catches a swan-maiden of great beauty. The king, so soon as he hears of
her, determines to have her for his son, and the courtiers advise him to
make the man procure--1st, "A table, on which is painted the moon and
stars;" this his wife gets her husband while he is asleep; 2nd, "he was
to go nowhere and fetch nothing." His wife again helps him, by sending
him to a house where an old woman summons all her servants (Cf. "Fairy
Elizabeth," p. 106). This time it is a frog who takes the man, and he at
length comes to a palace; and as he paces the floor at night, he mutters
to himself, "Just nothing." "Beg your pardon," says a voice; and he
finds that he has an invisible companion, who obeys all his commands,
and answers to the name of "Just Nothing." When he returns to the king,
he finds they are just celebrating the wedding of the king's son with
his own wife, who does not recognise him till he drops a ring into the
empty goblet out of which he has drunk the corn brandy the bride had
given him. By his new powers he soon upsets the bad king and his host,
and then all is joy and happiness. Cf. _Musaeus_, _Volksmärchen der
Deutschen von J. L. Klee_. _Leipzig_, 1842. "Der geraubte Schleier";
_Walachische Märchen von A. und A. Schott_. _Stuttgart_, 1845. "Der
verstossene Sohn." Weil, _Tausend und eine Nacht_, vol. iv. "Geschichte
des Prinzen Ojanschach;" _Irische Elfenmärchen, von Grimm_. _Leipzig_,
1826. "Die Flasche."
Kletke, _Märchensaal aller Völker, für Jung und Alt_. _Berlin_ 1845,
vol. iii. "Der Wundermann."
Cf. "Bondesønnen, Kongesønnen og Solens Søster," _Friis_, p. 140; where
the hero, by means of a fox, rescues the Sun's sister's sister, "Evening
Red," from the giants who had stolen her, and who were turned into
pillars of stone as soon as they caught sight of the Sun's sister, Dawn.
So soon as the king heard of her, he determined to have her for his
son's wife, and set heavy tasks for the hero to perform, which he does
by means of his wife's power.
In another tale from Tanen, "Bæive Kongens eller Sol Kongens Datter,"
_Friis_, p. 152, the hero will insist upon the king knowing that he is
going home with the Sun King's daughter, whom he has caught by stealing
her swan dress, and so gets into trouble, as the king does all he can to
get possession of the girl.
In "Gutten, som tjente hos Kongen," _Friis_, p. 167, from Tanen, the
hero is to have the king's daughter in return for faithful service but
at the last moment the king demands certain labours before he will allow
the marriage to take place. In this case it is the Gieddegæs̃ old
woman, that is, a wise or troll woman, who helps the hero.
A magic ship that can sail over land and sea is a favourite in Lapp
stories, and is often one of the tasks set. Cf. "Ruobba[12] Jætten og
Fanden," _Friis_, p. 67. Here the third son feeds axes, augurs, planes,
and all sorts of tools,[13] which come and beg for food, and by their
means builds the ship. See Finnish "Maan, meren, kulkija laiwa" ("The
Ship that can Sail on Land and Sea"), from Ilomantsi. _S. ja T._ ii. p.
22.
Somewhat similar incidents occur in the tale "Seppo Ilmarisen kosinta"
("Smith Ilmarinen's Courtship"). _S. ja T._ i. p. 1, wherein Ilmarinen
goes to woo fair Katherine, the Hiihto king's daughter. The first task
was to plough the king's snake-field--where the snakes were crawling
two yards deep--in bare feet and bare skin. Then he sang a lake full of
fishes into the courtyard. Next he went to bring a chest which had been
covered for a long time, and which the old man, Untamoinen, had. When
Ilmarinen asked for the beautiful Katherine's wedding chest the old man
replied, "If you can stand on my tongue, jump and dance, then I will
give it to you." The smith jumped on to his tongue, but the old man's
mouth was so wide he swallowed Ilmarinen. The smith did not mind that;
he made a smithy of his shirt, bellows of his trousers, used his left
knee for an anvil, and his left hand for tongs. Of the copper buckle of
his skirt he made a bird with claws of iron and bill of steel. He then
sang a song and the bird became alive, and by its means he dug his way
out of Untamoinen's stomach, got the chest, and after a great many
troubles with fair Katherine at last got home.
