THE FORBIDDEN CHAMBER.
T is a peculiarity of Fairyland," says Mr. Clouston in a note to his useful edition of The Book of Sindibad, "that there are certain rooms which the fortunate mortal who has entered the enchanted palace is expressly forbidden to enter, or doors which he must on no account open, or cabinets which he must not unlock, if he would continue in his present state of felicity." It is the object of the following pages, and of the tables appended, to gather together some of the stories presenting this prohibition and to attempt a rough classification of them. I divide them into the following types, distinguished in each case by the name of the most characteristic variant, viz.:—
1. Bluebeard.
2. The Dead Hand, with its sub-genus of The Robber Chief.
3. Mary's Child.
4. The Faithless Sister.
5. Marya Morevna.
6. The Teacher and his Scholar, with its sub-genus of Scabby John.
7. The Third Royal Mendicant.
Of these the first four display feminine curiosity and its consequences, while the rest deal with the same vice in the male sex.
The myth of the Forbidden Chamber is one of a large class which finds its central thought in a taboo. The study of folk-tales has not yet made sufficient advances to enable us to trace these myths to a
