Legends of the city of Mexico / collected by Thomas A. Janvier ; illustrated by Walter Appleton Clark.

  • Janvier, Thomas A. (Thomas Allibone), 1849-1913.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Legends of the city of Mexico / collected by Thomas A. Janvier ; illustrated by Walter Appleton Clark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    diverse elucidations of the same mystery event¬ ually have been patched together into a single story—that betrays its composite origin by the inconsistencies and the discrepancies in which it abounds. A few of them—starting out bold¬ ly by exalting some commonplace occurrence into a marvel—practically are cut from the whole cloth. All of them—and most obviously the most incredible of them—have the quality that gives to folk-stories in general their serious value: they reflect accurately the tone of thought, and exhibit more or less clearly the customs and the conditions, of the time to which they belong. Among the older people of the City of Mexico, alike the lettered and the unlettered, they still are cherished with a warm affection and are told with a lively relish —to which is added, among the common people, a lively faith. The too-sophisticated younger generation, unhappily, is neglectful and even scornful of them. Soon, as oral tradition, they will be lost. Most fortunately, the permanent preserva¬ tion in print of these legends—and of many more of the same sort—long since was assured. Because of the serious meaning that is in [x]