brother-in-law had given him and said, "Help me, O King of the Rams."
Immediately there appeared a great drove of rams, running to the
seashore from all directions. They attacked the stone, giving it
mighty blows with their hard heads and horns. Soon they broke open the
stone, and from out of it there flew a pigeon.
The beast now awoke from his sleep and knew that he was very ill. He
remembered all that he had told the princess and accused her of having
made a plot against his life. He seized his great ax to kill the
princess.
In the meantime the prince had pulled the feather which his third
brother-in-law had given him and cried, "Help me, O King of the
Pigeons." Immediately a great flock of pigeons appeared attacking the
pigeon and tearing it to pieces.
[Illustration: Immediately a great flock of pigeons appeared]
Just as the beast had caught the princess and was about to slay her,
the prince took the egg from within the slain pigeon. He at once broke
the egg and blew out the candle. At that moment the beast fell dead,
and the princess escaped unharmed.
The prince carried the giant princess home to her father's kingdom and
the king made a great _festa_ which lasted many days. There was
rejoicing throughout the whole kingdom because of the death of the
beast and because of the safety of the lovely princess. The prince was
praised throughout the kingdom and there is talk of him even unto this
very day.
The prince had cut off the head of the great beast and the tip of its
tail. The head he had given to the king, but the tip of the tail he
kept for himself. The beast was so enormous that just the tip of its
tail made a great ring large enough to encircle the prince's body. One
day, just in fun, he twined the tip of the beast's tail around his
waist. He immediately grew and grew until he became a giant himself,
almost as tall as the king of the land of giants, and several leagues
taller than the princess. It is not strange that a man who became a
giant among giants should be famous even until now.
X
THE QUEST OF CLEVERNESS
Once long ago there lived a king who had a stupid son. His father sent
him to school for many years hoping that he might learn something
there. His teachers all gave him up as hopelessly stupid, and with one
accord they said, "It is no use trying to teach this lad out of books.
It is just a waste of our valuable time."
At length the king called together all the wisest men of his kingdom
to consult with them as to the best way to make the prince wise and
clever. They talked the matter over for a year and a day. It was the
unanimous opinion of the wise men of the kingdom that the lad should
be sent on a journey through many lands. In this way he might learn
many of the things which his teachers had not been able to teach him
out of books.
Accordingly the prince was equipped for his journey. He was given fine
raiment, a splendid black horse upon which to ride, and a great bag
full of money. Thus prepared, he started forth from the palace one
bright morning with the blessing of the king, his father, and of all
the wise men of the kingdom.
The prince journeyed through many lands. In one country he learned one
thing, and in another country he learned another thing. There was no
country or kingdom so small or poor that it did not have something to
teach the prince. And the prince, though he had been so insufferably
stupid at his books, learned the lessons of his journey with an open
mind.
After long wanderings the prince arrived at a city where there was an
auction going on. A singing bird was being offered for sale. "What is
the special advantage of this singing bird?" asked the prince.
"This bird, at the command of its owner, will sing a song which will
put to sleep any one who listens to it," was the reply.
The prince decided that the bird was worth purchasing.
The next thing which was offered for sale was a beetle. "What is the
special advantage of this beetle?" asked the prince.
"This beetle will gnaw its way through any wall in the world," was the
reply.
The prince purchased the beetle.
Then a butterfly was offered for sale. "What is the special advantage
of owning this butterfly?" asked the prince.
"This butterfly is strong enough to bear upon its wings any weight
which is put upon them," was the answer.
The prince bought the butterfly. With his bird and beetle and
butterfly he travelled on and on until he became lost in the jungle.
The foliage was so dense that he could not see his way, so he climbed
to the top of the tallest tree he saw. From its summit he spied in the
distance what looked like a mountain; but, when he had journeyed near
to it, he saw that it was really the wall which surrounds the land of
the giants.
A great giant whose head reached to the clouds stood on the wall as
guard. A song from the singing bird put this guard to sleep
immediately. The beetle soon had gnawed an entrance through the wall.
Through this opening the prince entered the land of the giants.
The very first person whom the prince saw in the land of the giants
was a lovely captive princess. The opening which the beetle had made
in the wall led directly to the dungeon in which she was confined.
The prince had learned many things on his journey, and among the
lessons he had learned was this one: "Always rescue a fair maiden in
distress." He immediately asked what he could do to rescue the
beautiful captive princess.
"You can never succeed in rescuing me, I fear," replied the princess.
"At the door of this palace there is a giant on guard who never
sleeps."
"Never mind," replied the prince. "I'll put him to sleep."
