The Talking Bird

This Persina legend, a retelling of one in the Arabian Nights, tells of a gullible and foolish ruler, the Sultan Kohs'roo Shah, who is tricked by his jealous sisters into abandoningn his three infant children. The babies - two boys and a gril- are rescued and raised by a gatekeeper and his wife, who educate the children, give them every material advantage, and provide the love and guidance that enables them to grow up wise and brae; that is, having all the qualities a good rules should have but which their royal father lacks.

The foster parents die, and young Princess Palizade and her brothers Bahman and Perviz are still unaware of their noble birth. A mysterious old woman tells them a Talking Bird, a Singing Tree, and Golden Water. Determined to acquiere these magical things, first Bahman and then Perviz sett off to find them. Both young men are turned to stone when they forget to heed a dervish's warning about the dangers they will meet in their quest. Palizade, however, is successful: she brings her brothers back to life and three carry the bird, the tree, and a flagon of the Golden Water back to their home. The Shah, journeying through the land, stops for a meal there. The Talking Bird tells him who the exemplary young people really are. The Shah repents of this past foolishness and names his children his rightul heirs.