Parbuttee and Mahdeo then flew away.
Next morning the Rajah got up early to see if the varnish he had put on the wooden parrots was dry; but no sooner did he open the door than—marvel of marvels!—the thousand wooden parrots all came walking into the house, flapping their wings and chattering to each other.
Hearing the noise, the Carpenter and the Carpenter’s wife and daughter came running out to see what was the matter, and were not less astonished than the Rajah himself at the miracle which had taken place. Then the Carpenter’s wife turned to her son-in-law, and said, “It is all very well that you should have made these wooden parrots; but I don’t know where we are to find food for them! Great, strong parrots like these will eat not less than a pound of rice a-piece every day. Your father-in-law and I cannot afford to procure as much as that for them in this poor house. If you wish to keep them, you must live elsewhere, for we cannot provide for you all.”
“Very well,” said the Rajah; “you shall not have cause to accuse me of ruining you, for from henceforth I will have a house of my own.” So he and his wife went to live in a house of their own, and he took the thousand parrots with him, and his mother-in-law gave her daughter some corn and rice and money to begin housekeeping with. Moreover, he found that the parrots, that instead of being an expense, were the means of increasing his fortune; for they flew away every morning early to get food, and spent the whole day out in the fields; and every evening, when they returned home, each parrot brought in his beak a stalk of corn or rice, or whatever it had found good to eat. So that their master was regularly supplied with more food than enough; and what with selling what he did not require, and working at his trade, he soon became quite a rich carpenter.
After he had been living in this way very happily for some time, one night, when he fell asleep, the Rajah dreamed a wonderful dream, and this was the dream:
He thought that very, very far away beyond the Red Sea was a beautiful kingdom surrounded by seven other seas; and that it belonged to a Rajah and Ranee who had one lovely daughter, named Panch-Phul Ranee (the Five Flower Queen), after whom the whole kingdom was called Panch-Phul Ranee’s country; and that this Princess lived in the centre of her father’s kingdom, in a little house round which were seven wide ditches, and seven great hedges made of spears; and that she was called Panch-Phul Ranee because she was so light and delicate that she weighed no more than five white lotus flowers! Moreover, he dreamed that this Princess had vowed to marry no one who could not cross the seven seas, and jump the seven ditches, and seven hedges made of spears.
After dreaming this the young Rajah awoke, and feeling much puzzled, got up, and sitting with his head in his hands, tried to think the matter over and discover if he had ever heard anything like his dream before; but he could make nothing of it.
Whilst he was thus thinking, his wife awoke and asked him what was the matter. He told her, and she said, “That is a strange dream. If I were you, I’d ask the old parrot about it; he is a wise bird, and perhaps he knows.” This parrot of which she spoke was the most wise of all the thousand wooden parrots. The Rajah took his wife’s advice, and when all the birds came home that evening, he called the old parrot and told him his dream, saying, “Can this be true?” To which the parrot replied, “It is all true. The Panch-Phul Ranee’s country lies beyond the Red Sea, and is surrounded by seven seas, and she dwells in a house built in the centre of her father’s kingdom. Round her house are seven ditches, and seven hedges made of spears, and she has vowed not to marry any man who cannot jump these seven ditches and seven hedges; and because she is very beautiful many great and noble men have tried to do this, but in vain.
“The Rajah and Ranee, her father and mother, are very fond of her and proud of her. Every day she goes to the palace to see them, and they weigh her in a pair of scales. They put her in one scale and five lotus flowers in the other, and she’s so delicate and fragile she weighs no heavier than the five little flowers, so they call her the Panch-Phul Ranee. Her father and mother are very proud of this.”
“I should like to go to that country and see the Panch-Phul Ranee,” said the Rajah; “but I don’t know how I could cross the seven seas.” “I will show you how to manage that,” replied the old parrot. “I and another parrot will fly close together, I crossing my left over his right wing; so that we will move along as if we were one bird (using only our outside wings to fly with), and on the chair made of our interlaced wings you shall sit, and we will carry you safely across the seven seas. On the way we will every evening alight in some high tree and rest, and every morning we can go on again.” “That sounds a good plan; I have a great desire to try it,” said the Rajah. “Wife, what should you think of my going to the Panch-Phul Ranee’s country, and seeing if I can jump the seven ditches, and seven hedges made of spears? Will you let me try?”