Page:Researches respecting the Book of Sindibad and Portuguese Folk-Tales.djvu/20

viii "half man," a lad who has only "half a head, half a nose, half a mouth, half a body, one hand, and one foot." The aim of the original narrator seems to have been to show that even a very inferior man, a cripple, a sluggard, or an imbecile, may achieve great things if aided by a supernatural power. In Asia the story would probably assume a comparatively reasonable form. In Europe it has taken one which is quite unreasonable and not remarkably edifying. No. 30, "The Hind of the Golden Apple," is a variant of one of the numerous Eastern tales about grateful beasts. A Norse rendering of the same theme is given in Dasent's "Tales from the Fjeld" (Asbjörnsen, No. 63).

No. 4, "The Daughter of the Witch," is a variant of a very widely-spread story, describing how a hero escapes from a demon by the help of the demon's daughter, whom he marries, but after a while temporily forgets. The most important parallel which can be cited is "The Story of Sringabhuja and the Daughter of the Rákshasa," in the seventh book of the Sanskrit Kathá Sarit Ságara. Another thoroughly Oriental tale is that of "The Three Princes and the Maiden." She dies, but is resuscitated by their united