), but
withdrew it, being of opinion that it might have been derived from
Perrault. The story of the Third Calender in the _Arabian Nights_ (Night
66) has nothing in common with Blue Beard but the prohibition to open a
door.

In Italy[51] the Devil is the wooer, the closed door opens on hell: the
rest, the adventures of three sisters, resembles Grimm's _Fitcher's
Bird_, with a touch of humour. The Devil, seeing the resuscitated girls,
is daunted by the idea of facing three wives, and decamps. He had no
scruple, it will be seen, about marrying his deceased wife's sister. The
Russian like the Oriental stories generally make a man indulge the fatal
curiosity, and open the forbidden door. Mr. Ralston quotes from Loewe's
_Esthnische Maerchen_ (No. 20) a tale almost too closely like Perrault's.
There is a sister, and the goose boy takes the _role_ of rescuer. M. de
Gubernatis thinks that the key 'is perhaps the Moon!' (_Zoological
Mythology_, 1. 168). In the Gaelic version the heroine is cleansed of
blood by a grateful Cat, whose services her sisters had neglected
(Campbell, _Tales of West Highlands_, No. 41). In the _Katha Sarit
Sagara_ (iii. p. 223) a hero, Saktideva, is forbidden to approach a
certain palace terrace. He breaks the taboo, and finds three dead
maidens in three pavilions. A horse then kicks him into a lake, and,
whereas he had been in the Golden City, hard to win, he finds himself at
home in Vardhamana. The affair is but an incident in the medley of
incidents, some resembling passages in the Odyssey, which make up the
story (compare Ralston's note, _Russian Fairy Tales_, p. 99).

From these brief analyses it will be plain that, in point of art,
Perrault's tale has a great advantage over its popular rivals. It is at
once more sober and more terrible, and (especially when compared with
the confusion of incidents in the _Katha Sarit Sagara_) possesses an
epical unity of idea and action.

In spite of this artistic character, Perrault's tale is clearly of
popular origin, as the existence of variants in the folklore of other
countries demonstrates. But the details are so fluctuating, that we need
not hope to find in them memories of ancient myth, nor is it safe to
follow M. Andre Lefevre, when he thinks that, in the two avenging
brothers, he recognises the Vedic Asvins.

[Footnote 48: The passages in the legend of Sainte Triphime are quoted
by M. Deulin, _Contes de Ma Mere l'Oye_, p. 178. See also _Annuaire
Hi