BIRDS AND POETRY. 
433 
examples to the children of Adam, should they not 
render Him due praise and glory. There is one 
bird amongst the fowls of the air to whom the 
great Giver of all Good allotted the banks of rivers 
and flowery meadows as a habitation. One day all the 
birds assembled on an extensive plain to praise and 
glorify the Sublime Being: every bird but one appeared, 
the exception being the Spurwinged Plover. This latter 
only arrived at the end of three days, giving as an excuse 
that it had been overcome with sleep. This was a lie, 
however; and the angel Mekihr, whose province is to try 
souls on the day of judgment, complained of the sinner 
before the throne of Allah; upon which the judge placed 
a spike or spur on each wing, saying: ‘ Thou didst elect 
to sleep when all other birds were assembled to render me 
homage, therefore thou shalt never sleep again! ’ O, 
believer! go into the fields, and behold the condemned 
one,—ever seeking rest, and lamenting his sin! Go, 
then, and glorify God in all humility.” 
The following explanation, as given by the Arabs, in 
one of their legends about the Ostrich,—the giant among 
birds,—is still prettier, because more poetical. We do 
not know why the Ostrich is so striking in appearance, 
habits, and conduct; why it is so different from all other 
birds, so singularly feathered, is so shy of man, and 
cannot fly: the fairy tale, however, will give us all the 
necessary information on these points. “In the days of 
old,” so say the mollahs of the Bedouins, in their 
tales by the watch-fire, “in the days when the good¬ 
ness and mercy of God the All-merciful, God the 
All-gracious, was great towards man, a sinner from the 
day of his creation, the Ostrich, under grace, lived 
at peace with the other animals of the desert, his 
