Next day they were married , and lived happy ever after ; and all the cats , headed by old Father Gatto , were present at the wedding . How To Find Out A True Friend Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who longed to have a son . As none came , one day they made a vow at the shrine of St. James that if their prayers were granted the boy should set out on a pilgrimage as soon as he had passed his eighteenth birthday . And fancy their delight when one evening the king returned home from hunting and saw a baby lying in the cradle . All the people came crowding round to peep at it , and declared it was the most beautiful baby that ever was seen . Of course that is what they always say , but this time it happened to be true . And every day the boy grew bigger and stronger till he was twelve years old , when the king died , and he was left alone to take care of his mother . In this way six years passed by , and his eighteenth birthday drew near . When she thought of this the queen 's heart sank within her , for he was the light of her eyes ' and how was she to send him forth to the unknown dangers that beset a pilgrim ? So day by day she grew more and more sorrowful , and when she was alone wept bitterly . Now the queen imagined that no one but herself knew how sad she was , but one morning her son said to her , ` Mother , why do you cry the whole day long ? ' ` Nothing , nothing , my son ; there is only one thing in the world that troubles me . ' ` What is that one thing ? ' asked he . ` Are you afraid your property is badly managed ? Let me go and look into the matter . ' This pleased the queen , and he rode off to the plain country , where his mother owned great estates ; but everything was in beautiful order , and he returned with a joyful heart , and said , ` Now , mother , you can be happy again , for your lands are better managed than anyone else 's I have seen . The cattle are thriving ; the fields are thick with corn , and soon they will be ripe for harvest . ' ` That is good news indeed , ' answered she ; but it did not seem to make any difference to her , and the next morning she was weeping and wailing as loudly as ever . ` Dear mother , ' said her son in despair , ` if you will not tell me what is the cause of all this misery I shall leave home and wander far through the world . '
` Ah , my son , my son , ' cried the queen , ` it is the thought that I must part from you which causes me such grief ; for before you were born we vowed a vow to St. James that when your XXXXX birthday was passed you should make a pilgrimage to his shrine , and very soon you will be eighteen , and I shall lose you .
Gatto James Mother day eighteenth evening left morning old years