such charms
for the populace as to enable them to penetrate into countries
unconnected by manners and language, and having no apparent
intercourse to afford the means of transmission."

Thomas Keightley, in _Tales and Popular Fictions_, has given
interesting examples of the transmission of tales. Selecting _Jack the
Giant-Killer_, he has shown that it is the same tale as Grimm's _The
Brave Tailor_, and _Thor's Journey to Utgard_ in the Scandinavian
_Edda_. Similar motifs occur also in a Persian tale, _Ameen of Isfahan
and the Ghool_, and in the _Goat and the Lion_, a tale from the
_Panchatantra_. Selecting the _Story of Dick Whittington_ he has shown
that in England it was current in the reign of Elizabeth; that two
similar tales, Danish legends, were told by Thiele; that a similar
Italian tale existed at the time of Amerigo Vespucci, which was a
legend told by Arlotto in 1396-1483; that another similar Italian tale
was connected with the origin of Venice, in 1175; and that a similar
tale existed in Persia in 1300, before 1360, when Whittington of
England was born. He also pointed out that the _Odyssey_ must have
traveled east as well as west, from Greece, for Sindbad's adventure
with the Black Giant is similar to that of Ulysses with the Cyclops.

Another interesting set of parallels shown by him is connected with
the _Pentamerone_ tale, _Peruonto_. This is the Straparola _Peter the
Fool_, the Russian _Emelyan the Fool_, the Esthonian tale by
Laboulaye, _The Fairy Craw-Fish_, and the Grimm _The Fisherman and his
Wife_. The theme of a peasant being rewarded by the fish he had thrown
back into the water takes on a delightful varied form in the tale of
different countries. The magic words of Emelyan, "Up and away! At the
pike's command, and at my request, go home, sledge!" in each variant
take an interesting new form.

Literary transmission. The travels of a tale through oral tradition
are to be attempted with great difficulty and by only the most careful
scholarship. One may follow the transmission of tales through literary
collections with somewhat greater ease and exactness. Popular tales
have a literature of their own. The following list seeks to mention
the most noteworthy collections:--

No date. _Vedas_. Sanskrit.

No date. _Zend Avesta_. Persian.

Fifth century, B.C. _Jatakas_. Probably the oldest
literature. It was written at Ceylon and has been translated
into 38 languages, in 11