A Treatise of the Life of a Man Occupied with Affairs of State, or On Joseph.

 I. (1) There are three different modes by which we proceed towards the most excellent end, namely, instruction, nature, and practice. There are also t

 II. (5) But envy is at all times an adversary to great good fortune, and at this time it attacked a house which was prospering in all its parts, and d

 III. (12) This expedition of his was the origin both of great evils and also of great good, each of them being excessive beyond all expectation for h

 IV. (15) But on that day it happened by some chance that certain merchants who were accustomed to convey their merchandise from Arabia to Egypt were t

 V. (22) But when their father heard, not the truth indeed, that his son had been sold, but a falsehood that he was dead, and that he had been slain by

 VI. (28) It is worth while, however, after having thus explained the literal account given to us of these events, to proceed to explain also the figur

 VII. (32) And it is not without a particular and correct meaning that Joseph is said to have had a coat of many colours. For a political constitution

 VIII. (37) This is enough to say on this part of the subject. Accordingly, the young man, having been conducted into Egypt, and there, as has already

 IX. (40) But while he is earning a very high reputation in the matters connected with the management of his master's house, he is plotted against by t

 X. (49) He put all these arguments together and philosophised in this way till she ceased to importune him for the desires are powerful, to cast in t

 XI. (54) I have already sketched out three characters of the man immersed in civil business that of him who is occupied as a shepherd, that of the re

 XII. (58) It is worth while, however, to proceed in regular order, and by this course to exhibit what is intended to be intimated by this figurative h

 XIII. And the desire of the multitude, like an incontinent woman, loves the man who is experienced in state affairs, and says to him: Go forth, my goo

 XIV. But the statesman is not in reality ignorant that the people has the authority of a master, but still he will not admit that he himself is its sl

 XV. Having now discussed this matter at sumcient length let us see what follows next. The young man, having been calumniated to his master by his mast

 XVI. Nevertheless, even such a man as this was propitiated by the virtue of this young man, and not only gave him liberty and security, but even entru

 XVII. While they then were being improved in this manner two of the king's eunuchs are brought into the prison the one being his chief butler, and th

 XVIII. And the chief baker, gladly receiving this interpretation, and rejoicing in the idea that he too had seen a favourable dream (though his dream

 XIX. But the chief butler, after he was released, forgot him who had foretold his release to him, and who had alleviated all the misfortunes which had

 XX. Therefore the king hearing these things, orders men to go in haste and summon the young man before him but they having cut his hair, for the hair

 XXI. And when the king had heard these words, and had seen that the interpretation of the dreams did thus with felicity and accuracy of conjecture arr

 XXII. But since we have proposed to ourselves to give not only an explanation of the literal account given to us, but also of its more figurative mean

 XXIII. And are not all the other things, relating to the body, dreams? Is not beauty an ephemeral thing, wasting away almost before it comes to its pr

 XXIV. Since, then, life is full of all this irregularity, and confusion, and indistinctness, it is necessary that the statesman as well as the philoso

 XXV. Moreover, Joseph is figuratively said to have been mounted upon the second best chariot which the king had, for the following reason. The statesm

 XX. Moreover, I have also heard people discussing this passage with great apparent accuracy in a more figurative manner and according to quite a diffe

 XXVII. This is enough to say on this subject. Accordingly Joseph, being appointed the king's lieutenant, and having undertaken the government and supe

 XXVIII. And at this crisis, his father also, [Genesis xliii. 1] since his necessary food had by this time become scarce, not being aware of the good f

 XXIX. When he heard this, and heard those who had sold him all speak of him as dead, what think you did Joseph feel in his soul? for even if he did no

 XXX. The brother whom they had sold heard them conversing in this manner without saying anything himself, as, he had hitherto spoken to them by an int

 XXXI. For one of them, having opened one of the sacks, saw in the mouth of it his purse full of money and when he had counted it, he found the whole

 XXXII. But he, groaning most bitterly, said, Whom shall I lament first? the youngest but one, who was not the last, but the first to encounter the se

 XXXIII. Then a few days afterwards they arrived in Egypt, and when the governor of the country saw them he was greatly pleased, and ordered the stewar

 XXXIV. Then when he had washed his hands he restrained his sorrow by the power of reason, and coming back again he feasted the strangers, returning to

 XXXV. And on the next day he sent, the first thing in the morning, for the steward of his household, and commanded him to fill all the sacks of the me

