ail. The monkey was so glad to have
his tail again that he danced and danced with glee. Ever since that
time the monkey has been very careful to guard his tail. He still has
one and he is still happy because of it.

XV

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
_ama_ 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 _Senhora_ has not heard the story?" 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
_cavalheiros_ happened to be passing on horseback. She sent the little
black boy to ask them if they would help her. They said they couldn't
possibly stop. The little old woman was very angry. She did not know
that they were on their way to the magic castle and _couldn't_ stop.
The same wicked fairy who had shut the little old woman's beautiful
daughters up in the sacks, was leading them on.

If the little old woman had known all about the t