nut and
an almond." He did so. When the time for inspection arrived, the
monkey-wife cracked the hazel-nut and drew from it a diamond covering
for the whole house. From the almond she drew a very beautiful
carpet for the king to walk on. Youngest son won the first count,
naturally. The second task was to furnish the king with fresh fruits
in the winter-time. The two oldest sons were unable to get any, but
the youngest son got a fine supply from the monkeys' garden under
the dunghill. The third count was to be won by the son whose wife
should be declared the most beautiful at a feast to be given ten
days thence. The monkey-wife sent her husband again for an almond,
a hazel-nut, two stallions, and five servants. When he returned with
them, she cracked the almond and drew from it a magnificent dress
for herself. From the hazelnut she drew her own beauty, and handsome
equipment for her husband. When she was arrayed, she rode into the
courtyard of the king, and tried to escape without being recognized;
but the king was too quick for her: she was caught, and her husband
was declared the final winner. He became king when his father died.

This Greek story can hardly have any immediate relationship with
"Chonguita," though it does appear in its first half to be connected
with the 1833 Indian Maerchen given above. Our story, it will be
noticed, lacks the shooting of arrows, so characteristic of the
European forms; it mentions the monkey-kingdom to which the youngest
prince was directed by an old man, and where Chonguita is forced
on him; it represents the king as requiring his daughters-in-law to
perform difficult tasks because he wishes to find an excuse for putting
to death the animal-wife. Moreover, the three tasks themselves are
different, although the first two are reminiscent of some found in the
Occidental versions. For the third I know of no folk-tale parallel. On
the whole, I am prone to believe that our story was not imported from
Europe, but that it belongs to an Oriental branch of the family.

The disenchantment of the monkey-wife by hurling her in anger against
the wall is exactly like the disenchantment of the frog-prince in
Grimm, No. 1. This conceit is most unusual, and, it might be added,
unreasonable. Hence this identity of detail in two stories so far
removed in every other way is particularly striking. I know of no
further occurrences of the incident.

TALE 30

THE GOLDEN LOCK.

Narrated by Vi