens, and lakes and rivers; and instead of the sun and the moon to give + light, there were large carbuncles and diamonds which supplied all that + was wanted. John Dietrich, who was very well treated, liked it very much, + all but one thing—which was that the servants who waited upon the + dwarfs were earth children, whom they had stolen and carried underground; + and amongst them was Elizabeth Krabbin, once a playmate of his own, and + who was a lovely girl, with clear blue eyes and ringlets of fair hair. + John Dietrich of course fell in love with Elizabeth, and determined to get + her out of the dwarf people's hands, and with her all the earth children + they held captive. And when he had been ten years underground, and he and + Elizabeth were grown up, he demanded leave to depart, and to take + Elizabeth. But the dwarfs, though they could not hinder him from going, + would not let her go, and no threats or entreaties could move them. Then + John Dietrich remembered that the little people cannot bear an evil smell; + and one day he happened to break a large stone, out of which jumped a + toad, which gave him power to do what he pleased with the dwarfs, for the + sight or smell of a toad causes them pain beyond all bearing. So he sent + for the chiefs of the dwarfs, and bade them let Elizabeth go. But they + refused; and then he went and fetched the toad. Then the story goes on in + this way:— + </p> + <p> + "He was hardly come within a hundred paces of them when they all fell to + the ground as if struck with a thunderbolt, and began to howl and whimper, + and to writhe as if suffering the most excruciating pain. The dwarfs + stretched out their hands, and cried, 'Have mercy, have mercy! we feel + that you have a toad, and there is no escape for us. Take the odious beast + away, and we will do all you require.' He let them kneel a few seconds + longer, and then took the toad away. They then stood up, and felt no more + pain. John let all depart but the six chief persons, to whom he said, + 'This night, between twelve and one, Elizabeth and I will depart, Load for + me three waggons with gold, silver, and precious stones. I might, you + know, take all that is in the hill; but I will be merciful. Further, you + must put into two waggons all the furniture of my chamber (which was + covered with emeralds and other precious stones, and in the ceiling was a + diamond as big as a nine-pin bowl), and get ready for me the handsomest + travelling carriage that is in the hill, with six black horses. Moreover, + you must set at liberty all the servants who have been so long here that + on earth they would be twenty years old and upwards, and you must give + them as much silver and gold as will make them rich for life; and you must + make a law that no one shall be kept here longer than his twentieth year.' + </p> + <p> + "The six took the oath, and went away quite melancholy, and John buried + his toad deep in the ground. The little people laboured hard and prepared + everything, and at midnight John and Elizabeth, and their companions, and + all their treasures, were drawn up out of the hill. It was then one + o'clock, and it was midsummer—the very time that, twelve years + before, John had gone down into the hill. Music sounded around them, and + they saw the glass hill open, and the rays of the light of heaven shine on + them after so many years; and when they got out they saw the first streaks + of dawn already in the East. Crowds of the underground people were around + them, busied about the waggons. John bid them a last farewell, waved his + brown cap in the air, and then flung it among them. And at the same moment + he ceased to see them; he beheld nothing but a green hill, and the + well-known bushes and fields, and heard the church clock of Ramfin strike + two. When all was still, save a few larks, who were tuning their morning + song, they all fell upon their knees and worshipped God, resolving + henceforth to lead a pious and Christian life." And then John married + Elizabeth, and was made a count, and built several churches, and presented + to them some of the precious cups and plates made by the underground + people, and kept his own and Elizabeth's glass shoes, in memory of what + had befallen them in their youth. "And they were all taken away," the + story says, "in the time of the great Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, when + the Russians came on the island, and the Cossacks plundered even the + churches, and took away everything." + </p> + <p> + Now there is much more to be told about the dwarfs, if only we had space—how + there were thousands of them in German lands, in the Saxon mines, and the + Black Forest, and the Harz mountains and in other places, and in + Switzerland, and indeed everywhere almost—how they gave gifts to + good men, and borrowed of them, and paid honestly; how they punished those + who injured them; how they moved about from country to country; how they + helped great kings and nobles, and showed themselves to wandering + travellers and to simple country folk. But all this must be left for you + to read for yourselves in Grimm's stories, and in the legends of northern + lands, and in many collections of ancient poems, and romances, and popular + tales. And in these, and in other books which deal with such subjects, you + will find out that all these dwellers in Wonderland, and the tales that + are told about them, and the stories of the gods and heroes, all come from + the one source of which we read something in the first chapter—the + tradition's of the ancient Aryan people, from whom all of us have sprung—and + how they all mean the same things; the conflict between light and + darkness, the succession of day and night, the changes of the seasons, the + blue and bright summer skies, the rain-clouds, the storm-winds, the + thunder and the lightning, and all the varied and infinite forms of Nature + in her moods of calm and storm, peace and tempest, brightness and gloom, + sweet and pleasant and hopeful life and stern and cold death, which causes + all brightness to fade and moulder away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V.