Brazilian Legends |
Brazil is the largest country in South America, and it is the fifth largest country in the world.
The official language is Portuguese.
As many cultures settled in Brazil, such as the Portuguese, African slaves and missionaries. its folklore has become a melting pot and indeed some tales have actually been forgotten in their motherland and have only survived in Brazil.
Our collection is taken from 'Tales of Giants from Brazil', by Elsie Spicer Eells published in 1918.
A fisherman has so many children he does not know how to feed them all. When out in his boat he hears a voice calling him from the depths of the river.
A very poor man earns his living making wooden bowls and plates. He then becomes rich, as handsome strangers appear and force him to sell his daughters.
An orphan boy spends all the money left to him to buy a violin. The music the boy plays is so sweet that all the animals come to listen and dance to it.
A man is so poor he has nothing left apart from his cat. The cat promises he will look after him and is soon finding gold and silver making the man rich.
A baby's parents leave the city and bring him up deep in the forest. His mother tells him tales of their old life and when he is older he wants to return.
An old woman, tells the king that his blindness can be cured if he bathes his eyes in the water of the fountain of Giantland, but this is a far away land.
A prince lost in the forest discovers a giant's kingdom. The giant's daughter Guimara falls in deeply love with the prince, but the giant disapproves.
A king who is very ill sends his son to catch a hare, to make him some broth. But the prince stumbles across a big cave in which lives an enormous giant.
Long ago the Moon Giant wooed and married a beautiful giantess who lived in the Great River. They soon had a child who became Princess of all the Springs.
Long ago a king had a simple son that no schooling could help. To find a solution, the king decided to ask the wisest men how to make the prince clever.
Sources And Further Reading |
Project Gutenberg Tales of Giants from Brazil by Elsie Spicer Eells [1918]