The Talking Bird, the Singing Tree, and the Golden Water

There was an emperor of Persia naraed Kosrouschah,
who, when he first came to his crown, in order to obtain
a knowledge of affairs, took great pleasure in night ex-
cursions, attended by a trusty minister. He often walked in
disguise through the city, and met with many adventures, one of
the most remarkable of which happened to him upon his first
ramble, which was not long after his accession to the throne of
his father.

After the ceremonies of his father's funeral rites and his own
inauguration were over, the new sultan, as well from inclination
as from duty, went out one evening attended by his grand vizier,
disguised like himself, to observe what was transacting in the
city. As he was passing through a street in that part of the town
inhabited only by the meaner sort, he heard some people talking
very loud; and going close to the house whence the noise pro-
ceeded, and looking through a crack in the door, perceived a light,
and three sisters sitting on a sofa, conversing together after supper.
By what the eldest said he presently understood the subject of
their conversation was wishes: "for," said she, "since we are
talking about wishes, mine shall be to have the sultan's baker
for my husband, for then I shall eat my fill of that bread, which
by way of excellence is called the sultan's ; let us see if your tastes
are as good as mine." "For my part," replied the second sister*

"I wish I was wife to the sultan's chief cook, for then I should
eat of the most excellent dishes ; and as I am persuaded that the
sultan's bread is common in the palace, I should not want any
of that; therefore you see," addressing herself to her eldest
sister, "that I have a better taste than you." The youngest
sister, who was very beautiful, and had more charms and wit
than the two elder, spoke in her turn: "For my part, sisters,"
said she, **I shall not limit my desires to such trifles, but take a
higher flight; and since we are upon wishing, I wish to be the
emperor's queen-consort. I would make him father of a prince,
whose hair should be gold on one side of his head, and silver on
the other; when he cried, the tears from his eyes should be pearls;
and wh<;n he smiled, his vermilion lips should look like a rosebud
fresh-blown."

The three sisters' wishes, particularly that of the youngest,
seemed so singular to the sultan, that he resolved to gratify them
in their desires; but without communicating his design to his
grand vizier, he charged him only to take notice of the house, and
bring the three sisters before him the following day.

The grand vizier, in executing the emperor's orders, would
but just give the sisters time to dress themselves to appear before
his majesty, without telling them the reason. He brought them to
the palace, and presented them to the emperor, who said to them,
**Do you remember the wishes you expressed last night, when you

I were all in so pleasant a mood ? Speak the truth ; I must know
what they were." At these unexpected words of the emperor,
the three sisters were much confounded. They cast down their

/ eyes and blushed, and the colour which rose in the cheeks of the
youngest quite captivated the emperor's heart. Modesty, and
fear lest they might have offended by their conversation, kept
them silent. The emperor, perceiving their confusion, said to
encourage them, "Fear nothing, I did not send for you to distress
you ; and since I see that without my intending it, this is the effect
of the question I asked, as I know the wish of each, I will reheve
you from your fears. You," added he, "who wished to be my
wife, shall have your desire this day; and you," continued he,
addressing himself to the two elder sisters, "shall also be married
to my chief baker and cook."

As soon as the sultan had declared his pleasure, the youngest
sister, setting her elders an example, threw herself at the emperor's
feet to express her gratitude. "Sir," said she, "my wish, since
it is come to your majesty's knowledge, was expressed only in the
way of conversation and amusement. I am unworthy of the
honour you do me, and supplicate your pardon for my presump-
tion." The other two sisters would have excused themselves
also, but the emperor, interrupting them, said, "No, no; it shall
be as I have declared; the wishes of all shall be fulfilled." The
nuptials were all celebrated that day, as the emperor had resolved,
but in a different manner. The youngest sister's were solemnized
with all the rejoicings usual at the marriages of the emperors of
Persia ; and those of the other two sisters according to the quality
and distinction of their husbands; the one as the sultan's chief
baker, and the other as head cook.