—DWELLERS IN FAIRYLAND: WEST HIGHLAND STORIES. + </h2> + <p> + In a very delightful book which has already been mentioned, Campbell's + "Popular Tales of the West Highlands," there are many curious stories of + fairy folk and other creatures of the like kind, described in the + traditions of the west of Scotland, and which are still believed in by + many of the country people. There are Brownies, for instance, the farm + spirits. One of these, so the story goes, inhabited the island of Inch, + and looked after the cattle of the Mac Dougalls; but if the dairymaid + neglected to leave a portion of milk for him at night, one of the cattle + would be sure to fall over the rocks. Another kind of Brownie, called the + Bocan, haunted a place called Moran, opposite the Isle of Skye, and + protected the family of the Macdonalds of Moran, but was very savage to + other people, whom he beat or killed. At last Big John, the son of M'Leod + of Raasay, went and fought the creature in the dark, and tucked him under + his arm, to carry him to the nearest light and see what he was like. But + the Brownies hate to be seen, and this one begged hard to be let off, + promising that he would never come back. So Big John let him off, and he + flew away singing:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Far from me is the hill of Ben Hederin; + Far from me is the Pass of Murmuring;" +</pre> + <p> + and the common story says that the tune is still remembered and sung by + the people of that country. It is also told of a farmer, named Callum Mohr + MacIntosh, near Loch Traig, in Lochaber, that he had a fight with a Bocan, + and in the fight he lost a charmed handkerchief. When he went back to get + it again, he found the Bocan rubbing the handkerchief hard on a flat + stone, and the Bocan said, "It is well for you that you are back, for if I + had rubbed a hole in this you were a dead man." This Bocan became very + friendly with MacIntosh, and used to bring him peats for fire in the deep + winter snows; and when MacIntosh moved to another farm, and left a + hogshead of hides behind him by accident, the Bocan carried it to his new + house next morning, over paths that only a goat could have crossed. + </p> + <p> + Another creature of the same kind is a mischievous spirit, a Goblin or + Brownie, who is called in the Manx language, the Glashan, and who appears + under various names in Highland stories: sometimes as a hairy man, and + sometimes as a water-horse turned into a man. He usually attacks lonely + women, who outwit him, and throw hot peats or scalding water at him, and + then he flies off howling. One feature is common to the stories about him. + He asks the woman what her name is, and she always replies "Myself." So + when the companions of the Glashan ask who burned or scalded him, he says + "Myself," and then they laugh at him. This answer marks the connection + between these tales and those of other countries. Polyphemos asks Odysseus + his name, and is told that it is Outis, or "Nobody." So when Odysseus + blinds Polyphemos, and the other Kyklopes ask the monster who did it, he + says, "Nobody did it." There is a Slavonian story, also, in which a + cunning smith puts out the eyes of the Devil, and says that his name is + Issi, "myself;" and when the tortured demon is asked who hurt him, he + says, "Issi did it;" and then his companions ridicule him. + </p> + <p> + Among other Highland fairy monsters are the water-horses (like the + Scandinavian and Teutonic Kelpies) and the water-bulls, which inhabit + lonely lochs. The water-bulls are described as being friendly to man; the + water-horses are dangerous—when men get upon their backs they are + carried off and drowned. Sometimes the water-horse takes the shape of a + man. Here is a story of this kind from the island of Islay: There was a + farmer who had a great many cattle. Once a strange-looking bull-calf was + born amongst them, and an old woman who saw it knew it for a water-bull, + and ordered it to be kept in a house by itself for seven years, and fed on + the milk of three cows. When the time was up, a servant-maid went to watch + the cattle graze on the side of a loch. In a little while a man came to + her and asked her to dress or comb his hair. So he laid his head upon her + knees, and she began to arrange his hair. Presently she got a great + fright, for amongst the hair she found a great quantity of water-weed; and + she knew that it was a transformed water-horse. Like a brave girl she did + not cry out, but went on dressing the man's hair until he fell asleep. + Then she slid her apron off her knees, and ran home as fast as she could, + and when she got nearly home, the creature was pursuing her in the shape + of a horse. Then the old woman cried out to them to open the door of the + wild bull's house, and out sprang the bull and rushed at the horse, and + they never stopped fighting until they drove each other out into the sea. + "Next day," says the story, "the body of the bull was found on the shore + all torn and spoilt, but the horse was never more seen at all." + </p> + <p> + Sometimes the water-spirit appears in the shape of a great bird, which the + West Highlanders called the Boobrie, who has a long neck, great webbed + feet with tremendous claws, a powerful bill hooked like an eagle's, and a + voice like the roar of an angry bull. The lochs, according to popular + fancy, are also inhabited by water-spirits. In Sutherlandshire this kind + of creature is called the Fuath; there are, Mr. Campbell says, males and + females; they have web-feet, yellow hair, green dresses, tails, manes, and + no noses; they marry human beings, are killed by light, are hurt by steel + weapons, and in crossing a stream they become restless. These spirits + resemble mermen and mermaids, and are also like the Kelpies, and they have + also been somehow confused with the kind of spirit known in Ireland as the + Banshee. Many stories are told of them. A shepherd found one, an old woman + seemingly crippled, at the edge of a bog. He