In the latter part of the tale one is reminded of such stories as
_Household Stories from the Land of Hofer_, "St. Peter's Three Loaves,"
p. 265; _Grimm_, vol. ii., "The Rich Man and the Poor Man," p. 1, and
Notes, p. 373; Stokes's _Indian Tales_, "Rajah Harichand's Punishment,"
p. 224.
LUCK AND BLISS. Kriza, xii.
Cf. Caballero's _Spanish Tales_, "Dame Fortune and Don Money," p. 190,
and "Fortune and Misfortune," p. 147.
_Naake_, "Wisdom and Fortune," p. 243, a Bohemian tale.
THE LAZY CAT. Kriza, xi.
This tale does not call for any special remark.
HANDSOME PAUL. Kriza, i.
_Page 25_. Old men in Hungary are always addressed as "my father," or
"my elder brother," and in turn address their juniors as "my son," or
"my younger brother." Women are also addressed as "mother," "daughter,"
"elder sister," or "younger sister." Cf. the "little father," in modern
Russian; also _Reynard the Fox in South Africa_, by Dr. Bleek, "The Lion
who took a Woman's Shape," p. 50, where the lion calls a woman "my
mother" and "my aunt," and she calls him "my uncle."
Fisk, _Myths and Myth-Makers_, pp. 166, 167, Zulu Uthlakanyana meets a
cannibal, whom he calls "uncle," and is called "child of my sister." The
Yakuts in Siberia call the bear "beloved uncle."
Tylor's _Primitive Culture_, vol. ii. p. 231.
Tylor's _Early History of Mankind_. pp. 130-49; 288-91.
Ibn Batuta, the Moorish traveller, mentions that in his time--about
1347--old men in Cansai, the modern Hangchenfu, were commonly addressed
as "Atha," _i. e._ "Father" in Turkish. Cf. _The Travels of Friar
Odoric_ (Hakluyt Soc.), iv. p. 288.
_Vide_ Giants in the Introduction to this collection.
The incident of finding the giant occurs in many stories, _e.g._ a
Finnish tale relates how some sailors sailing along the coast near
Wiborg saw a fire lighted on the shore, and, as they were nearly frozen,
landed, and found to their horror a giant laid round it with his feet
under his head (cf. Giant in "Fairy Elizabeth," p. 99 of this vol.) The
giant awakes and asks where they are from, and hearing that they were
from Wiborg, tells them he knows it well, and drinks with great gusto a
tun of tar, remarking, "Ah! that's the old Wiborg drink!" Topelius,
_Boken om vårt Land. Helsingfors_, 1875, p. 153.
See also a similar tale, "Glosheds Altare," from Bohuslän, _Hofberg_, p.
81. It is commonly reported in Bohuslän and Dal that the giants withdrew
to Dovre in Norway, or else to some uninhabited island in the North Sea,
and that they most anxiously inquired of any travellers they came across
how things were going on in their native land. They are said to have
left their homes "when modern mankind began to exist," in the Swedish
stories. They often declare it was on account of the continued ringing
that they left the land.
In "Ulfgrytstenarna," from Närike, the giant hearing the bells for the
first time tells his wife to put a stone in her garter and sling it at
the grey cow which is tinkling near Hjelmar, meaning the newly-built
church at Örebro. The giantess threw the stone thirteen miles too far.
The giant threw and missed, and the bells sounded with wondrous
clearness. The giant then seized two enormous rocks, and set off to
crush the church; on the way an old man who had set out to stop him,
showed him a pile of shoes worn out by his journey from Örebro. The
giant threw the rocks down and went home. _Hofberg_, p. 132.
See also the story about the old man and Ragnar Lodbrok, who is said to
have delivered Rome from the Norse men, by showing their worn-out iron
shoes. Also Gibeonites and Joshua; Joshua, ix. 5.
Giants sometimes built instead of destroying religious houses. See
_Afzelius, Svenska Folkets Sagohäfder_, v. p. 31, where the giant Rise
is said to have built Riseberg Monastery and given it his own name; also
"Skaluda-Jätten," a story from Vestergötland.