The two elder felt strongly the disproportion of their marriages
to that of their younger sister. This consideration made them
far from being content, though they were arrived at the utmost
height of their late wishes, and much beyond their hopes. They
gave themselves up to an excess of jealousy, which not only dis-
turbed their joy, but was the cause of great trouble and affliction
to the queen-consort, their younger sister. They had not an
opportunity to communicate their thoughts to each other on the
preference the emperor had given her, but were altogether em-
ployed in preparing themselves for the celebration of their mar-
riages. Some days afterward, when they had an opportunity of
seeing each other at the public baths, the eldest said to the other :
"Well, what say you to our sister's great fortune? Is not she a
fine person to be a queen!" "I must own," said the other sister,
*'I cannot conceive what charms the emperor could discover to
be so bewitched by her. Was it a reason sufficient for him not
to cast his eyes on you, because she was somewhat younger.?
You were as worthy of his throne, and in justice he ought to have
preferred you."

"Sister," said the elder, *'I should not have regretted if his
majesty had but pitched upon you; but that he should choose
that little simpleton really grieves me. But I will revenge myself;
and you, I think, are as much concerned as I; therefore, I propose
that we should contrive measures and act in concert : communi-
cate to me what you think the likeliest way to mortify her, while I,
on my side, will inform you what my desire of revenge shall sug-
gest to me." After this wicked agreement, the two sisters saw
each other frequently, and consulted how they might disturb and
interrupt the happiness of the queen. They proposed a great
many ways, but in deliberating about the manner of executing
them, found so many difficulties that they durst not attempt
them. In the meantime, with a detestable dissimulation, they
often went together to make her visits, and every time showed her
all the marks of affection they could devise, to persuade her how
overjoyed they were to have a sister raised to so high a fortune.
The queen, on her part, constantly received them with all the
demonstrations of esteem they could expect from so near a
relative. Some time after her marriage, the expected birth of an
heir gave great joy to the queen and emperor, which was com-
municated to all the court, and spread throughout the empire.
Upon this news the two sisters came to pay their comphments,
and proffered their services, desiring her, if not provided with
nurses, to accept of them.

The queen said to them most obhgingly: "Sisters, I should
desire nothing more, if it were in my power to make the choice.
I am, however, obhged to you for your goodwill, but must submit
to what the emperor shall order on this occasion. Let your
husbands employ their friends to make interest, and get some
courtier to ask this favour of his majesty, and if he speaks to me
about it, be assured that I shall not only express the pleasure he
does me but thank him for making choice of you."

The two husbands applied themselves to some courtiers, their
patrons, and begged of them to use their interest to procure their
wives the honour they aspired to. Those patrons exerted them-
selves so much in their behalf that the emperor promised them
to consider of the matter, and was as good as his word; for in
conversation with the queen he told her that he thought her
sisters were the most proper persons to be about her, but would
not name them before he had asked her consent. The queen,
sensible of the deference the emperor so obligingly paid her, said
to him, "Sir, I was prepared to do as your majesty might please
to command. But since you have been so kind as to think of
my sisters, I thank you for the regard you have shown them for
my sake, and therefore I shall not dissemble that I had rather
have them than strangers.'* The emperor therefore named the
queen's two sisters to be her attendants; and from that time
they went frequently to the palace, overjoyed at the opportunity
they would have of executing the detestable wickedness they
had meditated against the queen.

Shortly afterward a young prince, as bright as the day, was
born to the queen ; but neither his innocence nor beauty could
move the cruel hearts of the merciless sisters. They wrapped
him up carelessly in his cloths and put him into a basket, which
they abandoned to the stream of a small canal that ran under
the queen's apartment, and declared that she had given birth
to a puppy. This dreadful intelligence was announced to the
emperor, who became so angry at the circumstance, that he was
likely to have occasioned the queen's death, if his grand vizier
had not represented to him that he could not, without injustice,
make her answerable for the misfortune.

In the meantime, the basket in which the little prince was
exposed was carried by the stream beyond a wall which bounded
the prospect of the queen's apartment, and from thence floated
with the current down the gardens. By chance the intendant
of the emperor's gardens, one of the principal officers of the
kingdom, was walking in the garden by the side of this canal, and,
perceiving a basket floating, called to a gardener who was not far
off, to bring it to shore that he might see what it contained. The
gardener, with a rake which he had in his hand, drew the basket
to the side of the canal, took it up, and gave it to him. The
intendant of the gardens was extremely surprised to see in the
basket a child, which, though he knew it could be but just born,
had very fine features. This officer had been married several
years, but though he had always been desirous of having children,
Heaven had never blessed him with any. This accident inter-
rupted his walk : he made the gardener follow him with the child,
and when he came to his own house, which was situated at the
entrance to the gardens of the palace, went into his wife's
apartment. *' Wife," said he, " as we have no children of our own,
God has sent us one. I recommend him to you; provide him a
nurse, and take as much care of him as if he were our own son;
for, from this moment, I acknowledge him as such." The in-
tendant's wife received the child with great joy, and took particular
pleasure in the care of him. The intendant himself would not
inquire too narrowly whence the infant came. He saw plainly it
came not far off from the queen's apartment, but it was not his
business to examine too closely into what had passed, nor to
create disturbances in a place where peace was so necessary.

