Page:Transactions of the Second International Folk-Congress.djvu/90

 54 from the third act follows closely the last portion of the folk-tale, including the scene at the well.

The Tempest of Shakespeare is connected with Ayrer's drama, in what way is not clear. The Tempest is founded on the earlier part of the tale as given by Ayrer; it corresponds, therefore, to the bride-winning section of the märchen. It is true that the resemblance is remote; nevertheless it is sufficient to show that the ground-idea of The Tempest is ultimately derived from the folk-tale.

Closely related to the European märchen, already mentioned, is a story contained in the collection of Somadeva of Kashmir (about 1080 A.D.). This story seems to be a hterary recension of the folk-tale; it does not contain the final section of the European variants, that in which the hero is represented as forgetting his bride. It does not appear that the written narrative has had any influence on the European variants; the close correspondence has arisen from a common oral tradition.