Thus the story of an ingenious youth has become that of a naughty little boy, deservedly punished, and with this change has gone a complete reversal of the son's attitude. Instead of being "dumbfounded" at his discovery, as he is to begin with, the boy is overjoyed and suitably penitent. The gradual process by which this end was secured cannot now be analysed, but there is no doubt that the acquisition by the story of a moral flavour produced in my subjects a feeling of fitness and rightness which justifies its being treated as a case of transformation by rationalisation. Other illustrations of the same tendency might readily be given.
The third principle of transformation noted was that of dominance. This occurs whenever some word, phrase, or event so stands out from the rest of the narrative as to exercise a definite and general transforming influence. A careful consideration and analysis of the conditions of dominance makes it clear that among them affective factors are of prime importance. Moreover these affective factors are generally either of only slightly unpleasant, or else definitely of a pleasant character. The common dominance of "stock" words and phrases; of words and phrases evoking lively visual imagery; of words and phrases having a pleasant sound; of words and phrases recalling some personal experience, and of words which, in rhythmic writing, carry the stress, all come under this general head.
A very interesting case is where the dominant incident or character is extremely unusual, and even, apparently, relatively meaningless. The illustration already given of the transformation of the death scene from The War of the Ghosts has already shown how an inherently absurd element may yet persist unchanged for a long time. This would seem to occur most often in the reproduction of picture forms, and I have had several most striking illustrations of how some seemingly absurd detail may be faithfully