The following year another prince was born, on whom the un-
natural sisters had no more compassion than on his brother, but
exposed him likewise in a basket and set him adrift in the canal,
pretending, this time, that the sultana had given birth to a cat.
It was happy also for this child that the intendant of the gardens
was walking by the canal side, for he had it carried to his wife,
and charged her to take as much care of it as of the former,
which was as agreeable to her inclination as it was to his own.

The emperor of Persia was more enraged this time against
the queen than before, and she had felt the effects of his anger if
the grand vizier's remonstrances had not prevailed. The third
year the queen gave birth to a princess, which innocent babe
underwent the same fate as her brothers, for the two sisters, being
determined not to desist from their detestable schemes till they
had seen the queen cast off and humbled, claimed that a log of
wood had been born and exposed this infant also on the canal.
But the princess, as well as her brothers, was preserved from death
by the compassion and charity of the intendant of the gardens.

Kosrouschah could no longer contain himself, when he was
informed of the new misfortune. He pronounced sentence of
death upon the wretched queen and ordered the grand vizier to
see it executed.

The grand vizier and the courtiers who were present cast
themselves at the emperor's feet, to beg of him to revoke the
sentence. "Your majesty, I hope, will give me leave," said the
grand vizier, "to represent to you, that the laws which condemn
persons to death were made to punish crimes ; the three extraor-
dinary misfortunes of the queen are not crimes, for in what can
she be said to have contributed toward them ? Your majesty
may abstain from seeing her, but let her live. The affliction in
which she will spend the rest of her life, after the loss of your
favour, will be a punishment sufficiently distressing/'

The emperor of Persia considered with himself, and, rej3ecting
that it was unjust to condemn the queen to death for what had
happened, said: "Let her live then; I will spare her life, but it
shall be on this condition : that she shall desire to die more than
once every day. Let a wooden shed be built for her at the gate
of the principal mosque, with iron bars to the windows, and
let her be put into it, in the coarsest habit ; and every Mussulman
that shall go into the mosque to prayers shall heap scorn upon
her. If any one fail, I will have him exposed to the same punish-
ment; and that I may be punctually obeyed, I charge you, vizier,
to appoint persons to see this done." The emperor pronounced
his sentence in such a tone that the grand vizier durst not further
remonstrate; and it was executed, to the great satisfaction of the
two envious sisters. A shed was built, and the queen, truly
worthy of compassion, was put into it and exposed ignominiously
to the contempt of the people, which usage she bore with a
patient resignation that excited the compassion of those who
were discriminating and judged of things better than the vulgar.

The two princes and the princess were, in the meantime,
nursed and brought up by the intendant of the gardens and his
wife with the tenderness of a father and mother; and as they
advanced in age, they all showed marks of superior dignity, which
discovered itself every day by a certain air which could only belong
to exalted birth. All this increased the affections of the intendant
and his wife, who called the eldest prince Bahman, and the second
Perviz, both of them names of the most ancient emperors of
Persia, and the princess, Periezade, which name also had been
borne by several queens and princesses of the kingdom.

As soon as the two princes were old enough, the intendant
provided proper masters to teach them to read and write; and
the princess, their sister, who was often with them, showing a great
desire to learn, the intendant, pleased with her quickness, em-
ployed the same master to teach her also. Her vivacity and
piercing wit made her, in a little time, as great a proficient as her
brothers. From that time the brothers and sister had the same
masters in geography, poetry, history, and even the secret sciences,
and made so wonderful a progress that their tutors were amazed,
and frankly owned that they could teach them nothing more. At
the hours of recreation, the princess learned to sing and play upon
all sorts of instruments; and when the princes were learning to ride
she would not permit them to have that advantage over her, but
went through all the exercises with them, learning to ride also,
to bend the bow, and dart the reed or javelin, and oftentimes out-
did them in the race and other contests of agility.

