The Adventures of a Fisherman’s Son

The other cavalheiros knew that it was false, but when they looked around for the cavalheiro who had done the valiant deeds they could not find him. The lad from the river had on his old clothes which he wore as a servant in the garden and stood at the lower part of the banquet hall among the servants.

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 stories 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 wedding 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.