196 THE KING'S MIRROR 



versation, I shall ask you to enlarge somewhat fully 

 upon this speech before we take up another. What is 

 your opinion as to the causes of such a severe dearth as 

 may come upon the minds of men, so that all is ruined 

 at the same time, insight and national morals ? And do 

 you think such losses should be traced to the people 

 who inhabit the realm or to the king and the men who 

 manage the state with him ? 



Father. What you have now asked about has its origin 



in various facts anji occurrences of a harmful character. 



I believe, however, thaJLsuch misf ortune&jsyould Tarely 



appear among the people who inhabit and till the land, 



jf the men ^ n povern the realm were discreet an^ the 



But when God, because of the 



sins of the people, determines to visit a land with a pun- 

 ishment that means destruction to morals and intellect, 

 He will carry out His decision promptly, though in vari- 

 ous ways, as soon as He wills it. Instances of this have 

 occurred frequently and in various places, where trouble 

 has come when a chieftain,, who possessed both wealth 

 and wisdom and who had been highly honored by the 

 king, having sat in his council and shared largely with 

 him in the government, departed this life leaving four 

 or five sons in his place, all in their early youth or child- 

 hood. Then the king and the whole realm have suffered 

 immediate injury: the king has lost a good friend, an 

 excellent adviser, and a strong bulwark^Next the man's 

 possessions are divided into five parts, and all his proj- 

 ects are disturbedjHis household sinks in importance, 

 since each of the sons has but a fifth of all the power 

 that the father derived from his means while he was 



