314. Vernaleken. _In the Land of Marvels._ "How a Shepherd became rich."
JACK DREADNOUGHT. Erdélyi, iii. 16.
Cf. _Grimm_, "The Story of the youth who went to learn what fear was,"
and notes: _ib._ "The King's son who feared nothing," and notes.
_Household Stories from the Land of Hofer._ "Fearless Johnny."
_Afanassieff_, v. 46.
_Page 232._ The secret treasures guarded by ghosts, &c. is a world-wide
tradition. Cf. Hofberg, _Svenska Folksägner_. "Skatten i Säbybäcken,"
Where a carriage full of gold and silver is said to be sunk mid-stream,
over which a weird light flickers. Many attempts, we are told, have been
made to rescue it, but each time some one has spoken, or else the
bull-calves--which are not to have a single black hair on them, and were
to be fed for three years on unskimmed milk--were not strong enough; and
so the attempts have ever failed. See also, in the same work
"Skattgräfvarna," where the searchers were frightened away by the Demon
guardians of the hidden store. In Lincolnshire I have heard of a field
where, tradition says, countless barrels of beer, and a fender and
fireirons of silver, are buried, and in my own parish I have collected
three similar tales told of places here, and the other day a Negro from
South Carolina told me another. Cf. Hardwick, _Traditions,
Superstitions, and Folk-Lore_ (chiefly Lancashire and the north of
England), pp. 41, 46, 195, and 252. Cf. Baring Gould. _Curious Myths_.
"The Divining Rod."[77]
THE SECRET-KEEPING LITTLE BOY AND HIS LITTLE SWORD. Erdélyi, iii. 8.
Cf. _Grimm_, vol. i., "Faithful John" and note. See _ante_, p. 350.
With regard to the sword growing in the garden, Cf. the Hunnish
superstition mentioned by Priscus. "He (Attila) believes also that there
will be before long some noteable increase of his power; and that the
gods have signified this by revealing to him the sword of Mars, a sacred
relic much venerated by the Huns, for many years hidden from their eyes,
but quite lately re-discovered by the trail of the blood of an ox which
had wounded its hoof against it, as it stuck upright in the long grass."
_Italy and her defenders_, by T. Hodgkin, vol. ii. p. 92. No doubt
Priscus makes use of the name of Mars to designate the Hunnish deity in
the same way as Tacitus when he speaks of the Teutonic god of war. A
naked sabre, fixed hilt downwards in the earth, was worshipped by the
Alani. Cf. p. 33 of the above-mentioned work.
_Payne_, vol. vi. "Jouder and his brothers," pp. 129, 152, 164.
See also, Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece_, "The Scab Pate." Payne,
_Tales from the Arabic_, vol. i., "The story of the King who knew the
quintessence of things."
"The Three Dreams," p. 117, in this collection, and notes, p. 375.
_Page 236._ The execution. The last ceremony with a condemned man when
he is pinioned is to read once more his sentence to him. This is done by
the sheriff, and concludes with "Hangman, do your duty!" After the
execution is over, the military present are commanded to prayer; the
helmet is taken off, the musket taken in the left hand and grounded, and
every soldier kneels on his left knee, and remains so for a few minutes
till order is given "From prayer."
In olden times the sheriff, after he read the sentence, broke his
judicial staff in twain, and threw the pieces at the culprit's feet:
hence the Hungarian saying, "to break the staff near anyone," is
equivalent to pronouncing sentence: _e.g._, "I have done this, but don't
break a staff over my action," _i.e._, do not condemn my action.
_Page 238._ "Immuring alive." Cf. Roumanian legend "Manuli," and notes
in this collection, p. 376.
_Page 243._ In the Finnish tale, "Alderblock," there is a sword, which
cuts the enemy into fragments.
SHEPHERD PAUL. Erdélyi, iii. 17.
Cf. Finnish stories, "Lappäpölkky," _S. ja T._ 2; where Alderblock has
five companions who assist him in his labours; also "Mikko Metsolainen"
and "Mikko Mieheläinen," _S. ja T._ i.; stories very much like the
Magyar one. Also, "Maan, meren kulkija laiwa." In a Lapp story we find
companions helping the hero. _Friis_. "Ruobba, Jaetten og Fanden."
