New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-01
STORIES OF OLD FLORENCE
MIR. LELAND's NEW VOLUME OF ITALIAN
FOLKLORE.
Peonie and Retold by Charles Godfrey Leland
(Hans Breitmann). First Series. Up XIV 81"
Macmillan & Co.


MACMILLAN Co.
Mr. Leland in this volume has again hit upon
what must seem to most Of his readers new
line of investigation What may be called the
class Of civic or municipal legend in Italy would
fill a library Of such books this. judging by
what Italians have already done In the way OF
collecting One might fairly conjecture that the
popuace Of Italian cities never accounted Tor
the existence Of a palace or fountain or a
statue or a monument. for the character OF
famous man or the origin OF family by rel
erence to history even to legitimate tradiuoh'
Imagination has created tale usually as remote
from the facts possible. The genius Tor I'M
proyisng which possesses the people makes one
distrust some legends Of this kind r lde on
the spur Of the moment to satisfy curious In
quirer There are such bits in books OF travel
In Won der Hagens letters for example, where
the peasant or the humble citizen seemed TO turn
over in his mind the question as to what sort
OF story was wanted, and then TO answer not
from memory stored with popular tradition.
but from a fancy capable of making It's own
folklore as It went along. 1t requires more
than the single hearing of tale from single
source TO render its character as tradition I'M
questionable. In the case Of some Of the tales
which ho tells, Mr.. Leland plainly indicates
that more nan one person has contributed to
his knowledge Of given tale.
OF course the students of folklore Will be
after him again. as usual, with criticism. In
fact he challenges their attention by telling
how he has dealt with some Of the legends that
were contributed to his store There are he
says certain tales anecdotes or jests. which
are either based on a very slight foundation
of tradition-often a mere hint-or have been so
written up by runaway pen-and mine is an
awful bolter-that the second-rate folklorst,
whose forte consists not in finding facts, but
faults. may say in truth, as one OF his KIND old
say in America: MIR. Leland is throughout inaccu-
rate" In such he hopes that he has pre-
served the spirit OF truth while sacrihcins the
letter Meanwhile. he gives them the satisfaction
of coming after him and working the field when
has served his purI ose as a pioneer The dispute
| between him and the more rigid students Of ira
dition has. at least. two sides. and MI Leland is
| capable of taking either one, occasion serves
| For the liberal practice which takes a scrap OF
legend and willingly allows 1t TO be expanded
into tale he cites examples like THE Legend
| Of Sleepy Hollow" RIP Van Wrinkle and
| Heine's Gods in Exile" on the other hand
when he has a popular tale just TO his taste
| he is Just as ready any one TO contrast IL
advantaPeously with products of deliberate liter
! allure. For example, he has a fragment to when
he has given the title 'Intialo; the Spirit OF the
| Haunting Shadow" "Intialo" is equivalent 10
the word "Hinthial" found added TO names Of
the dead in Etruscan sculptures. and supposed
by DR.. Isaac Taylor, Dennis and others to mean
| a ghost or spectre. Dennis gives two examples
"Hnthial Teiresas" and "Hinthal Patrocles''
: which seem to mark the accompanying figures
as the souls ghosts Of Teiresias and Patroces
But Intialo has survived to the present day as
In, tha pyf N 10 moo
pie the embodiment of that fear which some
times makes one reluctant to look behind lest
there be some haunting terror on ones track
The criminal who is frightened by his own
thoughts is the victim OF Intiao. The wizard
and the witch providers OF the night, are sup
posed to be most subject TO the threateniDgs Of
this dire shade. But they have way OF conquer
! Ing 1t. To its taunts they have a reply The
demon has an incarnation by which he deprives
his victims Of hope. They shall never be happy,
they shall never be alone. Where they are, ne
| will be- Trembling shall seize them at home
and abroad, and they shall be stunned by all
| humankind At the bidding Of the demon they
! must run like ours, but though they feel the
! presence of their master. they shall never see
him. Their own poisoned natures drive them
onward accursed. All this the demon says to
| the sorcerer in verse But the latter, If ne is
|
Intialo must depart or he will find master who
| will make a swine snout of him. who Will sub
ject him to his own torments. who is more ma
ngnant than he is. for he is protected by lovely
witch who Is far more powerful than the fiend
| himself He dares the demon to meet him at
| midnight where sorcerers congregate. and so
| drives him off by sheer excess of abusive lam
| guage
| Mr. Leland takes great delight in the capture
OF this relic of old Etruscan lore. He sees in it
no reminder of medieval superstition but OF
| something darker and more ancient the craft OF
| the Magi. The actual triumph of the haunted
person over the pursuing demon especially at
| tracts his admiration. 1t leads him TO compare
the dabolism Of this bit of Italian witchcraft
| with that Of Byron's Manfred and Goethe's
Faust" lie quotes the incarnation which closes
the first of the first act Of Manfred as
a striking parallel to the verses supposed to
be spoken by Intalo to his victims. lie main
tains that the allusion to the lovely WITCH. the
bella stregha" by whom the sorcerer claims 10
be protected, implies exactly the same crime
which is the theme of Manfred" and that this
crime in its bold defiance of all morality Is
essential to a demonism surprising that Of the
very spirits of evil. Manfred Is only broken
down magician to Mr. Leland; Faust is true
neither TO the name the character which
he assumes. There is lack Of will in Goethe's
hero which would be condemned not only by the
Tuscan sorcerer. but by the Voodoo in America
and the Magus Of Oriental antiquity. In thus
contrasting a specimen OF Italian wizardry with
two famous poems, Mr.. Leland rests his argu-
ment on the absolute genuineness Of the poems
which he has discovered. He confs sses as much
by showing that the Italian popular poem could
have owed nothing TO Manfred" Thus there are
times when re sees the necessity Of accuracy
as clearly any second-rate folkorist
1t is curious to find that the ghost Of Michael
Angelo has become to the Florentine populace a
sort of tricky Puck goblin whose special de-
light 1t is TO break up a lovers uyst. while the
IL mig no ID