At first they ate the softest leaves and tree shoots to survive. Then they cooked animal hides over fire and ate whatever desperation forced them to try. As they marched deeper into the desert, they found no roots or plants in the sand. They discovered a wasteland with no animals at all. So they drew lots and chose every tenth man to kill and eat — a fate worse than starvation itself. Rage still drove the king forward like a madman. He had already lost part of his army and eaten another part. Only when he began to fear that he too might have to draw lots for his life did he finally order a retreat. Yet through all of this, his prized hunting hawks were never sacrificed. Camels still carried his feast supplies while his soldiers drew lots to see who would die miserably and who would live even more miserably.
At first the tenderest parts of leaves and shoots of trees relieved their hunger, then hides softened by fire, and anything else that their extremity drove them to use as food. When as they proceeded neither roots nor herbs were to be found in the sand, and they found a wilderness destitute even of animal life, they chose each tenth man by lot and made of him a meal which was more cruel than hunger. Rage still drove the king madly forwards, until after he had lost one part of his army and eaten another he began to fear that he also might be called upon to draw the lot for his life; then at last he gave the order for retreat. Yet all the while his well-bred hawks were not sacrificed, and the means of feasting were carried for him on camels, while his soldiers were drawing lots for who should miserably perish, and who should yet more miserably live.