The Three Sheiks and Queen of Arabia
Maura, who liked to be thought of as the most beautiful and powerful queen of Arabia, had many suitors. One by one she discarded them, until her list was reduced to just threes sheiks, all equally young and handsome, rich and strong. It was very hard to decide who would be the best of them.
One evening, Maura disguised herself and went to the camp of the three sheiks, as they were about to have dinner, and asked them for something to eat.
The first gave her some leftover food; the second gave her some unappetizing camel’s tail; the third sheik, who was called Hakim, offered her some of the most tender and tasty meat. After dinner, the disguised queen left the sheiks’ camp.
The following day the queen invited...