Chapter XXXV: The Fish and the Ring

_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 326, from a communication by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould.

_Parallels_.--“Jonah rings” have been put together by Mr. Clouston in his _Popular Tales_, i. 398, &c.: the most famous are those of Polycrates, of Solomon, and the Sanskrit drama of “Sakuntala,” the plot of which turns upon such a ring. “Letters to kill bearer” have been traced from Homer downwards by Prof. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 220, and “the substituted letter” by the same authority in _Occ. u. Or._, ii. 289. Mr. Baring-Gould, who was one of the pioneers of the study of folk-tales in this country, has given a large number of instances of “the pre-ordained marriage” in folk-tales in Henderson, _l.c._