'comparing apples with oranges'. Not sure I agree with this analogy, Richie. Having recently read through all of Child's synopses, it's possible to see evolution and progressions from one country/language to another and to show how they are related. I do admit that in the cases of some Child Ballads the connections can be quite tentuous and debatable but with number 4, at least with most of the versions Child looks at, the connections are real. If one tries to compare a Portuguese version with say a Norwegian version the connections might seem very tenuous but having an overview as in Child's headnotes one can trace development and links.