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.”