Page:Transactions of the Second International Folk-Congress.djvu/95

 In attempting to trace a folk-tale, little attention should be paid to analogies. It is necessary that the several incidents should occur in their order, or at least in a form which indicates an original having the proper arrangement of sections and traits. In such cases, it is obvious that the theory of separate origination can have no application. The discussion is not concerning tale-lements, which may be common to many countries, but concerning a complicated narration, as unlikely to have been independently invented as a modern novel and its foreign translations.

Applying this test, we find our tale, as a whole, among others in Celebes and in Madagascar, in such a form that ultimate derivation from the Hindu story already examined can scarcely be questioned. The Celebes tale in Z. f. d. Morgenländische Gesellschaft, vi, 1852. Utahagi, with other nymphs, descends from heaven in order to bathe in a fountain. The hero obtains her robe, and carries her home; in consequence of his disobedience, she departs. He sets out in quest, reaches heaven by climbing a thorn-tree, and, by the assistance of animals, finds the house. Her brother, a demi-god, obliges him to make choice among nine caskets, one of which is indicated by a i^y [the caskets are a substitute for the sisters in the Hindu tale, where the fly plays a like part]. Eventually he becomes a god, but sends down from heaven his son, from whom the Bantiks descend.

For the Malagasy story of Ibonia see Folk-lore Journal, i, 1883, 202. The hero, being directed by a diviner to capture a maid in a lake, succeeds, after repeated failure, by transforming himself into an ant, and carries the girl home. During his absence, his wife is left in charge of his parents, who contrive her death by inducing her to drink rum, which is fatal to her as a spirit, and which she has stipulated shall not be offered her. On his return, she is disinterred, and comes to life, but returns to heaven, warning him against the danger of following her. He makes friends with birds and beasts, and with his other wife: goes to the sky, where he is severely received by his father-in-law. Follow the tasks (cutting down trees, bringing spades from lake), which he performs by aid of the animals. Then the selection, accomplished by the aid of the king of the flies. [But this trial is confused; he is required to tell the mother from the daughters, and also which are the mothers among many cattle] The tale ends happily, the flight being eliminated. Other and longer versions are given by H. Dahle, Specimens of Malagasy Folk-lore, Antananarivo, 1 887, unluckily without translation. Dahle observes that the tale of Ibonia has a suspiciously Oriental colour, and that the proper name has no etymology in the Malagasy (p. 3). warns him not to follow. The end is obscured. Mention is made of the habits of Rakshasa to travel through the air. This explains why in European versions the appearance of the pursuer is so often compared to that of a cloud, (b) Stokes, Indian Fairy-tales, p. 6. [I have not seen this tale.] The story of Janshah has found its way to Zanzibar, where it is orally current (E. Steere, Swahili Tales, London, 1870, p. 333), and also to South Siberia; see notes of Cosquin.