princess, and mingled his tears with theirs, he said, 'It is not enough, my children, you must embrace each other, not as the children of the keeper of my gardens, to whom I have been under great obligations for preserving your lives, but as my own children, of the royal blood of the sultans of Persia, whose glory, I am persuaded, you will maintain.'
After the two princes and princess had embraced with new satisfaction, the sultan sat down again and finished his meal in haste; and when he had done, he said, 'My children, you see in me your father: to-morrow I will bring the sultaness your mother, therefore prepare to receive her.'
Afterwards the sultan mounted his horse, and returned in all haste to his capital. The first thing he did, as soon as he alighted and entered his palace, was to command the grand vizier to try the sultaness' two sisters. They were taken from their houses separately, convicted, and condemned to be executed; which sentence was carried out within an hour.
In the meantime the sultan, followed by all the lords of his court who were then present, went to fetch the sultaness, and embracing her said, with tears in his eyes, 'I come, madam, to ask your pardon for the injustice I have done you, and to make you the reparation I ought to do; which I have begun, by punishing the persons who put the abominable cheat upon me; and I hope you will look upon it as complete, when I present to you two accomplished princes, and a charming lovely princess, our children.' All this was done and said before great crowds of people, who flocked from all parts at the first hint of what was passing, and immediately spread the news through the town.
Early the next morning the sultan and sultaness went with all their court to the house built by the keeper of the gardens, where the sultan presented the Princes Bahman and Perviz, and the Princess Parizade to the sultaness. 'These, madam,' said he, 'are the two princes your sons, and the princess your daughter; embrace them with the same tenderness that I have done, since they are worthy both of me and of you.' The tears flowed plentifully down their cheeks at these tender embraces, especially the sultaness', for the comfort and joy of having two such princes for
