Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-09-29
NEWLY DISCOVERED FAIRY TALES,

NEWLY DISCOVERED FAIRY TALES.
From the National Review
In Chinese legend, Fo comes down upon
earth TO try the hearts Of men, and is hospita.
bly, received by poor widow. She sits up all
night to make him new shirt, and on leaving
next morning 70 pronounces the following
blessing: " May God reward you for what you
have done to me; and may the first thing that
you begin to do after leave, not cease till the
sun sets Thoughtless of the meaning of his
words, the widow begins measuring her cloth
to see how much is left and she measures on
and on till sunset before coming to the end of
the piece The room is then full Of linen, and
she has become rich woman. Hearing of this
good luck miserly neighbor places herself at
her door in the hope Of finding an opportunity
OF doing an equally remunerative deed of
charity. Fo appears in rags, as before, and is
treated In the same way. On leaving next
morning he repeats the blessing Her pig at
that moment begins to grunt, and she thinks
to herself: :" shall be measuring linen all
day and unable to feed him; had better give
him some water before beginning She takes
up her pail and begins to pour but she soon
hnds she has not the power Of stopping There
she stands and pours on and on till sunset,
when the whole village is inundated, and she
mas to bear the lll-will of her neighbors.
The following is a good specimen of the Ie-
gendary lore OF the negroes of Bornou:
There was once upon a time a man. of God
who had wife with one eye, and a horse. He
understood the language Of the beasts of the
field and the birds Of the air One day bird
new oy him, and he began to laugh at what it
said- HIS wife inquired the cause of his mer-
iiment; cannot tell you" answered he
cause L have only one eye" "Nay'1 renlied
tne husband, that | saw before fell in love
with you and married you.o This answer
satisfied his wife for the time; but it happened
that rat and his spouse were laughing and
JokIng so boisterously on the roof that thew
both lost their footing and fell to the ground.
mat was sorry Joke" said the female RAT
"l have broken my back" The man. who
was lying in bed, and had overheard their
conversation, could not refrain from Iauvh;nc
at this mishap; whereupon his wife started up'
held him fast, and declared that he should moi
leave the house until be had told her the cause
OF MS laughter Let me e" cried he bet
his wife persisted in her demand. and she
at length forced him to confess his secret. The
next morning when he went to see his horse
and IL began 10 neigh, he found to his aston
lsnment thst he understood not a single word
nor could he make out what the other animals
were talking about. Then he set himself down
IN nls house, hung his head, and said to him
sell Tod Furnishes the man who opens his
mouth and betrays his innermost thoughts. /
understood the language of the animals, but
now the devil has drawn me aside from the
right path. The Lord has closed nv ears be-
cause L have betrayed my secret to a woman.
There is story in the Arabian Nights which
mas the same beginning as this, but It's conclu
sion Is not so happy, and contains a different
and less original and significant moral When
the man is on the point of betrayipr his secret
ne overhears cock remarking that be can
keep nifty hens in order and that IL IL verv
strange his master cannot manage one wife
IL then suggests that a good beating would be
he proper remedy. The advice is followed
ana tne VIE ceases her opportunities.
In Grimm s Marchen The Legend of one who
went into the world to learn Fear, is rendered.
almost comic by the imperturabIe caImness
and sang JrOId Of the hero, who never knew
what 1t was to shudder. When be sleeps nm
der the gallows, he takes down the dead bodies
A. midnight, and sets them upright round the
hre to warm them. In the enchanted castle he
sleeps Tor the same benevolent purpose with his
oSun corpse, ngnts and subdues in turn all
the evil spirits Of the place, and destroy. the
spell that hung over the castle. OF course the
castle belongs to king, and the king has a
daughter, and the hero marries the daughter.
But much rs be loves bis wife. he is not happy.
but keeps saying to himself, Oh that knew
Nnat u Is TO snndder. The kings daughter,
annoyed at her husbands discomfort sends one
day for pail Of water full Of little gudgeons.
ana throws 1t over him while he is asIeer. He
wakes suddenly, and cries out I shudder I
snudder thank God. my wife, have known
what Il is to shudder,
in Der Geuattsr Tod, . poor man chose
pes.n as tne godfather OF his twelfth child
sna snen tne cniid was grown up, Death con-
ferred on him a gift by which to make his for
tune de showed him herb, and said, "When
you hear OF any one being sick, 20 To their
bedside, and II you see me standing at the
mead you can promise they will recover: give
them OF this herb, and il will cure them bur
II you see me standing at the feet of the sick
man, ne Is mine say that there is no hone for
tnere IS not doctor in the world who could
save him."
In TINS way the youth became q renowned
doctori and when the king was taken in. he
was sent for TO cure him. But ON approaching Q
the royal bed, he saw Death standing at the
ieet o. the king; Then be thought to himself
L VIII outHit Death for once he is nv god
father, and will not take it amiss' So he
turned the patient round with his head tn
wnere Death was standing and administered
the herb The king recovered but death
looked black, and said, this time Ii has gone
well with you because am your godfather.
out beware of attempting such n thing again
Now 10 happened some time after thai the
king daughter became very i'll; and The kino
promised her In marriage to whoever should
cure her. The doctor came and saw Death
standing at her feet. His godfather looked AT
him With q threatening co1ntenance but the
oesuty OF the princess so entranced him that
ne noticed nothing else he turned her round
on tho bed, administered the herb, and she re-
covered. But Death was not to be di,reyarded
second time; he seized the doctor with his icy
hand, and dragged him into a subterranean
cavern There were flaming in endless rows
thousands upon thousands Of candles Of differ
ent hIes; every moment some went out, and
others burnt up again, so that the lights seemed
TO De dancing up and down in constant change.
These are the life.lights Of man said n.stb.
the big ones belong to children, middle sized
TO people IN the prime Of life, and the small
ones to old people; but il often happens that
children and young people have small lights
TOO: Then the doctor asked TO see his lignt
and Death pointed to q little flame that was
nIckerlng ts. very ieebly. Oh my godfather, cried
me new light In order that may enjoy life.
become king, and have the Beautiful pripce.s
for my wife. cannot, answered Death ons