The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-09-28

dwarfs had only inarticuIate utterancss
of rage, delight. warning, &C., and few
words borrow ed from the nearest tribes.
The Eeddahs have a very small language.
unknown to the other Ceylonese. Half OF
such speech is usually gesture. and this
fact. combined with the stick used as
weapon or staf. accounts readily for the
fairy wand of our beloved stories.
Another point of coincidence Is in the
paganism of these primitive folk and the
etir people. shut out from Christian
faith. and without share in the Christian
hope. This is a specially strong point In
the Scotch fairy lore.
cNoNvHvHd.Iv UH1avI
Lastly. we have the tabled appearances
of the fairies. The queer Brownie" fig.
ure. which Mr.. PalmaS Cox has made 80
fam mt US: the crotes1ue gnome and goblin
OF the Hartz range with spindling legs
and big heads are easily matched by
q. las of our dwarfish tribes. or OF our
lonely mine and moor dwellers. Puck. the
familiar house goblin of Shakespeare.
strong and mischievous. and Lob lie by
the Fire" another elf of the same type.
a hsfry and lubberly wight. may find a
counterpart in many rustic of lonely
fel.s and mountain or moor farms. But
all fairies were not ugly: the delicata
fancy of the Breton painted the females
fairies as small. but graceful. and charm<a
ing 20 see. re we eliminate the supernat.
pcated story Of the fairy wife who req
TIM ed to her own kindred and life OH
wandering freedom. and OF the fsdryd
cLahgeling and the babe stolen from th64
cradle, show every mark Of truth SRA
Hnr,J Johnston. who saw the Afrtcany
tto arts or pigmies In their own land, saysse
"f have been informed by the forest ne,1
Srots that the dwarfs will ocCaSionallys
steal their children and put in their places
ptgTny babies of ape-Eke Appearances
Graz ceilings, in fact''-adopting the stolenS
children into the dwarf tribe EIe alsos
speaks strongly of the Irresistible CONF
cluston" that our fancy stories spranss'
from actual dwarfs. He traces at Lengths
the resemblance + have mentioned be.
tween the fairy tricks and the pranks and
habits of the little men OF the African
forests-their gifts at night. their van.
ishins by secret holes and hiding places,
their freakish good OR i'll will, their low
burning melodies and their old traditional
dances-which he describes fully and
which recall the famous fairy rings OF
Ireland
..By wells and rills. In meadows green,
We nightly dance our hey-day guise."
IT spite of their lack OF prosresstves
ness he notices in the dwarts sharp
| quick intelligence. like the elfin wir-w1tn
tales.
CONGO DwARFs
At the end OF the eighteenth century
Congo dwarfs were sometimes shipped
with slaves for the West Indies. They
always stad aloot from the other prison-
ers. and no doubt sometimes escaped into
freedom Such captures had been made as
early as Herodotus. and the imagination
Of the captors was charmed by these rare
gtmpseS of so strange and tiny q race:
ncT cid any OF the shy dwarf people ever
become familiar enough for experience to
correct imagination. Add to such distant
tradition the small people nearer home.
OF which proofs have been given among
the kelts and others. and you have the
material. which at last Shakespeare
lied into the froicsome Puck and dainty
Ariel. who was surely the most ethereal
ard lcvey sprite of al. the little people.
an covsslip's bell lie.
On the bats back I do fly,
After summer merrily.
nIerrirly. rerrily shall live nov
Under the blossom that hangs on
tho bough."