I was obliged to say that I did not think I had ever heard it.

“The story runs thus,” said my host:  “The Jinns were at work building the temple, and Solomon, according to his custom, overlooked them daily.  At the time when the temple was nearly completed Solomon felt that his strength was passing from him, and that he would not have much longer to live.  This greatly troubled him, for he knew that when the Jinns should find that his watchful eye would be no more upon them, they would rebel and refuse to work, and the temple would not be finished during his reign.  Therefore, as the story runs, he came, one day, into the temple, and hoped that he might be enabled to remain there until the great edifice should be finished.  He stood leaning on his staff, and the Jinns, when they beheld their master, continued to work, and work, and work.  When night came Solomon still remained standing in his accustomed place, and the Jinns worked on, afraid to cease their toil for a moment.

[Illustration:  Solomon and the Jinns.]

“Standing thus, Solomon died; but the Jinns did not know it, and their toil and labor continued, by night and by day.  Now, according to the tradition, a little white ant, one of the kind which devours wood, came up out of the earth on the very day on which Solomon died, and began to gnaw the inside of his staff.  She gnawed a little every day, until at last the staff became hollow from one end to the other; and on the day when she finished her work, the work of the Jinns was also finished.  Then the staff crumbled, and the dead Solomon fell, face foremost, to the earth.  The Jinns, perceiving that they had been slaving day and night for a master who was dead, fled away with yells of rage and vexation.  But the glorious temple was finished, and King Solomon’s work was done.  Tabari tells this story, and it is also found in the Koran; but the origin of it was nothing more than the well-known custom of Solomon to exercise personal supervision over those who were working for him.

“I was the person from whom Solomon first heard of the Queen of Sheba.  I had lived in her capital city for several years, and she had summoned me before her, and had inquired about the places I had visited and the things I had seen.  What I said about this wonderful woman and the admirable administration of her empire interested Solomon very much, and he was never tired of hearing me talk about her.  At one time I believe he thought of sending me as an ambassador to her, but afterward gave up this notion, as I did not possess the rank or position which would have qualified me to represent him and his court; so he sent a suitable delegation, and, after a great deal of negotiation and diplomatic by-play, the queen actually determined to come to see Solomon.  Soon after her arrival with her great retinue, she saw me, and immediately recognized me, and the first thing she said to me was that she perceived I had grown