As she chewed her betel-nut the Princess Putri Balan hit upon a plan.  She would manage to cheat old Mr. Owl after all.  She would never finish the betel-nut!  She took the little bit that remained,—­and it was a dangerously little bit, for the Princess had been chewing all night long, except when she was laughing,—­and reaching out from the moon she tossed it down, down, down upon the earth.  At the same time she said a magic moon-charm:  and when the bit of betel-nut reached the earth, it became a little bird,—­the same which the Malay people call the Honey Bird, with brilliant, beautiful plumage.  And the Princess Putri Balan cried out to it from her golden house,—­

“Fly away, pretty little bright bird!  Fly as far and as fast as ever you can, and keep out of Mr. Owl’s way.  For it is you who must save me from becoming his unhappy wife.”

So the Honey Bird flew away, a brilliant streak, through the Malay woods, and hid himself in a little nest.

When night came out stole Mr. Owl, with his spectacles in place, and up he flew to his Princess, whom he now hoped to call his very own.

“Good evening, my beautiful Princess!” he cried.  “Have you finished your betel-nut at last, and are you ready to keep your promise?”

But the Princess Putri Balan looked down at him, pretending to be sad, though there was a twinkle in her beautiful eye; and she said,—­

“Alas!  Mr. Owl, a dreadful thing has happened.  I lost my betel-nut, before it was quite finished.  It fell down, down, down, until I think it reached the earth.  And I cannot marry you, according to my promise, until it is finished.”

“Then it must be found!” cried Mr. Owl.  “I will find it.  My eyes are sharp at night and nothing escapes them.  Shine kindly on me, Princess, and I will find the betel-nut for you, and you shall yet be mine.”

“Go then, Mr. Owl,” said the Princess, smiling to herself.  “Go and look for the betel-nut which I must finish before I marry you.  Search carefully and you may find it soon.”

Poor Mr. Owl searched carefully, but he could not find the bit of betel-nut.  Of course he could not find it, when it had changed and flown away as a beautiful, many-colored bird!  All that night he sought, till the sun sent him blinking to his tree.  And all the next night he sought, and the next, and the next.  And he kept on seeking for days and months and years, while the Princess Putri Balan smiled down upon him and was happy at heart because of her clever scheme.

Old Mr. Owl never found out the trick, nor suspected the innocent little Honey Bird, whom indeed he scarcely ever saw, because it was a sunset-sleeping bird, while he was a wistful, lonely, sad night-prowler.  Up and down, up and down the world he goes, still looking for the betel-nut of the Princess Putri Balan, which he will never find.  And as he flies in the moonlight he glances ever longingly at the beautiful lady in the moon, and sobs “Hoo-hoo!  Hoo-hoo!” in grief and despair.  For after all these centuries he begins to fear that she will never be his wife.