and we, her _yayazinhas_ and _yoyozinhos_, know that the story
hour has come. Theresa, daughter of the mud huts under the palm trees,
_ama_ in the _sobrado_ of the foreign _senhora_, is a royal queen of
story land. For her the beasts break silence and talk like humans. For
her all the magic wonders of her tales stand forth as living truth.
Her lithe body sways backwards and forwards to the rhythm of her words
as she unfolds her tales to us. She is a picture to remember as she
stands under the mango trees on our terrace. Her spotless white
"_camiza_" is decorated with beautiful pillow lace, her own handiwork.
Her skirt of stiffly starched cotton is red and purple in colour. A
crimson flowered folded shawl hangs over her right shoulder and great
strings of beads ornament the ebony of her neck and arms. To sit at
the feet of Theresa, the _ama_, is to enter the gate of story land.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

I. HOW NIGHT CAME

II. HOW THE RABBIT LOST HIS TAIL

III. HOW THE TOAD GOT HIS BRUISES

IV. HOW THE TIGER GOT HIS STRIPES

V. WHY THE LAMB IS MEEK

VI. WHY THE TIGER AND THE STAG FEAR EACH OTHER

VII. HOW THE SPECKLED HEN GOT HER SPECKLES

VIII. HOW THE MONKEY BECAME A TRICKSTER

IX. HOW THE MONKEY AND THE GOAT EARNED THEIR REPUTATIONS

X. HOW THE MONKEY GOT A DRINK WHEN HE WAS THIRSTY

XI. HOW THE MONKEY GOT FOOD WHEN HE WAS HUNGRY

XII. WHY THE BANANAS BELONG TO THE MONKEY

XIII. HOW THE MONKEY ESCAPED BEING EATEN

XIV. WHY THE MONKEY STILL HAS A TAIL

XV. HOW BLACK BECAME WHITE

XVI. HOW THE PIGEON BECAME A TAME BIRD

XVII. WHY THE SEA MOANS

XVIII. HOW THE BRAZILIAN BEETLES GOT THEIR GORGEOUS COATS

I

How Night Came

Years and years ago at the very beginning of time, when the world had
just been made, there was no night. It was day all the time. No one
had ever heard of sunrise or sunset, starlight or moonbeams. There
were no night birds, nor night beasts, nor night flowers. There were
no lengthening shadows, nor soft night air, heavy with perfume.

In those days the daughter of the GREAT SEA SERPENT, who dwelt in the
depths of the seas, married one of the sons of the great earth race
known as MAN. She left her home among the shades of the deep seas and
came to dwell with her husband in the land of daylight. Her eyes grew
weary of the bright sunlight and her beauty faded. Her husband watched
her with sad eyes, but he did not k