PLATE XLII
Kai Kāūs Attempts to Fly to Heaven
The ambitious king fastens four young eagles to the corners of his throne, making them fly upward by attaching raw meat to four spears. As he rises through the clouds, the animals on the mountain-top look at him with amazement. The king's features have been obliterated by some pious Muhammadan who was offended by the transgression of the prohibition against portraying living creatures (cf. Plate XLIV). From a Persian manuscript of the Shāhnāmah, dated 1587—88 a.d., now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