For a giant's appetite, _p. 26_, see "Vas Péter," a tale quoted by
Kozma, in which Glutton eats 366 fat oxen in six hours, and Drunkard
empties 366 casks of wine, each holding one hundred buckets, in the same
time.
Big Mouth, in "Hidatsa," an Indian tale, drinks enormous draughts.
_Folk-Lore Record_, vol. i. p. 140.
The horse in "Prince Mirkó," p. 65, like the giant in this tale, asks
the hero what he sees, and then tells him to shut his eyes, whilst they
go on.
_Page 27_. The king's daughter falling in love with one who acts as
servant is a common incident in Finnish and Lapp tales. Generally, the
hero is one who by wearing a cap on the pretext of having a sore head
conceals his beauty, which the king's daughter by chance happens to see
when the cap is off.
Cf. "Tuhkamo" from Sodan Kyla in North Finland, _S. ja T._ i. p. 35,
where the hero is told to fell all the trees near a bay, and is assisted
by his bride. The whip as a mode of summoning assistance is mentioned in
"Fisher Joe," _supra_, p. 16.
For difficult tasks vide "Fisher Joe," _supra_, p. 18; "The Three
Brothers," p. 153; "The King and the Devil," p. 192; "The Widower and
his Daughter," p. 208; "The Girl with the Golden Hair," p. 271.
Cf. also _Malagasy Isùlakòlona_, in _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1884, p. 130.
Also _Verhandlungen der gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat.
Zweiter Band, drittes Heft_, p. 76. "Der dankbare Fürstensohn."
Stier, _Ungarische Märchen_, "Das kleine Zauberpferd."--Kletke,
_Märchensaal aller Völker_, "Die gläserne Hacke"; "Kojata"; "Der
Orangenbaum und die Biene."
_Polnische Volksagen und Märchen_, by Woycicki, translated by Levestam,
"Die Flucht."
Hyltén-Cavallius och Steffens. _Svenska Folksagor_. "Hafs-Firum."
_Samlade Smärre Berättelser_, af C. F. Ridderstad, _Linköping_, 1849.
"Agnete lille Dei."
Winter, _Danske Folkeventyr_: "Prindsen och Havmanden."
The reader need not be surprised to hear that the simple Magyar peasant
uses classical names like Pluto, Furuzsina (Euphrosiné); for until 1848
Latin was the official language, and many of the scientific works were
written in it, and so a great many words found their way into the vulgar
tongue, such as: penna, calamus, bugyelláris (pugillares), jus, &c.
_Page 32_. The chase after the fugitives is a well-known folk-tale
incident. See several instances in this collection. Generally the
pursuer is stopped by something thrown down by the pursued. See "The
Little Magic Pony," p. 160, and notes _infra_.
In other stories such as the present and "The King and the Devil," p.
193, the pursued change into all manner of wonderful things. Cf.
_Grimm_, vol. i. "Fundevogel," p. 202, and "The Two King's Children,"
vol. ii. p. 113.
In a Portuguese Folk-Tale, "The Daughter of the Witch," F.L.S. 1882, p.
15, the boy becomes a public road, and the girl an old man with a sack
on his back; then the boy becomes a hermitage and the girl a hermit; and
lastly, when the mother comes, who, as usual, is the keenest witted, the
lad becomes a river, and the girl an eel. The mother, as she cannot
catch the eel, pronounces the curse of forgetfulness in case any one
should kiss the hero, which one of his sisters does, while he sleeps.
See also in the same collection, "May you vanish like the wind," p. 20.
In "Fairy Helena," a story quoted by Kozma in his paper read before the
Hungarian Academy, the fairy's father blows across a wide river, and at
once it is spanned by a golden bridge. The fairy then strikes a rusty
table-fork with a _kourbash_, and it at once becomes a golden steed,
upon which the lovers flee into Italy. When they discover that they are
followed, Helena spits on the floor, the door-latch, and the hinge of
the door, and each expectoration speaks, and so deludes the king's
messengers, and allows the fugitives more time (Cf. Ralston's _Russian
Tales_, p. 142; _Grimm_, i.: "Sweetheart Roland," p. 225, where one
change of Roland is to a fiddler, who makes the witch dance till dead.)
