New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-16

A., o,rd,ces of folk florists But indirectly, such
r,,scalIanes az his are more efficiently DEFENDED
nv Mr. Temple in his commentary on MIS-. S'ee''
prniab collection of tales than they are by MINI
self IL has long been the preJudce OF io'h-io'o''
that whole tales and not incidents must be sought
bv the collector, ard that whole tales ana 'io'
mere episodes must be used in comparative s'''''
This theory led up to one really VaiuaDe ISL
crv the so-called Aryan Departure ana hetu'"
Formula Illustrated the main plot or the ocys-
sew But 1t would be hard to show that IL ever
nroduced anything else except great dea' VI
troublo TO conscientious students. Now, ire htcr-
arv reorganizers Of the popular TRADITION never
stopped 10 consider where a gwen ihc'"e"' W.
longed They just popped 1t IN "ncre II SCENE" -
ft IL does not take much study OF national coz
,octions Ike the Arabian Nights, or the H.to-
nadesa or the Bakhtyar Maven, to see that this
process did not begin with Hans CHRISTIAN -'n"e'
sen But there are solemn persons VIM assoc
that over the border OF ciVilizatioh' aiio"s ~
rustics and the savages, who may be SAID 10 AVE
almost as prineval men did, no such cohtsih'''d-
,io, of folk-tales Is ever permitted. one genera
,,on tells story lust as its predecessors tod II.
These solemn persons do not talk this sort Oh s'uii
TO marines, but the members OF ioih-'o'e 81
cietics But now comes Mr. Morton to say that
things happen quite differently. lie deprNeS .n'
village story-tclIer Instantly OF all that scien'hc
fcryor or reverence for the antique tnat "o"''
lead him to preserve traditional story r"'ac',
This s,orv-tellers memory IL full OF themes ana
NJ Incidents and the better he Is as a SLOT!
teller the more clearly he pcrceives the ILLNESS VI
an unusual incident TO the place ne mas hiauc '''
II I'm the heat Of his monoogue. He Is IKE any
othcr romancer carried away by the no" OF MS
narrative which Is never wholly the product OF
his r,enorv The consequence IL that, as a
r,a,,or Of fact he does not always tack on the
same incidents to the same plot every '''e "e
narrates IT, and he IS encouraged In varying '''e
machinery of mis- narratives by the reputation 'lat
his skill in doing this gives him IN having d" III
exhaustible repertory. The moral OF TINS Is 'nat
II one only compares tales as whole one - III
,ostigating but half the subject, and the
least important half! lncideniS arc "o' y -.
70 variation az general plot. They lie In memory
Ike crystals ready to be built into any stuc'ui"
of the story-tellers fancy. They are Inc ui''"a'e
molecules Of the alchemy Of the imagination
Hence memory plays no freaks with them. as they
arc IN themselves Il reserves It's eccentric'ies Tor
tho manner in which they are 10 be associated 10
gcthcr "Confequently. it viii be FOUND "u'S
Mr. Morton that the plots Of folk-tales' as ac'u-
ally tod by village crones and childreh are n'u0"
more liable to variation from the standard than are
tho Incidents with which they enriched ana
rendered acceptable" Mr.. Morton deserves graf
tude Without thinking anything ABOUT IT, ne "a'
really puncturei OF the worst hoaNes III '"e
whole range Of the socalIcd science OF toik-io'e'
As for the great Danish stoTy-teler. Andersen II
IS plain that his literary method was close
courterp,rt Of the oral method attributed by Mr.
Morton 20 his village croncs. The inference Is
that an incident from his tales IS OF az much use
in comparative study as II II had been found IN
real rolk-tale It's only defect ls that 1t cannot
be- called folklore until has been found to exist
IN tradition outside OF Andcrsens stories
rhcre q a curious tale IN this Punjab collection
vhiob on IN. one side seems to be related TO some
Of the carIIost fincics Of civilization ana on 'he
other 10 be- . counterpart Of an excessively modern
story Ike Isssan Of i,assorah. II is entitled Inc
Faithful Prince and belongs to "A cycle OF tales
some NJ witch have been published like chap books
IN native dialects The name Of the hero. Bahra'n-
go- i. referred py Mr.. Morton TO the Sassanian
King O., Persia better known 10 history as |arahes
who rclcned early In the hfth century OF Tie
Christian eva This prince. while hunting one .'s'
started n cr,rcn deer and captured II awe IL j.
significant for those Who Ike sun-myth to re-
member that this golden deer was reused when the
hunter turned toward the setting sun. To buy i's
release tn deer offered to give the prince rlde
on It's back For seven days and seven nights II
cnrrleI him through the air above the eaTth anu
finally left rim In the Land Of Demons lie was
welcomed b., the demon Jasdrnl. who proved 70 be
tho golden deer itself In another form Jasdrul had
a hundred palaces each with it's garden or para
disc and the prince wns made Favored CUES, NJ
all Of thcm He wandered from one to another
gratllel with the sight Of untold wea'th III eNe''
form What was his establishment 10 mo that the
last palace was o howell while the garden
which surrounded Il was most magnificent OF all
I, was seven miles this way and seven miles 'ha'
way AMI WAS fun OF tall trees and bright flowers
lnkes streams. fountains and summer-houses. pay
and night II resounded with the songs OF birds.
There IL Il defect I'm the story here as told since
no trees ether plants are specified. But Judging
hv the analogy OF Calypso's island and by other
mysterious places OF the kind. there shouIu pe
something funcreal in the midst OF all this beauty
lust az cypress surrounded the oeautitui
palace Of Amor and Psyche. When Hassan OF Bas-
L.Is oh hprh
her birl-drcss after the traditional fashion But
the fairy w..o fell In love with Bahramgor flew to
him rs a pigeon. and took her own shape as soon as
she touched the ground. OF course, there was the
usual misfortune. The fairy fled TO her Oh home
not In the Islands Of wax Wax. but on the equally
Inaccessible Emerald Mountain. and the deserted
prince had to un'csgo great hardships in order
To find her again. This Is thiniy disguised
narrative OF a journey through the underworld re-
told In a way to show that It's true charac-
ter has been forgotten. The adventures OF Alex
tulor among the gardens OF the East. as shown In
Mr. S.eelcs row version OF the old romance arc
likewise only a collection Of antique legends about
the world beyond the where terror alernates
with beauty. where tres talk and utter prophecies
Mr.. Siece has really done kindness TO others oe-
sides children by ree.lins this favorte romance or
tho Middle Ages In ancient tales there was no
question about the region where the water Of life
flowed II WAS In the very depths OF the lapyrih-
thine underworld Of the Chaldeans. or else 1t was
in the Happy Islands ~ the Greeks, inaccessioe 10
mortals For the fabulous biographer OF Alexander
. was beyond the Land Of Darkness ana there also
,.oro rio trcc, OF the sun and moon from which he
learned his fac But those who related the story IN
medieval Europe not at all clear about us
supernatural character. and II took them long
time to weary OF tn" task OF seeking the water Oh
ne or Of youth and the wonderful trees Of Eastern
.,r,,nce Rv way OF contrast, it may be observed
I'm the tales which Mr.. Lummis has taken down
from the lips OF the Pueb,os. that to the naive
American IMAGINATION the tree, especially the pine
tree evokes sinister memories. There Is one story
~ the good genius OF village who Is forced by
the magical practice OF an enemy TO cling to the
trunk or an aged pine tree The shoots ny with