The following week, King Bahram Gur rode out alone to the hunting grounds, armed with his bow and quiver. As the shimmering sun scorched the open plain, the monarch turned back and sought shelter at the grand residence of a wealthy yet exceedingly miserly merchant. Arriving incognito, Bahram requested hospitality and handed coins to the host, asking for aged wine, roasted almonds, and a fresh domestic bird to soothe his aching stomach. However, the stingy merchant ignored the monarch's request for wine and almonds, bringing only a hot roast bird. When Bahram gently questioned the missing items, the miser insultingly berated the guest as foolish and lacking propriety. Bahram quietly ate his bread and went to sleep without further argument.
When dawn drove away the pitch-black veil of night, the miserly master harsh scolded his young apprentice, accusing him of overpaying for the chicken and ruining him. The generous-hearted apprentice, disgusted by his master's greed, stepped forward and declared that the bird would be charged to his own wage, inviting both the stranger and his master to be his personal guests. The youth hurried to the marketplace, purchasing two hundred eggs, roasted lamb and chicken, almonds, sugar, fine wine, saffron, and rosewater. He set a magnificent banquet, serving the disguised king with deep respect and overflowing cups.
Delighted by the youth's chivalry, Bahram drank and rejoiced before mounting his steed and returning to his palace. As dawn touched the ivory throne of the Sasanians, the King summoned both the master and the apprentice to court. He seated the noble youth among the highest magnates of the realm, bestowed a heavy purse of gold upon him, and issued a royal decree: the miserly merchant was sentenced to be a lifelong bonded servant to his former apprentice, obligated to pay him a monthly allowance so the generous youth could forever host travelers with royal open-handedness.