King Solomon had a lovely and charming daughter, whose name was Keziah. This daughter was the apple of his eye, and he often thought that he would let her marry only a great ruler, for no one else, he felt, would be worthy of her. Then it happened, during a war, when King Solomon's soldiers were crossing a river on a very hot day, that Solomon called upon the birds to protect them from the heat. In a moment the wings of thousands of birds beat above their heads, shielding them from the sun. And while this was taking place, an eagle, whose wings were sheltering King Solomon himself, whispered to Solomon, who understood the language of the birds, that it had overheard a voice from heaven which had announced that Solomon's beloved daughter Keziah was destined to marry a poor man before a year had passed.
Now King Solomon was very disturbed to hear this news, for he wished his Keziah to wed only another king. The words of the eagle consumed him day and night, until at last he decided to have a high tower built in the sea, where he would keep his daughter until the year had passed. That way, he believed, he could prevent the undesirable union from taking place.
Therefore Solomon commanded that the building of a lofty tower be undertaken by his most trusted servants, on the farthest and most remote island of his empire. And he ordered the tower be built without entrances or doors of any kind, except for an entrance on the roof, and with only a single window in his daughter's chamber, from which she could look out on the sea.
So too was the tower to be furnished with the finest furniture and many treasures, and seventy servants, all women, were to be sent to satisfy the princess's every wish and command, and there was abundant food to last a year.
Now with the great resources available to King Solomon, the tower was soon completed, and then Solomon called in Keziah and said to her: I am sending you on a long voyage, to a beautiful island. I ask that you make your home there for one year.
When you return I shall explain why I have sent you there.
Meanwhile, I have seen to it that you will lack for nothing. And Keziah replied: Your wisdom, father, is well known throughout the world. I know you love me, as I do you, and that you are sending me on this journey for a good reason. Therefore I will willingly go, and I do not doubt it will be for the best. King Solomon thanked the Lord for having blessed him with such a wise and loving daughter. And a few days later the princess Keziah took her leave of the king and set sail. The ship sailed for forty days and nights, and at last arrived at the distant island where the tower had been built. To gain entrance a rope was put around the princess, and she was pulled up to the roof, where the only entrance to the tower was to be found. Once inside, the princess was met by the seventy serving women who had been sent there before her, and she made her home at the top of the tower in a room that overlooked the sea.
Meanwhile, far away, in the city of Acco, there lived a young man whose name was Reuben, a scholar and a scribe, who was poor in possessions, but rich in knowledge and learning. In order to support his poor parents and himself, Reuben wandered about in search of work. So it was that once he was wandering in the wilderness when night fell, and he had to sleep beneath the stars. However, as the night passed, it grew colder and colder, until he could no longer bear the chill, and he began to wander about, searching for some place where he could keep warm.
There were no caves nearby in that barren wilderness, but in the dark the young man came upon the carcass of an ox that had been slain by a lion that very day. The carcass was torn open, and the ox was still warm, so he lay down inside it, and fell into a deep sleep. Then, during the night, a giant eagle swooped down and picked up the ox in its claws, and bore it away, with Reuben still sleeping inside it. As fate would have it, the eagle carried the ox to the roof of the tower in which the princess was living.
There the eagle ate its fill of the ox, and then flew off back into the wilderness, while the young man was still asleep.
Now it was the custom of the princess to awaken very early and to go up to the roof of the tower to watch the sun rise over the sea. And when she came up to the roof that day, she found the youth asleep in the carcass of the ox, and her surprise was great. She gently woke him and said: Who are you, and how did you come to be here? And when Reuben opened his eyes and found himself in that place, on the high roof of a tower overlooking the sea, with a girl of peerless beauty standing before him, he assumed he was still dreaming. He rubbed his eyes, but nothing changed, and he realized that some kind of miracle had taken place. Then he said: My name is Reuben. I am an Israelite of the city of Acco. Last night I was sleeping in the wilderness when it became very cold, and I found the carcass of this ox, and slept inside it to keep warm. But I do not know how I came to be here. Then the princess noticed three very large feathers lying beside the ox. She picked them up and showed them to Reuben and said: These are the feathers of a giant bird, perhaps an eagle, which must have carried the ox here to devour, and brought you along with it. And when he saw the feathers, Reuben realized the princess must be correct, and then he was even more amazed that such a thing had happened. Nor did he regret the turn of events, for from the first instant he had seen the beauty of the princess, he had bound his heart to her. So too was the heart of the princess taken with the youth who had appeared so unexpectedly on the tower roof.
So it was that the princess invited Reuben into her chamber, where she let him bathe and gave him a new robe to wear. And when he emerged from the bath, she was greatly struck by how handsome he was. Then she shared her breakfast with him, and after they had eaten she told him who she was, and how she had come to be there. Then she said: This tower has been built so that it is impossible to leave it, for there are no doors of any kind except for the one on the roof where we entered. And even if you succeeded in descending from the tower, nothing would be gained, for no ship ever passes this secluded island. Perhaps it was fated that you come here; therefore, stay until the day my father, King Solomon, comes to fetch me at the end of a year. Thus Reuben remained in the tower with the princess Keziah, and every day their love for each other deepened. Before long Reuben asked the princess to marry him, and when she agreed, he wrote out a marriage contract which they signed, and then they exchanged vows and called upon God and the angels Michael and Gabriel to be their witnesses. And thus they became man and wife.
So it was that by the end of the year Reuben and Keziah had become the happy parents of a beautiful child, a boy, whom they named Solomon. And when the ship arrived to take the princess back to the palace in Jerusalem, King Solomon disembarked from it, for he had come to bring her back himself. Imagine his astonishment when he discovered that his daughter was married, and was the mother of a fine child, his namesake! Solomon was overwhelmed, and understood for the first time how vain it was to try to prevent the decrees of Providence from taking place.
And Solomon also recognized Reuben's fine qualities, and that he was a scholar and a scribe, and he did not oppose him, but welcomed him as if he were his own son.
Thereupon King Solomon accompanied his daughter and her husband and their child to Jerusalem, where a lavish wedding was held for the princess and her beloved to share their joy with all of the inhabitants of the kingdom. And afterward they lived together in joy and peace for all the days of their lives.