_Grimm._ "How six men got on in the world," and notes; "The six
servants," and notes; "Strong Hans," and notes.
Müllenhoff, _Märchen und Lieder der Hertzogenthümer Schleswig Holstein
und Lauenberg_, "Rinroth." Molbech, _Udwalgte Eventyr_, "De fer
Tienere." Cavallius och Stefens, _Svenska Folksagor_, "De begge
Fosterbröderne," and "Halftrollet eller de Tre Swärden."
Bechstein. _Deutsches Märchenbuch_. "Der Hafenhüter."
Denton. _Serbian Folk-Lore_. "Sir Peppercorn."
_Patrañas._ "The ill-tempered Princess." "A tale of fourteen men," a
Flemish tale; see _Magazin für die Literatur des Auslandes_, 1844.
Caballero, _Spanish Tales_, "Lucifer's ear." Geldart, _Folk-Lore of
Modern Greece_, "The Golden Casket" and "Little John, the widow's son."
_Pentamerone_, "The Flea" and "The Booby."
_Folk-Lore Record_, 1881, p. 142. "The story of Mamma-na-Bura," a
Portuguese tale: _ib._ 1883, p. 254, "Folk-Lore of Yucatan."
_Page 246._ The latter portion of the tale is to be met with in many
tales, _e.g._, "Awannolla Kehräajät," where the girl goes through a hole
in the ice, and finds a beautiful world there.
Dasent. _Tales from the Norse._ "The two step-sisters," p. 129;
"Shortshanks," p. 166; and "The Big Bird Dan," p. 449.
Vernaleken. _In the Land of Marvels._ "The Taylor and the Hunter," "The
Accursed Garden," and "The Three Princesses."
Denton. _Serbian Folk-Lore._ "The wonderful Kiosk."
_Patrañas_, "Simple Johnny and the spell-bound Princesses." _Grimm_,
"The Elves," and notes. _Sagas from the Far East_, "How the Schimnu-Khan
was slain." Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, "The Norka," and variants
there given on p. 80.
Geldart, _Folk-Lore of Modern Greece,_ "The Prince and the Fairy."
Steere, _Shahili Tales_, "Hasseebu Kareem ed Deen," p. 337.
_Arabian Nights._ "Ahmed and Pari-Banou," and numerous other examples of
underground palaces, where distressed princesses lie awaiting
deliverance.
_Gubernatis_, vol. i. pp. 25, 129, 193, 194; vol. 187, &c.
Rink. _Tales of Traditions of the Esquimaux._ "The woman who got
connected with the Ingersuit or under-world people." There are numerous
stories about the under-world and its people in Lapp stories, _e.g._,
_Friis_, "Cacce-haldek eller Havfolk," where a boy rows to the
under-world. (_Notes and Queries_, 7th s. v. p. 381; cf. _ib._ 7th s. v.
p. 501.) "Bæivekongens Datter," "Goveiter." There is also a tribe of
underground people called Kadnihak, who are said to dress in red
clothes, and have long flaxen hair reaching to their waists. Some people
are said to have learned their songs, which are called "Kadniha-Vuolee."
Cf. Baring Gould, _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_, "St. Patrick's
Purgatory." _Deutsche Märchen und Sagen_, Gesammelt und mit Anmerkungen
herausgegeben von J. W. Wolff, "Der Kühne Sergeant." _Polnische
Volksagen_, Aus dem Polnischen des K. W. Woycicki von F. Levestam, "Die
drei Brüder."
See also, Friis, _Lappisk Mythologi._ "Under jordiske Guder."
_Page 248._ The Lapp tales say that the Stallos used to wear an iron
shirt. See _Friis_, No. 26. Læstadius believes them to have been old
Vikings.
THE PELICAN. Erdélyi, iii. 6.
Pelicans may occasionally be seen in the South of Hungary, but upon the
whole the bird is unknown to the common people. The story-teller
represents it as a little bird that sings most beautifully.