The king following in the form of a gigantic eagle, the tips of whose
wings touch heaven and earth, reminds of such stories as the Lapp
"Jaetten og Veslegutten," from Hammerfest, _Friis_. p. 49, where the
giant is heard coming like a gust of wind; and in "Jaetten og Drengen
hans," from Tanen, _id_. p. 58, where the giant and his wife pursue the
lad, as he walks away, with his bag of silver coins.
See also Finnish "Oriiksi muntettu poika," _S. ja. T._ i. 142, and
variants there given, in which the devil follows in the form of a
storm-cloud.
Wonderful transformations of a like sort occur in Indian stories,
_e.g._, "The Phúlmati Rání's arms and legs grew into four houses, her
chest became a tank, and her head a house in the middle of the tank; her
eyes turned into two little doves; and these five houses, the tank, and
the doves, were transported to the jungle. The little doves lived in the
house that stood in the middle of the tank. The other houses stood round
the tank." Stokes' _Indian Tales_, "Phúlmati Rání," p. 5, and "The Bél
Princess," p. 148, where we read, "Then the girl took a knife in her own
hand, and cut out her two eyes; and one eye became a parrot, and the
other a _mainá_ (a kind of starling). Then she cut out her heart, and it
became a great tank. Her body became a splendid palace and garden; her
arms and legs became the pillars that supported the verandah roof; and
her head the dome on the top of the palace."
_Page 34_. For the curse of oblivion see Panch-Phul Ranee, _Old Deccan
Days_, p. 143, where the conjurors throw some powder in the rice and
fire, and no sooner did the rajah receive them than he forgot his wife,
child, and all that had ever happened to him. In "Chandra's Vengeance,"
p. 260, forgetfulness is brought about by enchanted drink. Cf. _Grimm_,
ii. "The Drummer," p. 338.
In the romance of _Ogier le Danois_, Morgue la Faye, who had kissed
Ogier at his birth, but had been forgotten by him, meets him when he is
a hundred years old, and by means of a ring restores him to youth and
beauty. When Ogier drew near to the castle of Avalon he was met by
singing fays, and a glorious crown placed on his head, whereupon he
instantly forgot all the past, and had no thought "ni de la dame
Clarice, qui tant estoit belle et noble ... ne de creature vivante." See
Keightley's _Fairy Mythology, Bohn's Library_, p. 48.
The Irish tale of "Grey Norris" from Warland, tells how a little dog
jumps up and kisses the hero, and at once he forgets the poor princess
who waits outside. _Folk-Lore Journal_, 1883, p. 323.
The Polish tale "Prince Unexpected," contains a similar incident. _Id_.
1884, p. 16.
THE TRAVELS OF TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD. Kriza, ii.
In another version three crows discuss the healing powers of the dew.
Cf. also another version communicated by Kriza in the _Szépirodalmi
Figyelö_. The tale is also found in Hungary Proper. Cf. Gaal, _Märchen
der Magyaren_, "Die dankbaren Thiere."
Cf. Cruelty of sister or others: in "Envious Sisters," p. 50, "The Three
Brothers," p. 152, and "The Girl without Hands," p. 182.
Steere's _Swahili Tales_, "Blessing or Property," p. 397.
Also Wagner's _Asgard and the Gods_, p. 113, where Holda's Quick-born
(fountain of life) restores the crippled and aged. Spanish peasants
believe in a mysterious herb, _pito-real_, invisible to men, and known
to swallows only, which restores eyesight. See _Folk-Lore Record_, p.
295. 1883.
_Page 37_. Obtaining useful knowledge in secret. Cf. _Sagas from Far
East_, xiv. "The Avaricious Brother," p. 151, in which the poor brother
obtained precious gifts, which he saw the Dakinis (female genii) use;
the rich brother when he heard of it went to see what he could get, and
was seized by the enraged spirits, and after due consultation punished,
by having his nose pulled out five ells long, and nine knots tied in it.
In _Old Deccan Days_, "The Learned Owl," p. 74, tells how the birds in
the tree tell secrets. In "The Wanderings of Vicram Maharajah," p. 121,
it is two cobras, and in "Panch-Phul Ranee," p. 139, two jackals.
See also _Stories from Mentone_, "The Charcoal Burners," p. 41.
