All this increased the affection of the
intendant and his wife, who called the eldest prince Bahman, and the
second Perviz, both of them names of the most ancient emperors of
Persia, and the princess Perie-zadeh, which name also had been borne
by several queens and princesses of the kingdom.[39]
[Footnote 39: Parizadeh, the Parisatis of the Greeks, signifies born
of a fairy.--D'Herbelot.]
As soon as the two princes were old enough, the intendant provided
proper masters to teach them to read and write; and the princess,
their sister, who was often with them--showing a great desire to
learn--the intendant, pleased with her quickness, employed the same
master to teach her also. Her emulation, vivacity, and wit made her in
a little time as proficient as her brothers. At the hours of
recreation, the princess learned to sing and to play upon all sorts of
instruments; and when the princes were learning to ride, she would not
permit them to have that advantage over her, but went through all the
exercises with them, learning to ride also, to bend the bow, and dart
the reed or javelin, and oftentimes outdid them in the race and other
contests of agility.
The intendant of the gardens was so overjoyed to find his adopted
children so well requited the expense he had been at in their
education, that he resolved to be at a still greater; for as he had
till then been content only with his lodge at the entrance to the
garden, and kept no country house, he purchased a country seat at a
short distance from the city, surrounded by a large tract of arable
land, meadows, and woods, and furnished it in the richest manner, and
added gardens, according to a plan drawn by himself, and a large park,
stocked with fallow deer, that the princes and princess might divert
themselves with hunting when they chose.
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