The East is rich in Folklore, and the lorist is not troubled to discover
material, but to select only that which it is best worth his while to
preserve. The conditions under which the people live are most favourable
to the preservation of the ancient legends, and the cultivation of the
powers of narration fits the Oriental to present his stories in a more
polished style than is usual in the Western countries. The reader of
these tales will observe many points of similarity between them and the
popular fictions of the West--similarity of thought and incident--and
nothing, perhaps, speaks more eloquently the universal brotherhood of
man than this oneness of folk-fiction. At the same time, the Tales of
the East are unique, lighted up as they are by a gorgeous extravagance
of imagination which never fails to attract and delight.