her white. Then Pedro jumped on the horse's back, and the
horse ran away as fast as it could. Not long afterward he noticed
that the witches were pursuing them. When they came nearer, Pedro
dropped the red handkerchief, which was immediately changed into a
large fire. The wings of the witches were all burnt off. However,
the witches tried to pursue the horse on foot, for they could run
very fast. When they were almost upon him again, Pedro dropped the
white handkerchief, which became a wide sea through which the witches
could not pass. Pedro was now safe, and he thanked the horse for its
great help.

Notes.

While this story is not much more than a fragment, I have given it
because of its interesting connections. The chief elements appear
to be three: (1) the kidnapping of the hero by a cannibal witch,
(2) the friendly horse, (3) the transformation-flight and the escape
of the hero. Clearly much is missing. What becomes of the hero is
not stated, except that he escapes from the witches. The story is
in the form rather of a fairy-tale than of a Maerchen proper, since
it deals primarily with an ogress fond of the flesh of children. On
its surface it might be mistaken for a native demon-story told as
an exemplum to children not to answer strange knocks at the door
at night. But a glance below the surface reveals the fact that
the details of the story must have been imported, as they are not
indigenous,--Boroka, horse, transformation-flight; and a little search
for possible sources reveals the fact that this tale represents the
detritus of a literary tradition from Europe. To demonstrate, I will
cite a Pampangan metrical romance and a Tagalog romance, the former
probably the parent of our folk-tale. These two romances, in turn,
will be shown to be a borrowing from the Occident.

The Pampangan romance is a long story in 954 quatrains of 12-syllable
lines, and is entitled "Story of the Life of King Don Octavio and
Queen Teodora, together with that of their son Don Fernando, in
the Kingdom of Spain [no date]." The inside of the cover bears the
statement that the work is the property of Dona Modesta Lanuza. Senora
Lanuza was doubtless the redactor of this version; her name appears on
other corridos (see JAFL 29 : 213). Although a consideration of this
literary form takes us somewhat out of the realm of popular stories,
strictly speaking, we may give as our excuse for summarizing it the
fact that the related Tagalog romanc