After a long recess the King emerges in glory from his chamber, well braced for the evening hunt. He examines his assembly of men and discovers that the hoopoe is not present at his designated duty post. Immediately the King declares, ‘’surely, the hoopoe is the cursed one today, except he shall bring me some plausible reasons for his audacity.’’
Far into the east and sensitive to the humming of the wind, the hoopoe resolves to not retire home until he finds something worthwhile to appease the King with. So he presses further into the ether and soon discovers a mystery. He beholds a sublime kingdom ruled over by a lady.
‘’What heresy’’ the hoopoe says as he returns home to inform the King about this.
On arrival, the hoopoe prances forward radiantly to the amazement of the bystanders and the amusement of the King. Following a mild chuckle, the King beckons at his erring subject and says ‘’surely you’ve got some sweet jokes to tell me so I shall not punish your excesses.’’
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‘’Your Lordship, in your name and glory, I have traversed the world and I’ve caught it in naked treachery against your Highness’’ the hoopoe says.
‘’Stop speaking in parables. I am no fan of empty wit. So come bare with your points’’ the King demands.
‘’I know of a kingdom in the farther East full of brass and gold, milk and honey and a wider army of subjects, all belonging to a lady. This I’ve seen in earnest horror my Lord. I swear by your name’’ the hoopoe assured.
Immediately, the King becomes enraged, brimming with a fiery storm, he demands in wanton possessiveness, ‘’bring me her throne. I want her begging for her dare life after such blasphemy’’ whereas it is the King who harbours wild grudges and vain cravings.
The King’s virile pronouncement comes to pass as surely the Queen’s feminine submissiveness is harsher than the venom of the mamba.
She caresses the Majesty’s fiery cravings to ashes with her airy, gentle touch.
Commentary and Lessons
The hoopoe is a species of bird found across Africa, Asia and Europe. It is known for its colourfulness, briskness and restiveness. The hoopoe also has a sonorous voice capable of causing hypnosis in those that pay attention to its chirpings. Due to its relative small size and light weight, the hoopoe hastens and tosses about with the movement of the wind and is rarely stable and reflective in the earth.
The Legend of the hoopoe is a story from the eastern social thought often told to admonish against social vices such as anger, bitterness, restiveness and immediate gratifications. The story appears in Surat Naml, chapter twenty-seven of the Quran narrating the dusk of the King Solomon’s kingdom after the King met with his would be alter ego, Queen sheba.
The moral of the story is also reflected in the classics, Sun Tzu: The Art of War. ‘’If the general is not victorious over his anger and sets them swarming like ants, one-third of the officers and soldiers are killed and the walled city not uprooted…’’
In the story, we are admonished to be wary of the hoopoes in our circle. These individuals do not have a keen sense of direction and never really enjoys minding their businesses. They always tend to mask their emptiness with their parochial prowess and their capacity to inspire superficial awareness.
When things unfold in their natural order or according to divine ordainment, the hoopoes always seek an illusory gap to connect. They are always on the lookout for crude or grapevine information to feed the ego of the significant others in their lives with. Because they are not intelligent and disciplined enough to create value, they always seek to gain attention and maintain their relevance in a social gathering by raising false alarm and spreading unverified information.
The hoopoes exaggerate reality out of proportion and creatively play their roles as catalysts of destruction. A king that wants to have control of his empire should be careful with paying attention to these individuals.
Beware of what you are fed with, especially by someone who craves a political favour.