2.

AMERICAN INDIAN VARIANTS.

Maliseet: Mechling, JAFL, xxvi, 234.

A. Strong hero practices to gain strength. Huza is suckled for twenty-four years and then goes out to test his strength. He can move elm trees but cannot yet pull them up. After fourtten years longer of suckling he can pull the trees up by the roots.

Giant cane. He has a cane made which is capable of holding fifty salted cattle, and starts on his way. [Cf. Chapter II, incident B2.]

C. Hero breaks tools. He takes service with a farmer to thresh grain. At the first stroke he breaks the flail.

B. Hero breaks the roof. Huza makes a flail of two whole elm trees, and when he tries to thresh with them, breaks the roof. The farmer gives the boy twenty-five salted cattle and sends him off. Later in his journey he throws a cow on a blacksmith's roof and breaks it.

Anger bargain. [See Chapter XXII, No. 2.]

C. Hero breaks tools. Sent to clear land, the hero breaks his axe and pulls the trees up by the roots.

B. Hero breaks roof. He throws the trees on the roof and breaks it. The master all but loses his temper.

F. Hero drives wild horse to court. Sent to a wild horse in hope that he will be devoured, the hero drives the horse to the house and frightens the master.

D. Attempt to kill hero in well. The master sends Huza to dig a well, and then throws a mill-stone down on him. Huza wears the mill-stone as a collar, and nearly tears down the chimney when he hangs the mill-stone on a nail. The chicken incident [cf. No. 1] takes place in the well.

E. Hero drives devils to court. Sent to hell to find from the master's grandfather the kind of seed he had sowed in a certain field, Huza drives the whole herd of hell up so that the man can pick out his grandfather.

John the Bear.

13.]

[For the rest of the story see Chapter II, No.

3. Quinault: Farrand, JE, ii(3), No. 9.

B2. Hero brings snow from mountain. Siseno, who marries Thunder's daughter, is assigned tasks by his father-in-law. Told

to bring snow from the mountain, he returns with a single handful. Thunder thinks it very little, but he is unable to eat it all up, and when he throws it outside it covers the whole region.

F. Hero brings in wild beasts. Told to get two mountain lions for pets, he brings them tied together. When Thunder tries to play with them, he almost loses his life.

E. Hero brings ball of light from under-world. Siseno is sent to the under-world for a ball of light, and when he brings it back it gives all the red colors of birds, and animals, and lightning. He is then allowed to marry Thunder's daughter.

4; 5. Thompson River: Teit, JE, viii, 292; Teit, JAFL. xxix, 308.

Bear's son.

[See Chapter II, Nos. 10 and 11.]

B1. John clears forest in one day. The hero gets a job clearing a forest. He finishes the work in one day and makes enough money to last for many years.

Bear's son. [The rest of the story in Chapter II then follows.]

All these stories of "Strong John" occur in regions where other tales have been borrowed from the French. Their general resemblance to the European form is so close that borrowing may safely be assumed.

XXIV. ANIMAL STORIES.

The following animal stories consist of incidents which occur in such a variety of combinations and orders that their discussion will be facilitated by listing the incidents together and treating them under one general head. For a good discussion of animal tales see Gerber, Great Russian Animal Tales.

EUROPEAN TYPES.

A. Playing godfather. The fox and the wolf steal a pot of butter and hide it in the woods for winter use. The wolf wants to eat it, but the fox insists on keeping it for the cold days. One day,

pretending to hear someone calling him, he runs off and eats a third of the butter. When he returns, he tells the wolf that he has been called to be godfather to a child. The name of the child, he says, is "Beginning." The next day, the same thing happens, and the fox reports the name as "Middle." The third day, he receives another summons and finishes the butter. This time, he says that the name is "I have seen the bottom." After a time, the wolf wants to go to the butter, and the fox feigns great anger because it has been stolen.

[French: Cosquin, No. 54; French Canadian: Barbeau, JAFL, xxx, 113; German: Grimm, No. 2; American negro: (Georgia) Harris, Uncle R. mus, No. 17; Jones, Negro Myths from the Georgia Coast, No. 24; (North Carolina) Parsons, JAFL, xxx, 192; (Maryland) Parsons, JAFL, xxx, 215; Bahamas: Parsons, MAFLS, xiii, No. 1; Louisiana French: Fortier, MAFLS, ii, 19, 33. For variants see Bolte und Polívka, i, 9.]

B. Fishing with tail. The fox suggests to the wolf that they go fishing, and shows him how he can fish with his tail through the ice. When the wolf tries it, he freezes his tail off.

[French: Cosquin, No. 54; American negro: Harris, Uncle Remus, 1883, p. 126; notes to Cosquin, No. 54; and Bolte und Polívka, ii, 111.

C. Interrupted feast. Next, he persuades the wolf to enter a house in which a wedding feast is set awaiting the guests. The wolf eats so that he is unable to get out of the narrow hole by which he has entered, and is killed (or beaten) by the guests. [In most versions the wolf goes into a cellar or a smoke-house.] [French: Cosquin, No. 54 and notes; German: Grimm, No. 73. For variants see Bolte und Polívka, ii, 108.]

