The tales in the Grey Fairy Book are derived from many
countries--Lithuania, various parts of Africa, Germany, France, Greece,
and other regions of the world. They have been translated and adapted by
Mrs. Dent, Mrs. Lang, Miss Eleanor Sellar, Miss Blackley, and Miss hang.
‘The Three Sons of Hali’ is from the last century ‘Cabinet des Fees,’
a very large collection. The French author may have had some Oriental
original before him in parts; at all events he copied the Eastern method
of putting tale within tale, like the Eastern balls of carved ivory. The
stories, as usual, illustrate the method of popular fiction. A certain
number of incidents are shaken into many varying combinations, like the
fragments of coloured glass in the kaleidoscope. Probably the possible
combinations, like possible musical combinations, are not unlimited in
number, but children may be less sensitive in the matter of fairies than
Mr. John Stuart Mill was as regards music.