The auto do fidalgo apreniz , a farce or burlesque type comedy, "O Fidalgo Aprendiz" is a play by D. Francisco Manuel de Melo, first published in 1665. Written in prison, this is a dramatic work full of personalities and well Portuguese, a farce like "Bourgeois Gentilhomme”, with the same Italian sources. It criticizes the pelintra nobleman, following the Vincentian tradition of Ridendo castigat mores .