offered to carry her over on + his back. In going over, he saw that she was webfooted; so he threw her + down, and ran for his life. By the side of Loch Middle a woman saw one—"about + three years ago," she told the narrator—she sat on a stone, quiet, + and dressed in green silk, the sleeves of the dress curiously puffed from + the wrists to the shoulder; her hair was yellow, like ripe corn; but on a + nearer view, she had no nose. A man at Tubernan made a bet that he would + seize the Fuath or Kelpie who haunted the loch at Moulin na Fouah. So he + took a brown right-sided maned horse, and a brown black-muzzled dog, and + with the help of the dog he captured the Fuath, and tied her on the horse + behind him. She was very fierce, but he pinned her down with an awl and a + needle. Crossing the burn or brook near Loch Migdal she grew very + restless, and the man stuck the awl and the needle into her with great + force. Then she cried, "Pierce me with the awl, but keep that slender + hair-like slave (the needle) out of me." When the man reached an inn at + Inveran, he called his friends to come out and look at the Fuath. They + came out with lights, and when the light fell upon her she dropped off the + horse, and fell to the earth like a small lump of jelly. + </p> + <p> + The Fairies of the West Highlands in some degree resembled the + Scandinavian Dwarfs. They milked the deer; they lived underground, and + worked at trades, especially metal-working and weaving. They had hammers + and anvils, but had to steal wool and to borrow looms; and they had great + hoards of treasure hidden in their dwelling places. Sometimes they helped + the people whom they liked, but at other times they were spiteful and evil + minded; and according to tradition all over the Highlands, they enticed + men and women into their dwellings in the hills, and kept them there + sometimes for years, always dancing without stopping. There are many + stories of this kind; and there are also many about the fondness of the + Fairies for carrying off human children, and leaving Imps of their own in + their places—these Imps being generally old men disguised as + children. Some of these tales are very curious, and are like others that + are found amongst the folk-lore of Celtic peoples elsewhere. Here is the + substance of one told in Islay:— + </p> + <p> + Years ago there lived in Crossbrig a smith named MacEachern, who had an + only son, about fourteen; a strong, healthy, cheerful boy. All of a sudden + he fell ill, took to his bed, and moped for days, getting thin, and + odd-looking, and yellow, and wasting away fast, so that they thought he + must die. Now a "wise" old man, who knew about Fairies, came to see the + smith at work, and the poor man told him all about his trouble. The old + man said, "It is not your son you have got; the boy has been carried off + by the Dacorie Sith (the Fairies), and they have left a sibhreach + (changeling) in his place." Then the old man told him what to do. "Take as + many egg-shells as you can get, go with them into the room, spread them + out before him, then draw water with them, carrying them two and two in + your hands as if they were a great weight, and when they are full, range + them round the fire." The smith did as he was told; and he had not been + long at work before there came from the bed a great shout of laughter, and + the supposed boy cried out, "I am eight hundred years old, and I never saw + the like of <i>that</i> before." Then the smith knew that it was not his + own son. The wise man advised him again. "Your son," he said, "is in a + green round hill where the Fairies live; get rid of this creature, and + then go and look for him." So the smith lit a fire in front of the bed. + "What is that for?" asked the supposed boy. "You will see presently," said + the smith; and then he took him and threw him into the middle of it; and + the sibhreach gave an awful yell, and flew up through the roof, where a + hole was left to let the smoke out. Now the old man said that on a certain + night the green round hill, where the Fairies kept the smith's boy, would + be open. The father was to take a Bible, a dirk, and a crowing cock, and + go there. He would hear singing, and dancing, and much merriment, but he + was to go boldly in. The Bible would protect him against the Fairies, and + he was to stick the dirk into the threshold, to prevent the hill closing + upon him. Then he would see a grand room, and there, working at a forge, + he would find his own son; and when the Fairies questioned him he was to + say that he had come for his boy, and would not go away without him. So + the smith went, and did what the old man told him. He heard the music, + found the hill open, went in, stuck the dirk in the threshold, carried the + Bible on his breast, and took the cock in his hand. Then the Fairies + angrily asked what he wanted, and he said, "I want my son whom I see down + there, and I will not go without him." Upon this the whole company of the + Fairies gave a loud laugh, which woke up the cock, and he leaped on the + smith's shoulders, clapped his wings, and crowed lustily. Then the Fairies + took the smith and his son, put them out of the hill, flung the dirk after + them, and the hill-side closed up again. For a year and a day after he got + home the boy never did any work, and scarcely spoke a word; but at last + one day sitting by his father, and seeing him finish a sword for the + chieftain, he suddenly said, "That's not the way to do it," and he took + the tools, and fashioned a sword the like of which was never seen in that + country before; and from that day he worked and lived as usual. + </p> + <p> + Here is another story. A woman was going through a wild glen in Strath + Carron, in Sutherland—the Glen Garaig—carrying her infant + child wrapped in her plaid. Below the path, overhung with trees, ran a + very deep ravine, called Glen Odhar, or the dun glen. The child, not a + year old, suddenly spoke, and said:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Many a dun hummel cow, + With a calf below