The Butterfly that Stamped

by Rudyard Kipling

　　THIS, O my Best Beloved, is a story--a new and a wonderful story--astory quite different from the other stories--a story aboutThe Most Wise Sovereign Suleiman-bin-Daoud--Solomon the Son of David.There are three hundred and fifty-five stories about Suleiman-bin-Daoud; but this is not one of them. It is not the story ofthe Lapwing who found the Water; or the Hoopoe who shadedSuleimanbin-Daoud from the heat. It is not the story of the GlassPavement, or the Ruby with the Crooked Hole, or the Gold Bars ofBalkis. It is the story of the Butterfly that Stamped.Now attend all over again and listen!Suleiman-bin-Daoud was wise. He understood what the beasts said,what the birds said, what the fishes said, and what the insectssaid. He understood what the rocks said deep under the earth whenthey bowed in towards each other and groaned; and he understoodwhat the trees said when they rustled in the middle of themorning. He understood everything, from the bishop on the benchto the hyssop on the wall, and Balkis, his Head Queen, the MostBeautiful Queen Balkis, was nearly as wise as he was.Suleiman-bin-Daoud was strong. Upon the third finger of the righthand he wore a ring. When he turned it once, Afrits and Djinnscame Out of the earth to do whatever he told them. When he turnedit twice, Fairies came down from the sky to do whatever he toldthem; and when he turned it three times, the very great angelAzrael of the Sword came dressed as a water-carrier, and told himthe news of the three worlds,--Above--Below--and Here.And yet Suleiman-bin-Daoud was not proud. He very seldom showedoff, and when he did he was sorry for it. Once he tried to feedall the animals in all the world in one day, but when the foodwas ready an Animal came out of the deep sea and ate it up inthree mouthfuls. Suleiman-bin-Daoud was very surprised and said,'O Animal, who are you?' And the Animal said, 'O King, live forever! I am the smallest of thirty thousand brothers, and our homeis at the bottom of the sea. We heard that you were going to feedall the animals in all the world, and my brothers sent me to askwhen dinner would be ready.' Suleiman-bin-Daoud was moresurprised than ever and said, 'O Animal, you have eaten all thedinner that I made ready for all the animals in the world.' Andthe Animal said, 'O King, live for ever, but do you really callthat a dinner? Where I come from we each eat twice as much asthat between meals.' Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud fell flat on hisface and said, 'O Animal! I gave that dinner to show what a greatand rich king I was, and not because I really wanted to be kindto the animals. Now I am ashamed, and it serves me right.Suleiman-bin-Daoud was a really truly wise man, Best Beloved.After that he never forgot that it was silly to show off; andnow the real story part of my story begins.He married ever so many wifes. He married nine hundred andninety-nine wives, besides the Most Beautiful Balkis; and theyall lived in a great golden palace in the middle of a lovelygarden with fountains. He didn't really want nine-hundred andninety-nine wives, but in those days everybody married ever somany wives, and of course the King had to marry ever so manymore just to show that he was the King.Some of the wives were nice, but some were simply horrid, and thehorrid ones quarrelled with the nice ones and made them horridtoo, and then they would all quarrel with Suleiman-bin-Daoud, andthat was horrid for him. But Balkis the Most Beautiful neverquarrelled with Suleiman-bin-Daoud. She loved him too much. Shesat in her rooms in the Golden Palace, or walked in the Palacegarden, and was truly sorry for him.Of course if he had chosen to turn his ring on his finger andcall up the Djinns and the Afrits they would have magicked allthose nine hundred and ninety-nine quarrelsome wives into whitemules of the desert or greyhounds or pomegranate seeds; butSuleiman-bin-Daoud thought that that would be showing off. So,when they quarrelled too much, he only walked by himself in onepart of the beautiful Palace gardens and wished he had never beenborn.One day, when they had quarrelled for three weeks--all ninehundred and ninety-nine wives together--Suleiman-bin-Daoud wentout for peace and quiet as usual; and among the orange trees hemet Balkis the Most Beautiful, very sorrowful because Suleiman-bin-Daoud was so worried. And she said to him, 'O my Lord andLight of my Eyes, turn the