# Balkis — Just So Stories character guide

> Balkis in Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Balkis the Most Beautiful, the Wise Balkis of Sheba, the Queen Balkis

**First appearance:** 0011-the-butterfly-that-stamped

## Snapshot

The Most Beautiful and Wise Queen of Sheba, whose quiet understanding of husbands and butterflies saves her lord Suleiman from a swarm of quarrelsome Queens.

## Who they are

Balkis stands behind the camphor-tree among the red lilies, watching her husband Suleiman-bin-Daoud lose his joy to the endless squabbles of his royal wives. When she overhears the Butterfly's Wife fretting about her boastful husband, Balkis whispers clever counsel that turns the little quarrel into a lesson about taking boastful men at their word. Her wisdom is the story's quiet engine: she mends Suleiman's laughter without ever seeming to interfere, and shows that the cleverest magic in the palace may be a wife's patience.

## Relationships

### [Suleiman-bin-Daoud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/suleiman_bin_daoud)

_romantic_

Balkis is Suleiman-bin-Daoud's beloved wife, sharing a deep and affectionate partnership with the wise king.

### [Suleiman-bin-Daoud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/suleiman_bin_daoud)

_romantic_

Balkis is Suleiman-bin-Daoud's beloved wife, sharing a deep and affectionate partnership with the wise king.

## In the story

### [The Butterfly That Stamped](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/chapters/the-butterfly-that-stamped)

The most beautiful and wise queen who helps Suleiman-bin-Daoud by orchestrating the lesson for the queens.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/balkis
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters