EVOLUTION IN FOLK LORE. 53 



guised as her grandmother ; asks him a series of questions some- 

 what like those just referred to, and beginning, " But what great 

 eyes you have, grandmother ! " " The better to see you with, my 

 dear." Indeed, this tendency for inquiry is prominent in most 

 English legends, and I think there is ground at least for the sur- 

 mise whether Mr. Harris's negro has not unconsciously trans- 

 planted into his own legend the characteristics of the legends 

 belonging to the race which he served. 



One other factor of moment remains to be noticed, and this, I 

 think, is more important than all, and is due to the change in the 

 national life of the people whose legend it was i. e., from a state 

 of freedom to one of slavery. One example will suffice, I think, 

 to show plainly what I mean. In the first version of the story, 

 which was originally told by a negro born free, the laws of cause 

 and effect are carefully observed throughout. The hunter is at- 

 tacked by the white cows because he destroys them, and in his 

 death they recognize their safety. Now, in the second version of 

 the story, which Mr. Harris must have obtained from a Georgia 

 negro whose ancestors from whom he had received the legend 

 had been slaves for three or four generations, there is no logical 

 sequence of events, and an apparent ignorance displayed of the 

 same law of cause and effect. Here the panthers merely appear, 

 and attack the little boy, for no assignable reason whatsoever. It 

 might be argued that their desire for food was a sufficient cause, 

 but it is not the custom of panthers to disguise themselves for 

 the purpose of entrapping their prey. According to the unwritten 

 canons of all legends, these disguises may only be assumed on 

 important occasions. This, however, does not affect the signifi- 

 cance of the change. In a free tribe, whose members were de- 

 pendent on their own unaided efforts for support, the laws of cause 

 and effect would naturally be clearly understood, and a legend 

 which disregarded these would be held in contempt: for these 

 people believed their legends to be true. They must, therefore, of 

 course, conform to the laws of their existence, so that they might 

 possess the semblance of truth. When the story comes to be 

 repeated years after in a state of slavery, and by one who heard 

 it from slaves, the laws of cause and effect are disregarded, and 

 very naturally ; for why should the negro trouble himself about 

 such matters, when food and clothing were provided for him by 

 his master, and he was looked after in his old age ? 



Another alteration due to this change may be noted in the 

 difference of the persons of the actors already mentioned. In 

 Africa, it was a national legend, and the hero was accordingly a 

 man ; in Georgia, the heroic period of the race had passed away, 

 and the legend had degenerated into a story told to please a child, 

 and in which a child held the prominent part. 