ring upon your finger and show theseQueens of Egypt and Mesopotamia and Persia and China that you arethe great and terrible King.' But Suleiman-bin-Daoud shook hishead and said, 'O my Lady and Delight of my Life, remember theAnimal that came out of the sea and made me ashamed before allthe animals in all the world because I showed off. Now, if Ishowed off before these Queens of Persia and Egypt and Abyssiniaand China, merely because they worry me, I might be made evenmore ashamed than I have been.'And Balkis the Most Beautiful said, 'O my Lord and Treasure of mySoul, what will you do?'And Suleiman-bin-Daoud said, 'O my Lady and Content of my Heart,I shall continue to endure my fate at the hands of these ninehundred and ninety-nine Queens who vex me with their continualquarrelling.'So he went on between the lilies and the loquats and the rosesand the cannas and the heavy-scented ginger-plants that grew inthe garden, till he came to the great camphor-tree that wascalled the Camphor Tree of Suleiman-bin-Daoud. But Balkis hidamong the tall irises and the spotted bamboos and the red lilliesbehind the camphor-tree, so as to be near her own true love,Suleiman-bin-Daoud.Presently two Butterflies flew under the tree, quarrelling.Suleiman-bin-Daoud heard one say to the other, 'I wonder at yourpresumption in talking like this to me. Don't you know that if Istamped with my foot all Suleiman-bin-Daoud's Palace and thisgarden here would immediately vanish in a clap of thunder.'Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud forgot his nine hundred and ninety-ninebothersome wives, and laughed, till the camphor-tree shook, atthe Butterfly's boast. And he held out his finger and said,'Little man, come here.'The Butterfly was dreadfully frightened, but he managed to fly upto the hand of Suleiman-bin-Daoud, and clung there, fanninghimself. Suleiman-bin-Daoud bent his head and whispered verysoftly, 'Little man, you know that all your stamping wouldn'tbend one blade of grass. What made you tell that awful fib toyour wife?--for doubtless she is your wife.'The Butterfly looked at Suleiman-bin-Daoud and saw the most wiseKing's eye twinkle like stars on a frosty night, and he picked uphis courage with both wings, and he put his head on one side andsaid, 'O King, live for ever. She is my wife; and you know whatwives are like.Suleiman-bin-Daoud smiled in his beard and said, 'Yes, I know,little brother.'One must keep them in order somehow, said the Butterfly, and shehas been quarrelling with me all the morning. I said that toquiet her.'And Suleiman-bin-Daoud said, 'May it quiet her. Go back to yourwife, little brother, and let me hear what you say.'Back flew the Butterfly to his wife, who was all of a twitterbehind a leaf, and she said, 'He heard you! Suleiman-bin-Daoudhimself heard you!''Heard me!' said the Butterfly. 'Of course he did. I meant him tohear me.''And what did he say? Oh, what did he say?''Well,' said the Butterfly, fanning himself most importantly,'between you and me, my dear--of course I don't blame him,because his Palace must have cost a great deal and the orangesare just ripening,--he asked me not to stamp, and I promised Iwouldn't.''Gracious!' said his wife, and sat quite quiet; butSuleiman-bin-Daoud laughed till the tears ran down his face atthe impudence of the bad little Butterfly.Balkis the Most Beautiful stood up behind the tree among the redlilies and smiled to herself, for she had heard all this talk.She thought, 'If I am wise I can yet save my Lord from thepersecutions of these quarrelsome Queens,' and she held out herfinger and whispered softly to the Butterfly's Wife, 'Littlewoman, come here.' Up flew the Butterfly's Wife, very frightened,and clung to Balkis's white hand.Balkis bent her beautiful head down and whispered, 'Little woman,do you believe what your husband has just said?'The Butterfly's Wife looked at Balkis, and saw the most beautifulQueen's eyes shining like deep pools with starlight on them, andshe picked up her courage with both wings and said, 'O Queen, belovely for ever. You know what men-folk are like.'And the Queen Balkis, the Wise Balkis of Sheba, put her hand toher lips to hide a smile and said, 'Little sister, I know.''They get angry,' said the Butterfly's Wife, fanning herselfquickly, 'over nothing at all, but we must humour them, O Queen.They never mean half they say. If it pleases my husband tobelieve that I believe he can make Suleiman-bin-Daoud's Palacedisappear by stamping his foot, I'm sure I don't care. He'llforget all about it to-morrow.''Little sister,' said Balkis, 'you are quite right; but next timehe begins to boast, take him at his word. Ask him to stamp, andsee what will happen. We know what men-folk are like, don't we?He'll be very much ashamed.'Away flew the Butterfly's Wife to her husband, and in fiveminutes they were quarrelling worse than ever.'Remember!' said the Butterfly. 