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Overview

Following the cow’s golden ball into a tank, the heroine discovers a disordered house and sets it right. The returning fairies find her behind the door with help from their speaking dog. Three successive gifts follow: exceptional beauty; pearls and gold falling from her lips when she speaks; and a wish-granting wand accompanied by good fortune.

Instructed to report the opposite of her actions at home, the heroine tells her stepfamily that she disordered the house. The other daughter imitates that account and receives reversed judgments: ugliness, filth falling from her mouth, and poverty. The wand later supplies the heroine’s clothing for the races and the identifying slipper. These fairies are neither individually named nor described as relatives of the cow.

Three successive judgmentsBeauty and speaking giftsWish-granting wandReversed curses
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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