Latin American Folktales by John Bierhorst

forest to do some shooting. Spotting a dove, he took a pop at it and it started off. The dove flitted from snag to snag with the prince hurrying behind. He stumbled on. Suddenly he caught sight of a lion cub. He said to himself, “I’ll bring this back as a pet for my mother.” He caught it easily and took it home. “Mama!” he cried. “Look what I’ve brought. A young lioness to keep you company.”
    The queen took the little lioness into her arms, then tied it to a leg of the stove. She put down a dish of food for it.
    The following Saturday the young prince, Juanito, for that was his name, was hosting a ball, and when the hour arrived he tidied himself up. In no time he was on his way. When he’d gone and it began to get dark, the lioness, who spoke only to the queen, said, “I’d love to go to the ball.”
    “You must realize,” said the queen, “that if Juanito found a lion in the ballroom he’d have it shot.”
    “Why worry? He wouldn’t dream of shooting me.”
    “Then go.”
    On the way to the ball she asked the wand to give her a horse saddled in gold. She put on her gown the color of all the stars, mounted the horse, and rode off.
    When she arrived at the ball, every guest came to the door to see this princess decked out in silver and gold. Juanito had come with his intended, but in his excitement he completely forgot she was there and began to dance with the princess. He was so infatuated that he made her a promise, which she did not reject, and when dawn came he gave her a gold band inscribed with his name. In exchange she gave him a gold band of her own. Then she jumped on her horse and sped away, slipping into the lion’s skin as soon as she was out of view.
    Later that morning Juanito came bursting into the palace, telling his mother all about a certain princess he had seen. He chattered on, with the lioness murmuring,
    I might imply,
I might deny,
I might imply
That it was I.
    The queen picked up the poker from in front of the stove and gave her a whack to shut her up. Juanito continued, “Mama, I must announce another ball for next Saturday.”
    He did just that, planning a ball even grander than the one he had held the week before. When the day came, and he’d sped away, the lioness said to the old mother, “How about it? Untie me!”
    “God forbid that you shouldn’t go!”
    “I’m on my way.”
    As soon as she was out the door she instructed the wand, “As pretty as you made me last Saturday, make me prettier tonight. Make the horse nicer, too.” Then she put on her gown the color of all the fish in the sea and rode off.
    When she arrived at the dance, there were cries of excitement. And Juanito? He was enraptured. But at the crack of dawn she told him again, just as she’d told him the week before, “It’s late. I must leave at once.” Quick as a wink he gave her a little gold chain, and she gave him some token or other, mounted her horse, and vanished. They all ran to catch up with her but found no trace of her anywhere. And there was Juanito, panting with lovesickness.
    Before she got back to the palace she changed into the lion’s skin. When Juanito arrived, all he could say was, “Oh, Mama, I’m dying. That princess was more beautiful than ever,” while the lioness, from her spot next to the stove, chimed in,
    I might imply,
I might deny,
I might imply
That it was I.
    The queen gave her a tap with the coal shovel, and Juanito went on, “But don’t worry. There’s going to be another dance next Saturday.”
    As delightful as the first two balls had been, the third, he hoped, would surpass them both. And when the day came he refused to eat. He went early to the ballroom to wait for the princess. When he had gone, just at the stroke of six, the little lioness asked her mistress for permission to follow him, and the dotty old queen threw up her hands and said, “Go ahead, get yourself killed!”
    Once on the road, she changed into her gown the color of all the flowers