D. Throwing fish off the wagon. The fox lies down in the road if he were dead and when a wagoner comes along, he throws the fox on the wagon which is filled with fish. The fox throws fish out, jumps off, and eats them. When he tells the wolf about it, the latter tries the trick, but is caught.

[For variants see: Gerber, op, cit., p. 47; Bolte und Polívka, ii, 116; Dähnhardt, Natursagen, iv, 225, 304.]

E. Diving for cheese. The wolf sees the reflection of the moon in the water. Persauded that he sees a large cheese, he dives after it and drowns himself.

[For variants see: Dähnhardt, op. cit., iv, 230; Bolte und Polívka, ii, 116.]

F. The cowardly duellers. The wolf challenges the dog to a duel. Wolf's second is a wild boar. The dog chooses a threelegged cat. When the dog and the cat approach, the wolf and boar think that the limping cat is picking up stones to hurl each time it limps and that it is waving a saber each time it raises its tail. In terror they hide. The dog and the cat arrive and see no one until the cat spies the boar's ears behind some leaves. Thinking the object is a mouse, the cat seizes the boar's ears, and the boar's squealing so frightens the whole party that they all take to their heels.

[German: Grimm, No. 48. For variants see Bolte und Polívka, i, 424; Dähnhardt, op. cit., iv, 209.]

G. The wolf and the man. The wolf will not believe the tales of the fox about the strength of a man and wants to see for himself. Fox undertakes to show him. First they see an old soldier, but fox says that this has been a man but is not now. Next they see a young boy. Fox says that this will be a man, but is not yet. They next come across a man with a gun. Wolf approaches the man and is shot. He runs back to the fox and tells him that he could have defeated the man if he had not spit fire at him.

[German: Grimm, No. 72. For variants see Bolte und Polívka, ii, 96.]

H. The cat and his companions. Several animals take places in different parts of a house, and when a robber enters they frighten him. As soon as he frees himself from one of the animals he runs into another.

[French: Cosquin, No. 5; German: Grimm, No. 27. For variants, see Bolte und Polívka, i, 237; Sudre, Les sources du roman de Renart, p. 205.]

While the little pigs' mother

I. The wolf and the little pigs. is gone, the wolf comes. They will not open to him because his paws do not look as they should, but at the third attempt he succeeds and kills all the pigs except the youngest. This little pig outwits the wolf and finally will not let the wolf back into the house. When the latter tries to come down the chimney, the little pig starts a big fire and burns the wolf up.

[German: Grimm, No. 5; French: Cosquin, Nos. 66 and 76;

English: Jacobs, English Fairy Tales, p. 68, No. 14; French Canadian; Barbeau, JAFL, xxix, 141, 149. For variants, see Bolte und Polívka, i, 37.

J. Tarbaby. The rabbit, who has been stealing fruit from a garden, is captured by means of a tarbaby, an image covered with tar. The rabbit tries to make the tarbaby talk and finally gets so angry that he strikes it. He sticks to the tarbaby and is captured.

[See Dähnhardt, Natursagen, iv, 26ff; American negro: (Florida) Parsons, JAFL, xxx, 222; (North Carolina) Parsons, JAFL, xxx, 171; (Georgia) Harris, Uncle Remus, No. 2; Jones, Negro Myths from the Georgia Coast, No. 4; (Louisiana) Fortier, MAFLS, ii, 98; Bahama: Edwards, Bahama Songs and Stories, p. 73.]

K. Briar-patch punishment for rabbit. The rabbit is caught by his enemies, and threatened with death. When burning is suggested, he seems too anxious and the same is true when they mention drowning. Finally, they say they are going to throw him into the briar-patch and he begs and pleads so that they think they have found the worst possible punishment. They throw him into the briar-patch where he has always made his home and he escapes. [American negro: (Florida) Parsons, JAFL, xxx, 225; (North Carolina) Parsons, JAFL, xxx, 171, 181; (Georgia) Harris, Uncle Remus, Nos. 4, 12. For variants see Dähnhardt, op. cit., iv, 229.]

L. Rabbit rides fox a-courting. Fox is the favorite suitor of the girl Rabbit wants. Rabbit tells the girl that Fox is his horse, and when she refuses to believe him, he says he will show her. She agrees to marry Rabbit if he will ride Fox to her house. He persaudes fox to carry him-usually by feigning lameness—and wins the girl.

[American negro: (Georgia) Harris, Uncle Remus, No. 6; Jones, op. cit., Nos. 7, 13; (Louisiana) Fortier, MAFLS, ii, 112; (North Carolina) Parsons, MAFLS, xiii, No. 17; Annancy: Smith, Annancy Stories, p. 17-18.]

M. Blinding the guard. Rabbit, imprisoned in a hollow tree, induces his guard below to look up at him. He spits tobacco juice in his eyes and blinds him, and thus effects his escape.

[American negro: (North Carolina), Parsons, JAFL, xxx, 178; (Georgia) Harris, Uncle Remus, No. 10; Harris, Nights with