OR, THE RUKH (the giant bird of legendary lore, encountered by Ibn Batuta on his travels), since that creature features most prominently in the story. Escaping an island where he found himself inadvertently stranded by binding himself with his turban unobtrusively to the talon of the gigantic bird, he was deposited in a strange valley when the flying monster landed. Where was he? Sindbad looked around and saw that the ground was covered with all manner of precious stones. There were rubies and diamonds, emeralds and sapphires. And, as the sun shone on them, they glittered like a blanket of stars covering the valley. But, all too soon, since he was between towering walls of rock, the light faded; it was evening, and with the sunset, out from their dens and places of concealment came thousands of huge snakes. They had been hiding from the Rukh during daylight. He escaped this predicament, though. Our next show will present a reading, also from the Thousand Nights and a Night, of Sindbad's Third Voyage, when he had to deal with the horrendous, anthropophagous Cyclops. He escaped that, too.