to this matter as Straparola II., Sicilian, and Harz II., and the group having the form The Grateful Dead + The Poison Maiden + The Water of Life (The Lady and the Monster specifically).
A summary of our three categories will be of service in discussing their relations to one another and to the themes with which The Water of Life or The Lady and the Monster are combined.
| Class I. | |
| Polish. | |
| Hungarian I. | |
| Rumanian II. | |
| Treu Heinrich. | |
| Bohemian. | (With The Ransomed Woman.) |
| Simrock I. | |
| Simrock III. |
| Class II. |
| Sicilian. |
| Harz II. |
| Straparola II. |
| All recorded variants with The Poison Maiden. |
| Simrock VII. (With The Ransomed Woman.) |
| Class III. |
| Maltese. |
| Venetian. |
| All variants with The Thankful Beasts. |
Class I. forms a territorially homogeneous group, all the members of it coming from eastern and central Europe. It is not altogether homogeneous in content, but preserves the theme of The Water of Life proper in a form where the hero wins a princess by means, among other feats, of metamorphosis. Class II. is the most widespread of all territorially, as its members come from all parts of Europe. It has instead of The Water of Life proper what must be regarded, in the present
