d managed, in spite of difficulty, to reach
it. She hoped to gain her daughter's pity. "My daughter," she said,
as she ascended the steps of the ladder(!), "have compassion on me! I,
your mother, am in a very wretched condition."

"What care I?" returned Feliza. "What business have you to come
here? Don't you know that I will never sacrifice anything for your
sake? Get out of here!" And she kicked the poor dog until it fell
tumbling to the ground. Feliza did not want her husband to find out
that her mother was a dog.

Sadly the dog went away, and decided to go to her daughter Juana's
kingdom. The country was far away, but what else could she do? As
Juana was coming out of the church with her husband, she saw the dog
hurrying after her. Like Feliza, she was ashamed of her mother. She
whispered to one of the guards to catch the dog and tie it securely
in a distant forest, so that it might no longer annoy her.

Not long after this, Maria, the youngest daughter, was riding through
the forest with her husband. There they found the poor dog crying
and yelping in a pitiful manner. Maria recognized her mother. She
got out of the carriage, and with her own hands untied the dog. She
wrapped her veil around it, and ordered the carriage to turn back
to the palace. "Husband," she said as she ascended the steps of the
royal residence, "this dog that I am carrying is my mother, so please
your Majesty."

The husband only said, "Thank God!" and not another word. Maria ordered
the cook to prepare delicious food for the dog. She assigned the best
chamber in the palace to the animal. While the dog was eating with
Maria, the prince, and the courtiers, the dining-room was suddenly
illuminated with a bright light. The dog disappeared, and in its place
stood a beautiful woman in glorious attire. The woman kissed Maria,
and said, "I am the dog your mother. God bless you, my good child!"

Notes.

I can offer no close parallels for this somewhat savage tale, though a
few analogies to incidents in our story are to be found in an Indian
story in Frere (No. 2, "A Funny Story"), the first part of which may
be abstracted here for comparison.

A certain Rajah and Ranee are sad because they have no children and
the little dog in the palace has no puppies; but at last the Ranee is
confined, and bears two puppies, while the little dog at the same time
gives birth to two female infants. In order to keep her offspring from
the Ranee, who wishes t