They came down the marble steps,one hundred abreast,and beneath his camphor-tree,still weak with laughing,they saw the Most Wise King Suleiman-bin-Daoud rocking back and forth with a Butterfly on either hand,and they heard him say,'O wife of my brother in the air,remember after this,to please your husband in all things,lest he be provoked to stamp his foot yet again;for he has said that he is used to this magic,and he is most eminently a great magician--one who steals away the very Palace of Suleirnan-bin-Daoud himself.Go in peace,little folk!'And he kissed them on the wings,and they flew away.
Then all the Queens except Balkis--the Most Beautiful and Splendid Balkis,who stood apart smiling--fell flat on their faces,for they said,'If these things are done when a Butterfly is displeased with his wife,what shall be done to us who have vexed our King with our loud-speaking and open quarrelling through many days?'
Then they put their veils over their heads,and they put their hands over their mouths,and they tiptoed back to the Palace most mousy-quiet.
Then Balkis--The Most Beautiful and Excellent Balkis--went forward through the red lilies into the shade of the camphor-tree and laid her hand upon Suleiman-bin-Daoud's shoulder and said,'Omy Lord and Treasure of my Soul,rejoice,for we have taught the Queens of Egypt and Ethiopia and Abyssinia and Persia and India and China with a great and a memorable teaching.'
And Suleiman-bin-Daoud,still looking after the Butterflies where they played in the sunlight,said,'O my Lady and Jewel of my Felicity,when did this happen?For I have been jesting with a Butterfly ever since I came into the garden.'And he told Balkis what he had done.
Balkis--The tender and Most Lovely Balkis--said,'O my Lord and Regent of my Existence,I hid behind the camphor-tree and saw it all.It was I who told the Butterfly's Wife to ask the Butterfly to stamp,because I hoped that for the sake of the jest my Lord would make some great magic and that the Queens would see it and be frightened.'And she told him what the Queens had said and seen and thought.
Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud rose up from his seat under the camphor-tree,and stretched his arms and rejoiced and said,'O my Lady and Sweetener of my Days,know that if I had made a magic against my Queens for the sake of pride or anger,as Imade that feast for all the animals,I should certainly have been put to shame.But by means of your wisdom I made the magic for the sake of a jest and for the sake of a little Butterfly,and--behold--it has also delivered me from the vexations of my vexatious wives!Tell me,therefore,O my Lady and Heart of my Heart,how did you come to be so wise?'And Balkis the Queen,beautiful and tall,looked up into Suleiman-bin-Daoud's eyes and put her head a little on one side,just like the Butterfly,and said,'First,O my Lord,because I loved you;and secondly,O my Lord,because I know what women-folk are.'
Then they went up to the Palace and lived happily ever afterwards.
But wasn't it clever of Balkis?
THERE was never a Queen like Balkis,From here to the wide world's end;But Balkis tailed to a butterfly As you would talk to a friend.
There was never a King like Solomon,Not since the world began;But Solomon talked to a butterfly As a man would talk to a man.
She was Queen of Sabaea--
And he was Asia's Lord--
But they both of 'em talked to butterflies When they took their walks abroad!
