Episode 11: The Birds who Befriended a King

Welcome to Episode 11 of Public Domain Radio: Mythology and Folklore. Today I am reading a story from Wonder Tales of the World by Anne Armfield with illustrations by Maxwell Armfield. This book was published in 1920 which puts it in the public domain in the United States. You can find the book online at the Internet Archive.

The story I will be reading is called The Birds who Befriended a King: A Tale of Arabia. This is only the first part of the story; the second part of the story is about Solomon and the King of Sheba, and you can read that continuation of the story online if you want to know more about King Solomon and the hoopoes.

You can listen to the embedded audio file below, or with this audio link.

Laura Gibbs · PDRE 11. The Birds Who Befriended A King

This is how the Hoopoes came to know the great King Solomon.

Once he was far out in the wilderness — for there was no part of his kingdom that Solomon did not visit — he had seen that the great store city was finished to his liking, even Tadmor in the desert, and across the sand, the King’s cavalcade made its way, with the camels and the dromedaries and their broidered saddle-cloths bright as flowers, and jewelled bridles flashing as brightly as the sun itself.

But the heat smote down on the King’s head, and Solomon yearned for shade. As if in answer to his longing, who should appear but a flock of Hoopoes. Being curious by nature, they circled round until they reached the King’s camel and kept just overhead, so that they might watch this most famous of all monarchs and perchance overhear some word of wisdom. Thus the little birds cast a grateful shadow over the King for his whole journey and richly repaid they were, for Solomon, who was always polite to the humblest creature in his kingdom, conversed freely with them during the whole time.

illustration by Maxwell Armfield

When they reached his palace, he thanked them for the service they had done him and asked what he could do in return. Now the Hoopoes had begun their conversation with Solomon modestly enough; in fact, they had been very surprised that he had spoken to them at all. But he had questioned them so kindly about their ways of living, and their likes and preferences and relations, that they lost their fear of him and they came to this wonderful palace and saw all the servants in their shining robes standing behind the King’s throne and waiting at his table and lining the great court-yard, and when they beheld the walls of ivory inlaid with gold and the golden lions guarding the steps and the white peacocks on the silver terraces, it quite turned their heads to think they had journeyed right across the desert with the owner of these riches.

So instead of answering Solomon with thanks on their part and telling him his words of wisdom were rich reward for any shelter they had given, the Hoopoes begged leave to consult together and withdrew to the palace roof where they discussed what they would ask for. Finally they decided they would like golden crowns such as the King himself wore; then they could return to the other birds and reign over them. Thereupon the little birds flew down with a rush and made their request to the King as he walked in his wonderful garden.

"What the King has said, the King has said," Solomon replied. "The gift you desire shall be granted! Yet, because you rendered me true service, when you wish to get rid of your crowns, you may return and exchange them for wisdom."

"Nay, King!" said the Hoopoes. "Well we know that wisdom has brought you great renown, but no one would bow down to you or give attention to your words, unless you wore your golden crown. We shall be able to repeat your wise words profitably now, for all will listen when they see gold crowns on our heads too."

"All the same, return to me without fear or shame, if your crowns do not satisfy," said King Solomon kindly and ordered his goldsmiths to supply the Hoopoes with crowns of the finest gold procurable.

Off flew the silly little birds, therefore, with the shining crowns upon their heads, prouder than the peacocks and chattering more loudly than the parrots and macaws. They could scarcely wait to get back to their friends and hear their exclamations.

But when the Hoopoes informed their friends they were now Kings of the Bird World, their friends only laughed and said that they were quite satisfied with Solomon, and that he was the only King they wished or needed. Then they drove the Hoopoes from the trees, for their golden crowns were always catching in the branches and the other birds became tired of helping them out.

But the Hoopoes decided the other birds were jealous and, rather flattered, they gathered round the pools so that they could admire themselves in the water.

Very soon people began to notice the queer antics of the silly little things as they strutted up and down, cocking their heads first this side, then that, and finally a man caught one and discovered the wonderful golden crown it wore. He hurried off with it to a goldsmith who gave him so high a price for it that the man rushed back to the pool and laid snares for the Hoopoes, who were so taken up with admiring themselves that they walked straight into them.

Then came the saddest time for the Hoopoes. Every one began to hunt them. The poor little birds could not go to the wells and the pools for they were thick with nets! They could not go into the gardens for fowlers lurked behind the flowers! They could not fly up onto the housetops for even there the people had set traps for them! There did not seem a spot on the earth where they could rest and, at last, the wretched little birds flew back to the palace and waited till they beheld the great King Solomon coming along his terrace, listening to his singers as they performed in the cool of the evening.

"Oh, King," said the Hoopoes, "we have found that golden crowns are vanity! We know not what you do to keep yourself from being chased about and hunted, and so we have come to ask you to remove ours from us."

"Beloved Hoopoes," said the King, "a crown that people are expected to bow down to always sits heavy on the head, and a crown that excites envy is a net for the feet. The only crown that can be worn with comfort is the crown of service, and that crown should spring up naturally so that no one takes any particular notice of it."

"Give us that crown of service, O wise King," said the poor little Hoopoes very humbly, for they wanted nothing better now than to be taken no notice of.

"May it shelter you even as it sheltered me," said the great King; and on their heads, the Hoopoes beheld crowns of feathers.

And with these crowns came quite a new feeling to the Hoopoes; they no longer wished to rule but to serve.

Now the Arabian legend has it, Solomon had a wonderful flying carpet, where he sat on a golden throne with all his attendants round him. Mindful of the Hoopoes’ usefulness, he summoned all the birds to make a flying canopy: the Eagle was placed at their head, but the Hoopoes were placed immediately over Solomon as he sat in the centre of his court. Thus shadowed, Solomon and his friends and servants would rise from the ground and travel across the desert and over sea and land, in cool and comfort.

THE END