Again, in those days there came to me a letter from Adares the king
of the Arabians, saying, "To King Solomon, greeting! We have heard of
the wisdom that has been given to thee, and that thou art a
compassionate man, and that thou hast power over all spirits that are
in the air, or on the earth, or under the earth. Now be it known to
thee that there is a destroying spirit in this land; for every day at
dawn there arises a wind which blows for three hours, and it is so
venomous that every one on whom it blows dies, and it kills the
cattle also. Now therefore we entreat thee in thy wisdom to devise
some means, and if it may be, send us a man who can capture the
spirit; and if thou canst do so, then I and my people will be
tributary unto thee, and Arabia shall keep peace with thee. And, we
beseech thee, make not light of our petition, for we are in a great
strait. And so farewell."
When I had read this letter, I folded it up again and gave it to my
chief counsellor, saying, "Bring it again to my remembrance after
seven days." Then I thought upon the matter; and after the seven days
I called one of my servants and said to him, "Make ready a camel,
and get an empty wine-skin." And he did so. Now the wine-skin was
made of a whole hide of a beast, so that it had the upper parts of
the four legs remaining upon it, the legs being sewn up, and the neck
open. I said to him further, "Take this ring and go into Arabia, to
the place where the venomous wind blows, and take the skin and hold
the ring in front of the mouth of the skin towards the wind, so that
the wind shall blow through the ring; and when the skin is blown up,
you will know that the demon is inside it. Then hasten and tie up the
neck of the skin, and seal it with the ring, and put it upon the
camel, and bring it to me. But if on the way the demon promise you
gold and silver and treasures to let him go, see that you do not obey
him; but rather make him reveal to you where the treasures are hid,
and mark the places, and come on to me. Now go, and good success be
with you." So my servant set out and came to Arabia; and the men of
the country doubted much whether he could capture the spirit. But
when the day was dawning, even the first day after his coming, he
rose up and set the skin with its mouth towards the wind, and laid
the ring in the mouth of it; and the wind blew through the ring and
entered into the skin and puffed it up. And the man caught the neck
of the skin and closed it, and sealed it with the ring in the name of
the Most High. Then he abode yet three days in the place to make
trial of his success; but the poisonous wind blew no more, so that
all the Arabians were assured that the demon was safely shut up. And
they rejoiced greatly, and gave him many precious gifts, and did him
great honour; and when he set forth to come back to me, they
accompanied him to their borders. So he brought the skin back to
Jerusalem, and put it in the midst of the temple.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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