Page:Muhammad Diyab al-Itlidi - Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalîfahs - Alice Frere - 1873.djvu/129

100 the jewels in it, that I may test her intellect as she did mine, and also because a jinn has brought me a report that her mind is weak, and that her feet are like the feet of a donkey." (For the genii knew of the beauty of Balkîs, and were aware that when King Solomon should see her he would desire her for his wife. And as the mother of Balkîs was a jinn, and King Solomon possessed power over the genii, they feared lest his children should for ever lord it over the children of genii; therefore the jinn brought him this false report.) So when Balkîs arrived, King Solomon asked her, saying, "Is thy bed like this one ?" And she recognized her bed, and said neither "no" nor "yes," but said, "It is it." Then King Solomon commanded to make a house with a floor of glass, and to put water under the glass, and in the water fish and frogs. And he sat on his throne at the end of the house, and called to Balkîs to come in. And when she saw the water and the fish and the frogs, she knew not of the glass, and drew up her garments and exposed her feet; and the King saw that the jinn had lied. Then he commanded her to renounce the worship of the Sun, and invited her to profess el-Islám. And she did so,