Just at that moment the giant himself strode into the dungeon. He had
heard voices there. "Sing, my little bird, sing," commanded the prince
to his singing bird.
At the first burst of melody the giant went to sleep there in the
dungeon, though he had never before taken a wink of sleep in all his
life.
"This beetle of mine has gnawed an entrance through the great wall
which surrounds the land of the giants," said the prince to the
captive princess. "To escape we'll not have to climb the high wall."
"What of the guard who stands on top of the wall with his head
reaching up to the clouds?" asked the princess. "Will he not spy us?"
"My singing bird has put him to sleep, too," replied the prince. "If
we hurry out he will not yet be awake."
"I have been confined here in this dungeon so long that I fear I have
forgotten how to walk," said the princess.
"Never mind," replied the prince. "My butterfly will bear you upon his
wings."
With the lovely princess borne safely upon the butterfly's wings the
prince swiftly escaped from the land of the giants. The giant on the
wall yawned in his sleep as they looked up at him. "He is good for
another hour's nap," remarked the prince.
[Illustration: With the lovely princess borne safely upon the
butterfly's wings, the prince swiftly escaped]
The prince returned to his father's kingdom as soon as he could find
the way back. He took with him the lovely princess, and the singing
bird, and the gnawing beetle, and the strong-winged butterfly.
His father and all the people of the kingdom received him with great
joy. "Never again will the prince of our kingdom be called stupid,"
said the wise men when they heard the account of his adventures. "With
his singing bird and his gnawing beetle and his strong-winged
butterfly he has become the cleverest youth in the land."
XI
THE GIANT'S PUPIL
Long years ago there lived a little boy whose name was Manoel. His
father and mother were so very poor that they could not afford to send
him to school. Because he did not go to school he played all day in
the fields on the edge of the forest where the giant lived.
One day Manoel met the giant. The giant lived all alone in the forest,
so he was very lonely and wished he had a little boy like Manoel. He
loved little Manoel as soon as he saw him, and after that they were
together every day. The giant taught Manoel all the secrets of the
forests and jungles. He taught him all the secrets of the wind and the
rain and the thunder and the lightning. He taught him all the secrets
of the beasts and the birds and the serpents.
Manoel grew up a wise lad indeed. His father and mother were very
proud of him and so was his kind teacher, the giant.
One day the king's messenger rode up and down the kingdom with a
message from the king's daughter. The king's daughter, the beautiful
princess of the land, had promised to wed the man who could tell her a
riddle she could not guess. All the princes who had sung of love
beneath the palace window had been very stupid. The princess wished to
marry a man who knew more than she did.
When Manoel heard the words of the messenger he said to his father and
mother, "I am going to the palace to tell a riddle to the princess. I
am sure I can give her one which she cannot guess."
"You are an exceedingly clever lad, I know, my son," replied his
mother, "but there will be many princes and handsome _cavalheiros_ at
the palace to tell riddles to the princess. What if she will not
listen to a lad in shabby clothing!"
"I will make the princess listen to my riddle," replied Manoel.
"What riddle are you going to ask the princess?" asked Manoel's
father.
"I do not know yet," replied the lad. "I will make up a riddle on the
way to the palace. I am going to start at once."
The kind giant who had been the lad's friend gave him his blessing and
wished him luck. The lad's mother prepared a lunch for him to carry
with him. His father sat before the door and boasted to all the
neighbours that his son was going to wed the king's daughter. Manoel
took his dog with him when he went on his journey, because he wanted
some one for company.
Manoel journeyed on and on through the forests and jungles and after a
time he had eaten all the lunch his mother had given him when he went
from home. When he became hungry he spent his last _vintem_ for some
bread from a little _venda_ in the town he passed through. He went on
to the forest to eat the bread, and before he tasted of it himself he
gave a piece to his dog. The dog died immediately. The bread was
poisoned.
Even as Manoel stood by weeping for his faithful dog, three big black
buzzards flew down and devoured the dead beast. They fell dead
immediately. Just then the lad heard voices, and soon he saw seven
horsemen approaching. The men were robbers, and though they had much
gold in their pockets they had no food. "I am hungry enough to eat a
dead buzzard," said the captain of the robbers. The robbers greedily
seized the three buzzards and devoured them at once. The seven men
immediately died from the poison.
"The buzzards stole the body of my dog, so they became mine," said
Manoel. "The seven robbers stole my three buzzards, so they became
mine, too." He took all the gold from the pockets of the seven robbers
and dressed himself in the garments of the captain of the robbers
because they were finest. He mounted the horse of the captain of the
robbers because that was the best horse.
