We have also two versions of Tom Thumb, who is called in the one “Ukhailtcho,” or “Baratchuri”—“a clove of garlic;”[98] in the other, “Mundua-mila-pes,” both containing the episode of his being swallowed by an ox; in the last, he himself is swallowed, as they are washing out the ox’ entrails, by “a thief of a dog”—“Ohoñ chakhurra.” It is singular that the same episode is preserved in the Gaelic; cf. Campbell, Vol. III., p. 114.
We have in MS. a long Rabelesian legend, which opens like Cenac-Moncaut’s tale of “Le Coffret de la Princesse,” in his “Littérature Populaire de la Gascogne” (Paris, 1868). A king will give one of his daughters to whoever can guess what the skin of a certain animal is. It is the devil who guesses it, and who marries the princess. She is saved by the “white mare,” which appears in so many of our tales. She then dresses as a man, but, nevertheless, a prince falls in love with her; and then follow a lot of scenes, the converse of the adventure of Achilles in Scyros. They marry; but, after seven years, the devil-husband reappears. After strange adventures, they are again succoured and united by the “white mare,” who binds the devil for ever, and then flies to heaven as a white pigeon, and the rest live happily ever after. This legend is from “Laurentine, Sister of Toutou,” and may be mingled with Cascarrot legends. We have given it as derived from the French, partly because the heroine’s name is Fifine, and because this, and “Petit Perroquet and the Tartaro,” are the only tales in our collection in which the term “prince” is employed in the Basque instead of “the king’s son.” Cf. Campbell’s “Highland Tales,” passim.
We owe the following notes to the kindness of M. H. Vinson, Judge at La Réole, Gironde. They may be of assistance to some of our readers in the endeavour to trace out the length of time which is required for the translations of exotic legends to become popular traditions among a people who know the language of the translation only by “social contact.”
| Premières Editions de laPremière Traduction en Français des Mille et uneNuits. | |
| Les Mille et une Nuits, Contes Arabes, trad. parGalland. Paris, 12 vols. in 12mo. | 1704–1717 |
| Les Mille et une Nuits, Contes Arabes, trad. parGalland. Paris, 6 vols. in 12mo. | 1774 |
| Les Mille et une Nuits, Revues et Corrigées parM. Caussin de Percival. Paris, Lenormant, 9 vols. 8vo. | 1806 |
| Première Traduction de Bidpai etLoqman. | |
| Contes et Fables Indiennes de Bidpai et de Loqman,trad. (posth.) par Ante Galland. Paris, 2 vols. in 12mo. | 1724 |
| Contes et Fables Indiennes, Traductiond’après la Version Turque d’Ali-Tchelebt-ben-Salet,par Galland, terminée et publiée par D. Gardonne. Paris,3 vols. 12mo. | 1778 |
| Fables de Loqman, Édition Arabe, accomp.d’une Traduction Franc: (par M. Mariel) au Caire, de l’imp.Nation, au VII. 8vo.[99] | 1799 |
| Contes de Grimm. | |
| Contes de la Famille, par les Frères Grimm,traduit de l’Allemand, par M. Martin et Pitre-Chevalier. Paris,Renouard, 12mo. | 1846 |
| Edition Originale, Kinder und Hausmärchen.Berlin, 2 vols. 16mo. | 1812–14 |
| Les Plus Anciens Recueils de Contes enFrançais. | |
| Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles. Paris, Ant. Verard, pet.in fol. Goth. | 1486 |
| Le Parangon de Nouvelles Honnestes. Lyon, in 8vo. | 1531 |
| Les Nouvelles Récreations de Bonaventure desPeriers. Lyon, in 4to. | 1558 |
| L’Heptameron de Margaret de Valois. Paris,8vo. | 1559 |
| Baliverneries ou Contes Nouveaux d’Entrapel,publ. par Noel Du Fail. Paris, 16mo. | 1548 |
| Les Serées de Guillaume Bouchet. Poitiers, 4to.Paris, 3 vols. 12mo. | 1584, 1608 |
| Nouvelles Choisies, par Ch. Sorel. Paris, 2 vols.8vo. | 1645 |
| Contes des Fées, par Madamed’Aulnoy. | 1630–1705 |
| Contes des Fées, par Ch. Perrault. | 1697 |
[1] See notes to “Juan Dekos,” p. 146.
[2] I think this word occurs in some “Chanson de Gestes,” and in the Basque “Pastorales,” as a Mahommedan devil. If not, it is probably our own “Duke of Marlborough” thus transformed. Cf. the song, ”Malbrouk s’en va en guerre.”