The intendant of the gardens was so overjoyed to find his
adopted children so accomplished in all the perfections of body
and mind, and that they so well requited the expense he had
been at in their education, that he resolved to be at a still greater;
for, as he had until then been content simply with his lodge at the
entrance of the garden, and kept no country-house, he purchased
a mansion at a short distance from the city, surrounded by a
large tract of arable land, meadows, and woods. As the house
was not sufficiently handsome nor convenient, he pulled it down,
and spared no expense in building a more magnificent residence.
He went every day to hasten, by his presence, the great number
of workmen he employed, and as soon as there was an apartment
ready to receive him, passed several days together there when his
presence was not necessary at court; and by the same exertions,
the interior was furnished in the richest manner, in consonance
with the magnificence of the edifice. Afterward he made gar-
dens, according to a plan drawn by himself. He took in a large
extent of ground, which he walled around, and stocked with
fallow deer, that the princes and princess might divert themselves
with hunting when they chose.

When this country seat was finished and fit for habitation,
the intendant of the gardens went and cast himself at the emper-
or's feet, and, after representing how long he had served, and the
infirmities of age which he found growing upon him, begged that
he might be permitted to resign his charge into his majesty's
disposal and retire. The emperor gave him leave, with the more
pleasure, because he was satisfied with his long services, both in
his father's reign and his own, and when he granted it, asked what
he should do to recompense him. *'Sir," replied the intendant of
the gardens, "I have received so many obligations from your
majesty and the late emperor, your father, of happy memory, that
I desire no more than the honour of dying in your favour." He
took his leave of the emperor and retired with the two princes and
the princess to the country retreat he had built. His wife had been
dead some years, and he himself had not lived above six months
with his charges before he was surprised by so sudden a death that
he had not time to give them the least account of the manner in
which he had discovered them. The Princes Bahman andPerviz,
and the Princess Periezade, who knew no other father than the
intendant of the emperor's gardens, regretted and bewailed him
as such, and paid all the honours in his funeral obsequies which
love and filial gratitude required of them. Satisfied with the
plentiful fortune he had left them, they lived together in perfect
union, free from the ambition of distinguishing themselves at
court, or aspiring to places of honour and dignity, which they
might easily have obtained.

One day when the two princes were hunting, and the princess
had remained at home, a religious old woman came to the gate,
and desired leave to go in to say her prayers, it being then the hour.
The servants asked the princess's permission, who ordered them
to show her into the oratory, which the intendant of the emperor's
gardens had taken care to fit up in his house, for want of a mosque
in the neighbourhood. She bade them, also, after the good woman
had finished her prayers, to show her the house and gardens and
then bring her to the hall.

The old woman went into the oratory, said her prayers, and
when she came out two of the princess's women invited her to
see the residence, which civility she accepted, followed them
from one apartment to another, and observed, like a person who
understood what belonged to furniture, the nice arrangement
of everything. They conducted her also into the garden, the
disposition of which she found so well planned, that she admired
it, observing that the person who had formed it must have been .
an excellent master of his art. Afterward she was brought be-
fore the princess, who waited for her in the great hall, which in
beauty and richness exceeded all that she had admired in the
other apartments.

As soon as the princess saw the devout woman, she said to
her: "My good mother, come near and sit down by me. I am
overjoyed at the happiness of having the opportunity of profiting
for some moments by the example and conversation of such a
person as you, who have taken the right way by dedicating
yourself to the service of God. I wish every one were as wise."

The devout woman, instead of sitting on a sofa, would only
sit upon the edge of one. The princess would not permit her to do
so, but rising from her seat and taking her by the hand, obliged
her to come and sit by her. The good woman, sensible of the
civility, said: "Madam, I ought not to have so much respect
shown me; but since you command, and are mistress of your own
house, I will obey you." When she had seated herself, before
they entered into any conversation, one of the princess's women
brought a low stand of mother-of-pearl and ebony, with a china
dish full of cakes upon it, and many others set round it full of
fruits in season, and wet and dry sweetmeats.

