Folk-tales of Kashmir / by the Rev. J. Hinton Knowles.

  • James Hinton Knowles
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Folk-tales of Kashmir / by the Rev. J. Hinton Knowles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    whole collection in a book, and thus save them from the clutches of oblivion, to which they would otherwise have been consii^ned. o ISfany of these tales are, probably, purely Kashmiii in origin, while others are undoubtedly variants of popular tales current in India and other parts, which have been {idapted and inodilied to suit the language, style of thought, and social usages of the country. To Ikii opean Folk-tales, also, several of these stories will be found to have a great resemblance—notablv the storv of “ The Two Ilrothers,” to its counterpart, “ St. George and the Dragon;” while many of the little stories mixed up in the tales, and quoted generally to explain the situation of the hero or heroine, will be recognised at once as variants of tales extant in France, Germany, Greece, Faissia, England, and other countries. It is not my intention here to attempt to trace the home of any of these stories. Whether they originated in the East or in the West I leave to more expert and learned minds to declare. There can be no doubt that many Eastern stories were introduced into Europe by the Hans in the time of Genghis Khan. Manv of these stories were translated into Persian, and thence into Svriac and Arabic.” It is probable that the Arabs carried some of them into Europe, and that European invaders, like the Crusaders, imported fragmentary portions into their coun- tries. These stories, as we know, became very popular in the West during the IMiddle Ages, when instruction through the medium of fables, so popular in the East in ancient times, was largely adopted by Western monks and other religious teachers for the sake of the impression thus made on the minds of illiterate hearers. “ An apposite or well-told story would arouse attention where logical argument or abstract reasoning would fail to pro- duce the slightest effect.” These fictitious narratives, with their moral and religious applications, had a very considerable inlluence upon the literature of those days.
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