Atondido Stories
When the king had heard the stories of the two princes he
was greatly pleased with what they had done. “The one who
killed the beast shall have a princess for a bride,” said he, “and
the one who killed the birds he too shall have a princess for his
bride.”
The youngest princess saw the lad from the river standing
among the servants and smiled into his eyes. The lad came and
threw himself before the king. “O my king,” said he, “these sto-
ries to which you have listened are false, as all these assembled
cavalheiros will prove. It is I who killed the beast and all the
birds. I claim a princess as my bride.”
All the assembled cavalheiros recognized the lad in spite of his
changed appearance in his gardening clothes. “Viva!” they
shouted. “He speaks the truth. He is the valiant one of us who
killed the beast and the birds. To him belongs the reward.”
The youngest princess had a heart filled with joy. The wed-
ding feast was celebrated the very next day. The river giant
found out about it and sent a necklace of pearls and diamonds as
a wedding gift to the bride of the lad whom he had brought up
in his palace. The fisherman and his wife, however, never knew
the great good fortune which had come to their son.
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