PRINCE— SLAV AND CELT. 189 



made under circumstances of enforced privation, similar to the self- 

 inflicted tortures of the Hindu devotees, may be compared with the 

 Celtic fasts and semi-monastic ideals. Mysticism in general is a 

 common bond between the Slav and Celt. Slav and Celt alike seem 

 careless of their success or even survival, so strong is the impelling 

 discontent with the present world. Renan wrote of the unending 

 quest of the Celt the following words which apply equally well to 

 the Slav : " This race desires the infinite, it thirsts for it, and pursues 

 it at all costs, beyond the tomb — beyond Hell itself."* The Celtic 

 legend of the quest of the Holy Grail, the mysterious chalice of the 

 Last Supper which was regarded as a physical link between Man 

 and God should be mentioned here. It is highly significant that the 

 Celtic Grail-cup could be found only by a physically sex-pure man, 

 an idea which gave the world the later character of Sir Galahad, 

 unknown in the earlier Grail accounts, a man who " never felt the 

 kiss of love, nor maiden's hand in his."^ This conception of the 

 necessity of absolute sex-purity exists so strongly among the Slavs 

 that an entire sect, the Russian Skopcy have devoted themselves to 

 this ideal by an ordinance requiring voluntary sterilization, which 

 is still rigidly observed. The Celts, apparently, have not been ' 

 guilty of such a caricature, although some of their ancient monks 

 may have resorted to this method of ensuring continence. The 

 Slavs seem to have nothing so definite in their lore as the quest of 

 the Grail, which the Celts not only sought, but actually found. 



{b) Accomplishment is not a necessary adjunct to Slavonic 

 " success " and this principle constitutes the second point of resem- 

 blance between the Slavonic and Celtic characteristics ; a morbid 

 delight in sorrow and especially in failure. 



The first thing which strikes the student of modern Russian 

 literature is that scarcely a tale emphasizes the qualities which make 

 for success in the formation of human character. Hardly anywhere 

 in these productions do we find the hero battling his way through 

 difficulties to an eventual success due to his own efforts. Stephen 



4Cf. "The Celt and the World," by Shane Leslie, N. Y., 1917. The 

 entire work deals with the character of the Celt. 



5 Cf. " King Arthur in History and Legend," W. Lewis Jones, Cambridge 

 University Press, 191 1, p. 107. 



