Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 8, 1897.djvu/84

62 lies between that which is evolved elementarily out of the mental stock and that which requires the intervention of strangers to its development. That may be true; and yet there are numerous cases in which identical ideas take shape in the folklore of populations at such a distance in point of space and time that it would seem impossible to connect them by any borrowing theory, at least with our present knowledge. Such are the classical stories of Phaeton, and of the frogs that disturbed the slumbers of Perseus, and the Norse tales of the robbery of Suptung's Mead, and of the Man in the Moon who carried off two children. These are all found in British Columbia; and the tales of Phaeton, and of the robbery of Suptung's Mead in particular, are prominent in the tribal mythologies.

If the problems relating to the psychological evolution of mankind, which constitute the deepest interest of the science of folklore, are ever to be studied effectively, it must be, we cordially agree with Professor Boas, by a careful examination, historical, social, and geographical, of limited areas. There is no royal road, no magical carpet to waft us to our goal. It must be won by deliberate plodding along a path where anxious and minute circumspection alone will prevent us from missing our footing. Professor Boas has set us an example which we commend to the attention of all serious students.

An excellent index of incidents concludes the volume.

is an Italian translation of the Pancatantra. It seems to be meant for the general reader, as the verses are rendered with some freedom, and the names are not exactly transliterated. Some sacrifice of exactness is necessary where the verse-renderings are, as here, metrical; but where I have compared it with the original I have not noticed any mistake. The translation seems to be nicely done, and can be recommended to those who wish merely to enjoy what they read; but the student will prefer Benfey. Notes are given to explain proper names, and otherwise where they are necessary; and a table of the stories is given at