_Source._--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 98-110, originally
published in _Ind. Antiq._ x. 147 _seq._
_Parallels._--A long variant follows in _Ind. Antiq._, _l. c._ M.
Cosquin refers to several Oriental variants, _l. c._ p. xxx. _n._ For
the direction tabu, see Note on Princess Labam, _supra_, No. ii. The
"letter to kill bearer" and "letter substituted" are frequent in both
European (see my List _s. v._) and Indian Folk-Tales (Temple,
Analysis, II. iv. _b_, 6, p. 410). The idea of a son of seven mothers
could only arise in a polygamous country. It occurs in "Punchkin,"
_supra_, No. iv.; Day, _Folk-Tales of Bengal_, 117 _seq._; _Ind.
Antiq._ i. 170 (Temple, _l. c._, 398).
_Remarks._--M. Cosquin (_Contes de Lorraine_, p. xxx.) points out how,
in a Sicilian story, Gonzenbach (_Sizil. Mähr._ No. 80), the seven
co-queens are transformed into seven step-daughters of the envious
witch who causes their eyes to be taken out. It is thus probable,
though M. Cosquin does not point this out, that the "envious
step-mother" of folk-tales (see my List, _s. v._) was originally an
envious co-wife. But there can be little doubt of what M. Cosquin
_does_ point out--viz., that the Sicilian story is derived from the
Indian one.