Page:Of the Tumbler of Our Lady - tr. Kemp-Welch - 1904.djvu/19

Rh characteristics very dear to the Eastern and the mediæval mind alike. The lesson to be learnt is not left to be inferred, but is definitely set forth, so that "even fools cannot err therein."

Amongst these stories we can trace constant variants of the same subjects, many of which were local legends. In the centres specially dedicated to the cult of the Virgin, the same stories are to be found in two or more places, with a mere change of background, for the collectors of such material thought it not unfitting to adapt from any source anything which made for edification. Thus, for instance, we find traditions which seem properly to belong to the town of Soissons transported to Chartres or elsewhere. Communication in mediæval times was not rapid, and a marvellous story, with slight adaptations, suited one place just as well as another. By the time it became generally known, each town, forgetting or ignorant of its real origin, would claim it as its own, and then there would begin the never ending contention which has repeated itself all through history, whether it be as