the ship with three decks
once there was a poor couple who lived way out in the country a baby boy was born to them, but there was no one anywhere around to be his godfather they went into town, but they didn't know a soul there and couldn't have the child baptized without a godfather they saw a man wrapped in a black cloak on the church doorstep and asked, "kind sir, would you please be this boy's godfather?" the man agreed, and the child was baptized
when they came out of the church, the stranger said, "i now must give my godson his present take this purse, which is to be used to raise and educate him and give him this letter when he has learned to read" the father and mother were thunderstruck, but before they could find words of thanks and ask the man his name, he had disappeared
the purse was full of gold crowns, which paid for the boy's education once he could read, his parents gave him the letter, which said:
