232
NOTES AND QUERIES, [ii s. xn. SEPT. is, 1915.
also that the carrying - over of ideas from one
religious system to that which has succeeded it
in a given area is not so simple or so common a
matter as has often been supposed. And there-
with may come a wholesome suspicion of the
survival, among peoples not overburdened with
literature, not of the folk-tales tels, quels of their
fathers, but of the power to invent them.
It is, indeed, not difficult to see that a lively belief in the supernatural as equally real with the world of sense would, if it included a belief in independent and warring principles of good and evil, readily produce stories. The duality of the world heretical though the conception be maks, at any rate, for incident. That the tales should take up animals on to the same plane as men occupy is not difficult either to understand. In fact, we think that Dr. Gaster expends almost more Wonder and curiosity than are necessary upon this failure to differentiate clearly between animal and human, taking it also just a thought too literally. The same fundamental attitude may be seen to this day in our own country in any person who has much to do with animals, and has " a way with them " particularly if he has never been " educated," or has forgotten thoroughly enough what education was given him. What is lacking, for the making of stories, would seem to be the cogent belief in the super- natural.
Dr. Gaster tells us that these Rumanian tales and legends are " believed in implicitly." He even goes so far as to say, " They form an integral part I feel almost inclined to say they form an exclusive part of the popular religious belief of the folk." We cannot tell what is meant by " an exclusive part," and we certainly think that the Rumanian folk must have some reli- gious beliefs not actually contained in these tales, for the tales themselves postulate such. But, despite our perplexity as to that point, we may gladly recognize the clearness and liveliness which " good faith " has imparted to these, often very witty, inventions.
The stories themselves are, indeed, delightful : worth reading and re-reading for their own sake, apart from their quasi-scientific interest as folk- lore. Dr. Gaster points out, with a just appre- ciation, their moral honesty and purity. But these reside, as it were, in their nature ; they do not inculcate any moral for the most part. Accord- ing to the arrangement in this book, we have first what Dr. Gaster calls * ' creation legends ' ' stories in which the origin of some beast, bird, or insect is imputed to the action of God or of the Devil ; then legends connected with characters in Scrip- ture ; and then what are more like fairy-tales than the rest. A good deal of this material stands alone ; but where comparison may be made with examples in other collections of tales, Dr. Gaster gives chapter and versa for these in the proper place.
As to their immediate derivation, some of the stories were learnt by our author in his youth, and the greater number have been extracted fro m Rumanian collections. Besides those of three Appendixes, we have nofe\verthan 119 items; and included among them are a few carols, of which one in particular the * Pilgrimage of the Soul after Death' is arresting, both for its poetry and for its curious and significant symbolism. It recalls Ygdrasil, but we ourselves are rather inclined to ee in it original native wonder at the mysterious
aspect of some great tree by the waterside
quickened, be it remembered, by belief in the
supernatural than any derivation from the
well-known Northern myth. Half a dozen titles
may give our readers some idea of the quality
of the tales themselves: ' Why is the Bee busy
and the Spider sullen ? ' * Why does the Cuckoo
lead a restless life ? ' ' Why has a Snake no
tail ? ' * Where did the Swan come from ? '
' The story of the Fox and his bagful of wits an 1
the one-witted Hedgehog.' ' The story of Man
and his Years.'
' L'INTERMEDIAIRE.'
AT this time, when Italy is making gallant efforts to recover the Italian-speaking population from Austrian dominance, the following extract from a recent number of our Parisian contemporary will be read with interest :
" L 1 Italia jarci da se (Ixxi. 418 ; Ixii. 17). Uii ^crivain italien, Ernesto Masi, dans son livre intituM ' II segreto del re Carlo Alberto ' (Bologne, 1891), dit que le Roi prononca ces mots dans un Conseil des Ministres, en 1845. Mais Piersilvestro Leopardi, qui fut, en 1848, envoye extraordinaire et ministre pl&iipotentiaire du Roi des Deux- Siciles pres la Cour de Sardaigne, raconte que dans une audience qu'ileut du Roi, le 12 juin, celui- ci lui dit : ' " On m'a attribu^ ces mots : L* Italia farcl da se. Je ne les ai pas prononces, mais je les ai accepted. " On ne pouvait rien dire de plus apropos ' (' Narra zioni storiche,' Turin, 1856).
" Ces mots sont contenus, avec une le"gere modification, dans la phrase suivante de la Proclamation, adressee par Charles Albert aux ' Peuples de la Lombardie et de la V6n6tie,' en date de Turin, 23 mars, 1848 :
" ' Nous seconderons vos justes desirs, coii- fiants dans 1'aide de ce Dieu qui est yisiblement avec nous, de ce Dieu qui a donn6 a 1' Italic Pie IX., de ce Dieu qui, par de si merveilleuses impulsions, mit 1'Italie en mesure d'agir par elle- rnerne (pose V Italia in grado di far da se).'
" Je resume ce qui precede du livre ' Chi 1'ha detto ? ' de Giuseppe Fumagalli (Milan, 1915). En definitive, on ne sait pas au juste qui a dit le premier L' Italia farcl da se.
"Comte DE RONZAGLIE."
ta
ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately, nor can we advise correspondents as to the valu* of old books and other objects or as to the means c disposing of them.
H. S. BRANDRETH (" Naturam expellas furca "). Horace, Ep. I. x. 24.
M. L. R. BRESLAR ("Hope-Scott and Glad- stone " ). There is a long account of J. R. Hope- Scott in the 'Diet. Nat. Biog.' He married Lockhart's only daughter.
CLERKS IN HOLY ORDERS AS COMBATANTS. MR. CHARLES E. STRATTON of Boston, Mass., writes that " Bishop Polk of Virginia," on p. 87, should be Bishop Polk of Louisiana.
