Popular Tales and Fictions : their Migrations and Transformations. By
W. A. Clouston. 2 vols. (Blackwood.) —Mr. Clouston's book supplies a want which has been increasingly felt ; and while its appearance will be hailed with satisfaction by the student, it cannot fail to give a decided impetus to the further popularising of the study with which it deals. It is eminently readable, full of matter well expressed, and set off by good paper and typography. Besides being attractive in these respects, it is distinguished by soberness and good sense, shown scarcely more by what is said than by what is left unsaid, for the author has carefully avoided the allurements of theorising on the origin and signification of popular tales and myths, and makes but scant reference—not always of a complimentary kind —to the theories of others. He is equally cautious and sensible in his references to the connection and diffusion of the tales in different countries. The task which he has set himself, and in which the merit of a conspicuous success can scarcely be denied to him, has been to illustrate the growth and modification of popular tales,—those tales originating in and appealing to sentiments and conditions inherent in human nature, which, as Isaac D'Israeli says, "have wings, and soon become denizens wherever they alight," and which in many cases have furnished the only intellectual recreation of man in his ruder state. In one respect the book stands by itself among its kind. It gives the variants of the stories at length, instead of merely indicating them by title or reference, and thus enables the reader to make his com- parisons, and draw his conclusions, without the labour of consulting the numerous books specially devoted to the stories of particular nations. The advantage of this method is obvious, especially in view of the difficulty of access to some of these books. The only objection to it is that the facility of comparison which it affords may prevent reference to original works ; but as one main effect of the book will probably be to excite and stimulate interest in the subject, this objec- tion is perhaps not a very serious one. It may be well, however, to remind intending storiologists that the book is not, nor professes to be, by any means exhaustive, many of the best-known and most widely spread stories—including such favourites as " Cinderella " and "Puss in Boots "—being conspicuous by their absenee. Mr.
Clouston's arrangement of materials is, on the whole, perhaps as good as could be adopted with the object in view. He does not pro- fess to classify the tales, although the result of his arrangement is actually to separate and label them in such a manner as would greatly facilitate the work of classification. Each "paper," to use the author's own term, is occupied either with some well-known story and its variants, or with the stories of various kinds which contain in common some distinctive incident, or are constructed on the same general lines. Thus, on the one hand, papers are devoted to such stories as those of "The Robbery of the King's Treasury" (Herodotas' "Story of Rhampsinitus "), and "Aladdin's Lamp," with their several variants ; and on the other, to the various stories in which magical transformations take place, or invisible caps and cloaks, and shoes of swiftness figure. The well-known story of Herodotue is shown to be current—of course, with "differences," and in some cases only in its fundamental idea—not only in most of the countries of Europe, but in Mongolia and Tibet ; and Mr. Clouston is able to present for the first time to English readers a variant of "Aladdin's Lamp" from Southern India. Any persons who may still be so credulous as to believe in the authenticity of the Welsh tradi- tionary (?) story of Prince Llewellyn and his hound Gelert,' will find their faith rudely shaken by a perusal of Mr. Clonston's paper under that heading, in which are given the variants of the story current not only in Europe before Lewellyn's time, but in India and China before the Christian era. In a similar way, the good old story of " Whitting- ton and his Cat," so dear to the London citizen, is shown to be common to many nations, and to have existed in both Europe and Asia long before Whittington's time. Mr. Clouston points out, however, that this is one of the few well-known tales of its kind of which no variant has as yet been found in Indian fiction, although in Persia, as in England, it has gained a place in the national history. The introduction, occupying some seventy pages, contains evidence of extensive research and careful thought, and besides being highly instructive, is one of the most amusing chapters in the book. In it Mr. Clouston draws attention to the part played
in the diffusion of tales by the monkish sermon-writers of medieeval times, referring specially to two of these,—Jaques de Vitry, Bishop of Acre, who wrote " Sertnones de Tempore at Sanctis," and died in 1240; and ktienne de Bourbon, whose treatise, of about the same period, on the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, known as the " Liber de Donis," consists mainly of stories expressly designed as exe,npla for the use of preachers. Both these works are of earlier date than the better known " Gesta Romanorum," a work, compiled originally with a similar object, which has had no small influence on European, and especially English, literature. Many of the stories in the " Geste," as well as others known apart from that collection, are found in the works of De Vitry and Da Bourbon. They range from grave to gay ; and we can readily understand that a story such as that of the widow who proved to be not inconsolable would be attentively listened to if heard in a sermon, and would not be allowed to remain locked in the minds of the hearers, especially those of the sterner sex.
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