In vain he described the bird to his attendants , who rushed at his first call ; in vain they sought the wonderful creature both on horse and foot , and summoned the fowlers to their aid : the bird could nowhere be found . The love the people bore King Peridor was so strong , and the reward he promised was so large , that in the twinkling of an eye every man , woman , and child had fled into the fields , and the towns were quite empty . All this bustle , however , ended in nothing but confusion , and , what was worse , the King soon fell back into the same condition as he was in before . Prince Saphir , who loved his father very dearly , was so unhappy at this that he persuaded himself that he might succeed where the others had failed , and at once prepared himself for a more distant search . In spite of the opposition he met with , he rode away , followed by his household , trusting to chance to help him . He had formed no plan , and there was no reason that he should choose one path more than another . His only idea was to make straight for those spots which were the favourite haunts of birds . But in vain he examined all the hedges and all the thickets ; in vain he questioned everyone he met along the road . The more he sought the less he found . At last he came to one of the largest forests in all the world , composed entirely of cedars . But in spite of the deep shadows cast by the wide-spreading branches of the trees , the grass underneath was soft and green , and covered with the rarest flowers . It seemed to Saphir that this was exactly the place where the birds would choose to live , and he determined not to quit the wood until he had examined it from end to end . And he did more . He ordered some nets to be prepared and painted of the same colours as the bird 's plumage , thinking that we are all easily caught by what is like ourselves . In this he had to help him not only the fowlers by profession , but also his attendants , who excelled in this art . For a man is not a courtier unless he can do everything . After searching as usual for nearly a whole day Prince Saphir began to feel overcome with thirst . He was too tired to go any farther , when happily he discovered a little way off a bubbling fountain of the clearest water . Being an experienced traveller , he drew from his pocket a little cup -LRB- without which no one should ever take a journey -RRB- , and was just about to dip it in the water , when a lovely little green frog , much prettier than frogs generally are , jumped into the cup . Far from admiring its beauty , Saphir shook it impatiently off ; but it was no good , for quick as lightning the frog jumped back again .
Saphir , who was raging with thirst , was just about XXXXX shake it off anew , when the little creature fixed upon him the most beautiful eyes in the world , and said , ' I am a friend of the bird you are seeking , and when you have quenched your thirst listen to me . '
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