text:  So difficult indeed is this task that we are almost driven to account for so singular a phenomenon by attributing to the human mind an exceedingly small endowment of originality; and by supposing that however the details of these ancient traditions may have been modified and adapted to suit the peculiar nature the scenery of each particular country or the manners customs and character of its inhabitants--the fundamental idea and the leading incident remaining the same under the most dissimilar conditions of time and place must have a common and a single origin