Myths and Myth-Makers | Page 6

the native and the imported words in any Aryan
language, by examining their phonetic peculiarities, so the student of
popular traditions, though working with far less perfect instruments,
can safely assert, with reference to a vast number of legends, that they
cannot have been obtained by any process of conscious borrowing. The
difficulties inseparable from any such hypothesis will become more
and more apparent as we proceed to examine a few other stories current
in different portions of the Aryan domain.
As the Swiss must give up his Tell, so must the Welshman be deprived
of his brave dog Gellert, over whose cruel fate I confess to having shed
more tears than I should regard as well bestowed upon the misfortunes
of many a human hero of romance. Every one knows how the dear old
brute killed the wolf which had come to devour Llewellyn's child, and
how the prince, returning home and finding the cradle upset and the
dog's mouth dripping blood, hastily slew his benefactor, before the cry
of the child from behind the cradle and the sight of the wolf's body had
rectified his error. To this day the visitor to Snowdon is told the
touching story, and shown the place, called Beth-Gellert,[3] where the
dog's grave is still to be seen. Nevertheless, the story occurs in the
fireside lore of nearly every Aryan people. Under the Gellert-form it
started in the Panchatantra, a collection of Sanskrit fables; and it has
even been discovered in a Chinese work which dates from A. D. 668.
Usually the hero is a dog, but sometimes a falcon, an ichneumon, an
insect, or even a man. In Egypt it takes the following comical shape: "A
Wali once smashed a pot full of herbs which a cook had prepared. The
exasperated cook thrashed the well-intentioned but unfortunate Wali
within an inch of his life, and when he returned, exhausted with his
efforts at belabouring the man, to examine the broken pot, he
discovered amongst the herbs a poisonous snake."[4] Now this story of
the Wali is as manifestly identical with the legend of Gellert as the
English word FATHER is with the Latin pater; but as no one would

maintain that the word father is in any sense derived from pater, so it
would be impossible to represent either the Welsh or the Egyptian
legend as a copy of the other. Obviously the conclusion is forced upon
us that the stories, like the words, are related collaterally, having
descended from a common ancestral legend, or having been suggested
by one and the same primeval idea.
[3] According to Mr. Isaac Taylor, the name is really derived from "St.
Celert, a Welsh saint of the fifth century, to whom the church of
Llangeller is consecrated." (Words and Places, p. 339.)
[4] Compare Krilof's story of the Gnat and the Shepherd, in Mr.
Ralston's excellent version, Krilof and his Fables, p. 170. Many parallel
examples are cited by Mr. Baring-Gould, Curious Myths, Vol. I. pp.
126-136. See also the story of Folliculus,--Swan, Gesta Romanorum,
ad. Wright, Vol. I. p. lxxxii
Closely connected with the Gellert myth are the stories of Faithful John
and of Rama and Luxman. In the German story, Faithful John
accompanies the prince, his master, on a journey in quest of a beautiful
maiden, whom he wishes to make his bride. As they are carrying her
home across the seas, Faithful John hears some crows, whose language
he understands, foretelling three dangers impending over the prince,
from which his friend can save him only by sacrificing his own life. As
soon as they land, a horse will spring toward the king, which, if he
mounts it, will bear him away from his bride forever; but whoever
shoots the horse, and tells the king the reason, will be turned into stone
from toe to knee. Then, before the wedding a bridal garment will lie
before the king, which, if he puts it on, will burn him like the
Nessos-shirt of Herakles; but whoever throws the shirt into the fire and
tells the king the reason, will be turned into stone from knee to heart.
Finally, during the wedding-festivities, the queen will suddenly fall in a
swoon, and "unless some one takes three drops of blood from her right
breast she will die"; but whoever does so, and tells the king the reason,
will be turned into stone from head to foot. Thus forewarned, Faithful
John saves his master from all these dangers; but the king misinterprets
his motive in bleeding his wife, and orders him to be hanged. On the

scaffold he tells his story, and while the king humbles himself in an
agony of remorse, his noble friend is turned into stone.
In the South Indian tale Luxman accompanies Rama, who is carrying