_Folk-Lore Record_, vol. iii.; and Stokes' _Indian Tales_, "The Fair
Prince," p. 198.
Cf. Finnish "Totuus ja walhe" (Truth and falsehood), and "Riuta ja
Rauta;" under section 10 of _S. ja T._ ii. pp. 134-146, entitled "Paha
on pettäjän perintö" (The Deceiver's part is a bad one).
_Magyarische Sagen_, by Mailáth, i. "Die Brüder," p. 169.
Gerle, _Volksmärchen der Böhmen_. _Prag._ 1819. "St. Walburgisnachttraum
oder die drei Gesellen."
_Volkslieder und Sagen der Wenden_, von Haupt und Schmaler, _Grimma_
1843. "Recht bleibt immer Recht."
_Old Deccan Days_, "Truth's Triumph," p. 50.
_Serbian Folk-Lore:_ "Justice or Injustice--which is best?" p. 83. Where
the heroes are king's sons, and the just one is helped by fairies who
come to the spring to bathe.
In "The two Travellers," _Grimm_, vol. ii. p. 81, the heroes are a
sour-tempered shoemaker and a merry tailor. Two sinners hanging on the
gallows talk, and thus the sightless tailor learns many secrets. So soon
as he recovers his sight, he sets off, and arrives at the very town
where the shoemaker has gone, who persuades the king to set the tailor
terrible tasks to perform, which he does, by the aid of grateful
animals, whose lives he spared. The cobbler has his eyes picked out by
the crows that sit on the heads of the two hanged men. See notes, p.
408, and a fragmentary story of "The Men on the Gallows," p. 466, in the
same volume.
In Naake's _Slavonic Tales_, "Right and Wrong," from the Servian, the
Vilas, beings peculiar to Servia, female genii, come to the spring where
the blind brother is, and talk.
Also Dasent's _Tales from the Norse_, "True and Untrue," p. 1.
_Undvalgte Eventyr og Fortœllinger_ ved C. Molbech, _Kjöbenhavn_,
1843. "Godtro og utro, et Skaansk Folkesagn."
_Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der Herzogthümer Schleswig--Holstein and
Lauenburg_ vom R. Müllenhoff. _Kiel_, 1845. "Vom Bauernsohn der König
ward."
_Portuguese Stories_. "Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in
vain who build it." _Folk-Lore Record_, 1881, p. 157. The driver hears
the devils talking on the top of the cave, where he shelters, and by
means of which he obtains riches and honour. In this case, the gouging
out of the eyes is omitted, and the whole story modified, and, if one
may so say, Christianised.
THE HUNTING PRINCES. Kriza, iii.
Steel, flint, and tinder, form to this day the "Smoker's companion" in
the rural districts of Hungary, although matches were invented more than
half a century ago by a Hungarian.
_Page 39_. The youngest son in the Finnish story, "Ihmeellinen Sauwa,"
(The Wonderful Stick,) _S. ja T._ i. p. 158, is told to shoot at an oak,
and if he hits it (which he does) he would find his mother who had been
carried off one day whilst walking in the garden years before.
For other versions see "A Year Hence" in Gaal, vol. ii.; also "The Three
Princes" in the present vol. p. 110, and "The Prince who tied the Dawn"
in another collection of Erdélyi, entitled "_Magyar Népmesék_."
Dragons[14] appear at every turn in folk-lore, and therefore we can give
but a short selection of comparisons out of the countless hosts of
legends and tales. "At Lueska there is a dark cavern called the
Dragon's Den, which was the terror of the country, and its legend is an
interesting example of how old folk-tales are modified, as time rolls
on; in this case, the burghers of the town can't tell what to do, and a
little dwarf tinker declares he can kill the monster, but that he will
claim as his reward the hand of the burgomaster's daughter. The
burgomaster is mightily indignant, but is obliged to give way to the
force of popular opinion; and is surprised to find his daughter quite
willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of her neighbours. The tinker
confesses and communicates. He then sets off and gathers a herb called
dragon's bane--a powerful narcotic--and makes a strong infusion of it.
