MIDDLE EAST: The Sons of the Maidens

The cantankerous Kurds* were raising hell again. As the tribesmen swooped down from the mountains astride their well-kept horses, shooting and shouting rebellion, the worried citizens of Turkey and adjoining lands were not quite sure whether to blame it all on King Solomon the Wise, or on another great ruler of men—Joseph Stalin.

The Kurds' own legend explains that once upon a time, when the world was much younger and its men much stronger than today, Solomon grew tired of his 700 wives and 300 concubines. He sent his servants out toward the rising sun, with orders to bring...

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