s, "we must think of preparing a
repast fit for his majesty; and for that purpose I think it would be
proper we should consult the speaking-bird; he will tell us perhaps
what meats the emperor likes best."

The princes approved of her plan, and after they had retired, she
consulted the bird alone.

"Bird," said she, "the emperor will to-morrow come to see our house,
and we 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 Perie-zadeh, with
amazement. "Surely, bird, you do not know what you say. It is an
unheard-of dish! Besides, all the pearls I possess are not enough for
such a dish."

"Mistress," said the bird, "do what I say, and 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."

The princess immediately ordered a gardener to be ready to attend her
in the morning, and led him at daybreak 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 gave into the
princess's hands. As it was fastened only with neat little hasps, she
soon opened it, and found it full of pearls. 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 princess, as she returned to the house, met her two brothers and
gave them an account of her having consulted the bird, and the answer
he had given her to prepare a dish of cucumbers stuffed full of
pearls, and how he had told her where to find this box. The princes
and princess, though they could not by any means guess at the reason
of the bird ordering them to prepare such a dish, yet agreed to follow
his advice exactly.

As soon as the princess entered the house she called for the head
cook; and after she had given him directions about the entertainment
for the emperor, said to him