ely eyes were always a trifle sad because D. Joao had
forgotten her that one little minute. She never went back to Giantland
but reigned as queen of D. Joao's kingdom for many years.

VIII

THE ADVENTURES OF A FISHERMAN'S SON

Long ago there was a man and woman who lived in a little mud hut under
the palm trees on the river bank. They had so many children they did
not know what to do. The little hut was altogether too crowded. The
man had to work early and late to find food enough to feed so many.
One day the seventh son said to his father, "O, father, I found a
little puppy yesterday when I was playing on the bank of the river.
Please let me bring it home to keep. I have always wanted one."

The father consented sadly. He did not know how to find food for the
children, and an extra puppy to feed seemed an added burden. He went
to the river bank to fish that day with a heavy heart. He cast his net
in vain. He did not catch a single fish. He cast his net from the
other side with no better luck. He did not catch even one little
_piabinha_.

Suddenly he heard a voice which seemed to come from the river bed
itself, it was so deep. This is what it said: "If you will give me
whatever new you find in your house when you go home I will give you
fisherman's luck. You will catch all the fish you wish."

The man remembered the request which his seventh son had made that
morning. "The new thing I'll find in my house when I get home will be
that puppy," said the man to himself. "This will be a splendid way to
get rid of the puppy which I did not want to keep anyway."

Accordingly the man consented to the request which came from the
strange voice in the depths of the river. "You must seal this covenant
with your blood," said the voice.

The man cut his finger a tiny bit with his sharp knife and squeezed a
few drops of blood from the wound into the river. "If you break this
vow the curse of the river giant will be upon you and your children
for ever and ever," said the deep voice solemnly.

The fisherman cast his net where the river giant commanded, and
immediately it was so full of fish that the man could hardly draw it
out of the water. Three times he drew out his net, so full that it was
in danger of breaking. "Truly this was a fortunate bit of business,"
said the man. "Here I have fish enough to feed my family and all I can
sell in addition."

As the fisherman approached his house with his enormous catch of fis