. When he tells his mother, she goes away and is heard of no more. A
Sutherlandshire story speaks of a mermaid who fell in love with a
fisherman. As he did not want to be carried away into the sea he, by
fair means or foul, succeeded in getting hold of her pouch and belt, on
which her power of swimming depended, and so retained her on land; and
she became his bride. But we are not surprised to hear that her tail was
always in the way: her silky hair grew tangled too, for her comb and
glass were in the pouch; the dogs teased her, and rude people mocked
her. Thus her life was made wretched. But one day in her husband's
absence the labourers were pulling down a stack of corn. As she watched
them, weeping for her lost freedom, she espied her precious pouch and
belt, which had been built in and buried among the sheaves. She caught
it and leaped into the sea.[192]

In the last tale there is no change of form: the hero simply possesses
himself of something without which the supernatural maiden has no power
to leave him. Even in the true Hasan of Bassorah type, the magical
change does not always occur. A variant translated by Jonathan Scott
from a Syrian manuscript merely enwraps the descending damsels in robes
of light green silk. When her robe is taken the chosen beauty is kept
from following her companions in their return flight. Similar to this is
the Pomeranian saga already cited. In the New Hebrides there is a legend
of seven winged women whose home was in heaven, and who came down to
earth to bathe. Before bathing, they put off their wings. According to
the version told in Aurora island, Qatu one day, seeing them thus
bathing, took the wings of one and buried them at the foot of the main
post of his house. In this way he won their owner as his wife; and she
so remained until she found her wings again. In modern Greece it is
believed that Nereids can be caught by seizing their wings, their
clothes, or even their handkerchiefs. The Bulgarians, who have similar
tales, call the supernatural ladies Samodivas; and they are captured by
means of their raiment. A number of parallels have been cited from
various sources by M. Cosquin, a few of which may be mentioned. A
Burmese drama, for instance, sets before us nine princesses of the city
of the Silver Mountain, who wear enchanted girdles that enable them to
fly as swiftly as a bird. The youngest of these princesses is caught
while bathing, by means of a magical slip-knot. A divin