and hard are the ungrateful
hearts of those who indulge in gambling and other vices. And the
scoundrel was ready, just for money, to kill his good wife. He threw
her and the old woman into a pit. Then the rascal went away and the old
woman perished there.

But Pearl, with the little life she had left, managed to get out by
clinging to the grass and bushes, and weeping bitterly, and bleeding,
she asked the way step by step, and painfully reached her father's
house by the way she had come. And her mother and father were surprised
and asked her: "Why did you come back so soon, and in this condition?"

And that good wife said: "On the road we were robbed, and my husband
was forcibly carried off. And the old woman fell into a pit and died,
but I escaped. And a kind-hearted traveller pulled me from the pit."
Then her father and mother were saddened, but they comforted her, and
Pearl stayed there, true to her husband.

Then in time Treasure lost all his money in gambling, and he reflected:
"I will get more money from the house of my father-in-law. I will go
there and tell my father-in-law that his daughter is well and is at my
house."

So he went again to his father-in-law. And as he went, his
ever-faithful wife saw him afar off. She ran and fell at the rascal's
feet and told him all the story that she had invented for her parents.
For the heart of a faithful wife does not change even when she learns
that her husband is a rogue.

Then that rascal went without fear into the house of his father-in-law
and bowed low before his feet. And his father-in-law rejoiced when he
saw him and made a great feast with his relatives, for he said: "My son
is delivered alive from the robbers. Heaven be praised!" Then Treasure
enjoyed the wealth of his father-in-law and lived with his wife Pearl.

Now one night this worst of scoundrels did what I ought not to repeat,
but I will tell it, or my story would be spoiled. Listen, O Prince.
While Pearl lay asleep trusting him, that wretch killed her in the
night, stole all her jewels, and escaped to his own country. This shows
how bad and ungrateful men are.

When the thrush had told her story, the prince smiled and said to the
parrot: "It is your turn now."

Then the parrot said: "Your Majesty, women are cruel and reckless and
bad. To prove it, I will tell you a story. Listen."

There is a city called Joyful, where lived a prince of merchants named
Virtue, who owned millions of money. He h