DAN'S CONFESSION

When Dan assembled his family at the last of his life, he
spake: "I confess before you this day, my children, that I
had resolved to kill Joseph, that good and upright man, and
I rejoiced over his sale, for his father loved him more than
he loved the rest of us. The spirit of envy and boastfulness
goaded me on, saying, 'Thou, too, art the son of Jacob,' and
one of the spirits of Behar stirred me up, saying, 'Take this
sword, and slay Joseph, for once he is dead thy father will
love thee.' It was the spirit of anger that was seeking to
persuade me to crush Joseph, as a leopard crunches a kid
between its teeth. But the God of our father Jacob did not
deliver him into my hand, to let me find him alone, and He
did not permit me to execute this impious deed, that two