European folk-tales,
instructive parallels to which are contained in the present volume, is
that which may be designated as the Golden-locks myth. It relates the
fortunes of a brilliant being, usually a radiant prince, who, often
without any apparent reason, submits himself to a voluntary eclipse,
hides from sight his grandeur and his good looks, and assumes an
appearance of squalor and misery. Like Cinderella, whose male
counterpart he is, he at times arises from his low estate, becomes
again a brilliant prince, but always capriciously eludes those who
wish to retain him in that shape. At last he is always detected, and
then he has to remain constant to his true and magnificent form. His
temporary eclipse is somewhat similar to that of the hero of a
husk-myth; but no special power is attached to the wrappings under
which his brilliance is concealed, nor is his change of form imposed
upon him against his will. The meaning of the Golden-locks story, in
its original form, still remains to be discovered, as also does that
of the sister tale of Cinderella. That they both refer to the
temporary eclipse, seclusion, or obscuration of a brilliant being, is
evident. But what that brilliant being represents is a problem of
which several solutions have been confidently offered, but which does
not seem to have been as yet certainly solved. In the story of "The
Boy who had a Moon on his forehead and a Star on his chin" (No. 20),
the self-eclipsing process is brought about by a twist of his right
ear; "when the boy had twisted it, he was no longer a handsome prince,
but a poor, common-looking, ugly man; and his moon and star were
hidden." And so, after he has been chosen out of a number of suitors
by a princess whose heart he has won by the beauty of his singing, he
restores himself to his true form by twisting his left ear; after
which operation "he stood no longer a poor, common, ugly man, but a
grand young prince, with a moon on his forehead and a star on his
chin."

A third class of stories for which an Asiatic origin may fairly be
claimed, contains those in which figures a monster or demon who cannot
be killed until some external object with which his life is
mysteriously linked has been destroyed. Such a being occurs at times
in European folk-tales, especially in those of the east and north of
Europe. The most familiar instance is that of "The Giant who had no
Heart in his body" of the "Tales from the Norse." Some of the best