'Remember what I can do if Istamp my foot.''I don't believe you one little bit,' said the Butterfly's Wife.'I should very much like to see it done. Suppose you stamp now.''I promised Suleiman-bin-Daoud that I wouldn't,' said theButterfly, 'and I don't want to break my promise.''It wouldn't matter if you did,' said his wife. 'You couldn'tbend a blade of grass with your stamping. I dare you to do it,'she said. Stamp! Stamp! Stamp!'Suleiman-bin-Daoud, sitting under the camphor-tree, heard everyword of this, and he laughed as he had never laughed in his lifebefore. He forgot all about his Queens; he forgot all about theAnimal that came out of the sea; he forgot about showing off. Hejust laughed with joy, and Balkis, on the other side of the tree,smiled because her own true love was so joyful.Presently the Butterfly, very hot and puffy, came whirling backunder the shadow of the camphor-tree and said to Suleiman, 'Shewants me to stamp! She wants to see what will happen,O Suleiman-bin-Daoud! You know I can't do it, and now she'llnever believe a word I say. She'll laugh at me to the end ofmy days!''No, little brother,' said Suleiman-bin-Daoud, 'she will neverlaugh at you again,' and he turned the ring on his finger--justfor the little Butterfly's sake, not for the sake of showingoff,--and, lo and behold, four huge Djinns came out of the earth!'Slaves,' said Suleiman-bin-Daoud, 'when this gentleman on myfinger' (that was where the impudent Butterfly was sitting)'stamps his left front forefoot you will make my Palace and thesegardens disappear in a clap of thunder. When he stamps again youwill bring them back carefully.''Now, little brother,' he said, 'go back to your wife and stampall you've a mind to.'Away flew the Butterfly to his wife, who was crying, 'I dare youto do it! I dare you to do it! Stamp! Stamp now! Stamp!' Balkissaw the four vast Djinns stoop down to the four corners of thegardens with the Palace in the middle, and she clapped her handssoftly and said, 'At last Suleiman-bin-Daoud will do for the sakeof a Butterfly what he ought to have done long ago for his ownsake, and the quarrelsome Queens will be frightened!'The the butterfly stamped. The Djinns jerked the Palace and thegardens a thousand miles into the air: there was a most awfulthunder-clap, and everything grew inky-black. The Butterfly'sWife fluttered about in the dark, crying, 'Oh, I'll be good! I'mso sorry I spoke. Only bring the gardens back, my dear darlinghusband, and I'll never contradict again.'The Butterfly was nearly as frightened as his wife, andSuleiman-bin-Daoud laughed so much that it was several minutesbefore he found breath enough to whisper to the Butterfly,'Stamp again, little brother. Give me back my Palace, mostgreat magician.''Yes, give him back his Palace,' said the Butterfly's Wife, stillflying about in the dark like a moth. 'Give him back his Palace,and don't let's have any more horrid.magic.' 'Well, my dear,' said the Butterfly as bravely as he could, 'yousee what your nagging has led to. Of course it doesn't make anydifference to me--I'm used to this kind of thing--but as a favourto you and to Suleiman-bin-Daoud I don't mind putting things right.'So he stamped once more, and that instant the Djinns let down thePalace and the gardens, without even a bump. The sun shone on thedark-green orange leaves; the fountains played among the pinkEgyptian lilies; the birds went on singing, and the Butterfly'sWife lay on her side under the camphor-tree waggling her wings andpanting, 'Oh, I'll be good! I'll be good!'Suleiman-bin-Daolld could hardly speak for laughing. He leanedback all weak and hiccoughy, and shook his finger at theButterfly and said, 'O great wizard, what is the sense ofreturning to me my Palace if at the same time you slay me withmirth!'Then came a terrible noise, for all the nine hundred andninety-nine Queens ran out of the Palace shrieking and shoutingand calling for their babies. They hurried down the great marblesteps below the fountain, one hundred abreast, and the Most WiseBalkis