her, + Have I seen milking + In that dun glen yonder, + Without dog, without man, + Without woman, without gillie, + But one man; and he hoary." +</pre> + <p> + Then the woman knew that it was a fairy changeling she was carrying, and + she flung down the child and the plaid, and ran home, where her own baby + lay smiling in the cradle. + </p> + <p> + A tailor went to a farm-house to work, and just as he was going in, + somebody put into his hands a child of a month old, which a little lady + dressed in green seemed to be waiting to receive. The tailor ran home and + gave the child to his wife. When he got back to the farm-house he found + the farmer's child crying and yelping, and disturbing everybody. It was a + fairy changeling which the nurse had taken in, meaning to give the + farmer's own child to the fairy in exchange; but nobody knew this but the + tailor. When they were all gone out he began to talk to the child. "Hae ye + your pipes?" said the Tailor. "They're below my head," said the + Changeling. "Play me a spring," said the Tailor. Out sprang the little man + and played the bagpipes round the room. Then there was a noise outside, + and the Elf said, "Its my folk wanting me," and away he went up the + chimney; and then they fetched back the farmer's child from the tailor's + house. + </p> + <p> + One more story: it is told by the Sutherland-shire folk. A small farmer + had a boy who was so cross that nothing could be done with him. One day + the farmer and his wife went out, and put the child to bed in the kitchen; + and they bid the farm lad to go and look at it now and then, and to thrash + out the straw in the barn. The lad went to look at the child, and the + Child said to him in a sharp voice, "What are you going to do?" "Thrash + out a pickle of straw," said the Lad, "lie still and don't grin, like a + good bairn." But the little Imp of out of bed, and said, "Go east, Donald, + and when ye come to the big brae (or brow of the hill), rap three times, + and when <i>they</i> come, say ye are seeking Johnnie's flail." Donald did + so, and out came a little fairy man, and gave him a flail. Then Johnnie + took the flail, thrashed away at the straw, finished it, sent the flail + back, and went to bed again. When the parents came back, Donald told them + all about it; and so they took the Imp out of the cradle, put it in a + basket, and set the basket on the fire. No sooner did the creature feel + the fire than he vanished up the chimney. Then there was a low crying + noise at the door, and when they opened it, a pretty little lad, whom the + mother knew to be her own, stood shivering outside. + </p> + <p> + A few notes about West Highland giants must end this account of wonder + creatures in this region. There was a giant in Glen Eiti, a terrible + being, who comes into a wild strange story, too long to be told here. He + is described as having one hand only, coming out of the middle of his + chest, one leg coming out of his haunch, and one eye in the middle of his + face. And in the same story there is another giant called the Fachan, and + the story says, "Ugly was the make of the Fachan; there was one hand out + of the ridge of his chest, and one tuft out of the top of his head; it + were easier to take a mountain from the root than to bend that tuft." + Usually, the Highland giants were not such dreadful creatures as this. + Like giants in all stories, they were very stupid, and were easily + outwitted by cunning men. "The Gaelic giants (Mr. Campbell says)<a + href="#linknote-9" name="linknoteref-9" id="linknoteref-9">[9]</a> are + very like those of Norse and German tales, but they are much nearer to + real men than the giants of Germany and Scandinavia and Greece and Rome, + who are almost, if not quite, equal to the gods. Their world is generally, + though not always, underground; it has castles, and parks, and pasture, + and all that is found above on the earth. Gold, and silver, and copper + abound in the giants' land, jewels are seldom mentioned, but cattle, and + horses, and spoil of dresses, and arms, and armour, combs, and basins, + apples, shields, bows, spears, and horses are all to be gained by a fight + with the giants. Still, now and then a giant does some feat quite beyond + the power of man, such as a giant in Barra, who fished up a hero, boat and + all, with his fishing-rod, from a rock and threw him over his head, as + little boys do 'cuddies' from the pier end. So the giants may be degraded + gods, after all." In the story of Connal, told by Kenneth MacLennan of + Pool Ewe, there is a giant who was beaten by the hero of the tale. Connal + was the son of King Cruachan, of Eirinn, and he set out on his adventures. + He met a giant who had a great treasure of silver and gold, in a cave at + the bottom of a rock, and the giant used to promise a bag of gold to + anybody who would allow himself to be let down in a creel or basket, and + send some of it up. Many people were lost in trying it, for when the giant + had let them down, and they had filled the creel, the giant used to draw + up the creel of gold, and then he would not let it down again, and so + those who had gone down for it were left to perish in the deep cavern. Now + Connal agreed to go down, and the giant served him in the same way that he + had done the rest, and Connal was left in the cave among the dead men and + the gold. Now the giant could not get anybody else to go down, and as he + wanted more gold, he let his own son down in the creel, and gave him the + sword of light, so that he might see his way before him. When the young + giant got into the cave, Connal took the sword of light very quickly, and + cut off the young giant's head, Then Connal put gold into the bottom of + the creel, and got in himself, and covered himself over with gold, and + gave a pull at the rope, and the giant drew up the creel, and when he did + not see his son, he threw the creel over the back of his head; and Connal + took the sword of light, and cut off the giant's head, and went away home + with the sword and the gold. + </p> + <p> + There was a King of