"What is thy name?" asked Pharaoh, when he presented himself.
"My name is Akbam, and I am but the lowest of my king's advisers."
"Does thy master then think my demand so simple?" asked Pharaoh.
Ikkor bowed to indicate that this was so, and Pharaoh was much annoyed and puzzled.
"Perform thy task and at once," he commanded.
At a sign from Ikkor, the four youths mounted the eagles which flew aloft to the extremity of their cords. The birds remained in the air two hundred ells apart, as they had been trained, and the lads held cords in the form of a square.
"That is the plan of the palace in the clouds," said Ikkor, pointing aloft. "Bid your men carry up bricks and mortar. The task is so simple that the boys will build."
Pharaoh frowned. He had not expected to be thus outwitted, but he would not immediately acknowledge this.
"In this land," he said, sarcastically, "we use no mortar. We sew the stones together. Canst thou do this?"
"Easily," replied Ikkor, "if your wise men can make me a thread of sand."