these theories, neither the Aryan nor the Indian, is quite
satisfactory. The former depends on a doctrine about the 'disease of
language' not universally accepted. Again, it entirely fails to account
for the presence of the _contes_ (which, _ex hypothesi_, were not
_borrowed_) among non-Aryan peoples. The second, or Indian theory,
correctly states that many stories were introduced into Europe, Asia,
and Africa from India, in the middle ages, but brings no proof that
_contes_ could only have been invented in India, first of all. Nor does
it account for the stories which were old in Egypt, and even mixed up
with the national mythology of Egypt, before we knew anything about
India at all, nor for the _Maerchen_ of Homeric Greece. Again it is not
shown that the _ideas_ in the _contes_ are peculiar to India; almost the
only example adduced is the _gratitude of beasts_. But this notion might
occur to any mind, anywhere, which regarded the beasts as on the same
intellectual and moral level as humanity. Moreover, a few examples have
been found of _Maerchen_ among American races, for example, in early
Peru, where there is no reason to believe that they were introduced by
the Spaniards[99].

In place of these hypotheses, we do not propose to substitute any
general theory. It is certain that the best-known popular tales were
current in Egypt under Ramses II, and that many of them were known to
Homer, and are introduced, or are alluded to, in the _Odyssey_. But it
is impossible to argue that the birthplace of a tale is the country
where it is first found in a literary shape. The stories must have been
current in the popular mouth long before they won their way into written
literature, on tablets of clay or on papyrus. They are certainly not of
literary invention. If they were developed in one place, history gives
us no information as to the region or the date of their birth. Again, we
cannot pretend to know how far, given the ideas, the stories might be
evolved independently in different centres. It is difficult to set a
limit to chance and coincidence, and modern importation. The whole
question of the importation of stories into savage countries by
civilised peoples has not been studied properly. We can hardly suppose
that the Zulus borrowed their copious and most characteristic store of
_Maerchen_, in plot and incident resembling the _Maerchen_ of Europe, from
Dutch or English settlers. On the other hand, certain Algonkin tales
r