Ralph Steele Boggs

“ Our ignorance of the existence of legendary tales in Spain must not be considered a proof of their non-existence". More recently the existence of an abundance of folktales in Spain has been generally conceded; but the misconception that, aside from one or two collections, almost none of this material has been published is still current. ”

“ On scanning the bibliography, one discerns three outstanding periods in the publication of Spanish folktales: about the middle of the nineteenth century, in the eighties, and during the past few years, in which time more folktales have been published than in both the preceding periods. Fernan Caballero was the chief figure in the first period; the second was a period of organization of folklore societies and journal publication. ”

“ At present important works are constantly appearing by such eminent contemporary folklorists as Cabal, Espinosa, Llano Roza de Ampudia, etc. Furthermore, one notices many translations of Spanish folktales into English, German and French.
I found no definition of a folktale which served as a practical rule by which material could readily be accepted or rejected. The rule finally adopted was to accept all texts that manifest the existence in Spanish oral tradition of material like or bearing close analogy to the body of material included in Aarne's index. ”

“ Such a text would be of interest to the anthropologist, the psychologist, the linguist and the literary historian. Unfortunately, however, I have never seen such a text in print. I assume that such a text is what is referred to as a text "of scientific value". Being unable to find such texts, I was forced to lower my requirements. Even though a tale be written in literary Spanish, English, German or French, if its motives are preserved essentially as they are known to exist in oral tradition, I accept it. ”

“ As early as 1887 Hernández de Moreno [1] defended Spain against this misbelief. It is true that only a small proportion of the great stock of Spanish folktales has been published, and that many of these are not easily accessible, being hidden away in scattered journals, footnotes, etc. The purpose of this index is to render this material accessible and perhaps stimulate further interest in this fertile field. ”

“ Folktale themes abound in Spanish literature and offer a great and fruitful field of study; and may, together with Spanish American tales, throw considerable light on the history and development of the Spanish folktale. A thesis [3] has been placed at my disposal which cites published texts of tales from Guatemala, Mexico, New Mexico and Porto Rico of fifty types. I include these references under type headings without checking or analyzing them. I wish to express my thanks to Miss Dean for permission to use this material. ”

“ Spanish folktale material is much more abundant than has commonly been supposed. It was believed by some that such material did not exist until the publications of the earlier collectors began to appear. Among these was an Englishman, V. J. Thoms, who says in the introduction to his Lays and legends of Spain, 1834, "... one part of the task which we have proposed to ourselves ... is to gather together such legendary tales of Spanish origin as now lie scattered and far apart ... The popular tales in Spain have never yet been collected ... ”

“ To reproduce a tale exactly as told by the folk would mean to reproduce every detail of syntax, form and vocabulary in a text written in phonetic symbols, and with all the vicissitudes of colloquial peasant speech in matters of repetition, omission, illogical and contradictory statements. ”

“ In mythology some of the Nuberu stories given by Llano Roza de Ampudia include a rewarded hospitality theme which belongs typically to the folktale. It is sometimes rather difficult to distinguish between the riddle and the folktale. ”

“ The letter and number in brackets following a new motive is the number that motive will bear in Stith Thompson's classification of motives, which has not yet been published.
I am greatly indebted to Stith Thompson for many valuable suggestions and for inserting in my manuscript the numbers pertaining to his forthcoming classification of motives. Above all, I wish to express my deep debt of gratitude to Archer Taylor, at whose suggestion this index of Spanish folktales was begun and with whose constant guidance and untiring help it has been carried to completion.
R. S. B.
Bibliography. ”

“ By saturating myfself in Aarne's index and the standard, wellknown Spanish collections, I was able to build up by experience a critical judgment which was very helpful in determining the value of doubtful works. ”

“ The words leyenda and tradicion are often employed in their proper meaning by Spanish folklorists. The following works, for example, really contain what their titles promise: A. Alcalde y Valladares, Tradiciones españolas; M. Cano y Cueto, Leyendas y tradiciones de Sevilla, 1875; L. Garcia del Real, Tradiciones y leyendas españolas, 1898—1899; S. G. C. Middlemore, Spanish legendary tales, 1885 ”

“ Since this is the first attempt, to my knowledge, ever made to organize Spanish folktale material, errors and omissions will probably abound. In view of this fact I have sought to make the scope of the subject small enough that I might hope fairly well to cover the ground. In my search for Spanish folktales I encountered incidentally many works which may prove of value in the study of Galician, Bask and Catalan tales, and these are included in the bibliography. The Index includes all Spanish references given in BP, even the literary references ”

