FAIRY SHRIMP, a phyllopodous crus tacean (Chirocephalus diaphanus), occasionally found in fresh-water ponds in the British Isles. It is about one inch in length and nearly transparent.
stories in which fairies play a part, or which contain other super natural or magical elements such as mark the folk-tales of 'Puss in Boots' ; 'Beauty and the Beast' ; 'Hop o' My Thumb' ; (Sleeping Beauty' ; and others. Actual fairies seldom appear in traditional fairy-tales, so called. Grimm and his successors showed by the study of comparative mythology that these tales are not restricted to Europe alone, but are to be found, in varying forms, among almost all na tions. The survival of popular tales is due to their being unconscious growths, to the strict adherence to form shown by illiterate and sav age people in recitals and to the laws of the permanence of culture. There are several theories in regard to the origin of folk-tales. The oldest is the Oriental theory, which traces all back to a common origin in the Vedas. It is true that the germs of most tales are found in Vedas, but proofs of the Indian origin of the stories are lacking; the discovery of tales in Egypt which were written in the early empire are objections to its acceptance, and the idea of diffusion will not account for similar tales found in Australia, New Zealand and America. The Aryan theory, supported by Max Muller, Grimm and others, gives as their origin the explanation of natural phenomena. These nature-myths must not be regarded as originally metaphors; they were primitive man's philos ophy of nature in the days when every object was endowed with a personal' life. The tales have enough likeness to show that they come from the same source and enough difference to show they were not copied from each other. Muller says 'Nursery tales are gerierally the last things to be adopted by one nation from another?' Another theory, supported by Tylor and Lang, traces the origin of folk-lore to a far earlier source than the Aryan—the customs and practices of early man: such as totemism, descent from animals or things, which were at last worshipped; and curious taboos or prohi bitions, which can be explained by similar sav age customs of the present. But late authori
ties declare that it is useless to seek any com mon origin of folk-tales; since the incidents, which are few, and the persons, who are types, are based on ideas that might occur to un civilized races anywhere.
Our popular fairy-tales, or contes, have been, in the main, handed down orally. However, some of their elements or variants at least have come down through ancient Oriental literature. The 'Syntipas,) a Greek version, belongs to the 11th century. Then followed translations into several European languages. The earliest col lection of European tales was made by Stra parola, who published at Venice in 1550 his Piacevola,' which was translated into French and was probably the origin of the 'Conies des The best early collection is Basile's the 'Pentamerone,) published at Naples in 1637; reprinted at New York 1912. In 1696 there appeared in the Recueil, a magazine published by Moetjens at The Hague, the story 'La Belle au Bois Dormant' (our Beauty)), by Charles Perrault; and in 1697 appeared seven others: 'Little Red Riding Hood' ; 'Puss in Boots' ; 'The Fairy' ; ; 'Riquet of the and (Hop o' My Thumb.) These were pub lished in 1697 under the title 'Contes du Temps Passé Avec des Moralites,) by P. Darmancour, Perrault's son, for whom he wrote them down from a nurse's stories. Within this century the investigations of Jacob and William Grimm, and their successors in this field, have reduced to written form the tales of nearly all nations. We must include in the comparison of stories the Greek myths; as the Odyssey is now con ceded to be a mass of popular tales. To these we must add the tales of ancient Egypt; those narrated by Herodotus and other travelers and historians; the beautiful story of 'Cupid and Psyche,' given by Apuleius in his 'Metamor phoses> of the 2d century A.D., which also was taken from a popular myth. See BEAUTY AND THE BEAST; BLLIEBEARD; ELVES; FAIRY; FAIRY TALES ; FOLK-LORE, etc. Consult bibliography subjoined to article FAIRY.