There never were tales that hit quite as close to home as these ones tended to.
He'd grown up as any child had, he'd a mother and a father though he had always been a happy and cheerful lad.
The young boy savored life and was very close to his mother though perhaps that was do to his father needing to be away for work often enough.
As a peddler's son, his life was not bad, though certainly he'd grown up with out the continuous presence of his father though days would quickly grow dull as if for a moment once he'd turned thirteen.
His mother, his dear mother, had passed away shortly after; his father was his sole guardian though that never could change his job, but it did change the way things sunk into Becan as he was known then's head.
Becan was the precious name that his mother had given him, and he'd always taken to it well though things never were quite the same since her passing and truly, it didn't even fully sink in the day of her funeral so close to that of her passing.
He missed her desperately though, and that depression had certainly worried his father immensely even though the man could not quite be home every second to tend to his son and insure that the thirteen year old would grow up into quite a man and hopefully a happy one at that.
Becan though did slowly bring back his old shine to his eyes even though it never did make them sparkle as much as they used to though his father was quick to realize that his son needed someone who could remain close by for the boy.
His feelings had been swayed by a beautiful woman that he soon enough took as his wife and even better yet she had three girls, herself!
Becan's father returned home with them and that still managed to surprise his son that was slowly growing stronger.
It did not take long for his new 'guardians' to watch over him like hawks and terrorize the younger child though he managed day by day despite the pain.
Becan was soon encouraged or forced to be a herd's boy though he feared the dangers of a bull that he'd heard in passing.
He grew closer to their cows day by day and yet he never let his guard down, worried for his and their safety from such a dangerous sounding creature.
Becan though would hear one day a sound not unlike that of a thunderclap and that fear would have the boy scrambling into the tree nearby and staring down into eyes ablaze with anger beneath him.
His breath caught though he could even then in that fear acknowledge his similarities to the bull before him which was massive though held the same massive feet that he was blessed with and had freckles like those on Becan's nose.
The Irish child stared down, but it didn't take him long to speak forward to the bull of their great similarities or for him to rub the spot behind the ear of the bull that bulls loved the most.
He smiled and shortly after they became close friends and everyday he saw him at noon, and he began to confide in the sweet creature that was willing to hear him out.
Becan spent these moments with a dear friend, and it didn't take long for him to confess of how poorly he was being fed and for the bull to offer Becan to grab a white object from behind the bull's ear.
The object in question was a white table close, holding a feast that Becan was allowed to eat and enjoy.
This meal became one that greatly encouraged him to eat all of it and encouraged him further to not eat the own roll bread his step mother gave him for a meal.
Becan's step mother grew suspicious and ordered her daughter to spy on the boy while he herded their cattle to discover how come Becan was full every night at dinner.
She found out of the Red Speckled Bull's meals for Becan provided at noon, and so she parroted the information back to her mother as if eager to receive the award of her step brother's pain and suffering.
Her mother encouraged her to kill the bull the next time, and Becan, pretending to be asleep, caught word of it and so left to protect his friend and leave the now loveless home of his.
The Bull really did not want to become soup and so took Becan with him towards the forest where the Bull would fight a gray one and lose his life though he was quick to tell Becan so and to encourage him to spin his tail off for it will come in handy when he most needs it.
Becan cried out for his friend to not do this and yet the Bull insisted that he must and Becan was forced to be a bystander when his friend died though he was quick to return to the Bull's side as the gray one left.
His friend was gone and that truthfully hurt more than anything he'd known, and so slowly as his friend's dying wish entered back into his mind, he spun the tail off that came so easily to his touch and finally draped that white table cloth over his friend's body.
It held no food this time and only managed to appear clean and pristine as if never used as he draped it over the Bull gently.
He used his friend's tail as a belt that looped easily around Becan twice as he prepared to leave, saddened once again.
Becan would stumble along an older man after his feet had grown to ache immensely.
That man needed a herd's boy and Becan agreed to the job as he knew that task well though his interests also remained in the tale of a giant as a neighbor of sorts to that man.
Becan's task was familiar and easy to him, and he soon realized that the old man's land had run out of pasture for the man's animals and so he took to checking what the land over the fence offered.
It was a land of many acres of grassy pasture, perfect for grazing, and delicious looking apples that hung just well on a tree.
Becan was quick to move stones away with the promise to the animals that the giant had many acres of good grassland and therefore would share with them as he couldn't miss it.
He scaled an apple tree and as he went to bite into the tasty red fruit, the giant appeared with a loud bellow of, "I got you!"
It was enough to scare Becan and have him trembling where he sat on the tree before he remembered his friend's dying wish.
He hopped down and let his belt loose with the simple plea when it rose to choke the giant for his boots and for him not to be back here again.
The giant relented with his life at stake even though he'd done so reluctantly, and so as the giant left to never be seen again, Becan tucked those boots on to his feet that fit the larger than normal feet of the boy, and led the animals home with sword in hand.
Everyday continued with Becan bringing the animals to the finer pasture over the fence, and nothing grew amiss within these times until he was told one day not to venture out to Kinsale.
The man that had been kind enough to give him a place to stay and a job to do, told him finally that it was Dragon's Day, a day that occurred every seven years, when a dragon came out from sea and ate the town's fairest maiden.
This year it would be Princess Finola, and they had to give her up to the beast as it would drown every last citizen and destroy the town if they did not obey.
Becan despite being told to not head to the town, could not bear the thought of another in peril and so headed off to save the young lady.
He found her crying out for someone to help her out and save her though the town's people ignored her and so Becan told her he would.
The Irish lad though found that with an exclamation from the princess and by turning around, he could see that the dragon had finally appeared and the boy strove to fight him off and so began his attack of the dragon with his sword though the dragon reacted as if those marks had barely even been painful to him and continued fighting, allowing Becan to grow tired before he finally released the power of his belt.
The dragon's fiery jaw was locked under the ever tightening tail of Becan's dear friend and thus the creature fell into the sea, and Becan saved Princess Finola.
She was immensely thankful for all that he had done and strove to thank him though he was quick to respond in a kind and humble way though he also drew to leave upon hearing the all too familiar cries of his step sisters, "Little Bigfoot!"
Becan's life fell back to his old routine of being the old man's herd's boy even as the Princess sought out Becan by his boot that she'd accidentally pulled off of him.
She sent messengers out to find the man that's foot would fit such massive boots, and after a year, they'd arrived at their home to have the old man tried on the boot which very obviously did not fit him.
He was the one to encourage them to try it on the herd's boy that he had, and it fit Becan's foot like a glove.
The messenger was surprised though Becan did leave to grab the match to the boot and left with the messenger to meet up with the princess.
Finola truly was elated to see him and his face bloomed scarlet as she kissed him.
They had long since been married, and still he stared at Portugal like she was one that had changed everything.
He knew that they'd long since grown up from them and that that old magic had never quite left them.
Often enough now, they never went by those old names, though he still found such a vivid joy in this love and in those old names of theirs: their first names.
Now, they were simply Ireland and Portugal though they had certainly been together long enough to earn those respective titles and worked hard enough as nations to maintain them as centuries had long since passed.
The once 'child' Becan looped his fingers around his wife's, loving the way her tan skin accented his paler fingers.