nd abrupt when read.

[Footnote A: Other condensations are indicated by brackets.]

The notes are intended to supplement those of Pitre and Koehler by citing
the stories published since the _Fiabe, Novelle e Racconti_, and the
_Sicilianische Maerchen_, and also to furnish easy reference to the
parallel stories of the rest of Europe. As the notes are primarily
intended for students I have simply pointed out the most convenient
sources of information and those to which I have had access. My space
has obliged me to restrict my notes to what seemed to me the most
important, and I have as a rule given only references which I have
verified myself.

My object has been simply to present to the reader and student
unacquainted with the Italian dialects a tolerably complete collection
of Italian popular tales; with theories as to the origin and diffusion
of popular tales in general, or of Italian popular tales in particular,
I have nothing to do at present either in the text or notes. It is for
others to draw such inferences as this collection seems to warrant.

It was, of course, impossible in my limited space to do more than give a
small selection from the class of Fairy Tales numbering several hundred;
of the other classes nearly everything has been given that has been
published down to the present date. The Fairy Tales were selected to
represent as well as possible typical stories or classes, and I have
followed in my arrangement, with some modification and condensation,
Hahn's _Maerchen- und Sagformeln_ (_Griechische und Albanesische
Maerchen_, vol. i. p. 45), an English version of which may be found in W.
Henderson's _Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England
and the Borders. With an Appendix on Household Stories_, by S.
Baring-Gould. London, 1866.

In conclusion, I must express my many obligations to Dr. Giuseppe Pitre,
of Palermo, without whose admirable collection this work would hardly
have been undertaken, and to the library of Harvard College, which so
generously throws open its treasures to the scholars of less favored
institutions.

T. F. CRANE.

ITHACA, N. Y., _September 9, 1885_.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION ix

BIBLIOGRAPHY xix

LIST OF STORIES xxix

I. FAIRY TALES 1

II. FAIRY TALES CONTINUED 97

III. STORIES OF ORIENTAL ORIGIN