Once upon a time there lived a mighty king who had a number of distinguished counselors and nobles and counts, as is the custom of kings, but they all treated him with contempt and did not pay him the respect due to a king.

Now the king had a young hawk which had been trained for hunting and which was able to catch many birds and hares, as we still find today trained hawks, which are very valuable and highly prized. The hawk never left the king, it ate from his hand and it slept in his lap, and the king was very fond of it.

In the third year of his kingdom, the king made a banquet on the anniversary of his marriage to the queen and feasted all his lords, knights, counts and charioteers. When they were making merry drinking with him he called for his hawk, for he was very proud of the bird and valued it highly. Suddenly, as the hawk was sitting there, it saw an eagle, the king of the birds, carrying food to its young. The hawk became excited flew towards the eagle, caught it and brought it down and cast it at the feet of the king. Then the hawk returned to the king's lap, thinking that he would be very well treated for having caught such a bird.

But the hawk did not know that he had done wrong in killing the king of the birds, So when the bird returned again to the king's lap, the king wrung its neck and killed it. The lords wondered very much at the king's action, but no one said anything, though all were very sorry for the bird.

The king saw that all his counselors were angry, although they said nothing. So he said: "Do not wonder that I have killed the bird, and do not be displeased thereat, for such is the law of the Torah: If anyone attacks the king he is guilty of death. The eagle is the king of the birds and the hawk killed it, therefore it is right that he should lose his life. The same law applies to every man who despises the king."

Then all the people marveled at his wisdom, knowing very well that he had them in mind, and from that time onwards they stood in great awe of him.