home.[1] Of course local circumstances often colour the stories, but do not change the theme. Amidst the stories from Hungary we find, as we might presume, the Székely stories telling of snow-clad mountains, whilst those from the banks of the Danube dwell on the beauties of the Hungarian plains. The fierce conflicts of the past, too, have left their marks on the stories, and so we find the Turkish Sultan[2] and the Dog-headed Tartar[3] as the tyrants of the tale; and even, in one case, so modern a fact as the French invasion[4] is used to frighten an old -world witch. We see later on the influence of Mohammedanism, and also the marks of Christianity,[5] in some tales which become as it were, a folk-lore palimpsest. Nor must we omit other ways by which the tales have been modified. Many of the medieval romances were, of course, translated into Hungarian; and even to this day the penny bookstall is always present at fairs and popular gatherings where "yards of literature" are to be obtained for a nominal sum. The vendor cannot afford a booth or stall, so a
- ↑ Professor Vambéry says: there are many features in Hungarian Folk- Tales which can be found in the tales of China, and other Asiatic countries, ancient and modern. The characteristics of the chief personages in the tales show that the tales have been imported by the Magyars from their old Asiatic homes, although a Slavonic influence cannot be denied.
- ↑ P. 239 infra. See also remains of the Turkish occupation and their barbarous doings in the childrens' rhyme:
"Lady bird, lady bird, fly away, fly away,
For the Turks are coming!
They will throw you into a well full of salt water:
They will take you out, and break you on the wheel."Dark wine produced at Eger (Erlau) is called "Turk's blood."
- ↑ Pp. 70, 118.
- ↑ P. 5, infra.
- ↑ "Stephen the Murderer," " Fisher Joe," and the "Baa Lambs" in this collection. Cf. "Die Engel-lämmer" Am der im Auftrage der Kisfaludy-Gesellschaft von Lad Arany und Paul Gyulai besorgten. Ungarische Revue viii. ix. Heft, 1885, p. 640, and note, which says: "Eines der wenigen ungarischen Volkmärchen, in welche die christliche Mythologie hineinspielt."
