A poor peasant had a son born to him. Greatly delighted, he went off to a neighbour’s to ask him to stand godfather; but the neighbour refused, since he was unwilling to stand godfather to a poor man’s son. Then the father went to another neighbour with the same request, but this man too refused.

In fact, the peasant made the round of the village, but no one would stand godfather, and he was driven to pursue his quest elsewhere. On the way to another village he fell in with a chance wayfarer, who stopped when he met him.

"Good-day to you, friend peasant," he said. "Whither is God taking you?"

"He has just given me a child," replied the peasant, "that it may be a joy to me in my prime, a comfort to me in my old age, and a memorial to my soul when I am dead. Yet, because of my poverty, no one in our village will stand godfather, and I am just off to seek godparents elsewhere."

"Take myself as godfather," said the stranger. The peasant was delighted, and, thanking him for the offer, inquired: "Whom, then, shall I ask to be godmother?"

"A merchant’s daughter whom I know," replied the other. "Go to the town, to the stone building with the shops in it which fronts the square. Enter and ask the proprietor to give his daughter leave to stand godmother."

The peasant demurred to this. "But, my good friend," he said, "who am I that I should go and call upon a rich merchant? He will only turn away from me in disgust, and refuse his daughter leave."

"That will not be your fault. Go and ask him. Arrange the christening for tomorrow morning, and I will be there."

So the poor peasant returned home, first of all, and then set out to the merchant’s in the town. He was fastening up his horse in the courtyard when the merchant himself came out.

"What do you want?" he said.

"This, sir," replied the peasant. "God has just given to me a child, that it may be a joy to me in my prime, a comfort to me in my old age, and a memorial to my soul when I am dead. Pray give your daughter leave to stand godmother."

"When is the christening to be?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"So be it. God go with you. Tomorrow my daughter will be at the christening Mass."

And, sure enough, on the following morning both the godfather and the godmother arrived, and the child was christened; but as soon as ever the christening was over, the godfather departed without revealing his identity, and they never saw him again.

 

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Hesperides | Bridge to Other Worlds | The Hymn of the Pearl | The Frog | The Godson
The Emperor's Old Clothes | The Gypsy King | Gamuchi and the Abyss

URL=http://two.not2.org/hesperides/stories/godson01.htm