Page:Fairy Tales from Brazil.djvu/28

 hour and the morning star reigns in the sky as queen of the madrugada. When it was daylight again the three slaves crept home through the forests and jungles with their empty bag. "O, faithless slaves," said their master, "why did you not obey the voice of the and open the bag only in the presence of his daughter, your mistress? Because of your disobedience I shall change you into monkeys. Henceforth you shall live in the trees. Your lips shall always bear the mark of the sealing wax which sealed the bag full of night."

To this very day one sees the mark upon the monkeys' lips, where they bit off the wax which sealed the bag; and in Brazil night leaps out quickly upon the earth just as it leapt quickly out of the bag in