Lochlin, who had three daughters, and three giants + stole them, and carried them down under the earth; and a wise man told the + King that the only way to get them back was to make a ship that would sail + over land or sea. So the King said that anybody who would make such a ship + should marry his eldest daughter. There was a widow who had three sons, + and the eldest of them said he would go into the forest and cut wood, and + make the ship; and his mother gave him a large bannock (oat cake), and + away he went. Then a Fairy came out of the river, and asked for a bit of + the bannock, but he would not give her a morsel; so he began cutting the + wood, but as fast as he cut them down, the trees grew up again, and he + went home sorrowful. Then the next brother did the same, and he failed + also. Then the youngest brother went, and he took a little bannock, + instead of a big one, and the Fairy came again, and he gave her a share of + the bannock; and she told him to meet her there in a year and a day, and + the ship should be ready. And it was ready, and the youngest son sailed + away in it. Then he came to a man who was drinking up a river; and the + youngest son hired him for a servant. After a time, he found a man who was + eating a whole ox, and he hired him too. Then he saw another man, with his + ear to the earth, and he said he was hearing the grass grow; so he hired + him also. Then they got to a great cave, and the last man listened, and + said it was where the three giants kept the King's three daughters, and + they went down into the cave, and up to the house of the biggest giant. + "Ha! ha!" said the Giant, "you are seeking the King's daughter, but thou + wilt not have her, unless thou hast a man who will drink as much water as + I." Then the river-drinker set to work, and so did the giant, and before + the man was half satisfied, the giant burst. Then they went to where the + second giant was. "Ho! ho!" said the Giant, "thou art seeking the King's + daughter, but thou wilt not get her, if thou hast not a man who will eat + as much flesh as I." Then the ox-eater began, and so did the giant; but + before the man was half satisfied, the giant burst. Then they went on to + the third Giant; and the Giant said to the youngest son that he should + have the King's daughter if he would stay with him for a year and a day as + a slave. Then they sent up the King's three daughters, and the three men + out of the cave; and the youngest son stayed with the giant for a year and + a day. When the time was up the youngest son said, "Now I am going." Then + the Giant said, "I have an eagle that will take thee up;" and he put him + on the eagle's back, and fifteen oxen for the eagle to eat on her way up; + but before the eagle had got half way up she had eaten all the oxen, and + came back again. So the youngest son had to stay with the giant for + another year and a day. When the time was up, the Giant put him on the + eagle again, and thirty oxen to last her for food; but before she got to + the top she ate them all, and so went back again; and the young man had to + stay another year and a day with the giant. At the end of the third year + and a day, the Giant put him on the eagle's back a third time, and gave + her three score of oxen to eat; and just when they got to the mouth of the + cave, where the earth began, all the oxen were eaten, and the eagle was + going back again. But the young man cut a piece out of his own thigh, and + gave it to the eagle, and with one spring she was on the surface of the + earth. Then the Eagle said to him, "Any hard lot that comes to thee, + whistle, and I will be at thy side." Now the youngest son went to the town + where the King of Lochlin lived with the daughters he had got back from + the giants; and he hired himself to work at blowing the bellows for a + smith. And the King's oldest daughter ordered the smith to make her a + golden crown like that she had when she was with the giant, or she would + cut off his head. The bellows-blower said he would do it. So the smith + gave him the gold, and he shut himself up, and broke the gold into + splinters, and threw it out of the window, and people picked it up. Then + he whistled for the Eagle, and she came, and he ordered her to fetch the + gold crown that belonged to the biggest giant; and the Eagle fetched it, + and the smith took it to the King's daughter, who was quite satisfied. + Then the King's second daughter wanted a silver crown like that she had + when she was with the second giant; and the King's youngest daughter + wanted a copper crown, like that she had when she was with the third + Giant; and the Eagle fetched them both for the young man, and the smith + took them to the King's daughters. Then the King asked the smith how he + did all this; and the smith said it was his bellows-blower who did it. So + the King sent a coach and four horses for the bellows-blower, and the + servants took him, all dirty as he was, and threw him into the coach like + a dog. But on the way he called the eagle, who took him out of the coach, + and filled it with stones, and when the King opened the door, the stones + fell out upon him, and nearly killed him; and then, the story says, "There + was catching of the horse gillies, and hanging them for giving such an + affront to the King." Then the King sent a second time, and these + messengers also were very rude to the bellows-blower, so he made the eagle + fill the coach with dirt, which fell about the King's ears, and the second + set of servants were punished. The third time the King sent his trusty + servant, who was very civil, and asked the bellows-blower to wash himself, + and he did so, and the eagle brought a gold and silver dress that had + belonged to the biggest giant, and when the King opened the coach door + there was sitting inside the very finest man he ever saw. And the young + man told the King all that had happened, and they gave him the King's + eldest daughter for his wife, and the wedding lasted twenty days and + twenty nights. + </p> + <p> + One story more, of how a Giant was outwitted