Around Jerusalem there are great mountains, and on mount Zion are the sepulchres of the house of David, and the sepulchres of the kings who arose after him. The place, however, is no longer known, on account of the following incident. Fifteen years ago part of the place of worship, which is on mount Zion, fell in, and the patriarch said to his overseer: ‘Take the stones from the old walls, and restore the place of worship with them.’ The latter did so, and hired workmen; twenty men, at fixed wages, were pulling out the stones from the foundation of the wall of Zion. Among these men were two very intimate friends. One day one of them made a banquet for his friend. After the meal they returned to their work, and their overseer said to them: ‘Wherefore have ye come late to-day?’ They answered and said: ‘Wherefore dost thou chide us? When our fellow-workmen go to their meal, we will do our work.’ When meal-time came, and the other workmen went to their meal, these two continued to pull out stones. They raised a certain stone, and found the mouth of a cave beneath it. Thereupon one said to his friend: ‘Let us go in and see whether there is any money in there.’ Having passed through the entrance of the cave, they reached a large hall supported by pillars of marble overlaid with silver and gold. In front was a table of gold and a sceptre and crown. This was the sepulchre of king David. At the left thereof was the sepulchre of king Solomon in like fashion, and so were the sepulchres of the kings of Judah that were buried there. Closed coffers were also there, and no man knows what they contain. When these two men wanted to enter the hall, a stormy wind came forth from the entrance of the cave, and smote them, so that they fell like dead to the ground. They lay there until evening, when another wind came forth, crying out as if with a man’s voice: ‘Arise and go forth from this place!’ The men went out from there in haste and terror, and came to the patriarch, and related these things to him. The patriarch then sent for Rabbi Abraham al-Constantini, the pious ascetic, who was one of the mourners for Jerusalem, and he related all these things to him according to the narrative of the two men who had come out from there. And Rabbi Abraham answered, and said to him: ‘These are the sepulchres of the house of David, that is, of the kings of Judah; and to-morrow I and thou and these men shall go in and see what is there.’ On the following day they sent for the two men and found them lying in their beds. Filled with terror, the men said: ‘We will not enter there, for God desires not to show it to any man.’ The patriarch then commanded them to close up that place and to keep it concealed from men unto this day. The afore-mentioned Rabbi Abraham related these things to me. XXII. THE BOOK OF YASHAR