236 THE KING'S MIRROR 



i 



upon you /But even worse is the unfaithfulness to ward_ 

 my lord which I should be guilty of, if I were to reward 

 his kindness in this way like a treacherous thrall. For 

 he has trusted me, his servant, so far as to give all his 

 wealth and riches into my hands and keeping, and 

 I must not deceive my lawful master^ with shameful 

 treachery, unless I should wish to prove the saying in 

 daily use that it is ill to have a thrall as a chosen friend." 

 But when the woman saw. that Joseph was a good man 

 and wished to be faithful, she thought it a shame that 

 he should know her faithlessness, and, prompted by 

 enmity and not by justice, she became anxious to work 

 his ruin, if possible. So she told her husband that Joseph 

 had made an unseemly request and added that it showed 

 great audacity, in a thrall to make such bold remarks 

 to his lady. She was believed as a good wife, and Joseph 

 was cast into prison strongly fettered and heavily 

 chained, the purpose being to let him end his days by 

 rotting alive because of his pride and faithlessness. But 

 when God, Who always loves justice and humility, saw 

 the faithfulness of Joseph whom He knew to be inno- 

 cent, He shaped the outcome so that Joseph profited 

 by the condemnation that he had suffered though inno- 

 cent. For God saved him from prison under such circum- 

 stances that he was elevated to far greater prominence 

 than before; and God prompted King Pharaoh to make 

 Joseph master and judge of all Egypt next to the king 

 himself; and this office he held into his old age and as 

 long as he lived. 



Long after this and in another place, a somewhat 

 similar experience came to a famous king, who ruled 



