EBERHARDT.
179
EBERHARDT.[1]
THE BET.[2]
It happened that the Reverend Father in God, Henry, Bishop of Halberstadt, who flourished about the end
- ↑ Respecting this author who has published a very pleasing collection of national stories embellished with colored plates, at Berlin, the editor has not met with any biographical notice.
In regard to one of the tales in the series, though indisputably of Eastern origin, it has long been adopted both by the Italians and the Germans, and is found in the language of both among their national novels. For this reason, added to that of its amusing character, the editor has not deemed it incumbent upon him to exclude it, merely on account of its want of original nationality; a feature so remarkable in some of the best tales belonging to every country.
- ↑ In this we meet with one of those favorite national traditions, which has been successfully adopted by a number of German writers of fiction; the old sayings, tales, and even some of the subjects of the more extended novels, being considered national property, available, like their editions of books, at almost every individual’s pleasure. It is hence we meet with so many different versions of the same stories, in particular of the older and more popular; and the number of their versions will often afford a pretty correct criterion of their excellence. In the present instance, the editor has selected that of Eberhardt, though borrowed from the Folkssagen of Otmar; as the tale is far more amusingly told than in any other version. It is remarked by
