Abstract
DR. VERRIER ELWIN has rendered a great service to anthropology in his monographs upon the peoples of the Central Provinces. In this volume he sets out to “preserve for English-speaking readers specimens of their oral literature”. The phrase is not very happy. His purpose is scientific, for he censures certain works as being “published purely for entertainment”. Yet he admits that he has published this volume without reference to Thompson's “Motif -index of Folk-Literature”. It is therefore not surprising that the reader finds his chapter-headings hard to follow. For example, “the boy whose brother was a bull” theme appears both under “The Quest for Love and Treasure” and “The 'Magic Articles' Motif”. Moreover, Dr. Elwin does not attempt to distinguish between the basic folk-tales of the several peoples he reports and the ancient and very highly finished wares of India's professional story-tellers. There are several traces of the purely literary and foreign Persian “Sad Hikayat” among these stories. Folk-Tales of Mahakoshal By Dr. Verrier Elwin. (Specimens of the Oral Literature of Middle India: Published for “Man in India”.) Pp. xxv + 523. (London: Oxford University Press, 1944.) 25s. net.
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