 XXXVI. But while they were feeling disposed in this way, and revolving such thoughts in their souls, a sudden and unexpected confusion came upon them,

 XXXVII. And while speaking thus they unloose the burdens from off their beasts and take them down, and encourage the steward with all diligence to sea

 XXXVIII. And when they were grieved at his threat, and wholly overwhelmed at the false accusations brought against them, the fourth in age, and he was

 XXXIX. But all this conduct was but an experiment, just as the former circumstances had been too, because the governor of the country was desirous to

 XL. After this he had recourse to a reconciliation and agreement with his brethren, being influenced by his own affectionate disposition, and from his

 XLI. So they one after another began to pour forth praises of him without ceasing, and panegyrized him with unmodified encomium, each relating some di

 XLII. But the king, when he heard that Joseph had a father and a numerous family, advised him to press his father to remove into Egypt with all his ho

 XLIII. And the young man, Joseph, displayed such excessive good faith and honesty in all his dealings, that though the time and the circumstances of t

 XLIV. Having encouraged his brethren with these words he confirmed his promises still more by actions, leaving out nothing which could show his care f

XXXVIII. And when they were grieved at his threat, and wholly overwhelmed at the false accusations brought against them, the fourth in age, and he was one of a daring character, combined with modesty, and full of true courage, inasmuch as he had studied freedom of speech without impudence, came forward and said, "I entreat you, O master! not to give way to your passion; nor, because you are placed in the rank next to the king, to be in a hurry to condemn us before you have heard our defence. When on our former journey hither, you inquired of us concerning our brother and our father, we answered you: Our father was an old man, aged, not more because of the power of time, than because of his uninterrupted misfortunes, by which he has been constantly exercised like a wrestler, and has passed his whole life amid labours and calamities hard to be borne. "And our brother is very young, a mere child, loved beyond all measure by his father, since he is the son of his old age, and because also he had but him and one other child by the same mother, and this one alone is left, since the elder died a violent death. And when you commanded us to bring our brother hither, and threatened us that, if he did not come, you would not permit us to come into your sight, we departed in great depression of spirits; and with difficulty, when we had arrived at home, did we declare the commands which we had received from you to our father. And he at first wholly refused, being greatly alarmed for the child; but as necessary food was becoming scarce, and as not one of us dared to come hither to buy food without our youngest brother, by reason of your vehement commands; he was at last, with difficulty, persuaded to send him with us, blaming us bitterly for having confessed that we had another brother, and pitying himself very much for being about to be separated from him; for he is but a child and wholly ignorant of business, and not only of business in a foreign land, but even of such as is transacted in his own city. How, then, shall we approach our father who is under the influence of such feelings? And with what eyes shall we be able to behold him without this his youngsst son? He will die most miserably if he only hears that his son has not returned; and then all those who delight in hatred and in evil-speaking, and who rejoice in such misfortunes of their neighbours, will call us murderers and parricides, and the greater part of the accusation will fall upon me; for I promised my father to give him up many things, confessing that I received my brother as a pledge, which I was to restore whenever he was reclaimed from me. And how shall I be able to restore him unless you are prevailed upon to show us mercy? I entreat you, then, to have pity on the old man, and to give a thought to the evils by which he will be grieved, if he does not receive back again him whom he has unwisely entrusted to my hands. Nevertheless, do you exact punishment for the injuries which you imagine to have been done to you; and that punishment I will volunteer to submit to. Set me down as your slave from this day forth. I will cheerfully undergo the fate of those who have been just bought, if you will only be willing to let the child go free; and not only shall you, if you will give him his liberty, receive thanks from him and me, but also from him who is not present, but who will then be relieved from his anxiety, the father of these men here, and of all the family; for we are all your suppliants, having fled for succour to your right hand, and may we never fail to obtain it. Let, then, compassion for the age of the old man seize your heart, who during his whole life has constantly devoted himself to the labours of virtue. He has brought all the cities of Syria to receive him, and to submit to his authority, and to do him honour; even though he guides himself by foreign customs and laws very different from them, and although he is in all respects very unlike the natives of the land. But the excellence of his life, and the consistency and uniformity of his actions with his words, and of his words with his actions, have prevailed, so that he has been able to win over those who, out of regard for their national customs, were not at first well-disposed towards him. You will do him such a favour that it will not be possible for him to receive a greater. For what can be a more valuable gift to give to a father, than to allow him to receive back a son of whose safety he has despaired?"