more
frequently ascribed to a woman. For parallels see the
German stories of "Marienkind," and "Fitchers Vogel."
(Grimm, _KM._, Nos. 3 and 46, also the notes in Bd.
iii. pp. 8, 76, 324.) Less familiar than these is,
probably, the story of "Die eisernen Stiefel" (Wolf's
"Deutsche Hausmaerchen," 1851, No. 19), in which the
hero opens a forbidden door--that of a
summer-house--and sees "deep down below him the earth,
and on the earth his father's palace," and is seized
by a sudden longing after his former home. The
Wallachian story of "The Immured Mother" (Schott, No.
2) resembles Grimm's "Marienkind" in many points. But
its forbidden chamber differs from that of the German
tale. In the latter the rash intruder sees "die
Dreieinigkeit im Feuer und Glanz sitzen;" in the
former, "the Holy Mother of God healing the wounds of
her Son, the Lord Christ." In the Neapolitan story of
"Le tre Corune" (Pentamerone, No. 36), the forbidden
chamber contains "three maidens, clothed all in gold,
sitting and seeming to slumber upon as many thrones"
(Liebrecht's translation, ii. 76). The Esthonian tale
of the "Wife-murderer" (Loewe's "Ehstnische Maerchen,"
No. 20) is remarkably--not to say suspiciously--like
that French story of Blue Beard which has so often
made our young blood run cold. Sister Anne is
represented, and so are the rescuing brothers, the
latter in the person of the heroine's old friend and
playmate, Toennis the goose-herd. Several very curious
Gaelic versions of the story are given by Mr. Campbell
("Tales of the West Highlands," No. 41, ii. 265-275).
Two of the three daughters of a poor widow look into a
forbidden chamber, find it "full of dead gentlewomen,"
get stained knee-deep in blood, and refuse to give a
drop of milk to a cat which offers its services. So
their heads are chopped off. The third daughter makes
friends with the cat, which licks off the tell-tale
blood, so she escapes detection. In a Greek story
(Hahn, ii. p. 197) the hero discovers in the
one-and-fortieth room of a castle belonging to a
Drakos, who had given him leave to enter forty only, a
magic horse, and before the door of the room he finds
a pool of gold in which he becomes gilded. In another