One of the well known legends of St Nicholas tells how, during a famine, he asked sailors on a passing ship to give the town some of its large stock of grain. The sailors, who were shipping their precious cargo from the corn fields of Alexandria to the imperial granaries at Constantinople, were concerned about the consequences that would ensue if they arrived with a short load. The saint assured them all would be well, so they unloaded one tenth of their grain. Sure enough, on arrival at Constantinople, the cargo was carefully weighed and found to be intact. In an epilogue to the miracle, the sacks of grain which the sailors had given to St Nicholas fed the whole town throughout the long famine, without ever being noticeably diminished (the topos of the inexhaustable supply - as found for example in the Old Testament story of Elijah and the Widow of Sarepta - 1 Kings 17).