i desire to express my profound indebtedness, for the central mythological idea embodied in this tale, to mr. j.g. frazer’s admirable and epoch-making work, “the golden bough,” whose main contention i have endeavored incidentally to popularize in my present story. i wish also to express my obligations in other ways to mr. andrew lang’s “myth, ritual, and religion,” mr. h.o. forbes’s “naturalist’s wanderings,” and mr. julian thomas’s “cannibals and convicts.” if i have omitted to mention any other author to whom i may have owed incidental hints, it will be some consolation to me to reflect that i shall at least have afforded an opportunity for legitimate sport to the amateurs of the new and popular british pastime of badger-baiting or plagiary-hunting. it may also save critics some moments’ search if i say at once that, after careful consideration, i have been unable to discover any moral whatsoever in this humble narrative. i venture to believe that in so enlightened an age the majority of my readers will never miss it.

g.a.

the nook, dorking, october, 1890.