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. "Lord, have mercy on us!" exclaimed the lapwings, "and blind the eyes of the cruel men who are killing us!" But the crown of the lapwings was so brilliant that it resembled the sun's rays, and even in the darkness it shone like the stars. There was no rest or escape for these unfortunate birds. The dark night, even, was as fatal to them as the day. The huntsmen pursued them with so much vigor that only ten remained alive. "What shall we do?" asked the King of the Lapwings, who had not yet been destroyed. "Let us go and implore the great King to relieve us of these golden crowns that are the cause of all our misfortunes." Immediately the lapwings started on their journey in search of the great King. Some of them stopped by the way, so that only a few reached the King's throne, where they were welcomed, the powerful ruler talking to them kindly as he would have talked to faithful friends. "Lapwings with the golden diadems! My dear companions, what can I do to please you this day?" "Great Prince!" they replied, "you can give us our lives by removing these unfortunate gifts that adorn our heads—by taking away these golden crowns that have been the cause of all our misfortunes."