THE BIRDS. 139 -

master who was having a sleep after his midday
meal of myrtle-berries and winged ants.

Before long King Hoopoe appeared, a majestic
creature with a triple crest, and inquired of the
strangers what they wanted. They replied that
they had come to consult him.

King Hoopoe. “Consult me? About what?”

Ffopeful, “You were once a man, as we are; you
owed money, as we do; you were glad to get off
paying it, as we are; after this you were changed
into a bird; you have flown over lands and seas, —
and have all the feelings both of a bird and of a
man; we have come therefore to you, hoping that if
. you have seen in your journeyings any snug country
where we might find a comfortable place to lie down
in, you would tell us of it.”

Kk. H. “Do you want a finer city than Athens?”

fTope. “Not a finer one certainly, but one that
would suit us better.”

KK. H. “What kind of a place are you thinking of ?”

Hope. “Why, a place where the most important
business they do is of this kind. Your friend comes
to your door the first thing in the morning and says,
_ ‘Mind you come, you and your children, dressed in
your best, for I am to give a wedding feast.’ ”

K. Hf. “Well, I know of a place that might suit
you near the Red Sea.”

Hope. “No; that won’t do. It must not be any-
where near the sea, or else I shall have the state