KING SOLOMON AND THE BEES.
King Solomon was the wisest man in the world.
One day a beautiful queen came to his castle.
She had heard that King Solomon was very wise. But she did not believe that he knew everything.
The queen gave him a red rose which she had brought from the garden. She also gave him a rose that was made of red paper. They looked just alike.
“King Solomon,” she said, “you are very wise. Can you tell me at once which rose is made of paper, and which grew in the garden?”
King Solomon looked at them, but he could not tell. So he said to his servants, “Open the windows.”
Some bees flew into the room. They buzzed around the rose that grew in the garden.
King Solomon pointed to the other one. “That rose,” said he, “is made of paper.”
Then the queen thought King Solomon the wisest man in the world.
Suggested byJohn Saxe’spoem, “King Solomon and the Bees.”