[THE COUNT'S DAUGHTER. Erdélyi, ii. 2.]
The writer of this remembers his grandmother telling him this story when he was a boy in Newcastle on Tyne.
Cf. Grimm, i. "The Robber Bridegroom," pp. 164, 389.
Chambers, Book of Days, vol. i. p. 291, "Mr. Fox."
Halliwell, Nursery Rhymes, p. 164, "The Story of Mr. Fox"; and Benedict, in "Much Ado About Nothing," act i. scene i.[62]
Cf. Hofberg, p. 14, "Herrn till Rosendal," where the horrors of the lord's house drives his betrothed away; and the "Iron Virgin," of Munich, who was said to clasp the doomed in her arms and pierce them with spikes. Fraser's Magazine, 1872, p. 354.
The story reminds us strongly of Blue Beard. Cf. Notes and Queries, 7th S. ii. p. 321.
[THE SPEAKING GRAPES. Erdélyi, ii. 3.]
Cf. Thorpe. Yule-Tide Stories. "Prince Hatt under the Earth," p. 15. Stokes' Indian Fairy Tales, "The Fan Prince," p. 195. Grimm, vol. ii. "The Singing, Soaring Lark," p. 5, and Variants given on pp. 378, 382. Gubernatis, vol. ii. Story from Piedmont, p. 381, and a Tuscan tale, p. 382. In the latter, the father, who has promised his daughter a rose, forgets it, and his ship refuses to move on the homeward journey, and so he goes to a garden to get the rose, which is given to him by a hideous magician. This reminds us of the Finnish story, "Jykeä Lipas" (The Heavy Chest), S. ja T. ii. p. 146, where a man who was ploughing near a lake, went down to the strand to drink. When he had done drinking he tried to raise his head but could not, as a sea-troll had got hold of his beard,[63] and although the man repeated all manner of magic sentences he could not get away. The man at last had to promise his daughter, and so was set free: the story then turns on the forbidden chamber. In another, "Awaimetoim Wakka" (The Keyless Chest), S. ja T. i. p. 151, a man was lost and wanted to get home, when a being appeared and promised to take him if he would give him what he had at home, which turns out to be a beautiful child. Cf. "[The King and the Devil]," p. [189], in this collection. In Lapp stories the devil comes in. Cf. "Fattiggutten, Fanden og Guldbyen;" Friis, p. 161, where he promises plenty of fish to a poor man if he will promise what his wife "carries under her heart;" in another, "Gutten, Havfruen og Ridder Rød," Friis, p. 131,[64] a mermaid stops the king's ship and won't let it go till the king promises what his wife is bringing into the world. The latter part of the Finnish and Lapp stories is not like the Magyar, but rather reminds us of "[Stephen the Murderer]," and the latter part of "[Shepherd Paul]."