FOREST AND FIELD MYTHS. 



561 



with life. Just then his three companions awoke, 

 and gazed with wonder and admiration at the 

 lovely creature who stood before them. Simul- 

 taneously, each of the four travelers claimed her 

 as his wife ; the carpenter because he had framed 

 her, the tailor because he had dressed her, the 

 jeweler because he had adorned her, and the 

 holy man because he had given her life. A fierce 

 dispute arose. The authorities of the neighbor- 

 ing village were in vain appealed to ; the prob- 

 lem, as to which of the four had most claim to 

 the hand of the disputed bride, was too difficult 

 for them to solve. At last it was resolved to sub- 

 mit the case to a higher court. The claimants, 

 the judges, and the audience, all went out to the 

 cemetery, and there prayed for a decision from 

 on high. While the prayer went up, the woman 

 leaned against a tree. Suddenly the tree opened, 

 and the woman entered it, and was seen no more. 

 As she disappeared, a voice from on high was 

 heard, saying, " To its origin shall every created 

 thing return." l 



The mythological core of this story is the idea 

 that human and tree life may be connected. The 

 rest of it has been supplied by teachers who 

 wished to inculcate the doctrine that all things 

 return to their first elements, and narrators desir- 

 ous of framing one of the numerous stories in- 

 volving a problem or puzzle capable of various 

 solutions. The leading idea has been better pre- 

 served in the following modern Greek folk-tale : 



There was once a childless wife, who used to 

 lament, saying, " If only I had a child, were it but 

 a laurel-berry ! " And Heaven sent her a golden 

 laurel-berry, but its value was not recognized, and 

 it was thrown away. From it sprang a laurel- 

 tree which gleamed with golden twigs. At it a 

 prince, while following the chase, wondered great- 

 ly. And determining to return to it, he ordered his 

 cook to prepare a dinner for him beneath its shade. 

 He was obeyed. But during the temporary ab- 

 sence of the cook, the tree opened, and forth came 

 a fair maiden, who strewed a handful of salt over 

 the viands, and then returned into the tree, which 

 immediately closed upon her. The prince re- 

 turned and scolded the cook for oversalting the 

 dinner. The cook declared his innocence, but in 

 vain. The next day just the same occurred. So 

 on the third day the prince kept watch. The 



1 For the Indian originals of the story, see Benfey's 

 " Pantchatantra," i., 489 ; for the Persian variant, the 

 " Tnti-Nameh or Parrot-Book;" and for a third, in 

 which various additional incidents are given, the 

 Turkish version of the " Tutl-Nameh." The story 

 seems never to have become domesticated in West- 

 ern Europe. 



72 



tree opened, and the maiden came forth. But 

 before she could return into the tree, the prince 

 caught hold of her and carried her off. After a 

 time she escaped from him, ran back to the tree, 

 and called upon it to open. But it remained 

 shut. So she had to return to the prince. And 

 after a while he deserted her. It was not till af- 

 ter long wandering that she found him again, and 

 became his royal consort. 1 



Hahn thinks this story is founded on the Hel- 

 lenic belief in Dryads ; but it belongs to an earlier 

 mythological family than the Hellenic, though the 

 Dryad and the Laurel-maiden are undoubtedly 

 kinswomen. Long before the Dryads and Oreads 

 had received from the sculpturesque Greek mind 

 their perfection of human form and face, trees 

 were credited with woman-like inhabitants capable 

 of doing good and ill, and with powers of their 

 own, apart from those possessed by their super- 

 natural tenants, of banning and blessing. There- 

 fore was it that they were worshiped, and that 

 recourse was had to them for the strengthening 

 of certain rites. Similar ideas and practices still 

 prevail in Asia ; survivals of them may yet be 

 found in Europe. To this day, for instance, one 

 of the features of a Russian marriage is the thrice- 

 repeated walk of the bride and bridegroom around 

 a part of the church. This ceremony is accounted 

 for by reasons in accordance with Christian ideas, 

 but in reality it seems to be connected with the 

 Indian marriage-ceremony of making the bride 

 and bridegroom walk several times round a tree, 

 a rite of which the following story gives a most 

 remarkable form : 



A certain thief, having been caught, was im- 

 paled. After dark, a woman, who had gone out 

 to fetch water, happened to pass by his place of 

 torture, and accidentally touched his foot, there- 

 by giving him great pain. Grieved thereat, she 

 asked if she could make up for her awkwardness 

 by rendering him any service. " You can," he 

 replied. " It is impossible for me to die com- 

 fortably while I am unmarried. You have an un- 

 married daughter. Marry her to me, and I will 

 pay handsomely for the temporary accommoda- 

 tion." So she went swiftly home, and brought 

 her daughter, and married her to the dying thief 

 — by making her walk four times round the stake 

 on which he was impaled. 2 



I have told these three tales, chiefly because 

 they are among the few important tree-stories 



» Hahn, No. 31. Cf. Basile's " Pentamerone," No 

 23 ; Schott's " Walachische Marchen," No. 24 ; "Rus- 

 sian Folk-Tales," p. 15. 



» " Baital Pachisi," No. 18. 



