Page:Fairy tales from the Arabian nights.djvu/321

 'Gentlemen,' replied the sultan, 'your house cannot be otherwise than beautiful, and worthy of you. I will call and see it with pleasure; you and your sister are already dear to me. I will be there early to-morrow morning, at the place where I shall never forget that I first saw you. Meet me, and you shall be my guides.'

When the Princes Bahman and Perviz went home, they gave the Princess Parizade an account of the honourable reception the sultan had given them, and told her that they had invited him to do them the honour to call at their house, and that he had appointed the next day.

'Then,' replied the princess, we must think at once of preparing a repast fit for his majesty; I think we should consult the speaking bird: he will tell us, perhaps, what dishes the sultan likes best.' The princes approved of her thought, and after they retired she consulted the bird alone. 'Bird,' said she, 'the sultan will do us the honour to-morrow to come and see our house, and we are to entertain him; tell us what we shall do to please him.'

'Good mistress,' replied the bird, 'you have excellent cooks, let them do the best they can; but, above all, let them prepare a dish of cucumbers stuffed with pearls, which must be set before the sultan in the first course.'

'Cucumbers with pearls!' cried Princess Parizade, in amazement. 'Surely, bird, you do not know what you say; it is an unheard-of dish. The sultan may admire it as a piece of magnificence, but he will sit down to table to eat, and not to admire pearls; besides, the pearls I am worth are not enough for such a dish.'

'Mistress,' said the bird, 'do what I say, and be not uneasy. Nothing but good will follow. As to the pearls, go early to-morrow