THE

BOOK OF NOODLES:

STORIES OF SIMPLETONS; OR,
FOOLS AND THEIR FOLLIES.

BY

W. A. CLOUSTON,

Author of "Popular Tales and Fictions: their Migrations and
Transformations

"Excellent! Why, this is the best fooling when all
is done."--Twelfth Night.

LONDON:
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1888.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-24351

TO MY DEAR FRIEND

DAVID ROSS, LL.D., M.A., B.Sc.,

PRINCIPAL OF THE
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND TRAINING COLLEGE,
GLASGOW,

THIS COLLECTION OF FACETIÆ
IS DEDICATED.

PREFACE.

IKE popular tales in general, the original sources of stories ofsimpletons are for the most part not traceable. The old Greek jests ofthis class had doubtless been floating about among different peopleslong before they were reduced to writing. The only tales and apologuesof noodles or stupid folk to which an approximate date can be assignedare those found in the early Buddhist books, especially in the"Játakas," or Birth-stories, which are said to have been related to hisdisciples by Gautama, the illustrious founder of Buddhism, as incidentswhich occurred to himself and others in former births, and wereafterwards put into a literary form by his followers. Many of the"Játakas" relate to silly men and women, and also to stupid animals, thelatter being, of course, men re-born as beasts, birds, or reptiles. Butit is not to be supposed that all are of Buddhist invention; some haddoubtless been current for ages among the Hindus before Gautamapromulgated his mild doctrines. Scholars are, however, agreed that thesefictions date at latest from a century prior to the Christian era.

Of European noodle-stories, as of other folk-tales, it may be saidthat, while they are numerous, yet the elements of which they arecomposed are comparatively very few. The versions domiciled in differentcountries exhibit little originality, farther than occasionalmodifications in accordance with local manners and customs. Thus for thestupid Brahman of Indian stories the blundering, silly son is oftensubstituted in European variants; for the brose in Norse and Highlandtales we find polenta or macaroni in Italian and Sicilian versions. Theidentity of incidents in the noodle-stories of Europe with those in whatare for us their oldest forms, the Buddhist and Indian books, is veryremarkable, particularly so in the case of Norse popular fictions,which, there is every reason to believe, were largely introduced throughthe Mongolians; and the similarity of Italian and West Highland storiesto those of Iceland and Norway would seem to indicate the influence ofthe Norsemen in the Western Islands of Scotland and in the south ofEurope.

It were utterly futile to attempt to trace the literary history ofmost of the noodle-stories which appear to have been current throughoutEuropean countries for many generations, since they have practicallynone. Soon after the invention of printing collections of facetiæ wererapidly multiplied, the compilers taking their material from oral aswell as written sources, amongst others, from mediæval collections of"exempla" designed for the use of preachers and the writings of theclassical authors of antiquity. With the exception of those