When the sons of Leah appeared, Asenath fell down before
them, and amid tears she adjured them to spare the
sons of the handmaids and not repay with evil the evil they
had meditated. Simon would not hear of making concessions.
He insisted that the measure of their sins was full,
and they must pay for them with their lives, for they had
been the ones that had sold Joseph into slavery, and brought
down untold misfortune upon Jacob and his sons. But Asenath
did not leave off, and her urgent petitions won the day.
She succeeded in calming the anger of Simon, and in Levi
she had a secret ally, for this prophet knew the hiding-place
of the sons of the handmaids, and he did not betray it to
Simon, lest his wrath be increased at the sight of them. It
was also Levi that restrained Benjamin from giving the

 
Chapters | Home | Hanukah.com
Previous | Next page 427