With this he sets out, driving two calves before him, and taking some of
his tools, and his fire-pan full of hot embers. The dragon soon scents
the cattle, and rushing out devours them. Meanwhile, the tinker views
all from a tree. Soon the dragon rolls over and falls asleep. The tinker
then pours a goatskin full of his infusion over the monster's head, who
falls into a deep sleep. Down comes the tinker and settles him, cuts off
his head, and carries it in triumph to the town, where the joyous crowd
carry him shoulder-high to the burgomaster's. There the tinker declares
that he will not accept the maiden's hand unless she accepts him freely
and willingly. The young girl, won by his magnanimous conduct, declares
he has won her heart. Whereat he flings off his disguise, and lo! the
lord of Csicso, who confesses that he has long loved the beautiful maid.
General happiness and joy. Curtain!" _Pictures of Hungarian Life_, p.
28.
Cf. "Grendel" in the "Lay of Beowulf"; "The Lambton Worm," in Surtees'
_History of Durham_, ii. p. 173; Hardwick's _Traditions_, p. 40, and
Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, F.L.S., under "Worms."
Nork, _Mythologie der Volksagen_, says, the dragon was sacred to Wodin,
and that its image was placed over houses, &c. to keep away evil
influences.
In _Tales from Hofer's Land_, "The Three Black Dogs," p. 214, the dogs
kill the dragon, and Jössl marries the princess; in "Zovanin Senza
Paura," p. 348, fearless Johnny kills the dragon that has taken
possession of the fountains.
Baring Gould's _Curious Myths_. "St. George," and Brady's _Clavis
Calendaria_, vol. i. p. 310.
In Denton's _Serbian Folk-Lore_, "True-steel," p. 146, an alligator
replaces the dragon; the incidents are very like those in the Magyar
tale, but the tale is longer, beginning with three sisters, as well as
the brothers. The sisters are carried off, much the same as in the
Russian story "Marya-Morevna" (_Ralston_, p. 85); and, in seeking for
the sisters, the Magyar incidents come in. The story continues to tell
of the youngest son's entering the forbidden chamber, and letting loose
a man, True-steel, who was confined there (cf. Payne's _Arabian Nights_,
vol. i. p. 141, "Story of the Third Calender"), who runs away with his
wife. His labours to regain her occupy the rest of the tale. True-steel
is killed in the end, by the secret of his strength being destroyed, as
in "Punchkin."
The tying up of Midnight and Dawn is a piece of primitive science that
in one shape or other is to be found in many stories. Cf. Lapp stories,
where "Evening Red," and the "Sun's Sister" are girls; _Friis_, No. 44;
and in No. 45 Ashiepattle goes for a golden lasso, and has to go till
the sunlight ceases; and then till the moonlight ceases; and then till
starlight ceases. When he arrives in the regions of darkness he finds
the golden lasso. The tale appears to be imperfect, and no use is made
of the lasso. Guns and cannons appear beyond the land of the moonlight!
The Finnish "Leppäpölkky" tells how Alder Block goes to a castle, and is
told "that a wicked one cursed the sunlight, and so a snake with nine
heads has taken it; and when the snake goes to the sea, he takes the sun
with him. When he is in the country it is day, when he is in the sea it
is night. A wicked one has cursed the moonshine, and a snake with six
heads has taken the moonshine. When he is on the land, it is light; but
when he is in the sea, it is dark. The wicked one has also cursed the
dawn, because it began to shine too soon, and he could not sleep; so the
snake with three heads has taken the dawn. When he is on the land we
have dawn, but when he is at sea we have no dawn." The heroes in turn
destroy the snakes; and dawn, the moon, and the sun escape; and as each
shines over the land, the people pray for blessings on the man's head,
who has delivered the dawn, moon, and sun. This appears to be pretty
clearly an attempt of early man to describe natural phenomena. The story
goes on to tell how the king offered his daughters to the heroes, but
they declined them, only asking for a little corn.
There is a most interesting myth of Dawn and Twilight, well worthy of
notice, in the Esthonian "Koit ja Ämarik" (Dawn and Twilight). In old
times a mother had two daughters named Videvik (twilight) and Ämarik
(evening twilight). Both were charming and beautiful in appearance, and
in behaviour just as the song says:
"Pea valge, pôsld punased
Sitik mustad silmakulmud."
"Eyes white, cheeks red,
Eyebrows black as a dung beetle."