Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/32

 18 was found scattered all over the wide world, our good friend Red Riding Hood was eaten up by wild animals in other countries, Puss in Boots was marching across many lands, Jack had planted his beanstalk in many parts, and had killed many giants, and Tom-Tit-Tot and Hobgoblins were either thwarting or assisting many people in their work, Robin Hood was playing tricks with people in many forests, and even the query "Who killed Cock Robin" was chirped in many glens. As for our hero's exploits in this world or the world above or the world below, there was scarcely any country in which he did not perform marvellous deeds. Our proverbs were repeated by Hindoos, and our charms were worn by the people in Kamchatka or Morocco. Many of our customs carried us back first to Rome and Greece, then to the peoples of the East, and then to more primitive races, bringing us closer to the dawn of civilisation, to the very beginnings of human worship, and to the primitive ideas of God and soul, of creation and world, and of death and life. The further students penetrated into the realm of Folklore, i.e. that knowledge which is the property of the "Folk," the greater grew the similarity between one nation and another. To the psychological and philosophical history of the human spirit another chapter was added which formed a bridge between anthropology and psychology, mere man and mere soul, showing unity in spite of difference. It was found to be more a question of degree than of essence. All the races start from one level and slowly climb up the ladder. Some stand or have stood at the lowest rung, others have proceeded a little higher up, but there is continual progress. Rings in one chain!

We have learnt to know that the most advanced types have retained rudimentary elements of their primitive condition, and the science of Folklore shows that we have retained even in our most advanced state of