The foul vapour of the beast and horror at its strangeness now overcame the prince , and he fainted . When he came to himself he found that he was drenched in the gore of the dead monster . He rose and thanked God for his deliverance . The nest of the Simurgh was in the wonderful tree above him , and in it were young birds ; the parents were away searching for food . They always told the children , before they left them , not to put their heads out of the nest ; but , to-day , at the noise of the fight below , they looked down and so saw the whole affair . By the time the dragon had been killed they were very hungry and set up a clamour for food . The prince therefore cut up the dragon and fed them with it , bit by bit , till they had eaten the whole . He then washed himself and lay down to rest , and he was still asleep when the Simurgh came home . As a rule , the young birds raised a clamour of welcome when their parents came near , but on this day they were so full of dragon-meat that they had no choice , they had to go to sleep . As they flew nearer , the old birds saw the prince lying under the tree and no sign of life in the nest . They thought that the misfortune which for so many earlier years had befallen them had again happened and that their nestlings had disappeared . They had never been able to find out the murderer , and now suspected the prince . ` He has eaten our children and sleeps after it ; he must die , ' said the father-bird , and flew back to the hills and clawed up a huge stone which he meant to let fall on the prince 's head . But his mate said , ` Let us look into the nest first for to kill an innocent person would condemn us at the Day of Resurrection . ' They flew nearer , and presently the young birds woke and cried , ` Mother , what have you brought for us ? ' and they told the whole story of the fight , and of how they were alive only by the favour of the young man under the tree , and of his cutting up the dragon and of their eating it . The mother-bird then remarked , ` Truly , father ! you were about to do a strange thing , and a terrible sin has been averted from you . ' Then the Simurgh flew off to a distance with the great stone and dropped it . It sank down to the very middle of the earth .
Coming back , the Simurgh saw XXXXX a little sunshine fell upon the prince through the leaves , and it spread its wings and shaded him till he woke .
By above at before on that till to under with