The princess took up one of the cakes, and presenting her
with it, said: "Eat, good mother, and make choice of what you
like best; you had need to eat after coming so far." "Madam,"
replied the good woman, "I am not used to eat such delicacies,
but will not refuse what God has sent me by so liberal a hand as
yours."

While the devout woman was eating, the princess ate a little
too, to bear her company, and asked her many questions upon the
exercise of devotion which she practised and how she lived; all
of which she answered with great modesty. Talking of various
things, at last the princess asked her what she thought of the
house, and how she liked it.

"Madam," answered the devout woman, "I must certainly
have very bad taste to disapprove anything in it, since it is beau-
tiful, regular, and magnificently furnished with exactness and
judgment, and all its ornaments adjusted in the best manner.
Its situation is an agreeable spot, and no garden can be more
delightful ; but yet, if you will give me leave to speak my mind
freely, I will take the liberty to tell you that this house would be
incomparable if it had three things which are wanting to complete
it." "My good mother," replied the Princess Periezade, "what
are those? I entreat you to tell me what they are; I will spare
nothing to get them."

"Madam," replied the devout woman, "the first of these three
things is the Talking Bird, so singular a creature, that it draws
round it all the songsters of the neighbourhood which come
to accompany its voice. The second is the Singing Tree, the
leaves of which are so many mouths which form an harmonious
concert of different voices and never cease. The third is the
Golden Water, a single drop of which being poured into a vessel
properly prepared, it increases so as to fill it immediately, and
rises up in the middle like a fountain, which continually plays,
and yet the basin never overflows."

"Ah! my good mother," cried the princess, "how much am
I obliged to you for the knowledge of these curiosities! I never
before heard there were such rarities in the world; but as I am
persuaded that you know, I expect that you should do me the
favour to inform me where they are to be found."

"Madam," replied the good woman, "I should be unworthy
the hospitality you have shown me if I should refuse to satisfy
your curiosity on that point, and am glad to have the honour to
tell you that these curiosities are all to be met with in the same
spot on the confines of this kingdom, toward India. The road
lies before your house, and whoever you send needs but foUow
it for twenty days, and on the twentieth only let him ask the first
person he meets where the Talking Bird, the Singing Tree, and
the Golden Water are, and he will be informed." After saying
this, she rose from her seat, took her leave, and went her way.

The Princess Periezade's thoughts were so taken up with the
Talking Bird, Singing Tree, and Golden Water, that she never
perceived the devout woman's departure, till she wanted to ask
her some question for her better information ; for she thought that
what she had been told was not a sufficient reason for exposing
herself by undertaking a long journey. However, she would not
send after her visitor, but endeavoured to remember all the direc-
tions, and when she thought she had recollected every word, took
real pleasure in thinking of the satisfaction she should have if she
could get these curiosities into her possession ; but the difficulties
she apprehended and the fear of not succeeding made her very
uneasy.

She was absorbed in these thoughts when her brothers re-
turned from hunting, who, when they entered the great hall,
instead of finding her lively and gay, as she was wont to be, were
amazed to see her so pensive and hanging down her head as if
something troubled her.

"Sister," said Prince Bahman, *'what is become of all your
mirth and gaiety ? Are you not well .'' or has some misfortune
befallen you ? Tell us, that we may know how to act, and give
you some relief. If any one has affronted you, we will resent his
insolence."

The princess remained in the same posture some time without
answering, but at last lifted up her eyes to look at her brothers,
and then held them down again, telling them nothing disturbed her.

"Sister," said Prince Bahman, "you conceal the truth from
us; there must be something of consequence. It is impossible
we could observe so sudden a change if nothing was the matter
with you. You would not have us satisfied with the evasive
answer you have given; do not conceal anything, unless you
would have us suspect that you renounce the strict union which
has hitherto subsisted between us."

