are to entertain him; tell us what we shall do to acquit
ourselves to his satisfaction."

"Good mistress," replied the Bird, "you have excellent cooks, let them
do the best they can; but above all things, let them prepare a dish of
cucumbers stuffed full of pearls, which must be set before the emperor
in the first course before all the other dishes."

"Cucumbers stuffed full of pearls!" cried Princess Periezade with
amazement; "surely, Bird, you do not know what you say; it is an unheard
of dish. The emperor may admire it as a piece of magnificence, but he
will sit down to eat, and not to admire pearls; besides, all the pearls
I possess are not enough for such a dish."

"Mistress," said the Bird, "do what I say, and be not uneasy about what
may happen. Nothing but good will follow. As for the pearls, go early
to-morrow morning to the foot of the first tree on your right hand in
the park, dig under it, and you will find more than you want."

That night the princess ordered a gardener to be ready to attend her,
and the next morning early, led him to the tree which the Bird had told
her of, and bade him dig at its foot. When the gardener came to a
certain depth, he found some resistance to the spade, and presently
discovered a gold box about a foot square, which he showed the princess.
"This," said she, "is what I brought you for; take care not to injure it
with the spade."

When the gardener took up the box, he gave it into the princess's hands,
who, as it was only fastened with neat little hasps, soon opened it, and
found it full of pearls of a moderate size, but equal and fit for the
use that was to be made of them. Very well satisfied with having found
this treasure, after she had shut the box again, she put it under her
arm and went back to the house, while the gardener threw the earth into
the hole at the foot of the tree as it had been before.

The Princes Bahman and Perviz, who, as they were dressing themselves in
their own apartments, saw their sister in the garden earlier than usual,
as soon as they could get out went to her, and met her as she was
returning with a gold box under her arm, which much surprised them.
"Sister," said Bahman, "you carried nothing with you when we saw you
before with the gardener, and now we see you have a golden box; is this
some treasure found by the gardener, and did he come and tell you of
it?"

"No, brother," answered the princess, "I took the gardener to the place
where t