ded trees as
sacred, and could not be hired to cut them down for fear of offending
the resident-spirit. The three handkerchiefs which the sisters leave
with their mother as mementos are to be compared with the three rings
in Basile's version. In a Serbian story belonging to this cycle (Wuk,
No. 5), the three sisters are blown away by a strong wind (cf. our
story of "Alberto and the Monsters," No. 39), and fall into the power
of three dragons. When the brother, yet unborn at the time of their
disappearance, reaches his eighteenth year, he sets out to seek his
sisters, taking with him a handkerchief of each.

The obtaining of magic articles by a trick of the hero is found
in many folk-tales. In Grimm, No. 197, which is distantly related
to our story, the hero cheats two giants out of a wishing-cap over
which they are quarrelling. In Grimm, No. 92, where we find the same
situation, the magic articles are three,--a sword which will make heads
fly off, a cloak of invisibility, a pair of transportation-boots
(see Bolte-Polivka, 2 : 320 f., especially 331-335). In Grimm,
No. 193, a flying saddle is similarly obtained. In Crane, No. XXXVI
(p. 136 f.), Lionbruno acquires a pair of transportation-boots,
an inexhaustible purse, and a cloak of invisibility. This incident
is also found in Somadeva (Tawney, 1 : 14), where the articles are
a pair of flying-shoes, a magic staff which writes what is going to
happen, and a vessel which can supply any food the owner asks for. In
another Oriental collection (Sagas from the Far East, pp. 23-24),
the prince and his follower secure a cap of invisibility from a band
of quarrelling boys, and a pair of transportation-boots from some
disputing demons. Compare Tawney's note for other instances. This
incident is also found in an Indian story by Stokes, No. XXII,
"How the Raja's Son won the Princess Labam." In this the hero meets
four fakirs, whose teacher (and master) has died, and has left four
things,--"a bed which carried whosoever sat on it whithersoever he
wished to go; a bag that gave its owner whatever he wanted,--jewels,
food, or clothes; a stone bowl which gave its owner as much water
as he wanted; and a stick that would beat enemies, and a rope that
would tie them up." Compare also the "Dadhi-vahana-jataka," No. 186,
which is connected with our No. 27. In the Filipino story of "Alberto
and the Monsters" (No. 39) the hero acquires a transportation-boot
from two quarrelling boys; from two