rds are, "For many years all four
remained, till _one_ was stolen away, and that was the image of the young
man who pleased the beautiful Alba, who thus relieved him of the spell."
But as there has been always only one devil on the corner, I cannot
otherwise reconcile the story with the fact.

I have said that this tale is ancient from intrinsic evidence. Such
extravagant alliances of friendship as is here described were actually
common in the Middle Ages; they existed in England even till the time of
Queen Elizabeth. In "Shakespeare and his Friends," or in the "Youth of
Shakespeare"--I forget which--two young men are represented as fighting a
duel because each declared that he loved the other most. There was no
insane folly of sentiment which was not developed in those days. But
this is so foreign to modern ideas, that I think it could only have
existed in tradition to these our times.

There were also during the Middle Ages strange heretical sects, among
whom such communism existed, like the polyandria of the ancient Hindoos.
There may be a trace of it in this story.

Alba, Albina, or Bellaria, appear in several Tuscan traditions. They are
forms of the Etruscan Alpan, the fairy of the Dawn, a sub-form of Venus,
the spirit of Light and Flowers, described in my work on "Etruscan Roman
Traditions." It may be remarked as an ingenious touch in the tale, that
she always appears at the first dawn, or at three o'clock, and vanishes
with broad day. This distinguishes her from the witches and evil
spirits, who always come at midnight and vanish at three o'clock.

The readiness with which the young men consented to assume the forms of
demons is easily explained. They understood that it meant only a
disguise, and it was very common in the Middle Ages for lovers to wear
something strange in honour of their mistresses. The dress of a devil
would only seem a joke to the habitues of the Cavolaia. It may be also
borne in mind that in other tales of Florence it is distinctly stated
that spirits confined in statues, columns, _et cetera_, only inhabit them
"as bees live in hives." They appear to sleep in them by day, and come
out at night. So in India the saint or demon only comes into the relic
or image from time to time, or when invoked.

After I had written the foregoing, I was so fortunate as to receive from
Maddalena yet another legend of the bronze imp of Giovanni di Bologna,
which tale she had unearthed in the purl