by a maiden. It is told in + the island of Islay. There was a widow, who had three daughters, who went + out to seek their fortunes. The two elder ones did not want the youngest, + and they tied her in turns to a rock, a peat-stack, and a tree, but she + got loose and came after them. They got to the house of a Giant, and had + leave to stop for the night, and were put to bed with the Giant's + daughters. The Giant came home and said, "The smell of strange girls is + here," and he ordered his gillie to kill them; and the gillie was to know + them from the Giant's daughters by these having twists of amber beads + round their necks, and the others having twists of horse-hair. Now Maol o + Chliobain, the youngest of the widow's daughters, heard this, and she + changed the necklaces, and so the gillie came and killed the Giant's + daughters, and Maol o Chliobain took the golden cloth that was on the bed, + and ran away with her sisters. But the cloth was an enchanted cloth, and + it cried out to the Giant, who pursued them till they came to a river, and + then Maol plucked out a hair of her head, and made a bridge of it; but the + Giant could not get over; so he called out to Maol, "And when wilt thou + come again?" "I will come when my business brings me," she said; and then + he went home again. They got to a farmer's house, and told him their + history. Said the Farmer, who had three sons, "I will give my eldest son + to thy eldest sister; get for me the fine comb of gold and the coarse comb + of silver that the Giant has." So she went and fetched the combs, and the + Giant followed her till they came to the river, which the Giant could not + get over; so he went back again. Then the farmer said he would marry his + second son to the second sister, if Maol would get him the sword of light + that the Giant had. So she went to the Giant's house, and got up into a + tree that was over the well; and when the Giant's gillie came to draw + water, she came down and pushed him into the well, and carried away the + sword of light that he had with him. Then the Giant followed her again, + and again the river stopped him; and he went back. Now the farmer said he + would give his youngest son to Maol o Chliobain herself, if she would + bring him the buck the Giant had. So she went, but when she had caught the + buck, the Giant caught her. And he said, "Thou least killed my three + daughters, and stolen my combs of gold and silver; what wouldst thou do to + me if I had done as much harm to thee as thou to me?" She said, "I would + make thee burst thyself with milk porridge, I would then put thee in a + sack, I would hang thee to the roof-tree, I would set fire under thee, and + I would lay on thee with clubs till thou shouldst fall as a faggot of + withered sticks on the floor." So the Giant made milk porridge and forced + her to drink it, and she lay down as if she were dead. Then the Giant put + her in a sack, and hung her to the roof tree, and he went away to the + forest to get wood to burn her, and he left his old mother to watch till + he came back. When the Giant was gone Maol o Chliobain began to cry out, + "I am in the light; I am in the city of gold." "Wilt thou let me in?" said + the Giant's mother. "I will not let thee in," said Maol o Chliobain. Then + the Giant's mother let the sack down, and Maol o Chliobain got out, and + she put into the sack the Giant's mother, and the cat, and the calf, and + the cream-dish; and then she took the buck and went away. When the Giant + came back he began beating the sack with clubs, and his Mother cried out, + "Tis I myself that am in it." "I know that thyself is in it," said the + Giant, and he laid on all the harder. Then the sack fell down like a + bundle of withered sticks, and the Giant found that he had killed his + mother. So he knew that Maol o Chliobain had played him a trick, and he + went after her, and got up to her just as she leaped over the river. "Thou + art over there, Maol o Chliobain" said the Giant. "I am over," she said. + "Thou killedst my three bald brown daughters?" "I killed them, though it + is hard for thee." "Thou stolest my golden comb, and my silver comb?" "I + stole them." "Thou killedst my bald rough-skinned gillie?" "I killed him." + "Thou stolest my glaive (sword) of light?" "I stole it." "Thou killedst my + mother?" "I killed her, though it is hard for thee." "Thou stolest my + buck?" "I stole it." "When wilt thou come again?" "I will come when my + business brings me." "If thou wert over here, and I yonder," said the + Giant, "what wouldst thou do to follow me?" "I would kneel down," she + said, "and I would drink till I should dry the river." Then the poor + foolish Giant knelt down, and he drank till he burst; and then Maol o + Chliobain went off with the buck and married the youngest son of the + farmer. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI.—CONCLUSION: SOME POPULAR TALES EXPLAINED. + </h2> + <p> + This brings us towards the end—that is, to show how some of our own + familiar stories connect themselves with the old Aryan myths, and also to + show something of what they mean. There are four stories which we know + best—Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack the Giant + Killer, and Jack and the Bean Stalk—and the last two of these belong + especially to English fairy lore. + </p> + <p> + Now about the story of Cinderella. We saw something of her in the first + chapter: How she is Ushas, the Dawn Maiden of the Aryans, and the Aurora + of the Greeks; and how the Prince is the Sun, ever seeking to make the + Dawn his bride, and how the envious stepmother and sisters are the Clouds + and the Night, which strive to keep the Dawn and the Sun apart. The story + of Little Red Riding Hood, as we call her, or Little Red Cap, as she is + called in the German tales, also comes from the same source, and refers to + the Sun and the Night. You all know the story so well that I need not + repeat it: how Little Red Riding Hood goes with nice cakes and a pat of + butter to her poor old grandmother; how she meets on the way with a wolf, + and