Page:English Fairy Tales.djvu/293

 Rh may call tokens that tell the state of health of a parted partner, is a usual incident in the theme of the Two Brothers, and has been studied by the Grimms, i., 421, 453; ii., 403; by Kohler on Campbell, ''Occ. u. Or., ii., 119-20; on Gonzenbach, ii., 230; on Blade, 248; by Cosquin, l. c., i., 70-2, 193; by Crane, Ital. Pop. Tales, 326; and by Jones and Kropf, Magyar Tales'', 329. Mr. Hartland devotes vol. ii. of his Perseus to the "Life Token." Riddles generally come in the form of the "riddle-bride-wager" (cf. Child, Ballads, i., 415-9: ii., 519), when the hero or heroine wins a spouse by guessing a riddle or riddles. Here it is the simpler Sphynx form of the "riddle task," on which see Kohler in'' Jahrb. rom. Phil''., vii., 273, and on Gonzenbach, 215.

XXIV. GOLDEN ARM

Source.—Henderson, I. c, p. 338, collected by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould in Devonshire. Sir E. Burne-Jones remembered hearing it in his youth in Warwickshire, where I have also traces of it as "The Golden Leg."

Parallels.—The first fragment at the end of Grimm (ii., 467, of Mrs. Hunt's translation) tells of an innkeeper's wife who had used the liver of a man hanging on the gallows, whose ghost comes to her and tells her what has become of his hair, and his eyes, and the dialogue concludes

For similar "surprise packets" see Cosquin, ii., 77.

Remarks.—It is doubtful how far such gruesome topics should be introduced into a book for children, but, as a matter of fact, the  of pity and terror among the little ones is as effective as among the spectators of a drama, and they take the same kind of pleasant thrill from such stories. They know it is all make-believe just as much as the spectators of a tragedy. Every one who has enjoyed the blessing