went statelily forward to meet them and said, 'What isyour trouble, O Queens?'They stood on the marble steps one hundred abreast and shouted,'What is our trouble? We were living peacefully in our goldenpalace, as is our custom, when upon a sudden the Palacedisappeared, and we were left sitting in a thick and noisomedarkness; and it thundered, and Djinns and Afrits moved about inthe darkness! That is our trouble, O Head Queen, and we are mostextremely troubled on account of that trouble, for it was atroublesome trouble, unlike any trouble we have known.'Then Balkis the Most Beautiful Queen--Suleiman-bin-Daoud's VeryBest Beloved--Queen that was of Sheba and Sable and the Rivers ofthe Gold of the South--from the Desert of Zinn to the Towers ofZimbabwe--Balkis, almost as wise as the Most Wise Suleiman-bin-Daoudhimself, said, 'It is nothing, O Queens! A Butterfly has madecomplaint against his wife because she quarrelled with him, and ithas pleased our Lord Suleiman-bin-Daoud to teach her a lesson inlow-speaking and humbleness, for that is counted a virtue amongthe wives of the butterflies.'Then up and spoke an Egyptian Queen--the daughter of a Pharoah--andshe said, 'Our Palace cannot be plucked up by the roots like aleek for the sake of a little insect. No! Suleiman-bin-Daoudmust be dead, and what we heard and saw was the earth thunderingand darkening at the news.'Then Balkis beckoned that bold Queen without looking at her, andsaid to her and to the others, 'Come and see.'They came down the marble steps, one hundred abreast, and beneathhis camphor-tree, still weak with laughing, they saw the MostWise King Suleiman-bin-Daoud rocking back and forth with aButterfly on either hand, and they heard him say, 'O wife of mybrother in the air, remember after this, to please your husbandin 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 mosteminently a great magician--one who steals away the very Palaceof Suleirnan-bin-Daoud himself. Go in peace, little folk!' And hekissed them on the wings, and they flew away.Then all the Queens except Balkis--the Most Beautiful andSplendid Balkis, who stood apart smiling--fell flat on theirfaces, for they said, 'If these things are done when a Butterflyis displeased with his wife, what shall be done to us who havevexed our King with our loud-speaking and open quarrellingthrough many days?'Then they put their veils over their heads, and they put theirhands over their mouths, and they tiptoed back to the Palace mostmousy-quiet.Then Balkis--The Most Beautiful and Excellent Balkis--wentforward through the red lilies into the shade of the camphor-treeand laid her hand upon Suleiman-bin-Daoud's shoulder and said, 'Omy Lord and Treasure of my Soul, rejoice, for we have taught theQueens of Egypt and Ethiopia and Abyssinia and Persia and Indiaand China with a great and a memorable teaching.'And Suleiman-bin-Daoud, still looking after the Butterflies wherethey played in the sunlight, said, 'O my Lady and Jewel of myFelicity, when did this happen? For I have been jesting with aButterfly ever since I came into the garden.' And he told Balkiswhat he had done.Balkis--The tender and Most Lovely Balkis--said, 'O my Lord andRegent of my Existence, I hid behind the camphor-tree and saw itall. It was I who told the Butterfly's Wife to ask the Butterflyto stamp, because I hoped that for the sake of the jest my Lordwould make some great magic and that the Queens would see it andbe frightened.' And she told him what the Queens had said andseen and thought.Then Suleiman-bin-Daoud rose up from his seat under thecamphor-tree, and stretched his arms and rejoiced and said,'O my Lady and Sweetener of my Days, know that if I had madea magic against my Queens for the sake of pride or anger, as Imade that feast for all the animals, I should certainly havebeen put to shame. But by means of your wisdom I made the magicfor the sake of a jest and for the sake of a little Butterfly,and--behold--it has also delivered me from the vexations of myvexatious wives! Tell me, therefore, O my Lady and Heart of myHeart, how did you come to be so wise?' And Balkis the Queen,beautiful and tall, looked up into Suleiman-bin-Daoud's eyes andput her head a little on one side, just like the Butterfly, andsaid, 'First, O my Lord, because I loved you; and secondly, O myLord, because I know what women-folk are.'Then they went up to the Palace and lived happily everafterwards.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!