gets into talk with him, and tells him where she is going; how the + wolf runs off to the cottage to get there first, and eats up the poor + grandmother, and puts on her clothes, and lies down in her bed; how Little + Red Riding hood, knowing nothing of what the wicked wolf has done, comes + to the cottage, and gets ready to go to bed to her grandmother, and how + the story goes on in this way:— + </p> + <p> + "Grandmother," (says Little Red Riding Hood), "what great arms you have + got!" + </p> + <p> + "That is to hug you the better, my dear." + </p> + <p> + "Grandmother, what, great ears you have got!" + </p> + <p> + "That is to hear you the better, my dear." + </p> + <p> + "Grandmother, what great eyes you have got!" + </p> + <p> + "That is to see you the better, my dear." + </p> + <p> + "Grandmother, what a great mouth you have got!" + </p> + <p> + "That is to eat you up!" cried the wicked wolf; and then he leaped out of + bed, and fell upon poor Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her up in a + moment. + </p> + <p> + This is the English version of the story, and here it stops; but in the + German story there is another ending to it. After the wolf has eaten up + Little Red Riding Hood he lies down in bed again, and begins to snore very + loudly. A huntsman, who is going by, thinks it is the old grandmother + snoring, and he says, "How loudly the old woman snores; I must see if she + wants anything." So he stepped into the cottage, and when he came to the + bed he found the wolf lying in it. "What! do I find you here, you old + sinner?" cried the huntsman; and then, taking aim with his gun, he shot + the wolf quite dead. + </p> + <p> + Now this ending helps us to see the full meaning of the story. One of the + fancies in the most ancient Aryan or Hindu stories was that there was a + great dragon that was trying to devour the sun, and to prevent him from + shining upon the earth and filling it with brightness and life and beauty, + and that Indra, the sun-god, killed the dragon. Now this is the meaning of + Little Red Riding Hood, as it is told in our nursery tales. Little Red + Riding Hood is the evening sun, which is always described as red or + golden; the old Grandmother is the earth, to whom the rays of the sun + bring warmth and comfort. The Wolf—which is a well-known figure for + the clouds and blackness of night—is the dragon in another form; + first he devours the grandmother, that is, he wraps the earth in thick + clouds, which the evening sun is not strong enough to pierce through. + Then, with the darkness of night he swallows up the evening sun itself, + and all is dark and desolate. Then, as in the German tale, the + night-thunder and the storm winds are represented by the loud snoring of + the Wolf; and then the Huntsman, the morning sun, comes in all his + strength and majesty, and chases away the night-clouds and kills the Wolf, + and revives old Grandmother Earth, and brings Little Red Riding Hood to + life again. Or another explanation may be that the Wolf is the dark and + dreary winter that kills the earth with frost, and hides the sun with fog + and mist; and then the Spring comes, with the huntsman, and drives winter + down to his ice-caves again, and brings the Earth and the Sun back to + life. Thus, you see, how closely the most ancient myth is preserved in the + nursery tale, and how full of beautiful and hopeful meaning this is when + we come to understand it. The same idea is repeated in another story, that + of "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood," where the Maiden is the Morning + Dawn, and the young Prince, who awakens her with a kiss, is the Sun which + comes to release her from the long sleep of wintry night. + </p> + <p> + The germ of the story of "Jack and the Bean Stalk" is to be found in old + Hindu tales, in which the beans are used as the symbols of abundance, or + as meaning the moon, and in which the white cow is the clay and the black + cow is the night. There is also a Russian story in which a bean falls upon + the ground and grows up to the sky, and an old man, meaning the sun, + climbs up by it to heaven, and sees everything. This comes very near the + story of Jack, who sells his cow for a handful of beans, and his mother + scatters them in the garden, and throws her apron over her head and weeps, + thus figuring the Night and the Rain; and, shielded by the night and + watered by the rain, the bean grows up to the sky, and Jack climbs to the + Ogre's land, and carries off the bags of gold, and the wonderful hen that + lays a golden egg every day, and the golden harp that plays tunes by + itself. It is also possible that the bean-stalk which grows from earth to + heaven is a remembrance, brought by the Norsemen, of the great tree, + Ygdrassil, which, in the Norse mythology, has its roots in hell and its + top in heaven; and the evil Demons dwell in the roots, and the earth is + placed in the middle, and the Gods live in the branches. And there is + another explanation given, namely, that "the Ogre in the land above the + skies, who was once the All-father, possessed three treasures: a harp + which played of itself enchanting music, bags of gold and diamonds, and a + hen which daily laid a golden egg. The harp is the wind, the bags are the + clouds dropping the sparkling rain, and the golden egg laid every day by + the red hen is the dawn-produced sun."