As that very day passed and the hour of dinner arrived, King Solomon settled down to dinner with the greatest pomp from his retinue. And Marcolf, sitting with the others, enclosed three mice in the sleeve of his tunic. For there was in the court of King Solomon a cat nurtured in such a way that every night when the king dined, it would hold a candle in front of everyone, standing on two of its paws and holding the lamp with two. And when almost everyone had dined, Marcolf let loose one of the mice; when the cat caught sight of it and wanted to go after it, it was restrained by a grunt from the king. And when the same thing happened with the second mouse, Marcolf let loose the third. When the cat caught sight of it, it was unable to resist any longer and tossed down the candle and, running after the mouse, caught it. Seeing this, Marcolf said to the king, "Look, king: I have proven in your presence that nature counts more than nurture." Whereupon King Solomon said to his servants, "Throw him out of my sight, and if he comes back any more, unleash all my dogs upon him!" Then Marcolf said, "Now for certain I can say that there is a bad court in that place where there is no justice." And when Marcolf had been expelled from the king's court, he began to say to himself, "Neither in this way nor in that will wise Solomon have peace from the rogue Marcolf."

(From: Solomon and Marcolf, Chapter 8, Second Part)

Solomon and Marcolf is a medieval socalled rudimental prose novel or 'rogue biography'. It was first published in Latin around 1200. The book enjoyed an extraordinary heyday in the 15th and 16th century. Its first half constitutes a dialogue between king Solomon and a wily, earthy and irreverent rustic named Marcolf. The second part, of which the story below marks the beginning, recounts tricks that the peasant plays upon the ruler.

Evidence points to connections between Marcolf and the Middle East. Thus the contest with Marcolf was related to riddle competitions between King Solomon on the one hand and King Hiram of Tyre or the Queen of Sheba on the other.

In his book the translator Jan M. Ziokowski also gives a substantial introduction to the text together with a detailed commentary that clarifies difficulties in language and identifies proverbial material and narrative motifs.

The translation into English by Jan M. Ziokowski was published in 2008 by Harvard University Press.

Thereupon King Solomon on a certain day, as he was returning from the pursuit of hunting with his huntsmen and many leashes of dogs, passed by before the lodgings of Marcolf the fool. When he had been told by bystanders that the lodgings of Marcolf the fool were there, he turned off there with his horse and, with his head bowed under the lintel of the front door, asked who was inside. Marcolf indeed, sitting by the fire and keeping watch over a pot full of beans, responded to the king: "Here inside is a man, and half a man, and the head of a horse; and however much more they rise up, by that much more they sink down." To these words Solomon said: "What is this that you are saying?" Marcolf responded, "I am the whole man sitting inside; you indeed are the half man, sitting outside upon your horse and looking inside; the head of the horse is the head of your horse, upon which you are sitting." Then Solomon said, "Who are those rising up and sinking down?" Marcolf: "The beans boiling in the pot."

Solomon: "Where are your father and your mother, your brother and your sister?" Marcolf: "My father is making two losses out of one loss. My mother indeed is doing for her neighbour, what she will do no more for her. Moreover my brother, sitting outside the house, is killing whatever he finds. Finally my sister, sitting in her room, is weeping over her laughter of the previous year." Solomon: "What do these words mean?" Marcolf: "My father is in his field and, wishing to block the path of passersby, puts thorns on the path; and the people coming make two routes, and thus he makes two losses out of one loss. Indeed my mother is closing the eyes of her dying neighbour, which she -the neighbour- will do no more for her. Moreover my brother, sitting outside the house in the sun and holding his clothes in front of him, is killing all the lice he finds. Finally my sister in bygone times loved a certain young man, and now pregnant, she weeps over what she then laughed about, among frolics, soft touches, and corrupt kisses."