Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/96

 not Irish; it is further very significant that also the first life of Étáin "has some unique features, as it alone among Western Mährchen saga variants of the 'True Bride' describes the malicious woman as the wife of Mider. In other words, the story implies polygamy, rarely found in European Folk Tales" (M‘Culloch, The Religion of Ancient Celts, p. 83, note 2). Our Jātaka story is referred to in another part of the Jātakas as an example of woman's infidelity; Étáin is not directly described in the same way, but her conduct towards Ailill Anglonnach cannot be regarded by any means as a pattern of wifely chastity.

I am far from considering that these facts are a real proof of Oriental origin for the Étáin story, but they are remarkable enough to be worth considering in connection with this possibility.

JOSEF BAUDIŠ.