“ The great field of Spanish literature, alledged to be rich in popular elements, is yet to be explored for evidences of folktales. Fourth come the Spanish American references, which are grouped alphabetically by countries. A list of abbreviations used for regions follows.
Every reference in every region under a type is arbitrarily assigned a number. The numbers begin anew for every region, so that additional variants of the type from any region may be added and numbered.
A: after a reference signifies that an analysis of the text cited follows, as "Mt 425 C as 1. ”

“ These are but a few scattered references from the Spanish American field which, in itself, offers abundant material for further study.
I am aware of no great manuscript collections of folktales in Spain. I am informed that there is none at the Centro de estudios historicos. Menéndez Pidal [5] refers to manuscript material on folklore at the Ateneo in Madrid ”

“ However, these terms are sometimes applied to folktales. For example, the following works contain folktale material: Biblioteca de tradiciones populares españoles, 1884—6; R. H. Busk, Patrañas, or Spanish stories, legendary and traditional, 1870; C. Cabal, Los cuentos tradicionales asturianos [1924] ; H. A. Reed, Spanish legends and traditions, 1914. The enchanted Moorish girl guarding a treasure in a cave, LRAF [2] p. 90, LRAL p. 184, MPP p. 345, and hidden treasures in general form a favorite theme in Spain. These stories belong to the field of legend and tradition. ”

“ Rabbits become men, *438.
Race of fox, wolf, mouse, or hare and toad, crayfish, hedgehog, or bee, 275; of pike and snake, 252; trick, 30; with substitutes in line, 275 *A, 1072, 1074; won by hanging on tail, 250, 275 ”

“ Fox leads b to honey (wasps) , 49; gelded, 153; husband, 425 C; loses tail in ice, 2; meets man brave enough to overcome him, 157; mistaken for parson, 116; pretends to be treetrunk, 154; rescues fox, 32; sick, 50; sinks claws into horse's flanks, 117*; skin, 361; taken for cat, 1161; taken for dog, 1312*; Titmouse tries to be as big as b, 228; two girls and dwarf, 426; Ungrateful b, 155; wishes to be painted, 8. Beard, Gilding ogre's b, 1138; Hairs from Devil's b, 461; Never serve man with red b, 400 *B; Ogre's b caught, 1160. ”

“ Disguised as nursemaid, 37; as strange bird, 311, 1091; as woman lover carries off princess, 516; boy avenges self of thieves, 1538; fox violates female bear, 36; Girl d as doctor, 434, *515; Girl d as doctor and barber tortures thief, *970; Girl d as man, 425, 883 A, 884; Girl d as soldier replaces her brother, 514; king and thief, 951 A; lover buys looks at parts of girl's body, 900 *A; lover marries girl, 885, 900; Thief d as old woman, *970, *973; wife becomes emperor, 881 ”

“ Wasps set under pretended saint's statue, *1787 A.
Watcher found dead each morning, 306 *A; 307.
Water becomes blood or turbid as danger sign, 303; Bringing w from well, 1250; Bringing w more quickly than witch, 513; causes pregnancy, 303; for blindness, 301, 590; Healing w, 708, *A; in sieve, 1180; of life, 707; of youth, 550, 551; Rescue by wife from v nix, 316; restores feet, 519; sweat by fox, 15; Wolf's w washes away beans, *64.
Waters, Glass of all w, *860.
We three, -for gold, -that was right, 360; three, -for money, 1697.
Weak, Help of w, 75.
Wealth causes soul's torment, 760 *B ”

“ Violin, Bears taught to play v, 151; encountered by fleeing fox, *135 A; makes everyone dance, 592, 853.
Virgin, Birds (children) carry flowers to V, 471 *A; Christ delights in benefactions which pass through V, *849 A; gives girl bird or rod of virtue, 707, or magic nuts, 511; releases girl, 709; replaces nun who sees world, 770; rewards charitable girl, *806 ”

“ Chickencoop, Dogs chase fox from c, *135.
Chickenyard, Wolf overeats in c, 41.
Chickpeas planted by ant (Cumulative) , 2030 *A. Child, Cleaning c, 1012; murdered by mother, 781; Newborn c replaced by animal or object, 707; offers bread to snake, 285; sings wrong song, 1735 *A.
Children and ogre, 327; Birds (c) carry flowers to Virgin, 471 *A; desire ogre's flesh, 1149; Each prefers his own c, 247; Eve's c classified by God, *758; exchanged, 975*; more mischievous than Devil, 1149 *A; Mother accused of eating or killing c, 451, 652, 706 *B, 712; of king, 892; Ogre kills his own c, 1119 ”

