Jeremiah Curtin

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

RUSSIAN MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES.

CHEKH MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES.

MAGYAR MYTHS AND FOLK-TALES.

NOTES.

By JEREMIAH CURTIN

BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1890

To FRANCIS JAMES CHILD, PH.D., LL.D.

Professor of English in Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass.

My dear Professor Child,—

It is more than a quarter of a century since you began for Harvard that collection of myths, folk-tales, and ballads, in all European languages, which has grown under your hand to such proportions that it is now, perhaps, the most complete of its kind in either hemisphere.

This work was begun by you through a clear perception of what was needed for laborers in a most important field of inquiry, and achieved by tireless and patient care in seeking and finding.

Your labors as a scholar are honored abroad as at home, and your work on English and Scottish ballads will endure as a monument of skill and devotion.

During your career as Professor you have been true to the ideals of Harvard scholarship and life, adding to them meanwhile something of your own.

Whoso adds to or freshens the spirit of our revered Alma Mater deserves well of the country; for Harvard, now in the second half of the third century of her existence, is the oldest witness and, so far, the most eloquent that we have to the collective and continuous striving of Americans towards a higher life.

To you,—the distinguished Professor, the earnest scholar, the faithful friend,—I, one of thousands who have listened to your instruction, dedicate this volume, gathered from a field in which you take so much delight.

Jeremiah Curtin.

Smithsonian Institution,
Bureau of Ethnology.
 Washington D. C. October 23, 1890.