Note 15 — Chapter XII · WÄLSCH-TIROL. VAL SUGANA.—GIUDICARIA.—FOLKLORE.

It is very disappointing that he has translated the great bulk of his vast collection of fiabe (‘fiaba’ in North Italian answers to the ‘favola’ of Rome) so utterly into German that, though we find all our old friends among them, all the distinctive expressions are translated away, and they are rendered valueless for all but mere childish amusement. Thus it is interesting to find in Wälsch-Tirol a diabolical counterpart of the Roman story of ‘Pret’ Olivo,’ but it would have rendered it infinitely more interesting had the collector told us what was the word which he translates by ‘Teufel,’ for it is the rarest thing in the world for an Italian to bring the personified ‘Diavolo’ or ‘Demonio’ into any light story. In the same way it is interesting to find all the other tales with which we are familiar turn up here, but the real use of printing them at length would have been to point out their characteristics. What was the Italian used for the words rendered in the German by ‘Witch?’ Was it ‘Gannes’ or ‘strega?’ or for ‘Giant’ and ‘Wild man:’ was it ‘l’om salvadegh’ or ‘salvan’ or ‘orco?’ I cannot think it was ‘gigante.’ But all is left to conjecture. Among the few bits of Italian he does give are two or three ‘tags’ to stories, among them the one I met so continually in Rome ‘Larga la foglia’—(it was still ‘foglia’ and not ‘voglia’) word for word.