Having thus discoursed upon the discovery of music, the Parrot proceeds to detail

The Seven Requisites of a Perfect Woman.

    1 She ought not to be always merry.

    2 She ought not to be always sad.

    3 She ought not to be always talking.

    4 She ought not to be always thinking.

    5 She ought not to be constantly dressing.

    6 She ought not to be always unadorned.

    7 She is a perfect woman who, at all times, possesses
       herself; can be cheerful without levity, grave
       without austerity; knows when to elevate the tongue
       of persuasion, and when to impress her lips with the
       signet of silence; never converts trifling ceremonies
       into intolerable burdens; always dresses becoming to
       her rank and age; is modest without prudery, religious
       without an alloy of superstition; can hear the one sex
       praised without envy, and converse with the other
       without permitting the torch of inconstancy to kindle
       the unhallowed fire in her breast; considers her husband
       as the most accomplished of mortals, and thinks
       all the sons of Adam besides unworthy of a transient
       glance from the corner of her half-shut eyes.

Such are the requisites of a perfect woman, and how thankful we should be that we have so many in this highly-favoured land who possess them all!  These maxims are assuredly of Indian origin—­no Persian could ever have conceived such virtues as being attainable by women.

V

THE PRINCESS OF ROME AND HER SON—­THE KING AND HIS SEVEN VAZIRS.

The story told by the Parrot on the 50th Night is very singular, and presents, no doubt, a faithful picture of Oriental manners and customs.  In the original text it is entitled

Story of the Daughter of the Kaysar of Rome, and her trouble by reason of her Son.

In former times there was a great king, whose army was numerous and whose treasury was full to overflowing; but, having no enemy to contend with, he neglected to pay his soldiers, in consequence of which they were in a state of destitution and discontent.  At length one day the soldiers went to the prime vazir and made their condition known to him.  The vazir promised that he would speedily devise a plan by which they should have employment and money.  Next morning he presented himself before the king, and said that it was widely reported that the kaysar of Rome had a daughter unsurpassed for beauty—­one who was fit only for such a great monarch as his Majesty—­and suggested that it would be advantageous if an alliance were formed between two such potentates.  The notion pleased the king well, and he forthwith despatched to Rome an ambassador with rich gifts, and requested the kaysar to grant him his daughter in marriage.