Atondido Stories
How Black Became White
One often hears the saying that one cannot make black white or
white black. I said something about it once upon a time to my
Brazilian am a and she stared at me in surprise. "O, yes, one can,"
she said. "It happened once and no one can ever tell but that it
may happen again. Perhaps the Senho ra has not heard the sto-
ry?" I begged her to tell me the story and this is the tale:
Once upon a time there was a little old woman who lived all
alone with her little black son who was just as black as black can
be. The little old woman had not always lived alone with the
little black boy. She had once been the mother of three beautiful
daughters, the very loveliest maidens in all the country round.
They were so handsome that they attracted the attention of the
wicked fairy who lived in an enchanted castle nearby, and this
fairy had been very jealous of them. By the aid of magic she tied
them up in sacks which could be opened only by burning the
sacks over a fire built from magic wood. The little old woman
and her little black son searched long and diligently for magic
wood, but they were never able to find any.
It was a terrible thing to have one's daughters shut up in
magic sacks. The little old woman had grown bent and weak and
cross in her search to find the magic wood. If it had not been for
the little black boy she would have given up entirely. The little
black boy was always gay and cheerful and always sure that
some day they would succeed in finding the magic wood.
One day the little old woman took her big water jar upon her
head and carried it down to the stream to fill. It was so very
heavy when she had filled it with water that she could not lift it
to her head even with the help of the little black boy. Three fine
looking cavalheiro s happened to be passing on horseback. She
sent the little black boy to ask them if they would help her.
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