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Overview

The girl nicknamed Hearth-Cat is sent to graze a cow while meeting impossible household demands. When ordered to wind skeins of thread, she weeps; the cow speaks to comfort her and offers its horns as a winding support. It also pierces the loaf, removes the crumb and closes the small opening, leaving an apparently whole loaf for her return.

The suspicious stepmother orders the animal killed and requires the girl to clean its entrails. Before death, the cow instructs her to save whatever emerges. A golden ball falls into the washing tank; following it, she reaches a fairy household and receives gifts that eventually lead to marriage. The collected tale does not identify the cow as her dead mother. That maternal interpretation belongs to Ralston’s separate comparative introduction.

Human speechHorn-supported windingLoaf emptied without visible damageGolden ball from remains
01

Origins & earliest records

Consiglieri Pedroso, Portuguese Folk-Tales, translated from the original manuscript by Henriqueta Monteiro, London: Elliot Stock for the Folk-Lore Society, 1882; tale XVIII, pp. 75–79. The selected account does not identify an individual narrator or collecting locality.

02

Records & interpretation

The located 1882 English translation presents this figure within a complete collected narrative. Pedroso’s introductory pp. 1–2 describe the thirty published selections from his larger collection.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Portuguese Folk-Tales XVIII: The Hearth-Cat, pp. 75–79

    Collected by Consiglieri Pedroso; translated by Henriqueta Monteiro · 1882

    Located complete narrative in the original London edition; Ralston’s comparative introduction is separate commentary.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textPortuguese Folk-Tales, original 1882 edition scan and transcriptionResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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