The lad rode on toward the palace of the king. After a time he became
thirsty and pushed the horse into a gallop. The horse became covered
with sweat, and with the horse's sweat he quenched his thirst. Soon he
arrived at the royal palace.
Dressed in the robber's fine garments and mounted upon the robber's
fine horse, Manoel had no difficulty in being admitted to the palace.
He was taken at once before the princess to tell his riddle.
The princess saw in Manoel's eyes all the secrets of the forests and
jungles which the kind giant had taught him. "Here is a youth who will
tell me a riddle which will be worth listening to," said the princess
to herself. All the princes and _cavalheiros_ from all the
neighbouring kingdoms had told her such stupid riddles that she had
been bored nearly to death. She could always guess the answers, even
before she had heard the end of the riddle.
This is the riddle which Manoel told the princess:
"I went away from home with a pocket full;
Soon it became empty;
Again it became full.
I went away from home with a companion;
My pocket-full killed my companion;
My dead companion was the slayer of three;
The three killed seven.
From the seven I chose the best;
I drank water which did not fall from heaven.
And here I stand
Before the loveliest princess in the land."
The princess listened to the riddle carefully. Then she asked Manoel
to say it all over again. The princess thought and thought, but she
did not have a good guess as to the answer to the riddle.
No one in all the palace could understand Manoel's riddle. "You have
won my daughter as your bride," said the king, after he had used all
his royal wits to solve the riddle and could not do it.
When Manoel explained his riddle to the princess, she said, "_Nossa
Senhora_ herself must have sent you to me. I never could have endured
a stupid husband."
XII
DOMINGO'S CAT
Once upon a time there was a man who was very poor. He was so poor
that he had to sell one thing after another to get food to keep from
starving. After a while there was nothing left except the cat. He was
very fond of his cat, and he said, "O, Cat, let come what will, I'll
never part with you. I would rather starve."
The cat replied, "O good master Domingo, rest in peace. You will never
starve as long as you have me. I am going out into the world to make a
fortune for us both."
The cat went out into the jungle and dug and dug. Every time he dug he
turned up silver pieces. The cat took a number of these home to his
master so that he could purchase food. The rest of the pieces of
silver the cat carried to the king.
The next day the cat dug up pieces of gold and carried them to the
king. The next day he carried pieces of diamonds.
[Illustration: The next day the cat dug up pieces of gold and carried
them to the king]
"Where do you get these rich gifts? Who is sending me such wonderful
presents?" asked the king.
The cat replied, "It is my master, Domingo."
Now the king had a beautiful daughter. He thought that this man
Domingo must be the richest man in the whole kingdom. He decided that
his daughter should marry him at once. He made arrangements for the
wedding through the cat.
"I haven't any clothes to wear at the wedding," said Domingo when the
cat told him that he was to marry the daughter of the king.
"Never mind about that. Just leave it to me," replied the cat.
The cat went to the king and said, "O King, there has been a terrible
fire in the tailor shop where they were making the wedding garments of
my master, Domingo. The tailor and all of his assistants were burned
to death, and the entire outfit of my master Domingo was destroyed.
Hasn't your majesty something which you could lend him to wear at the
wedding?" The king sent the richest garments which his wardrobe
afforded. Domingo was clothed in state ready for the wedding.
"I have no palace to which to take my bride," said Domingo to the cat.
"Never mind. I'll see about it at once," replied the cat.
The cat went into the forest to the great castle where the giant
dwelt. He marched straight up to the big giant and said, "O Giant, I
wish to borrow your castle for my master Domingo. Will you not be so
kind as to lend it to me a little while?"
The giant was very much insulted. "No, indeed, I'll not lend my castle
to you or your master Domingo or anybody else," he shouted in his most
terrible voice.
"Very well, then," replied the cat. He changed the giant to a piece of
bacon in the twinkling of an eye and devoured him on the spot.
The palace of the giant was a very wonderful palace. There was one
room decked with silver, and one room decked with gold, and one room
decked with diamonds. A beautiful river flowed by the garden gate.
As Domingo and his bride sailed down the river to the garden gate in
the royal barge, they saw the cat sitting in the window singing. After
that they never saw him again. He disappeared in the jungle and went
to make some other poor man rich. Perhaps he will come your way some
day. Who knows? "_Quem sabe?_" they say in Brazil.
THE END
Transcriber's note:
The drawn-on caption for the illustration "The giant's
daughter, Guimara, was very much pleased with D. Joaõ"
spells the young man's name "D. João." The illustration
is the only place this spelling occurs.