BOOK The greedy Alcalde. he has kindled a fire from which rises a dense smoke and vapour, and the instantaneous effect, as of the lightning, is the discovery of a way into the depths of the earth. In the tale of Ahmed and the Peri Banou, the Schamir or Sassafras is again an arrow which, when shot by the hand of the prince, travels so far as to become invisible, as the lightnings shine from the east and give light to the uttermost west. Following its course, he comes to a great mountain, and finds the arrow just where an opening in the rocks shows him a door by which he descends into a palace of unimaginable splendour. Here he is greeted by the queen of this magnificent domain, who calls him by his name, and having convinced him of her knowledge of all his actions by recounting incidents of his past life, offers herself to him as his bride. With her he dwells in happiness and luxury, until, driven by a yearning to see his home and his father once more, he beseeches the benignant being to suffer him to go, and at length obtains his wish after promising, like true Thomas in the myth of Ercildoune, that he will soon return. This beautiful Peri with her vast treasures and her marvellous wisdom is but a reflection of the wise Kirkê and Medeia, or of the more tender Kalypso, who woos the brave Odysseus in her glistening cave, until she is compelled to let the man of many sorrows go on his way to his wife Penelopê. She is, in short, the Venus of the Horselberg or Ercildoune (the hill of Ursula and her eleven thousand Virgins), for the names are the same, and the prince Ahmed is Tanhauser, or Thomas the Rhymer, wooed and won by the Elfland queen. It is obvious that for the name of the flower which is to open the cave or the treasure-house might be substituted any magical formula, while the lightning flash might be represented by the lighting of a miraculous taper, the extinguishing of which is followed by a loud crashing noise. With these modifications, the myth at once assumes the form of the Spanish legend of the Moor's Legacy, as related by Washington Irving. In this delightful tale we have all the usual incidents or features-the buried treasures-the incantation which has such virtue that the strongest bolts and bars, nay, the adamantine rock itself, will yield before THE LIGHTNING. 6 it'—the wonderful taper by whose light alone the incantation can be read-the opening of the secret places of the earth while the taper continues to burn-the crash with which the gates close when the light is gone. All these features are so skilfully fitted into the modern Alhambra legend, as fairly to hide the origin of the story, until we apply the right key to the lock. No sooner is this done than the myth is as clearly revealed as the treasure of the robbers' cave on pronouncing the word 'Sesame.' Of the real meaning of the tale, Irving doubtless knew nothing; but he has preserved it as faithfully as the hymn-writer adhered to the spirit of the myth of Hermes. The scroll was produced' (the sassafras or sesame), the yellow waxen taper lighted' (the flash of the yellow lightning), ‘the earth trembled and the pavement opened with a thundering sound.' While the taper burns, the Moor and the water-carrier load the panniers of their ass with costly treasures; but when they have satisfied themselves, the costliest still remain untouched, and the greedy Alcalde, having in vain prayed them to bring up these also, descends with his griping retainers still lower into the vault. No sooner did the Moor behold them fairly earthed, than he extinguished the yellow taper'. (the darkness closes in after the flash of lightning), the pavement closed with the usual crash, and the three worthies remained buried in its womb.' Doubtless, when reduced to their primitive elements, these tales may seem poor and monotonous enough; but the marvellous powers of growth which these germs possess have seldom been more clearly exhibited than in the folklore which has yielded the legends of the Forty Thieves, the Peri Banou, Allah-ud-deen, and the Legacy of the Moor, with the German stories of Simeli Mountain and the Glass Coffin.' 219 CHAP. IV. Once more, the light flashing from the dim and dusky Mediæval storm-cloud becomes the Hand of Glory, which, formed of a spells. dead man's limbs, aids the mediæval treasure-seeker in his In this story the office of Schamir is discharged by a goat, suggesting a comparison with the Aigis of Athênê (see ii. 347-8). The beast thrusts his horns with such force that, like the lightning, it splits the rocks open and BOOK II. forbidden search, whether in the depths of the earth or after his neighbour's goods; nor have we far to seek in much older writings for the very same image without its repulsive transformation. The hand of glory is the red light of Jupiter, with which he smites the sacred citadels;' and with this we may compare the myth of the golden hand of Indra Savitâr. 'Horace, Od. i. 2. CHAPTER V. THE WINDS. SECTION I.-VAYU AND THE MARUTS. V. Favonius. THE god of the bright heaven, who is known as Dyu, Indra, CHAP. and Agni, is also called Vayu, a name denoting, it would seem, simply the gentler movements of the air, which are Vayu and expressed by the sweet pipings of the Greek Pan and the soft breathings of the Latin Favonius. As such, he comes early in the morning to chase away the demons, and the Dawns weave for him golden raiment.' He is drawn by the Nirjuts, and has Indra for his charioteer. With some he was, along with Agni and Sûrya, supreme among the deities. 'There are only three deities, according to the Nairuktas (etymologists): Agni whose place is on earth; Vayu or Indra whose place is in the atmosphere, and Sûrya whose place is in the sky.'" 2 and the Maruts. The blustering rage of the Greek Boreas and the more Boreas violent moods of Hermes are represented by the crowd of Maruts, or storm-winds, who attend on Indra and aid him in his struggle with his great enemy Vritra. Of these beings it is enough to say, that the language used in describing their functions is, if possible, more transparent than that of the poem known as the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. They overturn trees and destroy forests, they roar like lions and are as swift as thought, they shake the mountains and are clothed with rain. They are borne on tawny-coloured horses; they are brothers, of whom no one is the elder, no one the younger.' They are born self-luminous with the Muir, Sanskrit Texts, part iv. Muir, Sanskr. Texts, iv. 3, 7. Muir, Skr. Texts, part iv. p. 57. p. 337. 2 H. H. Wilson, R. V. S. iii. 209; II. BOOK spotted deer, the spears, the daggers, the glittering ornaments. These spears and daggers are the lightnings, and the spotted deer are seen in the spotted lynxes who play round Phoibos as he pipes to the flocks of Admêtos.2 The worshipper hears the cracking of their whips in their hands as they go upon their way. After their mightiest exploits they assume again, according to their wont, the form of new-born babes,' a phrase which exhibits the germ, and more than the germ, of the myth of Hermes returning like a child to his cradle after tearing up the forests. Their voice is louder than that of Stentor. The Crushers, or Grinders. 3 'Whither now?' asks the poet. On what errand of yours are you going, in heaven not on earth? Where are your cows sporting? From the shout of the Maruts over the whole space of the earth men reeled forward.' 4 'They make the rocks to tremble; they tear asunder the kings of the forest,' like Hermes in his rage. Lances gleam, Maruts, upon your shoulders, anklets on your feet, golden cuirasses on your breasts, and pure (waters shine) on your chariots: lightnings blazing with fire glow in your hands, and golden tiaras are towering on your heads.'' In the traditions of Northern Europe these furious Maruts become the fearful Ogres, who come tearing along in their ships (the clouds), while the wind roars and growls after them, and who, after desperate conflicts, are vanquished by Shortshanks in the Norse tale. The ogre of this story carries with him a great thick iron club,' which sends the earth and stones flying five yards in the air at each stroke. But pre-eminently, as the name denotes, the Maruts are the crushers or grinders; and thus, as made to share in the deadly strife between Indra and Vritra, they assume an exclusively warlike character. The history of the root which furnishes this name has been already traced, and has linked together the Greek war-god Arês, the gigantic Aloadai and Moliones, the Latin Mars and Mors, and the Teutonic Thor Miölnir. They are the children of Rudra, worshipped as the |