Notes and Queries, Number 190, June 18, 1853 | Page 4

| 6000l. |R. Chambers.
Empire | | | |
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------
Sermons (1st part) | Blair | | 200l. | Creech
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------- Ditto |
Tillotson | | 2500 guineas| R. Chambers
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------- Childe
Harold | | | | (4th canto) | Lord Byron | | 2100l. | Ditto.
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------
Poetical Works | | | | (whole) | Ditto | | 15,000l. | Ditto.
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------- Lay of
the | | | | Last Minstrel |Sir W. Scott | Constable | 600l. | Ditto.
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------
Marmion | Ditto | Ditto | 1050l. | Miss Seward.
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------
Pleasures of | Thos. | | | Hope | Campbell | Mundell | 1050l. | R.
Chambers.
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------
Gertrude of | | | | Wyoming | Ditto | Ditto |1500 guineas | Ditto.
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------- Poems
| Crabbe | Murray | 3000l. | Ditto.
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------- Irish
Melodies | Thomas Moore| |500l. a year | Ditto.
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------
Spelling Book | Vyse | | 2200l. and | | | | 50l. a year | Ditto.

-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------
Philosophy of | | |1050l., 1st | Natural History | Smellie | |edition and | | |
|50l. each | | | |after | Ditto
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+-------------
Various | | | | (aggregate) | Göthe | |30,000 crowns| Ditto.
-------------------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------- Ditto
(ditto) |Chateaubriand| |500,000 francs| Ditto.
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I perfectly agree with the suggestion of one of your correspondents,
that, in a publication like yours, dealing with historic facts, the
communications should not be anonymous, or made under noms de
guerre. I therefore drop the initials with which I have signed previous
communications, and append my name as suggested.
ALEXANDER ANDREWS.
* * * * *
COINCIDENT LEGENDS.
In the Scandinavian portion of the Fairy Mythology, there is a legend of
a farmer cheating a Troll in an argument respecting the crops that were
to be grown on the hill within which the latter resided. It is there
observed that Rabelais tells the same story of a farmer and the Devil. I
think there can be no doubt that these are not independent fictions, but
that the legend is a transmitted one, the Scandinavian being the original,
brought with them perhaps by the Normans. {592} But what are we to
say to the actual fact of the same legend being found in the valleys of
Afghánistán?
Masson, in his Narrative, &c. (iii. 297.), when speaking of the Tájiks of
Lúghmân, says,--
"They have the following amusing story: In times of yore, ere the
natives were acquainted with the arts of husbandry, the Shaitán, or
Devil, appeared amongst them, and, winning their confidence,
recommended them to sow their lands. They consented, it being farther

agreed that the Devil was to be a sherík, or partner, with them. The
lands were accordingly sown with turnips, carrots, beet, onions, and
such vegetables whose value consists in the roots. When the crops were
mature the Shaitán appeared, and generously asked the assembled
agriculturists if they would receive for their share what was above
ground or what was below. Admiring the vivid green hue of the tops,
they unanimously replied that they would accept what was above
ground. They were directed to remove their portion, when the Devil
and his attendants dug up the roots and carried them away. The next
year he again came and entered into partnership. The lands were now
sown with wheat and other grains, whose value lies in their seed-spikes.
In due time, as the crops had ripened, he convened the husbandmen,
putting the same question to them as he did the preceding year.
Resolved not to be deceived as before, they chose for their share what
was below ground; on which the Devil immediately set to work and
collected the harvest, leaving them to dig up the worthless roots.
Having experienced that they were not a match for the Devil, they grew
weary of his friendship; and it fortunately turned out that, on departing
with his wheat, he took the road from Lúghmân to Báríkâb, which is
proverbially intricate, and where he lost his road, and has never been
heard of or seen since."
Surely here is simple coincidence, for there could scarcely ever have
been any communication between such distant regions in remote times,
and the legend has hardly been carried to Afghánistán by Europeans.
There is, as will be observed, a difference in the character of the
legends. In the Oriental one it is the Devil who outwits the peasants.
This perhaps arises from the higher character of the Shaitán (the ancient
Akriman) than that of the Troll or the mediæval Devil.
THOS. KEIGHTLEY.
* * * * *
SHAKSPEARE READINGS, NO. VIII.
I have to announce the detection of an important misprint, which
completely restores sense, point, and antithesis to a sorely tormented

passage in King Lear; and which proves at the same time that