to be only large enough for the support of the royal
throne, and of those ministers whose duty it was to attend upon the
person of the sovereign. Four genii of the air then took the four
corners of the carpet, and carried it with its contents wherever King
Solomon desired. Once the king was on a journey in the air, carried upon
his throne of ivory over the various nations of the earth. The rays of
the sun poured down upon his head, and he had nothing to protect him
from its heat. The fiery beams were beginning to scorch his neck and
shoulders, when he saw a flock of vultures flying past. "Oh, vultures!"
cried King Solomon, "come and fly between me and the sun, and make a
shadow with your wings to protect me, for its rays are scorching my neck
and face." But the vultures answered, and said, "We are flying to the
north, and your face is turned towards the south. We desire to continue
on our way; and be it known unto thee, O king! that we will not turn
back on our flight, neither will we fly above your throne to protect
you from the sun, although its rays may be scorching your neck and face.
"Then King Solomon lifted up his voice, and said, "Cursed be ye, O
vultures!--and because you will not obey the commands of your lord, who
rules over the whole world, the feathers of your necks shall fall off;
and the heat of the sun, and the cold of the winter, and the keenness of
the wind, and the beating of the rain, shall fall upon your rebellious
necks, which shall not be protected with feathers, like the necks of
other birds. And whereas you have hitherto fared delicately,
henceforward ye shall eat carrion and feed upon offal; and your race
shall be impure till the end of the world." And it was done unto the
vultures as King Solomon had said.

Now it fell out that there was a flock of hoopoes flying past; and the
king cried out to them, and said, "O hoopoes! come and fly between me
and the sun, that I may be protected from its rays by the shadow of your
wings." Whereupon the king of the hoopoes answered, and said, "O king,
we are but little fowls, and we are not able to afford much shade; but
we will gather our nation together, and by our numbers we will make up
for our small size." So the hoopoes gathered together, and, flying in a
cloud over the throne of the king, they sheltered him from the rays of
the sun.

When the journey was over, and King Solomon sat upon his golden throne,
in his palace of ivory, whereof the doors wer