Hooved Feet and Hairy Legs

In my review of And the Bull Kills You I wrote that the detective finds within himself both the bull and the bullfighter, and, in a book which confronts sex and violence, I don't think this is too far fetched. Some of the jinn we have to deal with are connected to our animal instincts. Something compels us and our mammalian relatives to preserve ourselves and our genes.

When I was a teenager there were whispers of a tall dark charming stranger who frequented dance halls and of whom we needed to be very wary. Women had discovered that their dancing partner had cloven hooves. I don't think any of us believed these reports, at least literally. The cloven hooves were a metaphor for the devil, one of the jinn, who preyed on innocent girls to satisfy his animal instincts.

In the story of Solomon and Bilquis, the beautiful Queen of Sheba, it is she who is rumoured to have jinn among her ancestors. Determined to find out if the story is true, Solomon has constructed in his private apartments a glass floor under which fish swim in water. Standing at the other end of the room, Solomon beckons to Bilquis to come to him, making her lift her skirt instinctively to keep it out of the water and allowing him to see her feet and legs. He sees that her feet are not hooved, as people have claimed, but she does have another jinn characteristic, hairy legs. Fortunately this problem is not insurmountable. Solomon has his jinn prepare a hair removing lotion of slaked lime and ash.