English Fairy Tales

Joseph Jacobs

VI. MR. VINEGAR.

Source.—Halliwell, p. 149.

Parallels.—This is the Hans im Glück of Grimm (No. 83).
Cf. too, “Lazy Jack,” infra, No. xxvii. Other variants are given
by M. Cosquin, Contes pop. de Lorraine, i. 241. On surpris-
ing robbers, see preceding tale.

Remarks.—In some of the variants the door is carried, be-
cause Mr. Vinegar, or his equivalent, has been told to “mind
the door,” or he acts on the principle “he that is master of
the door is master of the house.” In other stories he makes
the foolish exchanges to the entire satisfaction of his wife.
(Cf. Cosquin, i. 156-7.)

VII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING.

Source.—From a Scotch tale, “Nicht Nought Nothing,” col-

lected by Mr. Andrew Lang in Morayshire, published by

him first in Revue Celtique, t. iii; then in his Custom and

Myth, p. 89; and again in Folk-Lore, Sept. 1890. I have

changed the name so as to retain the équivoque of the giant’s

reply to the King. I have also inserted the incidents of the

flight, the usual ones in tales of this type, and expanded the

conclusion, which is very curtailed and confused in the origi-

nal. The usual ending of tales of this class contains the “sale

of bed” incident, for which see Child, i. 391.

Parallels.—Mr. Lang, in the essay “A Far-travelled Tale” in

which he gives the story, mentions several variants of it, in-

cluding the classical myth of Jason and Medea. A fuller study

in Cosquin, l.c., ii. 12-28. For the finger ladder, see Köhler,

in Orient and Occident, ii. III.