INTRODUCTION 



in the East, and particularly in India, where 

 the conditions of domestic life led to and 

 favoured intrigue, and many of them also were 

 mere allegory, in which the Eastern sought to 

 hide great truths. These the less meditative 

 Western interpreted literally, mistaking the 

 outward form for that which it concealed. So 

 in passing to the West, Eastern ideas and 

 Eastern exaggeration, misconstrued, became 

 caricature. Moreover, the compilers of these 

 stories were often monks or minstrels who vied 

 with each other for popular favour, the monk 

 introducing into his legends material which he 

 hoped would rival the often shameless out- 

 pourings of the minstrel, whilst the minstrel, 

 for his part, tried to adorn his story with some 

 moral. Naturally neither class of such purveyors 

 was in the least capable of judging woman 

 with respect, or indeed of judging woman at all. 

 On the other hand, however, it must be 

 remembered that there are stories that tell a 

 very different tale, a tale of self-sacrifice and 

 devotion in face of grievous trial, as, for instance, 

 that of Eric and Enide, sung by Chretien of 

 Troyes, and made familiar to us by Tennyson's 

 poem of " Geraint and Enid." It is impossible 

 that such a conception should have been the mere 

 outcome of the poet's imagination, since a poet, 

 whilst he may transform, focuses and reflects the 



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