The exact dates of ANTONIO PRESTES, of Torres Novas, are unknown, but seven of his plays, after having been acted at Lisbon and published in _folhas volantes_, were first collected by Afonso Lopez half a century after Gil Vicente’s death in the _Primeira Parte dos Avtos e Comedias Portuguesas_, &c. (1588). The _Auto da Ave Maria_, written between 1563 and 1587, is an allegorical play in which Reason is vanquished by Sensuality; Heraclitus mourns over her fall while Democritus laughs. A knight in league with the Devil[360] robs in turn an almoner, a _ratinho_, and Fast, but his pious habit of saying an _Ave Maria_ causes St. Michael to rescue him from the Devil and reconcile him with Reason. Of the profane plays, that with the most definite plot is the _Auto dos Dous Irmãos_, in which an old man, after refusing to see his sons who have married without his permission, divides all his money between them and is then neglected by both: he is sent from one to the other like King Lear. But the story is feebly worked out here as in the other plays. Their action is mostly that of a puppet show. Sometimes the _moço_, who always plays a prominent part, seems to be the only link in the plot, as Duarte in the _Autos dos Cantarinhos_. These _moços_, who show the author’s acquaintance with Gil Vicente[361] and _Lazarillo de Tormes_,[362] are quite unlike either Lazarillo or Apariço. They are certainly hungry, but they combine starvation with laziness, presumption and abundant learning. The names of Petrarca and Seneca are on their lips; they read _Palmeirim_ and quote romances of chivalry and Spanish _romances_ glibly.[363] Indeed, the chief interest of these artificial plays is the light thrown on the times: the position of women, the bribery of judges and lawyers, the aping of foreign manners, the mixed styles of architecture. They contain no poetry, little drama, and their wit is seldom natural. Like Prestes, JERONIMO RIBEIRO, perhaps a brother of Chiado, was born apparently at Torres Novas. Only one of his plays was published: the _Auto do Fisico_, written in the last third of the sixteenth century. It has some farcical Vicentian scenes, the inevitable hits against the doctors and lawyers--the _moço_ dresses up as a _doutor_ to receive a simple fisherman from Alfama--and is generally more popular and natural than Prestes’ plays.