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wonderful things and asked for his ring. He then threw itinto the sea where it was swallowed by a fish and Ashmedaicast Solomon 400 miles away. Wandering about Solomoncame to the city of the king of Ammon. The head cook forcedhim to carry home goods bought in the market and allowedhim to assist in the kitchen. One day Solomon prepared adish for the king who so much liked it that he appointedSolomon head cook. Naamah, the daughter of the king fellin love with Solomon. Her mother rebuked her but in vain.Her father was wroth, wanted to kill them but sent themaway into the desert. They found their way to a town nearthe sea and Solomon bought a fish just captured which hiswife opened only to find the ring inside. He recognised it,came back to Jerusalem and sat upon the throne. He thensent for the king of Ammon and asked him why he hadkilled two innocent people. The king told him what hadhappened; Solomon made himself known and the king andqueen of Ammon blessed God.

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I. NISSIM. HIBBUR YAFEH.( See P. 11§ 26.)[ The compilation of R. Nissim, to which reference hasbeen made p. 11§ 26 consists of about 50 exempla, talesand parables. Most of them are already found in the Bookof Exempla and a few in the other collections from whichabstracts are given. I am, therefore, only selecting thosewhich are not found in them. From the list of comparisonsgiven helow, it seems evident that the direct source ofR. Nissim must have been the Book of Exempla or a similarcollection. The pages mentioned here are those of theAmsterdam edition of 1746.]

405[ f. 2b]. a) R. Beroka meets the prophet Elijah in themarket, and is told that only one man of that multitudewill enter Paradise. On enquiry he finds that it is the go-vernor of the prison, who separated the men from the womenand protected a Jewish prisoner.- He is dressed like aRoman and informs the Jews of an evil decree in time forthem to act.