Page:The folk-tales of the Magyars.djvu/24

xx home. Of course local circumstances often colour the stories, but do not change the theme. Amidst the stories from Hungary we find, as we might presume, the Székely stories telling of snow-clad mountains, whilst those from the banks of the Danube dwell on the beauties of the Hungarian plains. The fierce conflicts of the past, too, have left their marks on the stories, and so we find the Turkish Sultan and the Dog-headed Tartar as the tyrants of the tale; and even, in one case, so modern a fact as the French invasion is used to frighten an old -world witch. We see later on the influence of Mohammedanism, and also the marks of Christianity, in some tales which become as it were, a folk-lore palimpsest. Nor must we omit other ways by which the tales have been modified. Many of the medieval romances were, of course, translated into Hungarian; and even to this day the penny bookstall is always present at fairs and popular gatherings where "yards of literature" are to be obtained for a nominal sum. The vendor cannot afford a booth or stall, so a