Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 7 1889.djvu/72

64 been done for the elucidation of the latter, while the former are still to a great extent an unknown region. Perhaps one reason for this is that the collections of Folk-Tales made in recent years have dealt mainly with Nursery Tales and Sagas, while he who would study Drolls and Fables must resort to more purely literary sources, some of them, like the old fabliaux, of a recondite nature. And this has contributed, more than almost any other single cause, to the controversy between the anthropological school and the disciples of Benfey on the origin and transmission of stories. Hence we welcome Mr. Clouston's writings. They are a storehouse of information which it is not easy to overprize. The Chaucer Analogues before us include illustrations of the Franklin's tale, the Merchant's tale, the Man of Law's tale, the Pardoner's tale, the Manciple's tale, the Wife of Bath's tale, and the Clerk's tale. The enumeration of these will show the value of the work. Of course they are not all treated with the same fulness. Among those most fully dealt with we may mention the Franklin's tale, the Man of Law's tale, and the Wife of Bath's tale. Indeed, Mr. Clouston's collection may, with the stories brought together in the first part of the Originals and Analogues, be considered as a nearly exhaustive account of the wanderings and evolutions of the pathetic tale of Custance. And if we wanted an example of what might be done for the literary history of Folk-Tales, we do not think we could point to anything better than this, or the similar treatment of the Franklin's tale.

Both in the Originals and Analogues, and in the illustrations of The Tale of Beryn, the author has touched on some of the subjects of his Popular Tales and Fictions, reviewed in these pages a few months since. But in such cases he has greatly extended his researches ; he has not merely repeated what he had already said, but has made substantial additions. It has been no part of his business in illustrating Chaucer to broach any theories. His work has been simply to lay facts before the reader ; and he has left to others the task of drawing conclusions. All who are interested in Folk-Tales, whatever their opinions, will feel deeply indebted to him, and will look forward to his promised illustrations of the Squire's tale.