variant collected by my friend Dr. John Sampson, and referred to Dawkins, op. cit. p. 241 note, the password Safe’un (Tačo Yek‘) is clearly derived from the misunderstanding of “Open Sesame” printed with a long ſ and pronounced by some unskilful reader “Sefam.” Two quotations from an Ali Baba version in Paspati, Études sur les Tchinghianes, pp. 349, 422, have been identified by Groome, Gypsy Folk Tales, p. li, but they do not indicate to which type the story from which they were taken belonged.
Upon a priori grounds one is tempted to suggest that the original form of the story was cast in the mould of A (2). The local belief in the magical powers of Sesame led to the “Open O Simsim” of the Arabian Nights, and from the Arabian Nights this form of the spell gained its popularity in Europe, the other flower names such as “Open Hyacinth” arising from accidents of narration. It seems to me that the miscounting incident may have arisen in the first place in the mind of a narrator who had forgotten how the catastrophe was brought about and supplied a rationalistic substitute. This theory of development is, however, a priori, and demands a severe testing by the collection and examination of the evidence, and I venture to suggest that some member of the Society might find this a useful if laborious task.
The University, Liverpool.
Prentice Pillars: the Architect and his Pupil.
(Folk-Lore, xxix. 219.)
The following tale is interesting in connection with those of the Architect and his Pupil:
“Tradition relates that the career of Jakanāchāri, the famous architect and sculptor, began when Nripa Rāya was ruling in Kridāpura. He then left his native place and, entering the service of various courts, produced the works by which his fame is to this day upheld. After his departure a son, Dandakāchāri, was born to him, who when grown up set out in search of his father, neither having ever seen the other. At Belur the
