great variety in the order and number of the parts. The story is often joined to that of "The Anger Bargain" (Chapter XXII) and sometimes contains incidents belonging to "Jack the Trickster" (Chapter XIX). The principal adventures of the boaster will be seen in the summaries below. For the distribution of the tale, see Bolte und Polívka, i, 148.

EUROPEAN VERSIONS.

1. French Canadian: Barbeau, JAFL, xxix, 95.

A. Boastful fly-killer. A man who has killed a large number of flies writes on a placard, "I have killed a thousand of them and five hundred on the rebound." The king is interested and employs him.

B. Tricking giants into killing one another. He is commissioned to put certain giants out of the way. He sits in a tree and when the giants sleep under it he throws stones and provokes a fight in which they kill one another.

C. Tricking unicorn. He catches a savage unicorn by tricking him into a church, where he imprisons him.

D. Frightening the enemy. When the hero goes to war, his horse runs away with him. To help himself he grasps a wooden cross from a graveyard. The cross comes loose. He waves it from side to side and frightens the enemy so that they flee.

2.

German: Grimm, No. 20.

here, are omitted.)

(Some incidents, not pertinent

His gir

A. Boastful fly-killer. The tailor kills seven flies. dle bears the inscription, "Seven at a blow."

E. Squeezing water from stone. He enters a contest of strength with a giant. They are to squeeze water from a stone. The tailor substitutes soft cheese and makes the whey run out of it.

The

F. Throwing stone into sky. In this contest with the giant the hero takes out of his pocket a bird which he releases. giant believes he has thrown a stone into the sky.

**

B. Tricking giants into killing one another. As in No. 1.

C. Tricking unicorn. He makes the unicorn run his horn into a trunk of a tree and thus captures him.

G. Tricking wild boar into building. He tricks a wild boar into church and imprisons him. [Cf. No. 1, incident C.]

For South American variants see Bolte und Polívka, i, 162.

AMERICAN INDIAN VERSIONS.

3. Maliseet: Mechling, JAFL, xxvi, 229.

A. Boastful dish-breaker. John breaks many dishes. He makes a placard with the legend: "I killed one hundred and fifty with my right hand and one hundred with my left." The king employs him, but tries to get rid of him.

G. Tricking lion into building. As in No. 2.

C. Tricking unicorn. As in No. 2, incident C.

B. Tricking giants into killing one another. John goes to the giant's home and makes the mother drunk. He then hides and when the other giants come, he provokes a fight by hitting them when they are asleep. They kill one another. One giant has been away. To him John hires as cook. John cooks the bodies of the dead giants after cutting out their tongues, and then makes him a bag that will hold soup. He challenges the giant to an eating contest, and through the use of the soup bag causes the giant to overeat. Then he cuts the bag and the giant imitates and cuts open his stomach. [For this last incident Cf. Cosquin, No. 36.]

Urias message. The king, wishing to rid himself of John sends him to a neighboring chief with a message to bring back a bushel and a half of gold. Really it is an order for John's execution. The neighbor king is, however, awed into giving the gold. [For this incident see Chapter XXIII, incident H; and cf. Chapter XIX. incident H.]

[For the rest of the story see Chapter XI, No. 3.]

4.

Penobscot: Speck, JAFL, xxvi, 83.

A. Boastful fly-killer. Regular.

D. Frightening the enemy. The king makes the hero a gen When his horse runs away he seizes a cross and waves it. This frightens the. enemy so that they flee.

eral.

5. Penobscot: Speck, JAFL, xxviii, 55.

Kind and unkind. Jack, unlike his elder brothers, is kind to

an old woman. She rewards him by warning him against a dengerous rock and dog. [Cf. Chapter VII-VIII, No. 9.]

Anger bargain. [See Chapter XXII, No. 3.]

E1. Chewing up the rock. Jack challenges the giant to a contest. He chews up maple sugar and makes the giant believe he is chewing up a rock. [For this exact incident see Clouston, i, 142.]

Punching holes in tree. Jack bores holes in a tree at night and fills up the holes with bark. He then challenges the giant to punch holes in the tree. By punching on the one he has prepared he easily wins. [Cf. Bolte und Polívka, i, 163, note 1.]