The hypercritical reader may be shocked at another natural historical
blunder, viz., when the whale is described as "the king of fishes." But
then we must remember that our own Sir Walter Scott speaks of the phoca
as a fish in the last sentence of chapter xxxvii. of _The Antiquary_.
The Emperor Joseph II.'s edict expelling the Jesuits is still valid, we
believe, but is not enforced. The Order has one or two houses in the
country, and nobody disturbs them.
In a Finnish tale one half of a castle weeps while the other half
laughs. Cf. also another Finnish story "The Golden Bird," where a king's
son goes in search of a splendid bird which his father longs for. The
hero is assisted by a wolf, which, amongst many other strange things, by
rolling three times on the ground on its back, becomes a shop full of
precious goods.[78] After many trials, chiefly due to the perfidy of his
brothers, the hero, by the assistance of the wolf, wins the golden bird
and a lovely princess. The golden bird will not sing till the youngest
prince appears, just as in the present tale.
_Page 251._ "The old Beggar." This incident is common in folk-tales.
_Page 252._ "Dragon's milk," a favourite compound of mighty power in the
magic formulæ of Finnish and Magyar folk-medicine.
_Page 255._ "Owls' feathers." _Vide_ p. 398, _ante_, and _Notes and
Queries_, 6th S. X. p. 401.
_Page 256._ "Traced triangle," _ante_, p. 370.
_Page 257._ "Pleiades." Stars and their lore is one of the most
interesting branches of Folk-Lore. Space forbids more than passing
allusion to it here. In a note sent by Mr. Haliburton, he points out the
important part this group of stars plays in the history of Primitive
Man. There appears to be a mass of primitive traditions amongst savages,
as to a primæval paradise with its Tree of Life and Knowledge being
situated in the Pleiades. See also legends current amongst the
Polynesians, Kiowas of the Prairies, the Abipones of the Pampas, Dyaks,
&c. We may also compare the Cabeiric brethren in Phoenician tradition.
In the seventh star, say the Finns, is the sign of the slave; the
ancient Finns having regulated their rising by the seven stars. A
Finnish friend, Mr. K. Krohn, says he has obtained some forty old
Finnish star names from an old woman, and hopes, by comparison of the
same with the Arabic names, to obtain valuable results.
See also _Sagas from the East_, p. 53, and _Gubernatis_, vol. i., p.
228. Cox, _Mythology of the Aryan Nations_, "Pleiades."
_Page 258._ Just as the hero here goes to seek in an unknown land for
what he needs, so does the hero in the Finnish tale, "Antti Puuhaara";
_S. ja T._ 2, go to Pohjola. (Darkness, _i.e._ the Northern Part). Cf.
also Dasent's _Tales from the Norse_ "Rich Peter the Pedlar," p. 236.
Vernaleken, _In the Land of Marvels_, "For one Kreuzer a hundred."
_Pentamerone_, "The Seven Doves," &c. and pp. 107 and 371 in this work.
_Page 259._ The threshold is a most interesting object in the lore and
tales of the people. In Finland it is regarded as unlucky if a clergyman
steps on the threshold when he comes to preach at a church. A Finnish
friend told me of one of his relations going to preach at a church a few
years ago, he being a candidate for the vacant living, and that the
people most anxiously watched if he stepped on the threshold as he came
in. Had he done so, I fear a sermon never so eloquent would have
counted but little against so dire an omen.[79] In the Lapp tales the
same idea appears, see _Friis_, "Ulta-Pigen," the lad returning from a
visit to his wife's parents (who are fairy folk) is ordered to step
quickly over the threshold, and so saves his life. In the same story we
read that a nail driven into the threshold will prevent a fairy wife
from running away.
Ralston, _Russian Folk-Tales_, "The Fiend." Here Marusia gets entangled
with the evil one, and death comes into her family; in terror she asks
her granny what she is to do, and is told, "Go quickly to the priest and
ask him this favour--that if you die your body shall not be taken out of
the house through the doorway, but that the ground shall be dug away
from under the threshold, and that you shall be dragged out through that
opening." Rink, _Eskimo Tales_, "The Angakok from Kakortok," p. 391.
