Joseph Jacobsthe Germans, and similar diminutive heroes elsewhere (cf.
Deulin, Contes de ma Mère l’Oye, 326), but of his adventures
only that in the cow’s stomach (cf. Cosquin, ii. 190) is com-
mon with his French and German cousins. M. Gaston Paris
has a monograph on “Tom Thumb.”
XXVI. MR. FOX.
Source.—Contributed by Blakeway to Malone’s Variorum
Shakespeare, to illustrate Benedick’s remark in Much Ado
about Nothing (I. i. 146): “Like the old tale, my Lord, ‘It is
not so, nor ’twas not so, but, indeed, God forbid it should
be so;’” which clearly refers to the tale of Mr. Fox. “The
Forbidden Chamber” has been studied by Mr. Hartland,
Folk-Lore Journal, iii. 193, seq.
Parallels.—Halliwell, p. 166, gives a similar tale of “An Ox-
ford Student,” whose sweetheart saw him digging her grave.
“Mr. Fox” is clearly a variant of the theme of “The Robber
Bridegroom” (Grimm, No. 40, Mrs. Hunt’s translation, i.
389, 395; and Cosquin, i. 180-1).XXVII. LAZY JACK.
Source.—Halliwell, 157.Parallels.—The same story occurs in Lowland Scotch as “Jock
and his Mother,” Chambers, l.c., 101; in Ireland, as “I’ll be
wiser next time,” Kennedy, l.c., 39-42. Abroad it is Grimm’s
Hans im Glück (No. 83). The “cure by laughing” incident is
“common form” in folk-tales (cf. Köhler on Gonzenbach,
Sizil. Märchen, ii. 210, 224; Jones and Kropf, Magyar Tales,
312).