F. Throwing cane into sky. The hero addresses the Angel Gabriel and makes him an offering of the giant's cane. The giant is afraid of losing his cane, and begs the hero to desist.

[For rest of tale see Chapter XIX, No. 20.]

6. Maliseet: Speck, JAFL, xxx, 482, No. 7.

This story differs from others of this cycle in details, but seems, nevertheless, to be very closely related.

A youth takes service as an expert sailor. He stows provision in the hold of the ship and hides. After a few days, on a calm night, he lets himself out over the side and swims out. He calls for help and is taken into the ship. He greatly impresses the sailors by telling them that he has been swimming all these days to catch up.

In a contest of skill he falls and catches on a rope. The sailors give up contesting with a man of such skill.

When they propose a swimming match he prepares provision for several days, since he says he expects to be gone so long as that. They withdraw from the match. [Cf. No. 5, incident F.]

Though the story of the Foolish Boaster is known in Spanish America, I know of no versions among the tribes of the Southwest.

XXII. THE ANGER BARGAIN.

As a part of several types of European stories there

takes place a bargain between a man and a servant that he has employed to the effect that a forfeit shall be paid by the first to become angry. The servant succeeds in provoking the master to anger. The provocation may come from the cleverness or the awkward strength of the servant. This incident is usually connected with the stories treated in Chapters XIX and XXIII.

EUROPEAN VERSION.

1. French: Cosquin, No. 36.

A. Anger bargain. A servant and a master make a bargain that the first to become angry shall pay a forfeit.

B. Abuses heaped on master. The tricky servant heaps abuses on the master until he finally becomes angry and has to pay the forfeit.

AMERICAN INDIAN VERSIONS.

2. Maliseet: Mechling, JAFL, xxvi, 234.

Strong John.

[See Chapter XXIII, No. 2.]

A. Anger bargain. Regular.

B. Abuses heaped on master. Regular. The deeds of Strong John exasperate the master until he is glad to be rid of John at any cost.

13.]

Bear's Son. [For the rest of the story see Chapter II, No.

3. Penobscot: Speck, JAFL, xxviii, 55.

Kind and unkind. [For beginning see Chapter XIX, No. 20.]
A. Anger bargain. Regular.

B. Abuses heaped on master. When Jack is told to plant a field he does so in patches. The king almost loses his temper. [For rest of story see Chapter XXI, No. 5. and Chapter XIX, No. 20.]

XXIII. STRONG JOHN.

The story of the supernaturally strong hero occurs in a number of different combinations in Europe. It is

often connected with the story of "John the Bear" (Chapter II) as in the Maliseet version given below. Occasionally the "Anger Bargain" (Chapter XXII) or the giving of a blow at the end of a year by the strong man is a feature of the story. For a discussion of the tale in its various forms see Cosquin, notes to Nos. 14, 46, and 69.

EUROPEAN VERSIONS.

1. French Canadian: Barbeau, JAFL, xxx, 86.

Strong hero practices to gain strength. At seven years of age the hero leaves home for the first time. He carries in six maple trees; when next he goes out, at fourteen, he carries in twelve. B. John breaks the roof. John lets the trees fall and breaks the roof of the house.

C. John breaks tools when digging. ditches by the king, John breaks the tools.

Sent to work on the

D. Attempt to kill John in a well. The king sends him to dig a well and then throws huge rocks on him. [Cf. Chapter IX, incident C.] John asks the king to keep his chickens from scratching sand on him.

E. John drives devils to court. The king tries to rid himself of John by sending him to mill where seven devils grind corn. John finds that the devils eat up the ox from his cart. In anger he takes them to the king's court and thoroughly frightens the king.

F. John brings wild beasts and mill to court. Sent to a carding mill with wool, John finds that it is kept by a wild beast. He carries both mill and beast to the court.

G. John wins the war. Taken to war by the king, John kills the whole army save two persons.

H. Urias letter. [Cf. Chapter XXI, No. 3, close of tale.] The king sends John to a neighboring king with a letter ordering the execution of John. Since he is impervious to gun shots, he escapes and returns to his former master. There the king succeeds in getting a substitute to carry out his bargain. When John gives the substitute the stroke agreed upon, the man rises to the sky and has not yet returned.