<a href="#linknote-10" + name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10">[10]</a> Thus, in the story of + "Jack and the Bean Stalk" we find repeated the same idea which appears in + Northern and Eastern fairy tales, and in Greek legends; and so we are + carried back to the ancient Hindu traditions, and to the myths of + Nature-worship amongst the old Aryan race. + </p> + <p> + It is the same with the story of "Jack the Giant Killer," which also has + its connection with the legends of various countries and all ages, and has + also its inner meaning, drawn from the beliefs and traditions of the + ancient past. There is no need to tell you the adventures of Jack the + Giant Killer; how he kills the Cornish giant Cormoran by tumbling him into + a pit and striking him on the head with a pick-axe; how he strangles Giant + Blunderbore and his friend by throwing ropes over their heads and drawing + the nooses fast until they are choked; how he cheats the Welsh giant by + putting a block of wood into his own bed for the giant to hammer at and by + slipping the hasty-pudding into a leathern bag, and then ripping it up, to + induce the giant to do the same with his own stomach, which he does, and + so kills himself; or how he frightens the giant with three heads, and so + gets the coat of darkness, the cap of knowledge, the shoes of swiftness, + and the sword of sharpness, and uses these to escape from other and more + terrible masters, and to kill them; and gets the duke's daughter for his + wife, and lives honoured and happy ever after. + </p> + <p> + Now Jack the Giant Killer is really one of the very oldest and most + widely-known characters in Wonderland. He is the hero who, in all + countries and ages, fights with monsters and overcomes them; like Indra, + the ancient Hindu sun-god, whose thunderbolts slew the demons of drought + in the far East; or Perseus, who, in Greek story, delivers the maiden from + the sea-monster; or Odysseus, who tricks the giant Polyphemus, and causes + him to throw himself into the sea; or Thor, whose hammer beats down the + frost-giants of the North. The gifts bestowed upon Jack are found in + Tartar stories, in Hindu tales, in German legends, and in the fables of + Scandinavia. The cloak is the cloud cloak of Alberich, king of the old + Teutonic dwarfs, the cap is found in many tales of Fairyland, the shoes + are like the sandals of Hermes, the sword is like Arthur's Excalibur, or + like the sword forged for Sigurd, or that which was made by the + horse-smith, Velent, the original of Wayland Smith, of old English + legends. This sword was so sharp, that when Velent smote his adversary it + seemed only as if cold water had glided down him. "Shake thyself," said + Velent; and he shook himself, and fell dead in two halves. The trick which + Jack played upon the Welsh giant is related in the legend of the god Thor + and the giant Skrimner. The giant laid himself down to sleep under an oak, + and Thor struck him with his mighty hammer. "Hath a leaf fallen upon me + from the tree?" said the giant. Thor struck him again on the forehead. + "What is the matter," said Skrimner, "hath an acorn fallen upon my head?" + A third time Thor struck his tremendous blow. Skrimner rubbed his cheek + and said, "Methinks some moss has fallen upon my face." The giant had done + what Jack did: he put a great rock upon the place where Thor supposed him + to be sleeping, and the rock received all the blows. The whole story + probably means no more than this: Jack the Giant Killer is the Wind and + the Light which disperses the mists and overthrows the cloud giants; and + popular fancy, ages ago, dressed him out as a person combating real giants + of flesh and blood, just as in all ages and all countries the forces of + nature have taken personal shape, and have given us these tales of + miraculous gifts, of great deeds done, and of monsters destroyed by men + with the courage and the strength of heroes. + </p> + <p> + Now our task is done. We have seen that the Fairy Stories came from Asia, + where they were made, ages and ages ago, by a people who spread themselves + over our Western world, and formed the nations which dwell in it, and + brought their myths and legends with them; and we have seen, too, how the + ancient meanings are still to be found in the tales that are put now into + children's books, and are told by nurses at the fireside. And we have seen + something of the lessons they teach us, and which are taught by all the + famous tales of Wonderland; lessons of kindness to the feeble and the old, + and to birds, and beasts, and all dumb creatures; lessons of courtesy, + courage, and truth-speaking; and above all, the first and noblest lesson + believed in by those who were the founders of our race, that God is very + near to us, and is about us always; and that now, as in all times, He + helps and comforts those who live good and honest lives, and do whatever + duty lies clear before them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_FOOT" id="link2H_FOOT"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOOTNOTES: + </h2> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ Edward Clodd, <i>The + Childhood of Religions: Embracing a Simple Account of the Birth and Growth + of Myths and Legends</i>, p. 76-77. (1878)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Kingsley's <i>Heroes</i>, + preface, p. xv.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Oxford Essays:</i> + "Comparative Mythology," p. 69.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Popular Tales from the + Norse</i>, by George Webbe Dasent, D.C.L.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Popular Titles of the + West Highlands</i>. Orally collected, with a Translation by J. F. + Campbell. Edinburgh: Edmonton and Douglas. 4 vols.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Campbell's <i>Popular Tales + of the West Highlands</i>, i. 112.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Old Deccan Days</i>. + Miss and Sir Bartle Frere.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Old Deccan Days</i>.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Popular Tales of the + West Highlands</i>, vol. i., Introduction, p. c.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Baring-Gould, <i>Myths of + the Middle Ages.</i>] + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Fairy Tales; Their Origin and Meaning, by +John Thackray Bunce + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIRY TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 8226-h.htm or 8226-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/2/2/8226/ + +Produced by David Deley and David Widger + +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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