Page:Folklore1919.djvu/405

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Experiments on Reproduction of Folk-Stories.
39

Then:

And the young man fell, pierced through the heart by an arrow. And he said to the warrior: "Take me back to Malagua, for that is my home." So the warrior brought him back.

Then:

Presently the young man fell wounded, with an arrow through his heart. "Take me to Malagua," he said to the warrior, "for my home is there." Then the warrior brought him to Malagua.

Then:

During the fight the young man fell wounded, with an arrow through his heart. Then he said to the warrior: "Take me back to Momapan; that is where I live." So he took the young man back to his home.

Then:

In the course of the battle the Indian was mortally wounded. "Take me home," he said, "to Momapan. That is where I come from. I am going to die." "Oh no," said the warrior, to whom he made his request, "you will live."

Then:

In the course of the fight farther on the Indian was mortally wounded, and his spirit fled. "Take me to my home," he said, "at Momapan, for I am going to die." "No, you will not die," said a warrior.

Then:

In the fight farther on he was mortally wounded, so that his spirit fled. "I am going to die," he said. "Take me back to Mombapan." You are not going to die," said the warrior.

Thus in a short series of nine reproductions the incident of the painless wound has been entirely transformed. The process of transformation may be readily traced. All reference to ghosts drops out of the very first reproduction, the title also disappearing, and this leaves the incident entirely "in the air," and unexplained. Together with