Napier, _Folk-Lore from West Scotland_, p. 46, where, in the description
of marriage ceremonies, we read "The threshold of the house was
disenchanted by charms, and by anointing it with certain unctuous
perfumes, but as it was considered unlucky for the new-made wife to
tread upon the threshold on first entering her house, she was lifted
over it and seated upon a piece of wood, a symbol of domestic industry."
Cf. 1 Samuel, v. 5, "Therefore neither the priests, nor any that come
into Dagon's house, _tread on the threshold_ of Dagon in Ashdod unto
this day." Priests and dervishes in India still leap over the threshold
of their temples, as they are considered too sacred to be trodden
upon.[80]
_Page 261._ "The Organ Playing." Cf. a similar incident in the Finnish
story of the Golden Bird.
_Page 262._ In the Finnish "Alder Block," the hero's father and mother
have their age at once reduced by one-half, when the lovely Catherine
embraces them. In the romance of Ogier le Danois sweet singing banishes
all care and sorrow. "Et quand Morgue approcha du dit chasteau, les Faes
vindrent au devant dogier, chantant les plus melodieusement quon
scauroit jamais ouir, si entra dedans la salle pour se deduire
totallement," and so time is destroyed. "Tant de joyeulx passetemps lui
faisoient les dames Faees, quil nest creature en ce monde quil le sceust
imaginer se penser, car les ouir si doulcement chanter il lui sembloit
proprement quil fut en Paradis, si passoit temps de jour en jour, de
sepmaine en sepmaine, tellement que ung an ne lui duroit par ung mois."
THE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN HAIR.
This story, with the four that follows, viz., "The Lover's Ghost,"
"Snake Skin," "The Fairies' Well," and "The Crow's Nest," are Palócz
Folk-Tales, _vide Palócz Folk-Poetry_, by Julius Pap, Sarospatak, 1865.
The hatchet-stick (in Magyar "fokos") mentioned in the tale is an
ordinary walking-stick with an axe-shaped brass or steel implement at
the end. It is nothing else than the old Scandinavian "paalstaf," the
"palstave" or "winged celt" of English antiquaries. It forms part of the
national costume of the Magyars, and was carried by nearly everybody
before 1867.
The ceremony of exchanging handkerchiefs alluded to in the tale requires
some explanation, and we avail ourselves of this opportunity to give a
few details of the marriage customs among the Palócz people as related
by Pap.
On the first morning in May the lad erects a May-pole outside of the
window of his lady-love, the higher the pole the more it pleases the
girl, because the length is understood to be in direct proportion to the
intensity of her lover's passion. On Whitsunday a pilgrimage to the Holy
Well adjoining the monastery at the village of Verebély is arranged, and
here the girl buys a nosegay made of artificial flowers for her lover,
in return for the maypole, which nosegay is worn by the lad until next
May-Day, or until the wedding. In the meantime the lover visits the girl
secretly once or twice at the house of her parents under the cover of
night, and later on introduces himself to her parents. If he be well
received he sends some friends to ask for the girl's hand, who state
their request generally in very flowery language. If the lad's proposal
be accepted, the ceremony of exchanging handkerchiefs takes place soon
after, the lovers presenting handkerchiefs to one another in which they
wrap apples or nuts. From this moment they are considered to be engaged.
The wedding is generally held after the vintage. On the day before the
wedding a man, whom we shall call the master of ceremonies, perambulates
the village and invites the guests to the festival. On the day itself
the guests congregate at a place appointed by the M.C., and the whole
company start in procession, headed by a band, to the house of the
bride. They all stop outside the gate, and only the bridegroom's best
man enters the house and invites the bride to start. The girl then,
accompanied by her relations and bridesmaids, and a married woman, whom
we shall call the Mistress of the Bedchamber, leaves the house and joins
the procession, and they all proceed straight to the church. After
church the young woman returns with the whole procession to her own
house, and a light breakfast is served, at the end of which all the
people adjourn to the bridegroom's house, leaving however the bride
behind, until after lengthy coaxing, begging, and some elaborate
ceremonies, she consents to go, and is led in triumph to her husband's
house, where she is received by the father-in-law at the gate, who
nearly overwhelms her with kind words, flattery, and congratulations,
and holding her hand leads her into the house and introduces her to his
wife, children, and relations. The rejoicing has now reached its climax,
and the wedding banquet is at once commenced, to which each invited
guest contributes a share according to his or her means.
