means of literary, not oral, tradition. Those that occur in the Greek version were translated into Latin, and were then utilised as Exempla, or seasoning for sermons. And it was from this source, if at all, that they became current among the folk. In the discussion about the diffusion of popular literature the question of Indian origin has to be treated separately, according to the character of the tales involved. These may be divided into four classes: fables, parables, stories of the wiles of women, and folktales. As far as the evidence goes at present, it would seem that the first two classes were transmitted by literary colportage, while the second two have passed from East to West, from mouth to mouth.[1]
Of the wide spread which many of these parables of Barlaam reached, ample evidence is given in Appendix II. Though the references there are put in the shortest and, I fear, most
- ↑ Hence it is that M. Bédier, in his ingenious work on the Fabliaux, which seem to be mainly derived from the third class, is entirely beating the air in attempting to disprove their derivation from Indian books. M. Gaston Paris had put M. Bedier's whole argument out of court when he stated of the Fabliaux, "lis proviennent de la transmission orale et non des livres " (Lit. franç., § 73).