The princess, who had not the smallest intention to oifend her
brothers, would not suffer them to entertain such a thought, but
said: "When I told you nothing disturbed me, I meant nothing
that was of importance to you, but to me it is of some conse-
quence; and since you press me to tell you by our strict union and
friendship, which are so dear to me, I will. You think, and I
always beheved so too, that this house was so complete tliat
nothing was wanting. But this day I have learned that it lacks
three rarities which would render it so perfect that no country
seat in the world could be compared with it. These three things
are the Talking Bird, the Singing Tree, and the Golden Water."
After she had informed them wherein consisted the excellency of
these rarities, "A devout woman," added she, "has made this
discovery to me, told me the place where they are to be found,
and the way thither. Perhaps you may imagine these things of
little consequence; that without these additions our house will
always be thought sufficiently elegant, and that we can do with-
out them. You may think as you please, but I cannot help tell-
ing you that I am persuaded they are absolutely necessary, and
I shall not be easy without them. Therefore, whether you
value them or not, I desire you to consider what person you may
think proper for me to send in search of the curiosities I have
mentioned."

"Sister," rephed Prince Bahman, "nothing can concern you
in which we have not an equal interest. It is enough that you
desire these things to oblige us to take the same interest; but if
you had not, we feel ourselves inclined of our own accord and
for our own individual satisfaction. I am persuaded my brother
is of the same opinion, and therefore we ought to undertake this
conquest, for the importance and singularity of the under-
taking deserve that name. I will take the charge upon myself;
only tell me the place and the way to it, and I will defer my
journey no longer than till to-morrow."

Brother," said Prince Perviz, "it is not proper that you, who
are the head of our family, should be absent. I desire my sister
should join with me to oblige you to abandon your design, and
allow me to undertake it. I hope to acquit myself as well as
you, and it will be a more regular proceeding." " I am persuaded
of your goodwill, brother," replied Prince Bahman, "and that
you would succeed as well as myself in this journey; but I have
resolved and will undertake it. You shall stay at home with our
sister, and I need not recommend her to you."

The next morning Bahman mounted his horse, and Perviz
and the princess embraced and wished him a good journey.
But in the midst of their adieus, the princess recollected what she
had not thought of before. "Brother," said she, "I had quite
forgotten the accidents which attend travellers. Who knows
whether I shall ever see you again ? Alight, I beseech you, and
give up this journey. I would rather be deprived of the sight and
possession of the Talking Bird, the Singing Tree, and the Golden
Water, than run the risk of never seeing you more."

"Sister," replied Bahman, smiling at her sudden fears, "my
resolution is fixed. The accidents you speak of befall only those
who are unfortunate; but there are more who are not so. How-
ever, as events are uncertain, and I may fail in this undertaking,
all I can do is to leave you this knife."

Bahman pulling a knife from his vestband, and presenting
it to the princess in the sheath, said: "Take this knife, sister, and
give yourself the trouble sometimes to pull it out of the sheath;
while you see it clean as it is now, it will be a sign that I am alive;
but if you find it stained with blood, then you may believe me
dead and indulge me with your prayers."

The princess could obtain nothing more of Bahman. He
bade adieu to her and Prince Perviz for the last time. and rode
away. When he got into the road, he never turned to the right
hand nor to the left, but went directly forward toward India.
The twentieth day he perceived on the roadside a hideous old
man, who sat under a tree near a thatched house, which was his
retreat from the weather.

His eyebrows were as white as snow, as was also the hair of
his head; his whiskers covered his mouth, and his beard and
hair reached down to his feet. The nails of his hands and
feet were grown to an extensive length, while a flat, broad um-
brella covered his head. He had no clothes, but only a mat
thrown round his body. This old man was a dervish for so
many years retired from the world to give himself up entirely to
the service of God that at last he had become what we have
described.

Prince Bahman, who had been all that morning very attentive,
to see if he could meet with anybody who could give him informa-
tion of the place he was in search of, stopped when he came near
the dervish, alighted, in conformity to the directions which the
devout w Oman had given the Princess Periezade, and leading his
horse by the bridle, advanced toward him and saluting him,
said: "God prolong your days, good father, and grant you the
accomplishment of your desires."

The dervish returned the prince's salutation, but so unintelli-
gibly that he could not understand one word he said and Prince
Bahman, perceiving that this difficulty proceeded from the der-
vish's whiskers hanging over his mouth, and unwilling to go any
further without the instructions he wanted, pulled out a pair of
scissors he had about him, and having tied his horse to a branch
of the tree, said: "Good dervish, I want to have some talk with
you, but your whiskers prevent my understanding what you say;
and if you will consent, I will cut off some part of them and of
your eyebrows, which disfigure you so much that you look more
Hke a bear than a man."