During the banquet the bridegroom's best man waits at table, and ushers
in the various courses reciting a verse for each _plat_, setting forth
in most flowery language the various good points of the dish.
After supper the bridegroom's best man takes three lighted candles into
his left hand and escorts the bride into her bedchamber, where he
removes the "párta,"[81] and confides her to the care of the Mistress of
the Bedchamber. The best man lifts the párta high up in the air at the
end of his palstave, and invites the company to bid for it, and then
recites the so-called slumber-verses, which are attentively listened to
by everyone present.
Next morning two married women from among the bride's friends arrive "to
wake the bride," who awaits them sitting in a corner. The two females
place the cap worn by married women only, on her head, and present the
young couple with cakes and a mixture of spirit and honey.
In the meantime another procession has arrived from the bride's house
with the wedding presents, and the people inquire of the Master of the
Ceremonies whether he has not seen a "pretty little golden lamb that
strayed from home and must have come here." The Master of the Ceremonies
replies in the affirmative, but before producing the "lamb" requires a
description of the stray one, and then produces some very old person
bent with age and her face covered with wrinkles, and wants to know
whether this is the lamb they seek for; of course they reply in the
negative, and add that the missing one is young and pretty. The bride is
then produced and shakes hands all round and receives presents from all
present.
In some places the wedding lasts on and off a whole week, and sometimes
ends with another ceremony of "searching for the lamb," similar to the
one just described.
Such complicated wedding ceremonies are to be found all over Hungary,
and in order to facilitate matters, the rules and verses for the
occasion are printed and sold at all country fairs, the title-page
generally representing the Master of the Ceremonies and the bridegroom's
best man in their full festive attire.[82]
Cf. Finnish, "Kulta-orit, Kulta-nuotta, wasta ja pilli." "The golden
Stallion, golden Drag-net, broom and flute." _S. ja T._ i. and "Meresta
nousija Neito," "The Sea Maid." Dasent, _Tales from the Norse_, "Bushy
Bride," p. 374.
Payne, _Arabian Nights_, vii. pp. 70, 114, and ix. p. 23.
Payne, _Arabic Tales_, iii. p. 61.
_Grimm_, "The White Bride and the Black one."
In the Lapp Story "Bondesønnen, Kongesønnen og Solens Søster." _Friis_.
It is the tail feather of a golden hen, that causes all the troubles.
The beautiful girl, who is the Sun's sister, shone like a star, and
whenever she entered a house it became as light as the brightest day,
even if before it had been pitch dark. The whole tale is a most
interesting one; the Sun's sister's sister, "Evening Red," being stolen
by giants, who are turned into stone by looking at the Sun's sister,
"Dawn." Cf. Princess Labám in "The Rájá's Son," Stokes's _Indian Fairy
Tales_, p. 158. Also, pp. 43, 50, 54, 69, and 93.
_Grimm_, "The Devil with the three golden hairs," and notes. _Dublin
Magazine_, 1868, Fireside Lore of Italy, "Corvetto." _Folk-Lore Record_,
1880. Danish Popular Tales, p. 217. "Mons Tro." Naaké, _Slavonic Fairy
Tales_, "Golden Hair," from the Bohemian.[83] _Old Deccan Days_, "Brase
Seventee Bai," p. 35; Panch-Phul Ranee, p. 141.
Haltrich, _Siebenbuergische Märchen_, pp. 61 and 171.
Mr. Ralston, in his notes in Stokes also gives the following examples of
shining and glorious beings. _Indian Antiquary_, vol. iv. p. 54; _ib._
Jan. 1875, p. 10.
Schott, _Wallachische Märchen_, p. 125.
