A certain man had a beautiful wife, whom he loved so dearly, that he could scarce allow her to be out of his sight. One day being obliged to go abroad, about urgent affairs, he came to a place where all sorts of birds were sold, and there bought a parrot which not only spoke very well, but could also give an account of every thing that was done before it. He brought it in a cage to his house, desired his wife to put it in his chamber, and to take care of it during a journey he was obliged to undertake; and then went out. At his return, he took care to ask the parrot concerning what had passed in his absence, and the bird told him things that gave him occasion to upbraid his wife. She thought some of her slaves had betrayed her, but all of them swore they had been faithful to her; and they all agreed that it must have been the parrot that had told tales. Upon this, the wife bethought herself of a way how she might remove her husband’s jealousy, and at the same time revenge herself on the parrot, which she effected thus: her husband being gone another journey, she commanded a slave in the night-time to turn a hand-mill under the parrot’s cage; she ordered another to throw water, in form of rain, over the cage; and a third to take a looking-glass, and turn it to the right and to the left before the parrot by candle-light. The slaves spent great part of the night in doing what their mistress commanded them, and acquitted themselves very dexterously. Next night the husband returned, and examined the parrot again about what had passed during his absence. The bird answered, Good master, the lightning, thunder, and rain, did so much disturb me all night, that I cannot tell how much I suffered by it. The husband, who knew that there had been neither thunder, lightning, nor rain, that night, fancied that the parrot, not having told him the truth in this, might also have lied to him in the other; upon which he took it out of the cage, and threw it with so much force to the ground that he killed it. Yet, afterwards, he understood by his neighbours, that the poor parrot had not lied to him, when it gave him an account of his wife’s base conduct, which made him repent he had killed it. Scheherazade stopped here, because she saw it was day. All that you tell us, sister, says Dinarzade, is so curious, that nothing can be more agreeable. I shall be willing to divert you, answers Scheherazade, if the sultan, my master, will allow me time to do it. Schahriar, who took as much pleasure to hear the sultaness, as Dinarzade, rose and went about his affairs, without ordering the vizier to cut her off. FIFTEENTH NIGHT.