illed all the rats except their king, which came out of the hole
last of all. When the cat saw the king of the rats, it spoke thus:
"Now you shall die if you do not promise to get for Juan his magical
stone, which your master has stolen."

"Spare my life, and you shall have the stone!" said the king of
the rats.

"Go and get it, then!" said the cat. The king of the rats ran
quickly to the room of the general, and took Juan's magical stone
from the table.

As soon as Juan had obtained his stone, and after he had thanked the
king of the rats, he said to his stone, "Pretty stone, destroy this
house with the general and his subjects, and release my father-in-law
and wife from their prison."

Suddenly the earth trembled and a big noise was heard. Not long
afterwards Juan saw the castle destroyed, the general and his subjects
dead, and his wife and his father-in-law free.

Taking with him the cat and the king of the rats, Juan went home
happily with Maria his wife and the king his father-in-law. After the
death of the king, Juan ascended to the throne, and ruled wisely. He
lived long happily with his lovely wife.

Notes.

These two stories belong to the "Magic Ring" cycle, and are connected
with the well-known "Aladdin" tale. Antti Aarne (pp. 1-82) reconstructs
the original formula of this type, which was about as follows:--

A youth buys the life of a dog and a cat, liberates a serpent, and
receives from its parent a wishing-stone, by means of which he builds
himself a magnificent castle and wins as his wife a princess. But a
thief steals the stone and removes castle and wife over the sea. Then
the dog and the cat swim across the ocean, catch a mouse, and compel
it to fetch the stone from out of the mouth of the thief. Upon their
return journey, cat and dog quarrel, and the stone falls into the
sea. After they have obtained it again with the help of a frog,
they bring it to their master, who wishes his castle and wife back
once more.

In nearly every detail our stories vary from this norm: (1) The hero
does not buy the life of any animals, (2) he does not acquire the charm
from a grateful serpent that he has unselfishly saved from death, (3)
the dog does not appear at all, (4) castle and wife are not transported
beyond the sea, (5) the cat does not serve the hero voluntarily out
of gratitude, (6) the hero himself journeys to recover his stolen
charm. And yet there can be no doubt of the connection of our storie