_Mabinogion_, vol. ii. p. 310; and Thorpe, _Northern Mythology_, vol. i.
p. 47. Cf. Mailath, _Magyarische Sagen_, "Die Brüder," and "Die Gaben."
Cavallius and Stephens, _Svenska Folksagor_, No. 7.
_Records of the Past_, vol. ii. "Tales of the two Brothers," a fragrant
lock is found in the water, which is said to belong to the daughter of
the Sun God.
_Page 273._ In the Lapp story of the Sun's Sister the King will not
allow the lad to marry his bride until he has done certain tasks. So
also in the Finnish stories of the Golden Bird and the Golden Stallion.
_Page 273._ In the Finnish Tale "Totuus ja walte," the King's daughter
is cured by being washed with dew. See also Notes to Fairy Elizabeth and
the Fairies' Well in this collection.
THE LOVER'S GHOST.
As pointed by Lad. Arany, the plot of this tale is, with the exception
of the happy ending, essentially the same as in Bürger's beautiful poem,
"Leonore," in which the bridegroom's ghost repeats three times the
question--
"Graut Liebchen auch? Der Mond scheint hell!
Hurrah! Die Todten reiten schnell!
Graut Liebchen auch vor Todten?"
to which the girl each time replies--
"Ach! lass sie ruh'n, die Todten."
Arany mentions a Dutch and a Norwegian version of the same tale. Cf.
_Grimm_, vol. iii. p. 75.
It cannot be supposed that the good Palócz folk have read Bürger, either
in the original or in translation. They only read two kinds of
literature, the prayer-book and politics. Pap relates an incident that
is characteristic. He had to superintend some farm-work; and, in order
to while away the time, was reading a book, which made an old Palócz
remark that he would go straight to heaven if he read his prayer-book
all day, as he did.
Cf. The old ballad quoted in Old Ballad Lore. _Folk-Lore Record_, 1879,
pp. 111, 112.
_Page 279._ The charm given by the witch is one of the innumerable
superstitions of a like class. Vide _Magyar Folk-Tales. Notes and
Queries_, 6th s. ix. pp. 501 and 502.
_Finska Fornminnesforëningens Tidskrift_ v. p. 106, "Folkströ och
plägseder i Mellersta Österbotten," and _Notes and Queries_, 6th s. x.
p. 404, and _ib._ 6th s. xi. p. 22.
Cf. "The churchyard mould," in McGregor, _Folk-Lore of the North-East of
Scotland_, p. 216.
_Page 280._ The ghostly horsemen recalls a strange story an old woman
(nearly 80) told me some time ago, and which it is averred happened in
Lincolnshire. One fine frosty night, as the Winterton carrier was going
along the road, he met a pale man on horseback, who said, "It's a hard
winter, and there's going to be a hard time: twenty years' disease
amongst vegetables, twenty years' disease amongst cattle, and twenty
years' disease amongst men, and this will happen as surely as you have a
dead man in your cart." The carrier angrily declared that there was no
dead man in his cart. "But there is," said the horseman. Then the
carrier went and looked, and found that a man he had taken up to give a
ride was dead. Turning round he found the horseman had disappeared. The
potato disease, cattle disease, and cholera followed, said the old dame.
This pale horseman is said to have ridden through the county, and I have
heard of him at various places.
SNAKE SKIN.
In the Finnish Story, "Haastelewat Kuuset," the talking Pines, _S. ja
T._ 2: a hunter is rewarded for helping a snake. See notes to "Woman's
Curiosity," in this collection.
_Pentamerone_, "The Serpent."
_Folk-Lore Record_, 1883. "The good Serpent," a Chilian tale.
The king in this tale is angry at his daughter marrying such a husband,
just as he is in the Finnish "Hüri Morsiamena," where the bride is a
mouse.
Cf. _Grimm_, "The three Feathers;" "The poor Miller's Boy and the Cat;"
and notes thereto.
Kahn und Schwartz, _Norddentsche Sagen_, "Das weisze Kätschen."
Asbjörnsen og Moe, _Norske Folke eventyr_, "Dukken i Græsset."