ISfJS.] f^^f^ [LoHlcy. 



drove the cattle afield, and earried their meals to the field hands, 

 and then followed his lierd, who told him where the good grass 

 grew, he listening to their words and driving them accordingl}^ ; 

 so that the3' grew large and increased in uiimhers greatl}'. 



In ploughing time his elder brother said to him : Let us take 

 teams and plough, for the soil shows [above the inundation] and 

 it is a good time to plough ; bring seed to the field, and we will 

 plougli And his younger brother did as he M-as told. 



And on the morrow thc}^ went and had their fall of field work, 

 and enjoyed it. 



And after many days they were in the field, and [wanted seed], 

 and he sent his younger brother, sajdng: Haste, bring seed out 

 from town. And he found his elder brother's wife sitting, braid- 

 ing her hair, and said to her: Arise, and give me seed, for I 

 must hasten to the fields ; my brother ordered me not to dally 

 here. She said to him : Go, open the seed chamber, and take 

 what thy soul wishest, for my hair might come untwisted if I 

 went. So the young man went to his stall and got a large basket, 

 for he wished to take much seed, and filled it with wheat and 

 barlej', and bore it thence. She asked : How much ? He replied : 

 Three measures of barley and two of wheat, in all five, are in 

 my hands. Thou art very strong, said she, as I have often 



noticed. And her heart recognized him .... and she 



burnt towards him and said : Come, let us have a good quiet hour. 

 Dress up ! I will give you fine clothes. Then was the 3'oung man 

 as mad as a panther at this wicked speech of hers: and then she 

 grew veiy much alarmed. For he said to her : Woman, thou art 

 in the place of a mother, and thy husband of a father to me ; for 

 he is enough older than I am to be my father. What a great sin 

 hast thou said to me ! but if thou dost not repeat it, neither will 

 I let a word of it escape my mouth to any one. And taking up 

 his burden, he went out to the fields, and joined his elder brother, 

 and the^' were busy and finished their work. 



When the day w\as at an end and the evening had arrived, 

 then turned the elder brother to go home, but the younger fol- 

 lowed his cattle, loaded himself with all kinds of green produce, 

 and drove them to the stable, to the stall, in town. And lo ! the 

 elder brother's wife, alarmed at the words that she had uttered, had 

 wounded herself, and represented herself as having been over- 

 powered by some wicked person, intending to tell her husband: 



