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Overview

The imprisoned youth shares his tiny food allowance with a neglected cat, which reciprocates with captured rats and mice. A folded letter from the king of the rats asks what service would persuade the cat to stop hunting his subjects. The youth requests recovery of the stolen golden apple.

The king assembles his rats and approaches the thief while he sleeps. One rat tickles his nose and obstructs his breathing with its tail, making him raise his head; the others remove the chain and pendant. Their king personally delivers it to the prisoner, enabling the giants to restore the lost palace. This ruler communicates by letter and commands an animal community, without changing into a human.

Written negotiationRat subjectsCoordinated pendant retrievalPersonal delivery to prisoner
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 XXX, pp. 121–124. 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, tale XXX, pp. 121–124

    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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