“ Thief as b woman, *973; trusts God not king, 841; turns unkind woman into cow, 473.
Beheading beautifies, 531; Disenchanting by b, 425, 440, 471, 545, 550, 708; giants one by one, 304; thief, 950; thieves one by one, 302 *A, 956 A.
Bell falls into sea, 1278; Mice buy b for cat, 110; on horse rung by fox, 40*. ”

“ The crippled are the w, *758 A.
Widow, Devout w shelters murderer of her son, 756 *D; falsely accuses cobbler, *1516; mourns in equivocal terms, 1940 *E.
Widowed fox's suitors, 65.
Widower tells life story in days of week, 2012 *A.
Wife abandoned, *896; and husband quarrel over hair in soup, 1365 *E; banished, 705—709; calumniated, 706, *891; carried by husband to lover, *1424; converses with dying husband in equivocal terms, 1940 *F; curious, 670; dancing sings cooking instructions to husband, 1831 *B; Devil afraid of his w, 332, 400 *A; faithhil, 888; faithless, 612, 870 *B ”

“ Skin, Disenchanting by burning animal s, 425, 440, 441; Fox advises sick lion to s wolf, 50; Horseskin bag filled with gold (bones) , 311 *A; of cuckoo borrowed by jay, 235; Riddle of s, 513 A.
Skinned wolf in brambles, 1; wolf tied to cow's horns, 47 *C.
Skull dressed as bride to deceive ogre, 311; Drinking from s, 326; invited to dine, 470, *835.
Slander punished, 836 *G.
Slandered, See calumniated.
Slaughter of ox, 1261.
Slave girl replaces bride, *445 B.
Slavery, Ransom for princess in s, 506. ”

“ Disenchantment by cutting off f, 403; Ogre sucks girl's f, 327 *D; Recognition by missing f, 313.
Fire, Hedgehog tricks fox into carrying him from forest f, *69; Warner uses extraordinary names, 1940 *A; wet by dog, *453.
Firesteel, 562.
Firewood cut in wrong place, 1696.
First crop, 1185; to say good morning, 1735; to see sunrise, 120.
Fish, 250—274; Born of a f, 705; caught in boots, 1895; fetches ring, *515; for guest eaten by wife, 1741; Grateful f, 531; helper, 302 *A, 554; Hero carried by f, 302 *A; in net, 253; Man swims like f, 665; net on heath, 1220; Pregnant from eating f, 303 ”

“ Insults make princess talk, *860.
Intelligence and luck, 945.
Intestines, Lizard in wolf's i, 121.
Intruder steals man's clothes, 1360 A.
Invaders, Cocks crow to warn one another of i, *205.
Invisible beings' conversation reveals how to obtain girl, 516; Cap renders wearer i, 302 *A; suit of king, 1620.
Invitations to dine of fox and crane, 60.
Invited dead friend, 470; skull, 470, *835; statue of Christ, 750 B.
Invulnerable horse, 756 B.
Iron Henry, 440; house, 124; is more precious than gold, 677; man and ogre, 1162; Oath on i, 44; Strong John made of i, 650. ”

“ Money and Fortune test their powers, 945 *A; as reward for following advice, 910 B; eaten by pig, *891; falls from invited statue, 750 B; Fool sells oxen and gives money away, 1003 *A; found by fool, 1696 *A; makes man unhappy, 754; measured, 545 *C; Piper regains lost m, *1617.
Monkey bride, *557; Grateful m, 160.
Monks burned by fool, 1536 B.
Monster born to princess, 708; dies on prongs of prey's house, 124; eats people and animals, 333; fettered, 803; Fox disguises as m, 154 ”

“ Foolish and wise brother divide crops, 1537 *A; bridegroom, 1685; couple, 1430—1439; imitation, 1; man and his wife, 1405—1429; parson in trunk, 1725; wife and her husband, 1380—1404; wife gives ham to "Long May", 1541; wife throws cornbread out window, *1389; wife's pawn, 1385.
Foot, Fox calls his f a treeroot and bear lets loose, 5 ”

“ Bird, 224—242; advises man how to treat children, 2012 *C; and fox, 56—62; and wild animal, 140—149; council, 220; Disguised as strange b, 311, 1091; Election of b king, 221; Girl as b, 400 *A, 405; in borrowed feathers, *244; language, 517, 781; Magic b heart, 567; Man flies like b, 665; horse and princess, 550; mouse and sausage keep house 85 ”