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Of all the flowers and plants in the garden, the king loved the date palm that stood in the very center the most. There he sat every morning and ate the delicious dates. λセěㄒwwｗ.ＦAIｒy-tａLｅ。Iｎfoみ€

One morning, the king walked into the garden and noticed that every date was gone. "Who has stolen my dates?" he cried. Оxy々낱WWｗ．ＦaIrY－ｔＡle．ｉnｆｏОぅィ

The king called his seven sons. "You must guard my tree," he said. wWｗ。ＦAIＲｙ-TAｌE.ｉＮfo※

The first night the eldest son stayed in the garden, but he soon fell asleep. In the morning all the dates were gone. The next night the second son tried, but he too fell asleep, and the same thing happened with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sons. ※ㄞ∷ㄈｗwｗ.ＦａiＲy-TaＬe.ｉＮFＯ6zγS

On the seventh night, the youngest brother, Machiara, was determined to discover the thief, and so when he sat down that evening beneath the date palm, he placed a thorn beneath his chin. WＷw.fAiＲy－ＴＡLＥ.ＩｎＦＯì€ㄚへ!

As the night wore on, Machiara's head began to droop, but each time the thorn touched his chin, it pricked him and he awoke with a start.

Just before dawn, Machiara looked up and saw a golden bird. Its beauty took his breath away, but then the bird swooped down toward the tree to steal the dates.

Machiara tried to grab the bird, but it flew away.

Machiara had managed to grab two of the bird's tail feathers, and better still, he had saved the dates. "Dad will be so proud of me," Machiara said, and he was right.

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The king then asked Machiara to take a sailboat and find the bird, so that it would never steal the king's dates again. ≡つマwＷw.ｆａiRy-Tａｌｅ．iｎFＯ4

Machiara sailed east until he reached an island. He docked the ship and strode onto shore, and there he discovered a splendid palace. ˊdJwwW。ＦAIRY-tａlｅ.ｉｎＦｏβТǜP∫

He walked into the palace grounds, where he found a garden more splendid than the king's garden. Lying on a bed of blue flowers in the garden lay a beautiful woman sleeping. ◎tへТwｗＷ.ＦAIrｙ-TａＬＥ.iNｆOdμぁН

Machiara walked toward her, when suddenly he heard a terrifying shriek. An old woman leaped out of the bushes and mumbled a curse. Instantly, the beautiful woman transformed into a golden bird, and the blue flowers on which she slept turned into a blue steel cage.

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"No one enters my garden without my permission!" the crone shrieked, but Machiara snatched the cage and ran back to his ship. He leapt onto the ship and sailed home.

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He returned to his father and presented the golden bird. But his brothers simply laughed at him. タ±βｗWＷ。fAIＲＹ-ｔaＬe.iＮfＯ

"What will you do with a golden bird, foolish brother?" they teased. "You have wasted your time, as usual."

WWW．FＡiＲy－TAｌE.ｉＮＦｏなっǒㄘ

But the next day, the older brothers disappeared. "A terrible monster is in the woods," the people cried. ㄨてwｗｗ.FａIRY－ｔａLｅ。ＩnＦoj∽

Machiara was the only one who did not cower in fear.

Just then Machiara heard a sound. "Take the dates and find the dragon," twittered the bird. Machiara filled a basket with dates and set off into the woods. When he came upon the monster, he threw the dates at it, and it turned into the hideous old crone. And then she withered away.

もｗWＷ.ＦAIＲY-tAＬＥ。iＮFO々ヲㄊíは

When Machiara returned to the palace, he discovered that all his brothers had returned, and beside them stood the beautiful woman, freed of the spell that had turned her into a bird. せè※ㄥùwＷW.ｆAｉＲＹ-ＴａlＥ。ＩnFOㄚュㄔ∝īν

"I knew one of the king's sons would rescue me," she said. She and Machiara soon got married, and they lived happily ever after. 9せ∈ｗwｗ．FａｉＲｙ－TＡle．InＦｏマキIほㄆβ