Khusroshah came to the throne and went in disguise with his Vazir around his kingdom to see if all was well. One day, he overheard three sisters chatting about the person each of them wished to marry. The eldest said that she wished to marry the Sultan’s baker. “I wish to marry the Chief Cook of the Sultan!” said the second one. The youngest sister laughed and said, “I will marry the Sultan!” The Sultan smiled at his Vazir and said, “Bring them to the court tomorrow.” The Vazir summoned the sisters to the court. “I heard what you were discussing last night,” said the Sultan, “What you wish for shall come true!” The girls were frightened and tried to get out of the situation by saying they were simply joking about it. But the Sultan married the youngest sister and got the other two married to the Royal Baker and the Chief Cook respectively.
Jealousy Begins
The wedding of the youngest sister to the Sultan was splendid while the weddings of the sisters to the Royal Baker and the Chief Cook respectively were according to their capacity. This began to rankle in the hearts of the two sisters. When they met later at the hamam, or public bath, they complained to each other. “What is special about her that she should be the Sultana? Either of us could have married the Sultan!” they said to each other. The jealousy grew more every day till they decided that they must take revenge. The two sisters were looking for a way to harm the Sultana. They got the opportunity when a baby was born to her. They put the boy into a cradle and floated it down the canal in the palace garden! They told the Sultan that their sister gave birth to a puppy and he flew into a rage!
The Royal Gardener saw the baby in the cradle and took him home to his wife. They were delighted to adopt the baby as their son as they were childless. The next year again the sisters did the same thing when the second son and a daughter were born to the Sultana. The Sultan was furious and ordered that the Sultana be executed. But the Vazir and the courtiers loved the gentle and kind Sultana. They begged the Sultan to exile her forever, instead of executing her. The Sultan agreed but said a box should be built for her outside a mosque. She would stay there, wearing rough clothes and with no comforts, and the people entering the mosque would spit at her through the window. The envious sisters were delighted to see their sister so humiliated. But she bore her punishment with such dignity, that people began to feel pity for her.
The Royal Gardener named the children Bahman, Pervez and Parizad. They were beautiful and graceful. He brought them up to know all the arts and skills of children in noble families: reading, writing, knowledge of the world, music, riding and skill in the use of weapons. The Royal Gardener bought a large farm outside the city where they grew up to be fine young people. He stopped working at the palace gardens, for he had grown old. For many years the old man lived happily with his children, but he and his wife died without telling them the truth about how he found them. They had many adventures and one day, when they rode into the city, people stopped to stare at the young men who looked so much like the Sultan! The secret was finally known, when their cradles were found. The angry Sultan punished the jealous sisters and brought the gentle Sultana home.
