Solomon picked him up and placed him in the palm of his hand, speaking softly to him: “Oh King of the Ants, I am a prophet of God, who has given me the earth to rule until His angel will call me.  Rest assured that I will uphold His law and that no innocent creature will be harmed without necessity by me or by any of my subjects.  All ants are under my protection.  Do you have a throne, oh King of the Ants?”  Answered the ant king: “My throne at this moment is the hand of the Earth’s Emperor.”  Amused, King Solomon asked further: “How many soldiers do you have under your command?”

The ant king asked for some time to answer this question.  He went down to his command post and ordered all his soldier ants to appear before King Solomon, the ruler of the earth.  Immediately the entire valley became black as all the king’s soldier ants formed ranks and prepared to march past King Solomon in well-ordered regiments, each with its own color.  By nightfall the end of the army was not yet in sight, but King Solomon declared that he was satisfied that the ant king’s army was more numerous than his own.

“Your Majesty has not seen half my army yet,” spoke the ant king, “but let me give you a present for the day, something worthy of a royal dinner.”  And he gave King Solomon the hind leg of a locust.  “Very rich food, only the best is good enough for Your Majesty.”  King Solomon said good bye to the ant king, thanking him for dinner.  He had learned that the commander of the most numerous army on earth was satisfied with a locust leg for dinner.

The Bat

King Solomon once asked all the birds in his kingdom to give him one feather each, explaining: “I am old and the nights are cold.  My bony body needs a soft couch.  One feather from each of you is not asking too much, surely?”  All the birds came and offered him a feather: the eagle, the vulture, the sparrow, the partridge.

But the bat said, “One feather is not enough for the King of Kings,” and it tore out all its colorful plumage, offering it to King Solomon.  The latter gratefully accepted, but, seeing the generous bat naked except for the soft hairs that all chicks have on their bodies before they get feathers, the king in his wisdom decreed:  “Your kindness will make you the victim of mockery from the other birds, since the majority of creatures on this earth are mean and do not understand magnanimity.