The King then saw that nothing he could say would convince his companions. He had promised to satisfy their first request, and his word was sacred.
"Come with me," said he, "to my friend, the magician Zacchar. No one is more expert in the working of metal. At his touch iron becomes more supple, silver becomes malleable, and gold is mere paste. Come! and you shall have the diadem you long for."
During three days the magician worked pure gold. The bellows blew and the hammers thumped. During three nights he chased the marvellous crowns that were to adorn the heads of the lapwings. At the dawn of the fourth day the King arrived, with a sad smile on his face.
"Friends," said he to the birds, "my promise is fulfilled. Take these diadems; take these diadems, which are masterpieces of art, and go whither your destiny calls you."
At these words the lapwings uttered loud cries of joy.
"Go, go," cried the King, "escape from man or you are lost."
Without understanding his warning, but obeying the command of the powerful King, the lapwings took flight, filled with joy and happiness. They went here and there, flying to the tops of the mountains and descending to the depths of the valleys, telling of their good fortune to all their friends both far and wide.
When the other birds saw the crowns with which the heads of the lapwings were encircled they paid due homage to the symbols. Whenever there was a feast or an important funeral the lapwings and their friends walked in the place of honor, before the eagles and the peafowls, leaving far behind them the humming-bird (that living flower), the linnet, and the nightingale.
But, unfortunately, it happened one day that a lapwing came too near the abode of man, and a hunter saw it and killed it.
"What is this?" exclaimed the sportsman, perceiving the golden crown. Seizing it, he ran quickly to the jeweller's.
"Worker in metals!" said he, "see this marvellous diadem the lapwing carries! Of what metal is it made?"
The jeweller took the crown, turned it on all sides, and looking at it with greedy eyes, exclaimed:
"It is of pure gold, and if you will part with it I will pay you an hundred shekels."
When the other sportsmen found out the value of the ornament that the lapwings wore on their heads, they made haste to go into the country, and they pursued the lapwings, wherever they could find them. New weapons were invented, and the hunters watched day and night, killing all the lapwings that were so unfortunate as to appear in sight.