King Solomon looked kindly upon the King of the Hoopoes and said, “Behold, did I not warn you of your folly in desiring to have crowns of gold?  Vanity and pride have been your ruin.  But now, that there may be a memorial of the service which once you did me, your crowns of gold shall be changed into crowns of feathers, and with them you may walk unharmed upon the earth.”

In this way the remaining Hoopoes were saved.  For when the fowlers saw that they no longer wore crowns of gold upon their heads, they ceased to hunt them as they had been doing.  And from that time forth the family of the Hoopoes have flourished and increased in peace, even to the present day.

* * * * *

Solomon was ever seeking to grow even wiser.  The better to know the wonders of God’s world and the ways of all creatures, he undertook many journeys,—­not as we ordinary poor mortals travel, in heavy wagons or clumsy boats, by dusty roads or stormy waves.  It was in no such troublous ways that Solomon the all-powerful traversed space and reached the uttermost corners of the earth.  Thanks to his great knowledge, he had discovered a means of locomotion compared to which the most magnificent railway coaches and the richest palanquins of Indian princes would seem poor indeed.  He had caused his Genii to make a silken carpet of four leagues in extent.  In the midst of this carpet was placed a magnificent throne for the royal traveler himself; and around it were seats of gold, of silver, of wood, for the multitude of persons of different rank whom he took with him.  There was also no lack of the most gorgeous furniture and the necessary provisions for a king’s traveling banquet.

When all was ready Solomon was wont to seat himself upon his throne, and would command the winds to do their duty.  Immediately they gently lifted the carpet and bore it rapidly through the air to the appointed spot.  During the journey, above the aerial caravan fluttered a cloud of birds, who with their wings formed a splendid canopy to shield their beloved lord from the sun’s heat, as the Hoopoes had first done.

One day, while on such a journey, Solomon was shocked to feel a ray of sunlight piercing through this plumy dais which overhung his head.  Shading his eyes, the King glanced up and perceived that there was an opening in the canopy.  One bird was missing from its post.  In great displeasure Solomon demanded of the Eagle the name of the truant.  Anxiously the Eagle called the roll of all the birds in his company; and he was horrified to find that it was Solomon’s favorite, the Hoopoe, who was missing.  With terror he announced the bird’s desertion to the most wise King.

“Soar aloft,” commanded Solomon sternly, “and find the Hoopoe that I may punish him.  I will pluck off his feathers that he may feel the scorching heat of the sun as his carelessness has caused me to do.”

The Eagle soared heavenward, until the earth beneath him looked like a bowl turned upside down.  Then he poised on level wings and looked around in every direction to discover the truant.  Soon he espied the Hoopoe flying swiftly from the south.  The Eagle swooped down and would have seized the culprit roughly in his strong talons, but the Hoopoe begged him for Solomon’s sake to be gentle.